Two short thoughts

Here are two short thoughts on some passages I read recently:

Acts 3:24-26:
24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken,
have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of
the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through
your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.'[c] 26When God
raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by
turning each of you from your wicked ways."

In this passage Peter is talking to a crowd of people who are amazed
because Peter and John healed a crippled beggar. He is telling
everyone about Jesus. What I find so interesting is how he says God
is blessing us: "26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first
to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
Normally when we think of being blessed we think of receiving health
and welfare sorts of things (in a "Jacob got Isaac's blessing" sort of
way). And those too fall within the scope of being blessed. But this
says that God blessed us by turning us away from sin. Like, it seems
that turning us away from sin is a bigger blessing than all the health
and welfare stuff. And I guess I can indeed see how this is true,
it's just that it's not the first thing that usually comes to mind
when I think of blessing. And then the corollary is, if I want to be
blessed (which I think most people want, generally speaking, both for
themselves and others), then I should turn away from any sin I can
find in my life. I should be ruthless about getting rid of sin. I
guess how ruthless I should be depends on how much I want to be
blessed! Usually I am cognizant of my sin and do try to be free of
it, but I am not frequently ruthless about wanting to be free of it.

Also, an aside.. Peter also repeats the same idea just a little before
this, saying "19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may
be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord...".
Just thought I'd include the extra example too.

James 4:4-6:
4You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world
is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God. 5Or do you think Scripture says without
reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?[a]
6But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."

7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you. 8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your
hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy
to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you
up.

Footnotes:
James 4:5 Or that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made
to live in us; or that the Spirit he caused to live in us longs jealously

Reading this makes me feel two things. One, I am sort of afraid of
becoming a friend of the world. I mean, I don't want to become "an
enemy of God"! That would surely be bad. Because I *do* feel that I
have longings that are in the category of "friendship with the world".
In response to this, it says we should humble ourselves, and that if
we do that then God will come near to us. That sounds like a
reasonable thing to do, though possibly hard.
But the other thing I feel when I read this is very encouraging. I
find the translation in the footnotes most easy to understand, the
idea that "that God jealously longs for the spirit that he made to
live in us". Like, God loves us so much that He really badly wants
our love and affection back. He wants us to want Him! A lot. It's
like if you have a crush on someone and you want them to pay attention
to you. There is nothing that would make you happier than if they
would just devote all their attention to you and like you back. But
then if they don't, you are jealous of the thing that does receive
their attention.
God has a crush on us, a huge one, much more so than any of our
petty crushes here on earth. And that is encouraging. And really, it
is for that reason that we should want to give up our "friendship with
the world", and not out of fear or any other reason.

-Alan

On God not answering prayers

So I was reading Job today and came across some good answers to the
question of why God doesn't answer prayers sometimes, which I heard a
sermon about last week in church. The sermon didn't give a totally
satisfying answer, but this passage addresses the question to a
reasonable extent. I originally wrote this to email my friend who I
went to church with last week, but thought I would pass this along to
the blog as well.

The passage which illuminates the question is Job 35:9-13, duplicated
below (NIV):

9 "Men cry out under a load of oppression;
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.
10 But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches more to us than to [c] the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than [d] the birds of the air?'
12 He does not answer when men cry out
because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.

I was quite confused by it at first so I read the Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Bible, which is in general an excellent resource for
understanding what the Bible is saying. (there is also a Matthew
Henry Concise Commentary you can Google for if you don't have time to
wade through pages of text). In any event, the web page with the
Commentary that I read is at:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/henry/mhc3.xviii.xxxvi.html

and the part about verses 9-13 is a little ways down the page.

In any event, here is a summary of what Matthew Henry says about these
verses. Quotes are either from the website or from the verses above.:

v. 9 - Elihu (one of Job's friends) is posing the question of, if
people are oppressed and they cry out to God, why aren't their prayers
answered? This seems a good a case as any for why God should answer
prayers, so Elihu lists several reasons why God is justified in not
answering those prayers. I have determined that those reasons are
applicable to prayers in general about all sorts of things.
(Different reasons will apply to different situations)

v. 10a - Reason 1: People are just looking for relief from their
affliction and are not looking for an increased relationship with God.
Psalm 78:34 says that one purpose of afflictions can be the purpose
of making us return to God--in the Psalm in particular, it is talking
about how when Israel strayed from following God, God would send them
an affliction of some sort and this would cause Israel to return to
seeking after God. The same holds for us today.
In v.10, the oppressed people don't ask, "Where is God my Maker",
meaning that the people are not seeking after God; they are not
repenting of their sin, returning to follow after God again and
attempting to live the way God would want them to, and they are not
trying to have a relationship with God. Instead, they just want to
have their oppression removed so they can get back to living like they
were before.

v.10b - Reason 2a: People don't notice or benefit from the
consolations God provides when we are afflicted. "Who gives songs in
the night" is referring to comfort or joy that God gives us amidst
affliction. We should "make use of [these consolations], and wait"
until the time comes when God removes our troubles. "He gives songs
in the night, that is, when our condition is ever so dark, and sad,
and melancholy, there is that in God, in his providence and promise,
which is sufficient, not only to support us, but to fill us with joy
and consolation, and enable us in every thing to give thanks, and even
to rejoice in tribulation. When we only pore upon the afflictions we
are under, and neglect the consolations of God which are treasured up
for us, it is just with God to reject our prayers."

