The Lord Surrounds His People

The world is a danger, but we do not travel alone — and never have. Lord Jesus has walked the road himself, on the journey he calls us to travel with him. He encircles us as the mountains encircle Jerusalem. He protects us and ensures our way. The Sons of Korah understood this very well:

Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Weeping,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.
    (Psalm 84:5-7)

The wicked will not last. They will not withstand the Judgment of Christ and the Cross. He will not put up with them forever; the Consuming Fire of God’s Love will complete its work in them until each one appears before God in Zion, whose gates are never shut.

The Lord Surrounds His People
(Psalm 125)

The world is a danger, the timid overtaken
Cry out like children in the night when they awaken
Those trusting in the Lord will not be shaken
But we’ll be standing when the Lord surrounds His people

Wicked men come with evil infection
And try to lead us in the wrong direction
The Lord will keep us in His circle of protection
And none will harm us when the Lord surrounds His people

Some will slip away and think they’re being clever
And be surprised He won’t put up with them forever
But every true believer He will treasure
And we’ll continue as the Lord surrounds His people
© 2001 by Jeff Doles 

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

A Sacrament of Water and the Word

Baptism is not a statute to be observed but a sacrament to be received. It is not a work we perform but a work God does in us through means of Water and the Word. And by it, God accomplishes some very important things in us:

Do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. (Romans 6:3-5)

Baptized into the death of Christ, we are buried with Christ through baptism, so that we may have new life, the life of Christ, through whom we are united through baptism. As Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This is what salvation looks like.

The idea suggested by some, that Paul is speaking here of a baptism of the Holy Spirit rather than a baptism of water, is of relatively recent vintage. It is absent from the early Church. We do not find it in the early Church Fathers, nor do we find it in the Reformers. It was not until the last century or so that this idea began to arise.

Certainly it is the Holy Spirit who baptizes us, and what God accomplishes in us by baptism, God does through the Holy Spirit — but also through the substance of water. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed us through the substance of human flesh, and of wood and nails, so also God ministers grace to us through such means as water, oil, bread and wine. As someone has well said, matter matters. God works through material means as well as through spiritual.

That is the nature of sign and sacrament. The sign participates in the reality of the thing it portrays. The early Church held no Nominalist views, where the only significance of a thing or act was merely whatever name or meaning we assign to it in our own minds. Nominalism did not arise until around the Enlightenment era. Rather, the Church was Realist, understanding that a thing or act participates in the reality, the ontology, the very being of whatever it portrays and presents (or re-presents) to us.

In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul tells us that there is but one Body and one Spirit and one Baptism. That one baptism is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and it is through the material of water, baptizing us into the One Body. For baptism is the initiatory rite into the Church, the Body of Christ.

Baptism is not a statute to which we submit, or a work we do to earn something. It is a gift we receive, a gift of God’s grace, given to us by means of water and the Word.

If The Lord Was Not With Us

Sometimes it is the anger and pride of others who would entangle us in their arrogance, foolishness and deceit. Sometimes it is our own anger and pride that would trip us up and enslave us to the passions we have so easily learned to accommodate. But the Lord is faithful, and with us to deliver us, and so we learn to abide, even amid all the dangers and snares we may encounter on our journey.

If The Lord Was Not With Us
(Psalm 124)

Now when men rose against us
In their fury and pride
We would surely be swallowed alive
If the Lord was not with us
Standing right by our side
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll abide

O their anger was rising
Rising up on that day
And the raging flood would have washed us away
If the Lord was not with us
Standing right by our side
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll abide

And the fowler was waiting
And preparing his snare
Thanks be given to God, Who was there
For the trap has been broken
It held us in vain
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll remain
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Gospel of Recapitulation

Adam blew it. Christ renewed it. Recapitulation. 

