Thursday, June 28, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
More words about books
This pastor's blogpost gives his take on what to read. He also links to a post by Scot McKnight on building a personal library. Two comments: they both dislike fiction (I wish I could read more fiction) and they both have good paying jobs (that's why I like the library - the books are dingier than at, say, Chapters, but at least it's free - as long as I return them on time).
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Favourite Hymn # 5
Abide With Me
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word;
But as Thou dwell’st with Thy disciples, Lord,
Familiar, condescending, patient, free.
Come not to sojourn, but abide with me.
Come not in terrors, as the King of kings,
But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings,
Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea—
Come, Friend of sinners, and thus bide with me.
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile;
And, though rebellious and perverse meanwhile,
Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee,
On to the close, O Lord, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Death in the City - Chapter nine (final - and finally!)
Death in the City Chapter 9 – The Universe and Two Chairs (Final)
Schaeffer now turns his attention to how the life of faith works itself out in the twentieth-century world. (No doubt he would, were he alive, extend this to the twenty-first, as well.) Even while scientists have been seeing farther through their telescopes and at smaller and smaller things through their microscopes, thus making the universe seem much more complicated than humans had ever dreamed, in reality, the universe, from a biblical standpoint, is simple.
He gives us a parable about two men (the only men in the universe) sitting in a room on two chairs. One man is a materialist; the other a Christian. The materialist examines the room thoroughly, writes a number of books describing the universe. The Christian appreciates the effort, but informs the materialist that despite his intense study, he has missed something important. The materialist, in his system of knowledge, can describe the universe but he cannot tell where it came from. Thus, his knowledge is incomplete. The Christian, on the other hand has a book that tells him where the universe came from and that there is an unseen portion of it. Ultimately, the two reach an impasse. The materialist thinks the Christian is crazy. The Christian thinks the materialist is unbalanced because of the incompleteness of his view. Schaeffer’s point is that the two views are mutually exclusive. There can be no synthesis of the two views, only antithesis.
He writes, “What we must see is that no matter how deeply we get into the particles of matter or how much we learn by our telescopes and radio telescopes about the vastness of the created universe, in reality the universe is no more complicated than the room we have been talking about. It is only larger; that’s all. Looking at the bigger universe, we either see it as the materialist sees it or as the Christian sees it: we see it with the one set of presuppositions or the other.”
Many Christians, however, live like materialists most of the time. It is not enough to say that one is a Christian. The “new” theology is no different than materialism. The theological view that explains the resurrection as merely psychological, the rising of the Easter spirit in the hearts of the disciples, is tantamount to materialism: it generates unbelief. Liberal theology is handmaiden to materialism.
What can we say about a person who says he believes in the resurrection but doesn’t act upon his belief in faith on a daily basis? Schaeffer calls it unfaith.
Or, when it comes to prayer, if a Christian doesn’t pray or live in an attitude of prayer, he has planted himself on the materialist chair. That is, “he is living in unfaith if he is afraid to act upon the supernatural in the present life.” Unfaith turns Christianity into merely a philosophy. While Schaeffer considers Christianity a philosophy, it is more, much more. God has given us the answers to the big questions already. In this sense, Christianity is the true philosophy, one that satisfies not only the intellect but the heart, one that addresses not only the theoretical and abstract but the practical.
He concludes: “We must fight the Lord’s battles with the Lord’s weapons in faith – sitting in the chair of belief. Only then can we have any part in the real battle. If we fight the Lord’s battles merely by duplicating the way the world does its work, we are like little boys playing with wooden swords pretending they are in the battle while their big brothers are away at war in some distant and bloody land….Living supernaturally does not mean doing less work; nor does it mean less work getting done, but more…If we through faith stay in the Bible-believing chair moment by moment in practice, and do not move into the chair of unfaith, we and the world will see God act. Christ will bring forth His fruit through us.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*This book makes a good complement to Schaeffer’s other books such as The God Who is There, and Escape From Reason (at least that’s what it says on the back of the book…) It’s short and readable, if somewhat repetitive at times. This is probably due to the fact that it’s a series of lectures. Anyway, notwithstanding the critiques thrown his way (by such great minds as Thomas V. Morris), Schaeffer is an important Christian thinker whose works should be essential reading for thinking Evangelicals. So, tolle legge. *)
Schaeffer now turns his attention to how the life of faith works itself out in the twentieth-century world. (No doubt he would, were he alive, extend this to the twenty-first, as well.) Even while scientists have been seeing farther through their telescopes and at smaller and smaller things through their microscopes, thus making the universe seem much more complicated than humans had ever dreamed, in reality, the universe, from a biblical standpoint, is simple.
He gives us a parable about two men (the only men in the universe) sitting in a room on two chairs. One man is a materialist; the other a Christian. The materialist examines the room thoroughly, writes a number of books describing the universe. The Christian appreciates the effort, but informs the materialist that despite his intense study, he has missed something important. The materialist, in his system of knowledge, can describe the universe but he cannot tell where it came from. Thus, his knowledge is incomplete. The Christian, on the other hand has a book that tells him where the universe came from and that there is an unseen portion of it. Ultimately, the two reach an impasse. The materialist thinks the Christian is crazy. The Christian thinks the materialist is unbalanced because of the incompleteness of his view. Schaeffer’s point is that the two views are mutually exclusive. There can be no synthesis of the two views, only antithesis.
He writes, “What we must see is that no matter how deeply we get into the particles of matter or how much we learn by our telescopes and radio telescopes about the vastness of the created universe, in reality the universe is no more complicated than the room we have been talking about. It is only larger; that’s all. Looking at the bigger universe, we either see it as the materialist sees it or as the Christian sees it: we see it with the one set of presuppositions or the other.”
Many Christians, however, live like materialists most of the time. It is not enough to say that one is a Christian. The “new” theology is no different than materialism. The theological view that explains the resurrection as merely psychological, the rising of the Easter spirit in the hearts of the disciples, is tantamount to materialism: it generates unbelief. Liberal theology is handmaiden to materialism.
What can we say about a person who says he believes in the resurrection but doesn’t act upon his belief in faith on a daily basis? Schaeffer calls it unfaith.
Or, when it comes to prayer, if a Christian doesn’t pray or live in an attitude of prayer, he has planted himself on the materialist chair. That is, “he is living in unfaith if he is afraid to act upon the supernatural in the present life.” Unfaith turns Christianity into merely a philosophy. While Schaeffer considers Christianity a philosophy, it is more, much more. God has given us the answers to the big questions already. In this sense, Christianity is the true philosophy, one that satisfies not only the intellect but the heart, one that addresses not only the theoretical and abstract but the practical.
He concludes: “We must fight the Lord’s battles with the Lord’s weapons in faith – sitting in the chair of belief. Only then can we have any part in the real battle. If we fight the Lord’s battles merely by duplicating the way the world does its work, we are like little boys playing with wooden swords pretending they are in the battle while their big brothers are away at war in some distant and bloody land….Living supernaturally does not mean doing less work; nor does it mean less work getting done, but more…If we through faith stay in the Bible-believing chair moment by moment in practice, and do not move into the chair of unfaith, we and the world will see God act. Christ will bring forth His fruit through us.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*This book makes a good complement to Schaeffer’s other books such as The God Who is There, and Escape From Reason (at least that’s what it says on the back of the book…) It’s short and readable, if somewhat repetitive at times. This is probably due to the fact that it’s a series of lectures. Anyway, notwithstanding the critiques thrown his way (by such great minds as Thomas V. Morris), Schaeffer is an important Christian thinker whose works should be essential reading for thinking Evangelicals. So, tolle legge. *)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)