Planned, regular, generous giving

Don Carson on 2 Corinthians 8 (For the Love of God vol.1)

"There is considerable stress on perseverance and consistency in this matter of giving. Apparently the Corinthians had pledged the year before to give a certain amount. Now Paul sends Titus to encourage them to bring to completion what they began so well. So today: planned, regular, generous giving is better than the big binge that is wrung out of you by one emotional appeal, in part because the former is a better index of a heart consistently devoted to Christ and his work."

Leading with the towel

This is from an interesting little book I found called "Culture craft: leadership for organizational health" by Rick Sessoms and Colin Buckland.

They are discussing what some of the practical implications are of following Jesus' model of servant leadership as exemplified by John 13.

"Leading with the 'towel' means believing in people enough to empower them with the authority and the resources and the information as well as the accountability they need to be the best they can be. It means creating an environment safe enough for them to risk giving all... and sometimes fail in their giving... and encouraging them to risk again. Leading with the 'towel' implies that I don't have to be the source of every good idea, but we discover the vision together. It is about creating an atmosphere where everyone is free to tell the truth, especially to the leaders. Leading with the 'towel' means allowing people to express their passion and defending those privately and publicly who don't compromise principle for profit. It also means treating each person with the sacred understanding that they are uniquely crafted in the image of their Creator - not in mine. Leading with the 'towel' is enabling people to make decisions and to pursue God-given dreams, and celebrating their accomplishments.
Leading with the 'towel' means serving those I lead not so that they will serve me, but so that they will serve others.
[pp.40-41, emphasis in original]

Here is a man who thinks of himself as at the center of the universe;

"The heart of Saul's sin is [that]... he wants a domesticated god, a god like the genie in Aladdin's lamp, one pledged to do wonderful things for him as long as he holds the lamp. He somehow feels that David now holds the lamp and wishes he could get the power back, but does not perceive that the real God is to be worshiped, reverenced, obeyed, feared, and loved - unconditionally. Here is a man who thinks of himself as at the center of the universe; whatever gods exist must serve him. If the covenant God of Israel does not help him as he wishes, then Saul is prepared to find other gods. This is the black heart of idolatry."

Don Carson on 1 Samuel 28. For the Love of God, vol. 1, meditation for september 4.

John Owen on the comfort of the Holy Spirit

"Now there is no way of managing our souls in troubles and afflictions so that God is glorified and ourselves spiritually strengthened but by the comforts of the Holy Spirit...

"The Holy Spirit enables believers to obey cheerfully, willingly and patiently to the end.

"In a word, in all that concerns us in this life and in all our expectation of another life, we will always stand on need of the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit.

"Without the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit, we will either despise afflictions or collapse under them and God's purpose in sending them to us will be defeated."

Communion with God, pp.197-198

John Owen on the work of the Holy Spirit

"A believer may be in the saddest and darkest condition imaginable. Even so, the Holy Spirit is able to break through all this and bring to mind the promises of Christ. By this work, the Holy Spirit enables Christians to sit in dungeons, rejoice in flames and glory in troubles. If he brings to mind the promises of Christ for our comfort, neither Satan nor man, neither sin nor the world, nor even death itself shall take away our comfort. Saints who have communion with the Holy Spirit know this only too well. Sometimes the heavens are black over them, and the earth trembles under them. Disasters and distresses appear which are so full of horror and darkness that they are tempted to give up in despair. So how greatly are their spirits revived when the Holy Spirit brings the words of Christ to their minds for their comfort and joy. Thus, believers are not dependent on outward circumstances for their happiness, for they have the inward and powerfully effective work of the Holy Spirit, to whom they give themselves up by faith."

John Owen, Communion with God (banner of truth) p.179

Quotes from Richard Lovelace

I started reading Dynamics of Spiritual Life by Richard Lovelace recently, and have already found a lot to stimulate:

"Agape is not a mere emotional by-product of action but a supernatural outpouring of the grace of God infusing all our behavior with the life of Christ." p.13

"True Christianity, according to its intrinsick Constitution, is an active, lively, strong, vigorous Principle, seated in the inmost Center of the Soul, and swaying by its Dictates all the Actions that proceed from it."
Boehm quoted p.14

"The great prophets and pioneers of evangelical renewal who looked forward to this ultimate unveiling of the church's grandeur constantly stressed that this goal could only be attained through a strategy of spiritual revitalization combined with doctrinal and structural reformation." p.16

"The attunement of the heart is essential to the outflow of grace." p.16

"The Triple Way of classical mysticism, which moves from the stage of cleansing one's life through illumination toward union with God, seems to reverse the biblical order, which starts from union with Christ claimed by faith, leading to the illumination of the Holy Spirit and consequent cleansing through the process of sanctification." p.19

"It is my assumption that growth in faith is the root of all spiritual growth and is prior to all disciplines of works. True spirituality is not a superhuman religiosity; it is simply true humanity released from bondage to sin and renewed by the Holy Spirit. This is given to us as we grasp by faith the full content of Christ's redemptive work: freedom from the guilt and power of sin, and newness of life through the indwelling and outpouring of his Spirit." p.19-20

"... the experiential application of live Reformation orthodoxy." p.27

"Revival, in his [Jonathan Edwards] understanding, is not a special season of extraordinary religious excitement, as in many forms of later American revivalism. Rather it is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit which restores the people of God after a period of corporate declension." P.40