v. 11 - Reason 2b: Also related to the comforts we should have while
under affliction, the business about us people being taught more "than
to the beasts of the earth and [being made] wiser than the birds of
the air" refers to how we have been given minds and reason. If a
beast is afflicted it will cry out in pain; if we similarly cry out in
pain and don't seek after God then we are being no different from the
animals. We should instead seek after God, using our minds. Also, we
can take comfort (via our reason, etc) that even if our bodies are
destroyed, people cannot harm our souls (cf. Matthew 10:28). We
should have the "peace of our consciences" which I believe means
knowing we are in good standing with God and should hope for heaven.

v. 12,13 - Reason 3: If the afflicted are proud ("the arrogance of the
wicked"), then God won't listen to their prayers because they are
supposed to become humbled and give up their pride as a result of the
afflictions. "The case is plain then, If we cry to God for the
removal of the oppression and affliction we are under, and it is not
removed, the reason is not because the Lord's hand is shortened or his
ear heavy, but because the affliction has not done its work; we are
not sufficiently humbled, and therefore must thank ourselves that it
is continued."

v. 12,13 - Reason 4: If a prayer is hypocritical in that it does not
come from people who are sincere, God won't listen. I didn't quite
understand what Matthew Henry was saying (it was a very short
description) but it is I think covered essentially by the stuff
written above anyhow.

So, I guess this doesn't entirely answer the question, but makes some
really good points that are worth thinking about.

-Alan

Our Last Summer Reading: Athanasius On The Incarnation

As our first summer reading was from C. S. Lewis' preface to Athanasius' On The Incarnation, it seems fitting that our last summer reading be from that same tome.

In this reading, Athanasius (297-373) explains why Jesus had to become one of us.

So who is this Athanasius? He is the man who first listed the 27 books of the New Testament as the official list of the canon. He is the man who was exiled at least five (possibly seven) times for theological disputes about the divinity of Christ (he said Jesus was God and the emperor disagreed). He is the man who, more than anyone else, represents the finest pastoral devotion and theological scholarship of the ancient church fathers.

You can find this reading in the Devotional Classics book from pages 339-342. It's also available online - it's chapter 3 sections 11-14.

And you can revisit that first reading to remind yourself why we engaged in this "reading old stuff" project in the first place.

Remarkable Testimony from Delta College Chi Alpha

This may be outside your comfort zone and is certainly very rambly, but I think you should read it. This is from Matt Gonzales, a Chi Alpha leader at Delta College in Stockton, CA. The editing I have done to the email is breaking it into paragraphs

Hey what's up. Yes we are seeing an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on campus.Within the last year we have see tumor,cancer, knees, eyes healed. It started with the baseball coach getting healed from the tumor and the word has spread like wild fire so we are getting alot of people on and off campus asking us and our students to pray. Within the last two weeks we have had three different cases of deaf ears opening. A young lady name Justine was born with 95% deafness in one ear and 45% in the other. We prayed for her and we asked her what was going on she asked why were we yelling at her and then said she felt fire on her ears and it felt like worms were crawling out of her ears. Praise God!

Last Wednesday was the biggest out poring and it is still going on. We had a lady come to our prayer table and she was totally blind. She had a walking cane and bumped into the chair while she was asking question. I began to ask her how long was she blind. She told me two and half years. She had got glaucoma in her eyes and it took her eye sight completely. The week before she came in contact with one of our students because she wanted a bible for the blind. Well I looked at her and told her straight out God is going to heal you right now! She said she did not think that God could heal her. Immediately the presence of God filled our prayer tent, it was so thick I could hardly stand. I asked her if she wanted to be heal. She was not sure but then said yes. We sat her down and began to pray. The Holy Spirit impressed on my heart to pour water in her eyes. I asked if we could and Becky said yes. We did and ended the prayer. She opened her eyes and it was light began to fill her eyes and they turned totally blue!

She screamed "I can see" and started to scream louder and jumping up and down in the quad that happen to be filled with a couple hundred students that were looking to she what happen. So I jumped on our P.A. system and began to preach and we shared her testimony.

Curt it was like the book of acts, People began to stand and clap, others were amazed while others mocked us and were yelling that it was an hoaks. We had five people get saved and another six miracles broke out! We had teachers coming to the table asking for prayer. I felt like on was on a mission trip but it was the middle of campus. Since last Wednesday we have seen seven students commit their live to Christ, one who has just recently got filled with the Holy Spirit, and the testimony is spreading like wild fire and we are getting calls and my space messaged from students asking for prayer and telling us how it has touched them and they know that they are not right with God and want us to pray for them. It's crazy! Praise God! Praise God! Keep us in prayer!

I called Matt to confirm the details and he was able to give solid answers
to my questions (for example, "Yes, one of our students went to high school
with the deaf girl and says that this was a lifelong condition").

Our Ninth Reading: John Wesley on Tendencies To Beware Of

John Wesley (1703-1791) turned the church world of his day upside down and launched a new breed of Christians who took the Bible seriously and did their best to abide by it.

One of his lesser-known accomplishments is that he and his brother Charles started a college ministry at Oxford called "the Holy Club", which doesn't make Chi Alpha sound like such a bad name.

To be a member of the Holy Club, students had to

• get up very early in the morning


• have a solid prayer life


• journal daily


• fast twice a week


• visit prisoners in the local jail


• get together with other members in the evenings to read the Greek New Testament and discuss the classics

You can read more about the Holy Club here.

And here's the kicker - later in his life Wesley confessed that he wasn't a Christian at that point!

This time around we're reading an excerpt from his famous A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (page 258 in the Devotional Classics book). If you view the online version, scroll down to section 25 question 32 and read through question 37.

