welcome to multiple strands

a place to converse, virtually, on a variety of topics, bringing together multiple strands to encourage, question, challenge, ponder, and edify. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. (Eccl. 4.12)

Sunday, December 28, 2014

On driving to church

Some interesting articles on the practical selection and engagement with a local church.  I'm certainly not perfect in these areas, but hopefully growing by God's grace.

Your church and your life planning
If you are a Christian, it’s worth asking whether you include your church in your life planning. I mean “include the church” in two ways: do you consider it as a factor in your thinking, and do you actually involve the people in your decision making?
www.9marks.org/blog/your-church-and-your-life-planning

Is the church alive worth the drive?
It all comes down to finding a church alive. ...So, how do you find a church alive?
As the church has been given the command to spread the Gospel, the first criteria should be a commitment to sound doctrine. We could call this orthodoxy. ... The second area of focus should be the life of the body. We could call this orthopraxy. Sadly, there are many churches that hold to the tenets of the Christian faith, but whose members seem to forget that they are to be ambassadors for Jesus in their everyday lives. ... A third area of focus ... would be worship. Does the candidate church view worship as something that is for man or something that is for God? ... Lastly, I think it is important to consider the vision of the church. Where is the church heading? What does the church see as her mission? Is there more of an emphasis on evangelism than on discipleship?
www.providencecpc.org/2010/09/06/is-the-church-alive-worth-the-drive/

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Seeking justice

Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations....
the Lord ... comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
- Psalm 98  http://ref.ly/Ps98.1-9

In light of the calls for justice, let us remember and communicate to all around us the Source of justice, and the only One Who will give us true, complete, and perfect justice. May we hope in Him!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

of heaven and hell (Milton)

The mind is its own place and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

Milton, Paradise Lost, book one, 255 

Sunday, December 7, 2014

hate wasting time (Dante)

...the more one learns,
the more one comes to hate the waste of time.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Purgatory, Canto III.77-78

Friday, December 5, 2014

God's will: sanctification, holiness

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification (ἁγιασμὸς) .... For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

http://ref.ly/1Th4.3-8 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Pleasures forevermore

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

http://ref.ly/Ps16.9-11 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Friday, November 28, 2014

thoughts on this season of eldership


Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies...
Jn 12.24  Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Fixing my eyes on Jesus, because in life, it matters less how one starts than how one finishes.
Heb 12.1f  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Never Walk Alone  (Matt Redmon)
www.worshiptogether.com/songs/songdetail.aspx?iid=1846861

Verse 1
Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we've come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us

Verse 2
Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You've done
Knowing every victory
Is Your power in us

Pre-Chorus
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Chorus 1
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Repeat Verse 2
Repeat Pre-Chorus
Repeat Chorus 1

Bridge
Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
    Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
    Never once, no, we never walk alone

Ending Chorus
Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

    Every step we are breathing in Your grace
    Evermore we'll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

restful heart (Augustine)

To praise you is the desire of man, a little piece of your creation. You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.

St. Augustine, Confessions, book I, i(1)

Monday, November 24, 2014

hesitation (Dante)

A man prepared, who hesitates, is lost.

The Portable Dante - Page 155 
Dante Alighieri, ‎Mark Musa

Monday, November 17, 2014

live lightly: a reflection

Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own—
for how long?—
and loads himself with pledges!
- Habakkuk 2.6

Am I like this, living in the affluent West, with my possessions and financial accounts, reading on a device rather than paper book, built on the backs of poor brethern in other parts of the world?  Lord, help me to live lightly and in wisdom.

Saturday, November 15, 2014

gold buys not rest (Dante)

You see, my son, the short-lived mockery
of all the wealth that is in Fortune’s keep,
over which the human race is bickering;

for all the gold that is or ever was
beneath the moon won’t buy a moment’s rest
for even one among these weary souls.

- Dante, The Divine Comedy, Canto VII

Glorious things of thee, City of God

On the holy mount stands the city he founded; 
the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things of you are spoken, O city of God. 
http://ref.ly/Ps87.1-3


Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou mayst smile at all thy foes.

See, the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters
And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace which, like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.

Round each habitation hov’ring,
See the cloud and fire appear
for a glory and a cov’ring,
showing that the Lord is near!
Glorious things of Thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken
formed thee for His own abode.

- John Newton

Friday, November 14, 2014

closer to perfection and pain (Dante)

I said, "Master, will these torments be increased,
or lessened, on the final Judgment Day,
or will the pain be just the same as now?”

And he: “Remember your philosophy:
the closer a thing comes to its perfection, more keen will be its pleasure or its pain. 

Although this cursed race of punished souls shall never know the joy of true perfection, more perfect will their pain be then than now."

Dante, The Divine Comedy: Inferno.  Canto VI

Friday, November 7, 2014

cuckoonebulopolis founded (Aristophanes)

Cuckoonebulopolis?
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Splendid! An absolutely gorgeous name!
...
Come now, you hurry out into the air
And serve the builders of our city wall.
Roll up your sleeves, tote gravel, mix the mortar,
Carry the hod ... and tumble off the ladder,
Set guards, and bank the fires, and go the rounds
With torch and bell, and sleep there on the job;
Dispatch a herald to the gods above,
Another to humanity below,
And then report to me.

