Lament and Lullaby

Today is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. It’s also the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973.

The Coventry Carol is both lullaby and lament, sung by the women of Bethlehem to their children before an enraged Herod had their babies slain. It was written in the sixteenth century for The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors in Coventry, England. This pageant told the story of the birth of Jesus, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with the killing of the little boys of Bethlehem.¹

“Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.

O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.

Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.”

Tomorrow is the 39th annual March for Life. Remember those little ones—55,000,000— who have lost their lives. Pray for their mothers, their fathers and ask God to have mercy on us and grant our nation repentance.

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¹Coventry Carol: The Hymns and Carols of Christmas.
Video by Lutevoice: Valeria Mignaco & Alfonso Marin, soprano-lute duo.
Statistic from Jill Stanek.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

“Love Your Neighbor As Yourself”

In the chapter “Study Love,” from Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4.  Alexander Strauch writes:

“If you want to pursue love, you must read and study what God says about love in his written Word. You will then grow in the knowledge of love and in the knowledge of God and Christ whom we are to love above all others. Nothing but God’s Word and Spirit can awaken our desire to love and transform our sinfully selfish hearts to love as Christ loves.”¹

There are fifty texts he considers to be key Bible passages on love. I agree so emphatically with him on the vital importance of love in the church, I’m posting one each Sunday, and I may include some verses to provide context or combine or even add a few. Pray, read and study the passage; ask God to transform your heart to know Him and His love and to love others.

You’ll recognized words used by Jesus before he told a famous parable defining neighbor:

Luke 10:25–37

“‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am Yahweh.’”
Leviticus 19:18

“‘When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.’”
Leviticus 19:33–34

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

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Heart-[foto & Concept by paul b. toman], Plismo: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Barmhartige Samaritaan by Han Wezelaar (The Good Samaritan): Gouwenaar, Public Domain.
¹Alexander Strauch, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4 (Lewis & Roth, Littleton CO): 27, 31.

In “The Sermon On The Name” I explain the use of Yahweh rather than LORD.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

January 21th Updates

I don’t have any news posts this week for the Read the Bible in 2011 pages, but on Sunday I will be posting more Bible texts on love.

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

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Boom, Wilfredor: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 or any later version, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

“The Sermon On The Name”

Last week in “Love or Die” I introduced you to Alexander Strauch’s book, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4. In the chapter “Study Love,” he writes:

“If you want to pursue love, you must read and study what God says about love in his written Word. You will then grow in the knowledge of love and in the knowledge of God and Christ whom we are to love above all others. Nothing but God’s Word and Spirit can awaken our desire to love and transform our sinfully selfish hearts to love as Christ loves.”¹

There are fifty texts he considers to be key Bible passages on love. I agree so emphatically with him on the vital importance of love in the church, I’ll be posting one each week on Sunday. I may include some verses to provide context or combine or even add a few. Pray, read and study the passage; ask God to transform your heart to know Him and His love and to love others.

In Exodus 34:5–8, God is speaking to Moses. Martin Luther called verses 6 and 7, the “sermon on the name of the Lord.”²

⁵Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of Yahweh. ⁶Then Yahweh passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷who keeps loving- kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ⁸Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship.
Exodus 34:6

I’m sure you noticed I substituted Yahweh for LORD, the word used in the NAS translation. I thought it was important because this is God’s sermon on His name. This explanation from Dan Phillips tells you why I did this:

“Every time you see “LORD” or “GOD” printed all in caps, it means that the Hebrew text has God’s personal name, יהוה (YHWH, probably pronounced “Yahweh”), which is used some 6,823 times.”³

He has this to say on the importance of using Yahweh:

“We need the reminder that God has a personal name. He is not a principle, a force, an impersonal spirit. He is an infinite person, and He has named Himself Yahweh….”⁴