Our Eighth Reading: Bernard of Clairvaux Teaches Us to Love God

In yet another installment of our summer reading series, we're digging way back into the Middle Ages to look at an influential monk named Bernard. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) made a difference in his generation. In some ways he was a positive influence, in other ways he was a negative influence. Whatever his failings, he knew God and loved God and was able to articulate that love compellingly. (Wikipedia article, Catholic Encyclopedia article)

A word of disclaimer: Bernard had some major defects in his theology. I can get behind the excerpt we're reading today, but I would strongly differ with him over other opinions he expressed. Read with discernment - no spiritual writing outside the Bible is perfect.

This week we're going to read from his famous work "On The Love of God."

In it, Bernard explains why we should love God and how our love of God should mature over time.

He posits four levels of love:

1. The love of self for self's sake


2. The love of God for self's sake


3. The love of God for God's sake


4. The love of self for God's sake

It's in the Devotional Classics book on page 41, or you can find a more antiquated public-domain translation at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/bernard/loving_god.html. We're reading from chapters 1,8,9,10,13,14, and 15.

A testimony

Hey everyone, here's a testimony about how God broke through my spiritual
slump in a moment last week. I was actually hesitant about posting it
because I'm still thinking about it a lot, so please comment if you'd like.

This summer I’ve been busy. Sure, I’ve had a lot of activities going on—an
internship, exploring DC, hanging out with friends, etc.—but what I really
mean by being “busy” is having my mind constantly focused on things other
than God. At first I forced myself to spend some time alone with God
because I knew it was important, but gradually I found myself unable to
follow through on these daily sessions because I felt like I was unable to
connect with God or found it too boring to go on. When I tried to pray or
read the bible, I couldn’t concentrate. When I tried waiting on God, I
couldn’t sit still. And yet I knew that spending time with God was
important, so I felt like I had failed. Throughout the day, my mind would
be consumed with other things and every time the thought of God came up
(which was less and less), I would think, “Oh, I really need to have more
quiet time with God.” I knew I was not where I should be spiritually. But
the problem was that to me, the solution was to pray more, to read the
bible more, to wait on God more, yet despite my efforts these things were
getting more and more difficult for me to do. I felt like a gulf had formed
between me and God, and the path to the way back was vastly unappealing.

But one night last week God broke through this all. When I didn’t think I
could make it all the way back to Him, He came and met me where I was. It
happened when I realized that all He wanted, all He required, was for me to
turn my heart toward Him that moment. My heart had been either delaying a
return, not wanting to face the disappointment in God’s face, or else
caught up in repenting for my shortfalls whenever I tried to draw near. I
felt that I had let Him down. But what I suddenly realized was that He
wasn’t disappointed. Disappointment comes when there are unmet
expectations, but God doesn’t have those kinds of heavy-burdened
expectations for us. All He wanted was for me to simply turn to Him that
moment, and He was overjoyed because of it!

I had thought that, before I could draw close to God, I had to be ready to
commit myself to Him again. But this was a deception that was keeping me
from God. I thought that before He could completely accept me, I had to
say, “Okay, God, I’m ready to live whole-heartedly for You now. I’m ready
to obey all Your commands and do everything You want me to do.” And the
problem was that I wasn’t ready to say that, and so I felt I couldn’t truly
come back.

But what I found was that God doesn’t require us to make promises we’re not
ready to make. He didn’t require me to be ready to give my entire life to
Him then and there. All I had the strength and faith to do was to turn to
Him that moment, and I realized that was all He wanted. As I processed this
revelation, and simply turned to God, it was all He needed to pour all of
Himself over me. I was set free. I had gotten used to coming before Him
with a feeling of inadequacy and the condemnation of “not giving enough.”
But now I came before Him with freedom and confidence, knowing He was
filled with joy merely by my presence.

The only way I can describe what that moment felt like is this: think about
having a fifty-pound weight on your shoulders for several years and had
already gotten completely used to it when, suddenly, someone took it off.
You would feel like you could fly. What happened inside of me was something
like that. I had gotten used to feeling guilty for not giving “enough” and
not meeting God’s expectations, when suddenly, that condemnation was lifted
off. I realized that God was so pleased with whatever I had at that moment
and that I was "enough" for Him. Suddenly I had ascended to a freedom, joy,
and peace I had never felt before. I actually laughed so hard I started
sobbing.

It was like Jesus was at the door knocking. I could hear Him knocking, but
I didn’t want to open the door because I wasn’t ready to be a good host.
I’d have to prepare things for him to eat, a place to sleep, etc. and most
of all, I still had to clean the house! But when the knocking continued, I
knew I couldn’t ignore it anymore so I mustered the courage to open the
door. Too embarrassed about the mess and not being prepared, I could hardly
look at Him. But to my surprise, He was filled with uncontainable joy just
to see me! He didn’t care about how clean the house was. He didn’t even
comment on it. He stepped through the door and hugged me so tightly: “I am
so pleased with you, my daughter! I love you so much.” And what I didn’t
expect was that behind Him, there were cleaning supplies that He had
brought to clean the house for me. And He had brought tons of food for us
to eat. I was filled with so much peace and joy. I didn’t have to do
anything, to prepare anything. All I did was open the door and He took away
all the other burdens I thought I had. And most of all, I saw He had only
wanted to be with me.

