The Spillover

Grant Castleberry:

It was late in the afternoon of September 23, 1986. I was just two years old, and my dad had just taken off on a routine training exercise in his F-4 Phantom Marine Corps fighter jet. He was flying over the Atlantic Ocean, not far from our home in Beaufort, South Carolina, when his F-4 crashed into another F-4 during a dog-fight maneuver. Both my dad, Captain Charles Kelly Castleberry, and his navigator, Major Christopher Brammer, were never seen again. Search and Rescue crews scoured the Eastern seaboard for days, but they were never able to locate my father.

Ever since that day, I have had a special place in my heart for the “fatherless” of this world, especially those who have experienced loss through traumatic circumstances. This ache for the fatherless was stirred up again two nights ago, as the news aired the horrific events concerning the giant fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. I was distraught to learn that a crew of firemen had been at the site, trying to put out the fire when the blast exploded. Two thoughts immediately came to my mind: 1) Unless there had been a miracle, the firemen on site would not have survived the blast; 2) Those firemen were never again going to see their wives and children on this earth. It may have been a “routine” call for these trained professionals, but in an instant, it became a deadly tragedy. The lives of their loved ones would never be the same. Their children are left, clinging to every possible memory of their fathers, but they will never again, on this side of eternity, see their dads’ faces or be able to physically talk to them.

Losing a father is unspeakably horrific for all children. The son has lost the one person primarily responsible to train him to be a man, and to help him through that process. The daughter has lost her provider, protector, and teacher of being cherished and valued as a woman. I believe this is one reason why God has such a special, tender heart for the fatherless and the widows of the world. David, by the Holy Spirit, writes in Psalm 68:5,“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”

I have experienced this special fatherly love by God in numerous ways. I have genuinely felt God’s special hand of providence guiding me throughout my life, and he really has been a father to me. One way that he has shown this love is through another godly man, Preston Abbott, who was sent to be my earthly dad four years after my first dad died. Another provision from my Heavenly Father is the amazing legacy of my first father, Kelly. God enabled my father to do some extraordinary things in his short twenty-six years on earth. These have shaped and will continue to shape me for the rest of my life.

Three Ways My Father’s Legacy Has Impacted Me

1. My Father’s Faith: God used my father’s untimely death to make me think about the realities of death, Heaven, and Hell at a very early age (probably earlier than most children). This enabled my mom to share with me about my father’s Lord, Jesus Christ, and how “because my father had trusted Christ as his Savior from sin, he was with Jesus now in Heaven.” Because I admired my dad so much, I knew that if he loved Jesus, then I should learn more about Jesus, too. Eventually I came to see how irresistibly good Jesus is, so one night I prayed with my mom and expressed faith in Christ. I rejoiced that I too would one day get to see Jesus in Heaven.
2.  My Father’s Purity: One night my dad’s squadron took a “mandatory” trip to a beach house somewhere along the Atlantic Coast. No wives or children were allowed to come. This was a special night in which many of the young pilots would receive their “call-signs.” Shortly after my father arrived at the beach house, he realized why family members were not invited. Someone had invited strippers as entertainment for the evening. Later that night, when he confided this event to my mom, she asked him how he responded. He said that he had stayed in the corner of the beach house with his hand over his eyes. A few months after my father’s crash, a pilot in the squadron gave my mom a picture that someone had taken inside the beach house that night. He told my mom that deep down “everyone respected Kelly for it, but no one had the guts to follow him.” Sure enough, in the background was my father with his hand covering his eyes. As a young boy, my mom showed me that picture and explained to me the integrity and courage my dad had displayed in that moment. She then explained the necessity of walking a path of purity in my own life. My mom framed the picture and put it in my room for me as a constant reminder to always walk in purity. The legacy of purity my father left for me has made a huge difference in my life. Many of my heroes growing up (Jesus, Joseph, my dad), faced incredible temptation and realized in that moment that those temptations “had no lasting city,” but they sought “the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:14). In high school, college, and the Marine Corps, I had numerous temptations to compromise, but God used the legacy of my dad and other biblical heroes, through the Holy Spirit, to help me withstand temptation.
3. My Father’s Life of Prayer: After my dad’s death, my mom told me how he’d spent hours each night over my crib, praying for me after I had fallen asleep. As a three, four, and five-year-old fatherless boy, when I missed my dad immensely, my mom would often remind me of these prayers and how much my dad loved me. She would tell me that God loved me more than my dad ever could and that he was my Father now. Since I was a boy, I have been sensitive to the blessings God has bestowed on my life, such as a calling to ministry, a beautiful wife, two precious daughters, and incredible relationships with family and friends. I thank God for these gifts (Jam. 1:17), and I believe they are answers to my father’s prayers. Now, as a daddy to two little girls, I often spend a lot of time at night over their cribs praying for them. In that way, my father’s legacy has not only impacted me, but it’s impacted my children.

