Knowledge of Self Leads to God

"From the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and--what is more--depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves. For what man in all the world would not gladly remain as he is--what man does not remain as he is--so long as he does not know himself, that is, while content with his own gifts, and either ignorant or unmindful of his own misery? Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him."
--John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I:1.1

Newton/Cowper Hymn

Here is the hymn I referenced yesterday, by John Newton ("Amazing Grace") and William Cowper ("God Moves in a Mysterious Way"):

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face

‘Twas he who taught me thus to pray
And he, I trust, has answered prayer;
But it has been in such a way
As almost drove me to despair

I hoped that in some favored hour
At once he’d answer my request;
And by his love’s constraining power
Subdue my sins and give me rest

Instead of this he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part

Yea more, with his own hand he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I’d schemed,
Blasted my gourds and laid me low.

“Lord, why is this,” I trembling cried;
“Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?”
“’Tis in this way,” the Lord replied,
“I answer prayer for grace and faith.”

“These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free
And break thy schemes of earthly joy
That thou mayest seek thy all in me.

One-year Institutes

John Calvin was born July 10, 1509--which makes his birth 500 years ago. You could do worse this year than reading his most important work--the Institutes of the Christian Religion--in a year. If you would like to do so, and have a copy but need a schedule, here it is (PDF). If you don't have your own copy, and would like to do so on the Internet, you may do so here. What makes this especially remarkable is that it is done by Princeton Seminary. So even if you can't read it all this year, pray for those at Princeton Seminary who do. Maybe God will use John Calvin's writings to lead people who are skeptical about the Bible to John Calvin's Savior.

Humility

This New year's Day my family (humbly) gave me a great gift--a few uninterrupted hours to read this book on humility. And by the way, it was excellent. Here is the author's synopsis of the book:

Always

- Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ (MOST CRUCIAL!)

As each day begins

- Acknowledge your dependence on and need of God

- Practise prayer, study of God's Word, worship, at the outset of each day

- Seize your commute time to memorize and meditate on the Scriptures

- Cast your cares on him (see 1 Peter 5:6-7)

As each day ends

- Transfer the glory to God for whatever happened that day

- Receive the gift of sleep from God and acknowledge his purpose for sleep

For special focus

- Study the attributes of God

- Study the doctrines of grace

- Study the doctrine of sin

- Play golf as much as possible (if you play golf, you know why it is good for humility!)

- Laugh often, and often laugh at yourself

Throughout your days and weeks

- Identify evidences of grace in others

- Encourage and serve others every day

- Invite and pursue correction from others

- Respond humbly to trials.

Report of the Watcher

This Sunday we are looking at Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38ff. 50 years ago A.W. Tozer caught the jist of this passage when he wrote,
"Were some watcher or holy one from the bright world above to come among us for a while with the power to diagnose the spiritual ills of church people there is one entry which I am quite sure would appear on the vast majority of his reports: Definite evidence of chronic spiritual lassitude; level of moral enthusiasm extremely low.
"What makes this condition especially significant is that Americans are not naturally an unenthusiastic people. Indeed they have a world-wide reputation for being just the opposite. Visitors to our shores from other countries never cease to marvel at the vigor and energy with which we attack or problems. We live at a fever pitch, and whether we are erecting buildings, laying highways, promoting athletic events, celebrating special days or welcoming returning heroes we always do it with an exaggerated flourish. Our building will be taller, our highway broader, our athletic contest more colorful, our celebration more elaborate and more expensive than would be true anywhere else on earth. We talk faster, drive faster, earn more, spend more, and run a higher blood pressure than any other people in the world.
"In only one field of interest we are slow and apathetic: that is the field of personal religion. There for some strange reason our enthusiasm lags. Church people habitually approach the matter of their personal relation to God in a dull, half-hearted way which is altogether out of keeping with their general temperament and wholly inconsistent with the importance of the subject.It is true that there is a lot of religious activity among us. Interchurch basketball tournaments, religious splash parties followed by devotions, weekend camping trips with a Bible quiz around the fire, Sunday School picnics, building fund drives and ministerial breakfasts are with us in unbelievable numbers, and they are carried on with typical American gusto. It is when we enter the sacred precincts of the heart’s personal religion that we suddenly lose all enthusiasm."

Why Hell?

This may seem a strange time of year to be thinking about hell. But I stumbled upon this excellent article called "The Importance of Hell" by Tim Keller, and wanted to place a link here. I don't know how long this link will be good, so don't wait too long....

Something for a College Student in Your Life

I always look forward to Christmas and summer vacations. That's because college students come home. I don't get to know them the way I would like to--but I wish I could and did. And I enjoy seeing them.
In fact, I am reading a book that is intended for college students, and that I am finding an excellent read. It is written by Cornelius Plantinga, Jr., who was once the president of Calvin College (his brother Alvin is one of America's premier philosophers, and an articulate defender of Christianity against its secular philosophical despisers). One of Cornelius's other excellent books you may have heard me mention--Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, which is a powerful book on sin.
So for the college student in your life--if it's too late for Christmas, get it for them for New Year's Day. It's available from http://www.wtsbooks.com/ (good discounts!), among other places.

The Real Tightwads

Many of you will appreciate the unexpected (?) findings by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof found here.