Letters to my brothers

That I belong

Charles Bennett — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:10:04 +0000

That I belong, body and soul, in life and in death, not to myself but to my faithful savior Jesus Christ; who at the cost of his own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that he protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation. Therefore by His Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

This is the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism; “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”

My dear brother,

These past few weeks I’ve recited this answer over and over in my thoughts. It has been in an endeavor to memorize these truths. In doing so each of the phrases has taken on such great meaning to me that I have been walking in the blessing of their truth.

I thought I would use these letters to you to share some of my thoughts and in doing so I pray you too will be blessed.

The first three words “That I belong” have been of a great comfort to me as I sit and often wonder at the deep beauty of its truth. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times my brother that I have walked this life believing and feeling as I am a complete misfit and alien to this world. To say that “I don’t belong” would be too simple a statement. It wasn’t that was trespassing or that I tried to be something I wasn’t. It was more like no matter what I engaged in or endeavored to do I could never identify with that end.

Yet these three words declare a truth that transcends my own world. “That I belong” tell me that there is meaning and identity. I am no longer an alien no longer a stranger. This truth means I have an identity in that to which I belong. In some ways it is like my automobile. I can describe its make, model and color but when the authorities want to “identify” the auto they seek its owner. They would find that the 2002 black Toyota “belongs” to Charles. In the same way when I read “I belong” and see to whom I belong I find my identity. I belong to Christ. What glory in those words, what peace is given my heart, how my heart loses its longing and finds rest! “I belong”, no words are sweeter to my eyes, my ears, my heart, my very soul!

Brother, I rejoice that you too can speak the words “That I belong”. I pray that as you find time in your day to ponder this wonderful truth you too will be blessed.

Belonging to Him,
Charles

Introspection in light of mercy

Joe Propri — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 04:18:34 +0000

Dear Brother,

After our phone call, I thought more deeply about God’s mercy for us. I, too, have had moments (often!) when I was disgusted with myself. These times come after I have done something sinful, selfish or stupid. Or, when I have allowed my mind to think inappropriately and linger there, enjoying (uncomfortably!) the imagination.
It is good to be introspective, to a degree. After all, Paul exhorted the Corinthians to “examine” themselves to see if they were “in the faith” (2 C 13:5). In believers, I think of this as a work of the Holy Spirit, “scanning” the heart for a “virus”. In computer lingo, the scan will always find a virus as long as we are in this body (Rom 7:15)! And the standard response upon becoming aware of the virus is to expect a forthcoming hard drive crash, or, minimally, a major cleansing that will seriously affect regularly used programs and hinder our ability to function habitually as we have. Any way you look at it is bad news.

But, I’m learning the dangers of introspection also. The Holy Spirit has reminded time and again that personal examination takes place in the context of a relationship with Jesus. Indeed, at the worst of these times, I have actually questioned my salvation! How could I be saved, and continue to harbor the thoughts or do the things that offend? I was driven back to remembering my conversion. I rehearsed it. I probed my intentions. I filtered it through my developing theology. I came to the conclusion that I was genuinely saved.
Those moments early in my Christian walk have become a touchstone, or memorial (an Ebenezer) for me. I know that Christ is in me, as Paul put it, in the verse mentioned above. And I remind myself that He is there because of the mercy of God. I was wretched when He took residence. I deserved disembodied spirits as tenants! Every day, I receive undeserved and unearned blessings, all the fruit of mercy. His mercies are new every morning!
If you and I get introspective apart from the context of “in Christ”, we are destined to despair. That’s probably why some have named it “morbid” introspection. I’m rejoicing in God’s mercy. And my often failures now remind of His mercy, instead of troubling my soul.
I won’t preach or lecture any longer. I just thought this might be helpful for you to think about. I’ve found that Philippians 4:7-9 is true: If I guard my mind, the God of peace will be with me. Blessings.

Joe

Providence Unknown

Charles Bennett — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:23:23 +0000

Dear Brother,

A couple of weeks ago you and I were talking about the adoption of your daughters. You mentioned that younger children that are adopted from other countries often fear being sent back. In your sharing you also mentioned that the year your two daughters were brought to the United States a law was passed and signed by the President that basically stated “The moment that child sets foot on US soil they are declared a citizen of the United States, and given all the rights of such.”

Over the next few weeks I’ve pondered this conversation and thought about God’s wonderful providence. That at the same time your two daughters were being adopted men and women who never met you or your family were crafting legislation that would seal your daughters’ security as citizens. No letters were sent by you or your wife asking for such things and yet your Heavenly Father, in His providence caused such a law to be enacted.

Isn’t it wonderful how His providence often is unknown by us until we are looking back in time.