“The name Yahweh almost certainly derives from the verbal root הוה (hwh), meaning to be or become. Of the many explanations of its significance, I take Yahweh to signify God as the one who is present faithfully to keep His covenant, the promise-keeping God who is personally present. It is God’s covenant-name; if you will, it is the name by which He signs His covenants. The closest to an explanation comes in Exodus 3:14, “I am who I am,” in the context of expressing God’s presence to keep his covenant with Abraham and his sons.”⁵

“…God’s name is Yahweh, the creator of heaven and earth, the self-revealing, covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God of Moses and the exodus and Mt. Sinai. He is also the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yahweh is the God who committed Himself to covenants, and revealed Himself by word and deed throughout the Bible.”⁶

In his sermon on Exodus 34:1–9, “The Lord Passes By,” J. Ligon Duncan said:

“In verses 5-7, we are treated to an astonishing verbal divine self-revelation of the character of God. The Lord Himself draws near to Moses at the top of Sinai, He walks between the pieces as we already noted in verse 6, He draws near, He passes by, reestablishing the covenant, and [as] He does, He is revealing His essential character in a dramatic way. This passage gives us an essential revelation of the name, of the character, the moral nature, and the heart of God. The Name of the Lord is an expression of what He is and what He does. What does the revelation turn out to be? If you look at the end of verses 6 and 7, that encapsulated statement, the revelation ends up being God preaching about God. God telling His people what He is like. It is the self-proclamation of God.”⁷

I included God’s words on forgiveness, sin and judgment because it’s vitally important that we see and know God as He is. Duncan also said:

“Notice also that the revelation of verses 6-7 focuses on God’s mercy and grace. If you were look[ing] back at Exodus 20:5-6, where God describes His character in language very similar to Exodus 34:6-7, you would notice something quite interesting. In Exodus 20, the Lord says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to those who keep My commandments.” And you say, “Well, that sounds very similar to this.” It is, but notice the emphasis there is on the covenant jealousy of God and the judgment of violators, whereas in Exodus 34 the emphasis is on God’s grace. “I’m merciful, I’m compassionate, and I’m slow to anger. Yes, I visit iniquity to the third and fourth generation,” but the focus is on God’s mercy and grace and that is wholly appropriate for this context.”

The context makes this focus incredible and teaches us much about the extent of God’s love and mercy. What is the context of Exodus 34? If you go back to Exodus 32, you will read of Israel’s great sin in demanding and worshiping an idol, the golden calf made by Aaron. Yahweh truly is a God who abounds in lovingkindness.

Now go back and read this passage again. What was Moses’ reaction to hearing God proclaim who He is? What is yours?

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

UPDATE: Welcome Pyromaniacs readers! If you’d like to know more about who I am and what I write here, my About page will fill you in, while in My Witness I tell the story of how I became a Christian during the days of the Jesus Movement.
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Heart-[foto & Concept by paul b. toman], Plismo: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
¹Alexander Strauch, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4 (Lewis & Roth, Littleton CO): 27, 31.
²C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.
^{3, 4, 5, 6}Dan Phillips, “The Foundation of Wisdom,” God’s Wisdom in Proverbs (Kress Biblical Resources, 2011) 67, 68, 69, 70.
⁷J. Ligon Duncan, Exodus 34:1–9, “The Lord Passes By.”

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

January 14th Updates

On the Read the Bible in 2011 pages there are some readings without a link to a post. I’d like to fill in some of those gaps this year, and as I write, I’ll make each one “sticky” for a few days to the top of the front page. “Unsticking” one of these posts relocate its to the 2011 archives, so I’ll list any I’ve done during the week on Saturday. Here’s this week’s post:

2 Peter: God’s Precious & Magnificent Promises

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

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Boom, Wilfredor: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 or any later version, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

In Sheep’s Clothing: The Wolf of Mysticism

Based upon several years of observation, it is my serious conviction that mysticism is a danger that is permeating, incognito, into the church today. As it greets Christians under the name of various innocuous phrases, its content is hidden behind words with Christian connotations while its nature deceives with experiences that promise a deeper knowledge of God and a transcendence of the weight of care and sin. Thomas Merton said, “The only cure for the angst of modern man is mysticism.”¹ It appears many Christians have also come to believe mysticism is the only cure for their angst.

