Stephen to Lazarus

A few days ago, a good friend and I were discussing a person who favoured praying for dead people to be raised. Being the experienced ministers we are, we were, naturally, befuddled. Anyway, strangely enough I then happened to read this from Lewis:

Stephen to Lazarus
But was I the first martyr, who
Gave up no more than life, while you
Already free among the dead,
Your rags stripped off, your fetters shed,
Surrendered what all other men
Irrevocably keep, and when
Your bttered ship at anchor lay
Seemingly safe in the dark bay
No ripple stirs, obediently
Put out a second time to sea
Well knowing that your death (in vain
died once) must all be died again?

Poems, CS Lewis, p125

Herbert on worrying about the future

Some lines from "The Discharge"

Only the present is thy part and fee.
And happy thou,
If, though thou didst not beat thy future brow,
Thou couldst well see
What present things requir'd of thee


They ask enough; why shouldst thou further go?
Raise not the mud
Of future depths, but drink the clear and good.
Dig not for woe
In times to come; for it will grow.

...

Things present shrink and die: but they that spend
Their thoughts and sense
On future grief, do not remove it thence
But it extend,
And draw the bottom out to an end.

God chains the dog til night: wilt loose the chain,
And wake thy sorrow?
Wilt thou forestall it, and now grieve to morrow,
And then again
Grieve over freshly all thy pain?

Either grief will not come:or if it must
Do not forecast.
And while it cometh, it is almost past.
Away distrust:
My God hath promised, He is just.

#3 Chem 6a

This is a bit early as I can't post for a day or two. And it's a departure from Blondie...

I heard Switchfoot in 1998 (I think) when we ended up with a pair of free tickets to a Delirious? concert. They were pretty good, but were in the height of their radio-1-moody-look. The support band, however, were quite different: 3 Americans who looked jolly happy to be there, and played expertly, AND did the Chuck Berry jump at the end of big numbers. On the way out I bought The Legend of Chin album. Now this was before major label success/MTV awards/Spiderman2 etc etc so at this point the band were manning their own merchandise stall in the foyer! So yes, I have a signed copy of the album AND I have shaken hands with Jon Foreman!! I haven't washed since. Come to think of it I didn't wash before either, but that's besides the point.

Anyway, this could have been one of several songs, but I went for opening-guitar-riff-I -wish-I-could-play - Chem6a. It's not on LastFM, so here's the video:

Chem 6a

Calvin: word & Spirit

For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of his Word and of his Spirit so that the perfect religion of the word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, who causes us to contemplate God's face, shines; and that we in turn may embrace the Spirit with no fear of being deceived when we recognise him in his own image, namely in the Word. So indeed it is. God did not bring forth his word among men for the sake of a momentary display, intending at the coming of His Spirit to abolish it. Rather, he sent down the same Spirit by whose power he had dispensed the Word, to complete his work by his efficacious confirmation of the Word.

Insitutues 1.9.3 (Battles p95)

(Is Calvin here calling the Bible the 'image of the Spirit'?)

Applying the Bible: Samson & the church mice

Since reading books to my children, I have discovered that 80% of titles are cheaply produced nonsense which I suspect are promoted by supermarkets and nappy companies. Thankfully there are many great books and I have gained several favourite authors - probably 50% of which are out of print (I don't think I will ever get another copy of The Tough Princess before my two are too old for it).

Anyway, amongst the truly great stories we have read, one of the most outstanding is The Church Mice books, which I remember from Jackanory in the 70s. Needless to say, being so good, they are, therefore, out of print - which is a crime. Originally conceived as a series of books looking at different buildings in a town and the stories therein, the first - which was set in the church - was so successful (and hilarious) that Graham Oakley just wrote and illustrated more of those.

Not only do children love it, and adults find a load of stuff in there for them, but they show that cats and mice can be very good at reading, understanding and applying the Bible. Arthur is a lone mouse in the church; but the church cat has been listening to the preacher and has taken a vow...

#2 Only a Dream in Rio

A bit of a contrast to my #1 and The Blue Nile, but a song I would like to have with me if I was stuck on a desert island.

My childhood friend discovered James Taylor when Never Die Young came out in 1987 (I think). And as we shared music constantly, so I got a bit interested too. Never quite to the extent he did, but enough to find the classics. So this could have been Fire and Rain or Carolina in My Mind or There's Something in the Way She Moves. But I've settled on Only a dream in Rio for pure atmosphere.

