Boreham on Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This Day With F W Boreham:

Image: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It is not known when the famous author F.W.Boreham commenced work on his book about famous people. The author had the idea of creating a book consisting of 365 editorials, one for every day of the year. Boreham had written weekly editorials for two leading Australian newspapers for over 47 years. Many of his editorials were prompted by the significance of a particular day. The use of an almanac allowed Boreham to know what famous person was born or died on that particular day, or other notable anniversaries.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

29 January: Boreham on Fyodor Dostoyevsky -

The Artist of the Steppes

On this day, the day after the anniversary of his death, there will steal into the hearts of every Russian, a grateful thought of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, one of the most passionate patriots and one of the most powerful novelists of all time. Dostoyevsky's influence was phenomenal. When, he passed away, he was accorded such a funeral as his country people had never before witnessed. The entire nation mourned; loftiest and lowliest alike lamented; the cities were in tears. Forty thousand men followed the body to the grave. Tolstoy declared that the death of Dostoyevsky darkened the sky of Europe. Alike by his personality and his pen, he stirred the souls of millions. He stands in a class by himself, one of the world's outstanding originals. There is nobody, in any country or in any age, with whom one can reasonably compare him. His novels are still being published in the best popular libraries. For sheer tremendousness they are without parallel. His emotional intensity is at times overpowering, his dramatic splendour terrific. For versatility of sentiment he is peerless. He can be unutterably horrible and exquisitely tender. In his own line he blazes in solitary grandeur.

Dostoyevsky cuts an uncouth and singularly unattractive figure as he shuffles across the stage of Russian history. "Just look at his countenance," exclaims Dr Georg Brandes, the Danish traveller, "Half the face of a Russian peasant and half the physiogomy of a criminal." Of small piercing eyes, flattened nose, long, thick, untidy beard, and singularly ungainly figure, he was a thing of strange fancies and weird hallucinations. He gave the impression of having been cowed by torture into a mood of indelible gloom. A being so unusual and so complex must necessarily be self-contradictory. Dostoyevsky certainly was. We catch sight of him in European drawing rooms surrounded by distinguished men and women eager to see the man who has produced such masterpieces of imagination and psychology. In such a framework Dostoyevsky is shy, taciturn, and extremely awkward, he looks half-ridiculous and half-revolting. But in another setting he appears very differently.

A Prophet Who Was Inspired By Torture

We see him, as Necrassov saw him, an exile in Siberia, surrounded by his fellow-convicts, and he appears almost sublime. He moves among the most depressed and most degraded with his New Testament in his hand, reading to them its words of comfort and grace. With a witchery and a charm that are indescribable, he recites the parable of the Prodigal Son, the story he regarded as the most perfect gem in any literature, the story he wove into most of his own novels, and that he begged his wife to read to him once more on his deathbed. In this environment Dostoyevsky seems a reincarnation of some ancient prophet, solacing his fellow-prisoners in their sufferings, eagerly encouraging their attempts at goodness, gently rebuking their excesses, and speaking earnestly to them of poetry, of science and of God. His career is as romantic as his novels; indeed, his novels are, in the main, a reflection of his adventurous career. As a small boy, he revels in historical fiction, particularly that of Sir Walter Scott, and he enters so vividly into the thrilling experiences of the various characters that he is often found in a swoon, clasping the volume in his hands.

As a young fellow he interests himself in the welfare of his country, he joins a society that meets to discuss public questions, and at the age of 28 is arrested for meddling with such high matters. With 33 others he is charged with conspiracy and sentenced to death. On a bitter morning, with the temperature many degrees below freezing point, they are led to the scaffold and compelled to stand nearly naked for half-an-hour facing the soldiers with their muskets. A pile of coffins is suggestively stacked up in the corner of the yard. At the last moment, with the muskets actually at the shoulders of the Guards, a white flag is waved and it is announced that the Tsar has commuted the sentence to 10 years' exile in Siberia. Several of the prisoners lost their reason under the strain, and several others died shortly afterwards. Dostoyevsky bravely survived the ordeal but it affected his nerves. He never recalled the experience without a shudder and he refers to it with horror in several of his books.

Dire Extremity Produces A Rich Romance

This is the most painful incident in his life story. The most pleasant is his meeting with his second wife. By the time he had reached the age of 45 he had indulged in two unhappy love affairs, one of which had led to his marrying a perfect fury. Then, through voluntarily taking over the debts of his dead brother, his finances had become involved. Moreover, he had fallen into the clutches of an unscrupulous publisher, for whom he had contracted to write a novel on the understanding that, if it was not ready by a certain date, all the author's copyrights were to fall into the publisher's hands. As the date approached the impossibility of the task became evident. As a last desperate resort, Dostoyevsky resolved to engage a stenographer, but no stenographer could be found. There was, it is true, a girl of 19 who knew shorthand, but female stenographers were then unknown and the girl doubted if her parents would consent to her taking the appointment.

Dostoyevsky's fame, however, allayed the parents' scruples, and the girl set to work. At first the novelist frightened her. Gradually, as she understood his hopeless situation, she came to pity him. Working literally day and night to get the manuscript finished, she wrote the last sheets in the very nick of time. Although he was more than twice her age, they married and lived happily. From that day the fortunes of Dostoyevsky suffered neither collapse nor eclipse. As a sincere patriot, as a brilliant novelist and as a trusted teacher, his authority steadily grew, and when he died at the age of 60 the whole world lamented his passing.

F W Boreham

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Boreham on Henry David Thoreau

This day with FW Boreham:

Image: Henry David Thoreau -

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

12 July: Boreham on Henry David Thoreau -

Romance of a Recluse

Henry David Thoreau, whose birthday this is, blinked like an owl at a world that dazzled and bewildered him. He was a born hermit. His instinct for solitude is to some extent understandable. He was a consumptive; his pitiless disease generated a sense of aloofness; like Cowper's stricken deer that, wounded by the archers, left the herd, young Thoreau felt that he must stand on the cold pavement whilst life, with bands playing and flags flying, passed him by.

He lived practically his whole life at Concord, that Eden of the West, with which Emerson and Hawthorne have familiarised us. But neither Emerson nor Hawthorne saw in Concord the enchantment that Thoreau discovered there. In the course of his life, he made a few timid journeys into the world beyond; but he returned to Concord on each occasion convinced that Concord was the home of all beauty and all grandeur.

The Thoreaus were by no means wealthy, and it strained their resources to the utmost to send Henry from school to Harvard University. And then the trouble began. He was no mixer, and his fellow students could make neither head nor tail of him. He moved about the college precincts like an uneasy ghost.

