Believe in God, Not Idols (Leviticus 19:4)

Found this awesome article by Alvin Teoh online.

**Leviticus 19:4 - 'Do not turn to idols or make gods of cast metal for yourselves. I am the LORD your God.'


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The ‘apparition’ of Mother Mary at SJMC has gone viral. And some who went to see it at SJMC reported it felt like a Church Feast Day.
I didn’t go, so I assume there’s like a mini fanfare there. And a few probably praying the Rosary.

Do I believe in apparitions?

Yes. For sure.

Do I believe that what’s happening in SJMC is authentic?

I don’t know and I am not really bothered.

But this I know. I am disturbed that so many are making a big deal out of it and calling it an apparition already.

I saw the pictures. It’s beautiful. Even has a faint image of a black string between the chest and the belly, which is
a Jewish custom announcing that a woman is with child. You can see that in Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Yes, it’s stunning. But for all I know, it could be dirt, grime, a stain caused by natural elements.

Like other Mary or Jesus pictures on a toast.

On a patch of oil.

On the tree bark.

On a baby’s bottom as a birthmark.

And it attracts throngs of Catholics and curious seekers.

Ok, here’s something to think about.

In 2000 years of the Church’s history, only two images are considered beyond scientific explanation.
(I am avoiding the word ‘miraculous’ here on purpose.)

One is the Shroud of Turin. (the latest tests keeps revealing new things which continues to baffles the scientists)
And the other is the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (and this one is even more amazing than the above. No disrespect intended, Lord)

Every other patch of image, and there are thousands, have come and gone. So why all this big hoohaa over this one at SJMC?

Here’s why I find all this attention disturbing.

And I’ll use 2 sources to explain. One is the Bible. And the other is the words of Pope John Paul 2.

I understand sometimes, we have a desire to see something ‘miraculous’ cause we want a confirmation that what we believe is real. Like say, a blind man regaining sight at a healing service (as in places like Potta), the multiplication of food to feed the poor (as in El Paso), and, er, an image from heaven, (Guadalupe, Turin, ect). Which is ironic, cause the Bible clearly states that ‘Faith is believing in things unseen, and the reward of faith is seeing what we believe.’ And of course, the other famous line; ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’

Anyway, I have digressed. Back to my two sources:
We want to see the divine. Me included.

So the Bible says… Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, comfort the sick, clothe the naked… and so on…
because Jesus said, what you’ve done unto one of these, you’ve done unto me.

Pope John Paul 2 repeated that teaching more clearly;
“You want to see Jesus? Go to the poor!”

So, this is it.

The Divine is found in people. Poor people, to be more precise.

The orphan.

The homeless.

The refugee.

The widowed.

The battered.

The lost.

The ones in despair.

The ones in prison.

The single mother.

The persecuted.

The ones suffering in hospitals.

Do we run to them like we run to an image on a window?
And speaking of the ones suffering in hospitals, we run to SJMC to snap a picture of some stain on a window
and call it an apparition, a reminder of the divine in our midst, but we don’t see the ones behind that window,
the ones who are ill, or lonely, or afraid, or in pain.

We get all excited about a stain on a glass.
But the Living God who is all around us in people, we forget to see.

Here’s one last thought.

Say, this image is an authentic one.
(And if so, I want to ask God one day why he chose a tiny window on some hospital to do this. I mean, why not a clearer
image in a window in Putra Jaya that cannot be washed away or something.)

Ok, it’s authentic. You saw it.

Did it increase your faith?

Are you more prayerful?

And make prayer concrete by;

Feeding the hungry?

Giving drink to the thirsty?

Clothing the naked?

Comforting the sick?

Visiting the imprisoned?

Did it make you wanna fight for justice?

Banish selfishness from yourself and be a witness?

Evangelise?

Use your gifts for the Kingdom?

If yes, praise God.

If no, then what’s all the big deal with an image of Mary on some window?

Anyways, if this image is indeed a message from Heaven, we don't have to try too hard to figure out what that message is:

In the Bible, Mary's one single recorded command: Do whatever my Son tells you.

And in Fatima and Akita, it's 'Pray, Repent, Go back to God'

It's a call to holiness. And holiness is rooted in God. And God is love.
And love is action:

- Feed the hungry!

- Give drink to the thirsty!

