Archive for Christianity
Art or Idols?
Posted by: | CommentsIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
">RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! -- Jon ClaytonIf we aren’t careful our traditions can become our idols, and rooting them out may be hazardous to the church’s health. This was the case in Eastern Christianity’s infamous iconoclast controversy.
During Medieval times, Christians began worshiping and praying to saints, a practice that gradually led to the prominence of icons—flat pictures representing Christ, Mary, or some other saint. While Christian art has edified believers since the days of the catacombs, the Eastern church began worshiping these images. The pictures were reverently kissed. Incense was offered before them. Prayers were rendered to them. Some icons reputedly possessed miracle-working powers.
The Byzantine emperor Leo III was repelled by the worship of icons, perhaps because his political enemies, the Jews and the Moslems, accused him of heading an empire of idolaters. In 726 he outlawed image worship and soon thereafter ordered the destruction of icons everywhere. But image worship had become so entrenched in the Byzantine church that his edicts were viewed as attacks on Christianity itself. An uprising raged through his empire, and many died. Pope Gregory in Rome ridiculed the emperor and held two synods condemning Leo’s iconoclasm (icon-breaking).
Leo’s son, Constantine V, continued his father’s war against icons with vigor. He convened a church council in Constantinople, attended by 360 bishops. The council, citing the second commandment, denounced icons as idols and declared all religious paintings and sculpture as pagan. Their use in public and private worship was forbidden. The council’s decree was carried out with intensity, and sacred images were smashed, destroyed, painted over, and burned. Fifty thousand icon-producing monks fled or perished. For the next 89 years, the icon controversy seesawed back and forth, tearing the church, ripping its unity, and providing it with a new crop of dubious martyrs.
The persecution ended only after the death of Emperor Theophilus, the last great iconoclast, in 842. On March 11, 843 icons were formally sanctioned and reintroduced in all Eastern Orthodox churches. This day, the so-called “Triumph of Orthodoxy,” has been commemorated in Eastern congregations around the world for over 1,000 years.
Morgan, R. J. 2000, c1997. On this day : 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville
<:))))><<
Amazing Grace
Posted by: | CommentsIt took John Newton to write the hymn Amazing Grace. “Let me not fail to praise that grace that could pardon,” he said, “such sins as mine.”
Newton had gone to sea at age 11, apprenticed on his father’s ship. He spent his teen years learning to be profane, irreligious, and indulgent. Female slaves being transported from Africa were at Newton’s disposal, and even seasoned sailors were alarmed at his corruption.
Newton’s life angered his father and disgusted his friends, and he was finally pressed into service for the British Navy. He deserted, but was arrested, stripped, and flogged. He became the property of a slave trader in Sierra Leone, who gave him to his sadistic mistress. John became a loathsome toy she tormented for over a year.
He finally boarded ship for Britain. On March 9, as he carelessly read a Christian book to pass the time, the thought came to him, “What if these things are true?” He snapped the book closed and shook off the question.
I went to bed in my usual indifference, but was awakened by a violent sea which broke on us. Much of it came down below and filled the cabin where I lay. This alarm was followed by a cry that the ship was going down. We had immediate recourse to the pumps, but the water increased against all our efforts. Almost every passing wave broke over my head. I expected that every time the vessel descended into the sea, she would rise no more. I dreaded death now, and my heart foreboded the worst, if the Scriptures, which I had long since opposed, were true.
The vessel survived the March 10, 1748 storm, and Newton began earnestly studying the Bible. He embraced Christ and eventually entered the ministry, becoming one of England’s best-loved preachers and a leader in the fight against slavery. He once recalled, That tenth of March is a day much remembered by me; and I have never suffered it to pass unnoticed since the year 1748—the Lord came from on high and delivered me out of deep waters.
Morgan, R. J. 2000, c1997. On this day : 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville
This Rings True
Posted by: | Comments
This really struck me as true. Is it true for you as well?
“The first device that Satan has to keep souls in a sad, doubting, and questioning condition, and so making their life a hell, is by causing them to be still poring and musing upon sin, to mind their sins more than their Savior; yes, so to mind their sins as to forget, yes, to neglect their Savior, that, as the Psalmist speaks, ‘The Lord is not in all their thoughts’ (Psalm 10:4). Their eyes are so fixed upon their disease, that they cannot see the remedy, though it be near; and they do so muse upon their debts, that they have neither mind nor heart to think of their Surety. A Christian should wear Christ in his bosom as a flower of delight, for he is a whole paradise of delight. He who minds not Christ more than his sin, can never be thankful and fruitful as he should.” — Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices
HT = Miscellanies.
<:))))><<
Sam Jones vs. Sam Jones
Posted by: | CommentsJohn J. Jones felt God calling him into the ministry, but he resisted, choosing instead the profession of law. His son followed in his footsteps. Young Sam Jones proved a brilliant attorney at first. But alcoholism quickly ruined his life and reduced him to shoveling coal. He was on a drinking binge when he heard of his father’s illness. He rushed home, and the old lawyer became a preacher at last, saying, “My poor, wicked, wayward, reckless boy. You have brought me down in sorrow to my grave. Promise me, my boy, to meet me in heaven.”
Sam fell to his knees and promised, then he flew to a bar and begged for a glass of liquor. But as he started to drink it, he saw himself in the mirror. Hair matted. Filth and vomit on his clothes. Lips swollen. He smashed the glass on the floor and gave his life to Jesus Christ. A week later, he preached his first sermon.
