Puritans

Greetings All!

     This week's "thoughts" come to you from a selection of different Puritans. Yes, Puritans!  I know many are prejudiced against the Puritans from the start (often by exposure to exaggerated and untrue propaganda) but I would ask you (if you are such a person) to let them speak for themselves and not read them through the filter of another person's opinion of them.  Ryken's Book "Worldly Saints" is a wonderful corrective to many of the common myths.
Overall (with a few minor exceptions) they were a very gospel-centered and grace-oriented group of people. Yet you would only know that if you took the time to read the things they actually wrote themselves, instead of things others have written about them (often without ever having taken the time to do what I just suggested)!  After all, wisdom and fairness would say we should never formulate an opinion of someone until we get to know and interact with them personally.
     So, with that said, here are some "Puritan" thoughts! In terms of a time frame, the vast majority lived between the years 1600 - 1690.   Enjoy.

     "The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves... dreams of her in the night, has her in his eye and apprehensions when he awakes, muses on her at he sits at table, and walks with her when she travels... She lies in his bosom, and his heart trusts in her, which forces all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength." 

Thomas Hooker

     "There is no relationship more near, more entire, more needful, more kindly, more delightful, more comfortable, more constant, more continual, than the relationship of a man and his wife, the main root, source, and origin of all other relationships." 

Thomas Gataker

     "Creatures, like pictures, are most beautiful from a distance.  But it is not so with Christ. The nearer the soul approaches Him, and the longer it lives in the enjoyment of Him, still the sweeter and more desirable He becomes... He is bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, a garment to the naked, and healing to the wounded. Whatever a soul can desire is found in Him."

John Flavel

     "What is the Gospel itself but a merciful moderation, in which Christ's obedience is esteemed ours, and our sins laid upon Him, wherein God, from being a judge, becomes our Father, pardoning our sins and accepting our obedience, though feeble and blemished."

Richard Sibbes

     "Men would sooner believe that the Gospel is from heaven, if they saw more of its heavenly effects in the hearts and lives of those who profess it."

Richard Baxter

     "One word of seasonable, prudent advice, given by a minister to persons in need, may be of more use than many sermons."

Richard Baxter

     "It is the same impossibility for a thing to be created out of nothing, as to be created by nothing." 

William Law

     "He only that stills the stormy seas, can quiet the distressed and tempestuous soul."

John Flavel

     "A man may easier see without eyes, or speak without a tongue, than truly mortify one sin without the Spirit."

John Owen

     "Humility is a strange flower -- it grows best in winter weather and under storms of affliction."

Samuel Rutherford

     "There are two aspects to love; the one is to give, the other is to forgive." 

John Boys

     "In marriage a husband must choose his love, and then he must love his choice." 

Henry Smith

     "God commands nothing but what is beneficial...  To obey God is not so much our duty as our privilege." 

Thomas Watson

     "If you neglect instructing your children in the way of holiness, will the devil neglect to instruct them in the way of wickedness? No. If you will not teach them to pray, he will teach them to curse, swear, and lie.  If ground remain uncultivated, weeds will spring up on it."

John Flavel

     "Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer."

John Bunyan

     "All married persons must above all things, love, respect and cherish grace in one another."

Thomas Taylor

     In the Bonds of Christian Affection, Pastor Jeff

101 Quotable Christians

Greetings All,

     It has been a while since I sent out a "thought" since I was vacationing ("on holiday" for my British friends!) in my homeland -- New England. During that time I picked up a book (actually a few books). One was entitled "101 Quotable Christians," published by Barbour Publishing Co. and listing no author/editor.
     I went through the book (as always) with a yellow marker in hand and highlighted some that I thought were very good.  I now offer them to you with the hope that they may encourage you or give you some helpful insights. As is printed on the back cover of the book: "A great quotation can provide thought, brighten a day, even change a life..." I pray it is so!  Enjoy.

"Grace is not given because we have done good works, but in order that we may be able to do them." 

St. Augustine  (400 A.D.)

"Men would sooner believe that the Gospel is from heaven if they saw more such effects of it upon the hearts and lives of those who profess it."

