Lillian Rose Shafer (December 21, 1932 – October 9, 2021)

My dear funny, optimistic, giving auntie (my dad’s oldest sister) has arrived Home at last. Hallelujah for our sure hope of the Resurrection; what joys in Christ are hers now… forevermore!

_____________

Lillian Rose Shafer (LeClerc) was born December 21, 1932, in Grafton, ND, the oldest of eight children blessed to Alexander and Mae (Schumacher) LeClerc. The family farmed near Grafton, Devils Lake, and Drayton, ND. Lill attended country school in Acton Township until sixth grade when her family enrolled her and younger sister Bev in Devils Lake Public Schools. A gifted student with a true passion for learning, Lill quickly advanced two grades, graduating at age sixteen from Devils Lake High School as salutatorian in 1949.

During the Depression, college seemed out of reach. The Lord had a plan. While washing the kitchen floor one afternoon, Lill noticed on the newspaper beneath her knees that a four-year college scholarship was available for two North Dakota students. Her mother signed her up and found her a ride to take the qualifying test halfway across the state. She won the scholarship and was off on a train to Valparaiso University in Indiana as a very naïve sixteen. That may be why she taught her children to rest their knees on newspaper while washing the floor.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry from Valparaiso University, a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a Registered Nursing Degree from St. Luke’s School of Nursing. Graduating from three institutions within a month caught the attention of a reporter with the Chicago Sun Times who published an article noting her achievement. Lill was offered the opportunity to further her medical training at Columbia University, but homesick for family, returned to Devils Lake to practice her craft and teach nursing students at Lake Region Junior College.

In 1961, she married Gordon Shafer. The couple lived on the Shafer family farm near Devils Lake through the birth of their first four children before moving to Detroit Lakes, MN in 1967 where Gordon accepted a position with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Lill worked as a nurse on the surgical and pediatric floors of the hospital in Detroit Lakes until the birth of their youngest child. Once the kids were all in school, Lill returned to gainful employment, teaching anatomy and physiology at the Technical College in Detroit Lakes. She was loved and revered by her students as a wonderful teacher and a truly compassionate mentor and friend.

Apparently raising five children and working full-time wasn’t enough to keep Lill and Gordy busy. In the early 70’s, they bought a farm northeast of Detroit Lakes. Starting with little more than well-used machinery and a few cows, they named their ranch the “Shoestring” and what started as a hobby grew to over five hundred head of breeding stock.

Known for her quick wit, Lillian brought levity and humor to every conversation.  She was an amazing person who forever put the needs and wellbeing of others before her own. Whether those in need were friends, family, or someone halfway around the world, Lill felt called to help. Through Lutheran World Relief, Orphan Grain Train, and Operation Christmas Child, over the years she sent thousands of boxes filled with items she had carefully collected throughout the year to children and families in need around the world.

Lillian was a light in the world and an instrument of God’s love and grace on this earth. She is survived by her husband Gordon, son Wade (Kathy) Shafer, daughters Brenda Shafer, Dawn (Mike) Forbes, Shannon (Robert) Maixner, and Dixie (Jerald Dosch) Shafer, grandchildren Sadie, Samantha, Aaron, Alec, Lillian, Finna, Aidan, Kaia, Lucy, Christian, Tony, Mike, Jake, and Kristi, brother Dale (Betsy) LeClerc, and sister Rosalie (James) Ringstrom, and sisters-in-law Judy LeClerc, Collette LeClerc, Carol (Art) Rohr, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Lillian was preceded in death by her parents, sister Beverly Schmidt and her husband Leo, brothers Gerald, Ray, Ronald, and Warren LeClerc, sisters-in-law Myrna LeClerc and Luella LeClerc, brother and sister-in-law Richard and Helen Shafer, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

The family would like to thank Sue Mayfield, Deb Smith, and Alicia Chilton for their loving care and support of Lillian and her family as she battled Alzheimer’s.

To celebrate Lillian’s life visitation is October 15, 2021, from 4:00 pm to 7 pm at West Kjos Funeral Home, 900 Summit Avenue, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501.

The funeral service is October 16, 2021, at 11:00 am at Zion Lutheran Church, 1100 Lake Avenue, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501.

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She’s Come, Our Little Adeline Maria!

After a short wild ride to the hospital, Adeline Maria arrived on August 8th at 8:58p just minutes after Daddy Bryce pulled up and Mommy Caroline was whisked to a delivery room! Our newest pea in our pod was 9#2oz. and 21.5 inches long. After spending a day and a half under the Bili lights, she was able to finally come home to meet her big sister, Lena!

Dear little Adeline, we pray that you will grow to know the great God who created you in secret and will be drawn to the Good Shepherd’s voice and love Him at an early age. We pray that you will joyfully walk in His ways and delight in His Word all of your days. We love you and are glad you’re ours!

