So Great A Cloud

Thought for the day

mkras — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:46:37 +0000

It is no secret – I am thoroughly Reformed and from that standpoint a Calvinist. There are many Christians I interact with that do not like the Calvinist position of irresistable grace and unconditional election. They like their free will, though I argue that my will is more free because Christ saved me. The natural will of man does not choose God (see Romans 1).

My question: if there is no irresistable grace and man is fully capable on his own to accept or reject God, what is the state of this concept of will in eternity? Is this concept of free will taken away and we are locked into the eternal state. Those that advocate against Calvinist positions – can you reject and turn away from God of your own free will in eternity? This seems to fly in the face of those who would be irritated by irresistable grace in the present.

I trust in my security in faith in Christ enabled by irresistable grace to secure me before God now in the present as well as in eternity.

Tolkien on Lewis

mkras — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:23:52 +0000

‎”Friendship with Lewis compensates for much, and besides giving constant pleasure and comfort has done me much good from the contact with a man at once honest, brave, intellectual – a scholar, a poet, and a philosopher – and a lover, at least after a long pilgrimage, of our Lord.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien on C.S. Lewis
Tolkien was a tool used by God to bring Lewis to a saving faith in Christ

Preparation of the Mind for Consideration of God

mkras — Sun, 08 May 2011 13:03:47 +0000

“Up now, slight man! flee, for a little while, thy occupations; hide thyself, for a time, from thy disturbing thoughts. Cast aside, now, thy burdensome cares, and put away thy toilsome business. Yield room for some little time to God; and rest for a little time in him. Enter the inner chamber of thy mind; shut out all thoughts save that of God, and such as can aid thee in seeking him; close thy door and seek him. Speak now, my whole heart! speak now to God saying, I seek thy face; thy face, Lord will I seek. And come thou now, O Lord my God, teach my heart where and how it may seek thee, where and how it may find thee.”

— St. Anselm (1033/35-1109), Archbishop of Canterbury. From his Proslogion. This is what he wrote prior to beginning his theological musings. A good prayer prior to beginning theological musings of any kind!

Our Frame of Mind Approaching God’s Word

mkras — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 18:10:35 +0000

“Everyday I go to these words and say to them: ‘Hast thou seen Him whom my soul lives?’ And these words take me by the hand and lead me beyond the words to Him who is the Word.”
E. Stanley Jones, The Word Made Flesh (Nashville: Abingdon, 1963), p. 7.

When you approach the Bible, does you heart say the same?

On preaching . . .

mkras — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 17:58:50 +0000

“Make no mistake about it – preaching is a powerful medium. Think about it. Here you are with a congregation of people in front of you – some are facing God’s judgment for their sin and don’t even know it, while still others have at best a warped sense of Christianity. All that stands between you and this gathered crowd is a book. And you stand, like it or not, as an authority on that Book, telling them what God says about ultimate questions.”

Steven Smith, Dying to Preach: Embracing the Cross in the Pulpit

Sacred Scripture Compared to the Mundane

mkras — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:53:47 +0000

“. . . so poor is all the useful knowledge which is gathered from the books of the heathen when compared with the knowledge of Holy Scripture . . . . And while every man may find there all that he has learnt of useful elsewhere, he will find there in much greater abundance things that are to be found nowhere else, but can be learnt in the wonderful sublimity and wonderful simplicity of the Scriptures.”

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine

How can we know what we know?

mkras — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:08:48 +0000

From According to Plan, by Graeme Goldsworthy (required text for Biblical Theology at TEDS):

“The . . . biblical view is that God created everything and therefore knows everything. God also created humankind in his own image so that we know God form what is created. All facts, including those about ourselves, are facts from God, since he is the creator of all facts and gives them their meaning. Confusion enters because of sin. As sinners, we refuse to accept that the universe is God’s and that we are God’s creatures. We refuse God’s interpretation of reality and substitute our own false interpretation. God justly gives mankind up to this folly and, as as a consequence, we are no longer able to perceive the truth about God, which is everywhere around us and within us. But in his goodness, and in accordance with his plan of salvation, God provides a special revelation through his Word. He also sends his Holy Spirit to subdue the rebellious wills of his people so that they can perceive the truth of this revelation. By this means alone are we able to know truly.”

Where do we draw the line?

mkras — Mon, 03 May 2010 13:53:53 +0000

From Charles Hadden Spurgeon:

“Ah, sirs! there may have been a time when Christians were too precise, but it has not been in my day. There may have been such a dreadful thing as Puritanic rigidity, but I have never seen it. We are quite free from that evil now, if it ever existed. We have gone from liberty to libertarianism. We have passed beyond the dubious into the dangerous, and none can prophesy where we shall stop. Where is the holiness of the church of God to-day?”

In response to Spurgeon’s challenge let us prayerfully consider 2 Corinthians 7.1 (ESV), “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

The Role of Scripture in the Believer’s Life

mkras — Sun, 02 May 2010 12:33:38 +0000

Thomas Watson(1620-1686), a 17th century Puritan, stated:

If the Scripture be of divine inspiration,
Then be exhorted to,
Study the Scripture.
Prize the written Word.
Believe it.
Love the written Word.
Conform to it.
Contend for it.
Be thankful to God for it.
Adore God’s distinguishing grace, if you have felt the power and authority of the Word upon your conscience.

From “A Body of Divinity”

Focus in Prayer

mkras — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:35:18 +0000

‘When Luther’s puppy happened to be at the table, looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes, he [Martin Luther] said, “Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope.
Luther’s Works, Volume 54, Table Talk (Philadelphia: 1967), pp. 37, 38. May 18, 1532