NOTES ON PREPARING FOR THE DAY OF THE LORD: A THEOLOGICAL PRAXIS FOR MAKING ALL THINGS READY – PART V: JOY

SCRIPTURE. “Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord, for He comes, for He comes to judge and govern the earth! He shall judge the world with righteousness and justice and the peoples with His faithfulness and truth.” – PSALM 96:12-13, AMPC

QUOTATIONS

RUTHERFORD. “What desires hath the Spirit and Bride to hear, when the husband Christ shall say to the mighty angels, ‘Make you ready for the journey; let us go down and divide the skies, and bow the heaven: I will gather my Prisoners of Hope unto me; I can want my Rachel and her weeping children no longer. Behold, I come quickly to judge the nations.” – Samuel Rutherford, ‘The Trial and Triumph of Faith,’ 1645; edited

PIPER. “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when Infinite Joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” – John Piper, Sermon “The Weight of Glory” June 8, 1942; edited

LEWIS. “Hope is one of the theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the Eternal World is not, as some modern people think, a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither.” – C.S. Lewis, ‘Christian Behavior,’ 1944; edited

FIRST THOUGHTS

The one universal cord that draws every human being to others is our deep-well desire to just, ‘Be happy.’ We have all listened to the delightful strains of PHARRELL WILLIAMS’ iconic, whimsical American anthem, “Happy,” released in 2013. A close look at a few of the lyrics is telling.

“It might seem crazy what I’m about to say
Sunshine she’s here, you can take a break
I’m a hot air balloon that could go to space
With the air, like I don’t care baby by the way

Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do.”

In my search for a respectable analysis of the song’s meaning, the only one that made sense to me was an Anonymous assessment: “Pharrell Williams’ song ‘Happy’ is about a pure state of transcendent happiness and joy. It avoids being a novelty song, a party song and a cliche self-empowerment song.”

I agree. And for the record, I like the song and I like Mr. Williams, a Virginia Beach native, married father of four, skateboard enthusiast and generous philanthropist. I just like the man.

THE EPICUREANS. But it holds up a contemporary mirror to one of the world’s false assumptions about what makes us happy. Sunshiny days. Hot air balloons in a blue sky. Clapping and dancing to a happy tune. Those sorts of things, none of which are, by themselves, bad. I spent many hours enjoying Williams’ joyous music video.

But this sort of joy is fleeting, as when a favorite movie is over, and the letdown comes soon. Or a football game win. Or even a wonderful conversation, a promotion at work, a child’s well-being. Living in a beautiful town. All good. All good.

But it’s not enough, beloved. It is not enough. So, let’s take a look at a few historic reasons why. At its cultural apogee, Ancient Greece was searching for what made Mankind happy. Socrates, Aristotle and Plato came close at times, to finding some answers. But one philosopher, EPICURUS, ultimately defined Western Happiness for a hundred generations and more.

“Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who lived From 341 BC to 270 BC. He was trained under a Platonist teacher, but rejected Plato’s ideas that everything physical is a poor representation of the ultimate spiritual manifestation in the spirit world. Instead, Epicurus followed the ideas of the Atomists [cf. Democritus and Lucippus] who believed everything was made of minuscule solid particles floating around in a void. Even gods, Epicurus believed, were made solely of ‘Matter’ …

Epicurus’ physics was intertwined with his philosophy. Everything is Matter, so whatever ‘soul’ people may have disappears when the body dies. There is no afterlife. Therefore, there is no reason to fear the judgment of the gods in the afterlife. In fact, the gods not only ignore human affairs, they are in such a state of peace and contentment they don’t even realize humans exist. Therefore, there is no need to try to appease them on earth. The only purpose the gods serve is to be an example of a fully joyful life — ‘Ataraxia’ — which is characterized by ‘Aponia’ — the absence of any need or distress, whether physical, mental, or emotional.” – EDITORS, “Who Were the Epicureans?” ‘Compelling Truth,’ ret. November 30, 2021; edited

DK’S TAKE. Please note in this philosophical system, so apparent in the developed Western World including America, that there are the seeds of an aggressive ‘Atheistic Materialism,’ issuing toward lust, avarice, sloth, perversions without limit, and the idolization of the Material World, and just – wait for it – ‘Having Fun’ as the singular means of ‘Being Happy.’

I always default to a favorite singing artist when I think of this stuff: SHERYL CROW, whose L.A. based Anthem to Epicureanism runs something like this, in her popular song titled, “All I Wanna Do” (1993).

