Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Blessed are you when you are persecuted in His name
I feel doubly blessed tonight. Not only has my Christianity made me a target for criticism among liberal Quakers -- but now my Quakerism has made me a target of criticism among those who call themselves Christians. Through a search tool fond here on blogger, I sought out Quaker blogs -- and found a discussion thread at the forum at Christianity.com. To my dismay, the thread was dominated by a pack of individuals whose sole purpose seemed to be denying that Quakers were Christians!I could site as much scripture as I wanted showing that yes, Fox's description of the Light of Christ in each person is scriptural, as is direct communion with the Lord. Truly, we can claim to accept Christ all we want, but if we are ignorant of Him in our hearts, are we really Christians? If we continue to live lives characterized by sin and cynicism, are we Christians? From Jeremiah to John the Baptist to Christ, those who sought to bring man into union with God have been chastised by those who honor the doctrines of man over the Word of God!
I feel doubly blessed tonight. Not only has my Christianity made me a target for criticism among liberal Quakers -- but now my Quakerism has made me a target of criticism among those who call themselves Christians. Through a search tool fond here on blogger, I sought out Quaker blogs -- and found a discussion thread at the forum at Christianity.com. To my dismay, the thread was dominated by a pack of individuals whose sole purpose seemed to be denying that Quakers were Christians!I could site as much scripture as I wanted showing that yes, Fox's description of the Light of Christ in each person is scriptural, as is direct communion with the Lord. Truly, we can claim to accept Christ all we want, but if we are ignorant of Him in our hearts, are we really Christians? If we continue to live lives characterized by sin and cynicism, are we Christians? From Jeremiah to John the Baptist to Christ, those who sought to bring man into union with God have been chastised by those who honor the doctrines of man over the Word of God!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Books about children, books about parents.
Okay, this likely will not be the last post on this blog that mentions the adoption process that my wife and I are embarking on.
But it will not be entirely adoption-centric.
As we prepare for the arrival of Faith (the child's name -- the concept already resides in our home) we purchased the book "What to Excpect the First Year." A friend of ours gave us a copy of a book from the same series on the toddler years.
We are of course going to devour these and other books on child-rearing. And I have wondered how helpful, in my misspent youth, it would have been to have similar books on getting the most out of and living with parents. Lord knows I missed opportunities to learn things from my father and caused my mother undue stress and strain. But were such books to have been available to me, I am sure I would not have read them at that stage -- if only due to my own level of development and maturity.
There are myriad books on parenting, and those of us bracing for or the difficult process of parenting will read them, often paying good money for the opportunity to do so.
After all, others have walked this path of parenthood before us, and have gained wisdom that we could benefit from. They face the same challenges, trials and tribulations we will face, and if we are smart, we will take advantage of their memoirs and even scholarly research. Naturally, recommendations by these experts vary and tend to change over time. While no book on parenting can be the last word, we should do all we can to gather an understanding of the joyous task we face.
At the same time, we have the opportunity to read texts on others who have grappled with not their earthly parents -- but their Father in Heaven. And if we have put down the immaturity of our youth, we will read these scriptures, and put into practice what they say.
We should benefit from the experiences of others, in our earthly relations as well as in our relationship with the Lord. As is the case with books on parenting, the scriptures can not fully contain the Lord's intentions and communications for us, but they must be read and learned for the value they contain.
The point is that yes, the scriptures are imporant, and we should read them as a source of wisdom, encouragement and instruction in righteousness.
ON THE OTHER HAND, how much sense would it make to read books on child rearing and ignore the input, signals and attempts to communicate on the part of the child? The answer, obviously, is that it would make no sense whatever. Yet that is exactly what those who stress the scriptures over the Holy Spirit are doing. If we make the scriptures the begin-all and end-all of our understanding of the divine, we cut ourselves off from the continuing revelation of the Lord.
Okay, this likely will not be the last post on this blog that mentions the adoption process that my wife and I are embarking on.
But it will not be entirely adoption-centric.
As we prepare for the arrival of Faith (the child's name -- the concept already resides in our home) we purchased the book "What to Excpect the First Year." A friend of ours gave us a copy of a book from the same series on the toddler years.
We are of course going to devour these and other books on child-rearing. And I have wondered how helpful, in my misspent youth, it would have been to have similar books on getting the most out of and living with parents. Lord knows I missed opportunities to learn things from my father and caused my mother undue stress and strain. But were such books to have been available to me, I am sure I would not have read them at that stage -- if only due to my own level of development and maturity.
