CQOD: 12/01/07 -- Bronnert: the explainable fellowship

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 1, 2007

Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916

Meditation:
    I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
    -- 1 Timothy 5:21 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Race highlights the fact that in our congregational life we usually do not reflect the variety of cultures. There are Asian, West Indian, and Anglo-Saxon congregations worshiping and meeting close to each other. These groups meet at work and in school, but not always in church. If the church is middle-class and intellectual in the language of the services, in the music employed, in the life-style expected of Christians, in its leadership, and in the methods of presenting the gospel, then the whole atmosphere is such as to repel those who are not middle-class and intellectual. They feel out of place and unwanted, even if they are given a friendly greeting at the door. The life of the New Testament Church was evidence of the supernatural; God was in their midst. The power of Christ was a reality. The fellowship could not be explained in simple natural terms. A church divided on social and racial lines is not evidence for the supernatural, but for the simply human and social.
    ... David Bronnert, “The Gospel and Culture” in The Changing World

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, free Your church from all bias and prejudice.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/30/07 -- Kates: the reason why

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 30, 2007

Feast of Andrew the Apostle

Meditation:
    It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
    -- Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    “Why was I born?” “Why am I here?” Theology answers, “You are here to grow, to grow up in every way unto the full stature of a man newborn in Christ.”
    ... Frederick Ward Kates (b.1920), A Moment Between Two Eternities [1965]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, bring me into conformity with Christ.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/29/07 -- Dawson: the practicality of prayer

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 29, 2007Meditation:
    For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
    -- Isaiah 33:22 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Belief in law is essential to the philosophical conception of prayer. If the universe were a mere chaos of chances, or if it were a result of absolute necessity, there would be no place for intelligent prayer; but if it is under the control of a Lawgiver, wise and merciful, not a mere manager of material machinery, but a true Father of all, then we can come to such a Being with our requests—not in the belief that we change His great plans, nor that any advantage could result from this if it were possible, but that these plans may be made in his boundless wisdom and love to meet our necessities.
    ... J. W. Dawson (1820-1899), The Origin of the World [1877]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, correct my prayer from arrogance to submission.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/28/07 -- Chesterton: the universal relevance

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 28, 2007Meditation:
    And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
    -- Ephesians 1:22,23 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    If Christianity should happen to be true—that is to say, if its God is the real God of the universe—then defending it may mean talking about anything and everything. Things can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is false, but nothing can be irrelevant to the proposition that Christianity is true. [All] things not only may have something to do with the Christian God, but must have something to do with Him if He lives and reigns.
    ... G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are present in my heart.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/27/07 -- Nida: familiar forms of address

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 27, 2007Meditation:
    "But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant'; I have chosen you and have not rejected you."
    -- Isaiah 41:8,9 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    For the ancient philosopher and priest of esoteric cults, steeped in the tradition of Classical Greek, the grammatical forms in the Lord’s Prayer would seem almost rude. One does not find the optative forms of polite petition so characteristic of elaborate requests made to earthly and heavenly potentates. Rather than employing such august forms, the Christians made their requests to God in what seem to be blunt imperatives. This does not mean that Christians lacked respect for their heavenly father, but it does mean that they were consistent with a new understanding of Him. In the tens of thousands of papyri fragments which have been rescued from the rubbish heaps of the ancient Greek world, one finds the imperative forms used constantly between members of a family. When the Christians addressed God as “Father,” it was perfectly natural therefore for them to talk to Him as intimately as they would to their own father. Unfortunately, the history of our own English language has almost reversed this process. Originally, men used “thou” and “thee” in prayer because it was the appropriate familiar form of address; but now these words have become relegated to prayer alone.
    ... Eugene A. Nida (b.1914), God’s Word in Man’s Language [1952]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have opened the door to friendship with God.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/26/07 -- Latourette: moral and practical victory

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 26, 2007Meditation:
    Through [Jesus Christ] and for his name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
    -- Romans 1:5 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    More than any other religion or, indeed, than any other element in human experience, Christianity has made for the intellectual advance of man in reducing languages to writing, creating literatures, promoting education from primary grades through institutions of university level, and stimulating the human mind and spirit to fresh explorations into the unknown. It has been the largest single factor in combating, on a world-wide scale, such ancient foes of man as war, famine, and the exploitation of one race by another. More than any other religion, it has made for the dignity of human personality. This it has done by a power inherent within it of lifting lives from selfishness, spiritual mediocrity, and moral defeat and disintegration, to unselfish achievement and contagious moral and spiritual power and by the high value which it set upon every human soul through the possibilities which it held out of endless growth in fellowship with the eternal God.
    ... Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884-1968), Advance Through Storm [1939-45]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill me with Your mercy.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, Robert McAnally Adams, Curator
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CQOD: 11/25/07 -- Palau: unworthy of forgiveness

Christian Quotation of the Day

November 25, 2007

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century

Meditation:
    Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
    At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow is blaspheming!"
    Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home.
    -- Matthew 9:2-7 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Most people feel unworthy of forgiveness. They have a tremendous sense of unworthiness, even if outwardly they are antagonistic toward God and the Gospel.
    ... Luis Palau (b.1934)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have no other hope unless You forgive me of my sins.

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See Believer's Desktop Companion 2007
    http://www.cqod.com/cqoddtcb.html

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CQOD Compilation Copyright 2007, 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@cqod.com