The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. (Psalm 19.1, ESV)

And there’s no better example of that than a solar eclipse, which Mark, Kesley, and I drove down to New Mexico to see yesterday.

Pictures by Mark. (They’re not great, but they’re ours! Shot with a phone through eclipse glasses.)

What made it fun was finding a place. We were going to drive all the way to Albuquerque where there would be over 4 minutes of totality. But we decided that 2 minutes of totality was enough, saving us 100 miles one-way. We pulled into an abandoned gas station at Ribera (not a typo) and watched it with some folks who had come all the way from New York.

Before totality, we saw two unexpected effects: our shadows were fuzzy around the edges, and light filtered through trees projected images of the eclipse on the ground and an electricity terminal.

The seediness of our surroundings (abandoned gas pumps, rusting gas tanks, deteriorating house) contrasted with the spectacle in the sky reminded me of…

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (Colossians 3.1, 2, ESV)

Off we go into the story of Jesus as told by Luke, giving us details no one else does. For starters, let’s compare and contrast the two main characters in Chapter 1: Zechariah and Mary.

• Zechariah was an old man / Mary was a young woman.
• Zechariah was a priest / Mary was an “ordinary” layperson.
• They both were visited by the Angel Gabriel.
• Both visits had to do with upcoming miracle pregnancies.
• Zechariah did not believe / Mary did believe.
• Both gave inspired prophecy.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name…” (Luke 1.46 – 49, ESV, from Luke 1.46 – 55)

And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us…” Luke 1.67 – 71, ESV, from Luke 1.67 – 79)

There don’t appear to be any disqualifications: young, old, men, women, weak faith (the religious professional!), strong faith.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2.10, NIV)

As the baseball playoffs get underway, a shout-out to Yankee great Bobby Richardson is appropriate. Bobby played second base for the Yankees from 1955 to 1966. I’m not a Yankee fan, but I remember him well because he was from my home state of South Carolina. He was an 8-time all-star, won three World Series, and is the only man in baseball history to win the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award for a World Series when his team lost. It was 1960, and the Pirates came from behind to win game 7 and take the title. But Bobby’s 0.367 batting average and 12 RBIs won him the MVP, and since he had four children, he traded his MVP Corvette for a Chevrolet station wagon! (I was in the 9th grade and listened to parts of game 7 on a new-fangled device called a transistor radio. It was a day game, and I was in class!)

I was delighted to learn a few days ago that he’s still around at age 88 and still with Betsy, his wife of 67 years.

Bobby at Yankee Stadium in 1960 and at the Old-Timer’s game in 2018

None of that would merit a blog. What does merit space in this column is his outspoken faith and lifetime of ministry. He’s a poster boy for “workplace ministry” – that is, God has people everywhere, even in professional baseball. There are way more believers in baseball today than there were in Bobby’s day, and that’s partly because of him. Here are some snippets from a nice piece by Michael Hughes of World Magazine: A Most Valuable Player: How One Man’s Faithful Witness Continues to Bear Fruit in Major League Baseball.

…his legacy has little to do with base hits or ­fielding prowess. Richardson left a mark on the game because of his faith. Not many outspoken Christians filled the clubhouses back then. “When I first started out, there were just two or three,” he said.

But everyone knew where Richardson stood. When the Yankees were on the road, he arranged to take willing teammates to church. On one weekend trip midway through his career, he got a phone call from Watson Spoelstra, a sportswriter with The Detroit News.

“Hey, Rich,” Spoelstra said, “would you like to attend church with me? We’ll be back in plenty of time for batting practice. I’ll come back to the park and pick you up.” “Count on it,” Richardson replied. “I’ll get some teammates to come with me.” Catcher Elston Howard and shortstop Tony Kubek were among the invitees, along with superstar Mickey Mantle.

Mantle rarely committed to Sunday mornings the first time he was asked. He would sometimes say, “Yeah, OK, but if I’m not there when you’re ready, go ahead without me. You know I’ll be out late the night before.”

But he did go to church that day. Ordinarily, Mantle attracted so much attention that it was hard to leave after the service and return in time to prepare for an afternoon game. This time, the players planned to slip out the back before the benediction. Still, several church members ­followed them out. Before the men could climb into their taxi, the pastor ran out and shouted, “I want my picture taken with Mickey!”

The players were late getting back. When team broadcaster Red Barber, who was also a lay minister, heard what happened, he had a suggestion. “Wouldn’t it be good if we could have a devotion right here in the clubhouse?” he asked Richardson.

The team soon gave Barber permission to lead Sunday services for the players. That was the start of Baseball Chapel, an organization that provides evangelical, non-­denominational chaplains to baseball teams at all levels. The ministry eventually became a model for Christian outreach in other sports.