“’Cause all I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I’m not the only one
All I wanna do is have some fun
I got a feeling I’m not the only one

All I wanna do is have some fun
Until the sun comes up
Over Santa Monica Boulevard.”

I lived this South California, beer-soaked beach life for many years as a young man, and I promise you, it was one of the things that led me to a planned suicide by October 1979. But I digress a bit.

THESIS. I propose that this ‘Will to Happiness’ codified in the Philosophy of Epicureanism has flowed through the veins of Western History for countless generations, to this very day. To the extent that it has captured formerly Biblical American Territory originally defined as “The pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness,” to today in just doing, ‘Whatever feels good.’

Selah.

AMUSING OURSELVES TO DEATH

You have heard me before speak and write endearingly of DR. NEIL POSTMAN, formerly a professor of something he called “Media Ecology” at State University New York. A bit of a technological Luddite, he wrote one of the most prescient works in our history, in my view, with the publication of his landmark book by that name in 1985.

TECHNOPOLY. Here is his central, driving argument. Bear in mind that he thought and wrote this in 1985, as the Internet and the Digital Revolution were just getting their sea legs.

“In America, everyone is entitled to an opinion, and it is certainly useful to

have a few when a pollster shows up. But these are opinions of a quite different order from eighteenth- or nineteenth-century opinions. It is probably more accurate to call them emotions rather than opinions, which would account for the fact that they change from week to week, as the pollsters tell us. What is happening here is that television is altering the meaning of ‘being informed’ by creating a species of information that might properly be called ‘Disinformation.’”

Translation. What Postman is ‘prophesying,’ if you will, in secular language is the massive onslaught of ‘Cultural Illiteracy’ due to our fascination with technology-driven obsession with ‘just having fun.’ He finishes with this:

“When a population becomes distracted by Trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of Entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience, and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; Culture-Death is a clear possibility” (edited).

And, Voilà! The noble, brilliantly conceived American Order wrought in the rich ovens of the 1,000-year, largely Christian Common Law Tradition, is brought to its knees not by the Socialism of the Left, nor the Fascism of the New Right. No, rather by the staggering generational loss of the fundamental human ability or remotest interest in, ‘Thinking right thoughts.’

AMERICA’S FAVORITE IDOL: SPORTS. I am always amazed at how often I would hear sports analogies pop up in sermon after sermon over the years, and how acceptable such illustrations have become in American Church life. I mean, we LOVE our teams, right?

A piercing article dealing with this particular form of entertainment is offered by Christian essayist, PAUL CRAFT, writing for ‘Renew America’ in a piece titled, “The Obsession With Sports is a Reflection of American Society,” published on March 7, 2013, edited.

He writes:

“Sports and Entertainment have influenced American culture and moral values. If you reflect back just 50 years, the sports stadiums or arenas were lucky to hold half the amount of people they hold today. Attending sporting events was an option not a rule. Families actually spent quality time together and took pride in doing extra work around the house. Americans enjoyed family picnics or a weekend vacation at a lake.

Men have been most affected by the emergence of people’s addiction to sports. To many men, sports are not just a hobby but also a Religion. On the weekend and during the week, men are either in front of the television or at a sporting event. You can imagine the amount of quality time that is lost to their families. Also, the amount of work they could have done to earn extra money. Some men have become couch potatoes instead of men like their father and grandfathers …

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Both Rome and America were similar in that both were obsessed with Sports and Entertainment. As we know the great Roman Empire eventually fell when moral values were almost eliminated. America is headed down the same track. Moral Values and [the] sense of right and wrong have been replaced by ‘Compromise.’ Unless America turns back to the Lord and develops a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we are headed down the track that leads to the Ruins of Rome.”

IN SUM. Fascination with the rich and famous. Addictions to sports as a way of life from the time the kids are barely walking through their adult years. And, of course, the endless titillations of video games and online toys and shiny things to keep Americans glossy eyed and nearly brain dead.

All preliminary spadework the Spirit of Antichrist needed to spill endless streams of Misinformation and Conspiracy Fables into the culture. We by that time were classic, Sitting Ducks. And vastly worse: So was the American Church, drinking it all in by the gallons and gallons.

But now we turn, truly happily, to the Biblical Definition of Joy, as rich platform on which to build our lives for the months and years just ahead.

THE TEACHING

My entire career and calling as a Christian educator has been in one way or the other, all about ‘The Return Jesus Christ’ to the earth, to accomplish TWO GREAT MISSIONS: (1) The Rescue and Resurrection (Rapture) of the True Church before His Wrath falls upon the nations; (2) A Seven Year long, blistering Judgment upon all the people left behind after the Rapture.

