A Sympathizing Savior

Finally, is any reader sometimes downcast by the trials he meets with on the way to heaven, bodily trials, family trials, trials of circumstances, trials from neighbors, and trials from the world? Look up to a sympathizing Savior at God’s right hand, and pour out your heart before Him. He can be touched with the feelings of your trials, for He Himself suffered when He was tempted–Are you alone? So was He. Are you misrepresented and slandered? So was He. Are you forsaken by friends? So was He. Are you persecuted? So was He. Are you wearied in body and grieved in spirit? So was He. Yes! He can feel for you, and He can help as well as feel. Then learn to draw nearer to Christ. The time is short. Yet in a little while, and all will be over: we shall soon be with the Lord. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18). You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay (Hebrews 10:36-37).
—J.C. Ryle ‘Practical Religion’

 

Am I In the Faith?

True saving faith is a living, loving principle in the heart. As life manifests itself by action, so does a living faith-it works by love, it purifies the heart, it overcomes the world, it unites the soul to Christ, it apprehends his merits, and puts on his righteousness, it lives upon the promises, it realizes celestial glories, it raises the believer above the cares of life, the sorrows of the world, and all the gloomy horrors of the grave; it resists sin, it applies the death of Christ as a powerful corrosive to eat out the gangrene of corrupted nature, it raises the dead soul, by virtue of the Savior’s resurrection, from the grave of spiritual death to newness of life, it enables the believer to walk with God, to worship him in the beauty of holiness, in the spirit of adoption, until he attain to the temple above, where his services and praises shall be perfected and eternal.
Have I this precious faith, this faith of God’s elect, which is according to godliness? It is the gift of God; it is of the operation of the Spirit; Jesus is the author and finisher of it. Oh! blessed Trinity in unity, three persons in one Divine Essence, undivided, immutable, self-existent, and eternal; grant unto me this invaluable, indispensable blessing. Without it, I cannot please you. Without it, I cannot approach unto you with acceptance. If in Christ, I shall be precious in your sight, for his dear sake who lived and died for me. If out of Christ, I shall be viewed as a vessel of wrath, as fuel for the everlasting burning! Delay not, then, blessed Lord, delay not, to impart this precious gift of grace- a justifying faith working by love. Speak the word only, and the blessing will descend. Work in me all the good pleasure of your goodness, and the work of faith with power, that, going on from strength to strength, from conquering to conquer, I may rise superior to all my foes, glorify you here in the beauty of holiness, and shine forever as the sun in the kingdom of my Father.
—Thomas Reade ‘Christian Meditations’ or ‘The Believer’s companion in Solitude’

 

Anything May Befall us In an Instant

Variable and therefore miserable condition of man! this minute I was well, and am ill, this minute. I am surprised with a sudden change, and alteration to worse, and can impute it to no cause, nor call it by any name. We study health, and we deliberate upon our meats, and drink, and air, and exercises, and we hew and we polish every stone that goes to that building; and so our health is a long and a regular work: but in a minute a cannon batters all, overthrows all, demolishes all; a sickness unprevented for all our diligence, unsuspected for all our curiosity; nay, undeserved, if we consider only disorder, summons us, seizes us, possesses us, destroys us in an instant. O miserable condition of man! which was not imprinted by God, who, as he is immortal himself, had put a coal, a beam of immortality into us, which we might have blown into a flame, but blew it out by our first sin; we beggared ourselves by hearkening after false riches, and infatuated ourselves by hearkening after false knowledge. So that now, we do not only die, but die upon the rack, die by the torment of sickness; nor that only, but are pre-afflicted, super-afflicted with these jealousies and suspicions and apprehensions of sickness, before we can call it a sickness: we are not sure we are ill; one hand asks the other by the pulse, and our eye asks our own urine how we do. O multiplied misery! we die, and cannot enjoy death, because we die in this torment of sickness; we are tormented with sickness, and cannot stay till the torment come, but pre-apprehensions and presages prophesy those torments which induce that death before either come; and our dissolution is conceived in these first changes, quickened in the sickness itself, and born in death, which bears date from these first changes. Is this the honour which man hath by being a little world, that he hath these earthquakes in himself, sudden shakings; these lightnings, sudden flashes; these thunders, sudden noises; these eclipses, sudden offuscations and darkening of his senses; these blazing stars, sudden fiery exhalations; these rivers of blood, sudden red waters? Is he a world to himself only therefore, that he hath enough in himself, not only to destroy and execute himself, but to presage that execution upon himself; to assist the sickness, to antedate the sickness, to make the sickness the more irremediable by sad apprehensions, and, as if he would make a fire the more vehement by sprinkling water upon the coals, so to wrap a hot fever in cold melancholy, lest the fever alone should not destroy fast enough without this contribution, nor perfect the work (which is destruction) except we joined an artificial sickness of our own melancholy, to our natural, our unnatural fever. O perplexed discomposition, O riddling distemper, O miserable condition of man!
—-John Donne From his Meditations

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Do I Appear More as a Monster Than Like Christ?

Our Lord Jesus Christ was continually “going around doing good,” while He was on earth (Acts 10:38). The Apostles, and all the disciples in Bible times, were always striving to walk in His steps. A Christian who was content to go to heaven himself and cared not what became of others, whether they lived happy and died in peace or not, would have been regarded as a kind of monster in primitive times, who did not have the Spirit of Christ. Why should we suppose for a moment that a lower standard will suffice in the present day?

There is much to be done everywhere. There is not a place where there is not a field for work and an open door for being useful, if any one is willing to enter it. There is not a Christian who cannot find some good work to do for others, if he has only a heart to do it. The poorest man or woman, without a single penny to give, can always show his deep sympathy to the sick and sorrowful, and by simple good-nature and tender helpfulness can lessen the misery and increase the comfort of somebody in this troubled world. But no, the vast majority of professing Christians, whether rich or poor, faithful Church attendees or not, seem possessed with a devil of detestable selfishness, and do not know the luxury of doing good. They can argue by the hour about baptism, and the Lord’s supper, and the forms of worship, and the union of Church and State, and other dry-bone questions. But all this time they seem to care nothing for their neighbors. The plain practical point, whether they love their neighbor, as the Samaritan loved the traveler in the parable, and can spare any time and trouble to do him good, is a point they never touch with one of their fingers. In too many places, both in the city and the country, true love seems almost dead, both in church and chapel, and wretched denomination spirit and controversy are the only fruits that Christianity appears able to produce. In a day like this, no reader should wonder if I press this plain old subject on his conscience. Do we know anything of genuine Samaritan love to others? Do we ever try to do any good to any one beside our own friends and relatives, and our and our own denomination or cause? Are we living like disciples of Him who always “went about doing good,” and commanded His disciples to take Him for their “example”? (John 13:15). If not, with what face shall we meet Him in the judgment day? In this matter also, how is it with our souls? Once more I ask, “How are we doing?”
–Practical Religion J.C. Ryle

 

Do Not Be Ashamed of the Feelings Associated with Experiential Religion

[This is no reference to the emotionalism of some of the Charismatics, but vital godliness, and experimental religion should be one of feeling and emotions and conflicts in those things or there is nothing to overcome, and one is left with a formal, dead faith. Jesus felt--Jesus Wept]

To talk about Christian Experience is, by some people considered little short of enthusiasm. To try to enlist the affections on the side of Christianity is by others deemed extravagance. In their view, the sober-minded Christian is one who attends to the duties of his station, is a strict observer of religious ordinances, and distributes of his substance to the poor and needy. To speak to them about the corruption of the heart, the inward conflict, the power of faith, the energy of love, the work of the Spirit, the grace of the Savior, is like talking about an unknown religion.
It was not so with the blessed Paul. He could say, “I know the one in whom I trust.” He was taught of God to know, by sweet experience, the efficacy of Christ’s atonement, the sufficiency of his grace, and the prevalency of his intercession. His ardent desire was “to know Christ, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”

With such declarations of the Apostles, recorded in the Sacred Scriptures for our encouragement and pursuit after holiness, we need not be ashamed of Experimental Religion. The world’s shame is the Christian’s glory.

I am now a pilgrim journeying through the wilderness. The manna is daily descending; and the water of life continually flowing to sustain and refresh me. Jesus, the true bread from heaven, is freely given; the Holy Spirit, as a living stream, is graciously supplied from the fountain of eternal love. Oh! how great is the goodness, truth, and mercy, of my covenant God, Father, Son, and Spirit, to an unworthy worm of the earth. Lord, make me grateful. Give me a believing and a loving heart. Preserve me from self-will and self-seeking; from selfsufficiency and self-pleasing. Mold my will into yours; and enable me in all things to seek your glory.
Guide me, O great Jehovah, in safety through this desert-land. Shield me by your power. Cheer me with your presence. Uphold my goings in your way. Let me not turn aside into crooked paths; nor dread any danger, while in the path of duty. Keep me as the apple of your eye. Hide me under the shadow of your wings. Impart that spiritual illumination which will direct me aright; that spiritual strength, which will enable me to endure unto the end; that assurance of faith, which will animate me to the conflict; and that experience of your love, which will support me under every trial, and cause me to die, rather than deny you before men. O grant these inestimable blessings, for your own mercy and truth’s sake; for you, O Lord, alone are the God of my salvation.
—Thomas Reade ‘The Believer’s Companion in Solitude’

 

Don’t Believe if One’s Faith is Different it is Insincere

This justifying faith, which we assert to be so discernible, is, in the Lord’s deep wisdom and gracious condescension, variously expressed in Scripture, according to the different actings of it upon God, and outgoings after him; so that every one who hath it, may find and take it up in his own mould. It sometimes acteth by a desire of union with him in Christ; this is that looking to him in Isaiah: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” This seems to be a weak act of faith, and far below other actings of it at other times perhaps in that same person.

