In chapter 3 of his book Twelve Ordinary Men: How the Master Shaped His Disciples for Greatness, and What He Wants to Do with You, John MacArthur describes the apostles James and John like this:
James and John were nicknamed [Boanerges] “Sons of Thunder” [by Jesus] because of their reckless tendencies.
Later, in chapter 5 on John – The Apostle of Love, he describes just how reckless and rough John could be:
The two men [brothers, James and John] had similar temperaments, … they were inseparable in the Gospel accounts. John was right there with James, eager to call down fire from heaven against the Samaritans.
But Jesus changes John and he becomes known as the apostle of love. In the same chapter MacArthur offers the following observation on love and truth:
Zeal for the truth must be balanced by love for people. Truth without love has no decency; it’s just brutality. On the other hand, love without truth has no character; it’s just hypocrisy.
Upon reading that observation, it became immediately clear to me how it applied to the current debate on Human Sexuality and Marriage in the Church. Although in its history the Church has brutally spoken truth without love, it does not excuse its current detractors of the hypocrisy of love without truth. There’s too much at stake to be that reckless.
There’s a strange phenomena that I’m experiencing. As I get older—I’m not old yet—I begin to, retrospectively, realize the happy moments in my life. This gives me an interesting perspective on life going forward.
Here’s a photo of one of those past events:
Looks pretty basic, huh? Let me say this: I cherish that picture. Memories flood into my mind when I see it. It’s very special because it’s a happy, candid time I’m having with Karen and Corbin after mowing the yard on a Saturday morning at Chelsham house.
I’m very fond of this scene and it reminds me of many other moments with Clinton, Cole and Kyle that I cherish just as much. The sad thing is, I probably didn’t realize it at the time. Like I said at the beginning of this post, time—age—is giving me a new perspective.
I pray I won’t miss the beauty of these moments I have with my family going forward. Grand-parenting will probably be staggeringly awesome. We’ll see, once we get all these guys through college…
