Augustine: all or nothing at all

Saturday, December 2, 2017
Meditation:
    Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
    —Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
Quotation:
    In an authority so high [as Scripture], admit but one officious lie, and there will not remain a single passage of those apparently difficult to practice or to believe, which on the same most pernicious rule may not be explained as a lie uttered by the author willfully and to serve a purpose.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Ep. 28 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 119:105; 1 Sam. 15:29; Rom. 3:2; Tit. 1:2; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 6:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit speaks to me in Scripture. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bronnert: the explainable fellowship

Friday, December 1, 2017
    Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916
Meditation:
    I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.
    —1 Timothy 5:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Race highlights the fact that in our congregational life we usually do not reflect the variety of cultures. There are Asian, West Indian, and Anglo-Saxon congregations worshipping and meeting close to each other. These groups meet at work and in school, but not always in church. If the church is middle-class and intellectual in the language of the services, in the music employed, in the life-style expected of Christians, in its leadership, and in the methods of presenting the gospel, then the whole atmosphere is such as to repel those who are not middle-class and intellectual. They feel out of place and unwanted, even if they are given a friendly greeting at the door.
    The life of the New Testament Church was evidence of the supernatural; God was in their midst. The power of Christ was a reality. The fellowship could not be explained in simple natural terms. A church divided on social and racial lines is not evidence for t he supernatural, but for the simply human and social.
    ... 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. 126 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 5:21; Matt. 12:25-28; Acts 15:19; Gal. 3:28-29
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, free Your church from all bias and prejudice. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kates: the reason why

Thursday, November 30, 2017
    Feast of Andrew the Apostle
Meditation:
    It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
    —Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    “Why was I born?” “Why am I here?” Theology answers, “You are here to grow, to grow up in every way unto the full stature of a man newborn in Christ.”
    ... Frederick Ward Kates (1910-1987), A Moment Between Two Eternities, New York: Harper & Row, 1965, p. 12 (see the book)
    See also Eph. 4:11-13; John 3:3; 1 Cor. 14:20; Gal. 6:15; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:28; Jas. 1:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, bring me into conformity with Christ. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Dawson: the practicality of prayer

Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Meditation:
    For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.
    —Isaiah 33:22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Belief in law is essential to the philosophical conception of prayer. If the universe were a mere chaos of chances, or if it were a result of absolute necessity, there would be no place for intelligent prayer; but if it is under the control of a Lawgiver, wise and merciful, not a mere manager of material machinery, but a true Father of all, then we can come to such a Being with our requests, not in the belief that we change His great plans, nor that any advantage could result from this if it were possible, but that these plans may be made in His boundless wisdom and love to meet our necessities.
    ... J. W. Dawson (1820-1899), The Origin of the World, Harper, 1877, p. 172-173 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 33:22; Ps. 78:4; 147:19-20; Matt. 6:9-10; Rom. 9:4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Jas. 4:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, correct my prayer from arrogance to submission. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mother Teresa: making service acceptable

Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Meditation:
    All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered. Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
    —1 Timothy 6:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great sanctity. If you learn this art of being thoughtful, you will become more and more Christ-like, for his heart was meek and he always thought of others. Our vocation, to be beautiful, must be full of thought for others.
    ... Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) (1910-1997), quoted in Something Beautiful for God: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Malcolm Muggeridge, London: Collins, 1971, p. 69-72 (see the book)
    See also 1 Tim. 6:1-2; Rom. 8:29; 12:3; 1 Cor. 15:49; Phil. 2:3-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, sanctify my service according to Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Nida: familiar forms of address

Monday, November 27, 2017
Meditation:
    “But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend, I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.”
    —Isaiah 41:8-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For the ancient philosopher and priest of esoteric cults, steeped in the tradition of Classical Greek, the grammatical forms in the Lord’s Prayer would seem almost rude. One does not find the optative forms of polite petition so characteristic of elaborate requests made to earthly and heavenly potentates. Rather than employing such august forms, the Christians made their requests to God in what seem to be blunt imperatives. This does not mean that Christians lacked respect for their heavenly father, but it does mean that they were consistent with a new understanding of Him. In the tens of thousands of papyri fragments which have been rescued from the rubbish heaps of the ancient Greek world, one finds the imperative forms used constantly between members of a family. When the Christians addressed God as “Father,” it was perfectly natural therefore for them to talk to Him as intimately as they would to their own father. Unfortunately, the history of our own English language has almost reversed this process. Originally, men used “thou” and “thee” in prayer because it was the appropriate familiar form of address; but now these words have become relegated to prayer alone.
    ... Eugene A. Nida (1914-2011), God’s Word in Man’s Language, New York: Harper, 1952, p. 68 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 41:8-9; Matt. 6:7,9-13; Luke 11:2-10; Gal. 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have opened the door to friendship with God. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Watts: Jesus shall reign

Sunday, November 26, 2017
    Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
Meditation:
May his name endure forever;
    may it continue as long as the sun.
All nations will be blessed through him,
    and they will call him blessed.
Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel,
    who alone does marvelous deeds.
Praise be to his glorious name forever;
    may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
    —Psalm 72:17-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does its successive journeys run,
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

For him shall endless prayer be made,
And princes throng to crown his head;
His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise
With ev’ry morning sacrifice.

People and realms, of every tongue,
Dwell on his love with sweetest song,
And infant-voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.

Blessings abound where’er he reigns;
The prisoners leap to lose their chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.

Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honours to our King:
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud Amen.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Psalms of David Imitated [1719], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, Ps. 72, second part, p. 159-160 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 72:17-19; 145:21; Isa. 9:6-7; Luke 1:30-33; 2:13-14; Rev. 5:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your praises shall be endless.

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