Figgis: gone forever

Saturday, January 29, 2011
Meditation:
    For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, “A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
    —1 Peter 2:6-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Men have, for the most part, done with lamenting their lost faith. Sentimental tears over the happy, simple Christendom of their fathers are a thing of the past. They are proclaiming now their contempt for Christ’s character, and their disgust at the very name of love.
    Scorn and hatred, difference and division, must be more than ever our lot, if we would be the followers of Christ in these days. Conventional religion and polite unbelief are gone forever.
    ... John Neville Figgis (1866-1919), The Gospel and Human Needs, London: Longman’s, Green & Co., 1911, p. 152 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, renew faith in Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Aquinas: beyond naturalism

Friday, January 28, 2011
    Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274
Meditation:
    He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
    —Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some there are who presume so far on their wits that they think themselves capable of measuring the whole nature of things by their intellect, in that they esteem all things true which they see, and false which they see not. Accordingly, in order that man’s mind might be freed from this presumption, and seek the truth humbly, it was necessary that certain things far surpassing his intellect should be proposed to man by God.
    ... Thomas Aquinas (1225?-1274), Summa Contra Gentiles [1264], Burns, Oates & Washbourne, Ltd., 1923, p. 10 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have revealed the invisible to Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Shedd: empty people

Thursday, January 27, 2011
Meditation:
    Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
    —John 6:26-27 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The problem is not that the churches are filled with empty pews, but that the pews are filled with empty people.
    ... Charlie Shedd (b. 1915), quoted in The Greening of the Church, Findley B. Edge, Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1971, p. 9 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your food alone truly satisfies. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the clouds of unbelief

Wednesday, January 26, 2011
    Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
    Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
Meditation:
    Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
    —Romans 4:19-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is not the distance of the earth from the sun, nor the sun’s withdrawing itself, that makes a dark and gloomy day; but the interposition of clouds and vaporous exhalations. Neither is thy soul beyond the reach of the promise, nor does God withdraw Himself; but the vapours of thy carnal, unbelieving heart do cloud thee.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), Works of John Owen, v. VIII, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, Sermon IV, p. 237-238 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, strengthen the weakness of my faith. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Hromadka: Christocentricity

Tuesday, January 25, 2011
    Feast of the Conversion of Paul
Meditation:
    ... the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.
    —2 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The theology of the last two decades [before 1956] has passed... through the cleansing fire of a world-wide catastrophe. It was brought to its proper theme, to Jesus Christ. Man is obliged to go, with everything he does or does not possess, where the life and cross of Christ and His resurrection bring him to the most real of realities: to the reality of humanity in its exaltation and poverty, hope and judgment. From here, from the time and place where Jesus the Nazarene lived, died, was victorious, where all expectations of the Prophets and of Israel... were fulfilled, it is necessary to look at man, his destination, his fall, his rebirth to a new life, his place in human society, his freedom and rights, the question whether and what kind of claims he may make on his happiness and security. This Christocentric view... gives a better understanding of what should be the relation of man to man, of the individual to society, of society to the individu! al, and to the securing of human freedoms by law.
    ... J. L. Hromadka (1889-1969), The Church and Theology in Today’s Troubled Times, Prague: Ecumenical Council of Churches in Czechoslovakia, 1956, p. 85-86 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead Your people to establish Your justice on earth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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de Sales: the sweetness of devotion

Monday, January 24, 2011
    Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622
Meditation:
Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
    —Psalm 73:25-26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Devotion is the real spiritual sweetness which takes away all bitterness from mortifications, and prevents consolations from disagreeing with the soul; it cures the poor of sadness, and the rich of presumption; it keeps the oppressed from feeling desolate, and the prosperous from insolence; it averts sadness from the lonely, and dissipation from social life; it is as warmth in winter and refreshing dew in summer; it knows how to abound and how to suffer want, how to profit alike by honour and by contempt; it accepts gladness and sadness with an even mind, and fills men’s hearts with a wondrous sweetness.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life [1609], London: Rivingtons, 1876, I.ii, p. 6 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, remove all distractions, that I may love You fully. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: sympathy

Sunday, January 23, 2011
    Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893
Meditation:
    For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
    —2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Never let the seeming worthlessness of sympathy make you keep back that sympathy of which, when men are suffering around you, your heart is full. Go and give it without asking yourself whether it is worth the while to give it. It is too sacred a thing for you to tell what it is worth. God, from whom it comes, sends it through you to His needy child.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Sermons, New York: E. P. Dutton, 1878, p. 108 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You place sympathy for the suffering in the hearts of Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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