on Humility, by writers of yesteryear

The quotation below has been on my mind since I read it several weeks ago, particularly the part in bold.  The quotation is from John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.  It causes me to wonder, "What if the foundation of my philosophy of life really were humility before God?"  What if I deeply understood that the most basic principle is that I live  in humility and dependence on God?  That would change much in the way I approach life, and it would give me a more proper view of myself, my neighbor, and, above all, my God.
Looking into the Chrysostom quote led me to some of Jonathan Edwards' writings on this topic, so you may hear more from me on this topic later because the first page of Edwards proved even deeper than Calvin.


I have always been exceedingly delighted with the words of Chrysostom, "The foundation of our philosophy is humility"; and still more with those of Augustine, "As the orator, when asked, What is the first precept in eloquence? answered, Delivery: What is the second? Delivery: What the third? Delivery: so, if you ask me in regard to the precepts of the Christian Religion, I will answer, first, second, and third, Humility." By humility he means not when a man, with a consciousness of some virtue, refrains from pride, but when he truly feels that he has no refuge but in humility. This is clear from another passage, "Let no man," says he, "flatter himself: of himself he is a devil: his happiness he owes entirely to God. What have you of your own but sin? Take your sin which is your own; for righteousness is of God." Again, "Why presume so much on the capability of nature? It is wounded, maimed, vexed, lost. The thing wanted is genuine confession, not false defence." "When any one knows that he is nothing in himself, and has no help from himself, the weapons within himself are broken, and the war is ended." All the weapons of impiety must be bruised, and broken, and burnt in the fire; you must remain unarmed, having no help in yourself. The more infirm you are, the more the Lord will sustain you. So, in expounding the seventieth Psalm, he forbids us to remember our own righteousness, in order that we may recognise the righteousness of God, and shows that God bestows his grace upon us, that we may know that we are nothing; that we stand only by the mercy of God, seeing that in ourselves eve are altogether wicked. Let us not contend with God for our right, as if anything attributed to him were lost to our salvation. As our insignificance is his exaltation, so the confession of our insignificance has its remedy provided in his mercy. (Institutes, 2.2.11; italics and bolding mine)

Vowels !?!?!?!

How many vowels are there in English?  How many vowel sounds are there?  How many ways are there to spell those vowel sounds?  Below is a game that my siblings and I have played for years.  It's rather simple... or should be. :)

simple
Raid, read, ride, rode, rude
Lane/lain, lean/lien, line, loan/lone, loon/lune
Sack, sec, sick, sock, suck 
Panned, penned, pinned, pawned, punned

works with both long and short
Bat, bet, bit bought, but/butt
Bait, beat/beet, bite/byte, boat, butte/beaut/boot (which long "u" sound to you want to use?)

a bit more complex
Cane/Cain, keen, kine, cone, coon

excuse me?!?
Gnat, net, knit, not/knot/naught, nut

There are MANY others.  Feel free to think of them and add them as comments... don't bother adding the "almosts"; there are too many to count.

Immortality: More thoughts begun by Lewis

  If our mortality can be counted in decades and eternity cannot even be counted in millenia, then each day here is successful only as it counts for eternity.  Thus, it is vital to consider how we spend our days.  It seems discouraging though, for most of our life is spent upon the mundane: eating, working, sleeping, household cleanings, playing games, etc.  Yet, the key is not to change our activities, but to ensure that our aim is godliness in each activity, whether mundane or exciting.  For godliness has promise not just for this life, but also for the coming life (1 Tim. 4:7-8).  Thus, while Paul specifically limits the value of physical, bodily training, even that may be of eternal value if practiced in godliness.  I think of a friend who ministered in Russia and used the fitness room as a place to make gospel contacts.

  And what of the gospel and eternity?  What is the aim of the gospel except to see souls come to love and serve God and join His community, the Church? This is key since, of the three human institutions which God established, only the Church will last forever.  Earthly government will be overcome by the Kingdom of our God.  Earthly family relationships will be done away with, as Jesus made plain.  Thus, our highest investments for eternity will be those that are made for eternity, investments in God's Church, His Kingdom, His family.  May we structure every relationship on this earth for that eternal glory.

James 4:14b - What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

1 Corinthians 15:54 - When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Psalm 90:10, 12 - The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away... So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Matthew 16:26 - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
(KJV & ESV)

recommended from today

Today's sermon was really good; there is "Grace for Stupid Mistakes", Psalm 34.

Also, something from Oma:
"After all, ministry is the perimeter, KNOWing God is the center and cause for it all."

Whining with a smile

On October 8th at 3:25PM, I saw the first snow flake of the year. 
And now, this has happened overnight, very pretty but...  Just when I was beginning to like the West and especially Colorado... :( 
But at least that means Pedro may not pitch as well tonight... :)

The view from our balcony

Intentionally Train Yourself in Godliness

Do we do this at all?

I Timothy 4:7-10

 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 

(ESV)

from yesterday's sermon: "Getting Real about Our Fears"

Yesterday, Juan spoke on Psalm 3 and God's protection in the life of His children.  God does not always shield us from our enemies, but as Juan said, "God is shielding me from the intentions of all my enemies and even Satan himself."

The Biblical Gospel

I'd never heard of Paris Reidhead before, but apparently he is quite well known.  He even has a spot on Wikipedia.  Anyways, I came across one of his sermons recently and ended up listening to it.  It is called "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" and sounds to me like a clear call for a Biblical Gospel.  It can be found on SermonAudio.

The next sermon I listened to was called "The Gospel According to Romans" by my grandfather.  It sounded like exactly the same message from a different perspective.  These two are fresh reminders that are causing me to again ponder the Biblical Gospel, not the one that calls for no change in a person's life.

Luke 9:23-25 - And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 

No Turning Back: The Life and Adventures of Herbert Grings

No Turning Back is a re-writing of the story of Herbert E. Grings, who served the Lord all over the globe for more than six decades.  It has been written to make the story more accessible to the younger generation, but as far as I understand, it is largely an adaptation of the original Autobiography of Herbert Ernest Grings.

For more on this family and related books, see this website.

Immortality

Sunday night an excerpt from C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity was read in our community group.  Below is part of it.  It is surprising how much difference it makes to look at someone and think "There is an immortal who will be forever somewhere" as opposed to seeing "just" another person of some sort or other.  I can already the difference it would make in my life if I would keep eternity and immortality always in view.  To paraphrase... what is life?  It is just a mist which appears for a bit and then disappears.

"...Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live for ever, and this must be either true or false. Now there are a good many things which would not be worth bothering about if I were going to live only seventy years, but which I had better bother about very seriously if I am going to live for ever."

"And immortality makes this other difference... If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilisation, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomporably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of a state, or a civilisation, compared with his, is only a moment."