Yet he did reasonably well; qualified as a surveyor; bade goodbye to Harvard; and went back to Concord to wrestle with the problem of his future. He wanted a profession that would bring him as little as possible into touch with his fellow men. As shy as a school girl, he hated to be drawn into conversation and blushed furiously whenever he was introduced to a stranger.

Misunderstanding People, And By People Misunderstood

He detested ordinary fireside chatter; he somehow sensed that very little of it was sincere. People said what they were expected to say, or what it was pleasant to say, or what would tickle the ears of the company. Even when, a few years later, he found himself grouped with the most eminent figures of his day, he was as uncomfortable as a toad under a harrow.

The only people with whom he felt perfectly happy were ploughboys, axe-men, trappers, and the like. He did not care how uncouth and ungrammatical a man might be; if he said what he meant, and meant what he said, that was all that Henry Thoreau cared. He would stand in the fields talking to such a man by the hour at a stretch.

Of women he could make nothing at all. They were apocalyptic mysteries, sealed with seven seals. If he came upon a cluster of them, he would stumble over his own feet, collide with the tables and chairs, and stutter and stammer to the point of incomprehensibility. Soon after leaving college he met Ellen Sewell. She was the sister of a Harvard man who brought her to the Concord home to stay for a day or two.

In his funny way Henry made love to her. So, in a different fashion, did John, Henry's brother. Six months later, Henry proposed. Ellen wrote, sorrowfully rejecting him. She married John. Later on, at the age of 24, Henry went to stay for two years with the Emersons and fell in love with Mrs. Emerson. He felt very much ashamed of himself, and, as far as possible, kept his secret locked within his breast. But the experience deepened his conviction that he had accidentally stumbled into a world that was not made to his measure, and in the economy of which he was a hopeless misfit.

The Transition From Contemplation To Activity

Still, here he was, and he must make the best of it! To live in such an oddly constituted system, he must earn money. How? He toyed with the idea of entering the ministry. For a while, he practised as a surveyor. He spent some time in making lead pencils and then tried his hand as a school master.

At length a really brilliant notion seized him. A born naturalist, all the creatures of the woods sought his company and ate out of his hand. Even a snake courted his caresses. Why not live in the forest, keep a diary, and, perhaps elaborate the entries into essays for the newspapers or even into lectures for the universities? It was in 1845, at the age of 28, that he built his little cabin beside the pond at Walden. The land was Emerson's and was cheerfully placed at his disposal. Borrowing an axe, he fashioned his hermitage with his own hands. The total cost was about £8, and here he lived for two blissful and fruitful years.

Those who have revelled in his "Walden" know how well the time was spent. He wove the wail of the whip-poor-will, the cry of the screech owl, the call of the peewee, and the mew of the cheewink into an exquisite prose poem that has become one of his country's choicest classics. It is the Westem counterpart of Gilbert White's "Natural History of Selborne."

Strangely enough, on his emergence from his hermitage, his career assumed an entirely new complexion. From being a recluse, he became a warrior. The country was in the grip of the agitation for the emancipation of slaves. Henry Thoreau came into touch with John Brown, whose soul, according to the song, still marches on. Thoreau's enthusiasm was fired, and with voice and with pen he laboured day and night to ensure the triumph of the abolitionist cause. But, in 1862, his consumption caught up with him. In the most revered little God's acre in the Western world, the pine-fringed cemetery at Sleepy Hollow in Concord, he lies with Hawthorne, Emerson, and Louisa Alcott, whilst his name, like theirs, lives for evermore.

F W Boreham

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F.W. Boreham on William Wilberforce

http://thisdaywithfwboreham.blogspot.pt/2006/08/29-july-boreham-on-william-wilberforce.html

Wednesday, August 30,2006

29 July: Boreham on William Wilberforce

The Centenary of William Wilberforce

Exactly a hundred years ago today—on July 29, 1833—the most notable and most picturesque of civilisation's social reformers passed away. Some men are extraordinarily fortunate in the hour of their appearance: the stage seems set for them: the world appears to be breathlessly awaiting their advent. So was it with William Wilberforce. It is scarcely too much to say that when he was born the Empire was born. The two sprang into existence simultaneously.

A few months before the birth of Wilberforce, Lord Clive, at the battle of Plassey, had presented England with a vast Asiatic dominion. While Wilberforce was still a baby in long clothes, General Wolfe, by his tragic but immortal victory on the Heights of Abraham, had wrested Canada from the French. In Wolfe’s army at Quebec, moreover, there was a young sailor—afterwards known to fame as Captain Cook—who was already dreaming of setting out in search of new Britains beneath the Southern Cross. It was an age of thrills. "Never," says Green, in his "Short History of the English People," "never had England played so great a part in the history of mankind as in the year 1759"—the year in which Wilberforce was born.

"It was a year of triumphs in every quarter of the world. In September came the news of Minden and of a victory off Lagos. In October came tidings of the capture of Quebec. November brought word of the French defeat at Quiberon." Such sensational developments led Horace Walpole to exclaim that he was forced to ask every morning what fresh victory there was for fear of missing one. Thackeray says that during those memorable months every Englishman was drunk with the intoxication of exciting news. In one crowded and epoch-making year, the civilisations alike of the East and of the West were entirely recast and remodelled. It was as if the world were being made all over again. Such was the tornado of military conquest and international reconstruction that raged about the cradle of the future abolitionist!

The child was scarcely out of that cradle, however, before it was realised that he was not as other children are. Weak and puny from his birth, his parents were horrified at the discovery that his frame was stunted and misshapen. For it is one of the marvels of history that the hand that struck the shackles from the galled limbs of our British slaves was the hand of a hunchback. One of the triumphs of statuary in Westminster Abbey is the seated figure that, while faithfully perpetuating the noble face and fine features of Wilberforce, skilfully conceals his frightful physical deformities. From infancy he was an elfish, unsightly little figure. At the Grammar School at Hull the other boys would lift his tiny, twisted form on to the table and make him go through all his impish tricks.

For, though so pitifully twisted and distorted, he was amazingly sprightly, resourceful and clever. A master of mimicry, a born actor, an accomplished singer and a perfect elocutionist, he was as agile also as a monkey and as full of mischief. Every day his genius enlivened his quaint performance by the startling introduction of some fresh antics. His schoolfellows and his teachers were invariably convulsed by the whimsical audacity of each new turn. He is the most striking illustration that history can offer of a grotesque and insignificant form glorified by its consecration to an illustrious and noble cause. Recognizing the terrible handicap that Nature had so harshly imposed upon him, he set himself to counter-balance matters by acquiring a singular graciousness and charm of manner.

