Eliot: the proof of Christianity

Saturday, July 29, 2017
    Feast of Mary, Martha & Lazarus, Companions of Our Lord
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:
    The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his belief.
    ... T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) (see the book)
    See also John 12:26; Matt. 10:39; 16:25; Mark 8:35; Luke 9:23-24; 17:33; John 12:24; 15:13; Rom. 5:7-8; 8:35-37; Heb. 11:35
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my life is now Yours to expend in Your cause. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pascal: piety vs. goodness

Friday, July 28, 2017
    Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, 1750
Meditation:
    When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”
    —Luke 11:37-41 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, #496, p. 165 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:37-41; Matt. 6:1-6; 7:21; 9:10-13; 12:33-35; Luke 16:15; John 12:5-6; Jas. 4:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, remove all that is false in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Stott: a persuasive demonstration

Thursday, July 27, 2017
    Commemoration of Brooke Foss Westcott, Bishop of Durham, Teacher, 1901
    Commemoration of John R. W. Stott, spiritual writer and teacher, 2011
Meditation:
    For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.
    —1 Thessalonians 2:11-12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Instead of always being one of the chief bastions of the social status quo, the Church is to develop a Christian counter-culture with its own distinctive goals, values, standards, and lifestyle, a realistic alternative to the contemporary technocracy which is marked by bondage, materialism, self-centredness, and greed. Christ’s call to obedience is a call to be different, not conformist.
    Such a Church—joyful, obedient, loving, and free—will do more than please God: it will attract the world. It is when the Church evidently is the Church, and is living a supernatural life of love by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the world will believe.
    ... John R. W. Stott (1921-2011), “Obeying Christ in a Changing World”, in The Lord Christ [1980], John Stott, ed., vol. 1 of Obeying Christ in a Changing World, John Stott, gen. ed., 3 vol., London: Fountain, 1977, p. 29 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thes. 2:11-12; John 4:31-34; Eph. 2:19-22; 2 Tim. 1:7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me the heart to demonstrate the life of love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: God's glory

Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Meditation:
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all the peoples see his glory.
    —Psalm 97:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The higher the mountains, the more understandable is the glory of Him who made them and who holds them in His hand.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), letterLetters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian, Good News Publishers, 1986, p. 37 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 97:6; 19:1; 36:5-6; 89:5; Jude 1:24-25; Rev. 4:9-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I see Your purposes written out over my whole life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kirk: the exclusive fraternity

Tuesday, July 25, 2017
    Feast of James the Apostle
Meditation:
    Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
    “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
    Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
    —Mark 3:31-36 (NIV)
Quotation:
    When Jesus calls his disciples “brothers” and “friends,” he is contradicting general Jewish usage and breaking through into a new concept of brotherhood which is not tribal, but open to any person.
    ... David Kirk (1935-2007), Quotations from Chairman Jesus, Springfield, Ill.: Templegate Publishers, 1969, p. 106-107 (see the book)
    See also Mark 3:31-35; Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; John 15:13-15; 2 Cor. 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make me a true brother. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: loving the unlovely

Monday, July 24, 2017
    Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
    —Matthew 5:46-47 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is no great matter to associate with the good and gentle; for this is a naturally pleasing to all, and everyone willingly enjoyeth peace, and loveth those best that agree with him. But to be able to live peaceably with hard and perverse persons, or with the disorderly, or with such as go contrary to us, is a great grace, and a most commendable thing.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, II.iii.2, p. 88 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:43-48; Luke 6:32-35; Rom. 12:18; 1 Pet. 2:20-23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me patience and perseverance towards those whom I would rather avoid. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Woods: in alien society

Sunday, July 23, 2017
    Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373
Meditation:
“Hear my prayer, O LORD,
    listen to my cry for help;
    be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
    a stranger, as all my fathers were.”
    —Psalm 39:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Church is an organism that grows best in an alien society.
    ... C. Stacey Woods
    See also Ps. 39:12; Acts 1:8; 8:1,5-8,40; 11:20-21; 15:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, spread Your church in my neighborhood. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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