This was a life-changing moment, but the beauty of it lies in every moment.
Every moment is a chance to start over, and every moment is a new
invitation. He doesn’t ask us, “Will you follow me to your death?” He just
asks us, “Will you turn your heart to me this second?” Don’t even think
about trying to follow Him in the future, don’t worry about tomorrow. What
God wants is that in this moment we turn to Him, and then comes the next
moment. It’s step by step. And it’s walking in freedom and joy because I
know that every time, it’s a simple act of faith that touches His heart.
Before, spending time with God through praying or reading the bible had
started to become a burden because I thought it was something He “expected”
from me. But now it is a joy and I want to press in because I know He is
proud of me. He isn’t proud because of what I have done in the past or what
I will do in the future. No matter what, He is proud of me because I am His
daughter. Just like a baby doesn’t have to do anything to win the affection
of the parents, we receive God’s love not through earning it (which means we
also can’t disqualify ourselves from it.) And this love that is almost
too-good-to-be-true is what makes me want to know Him more.

What I’ve realized is that God doesn’t just want me to spend so many
minutes alone with Him everyday; what He wants is my soul resting in Him
throughout the day, to have my thoughts constantly turning to Him and
enjoying His presence with me. It’s okay if I am immersed in other
activities and thoughts, but what’s important is that when my mind is
finished being consumed with these other things, I can quickly turn to Him
again. Having a certain amount of prayer or bible reading everyday isn’t
the “goal”—it’s being able to turn my heart back toward Him and rest in Him
wherever, whenever.

This only confirms to me that it’s not because of our self-discipline, love
for God, or will power that we can abide in His presence. It’s because of
His unconditional, overwhelming love for us that draws us in and meets us
wherever we are. He is an awesome God!

Our Seventh Reading: Blaise Pascal Brings The Heat

This week's reading is from Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), one of history's true genuises. At 16, he published a paper on conic sections that so impressed Descartes that he refused to believe it was written by a youth. At 18, he built the second mechanical calculator ever. He went on to lay the foundations for probability theory and make significant contributions to number theory, do important research in physics, and to write a seminal defense of the scientific method.

Already a believer, Pascal became passionate about his faith after what he later called his "night of fire", which he described in a parchment he wrote to himself.

The year of grace 1654. Monday, 23 November... From about half-past ten in the evening until about half-past midnight.

Fire. The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellectuals. Certitude, certitude, feeling, joy, peace. The God of Jesus Christ...

(the parchment goes on for quite a while - you can read more about it elsewhere)

He carried that parchment on his person all the days of his life to remind him of what God had done in his life.

He began drafting a document to persuasively explain Christianity to skeptics, but died before he could complete it. All that we have are his fragmentary notes, which were collected and published as the Pensees. They have become a classic of French literature and are regarded by some scholars as the most elegant French writing of all time - the Pensees.

So today we'll read a little of this masterpiece. In our Devotional Classics book it's on page 143. You can also read an older and less elegant translation online.

Online, read section 7 fragment 430.

If you like the way Pascal writes, I highly recommend Peter Kreeft's annotated version titled Christianity For Modern Pagans. Kreeft teaches a philosophy course on Pascal at Boston College and is himself an able proponent of the Christian faith, so he is eminently qualified to help navigate the tunnels of Pascal's mind.

Another sermon

read this one.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article581.shtml

oh man.

-Alan

There's also a bunch of sermons at this site by other people:
http://articles.christiansunite.com/

There may be a better site out there with similar sermons and stuff, let me
know if you find one or know of one.
I think, in general, that these sermons by people who were passionate about
REVIVAL and passionate about people really knowing God will be very, very good.

Interesting sermon

Hey everyone,
  I read this sermon yesterday and thought I would forward it along because I thought it was convicting in ways we don't usually hear and I don't frequently think about.  In particular:
  * It talks about how we need to pray more, how *I* need to pray more.  How important it is to pray!
  * It talks about letting Jesus become Lord of our lives more.  Like, how good it is to ask God how we can grow in submission to His Will more! 

I was initially somewhat hesitant to forward along the sermon because there are some things I don't quite agree with or am not sure are right or not, but I decided to anyway because of the good stuff there too.  So, read with discernment!  Also, a bit more background, the person who wrote the sermon is one of my friends from MIT who is quite fervent for God.  He recently started a church plant at MIT.

Here's the link: http://www.cmfiboston.org/sermons/the_conversion_of_cornelius.html

and here are some clips of it in case you don't want to read the whole thing:

[It's about the conversion of Cornelius, in the New Testament: Acts 10:1-7,19-48, Acts 11:11-14 ]

And lastly, the bible says this man [prayed] to God regularly, and that's the thing that just blows my mind away. Let me ask just here honestly, which one of you have just prayed regularly in the last 30 days? Which of you have prayed regularly at the same time for the last 30 days? A survey was done for pastors in the southern states found that the average evangelical minister prays for five minutes. So Leonard Ravenhill used to tell David Wilkerson, that if you want to preach to ministers, preach to ministers about prayerlessness, and give an altar call. At the end of your message, they will flock. At a minister's conference, he asked the ministers how many prayed for 15 minutes a day regularly. Two raised their hands, in an audience of hundreds of ministers. When I came here my freshman year, I went to a big meeting that I will not name, but a popular meeting that lots of Christians go to. Man, that was my first time, I had just come from my home in Virginia, and I came with expectations on Christian ministry, but I went to this meeting, and it was so dead. The preacher was just dead. It was a nice talk, a nice presentation, but spiritually, it was zero. But everyone thought it was okay. At the end of it, I wondered if I was just being a little too judgmental. So at the end, I went up to the preacher, and I asked him "How much time do you pray a day?" He told me, "Well, my wife and I have so many children, there are some days I don't pray at all." And he said it without any shock. On some days when I pray, my bible reading, my meditation, including prayer, is sometimes one hour. No wonder our generation is heading straight to Hell. No wonder our generation has been so lost. Because our generation has sat under prayerless preachers, and I'm speaking to myself also. Our nation has sat under prayerless preachers who come on the altar without any anointing, who are unable to break people's doubts. Unable to shake the wicked. Unable to rouse the wicked with the judgment derides alarm, as the word says. Unable to make people walk out of church thinking hard, even if they refuse to give their lives to Christ. David Wilkerson went to New York and he preached to the gangs. Nicky Cruz said to him "I hate you, and I'll kill you if you try to speak to me about Jesus any more." But he said, when he went home, the message he spoke was ringing in Nicky's head over and over and over. He said, "This crazy preacher, he's messed up my mind." "This crazy preacher, he messed up my mind." He couldn't shake off the conviction. Why's that? Because this man had sold his TV, had started praying every day, going up on a hill every day praying for a year. He turned the time he was watching TV into prayer time, and after a year, the Lord said, "Go to New York and talk to the gangs." And he was the first preacher to address the issue of gangs on the streets. And so, we've lost a whole generation, like he says, because we lack the people on the altar who are people of prayer. I'm digressing a lot, but these are the things that have been on my heart. In any case, let me get back to my message.