Monuments of God’s Sparing Mercy

Randall Van Meggelen — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:38:58 +0000

Dear Brother,

I heard about your incident at the cottage earlier this week. In this facebook generation, events are sometimes shared, it seems, even as they are unfolding. Our daughters heard the story from their cousins, and they shared it with us. From what I gathered, a family was travelling through and their car broke down close to your cottage. You helped them by making arrangements to fix their car, opening your home to them, feeding them and sharing the gospel in word and deed. “Mercy and truth (were) met together” (Psalm 85:10) in your acts of kindness.

That situation is not unlike one my family and I experienced, though we were on the receiving end of acts of mercy. During Christmas break, while traveling through a small hilly town in western Pennsylvania, our van broke down. We were stranded, the girls were scared and cold, and we were without a cell-phone signal. I knocked on the door of the only house I could see for miles. A tough-looking man, with a cigarette hanging out of a mouth half-filled with yellow rotting teeth, opened the door. In a smoke-burnished voice, he asked how he could help and immediately let us inside his house. This unassuming Good Samaritan invited our family inside while he and I spent the better part of a bitterly cold afternoon making arrangements to fix my van.

In reflecting on these events, I realize that the real story is not about you or the man who helped us, nor is it about us undeserving, distressed recipients of mercy. It’s HIS story, filled with merciful providences, unfolded in the book of our life experiences, just as all of history is His-story. God is often pleased to display His perfect mercy through His choice imperfect agents. God’s “tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). I am reminded, whether sharing or receiving mercy, that we daily are, as Matthew Henry wrote, “monuments of God’s sparing mercy.” God’s tender, abundant mercies and compassions toward you and me and all of His children are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22). “There’s wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea,” so begins the hymn we often sang in church when we were younger.

Someone once defined mercy as “God’s goodness or love shown to those who are in misery or distress, regardless of what they deserve.” These temporary distresses from which we are daily rescued remind us of the spiritual misery from which we have been eternally delivered by our merciful Savior. My family certainly felt miserable and in distress; though, in light of eternity, we experienced only a minor irritation. Yet, in reality it was a gift from God; for God was merciful to us, who deserve nothing less than eternal death. He delivered us out of that temporary hardship, He protected and provided all our needs.

Though my family certainly didn’t undergo undue hardship that day, I was also reminded that God’s mercy often shines most brilliantly when one is in the darkest shadows, when things seem to be at their worst. “The deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine. Let me find Thy light in my darkness,” states the Puritan prayer. And we know that even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, our merciful Shepherd will be with us. We both heard stories from our parents about the horrors they and many of their generation underwent during World War II. As you know, our father and uncles experienced the sweetness of God’s mercy in the bitter terror of Nazi work camps. History is replete with examples of the fragrant ointment of God’s mercy poured upon His children while suffering severe hardship in a multitude of forms, “sorrowing, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10).

Brother, I pray that both our families would recognize God’s mercy in all of His dealings with us to whom “all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). I pray, in the words of Matthew Henry, “Do us good by all the providences we are undergoing, merciful or afflictive. Give us grace to accommodate ourselves to them, and by all bring us nearer to Thee, and make us fitter for Thee.” May we see Christ, the Fountainhead of mercy, in all our giving and receiving of mercy, remembering that our merciful Savior said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it unto Me” (Matthew 25:40).

Your loving brother in the flesh and in our Eldest Brother,

Randall

Mercy received

Charles Bennett — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:36:13 +0000

My dear friend and brother,
A couple of months ago I had the painful experience of being pulled over by a local police officer. As I was talking on the phone and not paying attention to my speed, he explained that I was doing forty miles an hour in a thirty mile an hour zone. The fine was to be two hundred and ten dollars and points on my license. This was bad enough but I realized too that it would end my twenty-one year record of not being cited. Resigned to the facts that I was indeed guilty and the law was simply being enforced I sat quietly waiting for my ticket. The officer returned to my vehicle and told me he would not cite me and after telling me the amount the ticket would have cost instructed me to be more careful and obey the speed limit.
I am sure you can imagine my surprise and delight to pull away without a ticket. The burden was gone and I felt renewed and encouraged.
A few weeks later I was thinking about this incident and reflected on the officer showing mercy towards me. I know it was mercy because it was un-expected, un-earned and completed unmerited. I know this because I was guilty. I had no excuse, no extenuating circumstance and no information to plead that might give him reason to pardon me. Yet he did.
Knowing me as you do, it is no surprise that I began to ponder the wonder of mercy itself. I thought about how mercy is the very cornerstone of our Christian faith. I realized that all of Judaism and Christianity depends on mercy. Without mercy there is no grace, for grace is given only after judgement is replaced by mercy. Without mercy there is no hope because one can not hope when all we have before us is judgement and wrath. I know and believe all this because the scriptures tell us that mercy triumphs over judgement. They also tell us that God’s mercy endures forever, is new every morning and a crown for His children.
I love mercy my friend, more than life itself. I love mercy because I can not breath without it. I think that hell’s most dire state is caused by the absence of mercy. I know the darkest time in my life is when guilt has strangled me and mercy was not shown. But I need to also say the most joyous and blessed day of my life is when The High King of Heaven looked on me and all my guilt and instead of pouring out His judgement and wrath, lavished His great mercy upon me, cleansed me, covered me with Christ’s righteousness and made me His own.
Brother, I would be of no value to you in writing all this if I did not also warn you of the horror of mercy. I am speaking honestly to you when I say this because there is a greater horror that comes when we who have received mercy refuse to give it to others. The judgement to those who withhold mercy will be far greater than if they had never known mercy themselves. How foolish it is for those of us who have no plea but mercy, to even think of withholding it for others.
I recall a sign that was on the door of my apartment which read “Mercy received must become mercy given!” I rejoice my friend because I am confident that this is the case with you. I pray that you will be known to all as one who both loved and gave mercy. May the God of all mercy make it so for us all.

