"Salt & Light"is a regular column published in the Intertown Record,
a local newspaper serving the Kearsarge-Sunapee region.
Original Artwork courtesty of Nate Herrick Copyright ©2004

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August 8, 2008

The coals of the campfire were red-hot and ready for toasting some marshmallows. The coals were generating so much heat that our family had to be careful not to get too close or else risk losing our gooey treasures to the fire. After we had had our fill (and some of us a little more than our fill) of Smores, we realized that it was time to get our children ready for bed. Using a stick, I spread out that pile of red-hot coals so that none of them were touching each other. In an amazingly short period of time those red-hot coals grew cold and dark. Something happened when they were connected that could not be sustained when they were disconnected from one another.

In a similar way, human beings are designed for connection with one another. Something happens when we are vitally connected to others that cannot be achieved or maintained on our own. This is especially true for those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25 "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Just as those coals needed contact with one another in order maintain their warmth and vitality, followers of Jesus also need meaningful contact with one another in order to be sources of light and warmth.

There are many reasons we can become disconnected from others, such as busyness or past relational hurts. Whatever the reason may be, the result is the same - we eventually cool off and grow dark on our own. There is a better alternative - to pursue Christ-like relational connection, to encourage one another, to help one another burn brighter. This is what we were designed for, so let's shine brighter together!

Mark Anderson is Associate Pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the August 8, 2008 edition of the Intertown Record.

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A Weird Herd

Just up the road from Four Corners in New London, there's a field where, once or twice a year, they bring in an odd assortment of grazing animals. Llamas. Miniature horses of some sort ("stubby burros" seems to fit). Some surely-exotic species of sheep. Not your average pasture population.

One morning a couple of years ago as I drove by that field, something besides the makeup of this menagerie caught my attention. Instead of their usual random pattern of grazing, every animal was standing at attention, perfectly still, every one of them pointed in the same direction across the meadow like weather vanes. Instinctively, my eyes followed their gaze to see what had put them on alert. At the far end of the field, running along the fence line, was a deer, a big buck who had gotten himself into the pasture and was trying find his way out. It struck me how effectively this "weird herd of animals" directed my attention off of themselves and onto "someone" else.

What a great picture of the Church, at least the Church as God designed it. A strange collection of people, with different backgrounds and from different walks of life, a sometimes odd mix of the most unlikely people - a "weird herd". But to the extent that we all align ourselves to Christ, focusing our hearts and orienting our lives towards Him, the collective impact on those around us will be to direct their attention away from us and onto Him. And that's the way it should be. In Jesus' day, John the Baptizer said it well: "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) We're most effective as Christ-pointers when we do that together.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the February 5th, 2008 edition of the Intertown Record.

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This Week in A.D. 30

It is "Holy Week", as Christians traditionally call the seven days from Palm Sunday to Easter. I remember as a teenager attending special morning Holy Week services at my church before school and imagining each day what Jesus must have been experiencing on the corresponding day in history. I would picture him approaching the gates of Jerusalem, welcomed with waving palm branches and shouts of "Hosanna! Save us!" I would try to feel what he must have felt as he drove out the hucksters who had turned God's house of prayer into a glorified business enterprise. I would identify with the conversations and confrontations he had throughout the course of that week with followers, seekers, critics, and enemies. I would imagine both the tenderness and the anguish as he shared a last meal with his disciples, washing their feet, talking of their future in light of his departure, and watching Judas walk out the door to betray him. At the end of the week, I would try to envision the intense suffering and death that many movie-goers this year are perhaps better able than before to see. And then on Easter Sunday, I would put myself there with Peter and the gang as they saw the Lord living again in triumph a few days after dying in apparent defeat. In short, I would pass through the week with a deep sense of history: "This is what happened on this day those many years ago."

But Holy Week is not only about what happened then, but about what is true now as a result. Because Jesus willingly endured rejection and the suffering of the cross, you and I can have a relationship with God. The insurmountable obstacle of our sin was cleared away when Jesus died as a substitute for us, paying our penalty and satisfying God's justice. The door now stands open for us to enter in by faith. And because Jesus conquered death and walked away from the tomb, you and I are offered life that lasts forever. "He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God." (Romans 4:25, NLT) That's not just history to commemorate. It's truth to celebrate.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the April 6th, 2004 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Thank Who?