...

I challenge you not to be satisfied with that kind of Christianity, where the word of the Lord is rare. I challenge you to seek the Lord and know when you hear the Lord's voice and you know when he speaks to you. I mean it's indispensable. I don't know how people just lead their lives without it. I mean, if one day you have a family, how will you lead your children if you can't hear from the Lord on their behalf? I had the chance to chat with Henry Blackabee when he came here to Boston. He was talking to parents and said if your son or daughter is in college away from home and is about to get into deep trouble, would you like God to tell you and let you know clearly what is going to happen. He said God is not usually in corrective business, he is usually in preventative business. He speaks to people and says, "Your son or your daughter is about to fall away from his faith, is about to be tempted. Pray hard for him and send him a warning!" In my life, I am very thankful that I've had people like that, listening to God on my behalf. Sister Susan Joseph, a dear Indian lady in northern Virgina is one of my spiritual mentors. She sends me words that there can be no mistake that God has spoken to her. Sometimes when I'm going through something, and I haven't told anybody, the next thing I'll check my email, and there is a word from the Lord through her straight to me. I just sometimes sit in front of the computer and marvel how she knows. It has to be that God has spoken to her. She is a God-fearing woman, and she prays. If you tell her, "Pray for this," she will pray. The Lord speaks to his people.

...

Jesus healed those who were under the burden of sin. He healed those who were under the burdens of physical diseases. He healed those who were under the burden of emotional diseases. He comes to heal the whole man, spirit, soul, and body, from the bondage of the devil. Your godliness will not do that. Your going to church will not do that. Your giving money to the poor will not do that. You have to receive Jesus and surrender your life to him. That's why it says here, "He is the Lord of all." Those who want Jesus' healing must come under his Lordship. Those who don't are rebels. Because God made Jesus the Lord of all. Therefore, those who are not living as if Jesus was Lord of their lives are living in rebellion against the One that God has appointed to be the Lord of the whole universe. We are witnesses of everything that he did in the country of the Jews in Jerusalem. He was not seen by all people, but by witnesses whom God has already chosen. He commanded us to preach the Gospel and to testify that he is the One whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. This afternoon, our message is that the Lord has appointed us to preach this Gospel to you. That Jesus Christ appeared to set you free from sin. Free from diseases. Free from curses. And free from all the bondages of the enemy. And the question, then is, what have you done with Jesus. That's the question I asked Mario earlier. How are you doing with Jesus? What have you done with the Lord. On judgment day, the question will not be, did you give money to the poor. The question will be, were you living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Were you living in the fear of the Lord? Did Jesus come into your life and become Lord and set you free from sin? Did Jesus come into your life, and was he Lord? And did his Lordship show up in your life? I want us to pray. But before we pray, is there anyone here who knows that Jesus has not been Lord of his life? If you know that Jesus has not been Lord of your life, raise your hand. If you are here, and you know this message was for you, and you know Jesus needs to become Lord of your life, let us know. Let's pray:

Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word. We thank you that there is no other name, no other way, no other means given unto man by which we may be saved, save the name of Jesus. Lord, thank you that we have no other way to go to heaven but through Jesus Christ who died and rose again to set us free from the bondages of the devil. Lord, I pray that everyone here will grow in submission to you. Lord, I pray that everyone here will grow in submission to your Holy Will. Thank you Lord, for this time. We bless your Holy Name, in Jesus' name. Amen.
[end of the sermon]


-Alan

PS - Comments welcome!  Posts welcome!  What do you think about those Devotional Classics readings?  Which one has been your favorite?  What has weirded you out?  Posts don't have to be super profound or anything.. more like a discussion or something.

Our Sixth Reading : John Chrysostom on Dying To Sin

John Chrysostom (347-407) is one of the most famous leaders from the early church. In fact, the Catholic Church considers him to be one of the 33 Doctors of the Church (alongside such luminaries as Augustine and Anselm). Oddly, neither Luther nor Calvin made the list. ;)

Chrysostom studied at the best schools of his day under the most well-respected pagan lecturers in the Empire. After his conversion and call to ministry he used his education and eloquence to become the greatest preacher of his day (and some believe of all time). John's eloquence was so legendary that he was given the nickname Chrysostom, which means golden-tongued.

In today's reading, we're looking at a sermon from his series on Romans. In the Devotional Classics book it's on page 309. You can also find it online.

I like this reading because it reminds me that the Church's message has remained unchanged from our earliest days. This sermon could easily be preached today.

Check the Wikipedia article on him for more info.

