What C.S. Lewis found while meditating

C.S.Lewis on subtleness and depths of pride

During my afternoon “meditations,”—which I at least attempt quite regularly now—I have found out ludicrous and terrible things about my own character. Sitting by, watching the rising thoughts to break their necks as they pop up, one learns to know the sort of thoughts that do come.

And, will you believe it, one out of every three is the thought of self-admiration: when everything else fails, having had its neck broken, up comes the thought “what an admirable fellow I am to have broken their necks!” I catch myself posturing before the mirror, so to speak, all day long. I pretend I am carefully thinking out what to say to the next pupil (for his good, of course) and then suddenly realize I am really thinking how frightfully clever I'm going to be and how he will admire me...

And then when you force yourself to stop it, you admire yourself for doing that. It is like fighting the hydra... There seems to be no end to it. Depth under depths of self-love and self-admiration. (quoted in The Narnian by Alan Jacobs, 133)

Personal space and the gospel

Facebook entry from missionary friend in Japan:
Darwin Stoesz thought that it was very fitting to be listening to "I surrender all" on my iPod and being shoved around on a hot sweaty crowded Tokyo train. I surrender even my personal space to Him to eventually proclaim the Good News in Japanese to the Japanese people.

The Precious Blood

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be 'made a curse,'
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body, the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.

Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth, allive in my life,
strong in my character, dominating my faculties,
following me as a shadow, intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
the air supply breath, the earth bear my tread,
its fruits nourish me, its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood, tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

From The Valley of Vision. . . A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

When Believers Should Be Pitied

Paul has to remind the Corinthians of the Gospel because people in the church were trying to tweak it to fit the conventional wisdom of the day (i.e., there is no resurrection of the dead). Paul did not take a pragmatic approach to the problem -- "Well, even if there is no resurrection of the dead, being Christians will make the world a better place." Paul wrote: If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied (I Cor. 15:19). Consider the ramifications of his emphasis on the resurrection and its relationship to the ultimate purpose of the Gospel -- seeing and savoring God's glory forever:

Being loving, gentler, more patient -- a nicer person in this life because of Jesus -- most to be pitied. Jesus said too many strange things to be a good example of 'nice.'

Singing songs of worship to Jesus -- most to be pitied. What's the point? He's dead.

Going as or supporting missionaries to people groups who do not know Christ -- most to be pitied. Why, don't they have nice people to imitate?

Taking up one's cross, dying for the cause of Christ -- most to be pitied. Just exactly what is the cause?

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Consider a gospel by which God delivers up His Son to bring us to God - I Peter 3:18

Consider a gospel where the Son glorifies the Father to the point of death, even death on a cross so that sinners' minds, blinded by the god of this age and easily distracted by shiny trinkets, can be given sight to see the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus -- John 17, Philippians 2, II Corinthians 4.

Consider a gospel in which we purify ourselves in these mortal bodies because our hope is that one day we shall see Christ in his glorified state; we will be able to see Him just as He is because we shall be like Him -- I John 3.

Consider a gospel in which the Father has given all judgment to the Son and that at His voice, one day all people will be raised from the dead and the Son will make the judgment as to who receives a resurrection of life and who will receive a resurrection of judgment - John 5.

Consider a gospel in which the Son asks the Father that all whom the Father has given the Son would one day be with Him in order that they would see His glory - John 17.

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. . . then comes the end when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and authority and power. . . Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord -- I Corinthians 15:20, 24, 58

-- TWMathis

Why I Pray John Piper Will Finish Well

http://ow.ly/qSjx

Neither Boomer nor Gen-X, neither Greek nor Jew

The following is my portion of correspondence with a good friend about styles of music, church services, etc. As you will see it scratches the surface of the topic and does not address many practical decisions that have to be decided, nor does it address the role of style and arts in trying to introduce the gospel to our culture. My intent in posting it is for all those reading to humbly consider what we have been given in the knowledge of Christ Jesus and the sufficiency of that knowledge as our source of joy and hope and that knowledge being the root of how we 'do church' and love one another in the local church.

1. You mentioned generational differences in perspectives/values and the gap between boomers and Gen-X. Do you think those generational identifiers or labels can become a source of pride and, for believers, an unnecessary source of division? When I was a pastor in a small rural church, the conflicts were often (though not always) along generational lines. While generational experiences cannot be ignored (wars, depressions, social mores, music styles, political expectations/shifts etc.) I wonder if, in the body of Christ, we make too much out of them and too little of what we have in common in the Gospel. Now, maybe that's a baby boomer throwing his self-centered weight around but I'm bringing it up based on two things:

First, the biblical doctrine that we are all children of Adam and all in the same moral boat before a holy God essentially erases the issue of generational differences. God’s self-glorifying solution is to provide one means of salvation and hope for all people – a faith once for all delivered to the saints in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. That work places all who believe in one body – the church. I think that sinner-humbling, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying truth greatly diminishes our attention to generational differences – believers are now all together in the ‘boat of Christ’ and we should teach that and act it out. I think this is one of the truths Paul is getting at in Galatians 3:28 - There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Second, while I am no expert in the recent development of sociological/psychological self-awareness and understanding, I think it would be safe to argue that since the 1950s the influence of Freudian views of self have shaped our thinking far more than we want to admit. My point here is that whether or not we're Boomers or Gen-X, we're all drinking the same Kool-aid of viewing our inner self as unique (David Wells does a really good job addressing this in his book, 'Above All Earthly Pow'rs - Christ in a Postmodern World). So the very labels and assumption of the importance of those labels and distinctives are, I believe, the worlds ideas squeezing us into its mold (Romans 12:1,2 Phillips) of self-understanding. Sadly, many churches today are trying to synchronize it with the Gospel. The result, I fear, when it comes to the local church, is lots of focus on style based on presumed uniqueness and not on what God has done in Christ for children of Adam.

2. That leads me to my second topic: As I have grown in knowledge of what the Bible teaches, I see very little on style and lots on doctrine/theology and personal virtue or character. Example: when two women in the church at Philippi couldn't get along, Paul pointed them to the high, high doctrine of Christ emptying himself and taking on role of a bond servant, man, to the point of death, etc. In other words, Paul addressed differences and conflict with theology -- deep, serious theology -- not personality tests or excuses.

Another example from John 5 which records Jesus healing one person from a multitude of people needing physical healing, then warns the one healed not to go on sinning lest something worse befall him. Jesus healed the man with the intent of that man's future holiness (i.e., character). The point of everything Jesus did in his earthly ministry had a heavenly purpose for us and for God, not simply an earthly experience. Again, I fear our emphasis on style and relevance as determined by a shifting cultural standard is settling for too little. God's Word is preparing us for something eternal not temporal.

So, those are some scattered thoughts that I hope will stir us on to pray and ponder and talk about together.

Thanking Him for you,
Tedd

Thinking is not optional for loving God and others

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/1990/2768_Think_Deeply_and_Clearly/