Pop Pop Epistle #139 – About Valentine’s Day and The Pale Blue Dot

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Dear Grandkids,

Yes, today is indeed Valentine’s Day. It is a day to declare or re-declare our love for one another – and specifically for couples to express their love for each other. Hence, there are a dozen roses sitting on our table and I am fixing a romantic steak supper for Nona and I tonight. Yes, even at 62 years old we can still be romantic.

But I am sure that you are curious what the “pale blue dot” is in the title of this epistle and what it has to do with Valentine’s Day. Well I came across this tidbit of history that I found very interesting. Perhaps you will too.

Way back in September of 1977 NASA launched a space probe that was named Voyager 1. Its intended purpose was to study our solar system. It took about 1.5 years (March, 1979) for it to get to Jupiter and to begin transmitting data and photos. It took another 1.5 years (November 1980) for it to get to Saturn. Now here is what I was astounded by: The gaps between the outer planets are so vast that it was another 10 years before it passed by Neptune and arrived at the spot where it was to take a series of images of the planets, known as the “Family Portrait” of our solar system. And on February 14, 1990 (22+ years after it was launched, Voyager 1 transmitted a picture back of earth – a picture that became known as the “Pale Blue Dot.”

Earth appears as a tiny dot against the vastness of space. The photo was taken from 3.7 billion miles away.

Now there are a couple of things that I find quite amazing. 1) The technology to do this was developed back in the 1970’s. 2) The camera that took the picture was 23 years old and still working like it was brand new. 3) The photo was somehow sent to earth from 3.7 BILLION miles away.

And here are a couple of other things that I find even more amazing:

1) “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

2) “When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

3) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:16-17)

This Pale Blue Dot that we call home is unique among all the other dots out there in space. And you are unique among all the other inhabitants of this Pale Blue Dot. As you celebrate Valentine’s Day, never forget that you have been created for the purposes of a God that delights greatly in you and…

Never ever forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

P.S. – Voyager 1 is still traveling out in interstellar space and will continue to transmit data until around 2025 when it will not have enough electrical power to continue to do so.

Brick #78 – Hebrews 6

Posted on by Shay Reyner
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The author of Hebrews has pushed the pause button in his discussion of the high priesthood in order to give a stern warning to his readers. In effect, he is saying “Stop acting like babies! Grow up.” In verse 1 he admonishes them to “go on to maturity.” So in this brick I want to try to answer this question: What does maturity for a believer look like? In other words, how would we know if we were indeed on the road to maturing in Christ. What I will NOT do is try to solve the theological conundrum that verses 4-8 presents. I will simply say this about those verses… The author is not saying that you can lose your salvation. But smarter people than me disagree on what they are saying to this audience of Hebrew Christians. Suffice to say that the author strongly encourages his readers to pursue spiritual growth and maturity or else they will deal with the consequences of this not happening. So…

What does spiritual maturity look like in the life of a believer? Here are 6 marks of a maturing believer that I think are a good place  to start in helping us evaluate if we are on the road to maturity.

1) A maturing believer ABIDES DILIGENTLY – The word abide is one of the great words in the Bible and John 15 is a great place learn more about abiding. Abiding diligently simply means that believers are looking continuously to the Lord for the nourishment they need to fuel their soul. The are readers and ponderers of the Word. They find their identity rooted in the love of God for them. They receive their strength and power from the Holy Spirit dwelling inside them.

2) A maturing believer WORSHIPS WHOLEHEARTEDLY –  They do this personally and they do this in community. Personally, they worship the Father on a daily basis as they praise Him and thank. They are aware that the god of this world is trying to divide their heart by offering things of this world as places where they can find their satisfaction. In community, they gather with other believers to exalt the Father and exult in His Son by the power of the Spirit. They don’t just go through the motions of a worship service but join corporately in the adoration of God.

3) A maturing believer SERVES JOYFULLY – They recognize that they are a part of the body of Christ and that for the body to be healthy every part of the body must do what it was created to do. They are looking for ways to serve in their local church as well as looking for ways to serve the capital C Church. And they do this not out of duty or obligation but with gladness because their desire is to see the church fulfill it’s mandate to make disciples of all nations.

4) A maturing believer LOVES GENEROUSLY – Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strength” and then to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Love God. Love people. A maturing believer is constantly fighting the innate selfishness that we all deal with and is looking for ways to demonstrate generous love by offering their time, talent, and money in service to God.