Why I will be in the same room next year

Hey everyone,
  I haven't posted in a while.. I have some half-finished entries that I will be finishing at some point, hopefully soon!  Anyway, now for this entry.. I will try keep this short so I actually finish in one sitting.

  Back in March or April, the dean for our dorm emailed us CAs (I'm a community associate for my dorm which is pretty similar to being an RA except we get paid much less) saying we could request rooms for the fall.  There's a room down the hall which I have been eyeing all year, I was considering moving into it last year but then they made it a double.  The room has a number of benefits over my current room, including excellent cell phone reception, two windows (one of only four rooms in the dorm with two windows), extra space, a nice layout, and more.  So anyway this year I deliberated for a while about if I really wanted the room or not, because it did seem unnecessary for me to have such a large room (even bigger than my current room), but eventually I said oh heck and emailed the housing person requesting it.

  Fast forward to June, and the two residents of the room moved out.  A few days later, I noticed that someone new had moved in.  I talked to her and found out that lo and behold, not only was the room a single but she was planning on staying for the entire following year, not just the summer.  I was somewhat shocked that the housing person hadn't given me the room, and it didn't help when the first thing the new occupant said to me after I explained that I was supposed to have this room was "well, you can come and visit me and I can gloat!"  She also rather liked the room for the many reason I listed above.

  At this point somehow my mindset towards the room changed subconsciously from approximately "it would be nice to have the room, but if they're going to make it a double then I wouldn't mind keeping my current room" to "I must have that room".  A day or so later I asked the new person if she would mind moving to another room and so I could move into that room.  She was of course resistant to the idea, but we eventually agreed she would think about (but not yet commit to) the possibility of moving to the exact same room but one floor down.  We found out the one-floor-down room would indeed be available in August and the room switching could occur then.  She was still not sure if she wanted to move, even after looking at the second floor room.  (the room below is slightly worse for several reasons, but still far better than normal rooms).

  I was still not really sure what to make of this, and was getting increasingly upset at the current resident that she wasn't willing to move.  I definitely had been having thoughts that I was *entitled* to the room, as a CA who had done a lot of work for the dorm, and even just as a older resident in the dorm (non-CA people regularly upgrade their rooms over the summer).  Surely, it was only due to an administrative mistake (more or less) that she had the room instead of me, I reasoned.  I was also thinking at times that I didn't really *need* the room, and that it wouldn't be so bad with my current room, and that the current resident would in fact be happier in her current room than the one in the floor below, but I was really having a hard time convincing myself of these things.

  Anyway, so yesterday she mentioned that she had that day emailed the housing person saying she was OK with switching rooms to the one a floor down.  Immediately previously to this, I had actually been getting mad at the current resident in my mind nominally because of her resistance to moving (or so my mind justified it) but I guess really because she was the obstacle in the way of my getting that room.  Immediately I felt quite convicted that (1) I was being quite greedy in trying to get that room, particularly with my asking the current resident to leave, (2) I really didn't *need* the room, (3) it is quite wrong to have my feelings of "entitlement" towards the room, and other things in general--I tend to feel this about other situations too. (I had also been convicted about this "entitlement" to some extent earlier in the month but not really done anything about it).  (4), I also realized more that the current resident really did like the room more than she would like the second floor room--that she would be happier on the third floor (for assorted reasons external to the room), and (5) the room was getting in between me and God, that to some extent I was seeking my happiness in the room rather than in God.  And that the people who write the things we read that Glen sends out and are in the Devotional Classics book really probably would have been quite happy with an even smaller room than the one I have currently (because they value knowing God above all other things, and find their happiness in God not in silly rooms).

  For the next day or so I really wrestled with this, knowing I should let her keep the room but my mind all the while trying to justify how it would be ok to do the room switch.  Finally I decided it would be easier to email the housing person cancelling the switch than talk to the current resident, so I did that first.  I haven't talked to the resident yet, as she was occupied earlier when I went by and I chickened out during the times before that, but will do soon.  So it does have a happy ending, the current resident's heart was changed in her now being generous and wanting to give me the room, and my heart was changed too.



  Here are also some scripture passages and other things, the applicability of which will hopefully be obvious. 

  As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
  "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
  "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
  Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
  At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
-- Mark 10:17-25


 And my God will ***meet all your needs*** according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 4:19


"Just before beginning the ministry in Changte, Jonathan [a missionary to China] wrote on the flyleaf of his Bible in 1894, “Seven Rules for Daily Living”:

1) Seek to give much, expect nothing.

2) Put the very best construction on the actions of others.

3) Never let a day pass without at least a quarter of an hour spent in the study of the Bible.

4) Never omit daily morning and evening private prayer and devotion.

5) In all things seek to know God’s Will and when known obey at any cost.

6) Seek to cultivate a quiet prayerful spirit.

7) Seek each day to do or say something to further Christianity among the heathen (p. 355).

...
All documentation is from his official biography written by his wife, Rosalind Goforth. Goforth of China. Zondervan, 1937."
-- From http://www.urbana.org/wtoday.witnesses.cfm?article=51


  "But this year I have started out trying to live all my waking moments in conscious listening to the inner voice, asking without ceasing, “What, Father, do you desire said? What, Father, do you desire done this minute?”
  It is clear that this is exactly what Jesus was doing all day every day. But it is not what His followers have been doing in very large numbers."
--From the Letters by a Modern Mystic that Glen sent out, p. 5 (Jan. 20)



  Finally, this whole situation begs the following questions:
  How do we prevent this sort of thing in the future?  In particular, how do we prevent from being blinded by our own desires or Satan's lies or other things that prevent us from hearing God?  ...especially in situations where it's really hard to discern our own feelings about things?  How can we be sure to be responsive to God's leadings, even when it's hard? 

