C.S. Lewis

This week we will take a quick look at the life of C.S. Lewis.  He was a gift to the church who was born on November 29, 1898 and died November 22, 1963.  

The service known as the Christian Quotation of the Day (www.cqod.com) circulated the following quote on the anniversary of his death this year.  

Quotation:
    The word religion is extremely rare in the New Testament and the writings of mystics. The reason is simple. Those attitudes and practices to which we give the collective name of religion are themselves concerned with religion hardly at all. To be religious is to have one’s attention fixed on God and on one’s neighbor in relation to God. Therefore, almost by definition, a religious man, or a man when he is being religious, is not thinking about religion; he hasn’t the time. Religion is what we (or he himself at a later moment) call his activity from outside.
    ... C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "Lilies that Fester," from
        The World’s Last Night: And Other Essays, p. 32 [1960]

Lewis was an introspective man and he was concerned about purity in motives.  If you can’t attend this Sunday please note that my notes are included as the first comment attached to this post.

WAH - Chapter 11

If I had not sought God for years, I can image thinking that it is impossible to get my life straight.  I can imagine thinking, “What is the use of trying to find an adventure to live since I had my chance and now I’m old and it is too late.” If that were true then a mediocre life of regrets would be all that is left for me.  However, God, who is rich in Mercy and Grace is able to lead us from wherever we are into the adventure of a life lived for Him.  He is the “Great Shepherd”.  I remember listening to a man who studied the habits of French shepherds.  He was speaking French so I missed a bunch of what he was saying but he was really excited about what he was finding out.  We don’t really have as rich a history of shepherding in the United States.  The shepherds plan from where the herd is now to the end of the day and watch them closely to adapt the plan to how they are behaving.  They know the entire lay of the land and all the possibilities and what the pastures are like before they arrive with the herd.  You could hand them a herd of sheep anywhere in their territory and they could quickly plan the best path of grazing to the end of the day at the barn.  God is the “Great Shepherd” not just because of the size of His herd and the way He protects His herd; God is the “Great Shepherd” because He can work with you wherever you are to grow you and make you productive in His Kingdom.  He will use the years you give Him to make your life an adventure lived before Him and bless those beyond you.  

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations,”
Deuteronomy 7:9 (ESV)

Auburn Alabama

Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne well those
laid on you; it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while
unable to bear an insult patiently.
... Francois de Sales (1567-1622)

WAH - Chapter 10

I was thinking of how lightly we tend to take pursuit of relationship with our wives.  In the pursuit of elk, I have hiked up and down mountains until my quadriceps would no long hold me and I had to back down the mountain to keep from falling.  I’ve hiked miles in the desert and trespassed for the chance to catch a bass in a steep hidden canyon.  I’ve hiked in the dark though unfamiliar land to be in the right place for a shot at a mule deer.  So do I have that same mind in the pursuit of my wife?  
     Sometimes, maybe even frequently, we do have that sort of pursuit in courtship.  So what happens?  Are we so shallow that we think we have the trophy and can move on to the next thing?  How dim witted to think that because I’ve won the heart of a bride that I’ve won the heart of a woman.  The heart of a woman takes winning each day.  I was a boy when I won the heart of my bride.  Over thirty years later I’m still trying to learn to win her heart every day.  It is a tremendous source of joy in the life of a man and yet we are slow to learn.  God has given me a wife and I’ve found favor with God (Proverbs 18:22).  Now, I need to be a man and learn to love her as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25).

WAH - Chapter 9

Isaiah 54:17  
no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed,
and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord
and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.
(ESV. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society)

2 Corinthians 10:4-5
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,
(ESV. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society)

God’s promises to us as we obey Him are deeply reassuring.  The accuser of your soul is defeated by scripture as you confess what God says about you.  We inherit this blessing from God our Father and we are vindicated by Him.  In context, the verses in 2nd Corinthians speak to those who are false teachers and in unrepentant sin within the Church.  I like to also claim the scripture for myself.  Praying that every argument, opinion, and thought that is contrary to God would be taken captive for Christ.  As it says in the 23 and 24th verse of the 139th Psalm   Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (ESV)

  

WAH - Chapter 8

If we would endeavor, like men of courage, to stand in the battle, surely we would feel the favorable assistance of God from Heaven.  For he who giveth us occasion to fight, to the end we may get the victory, is ready to succor those that fight manfully, and do trust in his grace.  – Thomas A Kempis

In this chapter we begin a discussion of the battle we find ourselves in every day.  God will work in you to make you the man He wants you to be.  I pray that God will continue to build you guys up and bring His work to completion in you.

The detailed notes can be found in the 1st comment below.