it was through the person of count Zinzendorf that God chose to give new life and a rebirth of sorts to the Brethren, originally of moravia and bohemia.
count Zinzendorf was born at 6 in the evening, may 26th, 1700 in dresden..zinzendorf street reminds us still of the noble family that has now died out. (written early 1900s) he was only 6 weeks old when his father burst a blood vessel and died; he was only 4 when his mother married again; and the young count..nicholas lewis, count of zinzendorf and pottendorf - was handed over to the tender care of his grandmother..who lived at gross-hennersdorf castle. and now, even in childhood's days, little lutz, as his grandmother loved to call him, began to show signs of his coming greatness. as his father lay on his dying bed, he had taken the child in his feeble arms, and consecrated him to the service of Christ; and now in his grandmother's noble home he sat at the feet of the learned, the pious, and the refined. never was a child less petted and pampered; never was a child more strictly trained; never was a child made more familiar with the person and teaching Jesus Christ.
dr. spener, the famous pietist leader, watched his growth with fatherly interest. the old lady was a leader in pietist circles, was a writer of beautiful religious poetry and guarded him as the apple of her eye. he read the bible every day. he doted on luther's catechism. he had the gospel story at his finger ends. his aunt henrietta, who was rather an oddity, prayed with him morning and night. his tutor, edeling, was an earnest young pietist from franke's school at halle; and the story of zinzendorf's early days reads like a medeaeval tale.
'already in my fourth year i began to seek God earnestly and determined to become a true servant of Jesus Christ'. at the age of 6 he regarded Christ as his brother, would talk with Him for hours together as with a familiar friend and was often found rapt in thought, like socrates in the market place at athens. as other children love and trust their parents, so this bright lad with the golden hair loved and trusted Christ. 'a thousand times i heard Him speak in my heart and saw Him with the eye of faith'. already the keynote of his life was struck; already the fire of zeal burned in his bosom. 'of all the qualities of Christ, the greatest is His nobility; and of all the noble ideas in the world, the noblest is the idea that the Creator should die for His children. if the Lord were forsaken by all the world, i still would cling to Him and love Him'. he held prayer meetings in his private room. he was sure that Christ Himself was present there.
he held prayer meetings in his private room. he was sure that Christ Himself was present there. he preached sermons to companies of friends. if hearers failed, he arranged the chairs as an audience; and still is shown the little window from which he threw letters addressed to Christ, not doubting that Christ would receive them. as the child was engaged one day in prayer, the rude soldiers of charles XIL burst into his room. forthwith the lad began to speak of Christ; and away the soldiers fled in awe and terror. at the ageof 8 he lay awake at night tormented with atheistic doubts. but the doubts did not last long. how ever much he doubted with the head whenever doubted with the heart; and the charm that drove the doubts away was the figure of the living Christ.
and here we touch the springs of the boy's religion. it is easy to call all this a hot house process; it is easy to dub the child a precocious prig. but at bottom his religion was healthy and sound. it was not morbid; it was joyful. it was not based on dreamy imagination; it was based on the historiic person of Christ. it was not the result of mystic exaltation; it was the result of a study of the gospels. it was not, above all, self centered; it led him to seek for fellowship with others. as the boy devoured the gospel story, he was impressed first by the drama of the crucifixion; and often pondered on the words of gerhardt's hymn:
O head so full of bruises
so full of pain and scorn
midst other sore abuses
mocked with a crown of thorns
his tutor, edeling..'spoke to me of Jesus and His wounds'.
but the boy did not linger in holy week for ever. he began by laying stress on the suffering Christ; he went on to lay stress on the whole life of Christ; and on that life, from the cradle to the grave, his own strong faith was based. 'i was as certain that the Son of God was my Lord as of the existence of my 5 fingers'. to him the existence of Jesus was a proof of the existence of God; and he felt all his limbs ablaze, to use his own expression, with the desire to preach the eternal Godhead of Christ. 'if it were possible that there should be another God than Christ i would rather be damned with Christ than happy with another. i have but one passion - tis He, tis only He'.
SCHOOL AT HALLE..at 10 he was taken by his mother to professor franke's school at halle; and by mistake he overheard a conversation between her and the pious professor. she described him as a lad of parts, but full of pride and in need of the curbing rein. he was soon to find how much these words implied. if a boy has been trained by gentle ladies he is hardly well equipped, as a rule, to stand the rough horseplay of a boarding school; and if, in addition, he boasts blue blood, he is sure to come in for blows. and the count was a delicate aristocrat, with weak legs and a cough. he was proud of his noble birth; he was rather officious in his manner; he had his meals at franke's private table; he had private lodgings a few minutes' walk from school; he had plenty of $ in his purse; and, therefore, on the whole, he was as well detested as the son of a lord can be. 'with a few exceptions my schoolfellows hated me throughout.
but this was not the bitterest part of the pill. if there was any wholesome feeling missing in his heart hitherto, it was what theologians call the sense of sin. he had no sense of sin whatever, and no sense of any need of pardon. his masters soon proceeded to humble his pride. he was introduced as a smut little pharisee and they treated him as a viper. of all systems of school discipline, the most revolting is the system of employing spies; and that was the system used by the staff at halle. they placed the young count under boyish police supervision, encouraged the lads to tell tales about him, rebuked him for his misconduct in the measles, lectured him before the whole school on his rank and disgusting offenses, and treated him as half a rogue and half an idiot. if he pleaded not guilty, they called him a liar, and gave him an extra thrashing. the thrashing was a public school entertainment, and was advertised on the school notice board. 'next week the count is to have the stick'.
for 2 years he lived in a moral purgatory. the masters gave him the fire of their wrath, and the boys the cold shoulder of contempt. the masters called him a malicious rebel, and the boys called him a snob. as the little fellow set off for morning school, with his pile of books upon his arm, the others waylaid him, jostled him to and fro, knocked him into the gutter, scattered his books on the street and then officiously reported him late for school. he was clever and, therefore, the masters called him idle; and when he did not know his lesson they made him stand in the street, with a pair of ass's ears on his head and a placard on his back proclaiming to the public that the culprit was a 'lazy donkey'.
his private tutor..was a bully, who had made his way into franke's school by varnishing himself with a shiny coating of piety. if the count's relations came to see him, he made him beg for $ and then took the $ himself. if his grandmother sent him a ducat, the tutor pocketed a florin. if he wrote a letter home, the tutor read it. if he drank a cup of coffee, the tutor would say, 'you have me to think for that, let me hear you sing a song of thanksgiving'. if he tried to pour out his soul in prayer, he mocked him, interrupted him, and introduced disgusting topics of conversation. he even made the lad appear a sneak. 'my tutor often persuaded me to write letters to my guardian complaining of my hard treatment, and then showed the letters to the inspector.
in vain little lutz laid his case before his mother. his tutor thrashed him to such good purpose that he never dared to complain again; and his mother still held that he needed drastic medicine. to franke she wrote, 'i beseech you , be severe with the lad; if talking will not cure him of lying, then let him feel it'.
at last the muddy lane broadened into a highway. one day his tutor pestered franke with one of his whining complaints. the headmaster snapped him short.'i am sick of your growlings; you must manage the matter yourself'.
as the months rolled on, the count breathed purer air. he became more manly and bold. he astonished the masters by his progress. he was learning greek, could speak in french and dash off letters in latin. he was confirmed, attended the communion, and wrote a beautiful hymn recording his feelings...
....he had always maintained his private habit of personal communion with
Christ; and now he wished to share his religion with others. the time was ripe. the moral state of franke's school was low; the boys were given to vicious habits and tried to corrupt his soul; and the count, who was a healthy minded boy, and shrank with disgust from fleshly sins. retorted by forming a number of religious clubs for mutual encouragement and help. 'i established little societies in which we spoke of the grace of Christ and encouraged each other in diligence and good works'. he became a healthy moral force in the school. he rescued his friend..from the hands of 50 seducers; he persuaded 3 others to join in the work of rescue; and 5 lads established a club which became a 'church within the church' for boys. they called themselves 'the slaves of virtue', next the 'confessors of Christ', and finally the 'honorable order of the mustard seed'; and they took a pledge to be true to Christ, to be upright and moral and to do good to their fellow men. of all the school clubs..the last was the most famous and the most enduring. as the boys grew up to man's estate they invited others to join their ranks; the doctrinal basis was broad...for an emblem they had a small shield, with an 'ecce homo', and the motto 'His wounds our healing'; and each member of the order wore a gold ring, inscribed with the words, 'no man liveth unto himself'. the grand master of the order was Z..he wore a golden cross; the cross had an oval green front; and on that front was painted a mustard tree, with the words beneath, 'quod fuit ante nihil' ie. what was formerly nothing.
but already the boy had wider conceptions still. as he sat at franke's dinner table, he listened one day to the conversation of the danixh missionary, ziegenbalg..and he even saw some dusky converts whom the missionary had brought from malabar. his missionary zeal was aroused. as his guardian had already settled that Z should enter the service of the state, he had, of course, no idea of becoming a missionary himself; but, as that was out of the question, he formed a solemn league and covenant with his ..friend watteville that when God would show them suitable men they would send them out to heathen tribes for whom no one else seemed to care...the count later saw these early clubs and covenants as the germs of his later work; and when he left for the university the delighted professor franke said, 'this youth will some day become a great light in the world'.
UNIVERSITY OF WITTENBERG..as the count..in his uncles opinion was growing rather too pietistic, he was now sent to the university at wittenberg, to study the science of jurisprudence and prepare for high service in the state. his father had been a secretary of state and the son was to follow in his footsteps. his uncle had a contempt for pietist religion; and sent the lad.. 'to drive the nonsense out of him'. he had certainly chosen the right place. for 200 years the great university had been regarded as the stronghold of the orthodox lutheran faith; the bi-centenary luther jubilee was fast approaching; the theological professors were models of orthodox belief; and the count was enjoined to be regular at church and to listen with due attention and reverence to the sermons of those infallible divines.
it was like sending a boy to oxford to cure him of a taste for dissent. his tutor..went with him, to guard his morals, read his letters, and rob him of $ at cards. he had also to master the useful arts of riding, fencing, and dancing. the cards gave him twinges of conscience. if he took a hand, he laid down the condition that any $ he might win should be given to the poor. he prayed for skill in his dancing lessons, because he wanted to have more time for more serious studies. he was more devout in his daily life than ever, prayed to Christ with the foil in his hand, studied the bible in hebrew and greek, spent whole nights in prayer, fasted the livelong day on sundays, and was, in a word, so methodistic in his habits that he could truly describe himself as a 'rigid pietist'. he interfered in many a duel and rebuked his fellow students for drinking hard; and for this he was not beloved.
as he had come to wittenberg to study law, he was not, of course, allowed to attend the regular theological lectures; but, all the same, he spent his leisure in studying the works of luther and spener, and cultivated the personal friendship of many of the theological professors. and here he made a most delightful discovery. as he came to know these professors better, he found that a man could be orthodox without being narrow minded; and they, for their part, also found that a man could be a rigid pietist without being a sectarian prig. it was time, he thought, to put an end to the quarrel. he would make peace between wittenberg and halle. he would reconcile the lutherans and pietists. he consulted with leading professors on both sides; he convinced them of the need for peace; and the rival teachers actually agreed to accept this student..as the agent of the longed for truce. but here count Z's mother intervened. 'you must not meddle in such weighty matters; they are above your understanding and your powers'. and Z, being a dutiful son,. obeyed. 'i think a visit to halle might have been of use, but, of course, i must obey the 4th commandment'.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
3.30.2011 MORAVIANS #4: USE OF THE LOT
again, the Brethren had a strong belief in direct answers to prayer. it was this that led them to make such use of the 'lot'. as soon as the first 12 elders were elected, the brethren chose from among the 12 a committee of 4 by lot; and in course of time the lot was used for a great variety of purposes. by the lot..the most serious ecclesiastical problems were settled. by the lot a sister determined her answer to an offer of marriage. by the lot a call to service was given, and by the lot it was accepted or rejected. if once the lot had been consulted, the decision was absolute and binding. the prayer had been answered, the Lord had spoken, and the servant must now obey.
(1731) (it had come to Z that the Brethren voluntarily dissolve themselves as a church and become lutherans)...at that moment Zinzendorf was calmly attempting to destroy the moravian church. he did not want to see that church revive. for some reason of his own, which he never explained in print, he had come to the conclusion that the Brethren would serve Christ far better without any special regulations of their own. but the Brethren were not disposed to meek surrender. the question was keenly debated. at length, however, both sides agreed to appeal to a strange tribunal. for the first time in the history of herrnhut a critical question of church policy was submitted to the lot. (it is not clear who suggested the use of the lot. according to zinzendorf's diary it was the brethren; but i suspect that he himself was the first to suggest it. there is no proof that the brethren were already fond of the lot; but there is plenty of proof that the pietists were and Z had probably learned it from them.) the Brethren took 2 slips of paper and put them into a box. on the first were the words, 'to them that are without law, as without law, that i might gain them that are without law' i cor. 9. 21; on the second the words, 'therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught', Ii thess. 2.15. at that moment the fate of the church hung in the balance; the question at issue was one of life and death; and the Brethren spent a long time in anxious prayer. if the first slip of paper was drawn, the church would cease to exist; if the second, she might still live by the blessing of God. young christel, Z's son, now entered the room. he drew the second slip of paper and the moravian church was saved. to Z this was an event of momentous importance. as soon as that second slip of paper was drawn, he felt convinced that God had sanctioned the renewal of the moravian church...
....(1731..Z was introduced to the idea of foreign missions and, in turn, introduced this to the moravian church. his words inspired..especially several young men, but the church as a whole was not convinced.)...for a year the issue hung in the scales of doubt. the young men were resolute..if they had to be slaves to preach the gospel, then slaves they would willingly be! at last dober (one of the men) wrote in person to the congregation and repeated his resolve the Brethren yielded. the count still doubted. for the second time a momentous issue was submitted to the decision of the lot.
'are you willing', he asked dober, 'to consult the saviour by means of the lot?' 'for myself, i am already sure enough; but i will do so for the sake of the brethren'. a meeting was held; a box of mottoes was brought in; and dober drew a slip of paper bearing the words; 'let the lad go, for the Lord is with him'. the voice of the lot was decisive. of all the meetings held in herrnhut, this meeting to hear the voice of the lot was the most momentous in its world-wide importance. the young men were all on fire. if the lot had only given the word they would now have hone to the foreign field in dozens. for the first time in the history of protestant europe a congregation of orthodox christians had deliberately resolved to undertake the task of preaching the gospel to the heathen. as the lot which decided that dober should go had also decided that his friend leupold should stay, he now chose as his traveling companion..david nitschmann...
(1741..at this time the Brethren had a system of church government that essentially ended up having only one man in the top position as chief elder. currently this was leonard dober..) he was supposed to be above all party disputes; he was the friend of all, the intercessor for all, the broad minded ideal brother ; and yet, if an actual dispute arose, he would be expected to give a binding decision. for these manifold duties dober felt unfit; he had no desire to be a protestant pope; and, therefore, being a modest man, he wrote to the conference at marienborn and asked for leave to lay down his office. the question was submitted to the lot. the lot allowed dober to resign. ..for the third time a critical question was submitted to the decision of the lot. Z reports, as we began to think about the eldership it occurred to us to accept the saviour as elder. at the beginning of our deliberations we opened the textbook. on the one page stood the words, let us open the door to Christ'; on the other, 'thus saith the Lord, etc.; your master, etc.; show Me to My children and to the work of My hands'. 'away to Jesus! away! etc. forthwith and with one consent we resolved to have no other than him as our General Elder. He sanctioned it. (Z means, by means of a lot) we looked at the watchword for the day. it ran: 'the glory of the Lord filled the house. we bow before the lamb's face, etc.' we asked permission. (Z again means by means of the lot) we obtained it. we sang with unequaled emotion: 'come, then, for we belong to Thee, and bless us inexpressibly'...
(1743 at this time Z had the idea that they were not only to restore the Brethren church but they were to establish a broader, comprehensive church, to be known as the Church of the Brethren.) 'in the future, he said, we are all the be Brethren and our bishops must be Brethren's bishops; and, therefore, in this Church of the Brethren there will henceforth be, not only moravians, but also lutherans and calvinists, who cannot find peace in their own churches on account of brutal theologians'.
his remedy was worse than the disease. the great fault in Z's character was lack of ballast. for the last few years he had given way to the habit of despising his own common sense; and instead of using his own judgment he now used the lot. he had probably learned this habit from the halle pietists. he carried his lot apparatus in his pocket (it was a little green book, with detachable leaves; each leaf contained some motto or text; and when the count was in a difficulty, he pulled out one of these leaves at random); he consulted it on all sorts of topics; he regarded it as the infallible voice of God. ..he said in a letter to spangenberg..' to me the lot and the will of God are simply one and the same thing. i am not wise enough to seek God's will by my own mental efforts. i would rather trust an innocent piece of paper than my own feelings'. he now endeavoured to teach this faith to the Brethren...
(...1741..at fetter lane (in england)..after john wesley separated from it..james hutton came to the front..a good number of moravians arrived on the scene..hutton introduced moravian literature to the english..spangenberg arrived..the quarreling stopped and the people began to apply themselves to the spead of the gospel and to this end they now established the 'society for the furtherance of the gospel')...the next step was to license the chapel in fetter lane. the need was pressing. as long as the members met without a licence they might be accused, at any time, of breaking the conventicle act. they wished now to have the law on their side. already the windows had been broken by a mob. the services now were open to the public...the members took upon themselves the name 'moravian brethren, formerly of the anglican communion'. but the members at fetter lane were not yet satisfied. for all their loyalty to the church of england, they longed for closer communion with the Church of the Brethren; and william holland openly asked the question, 'can a man join the moravian church and yet remain a member of the anglican church'? 'yes ,was the answer, for they are sister churches'. for this reason, therefore, and without any desire to become dissenters, a number of the members of the fetter lane society applied to spangenberg to establish a congregation of the moravian church in england. the cautious spangenberg paused. for the fourth time a momentous question was put to the decision of the lot. the lot sanctioned the move...
(..1760..concerning how open an account of Z's character should be written concerning him..)..the Brethren commissioned spangenberg to write a 'life of Z'. as the count, however, had been far from perfect, they had to face the serious question whether spangenberg should be allowed to expose his faults to public gaze. they consulted the lot; the lot said 'no';..therefore they solemnly warned spangenberg that, in order to avoid creating a false impression, he was 'to leave out everything that would not edify the public'...