Bacon once affirmed that "he that hath, fixed upon his person, some quality that exposes him to derision, is under an imperative obligation to develop such beauty of mind and loftiness of character as shall lift him beyond the range of contempt." Bacon's axiom has never been more finely illustrated than in the case of William Wilberforce. He set himself to redeem his dwarfish proportions from ignominy, and he succeeded so brilliantly that his grace and courtliness became proverbial. It was said of him that, if you saw him in conversation with a man, you would suppose that the man was his brother, or, if with a woman, that he was her lover. He compelled men to forget his unshapely appearance: the splendour of his intellect eclipsed the ugliness of his body.

This extraordinary effect was doubtless produced in large measure by the purity of the cause that he espoused. On the occasion of the centenary it is pleasant to recall that memorable day on which the two friends—Wilberforce and Pitt—lay sprawling on the grass under a grand old oak tree in the beautiful park at Holwood in Kent. A solid stone seat now stands beside the tree, bearing an inscription commemorative of the historic occasion. For it was then—and there—that Wilberforce solemnly devoted his life to the emancipation of the slaves. He had introduced the subject with some diffidence; was delighted at Pitt's evident sympathy; and, springing to his feet, he declared that he would set to work at once to abolish the iniquitous traffic. Few of us nowadays realise the immense proportions that the British slave trade had then assumed.

During the eighteenth century, nearly a million blacks were transported from Africa, with much less consideration than would have been shown to cattle, to Jamaica alone. From his earliest infancy, the horror of the traffic preyed upon the sensitive mind of William Wilberforce. When quite a boy he wrote to the papers protesting against "this odious traffic in human flesh." In the twenties, he embraced the cause as distinctively his own and made the extinction of slavery the supreme purpose of his life. For fifty years he never rested. Through evil report and through good, he tirelessly pursued his ideal. At times the opposition seemed insuperable. But Pitt stood by him, the Quakers and a few others encouraged him to persist: John Wesley, in his last hours of consciousness, wrote from his deathbed begging the reformer never to give up.

After twenty years of incessant struggle, it was enacted that the exportation of slaves from Africa should cease; but no relief was offered to those already in bondage. A quarter of a century later, as Wilberforce lay dying, messengers from Westminster entered his sickroom to tell him that, at last, the Emancipation Bill had been passed; the slaves were free! "Thank God," exclaimed the expiring dwarf, "that I have lived to see this day!" Like Wolfe at Quebec, like Nelson at Trafalgar, like John Franklin in the North-West Passage, he died in the flush of triumph. His vivid fancy had involved him in all the tortures that oppressed the slaves; but he passed away rejoicing that their fetters were all broken and gone.

The record of William Wilberforce presents us with the paramount example of a man, terribly handicapped, who, fighting against terrific odds, bears down all opposition by the sheer force of his own unselfish passion. His transparent earnestness transfigured him. When he rose to address the House of Commons, he looked like the dwarf that had jumped out of a fairy-tale: when he resumed his seat he looked like the giant of the self-same story. His form, as “The Times” said, was like the letter S; it resembled a stick that could never be straightened. Yet his hearers declared that his face, when pleading for the slave, was positively seraphic; it resembled the face of an angel. The repulsiveness of his little frame seemed to disappear; and, under the magic of his inspired eloquence, his form became sublime.

When, just a century ago, he passed away, such a funeral procession made its way to Westminster Abbey as even London had rarely witnessed. He was borne to his last resting-place by the Peers and Commoners of England with the Lord Chancellor at their head. In imperishable marble it was recorded of him that “he had removed from England the guilt of the slave-trade and prepared the way for the abolition of slavery in every colony in the Empire.” If that epitaph were recast in the perspective of history, it would be made to read that Wilberforce pioneered the emancipation of all slaves, not only throughout the Empire, but throughout the world. But the people of that day could not anticipate the American movement. They only knew that a man had passed who had served his country and his generation with sublime devotion and with dramatic effect. And it is said that, as the cortege made its sombre way through the crowded streets, all London was in tears, and one person in every three was garbed in deepest black.

F W Boreham

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Microbiologist Loses Faith In Evolution

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Cumprindo a Grande Comissão

Uma compilação

Na presença de Deus e de Cristo Jesus, que há de julgar os vivos e os mortos por sua manifestação e por seu Reino, eu o exorto solenemente: Pregue a palavra, esteja preparado a tempo e fora de tempo, repreenda, corrija, exorte com toda a paciência e doutrina.—2 Timóteo 4:1–2[1]

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Quando Jesus disse aos Seus pobres seguidores e discípulos para “Irem por todo o mundo pregar o Evangelho a toda criatura”, aquele pequeno grupo natural do Oriente Médio se sentiu avassalado. Como o fariam, iriam a pé ou montados no lombo de animais em uma lenta viagem? Eram os únicos meios de transporte disponíveis, não havia embarcações que atravessassem oceanos. As barreiras físicas existentes para ir a todo o mundo eram reais.

Hoje em dia existem aviões, navios, trens, ônibus e automóveis. Em um certo sentido, o mundo ficou pequeno, e está cada dia menor. É possível atravessar o oceano em um avião em questão de horas, e voltar para casa no dia seguinte, se preciso. Agora, as oportunidades para o cristão normal participar de missões internacionais de curto prazo são literalmente ilimitadas. A indústria de viagens nos mostra que os quatro cantos do mundo estão acessíveis. Não temos desculpa para não divulgarmos as Boas Novas.

O mundo ficou ainda menor com a Internet. Além de ter disponível o sistema de telefonia e fax, o crente com acesso à internet pode se comunicar com as pessoas em praticamente qualquer país. Temos o mundo inteiro ao nosso alcance! Até os vilarejos mais remotos recebem e-mail, portanto, agora nem é preciso sair de casa para a “evangelizar” alguém do outro lado do mundo! Nunca, em toda a história, foi tão fácil cumprir a missão de por todo o mundo. As grandes barreiras à evangelização não são mais as longas distâncias, o custo ou o transporte... A Grande Comissão é a sua missão, e o segredo para ter uma vida com sentido é fazer a sua parte para cumprir essa missão.—Rick Warren[2]

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[Deus] precisa de melhores meios através dos Se revelar; vidas mais ricas, leais e santas que possam refletir o Seu amor, pessoas mais organizadas para a Sua graça poder se manifestar ao mundo. Ele não tem condições de realizar a Sua obra sem a nossa participação; não tem como pregar sem usar nossos lábios, consolar sem a nossa ajuda, curar sem as nossas mãos, divulgar a verdade sem a nossa colaboração, ou remover as sombras sem a nossa fé e empenho. As obras invisíveis são realizadas por meios visíveis; as obras que não se veem e as eternas ocorrem por meio de pequenos instrumentos como nós!—Rufus M. Jones

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Enquanto cristãos temos a tarefa de transmitir as boas notícias, o Evangelho, a mensagem de amor e salvação de Deus para o mundo de hoje. Para que isso aconteça de forma relevante é preciso entender as transformações fundamentais sofridas pela sociedade, as quais afetaram a visão de mundo das pessoas, seus valores e percepção do cristianismo. Reconhecer que essas mudanças são profundas e geram temores, inseguranças, e também ceticismo, pode nos ajudar a transmitir melhor a mensagem de forma que seja relevante para as pessoas às quais fomos incumbidos de alcançar.

