Sayers: Christian principles without Christ

Saturday, January 27, 2018
Meditation:
    Then [Jesus] went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.
    —Luke 4:31-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    That you cannot have Christian principles without Christ is becoming increasingly clear [in the world today], because their validity as principles depends on Christ’s authority.
    ... Dorothy Leigh Sayers (1893-1957), lecture [1940], in Christian Letters to a Post-Christian World, Eerdmans, 1969, p. 34 (see the book)
    See also Luke 4:31-32; Jer. 23:29; Matt. 7:28-29; 13:54; 28:18; Mark 1:21-22; Luke 21:15; John 7:46
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me from leaning on my own understanding but to see Christ behind everything. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: an unspoken apostasy

Friday, January 26, 2018
    Feast of Timothy and Titus, Companions of Paul
    Commemoration of Dorothy Kerin, Founder of the Burrswood Healing Community, 1963
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.”
    —Luke 11:34-35 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    Far too often, young people become Christians and then search among the Church’s ranks for real people, and have a hard task finding them. All too often, evangelicals are paper people.
    If we do not preach these things [i.e., the need of Christians to be human], talk about them to each other, and teach them carefully from the pulpit and in the Christian classroom, we cannot expect Christians so to act. This has always been important, but it is especially so today because we are surrounded by a world in which personality is increasingly eroded. If we who have become God’s children do not show Him to be personal in our lives, then in practice we are denying His existence.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The God Who is There [1968], in The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy, Good News Publishers, 1990, p. 173 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:34-35; Ps. 9:1; 51:15; Isa. 58:8; 60:1-3; Phil. 2:15-16; 1 Thess. 5:6-8; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 1:5-7
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your Light. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: Christians as real people

Thursday, January 25, 2018
    Feast of the Conversion of Paul
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.”
    —Luke 11:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christians in their relationships should be the most human people you will ever see. This speaks for God in an age of inhumanity and impersonality and facelessness. When people look at us, their reaction should be, “These are human people”; human, because we know that we differ from the animal, the plant, and the machine; and that personality is native to what has always been [human]...
    If they cannot look upon us and say, “These are real people,” nothing else is enough. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The God Who is There [1968], in The Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy, Good News Publishers, 1990, p. 173 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:33; 1 Chr. 16:23; Matt. 5:14-16; Mark 4:21-22; Luke 8:16-17; Rom. 13:11-14; Eph. 5:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, remove all masks from my life. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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de Sales: patience

Wednesday, January 24, 2018
    Feast of François de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher, 1622
Meditation:
    Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.
    —James 5:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    A really patient man neither complains nor seeks to be pitied; he will speak simply and truly of his trouble, without exaggerating its weight or bemoaning himself; if others pity him, he will accept their compassion patiently, unless they pity him for some ill he is not enduring, in which case he will say so with meekness, and abide in patience and truthfulness, combating his grief and not complaining of it.
    ... François de Sales (1567-1622), Introduction to the Devout Life [1609], London: Rivingtons, 1876, III.iii, p. 140 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 5:7-8; Ps. 37:7; 130:5; Hab. 2:3; Rom. 4:2; 12:12; 2 Cor. 4:17; Gal. 5:22; Heb. 10:35-39
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me a patient heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Brooks: trials

Tuesday, January 23, 2018
    Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893
Meditation:
    As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
    —1 Peter 2:4-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever commonplace and homely ways—there God is hewing out the pillars for his temple.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Candle of the Lord [1881], E. P Dutton & Co., New York, 1903, p. 72 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:4-5; Isa. 48:10; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:19-22; Heb. 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12-13; Rev. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep me from doubt in times of difficulty. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Vidler: the unconditioned spirit

Monday, January 22, 2018
Meditation:
    To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
    They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
    Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
    —John 8:31-34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Spirit of Christ can set men free and enable them to become their true selves without requiring their dependence on any particular religious organization.
    ... Alec R. Vidler (1899-1991), “Religion and the National Church”, in Soundings, Alec R. Vidler, ed., Cambridge University Press, 1966, p. 249 (see the book)
    See also John 8:31-34; Isa. 52:15; Acts 10:45-48; 15:11; Rom. 15:21; 2 Cor. 4:13-14; Heb. 11:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I shall never be a slave again. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: the pearl

Sunday, January 21, 2018
    Feast of Agnes, Child Martyr at Rome, 304
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
    “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
    —Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)
Quotation:
    See that you buy the field where the Pearl is; sell all, and make a purchase of salvation. Think it not easy: for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory: many are lying dead by the way, that are slain with security.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, Feb. 20, 1637, p. 193 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 13:44-46; Ps. 4:6-7; Pr. 23:23; Matt. 24:43; Eph. 3:8; 1 Thess. 5:1-6; 2 Pet. 3:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Kingdom is more precious than the whole world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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