Rather than begin with who is saying what or who is writing that, I want to give you some background on mysticism to help you recognize some of its teachings and some of its forms. I’m doing it this way because women especially seem susceptible to being pulled into it, and once they have become enamored of a teacher, they close their ears and are resistant to considering whether or not that person is faithfully adhering to God’s Word—loyalty is an admirable trait, but our first loyalty is to Christ!

There will be several posts on mysticism. This is a series I considered doing last year, but I thought I needed to first anchor this blog with God’s Word by emphasizing and encouraging you to read your Bible.

What is mysticism? Looking back on history, Charles Hodge wrote in the chapter titled “Mysticism” in his Systematic Theology:

“Few words indeed have been used in such a vague, indefinite sense as Mysticism. Its etymology does not determine its meaning. A μύστης [W. E. Vine: “mustēs: the initiated (from mueō, to initiate into the mysteries...).”²] was one initiated into the knowledge of the Greek mysteries, one to whom secret things had been revealed. Hence in the wide sense of the word, a Mystic is one who claims to see or know what is hidden from other men, whether this knowledge be attained by immediate intuition, or by inward revelation. In most cases these methods were assumed to be identical, as intuition was held to be the immediate vision of God and of divine things. Hence, in the wide sense of the word, Mystics are those who claim to be under the immediate guidance of God or of his Spirit.”³

B. B. Warfield in Mysticism & Christianity explained:

“There is a deeper reason for a mystic being “mute” — that is what the name imports — than that he wishes to make a mystery of his discoveries. He is “mute” because, as a mystic, he has nothing to say. When he sinks within himself he finds feelings, not conceptions; his is an emotional, not a conceptional, religion; and feelings, emotions, though not inaudible, are not articulate…. On the brink of this abyss the mystic may stand in awe, and, standing in awe upon its brink, he may deify it. Then he calls it indifferently Brahm or Zeus, Allah or the Holy Spirit, according as men about him speak of God. He explains its meaning, in other words, in terms of the conception of the universe which he has brought with him, or, as it is more fashionable now to phrase it, each in accordance with his own world-view.”⁴

Francis Schaeffer has three chapters on mysticism in The God Who Is There. In “Modern Mysticism: Despair Beyond Despair” he noted the misuse of words by Neo-orthodox theology.

“Real communication is not established, but an illusion of communication is given by employing words rich in connotation. Expressing the inexpressible existential experience in religious connotation words gives an illusion of communication.”⁵

People still do that. They use a biblical word, but what that words means to the speaker and what it means to you may be two different things. You may assume he means the biblical definition, when he does not.

Schaeffer described the mysticism he observed by saying:

“All the new theology and mysticism is nothing more than a faith contrary to rationality, deprived of content and incapable of communication. You can bear ‘witness’ to it, but you cannot discuss it. Rationality and faith are out of contact with each other.”⁶

John MacArthur in Reckless Faith stated:

“Mysticism is the idea that spiritual reality is found by looking inward. Mysticism is perfectly suited for religious existentialism; indeed, it is its inevitable consequence. The mystic disdains rational understanding and seeks truth instead through the feelings, the imagination, personal visions, inner voices, private illumination, or other purely subjective means. Objective truth becomes practically superfluous. Mystical experiences are therefore self-authenticating; that is, they are not subject to any form of objective verification.”⁷

If you look at the dates in the footnotes, you’ll find that the above quotes span over 100 years. There are reasons I used them. First, mysticism is a recurrent movement that has introduced heretical teaching into the church in various forms over the last 2000 years. Second, I want you to see how we can learn from Christians in the past who have recognized the danger and have given us their wisdom.