5) A maturing believer PRAYS BOLDLY – We know that we have an all access pass to the throne room of God and that we can ask God anything. But most believers never get past voicing childish prayers. They never get to the point where they are asking God to do “more than we can ask or imagine.” They never express prayers that are rooted in faith and ask God to do what only He can do. Maturing believers are learning to pray audacious prayers – prayers that are characterized by a deep rooted confidence in a Father’s generous love for His children.

6) A maturing believer GOES INTENTIONALLY – Our story has been radically changed by the gospel and it has brought about life transformation. Our story is now forever connected to God’s story and it is a story that the world needs to hear. Maturing believers take the Great Commission personally: “Go into all the world and make disciples….” They make the Great Commission their mission. They are on the lookout for opportunities to tell others about the goodness and greatness of God and to invite them to discover how their story can also connect to God’s story.

May this brick help you to discern whether you are on the road to maturity or whether you are still acting like a baby. Read again verses 4-8 for some stern encouragement to earnestly pursue spiritual growth.

 

 

 

Brick #77 – Hebrews 5

Posted on by Shay Reyner
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The first 10 verses of this great chapter focus on the role of the high priest and Melchizedek. I am going to skip over these since this will be dealt with in more detail when we come to chapters 7-8. My pondering focus will be 2 application questions that emerged as I pondered verses 11-14.

About this (the high priesthood) we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

1) How do we become “dull of hearing”? – The author insinuates that his readers were at one time NOT dull of hearing but over time they have become that way. This can be true for us as well. We don’t want this kind of accusation leveled against us so what are a few things that contribute to spiritual hearing loss?

  • Competing voices – I am a firm believer in this statement: The voices we listen to effect the choices we make! What other voices, besides the voice of God commands your attention?
  • Distractions – Admittedly we live in a world full of distractions.  One of the things we can do is to eliminate these when we are trying to listen to God. For me, when I am reading and pondering, this means the TV is not on. Music is not playing. I am not reading while trying to have other conversations. I find as quiet a place as possible and focus my attention on what the Lord is saying.
  • Neglect – The easiest way to become dull of hearing is to not listen to what God says at all. This happens easier than you might think. You miss church. Life gets busy. Our routine is interrupted. And before you know it it has been several weeks and you have not heard the voice of God.
  • Disobedience – When we neglect God we don’t give God a chance to speak. When we disobey, we pull away so that even if He does speak our hearts are far enough away that we can’t hear what He is trying to stay. The old adage is indeed true: If you feel far away from God, guess who moved!

2) What does it mean to be a baby Christian and how do you NOT stay that way? Being a baby Christian has nothing to do with how long you have been a Christian. It essentially comes down to this: Have you learned how to feed yourself? Babies don’t feed themselves. They are dependent on others to feed them. The author of Hebrews is calling out his readers and saying STOP being babies. Start feeding yourselves. So here’s the deal…. If your only connection to God’s Word is when you hear a sermon or listen to someone else teach a Bible lesson then you are being spoon fed and you are still a baby. It’s time to grow up and learn how to feed yourself. This is where pondering comes in. Pondering has to do with chewing on the Word of God. You don’t have to chew on milk. But you do have to chew on solid food. 

I love the illustration of a cow chewing the cud. It chews on it’s food and then swallows it, digests what it can and then regurgitates what it didn’t digest so that it can chew on it some more. This process is repeated until the cow has gotten as much nutrition out of the food as it possibly can. This is pondering. Read the Word of God. Think on the Word of God. Apply the Word of God. Repeat. Then repeat again.

May the Lord use this brick to keep you from becoming dull of hearing and to challenge you to grow up in your salvation by learning to feed yourself on the solid food of God’s satisfying Word.

 

 

 

 

 

Stuff and Such 21.4

Posted on by Shay Reyner

A Book: The Dynasty  by Jeff Benedict – This book was recently recommended to me and I must say I have not been disappointed. It details the backstory of how the New England Patriots dynasty came about. One reviewer said this: “The Dynasty is Jeff Benedict’s latest masterpiece. . . . It’s a relationship book, it’s a football book, it’s a business book. . . . I was surprised at the level of detail in Robert Kraft’s quotes and his willingness to allow [the book] to go to some pretty painful places. . . . If you love football the way I do, you’ll just eat up these stories.”  It is a good time to be reading it with the Super Bowl coming up and Tom Brady making yet another appearance.