(1731) (it had come to Z that the Brethren voluntarily dissolve themselves as a church and become lutherans)...at that moment Zinzendorf was calmly attempting to destroy the moravian church. he did not want to see that church revive. for some reason of his own, which he never explained in print, he had come to the conclusion that the Brethren would serve Christ far better without any special regulations of their own. but the Brethren were not disposed to meek surrender. the question was keenly debated. at length, however, both sides agreed to appeal to a strange tribunal. for the first time in the history of herrnhut a critical question of church policy was submitted to the lot. (it is not clear who suggested the use of the lot. according to zinzendorf's diary it was the brethren; but i suspect that he himself was the first to suggest it. there is no proof that the brethren were already fond of the lot; but there is plenty of proof that the pietists were and Z had probably learned it from them.) the Brethren took 2 slips of paper and put them into a box. on the first were the words, 'to them that are without law, as without law, that i might gain them that are without law' i cor. 9. 21; on the second the words, 'therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught', Ii thess. 2.15. at that moment the fate of the church hung in the balance; the question at issue was one of life and death; and the Brethren spent a long time in anxious prayer. if the first slip of paper was drawn, the church would cease to exist; if the second, she might still live by the blessing of God. young christel, Z's son, now entered the room. he drew the second slip of paper and the moravian church was saved. to Z this was an event of momentous importance. as soon as that second slip of paper was drawn, he felt convinced that God had sanctioned the renewal of the moravian church...
....(1731..Z was introduced to the idea of foreign missions and, in turn, introduced this to the moravian church. his words inspired..especially several young men, but the church as a whole was not convinced.)...for a year the issue hung in the scales of doubt. the young men were resolute..if they had to be slaves to preach the gospel, then slaves they would willingly be! at last dober (one of the men) wrote in person to the congregation and repeated his resolve the Brethren yielded. the count still doubted. for the second time a momentous issue was submitted to the decision of the lot.
'are you willing', he asked dober, 'to consult the saviour by means of the lot?' 'for myself, i am already sure enough; but i will do so for the sake of the brethren'. a meeting was held; a box of mottoes was brought in; and dober drew a slip of paper bearing the words; 'let the lad go, for the Lord is with him'. the voice of the lot was decisive. of all the meetings held in herrnhut, this meeting to hear the voice of the lot was the most momentous in its world-wide importance. the young men were all on fire. if the lot had only given the word they would now have hone to the foreign field in dozens. for the first time in the history of protestant europe a congregation of orthodox christians had deliberately resolved to undertake the task of preaching the gospel to the heathen. as the lot which decided that dober should go had also decided that his friend leupold should stay, he now chose as his traveling companion..david nitschmann...
(1741..at this time the Brethren had a system of church government that essentially ended up having only one man in the top position as chief elder. currently this was leonard dober..) he was supposed to be above all party disputes; he was the friend of all, the intercessor for all, the broad minded ideal brother ; and yet, if an actual dispute arose, he would be expected to give a binding decision. for these manifold duties dober felt unfit; he had no desire to be a protestant pope; and, therefore, being a modest man, he wrote to the conference at marienborn and asked for leave to lay down his office. the question was submitted to the lot. the lot allowed dober to resign. ..for the third time a critical question was submitted to the decision of the lot. Z reports, as we began to think about the eldership it occurred to us to accept the saviour as elder. at the beginning of our deliberations we opened the textbook. on the one page stood the words, let us open the door to Christ'; on the other, 'thus saith the Lord, etc.; your master, etc.; show Me to My children and to the work of My hands'. 'away to Jesus! away! etc. forthwith and with one consent we resolved to have no other than him as our General Elder. He sanctioned it. (Z means, by means of a lot) we looked at the watchword for the day. it ran: 'the glory of the Lord filled the house. we bow before the lamb's face, etc.' we asked permission. (Z again means by means of the lot) we obtained it. we sang with unequaled emotion: 'come, then, for we belong to Thee, and bless us inexpressibly'...
(1743 at this time Z had the idea that they were not only to restore the Brethren church but they were to establish a broader, comprehensive church, to be known as the Church of the Brethren.) 'in the future, he said, we are all the be Brethren and our bishops must be Brethren's bishops; and, therefore, in this Church of the Brethren there will henceforth be, not only moravians, but also lutherans and calvinists, who cannot find peace in their own churches on account of brutal theologians'.
his remedy was worse than the disease. the great fault in Z's character was lack of ballast. for the last few years he had given way to the habit of despising his own common sense; and instead of using his own judgment he now used the lot. he had probably learned this habit from the halle pietists. he carried his lot apparatus in his pocket (it was a little green book, with detachable leaves; each leaf contained some motto or text; and when the count was in a difficulty, he pulled out one of these leaves at random); he consulted it on all sorts of topics; he regarded it as the infallible voice of God. ..he said in a letter to spangenberg..' to me the lot and the will of God are simply one and the same thing. i am not wise enough to seek God's will by my own mental efforts. i would rather trust an innocent piece of paper than my own feelings'. he now endeavoured to teach this faith to the Brethren...
(...1741..at fetter lane (in england)..after john wesley separated from it..james hutton came to the front..a good number of moravians arrived on the scene..hutton introduced moravian literature to the english..spangenberg arrived..the quarreling stopped and the people began to apply themselves to the spead of the gospel and to this end they now established the 'society for the furtherance of the gospel')...the next step was to license the chapel in fetter lane. the need was pressing. as long as the members met without a licence they might be accused, at any time, of breaking the conventicle act. they wished now to have the law on their side. already the windows had been broken by a mob. the services now were open to the public...the members took upon themselves the name 'moravian brethren, formerly of the anglican communion'. but the members at fetter lane were not yet satisfied. for all their loyalty to the church of england, they longed for closer communion with the Church of the Brethren; and william holland openly asked the question, 'can a man join the moravian church and yet remain a member of the anglican church'? 'yes ,was the answer, for they are sister churches'. for this reason, therefore, and without any desire to become dissenters, a number of the members of the fetter lane society applied to spangenberg to establish a congregation of the moravian church in england. the cautious spangenberg paused. for the fourth time a momentous question was put to the decision of the lot. the lot sanctioned the move...
(..1760..concerning how open an account of Z's character should be written concerning him..)..the Brethren commissioned spangenberg to write a 'life of Z'. as the count, however, had been far from perfect, they had to face the serious question whether spangenberg should be allowed to expose his faults to public gaze. they consulted the lot; the lot said 'no';..therefore they solemnly warned spangenberg that, in order to avoid creating a false impression, he was 'to leave out everything that would not edify the public'...
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
3.22.2011 I'M STRUGGLING AND SHOULD BE RESTING
in a word life is CHAOS right now. either intense spiritual warfare, which is what i'm putting it down to .. or, i'm losing it!! when i left leidy church one sister said, 'i think that this is a time of preparation for you. it has proved so. as time goes on it gets more intense. my mind at times goes to Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. i don't think of that as any kind of exact parallel for every week the idea of a specialized call to a certain ministry continues to fade. when we came back to souderton in 1985 i sensed that this would be the last place..a lifelong type of place. then during the time at leidy church the idea of restricting life and ministry to this town started to grow and has been there somewhere in the recesses. lately it has moved in focus from 'organized' to ad hoc. respond to whatever i come in contact with.
at this point, though, i don't think too much about 'ministry' just surviving. i don't know if the chaos i am experiencing is some kind of low grade consciousness that is reflective of real chaos going on at a subconscious level or if it is just an intense spiritually based broadside being continually turned up by the wicked one. whatever its basis what it is producing in me is an increased spiritual combativeness.
the weird thing is that, almost like on a parallel second 'channel' is precious Jesus! He most of all is a friend, one who is always present. this is growing. for a few years His presence was real but not by any means intimate like it is now.
one thing He is up to is that He wants me to absolutely crucify the flesh. i am still puzzling and praying over gal. 5.24 which says 'now those who belong to Christ Jesus HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and desires'. i wobble back and forth between the idea that this just expressing my position before God... is just another way of expressing the fact that the moment i trusted Christ as savior i was seen by God as in Christ when He died on the cross for my sin(s). when He died for my sin(s), i died to my sins (positionally).......or, and this is frightening to me, that, at one point, all the galatian believers..and by extension, all true believers came/come to the place where they said, 'that's it! i refuse to do what i want to do anymore. from now on i am dead..and will be dead to anything i want which is different from what God wants. it seems unlikely...this actual, once for all, decision. i just don't know.
all the other crucified type passages don't make me so uneasy. galatians 2.20 'i am crucified with Christ', romans 6.6 'knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin MIGHT BE done away with', and romans 8.13 'for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live'...i guess all three of these give me the impression that there is a constant war going on that is winnable if we just keep putting to death each self thing that rears its head against the God thing that He wants to be done at that time, as described in galatians 5.16f 'but i say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please'.
it would be easier to just go with the position idea. but with me, as God puts more fear in me of disobeying by 1. showing me how much deeper and more pervasive my sins are than what i had thought and 2. seemingly correcting me regularly and painfully for infractions, i'm kind of coming to think of this way of thinking and acting as just another by path into the broad road going to hell. if i'm just kicking back 'in Christ' and kind of excusing and rationalizing clear cut disobedience like i have done by my, it seems now, faulty understanding of the hard, narrow difficult path to heaven and by my excuse making (looking around at all the other (professing?) believers...look at what they are doing and it doesn't seem to bother them one bit!!!...) what if it is really true that there are very few who are actually genuine believers?
the words of Jesus are piercing so deeply lately (as in, 'this is what you need to do or be' and yet i am light years away from this, that or the other thing which He seems to pointing out to me and saying, 'this needs to be you') but i sense i remain largely unchanged by them. my father had an experience after salvation that he always said changed his life from a spiritual perspective. possibly i'm looking for that magic pill that will do the Change which i can then live out. problem is i just don't see it...but maybe, subconsciously am still desiring/ seeking it...
the thing that keeps coming into my heart is the difference between being a profess-er and a possess-er of saving faith. as james says in chapter 2, faith WORKS. it doesn't sit back and say, 'i believe, i believe, i believe' while at the same time not doing what the plain words of scripture say to do...as romans says, 'for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS OF THE LAW WILL BE JUSTIFIED'. are such doers thinking that their deeds are what is getting them to heaven? no. there are a raft load of verses that shoot down this idea. but neither are they cruising through on some type of doctrinal statement agreeing basis. the most disturbing thing is that i feel i fall far short of the standard. i try to Do at varying levels of intensity and consistency but, wow, how can one express it all. i want to be All for Jesus, but the doing is just not there. i so want to be genuine. i so desire to be a doer rather than just a believer.
so the upshot is that i find that i keep sitting down on sharp spiritual pins. as a result i find that i am battling much more seriously to thwart 'me' and obey God. right now it is a battle royal. satan is a crafty one who is right there using his wily guiles to where i often find myself neck deep in 'the flesh' without hardly knowing how it came about. may God help me learn well his tricks.
one or two poops..
3.19 do not allow your mind to stay BLANK. refuse to allow your mind to WANDER ( all these are constantly happening right in the middle of concentrated focus spiritually) or BE IN A FOG or PUSHED DOWN. GRASP, grasp with COMPREHENSION! KEEP WORKING AT IT!
this may sound crazy but it is real. whether it is spiritual warfare or mental demise may be open to interpretation. all i know is that when i picked up 'the spiritual man' by watchman nee i often felt like he was describing things as i experience them in mind, emotion and spirit. one thing i know for sure is that i would rather have all this along with the Life i experience in spirit than all the dead years when i knew all about God (i thought) but did not have close to what i experience now of His power and goodness...and correction.
here are several snippets i've come across since i wrote the above hopefully somewhat related to what i wrestling with...
1. a quote from john bunyan in response to reading luther's commentary on II corinthians 1.9..this was of great use to me, 'but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we might not trust our selves, but in God that raiseth the dead':
2.a quote from jonathan edwards..'in efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. but God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. for that is what He produces, viz. our own acts. god is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. we are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active'. i don't fully understand that but it kind of reminds me of a verse i have often pondered over without understanding yet, eph. 2.10, 'for we are His workmanship in Christ Jesus unto good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them'. we used to have only dead works..good but not living, not partaking of the Life of God but only our poor creations. now what we do is, mysteriously, in some way partaking of and created by God...i guess.
there remaineth yet a rest to the people of God..'for he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. (heb. 4.10) i want to be entered into that rest, so that i may do the works of God with gusto, with all my strength, as much as possible and yet rest. seems like a paradox. help me God to 'having done EVERYTHING stand firm'. help me be broken, weak, forsaken, forgotten, despised like You were (and are) and yet each day be enabled to say 'i have accomplished what You had for me to do'. Lord, put steel in my backbone and FIGHT in my spiritual blood so i may do all possible for You. save me to the uttermost dear Lord. You live in me, but oh!..live through me too dear Lord.
at this point, though, i don't think too much about 'ministry' just surviving. i don't know if the chaos i am experiencing is some kind of low grade consciousness that is reflective of real chaos going on at a subconscious level or if it is just an intense spiritually based broadside being continually turned up by the wicked one. whatever its basis what it is producing in me is an increased spiritual combativeness.
the weird thing is that, almost like on a parallel second 'channel' is precious Jesus! He most of all is a friend, one who is always present. this is growing. for a few years His presence was real but not by any means intimate like it is now.
one thing He is up to is that He wants me to absolutely crucify the flesh. i am still puzzling and praying over gal. 5.24 which says 'now those who belong to Christ Jesus HAVE CRUCIFIED the flesh with its passions and desires'. i wobble back and forth between the idea that this just expressing my position before God... is just another way of expressing the fact that the moment i trusted Christ as savior i was seen by God as in Christ when He died on the cross for my sin(s). when He died for my sin(s), i died to my sins (positionally).......or, and this is frightening to me, that, at one point, all the galatian believers..and by extension, all true believers came/come to the place where they said, 'that's it! i refuse to do what i want to do anymore. from now on i am dead..and will be dead to anything i want which is different from what God wants. it seems unlikely...this actual, once for all, decision. i just don't know.
all the other crucified type passages don't make me so uneasy. galatians 2.20 'i am crucified with Christ', romans 6.6 'knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin MIGHT BE done away with', and romans 8.13 'for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live'...i guess all three of these give me the impression that there is a constant war going on that is winnable if we just keep putting to death each self thing that rears its head against the God thing that He wants to be done at that time, as described in galatians 5.16f 'but i say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. for the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please'.
it would be easier to just go with the position idea. but with me, as God puts more fear in me of disobeying by 1. showing me how much deeper and more pervasive my sins are than what i had thought and 2. seemingly correcting me regularly and painfully for infractions, i'm kind of coming to think of this way of thinking and acting as just another by path into the broad road going to hell. if i'm just kicking back 'in Christ' and kind of excusing and rationalizing clear cut disobedience like i have done by my, it seems now, faulty understanding of the hard, narrow difficult path to heaven and by my excuse making (looking around at all the other (professing?) believers...look at what they are doing and it doesn't seem to bother them one bit!!!...) what if it is really true that there are very few who are actually genuine believers?
the words of Jesus are piercing so deeply lately (as in, 'this is what you need to do or be' and yet i am light years away from this, that or the other thing which He seems to pointing out to me and saying, 'this needs to be you') but i sense i remain largely unchanged by them. my father had an experience after salvation that he always said changed his life from a spiritual perspective. possibly i'm looking for that magic pill that will do the Change which i can then live out. problem is i just don't see it...but maybe, subconsciously am still desiring/ seeking it...
the thing that keeps coming into my heart is the difference between being a profess-er and a possess-er of saving faith. as james says in chapter 2, faith WORKS. it doesn't sit back and say, 'i believe, i believe, i believe' while at the same time not doing what the plain words of scripture say to do...as romans says, 'for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS OF THE LAW WILL BE JUSTIFIED'. are such doers thinking that their deeds are what is getting them to heaven? no. there are a raft load of verses that shoot down this idea. but neither are they cruising through on some type of doctrinal statement agreeing basis. the most disturbing thing is that i feel i fall far short of the standard. i try to Do at varying levels of intensity and consistency but, wow, how can one express it all. i want to be All for Jesus, but the doing is just not there. i so want to be genuine. i so desire to be a doer rather than just a believer.
so the upshot is that i find that i keep sitting down on sharp spiritual pins. as a result i find that i am battling much more seriously to thwart 'me' and obey God. right now it is a battle royal. satan is a crafty one who is right there using his wily guiles to where i often find myself neck deep in 'the flesh' without hardly knowing how it came about. may God help me learn well his tricks.
one or two poops..
3.19 do not allow your mind to stay BLANK. refuse to allow your mind to WANDER ( all these are constantly happening right in the middle of concentrated focus spiritually) or BE IN A FOG or PUSHED DOWN. GRASP, grasp with COMPREHENSION! KEEP WORKING AT IT!
this may sound crazy but it is real. whether it is spiritual warfare or mental demise may be open to interpretation. all i know is that when i picked up 'the spiritual man' by watchman nee i often felt like he was describing things as i experience them in mind, emotion and spirit. one thing i know for sure is that i would rather have all this along with the Life i experience in spirit than all the dead years when i knew all about God (i thought) but did not have close to what i experience now of His power and goodness...and correction.
here are several snippets i've come across since i wrote the above hopefully somewhat related to what i wrestling with...
1. a quote from john bunyan in response to reading luther's commentary on II corinthians 1.9..this was of great use to me, 'but we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we might not trust our selves, but in God that raiseth the dead':
2.a quote from jonathan edwards..'in efficacious grace we are not merely passive, nor yet does God do some, and we do the rest. but God does all, and we do all. God produces all, and we act all. for that is what He produces, viz. our own acts. god is the only proper author and fountain; we only are the proper actors. we are in different respects, wholly passive and wholly active'. i don't fully understand that but it kind of reminds me of a verse i have often pondered over without understanding yet, eph. 2.10, 'for we are His workmanship in Christ Jesus unto good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them'. we used to have only dead works..good but not living, not partaking of the Life of God but only our poor creations. now what we do is, mysteriously, in some way partaking of and created by God...i guess.
there remaineth yet a rest to the people of God..'for he that is entered into His rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from His. (heb. 4.10) i want to be entered into that rest, so that i may do the works of God with gusto, with all my strength, as much as possible and yet rest. seems like a paradox. help me God to 'having done EVERYTHING stand firm'. help me be broken, weak, forsaken, forgotten, despised like You were (and are) and yet each day be enabled to say 'i have accomplished what You had for me to do'. Lord, put steel in my backbone and FIGHT in my spiritual blood so i may do all possible for You. save me to the uttermost dear Lord. You live in me, but oh!..live through me too dear Lord.