… Baseball Chapel officially started in 1973. Every major league team had access to trained chaplains within two years, and every minor league team was involved by ’78. Over time, the group added weekday prayer services and Bible studies. The international organization now ministers to players’ families and the umpires as well. It also provides specialized ministry to the sport’s Spanish-speaking players. Richardson’s 10-year run as president of Baseball Chapel began in 1983…Today, the organization begins discipling players at the very beginning of their careers, a process that continues as they advance.

… Although his faith was rare in the majors at that time, Richardson had no trouble fitting in with his teammates. He and Mantle shared a strong bond despite their different paths and pursuits. Richardson abstained from strong drink and preferred the early hours and a good night’s rest. The famous slugger loved the nightlife, and heavy alcohol consumption hastened his death.

…Partly in response to Richardson’s ministry, Mantle ­professed faith in Jesus Christ before he died from liver ­failure in 1995. Richardson spoke at the funeral, which was broadcast on national television.

We just reminded ourselves a few days ago about “as you go, make disciples.” Bobby Richardson did just that.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. (Acts 18.1 – 3, ESV. Aquila and Priscilla, trained by Paul while they were making tents, went on to make an impact in their own right. See Acts 18.18 – 26.)

Alert blog reader Barb Sims, who also follows the reading schedule, pointed out after my Sunday blog on Deuteronomy 2 that we were supposed to be in Luke, not Deuteronomy. I need to follow my own schedule!

So, we will return to Deuteronomy in November. In the meantime, look at this fantastic introduction to Luke:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1.1 – 4, ESV)

The Gospel of Luke, written by a Gentile, a medical doctor who traveled with Paul…

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (Acts 16.9 – 10, ESV, emphasis mine)

Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. (Colossians 4.14, ESV)

…written by Luke, a Gentile…to a Gentile, Theophilus.

We don’t know anything about Theophilus, whose name in Greek means “lover of God,” leading some to believe that maybe he was a composite – it’s written to all lovers of God. But Randy Stinger has written a marvelous novel, The Advocate, which I read almost 10 years ago. Here’s part of the book’s blurb on Amazon:

Theophilus has proven himself in the legal ranks of the Roman Empire. He has survived the insane rule of Caligula and has weathered the cruel tyrant’s quest to control the woman he loves. He has endured the mindless violence of the gladiator games and the backstabbing intrigue of the treason trials.

Now he must face another evil Caesar, defending the man Paul in Nero’s deranged court. Can Theophilus mount a defense that will keep another innocent man from execution?

Randy portrays Theophilus as an attorney, appointed toward the end of the book to defend Paul’s appearance before Nero. In this imagined scenario Luke writes his two-volume set Luke/Acts to bring Theophilus up to speed on what Paul believes.

So let’s look at that introduction again:

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile…

• a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were
• eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write
• an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
• that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

A “narrative” and “orderly account” from the testimony of “eyewitnesses” that “you may have certainty.” I reminded us a few months ago that without the resurrection there would be no “the Bible,” no Gospel of Luke because there would have been nothing to write about.

As we read these familiar stories again, let’s remind ourselves that Luke’s account is not a collection of fanciful tales, loosely strung together to teach moral lessons. It’s an “orderly account” of the life of a real person, Jesus of Nazareth, who, as we’ll learn at the end of the book, was put to death by the Romans and came back to life. It’s a story worth reading!

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1.16, ESV)

I love it when writers I respect are saying the same things I am, more importantly, on this topic, missionaries are saying the same thing. I wrote a few weeks ago about an exchange with a World Magazine writer about the fact that we’re all called to be missionaries. A missionary subscriber took exception.

Well, not all professional missionaries want to be recognized as the only missionaries. Here’s a blog by Heather Holleman from October 4. It’s short, and I reproduce it in its entirety.

I’ve been thinking the past two days about people who seem to have that “missionary spirit.” I asked a wise woman about how surrendered she was in her life; she can go anywhere, sleep anywhere, eat anything, and sacrifice all her comforts to serve the Lord. And she has. She’s in her 70’s, and she pushes on with her “missionary spirit.” Then, the very next day, I met with a missionary about to leave for another country after living in 14 other ones. I told her that I’ve been thinking about special people who have that “missionary spirit. “

“I don’t buy that,” she said. “You’re a Christ-follower, so you are a missionary. You have a missionary spirit already. It’s not reserved for special people.”

I thought about her words all day long. I asked God to help me live more in alignment with that missionary spirit. I want to go anywhere and do anything with great joy. – Heather Holleman, October 4, 2023

“You have the missionary spirit already…I asked God to help me live more in alignment with that missionary spirit.” That will preach!

