Hymns that stir the Heart

I don't normally go on the Methodist side of things, but I do like the hymns of Charles Wesley. This is one that resonates with my Spirit:

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Verse 1

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My dear Redeemer's praise!
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

Verse 2

My gracious Master, and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of thy name.

Verse 3

Jesus, the name that charms our fears
That bids our sorrows cease----
'Tis music in the sinners' ears,
'Tis life, and health, and peace.

From John and Charles Wesley: Selected Prayers, Hymns, and Sermons, Harper Collins San Francisco Publishing, (c) 1981, 2004.

Day 2: The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards

Resolution Number 4

4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.

Penn Jillette can teach us all a little about Proseletyzing

Hopefully this will persuade us all to make a greater effort to proseletyze.

RC

Courtesy of The Contemporary Calvinist.

The Resolutions of Johnathan Edwards

The great Johnathan Edwards had a list of resolutions that he read once a week. It would do us all good to ruminate upon his resolutions and internalize them. I will post a new resolution or resolutions each day until we are done with the list of 70. I pray that each of us uses his resolutions as part of our daily meditation for the next several weeks.

RC

Resolution #1 through #3

1. Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God's glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriad's of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever.

2. Resolved, to be continually endeavoring to find out some new invention and contrivance to promote the aforementioned things.

3. Resolved, if ever I shall fall and grow dull, so as to neglect to keep any part of these Resolutions, to repent of all I can remember, when I come to myself again.




Courtesy of A Puritan's Mind.

It Takes a Community

A few years ago we all heard about Hillary Clinton's 'It Takes a Village' ad nauseam, but I do believe that in some respects it takes a community to fully appreciate the Triune God. Cultivating an on-line community where Christians could come together and discuss the points of Christianity they held in common as well as points of debate is what I hope to achieve here. I hope to be able to cultivate a community of debate, but with love. I hope that everyone who visits our little neck of the internet will go away with a greater love and knowledge of the Triune God. This is somewhat of an experiment. I am biblically conservative and have been intolerant of others' viewpoints in the past. I hope to grow in my ability to discuss difficult topics without being obnoxious. One of the driving forces behind the birth of this particular blog was a quote I read.

I recently read a great C.S. Lewis quote in Tim Keller’s book The Prodigal God . You will find the quote in the chapter entitled the “The Feast of the Father.” In this chapter Keller is making the point that salvation is experiential, material, individual, and communal. The quote is used in the section of the chapter dealing with the communal aspects of salvation and is worth the price of the book alone. The quote can be found in Lewis’ book The Four Loves in an essay entitled “Friendship.”

In the lead up to the quote Keller states, “You can’t live the Christian life without a band of Christian friends, without a family of believers in which you find a place.”

Keller further sets up the quote by describing the situation underlying the quote:

“C.S. Lewis was part of a famous circle of friends called the Inklings, which included J.R.R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings, and also the author Charles Williams, who died unexpectedly.”

C.S. Lewis’ quote is a reflection on the results of the loss of his friend Charles Williams.

“In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets. Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s [Tolkien’s] reaction to a specifically Charles joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald…In this, Friendship exhibits a glorious “nearness by resemblance” to heaven itself where the very multitude of the blessed (which no man can number) increases the fruition which each of us has of God. For every soul, seeing Him in her own way, doubtless communicates that unique vision to all the rest. That, says an old author, is why the Seraphim in Isaiah’s vision are crying “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another (Isaiah 6:3). The more we thus share the Heavenly Bread between us, the more we shall have.”

Keller sums it up:

“Lewis is saying that it took a community to know an individual. How much more would this be true of Jesus Christ?”

It is my prayer that God will use this community to help each of us to grow in the areas that we need spiritual growth the most.

RC

Thoughts on the Biblical View of Marriage

I have been stewing over the California Proposition 8 thing for quite some time, and it really comes down to how people see marriage. God is VERY clear on how marriage is: Marriage is the union between one man and one woman. It is very clear on how God made man and woman: biologically and mentally. In the Old Testament, the Levitical laws were set up in a specific way for a reason.(Leviticus 18:22, 20:13) They were set up so the People of Israel would not defile themselves and ruin the temple of God. Yes, our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. In the first part of Paul's letter to the Romans, he mentions that if the people would not obey Him, He would give them over to a reprobate mind. Also, they would give their bodies over to unholy uses, such as those of people of the same sex. God is VERY CLEAR that those uses are an ABOMINATION. (Romans 1:24-32) There is only one use for marriage, and that is a heterosexual and monogamous use. God is quite clear. (All of y'all will find out quite soon that I wear my heart on my sleeve, and that I am quite opinionated where my Lord is concerned. Also, I am getting my Bachelor's in Theology soon, so when I see something contrary to scripture, it gets on my nerves!)

Solo Deo Gloria!!!

Erik