Sabemos que o Evangelho é uma mensagem para o mundo de hoje, mas encontrar como alcançar aqueles que ainda não foram atraídos por ela, ou que por algum motivo foram afastados por ela, representa um desafio crescente. Ao longo dos últimos trinta anos o mundo tem mudado muito e rapidamente, e continua assim. O secularismo permeou massivamente as esferas do pensamento e influencia com valores que promovem o autointeresse e o materialismo, bem como outros valores que não são compatíveis e que, em última análise, minam o cristianismo e os valores tradicionais.

É por isso que o fator “você” é tão vital. Você personifica a mensagem. O Espírito de Deus, o Espírito Santo, o Espírito de Jesus, habitam em você. Quem você é, como vive, o amor que demonstra, sua gentiliza, compaixão e desvelo refletem a amor de Deus que vive em você. O Espírito Santo faz o chamado ao coração da pessoa, mas este chamado muitas vezes é escutado por meio do seu exemplo. Elas se interessam, pois veem sua luz e sentem seu calor, o que desperta interesse em ouvir o que você tem a dizer e a confiança necessária para aceitarem e acreditarem o que você diz. Um dos nossos desafios como cristãos nos dias de hoje é viver de forma que o Espírito Santo possa refletir através de nós para que as pessoas se sintam atraídas e intrigadas pela luz que veem em nós. Então, ao se aproximarem do calor da luz, elas se conectarão com Aquele que é a luz do mundo e que lhes dará a luz da vida.—Peter Amsterdam

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O Evangelho jamais é disseminado em um vácuo ou isoladamente, mas sempre dentro do contexto cultural no qual se vive.—William Lane Craig

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O verdadeiro santo não se esconde do mundo. Pelo contrário, manifesta a sua santidade empenhando-se em ser um exemplo vivo do Evangelho cada dia, tanto no seio familiar como na escola, e no local de trabalho, e também no envolvimento social e político.—Papa João Paulo II

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O cristão é o único livro onde o próprio Deus escreve o Novo Testamento.—William Dell

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Em uma época pós-cristã e cética, a apologética mais convincente é o amor em exibição.—J. D. Greer

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Mesmo que não vejam imediatamente os resultados, estão obtendo resultados de alguma maneira. Ele prometeu que a Sua Palavra não voltaria para Ele vazia, mas realizaria o Seu propósito.[3] Parte dos resultados só veremos quando chegarmos ao Céu, pois nem sempre se fica sabendo o resultado das sementes plantadas no coração de alguém, como e quando criarão raiz. Talvez a pessoa para quem você testemunhou acabe encontrando o Senhor devido a algo que lhe disse; ou a sua testificação talvez tenha causado impacto nela e a deixado mais aberta e receptiva quando outros cristãos testemunharem para ela.

Não podemos achar que seremos sempre os semeadores e os ceifeiros. O Senhor disse que alguns semeiam, outros regam, mas Deus dá o crescimento.[4] Às vezes entramos no trabalho de outras pessoas, ou outros entram no nosso. Às vezes, ganhamos almas que há muito tempo estão sendo preparadas, pessoas cujas experiências durante a vida tenham sido usadas pelo Senhor para aproximá-las cada vez mais do ponto em que se disponham a Lhe entregar suas vidas. Então nós aparecemos nesse ponto e lhes oferecemos Jesus, e elas aceitam. O Senhor nos coloca no caminho da pessoa nessa ocasião, depois de ela ter passado por um longo período de preparação, e temos a chance de colher o que foi semeado e regado por outros.

Às vezes, entramos em cena em outra etapa do seu crescimento. Talvez no princípio, e nós somos os semeadores e lançamos a primeira semente. Ou quem sabe, talvez cheguemos no meio do processo, para regar a semente lançada no coração da pessoa por mais alguém. Nós esclarecemos alguma dúvida e manifestamos um pouco mais do amor de Jesus, e isso continua influenciando a pessoa, mesmo que, em um primeiro momento, ela não demonstre como isso foi importante para ela. Talvez nunca mais a vejamos, mas a Palavra e o amor que demonstramos vai atuar em seu coração e o Senhor usará isso como mais um passo para levar a pessoa a Ele! A futura salvação dessa pessoa será em parte resultado da nossa fidelidade em demonstrar o amor de Deus e lhe dar a Sua mensagem.—Maria Fontaine

Publicado no Âncora em novembro 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.

[1] NVI.

[2] The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 298–299.

[3] Isaías 55:11.

[4] Veja 1 Coríntios 3:6.

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‘From the beginning of creation’—what did Jesus mean?

http://creation.com/from-the-beginning?utm

There’s no getting around Jesus’ teaching on the age of the earth

by Keaton Halley:

Published: 25 November 2014 

Not everyone welcomes this news, but some of Jesus’ statements imply, of necessity, that the world is young. This is something I regularly point out when I speak in churches about creation, and it is a theme on which we have written previously, in articles such as Jesus on the age of the earth and in chapter 9 of Refuting Compromise. 

To reiterate the argument briefly, Jesus claimed that human history began at approximately the same time as all of creation came into existence, not billions of years later. This is evident from Jesus’ statements like: “from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female’” (Mark 10:6). The obvious implication from these words is that Adam and Eve were on the scene shortly after the heavens and earth were created; they were not latecomers to a cosmos that had already endured for billions of years, as old-earth proponents insist. Thus, for those who take Jesus’ words seriously, there is no way to fit billions of years into Genesis 1 prior to Adam and Eve.

 See the comparison of biblical and secular timelines in figure 1.

Figure 1.

