CQOD: 11/25/06 -- Chadwick: springing the trap

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 25, 2006

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century

Meditation:
    And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, and they said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?" Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me." And they discussed it with one another, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?' But shall we say, 'From man'?"--they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, "We do not know." And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."
    -- Mark 11:27-33 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Here [Mark 11:27-33] they discerned a flaw, a heresy; and they would force Him either to make a fatal claim, or else to moderate His pretensions at their bidding, which would promptly restore their lost influence and leadership. Nor need we shrink from confessing that our Lord was justly open to such reproach, unless He was indeed Divine, unless He was deliberately preparing His followers for that astonishing revelation, soon to come, which threw the Church upon her knees in adoration of her God manifest in flesh.
    ... G. A. Chadwick (1840-1923), The Gospel of St. Mark [1887]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You come to my heart with truth and power.

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2006, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/24/06 -- Ferré: living the Christ life

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 24, 2006Meditation:
    For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
    -- Hebrews 4:15 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Sinlessness is a bloodless category, making an anemic savior. What matters is the reality of Jesus’ struggles, that he was in all things like us, and that victory is possible with God and is indeed a reality in Jesus’ life as a “Fragment of the future,” to use Cairns’s phrase. We, too, can find Christ in us. We, too, can find the new level of the Spirit and walk in its law, which is life and peace. That does not mean that we shall have serene and steady experiences of God. It may mean, humanly speaking, tremendous failures, struggles, and tensions. When, however, we constantly abandon all faith in ourselves and welcome God’s power and purpose in us, when we identify ourselves not with the sin which dwells and works in us, but with the living power of God, then the world can see that Christ still works and that the Holy Spirit still speaks with demonstration of power. For even as Christ had to fulfill the human life of Jesus, the life of self-drive and altruism which was lived under the Spirit of God—a fulfillment which yet made Jesus a very truly integrated person—even so the same Christ must fulfill our lives.
    ... Nels F. S. Ferré (1908-1971), The Christian Understanding of God [1951]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I cannot save myself.

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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: 11/23/06 -- Whale: the Man in the midst

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving (U.S.)
Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100

Meditation:
    Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
    -- Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    It is God Himself, personally present and redeemingly active, who comes to meet men in this Man of Nazareth. Jesus is more than a religious genius, such as George Fox, and more than a holy man, such as the lovable Lana in Kipling’s Kim. He himself knows that he is more. The Gospel story is a tree rooted in the familiar soil of time and sense; but its roots go down into the Abyss and its branches fill the Heavens; given to us in terms of a country in the Eastern Mediterranean no bigger than Wales, during the Roman Principate of Tiberius Caesar in the first century of our era, its range is universal; it is on the scale of eternity. God’s presence and his very Self were made manifest in the words and works of this Man. In short, the Man Christ Jesus has the decisive place in man’s ageless relationship with God. He is what God means by ‘Man’. He is what man means by ‘God’.
    ... J. S. Whale (1896-1997), Christian Doctrine [1966]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord Jesus, You are God in the flesh.

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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: 11/22/06 -- Lewis on prayer

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 22, 2006

Commemoration of Cecilia, Martyr at Rome, c.230
Commemoration of Clive Staples Lewis, Spiritual Writer, 1963

Meditation:
    First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
    -- 1 Timothy 2:1-4 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    I too had noticed that our prayers for others flow more easily than those we offer on our own behalf. And it would be nice to accept your view that this just shows we are made to live by charity. I’m afraid, however, I detect two much less attractive reasons for the ease of my own intercessory prayers. One is that I am often, I believe, praying for others when I should be doing things for them. It’s so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see him. And the other is like unto it. Suppose I pray that you may be given grace to withstand your besetting sin (short list of candidates for this post will be forwarded on demand). Well, all the work has to be done by God and you. If I pray against my own besetting sin there will be work for me. One sometimes fights shy of admitting an act to be a sin for this very reason.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Letters to Malcolm [1964]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do not permit me to remain blind to my sin, but to pray for myself as I pray for others.

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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: 11/21/06 -- Davidman: atheism

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 21, 2006Meditation:
    For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
    -- Romans 1:19-20 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    The old pagans had to choose between a brilliant, jangling, irresponsible universe, alive with lawless powers, and the serene and ordered universe of God and law. We modern pagans have to choose between that divine order, and the grey, dead, irresponsible, chaotic universe of atheism. And the tragedy is that we may make that choice without knowing it—not by clear conviction but by vague drifting, by losing interest in Him. A nominal deist will say: “Yes, of course there must be some sort of Force that created the galaxy. But it’s childish to imagine that It has any personal relation to me!” In that belief atheism exists as an undiagnosed disease. The man who says, “One God,” and does not care, is an atheist in his heart. The man who speaks of God and will not recognize him in the burning bush—that man is an atheist, though he speak with the tongues of men or angels, and appear in his pew every Sunday, and make large contributions to the church.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain [1955]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, so was I until You showed me Yourself.

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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: 11/20/06 -- Emrich: giving

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 20, 2006

Feast of Edmund of the East Angles, Martyr, 870
Commemoration of Priscilla Lydia Sellon, a Restorer of the Religious Life in the Church of England, 1876

Meditation:
    For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
    -- 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    Living for others, commitment to God’s redeeming purposes, is a means of grace. We give because of our faith, and it deepens as we give. If we permit ourselves and our people to give casually, we are really teaching contempt.
    ... Richard S. Emrich (b.1910)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a loving and giving heart.

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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: 11/19/06 -- Tillotson: happy beyond desire

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 19, 2006

Feast of Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680
Commemoration of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, Philanthropist, 1231
Commemoration of Mechtild, Bèguine of Magdeburg, Mystic, Prophet, 1280

Meditation:
    For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
    -- 1 Thessalonians 1:4-7 (ESV)

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Quotation:
    If He hath promised to make us happy, though He hath not particularly declared to us wherein this happiness shall consist, yet we may trust Him that made us, to find out ways to make us happy, and may believe that He who made us, without our knowledge or desire, is able to make us happy beyond them both.
    ... John Tillotson (1630-1694)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I know I can never go back. I know that I could never be truly happy again without you.

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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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