CQOD: 12/22/07 -- Latourette: the Gospel

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 22, 2007Meditation:
    Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
    -- Revelation 1:7 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    I was confirmed in my conviction that when all the best scholarship is taken into account we can know Christ as He was in the days of His flesh. Although I became familiar with the contemporary and recent studies of honest, competent scholars who questioned them, I was convinced that the historical evidence confirms the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection of Christ. Increasingly, I believed that the nearest verbal approach that we human beings can come to the great mystery is to affirm that Christ is both fully man and fully God. Although now we see Him not, yet believing, we can “rejoice with joy unspeakable” in what the Triune God has done and is doing through Him. This Good News, so rich that it is stated in a variety of ways, but always consistently, in the New Testament, is what we always imperfect children, but children [yet], are privileged—and commanded—to make known and to demonstrate to all mankind.
    ... Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884-1968), Beyond the Ranges [1967]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are our hope.

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CQOD: 12/21/07 -- Latourette: conviction and conclusion

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 21, 2007Meditation:
    I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
    -- Revelation 1:18 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Not immediately, but as the months and years passed, increasingly, from experience and thought based on extensive reading, I found the Evangelical faith in which I had been reared confirmed and deepened. Increasingly I rejoiced in the Gospel—the amazing Good News—that the Creator of what to us human beings is this bewildering and unimaginably vast universe, so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Everlasting life, I came to see, is not just continued existence, but a growing knowledge—not merely intellectual but wondering through trust, love, and fellowship—of Him who alone is truly God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
    ... Kenneth Scott Latourette (1884-1968), Beyond the Ranges [1967]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I thank you for the confirmation I receive from Your Spirit.

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CQOD: 12/20/07 -- John Newton: the spark

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 20, 2007Meditation:
    Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
    -- Song of Solomon 8:7 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    The love I bear Christ is but a faint and feeble spark, but it is an emanation from himself: He kindled it and he keeps it alive; and because it is his work, I trust many waters shall not quench it.
    ... John Newton (1725-1807)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Love comes only from You, Lord.

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CQOD: 12/19/07 -- Woolman: the progress of wealth

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 19, 2007Meditation:
    But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
    -- 1 Timothy 6:6-9 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    I saw that a humble man, with the blessing of the Lord, might live on a little; and that where the heart is set on greatness, success in business did not satisfy the craving, but that commonly with an increase of wealth, the desire of wealth increased.
    ... John Woolman (1720-1772)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Teach me, Lord, to be content with Your provisions.

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CQOD: 12/18/07 -- John Wesley: follow-up

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 18, 2007Meditation:
    [Jesus:] "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
    "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
    "Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
    "But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'"
    -- Luke 13:24-27 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    I was more convinced than ever that the preaching like an Apostle, without joining together those that are awakened and training them up in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the murderer. How much preaching has there been for these twenty years all over Pembrokeshire! But no regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection; and the consequence is, that nine in ten of the once-awakened are now faster asleep than ever.
    ... John Wesley’s (1703-1791) Journal

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me a disciple.

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CQOD: 12/17/07 -- Lewis: the Object of theology

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 17, 2007

Commemoration of Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of 'Save the Children', 1928

Meditation:
[Moses:] Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
-- Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (NIV)

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Quotation:
What makes some theological works like sawdust to me is the way the authors can go on discussing how far certain positions are adjustable to contemporary thought, or beneficial in relation to social problems, or “have a future” before them, but never squarely ask what grounds we have for supposing them to be true accounts of any objective reality. As if we were trying to make rather than to learn. Have we no Other to reckon with?
... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

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Quiet time reflection:
Lord, grant me a mind that seeks only Your truth.

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CQOD: 12/16/07 -- MacDonald: every moment

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 16, 2007Meditation:
    "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
    -- 1 Samuel 15:20-23 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    In God, we live every commonplace as well as the most exalted moment of our being. To trust in Him when no need is pressing, when things seem going right of themselves, may be harder than when things seem going wrong.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), “What’s Mine’s Mine”

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, let me not stray when the path is easy.

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CQOD: 12/15/07 -- Davidman: law vs. righteousness

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 15, 2007Meditation:
    The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow? Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways. A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.
    -- Hosea 4:16-19 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Two thousand years of failure have not taught some reformers that you can’t stop sin by declaring it illegal. Two thousand years have not taught them that you can’t save a man’s soul by force—you can only lose your own in the attempt. Drunkenness and gambling and secularism and lechery—various hopeful churchmen have earnestly tried to outlaw them all; and what is the result? A drunken nation, a gambling nation, a secularist nation, an adulterous nation. And, often, a ruined Church.
    ... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain [1955]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we rest in Your grace.

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CQOD: 12/14/07 -- John of the Cross: accounting for good works

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 14, 2007

Feast of John of the Cross, Mystic, Poet, Teacher, 1591

Meditation:
    And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
    -- 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.
    ... St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant in me a charitable heart.

