The news of devastation from Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar this week has no doubt prompted many to pray for that land.  I was not very familiar with the country we used to know as Burma.  Our prayers can be better informed by going to the website below to learn more about the spiritual needs of the country.   There is a considerable Christian minority in the country. 

Go to:   www.operationworld.org

Look for a link to Myanmar on the upper right side of the page.   

Ben Stein’s movie Expelled was released this weekend.  Mary and I went to see it on Friday evening.  In case you haven’t heard about it, Ben Stein means to sound the alarm that freedom is in grave danger in the good ole  US of A.  How?  Because complete freedom of thought is being systematically and thoroughly eradicated.  This movie shows numerous documentable cases in which college and university professors have been fired due to their favorable opinion of “intelligent design” as an explanation for the origin of  life and the universe. 

This is a documentary and as such is meant to be informative more than entertaining.  Expelled begins with Stein speaking to an auditorium of students and then cuts away to show his interviews with various heavyweights in academia and those who have been canned by them for their views.  The interviews are fascinating as Stein plays a Columbo-like role gently but tenaciously asking the powers that be to explain why teachers are being fired for views they hold.  It’s enlightening to watch the likes of Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) squirm as he tries to explain how he lives with no meaning or purpose in life. 

The point that freedom is in danger is driven home again and again by actual footage of Nazi Germany, the holocaust and the gulag of the Soviet Union.  Are we becoming like these despotic societies?  The parallels are obvious.

Would I recommend this movie?  Definitely. Keep in mind this is not an evangelical movie but we share  much common ground with Mr. Stein.  I would not recommend it to young children or those who find the sight of holocaust shots overwhelming.  We should pray that God will use this film to wake up those who should see the evil and foolish path we are on. 

Expelled is a powerful testimony to the truth of Romans 1:22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools.   May God revive His Church and preserve us in the midst of this increasing foolishness.

I am now sitting in the Jackson, MS airport with Pastor Carroll, ready to make our way home. Our annual time at the Twin Lakes Fellowship is over.  It was a very good time - seeing old friends, making new ones, and being encouraged from the Word of God (yes, pastors need that too!) was a real blessing.  I was able to spend some time on the ride to the airport with some folks planting a church in Lansing, Michigan.  Lansing was one of the places that Deb and I considered upon graduation, as we sought the Lord’s will for future ministry.  It was so good to hear from them that the work is going forward well.

As good as our time was, it will be very nice to be back home.  I enjoy talking about PCA goings on, theology and ministry; but I miss throwing the ball with my boys, having Abby jump up on my lap, and Deb.  I miss my house.  I miss Houston.  And I miss Christ Church.  I joked with Rick Phillips, a PCA pastor and prolific author, who had recently moved to Greenville and is happy with his new work, that I might be the only guy happier in his ministry that he is!

I hope to have opportunities to share with you some of the things we heard and saw there, and to answer the questions you always had about dogs barking in the middle of of the night.

John Carroll and I have just arrived at the Twin Lakes Fellowship outside Jackson, MS.  Right now, Dr. Ligon Duncan is speaking to us about the purpose and mission of the Fellowship.  It is a time for pastors to be refreshed, encouraged and energized for the work of a pastor - bringing the ordinary means of grace (the Word of God and Sacramets) to the people of God.

Our flight was uneventful, and even though when we got off the plane the weather was colder and stormier than when we got on.  Already I have seen more than a dozen old friends, and been encouraged by the way in which the Lord is working throughout the country.

I hope to give more updates during the Conference.  Stay tuned.

Today at the Katy B PF group Pastor Carroll mentioned Ben Stein’s upcoming documentary on the ejection of God from modern scientific discourse.  Here is the link to the movie for those of you who were interested in learning more about it - http://www.expelledthemovie.com/playground.php

I have been thinking and praying a lot about what it means to be part of Christ’s Universal Church.  A couple of things brought it the forefront of my thoughts.  The first is the blessing my wife, Renee,  received by attending the Women in the Church conference in Atlanta about a week ago.  The second was my opportunity to worship at the Bon Accord Free Church in Aberdeen Scotland last Sunday.  The pastor (visiting - they are looking for a full-time pastor) was preaching on Exodus 12.  He started out by teaching the history of the Exodus is not just Jewish history, or should it be considered merely Scottish or European or American history - but the history of God’s church, which we are all a part of. 

 I just wanted to bring this up so that we will all be aware of the struggles of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ around the globe.  Please be in prayer for this body in Aberdeen Scotland as they look for a new pastor.  Their website is Bon Accord Free Church   if you’d like to learn more about this congregation. 

Finally, the main reason I am posting here is that I would like to challenge all of you to post any information you may have about a sister congregation either elsewhere in the US or in another country.  If it is a church you have visited, our connection will be even stronger.  If they have a website, please post the link to their site, so we can all know how to pray for each other. 

 I am looking forward to seeing how Christ is working throughout the world.

