Christ Is In Me

Our Christian experience must agree with the Bible. We will be taught by the Bible and fed by the Bible. But we do not believe in Christ because He is in the Bible: we believe in the Bible because Christ is in us. >> Claxton Monro (1914- )

Keeping The Mind In Tranquility

Goofy, but ya' gotta love him!
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We must try to keep the mind in tranquility. For just as the eye which constantly shifts its gaze, now turning to the right or to the left, now incessantly peering up or down, cannot see distinctly what lies before it, but the sight must be fixed firmly on the object in view if one would make his vision of it clear; so too man's mind when distracted by his countless worldly cares cannot focus itself distinctly on the truth. - St. Basil the Great

Absurdity

Instead of so knowing Christ that they have Him in them saving them, they lie wasting themselves in soul-sickening self-examination as to whether they are believers, whether they are really trusting in the Atonement, whether they are truly sorry for their sins -- the way to madness of the brain and despair of the heart... Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have, this day, done one thing because He said, Do it! or once abstained because He said, Do not do it! It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you.

George Macdonald (1824-1905), "The Truth of Jesus",
Unspoken Sermons, Second Series [1885]

Fixing His Words in my heart and in my mind!

What Will This Day Bring

As I grow older (42 this August ... whew!) I am appreciating the mornings. I can't say I always take pleasure in the process of "getting up", but once I am up, showered, dressed, and have a good cup of coffee in me, then ... I like the morning.

I enjoy that hush, especially in the summer. The birds are pushing out their praises. The bugs are flapping whatever it is they flap. I like the sound of "the bug" (I think it is a locust) that makes a crescendo pitched sound. This sound reminds me of the summers I would spend at my Grandpa and Grandma Lake's house in Richmond, Indiana. I love that sound. Earth is alive and going strong. Me? I am up, and slowly yielding to the day and what God has prepared.

Although mornings can begin with a certain awe and hope-filled-ness, I never truly know "what will this day bring." God ordains my steps. I know that. Yet, often I can organize my day in my head and in such a manner without the perspective that God does indeed have a master-plan.

Today I prepared myself for God's plan by reading Job. I was struck particularly with Job's response to losing everything - his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, servants and then finally, his children. Total devastation had visited Job's life. He woke up on a "Monday" and then life , his life, "fell apart" late that very same day. And yet ...

Job, in spite of his loss ... "fell to the ground in worship and said: Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."

That I too may have Job's eternal perspective on the glory-filled character of God. Lord, help me to be ready for your purposes in my life this day. - GAC

Fixing His Words in my heart and in my mind!

First Blog Steps

Welcome to my first blogging experience. For those of you who know me well, this sort of expression would not surprise you. First of all, because it invovles technology and specifically the web. The whole internet fascinates me. It always has since my first introduction to it by a Valpariaso Univeristy student back in 1991.

I have made, and continue to choose to harness the internet for good and to the glory of God. The internet most definitely, like most things, can be a tool that is used for evil and can lead people into a greater depravity. Countless people choose everyday the wide path that leads to destruction when it comess to the internet. In fact, a person once dear to me harnessed the alure of the internet to elicit emotional and sexual experiences, which eventually lead to multiple sinful relationships and finally to the ultimate end of my relationship with them. So, yes, the internet can be harnessed for evil, and yet it can also be harnessed for good and toward eternal purposes that magnify the name of Jesus Christ. I choose to harness it for good.

- GAC

Come back often. I will attempt to be a faithful blogger.

Fixing His Words in my heart and in my mind!