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Good Night, Sweet Dad, and Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest

My dear Dad has gone from this world. He was a simple man who lived his life consistently and with integrity. He was the most even-keeled person I ever knew and I could always count on his good judgement and unflappable nature. He knew and trusted God in all things; his faith was in the blood of Jesus. In his later years, he spoke often of heaven and looked forward to the day the Lord would come for him.

I was very close to him and hated to see the man I knew slip away from us in his later years. His final months and days were not what we’d have chosen for him, but we rest in God’s kind, good, purposeful plans for his children. All of his trials are behind him now as his faith became sight in the wee hours of the morning, March 2, 2021. Even while looking at him in his coffin I could say, “Oh, there’s my dad again” as I saw finally once again the dad I knew and remembered – totally at peace as if just taking a snooze on the couch after supper before returning to his work outside.

I will miss him greatly – as a cousin said to me, “You only get one dad” – but I will always consider it the Lord’s grace to me that I was blessed to be his daughter. In the same vein, I will also always count it mercy and goodness that the Lord came for him when He did and that the seal of the Holy Spirit on Dad’s soul anchored him to his Savior on the other side of the veil of death. His bark is moored and he is now at HOME!

– – – – –

Ray LeClerc, age 80, of Grand Forks, entered his eternal home with our Lord on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.

Born August 1, 1940, Ray was the sixth of eight children born to Alex and Mae (Schumacher) LeClerc, in Grafton, ND. His formative years were spent with school months in Devils Lake and summers farming outside of Drayton. He fondly recalled several years of custom combining throughout the Midwest before heading back to school each fall. He graduated from Devils Lake High School in 1958.

In December 1961, Ray married Myrna Mae Anderson of Drayton. In May 1962, he graduated from North Dakota State School of Science in Civil Engineering. The two made their home in Grand Forks, where they raised their three daughters.

Ray began a 33-year tenure for the City of Grand Forks in 1966, beginning in the Engineering Department and retiring as the Platting and Right-of-Way Officer. He was also a real estate broker, certified land surveyor, and in 2000, he was awarded the peer-nominated ND Professional Land Surveyor’s “Survey Excellence” award.

Outside his professional life, Ray amassed a newsworthy collection of Schlitz memorabilia through his antiquing adventures. A farmer at heart, his great joy, though, was to putz on their farm on south Belmont Road.

After 42 years together, Myrna passed away in 2004. In God’s gracious Providence Ray met Judy Anderson of Grafton and the two were married in 2012. They fit a lifetime of love into the eight years the Lord gave them.

Ray was a longstanding member of Immanuel Lutheran Church. Throughout his life, he lived out his faith through his gift of service, ever ready to lend a hand. His steady nature and reliable common sense drew others to seek his advice. He was, at his redeemed core, a God-honoring, hard-working, kind man of integrity.

Ray is survived by his wife, Judy; daughter Kimberly (Dana) Young and their children Ashley (Andrew) Jacobson with Calvin, Lewis, Lucy, William, and Christiana; Seth (Joy) with Rosalie; Bryce (Caroline) with Lena; and Courtney; daughter Heide (Charlie) Becker and their sons Charlie and Noah; and daughter Holly (Dean) Ramsett and their daughters Peyton and Paige. He is also survived by brother Dale (Betsy) LeClerc, sisters Lillian (Gordon) Shafer and Rosalie (James) Ringstrom; as well as Judy’s family—Scott (Jayne) Anderson and Laurie (Mikael) Blackberg with Zane (Laura), Moriah, and Bethany.

Ray was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Myrna, and second wife, Louella (Schumacher); siblings Beverly, Gerald, Ronald, and Warren; mother-in-law Steffie Gwiazdon, brother-in-law Charles Misialek; and Judy’s grandson, Jonah Borth.

With grateful thanksgiving, Ray’s family acknowledges the exceptional care the staff of Valley Senior Living’s Hearthstone Village poured into Ray’s final seven months. Bless you for providing dignity in his last days. Thank you, as well, to Doctor Jon Allen, for his many years of care for and friendship with Ray.

Services will be held at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1710 Cherry Street South, Grand Forks. A prayer service is planned on Friday, March 5, 2021, 5:00-7:00 pm with a 7:00 PM prayer service at the church, and a funeral service on Saturday, March 6, 2021, at 2:00 pm, with a visitation one hour prior. Interment will be at Memorial Park South, Grand Forks.

Memorial suggestions: Immanuel Lutheran Church (www.immanuelgf.com), Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (www.dakotaranch.org), Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).

