The Price of Dearest Peace
"When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith." Abraham Kuyper
I am grateful to God for Denny Denson.
ReplyDeleteHe was different from me in his upbringing and in the manners of the African American church. He was amused at my questions about the black church but he recognized as I did that there are rich peculiarities about all churches and he would give me examples of how the Biblically studied old ladies in a black church will keep an excited preacher to his scripture text with exhortation from the pews.
Denny was the kind of guy that could persuade you to goof off the rest of the day just to see who God would bring to minister to. He was not diplomatic or polite when you confessed a sin or shared a problem. He would always have advise. That often ticked me off and I would listen half-heartedly to his admonishes to love my wife better or pray for my family each morning or not let ministry become inorganic.
I loved to hear Denny's stories - whether of south side Chicago, his strict but good father or the honor of a soldier in war. Denny always punctuated his stories with the overarching wonder of a God that would love him enough to give him a community of Christian brothers whose lives were knit together with the scarlet thread of the blood of Christ.
Master Strong God. How merciful and loving you have been to us who knew your servant for a time and how he talked about You.