Every November, the approach of Thanksgiving triggers a barrage of "thanks"-giving that is understandable, in many cases commendable, but which often veers astray of the Pilgrims' pattern. This week retailers and business firms will use their advertising space to say "thank you" to customers and clients for their continuing patronage. In turn, the day after Thanksgiving, many of those consumers will flock to local shops and regional mega-malls to "thank" those same merchants for their comprehensive and tantalizing offering of goodies and gifts. Around every turkey-laden table on Thursday, thanks will be cheerfully (and appropriately) rendered to the matriarch or patriarch who logged time in the kitchen engineering the feast. At many of those tables, there will be additional expressions of general gratitude, as family and friends call to mind the blessings of the past year. But will we truly recognize to Whom those thanks are due?

Unfortunately, even deep religiosity is no guarantee that our thanksgiving will be rightly aimed. Jesus once told of a proud Pharisee - among the most religious of his day - who stood in the temple and thanked God that he was so much better off, spiritually speaking, than others around him (Luke 18:11). His words to God may have been "Thank You", but he clearly considered himself as the one responsible for his alleged moral superiority. A more honest expression would have been, "I thank myself..."

I wonder if, as we reflect on our many blessings, both material and otherwise, we don't unwittingly follow the same wayward but well-worn path: This is quite the life I've made for myself! Or even a more modest: Things sure have turned out well (leaving the cause unspecified). The Pilgrims of Plymouth recognized that their blessings weren't merely due to coincidence or good fortune, much less strictly their own hard work. They were blessed from the hand of a God who made everything, owns everything, and rules over the affairs of all people. It was He who graciously provided them with life, breath, strength, skill, knowledge, faith, opportunity, community, daily sustenance, and every other asset they enjoyed. And therefore they offered Him thanks. May we this week not just give thanks, but give thanks to God, the One "from whom all blessings flow".

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the November 25th, 2003 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Hope Springs Eternal

The other day I took my youngest son to a baseball game at Fenway Park. (Thanks for the tickets, Bill.) The night was terrific — great seats, perfect weather, all the usual sights, sounds, tastes and smells of a ballpark experience … except that the home team played poorly and lost a game they should have won in their quest to secure a wild-card slot for the playoffs. Along with Red Sox fans everywhere, I'm watching to see whether that loss was the beginning of the team's all-too-familiar late-season slide into oblivion, or whether maybe, just maybe "this is the year" they can go all the way. Boston fans always hope for that. But for many, it's a hope without much promise. Having been disappointed a few too many times, we no longer really expect it. We just "hope against hope".

I'm thankful that the hope to which God invites us is not so uncertain. God offers to sinners like us a relationship with Him:

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Romans 5:1)

His intent is that we experience this relationship not just in heaven "some day", but beginning here and now:

"Through [Christ] we have gained access by faith
into this grace in which we now stand."
(Romans 5:2a)

But that present reality points to an equally real future:

"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God"
(Romans 5:2b)

One day all who have entered into God's grace will see Him as He is and will enjoy His presence forever. Unlike any baseball franchise, God makes promises and keeps them. There's no "maybe, just maybe, some day...". We don't have to "hope against hope", keeping expectations low lest we be disappointed. Rather, we join together faith and hope:

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
(Hebrews 11:1)

Anticipating that reality, "we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God".   Even the joy of an elusive Red Sox championship — should it ever happen — would pale in comparison.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the September 23rd, 2003 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Are You a Skeptic?

There's something about western culture that breeds skepticism. A Secretary of State lays out intelligence demonstrating the imminent danger of Iraq's current regime, but some quickly question the validity of the evidence. A space agency launches an unpleasant investigation into what caused the Columbia tragedy, but some wonder aloud whether the inquiry will be truly independent or simply a cover-up. A local school district details the reasons for and remedies to recent unapproved budget deficits, but some are hesitant to accept either the explanation or the solution, distrusting the whole system. The world is full of skeptics. Or is that really what they are?