- Clothe the naked!

- Comfort the sick!

- Visit the imprisoned!

I want to end with a story. During the earliear renewal days, I was 10 times more hungry for God than now. If there was one time I dare claim that I really tried to put God in the center of everything, it was then.

I started evangelising at every opportunity. Started cell groups, prayer gorups, that sorta thing. I saw people healed of cancer, depression, oppresion, and a life enslaved by crime. It was really exciting. Most of all, I wanted to see Jesus. I want to see His face, hear His voice and all that.

I was depressed when that did not happen. But I kept it a secret. Kept running prayer meetings week after week, month after month. Outside, I was all hallelujah-like. Inside, I was all confussd.

Around the same time, Mother Mary started speaking to a lady in my Church. It's a long story I won't bother to bore you with. In brief, she dictated letters to 12 people. Very personal ones, revelaing little stories from their past that they only would know. Anyways, that made these 12 form a group that serves the neglected.

One fine Sunday, this lady, with great humility, approached me and started with an apology. She then presented me a letter which was from Mother Mary. She was afraid I'd laugh at her or call her a religious freak, but she passed it to me anyways.

That letter hit me hard. I'll only share one line here:

'You are sad because you cannot see the face of my Son. So you look everywhere. But don't you know you see His face all the time? You see Him in the faces of the people you serve.'

Well that did it for me. It changed me forever.

From then on, I stopped looking for sign and wonders. I looked at people. And I hope I've not let God down too much.

Holy As A Day Is Spent

holy is the disk & drain
the soap & sink, and the cup & plate
and the warm wool socks, and the cold white tile
showerheads & good dry towels
and frying eggs sound like psalms
with a bit of salt measured in my palm
it's all a part of a sacrament
as holy as a day is spent

holy is the busy street
and cars that boom with passion's beat
and the check out girl, counting change
and the hands that shook my hands today
and hymns of geese fly overhead
and spread their wings like their parents did
blessed be the dog, that runs in her sleep
to chase some wild & elusive thing
holy is the familiar room
and quiet moments in the afternoon
and folding sheets like folding hands
to pray as only laundry can
i'm letting go all my fear
like autumn leaves made of earth and air
for the summer came & the summer went
as holy as a day is spent

holy is the place i stand
to give whatever small good i can
and the empty page, and the open book
redemption everywhere i look
unknowingly we slow our pace
in the shade of unexpected grace
and with grateful smile & sad lament
as holy as a day is spent

and morning light sings "providence"
as holy as a day is spent

(Carrie Newcomer)

Christian & Afterlife

Jesus' mission & message were not about "heaven", not about how to attain a blessed afterlife. Though Jesus, like many if his Jewish contemporaries, affirmed an afterlife, it was not his primary concern. Because many Christian as well as non-Christians tend to see Jesus & Christianity within the framework on what happens after death, it seems important to realise at the outset that this was not what his mission was about. it wasn't about what you must believe or how you must believe in order to attain heaven. Rather, his mission was about the character of God, the way of centering in God, and the kingdom of God.

(Marcus Borg, "Jesus")

Pensees by Blaise Pascal

*That if God's mercy is so great that he gives us salutary instruction even when he hides himself, what enlightenment ought we not to expect when he reveals himself?

*On SUBMISSION: One must know when it is right to doubt, to affirm, to submit. Anyone who does otherwise does not understand the force of reason. Some men run counter to these three principles, either affirming that everything can be proved, because they know nothing about proof, or doubting everything, because they do not know when to submit, or always submitting, because they do not know when judgement is called for.
Sceptic, mathematician, Christian, doubt, affirmation, submission

*The way of God, who disposes all things with gentleness, is to instill religion into our minds with reasoned arguments and into our hearts with grace, but attempting to instill it into hearts and minds with force & threats is to instill not religion but terror.

*We know our wretchedness, because this God is nothing less than our redeemer from wretchedness. Thus we can know God properly only y knowing our inequities. Those who have known God without knowing their own wretchedness have not glorified him but themselves.

*If we claim that a man is too slight to deserve communion with God, we must indeed be great to be able to judge.

*Instead of complaining that God has hidden himself, you will give him thanks for revealing himself as much as he has, and you will thank him to for not revealing himself to wise man full of pride and unworthy of knowing so holy a God.

