Thursday, December 31, 2015

Hilaire Belloc, a forgotten writer

If you should ask how this book came to be written, it was in this way. One day as I was wandering over the world I came upon the valley where I was born, and stopping there a moment to speak with them all--when I had argued politics with the grocer, and played the great lord with the notary-public, and had all but made the carpenter a Christian by force of rhetoric--what should I note (after so many years) but the old tumble-down and gaping church, that I love more than mother-church herself, all scraped, white, rebuilt, noble, and new, as though it had been finished yesterday. Knowing very well that such a change had not come from the skinflint populace, but was the work of some just artist who knew how grand an ornament was this shrine (built there before our people stormed Jerusalem), I entered, and there saw that all within was as new, accurate, and excellent as the outer part; and this pleased me as much as though a fortune had been left to us all; for one's native place is the shell of one's soul, and one's church is the kernel of that nut.

Hilaire Belloc, The path to Rome (Google book, pdf)

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Humility is the Queen of Virtues

“. . . no one seems to know what just happened [decision of Supreme Court on same sex marriage in June 2015]. This wasn’t the legalization of a behavior—for the legal barriers to homosexual conduct were torn down decades ago. The rights to cohabitate, to share insurance benefits, tax status, and even call each other spouse—without discrimination—are hard fought gains that were achieved before last Friday. A new right has not been created, rather the Constitutional right for the rest of us to think and speak our minds, and to hold our own counsel has been severely curtailed. The right to do something impossible can’t be achieved, not by any court, only the right to demand everyone else be supportive of this masked ball, with legal penalties for refusing to join the dance. We’ve only lost the right to object.”

“. . . Christians shouting the word “sin” at something out there have failed to use this most powerful weapon we have by the Holy Spirit to counter forces beyond our human skill or strength. When an obstacle is too high, too strong, too wide for you to go over it, it is best to adopt humility and go under it. If language against a sin that’s been called a blessing can only draw fire and fill you full of verbal bullet holes, then use the stance that saints have long used in more trying circumstances and under worse governments: the language of humility. When saying, “You are sinners!” just won’t do—and I think this is one of those times—then freely speak the truth and say, “We are sinners and have failed God, but we’ve been found by Him and are happy to be new creatures in Christ.”
Humility: Queen of  Virtues

Monday, December 21, 2015

Wait, Hope, Trust

Advent Meditations for December 21

Wait when the seed is planted, Wait for the rain to fall;

Wait for the restless green sprout, Wait while the plant grows tall.

Wait for the coming Savior, Wait through the heart’s slow race;

Wait for the kingdom’s dawning, Wait till we see his face!

Hope when the sun is setting, Hope through the dark of night;

Hope though the moon is waning, Hope as we long for light.

Hope for the coming Savior, Hope through the heart’s slow race;

Hope for the kingdom’s dawning, Hope till we see his face!

Trust in the new spring’s promise, Trust through the summer’s heat;

Trust in the dying autumn, Trust through the winter sleet.

Trust in the coming Savior, Trust in the heart’s slow race:

Trust in the kingdom’s dawning, Trust till we see His face!

http://airmaria.com/category/subjects/spiritual-life/faith/#sthash.JdFUm8IN.dpuf

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Pastors or pew--who is right?

A Barna poll finds


"Less than 1 percent of senior pastors and discipleship pastors told Barna that “today’s churches are doing very well at discipling new and young believers.” Six in 10 said that churches are discipling “not too well.”

But those in the pews disagree. More than 9 in 10 said that their church “definitely” (52%) or “probably” (40%) does “a good job of helping people grow spiritually.”"

And how about this one?  Ah, the problem with polls. . . I'm doing OK, but that guy is really bad off.

 “Pastors give their own church higher marks than churches overall, but few believe churches—their own or in general—are excelling in discipleship,” the report stated

 http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2015/december/pastors-pews-vastly-disagree-discipleship-barna-navigators.html