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A Generation Passed

From L to R:
Franklin “Frank,” #3, with Vera (Gunst) Young;
Lois (McIntyre) with Roland “Rol,” #4;
Richard “Dick,” (at piano), #2, with Deloris (Butenhoff);
and Vera (Young), #1, with Pete Soberg

The generation born to Herbert and Alta (Volkenant) Young and their spouses have passed from time into eternity.  What a blessed heritage for those of us who remain.

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Vera Rose Young December 10, 1919 – September 26, 2019

Vera Rose Young, 99, (formerly of Grand Forks) died on Thursday, September 26, 2019 at her home in Eagan, MN.

Vera Rose Gunst was born to August and Rose (nee Zimbelman) Gunst on December 10, 1919 in Medina, North Dakota. Baptized into the Christian faith on October 31, 1920, she confirmed her baptismal vows on July 5, 1936 at the Evangelical Church in Streeter, ND. Vera was the eldest of two daughters born to Germans from Russia immigrants, and attended country school in Medina, where she learned to speak English. She graduated from Medina High School in 1938. On September 26, 2019 at age 99, Vera received the gift of eternal life through faith in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She died at her home in Eagan, MN, under the care of Fairview Hospice, surrounded by her loving family.

Vera’s childhood was spent helping work the Medina family farm. The obligations of rural life during the Great Depression helped shape her strong work ethic and fuel her determination to lead a productive life. Following graduation she came to Grand Forks and attended Union Commercial College, helping her secure her first job— stenographer at Eddy’s Bakery. She later was bookkeeper for several Grand Forks businesses.

Vera met her future husband and the love of her life “singing in the church choir”. On November 19, 1944, she then married Benjamin F. (Frank) Young in Grand Forks, where they made their home. She was thrilled to become a mother, welcoming their only child, Susan, nine years later. As a couple, Vera and Frank partook in numerous adventures; in the early years it was summers at Maple Lake near Mentor, MN enjoying one of the two cabins they built there. Then interests shifted to the East Grand Forks hobby farm to which they moved in 1965, which also provided space to expand their many hobbies. Antique collecting became their passion.

Vera’s faith was her life compass, proven by the well-worn pages of her Bible. That faith fostered a natural desire to be active in church life, starting at the Evangelical United Brethren Church on Belmont Road. She was a member of several congregations through the years and enjoyed serving on committees, church council, and participating eagerly in women’s activities. At times she served as delegate to state or national functions.

Seeing beyond her own back yard, Vera’s enthusiasms included volunteering with the Germans from Russia Heritage Society, and being an active member in the North Dakota FCE (formerly “Homemaker’s”) where she held several offices throughout the decades. Later, she planned and escorted bus tours to a variety of popular destinations. Vera’s bags were seemingly always packed and ready to go. She traveled the world! Australia, NZ, China, Europe, the UK, many cruises, Canada, nearly all 50 states, but Vera’s most meaningful trip was to tour the Holy Land, and be able to walk where Jesus walked.

When she wasn’t “on the road”, Vera was a mental traveler and avid reader, having read thousands of books. As a gifted homemaker and mother she enjoyed gardening, canning, quilting, crafting, sewing, baking, and learning new things. But once she acquired a floor loom, her interests grew to love weaving and crocheting rugs, and proudly selling her creations at many craft shows in the greater Grand Forks and Twin Cities areas. Vera passionately loomed for over 50 years, designing hundreds of unique, beautiful woven rugs. She also wove many special friendships along the way, and always counted her friends as treasures.

Vera responded to life’s trials with an unwavering faith and grace. In recent years, she optimistically confronted several heath obstacles, and persevered to pursue her activities, adding, “Only by the grace of God.” She took pleasure in a shared living arrangement with her daughter’s family for 25 years, which provided a cherished togetherness. She deeply loved her family, and was always a source of tenderness and affirmation. Vera will be missed by all who had the distinct pleasure of having her as a part of their lives. Our household will profoundly miss interacting with our fun, loving, cheerful and enthusiastic mom and grandma— our shining beacon.

Vera was grateful to God for— and content with— her life! Vera was a child of God.

Preceding her in death were her parents, husband Frank (1992), and sister Norma Hanson.

Survivors include her daughter Susan (Kim) Filter of Eagan; four grandchildren: Justin (Lisa) Smith, Forest Lake MN; Elizabeth (Jorge) Arrizon, Shafer MN; Victoria Filter, and Vanessa Filter, Eagan MN; Great-grandchildren Dylan and Jasmine Tashjian, her devoted son-in-law Kim Filter, as well as many cherished and loved nieces and nephews.

**Memorials contributions are preferred to University Lutheran Church, Grand Forks, ND.

Memorial Service will take place at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at University Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, with visitation the hour prior to the service in the church.

Inurnment: Memorial Park North Cemetery, Grand Forks, ND.

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Welcome, Dear William!

