Friday, August 20, 2004
Here I go...Following the Instructions
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
"It is certainly incorrect to brand the whole critical tradition as simply rationalistic."
The Person of Christ - G.C. Berkouwer
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
"It is certainly incorrect to brand the whole critical tradition as simply rationalistic."
The Person of Christ - G.C. Berkouwer
If Kuyper had a blog...
This summer, as a sort of devotional read, I have been making my way through Near Unto God, written by Abraham Kuyper and adapted by James C. Schaap. A few years ago my mom bought me this book as a Christmas present and it had mostly sat on the shelf without much notice. What a shame!
This book is a warm blanket on a cold day, oozing with eloquent and heartfelt writing. The beauty is that it is simply made up of short reflections on scripture and life, never more than two pages long. Each reflection ponders our ability to draw close to our Creator and weaved throughout is a challenge to bring ourselves more inline with Him.
Through this book I have come to see more clearly the sheer magnitude of God's love for us and His desire for us to come to be intimate with Him. I will admit, I am not a very vulnerable person - that is, I am very protective of myself. In some ways this is a good thing, to save myself from the entanglement of sin in the world. However, protection is something that requires a fortress to ward off the evil. When I see the sin that entangles me, the fortress of myself crumbles and I am left standing in a pile of rubble. True protection comes only through true intimacy with the true God. As a sinful being I simply cannot act as my own protector. Alone I cannot ward off the corrupter since I am already corrupted. Christ is my only help, as that fortress.
From Kuyper's writings it becomes evident that this is a strong theme in scripture; perhaps a theme not always emphasized strongly enough in many Christians' lives, including my own.
This book is a warm blanket on a cold day, oozing with eloquent and heartfelt writing. The beauty is that it is simply made up of short reflections on scripture and life, never more than two pages long. Each reflection ponders our ability to draw close to our Creator and weaved throughout is a challenge to bring ourselves more inline with Him.
Through this book I have come to see more clearly the sheer magnitude of God's love for us and His desire for us to come to be intimate with Him. I will admit, I am not a very vulnerable person - that is, I am very protective of myself. In some ways this is a good thing, to save myself from the entanglement of sin in the world. However, protection is something that requires a fortress to ward off the evil. When I see the sin that entangles me, the fortress of myself crumbles and I am left standing in a pile of rubble. True protection comes only through true intimacy with the true God. As a sinful being I simply cannot act as my own protector. Alone I cannot ward off the corrupter since I am already corrupted. Christ is my only help, as that fortress.
From Kuyper's writings it becomes evident that this is a strong theme in scripture; perhaps a theme not always emphasized strongly enough in many Christians' lives, including my own.