Taking each breath because of mercy,
Charles

The full assurance of hope

Scott Wright — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:48:39 +0000

My dear friend,

It occurred to me that your fear and discouragement may have been worsened if not caused by a feeble grasp on the great saving truths of our faith. Such low spirits in a Christian often result from a hope too frail and thin for bearing the burdens of this life. Everyone experiences difficulties and disappointments in this “vale of tears.” Christians in particular should know that only through many tribulations may we enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). But the Lord provides followers of Jesus with the spiritual wherewithal to meet and greet those tribulations with joy and thanksgiving. In Christ He has removed the evil of afflictions. By Christ He has secured for souls everlasting blessedness. Through Christ He has opened up a new and living way into His glorious presence through precious shed blood. God’s presence is the place of refuge where we discover and experience pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:1, 11). Everything in a Christian’s life occurs with that undeserved goal in view. This hope rests soundly on the Rock. It unmasks life’s trials as mere light, momentary afflictions that cannot compare with the eternal weight of glory prepared for us (2Cor 4:17). Present sufferings are no match for future glory (Ro 8:18). This enduring, divine promise cannot fail and will not disappoint – ever!

As you know, my friend, when I speak of hope for a Christian I do not mean a mere wish or desire, but a certain expectation of good. The two are vastly different. He who wishes will long for something but have no reasonable expectation of ever obtaining it. He who hopes will expect fulfillment. Certainty and confidence pervade his thinking. Solid rock undergirds his hope. He’s on sure footing. So a Christian has cause for rejoicing even in the midst of trials. A mere desire withers under storms of pain and disappointment, but hope stands strong against the fiercest gales. Its roots go deep into the subsoil of Christian truth. They draw savory nourishment from Christ and bring forth fruits of joy and peace. A Christian tastes and sees that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). If the weeds of fear and discouragement have overrun your soul, then you must pluck them up by the Word while feeding and strengthening your hope. Hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Heb 10:23).

The full assurance of hope may be attained under God’s blessing by diligent effort and perseverance (Heb 6:11). Seek to cultivate it by studying the promises and blessings of the Covenant of Grace, becoming better acquainted with your covenant God and Father, learning to treasure Christ as your Redeemer and King, and discovering how to walk daily with the Holy Spirit. When struggling with doubts, the Psalmist remembered God’s deeds, pondered His work, meditated on His wonders (Ps 77:11-12). When downcast he strengthened his hope by reminding his own soul that the Redeemer is praiseworthy (Ps 42:5). Devote yourself to personal prayer and public worship. By this means you may watch daily at His gates and wait patiently beside His doors. Attentively listen to His voice! In so doing, my dear friend, you will be blessed by that hope which finds life and obtains favor from the Lord (Prv 8:34-35).

In that full assurance,

Scott

Garden of Hope

Randall Van Meggelen — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 03:38:40 +0000

Dear Brother,

In my last letter I told you that I started a garden. I don’t claim to be much of a gardener. So far, it has been only marginally successful. I regularly water my garden, and know something of its basic requirements for sun, water, and nutrients; yet, my gardening efforts promise no guarantees. I can only hope that my modest garden will grow to become more beautiful and healthy.

Thankfully, that is not the case with our heavenly Father, the master gardener, who perfectly prepares the soil of our hearts, implants the seed of His Word, refreshes us with living water, feeds, nurtures, prunes, and protects us so that we will grow stronger, healthier, and bear more fruit. We can fully hope in Him.

The master gardener knows precisely what is necessary for us to yield the fruit He desires. He is not at the mercy of the environment, but commands the sun, rain, and wind. He has united us branches to the true vine, Christ Jesus. Even as Augustine prayed for God to give what He commands, and command what He wills, God indeed commands and promises that His true branches will abide in the true vine, and He in them, and they will bear much fruit.

