Spurgeon and fainting fits

The Lesson:“be not dismayed by soul-trouble.” “Cast the burden of the present, along with the sin of the past and the fear of the future, upon the Lord, who forsaketh not his saint. Live by the day–ay, by the hour. Put no trust in frames and feelings. Care more for a grain of faith than a ton of excitement….Be not surprised when friends fail you: it is a failing world….Between this and heaven there may be rougher weather yet, but it is all provided for by our covenant Head….Come fair or come foul…be it ours, when we cannot see the face of our God, to trust under the shadow of his wings.”

http://wisecounsel.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/spurgeon-on-depression/

Quick review: Gaudy Night

...by Dorothy L Sayers

The Peter Wimsey novels seem to get bigger as you go along, which is worth noting given that Wimsey doesn't really show up til more than halfway through this one.  To a great extent this is a novel about Harriet Vane, the woman he saved from the gallows five years before and who has steadfastly resisted his marriage proposals ever since. But if there is a love song in this book, then it seems to me it is to Oxford, the spires, the spring, the joy of scholarship - all things which it seems Sayers loved and maybe missed?  And Harriet certainly does.  Against this backdrop - or woven through it - a case arises which requires her investigation sans Wimsey, but the elements of which allow us to get to know Harrier properly whilst she works through the shadows of her past, and even what on earth has been going on in her mind these last five years since encountering Wimsey.

Very different from the other novels - but one which, if ever I have the fortune to have a holiday in Oxford again, I would re read there as a fitting soundtrack.

Bunyan: Hopeful stands against fears in the dungeon

Hopeful: My brother, said he, rememberest thou not how valiant thou hast been heretofore? Apollyon could not crush thee, nor could all that thou didst hear, or see, or feel, in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. What hardship, terror, and amazement hast thou already gone through; and art thou now nothing but fears! Thou seest that I am in the dungeon with thee, a far weaker man by nature than thou art. Also this giant hath wounded me as well as thee, and hath also cut off the bread and water from my mouth, and with thee I mourn without the light. But let us exercise a little more patience. Remember how thou playedst the man at Vanity Fair, and wast neither afraid of the chain nor cage, nor yet of bloody death: wherefore let us (at least to avoid the shame that it becomes not a Christian to be found in) bear up with patience as well as we can. 

Christian remembers the key of Promise:

Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom, and began to try at the dungeon-door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out. Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle-yard, and with his key opened that door also. After he went to the iron gate, for that must be opened too; but that lock went desperately hard, yet the key did open it. They then thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed; but that gate, as it opened, made such a creaking, that it waked Giant Despair, who hastily rising to pursue his prisoners, felt his limbs to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on, and came to the King’s highway, and so were safe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.  

In my personal copy, that last lock is described as "damnable" hard to open...but in the end it does.

Pilgrim's Progress

Maxwell on Spurgeon on anxiety

...CH Spurgeon stated, "Our anxiety does not empty today of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths."  A person cannot allow fear to master him and become the master of his strengths at the same time.  It just doesn't happen.

John C Maxwell, The Difference Maker, p130.

Bunyan: prayer and the emptiness of all things

When shall we come and appear before God?  We pray when we see the emptiness of all things under heaven  We see that in God alone their is rest and satisfaction for the soul. "The widow that is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and ask God for help". (!TM.5:5)...to pry rightly you must make God your hope, stay and all.  Right prayer sees nothing substantial or worth being concerned about except God.  And that, as I said before, it does in a sincere, sensible and affectionate way.

John Bunyan, Pilgrim's Prayer Book, quoted in "Come Boldly", p18.

Miller: not figuring things out by yourself

You especially noted that after all these years of ministry, you don't know of anyone becoming a Christian through your work.  Looking back over my own life and ministry, I would say that one of my greatest weaknesses has also been trying to figure things out on my own without taking the time to be alone with God and opening myself to what He wants to teach me.

The Heart of a Servant Leader, p52

Miller: Vision

What I would stress then is that a man of vision gets his vision only in and through prayer.  Only prayer with a goal of glorifying God at any cost can give God's vision to a man or a woman.  I covet this for myself - and for you.

I would encourage you to remember that such a desire for vision is already a gift of the Lord, and what He has begun to give He wants to increase.  Hindrances there are.  One of these happens to be reservations in our hearts about the nature and character of His will for our lives.  We secretly suspect that His will might be more demanding, more crucifying of our desires, than we can handle.  But daily surrender to His will as you pray, and it will bring a freedom from anxiety that you cannot believe.

The Heart of a Servant Leader, by C John Miller, p25.