Etymologically, "skeptic" traces to a Greek word that means to examine, scrutinize, consider. Unfortunately, many so-called skeptics today don't deserve the title, because they neglect to do any real investigation. They're simply predisposed to be unconvinced –– "doubting Thomases" by choice –– and they never take the time nor make the effort to carefully consider evidence. Such is the person in the political arena who opposes a policy based solely on which party is advancing it, or in spiritual matters who rejects the truth-claims of Scripture without ever having carefully read it. That's not skepticism; that's truth evasion. As Mark Buchanan writes, that's only "a subtle way of lying to ourselves, like telling ourselves that the world is flat to avoid the burden of launching dangerous and costly voyages beyond the horizon." (Your God Is Too Safe, p. 65)

True skepticism can be positive, because it forces us to dig deeper. It refuses to buy into a point of view simply because others have said it. A true skeptic's insistence on scrutiny is what drives science and propels technology, and it can yield personal growth and civic solutions as well. But there has to be a commitment to consider. To get beyond hearsay and go to the source. To look up an official website. To read the relevant materials. To ask the right people the right questions. To pursue the truth –– but then having found it, to act on it. If we will apply this approach to the war on terror or large-scale disasters or local issues, it may well affect, one way or another, the way that we think and even the way that we vote. If we apply it to matters of eternity, it will most definitely affect the way that we live.

Jesus said, "...Seek and you will find..." (Matthew 7:7)

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the February 18, 2003 edition of the Intertown Record.

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The Wrong Side of a Moose

One recent morning our dog alerted us to "larger-than-chipmunk" footfall in the woods near our house. We opened the door for Obie's spirited retreat (some guard dog!) just in time to see an enormous bull moose trot through the neighbor's yard and onto the gravel road, where he stopped to take a look around. Ordinarily we would have enjoyed the moment, admiring at such close proximity one of God's unusual creatures — except that our middle schooler was standing 50 feet on the other side of this beast, waiting for the school bus, with nothing but recently graded town roadway between her and the monster. We could see her five-foot-two frame (now holding very still) eclipsed behind seven feet and a half ton of unpredictable, fidgeting, fresh-out-of-the-woods, don't-get-in-my-way antler-rattling animal! And with the moose in the middle, there was nothing we could do except watch and hope and pray, ready to act… but how? I was on the wrong side of the moose to help my daughter. After a couple of twitching glances in our direction, Bullwinkle decided to wander back to where there weren't so many people around, and momentarily the bus came along to rescue our young teen.

How many similar situations of uncertain danger do we face in today's world, many with even greater risk and graver consequences, in which we find ourselves helpless to do anything about it?

• An unknown sniper picks off innocent victims in Washington's suburbs…
• The threat of terrorism persists in a world hostile to Americans everywhere…
• The probability mounts of a war in Iraq whose cost in human lives is unpredictable…

Most of us aren't in a position to do very much to lessen the danger or to protect those we love. Most of us can only stand by and watch it unfold.

But we can pray. And we can experience peace from God even when there can't be peace around us. Jesus once reassured His followers with these words (John 16:33): "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble." Notice the context for this peace that Jesus promises — it's times of trouble, not unlike what alarms us today. Jesus went on to explain: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Whenever things appear out of control — or at least outside of our control — we can still hope in the One who remains fully in charge and is never on the wrong side of any "moose".

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the October 15th, 2002 edition of the Intertown Record.

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What do you want me to do for you?

The New Testament writer Matthew describes an encounter that took place between two blind men and Jesus (Matthew 20:29-34). When they heard from their neighbors that day that Jesus was passing through, they raised a ruckus. "Have mercy on us!", they shouted repeatedly, which annoyed the crowds, but soon launched a conversation with the one they wished to see.

Jesus asked them a simple question: "What do you want me to do for you?" Their answer was immediate: "Lord, we want our sight." They didn't have to stop and think about it. No need to pause for reflection and prioritizing. They were well-tuned-in to what their real need was, and that's the help they sought… and found, as Jesus healed their blindness, and they followed him with their eyes wide open.

Just before this incident, Jesus had a very similar conversation with Mrs. Zebedee, the mother of two of his followers (Matthew 20:20-28). His question was the same: "What is it that you want?" What she wanted was special rank and privilege for her boys: "to sit at your right and at your left in your kingdom". Not a need, but a want, a desire, based more on ambition than on anything else. And in response, Jesus made no promises.