- Aristophanes,  Birds

wings (Aristophanes)

Naught is better, naught more pleasant, than to grow a payor of wings.
At the theater, for instance, they'd be quite convenient things.

Aristophanes, Birds

Thursday, October 30, 2014

grandiloquence (Aristophanes)

To make your study grandiloquence
And busy quibbling devoid of sense
Argues an empty mind and sick,
In point of fact a lunatic.

- Frogs, Aristophanes

*grandiloquence = grandiosity: high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation; "the grandiosity of his prose"; "an excessive ornateness of language"
per http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=grandiloquence

Friday, October 17, 2014

reading in the Apocrypha

All wisdom is from the Lord, 
and with him it remains forever. 
The sand of the sea, the drops of rain, 
and the days of eternity—who can count them? 
The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, 
the abyss, and wisdom—who can search them out? 
Wisdom was created before all other things, 
and prudent understanding from eternity.
The root of wisdom—to whom has it been revealed? 
Her subtleties—who knows them?
There is but one who is wise, greatly to be feared, 
seated upon his throne—the Lord. 
It is he who created her; 
he saw her and took her measure; 
he poured her out upon all his works, 
upon all the living according to his gift; 
he lavished her upon those who love him.
The fear of the Lord is glory and exultation, 
and gladness and a crown of rejoicing. 
The fear of the Lord delights the heart, 
and gives gladness and joy and long life.
- Sirach 1.1-12.  http://ref.ly/Sir1.1 

I am a Protestant, so while I do not consider this canonical, it is still valuable to read and reflect upon. 


Wednesday, October 15, 2014

the welfare state (Machiavelli)

a wise Prince should think of a method by which citizens, at all times and in every circumstance, will need the assistance of the state and of himself, and then they will always be loyal to him.

The Prince, Machiavelli. Chapter IX.

Amazing!  It sounds like our modern welfare state took a page right out of Old Nic!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Men despise religion (Pascal)

Men despise religion. They hate it and are afraid it may be true. The cure for this is first to show that religion is not contrary to reason, but worthy of reverence and respect. Next make it attractive, make good men wish it were true, and then show that it is.
- Blaise Pascal

Friday, September 26, 2014

life of virtue, enjoyment of God (Aquinas)

The final end of organized society then is not [merely] to live the life of virtue but through a life of virtue to attain the enjoyment of God.

St. Thomas Aquinas, On Kingship, chapter 14

Sunday, September 21, 2014

God all in all (Bernard)

As a drop of water seems to disappear completely in a big quantity of wine, even assuming the wine's taste and color; just as red, molten iron becomes so much like fire it seems to lose its primary state; just add air on a sunny day seems transformed into sunshine instead of being lit up; so it is necessary for the saints that all human feelings melt in a mysterious way and flow into the will of God. Otherwise, how will God be all in all?

On Loving God.  X.28

I'm not sure what to think of this passage. It is significant, though it sounds monistic or pantheistic. I think I understand what Bernard intends, while I also see how this could be twisted to other ends. 

Saturday, September 20, 2014

made and remade (Bernard)

If I owe all for having been created, what can I add for being remade, and being remade in this way? It was less easy to remake me then to make me. ... In his first work he gave me myself; in his second to work he gave me himself; when he gave me himself, he gave me back myself.  Given, and regiven, I owe myself twice over. What can I give God in return for himself? Even if I could give him myself a thousand times, what am I to God?

On Loving God.  Bernard of Clairvaux. V:15

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

And You knew what was coming (Strand)

O Jesus, how can we, in all our limitation, use language to express love to You, You who are love?  Before the creation of time and space, all we perceive with our senses, You were in loving relation within the Trinity.  And You knew what was coming.

In love You created, in perfection, this existence.  We were not there (Job 38-39)  Yet for Your own purposes, to exalt and reflect Your own glory, You created this realm.  And You knew what was coming.

You gave us, allowed us the freedom to turn from You, despise You, reject You, to deprave all Your creation (Gen 3; Rom 8)  And You knew what was coming.

We went our own way – in one sense as evil and separated as we could be, in another sense sinking further into the mire of our profanity, generation after generation adding to the wall of enmity between You and us (Gen 6, 22)  And You knew what was coming.

You chose a man (Gen 12), a people (Deut 10.15; 1 Pet 2.9), even individuals after Your own heart (1 Sam 13.14).  Yet we rejected you, all of us, person by person (Rom 3.23).  And You knew what was coming.

At just the right time, You became as we are, that we might become as You are (Athansius, On The Incarnation, Section 51; 1 Cor 5.21; Phil 2).  Why would You do this?  We were already Yours (Ps 50), You created us.  Yet because of who You are, to be “true to Yourself,” to reflected Your holiness, to be both just and justifier (Rom 3.26).  And You knew what was coming.

You loved to the extent to send Another Comforter, Advocate, Indweller (John 14, 15).  You thought even of us (John 17.20).  And You knew what was coming.

In pain and rejection You lived, bearing our scorn (Is 53). You were executed, and the eternal love in Trinity was severed for one incredible, solitary, unimaginable moment (Mat 26.46).*  And You knew what was coming.

Depravity, separation, death could not grasp you, but was compelled to release its icy grip (Act 2.24) in acknowledgement of Your victory, though it would not admit or acknowledge its utter defeat.  And You knew what was coming.

