The world was captivated last week by the suspense and then the tragic end to the story of the five people killed in the submersible trying to visit the wreck of the Titanic. Have you seen a depiction of it?

Someone who had actually ridden in it said it was very crude. To make it go down, the passengers would crowd to the front. To make it go up, they would crowd to the back. (There were thrusters, of course, but the ship’s attitude was apparently controlled by weight distribution.)

To ride in it you had to sign a waiver that included the word “death” three times on the first page. Another part of the waiver explained that it “…has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body.” The vehicle was known to be dangerous.

Peggy Noonan’s piece about the Titanic and the doomed submersible in the Wall Street Journal, Saturday, June 24, is instructive. The catch-phrase is:

The story of the [Titanic] has everything. Splendor and perfection meet a sudden, shocking demise.

The most insightful paragraph includes a reference to the Fall in Genesis 3:

The Titanic story is linked to themes as old as man. “God himself couldn’t sink this ship.” “If we eat the fruit against his command, then we’ll be in charge.” “Technology will transform the world; it’s a mistake to dwell on the downside.” It’s all the same story. In the search for the submersible this week Britain’s Telegraph quoted retired Rear Adm. Chris Parry of the Royal Navy. Why, he wondered, would anyone get into a “dodgy piece of technology” like the submersible? “It is fundamentally dangerous, there was no backup plan, it’s experimental, and I’m afraid to say there’s an element of hubris if you want to go down and do that.” Everyone thinks he’s unsinkable. – Peggy Noonan

“…themes as old as man…everyone thinks he’s unsinkable.”

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14.12, ESV)

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. (Psalm 2.1 – 4, ESV)

PS There is an alternate view, of course, that of the need to explore. There was a scientific objective in this last voyage of the Titan. I’ve written before about continuing to explore in the face of tragedy.

The Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup of Hockey last year. The Denver Nuggets won the NBA championship this year. There’s optimism for the Denver Broncos with their new coach. That leaves only the lowly Colorado Rockies Major League Baseball team with one of the worst records in the league. Therefore, it was only mildly shocking that they lost to the Angels a few days ago, 25 – 1, no misprint. 25 – 1! But you know what? They came back the next day and won 4 – 3.

In a much more meaningful series, Louisiana State University (LSU), the 5th seed, was playing a 3-game championship series against the University of Florida, the 2nd seed, in the College Baseball World Series in Omaha. LSU won the first game, a pitcher’s duel, with a home run in the 11th inning. Then Florida came out in game 2 and beat LSU 24 – 4, again, no misprint. Few teams in the College World Series have won the championship after losing game 2. But LSU won the final game and the championship last night 18 – 4!

I don’t know what the LSU coach told his players between games 2 and 3, but I’m guessing that he reminded them that Florida’s game 2 “counts for one.” It wouldn’t matter if Florida had won 1 – 0 or 24 – 4, it still counts for only one game. And sure enough, LSU returned the favor.

I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, TPT)

I want to continue yesterday’s meditation on fishing for the hungry. A member of Auburn University’s National Championship Bass Fishing Team said:

Everybody’s like, “You go out, sit down and throw a bobber out there.” I’m running 50 to 100 places every tournament. I don’t like to sit and wait for them to feed, I like to fish for fish that are feeding. – Tucker Smith

There’s a promise and a challenge for helping the hungry:

And if you offer your soul to the hungry and satisfy the soul of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your thick darkness will become like midday. And Yahweh will continually guide you, and satisfy your soul in scorched places, and fortify your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. (Isaiah 58.10, 11, LSB)

Offer your soul to the hungry… How many sermons are delivered to the non-hungry? How can we make them hungry? Or how can we find the ones who are already hungry?

There was an interesting series on fishing last week in the comic strip Zits. Dad says, “We’re going fishing, leaving at 4am.” The next morning, the dad is up and ready to go at 4am, and the kid is up…because he hadn’t gone to bed yet! Then the kid says, “Look, Dad, there’s is zero chance of me going fishing with you at 4am.” And Dad replies, “OK. Just help me load this box of fresh donuts into the car.” The next frame, they’re driving down the road with the kid eating the donuts, and Dad thinks, “Fishing is all about using the right bait.” The kid wasn’t hungry to go fishing, but he was hungry for donuts!

These are similar to the lessons I listed in Fly-fishing and Disciple-making. Fishing for the hungry is something I think we need to figure out.

