Celebration of a Faithful Servant

Yesterday I had the opportunity to honor a wonderful servant in Christ.  One of my professors, Dr. William Willingham died on last Tuesday.  The memorial service was held in the chapel at Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute where he taught for so long.  The memorial was unlike any I had ever attended.  Dr. Willingham's family was present as were what seemed to be hundreds of colleagues, students, and friends from different walks of life.  From the gathering of people that showed up to honor him, one could see that he impacted lives everywhere he went.


Dr. Willingham demonstrated a love for all those around him in his daily life.  His life stands as a testimony that should encourage all Christians to demonstrate the love of Christ in every area of their lives.  His wife Joy took his death with the strength and comfort that only comes from being secure in her place in Christ knowing full well that her Bill is safe and secure n the arms of Jesus.

Final Break

Tomorrow, we begin our final quarter here at Fruitland.  We had an eventful break.  The day that classes let out, we left immediately for the beach.  Some good friends of ours provided us with the opportunity to spend the week in Emerald Isle, NC.  The girls had a lot of fun playing in the surf and collecting seashells.  They were very excited to see some dolphins swimming by, as well as pelicans and stingrays.

During the week, we took a time-out from the beach to visit the aquarium there, which proved to be as exciting as the beach.  Aside from being able to see real live sharks, the girls enjoyed watching the otters, sea turtles, and many other sea animals.  The visit also provided the opportunity for the girls to pet some of the sea animals.  They seemed to enjoy petting the stingrays the best.  We all learned a lot about the saltwater marshes along the coast and the importance of cleaning up after oneself on the beach.

            The second week, Hannah went to camp, Crystals and the younger girls stayed with her parents, and I came back up to Fruitland.  I had been given another opportunity to preach at the rescue mission.  I enjoyed it immensely.  The men there are very welcoming and I enjoyed sharing God’s Word with them.  The next day I was pleased to fill in for Scott Keith at the retirement home and was happy to return there the following week.

Our final week of break mostly involved my work and us hanging out in the evening.  As I said previously, I was given the opportunity to preach at the retirement center a second time, which was a blessing to me.  On Friday, we tried to take the family down to the Broad River as we did last summer.  The girls were very sad to learn that the river was closed to the public.  It seems that last year, people made such a mess that the residents petitioned the owners of the property to close it off for public use.  Instead, the next day we took the girls up into the mountains to DuPont State Park.  The girls had a great time swimming in Hooker Falls and Hooker Lake.  The water was very cold, but fun.

Yesterday, the girls were excited to watch the fireworks.  We went downtown and sat behind Main Street Baptist Church here in Hendersonville.  The Pastor Dr. Vic Rampey was happy to let us hang out there and even have access to the facilities.  While waiting for the fireworks, the Papa John’s next door called our name, so we spent the evening eating pizza and talking with several of our fellow Fruitland students as well as the pastor and his congregation.  The firework display was great and we all had a wonderful time.

            Today was a true joy.  All the Fruitland families got together for a cookout and met in the kitchen of the dorms.  We all made some food and ate until our bellies were full.  We had a great time of fellowship in anticipation of the new quarter that starts tomorrow.  We finished with some homemade ice cream and a water fight.  We all feel truly blessed to have such fine friends and such a wonderful life.  It is only by God’s grace and provision that we can enjoy such times.

Nearing the finish

Well, I have one more week left in this quarter.  Everyone seems to be feeling the stress without the break week.  I have one more week left and then we will get a three week break to prepare mentally, physically, and spiritually for the final sprint.

Rescue Mission

      On Tuesday I had the privilege of preaching at the Hendersonville Rescue Mission.  It was a real blessing to me.  The look in the eyes of those men and women was all the encouragement I needed.  They seemed to leave with a spring in their step and a hope in their eyes that was not previously there.

Doctrine of Jesus Christ: A Brief Essay by Michael Longson

Introduction

         The doctrine of Christ contains several themes.  To understand these themes better, I will break them down into their respective categories and address each in brief.  The basic themes that require addressing when discussing the doctrine of Jesus Christ are His divine nature in contrast to His human nature and His impeccability.

The Divinity of Christ

          The Gospel of John makes the Biblical stance on the divinity of Christ clear.  John, who spent three and one-half years with Jesus in close personal association, viewed Jesus as Jehovah God in the flesh.  He recognized in the first chapter of his Gospel that not only were the Father and Son separate persons in function and purpose, but that they were both one entity, God, without separation.  John acknowledges that Jesus (John refers to Him as the Word) pre-existed creation and was not only with God in the beginning, but God was in actuality the Word Himself.  He later elaborates that the Word took on flesh that we might see the glory of the Father in the flesh, learning how to live in goodness and love.