What I’ve learned From My Father About Leaving a Godly Legacy

1. We live in a cursed world, and we never know when the Lord could take us from our families. As Christians, we no longer need to fear death because of Christ’s death and resurrection (Heb. 2:15), but we should prepare for it. We should live every day to maximize the glory of Christ (Phil. 1:20-26).
2. Any valuable Christian legacy that we have to pass down to our children is only due to the precious blood of Jesus Christ. After all, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).
3. Don’t underestimate the value of a life lived for Christ. Although our lives are but a vapor, the Spirit can use the example of our lives in extraordinary ways for the building of the kingdom. Iain Murray wrote in his outstanding book Heroes, “The Bible no more knows a separate class of heroes than it does of saints. Because of Jesus Christ, every Christian is extraordinary and attains to glory. Yet grace so shines in some (as in the portraits of Hebrews 11), that it lightens the path of many. As A.W. Tozer could write, ‘Next to the Holy Scriptures, the greatest aid to the life of faith may be Christian biographies.’”

As we consider the legacies that parents leave for their families, please join with me in praying for the children of the firemen that lost their lives two nights ago. Pray that God would use the legacy of their fathers for good and that they would come to faith in Christ. Also pray that we, like Paul, would be able to say at the end of our lives, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Phil. 3:17).

Via Ray Ortlund:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

Three things here.  One, the command of Christ, that we love one another.  Two, the example of Christ, that we are to love one another as he loved us.  Three, the promise of Christ, that all kinds of people will see we are real disciples of Jesus, when we love one another his way.

Francis Schaeffer proposed two powerful things we can do, to display observable love for one another in response to these verses and also John 17:23:

One, “When I have failed to love my Christian brother, I go to him and say, ‘I’m sorry.’  That is first.  It may seem a letdown — that the first thing we speak of should be so simple.  But if you think it is easy, you have never tried to practice it. . . .”

Two, “There must also be open forgiveness.  And though it’s hard to say ‘I’m sorry,’ it’s even harder to forgive.  The Bible, however, makes plain that the world must observe a forgiving spirit in the midst of God’s people. . . .”

“[Does the world] observe that we say ‘I’m sorry,’ and do they observe a forgiving heart?  Let me repeat: Our love will not be perfect, but it must be substantial enough for the world to be able to observe it, or it does not fit into the structure of John 13 and 17.  And if the world does not observe this among true Christians, the world has a right to make the two awful judgments which these verses indicate: that we are not Christians, and that Christ was not sent by the Father.”

Francis Schaeffer, “The Mark of the Christian,” in The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century (Downers Grove, 1970), pages 143-146.

Via Jared Wilson:

We are not just ordinary. Nothing is just ordinary. “The whole earth is full of his glory.” We keep trying to fill it with monuments to our own glory — kingdoms, businesses, hit songs, athletic victories, and other mechanisms of self-salvation. But the truth is better than all that. Created reality is a continuous explosion of the glory of God. And history is the drama of his grace awakening in us dead sinners eyes to see and taste to enjoy and courage to obey.

Do you realize that it is God’s will to make this earth into an extension of his throne room in Heaven? Do you realize that it is God’s will for his kingdom of glory to come into your life and for his will to be done in you as it is done in Heaven? Heaven is expanding, spreading in your direction.

That is the meaning of existence, if you will accept it and enter in.

Heaven is taking over. Yield.

