Rushdoony: the Biblical smorgasbord

Sunday, June 15, 2025
    Trinity Sunday
    Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941
Meditation:
    These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the LORD’S instruction. They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”
    —Isaiah 30:9-11 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Theology belongs in the pulpit, the school, the work-place, the family, and everywhere. Society as a whole is weakened when theology is neglected. Without a systematic application of theology, too often people approach the Bible with a smorgasbord mentality, picking and choosing that which pleases them.
    ... Rousas J. Rushdoony (1916-2001), Systematic Theology, v. I, Ross House Books, 2003, v.1, p. xv (see the book)
    See also Isa. 30:9-11; Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Jer. 6:13-14; Matt. 24:24; Mark 13:22; Luke 21:8; Gal. 1:6-9; Eph. 5:6; Phil. 3:1-3; 1 Tim. 4:1,16; 2 Tim. 4:3-4; Tit. 1:9; 2:1; 2 Pet. 2:1-3; 1 John 2:26; 2 John 1:7-10; Jude 1:3-4; Rev. 22:18-19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have granted us Your whole counsel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Baxter: Lord, it belongs not to my care

Saturday, June 14, 2025
    Commemoration of Richard Baxter, Priest, Hymnographer, Teacher, 1691
Meditation:
I will praise you forever for what you have done;
    in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you
    in the presence of your saints.
    —Psalm 52:9 (NIV)
Quotation:
Lord, it belongs not to my care,
    Whether I die or live;
To love and serve Thee is my share,
    And this Thy grace must give.

If life be long I will be glad,
    That I may long obey;
If short—yet why should I be sad
    To soar to endless day?

Christ leads me through no darker rooms
    Than He went through before;
He that unto God’s kingdom comes,
    Must enter by this door.

Come, Lord, when grace has made me meet
    Thy blessèd face to see;
For if Thy work on earth be sweet,
    What will Thy glory be!

Then shall I end my sad complaints,
    And weary, sinful days;
And join with the triumphant saints,
    To sing Jehovah’s praise.

My knowledge of that life is small,
    The eye of faith is dim;
But ’tis enough that Christ knows all,
    And I shall be with him.
    ... Richard Baxter (1615-1691), in Memoirs of Margaret Baxter, London: Richard Edwards, 1826, p. 403 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 52:9; 91:16; Matt. 6:27; 7:13; John 13:15; Rom. 6:4-5,8; 2 Cor. 13:4; 1 Pet. 2:21; 3:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    May I enter Your gates, Lord, with thanksgiving and praise.

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Chesterton: the paradox of charity

Friday, June 13, 2025
    Commemoration of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Apologist and Writer, 1936
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”
    —Matthew 5:46-47 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Charity is a paradox, like modesty and courage. Stated baldly, charity certainly means one of two things—pardoning unpardonable acts, or loving unlovable people.
    ... Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936), Orthodoxy, London, New York: John Lane Company, 1909, p. 174 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 5:46-47; 9:10-11; Luke 6:32-35; 15:1; 19:7; 1 Cor. 6:11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enlarge my heart. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Wesley: pray and read

Thursday, June 12, 2025
Meditation:
    Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
    —1 Peter 2:2-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Constantly add the private means of grace, particularly prayer and reading. Most of you have been greatly wanting in this; and, without this, you can never grow in grace. You may as well expect a child to grow without food, as a soul without private prayer; and reading is an excellent help to this. I advise you to read, in particular, constantly and carefully, the New Testament.
    ... John Wesley (1703-1791), “To the Societies at Bristol”, The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, v. IV, The Epworth Press, 1931, p. 272 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 2:2-3; Ps. 1:2; 84:5-7; 119:15,48; Phil. 1:4-6,9-11; Col. 1:10-11; Heb. 6:1-3; 2 Pet. 3:18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your word leads me to You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Crashaw: Come Love, come Lord

Wednesday, June 11, 2025
    Feast of Barnabas the Apostle
Meditation:
    But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
    —2 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)
Quotation:
Come Love, come Lord, and that long day
For which I languish, come away;
When this dry soul those eyes shall see,
And drink the unseal’d source of Thee;
When glory’s sun faith’s shades shall chase,
Then for Thy veil give me Thy face.
    ... Richard Crashaw (1613-1649), The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, London: J. R. Smith, 1858, p. 192 (see the book)
    See also 2 Cor. 3:16; Song of Solomon 2:10; Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:18-19; 2 Tim. 4:8; Tit. 2:12-14; Heb. 9:27-28; Rev. 22:20
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You will show us Yourself. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Havergal: nothing hidden from God

Tuesday, June 10, 2025
Meditation:
    Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
    —Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    In perplexities,—when we cannot understand what is going on around us—cannot tell whither events are tending—cannot tell what to do, because we cannot see into or through the matter before us, —let us be calmed and steadied and made patient by the thought that what is hidden from us is not hidden from Him.
    ... Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879), My King: or, Daily Thoughts for the King’s Children, E.P. Dutton & cC., 1887, p. 83 (see the book)
    See also Heb. 4:13; 1 Sam. 16:7; 2 Sam. 18:13; 1 Chr. 28:9; Ps. 7:9; 119:105; Isa. 42:16; Matt. 10:26; Mark 4:22; Luke 8:17; 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I entrust the future to Your care. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Allen: quenching the Spirit?

Monday, June 9, 2025
    Feast of Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597
    Commemoration of Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Hymnographer, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    Quench not the Spirit.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:19 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    The reason of our failure is, I believe, largely due to the fact that we quench that Spirit. We educate our converts to think... that none but duly appointed ministers may preach. We dread the possible mistakes of individual zeal. The result is that our converts hesitate to speak of religion to others. They throw the responsibility on the licensed evangelist and “the mission”...
    We need to begin again to teach ourselves and our people what Spirit we are of, and to give liberty that the word of the Lord may have free course. When we do that, the Church will again reveal itself in its true character and become self-propagating.
    ... Roland Allen (1869-1947), Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or ours?, London: World Dominion Press, 1927, reprinted, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, p. 126 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:19; Ps. 51:11; Eph. 4:30; 1 Tim. 4:14; 2 Tim. 1:6-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that may I never ignore the prompting of the Spirit. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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