An Encouragement and A Story: My friend Wayne Alford sent me an email last week that encouraged my soul. Our pastor is currently preaching through the book of Colossians. When Wayne turned to Colossians in his Bible he came across some notes from a sermon that I preached at Ridgecrest in July of 1993. It was the very first sermon I preached at Ridgecrest and did so in view of a call to be the student pastor. He reminded me of the outline of the message and of a story I told called “Remember the Duck.” I went back and read it and it was good enough to re-share here:

Remember the Duck

A little boy visiting his grandparents was given his first slingshot. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit his target. As he came back to Grandma’s back yard, he spied her pet duck. On an impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck fell dead. The boy panicked.

Desperately he hid the dead duck in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day, Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”

But Sally said, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you, Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So Johnny did the dishes.

Later Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing. Grandma said, “I’m sorry, but I need Sally to help make supper.” Sally smiled and said, “That’s all taken care of. Johnny wants to do it.” Again she whispered, “Remember the duck.” Johnny stayed while Sally went fishing.

After several days of doing both his chores and Sally’s, finally he couldn’t stand it. He confessed to Grandma that he’d killed the duck.

“I know, Johnny,” she said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

 

A Memory and a Quote: I wrote a blog post on Saturday about Zermatt Switzerland – one of my most favorite places in the world. In the post I talked about our “Rocks of Remembrance” story and a day worth re-living. It was fun to hike down that mountain again in my mind and it reminded me of a favorite quote…

Don’t collect possessions. Collect experiences!

Here are two questions that I will just leave sitting here: 1) What is a day that you would like to re-live? 2) What are some of your favorite experiences that you have collected over the years?

 

A Song: Behold Our God by Sovereign Grace Music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pop Pop Epistle #138 – About Zermatt

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Dear Grandkids,

I have had the blessing of being able to travel this earth probably more than most people. My Mom instilled the travel bug in me when I was young and it never went away. One of my most favorite places is Zermatt Switzerland. I first became acquainted with Zermatt when I was in high school. My Mom sent my brother and I to a month long ski camp in Zermatt. I have had the opportunity to return twice since then. After I graduated from college, a buddy of mine and I traveled by train all over Europe – and Zermatt was one of the spots we hit. And then in 2014 Nona and I went there when I was on my Sabbatical.

On this last trip, one of our favorite memories is a hike that we took on our last day there. We took a cable car from Zermatt up the mountain toward the Matterhorn and then spent most of the day hiking back to town. Recently I was asked if there was a day in my life that I would like to re-live if given the chance. This was the first day that popped into my mind. Here are a few pictures and a few thoughts about each one that might explain why. The picture on the right above was 34 years in the making. Nona and I were dating when I had last been to Zermatt and I came back from that trip with a promise that one day I would take her there. And then when we finally got there we weren’t even sure that we would get to see the Matterhorn because it was shrouded in clouds and rain the first 2 days we were there. When the sky finally cleared, we skedaddled up the mountain as fast as we could to take advantage of the short break in the weather.

1 & 2 – The Rocks of Remembrance are akin to what Joshua had the Israelites do in Joshua 4. They are a testimony to God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives, specifically in regard to our kids and grandkids. You will notice that there are 8 rocks in the stack. The first 6 represent your parents: Christy and Chad, Scott and Mary, and Tucker and Danielle. The biggest rock on top represents Grayson because he was the only one of you born at the time. The smaller rock is for Bowen – though at the time all we knew was that Christy was pregnant. But the monument serves also as a reminder to us not only of what the Lord has done but also of what He is going to do – and is in fact already doing through each of you. Before we continued our hike we prayed for you and asked that the Lord’s blessing would be upon you. And even though we did not know all of you yet we had full confidence that the Lord would honor our prayer for all our grandkids.

3 & 4 – As we trekked down the mountain we came upon these two things that made us smile. The first was the cow with a cow bell. We heard him long before we saw him. The scene just seemed so vintage Swiss to us. The 2nd was a small little mountain village with a restaurant where we stopped, rested, and enjoyed a refreshing beverage.

5 & 6 – The Gorner Gorge is a beautiful crevice in the mountain that we hiked down into. It was like this spectacular surprise that we came upon on what was already a spectacular day. And as we came up out of the gorge we came across this plaque which when translated very appropriately says, “All the land adores You and sings praises to You.” (Psalm 66:4)

I hope that one day you get a chance to travel to Switzerland. It is indeed a gorgeous country. And if you go to Switzerland I hope you get to go to Zermatt. And if you go to Zermatt perhaps you can take a hike down the mountain like we did. And perhaps you will even come across our Rocks of Remembrance – and perhaps you can pick up in prayer where we left off – praying God’s blessing over your own kids and grandkids.

