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Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
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Home Archives for Quotation

Miles Stanford on Appropriating Blessing

Posted on January 17, 2013 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

“Let us cease laying down to the saints long lists of ‘conditions’ of entering into the blessed life in Christ; and instead, as the primal preparation for leading them into the experience of this life, show them what their position, possessions, and privileges in Christ already are. Thus shall we truly work with the Holy Spirit, and thus shall we have more, and much more abiding fruit of our labors among the people of God.” – Miles Stanford in The Green Letters

The Green Letters
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It is far too common for church leaders to intimate that spiritual blessing is conditioned upon proper behavior. While statements like, “if you give of yourself more, you will experience blessing” or “service is the way to fellowship” are often well meant, they inadvertently damage a believers rest in the promises of God.

The only condition for receiving God’s blessing is to be in Christ. I am blessed because of my relationship with Jesus Christ and it is upon this relationship alone that blessing is conditioned.

Miles Stanford
Miles Stanford

I may not act as if I am blessed. I may not perceive that I am blessed. But if I am in Christ, I am blessed none-the-less. No-one can take that blessing away.

The problem is that I need to remember that this blessing is mine and live as though it is mine. As Miles Stanford states above, I have position in Christ, I have possessions in Christ and I have Privileges in Christ. If you are in Christ they are your blessings also.

We don’t need to earn these blessings; We could not earn them if we tried.We simply need to live as though they are ours.

Because they are.

Filed Under: Quotation Tagged With: blessing, Green Letters, Stanford

Philip Yancey on the problem of pain

Posted on December 26, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Philip YanceyWith regard to those who use the problem of pain as a reason to disbelieve in God, Philip Yancey writes this:

“It’s as if we in modern times think we have a corner on the suffering market. Do we forget that Luther and Calvin liven in a world without either and penicillin, when life expectancy averaged thirty years, and that Bunyan and Donne wrote their greatest works, respectively, in a jail and a plague quarantine room? Ironically, the modern authors – who live in princely comfort, toil in climate-controlled offices, and hoard elixirs in their medicine cabinets – are the ones smoldering with rage.”

– From the introduction to Where is God When it Hurts?

Filed Under: Quotation Tagged With: Bunyan, Calvin, Donne, Luther, pain, Yancey

K. P. Yohannan on willingness to suffer

Posted on July 3, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

KP willing to sufferThis quotation is from Against the Wind, by K. P. Yohannan.

” . . . if you humble yourself and repent, saying, ‘Lord, my heart is cold. I am going after the things of the world. I am more concerned with my health and my comfort and my wife and kids than Your kingdom and Your people. Lord, I am more concerned about my comfort and future than the lost in the villages going to hell. Please forgive me, Lord. Would you change my heart?’ – I tell you, something amazing will happen inside of you. His anointing, grace and peace will enter your life, drawing you closer and closer to His side and changing your heart to be one that is willing to give whatever He asks because of your love for Him.

Follow in the footsteps of Christ. Be one who is willing to suffer.”

 

Filed Under: Quotation

A. W. Tozer on activity in the Church

Posted on May 8, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

A. W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God in 1949:

Gentle WindRight now we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that service imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

Too often this describes churches still today. We have web-based calendars to keep track of our church activities. Our worship is louder and more rhythmic. Our preaching may be supported by the latest in multimedia technology. But better organization, louder music and flashier graphics do not mean that the Holy Spirit is operative and that the Word of God, Jesus himself is the focus.

When God revealed himself to Elijah, it was in the “gentle blowing” (NASB) or the “still small voice” (KJV).

Can we pause all the activity, take a deep breath and listen for that gentle blowing?

Filed Under: Quotation Tagged With: Christ, Elijah, God, Holy Spirit, Jesu, Tozer

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