Richard Baxter  (1650 A.D.)

"You want me to tell you why God is to be loved and how much? I answer that the reason for loving God is God Himself; and the measure of love due Him is immeasurable love... We are to love God for Himself because of a twofold reason: Nothing is more reasonable, and nothing is more profitable. When one asks:  Why should I love God? he may mean, What is lovely in God? or  What shall I gain by loving God?   In either case, the same cause of love exists, namely, God Himself... Ought He not be loved in return, when we think who loved, whom He loved, and how much He loved."

Bernard of Clairvaux (1125 A.D. - author of the hymn "Be Thou My Vision.")

"Will God ever ask you to do something you are not able to do?  The answer is yes -- all the time!  It must be that way, for God's glory and kingdom. If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory. If we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory. He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world."

Henry Blackaby (2009 A.D.)

"The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men... The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods but through men."

E. M. Bounds (1880 A.D.)

"Let all our employment be to know God; the more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him... Do not always scrupulously confine yourself to certain rules, or particular forms of devotion, but act with a general confidence in God, with love and humility... There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God." 

Nicolas Herman or "Brother Lawrence" (1670 A.D.)

"The end to which we ought to purpose ourselves is to become, in this life, the most perfect worshipers of God we can possibly be, as we hope to be through all eternity."

Nicolas Herman or "Brother Lawrence"

"Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it's like to live inside somebody else's skin... The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt."

Frederick Buechner  (2004 A.D.)

     "That there exists in the human mind, and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God Himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of His Godhead, the memory of which He constantly renews and occasionally enlarges, that all to a man, being aware that there is a God, and that He is their Maker, may be condemned by their own conscience when they neither worship Him nor consecrate their lives to His service... 

     Until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by His paternal care, and that He is the author of all their blessings, so that nothing is to be looked for apart from Him, they will never submit to Him in voluntary obedience.  No, unless they place their entire happiness in Him, they will never yield up their whole selves to Him in truth and sincerity." 

John Calvin (1646 A.D.)

"The word "comfort" is from two Latin words meaning "with" and "strong" -- He is with us to make us strong. Comfort is not soft, weakening commiseration, it is true, strengthening love... All along, let us remember we are not asked to understand, but simply obey." 

Amy Carmichael  (1920 A.D.)

"Remember -- a cup brimful of sweetness cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, no matter how hard or suddenly it is jarred."

Amy Carmichael

"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become popular." 

G. K. Chesterton  (1900 A.D.)

"Love not the world.  Nothing that it contains is worth the life and consecration of an immortal soul... He who seeks God in tangible form misses the very thing he is seeking, for God is a Spirit." 

Henry Drummond (1880 A. D.) 

Many Christians look with regret to mistakes from their past, thereby feeding an ongoing sense of shame and deadening their joy in the present.  Yet, as Francois Fenelon (1690 A.D.) wisely points out,"The wise and diligent traveler watches all his steps, and keeps his eyes always directed to that part of the path which is immediately before him. He does not incessantly look backwards to count his steps and examine his footprints."

"As all the rivers are gathered into the ocean, which is the meeting place of all the waters in the world, so Christ is that ocean in which all true delights and pleasures meet."

John Flavel   (1650 A.D.)

Blessings on your day.  In Christ's Service, Pastor Jeff

Strength in Prayer

Greetings All,
 
      I sent these 'thoughts' out last week to encourage those here in my church in Perkasie who are engaged in The Lord's Watch (Prayer Watch), where we have over 44 participants covering 77 hours a week in prayer.  
      Yet, since praying at scheduled times often involves persevering in prayer (or praying when you don't necessarily feel like it), I thought these thoughts might encourage all who have tried to make prayer a regular spiritual discipline.
      It's no new struggle.  The struggle to pray when tired, distracted or not in the mood is a struggle that dates back to the first disciples who fell asleep twice after being told by Jesus to pray and watch. Whenever we seek to establish the habit of scheduled prayer, there will be obstacles and we will all go through the inevitable ups and downs involved.  I myself have had to wrestle through them, though it's been a good discipline to stick to it.
      Thus I write to encourage all of you (like those in my church) to press on in prayer! The Lord waits to meet with you. Your prayers do have an impact. The Lord listens, hears, and responds. And yes, sometimes He tests our resolve. So keep those appointments, and pray so long as you have breath, letting no thwarted attempt or failure to be disciplined discourage you from picking up where you left off!