They say, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” But you can put salt in his oats! – Dr. Howard Hendricks

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)

One of the more well-known verses in the Bible is Jesus’ call to fishermen to follow him:

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4.18 – 20, ESV)

My dad was a fisherman. My son Matt is a fisherman. It skipped me, but when we lived in Montgomery, AL, 2001 – 2006, I would read about the annual bass fishing tournaments on the Alabama River. It’s big business. And now I found out that one of my Alma Maters, Auburn University, is the home of the National Collegiate Bass Fishing champion:

Auburn is home to another college sports juggernaut, likely swimming under your radar, unless you’re the dedicated sort of athlete who likes to rise in the darkness, drive to the lake and flip and pitch mats. This team is ultra-accomplished, famous inside fishing circles, and has students earning real money—while still in school.

Meet the Auburn bass fishing team, which recently captured the National Collegiate Bass Fishing title, the latest feat from a student-run program that has no coach and limited scholarship money but consistently wins big tournaments and produces stars, like Jordan Lee, a 2013 Auburn grad who won back-to-back Bassmaster Classics in 2017 and 2018 and now competes in Major League Fishing. 

“Some people have no idea, and some do,” said team president C.J. Maddux, 22. “It’s not just football. We have a championship bass-fishing team, too.” – Jason Gay, Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2023.

Who knew? Not I.

I was struck by this quote from champion fisherman Tucker Smith in the context of it’s more than high-tech equipment:

Everybody’s like, “You go out, sit down and throw a bobber out there.” I’m running 50 to 100 places every tournament. I don’t like to sit and wait for them to feed, I like to fish for fish that are feeding.

“I like to fish for fish that are feeding.”

How to find the fish that are feeding? How to find people who are hungry? That’s what The Navigators used to teach. Jesus said we were to be fishers of men. What does that look like? Waiting for fish to feed or finding fish that are feeding, fish that are hungry?

One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. (Proverbs 27.7. ESV)

There’s more, but I think I’ll save it for tomorrow…

Back to Leviticus, we have the ordination of Aaron and his sons in chapters 8 and 9. It’s a lot of detail, special garments, blood sacrifices, even a 7-day quarantine, but it ends with spectacular success:

And Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting, and when they came out they blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. (Leviticus 9.23, 24, ESV, emphasis mine)

There’s a fine line, apparently, between the spectacular and the tragic. Here are the very next verses:

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Leviticus 10.1, 2, ESV)

Same words: “And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed…

• The burnt offering (Leviticus 9.24)
• Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10.2)

I don’t write this stuff…I just report it! But interestingly, even though this event occurs relatively early in the narrative, I can think of only five instances in the entire Bible of God striking someone dead suddenly:

• Nadab and Abihu: “fire came out from the presence of Yahweh and consumed them”
• The sons of Korah: “…and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up…” (Numbers 16.32)
• Uzzah: “And the anger of Yahweh burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there…” (2 Samuel 6.7)
• The commanders and their fifty: “Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.” (2 Kings 1.10, 12)
• Ananias and Sapphira: “Ananias fell down and breathed his last.” It doesn‘t say that the Lord struck them. Nevertheless, “Great fear came over the whole church.” (Acts 5.5, 10, 11)

The fact that this sort of thing happened only five times (that I can remember) shows us that God is more grace than wrath. Even Leviticus 10 ends with grace and flexibility. There is another violation:

But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up! So he was angry with Aaron’s remaining sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, “Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to bear away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before Yahweh. Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.” But Aaron spoke to Moses, “Behold, this very day they brought near their sin offering and their burnt offering before Yahweh. Then things like these happened to me. So if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of Yahweh?” So Moses heard this, and it was good in his sight. (Leviticus 10.16 – 20, LSB)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3.8 – 10, ESV)

I love the story of Jesus and the demon-possessed guy in Mark 5. It opens with a hint of what I suggested yesterday – that the storm was a Satanic attack:

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. (Mark 5.1, 2, ESV)

They “came to the other side and met…a man with an unclean spirit.” Satan didn’t want Jesus messing with this man!

This time through I saw something new: four prayers! The Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) I was reading uses the same English word four times: pleaded. Other translations mix “pleaded” with “begged,” but it’s all the same word in the Greek. Four times someone was pleading with Jesus for something. Here they are, all from Mark 5.1 – 20.

• verse 10, the demons: “Don’t send us out of the region.”
• verse 12, the demons: “Send us into the swine.”
• verse 17, the townspeople: “Please leave our region.”
• verse 18, the cured demon-possessed guy: “Let me go with you.”

Interestingly, the only request that was not answered positively was the last one: the cured demon-possessed guy’s request to travel with Jesus. To all the others, two from the demons and one from the townspeople, Jesus said, “OK.” To enemies and unbelievers, God sometimes lets them have what they want…to their detriment.

The demon-possessed guy, however, was now on Jesus’ side and part of Jesus’ strategic mission.