We just heard a sermon Sunday that Matthew 28.18 – 20 is built around “as you go” about your day-to-day life, make disciples. Amen.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Therefore, as you go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28.18 – 20, NKJV, emphasis mine and changed slightly to match what the Greek scholars tell us is a better translation.)

While writing Getting the Word Out, I was reminded of The Gospel Blimp, a parable by Joseph Bayly, published along with some other stories in 1960. B. Nathaniel Sullivan has written a 2-page summary which starts:

George and Ethel were especially concerned about their next-door neighbors, whom they knew were not Christians. The idea of the Gospel Blimp was brought up soon after a plane flew overhead. They use blimps in advertising, so why couldn’t a blimp be used to spread the good news about Jesus Christ? It sounded like a great idea! Signs with Scripture verses on them would trail the blimp (everyone would see them), gospel tracts would be dropped all over the city (who wouldn’t read these if they fell down from the sky?), and, as it turned out later, a public address system would be added (no one would be able to avoid hearing the good news about Jesus). All of this would require a great deal of planning and effort, but it would be worth it. After all, what better way was there to show the Griscom’s next-door neighbors how to become Christians?

You can see where this is going to go, can’t you? George and Ethel’s neighbors did become Christians, but not because of the Gospel Blimp. The story ends this way, as captured in the summary:

Well, after George stopped attending the [Blimp] board meetings, he and Ethel took a personal interest in their neighbors. George went on fishing trips with his neighbor, and when his wife was sick and in the hospital, Ethel came and visited her often and did everything she could to help. Because the Griscom’s next-door neighbors saw Christ in Ethel and George, they wanted what they saw. And so they came to Christ. The group invited the neighbor to help with the blimp, but he couldn’t. The next day he and George were going bowling with the fellow who lived across the street.

As we wrote yesterday, and as Seth Godin suggested, people are reached, not by fancy advertising or big events, but by word of mouth. The good news is, that’s more effective and less expensive! (By the way, The Gospel Blimp was made into a 37-minute movie in 1967. )

I also thought of The Gospel Blimp when Passion of the Christ came out in the early 2000s. It’s a powerful movie, no question, but did thousands of people become Christians after seeing it? Not that I’ve heard. I was on staff of a large church, and we rented a storefront near the theater where it was showing so we could counsel those who might want to become believers. I don’t know that anyone came. Mass media is not a substitute for our daily interactions with our neighbors. I speak to myself.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)

Seth Godin has written another blog with a killer application for us. Seth is a marketing guru, and his daily blog often includes insights directly applicable to ministry. Nothing to Ad (not a typo!), October 5, 2023, is such a blog.

He starts off talking about the futility of trying to advance your brand by advertising on social media. I don’t understand the technical details, but the conclusion is this:

The path forward is very different.

Your (current) customers need to bring you your (new) customers.

It’s not ironic but it is edifying to realize that this is EXACTLY how every one of the media companies you’re paying ad money to grew. They grew with word of mouth, not the sorts of ads they’re selling.

Facebook or that influencer–they didn’t grow by running ads and selling subscriptions. They grew when their users felt that it was in their own selfish interests to bring them new users.

As long as your project is built around the misguided myth of “getting the word out” and promoting itself to strangers, you will struggle. Someone always wins the spend-money-on-DTC-promo game, but it probably won’t be you. It’s simply a lottery where one of the spenders hits a magical level of critical mass and becomes buzzy. For the rest of us, there’s only the glorious work of creating a product and a situation that people think is worth talking about. It’s hard, it has dead ends, but it’s the work. – Seth Godin, October 5, 2023, emphases mine

“Your current customers need to bring you new customers.” I.e., word of mouth. I’m not against ad campaigns like He Gets Us. But Jesus laid out a strategy that is more like Seth Godin:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1.8, ESV)

“My witnesses” sounds like word of mouth, doesn’t it?

We start Deuteronomy which is primarily Moses’ last words to the Israelites, a review of Exodus – Numbers. It opens with their failure to take the land in Numbers 13 and 14.

The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain…See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.” … “See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” … Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 1.6, 8, 21, 26, ESV)

And then we come to chapter 2, which talks about the time AFTER they had wandered 40 years in the wilderness as a result of their unbelief recounted in chapter 1 and contains this shocking verse:

For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your going through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing. (Deuteronomy 2.7, ESV)

They weren’t supposed to be in the wilderness for 40 years. They were supposed to be conquering the Promised Land. But even in the wilderness, after their rebellion, “Your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”

We often live as if everything depends on us. But the promises of God hold true even when we fail. This truth should provoke a different attitude. Not, “I need to do everything right so that God will bless me.” But, “Thanks be to God who blesses me even when I don’t do everything right.”