Friday, March 18, 2011
3.18.2011 CURRENT
worldmag, 3.26.11, p15..shabaz bhatti assassination removes lead voice for pakastani christian population, estimated at 3%..he was the only christian member of pakistan's cabinet and a leading member of the ruling pakistan people's party..note found on his body from osama bin laden's terrorist network..'this is the fitting end of the accursed one which would serve as an example to others. and now with the blessing and aid of allah, the mujahideen will send all of your, one by one to Hell'..unfortunately they have no clue as to Who they are up against..bhatti was aware of the treats against him, and he made a video with a journalist several months ago where he spoke about them..'these taliban threaten me. but i want to share that i believe in Jesus Christ who has given His own life for us. i know what is the meaning of cross and i am following the cross. and i'm ready to die for a cause. i'm living for my community and suffering people and i will die to defend their rights'.
multiple division - janey cheaney p24, is the sun setting on multiculturalism?
if one world leader says it, its a tic. if 2 say it, it's a trend. if 3 say it, it's a tide. and when more prime ministers, legislating bodies and men on the street chime in, we might hazard a guess that the mighty wheels of established public policy are squealing in reverse. specifically, it looks like the decades long european cult of multiculturalism is coming to an en.
german chancellor angela merkel's oct. 16 speech to the youth wing of the chrisian democratic union sounded the first clear note, especially in its most quote line..'the tendency had been to say "let's adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side.." but this concept has failed and failed utterly'.
in february, uk prime minister david cameron agreed, in a more nuanced fashion, that 'under the doctrine of state multiculturalism. we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. we've failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong'. a few days after cameron's speech, french president nicolas sarkozy expressed his own position: 'we have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him'. he made the statement in a televised debate, confirming, in answer to a follow up ? , that efforts to accommodate religious and cultural differences were clearly a 'failure'.
broadly speaking, merkel's doubts about multiculturalism are based on economics, comeron's on democratic values, and sarkozy's on national identity. lesser dignitaries have been more blunt. jean-marie le pen, founder of france's national front party, equates the muslim practice of public praying with the nazi occupation. horst seehofer, state premier of bavaria, has said, 'i don't have to recognize anyone who lives from the state, rejects that state, refuses to ensure his children receive an education and continues to produce little headscarfed girls'. last november the easy going swiss voted to ban minarets; in january tolerant swedes elected a significant number of anti-immigrant right wingers to parliament.
patience with immigrants - particularly with vocal or violent radical muslims - is understandably wearing thin, but the pendulum, as pendulums tend to do, may well swing too far to the other side..merkel's speech came only days after a well publicized study reported that 30% of germans believed their nation was 'overrun by foreigners', while 13% would welcome a fuhrer to apply 'a firm hand' to reckless economic and social policies. of such restless mutterings dictatorships are spawned, (note: on the spectrum of governments, moving from right to left you have democracy moving into anarchy which swiftly leads to totalitarianism..we are all close to the far left end at this point..only a revival can reverse this inexorable, oft repeated pattern..we will soon see what God has for us) ..
multiculturism is defined simply as 'respect for other cultures', but, as anyone who's ever suffered thru a diversity seminar knows, the flip side is lack of respect for one's own. that's what ..cameron was getting at in his speech: who can muslim immigrants even begin to identify with british culture when the brits themselves ar busily denying its worth? jahan mahmood, a second generation immigrant who waorks with muslim youth in birmingham, observes that whites and msulims feel alienated from each other - which seems only natural, but mahmood, a historian, insists it wasn't always so or not for everybody.
during the glory datys of the empire, hundreds of thousands of indian muslims voluntarily joined the british army and served with valor. why? because they saw something worthy of serving: the old liberal vairtues of freedom of speech and worship, equal rights, the rule of law. that respect lingers in the noisy streets of the middle east, where people are rebelling in the name of freedom who have never experienced it.
multiculturalism as it's understood today has as much to do with authentic culture as vagas' venetian casino has to do with venice. it's a political invention not a social phenomenon (this corner says nay! it is a well deserved rejection of the 'values' of hypocritical do gooders who point black fingers at others starting in the social context then taking up arms in the political...)
the rootless young men of mahmood's birmingham neighborhood, both english and muslim, are alienated from their own heritage as much as from each other...
p. 28, movie - of gods and men tells the story of french monks murdered in algeria in 1996. the following are excerpts from an interview with henri quinson, a french monk, who helped advise on the script. he left the banking world of paris, gave away his assets and became a monk in a cistercian-trappist order in the french alps. 6 years later he returned to city life to found a parish in a low income immigrant district of marseille, tutoring neighborhood children..
*speaking of the dialogue, it's sparse, but theologically weighty. did you have to expound on the meaning of some of it for the actors and filmmakers? i did. it was a difficult job because some of the actors whold say, 'i'm an atheist'. they weren't really against the christian faith but they knew nothing about christianity. so for them it was really very educational. it's difficult to describe but it was a little bit like lobbying. for 2 months i was with the actors every day - i had breakfast with them, lunch with them, dinner with them. so i did a lot of prying, talking, and in the end everyone really started connecting with these monks, and so really ended up connecting with God. i don't think you could act in this movie without in some way coming into contact with the One these men were giving their lives to.
and in my opinion i was greatly helped by God Himself. for example, i was against an early end of the movie where the algerians find the heads of the monks. i thought it was in poor taste. i thought the families would find it too harsh. why would we end our story with images of hatred, fear, death and despair? i thought we should stick to the monks' point of view. then, the day we filmed the abduction of the monks, it snowed, and the camera captured them disappearing into snow and fog. the way they walked into the cloud of fog, it actually reminded me of the cloud over the tent of the presence of God in the old testament, as if the brothers disappeared into God, which is for me the true story..
when it comes to christianity and islam..? ..christians need to understand the only way out of this clash of civilizations is to live out our faith in a convincing and intelligent way and try to build relationships with real people. some people say you can have a dialogue with islam. no! you can't have a dialogue with theories of theology. you can only come into a relationship with a person. (note: Jesus told everybody to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near and he taught them about the kingdom of God (what it is like there) and He did good for them...and he never turned any away except the sidonian woman with a bit of reverse psychology 'in line with' the doctrine that 'the Gospel be preached to the jew first..then to the gentile.)
how does this model of relationship play out in a modern, secular culture, like, for example, france? i think in europe people still have somewhere back in their memories religious wars and this new violence coming from muslim terrorism only reinforces for them the idea that religion is violent, is against intelligence, is a thing of the past. what we need to do is explain anew what the christian faith is all about. (note: and live it out..) there are different gods and that's actually pretty clear if you understand the behavior of different people who refer to God. there is the loving god of christianity. Jesus' teaching is to love everyone, and that love does not kill other people. some people worship a violent god, but ours tells us we can be free from our sins because of His love. but it (disinterest in christianity) is starting to change in france because when nothing is left except running after $ or women, at some point you discover that maybe the gospel is not a bad thing. it's starting with the intellectual circles here in france which is to me quite startling but very interesting.
what do you hope audiences take away from this movie? if they could discover the loving God i discovered when i was 20, that would be the best thing i could hope for.
the boob tube, show: secret millionaire, p31..the unsung heroes we see helping their neighbors are much more interesting than the millionaires themselves.
two 85 year old twins who help serve meals and give affectionate hugs...their father instilled virtues they carry out. he taught, 'there is but one father and that's the heavenly Father. there is but one race and that's the human race. and don't take the last roll from the dinner table because you never know when someone will come along who's hungry'.
concerning books and the reading of them...janie cheaney and emily whitten have lauched a good book blog called redeemed reader.com aiming 'to help older kids and grown ups with the task of thinking christianly about what they read as well as evaluating and selecting good literature'.
multiple division - janey cheaney p24, is the sun setting on multiculturalism?
if one world leader says it, its a tic. if 2 say it, it's a trend. if 3 say it, it's a tide. and when more prime ministers, legislating bodies and men on the street chime in, we might hazard a guess that the mighty wheels of established public policy are squealing in reverse. specifically, it looks like the decades long european cult of multiculturalism is coming to an en.
german chancellor angela merkel's oct. 16 speech to the youth wing of the chrisian democratic union sounded the first clear note, especially in its most quote line..'the tendency had been to say "let's adopt the multicultural concept and live happily side by side.." but this concept has failed and failed utterly'.
in february, uk prime minister david cameron agreed, in a more nuanced fashion, that 'under the doctrine of state multiculturalism. we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream. we've failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong'. a few days after cameron's speech, french president nicolas sarkozy expressed his own position: 'we have been too concerned about the identity of the person who was arriving and not enough about the identity of the country that was receiving him'. he made the statement in a televised debate, confirming, in answer to a follow up ? , that efforts to accommodate religious and cultural differences were clearly a 'failure'.
broadly speaking, merkel's doubts about multiculturalism are based on economics, comeron's on democratic values, and sarkozy's on national identity. lesser dignitaries have been more blunt. jean-marie le pen, founder of france's national front party, equates the muslim practice of public praying with the nazi occupation. horst seehofer, state premier of bavaria, has said, 'i don't have to recognize anyone who lives from the state, rejects that state, refuses to ensure his children receive an education and continues to produce little headscarfed girls'. last november the easy going swiss voted to ban minarets; in january tolerant swedes elected a significant number of anti-immigrant right wingers to parliament.
patience with immigrants - particularly with vocal or violent radical muslims - is understandably wearing thin, but the pendulum, as pendulums tend to do, may well swing too far to the other side..merkel's speech came only days after a well publicized study reported that 30% of germans believed their nation was 'overrun by foreigners', while 13% would welcome a fuhrer to apply 'a firm hand' to reckless economic and social policies. of such restless mutterings dictatorships are spawned, (note: on the spectrum of governments, moving from right to left you have democracy moving into anarchy which swiftly leads to totalitarianism..we are all close to the far left end at this point..only a revival can reverse this inexorable, oft repeated pattern..we will soon see what God has for us) ..
multiculturism is defined simply as 'respect for other cultures', but, as anyone who's ever suffered thru a diversity seminar knows, the flip side is lack of respect for one's own. that's what ..cameron was getting at in his speech: who can muslim immigrants even begin to identify with british culture when the brits themselves ar busily denying its worth? jahan mahmood, a second generation immigrant who waorks with muslim youth in birmingham, observes that whites and msulims feel alienated from each other - which seems only natural, but mahmood, a historian, insists it wasn't always so or not for everybody.
during the glory datys of the empire, hundreds of thousands of indian muslims voluntarily joined the british army and served with valor. why? because they saw something worthy of serving: the old liberal vairtues of freedom of speech and worship, equal rights, the rule of law. that respect lingers in the noisy streets of the middle east, where people are rebelling in the name of freedom who have never experienced it.
multiculturalism as it's understood today has as much to do with authentic culture as vagas' venetian casino has to do with venice. it's a political invention not a social phenomenon (this corner says nay! it is a well deserved rejection of the 'values' of hypocritical do gooders who point black fingers at others starting in the social context then taking up arms in the political...)
the rootless young men of mahmood's birmingham neighborhood, both english and muslim, are alienated from their own heritage as much as from each other...
p. 28, movie - of gods and men tells the story of french monks murdered in algeria in 1996. the following are excerpts from an interview with henri quinson, a french monk, who helped advise on the script. he left the banking world of paris, gave away his assets and became a monk in a cistercian-trappist order in the french alps. 6 years later he returned to city life to found a parish in a low income immigrant district of marseille, tutoring neighborhood children..
*speaking of the dialogue, it's sparse, but theologically weighty. did you have to expound on the meaning of some of it for the actors and filmmakers? i did. it was a difficult job because some of the actors whold say, 'i'm an atheist'. they weren't really against the christian faith but they knew nothing about christianity. so for them it was really very educational. it's difficult to describe but it was a little bit like lobbying. for 2 months i was with the actors every day - i had breakfast with them, lunch with them, dinner with them. so i did a lot of prying, talking, and in the end everyone really started connecting with these monks, and so really ended up connecting with God. i don't think you could act in this movie without in some way coming into contact with the One these men were giving their lives to.
and in my opinion i was greatly helped by God Himself. for example, i was against an early end of the movie where the algerians find the heads of the monks. i thought it was in poor taste. i thought the families would find it too harsh. why would we end our story with images of hatred, fear, death and despair? i thought we should stick to the monks' point of view. then, the day we filmed the abduction of the monks, it snowed, and the camera captured them disappearing into snow and fog. the way they walked into the cloud of fog, it actually reminded me of the cloud over the tent of the presence of God in the old testament, as if the brothers disappeared into God, which is for me the true story..
when it comes to christianity and islam..? ..christians need to understand the only way out of this clash of civilizations is to live out our faith in a convincing and intelligent way and try to build relationships with real people. some people say you can have a dialogue with islam. no! you can't have a dialogue with theories of theology. you can only come into a relationship with a person. (note: Jesus told everybody to repent for the kingdom of heaven is near and he taught them about the kingdom of God (what it is like there) and He did good for them...and he never turned any away except the sidonian woman with a bit of reverse psychology 'in line with' the doctrine that 'the Gospel be preached to the jew first..then to the gentile.)
how does this model of relationship play out in a modern, secular culture, like, for example, france? i think in europe people still have somewhere back in their memories religious wars and this new violence coming from muslim terrorism only reinforces for them the idea that religion is violent, is against intelligence, is a thing of the past. what we need to do is explain anew what the christian faith is all about. (note: and live it out..) there are different gods and that's actually pretty clear if you understand the behavior of different people who refer to God. there is the loving god of christianity. Jesus' teaching is to love everyone, and that love does not kill other people. some people worship a violent god, but ours tells us we can be free from our sins because of His love. but it (disinterest in christianity) is starting to change in france because when nothing is left except running after $ or women, at some point you discover that maybe the gospel is not a bad thing. it's starting with the intellectual circles here in france which is to me quite startling but very interesting.
what do you hope audiences take away from this movie? if they could discover the loving God i discovered when i was 20, that would be the best thing i could hope for.
the boob tube, show: secret millionaire, p31..the unsung heroes we see helping their neighbors are much more interesting than the millionaires themselves.
two 85 year old twins who help serve meals and give affectionate hugs...their father instilled virtues they carry out. he taught, 'there is but one father and that's the heavenly Father. there is but one race and that's the human race. and don't take the last roll from the dinner table because you never know when someone will come along who's hungry'.
concerning books and the reading of them...janie cheaney and emily whitten have lauched a good book blog called redeemed reader.com aiming 'to help older kids and grown ups with the task of thinking christianly about what they read as well as evaluating and selecting good literature'.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
3.18.2010 PIERCES FROM THE MOUTH OF JESUS
right now i am a lost, helpless little lamb in a howling storm. i am increasingly made aware of my wickedness. my new nickname is steve HATING, HATEFUL paine. i have no heart for people. i sink lower and lower in every way...and yet, Jesus is very near, very real. i am crying out for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit from time to time but don't even fast, no tears, nothing. in this situation again the Lord spoke repeatedly to me yesterday. i did not move from the bible..
i have begun putting an hour a day into become much more familiar with the gospels. right now i am working thru luke. the words of Jesus made deep pierces into my heart yesterday. the most notable were:
1. luke 7.40f - speaking of love for Jesus, 'she WET MY FEET WITH HER TEARS etc
2. luke 12. 33 - concerning material things, 'SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS..MAKE YOURSELVES PURSES WHICH DO NOT WEAR OUT
3. luke 12.42 - concerning other believers,'GIVE THEM THEIR RATIONS AT THE PROPER TIME
4. luke 13.24 - concerning my eternal salvation,' STRIVE TO ENTER BY THE NARROW DOOR
5. luke 14.23 - concerning those who have not heard Jesus' invitation, 'COMPEL THEM TO COME IN
6. luke 16.13 - concerning what/who determines how i live daily life,' MASTERS..HATE..LOVE, ..HOLD TO..DESPISE
7. luke 16.16 - concerning being a possess-er of Life rather than merely a professor of faith, 'KINGDOM OF GOD..EVERYONE IS FORCING HIS WAY INTO IT
8. luke 21.3 - concerning what kind of giving catches God's attention, 'SHE PUT IN ALL..SHE HAD TO LIVE ON
all the above are the recorded words of Jesus. one after another He pierced my heart..He inflamed my heart with the desire to be what He was saying.
1. LUKE 7.40-50 i desperately need the open, costly, self forgetful love for Jesus that the first woman had. Jesus had been invited to dine with a pharisee. 'there was a woman in the city WHO WAS A SINNER and when she learned that He was reclining..she brought an alabaster vial of perfume'. how she got into the house is not told but it must have involved some ingenuity and effort ( and embarrassment?! she didn't care about anything but expressing, publicly, her love for Him) ..'and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to WET HIS FEET WITH HER TEARS and KEPT WIPING THEM WITH THE HAIR OF HER HEAD and KISSING HIS FEET and ANOINTING THEM WITH PERFUME'. who can fathom this?! she really didn't care who thought what of her. the only thing she cared about was showing her love for Jesus. i'm not even in the same universe with this woman, with this kind of love for Jesus even though it was so attractive. i ask,is there any hope i too may be awakened as to how much Jesus has forgiven, is forgiving, will forgive me of?
as the pharisee, sitting there observing all this, was inwardly judging both the woman and Jesus, He said, 'simon, I have something to say to you'..simon responded, 'say it, teacher'. 'a certain money lender had 2 debtors: 1 owed 500 denarii..the other 50..when they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. which of them therefore will love him more?' simon..'i suppose the one whom he forgave more'. Jesus then contrasted simon's treatment of him and the woman's..'for this reason, I say to you, her sins which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little'.. i am the pharisee. my heart is pierced. i realize my position but unless Jesus somehow miraculously helps me see myself correctly i will never have that sweet, very well deserved love for Him i long to have.
2. LUKE 12.33-37 ..'SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS AND GIVE TO CHARITY; MAKE YOURSELVES PURSES THAT DO NOT WEAR OUT, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys'..again i am in a horrid position of trying to send a thin stream of my possessions out of the door but with my heart still bound so tightly by them. it is taking so long to do anything because, i am convinced, at the subconscious level there is a tight, strangling cord of HIGHLY VALUED POSSESSIONS (even though most of it is certifiable junk) wound around my heart and mind. i wish God would destroy 54 and everything in it. that might spring me free..but then i would not fulfill the part about giving to charity. most of all it would be EASY. if i came home and 54 was totally burned or blasted into nothingness by heart would be full of joy...yet still invisibly shackled. on the conscious level i want to so much but i am behind a horrid thick pane of glass of self rule. my heart is pierced..apart from a miracle i will not obey these words. like the old hymn, 'sad, sad that bitter wail, almost persuaded..but lost'. may God awaken me to the horror of my position before Him...'for where your treasure is there will your heart be also'..oh may i work hard at just DOING what He says and crucify every contrary inward/outward movement away from obedience.
Jesus goes on BE DRESSED IN READINESS and KEEP YOUR LAMPS ALIGHT. in this section where He is instructing His disciples about His return He also says, 'BE LIKE MEN WHO ARE WAITING FOR their master..be ON THE ALERT..BE READY'..and then says 'who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?
Jesus continues..'but if that slave says in his heart, 'my master will be a long time in coming' and begins to beat the slaves..and to eat and drink and get drunk the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will CUT HIM IN PIECES AND ASSIGN HIM A PLACE WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.'.. more and more i see myself, in horror, as only a profess-er (i believe this..i believe that..i believe the other thing in the bible) rather than a possess-er (i routinely ACT UPON what Jesus says to do). the piercing went on..
3. LUKE 12.42-8 could not this be the picture of any one of us who have trusted Jesus as savior and confessed Him to be our master? are not the other slaves in the master's house other such persons? does not each of us have the responsibility to share the master's food with the other slaves? but encourage (this is a greek word that can also mean comfort, exhort or warn depending on the context. in this context all these believers, in the midst of persecution desperately need the encouragement of each other lest they just give up and drop away from Christ and His people to save one's skin..) do we not all stewards? among many examples, the parable of the talents in matthew 25.14-30 the man, picturing God our creator, give talents of varying amounts to 'each according to his own ABILITY' to bring gain to the one who gave them...the parable of the minas or MONEY in luke 18.11-27 the nobleman, picturing God the giver of all we possess, gives the same number of minas to each and says 'DO BUSINESS WITH THIS UNTIL I COME BACK'..hoping to have gain from it. in the old testament there were 3 special feasts at which every male was to appear before Jehovah, 'none shall appear before Me empty handed. in ephesians 4.25 God commands, 'speak truth EACH ONE OF YOU with his neighbor, for we are members one of another'..am i giving rations to all the profess-ers around me? do i not notice and turn away repeatedly from giving needed rations? is there any hope for me? when will i finally fear God and keep His commandments for this applies to every person? (ecclessiastes 12.13.