We are blessed to welcome our precious latest, our dear William Ryle, born January 30, at 3:09 p.m., to Ashley and Andrew, and measuring 7# 7oz. and 20″ long.

You are named for two giants of the faith- William Tyndale, who gave his life for translating the Bible into English from its original Hebrew and Greek texts, and William Wilberforce, social crusader who fought most of his political career for the liberation of black slaves in the British realm… and won! Your middle name is taken for the 19th century British pastor, bishop, and theologian, J.C. Ryle.  It was said of Ryle that he was “bold as a lion for the truth of God’s Word and his Gospel.”  This is our prayer for you – boldness all your days for God’s Word and the Gospel of truth.

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Congratulations, Courtney

Congratulations to our youngest daughter, Courtney, who graduated this month from Bethlehem College and Seminary with a History of Ideas major.  Congratulations to this bright, lovely, introspective, and witty daughter who displays the right mix of sense and sensibility.

My dear Courtney, you have worked through many challenges to accomplish this goal and have overcome the very demanding rigors of your major.  You have read thousands and thousands of pages and written hundreds and hundreds of pages.  You have grown both in your knowledge of western thought and philosophy as well as in understanding of how God has been at work throughout time and through eternity. You show great wisdom in applying revealed truth to everyday life. During these years, you have been witness to Jehovah Jirah, our Provider God, working on your behalf again and again through God’s people (tuition help, full-time employment for your earning year, generous housing provided, even oil changes and serpentine belts replaced at no cost).  This is your God; He who walks with you now into your future!

We look forward to seeing how God will use all the gifts He’s poured into you as you remain yielded to him.

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Resolved

Christina Fox has written a New Years post meant to spur us on to godliness for God’s glory. In it, she discusses the resolutions made by the Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards. I first read these in Elisabeth D. Dodds book, Marriage to a Difficult Man. It impressed me that such a sober-minded intentionality could even be conceived by a mere boy of 19. He wrote most of them a week before Christmas – Friday, December 1722 – disregarding the conventions of making a fresh start on manufactured start dates like Sunday or the first of the month or the first of the year. I’m sure he never imagined that another soul would ever see his resolutions which makes their scope and seriousness all the more noteworthy.

 

In contrast to popular modern resolutions of losing weight, exercising more, quitting smoking, getting organized, etc., we see in Edward’s declarations a commitment to deep, sustained change in the inward life rather than the outward. We sense in them a desire that Edward’s character would actually be changed and that through practice it might come to shape and then represent the very nature of the person so resolved.

 

Well, here they are, below. Might we not adopt one or two in the year ahead; if for no other reason than the sheer practice of shifting our focus from the all-consuming outward package to godliness in the inward man? Might we not add the practice of contentment to our lists as well? Together, contentment and godliness, now that would be great gain!

 

RESOLUTIONS OF JONATHAN EDWARDS

“Being sensible that I am unable to do any thing without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him, by his grace, to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

1. Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved, so to do, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many soever, and how great soever.

2. Resolved, To be continually endeavouring to find out some new contrivance and invention to promote the forementioned things.

3. Resolved, If ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.

4. Resolved, Never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God, nor be, nor suffer it, if I can possibly avoid it.

5. Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.

6. Resolved, To live with all my might, while I do live.

7. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life.

8. Resolved, To act, in all respects, both speaking and doing, as if nobody had been so vile as I, and as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same infirmities or failings, as others; and that I will let the knowledge of their failings promote nothing but shame in myself, and prove only an occasion of my confessing my own sins and misery to God. Vid. July 30.

9. Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

10. Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

11. Resolved, When I think of any theorem in divinity to be solved, immediately to do what I can towards solving it, if circumstances do not hinder. xxi

12. Resolved, If I take delight in it as a gratification of pride, or vanity, or on any such account, immediately to throw it by.

13. Resolved, To be endeavouring to find out fit objects of liberality and charity.

14. Resolved, Never to do any thing out of revenge.

15. Resolved, Never to suffer the least motions of anger towards irrational beings.

16. Resolved, Never to speak evil of any one, so that it shall tend to his dishonour, more or less, upon no account except for some real good.

17. Resolved, That I will live so, as I shall wish I had done when I come to die.

18. Resolved, To live so, at all times, as I think is best in my most devout frames, and when I have the clearest notions of the things of the gospel, and another world.

19. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if I expected it would not be above an hour before I should hear the last trump.

20. Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

21. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which if I should see in another, I should count a just occasion to despise him for, or to think any way the more meanly of him.

22. Resolved, To endeavour to obtain for myself as much happiness in the other world as I possibly can, with all the power, might, vigour, and vehemence, yea violence, I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of.

23. Resolved, Frequently to take some deliberate action, which seems most unlikely to be done, for the glory of God, and trace it back to the original intention, designs, and ends of it; and if I find it not to be for God’s glory, to repute it as a breach of the fourth Resolution.