Evasive maneuvers

Following such presentations, people have often shared that they rejoiced to learn of this biblical teaching, and some individuals have even been persuaded to change their minds about the age of the earth based on Jesus’ words. But, sadly, many Christians are so strongly committed to their belief in an old earth that they will go to desperate lengths to avoid the clear meaning of the text. Almost invariably, when someone voices an objection to the argument, it goes like this: “Actually, it’s not clear that Jesus was referring to the creation of all things. He might have meant simply the creation of humanity.” This answer is not only given in casual conversations; the same response also appears in the writings of thoughtful scholars like C. John Collins, who argues: “The most obvious ‘beginning of creation’ for this verse is the beginning of the creation of the first pair of humans”.1 Frankly, however, this interpretation cannot be sustained when the text is examined carefully. The idea that Jesus was referring to the creation of humanity overlooks four important exegetical considerations which reinforce the plain meaning of Jesus’ words and thereby confirm that the earth is young.

Broadly speaking

First, Jesus could have worded His statement differently if He had wanted to indicate that He was speaking strictly of the origin of mankind, rather than the beginning of all things—yet He chose not to. For example, Jesus could easily have said “from the beginning of man” or “from the time of their creation” or something similar if that’s what He had wanted to convey. But He did not qualify His statement in this way. He did not modify the word “creation” with any other terms that would restrict its focus, but instead spoke of “creation” broadly the way He would if He had wanted to talk about the created world in general.

Parallel passages

Second, the intuitive meaning of Jesus’ words is supported by several parallel passages. In parallel passages we have separate authors telling the same story in their own words, as often happens in the Gospels, and the slight differences in wording can help to clarify a text’s meaning. For example, Matthew 19:4 is parallel to Mark 10:6, so Matthew’s phrase “from the beginning” (used again in v. 8) must be equivalent to Mark’s “from the beginning of creation”. Now, since Matthew’s phraseology is even more generic than Mark’s, he certainly does not give us any indication that this “beginning” is limited to the origin of humanity. But since Matthew has the word “beginning” immediately followed by Jesus’ quotation of Genesis 1:26, he is likely alluding to the introductory words of the creation account as well, which starts, “In the beginning”. If so, there is no possibility of ambiguity in Jesus’ meaning, because the “beginning” in Genesis 1:1 is not referring merely to the start of human beings, but to the origin of “the heavens and the earth.”

Jesus could have worded His statement differently if He had wanted to indicate that He was speaking strictly of the origin of mankind, rather than the beginning of all things.

Even more tellingly, the words of Jesus that appear in Mark 10:6—“from the beginning of creation”—are used again by Jesus in Mark 13:19.2 Now, both passages are from the same book of the Bible. They both involve the same person (Jesus) using similar language to make a similar point, so we have every reason to conclude that the phrases have the same meaning. But the meaning of Mark 13:19 is also illuminated by a parallel passage. Compare:

Mark: “from the beginning of the creation” (Mark 13:19)

Matthew: “from the beginning of the world” (Matt. 24:21)

According to the parallel, “the creation” must have the same meaning as “the world”. In other contexts, the term “world” (kosmos, κόσμος) can refer to mankind (e.g., Rom 3:19), but there is no justification for that rendering here. Given the parallel, the contextual meaning of these terms must be found in their semantic overlap, and therefore it isn’t just humanity that is in view, but all of creation.

Multiple witnesses

Third, there are several other New Testament passages which, although they are not connected to Mark 10:6 by parallels, contain the same implications about the age of the earth. Like the passages already mentioned, these texts take it for granted that all the events of creation week happened in the very beginning, including the creation of mankind on Day 6. So, in addition to the above passages (Mark 10:6; 13:19; Matthew 19:4, 8; 24:21), we add the following:

Luke 11:50–51 — Prophets’ blood was “shed from the foundation of the world” (note: not from the foundation of mankind).

Hebrews 9:25–26 — People have been sinning and in need of atonement “since the foundation of the world”.

Romans 1:20 — People have been able to recognize God’s attributes “since the creation of the world”.3

Not only do these texts reinforce the face-value meaning of Mark 10:6, but they also provide independent scriptural testimony to a young earth. After all, it would be preposterous to apply the old-earth interpretive ‘escape hatch’ to every one of these passages. Consider, for example, the passage in Luke’s Gospel where Jesus spoke about “the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world”; there is no basis at all for suggesting that He was really only talking about the world of humanity or the world of prophets. Rather, each of these texts is self-evidently speaking about the beginning of the whole world, and therefore each indicates that the earth is not significantly older than mankind.

Mixed-up meanings

Fourth and finally, the argument that Jesus was referring to the creation of humanity in Mark 10:6 actually misrepresents what Jesus meant by “creation”. In both English and Greek, the word “creation” can refer to either an object (a created thing) or an act (the process of creating). The statement, “this artwork is my own creation”, refers to an object. But “the creation of this artwork took many hours” describes an act.

Each of these texts is self-evidently speaking about the beginning of the whole world.

Notice that when the critics take Jesus’ reference to “creation” and tack on the words, “of humanity”, they are assuming that the term “creation” refers to an act—God’s making of mankind. Certainly, the Bible does use the term in this way in Romans 1:20, which speaks of “the creation of the world,” meaning God’s act of making of the world.

However, it makes little sense to impose this definition on Mark 10:6. Jesus could not have meant that God made people male and female from the beginning of the act of creation, because even old-earth creationists would agree that Adam and Eve were made on Day 6, toward the end (not the beginning) of God’s creative activity.4 Rather, what Jesus meant by “creation” is not the act, but the object that resulted from God’s creative activity. Jesus was talking about something that God made. This becomes even more obvious by looking again at Mark 13:19, in which Jesus used additional wording to help clarify which type of “creation” He was speaking about. His extended phrase reads (note the emphasized words): “from the beginning of the creation that God created until now”. It makes absolutely no sense to speak of God creating the act of creation. Unquestionably, then, the creation here and in Mark 10:6 is not an act, but an object.

Even so, if the critics were to admit their mistake of confusing creative acts with created objects, they might still try to maintain that the created object refers to mankind rather than the entire created realm. But this amounts to saying that the word “creation” here just means “mankind”, and there is no scriptural precedent for this at all. While the Greek word for “creation” (ktisis, κτίσις) can mean “creature” (as in 2 Cor. 5:17), the Bible never uses the singular form to refer to humanity collectively.

Thus, those Christians who try to limit Jesus’ statements to human origins are caught in a dilemma. If they claim “creation” means the act of making mankind, they import a meaning completely foreign to the context. But if they maintain that “creation” refers to (created) humanity, they adopt a meaning completely foreign to New Testament word usage. Better to abandon all the hermeneutical contrivances, and accept the obvious truth that Jesus believed in a young earth.5

Taking our cues from Scripture

As Christians, we ought to take the words of Jesus, and indeed all the words of Scripture, as authoritative (John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Tim. 3:16–17). Yet Jesus’ testimony about the age of the earth is clear even if uncomfortable for some. So I would challenge those Christians who cling to an old-earth perspective to ask themselves if they are honestly submitting to the Word of God on this point, or just finding ways to rationalize their lack of faith. The Bible clearly teaches that mankind is about as old as the rest of creation, so let us humble ourselves before God’s Word as the Thessalonians once did:

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thess. 2:13)

May that same Word continue to be at work in us.