*It would have been pointless for our Lord Jesus Christ to come as a king with splendour in his reign of holiness, but he truly come in splendour in his own order. It is quite absurd to be shocked at the lowliness of Jesus, as if his lowliness was of the same order as the greatness he came to reveal.
if we consider his greatness in his life, his passion, his obscurity, his death, in the way he chose his disciple in their desertion, in his secret resurrection and all the rest, we shall see that it is so great that we have no reason to be shocked at a lowliness which has nothing to do with it.

*The extent of a man's virtue ought not to be measures by his effort but by his usual behaviour.

* It is so obvious that we must love one God alone that there is no need of miracles to prove it.

*Christian's God does not consist merely of a God who is the author of mathematical truths and the order of the elements. He does not consist merely of a God who extends his providence over the life and property of men so as to grant a happy span of years to those who worship him.
The God of the Christians is a God of love & consolation: He is a God who makes them inwardly aware of their wretchness & his infinite mercy, who unites himself with them.

*There is some pleasure in being n board a ship battered by storms when one is certain of not perishing. The persecutions buffering the Church are like this.



*Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher.

Question to ask ourselves when we face the TEST

We need testing. God tests us. The result will show whether we are choosing the way of awe & worship & obedience, or whether, without being aware of it, we are reducing God to our understanding of him so that we can use him.
Have we slipped into the habit of insisting that God do what we ask or want/need him to do, treating him as an idol designed for our satisfaction? Does God serve us or do we serve God? Do we require a God that we can fully understand & could never control? Is God a mystery of goodness whom we embrace & trust, or is God a formula for getting the most out of life on our terms? The test result will show whether we have been blithely assuming that God is pledged to give us whatever we want whenever we ask.
Have we thought all along that God is there to serve us? The test will tell us. Do we want God in our own image or do we want the God who is beyond us & over us, who we trust will do for us what only God can do in the way that only God can do it-no strings attached...no reservations...no caveats...the whole hog? The test will tell us.

Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

Pride vs Humility

*PRIDE
there often comes to beginners a kind of secret pride when they are somewhat satisfied with themselves and their work. It comes as beginners think of themselves as rich because of their ardour & hard work in spiritual things & godly exercises.But because beginners are imperfect they need to speak of spiritual things in front of others, and even to teach rather than to learn, because they are conceited. In their heart they condemn those who do not have the devotion they themselves want.
They want & seek out someone else who suits their taste, because usually they want to talk of spiritual things with those who will praise them. They flee, as it from death, from those who point out their errors to them in order to lead them on to a safe path - at times they even harbour resentment against them. Thus, assuming too much for themselves, they are bound to expect too much and achieve very little. At times they are concerned to let others know their great spirituality & godliness and so they have to give audible & visible evidence of this by their movements, sights and so on, At other times they have ecstasies in public rather than in private. The devil lends his help at such times: they are so pleased to be noticed and long to be noticed even more.

*humility
those who proceed to perfection at this time do so in a very different frame of mind. Because of their humility they make progress and are built up in their spiritual lives. They think nothing of their own deeds, and show no sign of self-satisfaction. They rate everybody else as better than themselves, and they usually have a godly respect for them, as they seek to serve God in all they do. Their longing for God increases and they do more good deeds, taking real delight in doing them, and so they make great strides and become more humble. It is as they do this that they also realise that God deserves their all, and they realise how little they do for him. In this way they become less and less self-satisfied. it is out of a sense of love for God that they do everything, so it appears to them that they are doing nothing. Because they are so pre-occupied with their love for God, they have no time to notice what others are, or are not doing. And even if they did, they would rate them as being better than themselves. They have a very low self estimation of themselves, and are keen that others should view them like this. If anybody should give them praise they do not believe what they say, and it even seems strange to them that anybody should say anything good about them.

