Bronnert: the pursuit of social justice

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Meditation:
    Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.
    —Galatians 6:15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There are many formidable obstacles in the pursuit of social justice. The challenge for the Christian is to put into concrete terms the revolutionary style of life lived by Christ; to translate into economics, education, politics, and human relationships that he is a “new creation”, who looks at no one and no situation from simply a human point of view of self-interest and self-concern. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... David Bronnert, “The Gospel and Culture”, in The Changing World, Bruce Kaye, ed., vol. 3 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 120 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:15; Pr. 21:3; Matt. 7:13-14; 24:14; Mark 16:15; John 3:16-17; Rom. 5:19; 1 Cor. 9:19; 2 Cor. 5:17; Col. 1:3-6; Jas. 2:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I taking someone near me for granted? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Studdert Kennedy: the whole in God

Friday, March 8, 2013
    Commemoration of Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy, Priest, Poet, 1929
Meditation:
[David, before the whole assembly:]
“Praise be to you, O LORD,
    God of our father Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting.
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
    and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
    you are exalted as head over all.
Wealth and honor come from you;
    you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
    to exalt and give strength to all.”
    —1 Chronicles 29:10-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This making of your peace with God is not, and never can be, a mere matter of emotional surrender, however honest and sincere. It must be an act of the whole man, feeling, thinking, and doing, in every department of his life, in obedience to a great governing and controlling principle. It must be the response of the whole man to his whole world. God must be at least as big as the world if He is to be God at all. Religion applies either to everything or to nothing, and no department of life can be left outside of God. Whatever appears to be beyond His control must, to the religious man, become either a problem to solve or an obstacle to be overcome, and whatever is essentially opposed to Him must become an evil to be destroyed. The soul that has really made its peace with God simply cannot tolerate anything or anybody as being permanently outside of Him.
    ... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Wicket Gate, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1923, p. 22-23 (see the book)
    See also 1 Chr. 29:10-12; Ps. 1:1-2; 73:25; 85:8; Isa. 11:6-9; 25:6-8; Matt. 11:27; John 16:33; Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I holding something outside Your will? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the philosophers vs. the Gospel

Thursday, March 7, 2013
    Feast of Perpetua, Felicity & their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203
Meditation:
There is a way that seems right to a man,
    but in the end it leads to death.
    —Proverbs 16:25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some go to the light of nature and the use of right reason (that is, their own) as their guides; and some add the additional documents of the philosophers. They think a saying of Epictetus, or Seneca, or Arrianus, being wittily suited to their fancies and affections, to have more life and power in it than any precept of the Gospel. The reason why these things are more pleasing unto them than the commands and instructions of Christ is because, proceeding from the spring of natural light, they are suited to the workings of natural fancy and understanding; but those of Christ, proceeding from the fountain of eternal spiritual light, are not comprehended in their beauty and excellency without a principle of the same light in us, guiding our understanding and influencing our affections. Hence, take any precept, general or particular, about moral duties, that is materially the same in the writings of philosophers and in the doctrine of the! Gospel, not a few prefer it as delivered in the first way before the latter.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), V.5 in A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. I-V [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. III, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 633 (see the book)
    See also Prov. 16:25; 3:5-6; 12:15; Jer. 9:23-24; Mark 7:6-8; Luke 13:24; 1 Cor. 1:18-25; 2 Cor. 10:5; Gal. 6:3; Eph. 5:6; Col. 2:8; 1 Tim. 6:20-21; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I prepared to hear Your word alone? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Colson: the danger of success

Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
    —John 12:26 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Knowing how susceptible we are to success’s siren call, God does not allow us to see, and therefore glory in, what is done through us. The very nature of the obedience He demands is that it be given without regard to circumstances or results.
    ... Charles W. Colson (1931-2012), Loving God, Zondervan, 2011 reprint, p. 23 (see the book)
    See also Eccl. 11:1-2; Jer. 26:13; Hab. 2:4; Matt. 6:34; John 3:8; 6:27; 12:26; 13:16-17; 14:15,21; Rom. 8:28; Eph. 4:17; Heb. 13:16; Jas. 1:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I trusting you with the outcome of my actions? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Peterson: pastors or ...

Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Meditation:
    [An elder] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
    —Titus 1:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I am having the depressing experience of reading congregational descriptions of what these churches want in a pastor. With hardly an exception they don’t want pastors at all—they want managers of their religious company. They want a pastor they can follow so they won’t have to bother with following Jesus anymore.
    ... Eugene H. Peterson (b. 1932), in “On Being Unnecessary”, The Unnecessary Pastor, Marva J. Dawn, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2000, p. 4 (see the book)
    See also Tit. 1:9; Matt. 4:19; 8:22; 16:24; Luke 5:27; 9:59-60; John 12:25-26; 1 Cor. 9:16-18; 2 Thess. 2:15; 1 Tim. 6:3-6; 2 Tim. 1:13; 4:2-3; Tit. 1:5-8; Rev. 2:25; 3:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I helping my church to embrace worldly goals? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Jones: relativism in the churches

Monday, March 4, 2013
    Commemoration of Felix, Bishop, Apostle to the East Angles, 647
Meditation:
    For [Apollos] vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
    —Acts 18:28 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Men despise the Church when it doesn’t stand for the Christian viewpoint. Not beginning with the absolute, the Kingdom, it becomes a part of the relativisms of kingdoms of this world.
    ... E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), The Christ of the American Road, Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1944, p. 217 (see the book)
    See also Acts 18:28; Matt. 13:44-48; Luke 17:20-21; Rom. 14:17-18; 2 Cor. 5:16-17; Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess. 5:21; 2 Thess. 2:15; 2 Tim. 1:13; Jude 1:3; Rev. 12:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I reflecting the world’s relativism in my life and speech? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: sharing the experience

Sunday, March 3, 2013
Meditation:
    After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
    —Acts 18:1-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Among our own people also the church sorely needs clergy in close touch with the ordinary life of the laity, living the life of ordinary men, sharing their difficulties and understanding their trials by close personal experience. Stipendiary clergy cut off by training and life from that common experience are constantly struggling to get close to the laity by wearing lay clothing, sharing in lay amusements, and organizing lay clubs; but they never quite succeed. To get close to men, it is necessary really to share their experience, and to share their experience is to share it by being in it, not merely to come as near to it as possible without being in it.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), The Case for Voluntary Clergy, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1930, included in The Ministry of the Spirit, David M. Paton, ed., London: World Dominion Press, 1960, p. 150 (see the book)
    See also Acts 18:1-3; Isa. 53:2-5; Luke 22:27-28; Eph. 4:28; Phil. 2:5-8; 1 Thess. 4:11-12; Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15; 5:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, am I being a minister to my colleagues? CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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