It goes out after God sometimes by an act of waiting; when the soul hath somewhat depending before God, and hath not got out his mind satisfyingly concerning that thing, then faith doth wait; and so it hath the promise, “They shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” Sometimes it acteth in a wilful way upon the Lord, when the soul apprehends God thrusting it away, and threatening its ruin: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” The faith of that poor woman of Canaan, so highly commended by Christ, went out in this way of wilful acting over difficulties; and the Lord speaketh much good of it, and to it, because some will sometimes be put to it to exercise faith that way, and so they have that for their encouragement. It were tedious to instance all the several ways of the acting of faith upon, and its exercise about, and outgoing after Christ: I may say, according to the various conditions of man. And accordingly faith, which God hath appointed to traffic and travel between Christ and man, as the instrument of conveyance of his fulness to man, and of maintaining union and communion with him, acts variously and differently upon God in Christ: for faith is the very laying out of a man’s heart according to God’s device of salvation by Christ Jesus, “in whom it pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell;” so that, let Christ turn what way he will, faith turneth and pointeth that way. Now he turns all ways in which he can be useful to poor man; and therefore faith acts accordingly on him for drawing out of that fulness, according to a man’s case and condition.   Wheresoever he be, there would faith be; and whatsoever he is, faith would be somewhat like him; for by faith the heart is laid out in breadth and length for him; yea, when the fame and report of him goeth abroad in his truth, although faith seeth not much, yet it “believeth on his name,” upon the very fame he hath sent abroad of himself.
–William Guthrie ‘The Christian’s Great Interest’

 

Don’t Rejoice in Uncertain Riches

It is a vanity to rejoice much in any thing which we cannot rejoice in long. What the apostle saith, 1 Cor. 13.8, “Prophecies shall fail, tongues shall cease, knowledge shall vanish away;” the same I may say of all common and sublunary mercies and comforts, they shall fail and vanish: “The fashion of this world passeth away,” 1 Cor. 7.31.
What pleasure can that man take in his expedition, whose voyage is for a year, and his victual but for a day? who sets out for eternity with the pleasures and contents of nothing but mortality? therefore though you may have all that heart can wish of the comfort and prosperity of this world, yet “notwithstanding, in this rejoice not.”

Why should we rejoice much in that which cannot rescue us out of the hands of eternal misery? None of these things we glory in can: they are poor lying delights, which, like Jordan, empty all their sweetness into a stinking and sulphurous lake.
When I see the rich man in the parable “clothed with purple, and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day,” Luke 16.19, methinks I could wish my lot might lie at his table, rather than with an ulcerous Lazarus “begging for crumbs at his door;” but when I look again, and find him paying his reckoning in tormenting flames, who would have his pomp and glory at this price? He buyeth his pleasures too dear, who pays for them with the loss of his soul.

May we have all the comforts that this world can afford, and yet die comfortless? may we be rejoicing in our relations today, and yet shut out of all relation to God tomorrow? then whatever we possess of the comforts of this world, yet “notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
—Matthew Mead ‘A Name In Heaven’

 

God Does All Things Well

“This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose”—
“But He knows the way that I take.” Job 23:10
The shadow of a palm of blessed consolation and comfort, under which sat blessed old Job.
The Book of Job has been well defined to be “the record of an earnest soul’s perplexities, where the double difficulty of life is solved—the existence of moral evil, and the question whether suffering is a mark of God’s wrath or not. What falls from Job’s lips is the musing of a man half-stunned, half-surprised, looking out upon the darkness of life, and asking sorrowfully, ‘Why are these things so?’” In his checkered experience he loses at times the footsteps of a God of love. Through anguished tears he gives voice to his soul-trouble, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him.” “If I go to the east, He is not there; and if I go to the west, I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north, I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him” (Job 23:8, 9).
But though to sense and sight all is dark, faith rises to the ascendant, and, piercing the environing cloud, her voice is heard, “But He knows the way that I take.” All that Providential drama is arranged by Him—life, with all its lights and shadows, its joys and its sorrows. It is enough for the sufferer to be assured that his path and lot are not the result of wayward and capricious accident. The furnace (to take the new figure employed in the same verse) is lighted by the God whose hand was for the moment hidden; and that same faith can add, “When He has tried me, I will come forth as gold.”
Believer! what a glorious assurance! This way of yours—this, it may be crooked, mysterious, tangled way—this way of trial and of tears, “the way of the wilderness”—”He knows it.” The furnace, seven times heated—He lighted it. Oh! how would every sorrow and loss be aggravated and embittered if we had nothing to cling to but the theory of arbitrary appointment and dreary fatalism! But we may take courage. There is an Almighty Guide knowing and directing our footsteps, whether it be to the bitter pool of Marah, or to the joy and refreshment of Elim. That way, dark to the Egyptians, has its pillar of cloud and fire for His own Israel. The furnace is hot; but not only can we trust the hand that kindles it, but we have the assurance that the fires are lit not to consume, but to refine; and that when the refining process is completed (no sooner—no later), He brings His people forth as gold. When they think Him least near, He is often nearest. “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is You who know my way.”

We joyfully believe the day is coming when we shall write under every mysterious providence, “He has done all things well.” Yes, bereaved ones, you shall no more weep over early graves, when you yourselves pass upwards to the realms of glory, and hear from the loved and glorified as they are waiting to greet you at the door of heaven, that by an early death they were “taken away from the evil to come.” Meanwhile let us rejoice in the assurance, that “the Lord reigns!”—that He knows and appoints “the way” both for ourselves and for others. Oh, comforting thought! enough to dry all tears and silence all murmurings—”Is there evil in the city,” in the cottage, in the palace—is there evil which blights some unknown poor man’s dwelling—is there evil which clothes a nation in mourning, “and the Lord has not done it”?
—-John MacDuff

 

I am the Dust of the Temple of the Holy Ghost

IF I were but mere dust and ashes I might speak unto the Lord, for the Lord’s hand made me of this dust, and the Lord’s hand shall re-collect these ashes; the Lord’s hand was the wheel upon which this vessel of clay was framed, and the Lord’s hand is the urn in which these ashes shall be preserved. I am the dust and the ashes of the temple of the Holy Ghost, and what marble is so precious? But I am more than dust and ashes: I am my best part, I am my soul. And being so, the breath of God, I may breathe back these pious expostulations to my God: My God, my God, why is not my soul as sensible as my body? Why hath not my soul these apprehensions, these presages, these changes, these antidates, these jealousies, these suspicions of a sin, as well as my body of a sickness? Why is there not always a pulse in my soul to beat at the approach of a temptation to sin? Why are there not always waters in mine eyes, to testify my spiritual sickness? I stand in the way of temptations, naturally, necessarily; all men do so; for there is a snake in every path, temptations in every vocation; but I go, I run, I
fly into the ways of temptation which I might shun; nay, I break into houses where the plague is, I press into places of temptation, and tempt the devil himself, and solicit and importune them who had rather be left unsolicited by me. I fall sick of sin, and am bedded and bedrid, buried and putrified in the practice of sin, and all this while have no presage, no pulse, no sense of my sickness. O height, O depth of misery, where the first symptom of the sickness is hell, and where I never see the fever of lust, of envy, of ambition, by any other light than the darkness and horror of hell itself, and where the first
messenger that speaks to me doth not say, “Thou mayest die,” no, nor “Thou must die,” but “Thou art dead;” and where the first notice that my soul hath of her sickness is irrecoverableness, irremediableness: but, O my God, Job did not charge thee foolishly in his temporal afflictions, nor may I in my spiritual. Thou hast imprinted a pulse in our soul, but we do not examine it; a voice in our conscience, but we do not hearken unto it. We talk it out, we jest it out, we drink it out, we sleep it out; and when we wake, we do not say with Jacob, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not: but though we
might know it, we do not, we will not. But will God pretend to make a watch, and leave out the spring? to make so many various wheels in the faculties of the soul, and in the organs of the body, and leave out grace, that should move them? or will God make a spring, and not wind it up? Infuse his first grace, and not second it with more, without which we can no more use his first grace when we have it, than we could dispose ourselves by nature to have it? But alas, that is not our case; we are all prodigal sons, and not disinherited; we have received our portion, and mispent it, not been denied it. We are God’s tenants here, and yet here, he, our landlord, pays us rents; not yearly, nor quarterly, but hourly, and quarterly; every minute he renews his mercy, but we will not understand, lest that we should be converted, and he should heal us’
–John Donne “Meditations”

 