You again called Your people, and gave us Your Spirit (Acts 2).  You, the Lover, took us, having purchased us back (Hosea 3.1), to be Your beloved (Eph 5.25).  And You knew what was coming.

Jesus, we want to have our lamps ready (Mat 25), awaiting with eager, expectant longing and anticipation (eros) Your victory celebration (1 Thes 4.17) and the wedding feast You are preparing for us, Your beloved bride (Rev 19.6), when the twisted values of this world become straight, and our earthly prizes become as common rock (Rev 21.21).  And You knew what was coming … because You are already there, both alpha and omega, beyond time as both beginning and ending (Rev 22.13).

Jesus, You are our beloved (Song 2.16), and we long for that day!


* I am aware of the potential theological difficulties with this statement. My purpose in writing is poetic, not strictly philosophic. I affirm the unity in the Trinity.  On this difficulty, consider this article (and to further qualify, I do not agree with other positions of the article's author).



Monday, September 15, 2014

But for that very reason, our new birth—our being made alive—is a magnificent display of the greatness of the love of God. We owe our spiritual life, and all its impulses, to the greatness and the freedom of the love of God.

Finally Alive,  John Piper.

http://ref.ly/o/finalive/92734 via the Logos Bible Android app.

need for God (Bernard)

It is difficult, impossible for a man, by his own power of free will, once he has received all things from God, to turn wholly to the will of God and not rather to his own will, and keep these gifts for himself as his own, as it is written "all seek what is their own" and further "... man's feelings and thoughts are inclined to evil."

The faithful, on the contrary, know how totally they need Jesus and him crucified. While they admire and embrace in him that charity which surpasses all knowledge, they are ashamed at failing to give what little they have in return for so great a love and honor.

On Loving God.  II.6-III.7

Sunday, September 14, 2014

virtue: adhering to God (Bernard)

Virtue is that by which man seeks continuously and eagerly for his Maker and when he finds him, adheres to him with all his might.

Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God. II.2

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.
- William Carey

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

The sum of your word is truth, 
and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. 
Ps. 119.160 ESV

A great assurance in a world and culture marked by fickleness and lacking understanding of truth. 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

contrasting Biblical and Greek views of love (Bloom)

Allan Bloom, in his commentary The Ladder of Love on Plato's Symposium, writes the following.  It is a fascinating compare/contrast between a Biblical/Jewish understanding of "eros or love in the life of man."  I must wonder how this is reflected today in the changing mores of our culture, as we lose the foundation of Judeo-Christian worldview on which the United States was founded, and slide into a post-modern, post-Christian, individualist worldview.

From Plato's Symposium. University of Chicago Press. 1993, 2001.


Friday, August 8, 2014

wisdom of the aged (Plato)

Thought, you know, begins to have keen eyesight when the sight of the eyes starts to decline from its peak...

Plato, Symposium, 219a.

Friday, August 1, 2014

awareness of need (Plato)

Consequently, he who does not believe that he is in need does not desire that which he does not believe he needs.

Plato, Symposium. 204A.

Friday, July 25, 2014

"For what one does not have and does not know, one could neither give to another nor teach another."

Plato, Symposium.  trans. Seth Benardete, p26.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

MTD and discipleship

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.


Sociologist Christian Smith wrote a few years ago that significant numbers of American Christians, especially adolescents, are only "tenuously Christian in any sense that is seriously connected to the actual historical Christian tradition" and instead embrace "Christianity's misbegotten step-cousin, Christian Moralistic Therapeutic Deism."
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is the set of beliefs that includes:
1. A god exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.
2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and by most world religions.
3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.
4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life, except when God is needed to resolve a problem.
5. Good people go to heaven when they die.
...
As Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, recently noted,
The elephant in the Christian church today is that we are not seeing robust disciple-making taking place. You are more likely to find evangelicals affirming that there is more than one way to get to heaven today than you were 15 or 20 years ago. Why? We've done great at getting them in the door and occupying their spiritual appetites, but we've done terrible at actually growing them up and grounding them in the faith.
Although no tradition is entirely without blame, evangelicalism bears a large share of the responsibility. Many of our churches have wholly embraced therapeutic language and concepts while all but abandoning the role of catechesis.
Almost every nondenominational congregation has a worship leader, and yet only a few have a catechist. Sunday school classes may teach the young the stories of the Bible, but few provide in-depth teaching on theology. New adult believers have it even worse. They may be asked to attend a brief class, but doctrine is given short shrift, if presented at all. If they do ask about the content of their faith, what they are expected to believe, they may be given a pamphlet or a book recommendation and a map to the nearest Christian bookstore.
While we have mastered the task of making converts we are by and large failing, as Stetzer says, in our duty of making disciples. Teaching the basic doctrines of the faith is not an optional task, a project that we can undertake if we have time left over from our prayer breakfasts and small group meetings—it is a matter of eternal consequence. ...
Deists Who Love Jesus (and Talk Like Freud)  by Joe Carter
http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/deists-who-love-jesus-and-talk-like-freud/

Like flowers out of the mud (Stott)

Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:4 are quite clear. A morally bankrupt culture will use morally bankrupt language. The people of Paul’s day were familiar with the Greek and Roman Bacchanal parties with their infamous orgies. Those orgies had their own vocabulary. Paul was saying, “That is not our language.” John Stott said this about some men and women from this Corinthian-type culture who were converted to Christ: “When believers rose up out of the environment of the ancient world, they rose up like flowers out of the mud.

