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Waiting and Walking

It has long been my practice to not give into a certain type of chronological snobbery, but to read old as well as new books. One of the Old books that I have been reading recently is called Communion With God. This man had twelve children only one who survived to adulthood and she a beutiful daughter named Esther died at age 22. No man can say they know tragedy like John Owen did. Yet his books have no cynicism about them. How does a man live through that and not only live but overcome.

So given this knowledge about Owen it surprises me to read things like this. "It often happens that when all our searchings have not brought us to him we are left to wait silently for him and to walk humbly until he appears." The word, "Often" is surprising. To think of a man who wrote so prolifically and was so close to God, say that often he sought and did not find immediately. He had to wait. What make me more angry than waiting! I am not sure. But who are we to command God to be on our schedule. Life in the Kingdom can be described with many motifs; i.e. Joy in God, Life in Christ, and Hope in the resurrection. But I was impressed with the need to add one to that; "waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God(2 peter2:12)"

I know there is something deep and profound about this discipline of waiting. I think it says something very clearly about the creature creator distinction. We honor the Lord as exactly that the Lord. The one who does his own bidding on His own time.

I do not have much more to say about this at the present time only that I think some harmful trends of religious pragmatism may be avoided if we learn to wait on Him instead of seeing him as waiting on us. I also think there is an insight into the nature and mysterious work of the Spirit and more broadly the trinity as it relates to the believer.

The Breakfast Club

Though it was a cheeze 80's movie it has now evolved into a saturday morning event! What is more manly than three men eating breakfast on thier day off. In fact saturday morning is a great family time. It has long been a morning for family fellowship even back into my childhood. Not to mention that it is also my Dad's identical twin brothers family morning as well. Which in the past has caused some confusion at our favorite restaurant, Kathies. One morning when we entered the waitress refused to wait on us! She claimed the same man had been in there not half an hour earlier with a different wife and whole different family!
But inspite of the funny occurances I see it as Gods provision at this time. The apostle Paul mentions in Romans how he hopes to visit them and enjoy thier company for a time. This has certianly been a spiritually growing time for our family and I am glad to see it growing even after being away for so long. I believe that truely enjoying one another's company is a gospel grace and a joy to experience.

A wish from a busy life.

I wish that I did not feel the need to be so busy. For sure working 30 hours a week and then trying to raise support on top of that requires a busy life. But so often I catch myself using the busy excuse. When something comes up ahh I am too busy... when I think about sitting down to enjoy a good theological read... ahh too busy! Amongst all this busyness am I really stopping to reflect on what I am busy for?
The busy mindset is our pragmatic and materialistic cultures answer to satisfaction. Often I buy it hook line and sinker. I wish that I would buy it less often. That is my wish! Thanks to God I can come to the meaning of life. I can sit at the feet of the center of reality and be satisfied in God's goodness. Like the Psalmist in 86:11 "Unite my heart to fear your name!" I long for that to be a reality!

A Day in the Life of Isaac

This post was inspired by someone who emailed me requesting a little picture of what a day in the life of Isaac Knopp was like. I think it is harder for me to write about just the everyday for several reasons. In part it seems like it is an unnecessary input. Who wants to hear what flavor coffee I had with breakfast this morning. Some things contrary to my modernist stream of consciousness friends should never be chronicled. But the main reason why it is difficult to write about the practicals that make up my life right now is that it is so fluid. Undoubtedly if I were to take one day and highlight it there would be more disanalogy between it and the subsequent day than analogy.

That being said, Last night I had my birthday party. Contrary to popular opinion birthdays are a time for grand and happy remembrance not simply a time of depression. Time is no mans master marching into the future carrying with it ever increasing riches, and boasting of its exploits. This past year has been a time of sowing and reaping a lot of riches. I have gained a tremendous amount of relational wealth and am rich indeed.

You know it is everyone's duty to enjoy what God has given to Him. And to me in large part has been given the wonderful ministry of being a herald: a trumpet for God's Kingdom in Japan. I have been reading Ezekiel and the price of being such a one is apparent in that he is responsible for others before the Lord and expressly comes bearing a message that some will like and others will not. Most of the practical side of this involves traveling here and there, in town out of town, encouraging people. Last week a man wrote me an in-depth personal letter after having just met. It's things like this that prove to me the effectiveness of partnership ministry. My prayer is simply that I may be more like Christ in it.

Another large slice of the pie is working. I have recently been working 20-30 hours a week doing construction. There is something peculiarly good about doing physical labor. At the end of the day I can feel it.

The rest the interests that I pursue on a regular basis are sort of like a baker's last loaf. The scraps individually are not large enough but all together they make up a fairly sizable and satisfying loaf. Just a few of these are, language study, the current theological read, church fellowship, encouraging college students, and spending time with my family.