4. LUKE 13.24-30 STRIVE..for many will seek to enter and will not be able. AM i striving..or am i one of the many who are seeking and will not be able...let all the above be commentary on this question. so many times i do not fight as though my very life depended on whether i succeeded or not. oh God have mercy! help me bestir myself time and time again as i see myself disobedient, careless, heedless and absorbed in myself.
5. LUKE 14.16-24 a certain man was giving a big dinner and he invited many. one of his slaves returned with reports of excuses given for not coming among the invited. the man became angry and said to His slave, 'GET OUT AT ONCE INTO THE STREETS AND LANES of the city and BRING IN HERE the POOR, and CRIPPLED, and BLIND, and LAME' . i have no idea how many countless people who i have encountered long enough to at least say, 'repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near' and not a word..not even a thought to speak a word! i don't consciously (a fine upstanding christian would, of course, never think such an awful thought!) think they are unworthy...but something like this must be fully operative below the conscious level. the unformed thot may say 'you are not worthy to be invited because of (and then fill in the blank with a myriad of reasons, a few of which may be..) the way you look, act, where you live, how you treat me, etc. etc. etc.
the slave came back a second time and said, 'what you have commanded has been done.." can i say that? can i say that everyone i have any contact with has in some way been invited to the Lord('s house)? ..he goes on, 'and still there is room'. the heart of Jesus will never turn away one.
the master says, 'GO OUT INTO THE HIGHWAYS and ALONG THE HEDGES, and C O M P E L THEM TO COME IN, that my house may be full. the Lord knows not only the horror of not coming to Him but the glory He deserves that will be lacking. the thought comes, does God engage in hyperbole? somehow i don't think these words that are piercing so deeply are just for effect. i believe they are a sober, accurate reflection of God's heart, of the way He would do. didn't His mother and family come for Him shortly after the start of His ministry saying, 'He is out of His senses'? were not His words so many times little darts of flame? the heart of the Lord is infinitely more compassionate, suffering with us and yearning for us, than what seems almost impossible to conceive of. O may God awaken my soul and my will to actually DO what He says.
6. LUKE 16.13 - 'no man can serve two masters; for either he will HATE the one and love the other or else he will hold to one and DESPISE the other. you CANNOT serve God and mammon.
how often has Jesus felt the sting of my hate, my despite in deliberately disobeying what He wants? my loving and holding to and loving either to the one who hates me or to dust and ashes?
7. LUKE 16.16 - the law and the prophets were proclaimed until john; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone is FORCING his way into it. Lord help me to energetically DO Your will! for the gate is small and the way is narrow and FEW are those who find it. many will strive to enter and will not be able. it is not the one who hears and understands Your word and gives intellectual assent to it that is able to get in, 'for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law will be justified! truly 'faith' with no accompanying obediences is dead. oh Lord make of me a wise man who hears Your words and ACTS UPON them! help me put every other desire to death and do everything You want, Lord.
8. LUKE 21.1-4 - and He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. and He saw a certain poor widow putting in 2 small copper coins. and He said, 'truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. for they all out of their SURPLUS put into the offering, but she out of her poverty put in ALL THAT SHE HAD TO LIVE ON.' Lord, the spirit is totally gone out of me, for in these pierces You have shown me how far away from You i am. i ask for a spiritual awakening. i ask for You to pour out Your Spirit upon me oh Lord. i cannot do anything apart from You.
as i slog through each day, forcing myself to do the littlest thing these days i came upon several other verses that speak the above message:
1. R E N O U N C E YOURSELF ONCE AND FOR ALL, (oh Lord, help...pour out Your spirit..)
2. BE SERIOUS ABOUT DOING ALL YOU CAN FOR GOD IN THE MOMENT YOU HAVE,
3. BE INTENSE IN THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
4. BE FOCUSED ON THE SPIRIT OF JESUS, which is living/ speaking the Truth
5. BE ENERGETIC THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
4. F O R G E T ABOUT WHAT ANY MAN THINKS ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, ARE DOING OR WILL DO (unless, of course, it is sin). become, no, rather EMBRACE whatever comes your way...for it is the same that came His..
and so, as a postscript..
mark 4.24..Jesus is speaking parables and other things to a multitude of people. in the middle He says,
1. if any man has EARS TO HEAR, let him HEAR
2.TAKE CARE what you listen to (WHAT I SAY TO YOU or the words of anyone else you will ever listen to...? i'm guessing at the possible meaning in these parentheses areas))
3. by your standard of measure it shall be measured to you (if you LISTEN CAREFULLY so as to UNDERSTAND and DO you, I will be careful to reward you greatly....?)
4. and more shall be given you besides (positively..you'll get a baker's dozen from me for what you give me; negatively..to the extent you tune me out, to that extent i'll take away from you the little you may have....?)
luke 15.4..'GOES AFTER the one (sheep) which is lost, UNTIL HE FINDS IT..
v.8...'light a lamp and sweep the house and SEARCH CAREFULLY UNTIL SHE FINDS IT (one day's wage)..
v.20f...'WHILE HE (a son who wished his father dead so he could take all his property to spend it on his own pleasure) WAS STILL A LONG WAY OFF, his father SAW him, and FELT COMPASSION for him, and RAN and EMBRACED him, and KISSED him...the father said to his slaves, QUICKLY BRING OUT THE BEST ROBE and PUT IT ON HIM, and PUT A RING ON HIS HAND AND SANDALS ON HIS FEET; and BRING THE FATTENED CALF, KILL IT AND LET US EAT AND BE MERRY, for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.
who do the man, the woman, the father picture. v. 10 gives a hint when Jesus says, 'IN THE SAME WAY, I tell you, there is JOY in the presence of the angels (lit. in the midst of...who would be in the middle of the angels i wonder?) over ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS'.
oh You who are piercing my heart so with Your word...in combination with progressively showing me how utterly evil i am...strengthen me to be like the widow with the unjust judge and keep petitioning You. don't let me faint..o Lord give me..baptize me into..plunge my wicked sinful life in You dear Lord...pour out Your Holy Spirit upon me. bring me to the place where i importune You continually with, GIVE ME THE INTENSITY OF YOUR SEEKING, SUFFERING LOVE OR I DIE!
i have begun putting an hour a day into become much more familiar with the gospels. right now i am working thru luke. the words of Jesus made deep pierces into my heart yesterday. the most notable were:
1. luke 7.40f - speaking of love for Jesus, 'she WET MY FEET WITH HER TEARS etc
2. luke 12. 33 - concerning material things, 'SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS..MAKE YOURSELVES PURSES WHICH DO NOT WEAR OUT
3. luke 12.42 - concerning other believers,'GIVE THEM THEIR RATIONS AT THE PROPER TIME
4. luke 13.24 - concerning my eternal salvation,' STRIVE TO ENTER BY THE NARROW DOOR
5. luke 14.23 - concerning those who have not heard Jesus' invitation, 'COMPEL THEM TO COME IN
6. luke 16.13 - concerning what/who determines how i live daily life,' MASTERS..HATE..LOVE, ..HOLD TO..DESPISE
7. luke 16.16 - concerning being a possess-er of Life rather than merely a professor of faith, 'KINGDOM OF GOD..EVERYONE IS FORCING HIS WAY INTO IT
8. luke 21.3 - concerning what kind of giving catches God's attention, 'SHE PUT IN ALL..SHE HAD TO LIVE ON
all the above are the recorded words of Jesus. one after another He pierced my heart..He inflamed my heart with the desire to be what He was saying.
1. LUKE 7.40-50 i desperately need the open, costly, self forgetful love for Jesus that the first woman had. Jesus had been invited to dine with a pharisee. 'there was a woman in the city WHO WAS A SINNER and when she learned that He was reclining..she brought an alabaster vial of perfume'. how she got into the house is not told but it must have involved some ingenuity and effort ( and embarrassment?! she didn't care about anything but expressing, publicly, her love for Him) ..'and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to WET HIS FEET WITH HER TEARS and KEPT WIPING THEM WITH THE HAIR OF HER HEAD and KISSING HIS FEET and ANOINTING THEM WITH PERFUME'. who can fathom this?! she really didn't care who thought what of her. the only thing she cared about was showing her love for Jesus. i'm not even in the same universe with this woman, with this kind of love for Jesus even though it was so attractive. i ask,is there any hope i too may be awakened as to how much Jesus has forgiven, is forgiving, will forgive me of?
as the pharisee, sitting there observing all this, was inwardly judging both the woman and Jesus, He said, 'simon, I have something to say to you'..simon responded, 'say it, teacher'. 'a certain money lender had 2 debtors: 1 owed 500 denarii..the other 50..when they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. which of them therefore will love him more?' simon..'i suppose the one whom he forgave more'. Jesus then contrasted simon's treatment of him and the woman's..'for this reason, I say to you, her sins which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little'.. i am the pharisee. my heart is pierced. i realize my position but unless Jesus somehow miraculously helps me see myself correctly i will never have that sweet, very well deserved love for Him i long to have.
2. LUKE 12.33-37 ..'SELL YOUR POSSESSIONS AND GIVE TO CHARITY; MAKE YOURSELVES PURSES THAT DO NOT WEAR OUT, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys'..again i am in a horrid position of trying to send a thin stream of my possessions out of the door but with my heart still bound so tightly by them. it is taking so long to do anything because, i am convinced, at the subconscious level there is a tight, strangling cord of HIGHLY VALUED POSSESSIONS (even though most of it is certifiable junk) wound around my heart and mind. i wish God would destroy 54 and everything in it. that might spring me free..but then i would not fulfill the part about giving to charity. most of all it would be EASY. if i came home and 54 was totally burned or blasted into nothingness by heart would be full of joy...yet still invisibly shackled. on the conscious level i want to so much but i am behind a horrid thick pane of glass of self rule. my heart is pierced..apart from a miracle i will not obey these words. like the old hymn, 'sad, sad that bitter wail, almost persuaded..but lost'. may God awaken me to the horror of my position before Him...'for where your treasure is there will your heart be also'..oh may i work hard at just DOING what He says and crucify every contrary inward/outward movement away from obedience.
Jesus goes on BE DRESSED IN READINESS and KEEP YOUR LAMPS ALIGHT. in this section where He is instructing His disciples about His return He also says, 'BE LIKE MEN WHO ARE WAITING FOR their master..be ON THE ALERT..BE READY'..and then says 'who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?
Jesus continues..'but if that slave says in his heart, 'my master will be a long time in coming' and begins to beat the slaves..and to eat and drink and get drunk the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will CUT HIM IN PIECES AND ASSIGN HIM A PLACE WITH THE UNBELIEVERS.'.. more and more i see myself, in horror, as only a profess-er (i believe this..i believe that..i believe the other thing in the bible) rather than a possess-er (i routinely ACT UPON what Jesus says to do). the piercing went on..
3. LUKE 12.42-8 could not this be the picture of any one of us who have trusted Jesus as savior and confessed Him to be our master? are not the other slaves in the master's house other such persons? does not each of us have the responsibility to share the master's food with the other slaves? but encourage (this is a greek word that can also mean comfort, exhort or warn depending on the context. in this context all these believers, in the midst of persecution desperately need the encouragement of each other lest they just give up and drop away from Christ and His people to save one's skin..) do we not all stewards? among many examples, the parable of the talents in matthew 25.14-30 the man, picturing God our creator, give talents of varying amounts to 'each according to his own ABILITY' to bring gain to the one who gave them...the parable of the minas or MONEY in luke 18.11-27 the nobleman, picturing God the giver of all we possess, gives the same number of minas to each and says 'DO BUSINESS WITH THIS UNTIL I COME BACK'..hoping to have gain from it. in the old testament there were 3 special feasts at which every male was to appear before Jehovah, 'none shall appear before Me empty handed. in ephesians 4.25 God commands, 'speak truth EACH ONE OF YOU with his neighbor, for we are members one of another'..am i giving rations to all the profess-ers around me? do i not notice and turn away repeatedly from giving needed rations? is there any hope for me? when will i finally fear God and keep His commandments for this applies to every person? (ecclessiastes 12.13.
4. LUKE 13.24-30 STRIVE..for many will seek to enter and will not be able. AM i striving..or am i one of the many who are seeking and will not be able...let all the above be commentary on this question. so many times i do not fight as though my very life depended on whether i succeeded or not. oh God have mercy! help me bestir myself time and time again as i see myself disobedient, careless, heedless and absorbed in myself.
5. LUKE 14.16-24 a certain man was giving a big dinner and he invited many. one of his slaves returned with reports of excuses given for not coming among the invited. the man became angry and said to His slave, 'GET OUT AT ONCE INTO THE STREETS AND LANES of the city and BRING IN HERE the POOR, and CRIPPLED, and BLIND, and LAME' . i have no idea how many countless people who i have encountered long enough to at least say, 'repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near' and not a word..not even a thought to speak a word! i don't consciously (a fine upstanding christian would, of course, never think such an awful thought!) think they are unworthy...but something like this must be fully operative below the conscious level. the unformed thot may say 'you are not worthy to be invited because of (and then fill in the blank with a myriad of reasons, a few of which may be..) the way you look, act, where you live, how you treat me, etc. etc. etc.
the slave came back a second time and said, 'what you have commanded has been done.." can i say that? can i say that everyone i have any contact with has in some way been invited to the Lord('s house)? ..he goes on, 'and still there is room'. the heart of Jesus will never turn away one.
the master says, 'GO OUT INTO THE HIGHWAYS and ALONG THE HEDGES, and C O M P E L THEM TO COME IN, that my house may be full. the Lord knows not only the horror of not coming to Him but the glory He deserves that will be lacking. the thought comes, does God engage in hyperbole? somehow i don't think these words that are piercing so deeply are just for effect. i believe they are a sober, accurate reflection of God's heart, of the way He would do. didn't His mother and family come for Him shortly after the start of His ministry saying, 'He is out of His senses'? were not His words so many times little darts of flame? the heart of the Lord is infinitely more compassionate, suffering with us and yearning for us, than what seems almost impossible to conceive of. O may God awaken my soul and my will to actually DO what He says.
6. LUKE 16.13 - 'no man can serve two masters; for either he will HATE the one and love the other or else he will hold to one and DESPISE the other. you CANNOT serve God and mammon.
how often has Jesus felt the sting of my hate, my despite in deliberately disobeying what He wants? my loving and holding to and loving either to the one who hates me or to dust and ashes?
7. LUKE 16.16 - the law and the prophets were proclaimed until john; since then the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone is FORCING his way into it. Lord help me to energetically DO Your will! for the gate is small and the way is narrow and FEW are those who find it. many will strive to enter and will not be able. it is not the one who hears and understands Your word and gives intellectual assent to it that is able to get in, 'for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the DOERS of the law will be justified! truly 'faith' with no accompanying obediences is dead. oh Lord make of me a wise man who hears Your words and ACTS UPON them! help me put every other desire to death and do everything You want, Lord.
8. LUKE 21.1-4 - and He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. and He saw a certain poor widow putting in 2 small copper coins. and He said, 'truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. for they all out of their SURPLUS put into the offering, but she out of her poverty put in ALL THAT SHE HAD TO LIVE ON.' Lord, the spirit is totally gone out of me, for in these pierces You have shown me how far away from You i am. i ask for a spiritual awakening. i ask for You to pour out Your Spirit upon me oh Lord. i cannot do anything apart from You.
as i slog through each day, forcing myself to do the littlest thing these days i came upon several other verses that speak the above message:
1. R E N O U N C E YOURSELF ONCE AND FOR ALL, (oh Lord, help...pour out Your spirit..)
2. BE SERIOUS ABOUT DOING ALL YOU CAN FOR GOD IN THE MOMENT YOU HAVE,
3. BE INTENSE IN THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
4. BE FOCUSED ON THE SPIRIT OF JESUS, which is living/ speaking the Truth
5. BE ENERGETIC THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF JESUS
4. F O R G E T ABOUT WHAT ANY MAN THINKS ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, ARE DOING OR WILL DO (unless, of course, it is sin). become, no, rather EMBRACE whatever comes your way...for it is the same that came His..
and so, as a postscript..
mark 4.24..Jesus is speaking parables and other things to a multitude of people. in the middle He says,
1. if any man has EARS TO HEAR, let him HEAR
2.TAKE CARE what you listen to (WHAT I SAY TO YOU or the words of anyone else you will ever listen to...? i'm guessing at the possible meaning in these parentheses areas))
3. by your standard of measure it shall be measured to you (if you LISTEN CAREFULLY so as to UNDERSTAND and DO you, I will be careful to reward you greatly....?)
4. and more shall be given you besides (positively..you'll get a baker's dozen from me for what you give me; negatively..to the extent you tune me out, to that extent i'll take away from you the little you may have....?)
luke 15.4..'GOES AFTER the one (sheep) which is lost, UNTIL HE FINDS IT..
v.8...'light a lamp and sweep the house and SEARCH CAREFULLY UNTIL SHE FINDS IT (one day's wage)..
v.20f...'WHILE HE (a son who wished his father dead so he could take all his property to spend it on his own pleasure) WAS STILL A LONG WAY OFF, his father SAW him, and FELT COMPASSION for him, and RAN and EMBRACED him, and KISSED him...the father said to his slaves, QUICKLY BRING OUT THE BEST ROBE and PUT IT ON HIM, and PUT A RING ON HIS HAND AND SANDALS ON HIS FEET; and BRING THE FATTENED CALF, KILL IT AND LET US EAT AND BE MERRY, for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.
who do the man, the woman, the father picture. v. 10 gives a hint when Jesus says, 'IN THE SAME WAY, I tell you, there is JOY in the presence of the angels (lit. in the midst of...who would be in the middle of the angels i wonder?) over ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS'.
oh You who are piercing my heart so with Your word...in combination with progressively showing me how utterly evil i am...strengthen me to be like the widow with the unjust judge and keep petitioning You. don't let me faint..o Lord give me..baptize me into..plunge my wicked sinful life in You dear Lord...pour out Your Holy Spirit upon me. bring me to the place where i importune You continually with, GIVE ME THE INTENSITY OF YOUR SEEKING, SUFFERING LOVE OR I DIE!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
3.15.2011 MORAVIANS III -COMENIUS 1627-72
speaking of comenius...'his house was pillaged and gutted; his books and his manuscripts were burned; and he himself, with his wife and children, had now to flee in hot haste..he had lost his wife and one of his children on the way..; he had lost his post as teacher and minister; and now , for the sake of his suffering brethren, he wrote his beautiful classical allegory, THE LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD AND THE PARADISE OF THE HEART...it is a picture both of the horrors of the time and of the deep religious life of the brethren..the whole land, said comenius, was now in a state of disorder. the reign of justice had ended. the reign of pillage had begun. the plot..is simple. from scene to scene the pilgrim goes and everything fills him with disgust. the pilgrim, of course, is comenius..the labyrinth is bohemia..the time is the early years of the 30 year war (1618-48).
