CQOD: 01/08/06 -- Anderson: changing attitudes instead of circumstances

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 8, 2006

Commemoration of Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Pete Fleming, martyrs, Equador, 1956
Anniversary of the Christian Quotation of the Day, 1996 (see special page at right)

Meditation:
    So they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality,[a] but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?" They said, "Caesar's." He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.
    -- Luke 20:21-26 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    [Christ] was primarily concerned to change men as men rather than the political regime under which they lived; to transform their attitude rather than their circumstances; to treat the sickness of their hearts rather than the problems of their environment. But he laid down in a single pregnant sentence man’s duty both to God and to the State when he said: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s;” and it is certainly not his fault that the Christian church has been so slow, down the centuries, in applying to one after another of the world’s social evils the principle he emphasized so strong that we must love our neighbors as ourselves.
    ... J. N. D. Anderson (b.1908), Christianity: the Witness of History [1969]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, eradicate all illusions about my own influence and power; let me be an instrument of Your grace to work Your will in the world, rather than my own.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 01/07/06 -- Anderson: basic social reform

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 7, 2006Meditation:
    [Jesus:] "You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
    -- Matthew 5:13-16 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Jesus has also been accused of being ineffective, in a political sense, and of having done little to right social injustices. But it is clear from the Sermon on the Mount that he was deeply concerned that his disciples should be both the “salt” and the “light” of secular society; he endorsed the authority of those Old Testament prophets who vehemently rebuked social injustice; and he consistently identified himself with the poor and weak, with social outcasts and those who were regarded as morally disreputable... It is true that he did not lead a rebellion against Rome, seek to free slaves, or introduce a social revolution. He had come for a particular purpose, which was far more important than any of these things—and from that purpose nothing could or did deflect him.
    ... J. N. D. Anderson (b.1908), Christianity: the Witness of History [1969]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Grant us grace, Lord, to be salt and light in our society.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
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CQOD: 01/06/06 -- MacDonald: loving your children

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 6, 2006

EPIPHANY

Meditation:
    [Jesus:] See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
    -- Matthew 18:10 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Do you think you love your children better than He who made them? Is not your love what it is because He put it into your heart first? Have you not often been cross with them? Sometimes unjust to them? Whence came the returning love that rose from unknown depths in your being, and swept away the anger and the injustice? You did not create that love. Probably you were not good enough to send for it by prayer. But it came. God sent it. He makes you love your children.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood [1866]

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Quiet time reflection:
    You are the source of all love, Lord.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
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Special Tenth Anniversary Page

(If you leave a comment below, please indicate the state or nation you are writing from. Other readers will appreciate knowing that.)

Dear friends of CQOD,
    January 8 was the tenth anniversary of the Christian Quotation of the Day.
    In celebration of this tenth anniversary, I ask that you share the reason for your hope today (1 Peter 3:15) with someone you have not had occasion to before. Use CQOD if it helps. The Gospel is always ready for transmission to another heart. Whatever happens, the Holy Spirit will use it to God's glory. Just spread the blessing further.
    I have set aside this page on the CQOD Blog for the purpose of collecting the remarks and recollections of the subscribers. If you have a recollection that you value in connection with CQOD, or a favorite quotation from the past, simply reply to the article (which is quite easy to do), and record it. Other readers will appreciate this, I am sure.
    May God richly bless you and your family in this new Year of Our Lord and throughout all eternity.
    RMA

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 01/05/06 -- Roger Williams: unity

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 5, 2006Meditation:
    For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
    -- 1 Corinthians 12:12-18 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    We find not in the Gospel, that Christ hath anywhere provided for the uniformity of churches, but only for their unity.
    ... Roger Williams (1603?-1683)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, prevent me from being an obstacle to the unity of Your Body.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
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Comments and problems: email to curator@gospelcom.net

CQOD: 01/04/06 -- Calvin: the sufficiency of Scripture

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 4, 2006Meditation:
    He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'
    -- Luke 16:31 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Scripture will ultimately suffice for a saving knowledge of God only when its certainty is founded upon the inward persuasion of the Holy Spirit. Indeed, these human testimonies which exist to confirm it will not be vain if, as secondary aids to our feebleness, they follow that chief and highest testimony. But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me away from foolish debates, to care only for faithfulness to Your Word. Instead, I pray that You will bring _____ and _____ to faith and trust in You, knowing and understanding the story of Your grace in Scripture.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2005, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 01/03/06 -- Underhill on communion

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 3, 2006

Commemoration of Gladys Aylward, Missionary in China, 1970

Meditation:
    The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
    -- 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Two movements merge in the real act of communion. First, the creature’s profound sense of need, of incompleteness: its steadfast desire... Next, a humble and loving acceptance of God’s answer to that prayer of desire, however startling, disappointing, and unappetizing it may be.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Purge me of scorn for any part of the Body.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
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CQOD: 01/02/06 -- St. Basil on the uses of hope

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 2, 2006

Feast of Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Teachers, 379 & 389Commemoration of Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Mystic, Staretz, 1833

Meditation:
    For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
    -- Hebrews 6:10-12 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    The labors of the farm do not seem strange to the farmer; the storm at sea is not unexpected by the sailor; sweat causes no wonder to the hired laborer; and so to those who have chosen to live the life of piety the afflictions of this world are not unforeseen. Nay, to each of the aforesaid is joined a labor that is appropriate and well known to those who share it—a labor that is not chosen for its own sake, but for the enjoyment of expected blessings. For hopes, which hold and weld together man’s entire life, give consolation for the hardships which fall to the lot of each of these.
    ... St. Basil the Great (330?-379)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let that hope bloom ever greater in my heart.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
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Comments and problems: email to curator@gospelcom.net

CQOD: 01/01/06 -- Markham: Christus

Christian Quotation of the Day

January 1, 2006

Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus

Meditation:
    "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
    -- John 5:30 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Why does He make our hearts so strangely still,
        Why stands He forth so stately and so tall?
    Because He has no self to serve, no will
        That does not seek the welfare of the All.
    ... Edwin Markham (1852-1940)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Empty me, Lord, of all selfish ambition, and send where You want to.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2004
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
CQOD Home Page:    http://www.cqod.com/
Subscription info: http://www.cqod.com/cqodlist.htm
Comments and problems: email to curator@gospelcom.net