It Is Appointed Unto Men Once to Die

Hebrews 9:27

Therefore our Saviour, desirous to set out the pains of hell unto us, and to make us afraid thereof, calls it fire, yea, a burning and unquenchable fire. For as there is no pain so grievous to a man as fire [pg 028] is, so the pains of hell pass all the pains that may be imagined by any man. There shall be sobbing and sighing, weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, which are the tokens of unspeakable pains and griefs that shall come upon those that die in the state of damnation. For you must understand that there are but two places appointed by Almighty God, for all mankind, that is, heaven and hell. And in what state soever a man dieth, in the same he shall rise again, for there shall be no alteration or change. Those who die repentant and are sorry for their sins—who cry to God for mercy, are ashamed of their wickedness, and believe with all their hearts that God will be merciful unto them through the passion of our Saviour Christ; those who die in such a faith, shall come into everlasting life and felicity, and shall rise in the last day in a state of salvation. For look—as you die, so shall you arise. Whosoever departeth out of this world without a repentant heart, and has been a malicious and envious man, and a hater of the word of God, and so continues, and will not repent and be sorry, and call upon God with a good faith, or has no faith at all; that man shall come to everlasting damnation; and so he shall arise again at the last day. For there is nothing that can help a soul when departed out of its damnation, or hinder it of its salvation.
—Bishop Hugh Latimer  (1485-1555) (Martyr) From Pulpit of the Reformation

 

Jesus Deals Gently with the Bruised Reed & Smoking Flax

“A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Isaiah 42:3
The thoughts most prominently brought before us in these two passages from the Evangelical Prophet, are, the vastness of the Divine condescension and the gentleness of the Divine dealings—the timid, the weak, the bruised, the burdened, the fallen, nestling in peace and safety under the Heavenly Palm-shade!
The great ones of the earth generally associate only with the great. They are like the eagle, which holds little converse with the low, misty valley, when it can get up amid the blue skies and granite peaks. It is the powerful—the rich—the strong—the titled, who are the deified and worshiped. The weak, and poor, and powerless get but a small fraction of regard, and are too often left, unpitied and neglected, to endure the rough struggle of existence as best they may. And the world has accordingly shaped its gods after this its own ideal. We see the embodiment of that ideal chiseled in the old slabs of Assyrian marble, where the winged bull or lion is depicted trampling its enemies in the dust—the strong trampling on the weak. But the early Christians had also their truer and nobler symbol, which they have left in crude designs in the Roman catacombs: it is the embodiment of the first words which head this meditation—the often-recurring representation of a Shepherd—the Great Shepherd of the Sheep—the Mighty God—carrying on His shoulder a feeble lamb.
—John MacDuff

 

Knowledge vs Wisdom

A man “may have immense learning and yet never be saved.” He may be master of half the languages spoken around the globe. He may be acquainted with the highest and deepest things in heaven and earth. He may have read books till he is like a walking encyclopedia. He may be familiar with the stars of heaven—the birds of the air—the beasts of the earth, and the fishes of the sea. He may be able, like Solomon, to “describe plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls, and also teach about animals and birds, reptiles and fish” (1 Kings 4:33). He may be able to lecture on all the secrets of fire, air, earth, and water. And yet, if he dies ignorant of Bible truths, he dies a destitute man! Chemistry never silenced a guilty conscience. Mathematics never healed a broken heart. All the sciences in the world never soothed a dying man. No earthly philosophy ever supplied hope in death. No natural theology ever gave peace in the prospect of meeting a holy God. All these things are of the earth and can never raise a man above the earth’s level. They may enable a man to strut and fret his little time here on earth with a more dignified manner of walking than his fellow-mortals, but they can never give him wings, and enable him to soar towards heaven. He that has the largest share of them, will find in time that without Bible knowledge he has no lasting possession. Death will make an end of all his attainments, and after death they will do him no good at all. A man “may be a very ignorant man, and yet be saved.” He may be unable to read a word, or write a letter. He may know nothing of geography beyond the bounds of his own city or county, and be utterly unable to say which is nearest to England, Paris or New York. He may know nothing of arithmetic, and not see any difference between a million and a thousand. He may know nothing of history, not even of his own land, and be quite ignorant whether his country is headed up by a Tribal Chief or by Queen Elizabeth. He may know nothing of science and its discoveries—and whether Julius Caesar won his victories with gunpowder, or the apostles had a printing press, or the sun orbits around the earth—may be matters about which he has not an idea. And yet, if that very man has heard Bible truth with his ears and believed it with his heart, he knows enough to save his soul. He will be found in the end with Lazarus in heaven, while his scientific fellow-creature, who has died unconverted, is lost forever.
—J.C. Ryle ‘Practical Religion’

 

Lean on ME–Jesus Says

“Cast your burden upon the Lord — and He shall sustain you.” Psalm 55:22
It is by an act of simple, prayerful faith that we transfer our cares and anxieties, our sorrows and needs, to the Lord. Jesus invites you come and lean upon Him, and to lean with all your might upon that arm that balances the universe, and upon that bosom that bled for you upon the soldier’s spear!
But you doubtingly ask, “Is the Lord able to do this thing for me?” And thus, while you are debating a matter about which there is not the shadow of a shade of doubt, the burden is crushing your gentle spirit to the dust. And all the while Jesus stands at your side and lovingly says, “Cast your burden upon Me — and I will sustain you. I am God Almighty! I bore the load of your sin and condemnation up the steep of Calvary; and the same power of omnipotence, and the same strength of love that bore it all for you then — is prepared to bear your need and sorrow now. Roll it all upon Me! Child of My love! Lean hard! Let Me feel the pressure of your care. I know your burden, child! I shaped it — I poised it in My own hand and made no proportion of its weight to your unaided strength. For even as I laid it on, I said I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, this burden shall be Mine, not hers. So shall I keep My child within the encircling arms of My own love. Here lay it down! Do not fear to impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds! Yet closer come! You are not near enough! I would embrace your burden, so I might feel My child reposing on My bosom. You love Me! I know it. Doubt not, then. But, loving me, lean hard!”
—Octavius Winslow

 

Love and Charity

The next branch of the Divine Life, is a universal charity and love. The excellency of this grace will be easily acknowledged; for what can be more noble and generous than a heart enlarged to embrace the whole world, whose wishes and designs are levelled at the good and welfare of the universe, which considereth every man’s interest as its own? He who loveth his neighbour as himself, can never entertain any base or injurious thought, or be wanting in expressions of bounty. He had rather suffer a thousand wrongs, than be guilty of one; and never accounts himself happy, but when some one or other hath been benefited by him: the malice or ingratitude of men is not able to resist his love: he overlooks their injuries, and pities their folly, and overcomes their evil with good: and never designs any other revenge against his most bitter and malicious enemies, than to put all objections he can upon them, whether they will or not. Is it any wonder that such a person be reverenced and admired, and accounted the darling of mankind? This inward goodness and benignity of spirit reflects a certain sweetness and serenity upon the very countenance, and makes it amiable and lovely: it inspireth the soul with a holy resolution and courage, and makes it capable of enterprising and effecting the highest things. Those heroic actions which we are wont to read with admiration, have, for the most part, been the effects of the love of one’s country, or of particular friendships: and, certainly, a more extensive and universal affection must be much more powerful and efficacious.
Again, As charity flows from a noble and excellent temper, so it is accompanied with the greatest satisfaction and pleasure: it delights the soul to feel itself thus enlarged, and to be delivered from those disquieting, as well as deformed passions, malice, hatred, and envy; and become gentle, sweet, benign. Had I my choice of all things that might tend to my present felicity, I would pitch upon this, to have my heart possessed with the greatest kindness and affection towards all men in the world. I am sure this would make me partake in all the happiness of others: their inward endowments and outward prosperity; every thing that did benefit and advantage them would afford me comfort and pleasure: and though I should frequently meet with occasions of grief and compassion, yet there is a sweetness in commiseration, which makes it infinitely more desirable than a stupid insensibility: and the consideration of that infinite goodness and wisdom which governs the world, might repress any excessive trouble for particular calamities that happen in it: and the hopes or possibility of men’s after happiness, might moderate their sorrow for their present misfortunes. Certainly, next to the love and enjoyment of God, that ardent charity and affection wherewith blessed souls do embrace one another, is justly to be reckoned as the greatest felicity of those regions above; and did it universally prevail in the world, it would anticipate that blessedness, and make us taste of the joys of heaven upon earth.
—Henry Scougal “The life of God in the Soul of Man”

 

Love is the Power of the Cross

What is it that makes the young man devote himself, as a missionary, to the cause of God, to leave father and mother, and go into distant lands? It is a thing of power that does it; it is the gospel. What is it that constrains the far away minister, in the midst of cholera, to climb up that creaking staircase, and stand by the bed of some dying creature who has that tragic disease? It must be a thing of power which leads him to risk his life; it is love of the cross of Christ which urges him to do it. What is that which enables one man to stand up before a multitude of his fellows, all unprepared it may be, but determined that he will speak nothing but Christ, and Him crucified? What is it that enables him to cry, like the war horse of Job, in battle, Yes! and more glorious in might? It is a thing of power that does it—it is Christ crucified.
What encourages that timid female to walk down that dark road some wet evening, that she may go and sit by the victim of a contagious fever? What strengthens her to go through that den of thieves, and pass by the depraved and perverted? What influences her to enter into that house of death, and there sit down and whisper words of comfort? Does gold make her do it? They are to poor to give her gold. Does fame make her do it? She will never be known nor written among the mighty women of this earth. What makes her do it? What impels her to it? It is the power, the thing of power; it is the cross of Christ—she loves it, and she therefore says, Were the whole realm of nature mine, As a present it would be far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all.
—Charles H. Spurgeon

 