This link gives the studio version and a live performance.

Calvin: you big softie

He really ought to stop faffing about and put it bluntly....

I know what certain rascals bawl out in corners in order to display the keenness of their wit in assailing God's truth. For they ask, Who assures us that the books that we read under the names of Moses and the prophets were written by them? they even dare question whether there ever was a Moses. Yet if anyone were to call in doubt whether there ever was a Plato, an Aristotle, or a Cicero, who would not say that such folly ought to be chastises with the fist or the lash.

Institutes 1.8.9 (Battles p88)

Those were the days....

Calvin: Scripture

Read Demosthenes or Cicero; read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure. But betake yourself from them to this sacred reading. Then, in spite of yourself, so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression, such vigor as the orators and philosophers have will nearly vanish. Consequently, it is easy to see that the Sacred Scriptures, which so far surpass all gifts and graces of human endevour, breath something divine.

Institutes, 1.8.1 (Battles p 82)

After the bus...

In the wake of the bus adverts in some UK cities, Christianity Today just ran this great cartoon.

#1 Five Miles Out

NB. These tracks won't be appearing in any order (a la Fluff Freeman countdowns), as we decided that was too hard to work out and made our brains hurt. We'll also try to link to some online version of the track for further study and academic research....

So here we go....

Well, I thought I would get this over and done with at the start...Mike Oldfield will turn up a lot more often and with more credibility if/when we do Albums. He's not best known for his ability with 3 minute singles, being more at home with 25 minute tracks, but he did occasionally turn out singles (he was being forced to by Virgin) that were really good (INMHO).

'Five Miles Out' musicifies a near fatal plane journey in a light aircraft over the Alps. By this time Oldfield had a band and they were being transported to a venue when they were hit by a terrifying storm. Unlike most of his singles (with lyrics that sound like 6th form poetry) this one describes something real; it also cleverly weaves in themes from side A of the album (the 20-odd minute instrumental; listen carefully, and you can also hear, in the first 20 seconds, the theme from Tubular Bells, which turns up, semi-concealed, in lots of his work).

So, I'm kicking things off with a song that has been stuck in my head for over 20 years. Here's the video which, despite being the beginning of Oldfield's use of early computer equipment - with which he fiddled for years like a teenager in his bedroom on a ZX81 - actually looks like a video made by a teenager fiddling in his bedroom on a ZX81.

Top 25 of two rock dudes

From tomorrow, Minternational and myself will be posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays a track from our personal lists of what we feel is the best stuff ever. Basically we are two middle-aged men recapturing our misspent youths during our coffee breaks. So feel free (dear audience of millions) to watch as we learn one another's tastes and leave edifying comments (= are very rude to each other)...

Augustine: judgment

If now every sin were to suffer open punishment, it would seem that nothing is reserved for the final judgement. Again, if God were now to punish no sin openly, one would believe that there is no providence.

Calvin: creation

...the most perfect way of seeking God...is not for us to attempt with bold curiosity to penetrate to the investigation of His essence, which we ought more to adore than to meticulously search out, but for us to contemplate Him in His works whereby he renders himself near and familiar to us, and in some manner communicates Himself...It is also fitting, therefore, for us to pursue this particular search for God, which may so hold our mental powers suspended in wonderment as at the same time to stir us deeply. And as Augustine teaches elsewhere, because, disheartened by His greatness, we cannot grasp Him, we ought to gaze upon His works, that we may be restored by His goodness.

Institutes 1.5.9 (Battles p 62)

Books

I love books. I love to buy new books, collect old books, and cover my walls with books. Books are the scholarly jolts that begin my day and the literary nightcaps that bring my day to a close. Books are my hot chocolates, my Irish cream coffees, and my hot lattes with extra shots of espresso.

Tony Reinke
http://spurgeon.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/tip-1-capture-reading-time/

Calvin: piety

I call 'piety' that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of His benefits induces. For until men recognise that they owe everything to God, that they are nourished by His fatherly care, that He is the Author of their every good, that they should seek nothing beyond Him - they will never yield Him willing service. Nay, unless they establish their complete happiness in Him, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to Him.

Institutes, 1.2.1 ( Battles p41)