There are myriad books on parenting, and those of us bracing for or the difficult process of parenting will read them, often paying good money for the opportunity to do so.
After all, others have walked this path of parenthood before us, and have gained wisdom that we could benefit from. They face the same challenges, trials and tribulations we will face, and if we are smart, we will take advantage of their memoirs and even scholarly research. Naturally, recommendations by these experts vary and tend to change over time. While no book on parenting can be the last word, we should do all we can to gather an understanding of the joyous task we face.
At the same time, we have the opportunity to read texts on others who have grappled with not their earthly parents -- but their Father in Heaven. And if we have put down the immaturity of our youth, we will read these scriptures, and put into practice what they say.
We should benefit from the experiences of others, in our earthly relations as well as in our relationship with the Lord. As is the case with books on parenting, the scriptures can not fully contain the Lord's intentions and communications for us, but they must be read and learned for the value they contain.
The point is that yes, the scriptures are imporant, and we should read them as a source of wisdom, encouragement and instruction in righteousness.
ON THE OTHER HAND, how much sense would it make to read books on child rearing and ignore the input, signals and attempts to communicate on the part of the child? The answer, obviously, is that it would make no sense whatever. Yet that is exactly what those who stress the scriptures over the Holy Spirit are doing. If we make the scriptures the begin-all and end-all of our understanding of the divine, we cut ourselves off from the continuing revelation of the Lord.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Earth shifting beneath my feet.
Over the last year, I have have felt more and more moved by the Holy Spirit towards conservative Quakerism. A large part of that has to do with my wife. When I was accountable only to myself, I could hold Christ in my heart in the midst of a more secularly-focused meeting.
I have a harder time asking my wife, who comes from a Missouri Synod Lutheran background, to do the same.
But now that we are adopting a child (photos), who in her formative years will not have the wherewithal to separate the Christ-laden wheat from the secular, politcal chaff, I feel a great responsibility to see the influence of the Christ Jesus in our home.
I feel the Lord's hand in this adoption, which has proceeded much more quickly than any adoption I have ever heard of before. In Wisconsin, you must be certified as foster parents before adopting (kind of like a regulatory quality control process). Our home study and red tape were not even signed, sealed and delivered when LCFS called to let us know they had a child in their care and a birth mother who wanted to meet with us the following night. The young lady had already met with two adoptive families, but the following week we got the call.
Faith (the birth mother named her, and we are obviously keeping that name) is now a month old and will be under our roof as of the 29th of this month. We were hunkered down for a wait of months or years -- which is par for the course -- but a way opened for us. The waters may part for some in a miraculous fashion. The stone may roll away, the skies may open and the Lord himself appear. We all have our miracles if we look for them. The difference between the believer and the agnostic might be not so much the acceptance of doctrine as much as a willingness to look for and see the miraculous and the many tiny ways in which Christ ministers to them.
Over the last year, I have have felt more and more moved by the Holy Spirit towards conservative Quakerism. A large part of that has to do with my wife. When I was accountable only to myself, I could hold Christ in my heart in the midst of a more secularly-focused meeting.
I have a harder time asking my wife, who comes from a Missouri Synod Lutheran background, to do the same.
But now that we are adopting a child (photos), who in her formative years will not have the wherewithal to separate the Christ-laden wheat from the secular, politcal chaff, I feel a great responsibility to see the influence of the Christ Jesus in our home.
I feel the Lord's hand in this adoption, which has proceeded much more quickly than any adoption I have ever heard of before. In Wisconsin, you must be certified as foster parents before adopting (kind of like a regulatory quality control process). Our home study and red tape were not even signed, sealed and delivered when LCFS called to let us know they had a child in their care and a birth mother who wanted to meet with us the following night. The young lady had already met with two adoptive families, but the following week we got the call.
Faith (the birth mother named her, and we are obviously keeping that name) is now a month old and will be under our roof as of the 29th of this month. We were hunkered down for a wait of months or years -- which is par for the course -- but a way opened for us. The waters may part for some in a miraculous fashion. The stone may roll away, the skies may open and the Lord himself appear. We all have our miracles if we look for them. The difference between the believer and the agnostic might be not so much the acceptance of doctrine as much as a willingness to look for and see the miraculous and the many tiny ways in which Christ ministers to them.