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CQOD: 12/13/07 -- Johnson: prayer

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 13, 2007

Feast of Lucy, Martyr at Syracuse, 304
Commemoration of Samuel Johnson, Writer, Moralist, 1784

Meditation:
    And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
    -- Joel 2:25,26 (KJV)

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Quotation:
    Almighty and most merciful Father, by Whose providence my life has been prolonged, and Who has granted me now to begin another year of probation, vouchsafe me such assistance of Thy Holy Spirit, that the continuance of my life may not add to the measure of my guilt, but that I may so repent of the days and years passed in neglect of the duties which Thou hast set before me, in vain thoughts, in sloth, and in folly, that I may apply my heart to true wisdom, by diligence redeem the time lost, and by repentance, obtain pardon, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.
    ... Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

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Quiet time reflection:
    I rely on Your promises, Lord.

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CQOD: 12/12/07 -- Niebuhr: the way of reform movements

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 12, 2007Meditation:
    At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
    -- Matthew 24:10-13 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    Institutions can never conserve without betraying the movements from which they proceed. The institution is static, whereas its parent movement has been dynamic; it confines men within its limits, while the movement had liberated them from the bondage of institutions; it looks to the past, [although] the movement had pointed forward. Though in content the institution resembles the dynamic epoch whence it proceeded, in spirit it is like the [state] before the revolution. So the Christian church, after the early period, often seemed more closely related in attitude to the Jewish synagogue and the Roman state than to the age of Christ and his apostles; its creed was often more like a system of philosophy than like the living gospel.
    ... H. Richard Niebuhr (1894-1962), The Kingdom of God in America [1959]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, continue to breathe life into Your church.

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CQOD: 12/11/07 -- MacGregor: called by its right name

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 11, 2007Meditation:
    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
    -- Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    In the twentieth century, the secularists, still living off the spiritual capital of Christianity, often pretended to chide Christians for having invented the term “secularist,” a term which, they said, was devoid of meaning. Their leaders knew very well, however, that secularism, like any other parasite, derives its sustenance from the object on which it feeds, and so they were rather pleased when milquetoast Christians timidly offered, as a definition of secularism, “living as though God did not exist.” What Christians should have called it was, rather, “a contemptibly fraudulent way of living on the cheap, by reaping the maximum fruits of Christian effort, while contributing the minimum effort of your own.” When secularists accused Christians of “living in the past,” the Christians ought to have retaliated by pointing out that secularists were “living off the past.” By the time they got around to doing so, however, the majority of secularists had become morally incapable of seeing the point.
    ... Geddes MacGregor (1909-1998), From a Christian Ghetto [1954]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your light!

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CQOD: 12/10/07 -- Merton: paradoxes and salvation

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 10, 2007

Commemoration of Thomas Merton, Monk, Spiritual Writer, 1968

Meditation:
    Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
    -- Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    This matter of “salvation” is, when seen intuitively, a very simple thing. But when we analyze it, it turns into a complex tangle of paradoxes. We become ourselves by dying to ourselves. We gain only what we give up, and if we give up everything we gain everything. We cannot find ourselves within ourselves, but only in others; yet at the same time, before we can go out to others we must first find ourselves. We must forget ourselves in order to become truly conscious of who we are. The best way to love ourselves is to love others; yet we cannot love others unless we love ourselves, since it is written, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” But if we love ourselves in the wrong way, we become incapable of loving anybody else. And indeed when we love ourselves wrongly, we hate ourselves; if we hate ourselves we cannot help hating others. Yet there is a sense in which we must hate others and leave them in order to find God... As for this finding of God, we cannot even look for Him unless we have already found Him, and we cannot find Him unless He has first found us. We cannot begin to seek Him without a special gift of His grace; yet if we wait for grace to move us before beginning to seek Him, we will probably never begin.
    ... Thomas Merton (1915-1968), No Man is an Island [1955]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, in You I rest from all disquiet of mind.

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CQOD: 12/09/07 -- Bounds: peril in orthodoxy

Christian Quotation of the Day

December 9, 2007Meditation:
    At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."
    He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.
    -- Matthew 12:1-6 (NIV)

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Quotation:
    We love orthodoxy. It is good. It is the best. It is the clean, clear cut teaching of God’s Word, the trophies won by truth in its conflict with error, the levees which faith has raised against the desolating floods of honest or reckless misbelief or unbelief; but orthodoxy, clear and hard as crystal, suspicious and militant, may be but the letter well shaped, well named, and well learned, the letter which kills. Nothing is so dead as a dead orthodoxy—too dead to speculate, too dead to think, to study, or to pray.
    ... E. M. Bounds (1835-1913), Power Through Prayer [1991]

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Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cure me of my self-righteousness.

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