Guinness: the third way

Saturday, June 16, 2018
    Feast of Richard of Chichester, Bishop, 1253
    Commemoration of Joseph Butler, Bishop of Durham, Moral Philosopher, 1752
Meditation:
    But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
    —2 Corinthians 2:14-17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The Christian should be a conscience in his group. His presence must never be used to provide a Christian justification for evil. To stand as a co-belligerent and not an ally will be to rally the middle ground for a genuine Third Way without mediocre compromise.
    The Third Way will not be easy. It will be lonely. Sometimes the Christian must have the courage to stand with the establishment, speaking boldly to the radicals and pointing out the destructive and counter-productive nature of their violence. At other times, he will stand as a co-belligerent with the radicals in their outrage and just demands for redress. The Christian is a co-belligerent with either or both when either or both are right, but... fearless in his opposition to either or both when they are wrong.
    ... Os Guinness (b. 1941), The Dust of Death, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1973, p. 186 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 2:14-17; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 1:10-13; 11:17-18; 1 Tim. 3:9; 1 Pet. 3:15-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are convicting hearts of Your truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Underhill: the price of devotion

Friday, June 15, 2018
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.”
    —John 15:15-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Anyone can lead a “prayer-life”—that is, the sort of reasonable devotional life to which each is called by God. This only involves making a suitable rule and making up your mind to keep it however boring this may be.
    ... Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), The Letters of Evelyn Underhill, Charles Williams, ed., London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1991, p. 189 (see the book)
    See also John 15:15-16; Matt. 26:40; Luke 18:1; 21:36; Rom. 12:12; Eph. 6:18; Col. 4:2; 1 Thess. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, cure my weakness in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baxter: the incomprehensible God

Thursday, June 14, 2018
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691
Meditation:
    Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?
    —Isaiah 40:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    You may know God, but not comprehend him.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), Of the Knowledge of God, the first treatise of The Divine Life: in three treatises [1664], in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter, v. III, G. Virtue, 1838, ch. 4, p. 770 (see the book)
    See also Job 37:5; Isa. 40:14-15,17; Jer. 31:33-34; Hos. 6:3; John 8:19; 17:3; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 John 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You are beyond all understanding. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Chesterton: the honest appraisal

Wednesday, June 13, 2018
    Commemoration of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
Meditation:
    But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
    —Hebrews 12:22-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Very few people in the world would care to listen to the real defence of their own characters. The real defence, the defence which belongs to the Day of Judgment, would make such damaging admissions, would clear away so many artificial virtues, would tell such tragedies of weakness and failure, that a man would sooner be misunderstood and censured by the world than exposed to that awful and merciless eulogy.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Robert Browning, Macmillan, 1908, p. 188 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 12:22-25; Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 11:21-24; 12:34-36; 16:27; Luke 10:13-14; John 12:48; Heb. 2:1-3; 10:28-29; 1 Pet. 4:5; Jude 1:14-15; Rev. 20:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we rest solely upon Your mercy. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Fuller: offenses

Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Meditation:
    My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
    —1 John 2:1-2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is the best savour in a Christian soul when his sins are loathsome and offensive unto him—a happy token that there hath not been of late in him any insensible supply of heinous offenses, because his stale sins are still his new and daily sorrow.
    ... Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), Good Thoughts in Bad Times [1645], Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavor, Boston, 1898, Mixt Contemplations, VII. (see the book)
    See also 1 John 2:1-2; 1 Cor. 15:9; Eph. 4:26; Tit. 2:11; 1 Pet. 4:1-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I long to come to You and sin no more. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Marshall: a corrective prayer

Monday, June 11, 2018
    Feast of Barnabas the Apostle
Meditation:
    Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
    —Romans 12:13-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Lord Jesus, when we are wrong, make us willing to change; and when we are right, make us easy to live with.
    ... Peter Marshall (1902-1949), A Man Called Peter, Catherine Marshall, p. 82 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 12:13-16; Ps. 131:1-2; Matt. 18:1-4; 20:25-28; Luke 22:25-27; 1 Cor. 3:18; 8:2; Jas. 3:13-17; 1 Pet. 5:2-3
Quiet time reflection:
    Thank you, Lord, for the grace shown to me by Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Erasmus: minority report

Sunday, June 10, 2018
Meditation:
May my cry come before you, O LORD;
    give me understanding according to your word.
May my supplication come before you;
    deliver me according to your promise.
May my lips overflow with praise,
    for you teach me your decrees.
May my tongue sing of your word,
    for all your commands are righteous.
    —Psalm 119:169-172 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I vehemently dissent from those who would not have private persons read the Holy Scriptures nor have them translated into the vulgar tongues... I would wish that all women—girls even—would read the Gospels and the letters of Paul. I wish that they were translated into all languages of all people... To make them understood is surely the first step. It may be that they might be ridiculed by many, but some would take them to heart. I long that the husbandman should sing portions of them to himself as he follows the plough, that the weaver should hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveller should beguile with their stories the tedium of his journey.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), preface to the first edition of his Greek New Testament [1516], quoted in Erasmus: a study of his life, ideals and place in history, Preserved Smith, Harper & Brothers, 1923, p. 184 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 119:169-172; Deut. 6:7; Ps. 40:9-10; 78:4; Matt. 12:34-35; John 17:8; Col. 4:6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill my life with Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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