There is a Scripture perfectly suited to define why the soon coming Christ makes such a Great Distinction between two classes of people at His Return.

“For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God. For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-19, AMPC

THE KEY. Thus, the Redeemed in Christ anticipate with immeasurable Joy, ‘His Coming,’ while the Lost will ignore it, mock it and then be terrified by it when it takes place. Here we remind of the Opening of the Sixth Seal for those individuals.

“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the military commanders and the wealthy and the strong and everyone, [whether] slave or free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne, and from the [righteous] wrath and indignation of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath and vengeance and retribution has come, and who is able to [face God and] stand [before the wrath of the Lamb]?” – REVELATION 6:15-17, AMP

With these Distinctions in mind, then, let’s go to the exuberant drill down of the most important WORDS OF PROMISE to the Faithful in the passage in PSALM 96:12-13.

EXULTANT. Taken from the Hebrew term, ‘Alaz’ [עָלַז]: “Literally, to leap or jump for joy; to rejoice in triumph; to become jubilant; to rejoice exceedingly at success or victory; to be glad above measure; show or take delight in the defeat or discomfiture (of).” DK: Nothing in the entire world can come close to this sort of Divinely inspired Excitement, for it is not transitory, but permanent. Experienced in part now, and in full at the Resurrection.

JOY. The word here is from the Hebrew, ‘Ranan’ [רָנַן]: “To give a ringing cry, to sing out loud; as when one overcomes all opposition; to shout in unbridled joy and exultation; to experience joy and gladness in a high degree; to be exhilarated with lively and pleasurable sensations; to exult.” DK: For those Christians who are more reserved and not given to such conduct, it will be an especial release for them, I should think. Unbridled, unrestrained engulfment of Happiness unknown fully to this point.

JUDGE. The term used here is ‘Shaphat’ [שָׁפַט]: “To judge in order to govern; to give long awaited perfect justice or equity; to administer the right; to vindicate those all those wronged; also, to punish the guilty for all their oppression; to act as Law Giver; to decide and settle all controversies once and for all, as an Arbitrator; to discriminate between good and evil.” DK: Here I am reminded of Paul’s Teaching on Love: “It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]” (1 Corinthians 13:6, AMP). The righteous love Truth and Justice, even when the consequences are dire, as part of their love for the Source of all Truth (cf. John 14:6).

HE IS COMING! From a very short Hebrew word for a massive, immeasurable event, ‘Bo’ [בּוֹא], translated: “Literally, ‘to come into the world’ a Second Time; an entering into specific relations [with the just and the unjust]; some to go into the appointed feast, others to be bound with iron chains; to attain to the End of the Age; to befall in order to lay siege as an act of war in Judgment of the wicked.”

WITH HIS TRUTH. From the Hebrew root, ‘Aman’ [אָמַן], ‘Emunah’ [אֱמוּנָה], meaning: “Firmness, steadfastness, faithfulness [of God]; fidelity; honesty; [unwavering] responsibility; trust; certainty; a divine attribute (such that those exercising it are acting in and for God); conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be; the means by which true believers are sanctified (cf. John 17:17).”

These then, beloved, are the foundational elements of what a true Christian frequently experiences and exhibits that sets him apart from the rest. Now to the Commentaries to dive still deeper into the wonder of this Divine World, so drastically opposed by the World’s Spirit.

Two of them are rather remarkable in that effort.

MATTHEW HENRY. “We are to hope and pray for that time, when Christ shall reign in righteousness over all nations. He shall rule in the hearts of men, by the power of truth, and the Spirit of righteousness. His Coming draws nigh; this King, this Judge standeth before the Door, but He is not yet come. The Lord will accept the praises of all who seek to promote the Kingdom of Christ. The sea can but roar, and how the trees of the wood can show that they rejoice we know not; but He that searches the heart knows what is, the Mind of the Spirit, and understands the words, the broken language of the weakest. Christ will come to Judge the earth, to execute just vengeance on His enemies, and to fulfil his largest Promises to His people. What then are we? Would that Day be welcome to us? If this be not our case, let us now begin to ‘Prepare to meet our God,’ by seeking the pardon of our sins, and the renewal of our souls to holiness.” – ‘Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

