Baghdad, July 30th 1919.
Dear Walter,
I’ve got some very sad news to tell you, last night when down at the river bathing poor old Eric was drowned. You must forgive me for putting it so blunt, but I feel too full up with it to say much about it. We were bathing as usual and poor old Eric went down. We dived with ropes round us and swam about for half an hour but nothing was seen of him. …
Where do we start with Romans 8? It’s a sumptuous banquet – but which of its dishes do we sample? It’s a glorious symphony – but which of its themes do we to attune our ears to? It’s a lofty mountain range – but which of its peaks do we try to scale?
As always, it’s good to get our bearings from the context. Chapter 5 – in Christ, we have victory over sin and death. …
The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery has a thought-provoking summary of biblical teaching on silence.
…Silence communicates. It is a basic feature of human relationships, for we must often interpret the silence of others. And by its very nature silence can express a wide variety of things. Usually it is not hard to interpret-the rebellious sullenness of a child, the hush as the school principal or head teacher enters. But sometimes silence is hard to interpret.
It is not surprising, therefore, that silence in the Bible expresses a wide range of emotions, attitudes and states: attentiveness, (Deut 27:9; Job 33:31; Acts 19:33) restraint, (1 Sam 10:27; Ps 50:12 Jer 4:19) respect and awe, (Job 29:21; Hab 2:20) loyalty, (Isa 36:21) deep thought, (Ac 15:12) acceptance of guilt, (Job 13:19; Rom 3:19) rest after tumult or suffering, (Ps 46:10; Mk 4:39) fear of saying something wrong, (Ps 39:2) even wisdom; (Job 13:5; Pr 17:28) more negatively, it can express faithlessness, (Es 4:14) fear, (Job 31:34; Acts 18:9) deep pain, (Job 2:13; La 2:10) rebellion, (Ps 32:2 Mk 3:4) defeat or destruction, (Ps 101:5; 143:12; Isa 47:5) and supremely death.
Forgiveness has not always been valued. Nietzsche, who denounced Christianity as a religion of pity, saw forgiveness as immoral because it glorifies weakness. Others have regarded it as an insipid response to the complexities of responsibility, power and justice. The Briefing #202 (May 1998)
Someone has called forgiveness ‘the most healing force in the world.’
’It would tire the hands of an angel to write down all the pardons God bestows upon true penitent believers. (William Bates)
Where we went with our vicious sins, there we must go with our soiled virtues.’…
I’ve been scratching my head about what it means to forgive and to be forgiven. We hear of people who, after having been terribly wronged, say, “I forgive that person.” We hear of others who say, “I can never forgive that person.” And what of the other person, the person who is considered to be ‘in the wrong’? Do they need to ‘accept’ the forgiveness in order for it to work? What of the person who refuses to believe that they are in the wrong? …
Paul writes in Romans 8:13, ‘if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.’
This introduces the important but neglected subject of ‘mortification’.
’Mortification,’ says J.I Packer in God’s Words, ‘is war.’ Four steps are involved in this warfare:-
We fight, not just sins, but the sinful nature which lies behind all instances of sinful actions. The unbeliever is a slave to sin, Rom 6:16-23.…
’The Stoic bears, the Epicurean seeks to enjoy, the Buddhist and Hindu stand apart disillusioned, the Muslim submits, but only the Christian exults.’ (E. Stanley Jones)
’The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance.…
John Ortberg comments that the badge of doubt is often worn with pride (‘honest doubt’), but we seem embarrassed or even ashamed of faith (‘blind faith’).
But of course, he says, there are also such things as ‘blind doubt’ and ‘honest faith’!
John Ortberg’s Book, Faith and Doubt, was published in 2008 by Zondervan.…
The current interest in ‘spirituality’ is both salutary and alarming. It is salutary because in its best forms it challenges not only the prevalent philosophical materialism of the modern world but also the perfunctory corporate exercises of many Christians. It is alarming because, although spirituality is generally regarded as an ‘applause-word’, it is often so ill-defined that it can mask gross error.
A definition of ‘spirituality’ cannot readily be induced from the NT, despite the use by Paul of words translated as ‘spirit’ and ‘spiritual’.…
I have used the following to guide an evening of prayer. Much help was derived from members of that remarkable band of Christians who came to be known as ‘the Puritans’. In particular, some of the prayers and devotions from The Valley of Vision (edited by Arthur Bennett) were adapted and used.
…Let us lift up our hearts unto God in the heavens.
Let us stir up ourselves to take hold on God, to seek his face, and to give him the glory due unto his name.