– Ray Ortlund, Jr., Isaiah: God Saves Sinners (Preaching the Word Commentary: Crossway, 2005).

Why do we fast as disciples of Jesus? Because our souls feast on the glory of God. Fasting is an external expression of an internal reality. When we fast for a meal or a day or a week, we remind ourselves that more than our stomachs long for the pleasure of food, our souls long for the presence of God. We are satisfied in him and by him in a way that nothing in this world can compare to — not even the basic daily necessity of food. Fasting makes sense as a discipline in the Christian life only if it is connected with desire for Christ. When we fast, we say, “More than we want our hunger to cease, we want your Kingdom to come!”

–Platt, Follow Me, p. 119

Thabiti Anyabwile:

1. To experience the power of God (Matt. 28:18). “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” proclaims the Lord. He invests that authority and might in the work of redemption. Our participation in the Great Commission brings us under that Heavenly Authority. No better place to be.

2. For the glory of God in Christ (Matt. 28:18). The Lord’s words in verse 18 harken back to that wonderful vision of Daniel 7:13-14. The transfer of “authority, glory and sovereign power” that Daniel foresaw is completed in our Lord’s post-Resurrection commission to His Church. The bringing of nations to worship Christ spreads the glory of God in His Son.

3. To express obedience and love (Matt. 28:19). The commands us to “go and make disciples.” We’re not only to “teach them to obey everything I commanded,” but we’re also to express such obedience ourselves. Participating in the Great Commission is in a sense the simultaneous way we both obey and teach others to obey. The Lord knows our love for Him by our obedience to Him (John 14:15, 21, 23).

4. For eternal significance (Matt. 28:19). Is there a purpose in life loftier than working to bring every nation under the sovereign rule and worship of Jesus Christ? Can we give our lives to any greater purpose? Is there a human pursuit that will echo louder in the halls of heaven than the conversion of sinners and salvation of the lost?

5. For the joy of all peoples (Matt. 28:19). Those nations brought to the Savior, confessing their faith in baptism, will simultaneously be brought to the Pearl of Great Price. They will be like that man who found treasure hidden in a field and “in his joy” sold everything to purchase it (Matt. 13:44). Those who give themselves to the Great Commission work for the joy of the nations (2 Cor. 1:24).

6. For abiding presence and fellowship of Jesus (Matt. 28:20). “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The Lord promises His presence with His Church.  That presence is felt most when we’re on mission for and with Him.

7. Because God cares (Matt. 28:18-20). Men and women tend to think their last words are their most important words. Perhaps we should apply that thinking to the Master’s last words in Matthew. He leaves us His enduring charge, a charge resting on His power, blessed with His presence and purchased with His blood. It seems anti-climactic to say “God cares about the nations” or “God cares about the Great Commission.” But He does. And because the Lord cares, we should care, too.

Scotty Smith:

Dear heavenly Father, there are so many things attributed to you in the Scriptures that are clearly not our domain, calling or business. Heart-knowing is one of them. We often speak of being drawn to someone’s heart, or of being offended, confused, or shut out from their heart; but only you really know what’s in each of our hearts.

That’s why we pray with humility and joy, “Search me, O God, and know my heart” (Ps. 139:23), for we cannot and must not trust our own diagnosis. There’s nothing more deceitful on the face of the earth than the heart, including our hearts (Jer. 17:9). Only you understand the ways of the heart, Father. Only you can cure its great sickness.

Sometimes we think of ourselves much more highly than we ought—so wanting to believe we’re more like Jesus than reality affirms. Sometimes we fall into shame and contempt, and act like strangers to your mercy and grace—like orphans without a loving Father above or your consoling Spirit within. Sometimes we just think about ourselves too often, period. Way too often we arrogantly assume we know what’s in the hearts of others—playing judge and jury, warden and executioner. Forgive us and free us from such meanness and madness.

Father, here’s our sure and only hope: Through Jesus, you’ve already sprinkled clean water on us and have declared us to be clean. You’ve cleansed us from our impurities and are freeing us from our idols. You’ve already given us a new heart and placed your Spirit within us. You removed our stony hearts and gave us hearts of flesh—hearts that beat for you and your glory (Ezek. 36:24-27). What a generous and powerful God you are!

