Tozer: scribes vs. prophets

Saturday, September 12, 2009
Meditation:
    O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
    —Song of Solomon 2:14 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Hearts that are “fit to break” with love for the Godhead are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what they saw there. They were prophets, not scribes: for the scribe tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what he has seen.
    The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between the scribe who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is a difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The hard voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder ! that is God.
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948], Christian Publications, 1982, p. 40 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, banish the scribe in me, and nourish my soul with your Presence.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Owen: false wisdom

Friday, September 11, 2009
Meditation:
    Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
    —1 John 4:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    That wisdom which cannot teach me that God is love, shall ever pass for folly.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Of Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost [1657], in Works of John Owen, v. II, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 82 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your love is the only true wisdom.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Hummel: urgency and priority

Thursday, September 10, 2009
Meditation:
    When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
    —John 19:20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus did not finish all the urgent tasks in Palestine or all the things He would have liked to do, but He did finish the work which God gave Him to do. The only alternative to frustration is to be sure that we are doing what God wants. Nothing substitutes for knowing that this day, this hour, in this place, we are doing the will of the Father. Then and only then can we think of all the other unfinished tasks with equanimity and leave them with God.
    ... Charles E. Hummel (1923-2004), The Tyranny of the Urgent, Chicago: Inter-Varsity Press, 1967 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, the work of salvation is complete.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Grou: absolute importance

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Meditation:
    Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
    —James 1:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Nothing is small or great in God’s sight; whatever He wills becomes great to us, however seemingly trifling, and if once the voice of conscience tells us that He requires anything of us, we have no right to measure its importance.
    ... Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 217 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cleanse my heart, Your dwelling place.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

Johnson: the beauty of heaven

Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Meditation:
    The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.
    —Revelation 21:23,24 (NIV)
Quotation:
My windows open to the autumn night,
In vain I watched for sleep to visit me:
How should sleep dull mine ears, and dim my sight,
Who saw the stars, and listened to the sea?

Ah, how the City of our God is fair!
If, without sea, and starless though it be,
For joy of the majestic beauty there,
Men shall not miss the stars, nor mourn the sea.
    ... Lionel P. Johnson (1867-1902), Poems, London: Elkin Mathews, 1895, p. 77 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    I know no light but Yours, Lord.

CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

What's wrong with the church?

    Don’t get me started! There are so many things wrong with the church I hardly know where to begin: worship, program, preaching, the way the church deals with social issues (especially national church institutions), the glacial progress of church government, apathy, you name it.
    Far be it from me to say what the church should be doing. That’s a job for theologians, and I am, at best, an amateur. But I can certainly identify some things that the church shouldn’t be doing. One thing, for sure, is that the church service should not be all about the minister. When the minister completely runs the show, there’s no room for anything spontaneous. The truth imparted in the teaching, the praise lifted up during the singing, and the prayers raised up during the service all center on him and depend on him for their effectiveness. We ought to be able to talk back to him.
    Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for ministers and for the teaching and preaching that they do, by and large. But I caught my minister in an error, big as life, recently. I have the proof-text in my notes for that Sunday. And I’m going to tell him so, when I get the right opportunity.
    Of course, an error can be forgiven, if not completely forgotten. But there is a general flabbiness in the preaching and teaching. Clearer doctrine and more of it, that’s my call. The congregation needs it. Why do we always get an inane anecdote in the sermon, sometimes more than one? I don’t need that. It raises the mood just when we need to be bearing down in the Word.
    Flabby doctrine makes for a flabby church. I don’t care how many “experiences” someone has had—if they can’t agree with my church’s core doctrines, they don’t belong here. Thank heavens, everyone in my church has had to pledge their agreement with our doctrine. So why don’t they live up to it?
    That preacher who was disgraced—in the newspaper, last week, on the front page!—is a perfect example. Caught red-handed—what an embarrassment to the faith! There’s a couple in the church who are living together, and you know what that means. Don’t they know better? Then there are some of the men who drink, and I do mean, drink. There’s a young man in the congregation who is gay—he thinks no one knows, but everyone has been talking about it for months. That older couple has a son who has been in and out of jail—whose fault is that? Church people pretend to be very spiritual and everything, but it’s mostly for show. It’s all part of the hypocrisy of church respectability.
    I thank my God that I’m not like those parishioners. Believe me, I’m making sure that no one ever finds out about my secret sins (I only have a couple of them). You’ll never catch me bringing shame on my Lord.
    But the behavior of other parishioners is only part of the problem. I should get a medal for putting up with the music in church. What we so desperately need is music that uplifts, that reflects the glory within our hearts. Instead, we get the same dreary music every week—it just does not reach me. But I suffer through it, saving up the hurt and injury in my heart. I can laugh it off during the week, commiserating with my wife, with barely a touch of scorn in my voice.
    And the fellowship groups—what a wonderful place to discuss doctrine, to debate, even to argue about it. What do we get instead? People’s social concerns, their kids, the upcoming programs in the church—or worse, how life is going in their homes and jobs. Nothing substantive—no Truth.
    These people are so easily satisfied with second-rate church, satisfied with less than the best faith. I can’t stand being around people like that. I don’t understand them, and I don’t understand the attitude of the leadership. I am just going to have to look for another church (again!). I’m simply not getting what I want out of my present church.
    “Lord,” I pray, “why don’t they love You the way I love You?” But the answer comes from the One Who knows all things, with a clarity that I don’t want to hear: “Why don’t you love them the way I love them?”
    What’s wrong with the church?
    Me.

(With apologies to Todd Wetzel and G. K. Chesterton.)

Maurice: not systematic

Monday, September 7, 2009
    Commemoration of Douglas Downes, Founder of the Society of Saint Francis, 1957
Meditation:
    For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
    —Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When once a man begins to build a system, the very gifts and qualities which might serve in the investigation of truth, become the greatest hindrances to it. He must make the different parts of the scheme fit into each other; his dexterity is shown, not in detecting facts, but in cutting them square... I hope you will never forget that the Bible is the history of God’s acts to men, not of men’s thoughts about God. It begins from Him. He is acting and speaking in it throughout.
    ... Frederick Denison Maurice (1805-1872), Ecclesiastical History, London: Macmillan, 1854, p. 222, 2 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Your word, Lord, lives in my heart.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt

MacDonald: making things bad

Sunday, September 6, 2009
    Commemoration of Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Missionary Society, 1851
    Commemoration of Albert Schweitzer, Teacher, Physician, Missionary, 1965
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
    “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.”
    —Luke 15:22-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    But first I said, ... “Some people think it is not proper for a clergyman to dance. I mean to assert my freedom from any such law. If our Lord chose to represent, in His parable of the Prodigal Son, the joy in Heaven over a repentant sinner by the figure of ‘music and dancing’, I will hearken to Him rather than to men, be they as good as they may.”
    For I had long thought that the way to make indifferent things bad, was for good people not to do them.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood [1867], London: Strahan & Co., 1873, p. 179 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You authorize rejoicing for all good things.CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
BDTC    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt