A Voice from the Past - Minucius Felix

"God cannot be seen - he is too bright for sight; nor grasped - he is too pure for touch; nor measured - for he is beyond all sense, infinite, measureless, his dimensions known to himself alone. Too narrow is our breast to take him in, therefore we can only measure him aright in calling him immeasurable. As I feel, so will I speak; he who thinks he knows the greatness of God, makes it less; he who would not lessen it, knows it not.

Minucius Felix, ?-270 AD, Octavius, XVIII:8,9 (Loeb Classical Library, edited G. P. Goold, Tertullian and Minucius Felix, translated by Gerald H. Rendall, Harvard University Press, 1931, pp. 361,363)

Is this the proper way to view God? How would it affect our approach to Him?

How God Sees - 1 Samuel 16:7

One Step at a Time

Re-Posted from "Meditations of a Charismatic Calvinist Who Does Not Speak in Tongues"

We often want God to show us what His will for our lives is in detail ahead of time. But I have found that God leads us one step at a time. Philip was involved in a great revival in Samaria when God sent him out into the desert to meet one man, the Ethiopian eunuch who God had prepared to hear the gospel  (Acts 8:26-40).  God led Paul through various places and forbade him to preach there until He finally told him he was to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). But later God led Paul back to one of the places He had originally forbidden him to go, and he stayed there two years (Acts 19:8-10). God often leads us in ways we do not expect, and sometimes it is not clear what He wants us to do. I know in my own life, while there have been times when I have experienced definite leading from the Lord, there have been many other times I was not sure what He wanted me to do next. Many times we need to simply trust God and wait on Him until He shows us where He wants us to go next (Proverbs 3:5,6; Isaiah 40:31; Psalms 25:5).

The World Is Not on Autopilot

Sometimes it seems that those who support traditional Christianity have been backed into a corner.  People claim that, given a little while, our faith will totally pass away. Now the Bible claims that God is in control of the world (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; Isaiah 43:13) and those who trust in Him will be ultimately be victorious (2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:37; 1 John 5:4,5). But does that really fit with what we see in the world?

When the Roman Empire fell it was overrun by peoples who were pagans or whose beliefs did not fit in with orthodox Christianity (they believed that Jesus was not God, but just the highest created being). Also, much of the Christianity of the Empire was more of a cultural Christianity, with no deep convictions. Then a man named Patrick went back to the Irish, who had enslaved him, to tell them the truth of God. Later a man named Gregory sent an expedition to preach God's Word to the Anglo-Saxons.These people were converted and send missionaries to others and stirred up the lackadaisical Christianity back on the continent. And the situation turned around.

In the middle of the Middle Ages the Christian church was in a sorry state. It had been politicized, and the rulers put their relatives and supporters in positions of leadership in the church organization. These were often uneducated and immoral and farmed out their duties to equally unqualified minions. Further, there was an influx of Greek philosophy that threatened Christian beliefs. But individuals such as Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis of Assisi, and Thomas Aquinas rose to advocate a return to serious, orthodox Christianity. (I cannot endorse all the theology of these men, but they stood against greater error.) At the time of the Renaissance the leaders of the church organization had become totally corrupt, being greedy for money  and embracing an immoral lifestyle. Also, once again Greek philosophy was coming back as a competitor to Christianity. Then the Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther to restore Christian truth and curb abuses. In the Enlightenment it looked like secularism and watered-down Christianity were going to triumph. But men like John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield started the revival movement to counteract it. (None of these movements was perfect, and each brought their own new problems, but the pattern of God's deliverance continues.)

Since then we have had various movements and controversies, but while it sometimes has been on the ropes, historic Christianity always bounces back. I grew up in the sixties, when we were worried about Communism taking over the world, with worldwide persecution of the Faith. But while it is still around, Communism is not doing so well since 1989. Now I do not want to promise anything specific, as I do not claim to understand God's plan and He often does things differently than we might expect. But we should not despair, but continue working for God's truth, knowing He is still in control.

A Touch of Humor - The Opposition

How important are some of the things churches divide over? How do we put them in perspective?

Old Erich Proverb - Accuser

One of the titles of the Holy Spirit is not the Accuser of the Brethren.

A Voice from the Past - Augustine of Hippo

It is evident, then, that the oldness of the letter, in the absence of the newness of the spirit, instead of freeing us from sin, rather makes us guilty by the knowledge of sin. Whence it is written in another part of Scripture, "He that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow," -- not that the law is itself evil, but because the commandment has its good in the demonstration of the letter, not in the assistance of the spirit; and if this commandment is kept from the fear of punishment and not from the love of righteousness, it is servilely kept, not freely, and therefore it is not kept at all. For no fruit is good which does not grow from the root of love.

Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD, On the Spirit and the Letter, Chapter 26 (The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, 1st Series, Volume V, Philip Schaff, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1997, p. 94)

Is this a legitimate distinction? If so, how does it apply in our lives?