JOHN GILL. “‘For He cometh, for He cometh!’ Which is repeated to show the certainty of Christ’s Coming, and the importance of it, and the just reason there was for the above Joy and Gladness on account of it; and it may be also, as Jerom and others have observed, to point out both the First and Second Coming of Christ, which are both matters of Joy to the saints: His First Coming, which was from Heaven into this world, in a very mean and abject manner, to save the chief of sinners, to procure peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life for them, and therefore must be matter of Joy: His Second Coming, which will be also from Heaven, but in an extremely glorious manner, without sin, or the likeness of it, unto the salvation of is people: It will be as follows: To Judge the earth; the inhabitants of it, small and great, high and low, rich and poor, bond and free, quick and dead, righteous and wicked; when all works, words, and thoughts, good and bad, will be brought to account; and every man will be judged, as those shall be, with or without the grace of God.” – ‘An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 9 vols., 1746-1763; edited

Therefore, beloved, are we not only admonished, but commanded to ‘Prepare’ for His fiery Return. As The Baptist fairly shouted it at the top of his lungs, spittle likely flying from his mouth set aflame by the Spirit of God who sent him:

“And already the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire … His winnowing fan (shovel, fork) is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out and clean His threshing floor and gather and store His wheat in His barn, but the chaff He will burn up with fire that cannot be put out.” – MATTHEW 3:10, 12, AMPC

Neither shall a single soul escape this Final Reckoning for all that we have done for, or done against, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ that shall last forever and ever.

LAST THOUGHTS

MAKING ALIYA. As I thought of this last section, I could not shake the distinctly Jewish, ancient call to “Make Aliya!” Some of you are already familiar with its rich and deep meaning to the Jew, but I think it may have allegorical application to us in the Body of Christ for the Last Days.

An excellent, brief summary of this important concept is provided by RABBI YOSSI LEW, writing for the Jewish journal, ‘Chabad’ entitled, “What Does ‘Aliya’ Mean?” (ret. December 3, 2021; edited).

“The Hebrew word ‘Aliyah’ translates as ‘elevation’ or ‘going up.’ It is, in fact, used both for being called up to the Torah reading and for moving to the Land of Israel.

The term ‘Aliyah, Going up to Israel,’ is used in Genesis in reference to our forefather Jacob’s bones being brought from Egypt to what would be the Land of Israel: ‘And Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers, and all who had gone up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father’ (Genesis 30:15). The Talmudic sages state that the Land of Israel is higher than all other lands (Talmud, Kiddushin 69a) … This is not meant in a topographical sense, for clearly this is not the case. Rather, it means that the Holy Land is the most suitable place to relate and connect to the Almighty, and the primary location to lovingly engage in the observance of G‑d’s Commandments. In other words, to go there is to be elevated, to go up to a higher level.

It is for this reason that anyone ‘Making Aliyah,’ or moving to Israel for the right reasons, is moving ‘up’ in the world. It is the land in which the holy Patriarchs and Matriarchs lived. It is the land upon which the Holy Temples were built. And, with the advent of the Messianic era, it is the land where the Third Temple will soon be rebuilt. It is truly a holy and elevated place. The same way one is elevated when moving to Israel, one is also elevated each time one ‘Goes up’ to the synagogue to pray.

MAKING ‘CHRISTIAN’ ALIYA. The entire idea of ‘Going Up!’ is rife with Biblical injunctions to ‘Come up higher!’ in one’s walk and fellowship with Him. Here are just a few examples.

PROVERBS 25:7. “For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.” – KING SOLOMON

LUKE 14:10. “But when you are invited, go and sit down [to eat] at the last place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; and then you will be honored in the presence of all who are at the table with you.” – JESUS OF NAZARETH

REVELATION 4:1. “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’” – ‘THE FIRST VOICE,’ LIKE A TRUMPET

“HIGHER.” This central term is from the Greek, ‘Anóteros’ [ἀνώτερον], meaning: “Higher, to a more honorable place (at the dinner table); previously, in an earlier passage (or a book), above [the others]; to a more conspicuous place; extending a great distance above the surface of the earth; elevated; lofty; of great altitude; exalted in excellence or extent.”

THE STANDARD. My last thoughts on this frankly delicious idea, this ‘Principle’ of desiring to ‘Go Up Higher’ with God, holds both ‘here and now’ consequences for us, but more astoundingly, ‘There and Then’ impact as well.

And each is housed tightly within what Jesus Himself called: “THE GREATEST COMMANDMENTS.”

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.” – MATTHEW 22:36-40, AMP

From this we derive an inviolable ‘Principle’ for those claiming to be true followers of the Jewish Messiah: Only those who meet the requirements of these Two Commandments are worthy to be called by His Name. In more familiar terms I have used before to make this inviolate point:

THE REQUIREMENT. Only these, beloved. Truly walk with God today, and ‘Get to go’ to be with Him at the Rapture.