Recapitulation as atonement is a very biblical idea. Paul speaks of it expressly as the plan and purpose of God. It is the saving work of Christ, through the Incarnation and the Cross:

God did this when he revealed to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up all things in Christ – the things in heaven and the things on earth. (Ephesians 1:9-10 NET)

The Greek word for “to head up” is anakephalaioo, meaning to gather up into one, to sum up — quite literally, it means to head up. It is recapitulation, or as we would say in today’s jargon, “recap.” Paul tells us that all in heaven and on earth are summed up, headed up, “recapped” and brought to unity, to oneness, in Christ. St. Irenaeus of Lyon (AD 130-202), picking up on Paul, here and elsewhere, speaks specifically of recapitulation as the saving work of Christ:

Wherefore also He passed through every stage of life, restoring to all communion with God ... For it behoved Him who was to destroy sin, and redeem man under the power of death, that He should Himself be made that very same thing which he was, that is, man; who had been drawn by sin into bondage, but was held by death, so that sin should be destroyed by man, and man should go forth from death. For as by the disobedience of the one man who was originally moulded from virgin soil, the many were made sinners, and forfeited life; so was it necessary that, by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation. St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.18

For the Lord, taking dust from the earth, moulded man; and it was upon his behalf that all the dispensation of the Lord's advent took place. He had Himself, therefore, flesh and blood, recapitulating in Himself not a certain other, but that original handiwork of the Father, seeking out that thing which had perished. — St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.14

That the Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation which is supported by Himself, and was making a recapitulation of that disobedience which had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience which was [exhibited by Himself when He hung] upon a tree, [the effects] also of that deception being done away with. — St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.19

These things, therefore, He recapitulated in Himself: by uniting man to the Spirit, and causing the Spirit to dwell in man, He is Himself made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be the head of man: for through Him (the Spirit) we see, and hear, and speak. — St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.20

He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as you can perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall be on the watch for your head, and you on the watch for His heel. — St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.21

The words of St. Irenaeus echo the author of Hebrews:

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:14-18)

Recapitulation means that what Adam got wrong, Christ put right. And humankind, which was once headed up in Adam, is now headed up in Christ.

Consequently, just as one trespass [Adam’s] resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act [Christ’s] resulted in justification and life for all people. (Romans 5:18)

For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22) 

Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:9-10 that all in heaven and on earth are summed up, headed up, “recapped,” brought to unity, to oneness, in Christ. If Christ is the head, then humankind is the body. St. Gregory of Nyssa understood this very well: “Now the body of Christ, as I have often said, is the whole of humanity.”

This is Recapitulation.
This is Atonement.
This is the Gospel.

Our Eyes Look Up To You

With repentance, hope, and the prospect of returning to the heart of  God — the fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and so be properly aligned with everyone and everything, and at peace within ourselves, it is renewal we now seek. We learn to offer up our ways and our days, that they may be filled with God. For we have had enough of the twisted ways of the world, which drain our days dry. We long to be free of their grip.

Our Eyes Look Up To You
(Psalm 123)

We are servants of the Lord
Our eyes look up to You
Send forth Your word once more
The people of Your covenant renew

O Maker of our days
We make our life Your home
We offer up our ways
And lift our eyes to You upon the throne

Have mercy on us, Lord
And conquer every part
Of everything that seeks
To rule within our hearts
Our eyes look up to You

We are servants of the Lord
And waiting at Your hand
We pray that we might see
The glory of Your name throughout our land

Have mercy on us, Lord
And conquer every part
Of everything that seeks
To rule within our hearts
Our eyes look up to You
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Christ of the Fiery Eye

Here is one of the three main Bible passages used by many evangelicals in an attempt to shut down any idea of Christian universalism. Does it succeed in doing so? I don’t think so, but consider for yourself.

In flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 NKJV)

Here are several brief points I would note in response (and have done in discussions of this passage on Facebook).

The Fire
The fire of God is purgative. The God who is a “consuming fire” is the same as the God who is love. So, whatever the consuming fire of God is, it is always about love. God’s fire is a refiner’s fire (see Malachi 3; 1 Corinthians 3), not for the purpose of destruction, or retribution — God is love, and love is not retributive (see 1 Corinthians 13) — but for restoration. 

In Revelation 19:12, the eyes of Christ are like “flames of fire.” Nothing can be hidden from his penetrating gaze — he sees all. The flames are the consuming fire of God’s love, a refiner’s fire burning away all evil yet preserving in us what is good, what comes from God.

