Bible Study

Practical Atheism

Practical Atheism...

.living, thinking, believing

like He doesn't exist,
like He didn't die so that I could be reconciled,
like He wasn't resurrected so that I could live faithfully, gratefully, fully,
that He reigns sovereignly over that which I worry over so easily, so frequently.

I want need to look at this closer this year. A year, I hope, of understanding how 
Incarnation,
Life,
Death,
Resurrection
Reign of Christ means...... that I breathe, live, think, love, worship wholeheartedly.

Psalm 77

To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

I cry aloud to God,
    aloud to God, and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
    in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
    my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
    when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah

You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
    the years long ago.
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
    let me meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
    and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”

I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
    and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
    What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
    you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

When the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
    the skies gave forth thunder;
    your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“So I think I'd better go, said Wimsey. "I rather wish I hadn't come buttin' into this. Some things may be better left alone, don't you think? My sympathies are all in the wrong place and I don't like it. I know all about not doing evil tha good may come. I'ts doin' good that evil may come that is so embarrassin'."
"My dear boy," said the Rector, "it does not do for us to take too much thought for the morrow. It is better to follow the truth and leave the results in the hand of God. He can forsee where we cannot, because He knows all the facts.”

It was with this quote that I understood why Sayers designed such an "easy" mystery and places this book on my re-read list. I knew fairly early on the identity of the corpse, but continued reading to see why she would craft the story so and to see where she was taking me.  She took me to a community that cares for its own, and to the church that stands high on a hill, whose ringing bells bring joy, comfort, and alarm in times of need. This church provided shelter during a flood and ensuing tragedy which occurs when warnings are ignored. I hear clearly echoes of the Old Testament story of Noah. In all of this, by crafting several sub-plots, she asks me to consider that the ways of our Lord are indeed the mystery bringing both sorrow and joy, sometimes with a paradoxical comfort that comes from leaving "the results in the hand of God."  Masterly and subtly crafted, it is well worth re-reading.


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G.O.S.P.E.L.

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.

Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

We don't often sing hymns at the church I attend, but yesterday we had the privilege of singing Fill Thou My Life, O Lord, My God with its richly encouraging and challenging lyrics.


Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

Horatius Bonar, 1866
Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
In every part with praise,
That my whole being may proclaim
Thy being and thy ways.

2. Not for the lip of praise alone,
Nor e'en the praising heart
I ask, but for a life made up
Of praise in every part!

3. Praise in the common things of life,
Its goings our and in;
Praise in each duty and deed,
However small and mean.

4. Fill every part of me with praise;
Let all my being speak
Of thee and of thy love, O Lord,
Poor though I be, and weak.

5. So shalt thou, Lord, from me, e'en me,
Receive the glory due;
And so shall I begin on earth
The song forever new.

6. So shall each fear, each fret, each care
Be turned into a song,
And every winding of the way
The echo shall prolong;

7. So shall no part of day or night
From sacredness be free;
But all my life, in every step
Be fellowship with thee.