Flattery and Foolish Talk,  by John Sartelle
http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/flattery-and-foolish-talk/

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

liberalism and historic leave-taking

"Far more serious still is the division between the Church of Rome and evangelical Protestantism in all its forms. Yet how great is the common heritage which unites the Roman Catholic Church, with its maintenance of the authority of Holy Scripture and with its acceptance of the great early creeds, to devout Protestants today! We would not indeed obscure the difference which divides us from Rome. The gulf is indeed profound. But profound as it is, it seems almost trifling compared to the abyss which stands between us and many ministers of our own Church. The Church of Rome may represent a perversion of the Christian religion; but naturalistic liberalism is not Christianity at all.

That does not mean that conservatives and liberals must live in personal animosity. It does not involve any lack of sympathy on our part for those who have felt obliged by the current of the times to relinquish their confidence in the strange message of the Cross. Many ties—ties of blood, of citizenship, of ethical aims, of humanitarian endeavor—unite us to those who have abandoned the gospel. We trust that those ties may never be weakened, and that ultimately they may serve some purpose in the propagation of the Christian faith. But Christian service consists primarily in the propagation of a message, and specifically Christian fellowship exists only between those to whom the message has become the very basis of all life.”

J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism.  1923. Page 42.
http://ref.ly/o/chrstntylbrlsm/112981 

Consider this in light of the recent Historic leave-taking.


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Luther on Vocation (Wingren)

“There is nothing more delightful and lovable on earth than one’s neighbor. Love does not think about doing works, it finds joy in people; and when something good is done for others, that does not appear to love as works but simply as gifts which flow naturally from love. Love never does something because it has to. It is permitted to act…

“Only as the old man, still under the law, does the Christian ask about the righteousness of his works. Faith and the new man knows only one righteousness: the forgiveness of sins. It is his neighbor in whom the new man finds his joy. That which takes place between him and his neighbor is not works, the righteousness of which is of concern to him; he does not ask about the worth of what he does…

“Love discovers for itself what is of the greatest benefit to a neighbor. It cannot busy itself with deeds prescribed by rules of propriety without ceasing to be love. It becomes a bondage under law, concern with one’s own holiness, which, uncertain of salvation, seeks to achieve certainty by requiring sacrifice for a neighbor. It has names for all works, each more formidable than the next. Such sporadic ‘love’ does not live in childlike faith; therefore it lacks the Spirit’s certainty. It is not love, because its first interest is not a neighbor’s need, but the salvation of one’s own soul..."

Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation, pages 43-50



"The old man is characterized by wrath, envy, greed, laziness, pride, unbelief, and such obvious sins, which manifestly constitute a encumbrance on vocation and one’s neighbor. When the demand of vocation and neighbor is laid upon the old man, he is made amenable. These sins are repressed and given place to a gentle and patient new man, who receives his life from God’s hand. In daily activity baptism is realized as a daily repentance. Thus the Christian is both old and new man, not only in relation to God’s judgment, God’s forgives, but also in his encounter with vocation and neighbor. He is still the old man, insofar as the encounter irritates him, and new man she the encounter takes place with inner calm and joy. Since the neighbor is not just one person but many at any given time, and since vocation has many ramifications, the complete interplay of life’s changing situations is tied into relationship with God. In this is the real meaning of the expression simul iustus et peccator (righteous and sinner at the same time).”

Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation, page 55-56

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Naturalistic moral outage?

“If we really believed that we are nothing more than accidental collections of atoms, moral outrage over anything would be irrational.”

D.A. Carson, How Long, Oh Lord?

http://ref.ly/o/howlonglord/223757 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Existence of God (Aquinas)

But as soon as the signification of the word "God" is understood, it is at once seen that God exists. For by this word is signified that thing than which nothing greater can be conceived. But that which exists actually and mentally is greater than that which exists only mentally. Therefore, since as soon as the word "God" is understood it exists mentally, it also follows that it exists actually. Therefore the proposition "God exists" is self-evident.
Summa Theologia, I. Q.2. A.1


Further, the existence of truth is self-evident. For whoever denies the existence of truth grants that truth does not exist: and, if truth does not exist, then the proposition "Truth does not exist" is true: and if there is anything true, there must be truth.
Summa Theologia, I. Q.2. A.2


Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Divine Praise (John of Damascus)

When I have no books, or when my thoughts, torturing me like thorns, do not let me enjoy reading, I go to church, which is the cure available for every disease of the soul. The freshness of the images draws my attention, captivates my eyes … and slowly leads my soul to divine praise.

JOHN OF DAMASCUS

Saturday, June 21, 2014

great thoughts of man, small thoughts of God

One of the fundamental differences brought about by the new covenant is the fact that the locus of the people of God under this covenant no longer constitutes a nation, but an international community not to be identified with any nation. ...

It is one more indication that we have given ourselves to thinking great thoughts about human beings and small thoughts about God.

How does rebellion appear to One so incomparably transcendent that even the superpowers appear to his eyes like the fine dust in a balance? How does rebellion appear to One who measures our sin by the death of his Son?