Comments are welcome about these or other things!  This was quite a bit longer than I had anticipated, heh.

May we all be willing to respond to God's Will, at any cost!

-Alan

Our Fifth Reading: The Ethics of Elfland

Today's reading is by G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), a man who served as a significant influence in C. S. Lewis' thinking. In fact, Lewis listed Chesterton's Everlasting Man as one of the ten books that most influenced his life.

We are reading part of a chapter from Orthodoxy, one of his most famous works. The chapter is titled "The Ethics of Elfland." I beg you to read the whole chapter--to save space in the anthology they cut the first 2/3 of the chapter out and it's got some of the best stuff, including one of my all-time favorite phrases "democracy of the dead" and a stirring explanation of the deep convictions nurtured by fairy-tales.

I cannot emphasize how amazing this essay is. PLEASE READ THIS EVEN IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ANYTHING ELSE THIS SUMMER or even if you read one or two other works and didn't like them.

Again, I urge you to read the whole thing online - it's the same translation as in the anthology and it's uncut and unedited.

If you must read the condensed version, it begins on page 333 of Devotional Classics.

To learn more about this wild and crazy 6'4" red-headed Scotsman, visit http://chesterton.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton

And if you just want some fun, quick reading head to http://chesterton.org/discover/quotations.html to see some of his verbal gems.

Our Fourth Reading: The Dark Night of the Soul

This week's reading is from one of the greatest spiritual classics of all time, The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross (1542-1591). It's a total change of gears from last week's reading. Frank Laubach talked of basking in God's presence, whereas John will discuss God's absence.

Reading this revolutionized my life many years ago, and I hope it will be equally helpful to some of you.

If you're reading the online translation, read Book 1 Chapters 1-7. If you're reading in the Devotional Classics compilation, it begins on page 33.

A comment about the book: it is supposedly a verse-by-verse commentary on his poem The Dark Night of the Soul. In actuality, it is a meditation loosely inspired by the themes of the poem. I mention this because in the online reading he'll periodically allude to the poem, although these references have been excised in the anthology.

If you're a fan of poetry, by the way, you should know that John is considered to be the Spanish equivalent of Shakespeare. The full text of the poem is available in the online version.

If you're wondering where all this is coming from, there is a brief biograpy on the Catholic Encyclopedia and another on Wikipedia.

Laubach's experiment

"Can a merchant do business, can an accountant keep books, ceaselessly surrendered to God?"

"It has always been easier for the shepherds, and the monks, and anchorites than for people surrounded by crowds.  But today it is an altogether different thing. I am no longer lonesome. The hours of the day from dawn to bedtime are spent in the presence of others. Either this new situation will crowd God out or I must take him into it all."

Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us could repeat Laubach's experiment, to find out if such close fellowship with God can exist in us?  Imagine if all of Chi Alpha made Laubach's commitment.  How far could we go, and how much better would we serve God?

I must admit that a lot of his letters catch me off guard.  Not ever having had similar experiences to his, I can't help being skeptical sometimes.  But since as outsiders we can't observe his experiences, I guess the only way for us to find out for sure if such encounters with God are possible is to experience them ourselves.

Clare

Our Third Reading: Laubach on Constant Prayer

Our third reading is from Frank Laubach (1884-1970), one of the most influential figures in the history of the worldwide literacy movement. God used him to teach millions to read and gave him the opportunity to influence world leaders such as President Truman.

Many of his admirers today do not realize that Laubach was a missionary to the Philippines - they think of him in purely humanitarian terms and have a hard time understanding how such practical compassion could be rooted in such a deep faith.

Laubach's most well-known work is Letters From A Modern Mystic (PDF link).

It's only 37 pages, so reading the whole thing in one shot is no stretch. If you have limited time (or patience) focus on January 3, Jan 20, Jan 26, Jan 29, March 1, March 15, March 23, April 19, April 22 and May 24 (all 1930).

These excerpts begin on page 101 of the Devotional Classics book, and on page 4 of the PDF.

If you would like to read more by Laubach, look for a book called Game With Minutes in which he describes a method of praying every minute throughout the day--literally. This book is sometimes found bound together with a book by Brother Lawrence called Practicing the Presence of God. When issued in combined edition, they're called Practicing His Presence.

You can also read a helpful article on Letters From A Modern Mystic at http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=43

Our Second Reading: de Caussade on Yielding to God

Our second reading is from Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675 - 1751). He was a French Jesuit who is best known for his work as what is called a "spiritual director." Today we'd call him a mentor or a guru.

In the Devotional Classics book this reading is on page 200. For those who don't have the book, there is a public-domain translation available.

We're reading from sections 4 through 8, which deal with yielding to God every moment of the day. There are about 3,500 words in this reading.

Section 4: In What Perfection Consists
Section 5: The Divine Influence Alone Can Sanctify Us
Section 6: On The Use of Mental Faculties
Section 7: On The Attainment of Peace
Section 8: To Estimate Degrees of Excellence

If you're reading the public-domain translation, the black numbers off to the side are photographs of the pages covered in the reading (such as this).

If you'd like to read more by Caussade, almost everything that survives of his writings has been combined into the various portions of this book. He gets exceedingly practical, as in this timeless bit of counsel: "For the toilet, do all that is necessary, then think no more about it." (no, really- he says that to a nun!)