Meekness and Humility

And thus I am brought unawares to speak of his humility, the last branch of the divine life; wherein he was a most eminent pattern to us, that we might “learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart.” I shall not now speak of that infinite condescension of the eternal Son of God, in taking our nature upon him, but only reflect on our Saviour’s lowly and humble deportment while he was in the world. He had none of those sins and imperfections which may justly humble the best of men; but he was so entirely swallowed up with a deep sense of the infinite perfections of God, that he appeared as nothing in his own eyes; I mean so far as he was a creature. He considered those eminent perfections which shined in his blessed soul, not as his own, but the gifts of God; and therefore assumed nothing to himself for them, but, with the profoundest humility, renounced all pretences to them. Hence did he refuse that ordinary compellation of “Good Master,” when addressed to his human nature, by one who, it seems, was ignorant of his divinity: “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but God only;” as if he had said, The goodness of any creature (and such only thou takest me to be) is not worthy to be named or taken notice of. It is God alone who is originally and essentially good.’ He never made use of his miraculous power for vanity or ostentation. He would not gratify the curiosity of the Jews with a sign from heaven, some prodigious appearance in the air; nor would he follow the advice of his countrymen and kindred, who would have all his great works performed in the eyes of the world, for gaining him the greater fame. But when his charity had prompted him to the relief of the miserable, his humility made him many times enjoin the concealment of the miracle; and when the glory of God, and the design for which he came into the world, required the publication of them, he ascribeth the honour of all to his Father, telling them, “that of himself he was able to do nothing.”
I cannot insist on all the instances of humility in his deportment towards men: his withdrawing himself when they would have made him a king; his subjection, not only to his blessed mother, but to her husband, during his younger years; and his submission to all the indignities and affronts which his rude and malicious enemies did put upon him. The history of his holy life, recorded by those who convened with him, is full of such passages as these; and indeed the serious and attentive study of it is the best way to get right measures of humility, and all the other parts of religion which I have been endeavouring to desribe.
–Henry Scougal from The Life of God in the Soul of Man

 

 

Mourners! Look Away from Thyself and Look UP!

Do not only lie pouring upon the dungeon that thou art in, as it were; but while you are mourning for sin, though yet you has not assurance that your sins be forgiven you, yet look up to the promise. It may be that you think it does not belong to you, but let your eye be upon it. Look up to the brazen serpent if sin has stung you, as those that were stung in the wilderness looked up to the brazen serpent; present the covenant of grace to your soul. As the presenting of the Law has a power to terrify the heart, so the presenting of the gospel  has a power to draw the heart to it. There is a quickening in the grace of the gospel when it is beheld. It is not as a mere object for the eye or understanding, but there is a virtue in it. It comes into the heart, to work upon the heart; many that are mourners, they suffer their hearts to sink down, only to consider of the blackness of their souls, but look not up to the graciousness of the promise. We have a most excellent Scripture for that in Psalm 86:4-5,  “Rejoice the soul of thy servant,” says David. It seems David was in a mournful state; now mark what he says, “Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul;” that is the way for joy. You pray unto the Lord, Oh that you would rejoice my soul; and yet you let your soul fall groveling upon the ground. “But rejoice the soul of thy servant: for, O lord, to thee I do lift up my soul.” This scripture is of exceeding use to mourners, for there is nothing that mourners for sin are more faulty in than when they desire joy to their hearts, yet they suffer their hearts to lie groveling below; they do not stir up themselves and strive to lift up their souls. “For unto thee do I lift up my soul,” says David. And in verse 5, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy to all them that call upon thee.” The Lord is ready, if you can but lift up your soul and be ready. Therefore take heed that the anguish and trouble of your soul does not hinder you  from looking upon the promise, from listening unto the promise that is made unto you.
–Jeremiah Burroughs Sermon IX on the Beatitudes

 

The Bible is the Book which Minister’s to the Needs of Our Soul

No book in existence can do so much for every one who reads it with an open heart, as the Bible.” The Bible does not profess to teach the wisdom of this world. It was not written to explain geology or astronomy. It will neither instruct you in mathematics, nor in natural philosophy. It will not make you a doctor, or a lawyer, or an engineer. But there is another world to be thought of besides that world in which man now lives. There are other ends for which man was created, besides making money and working. There are other interests which he is meant to attend to, besides those of his body, and those interests are the interests of his soul. It is the interests of the immortal soul which the Bible is especially able to promote. If you want to know law, you may study Blackstone or Sugden. If you would know astronomy or geology, you may study Herschel and Lyell. But if you would know how to have your soul saved, you must study the written Word of God. The Bible is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15). It can show you the way which leads to heaven. It can teach you everything you need to know, point out everything you need to believe, and explain everything you need to do. It can show you what you are—a sinner. It can show you what God is—perfectly holy. It can show you the great giver of pardon, peace, and grace—Jesus Christ. I have read of an Englishman who visited Scotland in the days of Blair, Rutherford, and Dickson, three famous preachers, and heard all three in succession. He said that the first showed him the majesty of God—the second showed him the beauty of Christ—and the third showed him everything in his heart. It is the glory and beauty of the Bible that it is always teaching these three things more or less, from the first chapter of it to the last.
–J.C. Ryle “Practical Religion”

The Mysterious Spirit of the Living God

It may be, that during a sermon two men are listening to the same truth; one of them hears as attentively as the other and remembers as much of it; the other is melted to tears or moved with solemn thoughts; but the one though equally attentive, sees nothing in the sermon, except, maybe, certain important truths well set forth; as for the other, his heart is broken within him and his soul is melted. Ask me how is it that the same truth has an effect upon the one, and not upon his fellow—I reply, because the mysterious Spirit of the Living God goes with the truth to one heart and not to the other. The one only feels the force of truth, and that may be strong enough to make him tremble, like Felix; but the other feels the Spirit going with the truth, and that renews the man, regenerates him, and causes him to pass into that condition, that gracious condition which is called the state of salvation. This change takes place instantaneously. It is as miraculous a change as any miracle of which we read in Scripture. It is supremely supernatural. It may be mimicked, but no imitation of it can be true and real. Men may pretend to be regenerated without the Spirit, but regenerated they cannot be. It is change so marvelous that the highest attempts of man can never reach it. We may reason as long as we please, but we cannot reason ourselves into regeneration; we may meditate until our hairs are gray with study; but we cannot meditate ourselves into the new birth. That is worked in us by the sovereign will of God alone.
–Charles H. Spurgeon

The Pilgrim Journey Is a Rocky Road

A pilgrim sets out in the morning, and he has to journey many days before he gets to the shrine which he seeks. What varied scenes the traveler will behold on his way! Sometimes he is on the mountains, and in time he will descend into the valleys; here he will be where the brooks shine like silver, where the birds sing out, where the air is balmy, and trees are green, and luscious fruits hang down to gratify his taste; and in time he will find himself in the arid desert, where no life is found, and no sound is heard, except the screech of the wild eagle in the air, where he finds no rest for the sole of his foot – the burning sky above him, and the hot sand beneath him – no roof of trees, and no house to rest himself; at another time he finds himself in a sweet oasis, resting by the wells of water, and plucking fruit from palm trees. One moment he walks between the rocks in some narrow gorge, where all is darkness; at another time he ascends the hill, Mizar; now he descends into the valley of Baca; and in time he climbs the hill of Bashan, “a high hill is Bashan;” and yet again going into a den of leopards, he suffers trial and affliction. Such is life—ever changing. Who can tell what may come next? Today it is fair, the next day there may be the thundering storm; today I may need nothing, tomorrow I may be like Jacob, with nothing but a stone for my pillow and the heavens for my curtains. But what a happy thought it is, though we do not know where the road winds, we know where it ends. It is the straightest way to heaven to go round about. Israel’s forty years wanderings were, after all, the nearest path to Canaan. We may have to go through trial and affliction; the pilgrimage may be a tiresome one, but it is safe; we cannot trace the river upon which we are sailing, but we know it ends in floods of bliss. We cannot track the roads, but we know that they all meet in the great metropolis of heaven, in the center of God’s universe. God help us to pursue the true pilgrimage of a pious life!
–Charles Spurgeon

The Value of Experiential Knowledge

We know so much of divine truth, my reader, as we have in a measure a personal experience of it in our souls. The mere speculatist and notionalist in religion is as unsatisfactory and unprofitable as the mere theorist and declaimer in science. For all practical purposes, both are but ciphers.
The character and the degree of our spiritual knowledge, begins and terminates in our knowledge of Christ. Christ is the test of its reality — the measure of its depth — and the source of its growth.
If you are advancing in an experimental, sanctifying acquaintance with the Lord Jesus, you are advancing in that knowledge which Paul thus estimates, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” Dear reader, let the chief object of your study be to know the Lord Jesus. It may be in the region of your sinfulness, emptiness, weakness, and foolishness — that you learn Him. Nevertheless, however humiliating the school, slow the progress, and limited the attainment, count every fresh step you make in a personal acquaintance with the Lord Jesus — as a nobler triumph, and as bringing you into the possession of more real wealth than were the whole chests of human knowledge and science mastered, and its untold treasures poured at your feet!
When adversity comes — when death approaches — when eternity unveils — oh! how indescribably valuable, how inconceivably precious will then be one faith’s touch, one faith’s glimpse of a crucified and risen Savior! All other attainments then vanish, and the only knowledge that abides, soothes, and comforts — is a heartfelt acquaintance with the most sublime fact of the Gospel — that Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Oh! Whatever other studies may engage your thoughts, do not forget, as you value your eternal destiny, to study the Lord Jesus Christ!
—Octavius Winslow

 