I include a few encouragements to pray. They are by well-known pray-ers of the past. I trust their words will inspire you to persevere and press on in the ongoing fight to "bring every thought captive to Christ" (II Cor. 10:5). Enjoy.

The Seven Steps to Strength in Prayer (as seen in Christ's determination to pray in the garden prior to his crucifixion).  Adapted from J. Doyle Masters.

 

1.)  Have a special place to pray - "Jesus went to the Mount of Olives..."
2.)  Develop a regular practice of prayer - "as was His custom."
3.)  Let it be a private place - "He withdrew about a stone's throw from them..."
4.)  Have a comfortable yet reverent posture - "He knelt down and prayed."
5.)  Have a submissive, selfless, willingness to pursue obedience - "nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done."

6.)  Pray with earnest purpose remembering that prayer is not a performance but a godly impulse to fight self-will and embrace God's will - "And being in agony He prayed all the more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground." 

7.)  Be prepared to be filled with power - "There appeared to Him an angel from heaven to strengthen Him." 

 

Persistence in Prayer by Sir Francis Drake (c.1543-1596 A.D.)

 

    "O Lord God, when Thou callest Thy servants to endeavor in any great matter,
     Grant us to know that it is not the beginning,
     But our continuing on with it until it be thoroughly finished,
     Which yields the true glory,
     Through Him that to the finishing of Thy great work,
     Laid down His life."

 

What is Needed To Pray Aright by Benedict of Nursia (480-547A.D.)

"O gracious and holy Father,
      Give us wisdom to perceive Thee,

Intelligence to understand Thee,
Diligence to pursue Thee,

Patience to wait for Thee,

Eyes to behold Thee,

A heart to meditate upon Thee,

And a life to proclaim Thee;

Through the power of the Spirit,

Of Jesus Christ the Lord."

 

A Right Attitude in Prayer by John Donne (1572-1631)

"O Lord, never suffer us to think,

that we can stand by ourselves,

and not need Thee."

 

The Reasons Why by... Unknown

 

 

"Not till the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly,Shall God unfold the canvas, And reveal the reasons why, The dark threads are as needful, In the Weaver's skillful hand, As the threads of gold and silver, In the pattern He has planned."

   

     Should you lose the desire to pray, you need simply persevere and pray for it to be restored. Because it is true -- we are even dependent upon Him for that!  Do all that you must, and whatever you must, but don't give up!  For as Richard Sibbes reminds us: "When we go to God in prayer, the devil knows we go to fetch power against him, and therefore he opposes us all he can."

     Prayer is not just a spiritual activity or discipline, as Richard Baxter points out, it is, "The breath of the new creature."  "It is," says Hooker, "the first thing with which the righteous life begins, and the last thing with which it ends." Few things are as important to our spiritual life or our relationship with God as prayer. 

 

 

In His Service, Pastor Jeff

Short Thoughts to Ponder

Greetings All,

     This weeks "thought" comes to you in the form of many short thoughts to ponder. They are taken from various sources, and the first four were sent to me by a gentleman who receives these weekly thoughts and returned the favor by sending some my way to encourage me.  It seems most everyone has some favorite thoughts, or sayings, that have helped them in their life-journey by the wise counsel conveyed through them. Thus I pass his on to you with a couple others included. I pray that one or more may speak to where you are at and help you on this day. Enjoy.

     "To see the Law by Christ fufilled,

       And hear His pardoning voice,
       Changes a slave into a child,
       And duty into choice."

                                   W. Cowper

     "Be still and know that He is God,

     Through pathways steep and rough;
     Not what He brings, but what He is,
     Will always be enough."