(The Dark Night of The Soul, St John of the Cross)

Healthy Christian

你是一個健康的基督徒嗎？

☺一個健康的基督徒，不是從人那裏尋找信心，而是從上帝那裏尋找信心。
☺一個健康的基督徒，束手無策時不是抱怨和恐慌，而是面對上帝讓他引領。
☺一個健康的基督徒，定會安排自己的飲食起居，定會照顧好自己的身體，因為他知道要準備著隨時接受上帝的差遣。
☺一個健康的基督徒，不會在意自己年齡多大了，而是在意今天我們上帝親近了嗎.
☺一個健康的基督徒，不會因著眾人的口碑去認定一個人，而是看這個人是否為了榮耀神和造就人。
☺一個健康的基督徒，付出不會想著要得到回報，因為上帝的愛是恒久忍耐、又有恩慈．愛是不嫉妒．愛是不自誇．不張狂．不作害羞的事．不求自己的益處．不輕易發怒．不計算人的惡．不喜歡不義．只喜歡真理．凡事包容．凡事相信．凡事盼望．凡事忍耐．愛是永不止息．
☺一個健康的基督徒，不該在眾人面前感到自卑，因為我是神的兒女比任何事務都來得榮耀。
☺一個健康的基督徒，是個常常喜樂、常常禱告的人，因為聽從上帝的話是我唯一可以做的事情。
☺一個健康的基督徒，不會想著此身要成就怎樣大的事業，而是先求神的國和神的義。
☺一個健康的基督徒，斷不會為自己的婚姻憂慮，只會做兩件事情：等候上帝引領另一半來到自己的身邊；大聲宣告她是我的骨中骨，肉中肉。
☺一個健康的基督徒，從不會大聲嚷嚷是人的罪和環境的問題阻擾了他的路，因為神已經赦免罪孽，神的主權高於魔鬼的力量。
☺一個健康的基督徒，從不會跟人攀比和去忌妒，因為神給了我們今日的飲食，保守我們脫離兇惡。
☺一個健康的基督徒，從不會以福音為恥，因為福音讓我們得到拯救。
☺一個健康的基督徒，是完全相信上帝並完全依靠上帝的人.

你是一個健康的基督徒嗎？

Article from: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/antonio-001/article?mid=12044&sc=1　

A Plain Account of Christian Perfection

*All our blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, depends on his intercession for us, which is one branch of his priestly office, where of therefore we have always equal need.

*God dispenses his gift just as he pleases; therefore, it is neither wise nor modest to affirm that a person must be a believer for any length of time before he is capable of receiving a high degree of the spirit of holiness

*God's usual method is one thing, but his sovereign pleasure is another. He has wise reasons both for hastening & retarding his works. Sometime he come suddenly & unexpected; sometimes, not until we have long looked for him.

*Watch and pray continuously against pride. If God has cast it out,see that it enter no more; it is as dangerous as desire. And you may slide back into it unawares; especially if you think there is no danger of it.

*True resignation consists in a thorough conformity to the whole will of God; who wills and does all (except sin) which come to pass in the world. In order to this we have only to embrace all events, good & bad, as his will.

*God hardly gives his spirit even to those he has established in grace, if they do not pray for it on all occasions, not only once, but many times.

*Whether we think of, or speak to God, whether we act or suffer to him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him.

*God is so great, that he communicates greatness to the least thing that is done for his service.

*One of the principal rule of religion is, to lose no occasion of serving God. And, since he is invisible to our eyes, we are to serve him in our neighbour; which he receives as if done to himself in person, standing visibly before us.

(John Wesley)

##Footnote: John Wesley (28 June 1703 – 2 March 1791) was a Church of England cleric and Christian Theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield. In contrast to George Whitefield's Calvinism, Wesley embraced th e Arminian doctrines that were dominant in the 18th-century Church of England. Methodism in both forms was a highly successful evangelical movement in the UK, which encouraged people to experience Jesus Christ personally.

Wesley's writing and preachings provided the seeds for both the modern Methodist movement and the Holiness movement, which encompass numerous denominations across the world. In addition, he refined Arminianism with a strong evangelical emphasis on the Reformed doctrine of justification by faith. (source from Wikipedia)

A Serious Call To A Devout & Holy Life

*God has so provided for us, and made our happiness so common to us all, that we have no occasion to envy or hate one another. For we cannot in any way keep others from their full share of God's love. Just we cannot be happy but in the enjoyment of God, so we cannot rival or rob one another of this happiness

*Thanksgiving: you are to thank and praise God not only for things agreeable to you that have the appearance of ppiness and comfort, but when you are, like Abraham, called from all appearances of comfort to be a pilgrim in a strange land and even to part with and only son.

