Schaeffer: doctrine

Saturday, November 11, 2017
    Feast of Martin, Monk, Bishop of Tours, 397
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
    —Matthew 5:6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship—and not as ends in themselves.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer: Spiritual Reality in the Personal Christian, Good News Publishers, 1986, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:6; Ps. 42:1-2; 63:1-2; 84:2; 107:8-9; Luke 6:21,25; John 6:27
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that we are not swept away in intellectual debates but in the fullness of Your Holy Spirit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schroy: Lord, forgive

Friday, November 10, 2017
    Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461
Meditation:
    At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
    “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
    Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
    Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
    She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
    —John 20:14-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
Lord, forgive—
That I have dwelt too long on Golgotha,
My wracked eyes fixed
On Thy poor, tortured human form upon the cross,
And have not seen
The lilies in Thy dawn-sweet garden bend
To anoint Thy risen feet; nor known the ways
Thy radiant spirit walks abroad with men.
    ... Pauline Schroy, in Upper Room Bulletin, v. XVII, Upper Room Bible Class, 1931, p. 188 (see the book)
    See also John 20:14-16; Mark 16:12; Luke 24:16-17; John 21:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long to be at Your feet. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Taylor: entering on your neighbor's privacy

Thursday, November 9, 2017
    Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433
Meditation:
    We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat. And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.
    —2 Thessalonians 3:11-13
Quotation:
    Let us not enquire into the affairs of others that concern us not, but be busied within ourselves and our own spheres; ever remembering that to pry into the actions or interests of other men not under our charge, may minister to pride, to tyranny, to uncharitableness, to trouble, but can never consist with modesty; unless where duty, or the mere intentions of charity and relation, do warrant it... Knock therefore at the door before you enter upon your neighbor’s privacy; and remember that there is no difference between entering his house and looking into it.
    ... Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), Holy Living [1650], in The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D., v. III, London: Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1847, p. 79,81 (see the book)
    See also 2 Thess. 3:11-13; Rom. 12:18; Col. 4:5; 1 Thess. 4:11; 1 Tim. 3:7; 5:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, teach me to be respectful of others’ privacy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chapman: growing knowledge

Wednesday, November 8, 2017
    Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England
Meditation:
Praise the LORD.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of the saints.
    —Psalm 149:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Old truths must constantly be re-stated if they are not to be forgotten. To Homer, the dawn was “rosy-fingered;” to Shakespeare, it was “in russet mantle clad;” to Housman, “the ship of sunrise burning.” The scientist can explain exactly why the sky looks as it does in the early morning, the physiologist why we perceive as we do. Yet no one suggests that there is no dawn at all, or that its appearance has changed over the centuries, or that any one of these percipients was mad or deceitful. Why should our knowledge of the Creator be less capable of variety and development than our knowledge of any aspect of Creation?
    ... Raymond Chapman (1924-2013), The Ruined Tower, London: G. Bles, 1961, p. 32 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 149:1; 33:3; 36:5; 92:5; 96:1; 98;1; 144:9; Isa. 42:10; Isa. 55:8-9; Rev. 5:9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You reveal Yourself to Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Tertullian: closer than ever

Tuesday, November 7, 2017
    Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739
Meditation:
    Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
    —Matthew 22:29-30 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In that age they will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be as the angels... We are destined to a better state—destined to rise to a spiritual consortship. So we, who shall be with God, shall be together: since we shall all be with the one God, though there be many mansions in the house of the same Father; and, in eternal life, God will still less separate them whom He has joined together, than, in this lesser life, He allows them to be separated.
    ... Tertullian (Quintus S. Florens Tertullianus) (160?-230?), The Writings of Quintus Sept. Flor. Tertullianus, v. III, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1870, p. 41-42 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 22:29-30; Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-5; Mark 10:7-8; Acts 13:17; Rom. 1:21-22; Eph. 5:31; 2 Pet. 3:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long to live in that better state, according to Your promise. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Temple: for love

Monday, November 6, 2017
    Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
Meditation:
    And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
    —Hebrews 13:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The principle of sacrifice is that we choose to do or to suffer what apart from our love we should not choose to do or to suffer.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), Readings in St. John’s Gospel, London: Macmillan, 1939, 1952, p. xxix-xxx (see the book)
    See also Heb. 13:16; Mic. 6:7-8; Matt. 19:29; Mark 10:29-30; Luke 18:29-30; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18; Heb. 6:10; 13:15-16; 1 Pet. 2:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me into true sacrifice. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Miller: marriage

Sunday, November 5, 2017
Meditation:
    To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.
    But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
    Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is the rule I lay dow n in all the churches.
    —1 Corinthians 7:12-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A Christian marriage is [not] one with no problems or even a marriage with fewer problems. (It may well mean more problems.) But it does mean a life in which two people are able to accept each other and love each other in the midst of problems and fears. It means a marriage in which selfish people can accept selfish people without constantly trying to change them—and even accept themselves, because they realize personally that they have been accepted by Christ.
    ... Keith Miller (1927-2012), The Taste of New Wine, Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1965, p. 48 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 7:12-17; Deut. 33:27-29; Ps. 37:24; 119:116-117; John 10:28-30; Rom. 8:38-39; 14:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we accept one another as You have accepted us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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