C.S. Lewis quote

Here is the C.S. Lewis quote I referred to in class this morning.

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. "
- C. S. Lewis, from the The Weight of Glory

November 7 Class

On Sunday November 7 we will discuss Session 4 in the Gospel in Life study. Here is the description:

"SESSION 4: COMMUNITY – THE CONTEXT FOR CHANGE
In Session 4 we see that the church is “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). It is a new humanity, a new community of people under the Lordship of Christ. We need to create a great community because that is, according to Jesus in John 17, a crucial way to show the world that we are truly followers of Christ. In fact, we see that we will not know God, change deeply, or win the world apart from community."

Read the Home Study on pp. 56-72 in preparation for class. Hope to see everyone there!

Christians and Halloween

I found this blog post thought-provoking - I'm wondering what the class thinks after reading. Reply in the comments if you have a perspective.

Here is a brief section from the article that includes a question:

So I went to two or three others houses, got basically the same story. The dark houses where the Christians live. They were all at church having a harvest festival.

Why? Why would a Christian choose not to be at home on the night that 82 children walk up to your front door? What on earth would possess a Christian not to want to be there?

Read the whole post here.

October 31 Class: New Room #336

Just a reminder we will meet in our new room this Sunday, #336 right down the hall from our previous room.

We will plan to continue our lesson on Idolatry -see the description on the October 24 post below.

Hope to see everyone there!

October 24 Class

On Sunday October 24 we will discuss Session 3 in the Gospel in Life study. Here is the description from the publisher:

SESSION 3: IDOLATRY – THE SIN BENEATH THE SIN

In Session 3 we look at idolatry. Nothing is to be more fundamental than God to our hearts—to our happiness, meaning in life, and identity. We see, however, that we easily create idols. An idol is anything besides Jesus Christ that we feel we must have to be happy, anything that is more important to our heart than God, anything that is enslaving our heart through inordinate desires. To remove idols we need to make Christ our over-mastering positive passion.

This session continues to help us examine the condition of our hearts that the good news of the Gospel transforms into a new creation.

The exercises on pages 43-44 of your Study Guide are particularly good and I recommend everyone giving this some reflection.

Flee to Christ

Loved this quote I came across today, especially in light of our current class discussions on the "Three Ways to Live". Here it is:

I have taken my good deeds and bad deeds and thrown them together in a heap and fled from them both to Christ, and in him I have peace. —David Dickson



HT: Challies

Signs of Spiritual Growth

In light of our recent lesson on growing in godliness, I thought these were good words for reflection from JC Ryle (as posted on Kevin DeYoung's blog post). I'll include Kevin's post in its entirety:

J.C. Ryle:
The man whose soul is “growing” takes more interest in spiritual
things every year. He does not neglect his duty in the world. He discharges
faithfully, diligently, and conscientiously every relation of life, whether at
home or abroad. But the things he loves best are spiritual things. The ways, and
fashions, and amusements, and recreations of the world have a continually
decreasing place in his heart. He does not condemn them as downright sinful, nor
say that those who have anything to do with them are going to hell. He only
feels that they have a constantly diminishing hold on his own affections, and
gradually seem smaller and more trifling in his eyes. Spiritual companions,
spiritual occupations, spiritual conversation, appear of ever-increasing value
to him. Would any one know if he is growing in grace? Then let him look within
for increasing spirituality of taste. (Holiness, 107)

"So I ask myself: Do I love Jesus a little more this year and football a
little bit less? Do I love the word more and the world less? Do I love to long
for spiritual things more and entertainment, politics, and hobbies less? Are the
things that truly taste best tasting better to me?"

The Gospel and Orphan Care

Here is good followup reading after hearing Bryant's sermon last week on the Church's call to care for orphans. These words are penned by Russell Moore, whom Bryant quoted at the beginning and end of his sermon. Honest words here that do not sugarcoat or romanticize this calling that is catching a wave in Christendom today.

"Right now, there is a crisis of fatherlessness all around the world.
Chances are, in your community, the foster care system is bulging with children,
moving from home to home to home, with no rootedness or permanence in sight.
Right now, as you read this, children are “aging out” of orphanages around the
world. Many of them will spiral downward into the hopelessness of drug
addiction, prostitution, or suicide. Children in the Third World are languishing
in group-homes, because both parents have died from disease or have been
slaughtered in war. The curse is afoot, and it leaves orphans in its wake.

Not every Christian is called to adopt or to foster children. And not
every family is equipped to serve every possible scenario of special needs that
come along with particular children. Orphan care isn’t easy. Families who care
for the least of these must count the cost, and be willing to offer up whatever
sacrifice is needed to carry through with their commitments to the children who
enter into their lives.

But, while not all of us are called to adopt, the Christian Scriptures
tell us that all of us are called to care “widows and orphans in their distress”
(Jas. 1:27). All of us are to be conformed to the mission of our Father God, a
mission that includes justice for the fatherless (Exod. 22:22; Deut. 10:18; Ps.
10:18; Prov. 23:10-11; Isa. 1:17; Jer. 7:6; Zech. 7:10). As we are conformed to
the image of Christ, we share with him his welcoming of the oppressed, the
abandoned, the marginalized; we recognize his face in the “least of these,” his
little brother and sisters (Matt. 25:40).

The followers of Jesus should fill in the gap left by a contemporary
Western consumer culture that extends even to the conception and adoption of
children. Who better than those who have been welcomed by Christ to care for the
most feared and least sought after of the world’s orphans? After all, who are
we, as those who are the invited to Jesus’ wedding feast? We are “the poor and
the crippled and the blind and the lame” (Lk. 14:21). Since that is the case,
Jesus tells us, we are to model the same kind of risk-taking, unconditional love
(Lk. 14:12), the kind that casts out fear.

Yes, orphan care can be risky. Justice for the fatherless will sap far more
from us than just the time it takes to advocate. These kids need to be reared,
to be taught, to be hugged, to be heard. Children who have been traumatized
often need more than we ever expect to give. It is easier to ignore those cries.
But love of any kind is risky.

The Gospel means it’s worth it to love, even to the point of shedding your
own blood. After all, that’s what made a family for ex-orphans like us."

Read the whole article here.

Here are some other recent articles that journal this current awakening among evangelical Christians:

Wall Street Journal

Christianity Today

Sunday Oct 10

This Sunday we will discuss Session 2 from the Gospel in Life study. Here is the description of the session from the website (italics mine):

Session 2: Heart Three Ways To Live

"In Session 2 we look at the parable of the two lost sons in Luke 15. We conclude that there are three ways to relate to God—irreligion, religion, and the gospel. The irreligious don’t repent at all. The religious only repent of sins. But Christians repent of both their sins and the reasons for their righteousness. The gospel is something entirely different from religion and irreligion. Only the gospel has the power to transform our hearts."

You are encouraged to read and think through the ideas presented in the Home Study on pages 14-30 of your Study Guide in advance of class. We think you will find the reading very thought provoking.

Hope to see you all in class!