Lewis: a far worse sin

Sunday, March 30, 2025
Meditation:
    “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
    ”‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
    “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
    “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
    “The first,” they answered.
    Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
    —Matthew 21:28-31 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting; the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), Mere Christianity, New York: MacMillan, 1952, reprint, HarperCollins, 2001, p. 91 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 21:28-31; 20:6; Luke 7:29,37-38; 15:1-2; 19:9-20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purge cruelty and pride from my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: the reason for divisions

Saturday, March 29, 2025
    Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974
Meditation:
    Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
    —Colossians 3:13-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Were Christians duly instructed how many lesser differences, in mind, and judgment, and practice, are really consistent with the nature, ends, and genuine fruit of the unity that Christ requires among them, it would undoubtedly prevail with them so as to manage themselves in their differences, by mutual forbearance and condescension in their love, as not to contract the guilt of being disturbers or breakers of it... To speak plainly, among all the churches in the world which are free from idolatry and persecution, it is not different opinions, nor a difference in judgment about revealed truths, nor a different practice in sacred administrations, but pride, self-interest, love of honour, reputation, and dominion, with the influence of civil or political intrigues and considerations, that are the true cause of that defect of evangelical unity that is at this day amongst them.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), A Discourse Concerning Evangelical Love [1672], in Works of John Owen, v. XV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, P. 113 (see the book)
    See also Col. 3:13-15; Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:3-6; 5:29-30
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead Your people to put away our pride. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Kelly: the cross on the road

Friday, March 28, 2025
Meditation:
    Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
    —1 Peter 4:12-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God, out of the pattern of His own heart, has planted the Cross along the road of holy obedience.
    ... Thomas R. Kelly (1893-1941), A Testament of Devotion, London: Quaker Home Service, 1941, reprint Harper, Collins, 1996, p. 71 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 4:12-13; Matt. 16:24; Acts 5:41; Rom. 5:3-4; Gal. 2:20; 1 Thess. 1:6; 2 Tim. 1:8-9; Heb. 2:10; 10:32; Jas. 5:10
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I might praise You in hardship. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: within and without

Thursday, March 27, 2025
Meditation:
    Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
    —James 1:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If thine heart were right, then should every creature be a mirror of life and a book of holy doctrine. There is no creature so small and vile but that it showeth us the goodness of God.
    If thou wert good and pure within, then wouldst thou look upon all things without hurt and understand them aright. A pure heart seeth the very depths of heaven and hell. Such as each one is inwardly, so judgeth he outwardly.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, II.iv.1-2, p. 89 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:17; Gen. 1:31; Ps. 34:8; 19:1-2; 104:24; 145:9; Lam. 3:25; Nah. 1:7; Matt. 7:11; 19:17; Mark 10:18; Acts 11:8-9; 1 Tim. 4:4
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, all the gifts of Your hand are good. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: moving on

Wednesday, March 26, 2025
    Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883
Meditation:
    But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
    They preached the good news in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
    —Acts 14:20-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Paradoxical as it may seem, I think that it is quite possible that the shortness of his stay may have conduced in no small measure to St. Paul’s success. There is something in the presence of a great teacher that sometimes tends to prevent smaller men from realizing themselves. They more readily feel their responsibility, they more easily and successfully exert their powers when they see that, unless they come forward, nothing will be done. By leaving them quickly, St. Paul gave the local leaders opportunity to take their proper place, and forced the church to realize that it could not depend on him, but must depend on its own resources.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or ours?, London: World Dominion Press, 1927, reprinted, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, p. 125 (see the book)
    See also Acts 14:20-26; Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:7; 14:12; Eph. 4:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You can raise up whatever is needed in the church. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Moody: straight to Jesus

Tuesday, March 25, 2025
    Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary
Meditation:
    [Peter:] “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
    —Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We are not to put our trust in this man or that man—not to lean upon an arm of flesh. All the ministers in the world and all the potentates in the church put together cannot save one soul. It is thoroughly impossible. It is the Lord that can save, and the Lord alone; therefore we want to get our eyes away from man, from the church, and right straight up to the man Christ Jesus.
    ... Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899), Moody and Sankey, the new evangelists, their lives and labours, London: Ward, Lock, and Tyler, 1876, p. 119 (see the book)
    See also Acts 4:12; John 3:36; 14:5; Acts 10:42-43; 1 Cor. 3:11; 1 John 5:11-12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone save. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Edwards: pray for ministers

Monday, March 24, 2025
    Feast of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr, 1980
    Commemoration of Paul Couturier, Priest, Ecumenist, 1953
Meditation:
    And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
    —Colossians 4:3-4 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If some Christians who have been complaining of their ministers... had said and acted less before men and had applied themselves with all their might to cry to God for their ministers—had, as it were, risen and stormed heaven with their humble, fervent, and incessant prayers for them—they would have been much more in the way of success.
    ... Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), The Works of Jonathan Edwards, A.M., v. I, London: William Ball., 1839, p. 427 (see the book)
    See also Col. 4:3-4; Rom. 15:31; 1 Cor. 3:1-5; Eph. 6:18-19; 1 Thess. 5:25; 2 Thess. 3:1-2; Heb. 13:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I lift up my ministers _____ in prayer before You, that they may clearly proclaim the Gospel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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