The Humanity of Christ

         The humanity of Christ is seen in the flesh that was taken on by the divine Christ, flesh born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit.  In all ways that we can comprehend, the Bible makes it clear to a discerning reader that Jesus had a body flesh and blood prior to the resurrection.  He walked, he ate, he grew tired, he slept, he cried and he loved.  All these are completely human emotions and physical states.  Jesus clearly had a physical body.  As a result of this physical body, Jesus experienced temptation.  This aspect of his human nature leads us now into the next aspect to consider in the doctrine of Christ.

The Impeccability of Christ

           In His human form, Jesus would have experienced many physical needs.  Shortly after Jesus was immersed in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit drove Him to the desert to allow Him to be tested by Satan.  After spending forty days without food in the desert, Jesus would be at His most vulnerable.  Even faced with a forty day fast, when Satan placed the bait in front of Jesus’ hunger ravaged body, He resisted.  The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in all ways, yet was without sin.  He experienced all the same temptations and test in the world that we do, yet He passed through victorious, without stumbling.  There was no sin nature within Jesus to drag Him down.  Jesus, born of the Holy Spirit, did not receive the inherited sin nature passed down from the father ever since the time of Adam.  Therefore, Jesus was a sinless sacrifice who triumphed over all the daily temptations we face even today.

Conclusion

         It is nearly impossible to discuss or understand the nature of Jesus without considering these topics.  Only the divine Christ could meet the sinless perfection to cover over all the sins of all time.  Because of Christ and His sacrifice, we can go before God the Father on the basis of Christ’s work and sacrifice.

The Trinity: A Brief Essay by Michael T. Longson

          The Doctrine of the Trinity is a rational absurdity to most people.  Attempting to explain it is near impossible since there is nothing in human experience that can adequately explain it.  According to the Doctrine of the Trinity, which is nowhere named in the Bible, yet the doctrine is difficult to miss, God exists as three separate, co-equal persons, but do not cease to be one God.  The three separate but equal persons of God, as mentioned in the Bible, are God the Father (God)/Yahweh), God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Sprit (the Holy Spirit).

           The apostles in the New Testament affirm the Jewish belief that God is one, and that God alone should be the object of our worship, yet these same apostles give their worship, and teach others to as well, to Jesus Christ, our Lord as equal to God.  Jesus also claimed that knowing Him was equal to knowing the Father.  The Jesus Himself also refers to the Holy Spirit as another Paraclete, one like Jesus.  Since we have already established that the apostles saw Jesus as an equal of God and Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as an equal to Himself, whom it was already stated considered Himself equivalent to God, it is clear that Jesus saw the Holy Spirit as being an equal of God.  Now, since none can be equal to God except God Himself, because God, being a perfect being Himself, cannot create another perfect being.  The creation would always be less than the Creator would; therefore, a being equal to God, must be God as well, and equally so.

          After establishing a case for the divinity of both Christ and the Holy Spirit as being equally divine as God the Father, many would refute the Trinity by claiming that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are three forms or modes of God, also known as Modalism.  This view has no Scriptural basis since at the Baptism of Jesus the Father looks on as the Holy Spirit descends upon the person of Jesus Christ as He comes upright out of the water.  Later again on the mount of transfiguration, the Holy Spirit is present within the person of Christ and the Father is present in the form of a cloud.  In both cases, several witnesses are present who testified later of the events.

      

          Based on this evidence, a clear case exists for the separate but equal existence of all three persons of the Trinity operating in one accord, yet working in three separate capacities.  Each is equal to the others while at the same time possessing separate and distinct roles in the Godhead (the term applied to the Trinity as a whole).  If one were to attempt to assign specific roles to each member of the Trinity, it may best be described as follows.  God the Father planned creation and all the aspects, God the Son performed the act of creation through His own divine person, and God the Spirit interacts and reside with those restored from the fallen creation and upon creation itself.  Space here does not permit a full explanation of the Scriptural basis for the assigning of each role; yet, the Bible is clear about the unified Godhead consisting in the three persons of God.

More Good News

     When it rains it pours.  After the great news yesterday I received a letter in the mail that said that I had been accepted to begin training as an assistant chaplain at Pardee hospital out here in Hendersonville.  So, I will soon be learning how to minister to patients and their loved ones.  I have also gotten an opportunity to preach at the rescue mission here thanks to a friend who schedules the services over there.  I hope I will have many opportunities to preach there.  It's a great place with many people who are looking for answers.