*Never do anything in order to surpass other people, but in order to please God, and because it is his will that you should do everything in the best manner you can. For if it is once a pleasure to you to surpass other people, it will by degrees be a pleasure to you to see other people not do as well as you.
Banish, therefore, every thought of self-pride and self distinction, and accustom yourself to rejoice in all the excellencies and perfections of your fellow creatures, and be glad to see any of their good actions as your own. God is as well pleased with their well dongs as with yours, so you ought to desire tat everything that is wise, holy, and good be performed in as high a manner by other people as by yourself.

*And it is so far from being impossible now, that any Christians who sincerely intend to please God in all their actions, believing it to be the best & happiest thing in the world, will find themselves unable to do anything else.

*Whatever, therefore, is foolish, ridiculous, vain, earthly or sensul in the life of a Christian is something that should not be there - it is a spot and defilement that must be washed away with tears of repentance. If things of this nature are allowed to run through the course of our whole life, if we indulge ourselves in things that are vain, foolish or sensual, we thereby renounce our possession of faith.

*The sin, therefore, of hating or despising anyone is like the sin of hating all God's creation, and the necessity of loving anyone is the same necessity of loving everyone in the world. Though many people may appear to us as sinful, odious or extravagant in their conduct, we must never look upon them as the least motive for any contempt or disregard of them. We must, instead, look upon them with greater compassion because they are in the most pitiable condition that can be.

*You do not know how often other sinners have sinned. And therefore the greatest sinner that you know must be yourself.
Whenever, therefore, you are angry at sin or sinners, whenever you read or think og God's indignation and wrath of wicked men, let this teach you to be the most severe in your censure, and most humble and contrite in the acknowledgement & confession of your own sins, because you know of no sinner equal to yourself.

[William Law]

What A Disciple Is

*Someone who has decided to be with another person, under appropriate conditions, in order to become capable of doing what that person does or to become what that person is

*I am with Him, by choice and by grace, learning how to live in the Kingdom of God

*We are learning from Jesus to live our lives as he would live our lives if he was us

*I am not necessary learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all he did

*My discipleship to Jesus is, within clearly definable limits, not a matter of what I do, but of how I do it. And it covers everything, "religious" or not

*If we restrict our discipleship to special religious times, the majority of the walking hours will be isolated from the manifest presence of the kingdom in our lives

Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy

The Greatest Saint

Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not he who prays most or fast most; it is not he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity or justice; but it is he who is always thankful of God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God's goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it.
(William Law)

The Teaching of St. Francis of Assisi

*Everyday I find so much sweetness in meditating upon the memory of the humble witness of the Son of God, that should I live till the end of the world, there would be little need of my hearing or meditating upon anything further in the scriptures.

*The contemplative life is to leave behind all earthly things for the love of God, to seek only the things of heaven, to pray without tiring, to read often and with concentration, to praise God continually with hymns & canticles.

*Blessed are you, servant of God, if you do not consider yourself any better when you are honoured & extolled by other than when you are considered low & simple & despise; for what you are before God that is what you are, and no more.

*If you, o servant of God, are upset, for any reason whatever, you should immediately rise up to prayer, and you should remain in the presence of most high Father as long as it takes for him to restore you to the joy of your salvation.

*When you are visited by the Lord in prayer, you should say:"Lord, you have sent me this comfort from heaven, even though I am sinner & unworthy, and I entrust it to your keeping because I feel like a thief of your treasures". And when you leave your prayer, you should seem to be only a poor little sinner, and not someone especially graced by God

*My dear brothers, obey a command immediately without waiting for it to be repeated. And don't say that it is impossible, for if you are commanded something beyond your strength, holy obedience will give you the strength you lack.

*What has always been and still is most dear to me and sweeter and more acceptable is whatever the Lord my God is most pleased to let them happen in me & to me. For my only desires is to found always conformed and obedient is his will for anything.

*The pure of heart are those who despise earthly things and seek those of heaven, and who never cease adoring and looking with pure heart and soul upon the Lord God living and true

*Blessed are those servants who do not talk in order to gain something and who do not reveal everything about themselves and not quick to speak, but wisely consider what they are going to say and how they are going to answer.

*In holy charity, which God is, I beg all of you; that removing every obstacle and putting aside every worry and every care as best you can, you strive to serve, love, adore and honour the Lord God with pure heart & pure mind, which is what He asks above all else.

