The Collect of the Day – Book of Common Prayer

Grant us, O Lord, we pray thee, to trust in you with all our heart; for, as thou dost alway resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so thou dost not forsake those who make their boast of thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

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Atonement and Common Grace

Dr. R. Scott Clark has written and article on this very subject that has been published in Table Talk.
http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2010/08/27/atonement-and-common-grace/
It is worth a read.

If anyone is interested in reading on this subject more, a large amount of primary source material can be found at the following website.
http://calvinandcalvinism.com/

Blessings,
Terry W. West

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Worth Quoting – Dante on Our Transgressions Waste Us So

Justice of God, ah! Who heaps up so many
New toils and sufferings as I beheld?
And why doth our transgressions waste us so?
As doth the billow there upon Charybdis,
That breaks itself upon that which it encounters,
So here the folk must dance their roundelay.
Here I saw people, more than elsewhere, many,
On one side and the other, with great howls,
Rolling weights forward by main force of chest.
They clashed together, and then at the point
Each one turned backward, rolling retrograde,
Crying, “why keepest?” and, “why squanderest thou?”
Thus they returned along the lurid circle
On either hand unto the opposite point,
Shouting their shameful metre evermore.

(From Dante’s Divine Comedy Chapter 7)

Childlike Faith – For to Such Belongs the Kingdom of Heaven

Matthew 19:13-14, “Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,but Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Trinity, my little five year old, came to me today and said, “Daddy, I want to live forever and ever. I don’t want to die.” I told her that when you belong to Jesus you will live forever and ever. I told her that’s what God promises her in her baptism. She said, “But Daddy, when I get one hundred years old I will die.” I told her yes, but you will go to be with Jesus, and when he returns he will bring you with him and you will get your body back and will live with him forever and ever. Her eyes got real big and she smiled ever so big and went running through the house saying, “Yea! I get to live forever and ever because Jesus has promised me that I will!”

Why the majority of the Reformed world will not let such a little child as my Trinity come to the communion table and eat the bread and drink the wine where this very promise is renewed each Lord’s Day is beyond me. I marvel at such childlike faith.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

Continuing My Thoughts on the Visible/Invisible Church

1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.”

Notice that in this verse John is describing a corporate group of people. A corporate entity he clearly expects his readers to recognize and ro consider themselves members. I argue that this group of people, therefore, would be visible and known to all. Also notice that the ones spoken of as having left this visible known group of people were hidden for a time, or invisible as it were until it became clear who they were after being seperated from the group. Again this seems to me to flip the visible/invisible distinction over on its head from the way its commonly conceived.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

A Prayer for Today

Almighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves; keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which my happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(A Collect from the Book of Common Prayer)

A Thought On The Visible/Invisible Church

Mathew 13:24&25, “He put another parable before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” (ESV)

Notice that in the text that the good seed is planted first and the weeds are planted later. It would seem to me that the good seed must take preeminence over the weed. This I believe is obvious from the text. So my question is this. What if the visible/invisible distinction has been expressed exactly backwards? Could we not argue from this text that the good seed is the true visible body of Christ and the the weeds are the invisible false members hidden among the good seed. This is why Christ commands that the weeds not be uprooted to hastily least the good seed be uprooted instead. For it is far more likely that a good plant will uprooted by mistake because the good plant is the prominent visible plant, but the weed is the hidden invisible plant that is difficult to spot. Just a thought.

Blessings in Christ,
Terry W. West

A Prayer for the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, in whom we live and move and have our being; We, thy needy creatures, render thee our humble praises, for thy preservation of us from the beginning of our lives to this day, and especially for having delivered us from dangers of the past night. For these thy mercies, we bless and magnify thy glorious Name; humbly beseeching thee to accept this our morning sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; for his sake who lay down in the grave, and rose again for us, thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

(A Collect from the Book of Common Prayer)

A Prayer for Today

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour, and further us with thy continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended thee, we may glorify thy holy Name, and finally, by thy mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(A collect from the book of Common Prayer)

39 Articles of Religion – Article 1 Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity.
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all thing both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.