Joint reasons to celebrate

       Today was Hannah’s 12^th birthday and that alone is a reason to celebrate.  I went and got pizza from Wal-mart that we then made for dinner.  Afterwards we went across the street to Fruitland Baptist Church for the Wednesday night service.  On our way, we checked the mail and found that my acceptance letter had come at last.  we are very excited about the prospect of continuing my education.  Now we will be waiting for God to provide the funds for tuition and books as well as a place of service to support our family and serve Him through a local church.  We are very excited as the last few weeks of this quarter slip by and we head into the last quarter.  Praise God for all His wonderful blessings.

Saturday Pancakes

     Enjoyed my first Saturday of sleeping in for the past month, then pancakes with all my girls including my beautiful bride. Thank You Jesus.  He has been so good to me to save me and increase what I had greater than I almost lost.  Lord, you are the God of grace.

Pray for patience and direction

I recently sent my resume to a church in the Lumberton area.  I found out last Wednesday that the interim Pastor is sending my information along with two others to the pulpit committee for review.  Please pray for their decision process in their search for the man God wants to lead their church, and pray for my guidance if I am that man.

Hospital Assistant Chaplain program

     I'm getting ready to go over to Pardee Hospital to inquire about being trained as an assistant chaplain.  I how to gain insight and a practical understanding of how to minister to people who are sick or dying and their families.  I have begun to realize how important it is to know how to comfort people who are going through such difficult times.  I pray that God uses this experience to serve Him and comfort His people someday.

Blog staus

I am finally back to using my blog.  I posted a link to it on our family website, Longson.net.  This is my personal blog, the family blog is on our site.

Bike

      I am very excited.  My friend Mike at work just gave me his racing bike.  He knew I was looking for a good road bike or even one I could fix up so I could start exercising.  I miss running so much, but my knees just won't allow it anymore.  I am hoping that I can handle biking.Anyway, he can;t ride anymore since his knee surgeries following a car accident so he offered it to me.  I just ordered tires and tubes for it as well as some new grip tape.  Hopefully in a few weeks I will be up and riding after I get some gloves and a helmet.  Thank you Jesus.

Hind's Feet

HIND’S FEET

____________

AN ALLUSION

PRESENTED TO

DR. PAUL SORRELLS

FRUITLAND BAPTIST BIBLE INSTITUTE

____________

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE

ENGLISH 402

____________

BY

MICHAEL LONGSON

FEBRUARY 10, 2011

He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.  – Psalm 18:33

     An assortment of animals finds themselves among the pages of Scripture, each uniquely chosen for the specific purpose of teaching some spiritual truth to God’s people.  These animals range from common everyday animals, to ones we have never seen before, extinct long ago.  Attributes of each animal serves to enlighten the reader about attributes of God, His people, or the World.  In this verse, the Psalmist suspected to be David[1], uses something called a hind to illustrate some important truth to his reader.  To understand what David is saying, we must study the word hind to determine what it is and what we can learn from it.

     We find the most obvious clue in the text itself.  In verse thirty-two, David writes, “It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.”  In this verse thirty-three, David writes, “setteth me upon my high places.”  It appears that from these verses, whatever a hind is, the reader gets the understanding that the second part of verse thirty-two stands in addition to the first part, understood in light of verse thirty-three. [2]  If attempting a paraphrase of these passages for clear readability, one could rewrite the passages as, “It is God that girded me with strength, and it is God that maketh my way perfect because He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, when He setteth me upon my high places.”  At this point, a hind appears to be an animal that lives in high places that possesses a sureness of feet that stands apart from the rest of God’s creation.  It would also need to be one with which David had familiarity.

       In his book, Insights into Biblical Times and Customs, Weiss explains that a hart is a deer.  He compares it to a red deer, a little smaller in stature than the type currently inhabiting Syria and some areas of Africa and Europe.  The name hart applies to the male of the species over five years of age, where hind refers to the female.[3]  Living in the wilderness during his exile years, David would have become most familiar with this animal.  In the wilderness, food and water priorities are paramount.  Given the Levitical Laws on food consumption, maintaining a pure spiritual life before God compounded the problem of finding food.  The hart falls into the list of animals permitted for food consumption in Deut. 12:15.  King Solomon’s provision list included the hart in the daily provisions for his household.[4]  This removes any doubt that David would have made every attempt to catch these harts as food.  Being a delicacy in the Middle East one can expect that David studied them for hours, waiting for the opportunity to snare one.[5]

     Watching the hart one cannot fail to be amazed at the nimble agility this creature possesses.  Many creatures have a natural ability at surefootedness, but none like the hind, which even surpasses the hart.  Nothing scientific supports David’s suggestions that the hind is the surest of foot, compared to the hart, yet they concede his observations may be more subtle and not necessarily scientifically quantifiable.  However, the prophet Habakkuk may have made similar observations, or he simply referred to David’s musings in Habakkuk 3:19.  He uses almost the same words in describing his need and his trust in the Lord.[6]  The hind has the ability to place its hind feet in the exact same spot as its front feet.[7]  To some this may seem inconsequential; however, given the rocky crags this animal calls home, this ability becomes an essential survival skill against predators as the hind leaps fearlessly through the Negev placing its feet within inches of a deadly fall.  One cannot conceive of how it knows instinctively where to place its front feet, but the rear follows the front quickly, in perfect symmetry.