24. Resolved, Whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, to trace it back, till I come to the original cause; and then, both carefully endeavour to do so no more, and to fight and pray with all my might against the original of it.

25. Resolved, To examine carefully and constantly, what that one thing in me is, which causes me in the least to doubt of the love of God; and so direct all my forces against it.

26. Resolved, To cast away such things as I find do abate my assurance.

27. Resolved, Never wilfully to omit any thing, except the omission be for the glory of God; and frequently to examine my omissions.

28. Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive, myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

29. Resolved, Never to count that a prayer, nor to let that pass as a prayer, nor that as a petition of a prayer, which is so made, that I cannot hope that God will answer it; nor that as a confession which I cannot hope God will accept.

30. Resolved, To strive every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before.

31. Resolved, Never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of christian honour, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said any thing against any one, to bring it to, and try it strictly by, the test of this Resolution.

32. Resolved, To be strictly and firmly faithful to my trust, that that, in Prov. 20: 6. ‘A faithful man, who can find?’ may not be partly fulfilled in me.

33. Resolved, To do always what I can towards making, maintaining, and preserving peace, when it can be done without an overbalancing detriment in other respects. Dec. 26, 1722.

34. Resolved, In narrations, never to speak any thing but the pure and simple verity.

35. Resolved, Whenever I so much question whether I have done my duty, as that my quiet and calm is thereby disturbed, to set it down, and also how the question was resolved. Dec. 18, 1722.

36. Resolved, Never to speak evil of any, except I have some particular good call to it. Dec. 19, 1722.

37. Resolved, To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, wherein I have been negligent,—what sin I have committed,—and wherein I have denied myself;—also, at the end of every week, month, and year. Dec. 22 and 26, 1722.

38. Resolved, Never to utter any thing that is sportive, or matter of laughter, on a Lord’s day. Sabbath evening, Dec. 23, 1722.

39. Resolved, Never to do any thing, of which I so much question the lawfulness, as that I intend, at the same time, to consider and examine afterwards, whether it be lawful or not; unless I as much question the lawfulness of the omission.

40. Resolved, To inquire every night before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. Jan. 7, 1723.

41. Resolved, to ask myself, at the end of every day, week, month, and year, wherein I could possibly, in any respect, have done better. Jan. 11, 1723.

42. Resolved, Frequently to renew the dedication of myself to God, which was made at my baptism, which I solemnly renewed when I was received into the communion of the church, and which I have solemnly re-made this 12th day of January, 1723.

43. Resolved, Never, henceforward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God’s; agreeably to what is to be found in Saturday, Jan. 12th. Jan. 12, 1723.

44. Resolved, That no other end but religion shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, in the least circumstance, any otherwise than the religious end will carry it. Jan. 12, 1723.

45. Resolved, Never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance relating to it, but what helps religion. Jan. 12 and 13, 1723.

46. Resolved, Never to allow the least measure of any fretting or uneasiness at my father or mother. Resolved, to suffer no effects of it, so much as in the least alteration of speech, or motion of my eye; and to be especially careful of it with respect to any of our family.

47. Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peaceable, contented and easy, compassionate and generous, humble and meek, submissive and obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable and even, patient, moderate, forgiving, and sincere, temper; and to do, at all times, what such a temper would lead me to; and to examine strictly, at the end of every week, whether I have so done. Sabbath morning, May 5, 1723.

48. Resolved, Constantly, with the utmost niceness and diligence, and the strictest scrutiny, to be looking into the state of my soul, that I may know whether I have truly an interest in Christ or not; that when I come to die, I may not have any negligence respecting this to repent of. May 26, 1723.

49. Resolved, That this never shall be, if I can help it.

50. Resolved, That I will act so, as I think I shall judge would have been best, and most prudent, when I come into the future world. July 5, 1723.

51. Resolved, That I will act so, in every respect, as I think I shall wish I had done, if I should at last be damned. July 8, 1723.

52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again: Resolved, That I will live just so as I can think I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. July 8, 1723.

53. Resolved, To improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my safety, knowing that I confide in my Redeemer. July 8, 1723.

54. Resolved, Whenever I hear anything spoken in commendation of any person, if I think it would be praiseworthy in me, that I will endeavour to imitate it. July 8, 1723.

55. Resolved, To endeavour, to my utmost, so to act, as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven and hell torments. July 8, 1723.

56. Resolved, Never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.

57. Resolved, When I fear misfortunes and adversity, to examine whether I have done my duty, and resolve to do it and let the event be just as Providence orders it. I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my duty and my sin. June 9, and July 13, 1723.

58. Resolved, Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversation, but to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness, and benignity. May 27, and July 13, 1723.