If Jesus were to ask us today, "What do you want me to do for you?", how would we respond? Would we, like Mrs. Z, pull out our own personal wish list to superficially improve our life experience? Or like the blind men, would we immediately, without hesitation, identify our deepest, true need? We all need God's light. We all need spiritual life. Without that, nothing else matters. Jesus is willing to meet any one of us at that point of real need, if we will only recognize it. Lord, we want to see.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the June 18th, 2003 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Teamwork

What a month for sports enthusiasts in New England!  February kicked off with a thrilling and unlikely Super Bowl triumph for the Patriots, authenticating the dream that New England professional sports teams actually can win a championship.  And now we're enjoying fully half a month of Winter Olympics, the games that embody humankind's resilience in the face of the harsh elements that we in New Hampshire know all too well.

I notice that the Olympic delegations in Salt Lake City are made up of teams.   Each nation has its alpine ski team, nordic ski team, figure skating and speed skating teams, teams of boarders and biathletes, etc.  But when it comes to actual competition, the team members are more or less on their own.  There are exceptions such as hockey, but more often than not the athletes enter the ice or the start house alone, or at best with a partner.  From there they'll either go to the medal stand or go home, but either way in the same condition: disconnected from their teammates.  The others, if they're in the arena, are playing their own game as individuals.

What a contrast to the Super Bowl Patriots, with their now-celebrated decision to forego the customary pregame spotlight on individual players, opting instead to be introduced as a team.  Arguably, the sentiment appeared to be: "We're going to win or lose this game together, and every one of us has an important part to play.  This one's not about me.  It's about us."

That's a fitting mindset for the game of life.  Americans value our independence, and we celebrate the individual, but we sometimes take it too far.  God designed us as relational creatures, who need each other.  The only "fix" God chose to make to His original creation was in regard to man's aloneness … God assessed that condition as "not good" and did something to correct it.  (Genesis 2:18)  Much more is at stake for us than medals or trophies.  Maybe we can survive alone, but we'll never truly thrive alone.  As families and as communities, we are a team, and we're in this together.  May we grasp the reality of our interdependence, and may we each do our part so that all may win.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the February 20th, 2002 edition of the Intertown Record.

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We Still Need God

The incomprehensible tragedy of September 11 shocked our nation into an uncommon but remarkably unified cry to God for help.  Prayer re-entered the public arena as people paused from work and school and service not merely to be silent but to speak out in asking God for help and comfort. Places of worship in New Hampshire and across the country were filled that Friday during the national Day of Prayer and Remembrance, and attendance soared again for weekend services. The unsettling vulnerability and looming uncertainty in the wake of the terrorist attacks raised serious questions of life even in people of little or unpracticed faith, and many sought answers by tuning their hearts to heaven.

I'm wondering how we're doing six weeks later, now that the shock has subsided, and as multiple and complex efforts are underway to answer the challenge. I wonder if we've drifted from our initial, almost instinctive dependence on God, looking instead now to our own human spirit. Unmistakably, countless heroes have emerged, from the volunteers at Ground Zero to the school children enthusiastically and creatively supporting the recovery. Undeniably, valiant effort is being poured out on every level — humanitarian, economic, political, diplomatic, military — and the international spirit of cooperation is refreshing. Yet all of those human efforts are just that: human… and therefore, limited, insufficient apart from the sustaining and healing hand of God. Our faith and our confidence must remain in Him, not merely in ourselves.

Billy Graham, in his remarks on September 14 at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., said, "We've always needed God from the very beginning of this nation, but today we need Him especially." And I would add: we need Him still. Let's not lose our heavenward focus.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the October 23rd, 2001 edition of the Intertown Record.

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The Theology of Vacation

By the time this is published, the traditional summertime vacation rush will be starting to wind down, as will my own annual intermission from the regular routine.  As I work through my personal pre-vacation checklist — which includes writing this column several weeks in advance — it occurs to me that the idea of taking a break from the day-in-and-day-out is a pattern that enjoys considerable support in the Bible.

