Afterwords
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3 NIV)
Today's blanket of white snow (above) is a great way to enter the new year! As you can see, my Bible reading newsletter has morphed to an "Afterwords" newsletter, which will come out weekly. An afterword is a postscript or epilogue, and this newsletter will be a post about my reading, reflections, and random afterthoughts.
BIBLE READING. I'm beginning the two-year cycle of M'Cheyne's reading schedule again and will post from time to time about what I'm reading, both in the Bible and elsewhere. My posts on the first-year readings begin here.
WEARINESS. As I was finishing Malachi last week I noticed in the attitudes, words, and actions of the Jews (nearing the end of the Old Testament period) a weariness in their relationship with God. They were tired of worship, of giving, of faithful teaching, and of being committed to God and to their spouses. Much of their failure was due to a loss of their sense of the greatness and grandeur of God himself. (Mal 1:5, 6, 11, 14). They felt that God was unkind, and that he was not really very loving or worthy of honor and service. They had lost their zeal to serve him wholeheartedly. Beethoven once said, “To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable.” (Only the coming of God's Son and the New Covenant would turn things around.) In our day, at the end of two+ years of pandemic we may feel much the same way. We may have become lethargic and half-hearted toward the things of the Lord, due largely to the social distancing, isolation, cancellation of church services and fellowship groups, loss of confidence in leaders, and a growing dependence upon digital media. But let's not allow the wearying cycles of disappointment make us lose our zeal for God. As we enter 2022, let's pray, "Lord, restore to us the awareness of your greatness, and how worthy you are of our highest praise!"
BSIB. The Biblical Studies Institute of Blacksburg will begin its spring semester on Thursday, February 3, 2022, meeting at 6:30 pm in the BCF Adult Education wing. Two new classes have been added: "Introduction to Theology," taught by Loren Rees and Neil Damgaard, and "History of the Reformation," taught by Chris Hutchinson. For more information visit the website. Please tell others about this ministry!
A NEW PROJECT. A number of years ago I came upon an old (1809), leatherbound copy of William Romaine's The Walk of Faith. I was very moved by what I read and have since found digital copies of his three major works, and a hard copy of the works combined in The Life, Walk and Triumph of Faith, edited by Peter Toon in 1970. I've had a desire to update its language and to abridge some portions for modern readers. More to come on this.
QUOTE. "Christianity is not a patent medicine. Christianity claims to give an account of facts—to tell you what the real universe is like. If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be. If it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives him no help at all." (C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock)
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Sandy