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References and notes

Collins, C. John, Science and Faith: Friends or Foes? (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2003), p. 107. 

The underlying Greek does not differ in any significant way except that Mark 13:19 appends the expression with the words “that God created”, a qualification which I discuss below. For a comparison of the Greek, see Sarfati, Jonathan, Refuting Compromise: Updated and Expanded (Powder Springs, GA: Creation Book Publishers, 2011), p. 293–295. 

The ESV here properly interprets this phrase in a temporal sense. For a defense, see Minton, Ron, “Apostolic Witness to Genesis Creation and the Flood”, in Mortenson, Terry and Thane H. Ury, eds., Coming to Grips with Genesis (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2008), p. 351–354.

Or, if the critic argues that the act of creation refers not to the entire six-day process, but merely to the making of Adam and Eve, it would also be bizarre to think Jesus meant that God made them male and female from the beginning of the creative act that brought them about. Wouldn’t they only be male and female at the end of that process, once God had finished creating them? 

There is a less common long-age approach which concedes that this was Jesus’ teaching, but claims that He was mistaken. For a discussion of how this was used by a prominent theistic evolutionist, see Jesus on the age of the earth. 

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Feito de Modo Especial e Admirável

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/feito-de-modo-especial-e-admiravel/

Uma compilação

Eu te louvo porque me fizeste de modo especial e admirável. Tuas obras são maravilhosas! Disso tenho plena certeza. — Salmo 139:14[1]

*

Este versículo se encontra em um salmo repleto de profundo significado e doutrina. O autor se refere à onipresença e à onisciência de Deus. Diz que não podemos fugir da onividência e onisciência divinas. ...Esse salmo nos dá a garantia de que Deus está ao nosso lado independentemente do que estejamos vivenciando. Às vezes, quando O achamos distante, este grandioso salmo serve de consolo e lembrete de que Deus está sempre presente e ciente dos nossos problemas e necessidades.

[No versículo 14 do Salmo 139, Davi] louva a Deus por ter criado tanto ele como cada um de nós, de uma maneira tão maravilhosa. Deus nos criou do jeito que somos por um propósito específico. Entender isso gera em nós perfeita paz, pois sabemos que as aflições ou os supostos problemas existem por decreto divino. — David Peach

*

Recentemente, os editores da revista Time publicaram um livro com fotos do mundo. A cada página, as fotos à grande distância ou bem próximas, revelam beleza, maravilhas e mistério. As cenas vão desde a elaborada arquitetura de uma colmeia, aos saltos das baleias brancas brincando, ou a um urso pardo... veem-se coisas admiráveis por todos os lados. É um festival de maravilhas.

Você percebe que toda manhã, ao se olhar no espelho, você está diante de uma das grandes maravilhas do mundo? A Bíblia diz que “fomos feitos de modo especial e admirável”. Não existe melhor maneira de começar o dia do que refletir no milagre quevocê é — e cortesia do Criador do universo. — Howard Butt, Jr.

*

Você é especial! Faz parte de um plano magnífico, amplo e abrangente. Você não consegue ver o plano, mas Eu vejo. Não vê como se encaixa lindamente no panorama geral da vida e no equilíbrio do universo, mas Eu vejo. Um dia entenderá e ficará maravilhado com a maneira admirável como tudo foi formado e encaixado.

Você é singular. Nunca existiu ou existirá alguém igual a você. Esse é um dos fatores que mais gosto a seu respeito. Resista à tentação de se olhar negativamente ou se concentrar naquilo que considera defeito, fraqueza, inabilidade, no seu corpo “não perfeito”, na sua personalidade, ou em seja o que for. Você está cumprindo o desígnio para o qual foi criado. Eu o amo exatamente como você é, como se fosse a única pessoa no mundo. — Jesus falando em profecia

*

Você é uma criatura complexa, criada por Deus como uma peça fabricada em um tear.[2] Todas as nossas partes, interdependentes como uma engrenagem, realizam cada qual a sua função.[3] Ao pensarmos no início da Criação, o ponto de partida de tudo que vemos, ficamos perplexos com a habilidade divina.[4] Quando Deus criou o primeiro casal, também os dotou de mecanismos que funcionariam com base na lei natural, para que pudessem se recriar e dar continuidade à raça. O salmista acerta em cheio ao identificar Deus como o Grande Obreiro, a fonte da nossa origem.

Esse feito deveria inspirar louvor e gratidão em nossos corações.[5] Fomos feitos “de modo especial” (distinto) e “admirável” (surpreendente). Cada um de nós é singular e, ao mesmo tempo, somos similares; cada um é uma obra prima original do Criador. Não negue esse aspecto da sua identidade (como muitos o fizeram), pois Deus pode usar suas habilidades específicas[6]. Ele tem um propósito para você! — Jon W. Quinn

*

No Salmo 139:14 encontra-se a tão conhecida declaração: “Eu te louvo porque me fizeste de modo especial e admirável. Tuas obras são maravilhosas! Disso tenho plena certeza.” … O que isso significa?

Primeiro, é uma clara afirmação das surpreendentes capacidades do corpo humano criado por Deus. A composição do nosso corpo, com bilhões de células e incontáveis partículas só pode ser explicada adequadamente pela existência de um amoroso e sábio Criador e Arquiteto.[7]

Segundo, este versículo indica o nosso valor a partir da perspectiva de Deus. Ele projetou e criou cada ser humano com muito zelo. Como afirmam os dois versículos seguintes: “Meus ossos não estavam escondidos de ti quando em secreto fui formado e entretecido como nas profundezas da terra. Os teus olhos viram o meu embrião; todos os dias determinados para mim foram escritos no teu livro antes de qualquer deles existir.”[8]

Terceiro, este versículo revela o valor inestimável da vida humana. Uma aplicação direta dele é a proteção à vida em todos os níveis, do ventre ao último suspiro. Por isso, os cristãos se preocupam tanto em proteger a vida no ventre,[9] em cuidar dos maltratados ou depreciados pelos outros na sociedade,[10] dos idosos e dos doentes em estado terminal. 1 João 4:19 diz que, “Nós O amamos porque Ele nos amou primeiro”.

