Trial by Fire

On July 15^th, 2026 a storm cluster delivered over 2,000 lightning strikes to Central Oregon, and coupled with high July temperatures and strong prevailing winds, the result was multiple fires in remote rural locations. Today, several days later, Central Oregon is on fire. The fires in Central Oregon have wreaked devastating havoc on our community, and I’ve given a bit of brain time in all of this to the consideration of vocation. On my way home a few evenings ago I observed a wildland firefighter pulled over at a wide spot on Hwy. 26, securing a load and prepping his fire rig for what was coming next. Yesterday I saw an incident command center going in east of town with tents set up in a dirt field. As of today, the fires have already made their way deep into the Maury mountains and are now making a run at Grizzly Mountain, McKay Saddle and the Ochoco range. My son-in-law, who works for the local Forest Service office, calls these incredibly damaging fires,”unprecedented.” I got word tonight that four known-to-me families are facing evacuation.

 

What do the Oregon fires have to do with vocation? Let me try to explain. Sometimes Christians think of vocation in bifurcated terms…the sacred and the secular. One is spiritual service and the other (much less significant) is ordinary service. The funny thing is that Bible never makes such distinctions. Well, maybe I should qualify that statement. One of the interesting thoughts that is introduced in the New Testament is this idea of the ‘priesthood of all believers’ (1 Peter 2:5,9). What this means is that all Christians share in access to God, and offer to God spiritual service…no matter what they do. For the Christian, work is worship, and there is no qualitative vocational difference between a pastor and a longshoreman or a homemaker. The Apostle Paul made a vocationally revolutionary statement when he wrote, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31 ESV). Paul is telling the Corinthian Christians that their lives, from something as ordinary and mundane as eating and drinking, can participate in a God-exalting act. The inference is that God can be glorified in everything (including vocation!) in our everyday lives. During the time of the Protestant Reformation this put sparks to the dry tinder of an exclusive clergy and a seemingly insignificant laity. Check out what the Reformer and father of the English Bible, William Tyndale (1494-1536), said about vocation,

 

“There is no work better than another to please God: to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a shoe repairman, or an apostle, all is one; to wash dishes and to preach is all one.”

 

Author Derek Brown, commenting on Martin Luther’s view of vocation, had this to say,

 

“Luther refers to our vocations as ‘the masks of God.’ We encounter the baker who prepares and supplies our bread, but behind this baker is a gracious Creator faithfully providing for his creatures. Far from serving as a mere means to a more spiritual end, our work has an inherent dignity and value because it is God’s chosen means to provide for his creatures.”

 

So, what does this have to do with fires in Central Oregon? In my mind it has everything to do with them. In a very real sense, the firefighters in Central Oregon are doing absolutely critical work, and in their work, God is glorified. Some wildland firefighters may be conscious of the connection and others likely not so, but in their fulfilling of their vocational calling, good is being done and God is being glorified. Wiser theological heads call this ‘common grace’…something done for the mutual benefit of others.

 

In all of this; in the hard work of those fighting fires, good is being done and God is being glorified, and for this I am profoundly grateful. Thank you wildland firefighters, and airplane pilots, and helicopter pilots, and ground crew logistics experts, and water truck drivers, and all those serving on the front lines to keep the flames at bay. There are Central Oregon communities that are grateful for your vocational callings. Thank you for the risks you are taking, and thank you for what you’re doing. We see you glorifying God in an extraordinary way.

 

         

The Last Enemy

Last week a couple of friends and I rode our motorcycles up to Walton Lake, in the heart of the Ochocos. The lake was closed, but on the route, and just prior to the Ochoco Ranger Station, is a cemetery of surprising size, especially for a remote, rural location. A couple of summers ago I walked through it, taking note of the number of graves, and taking time to read many of the grave markers. This old Crook County cemetery is called the Howard Cemetery and its oldest grave is dated from 1892. The Howard Cemetery, and indeed every graveyard is a reminder of an unavoidable appointment that awaits each of us.   

 

One of the more unpleasant subjects to consider is the impending reality of death. It will come for one and all without regard for social status, ethnicity, preparedness, relative health, and age. Death is the great equalizer…all will experience it. Comedian Woody Allen attempted to bring humor to a serious subject by quipping, “I’m not afraid of dying, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.” There is a natural aversion to death. We’ve all thought about it at one point or another. We all know it’s inevitability; we just don’t want to be there when it happens.