The Ten Commandments established a weekly Sabbath, in which the commotion of life in ancient Israel was suspended for one day in order to regularly refresh the body, soul, and spirit.  Several religious festivals each year provided additional days of respite from the routine.  Even the farmland in Israel, at God's insistence, was given a reprieve every seven years, when it was allowed to lie fallow for a season without being expected to produce.  The New Testament gives us the example of Jesus, who with only three years to complete His strategic public ministry, still on several occasions made a point of taking time for R&R with his disciples away from the crowds.

The message is that God didn't design us to go full-throttle 24/7/365 the way some of us tend to drive ourselves.  He designed us with a genuine need for down time.  One of the Psalms exhorts us to "be still!" (46:10).  That feels almost unnatural in 2001.  Even on vacation or in retirement we are rarely still, instead filling our calendars wall-to-wall with activity.  To do so, however, is to neglect our own innate need for rest, and equally important, it is to miss out on a God-designed opportunity to slow down and consider Him.  The Psalm mentioned above actually commands: "Be still and know that I am God."  In Scripture that was the ultimate purpose for the Sabbath, the festivals, the sabbatical year, and Jesus' frequent retreats.  Each of those provided a slower time outside the ruts and distractions of everyday life to consider one's relationship with the Creator.

Living as we do in an area that thrives on vacation and retirement, may we not miss out on the spiritual refreshment we ourselves need for our souls.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the August 14th, 2001 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Simulium hertipes

Some of us had been hoping that the heavy winter, combined with some recent record heat, just might make a difference this year.   But alas, they finally showed up in droves at the Sutton-Wilmot Astros' baseball practice last week, and the Little Leaguers lost all concentration. I completely understand — they have the same effect on me every year.  I'm speaking, of course, of black flies, which according to local lore are officially "in season" now that we are between Mother's Day and Father's Day.

Since my first exposure to northern New England's annual invasion of these in-your-face, pesky biters, I have joked — contrary to my theology — that surely God must have made a mistake when He created those!  What possible redeeming value could He have had in mind when He designed the Simulium hirtipes?  Apart from something like a biblical instrument of judgment (I wonder if the Egyptian "plague of flies" in Moses' day  involved this creature?), I've struggled to figure out a positive purpose that adequately offsets the severe nuisance factor of the little beasts.

Yet I know that when God finished creating the world and filling it, He looked at what He had made — including the black fly, I would presume — and declared that it was "very good" (Genesis 1:31).  And that's the appraisal I choose to accept, whether or not I totally understand it. Perhaps the divine purpose has something to do with an important role that black flies play in the food chain — although that isn't especially comforting when I'm on the "eaten" end of it!  Maybe one day they will be the key to some great medical breakthrough.

Bottom line: God is good, and He doesn't make mistakes.  So we welcome whatever He allows to come our way, trusting that it all fits into His perfect plan.  If we can do that with black flies, we can begin to do it with the more serious struggles and unexplained challenges of life.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the May 15th, 2001 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Digging Out

The morning after last week's monumental snowstorm, my first reaction was child-like delight upon reading "30 inches" on the tape measure I used to probe the fresh white blanket.  What a thrill to witness something which, if not an actual record, at least rivaled anything I could remember!

A few minutes later, when my rusty but reliable snowblower refused to start, the thrill was gone.  I surveyed the sea of white, the snow bumps that I knew were cars, and the small mountain left by the town road crew.  I calculated the 3000-plus cubic feet of white stuff in the driveway that would need to be moved — now with only an old-fashioned, low-tech, pastor-powered snow shovel! And I was overwhelmed.

My wife suggested we just call someone to plow us out.  "Oh, no,"  I said.  "That's not necessary.  We can handle this.  We can dig out of this mess by ourselves.   I'll get the snowblower running.  And if not, we have two shovels…"   This is, after all, New Hampshire, where "can-do" self-reliance is the way of life.  A little resourcefulness and hard work and perseverance can dig us out of just about anything, can't it?

Maybe so when it comes to snowstorms.  As it turned out, after a little tinkering, the small engine finally did crank, and a few hours later, contact was reestablished with the outside world.

But self-reliance is a bad idea when it comes to certain serious issues of life.  The Bible teaches that all of us are buried by our own sin and guilt and its consequences before God, and that any attempt to dig ourselves out, no matter how earnest, is utterly futile.  We simply cannot free ourselves from that mess.  We need to be rescued.