My own gardening reminds me that I am dependent on the Lord for my garden’s healthy growth, just as we are dependent on Him for our spiritual growth. Man plants and waters, but God alone gives the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6). Without Christ, the vine, we can do nothing (John 15:5).

Brother, I thought of you this morning as I was watering my garden. I remembered the disappointments and doubts you shared in your last letter. Thank you for your openness and honesty. We’ve both been around long enough to know that we must not place our hope in man. Truly, our hope is in the Lord. Even friends and family sometime disappoint; and if we’re honest, our greatest disappointment comes from ourselves.

That’s why I, as I know you also, so appreciate the psalms. I encourage you to read again how the psalmist lamented over his own mistakes and the disappointments of family and friends. Yet, he had a firm hope—a hope not in himself, his army, and his friends—but in God. His hope in God wasn’t precarious like my garden. His hope was based on the unchanging character of Yahweh, whose Word he believed, promises he embraced, law he loved, past faithfulness he recounted, present mercies he rejoiced over, and coming Messiah, “Christ, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27), he trusted.

Brother, I encourage you, like the psalmist, to continue to hope in the Lord, and not in others. Don’t allow your difficult circumstances, which indeed are real and heavy, to diminish your hope. Beware of the counterfeit hope all around us. I am praying for you. Know that the Lord, whose grace is all-sufficient, “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). I pray that the Lord will use these trying circumstances you are now undergoing to increase your faith in Him, “that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13), that amid these trials, you will continue to “rejoice in hope” (Romans 12:12). I thank God for the joyful confidence you have shown in God in the past. Your “hope of the gospel” (Colossians 1:23) has been a powerful testimony to me and my family.

Be sure that God has promised to you, who I know delights in the LORD and his law, that you “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither” (Psalm 1:3). Truly, our faithful and loving Lord is, in the words of the hymnist, “O Hope of every contrite heart, O Joy of all the meek, to those who fall, how kind thou art! How good to those who seek!”

May the Lord continue to give you and your family that joy and peace as you continue to hope in Him.

Your brother,

Randall

Hope with a view

Ron Klein — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:22:11 +0000

Dear Friend,

It was good to hear from you. Yes, our aches and pains remind us that time, wear and tear on our bodies, like the first Adam are disintegrating! Some of us look rather unsightly before burial. So there are times when we are clearly aware that these bodies are “…sown in corruption”.

But we Christians anticipate a new body like our Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrected body as a part of our salvation. Everything we inherited from our first Adam is spoiled and subject to decay. But when we became sons of God by faith in the last Adam we are guaranteed a new body incorruptible and our new bodies will be beyond the reach of sin, disease, and death. Isn’t that fantasic? This removes the sense of futility and hopelessness. The best is yet to be! And this is true for Christian loved ones too. They may go “home” before us but all who are in Christ are headed for a better reunion- Christians never meet for the last time. So I’ll see you here or there or in the air.

Rejoicing in Christ,

Ron

Hope

Charles Bennett — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:16:36 +0000

My dearest friend and brother,

I am excited to share with you my thoughts on the subject and idea of “hope”. There are few words that evoke the joy that this word does, both when I read it and also when I speak of it.

The hope that you and I have is so different from the hope of those who do not know Christ Jesus as their Savior. Their hope is focused on the desires for future events and thus uncertain. Our hope however is founded on Christ Himself. In fact He “is” our hope and salvation.

This hope we have is one that is certain and sure. It is certain because it is not only our future that it secures but it also addresses our past. Our sins, the very sins that were the evidence against us when we stood before our Holy Creator, are now forgiven. This can only be accomplished because our hope of forgiveness was granted by the shed blood of Christ. Our hope also looks back to creation’s story and sees the power that the LORD showed in His creating the entire universe. And this same power is what sustains us through the darkest of our days and thus it too is a pillar of our hope. This hope we have also has history to give it certainty. We see how the LORD has been present with His people through all of history and He continues this day in His providence to guide and direct us in ways that glorify Him.

Not only do you and I have a hope that is certain because of our things past, we have a hope that is sure and certain for today. Christ Himself has said “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Again He has said “Those whom You gave Me I have kept.”

“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. “

You, my brother, are able to join me in this hope that is certain in the uncertain days, because He who is faithful “is” sustaining us and granting us strength for today.

Finally dear brother our hope is secure and more perfect than all other hope because its future indeed is certain. Certain because He cannot lie, who has promised us heaven. He cannot fail who holds you in His hand. He will not neglect His own promises on which we rest our eternal hope. Most of all my friend, our hope is perfect and secure because He is satisfied with the righteousness of His only Son, which He so graciously has bestowed upon us.

“Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”

Your friend and brother,

Charles