Mysticism denies or subverts major biblical truths. I’ll discuss a few of those in part two.

Paul wrote:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
2 Timothy 4:3–4

The New Testament teaches that Christians don’t merely know facts, they confess Jesus as Lord. Jesus taught that the Bible is the truthful and authoritative Word of God. Those who confess Jesus Christ as Lord are thus compelled to conclude, “When Scripture speaks, God speaks.” Be like the Bereans who, when they heard Paul, were “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Whatever you read, whoever you hear, hold those words under the examination of the truth of God’s Word.

Related Posts:
2 Peter: God’s Precious & Magnificent Promises
2 John: Walk & Watch
“Love or Die”
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In Sheep Clothing: cropped  flickr photograph by Pierre Tourigny
¹Thomas Merton as quoted by Brennan Manning in The Furious Longing of God (David C. Cook, 2009) 63. I  do not recommend anything by Merton or Manning. They are both false teachers of heretical doctrines.
²W. E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, Old Testament edited by F. F. Bruce, vol. 3 (Fleming H. Revell, 1981) 97. Vine also states:
“Among the ancient Greeks ‘the mysteries’ were religious rites and ceremonies practised by secret societies into which any one who so desired might be received. Those who were initiated into these ‘mysteries’ became possessors of certain knowledge, which was not imparted to the uninitiated, and were called the ‘perfected,’…”
³Charles Hodge, “Mysticism,” Systematic Theology, vol. 1, chapter IV, § 1. Meaning of the Words Enthusiasm and Mysticism (1871–1872).
⁴B. B. Warfield, Mysticism & Christianity.
http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/bbwmysticism.htm
“This essay originally appeared in The Biblical Review (vol. 2 ,1917, pp. 169-191) but this edition was derived from The Works of Benjamin B. Warfield (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991, vol. 9, pp. 649-666). The electronic edition of this article was scanned and edited by Shane Rosenthal for Reformation Ink. It is in the public domain and may be freely copied and distributed. Pagination from the Baker edition has been retained for purposes of reference. Scanning errors may be present in this edition.”
^{5, 6}Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (Inter-Varsity Press, 1968) 56, 61.
⁷John MacArthur, Reckless Faith (Crossway Books, 1994) 27.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

“Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour”

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.”
2 Corinthians 8:9

The lyrics of Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour were written in China by Frank Houghton, an Englishman.  The words, the music and the story behind the writing of this hymn make this song one of my favorite Christmas carols.

“…This hymn was written at a particularly difficult time in the history of the missions to China. Missionaries had been captured by the communist Red Army and released in poor health after over a year of suffering. Others had been captured never to be heard from again. In 1934 the young missionaries John and Betty Stam (my great aunt and uncle) were captured in Anhwei and beheaded.

“The news of these sorrows had reached the mission’s headquarters in Shanghai. Though this was a very dangerous time for both the Chinese Christians and the foreign missionaries, Frank Houghton [Editorial Secretary for the China Inland Mission] decided he needed to begin a tour through the country to visit various missionary outposts. While traveling over the mountains of Szechwan, the powerful and comforting words of 2 Corinthians 8:9, “though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor,” were transformed into this beautiful Christmas hymn….

“Frank Houghton was consecrated as Bishop of East Szechwan in 1937. For the difficult years of 1940 to 1951 he served as General Director of the China Inland Mission, a time when most missionaries were either interred or evacuated. Although some would return after War II, by 1953 there were no more foreign missionaries in China. What Hudson Taylor had begun almost 100 years earlier would be left to the Chinese Christians to continue….”¹
Chip Stam

“Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love’s sake becamest poor.

“Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man;
Stooping so low, but sinners raising
Heavenwards by thine eternal plan.
Thou who art God beyond all praising,
All for love’s sake becamest man.

“Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.
Emmanuel, within us dwelling,
Make us what thou wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love beyond all telling,
Saviour and King, we worship thee.”

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Soon after I published this post in December the video I used was removed at YouTube, but I could not find another one I liked until several weeks later. Because this is one of the loveliest and most moving of all Christmas carols, I republished this post on January 9, 2012.

Nativity scene, cropped from 1905 photograph: This work is in the public in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1923.
Brief biography:  Frank Houghton.
¹Worship Quote of the Week (WQOTW), a worship ministry of Carl “Chip” Stam.
Chip Stam was Director of the Institute for Christian Worship at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He died of cancer this past May. You can learn more about him and his family heritage at In Memory of Carl ‘Chip’ Stam (March 10, 1953 to May 1, 2011) and at http://www.carlstam.org/

“Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour,” Don Reece, soloist.

Original content: Copyright ©2010–2012 Iwana Carpenter

“Love or Die”

Pursue love…
1 Corinthians 14:1

With those two words Alexander Strauch opens his book, Love or Die, with its subtitle of Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4.

This terrific small book is divided into two parts, “The Problem of Lost Love: Revelation 2:4,” and “How to Cultivate Love: Hebrews 10:24.” It ends with a study guide in the third section. As indicated in his title Strauch first turns to Revelation 2:1–7:

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’”
Revelation 2:1–7 ESV

The three chapters in part one are expositions of this passage as he explains the crucial importance of love to all churches, what Christ has to say to the church at Ephesus and the three things the Ephesians must do: “remember, repent and do the works you did at first.”¹ Because the object of first love is not given in this passage, Strauch interprets it as encompassing all Christian love, for God and for our neighbor.²

In part two, the first of the six chapters on cultivating love is “Study Love.” Strauch writes:

“If you want to pursue love, you must read and study what God says about love in his written Word. You will then grow in the knowledge of love and in the knowledge of God and Christ whom we are to love above all others. Nothing but God’s Word and Spirit can awaken our desire to love and transform our sinfully selfish hearts to love as Christ loves.”³

Strauch reminds us that the two greatest commands are to love God and to love our neighbor, and in an appendix Strauch lists fifty texts he considers to be key Bible passages on love.⁴ I’m going to be posting one a week on Sunday with perhaps some additional verses to provide context. Pray about the text, read it in its context, study it and think about what it means. If you’ve been reading my blog over the last year, you know how emphatically I agree with Alexander Strauch. That’s why I was so excited to find his book and why I want to share these verses with you. God’s Word changes us (John 17:17), and we must ask Him to enable us to receive what He has to say with humility and to make us to be doers of His Word, not just hearers (James 1:21–25).

Pray and think about these verses in Revelation this week and the other passages in this post. Do you need to remember, repent and do the works you did at first? Strauch explains the terms:

“To help the Ephesians recognize the seriousness of their condition, Jesus admonished them to remember their early days when love motivated all that they did. They needed to recall the love they originally possessed but had forsaken.

“To remember means to recollect past feelings and actions, but not in a passive sense. It is not sentimental daydreaming about the “good old days” with no intention to act. The present imperative command, “remember,” emphasizes an ongoing, continuous mental attitude of remembering. It requires making the effort to recall past joys, deeds, attitudes and experiences in the life of the church in order to repeat them and act upon them.”⁵

What were your early days as a believer like? What do you need to remember?

On repentance, Strauch writes:

“The imperative command “remember” is followed by another imperative command “repent.” They must sense the need to return and restore the love they once possessed….

“Through repentance the church in Ephesus would demonstrate
• that it accepts Christ’s evaluation of its fallen condition,
• that it has judged itself according to Christ’s Word to be sinful and deserving of divine discipline (1 Cor. 11:31–32),
• that it grieves over its loss of love and displeasure to Christ (2 Cor. 7:8–10),
• that it is turning away from sin and returning to its past life of love,
• that it will, by God’s grace, take appropriate action (2 Cor. 7:8–12).

