A Theology of Vacationing

By Mark Johnston
August 8, 2017

This summer has been no different than those which proceded it. At this time of year, you are possibly continuing to see references to the usual litany of 'Summer Reading recommendations for Pastors.' As end-of-summer vacations loom, men in the ministry feel the need to catch up on those weighty tomes of theology that have been gathering dust somewhere but which a guilty conscience tells them ought to be read. (Though their wife and children may have other ideas!)

Despite the title, these paragraphs are not intended to add to this ministerial guilt trip; but, rather, they are intended to relieve it! Instead of offering yet more theology to take on vacation, I wish to offer a theological justification for viewing a vacation as being a good thing - and this, not just at 'vacation times' when they happen to occur...   the rest image

Flowing out of this we can't help but notice Jesus' appreciation of the rhythm of life. Built into the fabric of the created order, God has embedded the principle of Sabbath. It is the cycle of a 7-day week that cannot be explained by planetary or lunar alignment; only by the words of Genesis. (How astonishing that this has shaped the entire history of a humanity most of whom have never read it.)

Worship in a Jerusalem temple

Jun 18, 2017

When on the mount the Lord appeared...

When on the mount the Lord appeared

Transfigured to the sight,

His countenance was like the sun,

His raiment glistened white.
 

But dull the minds, and dark the eyes,

On whom such glory shone;

They saw not God upon the mount,

They saw but man alone.
 

And when the dark and cloudy days

Of death and sorrow came,

What were their thoughts of Him who hung

Upon the cross of shame?
 

They knew not that the God of Life

An offering yielded there,

And of His will endured for all

The load of sin He bare.
 

Lord, to the mount where Thou art seen

In all Thy glory bright,

Thy servants now would wend their way

To gaze upon the Light,

And there behold, in glory clad,

The Light to mortals given,

That in the night that hid the cross,

Shone with the light of heaven.”

-Hymns from the Morningland: tr. John Brownlie image