     After hours of watching this graceful animal leaping from precipice to precipice, David would easily recall those images as he moved quickly through the mountainous wilderness fleeing from King Saul leaping from, rock to rock and ducking behind outcroppings and in crevices.  He later drew upon those recollections when writing his Psalm of praise to the Lord.  Instead of bragging about his prowess as a military commander or superior soldier, David rightly gives credit for his successful campaigns and narrow escapes to the Lord Jehovah.[8]  In speaking of the high places that David mentions, scholars look at two possible applications or interpretations to David’s time.  Some believe David is speaking of the nimbleness and fleetness of foot the Lord provided him in traveling through the high and dangerous route through the Negev while fleeing King Saul.[9]  Other scholars believe that the high places refer to the moral elevation that is only attainable from God alone through His directing of our steps.[10]  More importantly is the application for Christians today.  This Scripture points portrays the image of faith, the essential aspect of salvation.  David speaks of his faith in God.  Watching a hind or hart leap, with apparent abandon from rock to rock, risking death at every turn shows their complete trust in not only their judgment at analyzing the distances of the jump and the effort required, but also their complete surety that their rear feet will land in the exact same spot as their front feet.  This serves as a lesson to Christians everywhere that despite the apparent risks or dangers in following the Lord, we need to follow in faith that He will make our feet like that of hind’s feet, following the precise steps of our front feet as they follow the Lord.  The Christian should leap with wild abandon trusting the Lord for the placement of their feet.[11]  Whether considering this passage from the point danger point of view or the moral or spiritual heights we can reach in the Lord, either way it suggests that we can trust in the Lord to direct our steps to keep us from falling as the apostles and members of the early church did 2000 years ago.  They had faith: faith that Got would guide them and protect them.  Henry Halley says in his Pocket Handbook of the Bible, that “Faith is the ability to feel so secure of God, that no matter how dark the day, there is no doubt as to the outcome.”[12]

Bibliography

Clark, Glen. I Will Lift Mine Eyes. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1937.

Gill, John. "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible: Psalm 18:33." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).

Halley, Henry H. Pocket Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary. 17th. Chicago, IL: Henry H. Halley, 1946.

Hart, Henry Chichester, and Andrew Dickson White. The Animals Mentioned in the Bible. Oxford University: The Rligious Tract Society, 1888.

Jamieson, Robert, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown. "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/habakkuk/habakkuk-3.html (accessed January 24, 2011).

Parker, John. The Bible Cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the Civil and Natural History of the Sacred Writings. London: Harrison and Co., Printers, 1841.

Spurgeon, Charles H. "The Treasury of David." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).

Weiss, G. Christian. Insights Into Bible Times and Customs. Lincoln, NE: The Good News Broadcasting Association, 1972.

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[1] Charles  H. Spurgeon "The Treasury of David." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/treasury-of-david/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011)

[2] Context Clues from Psalm 18:32-33 (KJV)

[3] G. Christian Weiss,  Insights Into Bible Times and Customs (Lincoln, NE: The Good News Broadcasting Association, 1972), 123.

[4] Henry Chichester Hart, and Andrew Dickson White, The Animals Mentioned in the Bible (Oxford University: The Rligious Tract Society, 1888), 121.

[5] Weiss, 123.

[6] John Parker, The Bible Cyclopædia: or, Illustrations of the Civil and Natural History of the Sacred Writings (London: Harrison and Co., Printers, 1841), 594.

[7] Glen Clark,  I Will Lift Mine Eyes (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1937), 11.

[8] Spurgeon

[9] Ibid.

[10] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/jamieson-fausset-brown/habakkuk/habakkuk-3.html (accessed January 24, 2011).

[11] John Gill, "John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible: Psalm 18:33." Bible Study Tools. 2011. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/psalms-18-33.html (accessed January 24, 2011).

[12] Henry H. Halley, Pocket Bible Handbook: An Abbreviated Bible Commentary, 17th  (Chicago, IL: Henry H. Halley, 1946), 332.