Welch: Abraham's glasses

But whatever grace Abraham has is elusive for most of us.  Abraham had a spiritual vision that allowed him to see beyond the eleventh hour, but the rest of us live with reading glasses that exaggerate what is in front of us and blur everything beyond three feet. 

Running Scare p89

Welch: the God of Suspense

In the wilderness story, God tells us up front that he is the God of suspense.  In the course of that story, he assures us that there will be times when we feel surrounded, facing insurmountable odds with no apparent way out.  That, in fact, is part of his good plan for us.  He also tells us that he will bring us to the end of our cleverness because that is when we are most apt to acknowledge his strong hand alone. 

Running Scared, p84

Stark: "Scientific revolution"?

In many ways the term "Scientific Revolution" is as misleading as "dark Ages".  Both were coined to discredit the medieval Church.  The notion of a "Scientific Revolution" has been used to claim that science suddenly burst forth when a weakened Christianity could no longer prevent it, and as the recovery of classical learning made it possible.  Both claims are as false as those concerning Columbus and the flat earth.  First of all, classical learning did not provide an appropriate model for science.  Second, the rise of science was already far along by the sixteenth century, having been carefully nurtured by devout Scholastics in that most Christian invention, the university.  

Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God (Princeton University Press), p134

GMH: My own heart

Hopkins, for me, captures painfully well the man with the mind that will not, just will not, stop processing painful thoughts. And gives good advice: call them off to somewhere else, so that God may have space to grow comfort and joy.

MY own heart let me have more have pity on; let
Me live to my sad self hereafter kind,
Charitable; not live this tormented mind
With this tormented mind tormenting yet.
I cast for comfort I can no more get
By groping round my comfortless, than blind
Eyes in their dark can day or thirst can find
Thirst ’s all-in-all in all a world of wet.
Soul, self; come, poor Jackself, I do advise
You, jaded, let be; call off thoughts awhile
Elsewhere; leave comfort root-room; let joy size
At God knows when to God knows what; whose smile
’s not wrung, see you; unforeseen times rather—as skies
Betweenpie mountains—lights a lovely mile.

Peterson: inane speech

It is easy for us to say whatever comes to mind, our role as pastor  compensating for our inane speech.  It is easy to say what either flatters or manipulates and so acquire power over others.

The Contemplative Pastor, p156

Kruse: grace

The word charis is found one hundred times (in 95 verses) in Paul’s letters, signifying that it represented a most important theological concept for him. With only nine exceptions (where charis is used of the kindness shown by believers or to express thanks), it denotes the grace of God. It is found frequently in the opening and closing greetings of Paul’s letters (e.g., in 1   Cor 1: 3: ‘Grace and peace to you from God our Father’,  but most often to refer to God’s goodwill expressed in action for the benefit of believers. Paul speaks of God’s grace, God’s goodwill expressed in action, in many different connections. He mentions it in relation to (i)   his own calling and empowering to be an apostle (1: 5; 12: 3; 15: 15; 1   Cor 3: 10; 15: 10; 2   Cor 1: 12; 2: 14; 12: 9; Gal 2: 9; Eph 3: 2, 7-8; 1   Tim 1: 14), (ii)   the calling of believers to faith in Christ through the gospel (Gal 1: 6); (iii)   God’s gift of salvation and justification (3: 24; 5: 15, 17; 2   Tim 1: 9; Tit 2: 11; 3: 7); (iv)   God’s empowering of believers (2   Tim 2: 1); (v)   the fulfillment of God’s promises and the hope he places before believers (4: 16; 2   Thess 2: 16); (vi)   the standing believers have before God (5: 2; 6: 1, 14-15); (vii)   God’s redemptive activity through Christ (5: 20-21; 2   Cor 4: 15; 6: 1; 8: 9; Gal 2: 21; 5: 4; Eph 1: 6-7; 2: 5, 7-8; Phil 1: 7; Col 1: 6; 2   Thess 1: 12); (viii)   God’s choice of the faithful remnant (Rom 11: 5-6); (ix)   God’s gifts of ministry (Rom 12: 6; Eph 4: 7); and (x)   God’s work enabling generosity and concern for others in the lives of believers (2   Cor 8: 1, 6-7, 16; 9: 8, 14).

Kruse, Colin G. (2012-07-01). Paul's Letter to the Romans (Pillar New Testament Commentary) (pp. 185-186). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.

Peterson: historical amnesia

Another characteristic of the adolescent that has spread into the larger population is the absence of historical sense.  The adolescent, of course, has no history.  He or she has a childhood but no accumulation of experience that transcends personal details and produces a sense of history.  His world is highly personal and extremely empirical.