Quarto, este versículo revela as qualidades de Deus, Sua onipotência (tudo pode) e onisciência (tudo sabe). Deus perguntou a Jó: “Quem foi que deu sabedoria ao coração e entendimento à mente?”[11] A pergunta é retórica, pois a resposta, logicamente, é Deus. Ninguém mais pode assumir o mérito pela criação de cada ser humano. Ninguém mais conhece cada pessoa tão profundamente. O mesmo Deus que criou o universo[12]também conhece o número de fios de cabelo na nossa cabeça.[13]

Por fim, este versículo revela outra razão para adorarmos ao Senhor Todo-Poderoso. Ele nos criou com grande sabedoria, poder e amor, e a única resposta adequada é honrá-lO e glorificar o Seu nome. Como observa outro Salmo: “Nenhum dos deuses é comparável a ti, Senhor, nenhum deles pode fazer o que tu fazes. Todas as nações que tu formaste virão e te adorarão, Senhor, glorificarão o teu nome. Pois tu és grande e realizas feitos maravilhosos; só tu és Deus.”[14] — Compelling Truth website[15]

Publicado no Âncora em novembro 2014. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.

[1] NVI.

[2] Ver Êxodo 26:36.

[3] Ver 1 Coríntios 12:14–18.

[4] Ver Gênesis 2:7, 22; 1:27.

[5] Ver Salmo 139:14.

[6] Ver Salmo 139:16.

[7] Ver Gênesis 1:26–27.

[8] Salmo 139:15–16.

[9] Ver Salmo 139:13.

[10] Ver Provérbios 31:8–9.

[11] Jó 38:36.

[12] Ver Gênesis 1:1.

[13] Ver Mateus 10:30; Lucas 12:7.

[14] Salmo 86:8–10.

[15] www.compellingtruth.org.

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The Story of the Prodigal Son

A compilation

Audio length: 10:40

Download Audio (9.7MB)

The compassion of the father

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/story-prodigal-son/

But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.—Luke 15:201

*

In this parable God is depicted as a father—but what an unusual father! Both sons publicly insult the father, and in both cases the father, in grace, humiliates himself and seeks reconciliation with his children. Though we are sinners, God, in gracious love, invites us to return to him. His ways are not our ways.—John Sanders

*

“When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him.” It was not with icy eyes that the father looked on his returning son. Love leaped into them, and as he beheld him, he “had compassion on him”; that is, he felt for him. There was no anger in his heart toward his son; he had nothing but pity for his poor boy, who had gotten into such a pitiable condition. It was true that it was all his own fault, but that did not come before his father’s mind. It was the state that he was in, his poverty, his degradation, that pale face of his so wan with hunger that touched his father to the quick. And God has compassion on the woes and miseries of men. They may have brought their troubles on themselves, and they have indeed done so; but nevertheless God has compassion upon them. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.”—Charles H. Spurgeon

*

When I look at the story of the prodigal son, as an Easterner, both of these stories meant a lot to me. … When you have wronged your father, and when you have treated him as if he were dead, which is the implication of “give me my inheritance,” and then he goes and squanders it, then he comes to himself and makes his U-turn home, in an Eastern context, the father never would have left the home to meet him outside. He would have waited until the son came in flat on his face, begging forgiveness. But the grace of the father, to run to meet the son who is on his way back home, is so counterintuitive to the Eastern mindset. And there he was received and forgiven and robed and ringed and all of that.—Ravi Zacharias

*

This is the portrayal of God, whose goodness, love, forgiveness, care, joy and compassion have no limits at all. Jesus presents God’s generosity by using all the imagery that his culture provides, while constantly transforming it.—Henri Nouwen

The repentance of the son

And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”—Luke 15:212

Was there ever such a short-story character sketch as this one of the prodigal son! No realism of details, no elaboration of his sins, and yet the immortal picture is burned forever into our imagination. The debacle of his life is as clear and vivid as words can portray the ruin. Yet the phrase which arrests us most as we read the compact narrative of his undoing is not the one which tells about ‘‘riotous living,” or the reckless squandering of his patrimony, or his hunger for swine husks, or his unshod feet and the loss of his tunic; it is rather the one which says that when he was at the bottom of his fortune “he came to himself.” He had not been himself then, before. He was not finding himself in the life of riotous indulgence. That did not turn out after all to be the life for which he was meant. He missed himself more than he missed his lost shoes and tunic.

That raises a nice question which is worth an answer: When is a person his real self? When can he properly say, “At last I have found myself; I am what I want to be”? Christ has revealed to us the fact that we always have higher and diviner possibilities in us. He, the Overcomer, and not Adam, is the true type, the normal person, giving us at last the pattern of life which is life indeed. Which is the real self, then? Surely this is our higher possible self, this one which we discover in our best moments.—Rufus M. Jones

*

In prison and facing death, Dostoyevsky discovered the parable of the prodigal son. In that story of homecoming, God was resurrected in his mind. The parable of the prodigal son transformed Dostoyevsky’s mind, soul, and body. Having the parable read to him was the last request on his deathbed, and it was the story that touched every story that brilliant author ever wrote. He was sublimely aware that the story of this homecoming is our own. In fact, his awareness would reach another soul who eventually saw the beauty of the prodigal son worked out in his own life. Describing his own quite reluctant conversion, C. S. Lewis exclaimed, “Who can duly adore that Love which will open the high gates to a prodigal who is brought in kicking, struggling, resentful, and darting his eyes in every direction for a chance to escape? The hardness of God is kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”—Jill Carattini

*

We’ve all been prodigals at some time or another. We’ve all at some time strayed far away from the Father’s house, if not in body, at least in spirit, and we’ve all had to eat husks and find them unsatisfying and then return to our Father, who, seeing us afar off has run to greet us, with arms outstretched. He has already been looking for us. He is expecting us to learn our lessons and come back. He waits for us in love until we find that nothing else satisfies and we turn toward Him, and then He can reach out and heal us with His wonderful touch. Like that little chorus:

He touched me, oh, He touched me,

And, oh, the joy that floods my soul.

Something happened and now I know,

He touched me and made me whole.

God will not be frustrated. His plan is not going to fail. As in the case of the prodigal son, if you’ll even start going God’s way and turn toward Him, He’ll be out there waiting for you and will receive you with open arms of love and a new garment of righteousness, a beautiful new golden ring of reward that you don’t even deserve, and a feast of thanksgiving and celebration.

Remember, there’s always hope. “He knoweth the way that you take, and when He has tried you, you shall come forth as gold.”3 The way may be hard at times, but His Word says, “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.”4—M. Fontaine

*

The parable of the prodigal son was written about anyone who has strayed from My side. When I see you walking up the road toward Me, I immediately come running to meet you. I wrap My arms around you and throw My cloak about you, and call My servants to prepare a feast, because My daughter, My son, those who were lost, have found their way back into My arms.

