A Prayer for Pentecost

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful
people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all
things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through
Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Zapping from Aritz Aizpurua on Vimeo.

Have a great weekend!

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Psalm 13 – Purposefully changing my negative attitude

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

But I have trusted in Your loving kindness; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

When I read this Psalm it is almost as if David is saying the last two sentences grudgingly. He has spent the whole prayer asking where God is and why God is allowing the enemy to succeed. Then the Psalm ends with a week couple of lines about the Lord’s dealings with David in the past. I read this as David convincing himself that God is still there and will continue to love and care for David.

I see this as a very healthy thing to do. If we are confused about the seeming absence of God in our lives we need to go directly to God and ask why? Then we need to begin to refocus ourselves on what God has done, what God is continuing to do, and what God has promised to do in the future.

For the most part we each control our own attitude. If I am aware of my heart being in a wrong place then I need to work on correcting my heart. Are you self aware enough to realize when you are thinking negative thoughts? When you realize it do you take the initiative to correct your attitude without involving other people? Attitude correction is best done between me and God.

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The Quiet Life by Alexander Pope

Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air
In his own ground.

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter fire.

Blest who can unconcern’dly find
Hours, days, and years slide soft away
In health of body, peace of mind,
Quiet by day,

Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixt, sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie.

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A Prayer

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together
in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a
holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God,
for ever and ever. Amen.

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Psalm 12 – Be authentic in all you say and do

Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak. May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things; who have said, “With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?”

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he longs.” The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever. The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

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Psalm 11 – A history of violence

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

In the LORD I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain; for, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; the upright will behold His face.

Two thoughts:
1) Everyone is tested by the Lord; the difference between Christians and non-Christians is that a Christian can take refuge in the Lord during times of testing.

2) David, a man who was not allowed to build the temple because there was too much blood on his hands wrote: “the one who loves violence [the Lord's] soul hates.” I am a bad pacifist sometimes because I do occasionally see violence as unavoidable (its part of living with sin). However, the love of violence, in all its forms, is always wrong.

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Friendly Theology: Barclay’s Catechism – Chapter 3 (part 2)

Note:  Due to the Holiday this post, originally scheduled for Monday, has been moved to Wednesday.

CHAP. III. (cont.)

Of Jesus Christ being manifest in the Flesh, the Use and End of it.

Q. After what manner was the Birth of Christ?

A. Now, the Birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph (before they come together) she was found with Child of the Holy Ghost [Matt. 1:18].

And the Angel said unto her, Fear not Mary, for thou hast found Favour with God: And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy Womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his Name Jesus: He shall be Great, and shall be called The Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David. Then said Mary unto the Angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a Man? And the Angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: Therefore also that Holy Thing, that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God [Luke 1:30-32,34-35].

Q. Was Jesus Christ, who was born of the Virgin Mary, and supposed to be the Son of Joseph, a True and Real Man?

A. Forasmuch as the Children are Partakers of Flesh and Blood, he also himself took part of the same, that through Death he might destroy him that had the Power of Death, that is, the Devil [Heb. 2:14].

For verily, he took not on him the Nature of Angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham; wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren, that he might be a Merciful and Faithful High Priest, &c. [Heb. 2:16-17].

For we have not an High Priest, which cannot be touched with the feeling of our Infirmities; but was in all Points tempted as we are, yet without Sin [Heb. 4:15].

And the Gift by Grace, which is by one Man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [Rom. 5:15]

But now is Christ risen from the Dead, and become the First Fruits of them that slept; for since by Man came Death, by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead [1 Cor. 15:20-21].

Q. After what manner doth the Scripture assert the Conjunction and Unity of the Eternal Son of God in and with the Man Christ Jesus?

A. And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his Glory, the Glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father) full of Grace and Truth [John 1:14].

For he whom God hath sent, speaketh the Words of God; for God given not the Spirit by Measure unto him [John 3:34].

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the Devil; for God was with him [Acts 10:38].

For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell [Col. 1:19].

For in him dwelleth all the Fulness of the Godhead bodily [Col. 2:9].

In him are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge [Col. 2:3].

***************

One of the most profound and difficult mysteries of Christianity is the nature of Jesus. In the second part of Barclay’s chapter on the manifestation of Jesus Christ Barclay clearly affirms the divinity and the humanity of Jesus Christ. Jesus was simultaneously man and God.