..in witty, satirical language, he held the mirror up to nature. what sort of men were employed by ferdinand to administer justice..he called the judges nogod, lovestrife, hearsay, partial, loveself, lovegold, takegift, ignorant, knowlittle, hasty and slovenly; he..saw the moral world turned upside down. no longer..did men in bohemia call things by their right names. they called drunkenness, merriment; greed, economy; usury, interest; lust, love; pride, dignity; cruelty, severity; and laziness, good nature. he saw his brethren..cast into the fire; some were hanged, beheaded, crucified (surely a poetic exaggeration); some were pierced, chopped, tortured with pincers, and roasted to death on grid-irons.
he studied the lives of professing christians and found that those who claimed the greatest piety were the sorriest scoundrels in the land... he watched the priests and found them no better..some snored, wallowing in feather beds; some feasted till they became speechless; some performed dances and leaps; some passed their time in love makeing and wontoness.
for these..comenius saw one remedy only..the cultivation of the simple and beautiful religion of the brethren...thy religion, said the master to the pilgrim (the brethren church) shall be to serve me in quiet, and not to bind thyself to any ceremonies, for i do not bind thee by them.
for mothers comenius wrote a book, entitled the SCHOOL OF INFANCY. in england this book is scarcely known at all; in bohemia it is a household treasure. comenius regarded it as a work of first rate importance.
what use, he asked, were schemes of education if a good foundation were not first laid by the mother? for the first 6 years of his life..the child must be taught by his mother. if she did her work properly she could teach him many marvelous things. he would learn some physics by handling things; some optics by naming the colors, light and darkness; some astronomy by studying the twinkling stars; some geography by trudging the neighboring streets and hills; some chronology by learning the hours, the days and the months; some history by a chat on local events; some geometry by measuring things for himself; some statics by trying to balance his top; some mechanics by building his little toy-house; some dialectics by asking ?s; some economics by observing his mother's skill as a housekeeper; and some music and poetry by singing psalms and hymns.
as comenius penned these ideal instructions, he must surely have known that 9 mothers out of 10 had neither the patience nor the skill to follow his method; and yet he insisted that, in some things, the mother had a clear course before. her his advice was remarkably sound. at what age, ask mothers, should the education of a child begin? it should begin..before the child is born. at that period in her life the expectant mother must be busy and cheerful, be moderate in her food, avoid all worry and keep in constant touch with God by prayer and thus the child will come into the world well equipped for the battle of life. when must, of course, nurse the child herself. she must feed him, when weaned, on plain and simple food. she must provide him with picture books; and, above all, she must teach him to be clean in his habits, to obey his superiors, to be truthful and polite, to bend the knee and fold his hands in prayer and to remember that the God revealed in Christ was ever near at hand.
..comenius has been justly called the 'father of the elementary school'. it was here that his ideas had the greatest practical value. his first fundamental principle was that in all elementary schools the scholars must learn in their native language..he called these schoold 'mother tongue schools'. for 6 or 8 years..the scholar must hear no language but his own; and his whole attention must be concentrated, not on learning words like a parrot, but on the direct study of nature.
comenius has been called the great sense-realist. he had no belief in learning second hand. he illustrated his books with pictures. he gave his scholars object lessons. he taught them, not about words, but about things. the foundation of all learning consists..in representing clearly to the senses sensible objects. he insisted that no boy or girl should ever have to learn by heart anything which he did not understand. he insisted that nature should be studied, not out of books, but by direct contact with nature herself...he applied these ideas to the teaching of religion and morals. in order to show his scholars the meaning of faith, he wrote a play entitled 'abraham the patriarch', and then taught them to act it..his whole object was moral and religious. all men..were made in the image of God; all men had in them the roots of eternal wisdom; all men were capable of understanding something of the nature of God; and therefore, the whole object of education was to develop, not only the physical and intellectual, but also the moral and spiritual powers, and thus fit men and women to be first, useful citizens in the state and then sints in the kingdom of heaven beyond the tomb.
from court to court he would lead the students onward, from the first court dealing with nature to the last court dealing with God. it is our bounden duty to consider the means whereby the whole body of christian youth may be stirred to vigor of mind and the love of heavenly things.
he believed in caring for the body, because the body was the temple of the Holy Ghost; and, in order to keep the body fit, he laid down the rule that 4 hours of study a day was as much as any boy or girl could stand.
again comenius introduced a new way of learning languages. his great work on this subject was entitled JANUA LINGUARUM RESERATA ie, the gate of languages unlocked. of all his works this was the most popular...it became, next to the bible, the most widely known book on the continent.for one..read ..labyrinth, there were thousands who nearly knew the janua by heart. the labyrinth..religious..was suppressed..it is not the works of richest genius that have the largest sale; it is the books that enable men to get on in life...the janua..supplied..a long felt want.
it was a latin grammar of a novel and original kind. ..it was the language in which the learned conversed, the language spoken at all universities, the language of diplomat..and statesmen, thae language or scientific treatises. if a man could make the learning of latin easier, he was adored as a public benefactor. ..for years all patient students of latin had writhed in agonies untold. they had leaned long lists of latin words, with their meanings; they had wrestled in their teens with gerunds, supines, ablative absolutes and distracting rules about the subjunctive mood, and they had tried in vain to take an interest in stately authors far above their understanding.
comenius reversed the whole process. what is the use, he asked, of learning lists of words that have no connection with each other? what is the use of teaching a lad grammar before he has a working knowledge of the language? what is the use of expecting a boy to take an interest in the political arguments of cicero or the dinner table wisdom of horace? his method was the conversational.
for beginners he prepared an elementary latin grammar, containing, besides a few necessary rules, a number of sentences dealing with events and scenes of everyday life. it was divided into 7 parts. in the first were nouns and adjectives together; in the second nouns and verbs; in the third adverbs, pronouns, numerals and prepositions; in the fourth remarks about things in the school; in the fifth about things in the house; in the sixth about things in the town; in the seventh some moral maxims. and the scholar went thru this book 10 times before he passed on to the janua proper.
the result can be imagined. at the end of a year the boy's knowledge of latin would be a peculiar kind. of grammar he would know but little; of words and phrases he would have a goodly store; and thus he was learning to talk the a language before he had even heard of its perplexing rules. one example must suffice to illustrate the method.
the beginner did not even learn the names of the cases. in a modern english latin grammar, the charming sight that meets our gaze is as follows -
nom. mensa - a table
voc. mensa - oh table!
acc. mensam - a table
gen. mensae -of a table
dat. mensae - to or for a table
abl. mensa - by, with or from a table
the method of comenius was different. instead of mentioning the names of the cases, he showed how the cases were actually used, as follows -
ecce, tabula nigra - look there, a black board
o tu tabula nigra - oh, you black board!
video tabulam nigram - i see a black board
pars tabulae nigrae - part of a black board.
addo partem tabulae nigrae - i add a part to a black board.
vides aliquid in tabula nigra - i see something on a black board
with us the method is theory first, practice afterwards; with comenius the method was practice first, theory afterwards; and the method of comenius, with modifications, is likely to be the method of the future.
but comenius's greatest educational work was undoubtedly his GREAT DIDACTIC or the 'art of teaching all things to all men'. it was a thorough and comprehensive treatise on the whole science, method, scope and purpose of universal education. as this book has been recently translated into english, i need not here..while the 30 years war was raging..turning europe into a desert, this scholar, banished from his native land, was devising sublime and broad minded schemes for the elevation of the whole human race...he played no part in the disgraceful quarrels of the age; he breathed no complaint against his persecutors...when the 30 years war ended ..comenius began to look forward to the day when the brethren would be allowed to return to bohemia and moravia. but the peace of westphalia broke his hear. what provision was made in that famous peace for the poor exiled brethren? absolutely none.
..in witty, satirical language, he held the mirror up to nature. what sort of men were employed by ferdinand to administer justice..he called the judges nogod, lovestrife, hearsay, partial, loveself, lovegold, takegift, ignorant, knowlittle, hasty and slovenly; he..saw the moral world turned upside down. no longer..did men in bohemia call things by their right names. they called drunkenness, merriment; greed, economy; usury, interest; lust, love; pride, dignity; cruelty, severity; and laziness, good nature. he saw his brethren..cast into the fire; some were hanged, beheaded, crucified (surely a poetic exaggeration); some were pierced, chopped, tortured with pincers, and roasted to death on grid-irons.
he studied the lives of professing christians and found that those who claimed the greatest piety were the sorriest scoundrels in the land... he watched the priests and found them no better..some snored, wallowing in feather beds; some feasted till they became speechless; some performed dances and leaps; some passed their time in love makeing and wontoness.
for these..comenius saw one remedy only..the cultivation of the simple and beautiful religion of the brethren...thy religion, said the master to the pilgrim (the brethren church) shall be to serve me in quiet, and not to bind thyself to any ceremonies, for i do not bind thee by them.
for mothers comenius wrote a book, entitled the SCHOOL OF INFANCY. in england this book is scarcely known at all; in bohemia it is a household treasure. comenius regarded it as a work of first rate importance.
what use, he asked, were schemes of education if a good foundation were not first laid by the mother? for the first 6 years of his life..the child must be taught by his mother. if she did her work properly she could teach him many marvelous things. he would learn some physics by handling things; some optics by naming the colors, light and darkness; some astronomy by studying the twinkling stars; some geography by trudging the neighboring streets and hills; some chronology by learning the hours, the days and the months; some history by a chat on local events; some geometry by measuring things for himself; some statics by trying to balance his top; some mechanics by building his little toy-house; some dialectics by asking ?s; some economics by observing his mother's skill as a housekeeper; and some music and poetry by singing psalms and hymns.
as comenius penned these ideal instructions, he must surely have known that 9 mothers out of 10 had neither the patience nor the skill to follow his method; and yet he insisted that, in some things, the mother had a clear course before. her his advice was remarkably sound. at what age, ask mothers, should the education of a child begin? it should begin..before the child is born. at that period in her life the expectant mother must be busy and cheerful, be moderate in her food, avoid all worry and keep in constant touch with God by prayer and thus the child will come into the world well equipped for the battle of life. when must, of course, nurse the child herself. she must feed him, when weaned, on plain and simple food. she must provide him with picture books; and, above all, she must teach him to be clean in his habits, to obey his superiors, to be truthful and polite, to bend the knee and fold his hands in prayer and to remember that the God revealed in Christ was ever near at hand.
..comenius has been justly called the 'father of the elementary school'. it was here that his ideas had the greatest practical value. his first fundamental principle was that in all elementary schools the scholars must learn in their native language..he called these schoold 'mother tongue schools'. for 6 or 8 years..the scholar must hear no language but his own; and his whole attention must be concentrated, not on learning words like a parrot, but on the direct study of nature.
comenius has been called the great sense-realist. he had no belief in learning second hand. he illustrated his books with pictures. he gave his scholars object lessons. he taught them, not about words, but about things. the foundation of all learning consists..in representing clearly to the senses sensible objects. he insisted that no boy or girl should ever have to learn by heart anything which he did not understand. he insisted that nature should be studied, not out of books, but by direct contact with nature herself...he applied these ideas to the teaching of religion and morals. in order to show his scholars the meaning of faith, he wrote a play entitled 'abraham the patriarch', and then taught them to act it..his whole object was moral and religious. all men..were made in the image of God; all men had in them the roots of eternal wisdom; all men were capable of understanding something of the nature of God; and therefore, the whole object of education was to develop, not only the physical and intellectual, but also the moral and spiritual powers, and thus fit men and women to be first, useful citizens in the state and then sints in the kingdom of heaven beyond the tomb.
from court to court he would lead the students onward, from the first court dealing with nature to the last court dealing with God. it is our bounden duty to consider the means whereby the whole body of christian youth may be stirred to vigor of mind and the love of heavenly things.
he believed in caring for the body, because the body was the temple of the Holy Ghost; and, in order to keep the body fit, he laid down the rule that 4 hours of study a day was as much as any boy or girl could stand.
again comenius introduced a new way of learning languages. his great work on this subject was entitled JANUA LINGUARUM RESERATA ie, the gate of languages unlocked. of all his works this was the most popular...it became, next to the bible, the most widely known book on the continent.for one..read ..labyrinth, there were thousands who nearly knew the janua by heart. the labyrinth..religious..was suppressed..it is not the works of richest genius that have the largest sale; it is the books that enable men to get on in life...the janua..supplied..a long felt want.
it was a latin grammar of a novel and original kind. ..it was the language in which the learned conversed, the language spoken at all universities, the language of diplomat..and statesmen, thae language or scientific treatises. if a man could make the learning of latin easier, he was adored as a public benefactor. ..for years all patient students of latin had writhed in agonies untold. they had leaned long lists of latin words, with their meanings; they had wrestled in their teens with gerunds, supines, ablative absolutes and distracting rules about the subjunctive mood, and they had tried in vain to take an interest in stately authors far above their understanding.
comenius reversed the whole process. what is the use, he asked, of learning lists of words that have no connection with each other? what is the use of teaching a lad grammar before he has a working knowledge of the language? what is the use of expecting a boy to take an interest in the political arguments of cicero or the dinner table wisdom of horace? his method was the conversational.
for beginners he prepared an elementary latin grammar, containing, besides a few necessary rules, a number of sentences dealing with events and scenes of everyday life. it was divided into 7 parts. in the first were nouns and adjectives together; in the second nouns and verbs; in the third adverbs, pronouns, numerals and prepositions; in the fourth remarks about things in the school; in the fifth about things in the house; in the sixth about things in the town; in the seventh some moral maxims. and the scholar went thru this book 10 times before he passed on to the janua proper.
the result can be imagined. at the end of a year the boy's knowledge of latin would be a peculiar kind. of grammar he would know but little; of words and phrases he would have a goodly store; and thus he was learning to talk the a language before he had even heard of its perplexing rules. one example must suffice to illustrate the method.
the beginner did not even learn the names of the cases. in a modern english latin grammar, the charming sight that meets our gaze is as follows -
nom. mensa - a table
voc. mensa - oh table!
acc. mensam - a table
gen. mensae -of a table
dat. mensae - to or for a table
abl. mensa - by, with or from a table
the method of comenius was different. instead of mentioning the names of the cases, he showed how the cases were actually used, as follows -
ecce, tabula nigra - look there, a black board
o tu tabula nigra - oh, you black board!
video tabulam nigram - i see a black board
pars tabulae nigrae - part of a black board.
addo partem tabulae nigrae - i add a part to a black board.
vides aliquid in tabula nigra - i see something on a black board
with us the method is theory first, practice afterwards; with comenius the method was practice first, theory afterwards; and the method of comenius, with modifications, is likely to be the method of the future.
but comenius's greatest educational work was undoubtedly his GREAT DIDACTIC or the 'art of teaching all things to all men'. it was a thorough and comprehensive treatise on the whole science, method, scope and purpose of universal education. as this book has been recently translated into english, i need not here..while the 30 years war was raging..turning europe into a desert, this scholar, banished from his native land, was devising sublime and broad minded schemes for the elevation of the whole human race...he played no part in the disgraceful quarrels of the age; he breathed no complaint against his persecutors...when the 30 years war ended ..comenius began to look forward to the day when the brethren would be allowed to return to bohemia and moravia. but the peace of westphalia broke his hear. what provision was made in that famous peace for the poor exiled brethren? absolutely none.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
3.12.2010 MORAVIANS II (#1 AT 10.10.2010)
in 1554...while still retaining the oversight of a few parishes in east prussia, george israel, by commission of the council, set out to conduct a mission in poland. alone and on horse back, by bad roads and swollen streams, he went on his dangerous journey and...arrived in the town of thorn..as he was walking on the frozen river to try whether the ice was strong enough to bear his horse, the ice broke up with a crash. george israel was left on a solitary lump and was swept whirling down the river; and then, as the ice blocks cracked and banged and splintered into thousands of fragments, he sprang like a deer from block to block, and sang with loud exulting voice: 'praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps; fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind fulfilling His word'. there was a great crowd on the bank. the people watched the thrilling sight with awe, and when at last he reached firm ground they welcomed him with shouts of joy.
we marvel not that such a man was like the sword of gideon in the conflict. . he..rode on to posen..began holding secret meetings and established the first evangelical church in the country. the roman catholic bishop heard of his arrival and put 40 assassins on his track. but israel was a man of many wiles as well as a man of God. he assumed disguises and changed his clothes so as to baffle pursuit, appearing now as an officer, now as a coachman, now as a cook. he presented himself at the castle of the noble family of the ostrorogs, was warmly welcomed by the countess and held a service in her rooms. the count was absent, heard the news and came in a tate of fury. he seized a whip, 'i will drag my wife out of this conventicle'..and burst into the room while the service was proceeding, his eyes flashing fire and the whip swinging in his hand. the preacher, cerwenka, calmly went on preaching. sir, said george israel, pointing to an empty seat, sit down there. the count..meekly obeyed, listened quietly to the discourse, became a convert that very day, turned out his own lutheran court chaplain, installed george israel in his place and made a present to the brethren of his great estate on the outskirts of the town
for the brethren the gain was enormous. as the news of the count's conversion spread, other nobles quickly followed suit...ostrorog became the centre of a swiftly growing movement; the poor brethren in prussia returned to poland and found churches ready for their use; and before 7 years had passed away the brethren had founded 40 congregations in this their first land of exile. (note: the brethren were often threatened in moravia and bohemia. this grew until the 30 years war 1618-48 drove many out.)