The good news is that a loving God is ready and willing to liberate us from the overwhelming weight of sin, and He has already made provision for it through Jesus Christ.  He just waits for us to recognize our own helplessness and to call on Him in faith.  Are we ready to make the call?

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the February 13th, 2001 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Thanksgiving to God

The election of our 43rd president, a national obsession that has occupied center stage in New Hampshire for well over a year, is finally behind us (pending resolution of the Florida question), and half of American voters are disappointed with the results.  This is not a partisan observation; had the tightest election in a generation gone the other way, the same would have been true.  The only difference would have been which half was now disillusioned and digging in, expecting the worst for the next four years.

Perhaps it is providential that two weeks after a national election is a national holiday.  Along with its popular association with family and feast, Thanksgiving traditionally is a time to reflect on our many blessings, and to respond in gratitude to the One from who they came. The newcomers at Plymouth in 1621 appreciated those who welcomed them to these shores, but their heart of thanksgiving was rightly offered to God, not primarily to their hosts — a detail that sometimes gets obscured in the retelling of the story.  No matter which side of the recent political contest we championed, we have much to be thankful for.  Even under an imperfect government with flawed leaders, we are blessed, both as Americans and as humans.  The only one who can take full credit for those blessings is God, the Creator and Sustainer of life, the Giver of all good things.  May we set aside our disappointments … or our confidence … in the institutions of humanity, so that we can recognize God's bounty and give Him thanks.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the November 14th, 2000 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Our History

New England enjoys a history that is long and deep.  Homes and public buildings from previous centuries, chiseled epitaphs on weathered tombstones, miles of stone walls through forests that once were farms … these serve as silent but visible witnesses to the many generations who came before us.  Embedded in New England's rich history lie the roots of many of the freedoms that we enjoy today, along with a clear and solid foundation of faith.  We in New England are blessed by our past.

One of the challenges of the human experience is to carefully examine history and to apply the lessons we gain there as we plow ahead into the future.  On the heels of a weekend conference in Sutton that focused on New England's spiritual heritage, I am reminded and encouraged that these hills and lakeshores around us were once a place where faith in God flourished, on a level beyond what most of us experience today.  That says something about the conviction and piety of our forebears.  It also says something about the faithfulness of God who instilled and sustained in them such faith and devotion.  Psalm 100 says about God: "His faithfulness continues through all generations."  The same God who called and captured the hearts of our forefathers and mothers is still calling to hearts today.

There's a lot we can learn from our past — about ourselves, about God, about how He wants to relate to us.  Why not start at the beginning, even before New England's earliest history: in the Biblical record God has given us for our benefit?

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the May 9th, 2000 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Sitting on the Fence

The people of New Hampshire have once again had our say regarding the selection of the nation's next president.   In characteristic fashion, our collective decision in each of the two races was not clear until Primary Day itself.  We kept the pollsters guessing until the end.  What gives our first-in-the-nation primary its distinctive flavor, aside from the timing, is the fact that in New Hampshire so many voters stay on the fence for so long.  One poll released the day before the balloting reported that at least one-third of likely voters said they had yet to make a firm decision.  That's why the candidates invest so much time and resources here to the very end.  Many voters remained on the fence not only with respect to which candidate, but which contest to participate in — almost forty percent of New Hampshire voters are registered as independents, more than either of the major parties.  There's something about keeping our options open that appeals to us.

Sitting on the fence may work for us when it comes to our politics.  But sitting on the fence is a bad idea when it comes to our relationship with God.  It is currently popular in our culture to be seen as neutral, non-partisan, open to diverse ideas.  But the issues involved in the things of God, by their very nature, require a measured choice.  An early leader of Israel challenged people to "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15).  It was one or the other: the one true God, or the gods worshiped by their neighbors.  Neutrality was not an option.  Jesus likewise pressed for a decision and insisted that failure to choose is still a choice by default: "He who is not with Me is against Me." (Luke 11:23)  God calls each of us to get off the fence, make up our minds, and respond to His truth.