 

The big fear for most us is the unknown. Death is an alien interloper. For now, all we’ve known is life, and beyond the dark vale lies the unknown. We resist death because deep inside we know that death is not the way it’s supposed to be. This past week I was informed that a high-school classmate was nearing her death. A message sent by mutual friends, to notify those who knew her, that her death seemed imminent. I had seen her last year at a class reunion and there was no indication that less than a year later she would be gone. 

 

It’s interesting to me that the Christian faith does not avoid talk about death. Early on in the Genesis narrative, that narrative that sets the stage for human history, death is introduced as both a reality and an enemy. God introduces death as an unwelcome stranger; the tragic result of man’s rebellious machinations. The result would be the certain demise of every living thing. The entire cosmos would be affected. It was only a matter of time. 

 

The final word on death is seen in Bible’s narrative, found in Revelation where John writes of Jesus, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev. 21:4, ESV).” Death shall be no more. The unwelcome intruder will no longer have its sway.

 

Between the Genesis narrative and John’s pronouncement in Revelation 21 lies a story. In this account there is something to be learned about death. Luke 8 recounts a story told about a 12-year-old girl named Talitha. Talitha was the daughter of Jairus, a synagogue ruler. In the course of events, and we don’t know how, Talitha had died. As you can well imagine, and as a result of her death, folks had gathered to mourn her. There was great grief surrounding her death. The ethos of this story is strong. Most of us can empathize with losing someone very dear to us, particularly a young daughter. The pain would be beyond bearable.

 

However, in a twist of plot, Jesus, as the God-man. recognizing the tragic death of Talitha, does the impossible. He raises her from the dead. He intervenes in what has happened for thousands of years. He interrupts the inevitable. In Talitha, Jesus puts death to death.

 

What is seen in the Luke account is the in-breaking, or the interruption, that Jesus would bring into the natural course of events. In Talitha’s case, death would be arrested, taken captive, and death itself, put to death.

 

The lesson to be learned here is that Talitha wouldn’t be the last. Talitha would be a foretaste of what’s coming. Even John could see it in the distance as it approached. In Jesus’ own death and resurrection, Talitha would be a preview. Talitha would be the embodiment of a promise, secured by Jesus Himself. Talitha would be the assurance that a day will come when “…death shall be no more.”  

 

When the Apostle Paul refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus, he says something very important regarding our mutual enemy, death. He writes to the 

Corinthians, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor. 15:26, ESV). Paul saw death’s downfall, and that death would have no place in the future.

 

For now, we mourn. We see the cemetery. We grieve for loved ones now gone. We wrestle with our own finitude, but, be assured, death itself will die. Death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54 ESV).

- DJM 

5/18/2026

Continually Amazed by Grace -

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 

– 2 Peter 1:2-4

“He (Peter) refers to the boundless goodness of God which they had already experienced, so that they may place a greater reliance on Him in the future. It is a consistent mark of God that He prosecutes His course of benevolence right to the end, unless we interrupt it by our faithlessness. His power is inexhaustible and His desire of beneficence (good toward us) is equally so, and hence the apostle rightly encourages the faithful to good hope on the basis of God’s former benefits. His words of amplification are to the same purpose. He could have said more simply, ‘as He has fully given us everything’, but by using the expression ‘divine power’ he lifts his argument to the higher consideration of how God has unfolded the vast resources of His power.”

- John Calvin, Commentary on 2 Peter, p. 328

“The act of calling us is a demonstration of God’s own glory and goodness. These two characteristics are highly personal; the adjective ‘own’ modifies both terms. Moreover, the two terms, although in a sense synonymous, differ. We are able to observe glory with our eyes (compare John 1:14), and we become aware of goodness (praise) with our minds and hearts. Conclusively, God reveals his essential being through visible glory and he displays his goodness in his deeds.”

- Simon Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary on 2 Peter, p. 247

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, 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.”

- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, pp. 3-4

Dear Friends,

When you really think about it, how amazing is grace, anyway? I’m afraid many times we think of God’s grace towards us in small measure. I’m afraid we think small thoughts of grace because we think small thoughts of sin and small thoughts about God’s holiness. We often don’t realize the depth and the pervasiveness of sin and as a consequence we don’t recognize the breadth and boundlessness of grace. God has become far less in our eyes, because salvation doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. Morbid introspection is never good, but neither is a cavalier and uninformed sense of our own sinfulness. We will never be amazed by grace or never truly understand the gospel without at least a modicum of awareness of our deep need for a Savior. Dear friends, we were hopelessly lost without Christ. We were the just recipients of God’s wrath and judgment. The sinful woman loved much, because she was forgiven much (Luke 7:37-50). Could it be that we love little, because we’ve been forgiven little? Could it be that we worship only a little, because we’ve only been forgiven a little? Could it be that we are only a little thankful, because we’ve only been forgiven a little?