There is No Death for the Righteous

“She is not dead, but asleep.” Luke 8:52
“Your brother will rise again.” John 11:23
Let these words suggest thoughts of unutterable solace and refreshment to those who may now be seated in tears and sackcloth under the “Palms of the Valley.”
Death is but a quiet sleep. The ‘Bible,’ it has been said, ‘with its finger of love, turns what we dread into gold.’ Here the Bible, with its finger of life, turns dreaded death into a peaceful slumber. Soon the morning hour shall strike; the waking time of immortality arrive; and the voice of Jesus will be heard, saying, “I go that I may awake them out of sleep.”
It has been often noted that there is a beautiful and striking progression in our Lord’s three miraculous raisings from the dead. The first in point of time was in the case of the daughter of Jairus, spoken of in our first motto-verse. She was raised immediately after death had taken place; when the body was still laid on its death couch. Her soul had but taken its flight to the spirit-world, when the angels that bore it away were summoned to restore it. The second, in chronological order, was the raising of the son of the widow of Nain. Death had here achieved a longer triumph. The customary time for mourning had intervened; he was being borne to his last home when the voice of Deity sounded over his funeral casket. The third and last of this class of miracles, was the raising of Lazarus of Bethany. Over him death had attained a still more significant mastery. The funeral rites were over; the tomb held in its embrace ‘the loved and lost’—four days had these lips been sealed before the life-giving and life-restoring word was uttered.
There is one other gigantic step in this progression—”The hour is coming when all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth!”
In the first case cited, the time elapsing between the dismissal of the spirit and its recall was measured by moments, the second by hours, the third by days; the fourth is measured by ages—centuries—a MILLENNIUM. But what of that? What though in conventional language we speak of the tomb as the “long home,” and death as “the long sleep”? By Him (with whom a thousand years is as one day), that precious, because redeemed dust, shall be gathered together, particle by particle. “I will ransom them,” He says, as He looks forward through the vista of ages to this glorious consummation, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction.” Blessed, thrice blessed assurance!
As in the case of Jairus, it was his own loved daughter who, in form and feature, was again restored; as the widow of Nain gazed on the unaltered countenance of her own cherished boy; as the sisters of Lazarus saw in him who came forth from the grave, no alien form, strangely altered, but the brother of their hearts; so, we believe, on that wondrous morning of immortality, shall the loved on earth wear their old familiar smiles and loving looks.

In the case of the widow’s son, it is expressly said, “they delivered him to his MOTHER;” as in Bethany, we are allowed to look into the home circle again reunited—Jesus, once more, loving “Martha and Mary and Lazarus,” and they loving one another—so may we believe that, on the Resurrection day, the affections which gladdened and hallowed homesteads here, shall not be dulled, quenched, annihilated; but rather ennobled and purified. Like the fabled Phoenix (the “Palm-bird”) they shall rise from their ashes in forms of new and more glorious life. Brothers, sisters, parents, children, shall be linked in the fond ties and memories of earth, gathering in loving groups under the shade of immortal palms, by the living fountains of waters, and singing together the Song of Eternity.
–John MacDuff

 

 

Time of Trial May Prove Our Faith True or Conterfeit

Psalm 84:5-7

So what we find in this psalm is an account of how David dealt with himself in that situation. Here is this man of God, hemmed in, as it were, in the wilderness, with all the trials and perplexities, and he tells us (we should thank God for this!) how he faced it all-what he did and how he reacted. He thereby teaches us, as he has taught God’s people throughout the centuries, how we also should deal with ourselves when we find ourselves in a similar state and position.
Now, this is true of many individuals at the present time, people facing troubles and trials, grievous problems, with everything apparently against them. And it is equally true of the Christian church as a whole. These are evil, difficult days for the Christian church. In this country we are but a little remnant in a kind of wilderness of paganism with enemies set against and all around us. But here in this psalm is a lesson as to how we should conduct ourselves at such a time and in such a situation. The method of the psalm is typical. Indeed, the chief characteristic of all the psalms-that is the wonderful thing about them-is that almost all of them are saying exactly the same thing, but they vary according to the circumstances. In other words, the presentation varies, but the method is very much the same.
Let us approach it like this. A time of trouble or of difficulty is always a testing time. And what it does is to test where we really are and what we really have. So I want to approach this psalm from that particular angle because such times, above everything else, test our profession of the Christian faith. If you really want to know whether you are a Christian or not, the simplest, most direct way, always, is to discover what you are like when things go against you. A time of affluence and prosperity, when the sun is shining and everything is going well, never tests our profession. But the moment things go wrong and you are in a state of perplexity, then you will know exactly the value of what you claim to believe.
It is, alas, possible for us to have an intellectual belief in these things. The Bible contains an incomparable system of truth. Merely looked at from the standpoint of philosophy, there is nothing superior to it. It is an old book and a very wise one. It is a book that knows people; it knows life; it has an understanding; there is no profounder wisdom. And so there are many who have come to it and taken it up in that way, simply from the standpoint of its teaching and its wisdom, as something purely intellectual.
Unfortunately, it is possible for us to accept even the Christian way of salvation with our minds only-in a purely theoretical, detached manner. In a sense it is reasonable to do so-the system is such a complete one. Some people have been brought up in the church and in the atmosphere of these things; they have received instruction and have taken it in and accepted it. Indeed, there are many who say that they cannot recall a time when they did not believe it. Well, that is all right, but the real thing we need to discover is whether their belief is only in the mind. Is it only something theoretical? And so, let me emphasize it again, the most direct way always to discover the real value of what you claim as your profession of the Christian faith is to know how you react and how you behave in a time of trouble.
Furthermore,
—Martin Lloyd Jones

When all things seem against me,
To drive me to despair,
I know one gate is open,
One ear will hear my prayer.
–Oswald Allen

 

 

True Ground of the Christian’s Joy

The expression is in manner of speech much like that of our Lord Christ, in John 6. 27, “Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth to everlasting life;” that is labour not so much for this or for that, or rather for that than this.
Let us a little consider the expression, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”
The Lord Christ might have said, Rejoice in your discipleship to me, that I have called you out of the world; when “not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called,” 1 Cor. 1.26.
Rejoice that ye have followed me in the regeneration, and that ye are become new creatures, when “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” 1 John 5. 19.
Rejoice that ye are enlightened in the mysteries of the gospel, when “they are hid from the wise and prudent,” Matt. 11.25. But if Christ had fixed their joy in any of these, then the fountain and cause of all had been hid, and therefore our Lord Christ leads them to the fountain from whence all these privileges are derived, and that is, the electing love of God; this being the cause of all future good to the creature.
Are ye called out of the world? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Are ye begotten of God, and born again? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Are you taken into membership with Christ, and thereby become the sons and daughters of God? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
Have you the earnest of your inheritance in the sealings of the spirit upon your hearts? It is “because your names are written in heaven.”
—Matthew Mead “A Name in Heaven”

 

 

Turning Our Eyes On Jesus

 We must look off this world, in respect of its sinful pleasures. Jude tells us, “such as are sensual have not the Spirit,” Jude, ver 19. WE cannot fixedly look on pleasures, and look on Jesus at once. Job tells us, “They that take up the tumbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ, that spend their days in mirth,” are the same that say unto God, “Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways; what is the Almighty that we should serve him? And what profit should we have if we pray to him? Job 21: 12, 13, 14, 15. We have a lively example of this in Augustine’s conversion; he would indeed have had Christ and his pleasures too, but when he saw it could not be, oh! What conflicts were within him! In his orchard, (as he tells us in his book of confessions,) all his pleasures past represented themselves before his eyes, saying What, wilt thou depart from us forever, and shall we be no more with thee forever? O Lord, (saith Augustine, writing his confession), turn away my mind from thinking that which they objected to my soul! What filth! What shameful pleasures did they lay before mine eyes! At length, after this combat, a shower of tears came from him, and casting himself on the ground under a fig-tree, he cries it out, O lord, how long, how long shall I say, To-morrow, to-morrow? Why not, To-day, Lord, why not, To-day? Why should there not be an end to of my filthy life even at this hour? Immediately after this, he heard a voice, as if it has been a boy or girl, singing by, Take up and read, take up and read: and thereupon opening his Bible, that lay by him at hand, he read in silence the first chapter that offered itself, wherein was written, “Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Rom 13:13-14. Further than this sentence, I would not read (saith Augustine), neither indeed was it needful, for presently, as if light has been poured into my heart, all the darkness of my doubtfulness fled away. His eye was now taken off pleasures, and fore ever after it was set on Jesus.
—Isaac Ambrose—”Looking unto Jesus” pp. 20

 

Unfathomable Love

The love of Christ! Such a precious theme! Of it, can we ever weary? Never! Its greatness, can we ever know? Never! Its plenitude, can we fully contain? Never! Its depths cannot be fathomed, its dimensions cannot be measured! It passes knowledge! All that Jesus did for His people was but the unfolding and expression of His love.

Traveling to Bethlehem — I see love incarnate!

Tracking His steps as He went about doing good — I see love laboring!

Visiting the house of Bethany — I see love sympathizing!

Standing by the grave of Lazarus — I see love weeping!

Entering the gloomy precincts of Gethsemane — I see love sorrowing!

Passing on to Calvary — I see love suffering, and bleeding, and expiring!

The whole scene of His life — is but an unfolding of the deep, and awesome, and precious mystery of redeeming love!