If at any time the brother abandon their small, poor dwellings because someone has offered them something more spacious and comfortable, they thereby give the worst kind of scandalous example.

*A Prayer: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven", that we may love you with our whole heart by always thinking of you; with our whole soul by always desiring of you; with our whole mind by directing all our intentions to you and seeking your honour in all things; with all our soul by spending all the power and senses of body & soul in the service of your love & not in anything else; and that we may love our neighbour even as ourselves, drawing everything, to the best of your power, to your love; rejoicing in the good of others as in our own, and being compassionate in their troubles, and giving offense to no one.

Other Communions of Jesus

*If the people meet together in the name of Jesus and thus in his presence, with the facts of the good news inspiring their heart to worship and praise, whatever food & drink they share will be Holy Communion

*Christians are so inclined to think themselves as the 'do-gooders', the strong ones who help others in their need. So often representatives of the church minister from a position of superiority, conveying a spirit of condescension that spoils everything. Jesus did not begin the conversation at the well by saying, "Now what I can do to help you, my dear? What's your problem?" He said, "Give me a drink", and immediately the barriers were down.

*It was people's mistake not that they were expecting too much of Jesus. They were expecting too little.

*On the basis of taking together all the communion services recounted in the gospels, only a fully open communion is possible. Any attempt to restrict the list of guests at a meal hosted by Jesus contradicts the host's intention. Those eating & drinking then do so in an unworthy manner and debase, even invalidate the communion.

*Jesus in choosing his disciples seems to have gone for a typical cross section of humanity rather than a selection of the more suitable candidates. This is so far from our practice of selecting people for key positions in the church that is difficult for us to comprehend. Hurdles are set up to eliminate unsuitable candidates from the Christian ministry. Jesus still want them, they are told, but please will they look for some other avenue for the service. But the objective of Jesus was to redeem humanity in total, as it is, not a carefully selected example.

*Jesus practicing on many occasions of forcign a decision either for or against him. Jesus has more respect for the person who decisively rejects him than fr the one who vacillates or wants to have it both ways.

*On the basis of taking together all the communion services recounted in the Gospels, only a fully open communion is possible. Any attempt to restrict the list of guest at a meal hosted by Jesus contradicts the host's intention. Those eating and drinking then do so in an unworthy manner and debase , even invalidate the communion

(Other Communions of Jesus: Eating & Drinking The Good News Way - John Henson)

Service - True vs Self-Righteous Service

Self-righteous Service:
-comes trough human effort
-expends immense amounts of energy calculating & scheming how to render the service
-concerned to make impressive gains on ecclesiastical scoreboards
-require external rewards
-seeks human applause
-highly concerned about results
-picks ad chooses whom to serve
-affected by moods and whims - can serve on ly when there is a 'feeling' to serve
-temporary - it functions only while the specific acts of service are being performed
-insensitive - insist on meeting the need even when to do so would be destrucive
-fractures community - centres in the glorification of the individual

True Service:
-comes from a relationship with the divine other deep inside
-finds it almost impossible to distinguish the small from the large service
-rest contented in hiddenness (does not fear the lights of attention, but does not seek them either)
-free of the need need to calculate results (delights only in the service)
-indiscriminate in its ministry (serves all)
-minister simply & faithfully because there is a need (disciplines the feeling)
-is a lifestyle - acts from ingrained patterns of living
-springs spontaneously to meet human needs
-can withhold the service as freely as perform it
-builds community (draws, bind, heals ,build)
-quietly & unpretentiously goes about caring for the needs of others

[Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline]

Lewis - Essay Collection

>The differences between the pagan Christs and the Christs himself is much what we should expect to find. The pagan stories are all about someone dying and rising, either every year, or else nobody knows where and nobody knows when.

>The Christian story is about a historical personage, whose execution can be dated pretty accurately, under a named Roman magistrate, and with whom the society that He founded is in a continuous relation down to the present day. It is not the difference between falsehood and truth. It is the difference between a real event on one hand and dim dreams or premonitions of that same event on the other.

