Expressions of Faith

an outlet of encouragement, explanation, and exhortation

Category: Theology (Page 2 of 5)

What is Thy only comfort in life and death?

January 18, 2023 /

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ…

from the Heidelberg Catechism, Day 1

I found those words at the beginning of the catechetical response to be encouraging. Of course, there is more detail to the complete answer in the catechism. Catechisms tend to be wordy! (Not that I object to the rest of the response…)

Q. What is Thy only comfort in life and death?

A. That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, hath fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, he also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.

I recorded a message related to this thought for January 15, 2023, after returning from a family trip to Ireland.

For an historical Quaker catechism, check out Barclay’s Catechism here (Quaker Heritage Press) or here (Google Books) or here (Wikisource).

On God’s Love (quoting Dallas Willard)

November 5, 2021 /

We must understand that God does not “love” us without liking us – through gritted teeth – as “Christian” love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward all his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core – which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word “love”.

– Dallas Willard

Jesus and John Wayne by Kristen Kobes Du Mez

July 19, 2021 /

Jesus and John Wayne is the eye-catching title of a book by Kristen Kobes Du Mez. The subtitle is even more provocative: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. It’s a fine historical account written for a general audience detailing exactly what the subtitle says, with extensive documentation of sources. I lived through much of it what she is writing about. It is troubling, indeed, and helpfully contextualizes much that is troubling in the church today.

To learn more about the author, one can find a set of four interviews Skye Jethani did with Kristen Kobes Du Mez on The Holy Post podcast. These interviews summarize some of the points covered in the book:

  1. Cold Warriors: The 50s and 60s
  2. Culture Warriors: The 70s and 80s
  3. Tender Warriors: The 90s and 00s
  4. Fallen Warriors: The 10s and Today

Lastly, Jim Lyon did a really fine, more personal, interview with the author on the All That to Say podcast. He interviews Kristen Kobes Du Mez about her background and faith in a very wholesome and helpful manner. I found this interview quite helpful.

This is a book that many are talking about, and rightfully so. Kristen Kobes Du Mez will take some heat for this work – just like her Lord did, when He told the truth.

Women’s History Month articles at Barclay College

March 18, 2021 /

Barclay College has put out several short blog articles for Women’s History Month. Check them out!

The first one is a brief comment on women in pastoral and other forms of leadership in the church and in society. It opens with an introductory defense of women in leadership and closes with a call for the church to do better at supporting God’s call to women in leadership positions. It is confounding that there are a few churches today claiming to be Friends who do not allow women as elders or in senior pastoral positions, in spite of our Faith and Practice! What?

The second is a short article on Margaret Fell, one of the first Quakers and a great early leader whose writings on women preaching remain relevant today. She’s not called the “mother of Quakerism” for nothing!

And lastly, there is a very short article on Mary Fisher, a pioneering Quaker missionary who undertook a dangerous mission to travel overland to meet with the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to tell him about Jesus. Even some of her supposed “helpers” tried to undermine her efforts! But she was faithful to her calling, met with the Sultan, and afterwards refused his offer of protection: she was already was under God’s protection!

Is Music Joy? – a Lecture by Dan Chua

December 6, 2020 /

This is one of the most remarkable lectures I’ve heard ever, and it is on video at YouTube! It is Dan Chua, a scholar at the University of Hong Kong considering the question, “Is Music Joy?” He is speaking in the Bartlett Lecture Series at Yale Divinity School. Daniel Chua is a University of Hong Kong music scholar who studies the intersection between music, philosophy, and theology. The lecture proper begins after an introduction that introduces an introduction speaker who gives an introduction… Not bad, just not the lecture. These prelims take nearly 4 1/2 minutes. The lecture itself is about a hour. It was for me an hour well-spent! I found it deeply satisfying – even joyful! So, if you are into music in a serious way, or just enjoy thinking deeply, give it a listen. I mean, seriously. Joyfully even!

Quoting the blurb from several Yale Divinity School Bartlett Lecture announcements: “The Bartlett Lectureship was created in 1986 with a gift from the Rev. Robert M. Bartlett ’24 B.D. and his wife, Sue Bartlett. The purpose of the lectureship is to foster understanding of, among other issues, democracy, human rights, and world peace.”

This is the text of the link: https://youtu.be/lNyeA-XsA2E

What is Sabbath? – a video (and podcast) by The Bible Project

January 8, 2020 /

I love the Bible Project. I listened to Tim and Jon discuss Sabbath in the podcast series leading up to this video; it was a fantastic, thought-provoking, learning experience! And now the video is out. Watch it. Several times! It’s beautiful, and deep. And if you want to understand the Sabbath concept and how it is woven throughout scripture more fully, listen to the podcast episodes on this subject. I can’t recommend The Bible Project podcast and videos highly enough. Oh, and they also have a Bible reading plan. Check it out.

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