The Vengeance
The vengeance God metes out is not about retribution — for God is love, and love is not retributive. In Romans 12, Paul tells us about the “vengeance” of God. God does not repay evil with evil but with good; God overcomes evil with good.

The Punishment
The “punishment” is not retributive — God is love, and love is not retributive. The Greek word is tino and refers to a recompense. But again, Paul shows us in Romans 12 how God pays back: not with evil but with good; God overcomes evil with good. The vengeance and punishment of God are about chastening, for the purpose of correction and restoration.

The Duration
The Greek word translated as “everlasting” (or “eternal”) here is aionion and refers not to endless duration but to an age; generally, it is the age that is to come (and which is already breaking into this present age). The chastening punishment Paul speaks of here may be in the age to come, but it is not of endless duration. For chastening always has an end in view: the correction of an offender.

The Destruction
The “destruction” (Greek, olethros) itself is not endless. Nor it is retributive — God is love, and love is not retributive but corrective and restorative. In 1 Corinthians 5:5, Paul uses olethros concerning the man who was having sexual relations with his father’s: “Hand this man over to Satan for the destruction [olethros] of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” The purpose of this was not the final destruction of the man but for his ultimate salvation and restoration.

The Presence
“From the presence of the Lord” does not mean that those undergoing such a terrible experience are shut out from the presence of the Lord. Quite the opposite, it is exactly the presence of the Lord — the overwhelming glory of God’s presence — that causes the distress felt by those who turn away from the love of God. They cannot escape the glorious, loving presence of God, yet they are unable to bear it — until the consuming fire of God’s love has burned away every wrong, dark thought about God that prevents them from seeing God as he truly is: self-giving, other-centered love, revealed in the crucified and risen Christ. There is one other place in the New Testament where we find the expression, “from the presence of the Lord,” and that is in Acts 3:20, where Peter says, “so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” It is not about being shut out from the presence of the Lord but, rather, what proceeds from the presence of the Lord. 

See also From the Face of the Lord. 

The icon form above is Christ of the Fiery Eye, from whose face nothing is hidden.

The House of the Lord

Having begun in repentance, and with our eyes lifted up in hope, there is now joy at the invitation to go up to the true home of the heart, the House of the Lord. We have been here before. We were born for it. It is inherent to our being. Though we may have often departed from it, it has never departed from us. It has remained in us as our longing — and our belonging. And now we remember, and now we rejoice. For the House of the Lord is not only our dwelling place in God; it is God dwelling us — in the fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The House of the Lord
(Psalm 122)

I was so glad when they said,
“Let us go up to the House of the Lord”
I was so glad when they said,
“Let us go up to the house of the Lord”
You and I are the House of the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed

Well, I looked down and I saw my feet
Within the walls of the House of the Lord
I looked down and I saw my feet
Within the walls of the House of the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed

Pray, pray, pray
Pray for the peace of the House of the Lord
Pray, pray, pray
Pray for the peace of the House of the Lord

You and I are the House of the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed
He’ll see His love displayed
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Who Follow the Way

There are many who profess to be Christian, to be “born again,” to know Christ, who may even do many things in the name of Christ, yet do not follow him or do what he says. They are putting forth a false self that Christ does not recognize.

Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. (Matthew 7:22-27)

On the other hand, there may be many who have never heard of Jesus Christ, but who follow the way of Christ, obey the truth of Christ, and experience something of the life of Christ at work in them. For Christ is the Light of the World, the True Light who gives Light to everyone who comes into the world (John 1:9). And, “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12-13 NET).

In Romans 2, Paul speaks of those who possessed the Law of Moses but did not obey it, and also of those who, though they did not know the Law of Moses, yet they lived by its precepts, written in their hearts. Who was in a better condition?

Likewise, there may be many who respond to what Light they have been given by our Lord Jesus, even though they do not understand who he is — but how well do any of us understand who he is? They somehow hear his voice and follow him, even if they have no explicit knowledge of him. I have more hope for them than I do for those who profess to belong to Christ yet do not follow him.