>On End Days
We must never speak to simple excitable people about "the Day" without emphasizing again and again the utter impossibility of prediction. We must try to show them that impossibility is an essential part of the doctrine. If you do not believe our Lord's words, why do you believe in his return at all? And if you do believe them must you not put away from you, utterly and forever, any hope of dating that return? His teaching on the subject quite clearly consisted of three propositions:
1. That He will certainly return
2. That we cannot possibly find out when
3. And that therefore we must alway be ready for Him

The point is simple enough. There will be wars and rumours of wars and all kind of catastrophes, as there always are. Things will be , in that sense, normal, the hour before the heavens roll up like a scroll. You cannot guess it. If you could, one chief purpose for which it was foretold would be frustrated. And God's purposes are not so easily frustrated as that.

>Indeed the expectation of finding God by astronautics would be very like trying to verify or falsify the divinity of Christ by taking specimens of his blood or dissecting Him. And in their own way they did both. But they were no wiser than before. What is required is a certain faculty of recognition. If you do not at all know God, of course you will not recognise Him, either in Jesus or in outer space.

>We believe that God forgives us our sins; but also that he will not do so unless we forgive other people their sins against us. There is no doubt about the second part of this statement. We are to forgive them al, however spiteful, however mean, however often they are repeated. If we don't we shall be forgive none of our own.

>This is my endlessly recurrent temptation: to go down to that sea (meeting God) and there neither dive nor swim nor float, but only dabble and splash, careful not to get out of my depth and holding on to the lifeline which connects me with my things temporal.
Our temptation is to look eagerly for the minimum that will be accepted. We are in fact very like honset but reluctant tax payers. We approve of an income tax in principle. We make our returns truthfully. But we dread a rise in tax. We are very careful to pay no more than is necessary. And we hope-we very ardently hope-that after we have paid it there will still be enough to live on.

Christian

Some think of a Christian as one who necessarily believes certain things. That Jesus was the son of God, say. Or that Mary was a virgin. Or that the Pope is infallible. Or that all other religions are all wrong.

Some think of a Christian as one who necessarily does certain things. Such as going to church. Getting baptised. Giving up liquor and tobacco. Reading the Bible. Doing a good deed a day..

Some think of a Christian as just a Nice Guy.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me"(John 14:6). He didn't say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could "come to the Father." He said that it was only by him-by living, participating in, being caught up by the way of life that he embodied, that was his way.

Thus it is possible to be in Christ's way and with his mark upon you without ever having heard of Christ, and for that reason to be on your way to God though maybe you don't even believe in God.

A Christian is one who is on the way, though not necessarily very far along it, and who has at least some dim and half-baked idea of whom to thank.

A Christian isn't necessarily any nicer than anybody else. Just Better informed.

(Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking-A Seeker's ABC)

Why This Guy Is A Bit Different From Other Dudes

The moment which the high priest said to him, 'Who are you?''I am the anointed, the Son of the Uncreated God, and you should see me appearing at the end of all history as the judge of the universe!'

When you look into his conversion you will find this sort of claim running throughout the whole thing. Well, that is the other side. On the one side clear, definite moral teaching. On the other, claims which, if not true, are those of a megalomaniac, compared with whom Hitler was the most sane and humble of man. here is no halfway house and these is no parallel in other religions.

If you had gone to Buddha and ask him:'Are you the Son of Brahma?' he would have said,'My son, you are still in the vale of illusion.' If you had gone to Socrates and asked 'Are you Zeus?' He would have laughed at you. If you had gone to Mohammed and ask, 'Are you Allah?' He would have first have rent his clothes and then cut your head off. If you had asked Confucius, 'Are you haven?', I think he would have probably replied, 'Remarks which are not in accordance with the nature are in bad taste.'

The idea of a great moral teacher saying what Christ said is out of the question. In my opinion, the only person who can say that sort of thing is either God or a complete lunatic suffering from that form of delusion which undermines the whole mind of man. If you think you are a poached egg, when you are looking for a piece of toast to suit you, you may be sane, but if you think you are God, there is no chance for you.

[C.S. Lewis, Essays Collection]

Is God The Author of Sin? (Jonathan Edwards)

God may hate a thing as it is in itself, and considered simply as evil, and yet,...it may be his will it should come to pass, considering all consequences. God doesn't view sin as sin or for the sake of anything evil; though it be his pleasure so to order things, that he permitting, sin will come to pass,; for the great good that by his disposal shall be the consequences.His willing to order things so that evil should come to pass; for the great good that by his disposal shall be the consequence. His willing to order things so that evil should come to pass, for the sake of the contrary good, is no argument that he doesn't hate evil, as evil; and if so, then it is no reason why he may not reasonably forbid evil as evil, and punish it as such.