 In Christ,

Steve Mathis 

Months of drought in western Virginia and some human carelessness along with high winds caused by an Arctic front, resulted in wildfires which spread across the ridge behind the family farm where I grew up just west of Montvale. By Sunday, my sister, Betty, and her family including our mother and 500 other families were forced to evacuate. They spent the night with family and friends in Roanoke. Even the evacuation on Sunday afternoon was eventful. As they headed west on Interstate 81, winds downed power lines and sparks set off more wildfires. Smoke filled the valley and traffic slowed, stopped and finally had to be diverted to smaller side roads as firefighters fought the flames. The thirty minute trip tripled in duration.

[In a surreal sidebar, Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama had to cancel scheduled campaign visits to Roanoke as winds made aircraft landings impossible.]

Meanwhile back at the farm, so many memories surround these homes, the hills, the woods, the creeks and springs. It is not easy to let go without an eternal perspective. I was challenged by Betty’s attitude as she drove away with a few irreplaceable items like passports and computers. She maintained her attitude of the evening before:

I don’t feel sad or scared — yet!  I intend to lay my head down and go to sleep knowing that my Heavenly Father does not slumber! 

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8) (Read more at http://www.xanga.com/PunkyDunks/ )

By Monday morning the winds had died down and the fire had burned out around the homes throughout the neighborhood. They were able to return. No one was hurt. Apparently no homes were lost. We give thanks to the Lord for His care and protection. As you can see below there would not be much defense against wildfires in these homes. Thank you for your support and prayer at this time.  

My sister and brother-in-law’s home, built in 1993

My mother’s home built in 1959 by my parents, grandfather and (considering asymmetrical synergy) me, then a 14 year old.

It’s 2008 and January is going fast. In thinking about my spiritual growth, I am always challenged by these words of the prophet Jeremiah:

Your words were found, and I ate them,
and your words became to me a joy
and the delight of my heart,
for I am called by your name
O Lord, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)

As Jeremiah took in God’s word in the midst of his suffering, he discovered the joy and delight to be found in the promises, warnings and affirmations of Jehovah. It should be no different today. We have the entire Bible, 66 books, given to us by our Heavenly Father for our comfort, direction and encouragement. The Bible is the all time best seller but not necessarily the most read of all books. How do we gain the appetite which Jeremiah had for the Scriptures? In his case, he ate first and then found joy and delight. If faced with the choice of Sports Illustrated or the Bible, our natural tendency may be to pick the former. Only consistent intake will result in the development a hunger for the Word of God which overcomes the fleshly inclination toward the fluffy equivalent of spiritual junk food.

Last year several of us committed to reading through the Bible in 2007. (You can see my previous blogs on the subject in here and here in Dec. 2006]. Feedback revealed that most found this a struggle but some have valiantly recommitted to the project in 2008. I followed the chronological plan and did manage to finish up my reading on New Year’s Eve 2007 at about 11:30 PM. How’s that for a photo finish?

This year I am using the Discipleship Journal reading plan. It calls for 25 readings a month so if you get behind you have a built in way to catch up. You read in two places each day. If you get ahead you can take the extra time to go back and do a little more in depth study on a topic or passage of interest. I got a late start (the second week of January) so I am still catching up. Today I am in Genesis 47 and Psalm 16.

Have you decided to read through the Bible in 2008? Would you like to join an accountability group to help you keep going through the year and share some of the blessings gleaned from this daily discipline? I don’t propose any formal meetings, but just to keep in touch by email and update from time to time about how we are progressing.

If you are interested in being part of such a group, please let me know by emailing me (you can use the Contact Form on the left bottom side of the website to do that) or simply commenting on this blog.

In case you were wondering if the latest cinematic assault on God would spell the end of Christianity, never fear. Noted atheist Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass was release a few weeks ago to a flurry of news and entertainment stories. Was it an atheist manifesto? A secular Lord of the Rings? An epic fantasy? A sanitized effort to get unsuspecting children to read the books? The answer is in: what it actually is, is a ringing dud. After three weeks, Compass managed to take in “just” $48 million dollars. That sounds like a lot of money, until you realize that the investors who put up the cold hard cash to make the movie – and who were hoping to start a money-generating machine like The Lord of the Rings or National Treasure – spent more than $150 million to make the movie. The investors may recoup their losses through foreign ticket sales and DVDs, but you can bet that no one will be lining up to make installment 2 in this series. Producers may not like bad reviews, but they cannot stand bad financial returns. The movie business is after all, a business. Compare Compass’ meager take to the old-fashioned Disney move, Enchanted, which has taken in more than $98 in almost the same length of time. Even the campy Alvin and the Chipmunks (with far less CGI effects) managed to take in more than $80 in just more than half the time.

Of course, even if this movie was the greatest financial success ever, it would not change the truth that God created man, that Adam fell by sinning against God, and that God made provision for reconciling a people to Himself through the most unlikely of methods: sending His Son, the eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ into the world as a baby. How can we possibly think that God is afraid of a piece of colloid when He was confident enough to change the entire world through a baby?

I was able to spend a few hours this morning working on some the “back page” issues on the website. This all started when I reminded myself that I have to get a Sunday school page up on the site, so that I can meet the requests that have been made for PowerPoint slides and audio of my Sunday school class on Covenant theology and Pastor Carroll’s class on Revelation. I am not there yet - I have to build the ground floor before I can work on the second story. So I added a subsection of the website on our church body life (including some pictures!) and then I will map Sunday school into that section.

Stay tuned for more modifications to, and additional material on, the website.