Truth and Peace

Someone recently asked me what I think of this quote by JC Ryle.

"Never be guilty of sacrificing any portion of truth on the altar of peace." - JC Ryle.

To be fair, I can't recall the context in which Ryle spoke these words. This was my initial response(with appropriate alterations)....

Hey, at least the credits are right for once. "Chuck" Spurgeon has been cited as the author of this quote when in reality he was quoting our dear brother Ryle.

What is Ryle trying to say? I don't know but there are basically two options.

1. Never be found sacrificing truth for peace (Don't do it)

2. You don't need to feel guilty for doing this ( Do it)

People have generally quoted Ryle in order to support option number 1. In other words, they use this quote to support a doctrinal emphasis. Arguing about various levels of doctrinal interests pretty much seems like a crock of pig Latin to me (Don't email me asking me for my political opinion on doctrine). Hey, who am I...I'm just a servant...go ask the King!

I don't really care which way Ryle meant it to be understood. Either way, Ryle is making a horrendous assumption....he is inadvertently indicating his subconscious belief that Truth may not be Peace....and likewise Peace may not be Truth.

I'm proclaiming from the mountain tops that Jesus IS TRUTH and Jesus is the WAY OF PEACE...peace and truth can't be separated. Thats the "good news" of the gospel. I hate to break it to Ryle, but Truth has lain in bed with Peace. According to the one party(Jesus) they don't seem to be interested in a divorce.

Veiled Freedom

I don't read many novels these days...especially the modern "apple snitz" type material that tends to gum up my brain and produce a contented sort of lock jaw. Enjoy this book recommendation while it lasts because I'm going to do something really abnormal for me...I'm going to recommend a novel today:)

Its not that there aren't any good novels out there...its just that there are so many novels of every shape around every corner, and I grow weary of people hoping to ram the latest rage down my throat. They say things like, "Kyle, you just HAVE to read ____________!!!!" These statements insinuate that I will never be a real person of value unless I become their clone....immediately I begin to think of reason why I will hate this new book that I "HAVE" to read.

So....nobody has to read this book, and I don't think you will be a lesser person if you haven't or won't read it. In fact, I should point out that your time would be better spent on another book, if you don't have a heart of love for the people of the middle east.

However....if you're still reading this post...

...and you're like me, having read nothing but theology, philosophy, and modern church writers for the last several years...if you would like a break from the heavier stuff...If you would like something pretty light for a change....if you would like to get a fairly accurate picture of the tensions in the middle east...take the time to read "Veiled Freedom" by J. M. Windle.

I'm actually reading parts of it to my students, hoping to produce more color in their picture of the middle east.

Five Elixires for Your Soul

On this beautiful Valentines Day I've already spent my time with my "significant other" which happens to be my wonderful cappuccino concoction, better known in the northern regions as "three in one." My wonderful "three in one" lasted about 5 minutes, so here we are...coming at you with a bit of spiked gloom and doom.

If you've been a teacher, you've surely had your students tell you that the stories in their literature book are just plain boring. Maybe your friend declares that he/she hates reading. After reading Corrie Ten Boom's story called, "The Hiding Place" someone told me that they found the story boring. Of course my mind began to turn, which in my case is generally a bad thing it seems:) I have five little elixirs for the soul in store for you today (read sarcasm).

When the stories of the lives of those before us become boring to us, we can know:

1. Our own lives have become our god in our universe

2. We can no longer identify with what God is doing on a wholistic/universal scale.

3. We have watched too many movies (electronic imaging has killed our imagination)

4. We no longer have the ability to "IMAGINE" what God can do in the future.

5. The Bible will have little impact in our lives and it's stories and prophesies will also be boring to us and our children.

Clarification and World Repentance

Just to clarify all confusion...Zion's Praises IS one of my five favorite hymn books.

Maybe you are already subscribed to these inspirational snippets. I apparently subscribe to them in my sleep because my in-box seems to fill up with them every day, and I can't really remember subscribing to them....

James Douglas reminds me of John the Baptists here....telling the world, "repent, the Kingdom is at hand!"

Paralyzed or Free

James Douglass


Most of the people on earth today are paralyzed by what are said to be the consequences of their sins. The destitute of the world have it hammered into their consciousness--by those who, like the scribes, have the power in our day to define sins--that they are poor because they are lazy; or that they are poor because they have mismanaged their resources; or because they have squandered opportunities; or because, in the most blatantly evil definitions of guilt, they are black or female or homosexual or members of whatever part of humanity the powerful choose to define as subhuman and sinful. Paralysis, hunger, homelessness and early death are, according to the rich and powerful, the direct consequences of the poor and powerless having sinned in one way or another.... [But] the paralytic walks away because he has become a new human being. Transformed within and without, he is freed from paralysis.

Recantation

I need to recant on one of my previous points. Thank-you careful readers for...well...your careful reading!

First of all....

I wouldn't throw your Zions Praises hymnals in the trash over this, but "I Come to the Garden Alone" IS in the revered hymn book after all folks! Its not one of the regular numbers, but you will find it clambering for attention on the inside of the front cover.

Secondly....

Sometimes your machines get the better of you...in this case my "auto-speller" slashed and burned me. The joke is on me, but I most certainly believe I wanted to say "corporate worship" rather than "corporal worship." Now THATS a theological quandary I'm not touching with a fifty foot pole!:)

The Main Thing of the Main Thing.

What do you do if your generation no longer connects with the previous generations? What do you do when the preaching of the Word seems irrelevant to your generation? What do you do when your grandfather’s theopraxy appears inane in your world? If you’re asking yourself these questions I suggest that you go lap some lukewarm eggnog and begin to ask some relevant questions.

(Example of a “RELEVANT” question of un-proportionate import:) What should you do when you can no longer identify with the hymn book of the ages?

Hoping to give birth to generations upon generations of maturity I have decided to exercise my spiritual tenacity in the grassland of the “Zion’s Praises.”

Here is a list of 10 assets that simply set the Zion’s Praises apart from all others as a, not only mediocre, but even great, hymn book.

1. First of all, it contains a whopping 816 numbers. (Beaten by “Faith and Praise” only)
2. The book IS “green” (Seriously, we’ve got to revitalize our fight against global warming)
3. It doesn’t have “I Come to the Garden Alone” in it (C. Austin Miles clearly had no concept of corporal worship or community for that matter)
4. It has a massive “heaven” section. (Nearly 70 songs…makes it a great hymn book to take with you to the nursing home)
5. Durable cover is meant to last.
6. The Topical Index font in the back is so small you get a chance to use that magnifying glass that you’d never use anywhere else.
7. Stands alone as the only hymn book to have a section on the “Holy Kiss”
8. Thank God it doesn’t have any titles that begin with “X” or “Z” (That would really be confusing)
9. It doesn’t have one of those page marking strings that always fray on the end anyway.
10. Most songs are speed applicable. (as long as the sopranos don’t get ahead of those cool base runs)

Note of disclaimer: If you’re still reading this post “seriously”….you better just stick to eggnog after all. This is intended to be humorous. I enjoy singing out of the Zion’s Praises too…most of the time :)