1621..he bade his friends farewell. 'i go in the garment of righteousness thus arrayed shall i appear before God'. alone in firm step he strode to the scaffold, stroking proudly his silver hair and beard. 'thou old grey head of mine, thou are highly honoured; thou shalt be adorned with the martyr-crown.
as he knelt and prayed he was watched by the pitying eyes of ..2 kind-hearted jesuits who had come to see him that morning. he prayed for his country, for his church, for his enemies and committed his soul to Christ; the sword flashed brightly in the sun; and one strong blow closed the restless life of wenzel von budowa, the 'last of the bohemians'.
and with his death there came the death of the ancient church of the brethren. from the moment when budowa's head fell from the block the destruction of the church was only a question of time. as budowa, so died others after him...nearly all departed with the words upon their lips, 'into thy hands i commend my spirit; how the drums beat louder each time before the sword fell, that the people might not hear the last words of triumphant confidence in God; how caspar kaplir, an old man of 86, staggered up to the scaffold arrayed in a white robe, which he called his wedding garment, but was so weak that he could not hold his head to the block; how otto von los looked up and said, 'behold i see the heavens opened'; how dr. jessen, the theologian, had his tongue seized with a pair of tongs, cut off at the roots with a knife and died with the blood gushing from his mouth; how 3 others were hanged on a gallows in the square; how the fearful work went steadily on till the last head had fallen and the black scaffold sweated blood; and how the bodies of the chiefs were flung into unconsecrated ground and their heads spitted on poles in the city, there to grin for full 10 years as a warning to all who held the protestant faith. in all the story of the brethren..there has been no other day like that. it was the day when the furies seemed to ride triumphant in the air, when the God of their fathers seemed to mock at the trial of the innocent and when the little church that had battled so bravely and so long was at last stamped down..
not, indeed, till the last breath of church life had gone did the fearful stamping cease. the zeal of king ferdinand knew no bounds. he was determined, not only to crush the brethren, but to wipe their memory from off the face of the earth...not a stone did he ..leave unturned to destroy them. they began with the churches. instead of razing them to the ground...they turned them into roman catholic chapels by the customary methods of purification and rededecation. they rubbed out the inscriptions on the walls and put new ones in their places, lashed the pulpits with whips, beat the altars with sticks, sprinkled holy water to cleanse the buildings of heresy, opened the graves and dishonoured the bones of the dead..
meanwhile the brethren had been expelled from bohemia. it is a striking proof of the influence of the brethren that ferdinand turned his attention to them before he troubled about the other protestants. they had been the first in moral power; they had done the most to spread the knowledge of the bible; they had produced the greatest literary men of the country; and, therefore they must be the first to go. what actually happened to many of the brethren during the next jew years no tongue can tell.
but we know enough...we know that 36,000 families left bohemia and moravia, and that the population of bohemia dwindled from 3 millions to 1. we know that about one half of the property -lands, houses, castles, churches - passed into the hands of the king. we know that the university of prague was handed over to the jesuits. we know that the scandalous order was issued that all protestant married ministers who consented to join the church of rome might keep their wives by passing them off as cooks. we know that villages were sacked; that ..hymn books, confessions, catechisms, and historical works of priceless value..were burned in thousands; and that thus nearly every trace of the brethren was swept out of the land. we know that some of the brethren were hacked in pieces, that some were tortured, that some were burned alive, that some swung on gibbets at the city gates and at the country crossroads among the carrion crows. for 6 years bohemia was a field of blood and spanish soldiers, drunk and raging, slashed and pillaged on every hand.
a clergyman of the day said, 'oh, to what torments were the promoters of the gospel exposed! how they were tortured and massacred! how many virgins were violated to death! how many respectable women abused! how many children torn from their mothers' breasts and cut in pieces in their presence! how many dragged from their beds and thrown naked from the windows! good God! what cries of woe we were forced to hear from those who lay upon the rack, and what groans and terrible outcries from those who besought the robbers to spare them for God's sake'..
let us review the story of that wonderful church. what a marvellous change had come upon it! it began in the quiet little valley of kunwald; it ended in the noisy streets of prague. it began in peace and brotherly love; it ended amid the tramp of horses, the clank of armour, the swish of swords, the growl of artillery, the whistle of bullets, the blare of drums and the moans of the wounded and the dying. it began in the teaching of the sermon on the mount; it ended amid the ghastly horrors of war.
what was it that caused the destruction of that church? (the author asks...note: it seems that there were several causes that stand out. 1. the church became prosperous and 2. the church, in having contact with others who did not have the same simple way of life and were enamored with education maybe were factors.)..even with all his $ and his men king ferdinand found the destruction of the brethren no easy task. he had the whole house of hapsburg on his side; he had thousands of mercenary soldiers from spain; he was restrained by no scruples of conscience; and yet it took him 6 full years to drive the brethren from the country. and even then he had not completed his work. in spite of his efforts, many thousands of the people still remained brethren at heart; and as late as 1781..100,000 in bohemia and moravia declared themselves brethren..
we marvel not that such a man was like the sword of gideon in the conflict. . he..rode on to posen..began holding secret meetings and established the first evangelical church in the country. the roman catholic bishop heard of his arrival and put 40 assassins on his track. but israel was a man of many wiles as well as a man of God. he assumed disguises and changed his clothes so as to baffle pursuit, appearing now as an officer, now as a coachman, now as a cook. he presented himself at the castle of the noble family of the ostrorogs, was warmly welcomed by the countess and held a service in her rooms. the count was absent, heard the news and came in a tate of fury. he seized a whip, 'i will drag my wife out of this conventicle'..and burst into the room while the service was proceeding, his eyes flashing fire and the whip swinging in his hand. the preacher, cerwenka, calmly went on preaching. sir, said george israel, pointing to an empty seat, sit down there. the count..meekly obeyed, listened quietly to the discourse, became a convert that very day, turned out his own lutheran court chaplain, installed george israel in his place and made a present to the brethren of his great estate on the outskirts of the town
for the brethren the gain was enormous. as the news of the count's conversion spread, other nobles quickly followed suit...ostrorog became the centre of a swiftly growing movement; the poor brethren in prussia returned to poland and found churches ready for their use; and before 7 years had passed away the brethren had founded 40 congregations in this their first land of exile. (note: the brethren were often threatened in moravia and bohemia. this grew until the 30 years war 1618-48 drove many out.)
1621..he bade his friends farewell. 'i go in the garment of righteousness thus arrayed shall i appear before God'. alone in firm step he strode to the scaffold, stroking proudly his silver hair and beard. 'thou old grey head of mine, thou are highly honoured; thou shalt be adorned with the martyr-crown.
as he knelt and prayed he was watched by the pitying eyes of ..2 kind-hearted jesuits who had come to see him that morning. he prayed for his country, for his church, for his enemies and committed his soul to Christ; the sword flashed brightly in the sun; and one strong blow closed the restless life of wenzel von budowa, the 'last of the bohemians'.
and with his death there came the death of the ancient church of the brethren. from the moment when budowa's head fell from the block the destruction of the church was only a question of time. as budowa, so died others after him...nearly all departed with the words upon their lips, 'into thy hands i commend my spirit; how the drums beat louder each time before the sword fell, that the people might not hear the last words of triumphant confidence in God; how caspar kaplir, an old man of 86, staggered up to the scaffold arrayed in a white robe, which he called his wedding garment, but was so weak that he could not hold his head to the block; how otto von los looked up and said, 'behold i see the heavens opened'; how dr. jessen, the theologian, had his tongue seized with a pair of tongs, cut off at the roots with a knife and died with the blood gushing from his mouth; how 3 others were hanged on a gallows in the square; how the fearful work went steadily on till the last head had fallen and the black scaffold sweated blood; and how the bodies of the chiefs were flung into unconsecrated ground and their heads spitted on poles in the city, there to grin for full 10 years as a warning to all who held the protestant faith. in all the story of the brethren..there has been no other day like that. it was the day when the furies seemed to ride triumphant in the air, when the God of their fathers seemed to mock at the trial of the innocent and when the little church that had battled so bravely and so long was at last stamped down..
not, indeed, till the last breath of church life had gone did the fearful stamping cease. the zeal of king ferdinand knew no bounds. he was determined, not only to crush the brethren, but to wipe their memory from off the face of the earth...not a stone did he ..leave unturned to destroy them. they began with the churches. instead of razing them to the ground...they turned them into roman catholic chapels by the customary methods of purification and rededecation. they rubbed out the inscriptions on the walls and put new ones in their places, lashed the pulpits with whips, beat the altars with sticks, sprinkled holy water to cleanse the buildings of heresy, opened the graves and dishonoured the bones of the dead..
meanwhile the brethren had been expelled from bohemia. it is a striking proof of the influence of the brethren that ferdinand turned his attention to them before he troubled about the other protestants. they had been the first in moral power; they had done the most to spread the knowledge of the bible; they had produced the greatest literary men of the country; and, therefore they must be the first to go. what actually happened to many of the brethren during the next jew years no tongue can tell.
but we know enough...we know that 36,000 families left bohemia and moravia, and that the population of bohemia dwindled from 3 millions to 1. we know that about one half of the property -lands, houses, castles, churches - passed into the hands of the king. we know that the university of prague was handed over to the jesuits. we know that the scandalous order was issued that all protestant married ministers who consented to join the church of rome might keep their wives by passing them off as cooks. we know that villages were sacked; that ..hymn books, confessions, catechisms, and historical works of priceless value..were burned in thousands; and that thus nearly every trace of the brethren was swept out of the land. we know that some of the brethren were hacked in pieces, that some were tortured, that some were burned alive, that some swung on gibbets at the city gates and at the country crossroads among the carrion crows. for 6 years bohemia was a field of blood and spanish soldiers, drunk and raging, slashed and pillaged on every hand.
a clergyman of the day said, 'oh, to what torments were the promoters of the gospel exposed! how they were tortured and massacred! how many virgins were violated to death! how many respectable women abused! how many children torn from their mothers' breasts and cut in pieces in their presence! how many dragged from their beds and thrown naked from the windows! good God! what cries of woe we were forced to hear from those who lay upon the rack, and what groans and terrible outcries from those who besought the robbers to spare them for God's sake'..
let us review the story of that wonderful church. what a marvellous change had come upon it! it began in the quiet little valley of kunwald; it ended in the noisy streets of prague. it began in peace and brotherly love; it ended amid the tramp of horses, the clank of armour, the swish of swords, the growl of artillery, the whistle of bullets, the blare of drums and the moans of the wounded and the dying. it began in the teaching of the sermon on the mount; it ended amid the ghastly horrors of war.
what was it that caused the destruction of that church? (the author asks...note: it seems that there were several causes that stand out. 1. the church became prosperous and 2. the church, in having contact with others who did not have the same simple way of life and were enamored with education maybe were factors.)..even with all his $ and his men king ferdinand found the destruction of the brethren no easy task. he had the whole house of hapsburg on his side; he had thousands of mercenary soldiers from spain; he was restrained by no scruples of conscience; and yet it took him 6 full years to drive the brethren from the country. and even then he had not completed his work. in spite of his efforts, many thousands of the people still remained brethren at heart; and as late as 1781..100,000 in bohemia and moravia declared themselves brethren..
Thursday, March 10, 2011
3.10.2010 THE PERSECUTED CHURCH
voice of the martyrs, 9.2010 director's commentary..the jhmu are the original inhabitants of laos..many laotians look down on them as culturally bqackward. sometimes people call them kha, meaning 'slave', an insulting reference to a time when the khum were taken captive by invaders.
the khmu, of course, resent being called slaves. but the greek word for 'slave', doulos, is also the 2nd most common word used to describe christians in greek manuscripts of the new testament. the work doulos occurs more than 100 times in greek manuscripts of the new testament...it is 2nd in use only to mathetes meaning 'disciple'.
it is difficult to find the work 'slave' in most translations of the bible...it has become the more socially acceptable 'servant'..in I peter 2.16, the apostle writes that although we are 'as free', we should live as douloi, or fully committed slaves of God.
...references to freedom in the new testament do not imply freedom from Jesus but rather freedom from sin or religious customs of men. in one sense, even Jesus was not 'free' to do what he wanted. in john 8.29, Jesus says that he came to do the will of His Father. we, His douloi, are commanded to follow in His steps. although Jesus calls us His friends in john 15.15, He lovingly and jealously regards us as His committed slaves. Jesus uses the doulos metaphor notably and powerfully in matt. 20.27 and25.21, mark 9.35 and john 15.20...
during my time with the khmu, katin, hmong and bru christians, i asked them how they felt about losing homes and being beaten because they are christians. ..many of the khmu told me these sufferings encourage them. they told me that their own suffering proves that Jesus is God because He told them in the bible that christians would be persecuted.
i wonder if these kha, loyal slaves of Jesus Christ, know that Jesus Himself took the nature of a slave. Jesus became a kha for us all, submitting to the Father with unquestioned obedience in order to secure our salvation (philippians 2.5-11)...
whenever we christians are insulted in the courts, in the press or in the classroom, we - like the kha - are free to rejoice that these attacks from the world prove that Jesus is God. we are free to ignore seemingly terrible consequences in order to share His saving grace and love with more passion. as douloi of Jesus who were paid for with the price of His blood, He owns us. we are His. He is our Lord.
LAOS..a young khmu..'my villagers still hate me and mock me like they mocked Jesus on the cross. it is the world's right to hate us or love us. but for me, i will follow Jesus because i read in the bible what He says, that the world will hate you'.
others in laos...'when we became christians, we were evicted. 2 times they kicked us - 17 christian families - out of the village where we lived. i am the khmu pastor of the group. i am also a farmer...i tell..our group, 'all people in the world have sin and they cannot help themselves; only Jesus can help us. we are committed to Jesus, so when persecution comes don't be scared...later i encouraged them..'do not have regrets, because we do not stay on this earth long. we will leave the earth someday so we can endure it like this'...
the second night..the police forced us off the truck..we said, 'we don't know where to go because none of our relatives are here'. then the police and the soldiers kicked our things off the truck onto the ground..the truck left. we stood there waiting. then we sat down in the yard for 2 days...finally the local police came..after one police officer read the accusations against us, he took his gun and hit it on the table. 'why did you disobey the government and leave what the laotian people believe?' he shouted. i replied, 'we do not know what we are going to do. they left us here, so i guess we will have to stay..'
they put us on a bus and took us to an area by a river. we lived in this place for a few years; then we moved again. they gave us land to plant rice, but it is bad land. many times they came to cheat and steal from us.
we took a truck back to our home village and moved the heavy wood beams of our old church building. we brought it to our third location. we rebuilt it in 2 days...we reopened it and worshiped there. then we put the cross on the roof...the police came and put me and 2 others in the district jail..we were jailed because we didn't take the cross down from the church. last year the police tore the cross down...then the officials came and tore down the entire church building...
this year i went back to our old village and baptized 12 people. we baptized new converts 2 times, at our old village and in the new village. we are very strong in faith. we are now meeting in an enlarged house. in the beginning of our evictions when they forced us to move, we had 108 believers. now we have 203 christians'.
..by the end of our time in laos we had accumulated 117 pages of testimonies like the one above, including that of pastor bin, who was thrown out of his village and now preaches to 2 house churches every sunday using his cell phone...evicted 3 times, pastor ta's church continues to grow...'they can tear down our bamboo church, but they cannot tear down the church in our heart'..
VOM, 10.2010 INDONESIA...pastor palty was on his way to their newly constructed church on christmas..as he passed the local mosque 'i heard the loudspeaker announce that men and women should gather at the mosque and then march to the church after assembling..he knew that forced church closings by muslim s were common in bekasi. and when he arrived at the filadelfia batak christian protestant church, he was greeted by 50 police officers in riot gear and 6 soldiers armed with light weapons. they had surrounded the church to protect the christians from an approaching mob of about 1000 muslims. most church members had already arrived, but police had to escort latecomers thru the angry mob blocking the church entrace. the mob banged drums, shouted taunts and harassed the christians already inside the church.
some threw stones and were shouting 'allahu akbar' (god is great)..others were calling us kafirs (infidels) and pigs and yelling obscenities. some carried sticks and others shouted 'burn the church! close it down!'
once inside the church, pastor palty was still frightened. but he was careful not to show his fear before the congregation. their backs were to the church entrance, so only he could see the crowd growing larger outside.
'when i saw the mob getting bigger, i prayed in my heart, Lord, please strengthen me to face this situation. the muslims were yelling and mocking and trying to frighten the christians inside the church. many of the believers turned their heads (to look) and i said, do you want to see them and become afraid or do you want to see me and not be afraid?
tears streamed down the cheeks of late arrivers as they joined the other worshipers, who were already singing christmas carols. people were singing and crying, pastor palty recalls sadly. joyful christmas songs turned to tears.
although the believers were clearly upset, pastor palty urged them to persist in their worship..the holy communion that day was the best for us because it was the first time we got closer to the Lord, pastor palty says.
1.2011 LOVING THE UGLIEST director's commentary...richard wurmbrand, the founder of our mission, suffered terrible persecution in romania. you would think that after moving to america at almost the age of 60, he would have wanted to live a comfortable life and hear no more about suffering. but while liven here in the west, he wrote, love all men..but bestow the greatest part of your love on the ugliest souls.
the Holy Spirit brings each believer to one or more points - thru a challenge, a bible verse or a moment in prayer - at which he decides to move forward with God or to sit comfortably in one place...
in EGYPT last year, i met a truck driver we call 'ahmed'. he had been interrogated, beaten and tortured...for bringing many muslims to Christ. the police in egypt have a special division that focuses on Christians who have a burden for lost souls..muslims...the police try to learn where ahmed's christian converts live; his last interrogation occurred only 2 months before we met..
ahmed drives out into the wilderness at night to feed 42 christian converts who sleep on cardboard mats in a small house. may of these former muslims, whom ahmed brought to Christ, were part of a radical islamic organization called the muslim brotherhood. now they are hunted by police for converting..
here are some details of ahmed's ministry...'i give them food, i give them bibles, i give them everything. i care for them because for now, most of them must hide. they can't work..i feel humbled when i meet them because they are eating the bible. they have finished the bible more than 8 times. when i return to them. i find many ?s waiting for me. i tell them, 'i will go back to the church leaders and will come back with answers. i can never answer them all...
ahmed also..helps the new believers find 'tent making jobs so they can share Christ. then he described how he is tortured by the egyptian police. 'i was shamed. i was naked, totally naked, hanging upside down with ropes on my legs...'
2.2011..PAKISTAN.. there is a picture on the director's page, with pakistani women singing with one hand raised to God and the other grasping the from of their necks, with the subtitle 'pakistanis sing, even if they hang me, i will follow Jesus, based on revelation 2.10 - be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life'.
director's commentary.. one of these courageous evangelists i spoke with approached a church official in lahore and asked about the christian presence in the northwest provinces where radical muslims operate. the official turned to him and said, why would you want to go up there? we don't have any churches up there. the eroding spirit of religion had transformed the official into a weak ghost, perhaps a shell of his former self.
richard wurmbrand,the founder of our ministry, once shared a similar thot about souls standing before the judgment. to paraphrase the message..he said, perhaps when we are taken up to heaven and Jesus leads us thru the gate, He will stoop and introduce us to a very shining, beautiful soul who is receiving great honor. we will curiously ask Jesus, 'who is this person? they are certainly remarkable. what did they do with their life?' then Jesus will turn to us with a tear in his eye and whisper, 'this is you. this is what you could have been'.
i know this illustration does not follow scriptural teaching and i don't remember whether this applied to the redeemed or unredeemed (maybe both). yet hearing it as a young man, the story was always a personal challenge to me.
in my opinion, corruption is not the main killer of christian endeavor. we all recognize corruption and sin in our war with the devil. but just as high blood pressure is considered a silent killer ..the silent killer of the gospel is mediocrity - or, in biblical terms, being 'lukewarm'. a mediocre life is one that is neither good nor bad. mediocre christians may enjoy life simply because it is there, believing that as long as they have faith and are 'good' people, they don't have to accomplish much of anything.
when i had various stomach cancer surgeries in my twenties, i would be given a shot of demerol. wow! that stuff was great. no pain, no problems. yet when my brother flew in from new york to sit by my hospital bedside, i could not talk to him - i simply 'floated'. if i had continued to spend every day under the influence of demerol, the greatest tragedy is that i would have erased the potential of who i might have been.
this week i returned from northern vietnam after visiting with the hmong along the chinese border. a few hundred thousand hmong have become christians in the last 2 decades. we published the first complete hmong bible (still illegal) in 1997 and we have oprovided them thousands of shortwave radios so they can hear the gospel. their homes have been burned, they have been beaten, they have been imprisoned and some have been killed, but they remain faithful witnesses..
i also visited with a christian girl from central vietnam who went to jail when she was 14 years old. her crime was teaching the children in her village about Jesus.
this young woman did not miss what she might have been at the age of 14, she served Jesus in jail and 7 years later she continues to be a witness. the same is true of gao feng. after chinese christian gao feng returned from a 3 year prison sentence, his friends lamented his 'lost time'. gao replied, 'i would rather go to prison for three years for doing something for Jesus than sit at home and do nothing for Him'.
before richard wurmbrand passed on 10 years ago, he left us with a challenge. it was not a bible verse or a long philosophical talk; it was simply 2 words: BE AGGRESSIVE. i am sure that i am not the best i could ever be. but the persecuted church, like saints i have known since i was young, calls me to be better, to push the envelope more than my flesh desires.
don't be satisfied to live under the influence of spiritual demerol, accepting the mediocrity of the easiest path and reaching out to no one because you 'deserve' a rest. instead, remember that from his prison cell, the apostle paul wrote to the church at ephesus, 'now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that wors in us..' (eph. 3.20). every day is a gift. what will you do with it?
the khmu, of course, resent being called slaves. but the greek word for 'slave', doulos, is also the 2nd most common word used to describe christians in greek manuscripts of the new testament. the work doulos occurs more than 100 times in greek manuscripts of the new testament...it is 2nd in use only to mathetes meaning 'disciple'.
it is difficult to find the work 'slave' in most translations of the bible...it has become the more socially acceptable 'servant'..in I peter 2.16, the apostle writes that although we are 'as free', we should live as douloi, or fully committed slaves of God.