“May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should — how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!” Ephesians 3:18-19
—Octavius Winslow

 

When Friend’s Turn to Enemies

When malice, or envy, or suspicion, or evil surmising exists, no established reputation, no lack of evidence of guilt can “tie the gall up in the slanderous
tongue.” By a long and holy life Job had given incontestable evidence of the purity of his character. His friends could bring no proof of his criminality in
anything. Yet they charged him with cruelty, avarice and hypocrisy. Such wickedness has not yet left the earth. It is no new or rare thing for the best men
to be charged with the basest plans, principles or practices. It will be so until grace shall reign through Jesus Christ over all hearts. A propensity to evil
thoughts and evil speeches is among the last faults of character from which even good men are delivered.

7. If friends accuse us falsely and act as enemies, let us not forget to pray for them. Job set us the example: Job 42:8. Enmities arising between old friends
are generally more violent than others. “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”
Prov. 18:19. But we must not yield to passion. We must forgive and seek blessings on those who falsely accuse us and cruelly treat us. It was not until
Job prayed for his accusers that God turned his captivity. Let us never carry a load of malice in our hearts. It is worse than any evil we can suffer at the hand
of man.

8. When our characters are assailed, we are at liberty to use Christian measures to remove an evil report. It is then best to leave the whole matter in the hands of God. Lawsuits for character may be lawful and sometimes expedient. But when bad passions are excited, no character is so unspotted that malice will not spew out its venom against it. We may deny our guilt; we may call for evidence against us; we may bring evidence of innocence; but with men of heated imaginations and strong prejudices, evidence never has its just weight.

What is the grief of each one? Is it poverty, poor health, loss of reputation, loss of spiritual comfort? Whatever it is, take for an example of suffering
affliction Job, the narrative of whose trials was written for our comfort. Like him, let each one say of the Almighty, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in
him.” Job 13:15. Never was pious confidence in the Lord misplaced. Never did any trust in him and was confounded.
—William S Plumer ‘Job’s Trials and Mercies’

 

Luther’s Advice for Proud Preachers and Teachers

Martin Luther:

If, however, you feel and are inclined to think you have made it, flattering yourself with your own little books, teaching, or writing, because you have done it beautifully and preached excellently; if you are highly pleased when someone praises you in the presence of others; if you perhaps look for praise, and would sulk or quit what you are doing if you did not get it—if you are of that stripe, dear friend, then take yourself by the ears, and if you do this in the right way you will find a beautiful pair of big, long, shaggy donkey ears.

Then do not spare any expense! Decorate them with golden bells, so that people will be able to hear you wherever you go, point their fingers at you, and say, “See, see! There goes that clever beast, who can write such exquisite books and preach so remarkably well.” That very moment you will be blessed and blessed beyond measure in the kingdom of heaven. Yes, in that heaven where hellfire is ready for the devil and his angels.

—Martin Luther, LW 34:287-288.

HT: Timothy George, Reading Scripture with the Reformers, p. 164.

 

Ray Comfort’s “180″ Film on Hitler and Abortion

It’s nicely produced, its conclusion is definitely worth advocating, and some of its methods may be worth emulating. I pray that the Lord will use this film in some way to stop the holocaust of abortion in America and around the world.

I agree with pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf, who evaluated the film from an apologetics-content standpoint, and concludes with this accolade:

Despite these concerns, the film is worth seeing and Comfort gets huge accolades for his courage in confronting abortion head-on. Say what you want, at least he’s doing something about it and for that I am immensely grateful. Before ripping him, his evangelical critics need to ask themselves what they are doing to stop the bloodshed. Are they taking this holocaust as seriously as Comfort does? I can only pray that one day they will.

I should confess at the front-end that I have mixed feelings about documentary-type films. On the one hand, when done well (here’s looking at you, Ken Burns!) they can be enormously entertaining and a vehicle for learning. On the other hand, you don’t have to be a film expert to know that the genre can be a conclusion in search of a film narrative (here’s looking at you, Michael Moore!). If you ask 100 people a question, it’s easy to edit it down to the 5 people who responded in the way that you wanted. And you can take those 5 people and edit their answers to advance the narrative even further. I say all of that by way of general principle, before diving into any specifics of this film and its editing.

Before even watching this film, it’s interesting to make an observation or two about the intense marketing that is being attempted with the hope that the video will go “viral.” The promotional materials imply that “8 people changed their mind about abortion in a manner of seconds.” Comfort himself told The Christian Post that he asked a question that was “so powerful that it not only changed the people’s minds about abortion, and made them do a 180 (degree turn in viewpoint), but it made them do a 180 when it comes to their own eternal salvation.” This suggests a silver-bullet, one-question approach to abortion and salvation, and I don’t think the actual film really bears this out. The promotional materials also refer to the film as being “award-winning,” but I haven’t been able to find thus far what “awards” it has won. [Update: I've been told now that the the film, when it was called "Hitler's Religion," won the bronze prize in the Religion/Spiritual category of the Telly Awards.] I think overselling a project like this actually tends to work with the public, but for me it creates a bit of suspicion from the get-go.

Comfort’s goal in this project is to change America by God’s grace. Listen to Comfort’s logical progression in the following quote—I added some brackets to identify the point—for how he thinks this film will change America:

We’d like to see this film go viral because [a] if you can change what a person believes about abortion [b] you are going to change the way they vote, and [c] that can change the direction of this nation and [d] this nation surely can be turned back to God. A lot of people have (already) said this will turn the nation back to God with His help.

The desire is commendable but naive, especially if it sees changing of voting patterns as the linchpin. In Comfort’s line of questioning in the film, that appears to be the end-goal.

The film begins with Comfort asking several people “Who was Adolf Hitler?” Most of the interviewees—at least the ones shown on film—don’t know who he is or what he did. At this point I suspect many who answered correctly were edited out. Nothing wrong with that I guess, but it sets up the film in a strange way as if no one in America remembers who Hitler was or what he did.

The ignorant respondents are contrasted with a couple of contemporary neo-Nazis who spew their hatred.

Comfort then runs a thought experiment: It’s 1939, you have a high-powered rifle, and you have Hitler in your sights. Would you pull the trigger? (Respondents—including a man whose family died in the Holocaust—say “yes.” This man goes on to say that he would have not only killed Hitler but all of his friends and all of his relatives!)

Comfort then asks: If it was 30 years earlier, would you have killed Hitler’s pregnant mother knowing what you know now? (Again respondents say “yes.”)

This was a strange part of the film for me. I don’t know how Comfort himself would answer those questions. I suspect he would advocate killing in both cases—but I don’t know for sure. I’m not sure if he is implying a utilitarian ethic on behalf of life, or if he is merely “priming the pump” to get these folks thinking ethically through moral dilemmas related to life. This line of reasoning is never developed and makes the film’s logic seem disjointed.

From here Comfort explains (rightly) that Hitler not only hated Judaism but also Christianity, and he briefly describes some of his horrific acts.

At this point we’re one-third of the way through the 33-minute film.

Now Comfort moves to his third thought experiment: It’s 1943, and a Nazi officer points a machine gun at you, forcing you to drive a bulldozer  toward 100 Jewish families who have been shot. Many of them are dead, but some are still alive. Driving the bulldozer forward would bury them alive. If you do what the Nazi says, he’ll let you live; if not, he’ll shoot you dead. Would you do it? (The response here is evenly mixed, yes and no.)

Now the fourth thought experiment: if the Nazi gave you a machine gun in the same situation, would you just finish them off? This would be more merciful, Comfort says. (Again the response is mixed.)

Comfort for the first time raises the issue of abortion. Observing that his interviewee seems to value human life, he asks what they think about it. Most responded that it’s a tricky situation.

Then he asks if it’s a baby in the womb, or when the baby becomes a life. He takes the helpful tactic of making them flesh out their moral beliefs on abortion: Finish this sentence: It’s okay to kill a baby in the womb when ________. He also asks what justifies killing a baby in the womb.

To a respondent who says that she doesn’t know, Comfort rightly responds: If you had the opportunity to detonate a building and you weren’t sure there was human life inside, would you still blow it up?

For a young man who says it’s important to “give it some thought” before an abortion, Comfort asks if he sees that that’s like saying it’s important just to “give it some thought” before burying those Jews alive. (The respondent senses the contradiction.) A few more clips are shown where Comfort circles back to earlier answers: they would give their life to save the Jews but are okay with allowing a baby to die in the womb (which for some reason Comfort calls “the safest place on earth,” despite the statistics on non-elective abortion pregnancy loss).

On the answer of rape, Comfort again asks a good question: Why would you kill the baby for the crime of the father?

To another person Comfort asks when life begins. She doesn’t know, so he asks whether or not she thinks God knows. She thinks he does. Comfort then points out the sixth commandment: you shall not kill. Hitler declared Jews to be non-human, and that’s what you’re doing if you declare it’s not a baby until three months.

Comfort also make the Nazi Germany analogy in response to those who say abortion is okay but they don’t agree with it. It’s at this point that Comfort asks the respondent feeling the contradiction if he is changing his mind on abortion, and he says that yes, it’s definitely making him think.

Two other respondents see the problems when Comfort asks, “Abortion is okay when ______?” and say that abortion is now wrong. A third says he has a valid point.

Two-thirds of the way through the film now,  Comfort returns to Hitler’s view of the Ten Commandments as a segue to his method of evangelism. Unfortunately, the quote from Hitler at 23:23, while something Hitler might have said, is actually from a a novel. (Hitler’s views on Christianity are well-known and can be shown through actual quotes, as Erwin Lutzer demonstrated years ago.)