Never ever forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

Brick #76 – Hebrews 4

Posted on by Shay Reyner
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When I ponder Scripture I generally notice words and phrases that are oft repeated. For me, they are a clue as to something the author is trying to say and an idea he is trying to get across. It’s the same way when I preach or when I teach. If I repeat something several times it is because I want to make sure people hear it. In this chapter there is one word that is much repeated that will be my pondering focus – though there is much more in this chapter that could be focused on.

Rest – The word “rest” occurs 10x in the first 11 verses of this chapter. There are two aspects of this rest that the author of this letter wanted his Hebrew readers to consider. And they apply to us as well. He has in mind the wandering of the Israelites in the desert as they journeyed from Egypt to the land of promise. This parallels our journey through this life, having left a life of slavery to sin as we make our way toward heaven and the life promised to us when our journey is complete.

1) There is a rest that we can enjoy in this life even when life is hard and demanding; even when there is much to despair about; even when we don’t see the hand of God at work around us. We can still experience His peace, the shalom of God, because we have confidence in His promise that He will ALWAYS be with us and that He is ALWAYS working for our good and His glory – even when we can’t see it. Jesus made this powerful promise in Matthew 11:28-30…

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Those three phrases in bold are worth spending time thinking about as they will be the key to finding “rest for your souls” and getting rid of the burdens that are currently weighing you down and keeping you from a purposeful and productive life that honors and glorifies the Lord.

2) There is a rest we will enjoy in the life to come when we enter into the presence of God upon death. Revelation 21:4 describes it this way: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” We will not have to deal with all the difficulties that this life brings. We can experience the fulness of joy as we “rest” eternally in God’s forever shalom.

May this brick help you to experience the rest that God provides in this life as well as anticipating the rest He offers in the life to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stuff and Such 21.3

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Several Blogs/Podcasts – Sam Thomas, who leads a Connect Group at our church, wrote THIS on “Putting Jesus First in 2021.”

And if you are not familiar with “The Briefing” by Albert Mohler it is worth checking out. It is a a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview. It is a podcast but HERE is a transcript of today’s analysis on “How Did Abortion Become Thinkable in American Culture?”

A Book Excerpt – “The problem with deception is that you don’t know you are being deceived. It simply feels as if you’re right. Deception feels incredibly rational. Idols function like spiritual forgeries, imitating God’s character but distorting it. That’s why theology is not merely for people in seminary. It’s important for all God’s people to know who God is so we can spot counterfeit gods when they approach our lives.

Idols give promises and warnings, and both the promises and the warnings are lies. Giving in to these promises will disillusion you, and heeding the warnings will harm you. False gods create false law, false definitions of success and failure, false definitions of value and stigma. Idols define good and evil contrary to God’s definition. They deceive us.” ( Beautiful Resistance by Jon Tyson)

Two Questions – At the end of my pastor’s message yesterday he asked two questions that are worth pondering:

  1. What impact has the gospel had on your life?
  2. What impact has God made in others through you because of the gospel?

Bernie Memes – When I first started seeing them pop up last week, my first thought was that “people have too much time on their hands.” Then I became one of those people.. Here are two that I created:

Two Verses From Hebrews 3 – Many of you know that I am currently pondering my way through the Book of Hebrews. These verses cut to the heart and have great application: ” 12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 

Another Hike: Yesterday our Sunday hike started in downtown Hillsborough at the Weaver Street Market and took us via the Riverwalk to the Occoneechee Speedway loop and back. It was almost 4 miles. Lots of history at the Speedway. My friend Tony Fernandez who hiked with us told me about this special on PeacockTV  that features Dale Earnhardt Jr and Richard Petty that recount some of the history of the track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pop Pop Epistle #137 – About Cousins

Posted on by Shay Reyner

Dear Grandkids,

Just about the time that I was getting used to having 8 grandkids, Tucker and Danielle inform us that #9 will be joining the clan in July. It’s a good thing that I am still a young man – with the strength of an elephant and the memory of a lion. Or is it the other way around?

A couple of the things that Nona and I love is that all you cousins are reasonably close in age and that you enjoy playing together. We are going to do our best as grandparents to create experiences that will foster great affection for one another and awesome memories that you can share together.

There are at least two instances of cousins in Scripture that are specifically pointed out and worth taking note of because of the influence that resulted due to the relationship.

1) Esther 2:7 says, “Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she didn’t have a father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.” If you don’t already know the story, God used Mordecai’s influence on Esther, his cousin, to save the Jewish people from a pogrom. It was Mordecai who told Esther, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther then used her influence with the king to expose the man who was plotting to kill all the Jews. Grandkids, it may very well be your words of encouragement to one of your cousins that the Lord uses to compel them to do heroic things.