I hope you have enjoyed these coffee shop statistics on my life. Until next time- Isaac

Another Excellent Read

I had heard stories all of the men in this book. Except for maybe Charles Simeon, whose story is possibly the most powerful in the book. As all of Pipers books are this book is deeply truthful and passionately Humane. There are two main reasons why I think this book is compelling. First all three individuals did have incredibly power to endure. The most remarkable thing was not that they merely endured, but that they endured with a distinctively engaged and upbeat demeanor. Newton liked to tell a parable about a man who was given a carriage to travel a thousand miles at the end of which he was to receive an unimaginably large estate and inheritance. A mile from his destination the wheel broke on His carriage. Newton liked to pose the question at this point, "this being the case how silly would it have been if this man wept that whole last mile saying, 'my carriage is broken, my carriage is broken!'?" Now how Characteristic is this of our hearts at times. God is lavish in all of his promises and slack in none. Yet we still want to cry, "my carriage is broken," about the small sufferings we endure. There are many other and far deeper insights into how these three men found deep roots of endurance in their lives that are detailed which I will not go into. I reserve that Magellan like voyage for those who wish to read the book. But I will say that it was a very satisfying read for me. Which brings me to the second reason why this book was compelling. It was easy to mull over current modes of how I deal with suffering in light of their lives. This is part of the benefit of biographies which other genes cannot touch. It is clear to see how they trusted the Lord, feared man, repented, and obeyed. Their lives act as a foil for what they believed. In this there is great opportunity for improvement upon the principals they lived by and an even deeper encouragement because they made it!

Time is in the Lord's hands

Psalms 37:3 -5
"Trust in the Lord, and do good;dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and He will act."

From the moment we believe til the moment we die we live in Him. But often I do not recognize His immediate presence. Does the Lord hear? Does He know my situation? Is He really for Me? All of these are questions that have come to my mind because of the recent situation. As many of you know I was planning to leave for Japan in late August early September. The Lord has not given me that request. Why? Is it not His will for Japan, one of the nations, to hear of His Glorious Gospel? Currently I still need about 40% more to be free to minister. There are several conclusions that I could make. The Lord is disciplining me to be more diligent servant and trust Him more; He wants to grow the partnership ministry He has committed to me; He has some secret design that He is at work to accomplish through this. I would suggest that it is not one of the above but all three.
First, as the verse suggests the Lord has been at work to teach me how to be more diligent and trusting in my service. It is easy to fear man and circumstances. But God is in control. The verse suggests a very peaceful tone with the words, "dwell in the land". We abide in Christ's love and in that place he teaches us to befriend(cultivate) faithfulness. This is certainly a challenge for me and a blessing.
Second, He wants to grow the partnership ministry He has committed to me. This has to do with stewardship but more fundamentally with partnership ministry. Certainly the financial partnership is one aspect. If that was completely satisfied I would be buying my plane ticket right now. But the prayer aspect of partnership is not quite as quantifiable. I am convinced it is because the Lord wants to grow the prayer ministry that He has not brought in all the finances.
Lastly, He has some secret design that He is at work to accomplish through this. I say that the design is a secret because sometimes the best answer requires no more knowledge. The sweetest answers don't come simply from more information but from an experiential knowledge. Do I trust that God has brought this difficulty into my life for a good AND redemptive reason. A reason that is both for His Glory and My good. Should I believe that when believer's suffer it is always because they are sinners and are simply getting less than they deserve? This is not the answer that God gives to Job. If you notice God doesn't answer Job's why question. He extols His own power, wisdom, and creatorhood over all creation. In this knowledge Job understand that the Lord is worthy of His Trust. Even if the normal proverbial benefits of a Godly life, health and prosperity, are not there. Even so I don't need to always have an answer because I have it in who God is for me. He is wise for me! There is deep satisfaction in knowing this.
I am now praying and putting before the Lord a date in early January. This will actually work very well with the college ministry. I will be able to do three months of language school and be ready for the beginnings of their semester in April.

Time is in the Lords Hands

This weekend I was able visit my brother up in Ohio. For those of you who have been praying for me I can see answers to your prayers for me. My ambition is to develop the relationships that I have here so that they will be at a place to continue to grow even though I am out of country. My brother and I were able to connect on a level which displayed a growing trust in one another and the Lord. Some of the most enjoyable times for me over the weekend though was the time I spend with Michael's whole family. This is a picture of my brother and His son Eli. Isn't he Cute!

The trip was about six and a half hours. Such a trip could dampen someones spirits. However, if you notice myself and my older brother Paul, do our spirits look dampend by the prospect of the trip. No!