It’s at this point that Comfort transitions from abortion to his well-known method of evangelism. He asks folks a series of questions: Have you ever lied? (Yes.) What do you call someone who lies? (A liar.) He does the same with fornication and adultery of the heart, taking the Lord’s name in vain, stealing. He also asks if they are good enough to go to heaven, to stand before God on judgment. Most (though not all) suggest they are good enough, and he points out that by their own profession they are lying, thieving, blaspheming fornicators. The line of questioning helps the listener to confront the contradiction between sin and acceptance by a holy God. Comfort then says that Jesus paid the penalty for sins and that we must repent and put on Christ (not just look at Jesus like a parachute but actually put it on to save us).

It’s hard for me not to think here of D.L. Moody’s quip when his ministry methods were questioned: “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.” But I think it’s still worth pointing out for those who would like to utilize or adapt Comfort’s method of evangelism: perhaps the most important book to read here would be John Piper’s God Is the Gospel. I get nervous about evangelism results that are mainly motivated by and predicated on avoiding judgment and hell and not also seeing the beauty and glory and joy of Jesus Christ.

Here are my simple big-picture take-aways from the film:

Comfort’s end-goals are commendable and necessary: seeing the logic and horror of abortion and seeing the need for salvation from judgment (even if the latter is relatively one-sided).Comfort models courage and the power of asking questions. He wisely seeks to make his respondents defend their moral claims. Comfort asks some good questions (especially on rape and in response to those who don’t know if it’s a life in the womb). But he also asks some bad questions: I still don’t know why you’d ask about using a high-powered rife to kill Mrs. Hitler and abort her son! As evangelicals and as Americans we have been conditioned to get excited about silver-bullet approaches. But there’s no “one question”—despite the buzz—that will turn someone from pro-choice to pro-life in “seconds.” The same is true with regard to salvation.The conversations in the film are essentially one-way: Comfort asks all the questions, they have to defend their beliefs. This probably works better with man-on-the-street interviews—especially with a microphone and a camera—than in actual conversations and especially in relationships. Again, there’s certainly nothing wrong with doing this. But I think we should be realistic in seeing that asking good questions is a transferable tactic—the “silver-bullet” interview-style dialogue probably is not.I’m concerned that the way in which Comfort backs someone into the corner morally and logically may be good for reaching quick decisions, but I’m not sure it really equips them to understand the ultimate issues, especially when they are confronted with an intelligent pro-abortion advocate. I think that the tactics developed by Greg Koukl and Scott Klusendorf—which may not produce as many ostensible 180's—will produce more lasting fruit.To quote Klusendorf again: “Thank you, Ray Comfort. I’m thankful you care enough about abortion to do something about it. I’m grateful for the resources you personally invested to make the film. I’m glad you take abortion seriously.” Amen. I am virtually certain the film will not change our country. But if the Lord uses it to change some minds and hearts—and thereby save some lives—it will all be worth it.

 

Responding to the “Do You Really Want to Go to Leviticus?” Argument

Michael Horton responds to a clever open letter to Laura Schlesinger, who appeals to Leviticus 18:22 for why she believes homosexuality is an abomination. Here were the satirical questions:

Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

 

What Was It Like to Hear Luther Lecture?

A student of Luther’s described his teacher, who used a more succinct style in the classroom than he did in his writings:

He was a man of middle stature, with a voice which combined sharpness and softness; it was soft in tone, sharp in the enunciation of syllables, words, and sentences. He spoke neither too quickly nor too slowly, but at an even pace, without hesitation, and very clearly, and in such fitting order that each part flowed naturally out of what went before. He did not expound each part in large labyrinths of words, but first the individual words, then the sentences, so that one could see how the content of the exposition arose, and flowed out of the text itself. . . . For this is how he took it from a book of essential matter which he had himself prepared, so that he had his lecture material always ready to hand—conclusions, digressions, moral philosophy and also antitheses: and so his lectures never contained anything that was not pithy or relevant. And, to say something about the spirit of the man: if even the fiercest enemies of the gospel had been among his hearers, they would have confessed from the force of what they heard, that they had witnessed, not a man, but a spirit, for he could not teach such amazing things from himself, but only from the influence of some good or evil spirit.”

Source: H. Boehmer—H. Bornkamm, Der junge Luther (Hamburg, 1939), p. 367, as translated by Gordon Rupp in Luther’s Progress to the Diet of Worms, 1521 (Wilcox and Follett, 1951), p. 44; cited in Wilhelm Pauck’s introduction to Luther: Lectures on Romans, Library of Christian Classics (Westminster John Knox, 1961), pp. lxi-lxii.

The Better Part: Fr. John Bartunek Shares Our Journey

“We’re all contradictory.  We all have the potential for great good and the potential for great sin — that’s the human condition.”

Gayle recently spoke with Father John Bartunek, a priest in the order of the Legion of Christ, a religious congregation.  Father Bartunek is the author of several books, including Inside the Passion: An Insider’s Look at the Passion of the Christ, and The Better Part: A Christ Centered Resource for Personal Prayer.  Fr. Bartunek received a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the Legionaries of Christ. Fr. Bartunek has since received degrees in philosophy and theology, worked in youth and college ministries, and was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003.  You can learn more about Father Bartunek here.

Click here to listen to our twenty-five minute discussion or read the transcript below.

Gayle Trotter: This is Gayle Trotter, today I’m speaking with Father John Bartunek, a priest in the Legionaries of Christ and the author of several books, including an insider’s view of Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ. Thank you so much for speaking with me today, Father Bartunek.

Fr. John Bartunek: It’s my pleasure. Great to be with you.

GT: Father, can you explain the contradiction of Mel Gibson and his film? How do we have such a spiritually deep and powerful movie as The Passion of Christ from someone whose personal story is so complicated and, many would say, less than exemplary.

JB: I think his own story, his own contradiction or challenges, his own journey, is really similar to all of our journeys because we’re all contradictory. We all have the potential for great good and the potential for great sin — that’s the human condition. I think in his case it’s been magnified for the public eye because he’s such a celebrity, such a public figure. And also sometimes I think that people who have been given great gifts in the area of creativity have a greater spiritual sensitivity, and they can even be more vulnerable when it comes to the spiritual warfare that every Christian is undergoing. So I think we all fight the spiritual battle, and unfortunately Mel has had to fight it in the public eye and that’s really exaggerated the bad parts but also maybe even the good parts. So I pray for him every day and I don’t think the good that his work has done should be ignored just because of the struggles he’s been having.

GT: Father, you did not come from a religious household. Would you agree that American culture is so infused with Christianity that you couldn’t resist becoming a Christian?

JB: [laughs] That’s an interesting question. No, I remember when I became a Christian, and it was a very intimate and personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the ambient of faith — him speaking to my heart. It was a very conscious decision to become his follower so I don’t think that it was just falling into where society was going or wherever a particular group was going. And, frankly, I know plenty of people who live in the same culture and are not following Christ, are not his disciples so I don’t think it’s an automatic thing. I think God always respects us. Obviously a culture can help or hinder our search for God, and I think we’re in a period now in American culture where the popular culture, anyway, is definitely hindering it, especially because it encourages so much immorality. It’s taken away respect for moral integrity and moral norms.

GT: I understand that your parents divorced when you were a child. Do you have any spiritual advice for kids who are currently experiencing the divorce of their parents?

JB: Absolutely. I think that children who are experiencing the divorce of their parents or whose parents are recently divorced really need to look to God as a father and to the blessed Virgin Mary as a mother if they are Catholic. God’s spiritual fatherhood — he is the source of every family. And his love doesn’t depend on circumstances and doesn’t get tired and doesn’t wear out and it’s real. And that can be an anchor and a foundation for a very fruitful life and a very meaningful life, even if your own family life isn’t ideal or has even completely fallen apart.

GT: That’s very encouraging. When you were in college, you spent some time in Italy soaking up the magnificent art and architecture. How did this affect you spiritually?

JB: My time in Europe and Italy and also in Poland and exposure to that magnificent, as you say, Catholic culture as expressed in the art and the architecture and even the liturgies had a profound effect on my spiritual life. It actually activated a whole sector of my own soul that I had never known existed. From the exposure to that kind of profound beauty that is explicitly linked to the Christian faith, I felt like I was waking up, spiritually. I felt like there was a whole new world to discover. A whole new path to go down to come closer to Jesus Christ that no one had ever even told me about and that God was leading me down. The art and the architecture — the elements of that profound Christian culture which had been developed through the centuries by men and women of faith — it spoke to me very deeply. It spoke to me very deeply and began to tell me that I was part of a bigger story. That the church — God’s family — wasn’t just my little church in my neighborhood. No, it was a much bigger story and there was more that God wanted to tell me and more that he wanted to show me and more than he wanted me to do. So it was a turning point in my life. It really was.

GT: Would you say that it was the time in your life when your faith really came alive for you?

JB: No, I would say my faith came alive when I was 13, and I started going to an evangelical Christian church. I went for about six months without really believing anything. And then there I first heard God speaking to my heart and I became a follower of Jesus. So that was the beginning — that’s where it started. What happened when I went to Italy was my particular vocation, my particular calling began to come over the horizon: my calling to the priesthood. To give my life, entirely, to serve God and his people in the church. That’s what came out of my year in Italy and in Poland and that immersion in that Catholic culture.

GT: How did you make that final decision to actually become a priest?

