Oden: the deepest need

Saturday, June 5, 2021
    Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754
Meditation:
    My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
    —James 5:19-20 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The deepest need of humanity is for salvation from sin. This is the quandary to which the gospel speaks. The church that forgets the gospel of salvation is finally not the church but its echo. The church that becomes focused upon maintaining itself instead of the gospel becomes a dead branch of the living vine. The church is imperiled when it becomes intoxicated with the spirit of its particular age, committed more to serve the gods of that age than the God of all ages.
    ... Thomas C. Oden (1931-2016), Classic Christianity: A Systematic Theology, HarperCollins, 2009, p. 233 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 5:19-20; Matt. 1:21; John 15:5-6; Acts 3:19; Gal. 1:3-4; Col. 1:18-22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, return all Your church to the true path. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Beecher: abstract prayer

Friday, June 4, 2021
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
    —Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is remarkable how skilfully men will contrive to avoid all real interests, and express almost wholly those which are not real to them. A man prays for the glory of God, for the advance of His kingdom, for the evangelisation of the world; but, in that very time, he will not allude to the very things in which his own life may stand, nor to the wants which every day are working their impress upon his character. The cares, the petty annoyances, the impatience of temper, pride, self-indulgence, selfishness, conscious and unconscious; or, on the other hand, the gladnesses of daily life, the blessings of home, the felicities of friendship, the joys and success of life—in short, all the things which one would talk of to a venerable mother, in an hour of confidence, are excluded from prayer among the brotherhood.
    ... Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), Summer in the Soul, Edinburgh: A. Strahan & Co., 1859, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:5-8; Rom. 8:26; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 6:18; Jude 1:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit teaches me to pray. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the implantation of holiness

Thursday, June 3, 2021
    Feast of Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, Teacher, 1910
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Uganda, 1886 & 1978
Meditation:
    [Jesus in prayer:] “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
    —John 17:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Holiness is nothing but the implanting, writing and realizing of the Gospel in our souls.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), IV.1 in A Discourse Concerning Holy Spirit, bk. I-V [1674], in Works of John Owen, v. III, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1852, p. 370-371 (see the book)
    See also John 17:17; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 7:1; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:22-24; 1 Thess. 4:1-6; Tit. 1:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, place Your word on the throne of my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Coslett: expecting gratitude

Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Meditation:
    Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”
    —Luke 17:17-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    There were ten lepers healed, and only one turned back to give thanks, but it is to be noticed that our Lord did not recall His gift from the other nine because of their lack of gratitude. When we begin to lessen our acts of kindness and helpfulness because we think those who receive do not properly appreciate what is done for them, it is time to question our own motives.
    ... Evan S. Coslett (1830-1939), Leaves of Gold, Clyde Francis Lytle, ed. [1948], Honesdale, Pa.: Coslett Publishing Company, 1938, p. 33 (see the book)
    See also Luke 17:12-19; Ps. 44:21; Jer. 17:10; Matt. 6:1-4; 19:30; Heb. 4:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I was unworthy of Your gift; teach me not to judge others’ worthiness. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Aldrich: at the point of need

Tuesday, June 1, 2021
    Feast of Justin, Martyr at Rome, c.165
    Commemoration of Angela de Merici, Founder of the Institute of St. Ursula, 1540
Meditation:
    ... the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
    Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
    —Luke 5:30-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus met a person at his point of need. We should, too. If his need is in the area of marriage, God has good news for him. If he is struggling with guilt, God has good news for him. Likewise God has good news for the person who needs love and affection, security or esteem... A caring friend who meets them with the gospel at a point of need is often the only way they will see through the caricatures to the real Christ.
    ... Joseph C. Aldrich (1941-2009), Lifestyle Evangelism, Multnomah Press, 1981, p. 88 (see the book)
    See also Luke 5:30-32; Isa. 53:4; Matt. 4:23; 8:14-17; 9:12; 14:15-21; Mark 2:4-12,16-17; 7:24-30; Luke 5:12-13; 7:22; John 4:7-24; 5:6-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have met my needs. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Eckhart: rapture forgone

Monday, May 31, 2021
Meditation:
    If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
    —1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If a man is in a rapture, like St. Paul, and becomes aware of some sick person wanting of him just a sup of broth, it seems to me far better of thy charity to forgo thy rapture and serve the needy in a loftier love.
    ... Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?), Works of Meister Eckhart, London: J. M. Watkins, 1924, p. 14 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 13:1; Matt. 5:23-24; 1 Cor. 14:18-19; 2 Cor. 12:2-4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, replace my self-absorption with love. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Schaeffer: no such thing as truth?

Sunday, May 30, 2021
    Trinity Sunday
    Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906
    Commemoration of Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431
    Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933
Meditation:
You conceive chaff,
    you give birth to straw;
    your breath is a fire that consumes you.
    —Isaiah 33:11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    ... the world cares nothing about doctrine. And that is especially true in the second half of the 20th century when, on the basis of their epistemology, men no longer believe even in the possibility of absolute truth. And if we are surrounded by a world which no longer believes in the concept of truth, certainly we cannot expect people to have any interest in whether a man’s doctrine is correct or not.
    ... Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984), The Mark of the Christian, Inter-Varsity Press, 1976, p. 16 (see the book)
    See also Isa. 33:11; Jer. 6:16-17; 18:18; John 8:43-45; Gal. 1:6-8; 1 Tim. 4:7,16; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; Tit. 1:9; 2 Pet. 1:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, save Your world from the false doctrines that assault it. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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