And you will complete this good work you’ve begun in each of us and in all of creation (Phil. 1:6). Justified sinners are destined to be your glorified children (Rom. 8:30). Oh, how we praise you for the peace and assurance we enjoy, all because the gospel is true. Help us to walk in greater humility before you and in observable kindness toward one another. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ loving and heart-transforming name.

Ray Ortlund:

“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.’”  Acts 10:34-35

Peter’s point is not that Cornelius had earned his way into God’s good graces by his own highmindedness or performance.  His point is that Cornelius, the Gentile, did not have to become a Jew to be kosher with God.  As a Gentile in Christ, Cornelius was clean and complete, for God shows no racial or national partiality.

But Peter’s words say more.  “Anyone [of any race or nation] who fears God and does what is right” is acceptable to God.  Again, this is not legalism.  This does not displace the life and death of Jesus.  But it is moral sincerity.  It is the mentality that lies at the foundation of gospel faith and repentance.  It is not a moral demand made of God, but it is a softness of heart open to God.  If we are not morally conscientious people, what are we trusting God for?  The free offer of the gospel is righteousness, not casualness.  It is alarmed sinners, and they alone, who turn from themselves to a Savior for his radical grace.

With all the wonderful emphasis these days on justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, apart from all our works, let’s not lose sight of how that faith shows up in a person.  It cracks our hearts open to something new.  We start fearing God and doing what is right.  Not as deserving, not as meritorious, but as earnest.  It is all of God.  It might appear suddenly and without preparation.  But true faith lays hold of Christ with seriousness of purpose.

God cares nothing about race or nationality.  God does care about this.

Great message from John Piper at the Passion Conference last week:

John Piper:

“God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.” That was one of our most widely spread tweets in 2012. So we want to say it again for 2013 and make this promise even more solid.

Not only may you see a tiny fraction of what God is doing in your life; the part you do see may make no sense to you.

• You may find yourself in prison, and God may be advancing the gospel among the guards, and making the free brothers bold. (Philippians 1:12–14)
• You may find yourself with a painful thorn, and God may be making the power of Christ more beautiful in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:8)
• You may find yourself with a dead brother that Jesus could have healed, and God may be preparing to show his glory. (John 11)
• You may find yourself sold into slavery, accused falsely of sexual abuse, and forgotten in a prison cell, and God may be preparing you to rule a nation. (Genesis 37-50)
• You may wonder why a loved one is left in unbelief so long, and find that God is preparing a picture of his patience and a powerful missionary. (Galatians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:12-16)
• You may live in all purity and humility and truth only to end rejected and killed, and God may be making a parable of his Son and an extension of his merciful sufferings in yours. (Isaiah 53:3; Mark 8:31; Colossians 1:24)
• You may walk through famine, be driven from your homeland, lose husband and sons, and be left desolate with one foreign daughter-in-law, and God may be making you an ancestor of a king. (Ruth 1–4)
• You may find the best counselor you’ve ever known giving foolish advice, and God may be preparing the destruction of your enemy. (2 Samuel 17:14)
• You may be a sexually pure single person and yet accused of immorality, and God may be preparing you as a virgin blessing in ways no one can dream. (Luke 1:35)
• You may not be able to sleep and look in a random book, and God may be preparing to shame your arrogant enemy and rescue a condemned people. (Esther 6:1–11)
• You may be shamed and hurt, and God may be confirming your standing as his child and purifying you for the highest inheritance. (Hebrews 12:5–11)

There are three granite foundation stones under this confidence for 2013: God’s love. God’s sovereignty. God’s wisdom.

Love: In the death of Christ on our behalf God has totally removed his wrath from us (Romans 8:3; Galatians 3:13). Now there is not only no condemnation (Romans 8:1), but now God is only merciful (Romans 8:32). Even his discipline is all mercy.

Sovereignty: There is no power in the universe that can stop him from fulfilling his totally good plans for you. “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Wisdom: God’s infinite wisdom always sees a way to bring the greatest good out of the most painful and complex situations. “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33).

Therefore, no matter what you face this year, God will be doing 10,000 things in your life that you cannot see. Trust him. Love him. And they will all be good for you.