God's will of decree(or sovereign will) is not his will in the same sense as his will of command(or moral will) is. Therefore it is not difficult at all to suppose that one may be otherwise than other: his will in both senses is his inclination. But when we say his wills virtue, or love virtue or the happiness of his creature: thereby is intended that virtue or the happiness of his creature; thereby is intended that virtue or the creature's happiness, absolutely and simply considered, is agreeable to the inclination of his nature. his will of decree is his inclination to a thing not as to that thing absolutely and simply, but with reference to the universality of things. So God, though he hates a thing as it is simply, may incline to it with reference to the universality of things.

It is a proper and excellent thing for infinite glory to shine forth; and for the same reason, it is proper that the shinning forth of God's glory should be complete; that is, that all part of his glory should shine forth, that every beauty should be proportionably effulgent, that he beholder may have a proper notion of God. It is not proper that one glory should be exceedingly manifested , and another not at all...Thus it is necessary, that God's aweful majesty, his authority and dreadful greatness, justice, and holiness should be manifested. But this could not be, unless sin and punishment had been decreed; so that the shining forth of God's glory would be very imperfect, both because these parts of divine glory would not shine forth as the others do, and also the glory of his goodness, love and holiness would be faint without them, nay, they could scarcely shine forth at all.

If it were not right that God should decree and permit and punish sin, there could be no manifestation of God's holiness in hatred of sin, or in showing any preference , in his providence, of godliness before it. There would be no manifestation of God's grace or true goodness, if there was no sin to be pardoned, no misery to be saved from. How much happiness soever he bestowed, his goodness would not be so much prized and admired. So evil is necessary, in order to the highest happiness of the creature and the completeness of that communication of God, for which he made the world; because the creature's happiness consists in the knowledge of God, and the sense of his love. And if the knowledge of him be imperfect, the happiness of the creature must be proportionably imperfect.

On Sacrifice

For my own part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. people talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay?
Is that a sacrifice which bring its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away witht he word in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a priviledge. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then, with a foregoign of the common conveniences and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothign when compared with the glory which shall be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. (David Livingstone,1857 - quoted in Piper,Desiring God)

WiDe AwaKE

*If you are going to dare to imagine and pursue the dreams God has for your life, if you're going to create the life of your dreams you have to be willing and ready to change.

*To enjoy life is a sacred act of worship

*When your potential is limited by who you are, of course you have limitations. When your potential is measured by whom you serve, your potential is unlimited. This applies in relation to God and to people. When you live your life serving God and others, the sky is the limit.

*Dreaming with your eyes open is about living life to the fullest and enjoying God and having him enjoy you. It's about getting God into your soul, you rheart, and your head, and letting him show you the dreams and plans he has for your life. When an infinite God comes to dwell in a finite being, dangerously beautiful things begin to happen. it is here where you become indomitable. The fire within you becomes an eternal flame that cannot be put out.

*I think a lot of our prayers make God wonder why we think so little of him. I can just imagine God looking at us and asking us, "What do you want?" Then he shakes his head and thinks, if I could just get you to believe more, to care more, to want more than you're asking for.

*Be careful getting too close to God; you may not be here tomorrow. This world may just become too small for your dreams.

*Sometimes God does so much in our lives that when he wants to work in a new way we resist, ironically, because we have becomed so attached to all he has brought to us. What can happen is that the things God has blessed us become an anchor that keeps us grounded ashore than launching us into his dream for us.

*Part of dilemma of believing in God is that you can actually begin to act like you are God. You're always right, never wrong. The way you do everything is the way everyone should do it. Many of us end up being convinced that when somebody does something different than we do it, says something different than we do, when anyone approaches life in any way different than we do, then that person is absolutely in the wrong. Adn we are convinced tat our perspective & God's perspective are exactly the same thing.

*Creating the life of your dreams is about learning a life of security and certainty andexpecting more from the life that God created you to live. Are we willing to give up all things we have right now to be able to obtain that which God longs for us tomorrow?