Gossip: gaze at the Cross

Saturday, August 22, 2020
Meditation:
    When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
    —Colossians 2:13-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The very Nazis look at you with wonderment and an open contempt! For even they are sure that to live for nothing higher than oneself is to lose life; that life, to be called life, can be found only in serving something bigger than one’s personal interests; something that crowds these out of mind and heart, till one forgets about them and lives wholly, and without exception, for that other, worthier thing... It is long since Aristotle told us that only barbarians have as their ideal the wish to live as they please, and to do what they like. And the New Testament gravely sets us down before the Cross, and bids us gaze, and still gaze, and keep gazing, till the fact has soaked itself into our minds that that, not less than that, is now the standard set us, and that whatever in our lives clashes with that is sin.
    ... A. J. Gossip (1873-1954), Experience Worketh Hope, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1945, p. 91-92 (see the book)
    See also Col. 2:13-14; Matt. 10:39; John 8:28; Rom. 6:12-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, plant the standard of the Cross in my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Stearns: our work and His work

Friday, August 21, 2020
Meditation:
    If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
    —1 John 3:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is clear that God wants us to get involved. It is our work to do, and we are blessed when we do it willingly.
    ... Richard Stearns, President of World Vision, Inc., in a private communication from World Vision
    See also 1 John 3:17-18; Deut. 15:7-11; Pr. 19:17; Isa. 58:7-10; Luke 3:11; 1 Tim. 6:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I have been showered with Your blessings. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bernard of Clairvaux: a dreadful offensiveness

Thursday, August 20, 2020
    Feast of Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Teacher, 1153
    Commemoration of William & Catherine Booth, Founders of the Salvation Army, 1912 & 1890
Meditation:
[The LORD:] “I hate, I despise your religious feasts;
    I cannot stand your assemblies.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
    Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs!
    I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
    righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
    —Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I do a great wrong in His sight, when I beseech Him that He will hear my prayer, which as I give utterance to it I do not hear myself. I entreat Him that He will think of me; but I regard neither myself nor Him. Nay, what is worse, turning over corrupt and evil thoughts in mine heart, I thrust a dreadful offensiveness into His presence.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Selections from His Letters, Meditations, Sermons, Hymns and Other Writngs, tr. Horatio Grimley, CUP Archive, n.d., p. 195 (see the book)
    See also Amos 5:21-24; Ps. 51:10; Hos. 4:7-8; John 3:19-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, turn my heart towards righteousness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Pascal: the opinions of men

Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
    —Matthew 11:18-19 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What man ever had more renown? The whole Jewish people foretell Jesus before His coming. The Gentile people worship Him after His coming. The two peoples, Gentile and Jewish, regard Him as their centre.
    And yet what man enjoys this renown less? Of thirty-three years, He lives thirty without appearing. For three years He passes as an impostor; the priests and the chief people reject Him; His friends and His nearest relatives despise Him. Finally, He dies, betrayed by one of His own disciples, denied by another, and abandoned by all.
    What part, then, has He in this renown? Never had man so much renown; never had man more ignominy. All that renown was only of use to us, to help us to recognize Him; it was of no use to Him.
    ... Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), Pensées (Thoughts) [1660], P.F. Collier & Son, 1910, n. 792, p. 279 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 11:16-19; Isa. 53:3-4; Luke 5:29-35; 7:31-35; Rev. 5:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we give You honor. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: those that least of all deserve it

Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Meditation:
    My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
    —James 2:1-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The merit of persons is to be no rule of our charity; but we are to do acts of kindness to those that least of all deserve it.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 116 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 2:1-4; Matt. 5:3; 25:40; Luke 14:8-11; 1 John 3:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, as has been done to me, the least, shall I do to others. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: ordained of Christ

Monday, August 17, 2020
Meditation:
    [Peter:] God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.
    —Acts 15:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    I do not want bishops to practice the ordination of voluntary clergy [merely] as a plausible policy, for which something can be said. If by persuasive speech I could induce all the bishops in the world to adopt that practice, I think that I should refuse. I do not believe that Christian men should base their action upon such a foundation: I believe that the first blast of difficulty would overthrow them if they did. I try to set forth a truth of Christ which demands obedience. I call upon the church not to adopt a plausible policy, but to repent of a sin; for to make void the word of Christ is sin.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), The Case for Voluntary Clergy, London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1930, included in The Ministry of the Spirit, David M. Paton, ed., London: World Dominion Press, 1960, p. 137-138 (see the book)
    See also Acts 15:8; Matt. 15:3-8; Acts 6:2-6; Rom. 4:14-16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit ordains all Your people to ministry. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bayne: what's important

Sunday, August 16, 2020
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:
    It is absolutely unimportant in the eyes of God how many people follow the “Anglican tradition” of belief and practice. It is of the greatest importance how many people there are who have come to know and love our Lord because of what we Anglicans have said and done.
    ... Stephen F. Bayne, Jr. (1908-1974), “The Challenge of the Frontiers: Organizing for Action (Theme Address),” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 187 (see the book)
    See also Luke 11:33; Matt. 5:16; 28:19-20; Acts 1:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill the churches! CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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