D.A. Carson How Long, O Lord? Reflections on Suffering and Evil 
http://ref.ly/o/howlonglord/193930

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Children as living messages

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”

Neil Postman, The Disappearance of Childhood, p. xi.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Setting expectations

"Expect me when you see me." 

A fun quote by Gandolf from The Lord of the Rings.  What a great way to set expectations!

Sunday, May 18, 2014

John Chrysostom's final sermon

In all things, glory to God. Amen

John Chrysostom, one of the significant early church fathers who was given the sibroquet "golden tongue," spoke these few short words as his final sermon, delivered near death when his strength was failing him.

If i were a well-known speaker or preacher in that situation, what would I say?  I'd like to think I would say something much like Chrysostom!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

How many tears to build mansions? (Chrysostom)

The gold bit on your horse, the gold circlet on the wrist of your slave, the gilding on your shoes, mean that you are robbing the orphan and starving the widow. When you have passed away, each passer-by who looks upon your great mansion will say, "How many tears did it take to build that mansion? how many orphans were stripped? how many widows wronged? how many laborers deprived of their honest wages?" Even death itself will not deliver you from your accusers.
...
How think you that you obey Christ's commandments, when you spend your time collecting interest, piling up loans, buying slaves like livestock, and merging business with business? And that is not all. Upon all this you heap injustice, taking possession of lands and houses, and multiplying poverty and hunger.

John Chrysostom

Some hard words spoken by an ancient preacher on possessions. While our timeframe has changed and the specifics may be different, I find it amazing how much of this remains applicable to the American church of the 21st century. 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Common food, common inheritance (Ambrose)

God ordered all things to be produced so that there would be common food for all, and so that the earth would be the common inheritance of all. Thus, nature has produced a common right, but greed has made it the right of a few. 

It is better to preserve for the Lord souls rather than gold. He who sent the apostles without gold also gathered the churches without gold. The church has gold, not to store it, but to give it up, to use it for those who are in need. It is better to keep the living vessels, than the golden ones.

Ambrose of Milan

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Chronological Parochialism (Dreher)


Had I encountered the classics as a student, I imagine that I would have grasped the relativism of our own worldview. I mean, I would have been a lot more questioning and skeptical of the worldview we receive from the supposedly wise men and women of our own time and place. We suffer from what I call chronological parochialism -- that is, the idea that we, being modern, know better than everybody who came before us. If the past is an undiscovered country, our modern prejudices tell us that we don't have anything to learn from the people who live there. But Homer knew the human heart better than most contemporaries, and Dante knew the human soul more penetratingly than many of us do.

Words of Wisdom: Rod Dreher on Reading The Odyssey for the First Time.  CiRCE Institute http://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/words-wisdom-rod-dreher-reading-odyssey-first-time

My good friend, Eric Nelson, introduced me many months ago to the writing and insightful commentary of Rod Dreher.  My wife introduced me to the valuable resources from CiRCE a couple years ago, and especially after attending the CiRCE conference last summer.  Put these two influences together, and there is a powerful synergy!

Never met a true bishop (Basil)

All that I have that you can confiscate are these rags and a few books. Nor can you exile me, for wherever you send me, I shall be God's guest. As to tortures you should know that my body is already dead in Christ. And death would be a great boon to me, leading me sooner to God." Taken aback the prefect said that no one had ever spoken to him thus. Basil answered "Perhaps that is because you have never met a true bishop."

--------------------

Quoting St. Basil, one of the Cappadocian Fathers.

The Story of Christianity Vol 1., Justo Gonzalez

Monday, March 10, 2014

proof of Hebrew Scriptures (Origen)

For before the advent of Christ it was not altogether possible to exhibit manifest proofs of the divine inspiration of the ancient Scripture; whereas His coming led those who might suspect the law and the prophets not to be divine, to the clear conviction that they were composed by (the aid of) heavenly grace.

De Principiis, Origen

http://ref.ly/o/anf04/1775133 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Fascinating.  While I clearly understood promise and fulfillment between OT and NT, I had not previously thought of the fact that the fulfillment in the person of Jesus is what proved the Divine inspiration of the OT, and that outside of this fulfillment the inspiration of the OT could be in doubt.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Rule of Faith (Tertullian)

Now, as to this rule of faith—that we may from this point acknowledge what it is that we defend—it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that he is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through his own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called his Son, and, under the name of God, was seen in divers forms by the patriarchs, ever heard in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of God the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and, being born of her, lived as Jesus Christ; thenceforth he preached a new law and a new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles, was crucified, and rose again the third day: he was caught up into the heavens, and sat down at the right hand of the Father; he sent instead of himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; he will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life and of the heavenly promises, and to condemn the wicked to everlasting fire, after the resurrection of both these classes shall have happened, together with the restoration of their flesh. This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no questions except those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics.

Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum, 13

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Neil Postman. Informing Ourselves to Death

This is a fascinating article (excerpts below), delivered as a speech in 1990.  It is self-indicting since I am an “Information Architect”, and this is the world I live in on a daily basis, and promote professionally.  However, it is good to step back for a critical consideration of what it is I, and we, are doing to ourselves and our neighbor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The great English playwright and social philosopher George Bernard Shaw once remarked that all professions are conspiracies against the common folk.  He meant that those who belong to elite trades -physicians, lawyers, teachers, and scientists - protect their special status by creating vocabularies that are incomprehensible to the general public. …

I have heard many experts in computer technology speak about the advantages that computers will bring. With [few] exception ... I have never heard anyone speak seriously and comprehensively about the disadvantages of computer technology, which strikes me as odd, and makes me wonder if the profession is hiding something important. That is to say, what seems to be lacking among computer experts is a sense of technological modesty.  …

In the case of computer technology, there can be no disputing that the computer has increased the power of large-scale organizations like military establishments or airline companies or banks or tax collecting agencies. And it is equally clear that the computer is now indispensable to high-level researchers in physics and other natural sciences. But to what extent has computer technology been an advantage to the masses of people? …These people have had their private matters made more accessible to powerful institutions.  They are more easily tracked and controlled; they are subjected to more examinations, and are increasingly mystified by the decisions made about them. They are more often reduced to mere numerical objects. They are being buried by junk mail. They are easy targets for advertising agencies and political organizations. The schools teach their children to operate computerized systems instead of teaching things that are more valuable to children. In a word, almost nothing happens to the losers that they need, which is why they are losers.  …

Technology always has unforeseen consequences, and it is not always clear, at the beginning, who or what will win, and who or what will lose.  But what started out as a liberating stream has turned into a deluge of chaos.  If I may take my own country as an example, here is what we are faced with: In America, there are 260,000 billboards; 11,520 newspapers; 11,556 periodicals; 27,000 video outlets for renting tapes; 362 million TV sets; and over 400 million radios. There are 40,000 new book titles published every year (300,000 world-wide) and every day in America 41 million photographs are taken, and just for the record, over 60 billion pieces of advertising junk mail come into our mail boxes every year. Everything from telegraphy and photography in the 19th century to the silicon chip in the twentieth has amplified the din of information, until matters have reached such proportions today that for the average person, information no longer has any relation to the solution of problems.

The tie between information and action has been severed. Information is now a commodity that can be bought and sold, or used as a form of entertainment, or worn like a garment to enhance one's status. It comes indiscriminately, directed at no one in particular, disconnected from usefulness; we are glutted with information, drowning in information, have no control over it, don't know what to do with it.

And there are two reasons we do not know what to do with it. First, … we no longer have a coherent conception of ourselves, and our universe, and our relation to one another and our world. We no longer know, as the Middle Ages did, where we come from, and where we are going, or why. That is, we don't know what information is relevant, and what information is irrelevant to our lives. Second, we have directed all of our energies and intelligence to inventing machinery that does nothing but increase the supply of information.  As a consequence, our defenses against information glut have broken down; our information immune system is inoperable. We don't know how to filter it out; we don't know how to reduce it; we don't know to use it. …

Through the computer, the heralds say, we will make education better, religion better, politics better, our minds better - best of all, ourselves better. This is, of course, nonsense, and only the young or the ignorant or the foolish could believe it.  I said a moment ago that computers are not to blame for this. And that is true, at least in the sense that we do not blame an elephant for its huge appetite or a stone for being hard or a cloud for hiding the sun.  That is their nature, and we expect nothing different from them. But the computer has a nature, as well. True, it is only a machine but a machinedesigned to manipulate and generate information. That is what computers do, and therefore they have an agenda and an unmistakable message.

The message is that through more and more information, more conveniently packaged, more swiftly delivered, we will find solutions to our problems.  …

Here is what Henry David Thoreau told us: “All our inventions are but improved means to an unimproved end.”  Here is what Goethe told us: “One should, each day, try to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if possible, speak a few reasonable words.”  And here is what Socrates told us: “The unexamined life is not worth living.”  And here is what the prophet Micah told us: “What does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God?”… There is no escaping ourselves.  The human dilemma is as it has always been, and we solve nothing fundamental by cloaking ourselves in technological glory.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

From the text of a speech delivered to the  German Informatics Society, 11 Oct 1990 in Stuttgart  https://w2.eff.org/Net_culture/Criticisms/informing_ourselves_to_death.paper

Dec 08 1990 interview on the same topic is available here:  http://vimeo.com/19897055

Philosophy is the Parent of Heresy (Tertullian)

For philosophy is the material of the world’s wisdom, the rash interpreter of the nature and the dispensation of God. Indeed heresies are themselves instigated by philosophy. ... The same subject-matter is discussed over and over again by heretics and philosophers; the same arguments are reconsidered. Whence comes evil? and why? Whence man? and how? Besides the question which Valentinus has very lately proposed—Whence comes God? No doubt from desire and abortion!.…  What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?  What has the Academy to do with the Church?  What have heretics to do with Christians? Our instruction comes from the porch of Solomon, who had himself taught that the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart. Away with all attempts to produce a Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic Christianity! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after receiving the gospel! When we believe, we desire no further belief. For this is our first article of faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides.

Tertullian, De Praescriptione Haereticorum

Thursday, February 6, 2014

“Thus was fulfilled..."

Today people interpret John 16.2 as only a future event, rather than one which has been fulfilled.

“Thus was fulfilled that which was said by the Lord: The time will come, when whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. 
From that time on the holy martyrs endured punishments beyond all description, Satan earnestly endeavouring to elicit from their lips also some of the slanders."