JB: The final moment of decision came after a long journey, as you can imagine, which began there in Italy. Then I finished college and I continued studying the Catholic faith because I had some doubts about the Catholic church. I had some misunderstandings, as well, about their teachings. So I worked through those. I didn’t want to pretend that I didn’t have those. So I met regularly with a priest for a couple years until I worked through those, and then I really became convinced that this is the church that Jesus had started and that he was calling me to attend to that church, and I wanted to become a priest right away. And it was funny, when I was confirmed in the Catholic church, the priest I had been meeting with told me, “Well, maybe you should wait. You don’t want to confuse your call to be Catholic with a call to be a priest. You know, one step at a time. Take it easy.” So at that point I left my teaching job. After college I had started a job teaching. And I went to Chicago and started a career in the entertainment industry, which is where I always thought I would go. That was kind of my long-term career goal. I’d always dreamed about making movies about historical subjects — writing and maybe directing. So I moved to Chicago and began doing that, and then the idea of the priesthood just wouldn’t go away. It was like a sunrise: It just kept getting brighter and brighter and brighter. And it’s funny, when that priest advised me to wait before joining the seminary, I decided, “Maybe that’s a sign from God that I’m not supposed to be a priest,” so I started to date again and actually met a wonderful woman and we had a very beautiful dating relationship. It was kind of like the perfect match. It was that relationship that was the final indicator to me that I at least had to try the seminary — that I really felt God was calling me. Because I actually loved that woman truly and sincerely; it was a more mature love than I’d ever had with anyone I’d dated before. And I knew that, because I loved her, she deserved a husband who could give himself entirely to her, be a true husband, die for her, live for her. And in my heart, when I looked into my heart, there was part of my heart — the deepest part — that I couldn’t give to her because I felt like God was asking me to give it to him. And so that to me was a profound insight into my own vocation to the priesthood.

GT: Do you think the priest who advised you was right in giving that original advice so that you could come to the place where you understood that?

JB: Oh, I don’t know. I think it worked out okay, but I don’t know if I would give the same advice to a young man in my position at that time. As we mentioned at the beginning, I really believe that in society, in the culture, there’s always a kind of spiritual battle going on and we can’t be naïve. When God comes and asks us something, when we delay, we give more room for the enemy of our soul to stir things up and confuse things.

GT: If someone is interested in being a priest, how would he learn more about it?

JB: The first step, an easy step, is a great website called vocation.com which a few of us put together a few years ago, and it continues to reach out to thousands of young people who are thinking about the priesthood and also religious life. So there are a lot of testimonies there and there are some things, like a guideline. If you feel that God is calling you, you need to respond. And that doesn’t mean that you need to join the seminary today, but you need to put yourself in a position where you can hear and heed God as he guides you along. That means daily prayer. That means finding someone who can give you some good advice, a spiritual mentor. It means beginning to take the steps to visit young men who are in the seminary. To talk with priests who you trust about their experiences in the priesthood. Instead of just sitting in your bedroom and going over it in your own mind, taking concrete steps is the best way to give the Holy Spirit room to really guide you.

GT: You mentioned that you started out as a professional actor before you became a priest. Did your training and experiences as an actor help you at all in your priestly duties?

JB: I think so. It’s hard to measure exactly. I’d been acting since I was five years old in the theater so it had always been part of my life — drama and theater. I think that it helped developed two things that have been helpful in the priesthood. One is a sensitivity or a capacity to listen, a sensitivity to the needs of others. In theater acting, you really form a bond with the other actors. To bring something alive, you have to form an emotional sensitivity and a capacity to really listen to what others are saying so you can make real on stage the exchanges that people are making. So that’s one thing and as a priest you really have to know how to listen. To know how to listen and to know how to determine what’s behind what’s being said, especially when you’re giving spiritual guidance, when you’re hearing confessions. And then the second thing is, obviously being on stage for many years made me comfortable in front of an audience. And in a sense, when you have to preach a homily or a retreat or when you’re giving a conference as a priest, there are similarities. You are in front of a congregation, which is like an audience, so I think it’s helped me to be able to do that more effectively.

GT: You shared that with Pope John Paul II, too, right?

JB: That’s right, although his theater was a little bit different.

GT: What inspired you to write The Better Part?

JB: The Better Part is a book designed to help people of today pray better and get to know Christ in a personal way. It’s so funny; the two books that I’ve written and that have done pretty well, neither one was my idea. The Better Part was an assignment I received. I’m a member of a religious order which has priests working throughout the world, giving retreats and giving a lot of one-on-one spiritual guidance to lay men and women. That’s the core of what we do in our order. A couple years ago there was a general sentiment among a lot of members of my order throughout the world that there was a need for some new resources that could help lay people today grow in their prayer life. They all saw that the Holy Spirit was leading these lay men and women to a deeper life of prayer, but the resources available to help them were older resources and didn’t really connect with the needs that they have in today’s world which is so digitalized and media-saturated and has so many challenges. So I got an email from my superior asking me to come up with something that could help people do that. So my vow of obedience was enacted, it triggered in there, and I started working on The Better Part.

GT: And what is the source of the title, The Better Part?

JB: The Better Part is a line from Luke chapter 10, when Martha and Mary are having Jesus and his apostles over for dinner and Mary, the younger sister, is sitting in the living room where Jesus is talking with his apostles and she’s just at his feet, drinking up every word he says. And Martha is in the kitchen and the dining room setting the table and getting everything ready and she’s doing all the work. And she gets fed up with her sister Mary so she comes up to Jesus and says, “Lord, can’t you tell Mary to help me out a little bit? I’m doing all this by myself.” And our Lord looks at Martha and says, “Martha, Martha, you’re worried and are fretting over many things but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken from her.” So the better part is always to give first place to God and his activity, so that our activity flows from God’s love working in our hearts and from our knowledge of God’s will and that’s really what prayer is all about. Prayer is all about anchoring our lives in God, giving him the first place, and allowing our lives to be a response to discovering God’s love. So we thought it would be a great title to a book that helps people in their personal prayer.

GT: You write about many types of prayer. What type of prayer do you prefer?

JB: That’s an interesting question. I see the three main types of prayer going together. Vocal prayer, which is where you use someone else’s words, like when you pray the Our Father. Liturgical prayer, which is when you pray together as the family of God, when we go to mass, for instance. And then personal prayer, when you’re just one-on-one with God. I think they all go together. They’re all necessary, they’re all a part and they all have their individual purpose and benefits. But I think the keystone or the real piece that makes all three of those work well is your personal prayer, your personal God time every day, where you’re talking to God in the quiet of your own heart, about what’s important to him and what’s important to you. I try never to miss that. And when I do that then my ability to pray during mass is better. Then my ability to pray the vocal prayers — that for instance in my order when we pray together as a community — is better, because the Catechism teaches us that fundamentally prayer is a relationship, not an item on a to-do list. And so you need to have alone time with God where you reflect on his word and you allow his word to seep into your heart and to enlighten your mind and that is where you tune in to God’s mission for your life and the adventure he wants to lead you on. So that would be my preferred type, I think.

GT: All Christians at some point in their lives deal with doubt. Have you experienced doubt and how did you overcome it?

JB: Doubt is an interesting term. There’s actually a theological weight to that term. I would say I’ve experienced difficulties. A lot of difficulties. Challenges, moments of confusion, moments of weakness, moments of frustration, or even sometimes seasons of frustration. But I can’t say that I’ve ever doubted — since I became a believer — I can’t say that I’ve doubted that God exists. I can’t say that. But there have definitely been difficulties, times when it’s been hard to accept God’s love for me, for instance, or hard to do what he’s asking me. And how did I respond to that? I got on my knees and I prayed for strength. And you just pray for strength and you renew your commitment to Jesus. He’s trustworthy, and we learn that he’s trustworthy the more that we pray, the more that we do that personal prayer, that meditative prayer, that’s how we truly learn that he’s trustworthy. So then when the difficulties come, when darkness comes, as Psalm 23 says, “Even though I shall walk through a valley as dark as death, I shall not fear,” because he is by my side. And “As long as he is with us, who can be against us?” as Saint Paul says. So that’s how I deal with it — I just get on my knees and pray and then focus very much on what I know God wants me to do right now. And sometimes it’s so simple as, “Well, now it’s my turn to do the dishes.” So that’s what God wants me to do now. I can do that. And then the next thing, and then the next thing. I love Matthew chapter six, verse 34, where our Lord says, “Do not fret about tomorrow, let tomorrow fret over its own cares, for today, today’s troubles are enough.” And in times of difficulty I go back to that verse over and over again. I’m just going to focus on what you want me to do today, Lord, and leave the rest in your hands.

GT: So would you say that that’s your favorite Bible verse that gives you strength during hard times?

JB: That’s one of them. It depends on my mood.

GT: Do you have another one that you’d like to share with our listeners?

JB: I love that one and I love the one that comes right before it as well which is, “Set your hearts on his kingdom first and his righteousness and all these other things will be given to you as well.” It’s just putting God first, putting Jesus first, and surrendering that need that we all have because of original sin to kind of build a personal kingdom where we think we can control everything and create heaven on earth. And surrendering that need and shutting out and following wherever God leads every day. And that verse — both those verses — really help remind me. Although that verse from Jeremiah where our Lord says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you and before you were born I consecrated you.” That’s a powerful verse as well and I think I go back to that almost every year during my yearly retreat just because it shows that in the end, everything goes down to the fact that God loves each one of us personally and that is the bottom line. So I really do love that verse as well.

GT: Thank you so much, Father, for sharing your life with us so that we can be encouraged by what you have shared with us.

JB: You’re very welcome.