As a consequence the teenager is incredibly gullible...they have no feeling for the past, for precedents and traditions, and so have no perspective in making judgments or discerning values...The result is that they begin every problem from scratch.  There is no feeling of being part of a living tradition that already has some answers worked out and some procedures worth repeating.

This state of mind, typical in adolescence, is, within certain parameters, accepted.  The odd thing today is that there is no change when a person reaches adult years...

The Contemplative Pastor, p125

Peterson: unwell with immaturity

Each generation is, in poet John Berryman's words, "unwell in a new way."  The way the present generation is unwell - that is, the forms under which it experiences sin - is through episodes of adolescence.  There was a time when ideas and living styles were initiated in the adult world and filtered down to youth.  now the movement goes the other way: lifestyles are generated at the youth level and pushed upward.  Dress fashions, hair styles, music, and morals that are adopted by youth are evangelically pushed on an adult world, which in turn seems eager to be converted.  Youth culture began as a kind of fad and then grew into a movement.  Today it is nearly fascist in its influence, forcing its perceptions and styles on everyone whether he likes it or not.

...instead of being over and done with when the twenty-first birthday is reached, it infects the upper generations as well.  It is common to see adults in their thirties, forties and fifties who have not only adopted the external trappings of the youth culture but are actually experiencing the emotions, traumas, and difficulties typical of youth.

The Contemplative Pastor, p121-122

See also
Growing Pain

Stark: irony in the suppression of science record

Obviously religious organisations have often demonstrated this principle.  But insofar as the suppression of science is concerned, the bloodiest incidents have been recent and have had nothing to do with religion.  It was the Nazi party, not the German Evangelical Church, that tried to eradicate "Jewish" physics, and it was the Communist Party, not the Russian Orthodox Church, that destroyed "bourgeois" genetics and left many other fields of Soviet science in disarray.  No one has been prompted by these examples to propose an inherent incompatibility between politics and science.  By the same token, that there have been conflicts between churches and science does not justify belief in an incompatibility between religion and science.  It is, rather, that autocrats do not tolerate disagreement.

For the Glory of God, p128

Welch: enough for today and then enough for tomorrow

Only enough for today.  The tests follow a particular pattern:  God will give us what we need for today and today alone.  No mystery here, it is all spelled out.

(EX.16:16-19)

“Take as much as you want, but don’t keep a crumb for tomorrow.”...In various forms, this will become God’s plan for human life...The plan of course is genius.  Dump a year’s supply of manna into cold storage and, guaranteed, you will forget about God until the supply disappears (DT.8:10-14).  Such prosperity would be a curse.  God’s strategy is to give us enough for today and then, when tomorrow comes, to give us enough for that day too.

Do you see this is exactly what we need?  Fears and worries live in the future, trying to assure a good outcome in a potentially hard situation.  The last thing they want to do is trust anyone, God included.  To thwart this tendency toward independence, God only gives us what we need when we need it.  The emerging idea is that He wants us to trust him  in the future rather than our self-protective plans. 

Running Scared, p76-77

Wright: sermon on mount/passion narrative

Think of the kingdom-agenda of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which itself points ahead to the cross:  Jesus himself loves his enemies, goes where the Roman soldiers force him to go, and turns the other cheek before being set like a city on a hill, like a light on a pole.

How God Became King, p232

Welch: The One Who Tests

God is the One Who Tests, and He will test you.  Don’t think of final exams and test anxiety.  Think of this test as a way to expose traitors during wartime.  We are potential traitors and don’t even know it.  God tests us because we are so oblivious to the mixed allegiances in our hearts.  The purpose of the test is to help us see our hearts and if they are found traitorous, we can turn back to God.  God is not playing mind games with us, He is forging a relationship. 

Running Scared, p74

Quick review: Voyage to venus (Perelandra)

...by CS Lewis

I had forgotten just how theological this novel is.  Out of the Silent Planet is a SF adventure with a good deal of theological underpinning - but to some extent I could see Hollywood filming it with much of the theology removed.  I think that would be impossible with this book.  It is a deeply theological adventure.  Which makes it less of a page-turner perhaps than its predecessor, but the ideas it explores and the conclusions formed, touch at a deep level.

I remember it as the book that (several decades ago) helped me understand the Fall, but there's a whole lot more going on than that.  Here are explorations of angels, satan, mission, redemption, the nature of God...

There is a subtle similarity/difference between this and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: in that, later, story CSL imagines what would happen if salvation had to be wrought in a world which is peopled by and run along the lines of a mythological creation.  In Perelandra the question is more: what happens if God continues to create life in the universe post-Earth-Fall, and post-incarnation?

All very interesting....

And what is happening to Ransom?  That Hideous Strength  next year perhaps, and hopefully for the first time in its unabridged version.