My continual prayer is that God lead all to see, know, love, trust and follow Lord Jesus. How that comes about, and in what order, is in God’s hands, and I am content to leave it with him to do according to his mercy and wisdom. My confidence is that, whatever happens in the meantime, in the end, God will be “All in All” (1 Corinthians 15:28).

There may be many who
Follow the Way of Christ,
Live the Truth of Christ,
Experience the Life of Christ,
And so know Him, though they
Do not yet know His name.
Then let us look for Christ
In everyone we meet.

Christ is the only
Way to the Father,
But there are many
Ways to Christ. And
There is no road
He won’t come down
To find you and me.

My Help Comes From the Lord

Having begun in repentance (see Too Long Living In A Land With No Peace), the journey of The Pilgrim Psalms proceeds to having hope, the lifting up of the head. Looking to the source of our help. Looking to our heart’s true home, which is in God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Feels a little bit Reggae to me.

My Help Comes from the Lord
(Psalm 121)

I lift my eyes to the hills
Where does my help come from
My help comes from the Lord
Not from the idols on the hills
They cannot save themselves
My help comes from the Lord

He don’t sleep, He don’t slumber
I know that He won’t let me go under
He is the maker of lightning and thunder
I lift my eyes to the Lord

He will keep me on the way
And He will not let them harm me
My help comes from the Lord
In the night and in the day
My comings and my goings
My help comes from the Lord

He don’t sleep, He don’t slumber
I know that He won’t let me go under
He is the maker of lightning and thunder
I lift my eyes to the Lord

And in a world that is filled with upheaval
I know that He will keep me from evil
He is the watcher over His people
I lift my eyes to the Lord
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Last Word on Everything

The Last Word on all things, the ultimate condition of everyone and everything, is this: God will be All in All. It is the final horizon for all things. There may be many horizons between here and there — St. Paul describes such in 1 Corinthians 15 — but this is the final one.

For just as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; then when Christ comes, those who belong to him. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be eliminated is death. For he has put everything in subjection under his feet. But when it says “everything” has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the one who put everything in subjection to him. And when all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subjected to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be All in All. (1 Corinthians 15:22-28)

This is the final word on all things, and it is a good word, because God is good — indeed, goodness itself. The final word is Love, for God is Love, and does nothing that is in any way inconsistent with Love. 

It means that whatever may happen in the meantime, in the end God will be All in All. Which means that Love will be All in All. It is the Good News of the Gospel — and it cannot be undone!.

The Wrath of Divine Love

The Bible does speak about the “wrath” of God. But it is a wrath against sin, not against persons. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world (John 3:17). What God does condemn is sin, which is destructive to the world God created. It was sin, not persons, that Christ condemned through the Incarnation and the Cross.

Paul speaks about the wrath of God in Romans 1, and he tells us how it is revealed. Three times he says it: “God gave them over ...” to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves (v. 24); to shameful lusts (v. 26); to a depraved mind (v. 28). It is not retribution — God is love, and love is not the least bit retributive.

Why did God give them over to their impurity and depravity? Was it for their utter destruction, never to be redeemed? No! But for the same reason Paul instructed the Corinthians to deal with the man who was sleeping with his father’s wife: “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 5:5). It was that the man might be saved.

And again, Paul speaks of those who did not hold firmly to the faith but rejected it and made a shipwreck of it; “Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Timothy 1:20). In both cases, it was for the sake of the ones being handed over, that they might ultimately be redeemed.

So it is also in Romans. At the end of the long argument Paul makes in Romans 9-11, he concludes this: “For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all” (Romans 11:32). So, why did God “hand them over” in Romans 1? It was not to finally abandon them to eternal conscious torment but that he might finally have mercy on them.

The wrath of God is not the manifestation of some dark, vengeful, retributive impulse in God — such a thing would not be worthy of the God who is love, the God who is fully revealed in Jesus Christ. A deity who possessed such a dark nature would be no better than Zeus, and not worthy of worship. Rather, the wrath of God is the manifestation of his love, in order to show mercy to all.