Luther on Christmas

Behold Christ lying in the lap of his young mother, still a virgin. What can be sweeter than the Babe, what more lovely than the mother! What fairer than her youth! What more gracious than her virginity! Look at the Child, knowing nothing. Yet all that is belongs to him, that your conscience should not fear but take comfort in him. Doubt nothing. Watch him springing in the lap of the maiden. Laugh with him. Look upon this Lord of Peace and your spirit will be at peace. See how God invites you in many ways. He places before you a babe with whom you may take refuge. You cannot fear him, for nothing is more appealing to man than a babe. Are you affrighted? Then come to him, lying in the lap of the fairest and sweetest maid. You will see how great is the divine goodness, which seeks above all else that you should not despair. Trust him! Trust him! Here is the Child in whom is salvation. To me there is no greater consolation given to mankind than this, that Christ became man, a child, a babe, playing in the lap and at the breasts of his gracious mother. Who is there whom this sight would not comfort? Now is overcome the power of sin, death, hell, conscience, and guilt, if you come to judge this gurgling Babe and believe that he is come, not to judge you, but to save.

Martin Luther's Christmas Book (ed. Roland Bainton) p.33

Owen again on meditating on the righteousness of Christ

Believers approve of and rejoice in this righteousness [of Christ] because it brings great peace and assurance to their souls. They remember what fears  they had before. But now 'being justified by faith, they have peace with God' (Rom 5.1). All is quiet and still. Not only is the storm over, but they are safely anchored in the harbour. They have abiding peace with God. So we have that wonderful description of Christ given to us in Isaiah (Isa 32.2). The soul, through Christ, is at perfect peace with God (Isa 26.3; Psa. 4.6-8). So the souls of believers glorify the Lord Christ because they can come boldly to God with confidence, peace, joy and assurance. They can call him Father. They can strengthen themselves in his love. They can walk in peace and live without fear. Once they ran from him for fear. Now they can approach him with love, joy and peace.

John Owen, Communion with God (Banner of Truth), p.142

Grace revealed in the righteousness of Christ - John Owen

When the righteousness of Christ is first revealed to a sinner as the only way to be accepted by God, he is amazed and full of wonder and rejoices greatly. So he heartily approves of this righteousness because it reveals the glory of the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:21). He sees what darkness he was in. He looked into himself and found only sin, horror, fear and tremblings. He looked up and saw nothing but wrath, curses and vengeance. He saw that God was holy and righteous and that no unclean thing could abide with him. He saw that he was a poor, vile, unclean and sinful creature and he could not see how a holy God and a sinful creature could be reconciled. But in the righteousness of Christ, a world of wisdom is opened, dispelling all difficulties and darkness and revealing how reconciliation could actually happen (Rom 11.33; Col 2.3).

What grace is revealed in this righteousness of Christ! The sinner does not have to earn it. God everywhere assures us that this righteousness is of grace (Rom 11.6; Eph 2.7-9). It is given to us by grace. It is from the riches of grace and kindness that this righteousness has been provided. So believers rejoice in this righteousness because it is ours by grace only.

John Owen, Communion with God (Banner of Truth), pp.141-142

Seek consciously the lowest place

From Francis Schaeffer, No Little People in The Complete Works of Francis A Schaeffer, vol. 3, pp.12-13

Jesus commands Christians to seek consciously the lowest room. All of us – pastors, teachers, professional religious workers and nonprofessional included – are tempted to say, “I will take the larger place because it will give me more influence for Jesus Christ.” Both individual Christians and Christian organizations fall prey to the temptation of rationalizing this way as we build bigger and bigger empires. But according to the Scripture this is backwards: we should consciously take the lowest place unless the Lord Himself extrudes us into a greater one.

The word extrude is important here. To be extruded is to be forced under pressure into a desired shape. Picture a huge press jamming soft metal at high pressure through a die, so that the metal comes out in a certain shape. This is the way of the Christian: he should choose the lesser place until God extrudes him into a position of more responsibility and authority.

Let me suggest two reasons why we ought not grasp the larger place. First, we should seek the lowest place because there it is easier to be quiet before the face of the Lord. I did not say easy; in no place, no matter how small or humble, is it easy to be quiet before God. But it is certainly easier in some places than in others. And the little places, where I can more easily be close to God, should be my preference. I am not saying that it is impossible to be quiet before God in a greater place, but God must be allowed to choose when a Christian is ready to be extruded into such a place, for only He knows when a person will be able to have some quietness before Him in the midst of increased pressure and responsibility.

Quietness and peace before God are more important than any influence a position may seem to give, for we must stay in step with God to have the power of the Holy Spirit. If by taking a bigger place our quietness with God is lost, then to that extent our fellowship with Him is broken and we are living in the flesh, and the final result will not be as great, no matter how important the larger place may look in the eyes of other men or in our own eyes. Always there will be a battle, always we will be less than perfect, but if a place is too big and too active for our present spiritual condition, then it is too big….

The second reason why we should not seek the larger place is that if we deliberately and egotistically lay hold on leadership, wanting the drums to beat and the trumpets to blow, then we are not qualified for Christian leadership. Why? Because we have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters in Christ with other Christians. I have said on occasion that there is only one good kind of fighter for Jesus Christ – the man who does not like to fight. The belligerent man is never the one to be belligerent for Jesus. And it is exactly the same with leadership. The Christian leader should be a quiet man of God who is extruded by God’s grace into some place of leadership.