2) Colossians 4:10 says, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him).” Perhaps you know the backstory here as well. Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on one of their missionary journeys. Somewhere along the way he got home sick and left and went back home. When Mark wanted to rejoin the team, Paul wanted nothing to do with him. But Barnabas was willing to stop traveling with Paul in order to give his cousin a second chance. It greatly encouraged young Mark – who would go on in future years to write what we now know as the Gospel According to Mark, one of the most famous books ever written. It probably would not have happened without some serious cousin love.

So as you grow up and spend time together and even when you are grown with kids of your own – love one another and look our for one another and lift one another up when they are down. I have no doubt that the Lord will use you greatly in each other’s lives.

Never ever forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop

Brick #75 – Hebrews 3

Posted on by Shay Reyner
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Lots to unpack in this great chapter as the author continues to build his case that Jesus is far far superior to anything we can imagine. He has already talked about His superiority to the prophets, to angels, to sin, to suffering, and to temptation – in this chapter he makes the case that Jesus is even superior to Moses. Now to a Jewish audience, even a Christian Jewish audience, these are almost fighting words because of the respect and honor that the Jews held for Moses. But the fact is… Jesus is better!

One of the doctrinal questions that the author begins to address is this: Is it possible to lose your salvation once you have been granted salvation? The letter to the Hebrews, more than any other letter in the New Testament, raises this question. Notice in chapter 3 a few comments that the author makes:

  • verse 6 – we are His house IF indeed we hold fast our confidence...
  • verse 12 – Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
  • verse 14 – For we have come to share in Christ, IF indeed we hold our original confidence
  • verse 19 – so we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief

The doctrine that we in Baptist circles cling to is stated this way: Once saved, always saved. But is it biblical? Historically, the doctrine is known as “Perseverance of the saints.” Perseverance of the saints basically means this: those who persevere to the end are indeed the true and genuine saints of God. This is what the author to Hebrews vehemently believes. His concern for his readers, during a time when when their faith was being rigorously tested, was to make to make sure that they indeed believed what they said that they believed.

The tests that we encounter in this life will do this. They will shake our faith to the core and help us recognize if our faith is merely “lip service” or does it reflect a heart that clings to and relies solely on Jesus for life and salvation. I certainly know many people who at one time claimed the name “Christian” but who are now no where to be found in circles of faith. And you do too. When the trials of life came their way they reverted to their default way of handling things – by dependence on self and the things of this world. If you are truly saved then your default way of dealing with life has been changed so that your first response is to turn to the Lord, not your last.

So is the doctrine “once saved, always saved” a biblical doctrine. Absolutely! The question that the author to the Hebrews raises, and that we must ask ourself is this: Are we genuinely saved? 2 Corinthians 13:7 says this…

“Examine yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail to meet the test.”

May this brick cause you to rely more and more on Jesus as the days of testing increase – or if there are any question marks in your mind to examine yourself to to see if you are in the faith.

 

 

 

 

 

Stuff and Such 21.2

Posted on by Shay Reyner

A Podcast – I’m listening to a podcast by Mark Driscoll. He is doing a sermon series called Pray Like Jesus. In the first message of the series he talked a lot about how our “father wounds” often contribute to an anemic prayer life. Worth listening to.

A Quote – As I pondered Hebrews 2 this past week I came across this quote from William Barclay that is spot on:

There are few people who deliberately and in a moment turn their backs on God; there are many who day by day drift farther and farther away from him. There are not many who in one moment of time commit some disastrous sin; there are many who almost imperceptibly involve themselves in some situation and suddenly awake to find that they have ruined life for themselves and broken someone else’s heart. We must be continually on the alert against the peril of the drifting life.

 

Time With Family – Our kids and grandkids were at at our house for the weekend. We played and picnicked at Duke Park which has some super duper slides on which I was part of a cousin train. Christy and Chad and Linda and I had our first Escape Room experience. It was really fun but WE DID NOT ESCAPE. In our defense, we chose a really hard challenge that only about 10% of groups escape from – and we were only a few clues away when our time ran out. And then on Saturday we celebrated Bowen’s 6th birthday. He is an awesome young man who loves to play and have boy fun but also has a very tender heart that looks out for and cares for other people – which he does fabulously with his younger cousins.

A Hike – We have gotten in the habit of taking a Sunday afternoon hike on most Sundays and exploring some of the great trails in and around Durham. This past Sunday we went to Occoneechee State Park and hiked the trail around Occoneechee Mountain.