Fireworks or Lighthouses

FIREWORKS AND LIGHTHOUSES

J. Frank Norris was a firecracker.  Announcing messages with titles like “The Greatest Sinner in Fort Worth,” he attracted a crowd by actually naming one of the town leaders and exposing his sin.  I had the privilege of writing the biographies of two other firecrackers.  Evangelist Billy Sunday fought the Booze industry.  After saloon-keepers walked his Sawdust Trail, they put signs in the front windows of their bars proclaiming “Closed by order of Billy Sunday.”  William Jennings Bryan took on the corrupt politics of his day and accepted the Democratic nomination for President three times.  But he was best known for fighting evolution as a lawyer in the “Monkey Trial.”

J. Gresham Machen was a scholar, a lighthouse.  As a professor at Princeton Seminary and later Westminster Theological Seminary, he taught New Testament, defended the faith against liberalism, and wrote a number of scholarly works still used in many seminaries today.  His scholarship shed biblical light on subjects of great importance to the church.

Those who admire firecrackers sometimes accuse lighthouses of lacking passion.  Those who admire lighthouses describe firecrackers as being full of noise with no substance.  So it is intriguing to find Jesus describing John the Baptist as “a burning and a shining light” (John 5:35).

The truth is, we need both the warmth of zeal and the light of truth.  We need to know the goodness of God and demonstrate His goodness toward others.  We must revel in the justice of God, and reveal justice in our business dealings.  The mercy of God should be the theme for our song, but we must also sing of going on “missions of mercy.” Grace provides a scintillating topic for Bible study, but it should also introduce our friends and neighbors to God through our grace-filled actions.

Dare to Walk on Water: Treasuring God combines divine truth about God with human action resulting from a knowledge of that truth.  Those who treasure God and His attributes develop both warmth of zeal and light of truth.  Apply your knowledge by learning to take on the character of God Himself in daily living.

DARE TO WALK ON WATER: TREASURING GOD will be available early in April.  Take the Dare! Become both a firecracker and a lighthouse for His glory.