Jones became the most famous evangelist of the nineteenth century, save for Moody. He held crusades in major cities throughout America, winning an estimated 500,000 people to Christ. His most unusual revival began on March 5, 1899, in Toledo, Ohio. The mayor of Toledo was also named Sam Jones. Mayor Jones introduced Evangelist Jones on the revival’s opening night. The next mayoral election was only a month away, and he enjoyed the exposure. But he didn’t enjoy what Evangelist Jones had to say, for the preacher lost no time in attacking the mayor’s policies. There were 700 saloons and 150 gambling dens in Toledo, and city administrators were unconcerned about it. The evangelist said that if the devil were mayor of Toledo, he wouldn’t change a thing. He flailed away at alcohol and sin. He lifted high the cross, and preached with the zeal of a lawyer trying to save his client from the gallows. Men wept. Women groaned. Children were spellbound. The seats were packed night after night. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were converted during the Toledo meetings.
But the mayor won reelection the next month by a huge margin.
Morgan, R. J. 2000, c1997. On this day : 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville
<:))))><<
Offense
Posted by: | CommentsTherefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved (1 Corinthians 10:31-33).
The Bible instructs us to not give offense for the glory of God that by do doing, people would be saved. Now those are some ’salty’ verses.
I have given more that my share of offense over the years. And for that fact, I have taken more than my share of offense. I need to stop it, you need to stop it, we all need to stop it. This is one of those instances where it is not more blessed to give than receive.
<:))))><<
A Practical Examination
Posted by: | CommentsThe sailing of the mission ship Duff was an event to remember. Thirty missionaries and their families set out from England to the South Pacific in August 1796. The morning was foggy, but the crowds were celebrative, singing hymns and offering prayers. The ship crossed the horizon and seven months later, on Saturday, March 4, 1797, the missionaries landed safely on Tahiti. The next day they held a worship service, then set to work.
The Duff’s captain, a Christian, was entrusted with the responsibility of seeing the missionaries established on various islands in the region. After several weeks on Tahiti, he felt secure enough to leave some of the workers there and take others to neighboring islands. He planted ten missionaries on Tonga, then proceeded to the islands of the Marquises to deposit two men, William Crook and John Harris.
But an unexpected problem arose, one that their theological and missions training had not equipped the preachers to handle. No sooner had the ship anchored than beautiful naked native women swam out to welcome the missionaries. Crook and Harris nervously bundled their things and went ashore.
Such curious crowds met the two that Crook became separated from Harris and found himself alone with the chief’s wife. To his horror, she immediately began seeking his attentions. When he refused, she seemed bewildered. As it turned out, she wondered if he was, in fact, a man. Resolving to find out, she and a mob of other women attacked Harris during the night and conducted a “practical examination” to clear up the matter.
The Duff’s crew found Harris sitting on the beach the next morning, suffering from shock, humiliated, and very anxious to leave. The work in the Marquises was abandoned. The work on Tonga proceeded with difficulty. The Tahiti mission showed more promise and eventually led to many conversions.
Morgan, R. J. 2000, c1997. On this day : 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville
<:))))><<
The Counter-Reformation
Posted by: | CommentsChurches and denominations, like houses and hearts, need periodic cleaning and occasional renovation. Luther’s response to the deterioration of the 16th-century church sparked not only the Protestant Reformation, but the Catholic Counter-Reformation, efforts within the Roman church to repair itself. On December 13, 1545 Pope Paul III convened a council in the northern Italian city of Trent, attended at first by only 34 leaders. The several sessions lasted from 1545 to 1563. Participants included Jesuits and scholars, political leaders desiring reunification with Protestants, and clergymen, some desiring reform, others wanting none of it.
The widespread sale of indulgences (which had inflamed Luther) was modified, and many measures were passed to correct and protect the morality of clergymen and church leaders. The doctrines of the church were also reexamined in light of emerging Protestant theology. In most cases, the council reaffirmed traditional medieval doctrines. Protestant views of the Lord’s Supper were dismissed, and transubstantiation upheld (the belief that the wine and bread of the Lord’s Supper become the very body of Christ). The council affirmed Latin as the proper language for the Mass, and it disagreed with Luther on making the Bible available in the common languages. It also rejected the Reformer’s cry of Scripture Alone. Church tradition, said the council, joins Scripture as a source of divine authority for believers.
On this day in Christian history, March 3, 1547, the council began affirming the seven sacraments of the church, all of them, it said, necessary for salvation: Baptism, Confirmation, the Eucharist, Penance, Extreme Unction, Orders, and Matrimony. The Protestant view of two divine ordinances—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—was rejected.
The Council of Trent is one of the most important events in Reformation history, establishing the tone and doctrine of the Catholic Church for the next 400 years, and providing a basis for reformation within the Roman church. Not until the 1960s at Vatican II did another major reexamination take place.
Morgan, R. J. 2000, c1997. On this day : 365 amazing and inspiring stories about saints, martyrs & heroes (electronic ed.). Thomas Nelson Publishers: Nashville
<:))))><<
okie preacher (41)
Jonathan Waugh (10)
Tom (7)
bill (6)
Tim Williams (5)
Captain America (2)
Scott (2)
asfahan (1)
Bill Thomas (1)
Bob (1)
Dianne Hansen (1)
Gilbert Purtee (1)
Helen March (1)
jonclayton (1)
Julianne (1)
Mikes@Your Daily ... (1)
Sam (1)
Zindagi (1)