The Martyrs of Lyons and Vienna
A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337
http://ref.ly/o/neweusebius/127820 via the Logos Bible Android app.

2 Cities, 2 Loves

Accordingly, two cities have been formed by two loves: the earthly by the love of self, even to the contempt of God; the heavenly by the love of God, even to the contempt of self. The former, in a word, glories in itself, the latter in the Lord. For the one seeks glory from men; but the greatest glory of the other is God, the witness of conscience. The one lifts up its head in its own glory; the other says to its God, “Thou art my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.” In the one, the princes and the nations it subdues are ruled by the love of ruling; in the other, the princes and the subjects serve one another in love, the latter obeying, while the former take thought for all. The one delights in its own strength, represented in the persons of its rulers; the other says to its God, “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.” And therefore the wise men of the one city, living according to man, have sought for profit to their own bodies or souls, or both, and those who have known God “glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened; professing themselves to be wise,”—that is, glorying in their own wisdom, and being possessed by pride,—“they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” For they were either leaders or followers of the people in adoring images, “and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.” But in the other city there is no human wisdom, but only godliness, which offers due worship to the true God, and looks for its reward in the society of the saints, of holy angels as well as holy men, “that God may be all in all.

- St. Augustine,  City of God,  Book 14, chapter 28   


This is the key idea of the entire book.  This quote begs self reflection:  To which city do I belong?  In which city is my citizenship?

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Christian Worship (Tertullian)

Apology, 39.1–6

We are a society with a common religious feeling, unity of discipline, a  common bond of hope. We meet in gathering and congregation to approach God in prayer, massing our forces to surround him. This violence that we do him pleases God. We pray also for emperors, for their ministers and those in authority, for the security of the world, for  peace on earth, for postponement of the end. We meet to read the books of God—if anything in the nature of the times bids us look to the future or open our eyes to facts. In any case, with those holy words we feed our faith, we lift up our hope, we confirm our confidence; and no less we reinforce our teaching by inculcation of God’s precepts. There is, besides, exhortation in our gatherings, rebuke,  divine censure. For judgement is passed, and it carries great weight, as it must among men certain that God sees them; and it is a notable foretaste of judgement to come, if any man has so sinned as to be banished from all share in our prayer, our assembly, and all holy intercourse. Our presidents are elders of proved character, men who have reached this honour not for a price, but by character; for nothing that is God’s goes for a price.

Even if there is a chest of a sort, it is not made up of money paid in entrance-fees, as if religion were a matter of contract. Every man once a month brings some modest coin—or whenever he wishes, and only if he does wish, and if he can; for nobody is compelled; it is a voluntary  offering. You might call them the trust funds of piety. For they are not spent upon banquets nor drinking-parties nor thankless eating-houses; but to feed the poor and to bury them, for boys and girls who lack property and parents, and then for slaves grown old and ship-wrecked mariners; and any who may be in mines, islands or prisons, provided that it is for the sake of God’s school, become the pensioners of their confession. (Tr. T. R. Glover (Loeb Library), pp. 175–7.)

http://ref.ly/o/neweusebius/429241

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Source of satisfaction

Daily we read the scriptures and experience dryness of soul until God grants food to satisfy the soul’s hunger.

- Origen

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Know God to know yourself

“it is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until he have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself."

John Calvin,  Institutes

http://ref.ly/o/cicr/296887 via the Logos Bible Android app.

Monday, January 27, 2014

“Be Strong, Polycarp”

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

9.1f
But as Polycarp entered into the stadium, there was a voice from heaven, “Be strong, Polycarp, and be a man! And no one saw who had spoken, but those of our people who were present heard the voice. And then, when he was brought forward, there was a great uproar upon hearing that Polycarp had been arrested.  Therefore when he was brought forward the proconsul asked him if he was Polycarp, and when he admitted it, the proconsul tried to persuade him to recant, saying, “Have respect for your age” and so forth as is their custom to say, “Swear by the fortune of Caesar, repent, say ‘Away with the atheists!’” But Polycarp, with a serious face, looked at the whole crowd, those lawless heathens in the stadium, and shook his hand at them, both groaned and looked up to the heaven, and said, “Away with the atheists!”  But when the proconsul persisted and said, “Take the oath and I will release you. Revile Christ.” Polycarp responded, “Eighty-six years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How could I blaspheme my king who saved me?”

A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337

ref.ly/o/apfthtext/591635

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Pray strength for me, so I don't just talk about it, but also do it. (Ignatius)

Ignatius to the Romans, 3.2-4

Only pray for strength for me, both inward and outward, so that I do not just talk about it but I also want to do it, that I am not just called a Christian but I may also be found to be a Christian. For if I may be so found and I am able to be so called, and then to be faithful when I am not visible to the world.

Brannan, R. (Trans.). (2012). The Apostolic Fathers in English. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Random Apostolic Fathers quotes

Ignatius to Polycarp
3.1 Those who appear to be trustworthy yet teach strange doctrines,  do not let them amaze you. Stand firm,  like an anvil being struck with a hammer.
Brannan, R. (Trans.). (2012). The Apostolic Fathers in English. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.