59. Resolved, When I am most conscious of provocations to ill nature and anger, that I will strive most to feel and act good-naturedly; yea, at such times, to manifest good nature, though I think that in other respects it would be disadvantageous, and so as would be imprudent at other times. May 12, July 11, and July 13.

60. Resolved, Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of order, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within, or the least irregularity without, I will then subject myself to the strictest examination. July 4 and 13, 1723.

61. Resolved, That I will not give way to that listlessness which I find unbends and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on religion, whatever excuse I may have for it—that what my listlessness inclines me to do, is best to be done, &c. May 21, and July 13, 1723.

62. Resolved, Never to do any thing but my duty, and then, according to Eph. 6: 6-8. to do it willingly and cheerfully, as unto the Lord, and not to man: knowing that whatever good thing any man doth, the same shall be receive of the Lord. June 25, and July 13, 1723.

63. On the supposition, that there never was to be but one individual in the world, at any one time, who was properly a complete Christian, in all respects of a right stamp, having Christianity always shining in its true lustre, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever part and under whatever character viewed: Resolved, To act just as I would do, if I strove with all my might to be that one, who should live in my time. Jan. 14, and July 13, 1723.

64. Resolved, When I find those ”groanings which cannot be uttered,“ of which the apostle speaks, and those ”breathings of soul for the longing it hath,” of which the psalmist speaks, Psalm 119: 20. that I will promote them to the utmost of my power; and that I will not be weary of earnestly endeavouring to vent my desires, nor of the repetitions of such earnestness. July 23, and Aug. 10, 1723.

65. Resolved, Very much to exercise myself in this, all my life long, viz. with the greatest openness of which I am capable, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him, all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires, and every thing, and every circumstance, according to Dr. Manton’s Sermon on the 119th Psalm. July 26, and Aug. 10, 1723.

66. Resolved, That I will endeavour always to keep a benign aspect, and air of acting and speaking, in all places, and in all companies, except it should so happen that duty requires otherwise.

67. Resolved, After afflictions, to inquire, what I am the better for them; what good I have got by them; and, what I might have got by them.

68. Resolved, To confess frankly to myself, all that which I find in myself, either infirmity or sin; and, if it be what concerns religion, also to confess the whole case to God, and implore needed help. July 23, and August 10, 1723.

69. Resolved, Always to do that, which I shall wish I had done when I see others do it. Aug. 11, 1723.

70. Let there be something of benevolence in all that I speak. Aug. 17, 1723.”

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Welcome, Little Lewis Elliot

Welcome to our dear little Lewis Elliot, born August 3rd at 5:07 a.m., to Ashley and Andrew and measuring 7# 15 oz. and 20″ long.

May you grow to wisely share the Christian faith like C.S. Lewis and be passionate in your obedience to Christ like Jim Elliot, the two men after whom you are named.

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Come to Me, I Will Give You Rest, part II

 

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!

“Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!”

(Samuel Trevor Francis, 1875)

A theology of rest…

I’d never heard such a thing. While growing up, the practice that was considered most virtuous was definitely not rest, but work. My parents seemed always engaged in some productive task or labor. Our Sabbath-keeping always included church on Sunday mornings, but the rest of the day belonged to tasks that did not get done earlier in the week. While I am grateful to this day that I learned the value of work and productivity, I am beginning to see that God’s Word would have me reevaluate the idea of rest and to embrace it in its proper boundaries as a gracious gift from my Creator.

Joe Rigney offers up a balanced theology of rest in a message he gave at the weekly chapel for Bethlehem College and Seminary. Rigney does not spend time arguing if Sabbath-keeping is still a mandate to be observed under the New Covenant. Instead he approaches the subject looking for wisdom… “Is there wisdom to be gained on the subject from Scripture (both the Old and New Testaments) about how God has made us to need rest?” His premise in promoting a one day-in-seven rest comes from the conviction that because God loves us, He gives us rest. I have taken the liberty, below, to put to print as much of his 33-minute message as needed to present his biblical case and to encourage us (reader and writer, alike) to glory in this good, Fatherly gift of rest.

“The God Who Loves Us by Giving Us Rest” by Joe Rigney

To begin, Rigney points out that the reality of time being regulated is a given. Our time does get regulated, whether by a school calendar or by our jobs and obligations or by merchants promoting Christmas in October. It’s not a matter of will our time be regulated, but a matter of who will regulate it and by what standard. A self-proclaimed work-aholic, Joe finds himself under the growing conviction that the way we regulate our time is “a big deal.”

