Ideas

Classic & Contemporary Excerpts from October 24, 1994

REFLECTIONS: Classic and contemporary excerpts

FOREVER OUT OF STEP?

The Rev. Andrew Greeley’s first two laws of the church: (1) “When other people have abandoned something, we discover it”; (2) “When people discover something wonderful that we have, we have just abandoned it.”

– Cited by Michael Leach in

“America” (May 2, 1992)

PRAYER THAT IS PERSONAL

When we pray for ourselves, our petitions usually center around what we think we need or what we are sure so-and-so needs. God sees needs in our lives that are far more urgent than those we have written on our heavenly supermarket list and daily present to our “Need-Meeter” in the sky. Our need for changed attitudes, a new acceptance of someone we have been rejecting, our need to be “cut down to size”-these are not things we pray for too readily. On the other hand, we do find we can pray these things for other people!

– Jill Briscoe in

“Before You Say ‘Amen’ “

LIVING OUR PRAYERS

Our lives must be as holy as our prayers. Our prayers are to prove their reality by the fruit they bear in the holiness of our life. True devotion in prayer will assuredly be rewarded, by God’s grace, with the power to live a life of true devotion to Him and His service.

– Andrew Murray in

“Aids to Devotion”

BECOME AS CHILDREN

Now, as always, God discovers Himself to “babes” and hides Himself in thick darkness from the wise and the prudent. We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.

– A. W. Tozer in

“The Pursuit of God”

BEYOND RATIONALISTIC TRUTHS

In our time we cannot overemphasize that theology can never be the object of faith. Anyone who fails to acknowledge this exposes himself to the severe criticism which [Martin] Buber made of Christianity. When a theology is made the object of faith, faith becomes the rationalistic acceptance of truths. On the other hand theology has a task to prevent faith from becoming completely irrational.

– E. P. Meijering in “Orthodoxy and Platonism in

Athanasius: Synthesis” or Antithesis?

THE BEST ANSWER

I have learned that God’s silence to my questions is not a door slammed in my face. I may not have answers. But I do have him.

– Dave Dravecky in

“When You Can’t Come Back”

THE PAUSE THAT REFRESHES

We must, during all our labour and in all else we do, even in our reading and writing, holy though both may be-I say more, even during our formal devotions and spoken prayers-pause for some short moment, as often indeed as we can, to worship God in the depth of our heart, to savour him, though it be but in passing, and as it were by stealth. Since you are not unaware that God is present before you whatever you are doing, that he is at the depth and centre of your soul, why not then pause from time to time at least from that which occupies you outwardly, even from your spoken prayers, to worship him inwardly, to praise him, petition him, to offer him your heart and thank him? What can God have that gives him greater satisfaction than that a thousand thousand times a day all his creatures should thus pause to withdraw and worship him in the heart.

– Brother Lawrence in

“The Practice of the Presence of God”

(tr. E. M. Blaiklock)

FLEE “ESTABLISHMENT FRIGHT”

It’s not our position that sectarian prayer has a place in public schools, although a high-school course in comparative religions would seem appropriate in a society that believes in the significance of history. Religion is so interwoven in that history, for both good and ill, that to reject the subject because of “establishment fright” is patently anti-intellectual.

– Editorial in

the “Tampa Tribune”

(June 28, 1992)

Copyright © 1994 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Also in this issue

The CT archives are a rich treasure of biblical wisdom and insight from our past. Some things we would say differently today, and some stances we've changed. But overall, we're amazed at how relevant so much of this content is. We trust that you'll find it a helpful resource.

Cover Story

Re-engineering the Seminary?

Bringing the Poor to the Polls

NORTH AMERICAN SCENE: Church Refuses to Vacate Building

President, Quayle Tout Values Theme

Ministers Decry 'Censorship'

Finance Agency Faces $500,000 Suit

Camping Misses End of World

Is Word-Faith Movement Out on a Limb

State's Religious Ed Questioned in Nicaragua

Haitian Relief Teams Prepare to Return

News

Korean Presbyterian Church Refuses to Vacate Building

Tunnel Mystery Unearthed

Survey Questions Protestant Figures

Gridiron Star Tackles Urban Inner City Problems

BOOKS: Getting to Yes

BOOKS: Worth Mentioning

Whose Feminism?

PHILIP YANCEY: The Power of Writing

PHILIP YANCEY: The Power of Writing

ARTICLE: Shouting Heresy in the Temple of Darwin

News

Teaching Manhood in the Urban Jungle

News

News Briefs: October 24, 1994

Wire Story

Clinton Intervenes in RFRA Test Case

Wire Story

Prolifers Arrested in Cairo

Back from Bulgaria

Editorial

Get Real

Editorial

EDITORIAL: Cairoโ€™s Wake-up Call

Editorial

EDITORIAL: Take Us Out of the Ball Game

News

News Briefs: October 24, 1994

ARTICLE: The Good Capitalist

ARTICLE: Why They Helped the Jews

ARTICLE: The Translatorโ€™s Tale

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Letting the Boat Out of the Bag

News

Is Laughing for the Lord Holy?

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The Russell Moore Show

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Facing My Limits in a Flood Zone

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A new book critiques elitesโ€™ incurious accounts of the American right and illuminates their complicity in our social breakdown.

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American Christians can illuminate our countryโ€™s politicsโ€”if we engage with moral imagination, neighborliness, boldness, and humility.

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