Rauschenbusch: religious talk

Wednesday, July 1, 2026
    Commemoration of John & Henry Venn, Priests, Evangelical Divines, 1813, 1873
Meditation:
    But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
    —Matthew 6:7-8 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Jesus evidently felt deeply the emptiness and futility of much of the religious talk. He was interested only in those emotions and professions which could get themselves translated into character and action. Words have always been the bane of religion as well as its vehicle. Religious emotion has enormous motive force, but it is the easiest thing in the world for it to sizzle away in high professions and wordy prayers. In that case, it is a substitute and counterfeit, and a damage to the Reign of God among men.
    ... Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918), The Social Principles of Jesus, New York: Association Press, 1916, p. 67 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:7-8,1-2,16-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, lead me away from performance to action and truth. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

South: grace to prosper labor

Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Meditation:
    And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
    —Genesis 3:17-19 (KJV)
Quotation:
    God generally gives spiritual Blessings and Deliverances as He does temporal; that is, by the Mediation of an active and a vigorous Industry. The Fruits of the Earth are the Gift of God, and we pray for them as such; but yet we plant, and we sow, and we plow, for all that; and the Hands which are sometimes lift up in Prayer must at other times be put to the Plow, or the Husbandman must expect no Crop. Every Thing must be effected in the Way proper to its Nature, with the concurrent Influence of the divine Grace, not to supersede the Means, but to prosper and make them effectual.
    ... Robert South (1634-1716), Twelve Sermons and Discourses on Several Subjects and Occasions, v. VI [1692], London: J. Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, 1727, p. 361 (see the book)
    See also Gen. 3:17-19; Acts 18:3; 20:34-35; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:7-9
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have blessed us with work. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Finney: revival (2)

Monday, June 29, 2026
    Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles
Meditation:
    Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
    —Psalm 85:6 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    4. When the church finds its members falling into gross and scandalous sins, then it is time for the church to awake and cry to God for a Revival of Religion. When such things are taking place as give enemies of religion an occasion for reproach, it is time for the church to ask God, “What will become of Thy great name?”
    5. When there is a spirit of controversy in the church or in the land, a revival is needful. The spirit of religion is not the spirit of controversy. There can be no prosperity in religion, where the spirit of controversy prevails.
    6. When the wicked triumph over the church, and revile them, it is time to seek for a Revival of Religion.
    7. When sinners are careless and stupid, and sinking into hell unconcerned, it is time the church should bestir themselves. It is as much the duty of the church to awake, as it is for the firemen to awake when a fire breaks out in the night in a great city. The church ought to put out the fires of hell which are laying hold of the wicked. Sleep! Should the firemen sleep, and let the whole city burn down, what would be thought of such firemen? And yet their guilt would not compare with the guilt of Christians who sleep while sinners around them are sinking stupid into the fires of hell.
    ... Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835, p. 22-23 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 85:6; Amos 5:4; Hab. 3:2; Rom. 12:2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, awaken us to the plight of the lost. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Finney: revival (1)

Sunday, June 28, 2026
    Feast of Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, Teacher, Martyr, c.200
Meditation:
    All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
    —Psalm 22:29-31 (KJV)
Quotation:
    1. When there is a want of brotherly love and Christian confidence among professors of religion, then a revival is needed. Then there is a loud call for God to revive his work. When Christians have sunk down into a low and backslidden state, they neither have, nor ought to have, nor is there reason to have, the same love and confidence toward each other, as when they are all alive, and active, and living holy lives...
    2. When there are dissensions, and jealousies, and evil speakings among professors of religion, then there is great need of a revival. These things show that Christians have got far from God, and it is time to think earnestly of a revival. Religion cannot prosper with such things in the church, and nothing can put an end to them like a revival.
    3. When there is a worldly spirit in the church: it is manifest that the church is sunk down into a low and backslidden state, when you see Christi ans conform to the world in dress, equipage, parties, seeking worldly amusements, reading novels and other books such as the world reads. It shows that they are far from God, and that there is a great need of a Revival of Religion. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... Charles G. Finney (1792-1875), Lectures on Revivals of Religion, New York: Leavitt, Lord & Co., 1835, p. 21-22 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 22:29-31; Isa. 57:15; Hos. 6:2; Zech. 8:20-21
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, do not delay Your renewal. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Brooks: life without prayer foolish

Saturday, June 27, 2026
Meditation:
    And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
    “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘
    “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
    “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
    —Luke 12:16-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If man is man and God is God, to live without prayer is not merely an awful thing: it is an infinitely foolish thing.
    ... Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Addresses, Philadelphia: Henry Altemus, 1895, p. 138 (see the book)
    See also Luke 12:16-21; Ps. 14:1; Prov. 14:16; 1 Thess. 5:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, keep my heart in prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

MacDonald: all providence

Friday, June 26, 2026
Meditation:
    [Hannah:] “Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed... The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.”
    —1 Samuel 2:3,6-9 (KJV)
Quotation:
    God’s care is more evident in some instances of [His providence] than in others to the dim and often bewildered vision of humanity. Upon such instances men seize and call them providences. It is well that they can; but it would be gloriously better if they could believe that the whole matter is one grand providence.
    ... George MacDonald (1824-1905), Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, v. I [1867], London: Strahan & Co., 1873, p. 17 (see the book)
    See also 1 Sam. 2:3,6-9; Deut. 32:39; 1 Kings 8:39; Ps. 37:23-24; 44:21; 91:11-12; 94:7-10; 121:3; 147:5; Pr. 16:9; Heb. 4:12; 1 Pet. 1:3-5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I rely on You in all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth

Reid: the precious relic

Thursday, June 25, 2026
Meditation:
    And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
    —Matthew 4:23 (ESV)
Quotation:
    It might help us in our thinking if we drew a distinction between preaching, which the New Testament talks about as a continuing activity in society at large, and sermonising, which we have made into a special activity in the church premises...
    A great many people sermonising in our churches today would be better off and of greater service if they absolved themselves from the bondage and disciplines of the pulpit and came down among their congregations, teaching informally on sounder educational principles. After all, the vital matter in the ministry of the Word is not that a clergyman delivers himself of a discourse but that the people to whom he ministers end up being taught something.
    The tragedy is that the professional clergy have been trained to sermonise and they seem overwhelmed with fears and a sense of insecurity when they contemplate other methods.
    A f urther problem, of course, is that most of our churches contain a significant number of people who become emotionally disturbed at any departure from what they have always done in the past. To them, the sermon is part of their Christianity—even if it bores them stiff!
    ... Gavin Reid (b. 1934), The Gagging of God, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1969, p. 33-34 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:15; Luke 8:1; 1 Cor. 1:17-18,22-23; 2 Cor. 2:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I confess that I fear departure from the familiar. Teach me to sense Your Spirit’s prompting in all things. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    inst    Jonah    ; Ruth