...references to freedom in the new testament do not imply freedom from Jesus but rather freedom from sin or religious customs of men. in one sense, even Jesus was not 'free' to do what he wanted. in john 8.29, Jesus says that he came to do the will of His Father. we, His douloi, are commanded to follow in His steps. although Jesus calls us His friends in john 15.15, He lovingly and jealously regards us as His committed slaves. Jesus uses the doulos metaphor notably and powerfully in matt. 20.27 and25.21, mark 9.35 and john 15.20...
during my time with the khmu, katin, hmong and bru christians, i asked them how they felt about losing homes and being beaten because they are christians. ..many of the khmu told me these sufferings encourage them. they told me that their own suffering proves that Jesus is God because He told them in the bible that christians would be persecuted.
i wonder if these kha, loyal slaves of Jesus Christ, know that Jesus Himself took the nature of a slave. Jesus became a kha for us all, submitting to the Father with unquestioned obedience in order to secure our salvation (philippians 2.5-11)...
whenever we christians are insulted in the courts, in the press or in the classroom, we - like the kha - are free to rejoice that these attacks from the world prove that Jesus is God. we are free to ignore seemingly terrible consequences in order to share His saving grace and love with more passion. as douloi of Jesus who were paid for with the price of His blood, He owns us. we are His. He is our Lord.
LAOS..a young khmu..'my villagers still hate me and mock me like they mocked Jesus on the cross. it is the world's right to hate us or love us. but for me, i will follow Jesus because i read in the bible what He says, that the world will hate you'.
others in laos...'when we became christians, we were evicted. 2 times they kicked us - 17 christian families - out of the village where we lived. i am the khmu pastor of the group. i am also a farmer...i tell..our group, 'all people in the world have sin and they cannot help themselves; only Jesus can help us. we are committed to Jesus, so when persecution comes don't be scared...later i encouraged them..'do not have regrets, because we do not stay on this earth long. we will leave the earth someday so we can endure it like this'...
the second night..the police forced us off the truck..we said, 'we don't know where to go because none of our relatives are here'. then the police and the soldiers kicked our things off the truck onto the ground..the truck left. we stood there waiting. then we sat down in the yard for 2 days...finally the local police came..after one police officer read the accusations against us, he took his gun and hit it on the table. 'why did you disobey the government and leave what the laotian people believe?' he shouted. i replied, 'we do not know what we are going to do. they left us here, so i guess we will have to stay..'
they put us on a bus and took us to an area by a river. we lived in this place for a few years; then we moved again. they gave us land to plant rice, but it is bad land. many times they came to cheat and steal from us.
we took a truck back to our home village and moved the heavy wood beams of our old church building. we brought it to our third location. we rebuilt it in 2 days...we reopened it and worshiped there. then we put the cross on the roof...the police came and put me and 2 others in the district jail..we were jailed because we didn't take the cross down from the church. last year the police tore the cross down...then the officials came and tore down the entire church building...
this year i went back to our old village and baptized 12 people. we baptized new converts 2 times, at our old village and in the new village. we are very strong in faith. we are now meeting in an enlarged house. in the beginning of our evictions when they forced us to move, we had 108 believers. now we have 203 christians'.
..by the end of our time in laos we had accumulated 117 pages of testimonies like the one above, including that of pastor bin, who was thrown out of his village and now preaches to 2 house churches every sunday using his cell phone...evicted 3 times, pastor ta's church continues to grow...'they can tear down our bamboo church, but they cannot tear down the church in our heart'..
VOM, 10.2010 INDONESIA...pastor palty was on his way to their newly constructed church on christmas..as he passed the local mosque 'i heard the loudspeaker announce that men and women should gather at the mosque and then march to the church after assembling..he knew that forced church closings by muslim s were common in bekasi. and when he arrived at the filadelfia batak christian protestant church, he was greeted by 50 police officers in riot gear and 6 soldiers armed with light weapons. they had surrounded the church to protect the christians from an approaching mob of about 1000 muslims. most church members had already arrived, but police had to escort latecomers thru the angry mob blocking the church entrace. the mob banged drums, shouted taunts and harassed the christians already inside the church.
some threw stones and were shouting 'allahu akbar' (god is great)..others were calling us kafirs (infidels) and pigs and yelling obscenities. some carried sticks and others shouted 'burn the church! close it down!'
once inside the church, pastor palty was still frightened. but he was careful not to show his fear before the congregation. their backs were to the church entrance, so only he could see the crowd growing larger outside.
'when i saw the mob getting bigger, i prayed in my heart, Lord, please strengthen me to face this situation. the muslims were yelling and mocking and trying to frighten the christians inside the church. many of the believers turned their heads (to look) and i said, do you want to see them and become afraid or do you want to see me and not be afraid?
tears streamed down the cheeks of late arrivers as they joined the other worshipers, who were already singing christmas carols. people were singing and crying, pastor palty recalls sadly. joyful christmas songs turned to tears.
although the believers were clearly upset, pastor palty urged them to persist in their worship..the holy communion that day was the best for us because it was the first time we got closer to the Lord, pastor palty says.
1.2011 LOVING THE UGLIEST director's commentary...richard wurmbrand, the founder of our mission, suffered terrible persecution in romania. you would think that after moving to america at almost the age of 60, he would have wanted to live a comfortable life and hear no more about suffering. but while liven here in the west, he wrote, love all men..but bestow the greatest part of your love on the ugliest souls.
the Holy Spirit brings each believer to one or more points - thru a challenge, a bible verse or a moment in prayer - at which he decides to move forward with God or to sit comfortably in one place...
in EGYPT last year, i met a truck driver we call 'ahmed'. he had been interrogated, beaten and tortured...for bringing many muslims to Christ. the police in egypt have a special division that focuses on Christians who have a burden for lost souls..muslims...the police try to learn where ahmed's christian converts live; his last interrogation occurred only 2 months before we met..
ahmed drives out into the wilderness at night to feed 42 christian converts who sleep on cardboard mats in a small house. may of these former muslims, whom ahmed brought to Christ, were part of a radical islamic organization called the muslim brotherhood. now they are hunted by police for converting..
here are some details of ahmed's ministry...'i give them food, i give them bibles, i give them everything. i care for them because for now, most of them must hide. they can't work..i feel humbled when i meet them because they are eating the bible. they have finished the bible more than 8 times. when i return to them. i find many ?s waiting for me. i tell them, 'i will go back to the church leaders and will come back with answers. i can never answer them all...
ahmed also..helps the new believers find 'tent making jobs so they can share Christ. then he described how he is tortured by the egyptian police. 'i was shamed. i was naked, totally naked, hanging upside down with ropes on my legs...'
2.2011..PAKISTAN.. there is a picture on the director's page, with pakistani women singing with one hand raised to God and the other grasping the from of their necks, with the subtitle 'pakistanis sing, even if they hang me, i will follow Jesus, based on revelation 2.10 - be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life'.
director's commentary.. one of these courageous evangelists i spoke with approached a church official in lahore and asked about the christian presence in the northwest provinces where radical muslims operate. the official turned to him and said, why would you want to go up there? we don't have any churches up there. the eroding spirit of religion had transformed the official into a weak ghost, perhaps a shell of his former self.
richard wurmbrand,the founder of our ministry, once shared a similar thot about souls standing before the judgment. to paraphrase the message..he said, perhaps when we are taken up to heaven and Jesus leads us thru the gate, He will stoop and introduce us to a very shining, beautiful soul who is receiving great honor. we will curiously ask Jesus, 'who is this person? they are certainly remarkable. what did they do with their life?' then Jesus will turn to us with a tear in his eye and whisper, 'this is you. this is what you could have been'.
i know this illustration does not follow scriptural teaching and i don't remember whether this applied to the redeemed or unredeemed (maybe both). yet hearing it as a young man, the story was always a personal challenge to me.
in my opinion, corruption is not the main killer of christian endeavor. we all recognize corruption and sin in our war with the devil. but just as high blood pressure is considered a silent killer ..the silent killer of the gospel is mediocrity - or, in biblical terms, being 'lukewarm'. a mediocre life is one that is neither good nor bad. mediocre christians may enjoy life simply because it is there, believing that as long as they have faith and are 'good' people, they don't have to accomplish much of anything.
when i had various stomach cancer surgeries in my twenties, i would be given a shot of demerol. wow! that stuff was great. no pain, no problems. yet when my brother flew in from new york to sit by my hospital bedside, i could not talk to him - i simply 'floated'. if i had continued to spend every day under the influence of demerol, the greatest tragedy is that i would have erased the potential of who i might have been.
this week i returned from northern vietnam after visiting with the hmong along the chinese border. a few hundred thousand hmong have become christians in the last 2 decades. we published the first complete hmong bible (still illegal) in 1997 and we have oprovided them thousands of shortwave radios so they can hear the gospel. their homes have been burned, they have been beaten, they have been imprisoned and some have been killed, but they remain faithful witnesses..
i also visited with a christian girl from central vietnam who went to jail when she was 14 years old. her crime was teaching the children in her village about Jesus.
this young woman did not miss what she might have been at the age of 14, she served Jesus in jail and 7 years later she continues to be a witness. the same is true of gao feng. after chinese christian gao feng returned from a 3 year prison sentence, his friends lamented his 'lost time'. gao replied, 'i would rather go to prison for three years for doing something for Jesus than sit at home and do nothing for Him'.
before richard wurmbrand passed on 10 years ago, he left us with a challenge. it was not a bible verse or a long philosophical talk; it was simply 2 words: BE AGGRESSIVE. i am sure that i am not the best i could ever be. but the persecuted church, like saints i have known since i was young, calls me to be better, to push the envelope more than my flesh desires.
don't be satisfied to live under the influence of spiritual demerol, accepting the mediocrity of the easiest path and reaching out to no one because you 'deserve' a rest. instead, remember that from his prison cell, the apostle paul wrote to the church at ephesus, 'now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that wors in us..' (eph. 3.20). every day is a gift. what will you do with it?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
3.6.2011 DO I HAVE ANY SPIRITUAL PULSE?! IS THE LIFE OF GOD WITHIN?
taken from 'the puritans' by martyn lloyd-jones, p189
the apostle paul reminds the elders of the church at ephesus of how he preached 'with tears'. and whitefield used to preach with tears. when have you and i last preached (note: or talked to an individual)with tears? what do we knwo, to use the phrase of whitefield, about preaching a 'felt Christ'?..how can we get out of this cold and arid and mechanical type of worship and christian living?...let me read a ..statement from the 'life of christmas evans'...he says..'i was weary, weary of a cold heart towards Christ and his sacrifice and the work of His Spirit. i was weary of a cold heart towards Christ and His sacrifice and the work of His Spirit, of a cold heart in the pulpit, in secret prayer and in the study. for 15 years previously i had felt my heart burning within, as if going to emmaus with Jesus. on a day ever to be remembered y me as i was going from dolgelley to machynlleth and climbing up towards cader idris i considered it to be incumbent upon me to pray, however hard i felt in my heart and however worldly the frame of my spirit was. having begun in the name of Jesus i soon felt as it were the fetters loosening and the old hardness of heart softening, and, as i thot, mountains of frost and snow dissolving and melting within me. this engendered confidence in my soul in the promise of the Holy Ghost. i felt my whole mind relieved from some great bondage, tears flowed copiously, and i was constrained to cry out for the gracious visits of God, by restoring to my soul the joys of His salvation, and that He would visit the churches in anglesey that were under my care. i embraced in my supplications all the churches of the saints, and nearly all the ministers in the principality by their names. this struggle lasted for 3 hours; it rose again and again like one wave after another, or a high flowing tide driven by strong wind, until my nature became faint by weeping and crying. thus i resigned myself to Christ body and soul, gifts and labours, all my life, every day and every hour that remanied for me; and all my cares i committed to Christ. the road was mountainous and lonely and i was wholly alone and suffered no interruption in my wrestling with God.
from this time i was made to expect the goodness of God to the churches and to myself. thus the Lord delivered me and the people of anglesey from being carried away by the flood of sandemanianism (the belief that salvation comes with the mere intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel). in the first religious meeting after this i felt as if i had been removed from the cold and sterile regions of spiritual frost into the verdant fields of divine promises. the former striving with God in prayer and the longing anxiety for the conversion of sinners which i had experienced at lleyn were now restored. i had a hold of the promises of God. the result was, when i returned home the fires thing that arrested my attention was that the Spirit was working also in the brethren in anglesey, inducing in them a spirit of prayer, especially in 2 of the deacons who were particularly importunate with God, that God would visit us in mercy and render the Word of His grace effectual amongst us for the conversion of sinners'.
that is our only hope. 'ALL COLDNESS FROM MY HEART REMOVE.'
the apostle paul reminds the elders of the church at ephesus of how he preached 'with tears'. and whitefield used to preach with tears. when have you and i last preached (note: or talked to an individual)with tears? what do we knwo, to use the phrase of whitefield, about preaching a 'felt Christ'?..how can we get out of this cold and arid and mechanical type of worship and christian living?...let me read a ..statement from the 'life of christmas evans'...he says..'i was weary, weary of a cold heart towards Christ and his sacrifice and the work of His Spirit. i was weary of a cold heart towards Christ and His sacrifice and the work of His Spirit, of a cold heart in the pulpit, in secret prayer and in the study. for 15 years previously i had felt my heart burning within, as if going to emmaus with Jesus. on a day ever to be remembered y me as i was going from dolgelley to machynlleth and climbing up towards cader idris i considered it to be incumbent upon me to pray, however hard i felt in my heart and however worldly the frame of my spirit was. having begun in the name of Jesus i soon felt as it were the fetters loosening and the old hardness of heart softening, and, as i thot, mountains of frost and snow dissolving and melting within me. this engendered confidence in my soul in the promise of the Holy Ghost. i felt my whole mind relieved from some great bondage, tears flowed copiously, and i was constrained to cry out for the gracious visits of God, by restoring to my soul the joys of His salvation, and that He would visit the churches in anglesey that were under my care. i embraced in my supplications all the churches of the saints, and nearly all the ministers in the principality by their names. this struggle lasted for 3 hours; it rose again and again like one wave after another, or a high flowing tide driven by strong wind, until my nature became faint by weeping and crying. thus i resigned myself to Christ body and soul, gifts and labours, all my life, every day and every hour that remanied for me; and all my cares i committed to Christ. the road was mountainous and lonely and i was wholly alone and suffered no interruption in my wrestling with God.
from this time i was made to expect the goodness of God to the churches and to myself. thus the Lord delivered me and the people of anglesey from being carried away by the flood of sandemanianism (the belief that salvation comes with the mere intellectual assent to the facts of the gospel). in the first religious meeting after this i felt as if i had been removed from the cold and sterile regions of spiritual frost into the verdant fields of divine promises. the former striving with God in prayer and the longing anxiety for the conversion of sinners which i had experienced at lleyn were now restored. i had a hold of the promises of God. the result was, when i returned home the fires thing that arrested my attention was that the Spirit was working also in the brethren in anglesey, inducing in them a spirit of prayer, especially in 2 of the deacons who were particularly importunate with God, that God would visit us in mercy and render the Word of His grace effectual amongst us for the conversion of sinners'.
that is our only hope. 'ALL COLDNESS FROM MY HEART REMOVE.'
Friday, March 4, 2011
3.4.2011 CURRENT THOT
quotables, worldmag, 3.12.11, p. 20
'he thinks you're fools'. the atlantic blogger andrew sullivan to 'all those under 30 who worked so hard to get this man elected' after president obama submitted a budget bluprint to congress that failed to address the country's debt problems. 'either the u.s. will go into default because of obama's cowardice, or you will be paying far far more for far far less because this president has no courage when it counts'.
'as you watch the region, remember not to watch the demonstrators. watch the men with the guns'. analysis of 'revolution and the muslim world' by the global intelligence firm stratfor. 'the problem with revolutions is that the people who start them rarely finish them. the idealist democrats around alexander kerensky in russia were not the ones who finished the revolution. the thuggish bolsheviks did'.
'christians are like bed bugs, who hide under the guise of so-called missionary work, and drink the blood of the innocent vulnerable people, and bed bugs should be killed or else they will continue drinking blood'. unidentified speaker at a hindu nationalist event held last month in madhya pradesh, india, and attended by an estimated 2 million. volunteers distributed literature in the region calling on christians to convert to hinduism, and in some cases forcing them to sign declarations of their intent to do that.
the revival of localism, p. 40
newspaper editor gene roberts once noted, 'many important stories don't break. they seep, trickle and ooze. lets be sure we are covering the ooze'.
here's some ooze: local idiosyncrasy is in, uniformity is out. locavores emphasize foods grown nearby. microbreweries create locally crafted drinks. in politics, voters strike back against one-size-fits-all obamacare. in skyscrapers and ballparks, postmodernist structures with nooks and crannies have replaced boxy buildings and cookie-cutter stadiums.
breaking stories are easy to cover because they are action-oriented events at specific times and places. ooze is harder because it requires juxtaposing changes that initially may not seem related. here are 7:
1. baby boom generation (born 1946-64) pioneered divorce rates and 2-career couples. many among the baby bust..generation x (born late 60s and 70s) rebel against that.
2. many commercials seem less focused on achieving prominence in the world and more on the satisfactions of family and community.
3. the media movement 2 decades ago was toward more centralization, with usa today and networks riding high. now the hot area of interest is localism and hyper-localism, with new journalistic websites aimed at small geographic areas popping up and nationa media like aol, cnn and msnbc seeding neighborhood publications.
4. the average american drove less in 2010 than in 2000.
5. an american's 19th century ? upon first meeting another was often, 'who are your people?' the 20th century ? was 'what do you do?' the ? in the 21st..is 'where do you live?' many people put roots above shoots,choosing to live in a place rather than moving to advance a career.
