Augustine on God's fullness and nature

Do heaven and earth, then, contain the whole of you, since you fill them? Or, when once you have filled them, is some part of you left over because they are too small to hold you? If this is so, when you have filled heaven and earth, does that part of you which remains flow over into some other place? Or is it that you have no need to be contained in anything, because you contain all things in yourself and fill them by reason of the very fact that you contain them? for the things which you fill by containing them do not sustain and support you as a water-vessel supports the liquid which fills it. Even if they were broken to pieces, you would not flow out of them and away. And when you pour yourself out over us, you are not drawn down to us but draw us up to yourself; you are not scattered away, but you gather us together...What, then is the God I worship? He can be none but the Lord God himself, for who but the Lord is God? What refuge can there be, except our God? You, my God, are supreme, utmost in goodness, mightiest and all-powerful, most merciful and most just. YOu are the most hidden from us and yet the most present among us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things... (Confessions, Book 1;3&4)

A Prayer for Christmas Morning

Father,

We come this morning in true humility and repentance, only as we look to you to grant us the gift of seeing ourselves as you see us. Give us true insight into the condition of our hearts; free us from the deceit of our sinfulness. We thank you Father, that in the fullness of time you sent your Only Son to come into this world of darkness and that by his perfect life and complete sacrifice on the Cross you displayed to the world the true wisdom that comes from You. We confess that like the world, we do not recognize your truth and your presence. We are quick to judge others and see ourselves as better. We are lost and undone, break us, and then remake us according to your mercies in Jesus Christ.

A prayer for Worship by Calvin

Almighty God, You do not dwell this day in a temple of wood and stones, but the fullness of your glory dwells in your only begotten Son and He by His power fills the whole world, and dwells in the midst of us, and even in us. Grant that we may not dishonor the Lord’s sanctuary by our habits and sins, but so strive to set ourselves apart for your service, and that through the Name of Jesus Christ You may continually receive glory, until that day when we receive that eternal inheritance, and we see openly, face to face, that glory which we now see in the truth found in your Gospel. Amen. (adapted prayer by John Calvin from studies on Jeremiah, pg. 337)

God's Unique Giving

JN 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-3,14

In John’s Gospel, the story behind the story of Christmas is given to pull back the veil of history, as it were so we might catch a glimpse into the very eternal purposes of a Sovereign God, who planned to come into a world He created, so that He might save it. The Word became flesh is the truth of God’s giving Himself in the person of His Son, born of a Virgin, but from the beginning the God who made the Worlds. God gave us his Son - That is, God gave Himself – the very giving of God for a world that despised and rejected Him.
The British minister, J. Sidlow Baxter describes the indescribable nature of God’s gift.
“Was ever a gift like the Savior given? He leaves the bosom of the eternal Father, and comes to the bosom of an earthly mother. The Son of God becomes the son of Mary. The Infinite becomes an infant. He who holds the world in his arms is held in the arms of a frail woman. He whose garment is space, whose house is the universe, whose chariots are the clouds, and whose diadems are the stars, is wrapped in swaddling bands, and laid in a mangers…He leaves the throne of heaven, for the Cross outside the city wall. He who is the Prince of life bows his head in death. He who is without sin becomes the Sinbearer. The Christ of God becomes the Crucified. He who is the Father’s delight becomes the God-forsaken.”
We will do all we can this shopping season– stand in line, squeeze an already tight budget tighter, give up what we can – just to give gifts to people we love, this Christmas.
But, God‘s giving is beyond our comprehension. He gave the gift of his very being – the Son of His own Heart and Divine Essence - not to people who love him, but to a rebellious and ungrateful people - He gave to his enemies.
“This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins” 1 John 4:10

The Value of a Good Book

For the cost of a game of golf, I could buy a good book. Then with that book I could spend several nights in intimate fellowship as I hold it in my hands, touch and smell the pages as I turn each one in delight. It becomes a companion to new insights of knowledge or adventures of the imagination. A good book, one that is bound well, crafted under high standards and authored by a wise pen, is like being invited into a circle close friends in a gracious conversation. One can argue with a good book. Much as one would argue and debate a dear friend over issues that matter or truths worth sharpening, books require engagement. Bad literature and sloppy books can be easily closed, discarded or forgotten. But the ones that demand your attention and engage your thoughts toward higher and loftier ideas are like treasures discovered in a barren field. Is the book then a dead object once read? Not at all – it is to be shared with others and passed down to our children. It can find repose on the open shelves of the den or the room of one’s house where people dwell, talk, and laugh. There the book waits and silently beckons the next reader to take down and begin the fellowship again. Books do not live in the sense people do. They are not souls. But books have a way of living longer than people. They span generations. In this they possess great power.

Thanksgiving Day and After

This week our nation will observe two important days. One day will be a day when we remember what price the Pilgrims paid in coming to this country. The Pilgrims were the Puritan pioneers who came to America for religious liberty and barely survived those first years. Half of them died in the first several months. By the help of Indians, the tenacity of faith and God’s grace, some did survive and gathered around the new foods (corn, squash, and perhaps a turkey) of this great new land and gave thanks to God. In the same tradition of what our Pilgrim forefathers acknowledged as the providential blessings of God, we will gather with family, friends and neighbors around a splendid feast to give thanks. Some will volunteer at soup kitchens, work at homeless shelters and give out dinners to the lost and the lonely. On this day a nation will in some degree show its best side and recall a history of what once made us a “nation under God.”
Then the day after, in what has been called “Black Friday”, the retailers and shopping centers will be anticipating the busiest shopping day of the year. The hope of the economic future is in many ways measured by the “success” of this day. What a contrast from the day of thanks and remembrance of God’s provision. Yet isn’t that the way the human heart responds to God? We are so fickle and forgetful in our commitments. What we need is not another warm feeling of nostalgia – a fond memory about the days of old.

Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?"
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

Eccles. 7:10 (ESV) What we need is a transformation of our hearts in the present that will bear fruit of new obedience for the future. Like true repentance, true thanksgiving reveals a pattern of a new and different kind of life. What will you do on Friday, may in fact reflect what you did in your heart on Thursday. Just think about it.
Happy Thanksgiving Day in all light of God’s grace.
Pastor Todd Baucum

Read These Books

The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment by Tim Challies
This book is written by a Canadian blogger who has probably one of the best known blogs in Reformed circles. All the big names read him for his insightful comments and numerous book reviews. This is his first book. It is probably good that one acquainted with the vast diversity on the internet and the all the bad theology that is promoted therein, deal with the issue of spiritual discernment. This is a book every believer should read and soak in the wisdom of the lost art of discernment. Tim wisely sees the challenges and the pitfalls of discernment and avoiding needless judgmentalism. But the spiritual health of the Church and the local fellowship of the Body of Christ is dependent upon a proper use of discernment in dealing with problem doctrine and divisive people. His opening parable is dynamite.

Risking the Truth: Handling Error in the Church by Martin Downes
A Welsh pastor digs into the minds of a diverse (geographically) group of pastors and theologians about the problem of heresy in the church. This is a candid and personal look in the way false doctrine and bad influences get started in solid orthodox circles. It relates the beguiling and attractive appeal that heresy has had on people and its destructive power. This book is good medicine, but not always easy to swallow in our climate of tolerance and niceness among Evangelicals. Of, course the answer is not in being mean and combative, but “speaking the truth in love,” as Paul did. All recent movements besetting our churches are reflected upon and critiqued, but in a storytelling of personal encounters and struggles. There is great balance found in this book. It is important that we take this seriously.