The God Who Loves Us in Creation and So Gives Us Rest

It is Rigney’s argument that one way God’s love manifests itself is in the establishment of rest for mankind both in creation as well as in redemption. Rest is an expression of God’s creational love, given by design for the benefit of his creatures. It is God who determined the pattern of work and rest which culminates in the “blessing” of the seventh day, making it holy (Gen. 2:3). Since Jesus tells us that God is always at work (John 5:17), it is helpful to note that God is the first person in the Bible who is said to rest. Indeed, in Hebrews we are told that on the seventh day, God entered his rest and remains there, still awaiting man to join him (Hebrews 4). This guards us against the notion that rest is the ceasing of all activity; it’s not.  It’s about stopping one kind of activity in order to more fully participate in another kind of activity.  It is more about the consummation and enjoyment of completed labor.

Jesus made an unexpected statement in Mark 2:27. He told the indignant but law-abiding Pharisees a truth of deeper magic from [the very dawn] of time as C.S. Lewis might put it, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus doesn’t say that the Sabbath was made for the Jews only, for the covenant people of God, but for “man.” God created the pattern of work and rest to suit our frame, he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust (Ps. 103), he knows our cares, our inclinations and therefore makes the Sabbath for us. The whole creation narrative springs from his Fatherly love in making a habitat for his people, setting up a temple in which his image-bearers can dwell.

So when God finally codifies a day of rest in Exodus 20:8, He effectively declares: I love you! I love your sons, your daughters, your servants, your livestock, the sojourner among you… I love you! Stop working, one day in seven. I love you!

Yes, we are to labor, yes, we’re to have dominion, yes, we are to subdue the earth, work the garden and keep it; but we must never forget that the whole target is that we, like Yahweh, might enjoy the fruit of our labors. Work exists for the sake of something else, it has a direction a trajectory which is Sabbath rest.

The God Who Loves Us in Redemption and So Gives Us Rest

We also observe God’s redemptive love in Deuteronomy 5. When the law is restated 40 years after its first giving, the Sabbath is rooted, not in creation, but in the Exodus. After years of slavery and sojourning and wandering, the Lord was finally going to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey, a land with cities they did not build, good things they did not fill, cisterns they did not dig, vineyards and olive trees they did not plant (Deuteronomy 6), a land of rest. They were leaving off their slavery… for rest. In this rest, God would make for himself an everlasting name (Is.63:14).

To be sure, there is an inward rest obtained by the redeemed, those who mix the gospel with faith (Hebrews 4:2), who rest from their futile works and strivings (v.10). Hebrews expounds on this… that because of Christ’s redemptive work of which he now rests (Mk. 16:19), there remains an eternal Sabbath “rest” for the people of God (Heb. 4:8-9). Our Sabbath-keeping is an external reminder of the rest that the redeemed will enjoy throughout eternity.

Sabbath is not meant to be dull or a burden; it is meant to relieve burden. Leviticus 23 includes the Sabbath observances with the feast days (v.3), a festival to Yahweh, a day of celebration, of joy, of delight. More profoundly, Isaiah says if we will make the Sabbath a delight, then we shall take delight in the Lord and ride on the high places of the land (Is. 58:13-14).

This truth converts the keeping of the Lord’s Day (which I use interchangeably, here, with Sabbath-keeping) from a list of off-limit activities to a day of delight. We are finally free to do all the things that the hustle and bustle of our daily work keeps us from doing. It is a day we get to do something which most of the time we are prevented from doing because we have to work. What a delight. A one day-in-seven rest is God’s love, his care, his kindness, his provision both in creation and in redemption.

The Benefits of Sabbath-Keeping

On the practical side, what are the benefits of Sabbath-keeping? Rigney offers four to consider.

1) Keeping the Lord’s Day is a protection against vain anxiety (Psalm 127:1-2).

Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Your labor can be vain, your watching can be vain, your rising early and staying up late can be vain if it’s done with an anxious heart, “in anxious toil.” Because God knows this about us, in love, he gives us sleep, making us unconscious for roughly eight hours a day. There is this constant hum of low-grade anxiety in our lives (papers to be written, books to be read, activities to go to, bills to be paid, a house to care for, laundry to do, and on and on). God gives us nightly rest from that, but also provides a day of rest in the midst of six days of toil. It is a reminder that the fruit of our labors is ultimately not in our hands; we’re not God.

2) Keeping the Lord’s Day re-orients our understanding of fruitfulness.

Many of us worship at the altar of efficiency; sacrificing our families, our relationships to the god of productivity. We know our lives don’t consist of the abundance of our possessions, but how many of us live as if our lives consist of the length of our to-do list or better, the number of things we’ve checked off today. We define ourselves by our achievements and accomplishments, by our productivity.

Sabbath rest reminds us that fruitfulness is not only a quantitative term, but a qualitative term. It orients us to consider the quality of our lives, not merely the quantity of our completed tasks. Rest does not exist that you might enjoy pause before getting back to work; work exists so you might rest, so you might enjoy what you have done. The whole trajectory of history is moving toward an eternal Sabbath rest. Yes, we work, but it has a goal. It’s not that rest exists for the sake of work, but work exists for the sake of rest. Sabbath rest reminds us of that weekly; a weekly reminder of what’s coming. Like God, we labor in order that we might enjoy its fruit.