Anonymous

    "It is God's will that I should cast,

     My care on Him each day.
     He also asks me not to cast,
     My confidence away.
     But oh how stupidly I act,
     When taken unaware,
     I cast away my confidence,
     And carry all my care."

                                  T. Baird

 

    "The perfection of heaven is not static, nor do we see all at once all there is to see (about God) - for the finite cannot take in all the infinite. It is not our destiny to become God, therefore, there will always be more for a finite creature to know and enjoy about God. The end of increasing pleasure in God never comes. God is inexhaustably infinite!"     

John Piper 

 

     "It is vitally important at the outset to emphasize that there is no need for a log cabin, cottages, or huts, in order to lead a life of prayer. Prayer is interior.  The hut, the log cabin, the chapel, is the human heart in which we must learn how to pray. Solitude sometimes helps prayer, and for special vocations is the cradle of prayer -- and powerful prayer at that. But for the average Christian, prayer doesn't need a geographic spot. Prayer is a contact of love between God and man.

     Married people don't need a bedroom to make love.  One can make love anyplace -- and 'making love' does not necessarily mean what people immediately think it means!  Making love can mean looking into each other's eyes.  It can mean holding hands tightly.  It means being aware of each other in the midst of a crowd. So it is with prayer.  In the intense stillness of a loving heart all of that person strains toward the beloved, and words -- simple, gentle, tender -- come forth, audible or inaudible, as the case may be."  

  Catherine de Hueck Doherty 

 

       "I had recently found myself struggling with discontent. I lacked joy. Little things bothered me.  My thoughts turned to regrets and 'could have been's...'  Situations I used to bear up under seemed intolerable. I felt like I needed to run, start over, or pursue the happiness that was evading me, since the clock was ticking and I wasn't getting any younger.  Once time passed, I reasoned, I would lose it forever. 

     But as those thoughts went through my mind I realized my problem -- my words made it so very clear -- I was a Christian who had lost sight of the eternal. Like it or not (and it happened so gradually I was quite unaware of it) the pervading mindset of the contemporary culture around me (focused as it is on the temporal and not the eternal) had not only influenced but captivated my thinking.  Instead of living for eternity, as I had in my younger days, I had started living for the today's that seemed to be slipping away -- thinking almost entirely about what I wanted out of this life.  I was living for this life, not in a bad, overtly hedonistic or evil sense, but simply as if this life was the only one I had.
     My mind had gradually been transformed, but it was not by the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, it was by "the pattern of this world" (Rom. 12:2) which I thought I had left behind at my conversion years ago. I came to see how easily and deceptively the world's false value system finds a way of slipping in and taking root again, even after being unrooted. And when it does, the struggles and trails of this life become larger and more daunting than they really are.  Decisions are made on the basis of a present "quality of life" pursuit, rather than an eternal "future grace" pursuit -- where our reward is stored up in heaven for us, God's honor dictates our choices, and the anticipation of hearing the blessed words, "well done good and faithful servant" shed joy upon every struggle this present life seems to buffet us with.

     It brought to mind the words Richard Baxter wrote concerning the four benefits of thinking about heaven or eternity.  1.) It protects us from temptation because it keeps the heart focused on what pleases God.  2.) It maintains the vigor of the Christian life. 3.) It provides medicine for our afflictions cheering our spirits and easing our suffering. 4.) It makes us an encouragement to fellow pilgrims.  And I will add number 5.) It helps us remember that "our light and momentary afflictions are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."

     Those are the reasons we are to, "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (II Cor. 5:18).  How many struggles we would gladly endure or bear up under with a divine joy, if we could just maintain, or regain, the Bible's perspective that life is always to be lived in light of eternity.  Though it has been said that some people are so heavenly minded they do no earthly good, it can also be said that many more people are so earthly minded they have lost entirely the ability to persevere, endure any discomfort, or weather the struggles of life with joy. To lose sight of our eternal future robs us of joy and strength of character in the present."  

                                                                            Anonymous

 

 

      With prayers for your growth, encouragement and personal edification, Pastor Jeff