Too Long Living in a Land with No Peace

As we enter the season of Lent, it is very like the journey of The Pilgrim Psalms. It begins in repentance, an awareness that we have for too long been living in a land with no peace, among a people and a culture that offers no peace. It is a recognition of the distance the heart has come from its true home, and a longing to return once again.

Too Long (Psalm 120)

Too long, too long
I've been living in a land with no peace
Too long, too long
Living in a land with no peace
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long

Too long, too long
I've been living with these lying tongues
Too long, too long
Living with my own lying tongue
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long

They think I’m crazy
And they look at me oddly
When I turn and walk away
Maybe I am crazy
But I just want to be godly
And I can't stay another day

It’s been too long, too long
Living in a land with no peace
Too long, too long
You’re looking at a man with no peace
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Death and Ashes, Fire and Love

It seems almost a cruel trick for Ash Wednesday to fall on St. Valentine’s Day. One is the remembrance of our mortality, the other of love. The imposition of ashes on our forehead speaks of our inescapable death — dust to dust, ashes to ashes. But the mark we are given on this day is cross-shaped, and points to what is stronger than death. The ashes are traced in the Sign of the Cross, for it is in the Cross of Christ that we encounter Love, poured out for our sake. It is finally what the Incarnation is about, for in it we see what it means to be God, and what it means to be human. It is to love without limit and without end — Self-Giving, Other-Centered, Cross-Shaped Love.

This Love is stronger than death. For it has gone through death and come out the other side, “trampling down death by death,” as the Orthodox like to sing, and bestowing Life. And just as death cannot finally be resisted, and we all must die, even so, Love, which is stronger than death, cannot finally be resisted. For we are created by God, who is Love, to be like God, and so to be like Love. It is inherent to what it means to be human.

But, of course, St. Valentine himself understood this very well, who gave his life for the sake of Love.

The perfect Scripture for this day, to me at least, is from Song of Solomon, which I follow up with a couple of quotes about it from the early Church:

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.” (Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV)

“When death comes, it cannot be resisted. By whatever arts, whatever medicines, you meet it; the violence of death can none avoid who is born mortal; so against the violence of love can the world do nothing. For from the contrary the similitude is made of death; for as death is most violent to take away, so love is most violent to save. Through love many have died to the world, to live to God.” — St. Augustine of Hippo, Explanations of the Psalms 48.12

“Let the love of God be stronger than death in you. If death releases you from the desire for everything, how much more appropriate is it that the love of God should release you from the desire for everything.” — John of Apamea, Letter 45, To Hesychius.

The Cross and the Consuming Fire

There is no “hell” as such. There is an idea that has been cobbled together and weaponized by certain strands of Christianity and labeled “hell,” but such a realm is not found in the Bible. There is Hades, certainly, the realm of the dead, which has been defeated by Christ, through the Cross and Resurrection. 

And there is Gehenna, which is not an other-worldly, post-mortem experience but a geographical location outside of Old Jerusalem. It was the place of historical judgment warned about by the Old Testament prophets. In the Gospels, it is the prophetic warning of the historical judgment that would soon befall Jerusalem.

But there is no “hell” as such. Yet there is most certainly divine judgment, which is the putting right of all things. It is not retributive in nature, for God is love, and love is not retributive. But it is restorative, for that is the way of Love. The judgment of God is nothing other than the self-giving, other-centered love of God, revealed most acutely through our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Looking to that moment, Lord Jesus announced, 

Now is the judgment of the world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all to myself. (John 12:31-32)

The Cross is the place of judgment, and it is there that whatever does not belong in us, because it does not come from God, is done away with, so that only what does come from God remains. It is the place of divine fire, the refiner’s fire, the fire of God’s love — and Lord Jesus tells us that we must all be salted with it (Mark 9:49). For the God who is a Consuming Fire is none other than the God who is Love. So the fire of judgment is not retributive but purgative and restorative.

For those who are unprepared for the fiery love of God that purges and refines us, and turn away from it, it may seem a great torment until it burns away the bondage and the blinders and finally sets us all free. Those who turn toward God’s consuming love will experience it as it truly is — the utterly self-giving, other-centered love of God, revealed supremely in Christ on the Cross.