6.an emphasis on local control of government, local production and consumption of goods, and local culture is popular among young christians. their favorite author is often..kentucky farmer, 76 year old wendell berry. berry praises reverence for God and life, the pleasures of good work, good food, and frugality. he says those joys are more likely to be found in healthy rural communities that value small farms and don't overdose on technology.
7. may christians used to coalesce politically through national organizations like the moral majority, the christian coalition and focus on the family, but some of them went out of business or lost steam. the big political story of 2010 was the growth of the decentralized tea party movement.
(heres a few gen xers) caleb stegall is 39 and has spent about 90% of his life within 20 miles of the place in northeastern kansas where he was born, a radius that includes the state capital and a state university...after graduating from law school stegall had job offers from all over the country. he and his wife 'thot really long and hard about going and there was a lot of attractiveness, no the least of which was the starting salary, but in the end we decided to stay or stay committed to our place. i took a job in topeka'. why? they had 2 sons at that time..and wanted a good place to raise kids, but also a good place to raise themselves: stegall says, 'we lose and leave behind a lot when we conceive of society as this great ladder to climb. our eyes are always on the next rung up and what is left behind never gets a backward glance. this has led to a tremendous amount of dispossession and displacement; spiritual angst, and also real world destruction and exploitation of different places and people. i didn't want to have any part of that, so we made the decision to stay.'
stegall has seen dislocation and disruption in the lives of kids he grew up with who headed to the bright lights: most 'have been very dissatisfied'. stegall himself became dissatisfied with his work in commercial litigation at a topeka law firm, where he represented 'large corporations suing each other most of the time'. he didn't want to be 'just a cog in this economic machine', so after a few years he returned to his rural county, hung out a shingle, and practiced law in a town of 900 people, 'using my tools to fix problems. that's gratifying and that's what it means to be part of the community'.
stegall recently did take a job a few miles down the road as chief counsel to new kansas governor sam brownback, who himself was coming home after 14 years as a u.s. senator. stegall has no washington plans, though: 'the powers of a centralized economy and state are so great that your chances of effecting change are much greater in a place where you actually wield some influence, as opposed to just being a small, small piece in the big machine'.
victoria cobb, 32, offers a similar comparison of washington versus state capitals. as a college student in richmond..she was excited about an internship in (washington) where power now resided: 'it's a glitzy thing: you think, 'wow, everything happens in d.c.'. but in the last semester of her senior year she worked for the family foundation of virginia, a state level affiliate of focus on the family and 'saw the tremendous difference between what happens in washington, d.c. and in richmond.'.
cobb is now president of the family foundation but still recalls that difference: 'in washington you trail a lobbyist to wait, to wait,, to wait, to get to an aide of an aide of an aide of a congressman. as an intern in richmond i'm walking in a state senator's office and we're talking about substantive issues. i leaned that if you're a person who really wants to make substantive change, you ought to start at the state and local level. there may be more that you can accomplish there'.
ned ryan, 38, is another young leader with washington experience who does not approve of conservative groups' 'thinking they have to go to dc to beat dc. many become very bureaucratic, very much like what they came to change. i don't believe the answers to our problems are in dc'. ..he views his calling as a long-distance run: 10 tears ago he was answering correspondence in the bush white house, but now he heads american majority, which encourages people to run for school boards, county commissions and so forth with the goal of 'creating a groundswell from the bottom up'.
indiana's governor mitch daniels, p47..daniels' fervor is directed against a ballooning, centralized government, what he calls statism. 'our morbidly obese federal government needs not just behavior modification but bariatric (control/treatment of obesity) surgery..you'd be amazed how much government you'll never miss'.
he describes federal government as necessarily incompetent: 'you simply can't make things work on that scale through central planning'.
but daniels is also a believer in limited government because of its compassionate effect on individuals: the dignity and fulfillment that comes with taking responsibility for oneself or for one's neighbor. he looks at europe, where many nations have transferred their resources to the state. he sees a withering commitment toward others - europeans use their high taxes to justify an unwillingness to make charitable donations.
you chancesof succeeding are higher where people are directly involved, acting from their hearts'..'when in doubt, do the duty nearest you', echoing..thomas carlyle.
among other things he has worked to develop oaks academy, a ministry of his downtown indianapolis church, tabernacle presbyterian. daniels loves to show visitors the fully restored large, rectangular, stained-glass windows. they have returned to their original place on either side of the main entrance leading to the school's grand front hall. their inscription is from john 8: 'ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'.
'from 1895 to somewhere in the 1980s, thousands of young people came to school every day, to public school and passed between those familiar pieces of scripture and no one thot that was strange'. the school has taught him that high expectations, love and an environment infused with character and faith can overcome the handicaps often placed on disadvantaged youth.
is he interested in running for president? he is not obsessed with public life but he is testing how his views play on the national stage...daniels, when i asked whether he would spend the political capital necessary to nominate and confirm a conservative like antonin scalia to the high court, was adamant that he would saying 'strict construction' of both federal and state constitutions 'is as important as any issue i can think of. it runs far deeper than any one topic a court might deal with; the ? is whether the people rule or will be ruled by an unaccountable few'.
during daniels' time as white house budget director, president george w. bush nicknamed him 'the blade'. today daniels call the nation's debt the 'new red menace..he beleives the debt is a mortal threat to all americans..it is a problem he is not afraid to blame on his own generation. 'we have been self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent and all too often just plain selfish'..it's been a blast; good luck cleaning up after us'.
daniels is willing to take on publicly many of politics' third rails: he supports raising the retirement age, ending social security checks to the wealthy and cutting defense spending . in testing the presidential waters, he wants to see if americans are ready for such medicine: 'people say we will never get the consensus together and that nobody can get elected arguing for these sorts of things. i'm not so sure, but somebody better find out'.
..daniels took officed after 8 years of unbalanced budgets with the state facing a $200 million deficit. by the end of his first term, indiana enjoyed a $1.3billion surplus and a triple-A bond rating. on his first day as governor he rescinded an executive order giving collective bargaining rights to state employees. today the number of state employees has fallen to 1982 levels.
he generated nearly $4 billion by privatizing the state's toll roads, he cut property taxes by an average or 30%and he created health savings accounts for thousands of low-income residents. now he is trying to cap off his governorship by implementing a statewide voucher system for school choice and by pushing for tax refunds when state reserves hit a certain level.
do conservatives have too much media influence? p50 yes, according to mark lloyd, chief diversity officer of the federal communications commission - and emphasizing a version of localism is the way to combat it.
lloyd, who co-wrote ..'the structural imbalance of political talk radio wants the fcc to reduce conservative influence in talk radio...his analysis shows that news/talk stations in the top 10 radio markets provide programming that is 76% conservative..let's look at the politics of 3 other major media.
1. major television networks with news programming: abc, cbs, nbc, pbs, fox, cnn, msnbc, comedy central. one of them is mostly conservative.
2. most influential newspapers and magazines: new york times, wall street journal, losangeles tiems, time, newsweek. none of them is conservative in news coverage. (the journal has a conservative editorial page, so let's count it as half-conservative).
3. most read internet news sites, according to alexa: yahoo, bbc online, cnn interactive, new york times, huffington post. none of them is conservative. so let's see: in these 3 media, plus talk raio, conservatives have 12.5%, 10%, 0% and 76% influence. that averages 25%..
hmm. some folds probably do get all their information from talk radio and some eat all their meals at mcdonald's. but we don't require mcdonald's to changeits menu or pay fees to support local salad bars, because most of us believe that a. we sholdn'tpenalizemcdonald's for serving what people want, b. most people don't eatall their meals at mcdonld's and c. it's a free country. (isn't it?)
we used to have a suffocating sameness in mass media, so conservative talk radio, despite its excesses, is a breath of fresh airtime. if we do have a lack of political diversity in media, its because liberalism is still overrepresented, but that just means conservatives should compete more effectively..
manhattan bible church, p52..mbc, a congregation of about 400..in a neighborhood where 31% of residents live in poverty..houses 40 ministries..how can one congregation sustain so much activity? pastor bill devlin said he flattens the usual ecclesiastical bureaucracy to increase ministries and decrease complaining. when church members come to him with either a passion or a gripe, he tells them they're now in charge of meeting the need; ' i love being here because we're right in the middle of chaos'. devlin, who founded urban family council in philadelphia, sleeps on the floor of his office 3 days a week and commutes from pennsylavania the rest of the week. 'you've got to enter the chaos..i always saythat this is God's country here'.
'he thinks you're fools'. the atlantic blogger andrew sullivan to 'all those under 30 who worked so hard to get this man elected' after president obama submitted a budget bluprint to congress that failed to address the country's debt problems. 'either the u.s. will go into default because of obama's cowardice, or you will be paying far far more for far far less because this president has no courage when it counts'.
'as you watch the region, remember not to watch the demonstrators. watch the men with the guns'. analysis of 'revolution and the muslim world' by the global intelligence firm stratfor. 'the problem with revolutions is that the people who start them rarely finish them. the idealist democrats around alexander kerensky in russia were not the ones who finished the revolution. the thuggish bolsheviks did'.
'christians are like bed bugs, who hide under the guise of so-called missionary work, and drink the blood of the innocent vulnerable people, and bed bugs should be killed or else they will continue drinking blood'. unidentified speaker at a hindu nationalist event held last month in madhya pradesh, india, and attended by an estimated 2 million. volunteers distributed literature in the region calling on christians to convert to hinduism, and in some cases forcing them to sign declarations of their intent to do that.
the revival of localism, p. 40
newspaper editor gene roberts once noted, 'many important stories don't break. they seep, trickle and ooze. lets be sure we are covering the ooze'.
here's some ooze: local idiosyncrasy is in, uniformity is out. locavores emphasize foods grown nearby. microbreweries create locally crafted drinks. in politics, voters strike back against one-size-fits-all obamacare. in skyscrapers and ballparks, postmodernist structures with nooks and crannies have replaced boxy buildings and cookie-cutter stadiums.
breaking stories are easy to cover because they are action-oriented events at specific times and places. ooze is harder because it requires juxtaposing changes that initially may not seem related. here are 7:
1. baby boom generation (born 1946-64) pioneered divorce rates and 2-career couples. many among the baby bust..generation x (born late 60s and 70s) rebel against that.
2. many commercials seem less focused on achieving prominence in the world and more on the satisfactions of family and community.
3. the media movement 2 decades ago was toward more centralization, with usa today and networks riding high. now the hot area of interest is localism and hyper-localism, with new journalistic websites aimed at small geographic areas popping up and nationa media like aol, cnn and msnbc seeding neighborhood publications.
4. the average american drove less in 2010 than in 2000.
5. an american's 19th century ? upon first meeting another was often, 'who are your people?' the 20th century ? was 'what do you do?' the ? in the 21st..is 'where do you live?' many people put roots above shoots,choosing to live in a place rather than moving to advance a career.
6.an emphasis on local control of government, local production and consumption of goods, and local culture is popular among young christians. their favorite author is often..kentucky farmer, 76 year old wendell berry. berry praises reverence for God and life, the pleasures of good work, good food, and frugality. he says those joys are more likely to be found in healthy rural communities that value small farms and don't overdose on technology.
7. may christians used to coalesce politically through national organizations like the moral majority, the christian coalition and focus on the family, but some of them went out of business or lost steam. the big political story of 2010 was the growth of the decentralized tea party movement.
(heres a few gen xers) caleb stegall is 39 and has spent about 90% of his life within 20 miles of the place in northeastern kansas where he was born, a radius that includes the state capital and a state university...after graduating from law school stegall had job offers from all over the country. he and his wife 'thot really long and hard about going and there was a lot of attractiveness, no the least of which was the starting salary, but in the end we decided to stay or stay committed to our place. i took a job in topeka'. why? they had 2 sons at that time..and wanted a good place to raise kids, but also a good place to raise themselves: stegall says, 'we lose and leave behind a lot when we conceive of society as this great ladder to climb. our eyes are always on the next rung up and what is left behind never gets a backward glance. this has led to a tremendous amount of dispossession and displacement; spiritual angst, and also real world destruction and exploitation of different places and people. i didn't want to have any part of that, so we made the decision to stay.'
stegall has seen dislocation and disruption in the lives of kids he grew up with who headed to the bright lights: most 'have been very dissatisfied'. stegall himself became dissatisfied with his work in commercial litigation at a topeka law firm, where he represented 'large corporations suing each other most of the time'. he didn't want to be 'just a cog in this economic machine', so after a few years he returned to his rural county, hung out a shingle, and practiced law in a town of 900 people, 'using my tools to fix problems. that's gratifying and that's what it means to be part of the community'.
stegall recently did take a job a few miles down the road as chief counsel to new kansas governor sam brownback, who himself was coming home after 14 years as a u.s. senator. stegall has no washington plans, though: 'the powers of a centralized economy and state are so great that your chances of effecting change are much greater in a place where you actually wield some influence, as opposed to just being a small, small piece in the big machine'.
victoria cobb, 32, offers a similar comparison of washington versus state capitals. as a college student in richmond..she was excited about an internship in (washington) where power now resided: 'it's a glitzy thing: you think, 'wow, everything happens in d.c.'. but in the last semester of her senior year she worked for the family foundation of virginia, a state level affiliate of focus on the family and 'saw the tremendous difference between what happens in washington, d.c. and in richmond.'.
cobb is now president of the family foundation but still recalls that difference: 'in washington you trail a lobbyist to wait, to wait,, to wait, to get to an aide of an aide of an aide of a congressman. as an intern in richmond i'm walking in a state senator's office and we're talking about substantive issues. i leaned that if you're a person who really wants to make substantive change, you ought to start at the state and local level. there may be more that you can accomplish there'.
ned ryan, 38, is another young leader with washington experience who does not approve of conservative groups' 'thinking they have to go to dc to beat dc. many become very bureaucratic, very much like what they came to change. i don't believe the answers to our problems are in dc'. ..he views his calling as a long-distance run: 10 tears ago he was answering correspondence in the bush white house, but now he heads american majority, which encourages people to run for school boards, county commissions and so forth with the goal of 'creating a groundswell from the bottom up'.
indiana's governor mitch daniels, p47..daniels' fervor is directed against a ballooning, centralized government, what he calls statism. 'our morbidly obese federal government needs not just behavior modification but bariatric (control/treatment of obesity) surgery..you'd be amazed how much government you'll never miss'.
he describes federal government as necessarily incompetent: 'you simply can't make things work on that scale through central planning'.
but daniels is also a believer in limited government because of its compassionate effect on individuals: the dignity and fulfillment that comes with taking responsibility for oneself or for one's neighbor. he looks at europe, where many nations have transferred their resources to the state. he sees a withering commitment toward others - europeans use their high taxes to justify an unwillingness to make charitable donations.
you chancesof succeeding are higher where people are directly involved, acting from their hearts'..'when in doubt, do the duty nearest you', echoing..thomas carlyle.
among other things he has worked to develop oaks academy, a ministry of his downtown indianapolis church, tabernacle presbyterian. daniels loves to show visitors the fully restored large, rectangular, stained-glass windows. they have returned to their original place on either side of the main entrance leading to the school's grand front hall. their inscription is from john 8: 'ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'.
'from 1895 to somewhere in the 1980s, thousands of young people came to school every day, to public school and passed between those familiar pieces of scripture and no one thot that was strange'. the school has taught him that high expectations, love and an environment infused with character and faith can overcome the handicaps often placed on disadvantaged youth.
is he interested in running for president? he is not obsessed with public life but he is testing how his views play on the national stage...daniels, when i asked whether he would spend the political capital necessary to nominate and confirm a conservative like antonin scalia to the high court, was adamant that he would saying 'strict construction' of both federal and state constitutions 'is as important as any issue i can think of. it runs far deeper than any one topic a court might deal with; the ? is whether the people rule or will be ruled by an unaccountable few'.
during daniels' time as white house budget director, president george w. bush nicknamed him 'the blade'. today daniels call the nation's debt the 'new red menace..he beleives the debt is a mortal threat to all americans..it is a problem he is not afraid to blame on his own generation. 'we have been self-centered, self-absorbed, self-indulgent and all too often just plain selfish'..it's been a blast; good luck cleaning up after us'.
daniels is willing to take on publicly many of politics' third rails: he supports raising the retirement age, ending social security checks to the wealthy and cutting defense spending . in testing the presidential waters, he wants to see if americans are ready for such medicine: 'people say we will never get the consensus together and that nobody can get elected arguing for these sorts of things. i'm not so sure, but somebody better find out'.
..daniels took officed after 8 years of unbalanced budgets with the state facing a $200 million deficit. by the end of his first term, indiana enjoyed a $1.3billion surplus and a triple-A bond rating. on his first day as governor he rescinded an executive order giving collective bargaining rights to state employees. today the number of state employees has fallen to 1982 levels.
he generated nearly $4 billion by privatizing the state's toll roads, he cut property taxes by an average or 30%and he created health savings accounts for thousands of low-income residents. now he is trying to cap off his governorship by implementing a statewide voucher system for school choice and by pushing for tax refunds when state reserves hit a certain level.
do conservatives have too much media influence? p50 yes, according to mark lloyd, chief diversity officer of the federal communications commission - and emphasizing a version of localism is the way to combat it.
lloyd, who co-wrote ..'the structural imbalance of political talk radio wants the fcc to reduce conservative influence in talk radio...his analysis shows that news/talk stations in the top 10 radio markets provide programming that is 76% conservative..let's look at the politics of 3 other major media.
1. major television networks with news programming: abc, cbs, nbc, pbs, fox, cnn, msnbc, comedy central. one of them is mostly conservative.
2. most influential newspapers and magazines: new york times, wall street journal, losangeles tiems, time, newsweek. none of them is conservative in news coverage. (the journal has a conservative editorial page, so let's count it as half-conservative).
3. most read internet news sites, according to alexa: yahoo, bbc online, cnn interactive, new york times, huffington post. none of them is conservative. so let's see: in these 3 media, plus talk raio, conservatives have 12.5%, 10%, 0% and 76% influence. that averages 25%..
hmm. some folds probably do get all their information from talk radio and some eat all their meals at mcdonald's. but we don't require mcdonald's to changeits menu or pay fees to support local salad bars, because most of us believe that a. we sholdn'tpenalizemcdonald's for serving what people want, b. most people don't eatall their meals at mcdonld's and c. it's a free country. (isn't it?)
we used to have a suffocating sameness in mass media, so conservative talk radio, despite its excesses, is a breath of fresh airtime. if we do have a lack of political diversity in media, its because liberalism is still overrepresented, but that just means conservatives should compete more effectively..
manhattan bible church, p52..mbc, a congregation of about 400..in a neighborhood where 31% of residents live in poverty..houses 40 ministries..how can one congregation sustain so much activity? pastor bill devlin said he flattens the usual ecclesiastical bureaucracy to increase ministries and decrease complaining. when church members come to him with either a passion or a gripe, he tells them they're now in charge of meeting the need; ' i love being here because we're right in the middle of chaos'. devlin, who founded urban family council in philadelphia, sleeps on the floor of his office 3 days a week and commutes from pennsylavania the rest of the week. 'you've got to enter the chaos..i always saythat this is God's country here'.
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