“Some want to live within the sound
of church or chapel bell; I want
to run a rescue shop, within a
yard of hell.”
C.T.Studd (1860-1931)
Deeper Rationality
…the intelligible and delicately balanced structure of the world
does raise questions that transcend the purely scientific, and ,
to this extent, the laws of contemporary physcis can, in their modest 
way, prove ” mediators of divinity.” They provoke an intellectual restlessness that will only find its quiet in a deeper rationality than that provided by natural science.
The search for understanding is the search for the Logos.
John C. Polkinghorne
CONFUSION (a brief abrupt momentary interjection of the times)
What misery is mine!
I am like one who gathers summer
fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster of grapes to eat,
none of the early figs I crave.
The godly have been swept from the
land;
not one upright man remains.
All men lie in wait to shed blood;
each hunts his brother with a net.
Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they
desire –
they all conspire together.
The best of them is like a brier,
the most upright worse than a thorn
hedge.
The day of your watchman has come,
the day God visits you.
Now is the time of their confusion.
Micah 7: 1-4
Believe
The manner in which the Holy Scriptures
open is worthy of their Divine Author.
“In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth,” and that is all that is here
recorded concerning the original creation.
Nothing is said which enables us to fix the
date of their creation; nothing is revealed
concerning their appearance or inhabitants;
nothing is told us about the modus operandi
of their Divine Architect….
The bare fact is stated: “In the beginning God created,”
and nothing is added to gratify
the curious. The opening sentence of Holy Writ
is not to be philosophized about, but is presented
as a statement of truth to be received with
unquestioning faith.
“In the beginning God created.”
No argument is entered into to prove the existence
of God: instead, His existence is affirmed as
a fact to be believed.
Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)
Holy Separation
“This one thing”- saith the man
of God -“I do.”
He separates himself from all outward
hindrances, vain company,
trifling amusements or studies, needless
engagements, that he may seek and intermeddle
with all wisdom. Without it – Christian –
thy soul can never prosper.
How canst thou intermeddle with the great
wisdom of knowing thyself, if thy whole mind
be full of this world’s chaff and vanity?
There must be a withdrawal to “commune with
thine own heart” and to ask questions –
“Where art thou? What doest thou here?”
Much is there to be inquired into and pondered.
Everything here calls for our deepest, closest
thoughts. We must walk with God in secret, or
the enemy will walk with us, and our souls will die.
“Arise go forth into the plain, and I will walk
with thee.” Like thy Divine Master, thou wilt never
be less alone than when alone.
Charles Bridges (1794-1869)
Man’s Great End
Lord of All Being,
There is one thing that deserves my greatest care,
that calls forth my ardent desires,
That is, that I may answer the great end for which
I am made –
to glorify thee who hast given me being,
and to do all the good I can for my fellow men;
Verily, life is not worth having
if it be not improved for this noble purpose.
Yet, Lord, how little is this the thought of mankind!
Most men seem to live for themselves,
without much or any regard for thy glory,
or for the good of others;
They earnestly desire and eagerly pursue
the riches, honours, pleasures of this life,
as if they supposed that wealth, greatness,
merriment,
could make their immortal souls happy;
But, alas, what false delusive dreams are these!
And how miserable ere long will those be that
sleep in them,
for all our happiness consists in loving thee,
and being holy as thou art holy.
O may I never fall into the tempers and vanities,
the sensuality and folly of the present world!
It is a place of inexpressible sorrow, a vast empty
nothingness;
Time is a moment, a vapour,
and all its enjoyments are empty bubbles,
fleeting blasts of wind,
from which nothing satisfactory can be derived;
Give me grace always to keep in covenant with thee,
and to reject as delusion a great name here
or hereafter,
together with all sinful pleasures or profits.
Help me to know continually
that there can be no true happiness,
no fulfilling of thy purpose for me,
apart from a life lived in and for
the Son of thy love.
Excerpt from The Valley of Vision
The Best Frame
In times of great difficulty and great expectation,
it is our wisdom to keep our spirits calm, quiet,
and sedate; for then we are in the best frame both
to do our own work and to consider the work of God.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
…Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the
deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The
Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Exodus 14:13a,14
Discipline
” If you set out to seek freedom,
then learn above all things to
govern your soul and your senses,
for the fear that your passions
and longing may lead you away from
the path you should follow. Chaste
be your mind and your body, and both
in subjection, obediently, steadfastly
seeking the aim set before them; only
through discipline may a man learn to
be free.”
Dietrich Bonheoffer (1906-1945)
Depth
When a Roman soldier was told by his guide
that if he insisted on taking a certain journey
it would probably be fatal, he answered,
” It is necessary for me to go; it is not
necessary for me to live.”
This was depth. When we are convicted something
like that we shall come to something. The shallow
nature lives in its impulses, its impressions, its
intuitions, its instincts, and very largely its
surroundings. The profound character looks beyond
all these, and moves steadily on, sailing past all
storms and clouds into the clear sunshine which is
always on the other side, and waiting for the
afterwards which always brings the reversion of
sorrow, seeming defeat and failure. When God has
deepened us, then He can give us His deeper truths.
His profoundest secrets, and His mightier trusts.
Lord, lead me into the depths of Thy life and save
me from a shallow experience.
unknown
the hidden life
“…the hidden life
whose days are spent
in communion with God
in trying to reach
the source of power
is the life that moves
the world.
when we depend upon organizations,
we get what organizations can do,
when we depend upon education,
we get what education can do;
when we depend upon man,
we get what man can do;
but when we depend upon prayer,
we get what God can do…!”
A.C. Dixon (1854-1925)
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