Barclay quotes the angel speaking to Mary and saying that her son “shall be Great, and shall be called The Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David.” The Angel also says, “that Holy Thing, that shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.” Jesus is the divine person of God who has come to earth.

Jesus was also a true and real man. The Divine became flesh so that through death he might destroy the power of death and offer the gift of grace. It is through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we have been given the opportunity for salvation. “But now is Christ risen from the Dead, and become the First Fruits of them that slept; for since by Man came Death, by Man came also the Resurrection of the Dead.”

The last question, in my opinion, is the most profound. After what manner is the conjunction and unity of the Eternal Son of God in and with the Man Jesus Christ? This is an important question; but I am not convinced it is answerable. The best answer may by Colossians 1:19: “For it please the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell.” We ask how? God says, “because I said so.”

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Androcles by Aesop

A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about there he came upon a Lion lying down moaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the Lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the Lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had got into it, and was causing all the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the Lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the Lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from which to live. But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the Lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the Lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days. The Emperor and all his Court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the Lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognized his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog. The Emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the Lion let loose to his native forest. Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.

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Psalm 10 – Afar from God

Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?

Have you ever been in that place? It’s okay to be in that place, it’s not okay to stop talking to God about it. The times we feel furthest from God are the times we need to spend time telling God how far away we feel. Sometimes we forget how amazing it is that we get to live in a communal relationship with the creator, the lover, the redeemer, and the ruler of all. I get to spend time with God; when I feel far from God its okay to mourn the emptiness we experience.

Whenever I’m away from my family for a week or so I can go about 36 hours without somehow letting them now that I miss them. Sometimes I just sit on the phone or in front of a webcam and listen to them breath or watch them type. When we are far apart it troubles my soul and I tell them and it makes all of us feel a little better for a while. The same is true when we are far from God.

The LORD is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land. O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart

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Psalm 9 – My God, my enemy

The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and You have uprooted the cities; the very memory of them has perished. But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity. The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; and those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

Evil has perished, is perishing, and will perish in the future at the hand of our righteous God. The inherent evil in our world will perish. The systemic evil in our societies will perish. The evil we allow in our hearts will perish. But those who know the name of the Lord and put their trust in that name will not be forsaken as the destroyed cities of the enemy were forsaken.

God is a God of justice. God enabled the bringing about of justice in the past. God will bring about ultimate justice in the future. But we live in the present and are called to be God’s agents of justice in our world. “The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed. A stronghold in times of trouble”. We are to be examples of Christ to the world around us. If we are not being a stronghold for the oppressed and troubled then we are perpetuating evil and we make ourselves an enemy of the Lord.

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A Prayer

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good
things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such
love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above
all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we
can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great weekend!

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Psalm 8 – How majestic is Your name!

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

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Sonnet on the Sea by John Keats

It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often ’tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from whence it sometime fell,
When last the winds of heaven were unbound.
Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody,
Sit ye near some old cavern’s mouth, and brood
Until ye start, as if the sea-nymphs choired!

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Psalm 7 – There is no one righteous, not even one?

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

If this is going to be your prayer you should make sure that you are actually among the righteous. Most of us think we are righteous. Most of us think we are pretty good people. Most of us think we have a better understanding of God than the people we disagree with. I would suggest that it is better to focus on God trying our hearts and minds than to focus on God bringing the wicked to justice.

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Psalm 6 – God’s spanking

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD– how long? Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your loving kindness. For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks? I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries. Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.

I spanked my kids today. We do spank in my household; we don’t beat, we don’t whip, but we do occasionally apply a firm swat with the hand to their bottom. There are three ways my kids can earn a spanking. The first is if I tell them “do X before I count to three or I will swat your bottom” and they don’t do it. The second is if they go where they have been told not to go (e.g. outside alone, or mom and dad’s room). The third is if they hit someone else. My kids do other bad things but usually we sit and talk with them or put them in their rooms. Overall punishment is rare but relatively consistent.

Just as I discipline my kids in hopes of developing them into mature human beings, God occasionally disciplines each of us in hopes of developing us into mature spiritual beings. I don’t like it when God spanks me, but there are times when I fail to do what God asks me to do, there are times when I go where I’m not supposed to go, and there are times when I hurt other people.

My desire during times of discipline needs to be for healing and grace.

