Forsyth: the evangelical principle

Saturday, June 11, 2022
    Feast of Barnabas the Apostle
Meditation:
    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
    —1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Christianity is not the sacrifice we make, but the sacrifice we trust; not the victory we win, but the victory we inherit. That is the evangelical principle.
    ... P. T. Forsyth (1848-1921), The Justification of God, Duckworth, 1916, London: Independent Press, 1957, p. 220 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 1:3-5; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:13-14; 2:4-5; Col. 3:23-24; Rev. 13:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, we are Your heirs in salvation. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kirk: the decline of the deacons

Friday, June 10, 2022
Meditation:
    In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”
    This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism.
    —Acts 6:1-5 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This service—helping at the tables for the poor—has been clericalized into service at the liturgical altar.
    ... David Kirk (1935-2007), Quotations from Chairman Jesus, Springfield, Ill.: Templegate Publishers, 1969, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Acts 6:1-5; Rom. 12:6-8; Gal. 2:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, restore a heart of charity in me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: God's answer for the human condition

Thursday, June 9, 2022
    Feast of Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597
    Commemoration of Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Hymnographer, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    [Paul to the Ephesian elders:] “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
    —Acts 20:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday] To the downtrodden, the sad, the hopeless, he opened the door into a kingdom of light and liberty. To those who were terrified by the fear of malignant spirits he revealed a Spirit benignant, watchful and ever present, all-powerful and able at a word to banish the power of darkness. To men dissatisfied with the worship of idols he taught the pure service of one true God. To people whose imaginations were overwhelmed by the terrors and darkness of the grave he gave the assurance of a future beyond the grave in the bliss and peace of the Risen Lord. To the weak who needed support, to sinners bound with the chain of vice, to people unable to cope with the depressed morality of their heathen surroundings, he brought the promise of an indwelling Spirit of power. To the lonely he offered the friendly warmth and society of a company all eagerly looking forward to a bright day when Grace would come and this world with all its per plexities and troubles pass away.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or ours?, London: World Dominion Press, 1927, reprinted, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, p. 69-70 (see the book)
    See also Acts 20:24; Rom. 6:23; 13:12; 1 Cor. 4:5; 9:22; 15:55
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have blessed the hope You placed within us. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: the Gospel for all

Wednesday, June 8, 2022
    Feast of Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath & Wells, Hymnographer, 1711
    Commemoration of Roland Allen, Mission Strategist, 1947
Meditation:
    [Paul to the Ephesian elders:] “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”
    —Acts 20:20-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    To those who, among the conflicting claims and confused teachings of polytheism, were seeking for some unity in the world of nature and of thought, St. Paul brought a doctrine, at once simple and profound, of one personal God living and true, the Creator of all. To men who sought for some intelligent account of the world, its nature and its end, St. Paul revealed a moral purpose in the light of which all the perplexities, uncertainties, and apparent contradictions, resolved themselves into a divine harmony. To men of high moral instincts, appalled and dismayed at the impurity of society around them, St. Paul offered the assurance of a moral judgment. To men oppressed by the sense of sin he brought the assurance of pardon and release. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or ours?, London: World Dominion Press, 1927, reprinted, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, p. 69 (see the book)
    See also Acts 20:20-21,27; 17:22-28; Rom. 2:2-3; Col. 3:5; 1 Tim. 3:13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may I never be confounded by the world’s wisdom. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bonhoeffer: the fellowship needs the weak

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
Meditation:
    On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
    —1 Corinthians 12:22-25 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In a Christian community, everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain. Only when even the smallest link is securely interlocked is the chain unbreakable. A community which allows unemployed members to exist within it will perish because of them. It will be well, therefore, if every member receives a definite task to perform for the community, that he may know in hours of doubt that he, too, is not useless and unusable. Every Christian community must realize that not only do the weak need the strong, but also that the strong cannot exist without the weak. The elimination of the weak is the death of the fellowship.
    ... Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), Life Together [1954], tr. Daniel W. Bloesch & James H. Burtness, Fortress Press, 2004, p. 95-96 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 12:22-24; Rom. 14:13; Heb. 5:12-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enable each to cherish all who are in the Body. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Neill: popularity

Monday, June 6, 2022
    Commemoration of Ini Kopuria, Founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood, 1945
Meditation:
    If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
    —Galatians 6:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Popularity is the most dangerous spiritual state imaginable, since it leads one so easily to the spiritual pride which drowns men in perdition. It is a symptom to be watched with anxiety since so often it has been purchased at the too heavy price of compromise with the world.
    ... Stephen Neill (1900-1984), in The Record, 28 March, 1947, p. 161 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:3; Matt. 23:6-8; 20:26-28; Mark 10:43-44; Luke 11:43; Rom. 12:16; 1 Cor. 1:27-29; Phil. 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, may the Spirit of humility ever rule me. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Auden: the miracle of Pentecost

Sunday, June 5, 2022
    Pentecost
    Feast of Boniface (Wynfrith) of Crediton, Archbishop of Mainz, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, 754
Meditation:
    All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
    —Acts 2:4-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It is extraordinary that sects of religious enthusiasts, from the Montanists down to the Catholic Apostolics, should have imagined that to make verbal noises which nobody else could understand was evidence of Divine Inspiration, a repetition of the miracle of Pentecost. What happened at Pentecost was exactly the opposite, the miracle of instantaneous translation—everybody could understand when everybody else was saying.
    ... W. H. Auden (1907-1973), A Certain World, London: Faber and Faber, 1971, p. 170 (see the book)
    See also Acts 2:4-11; Isa. 28:11; Acts 10:44-46
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, with You there are no barriers. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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