Peter writes and says that God has called us to His own glory and excellence with precious and very great promises. He uses the superlative to describe what God has done for us in Christ. We have become partakers of the divine nature. This is not some weird Gnostic language, but rather, because of God’s work of beneficence (Calvin’s word) towards us in Christ we have grace and peace and glory and excellence and life and godliness in abundance. And not only has saved us from the wrath to come, by grace we have become partakers of the very character and nature of God. Brothers and sisters, God’s salvation of sinners is not stingy. It is abundant and amazing grace that He has demonstrated toward you.

All of our days may we always be truly amazed by grace.

- DJM

Vocational Frustration - A Christian Perspective

How, as a Christian, am I to both interpret vocational futility, and respond to vocational futility, in a manner representative of a faithful Christian?

 

Let’s attempt an answer…Genesis 3 describes the world turned upside down.  Labor prior to the Fall was good and had God’s commendation.  Adam labored in joy and in harmony with creation.  The Fall did not introduce labor or work into the world, the Fall introduced frustration and futility into man’s charge to labor as part of God’s creation mandate. 

 

It’s interesting that the first recorded murder in the Bible is the result of a labor dispute.  The Tower of Babel is a demonstration of man’s ‘working’ to create a utopia without God.  It’s also interesting how large of role both labor and frustration in labor play in the biblical storyline.  With this familiar biblical refrain, vocational conflict should not surprise us…in fact, we should expect it. 

 

Because of God’s workmanship, initially, the creation itself is a place of beauty and felicity. And then at the introduction of man’s rebellion in Genesis 3 and because of man’s rebellion against God, the language of beauty and goodness and divine approval give way, and we are introduced to the language of curse, and thorns, and thistles, and sweat.  The language of ‘curse’ found in verse 17 of Genesis 3 refers to the withdrawing of God’s favor.  

A creation designed for dominion and rule begins to groan and sprouts thorns and thistles…Cain and Abel…the Tower of Babel…the vanity of Ecclesiastes…and so on.  The theme carries through the Old Testament and begins to come into clearer focus in the New Testament.  In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul gives the most exhaustive and logical analysis of God’s redemptive plan.  In chapter 8 he begins to explicate the glorious future that awaits the recipients of God’s salvation.  In verses 20-22 he hearkens back to Genesis 3,

Romans 8:20-22 - For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

 

For now…futility.  The whole creation groans.  Everything is a bit off.  We live in a world that cannot possibly ever be right…at least not for now.  But what do we do in the interim?  How do we respond?  How do we survive 80,000 – 100,00 hours of occasional vocational satisfaction with lots of vocational trouble?

 

In 1977 country music singer Johnny Paycheck recorded a #1 Billboard hit.  It stayed on the charts and was Paycheck’s only #1 song. The country singer had resonated with country music fans with the lyrics, ‘Take this job and shove it!’ Soon the song became a catchphrase for disaffected employees.  There may be times when even we feel this way, but how do we live (vocationally) as Christians in a fallen world? 

 

If we are to believe the Biblical record and square it with common experience there is frustration, disappointment, and discouragement in our labors.  Even the greatest work God has undertaken in the work of redemption through His Son was subject to frustration.  And consider the reality of God using frustration and futility in His work of redemption.  Opposition and even overt sinfulness were an important and integral part of God’s redemptive work. Here’s the takeaway…in our vocational disappointment, and there will be many, whether we are a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, our experience in futility is not for nothing, nor is it outside of God’s sovereign control.  In our experience of vocational disappointment God is not absent.  

 

We can be assured of vocational frustration…just ask any housewife or mother of young children.  Her vocation looks like a mountain of laundry that never completely goes away, the bathrooms that never clean themselves, and meals that always need to be made.  But how much more difficult would it be to know that God is absent in our vocational frustrations, rather than knowing He is present and sovereign and places Himself directly in the middle of them.  Now, this ain’t easy stuff, but consider the alternative….  Without minimizing the reality of sin and sinful behavior by others and ourselves, and the difficulty of thorns and thistles in anything we put our hand to, God is not an absent deity when it comes to even the most minute details of our lives, including our vocational callings.  We are Christians and not Gnostics.  God is not repulsed by His creation or uninvolved in everyday and ordinary life.  God’s redeeming work includes Him redeeming our vocations.  