1 Clement, 7.1
We write these things, beloved, not only admonishing you but also reminding ourselves, for we are in the same arena and the same struggle  confronts us. 2 Therefore let us leave behind vain and futile  thoughts and let us come to the renowned and honorable rule of our tradition, 3 and let us see what is good and what is pleasing and what is acceptable before our maker. 4 Let us look intently at the blood of Christ, and let us know that it is precious to his Father, because, being poured out for our salvation it brought  the grace of repentance to all the world.
Brannan, R. (Trans.). (2012). The Apostolic Fathers in English. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.


1 Clement, 41.4
4 You see, brothers, as we have been considered worthy of greater knowledge, so we will be exposed to more danger.
Brannan, R. (Trans.). (2012). The Apostolic Fathers in English. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.


Justin Martyr
Hence are we called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. But both Him, and the Son (who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like to Him), and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to every one who wishes to learn, as we have been taught.
Justin Martyr. (1885). The First Apology of Justin. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 164). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III.IV.1
CHAP. IV.—THE TRUTH IS TO BE FOUND NOWHERE ELSE BUT IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE SOLE DEPOSITORY OF APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINE. HERESIES ARE OF RECENT FORMATION, AND CANNOT TRACE THEIR ORIGIN UP TO THE APOSTLES.
1. Since therefore we have such proofs, it is not necessary to seek the truth among others which it is easy to obtain from the Church; since the apostles, like a rich man [depositing his money] in a bank, lodged in her hands most copiously all things pertaining to the truth: so that every man, whosoever will, can draw from her the water of life.
Irenaeus of Lyons. (1885). Irenæus against Heresies. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, pp. 416–417). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

Friday, January 24, 2014

In the midst of beasts is in the midst of God (Ignatius)

Jesus Christ, who is our true life, has authority over this.  For if these things were accomplished by our Lord in appearance only, I also am a prisoner in appearance only, and why also have I allowed myself to be given over to death, to fire, to the sword, to beasts? Instead nearer to the sword is nearer to God; in the midst of beasts is in the midst of God. I endure all things in the name of Jesus Christ alone so that I may suffer with him; the perfect human himself strengthening me.

Ignatius, to the Smyrnaeans. 4.2, in The Apostolic Fathers in English,  Rick Brannen editor.  2011.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Evidence for God from Probability, and Statistical Zero

The Power of Probability   
This is an interesting article I ran across the other day while looking at probabilities at work.

Statisticians believe ‘Statistical Zero” to be:  
    1 / 10^50
or to write it out long-hand:
    1 / 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Or indecimal notation it is represented:
    0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001

The article's author lists 322 items which must be in place for earth to support life (out of many more), and assigns a probability of 1 / 10 to all of these items (which is extremely or even excessively generous).  Even with the qualifications, it still means...

... that there is less than 1 chance in 1 million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion exists that even one planet like earth could ever exist and support life as earth supports it if the only mechanisms available are natural mechanisms. 

Evidence for God from Probability 
Do you see the problem here? Based on the statistical probability of the universal constants described here, it’s pretty clear that a planet like earth simply should not exist! If natural causes are the only factors involved here, the odds are just prohibitively small. Earth simply cannot exist if natural causes are the only forces in the universe. The ONLY way to account for the Earth’s existence is to introduce a supernatural cause that can overcome the tremendous improbability.

The Statistical Probability Argument:
1) Statisticians Agree that When the Probability of an Event Reaches 1/1050 the Odds of the Event’s Occurrence Are “Statistically ZERO”
2) The Odds of the NATURAL Existence of a Life Supporting Planet Like Earth are Less than 1/10322 (10272 Times Less Likely than “Statistical Zero”), Yet the Earth Exists and Supports Life
3) For This Reason, the Existence of a Life Supporting Planet Like Earth (Which CANNOT Be Attributed to Natural Forces or Causes), Must Be the Result of Supernatural Intervention
4) The Supernatural Intervening Cause (God) of Our Universe, Galaxy and Planet Must Exist

Source: http://pleaseconvinceme.com/2012/evidence-for-god-from-probability/

Monday, January 20, 2014

Purpose of Sunday gathering in early church?

"We are told in the book of Acts that from the very beginning, the early church had the custom of gathering on the first day of the week for the breaking of bread. The reason for gathering on the first day of the week was that this was the day of the resurrection of the Lord. Therefore, the main purpose of this service of worship was not to call the faithful to repentance, or to make them aware of the magnitude of their sins, but rather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the promises of which that resurrection was the seal. This is why Acts describes those gatherings as happy occasions: “they partook of food with glad and generous hearts, praising God for having favor with all the people” (Acts 2: 46– 47). Those early communion services did not focus their attention on the events of Good Friday, but rather on those of Easter. A new reality had dawned, and Christians gathered to celebrate that dawning and to become participants in it."

The Story of Christianity,  Vol. 1, by Justo Gonzales, chapter 11

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Whose children are they, anyway?

Back in January, I wrote on Statism.  If we keep our eyes and minds attuned to this perspective, other instances of growing confidence in the state, and promotion of the state, will be found.

For instance, a colleague recently brought this controversy to my attention:  one of our media elites, whether unintentionally revealing her perspective or honestly misspeaking, seems to suggest that the community (state) is responsible for children, over against parents.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/11/melissa-harris-perry-and-the-firestorm-over-collective-parenting.html

Amazing, and frightening.

(Written April 28 2013, published January 1 2014)