A Haiku on Hell
Scripture tells us that
God is a Consuming Fire,
and that God is Love.

The Pattern and Paradigm of Scripture

Allegory and typology are somewhat fluid; there are no hard and fast definitions for them when it comes to the Scriptures. What is important is to see the pattern and paradigm of Christ and the gospel in the Scriptures, as much in the Old Testament as in the New. 

For according to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Scriptures are about him. They must be opened by the Lord to our understanding, our minds must be opened up to them by the Lord, and our hearts must be unveiled in order to see — and that unveiling happens only when we turn to the Lord Jesus. It is only then that we see that all the Scriptures are about him.*

To read the Scriptures, then, we look for Christ and the gospel throughout. Not as something to be read back into the Scriptures but, rather, as inherent in the Scriptures, as being what they really are about from their beginning. For until we read them as the testimony of Christ, we are not yet reading them as Scripture.

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* Luke 24:27-32,44-45
  John 5:39,46
  2 Corinthians 3:14-16.

The Pilgrim Psalms Project

This is a project that has been a long time coming. I began writing it over 30 years ago, and it has been in studio production over the past two years. And now, thanks to my brother, Greg Doles, who prodded and poked and cajoled me into bringing to completion what I had begun so long ago, and to his amazing skills and instincts as a record producer and soundsmith, as well as being a musician and songwriter himself, and thanks to the generosity and artistic genius of so many musicians and vocalist friends and family — fine players all — I am delighted to announce that it is now complete.

The Pilgrim Psalms is a collection of 15 songs based on Psalms 120-134, the “Songs of Ascent.” It was first inspired not only by the psalms themselves, but also by Eugene Peterson’s book on them, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. These psalms describe a pilgrimage. They are thought to have been sung by Israelites making their way up to Jerusalem for the three great festivals: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The journey begins from far away, in homesickness and repentance. It ends in Jerusalem, at the Holy Temple, with all worshiping the Lord together, one in heart and mind. For these “road songs,” the psalms they have sung along the way, have brought them together, refocusing their hearts toward the Lord and each other. And it is for us today, as the people of Christ, as we learn to travel together, becoming of one mind and heart with our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so shall we find ourselves standing within the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, and heavenly, whose gates are never shut. Come join the journey!

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Many thanks to the singers and musicians, whose fine talents and generous spirit have added so greatly to the whole project, lifting it above and beyond what I had dared to hope when I first began. So, in addition to my own vocals and acoustic guitar are:

• Backing Vocals by Greg Doles, Jon Doles, Heather Doles, Kwando Lynch, Christina Chang, Latora Desue and Stephanie Robinson
• Keyboards by Gary Ripple and Tracy Collins
  
• Drums by Max Billingsly and David Lynch
• Bass by Doug Matthews and Dave Murphy
• Electric Guitar by Hart Hogan and Jeff Jackson
• Cello by Mark Ford

 Thank you all very much!

The Secret of Humility and Hope

All things — which is to say, everything that exists, that has being — are created by Christ, through Christ, for Christ, and in Christ (Colossians 1:15-17). So, everything is sacred, from the lowliest and most mundane to the most heavenly and exalted. All share in the same being, the one being that comes from God, who is not merely a being (not even the greatest of all beings) but is Being Himself. Further, all things in heaven and on earth share in the same destiny, set from before the foundation of the world, that, in the fullness of the times, all be brought together in unity and headed up in Christ.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Ephesians 1:7-10).

That being so, then whatever things we think are the most lowly and least valuable have the same source and origin, and the same destiny as do we. For we share the same stuff, the same sacred substance as they. We are a part of each other and participate in the same being with each other, sharing in the same existence with each other. This is cause for great humility, and for great honor and respect toward even those things that seem the least.

On the other hand, whatever things we think are most wonderful and exalted also share the same source and origin, and have the same destiny as do we. We share with them the same sacred substance, participating with them in the same existence. And this is cause for great hope for ourselves. 

The secret of humility and hope is that they go together. In hope there is humility, and in humility there is hope.