PRESENT. “The Bible clearly teaches that society will degenerate in the End Times, becoming as evil as it was in the Days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). The Apostle Paul, speaking as a Prophet, says that society will descend into a black pit of immorality, violence, and paganism (2 Timothy 3:1-5). He asserts that men will be ‘lovers of self, lovers of money, and lovers of pleasure.’ People will be ‘boastful, arrogant, and unholy,’ and children will be ‘disobedient to parents’ … [In light of this] When you look into this mirror, what do you see? Are you walking in the Center of God’s will? Have you ordered your priorities to put God first? Are you standing on the Word of God, testing everything by it? Do you believe in a personal, caring and all-powerful God who hears prayers and answers prayers, and who still performs miracles? Are you relying daily on the power of the Holy Spirit? Are you practicing tough Faith, refusing to allow the calamities of life to overwhelm you? Are you keeping an Eternal Perspective, refusing to get comfortable with this world? And are you daily looking for Jesus? Is the Rapture in your heart? Is ‘Maranatha!’ on your lips?”- DAVID REAGAN, “Living for Christ in the End Times,” 2000; edited

FUTURE. “Paradise was no mere seminary. It offered scope for art, science, and technology as well as theology. The same will doubtless be true of the World to Come. Not only the Creator but the creation, too will be an object of wonder to the redeemed. It will: challenge their intellects, fire their imaginations and stimulate their industry. The Scenario is a thrilling one: Brilliant minds in powerful bodies in a transformed Universe … Their knowledge will increase to Eternity; and if their knowledge, their holiness; for as they increase in the knowledge of God, they will see more of His excellency (beauty), and the more they see of His excellency (beauty) the more they will love Him, and the more they love God, the more Delight and Happiness they will have in Him.”- COLIN SMITH, citing Donald Macleod and

Jonathan Edwards, “What Will Life in Heaven Be Like?” ‘Unlocking the Bible,’ March 5, 2020; edited

CODA. These eloquent words of Christian heroes and writers, as wonderful as they are, fall far short of describing what Life in Heaven with God will truly be like. But they do introduce us to some rich elaborations of it, while crushing the childish meandering of those who still believe we’ll all sit on an ethereal cloud strumming harps for Eternity.

If that were the case, I am not at all sure I’d ‘want to go.’

No beloved, far to the contrary. I expect we shall learn of God and the Cosmos and travel to do His Exploits not only on the Earth, but throughout the entire Universe. It shall make Star Trek mere pathetic shadow to the Really Real, as Dr. Schaeffer used to beautifully put it

As I came to the end of this study, I happened upon a lovely passage from an ancient Jewish sage. I trust you will be most deeply encouraged by it, as was I. For it tells of ‘What is Coming,’ beloved, ever so soon.

“Thus says the Lord: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord; and [your children] shall return from the enemy’s land. And there is hope for your future, says the Lord; your children shall come back to their own country.” – JEREMIAH 31:16-17, AMPC

INTERPRETATION. “‘Thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord.’—Literally, there-shall be a reward for thy work. The words are a reproduction of the old prophecy of Azariah, the son of Oded (2 Chronicles 15:7). Rachel, personifying the Northern Kingdom, perhaps even the collective unity of all Israel, is thought of as labouring in the work of Repentance and Reformation, as with a mother’s care, and is comforted with the thought that her labour shall not be in vain.” – CHARLES ELLICOTT, ‘A New and Old Testament Commentary for English Readers,’ 1878, 1887; edited

My own experience these past five years is that TRUE JOY is only found in Oswald Chambers’ ‘Reckless obedience to our King.’ It’s that, beloved, and no more. I know I use this illustration far too often, but I love it so for capturing the Mystery of True Joy. So bear with me one last time as we close.

Duke Divinity School graduate TOMMY GRIMM describes it perfectly, writing for ‘The Connection’ in an essay titled, “Paring Motivation” on September 16, 2013; edited.

“If you remember one thing from the 1981 British film ‘Chariots of Fire,’ it’s probably the iconic music played while a pack of runners glide alongside the ocean. But in terms of the film’s dialogue, there’s one line that stands out to me. ERIC LIDDELL is being reprimanded by his sister for neglecting his responsibilities before God as he devotes his focus toward competitive running. Liddell responds, ‘I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.’”

WHAT IS JOY? Running this difficult and dangerous Race as best we possibly can, with God’s help, in order to ‘feel His pleasure’ at our effort. Nothing in the entire Universe, beloved, can match the sheer, unmitigated Joy of that.

Ever your servant, DK

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