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the February 8th, 2000 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Surface Water

Shortly after Hurricane Floyd dumped five inches of rain on New Hampshire overnight in September, Trinity Bible Church members started noticing an awful stench in the water on Sundays.  Apparently the sudden and excessive torrent had opened up new groundwater channels, which allowed a steady supply of microscopic organisms from the woods to make their way into our shallow dug well and establish a growing and thriving (and malodorous) community.  Not exactly the "living water" that Jesus had in mind when He used that image!  Even our high-tech, in-house treatment system was powerless to unpollute the surface supply of water, once it gained entrance to the well.  What proved to be the best solution was to drill a new artesian well, deep in the bedrock, hundreds of feet beneath the surface water, and relatively unaffected by the kind of offensive substances and life forms to which a dug well is susceptible.

There is a bit of a parable in that experience.  Many of us are content to stay "close to the surface" as we relate to God.  We have a general idea of who He is, and we appreciate His presence and His blessings, but we're either uninterested or uncomfortable with the thought of knowing and experiencing Him on a deeper level.  The problem is that a "surface water" understanding of God is easily and often undetectably polluted by the many distortions and caricatures of the truth that float around us in the culture at large, not to mention our own biases and assumptions.  To be spiritually healthy, we need to dig a considerable distance beyond the reach of those contaminants.  Open a Bible, through which God has revealed Himself, and don't settle for shallow.  Pursue Him deeply.  "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…"  (Psalm 42:2)

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the November 9th, 1999 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Safe Flight

The specific cause of the tragic accident that recently claimed the lives of JFK Jr., his wife, and her sister remains an open question, but most of the speculation focuses on "spatial disorientation".  A relatively inexperienced pilot, Kennedy was certified to fly by sight, not by instruments.   The night that his Piper Saratoga went down near Martha's Vineyard, it was dark and unusually hazy, making it difficult to see reference points on the ground.  Under those conditions, it is very easy to become so disoriented that one cannot rely even on the body's sense of what's up and what's down.  One aviation analyst has suggested from the evidence that Kennedy's plane may have ended up flying "basically upside down".  With no visible point of reference and no instruments to tell him so, the novice pilot couldn't have known that until it was too late.

Too often, I fear, we find ourselves in the same situation in life.  We fly along confidently, convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that we know what's up and what's down, what's right and what's wrong.  We trust our senses.  We move according to what feels right.  But life can be more cloudy than we realize, and if we lose sight of certain stationary points of reference, certain absolutes, we can experience dangerous "spiritual disorientation" and not even realize it.

God has given us the Scriptures to help us navigate through life.  A pilot learning to fly by instruments must learn to read them and to trust them.  That can be very difficult at first, because sometimes the instruments contradict the senses.  But a safe flight depends on it.  In the same way, we must learn to read God's word and to trust what He has said, even if it clashes with our assumptions.  "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path."  (Psalm 119:105)  Have a safe flight!

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the August 10th, 1999 edition of the Intertown Record.

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Ice Rink

Around Thanksgiving I decided to build a small ice rink in our yard where my active children could skate through the winter.  I drove stakes into the ground, nailed boards around the perimeter, laid down plastic, and got out the garden hose to fill up the "pond" so that it could freeze.  I quickly learned that (a) water doesn't flow very fast through a one-inch garden hose; and (b) duct tape doesn't guarantee a watertight seam — I was simply flooding the yard as water leaked out.

But then just before Christmas the cold weather set in, and the inch of water that remained in the rink became an inch of ice.  I discovered that water would freeze before it had a chance to leak out as long as I added just a thin layer at a time.  So since then I've been out there almost every evening, building up the ice a quarter inch at a time, and my kids and their friends are setting their sights on Olympic gold.

It occurs to me that spiritual growth happens much the same way: a quarter inch at a time.  Once we begin a relationship with God through faith in His Son, we don't instantly understand everything about His ways, and our lives don't immediately and fully reflect His character.  For most of us, a lot of what we try to take in "spills off" before it can become a part of who we are.  The key to growing is the consistent, daily discipline of seeking God in prayer, listening to Him through the Scriptures, and allowing Him to add a little bit at a time of the Christ-like character and maturity which He wants to produce in us.  It may not seem like much each day, but the layers will steadily build up if we remain faithful.  "As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more." (2 Corinthians 3:18b)

Doug Dean is pastor of Trinity Bible Church in South Sutton.
The above text appears as it was published in the January 26th, 1999 edition of the Intertown Record.

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This page was last updated on 03/24/09