And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was pleading with Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to preach in the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling. (Mark 5.18 – 20, LSB)

Jesus put the man right to work telling his story and guess what? When Jesus came back to that area, instead of asking him to leave, they were bringing people to him:

Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him. (Mark 7.31 – 32, NIV, emphasis mine)

This event contains eight of the most important words Jesus ever said:

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4.35 – 41, NIV)

Did you see them? The eight important words?

Let us go over to the other side.

June and I got blindsided a few days ago by something that for the first hour or so made us feel like the disciples: about to drown in the lake. But Jesus didn’t say, “Come. Let us go to the middle of the lake and drown.” He said, “Let us go over to the other side,” and they did despite an apparently Satanic attack and their resulting fear.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you… (Isaiah 43.2, NIV)

I like to highlight excellence wherever I see it, and this photograph of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro holding the moon is spectacular.

Brazilian photographer Leonardo Sens took the photo on June 4 from Icaraí Beach in the Rio de Janeiro municipality of Niterói, which is around seven miles away. He had been consulting astronomical charts, planning this shot for several years.

It’s an inspirational lesson in creativity, art, persistence, and technical excellence. Of course, the symbolism in Jesus’ power over creation is there, too.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Psalm 8.3, 4, NIV)

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19.1, NIV)

Let’s think about growth for one more day. Jesus was clear: the Kingdom involves growth:

How shall we explain the Kingdom of God: it grows like a mustard seed. It grows and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade. (Mark 4.30 – 32, LSB)

From a seed to nesting birds – that’s growth! Heather Holleman has experienced this literally:

I venture out to the garden to check on my one little growing plumcot, and I see a beautiful robin’s nest, freshly built, and ready to house those gorgeous blue eggs. I love how, after a storm, the robins build nests from the mud formed from rain.

Something struck my heart: I planted the tree from a grocery store seed I propagated. I staked, I pruned, I fertilized, I watered. Each year, it grew. I never imagined that one day, the very seed I cared for would not only grow into a tree, but it would also serve as something more. It would house bird nests. It would bring more joy than even those plums. It would serve a whole ecosystem. – Heather Holleman, A Nest in the Plum Tree, June 14, 2023

Her blog continues, reminding us that our growth is not just for us…

I think, when we allow God to plant a dream in our heart, it becomes even more. God is ever-blessing, ever-expanding our hope, and ever-growing our abundance in countless unimaginable ways. We think we’re doing a thing for one reason (plums), but it might just be to bless in another way entirely (birds). You’re growing something. It might be for someone else. – Heather Holleman

God has a lot to say about trees, reminding us that their growth is for others…

And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing. (Ezekiel 47.12, ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22.1 – 2, ESV)

On June 19, 1865—nearly nine decades after our Nation’s founding, and more than 2 years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation—enslaved Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally received word that they were free from bondage. As those who were formerly enslaved were recognized for the first time as citizens, Black Americans came to commemorate Juneteenth with celebrations across the country, building new lives and a new tradition that we honor today. In its celebration of freedom, Juneteenth is a day that should be recognized by all Americans. And that is why I am proud to have consecrated Juneteenth as our newest national holiday. – The Official Proclamation

I confess: I almost forgot Juneteenth, and I completely forgot that June 19 is now a national holiday. As I wrote last year, some of us often forget that the God we claim to worship is on the side of the poor and oppressed. Look what Jesus said:

He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written, God’s Spirit is on me; he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, “This is God’s year to act!” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, “You’ve just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place.” Luke 4.16 – 21, MSG, emphasis mine)

John, meanwhile, had been locked up in prison. When he got wind of what Jesus was doing, he sent his own disciples to ask, “Are you the One we’ve been expecting, or are we still waiting?” Jesus told them, “Go back and tell John what’s going on: The blind see, The lame walk, Lepers are cleansed, The deaf hear, The dead are raised, The wretched of the earth learn that God is on their side.” (Matthew 11.2 – 5, MSG, emphasis mine)

P.S. If you care about race relations, you can make a difference. My long-time friend Clarence Shuler has written a book with his lifelong mentor Gary Chapman: Life-Changing Cross-Cultural Friendships: How You Can Help Heal Racial Divides, One Relationship at a Time. I’ve just started reading it, and it’s going to be good. You can read more about the book here. Here’s an early snippet, which might be setting the tone. Gary Chapman writes:

Sadly, such mistrust between Whites and Blacks still exists in many places, which unfortunately includes people of faith. It is only as we get to know each other that walls are torn down. We say we believe that all men are created equal, but until we get to know each other, we are not likely to treat each other as equals.

My friend, co-author Clarence Shuler