After I discipline my kids, I usually sit and hold them for a little bit. I love them and wish that they would never experience the pain of discipline; but, I also want them to eventually become mature. Discipline and expressions of love must be interwoven for either to be effective. God is there to discipline; God is there to love.

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The Adventures of Aladdin by The Brothers Grimm

Once upon a time . . . a widow had an only son whose name was Aladdin. They were very poor and lived from hand to mouth, though Aladdin did what he could to earn some pennies, by picking bananas in faraway places.

One day, as he was looking for wild figs in a grove some way from the town, Aladdin met a mysterious stranger. This smartly dressed dark-eyed man with a trim black beard and a splendid sapphire in his turban, asked Aladdin an unusual question:

“Come here, boy,” he ordered. “How would you like to earn a silver penny?”

“A silver penny!” exclaimed Aladdin. “Sir, I’d do anything for that kind of payment.”

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Psalm 5 – The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

For it is you who blessed the righteous man, O Lord, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

When we live within the shelter of God, when we follow God’s instructions and focus on his love, then we are surrounded with the favor of the Lord. This favor does not mean that we receive all we would wish for, rather it means that we have the opportunity to live with God’s blessing upon us; we live with light hearts, a clear conscience, and the peace that comes from knowing and walking alongside Jesus Christ.

This shield of favor does not deflect all the possible attacks that come against us, but it certainly does help when we are attacked. When we are constantly worshiping God, we are less likely to be destroyed by the evil that may cross our path.

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Friendly Theology: Barclay’s Catechism – Chapter 3 (part 1)

CHAP. III.

Of Jesus Christ being manifest in the Flesh, the Use and End of it.

Q. What are the Scriptures which do most observably prophesie of Christ’s Appearance?

A. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy Brethren, like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken [Deut. 18:15].

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a Sign: Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his Name Immanuel [Isa. 7:14].

Q. Was not Jesus Christ in being before he appeared in the Flesh? What clear Scriptures prove this, against such as erroneously assert the contrary?

A. But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the Thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is to be Ruler in Israel, whose Goings forth have been from of Old, from Everlasting [Mic. 5:2].

In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; The same was in the Beginning with God: All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made [John 1:1-3].

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was I am [John 8:58].

And now, O Father, Glorifie thou me with thine own self, with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was [John 17:5].

And to make all Men see what is the Fellowship of the Mystery, which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ [Eph. 3:9].

For by him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers: All things were created by him and for him [Col. 1:16].

God hath in these last Days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed Heir of all things, by whom also he made the Worlds [Heb. 1:2].

Q. These are very clear, that even the World was created by Christ; But what Scriptures prove the Divinity of Christ against such as falsly deny the same?

A. And the Word was God [John 1:1].

Whose are the Fathers, and of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came, who is over all God, blessed forever, Amen [Rom. 9:5].

Who being in the Form of God thought it no Robbery to be equal with God [Phil. 2:6].

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an Understanding that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ: This is the true God, and Eternal Life [1 John 5:20].

Q. What are the Glorious Names the Scripture gives unto Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God?

A. And his Name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace [Isa. 9:6].

Who is the Image of the Invisible God, the First born of every Creature [Col. 1:15].

Who being the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person (or more properly, according to the Greek, of his Substance) [Heb. 1:3].

And he was cloathed with a Vesture dipt in Blood, and his Name is called the Word of God [Rev. 19:13].

****************

Barclay’s chapter on the human manifestation of Jesus Christ is one of the longest chapters in Barclay’s Catechism. Barclay notes Old Testament prophecy that Jesus would come to be (e.g. Isaiah 7:14, Micah 5:2), the words of Jesus declaring himself to have existed prior to being human (e.g. John 1:1-3, John 8:58), and the words of Paul (e.g. Ephesians 3:9). Barclay spends a lot of time proving that Jesus was more than merely human; in fact Jesus is divine.

We can learn much from meditating on the names of Jesus: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peach, Image of the Invisible God, First Born of Every Creature, the Brightness of His Glory and the express Image of his Substance, Word of God.

The divinity of Jesus is really important to Robert Barclay. The divinity of Jesus should be important to any Christian. We are not following a wise teacher, a brilliant philosopher, or someone who wrote down the words of an angel. We are following God who came to earth and lived a human life. We are following the divine Word of God who lived amongst us and knows us. We are following the light of the world who shines in the darkness. We are following the one on whose name we can call and be adopted into the family of God. We are disciples, followers, and friends of Jesus Christ.

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