“The Ephesians could not restore their first love without repenting—the Lord would not allow it. The lesson here is that sin must always be dealt with; it cannot be ignored. Repentance is at the heart of what the Ephesians believers must do to restore their first love.”⁶

This is from his comments on doing the works you did at first:

“After “remember” and “repent,” the third imperative command is “do the works you did at first.” Literally the text reads “And do the first works.” The word first reminds us of its earlier appearance in Revelation 2:4, “you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Genuine repentance produces “fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8; also 2 Cor. 7:10–11).”⁷

If you want to know what love is like, read 1 Corinthians 13. Notice that without love all spiritual gifts and good works are nothing! In addition to this chapter, there are numerous other New Testament passages that tell us how to love each other. Remember also the new commandment Jesus gave in John 13:34–35 and John 15:12–14, and his prayer for us in John 17:20–23.

If you want to know more about our love for God read John 14:21, 23; 15:10; 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6, and 1 John 3:1–5:3. Notice that our love for God is known not by our emotional intensity, but by our obedience to Him and by our love for other Christians!

As you read 1 John also notice how all of our love comes from God’s love for us. How has God shown us His love for us?

Now if you’re concerned about lack of feeling or that I’m describing an unattractive cold type of love, let me add this, pray, asking God to enable you and then: You remember and repent. You do the works you did at first of, and with, patience, kindness, humility and longsuffering. You obey God. You dwell with gratitude on how God has shown His love for us. Trust me, you won’t find your heart cold and unfeeling!

Next Sunday I’ll share a new passage on love.

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

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Heart-[foto & Concept by paul b. toman], Plismo: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}Alexander Strauch, Love or Die: Christ’s Wake-Up Call to the Church Revelation 2:4 (Lewis & Roth, Littleton CO): 9, 20–23, 27, 31 & 29–30, 21, 21–22, 22.
The six chapters in the second part are: “Study Love”, “Pray For Love,” “Teach Love,” “Model Love,” “Guard Love” and “Practice Love.” The titles indicate what he teaches on how to cultivate love.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

January 7th Updates

As I wrote earlier this week, I’ll be filling in some of the gaps on the Read the Bible in 2011 pages because I didn’t post on some daily readings and others were only reading reminders. As I write, I’ll make them “sticky” for a few days so that they temporarily stick to the top of the front page. Because “unsticking” a post relocates it to the 2011 archives, I’ll also list the ones I’ve done at the end of each week. Here’s this week’s post:

1 Samuel 26–31: David’s Escape & Saul’s Death

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Boom, Wilfredor: GNU Free Documentation License Version 1.2 or any later version, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter

Looking Forward to 2012

So what do I have in mind for 2012?

I won’t post daily this year, instead I’ll aim for at least two days a week—probably on Wednesday and Saturday. I have several series to continue, including Studying the Bible, and I’ll be writing more on God’s purposes for us as women.

One thing I want to do is fill in some of the gaps on the Read the Bible in 2011 pages. Some daily readings are listed without a link because there aren’t posts on them or the posts are only reading reminders. Because of the wonder of blogging software I can postdate them to 2011 while at the same time making them “sticky” so that they temporarily stick to the top of the front page. I’ll also relocate the Read the Bible in 2011 page and the quarterly readings pages under the Bible page in the header. That means some links will get broken, and I’ll fix them as I can. If you can’t find something, just let me know!

This last week I’ve been thinking about these words of Paul; his great triad of faith, hope and love:

“We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father, knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you…”
1 Thessalonians 1:2–4

And his teaching on the fruit of the Spirit:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22–23

This is what Christian growth looks like. This is what godliness looks like. I want to dwell on these verses and qualities this year, and even when I write on other topics keep them in front of me to undergird my thinking.

May God’s mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you in 2012.

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Original content: Copyright ©2012 Iwana Carpenter