Men As Trees, Walking

This is a summary and paraphrase of the main points from a sermon given in Westminster Chapel during the 60's.  The sermon comes from a series of twenty-one sermons by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, collected in a book called Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure (sounds like a typical self-help book, I know, but it's way better than that and I highly recommend it).  I actually have found all the sermons in the book to be really helpful, but this one goes well with the Dallas Willard excerpt in Devotional Classics.

They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.  He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.  When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"

He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around."

Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes.  Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.  Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village."

Mark 8:22-26 (NIV)

This miracle stands out from the others that Jesus performed, because it happened in two stages.  Obviously, Jesus was capable of healing people instantly, and we know that he often did.  But he deliberately chose not to do so in this case.  He clearly wanted it to be more than just a miracle; he wanted his disciples to learn something from it.

How would we describe the blind man, after Jesus spits on his eyes and puts his hands on them the first time?  He's not blind, because he can see; but he can't really see either, because he sees people as if they are "trees walking around."

There are a lot of Christians who are just like the blind man before his sight was fully restored.  They know just enough Christianity "to spoil their enjoyment of the world," but not enough to be happy with their position.  Nobody should be in that situation.  Moreover, nobody needs to be.

How do people become like those Christians?  Usually they start out realizing that their lives are empty, and that everything is wrong as it is.  Sometimes such people don't become Christian at all; they fall into cynicism or despair.  But otherwise, they may compare their lives to the Christian life as depicted in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29), or in 1 Corinthians 13.  They may admire the Christian life and wish that everyone in the world lived like that.  Even further, they may assent that Jesus Christ is "somehow the Savior."  In some obscure way, they believe, Jesus can help them.  And finally, they may know that they cannot save themselves--that justification is by faith, not by works.

Nonetheless, these Christians are still confused.  They may be missing many things in the Christian life, but here are the three primary areas:

1. They do not understand key principles clearly.  For example, they may not see how Christ's death was necessary, or why one needs to be "reborn."  If you talk to such a Christian, you will find that they cannot give clear answers to anything.

2. They do not find their happiness in Christianity.  They know that they should be moved by the message of Christianity, and may even try to remind themselves of why they should be moved, but their hearts are not fully engaged.

3. They are rebellious.  Even though they criticize the old life and admire the Christian life, they do not understand why Christians must do some things and refrain from others.  They constantly argue about whether it is okay for them to do this or that.

Sometimes Christians are like this because of an evangelist who converted them without addressing those concerns.  But just as often, it is the fault of the Christians themselves.  Some of the main reasons for their condition are:

1. They dislike clear-cut definitions, preferring a vague, comfortable religion instead.  They will say, "'You are being too precise, you are being too legalistic....  I believe in Christianity, but you are being too rigid and too narrow in your conceptions.'"  If you want a vague religion, don't object if you see people like "trees walking around"!

2. They don't take the Bible as the ultimate authority, but change it to fit their own views from their previous life.  They claim that they believe in "moderation," or that some Scriptural doctrines are obsolete in our modern day and age.  In effect, they forget that this is God's timeless Word we're talking about.

3. They make a distinction between a "spiritual reading" of the Bible and "doctrine," in which they have no interest.  But the whole purpose of the Bible is to provide us with doctrine!  Doctrine is truth that helps us to see clearly.

4. They take Biblical doctrines in the wrong order--for instance, they learn about being reborn without understanding how they stand with God in the first place.  Or else they think about sanctification--producing good works--before they think about justification--being saved apart from efforts.  They fail to think things through carefully.

So finally, how do we solve this condition?

1. Be honest about where you stand with God.  Be like the blind man, who answered Jesus honestly when Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?"  Don't claim that you see everything perfectly--which misleads others--but on the other hand, don't give up the situation as hopeless.

2. Submit yourself to God's treatment.  He will not leave you in this condition if you let him do his work.  Read the Bible, pray, make it your first priority to learn the truth; then your sight will be restored.

Hope this inspires someone else as well.

Clare

Revival article

Hey everyone,
I happened upon an article that Glen had posted a long time ago on one
of the Chi Alpha sermon web pages. It's about revivals on college campuses
in the US between 1800-1880.

http://www.gl-sicm.org/docs/preconference/Campus_Revivals.pdf

Let us pray for revival also!

-Alan

Our First Reading: C. S. Lewis On Old Books

Our first reading is C. S. Lewis's introduction to Athanasius' On The Incarnation: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/history/ath-inc.htm#ch_0

This is one of Lewis' most famous essays. In it, he explains why the reading of classic Christian works is essential for those who want to be truly grounded in the faith. It's a must read if you're not sure why we're reading enduring spiritual texts rather than the latest by Max Lucado or John Eldredge or Joyce Meyer.

Unlike most of our readings, this one isn't from the Devotional Classics book. We'll begin our selections from that book in our next reading.

Ideas for what to post

Here are some ideas for what you can post to the blog:

- Commentary or thoughts on the book we'll be reading
- Write a devotional
- Pass on a link to a sermon or something you read that you thought was
really good -- like Glen sent us an email about the Revival Hymn video.
- Write a summary of a sermon you heard recently, or at least put some of
it in your own words, particularly stuff you really liked
- Put a passage from the Bible in your own words!
- Do an audio devotional--if you don't like writing, just record yourself
speaking it!
- Tell us stuff you've been thinking or praying about--I often find it is
helpful hearing what other people are thinking/praying about because it's
encouraging and breaks me out of my little box of stuff I usually pray
for--there's a lot of good stuff to pray for.
- Prayer requests
- Share a testimony with us, just something God has done in your life or
God taught you or something
- Pursue a hard question to death like Dr. Craig suggested, and then write
about it so we can know too and benefit from your research
- Anything that is encouraging!

-Alan