Saturday, August 06, 2005

CQOD by email to recommence

Dear friends of CQOD,
    After several weeks of pondering my personal resources and reading the hundreds of letters from the faithful readers of CQOD, I have made the commitment to sending out the daily email again, beginning tomorrow. It seems that there is still a significant demand, and I also miss it. I have invested in some automation efforts that will reduce the labor involved, and there will be several small enhancements that I hope will be a blessing to you.
    Primary among these is the placement of Scripture first. Our most important reading is always from the Holy Scriptures. They are not an afterthought. The published excerpts are not intended to take the place of your own personal Scripture study, but properly to ground the consideration of the quotation to follow. As before, I will try to keep them short. Most Scripture excerpts will be taken from the NIV. The CQOD web page will also reflect this change.
    I will be adding new material to the quotation collection from time to time, as God grants me the discernment. For the many readers who have asked for improvements in the RSS service associated with CQOD, your prayers will be answered.
    Also, as an effort to enhance the fellowship of the CQOD readers, the daily quotation will be posted on a blog. As many of you know, the blog is the latest craze among the Internet savvy. It is remarkably easy access the daily update and post comments as desired. I will do my best to see that they are
placed online for other viewers. The blog is located at

    http://cqod.blogspot.com/

I think we will have a lot of fun with this, and I know readers will enjoy and be blessed by the remarks and insights of others. I hope you will be led to make a contribution from your heart and mind.
    Finally, I will often add a sentence or question under the heading of “Quiet time reflection.” This is not intended to inject my own personality into the discussion, but humbly to suggest in simple, direct language how the lesson of the Scripture excerpt and the quotation may be personalized in one’s meditation and prayers. Naturally, you are free to skip this part. Once in a while, as before, I will add more extensive remarks. We will try this for a while to see how the Spirit leads.
    Many hundreds of you have downloaded and tried out Believer’s Desktop Companion, a Bible study aid that I wrote two years ago. There is now a new release that includes many enhancements and improvements. I invite you to try this out at

        http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

Please let your friends know about this free program. I plan to extend its capabilities again in the near future.
    Your kind letters and notes have meant so much to me. In time I will get them all answered. Be assured, the ministry of the Holy Spirit will continue, whether my efforts do or not. I am reminded of the declaration of Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510), who wrote,

    "I clearly recognize that all good is in God alone, and that in me, without Divine Grace, there is nothing but deficiency... The one sole thing in myself in which I glory, is that I see in myself nothing in which I can glory."

    May the Lord grant me the strength and resolution to continue, with your prayers. And may the Lord richly bless you in the coming days.

    RMA