Contrast the attitude of the home-schoolers I read about in There’s No One Equation for Educating Christian Kids by Gretchen Ronnevik, September 29. 2023. She writes that as a home-schooler she was often called upon to…

…sign a contract committing to homeschool all my children through high school graduation and declaring my belief that homeschooling was the best educational choice for all families.

Many of these home-schooling parents were disappointed when not all their children kept the faith, especially when the kids perceived that the faith was dependent upon their works. Their perfect works. Gretchen writes:

I’ve witnessed many homeschooled kids who graduate wanting nothing to do with God. “It’s just too hard,” one of them said to me. “God wants me to be perfect all the time, and it’s not that I can’t try to please him anymore; it’s that I no longer care.”

The problem is…

We subconsciously start to believe that if we parent perfectly, we’ll have perfect children—and homeschooling offers a level of control that other education options can’t match. But this is a formula devoid of the doctrine of sin and redemption. At its root, it’s a sort of salvation through works. It’s devastating—and not only for the children who lose their faith.

I’ve been heartbroken sitting next to a friend who spent years of her life training up her children, only to see a child reject the faith she taught them. In her mind, she did everything right. She kept the standard high. She disciplined well. But the equation didn’t work.

I’m all for home-schooling in certain circumstances. If I had school-age children in today’s world, I’d certainly consider it. But home-schooling can be done badly. I’ve seen it firsthand in our extended family.

The issue I’m calling out today is the attitude that, as I wrote earlier, “I need to do everything right so that God will bless me.” That form of legalism and mechanistic faith is contrary to Deuteronomy 2, and it’s the sort of thinking Jesus often challenged the Pharisees about.

I’m also not diminishing the importance of obedience and the desire to be obedient. And I’m not downplaying the consequences of rebellion. It’s just that God’s faithfulness is larger than my faithlessness AND my “righteousness” based on hard and fast rules.

Pharisees challenged Jesus:

• Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? (Matthew 2.16)
• Why do your disciples not fast? (Matthew 2.18)
• Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath? (Matthew 2.24)

If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2.13, ESV)

Here’s a sentence I’ve read hundreds of times and given little thought to:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”…Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They replied, “The Lord needs it.” (Mark 11.1 – 3…Luke 19.32 – 34, NIV)

Did you see it?

“The Lord needs it.”

These accounts of the Triumphal Entry are the only places in the entire Bible where “Lord” and “needs” occur in the same verse except Isaiah 58.11 where the Lord is meeting our needs and Joshua 9.27 about the Gibeonites meeting “the needs of the altar of the LORD.”

This speaks to the humility of Jesus. (See Philippians 2.5 – 8). As a man, he needed things: for example, rest and water to drink (John 4). In this case, he needed a donkey. He asked (probably arranged ahead of time) and someone provided. His father could have created a donkey for him or he could have bought one out of their treasury, but he just borrowed one.

Even today, God could send angels to proclaim the gospel, but he chose to train men and have the message spread from person to person. Hence, in that sense, “The Lord needs us.” He could miraculously provide for every person in need, but he prefers to have those needs met through people.

Just a few weeks ago I recalled how early in our marriage, June and I had an unexpected expense and no margin in the budget to meet it. It was “only” about $200, but it was $200 more than we had. And just as unexpectedly, a friend of ours, someone we knew through The Navigators, a single Naval officer, just endorsed his paycheck and mailed it to us. The amount? About $200!

How does the Lord want to use you to meet “his needs”?

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9.35 – 38, NIV)

Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, NASB)

I wrote about Sam and Shirley Hershey and their profoundly disabled son, Shad, back in 2019. If you have not read that blog, please do so now, along with the one written the day before. I’ll wait…

Shad passed away suddenly on September 13, at the age of 41.

As I wrote back in 2019, I know the Hersheys well, but there were things I didn’t know. A friend of mine has more history with them and went back to the San Diego area for the memorial service. Here is what I learned from my friend:

• I wrote that the Hersheys had one other son, but you’ll note there were two. My friend said that the first was stillborn or died very early.
• Shad had trouble keeping down food and couldn’t eat normally. Shirley prepared a special pureed diet and fed him through a tube.
• Sam and Shirley built their ministry around Shad. They didn’t consider him an interruption or something to be endured. They never hid him from others or tried to act as if he wasn’t part of their lives. I see that now in the picture I posted back in 2019. Their pictures always included Shad:

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16.6, NIV

As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 18.30, NIV)