 

There is a very real war taking place in our vocations…ask any young mom trying to get dinner on the table with three young children pulling her in innumerable different directions, or ask any young dad working two part-time jobs so his family can make rent, or ask the middle-aged empty nest mom whose trying to find her sense of value with no kids left at home, or ask the newly laid-off 60-something husband/father/and now grandfather with no prospects for employment and too little saved for retirement.  Is there any hope?

 

Check out Genesis 3 and Romans 8.  If you get a chance to look at them both, as each passage describes the frustration introduced into the world by the Fall. It is supremely important to note that both passages have redemptive repercussions as well.  Genesis 3 provides the promise of One that would begin to reverse the effects of the Fall (3:15), and Romans 8 makes plain that though frustration would be introduced into the world God Himself would not abandon His creation, but, in fact, would provide hope (8:20) in its chaos.  You see…we have a problem that we cannot remedy ourselves.  We cannot be part of the cure…at least as the fallen sons and daughters of Adam.  We need One to reverse the effects of the Fall and we need hope in our frustration.  In a very real sense, we need a new Adam, a true son of God, that will be a new worker in God’s world.  We need a perfect man, able to do the works God requires, without sin, or grumbling, or equivocation.  We need an advocate, one who knows our weakness and our frustration, our sin and temptation, and yet not only is our stand-in in our infirmity, but also provides His vocational perfections for our imperfections.  We need a sovereign Redeemer in every sphere we find ourselves in, including vocational redemption.  And in Jesus Christ we need a new identity.  We are condemned by Adam’s vocational curse, and we are desperate for the new Adam’s vocational redemption.  We need hope and God has provided it in the new Adam…the new Adam as God’s faithful worker in everything God has given Him to do (Hebrews 3:1-6).

- DJM 

3/10/2026

 

Redemptive Speech -

“Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you.”

- Proverbs 4:24

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

- Colossians 4:6

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

- James 3:7,8

“It may seem too obvious to say, but Genesis 1 makes it plain that the first words ever spoken were spoken by God. Language is not a human invention to be used in whatever way serves our interests. If God is the first speaker, then language is his creation. This means that our ability to speak was given to us by the Creator and it exists for his glory. Everything we will ever say belongs to him and should be used for his purposes. Words, in short, have a high and holy calling.”

- Tim Lane and Paul Tripp, Relationships, A Mess Worth Making, p. 71

“It is time for many of us to confess that we have not known the way of love. Our words have hindered, not helped, what the Lord is seeking to do. We have been controlled by the passions and desires of the sinful nature and failed to represent Christ’s character. We need to cry out for grace to speak loving words as his ambassadors.”

- Paul Tripp, War of Words, p. 229

"It is the nature of goodness to be communicative."

- Herman Witsius

“Please forget the words I just blurted out,

It wasn’t me, it was my strange and creeping doubt

It keeps rattling my cage.

And there’s nothing in this world to keep it down.”

- Radiohead, I Can’t

Dear Friends,

When I think about the things I’ve said over the years my knees get weak. James calls the tongue a restless evil that is full of deadly poison. I can still remember hurtful things I’ve said over forty years ago. A sharp word, a critical judgment conveyed to others, a terse argument, gossip designed to form an opinion – these, and more, are in my collection of spoken sins. My tongue is a restless evil. And there is a sinful satisfaction when the tongue does its work. To refrain from evil speech and to ‘tame’ the tongue is no easy task. It is restless, and the sinful heart is not satisfied until the tongue has its way. When we speak we are simply giving verbal expression to the restless evil already formed in the heart. Our speech reveals our heart and for me this is sobering. By our words we have the power of life and death. When I think about my words I am grateful for the thorough and complete work of Christ’s substitutionary work. Christ’s passive obedience, which is that perfect obedience Jesus rendered to the Father in fulfilling all righteousness, has been credited to my account. His perfect speech, sinless tongue, and unsinning heart have been imputed to me. I no longer bear the just judgment God declares against my sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. And yet, God’s sanctifying work is not yet complete in me. I need reminders to speak graciously. I need my speech, even now, to be redeemed. God, as the first speaker, must redeem my words, and He must do this continually by making my heart new. It will do no good to reform my speech with no change to my heart. I’m praying for God to renew my heart day by day and make it evident by the things I say.

Lord, let my mouth be an evidence of your work taking place in my heart.

- DJM

January 2026