3) Keeping the Lord’s Day teaches us the difference between escaping from our work and resting from our labor.

There is a difference. When we look forward to escaping, we are desperate to stop doing something. It is “a running from.” Rest, however, is “a running to.” We look forward to rest, we are desperate for it.

Escape hates work and tries to mute it for a moment, to drown it out, but it is still going on in the background. Rest turns it off that we might listen to a different tune entirely.

Escape is death. It’s lifeless, it’s mindless, and it’s dull. Rest is life. It’s vibrant, it’s refreshing, it’s fruitful. Escape numbs us, rest awakens us.

Escape makes the burden of work heavier. We feel burdened by our work, so we take breaks to email or Facebook or etc., but when we return we feel more burdened. In contrast, rest makes the burden lighter (Matthew 11). Escape dreads Monday, Rest laughs at Monday, like the woman in Proverbs 31, rest laughs at the time to come (v. 25).

4) Keeping the Lord’s Day helps to avoid a creeping Gnosticism (a belief that the physical world is bad and that only the spiritual world is worthy). Such thinking corrupts the glorious reality of resting in Jesus which can become an empty slogan if it justifies a never-ending work week – “I don’t really need to physically rest, instead I seek only the spiritual rest I have found in Jesus.”

“Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). There is a tendency to neglect rest because our striving have ceased in a sense and we are resting in Jesus all the time, but this is a dangerous attitude, hazardous to our physical and spiritual health. However, when we intentionally and gladly weave into our lives this amazing reality of the inward rest, that Jesus bought for us by his blood, with a regular rhythm of work and physical rest, we gain an amazing opportunity to experience the fullness of God. Take a spiritual lesson from Elijah – sometimes the most spiritual things you can do is take a nap (1 Kings 19).

Practical Suggestions for Keeping the Lord’s Day

Rigney identifies himself as a toddler just learning to walk in the practice of Sabbath-keeping, but he wants to get better at it. He offers a starter’s list, in no apparent order, of tangible ways to begin living this all out.

1) Define the boundaries of time. Joe and his wife, practice their Sabbath-keeping from Saturday evening to Sunday evening. As a college instructor, Joe needs some time Sunday evening to prepare for his students the next morning. In this way, he is given the freedom of mind to attend to those things even while keeping the Lord’s Day. He wanted a 24-hour period which provided a good night’s sleep where he was not thinking about all the things he has to do the next day; this solution works for him.  Define your boundaries.

2) Avoid LIKE THE PLAGUE, blogs, FB, Twitter, texts, etc. One step further? Put computers away completely to avoid mindlessly spending time on the internet or watching movies instead of resting.

3) Eat a really good meal, eat a really good long meal, eat a really good long meal with friends and lots of laughter – make it a delight. It is, after all, a feast day, so feast.

4) Go for a walk; go for a walk with some friends or your spouse or by yourself.

5) Play a board game or a game outside (Frisbee, football, play catch, shoot hoops, go for a jog, etc.)

6) Sleep in or take a nap; do both! Rigney spells out a system he and his wife have designed that allows each to get an extended period of sleep in during the day even with little ones who haven’t learned that the Lord’s Day is a day of rest (@ 29:15” for all of you tired parents).

7) Refuse, absolutely refuse, to prepare for next week, whatever it is. Even as a college instructor speaking to students, Rigney says, “If you’ve got school work, put it up.” Enjoy the fruit of your labor.

[Of all points, this causes me the most fear, not in the setting aside of work on that day, but in the frenzy of the week past or to come as I must now cram my usual seven days of work into six. What will that mean for those six days? I’m thinking that this is an area I would need to take by faith, to watch and see how God takes care of the labors of my other six days. ~ky]

8) Read the Scriptures, a biography, a fiction book (put the study books up); fall asleep doing it ( :

9) Worship with God’s people; look forward to it, anticipate it, linger over it, arrive early and stay late.

10) Invest in family; make it a goal for your children to grow up with Sunday the highlight of the week (looking forward to it on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – looking back, thankful for it).

11) Cultivate gratitude. You’ve been saved by grace, you live in it, you’re swimming in it, so by all means be grateful… specifically. General gratitude dies; specific gratitude grows. Spend time enjoying and thanking God for all of his gifts to you.

12) Use this one day in seven to cultivate a longing for the heavenly Sabbath; awaken it. Infuse it with the anticipation of that great and glorious day when all shall be well and we will sit down to the marriage feast of the Lamb, to feast with Jesus and truly find our rest in Him.

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