SHAPING A SILENCE

It is Advent Sunday today!

The first Sunday in Advent, and my Daily Devotional today entitled "Shaping a Silence" fits well with the theme of preparing ourselves for Jesus.

My daily devotional is called "Encounter with God" and is published by Scripture Union [2]. I think it is kosher (regarding copywrite) to publish the whole thing as it is only one page out of three months (about 130 pages), so it is certainly less than 10%; besides my motive is to promote their materials.

SHAPING A SILENCE

"The apprentice who learns to hear the whisper of God in the silence of prayer will soon learn to hear that same whisper in the clamour of a broken world' [1]

The reading is Psalm 131 taken from the New King James Version (NKJV)

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

(1) LORD, my heart is not haughty,

Nor my eyes lofty. 

Neither do I concern myself with great matters, 

Nor with things too profound for me. 

(2a) Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,

(2b) Like a weaned child with his mother; 

Like a weaned child is my soul within me. 

(3) O Israel, hope in the LORD

From this time forth and forever.

Back to the text from the devotional ...

One of the questiops that runs like a thread through the Bible and hovers just below the surface of the Psalms is that of God's acceptance. Whose prayer does God hear? Whose offering is received? What kind of worship does God accept? This is a profoundly human question.

If God is the all-powerful Maker of the world, how do I reach him? David's answer in Psalm 131 is threefold. Knowing that these words are written by a successful king, surrounded by the pomp and ceremony of political power and religious ritual, the three attitudes he mentions seem counter-intuitive.

The first is humility (verse 1). To know my place. To accept the limitations of my perspective. To know that there are things I don't know. I come to God not on the basis of power and pride, but of humble self-awareness. To enter his presence, I leave my awards and achievements at the door. The second is stillness (verse 2a). There is movement and activity to be stopped, and there are noises to be silenced. Unless I create a space in which to meet God, I will not meet him. This is the meaning of Sabbath - sacred space carved out from our stressful and self-focused activities. 

The third is trust (verse 2b). David, the warrior-politician, chooses the unexpected image of a baby in the arms of its mother. Fed, satisfied, replete, the child leans with total trust into the mother's embrace. Without such trust, how can I come into God's presence? 

In the place of pride, I come humbly. In the hunger of my soul, I trust. Such is the spirituality of the poet-king. Such is his desire for the nation (verse 3), and such is the promise of Jesus: 'Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.' [Matthew 11:28-29 NRKJV]

'In the frenzy of a frantic day, 

I shape a space called silence. 

Only moments long 
but wider than the world, and deeper. 
Meet me here, my God.' 

NOTES
[1] [1] Gerard and Chrissie Kelly, "Intimate With the Ultimate," Authentic, 2009


[2] [1 About Scripture Union

Scripture Union is an international mission movement that was founded over 140 years ago. We work in over 120 countries making God's good news known to children, young people and families and encouraging people of all ages to meet God daily through the Bible and prayer. Our goal: that all may come to a personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, grow in Christian maturity and become both committed church members and servants of a world in need.

They have websites for all over the world; here's  Scripture Union Canada

Gurth Whitaker
Calgary, Alberta

Anglican Church begins to Embrace the Abomination

I wrote about the abomination some weeks ago in Lux et Veritas: Understanding God's WORD:

some generations after receiving the bronze serpent to protect them and heal them, the Israelites were worshipping the bronze serpent, but Hezekiah broke it (2 Kings 18:4). But as my meditations continued I around those passages I was brought to the "abomination" that God gives many stern warnings which tragically were not heeded by God's chosen people. In the previous chapter 2 Kings 17:17) we see that the Israelites were offering up their children as sacrifices to to one of the gods of the region known as "Molech".

And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings. Child sacrifice: the ultimate nadir in degrading idolatry; the people were warned but they wouldn't heed God's continued warnings. The practices of the other peoples that bordered their nation seemed more attractive than worshiping the living God.

And that is where we are today! We sacrifice our children to an idolatrous ideology called "modernism", its named: "right to chose." But it is a construct of the age.

Back then, I then wrote that the "Anglican Church of Canada (ACoC) officially condemns abortion," and that was the way it was when I became a Christian 15 years ago. But last week I tried to confirm this before a church meeting, and I was shocked to find that ACoC does not state their position on their website. Several searches using Google revealed references but no statement.

But the references were alarming, very alarming indeed.

Marriage of Homosexuals was the big goal of the liberal-progressives in the Anglican Church of Canada, but there are other targets “opposition to abortion” is firmly in the sights of these “free-thinkers”. This truly is the slippery slope.

First I found an address by Michael Ingham (so called Bishop of New Westminster): Sex and Christianity: Re-thinking the Relationship March 7th, 2007 

"If we ask the question: is the purpose of human sexuality related exclusively to procreation? – and if we answer ‘no’ – then a number of traditional Christian teachings and doctrines come under serious question. If sex is not just for having children, then we must challenge the condemnation by the Church throughout the centuries of such things as masturbation, birth control, abortion, and homosexuality. Because it is on the basis of the doctrine of procreation that these practices have been ruled out. They do not further the goal of pregnancy. The Church has reasoned that they are against the will of God, but if they are not then the Church has no moral ground to insist on their prohibition." 

This is typical of the shallow arguments of Ingham; he is saying that the Church "ruled out" abortion because of what he calls "the doctrine of procreation"

This is a lie. The Church hates abortion because it is a taking of an innocent life; not because it is against a doctrine of procreation. The creation of children is a blessing by God.  

Next reference is of a dubious piece: Human Sexuality Focus Group Facilitator Gathering

Looked at this lie:

"Abortion has not always been frowned upon by the church and church teachings on the subject have varied widely. Not even the Roman Catholic Church has always condemned abortion."

From the very first the early Christians were differentiated from other Romans by their hatred of abortion.

My third reference form the ACoC website is a book review: An Anglican Exploration of Marriage in Church and Society

"That many readers will probably need little convincing at this point is less notable than the fact that the myths cling so fiercely among so many of our fellow Americans." 

The reviewer wants to explode the myths in our society; one being that abortion is a bad thing. Here's the words the reviewer uses about the author (Coontz):

“Coontz already took us a long way down this road with her earlier books, yet in the public arena one continues to hear the same tired and largely pointless wailing over extramarital pregnancies, divorce rates, abortion, and single parenthood, and opposition to innovations such as gay marriage.” 

“the same tired and largely pointless wailing over abortion” 

I don’t call 100,000 deaths in Canada a trivial matter to be pooh-poohed. 

I can hear the stupid tone of these kind of liberals with over-inflated view of their intellects: “Oh these tiresome conservatives with their squeamish sense of morality, who wont keep up with the times.” 

Three examples on the ACoC website of the kind of thinking that does not condemn abortion, but on the contrary they are comfortable with it. 

• Three examples on the ACoC website condoning abortion

• Zero examples of ACoC condemning abortion on their website

• 14 years ago the ACoC website had a clear statement condemning abortion

That is the slippery slope.

ACoC is far worse than I realised; I didn't realise they could sink to such evil.

Gurth Whitaker

Calgary, Alberta