The prodigal son left the Father’s house and spent his time and inheritance doing those things he wanted to do, thinking that they would make him happy. When the prodigal son ran out of money, he was forced into poverty. This in a way was a prison for him; it seemed like there was no way out. In his despair, thinking there was no way out, he began to wallow in the mire and become one with the swine. Until finally he came to his senses and began to wonder, “What have I done?”

The prodigal son thought that he had gone too far astray to be accepted again by his father. But remember that you can never be too bad for Me. Your place in My house is still there for you! I’m waiting with open arms to receive you back into My home. Remember, no matter how you feel, I still love you.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

Published on Anchor November 2014. Read by Debra Lee.

Footnotes:

1 ESV.

2 ESV.

3 Job 23:10.

4 1 Peter 5:10.

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The Happy Prince - Oscar Wilde

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Joy in Living

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/joy-living/
A compilation
Audio length: 9:33
Download Audio (8.7MB)

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.—Marcus Aurelius

*

The subway train sways back and forth, its wheels screeching more fiendishly than ever against the tracks. Outside the window the freezing cold of winter rules and the dreary bay looks like a yawning abyss as the train rumbles across it. The carriage is filled with frozen, self-centered, bored passengers. Good morning!

Suddenly a little boy pushes his way in between discourteous grown-up legs—the kind that only grudgingly make room for you. While his father stays by the door, the boy sits next to the window, surrounded by unfriendly, morning-weary adults. What a brave child, I think. As the train enters a tunnel, something totally unexpected and peculiar happens. The little boy slides down from his seat and puts his hand on my knee. For a moment, I think that he wants to go past me and return to his father, so I shift a bit. But instead of moving on, the boy leans forward and stretches his head up towards me. He wants to tell me something, I think. Kids! I bend down to listen to what he has to say. Wrong again! He kisses me softly on the cheek.

Then he returns to his seat, leans back and cheerfully starts looking out of the window. But I’m shocked. What happened? A kid kissing unknown grown-ups on the train? To my amazement, the kid proceeds to kiss all my neighbors.

Nervous and bewildered, we look questioningly at his father, “He’s so happy to be alive,” the father says. “He’s been very sick.”

The train stops and father and son get [off] and disappear into the crowd. The doors close. On my cheek I can still feel the child’s kiss—a kiss that has triggered some soul-searching. How many grown-ups go around kissing each other from the sheer joy of being alive? How many even give much thought to the privilege of living? What would happen if we all just started being ourselves?

The little boy had given us a sweet but serious slap in the face: Don’t let yourself die before your heart stops!—Dag Retsö

*

It’s not too late to plot and plan—
Do all the secret good you can!
Take young and old folk by surprise,
And scatter stardust in their eyes.
You’ll find there’s greater joy in living
As you share in the thrill of giving.
—Author unknown

*

Oh, how sweet the light of day,
And how wonderful to live in the sunshine!
Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted.
Take delight in each light-filled hour.
—Ecclesiastes 11:7–81

*

For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are that you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his happiness or unhappiness on major events like a great new job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink, or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.—Andy Rooney

*

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.—Psalm 16:112

*

When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.—Tecumseh

*

I’ve started to look at life differently. When you’re thanking God for every little [thing]—every meal, every time you wake up, every time you take a sip of water—you can’t help but be more thankful for life itself, for the unlikely and miraculous fact that you exist at all.—A. J. Jacobs

*

(Prayer:) Thank You for all the little ways in which You bless us, Jesus. Help us not to forget to thank You for all the little things You do to express Your love for us each day. Sometimes we don’t even notice many of Your blessings because we take them for granted. We figure that’s just the way it’s always been, and we don’t remember how great a manifestation of Your love these things are.

Thank You for Your protection in so many ways that we don’t realize. Sometimes we don’t even know that You’ve protected us because we don’t see what could have happened if You hadn’t kept us under the shadow of Your protection. So we thank You for that and praise You for it.

Help us to thank You more often for all the little things, the tiny manifestations of Your love, Your care, and Your safekeeping.

*

“The difference between ‘not enough’ and ‘more than enough’ is your attitude,” noted Bishop T.D. Jakes at a conference I attended in July 1999. … As we live our lives from day to day, it can be easy to take so much of what we have for granted. For example, when we are unhappy in a job and we are looking for a new one, sometimes the last thing that we think to do is to thank God for the job that we dislike. When we want to purchase a new home, it is too rare that we stop to appreciate the roof we currently have over our heads. When we are working to get a “new body,” we should not fail to be thankful for the fact that the one we have right now is able to walk, talk, and breathe. We can get so wrapped up in trying to get what we don’t have that we don’t take time to appreciate what we do have.

I know these things may sound very basic, but it is the most “basic” aspects of our lives, those things that we often don’t even give a second thought to, that we should be most grateful for. It is these “basic” things—people, places, or our well-being—that could devastate us most if we had to live without them. When you come to understand what is most important to you, and then make it a priority in your life to honor and take care of those aspects of your life, then you find your center. Your center is that place you discover when your life is healthy and balanced. It takes some true soul searching to find it, and it takes practice to maintain it. But once you find that peaceful, joyful place called your center, you’ll always feel off balance when you leave it.

One way to stay centered is to count your blessings every day. Why is it important to do it every day? Because it can be too easy to fall into the habit of taking life for granted and feeling sorry for yourself when things don’t go the way you had hoped. By counting your blessings, you remember just how rich you are—in spirit, in family, in friendships, in health, in career, in education, in personality, and the list goes on.

Count your blessings in the mornings. It is a very uplifting way to begin the day. After all, a new day is just one more blessing that you have to be thankful for. Try this exercise: Turn off all the noise around you, and go to a place where you can find as much solitude as possible. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply and slowly. Now think about all that you have to be thankful for. Stay in this quiet state for at least five minutes. When you finish, write down everything that came to mind.

It’s a pretty good list, isn’t it?—Valorie Burton3

Published on Anchor November 2014. Read by Debra Lee.


Footnotes:
1 The Message.
2 NIV.
3 http://www.valorieburton.com/newsletters/archive/2008/20081123.html.

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Quebrar para transformar

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/quebrar-para-transformar/
D. Brandt Berg

Deus escolhe e usa as coisas fracas, as loucas e as desprezíveis “para que ninguém se glorie perante Ele!”—1 Coríntios 1:25–29

É quase interminável a lista de homens que, antes de usar, Deus precisou humilhar, os líderes que, primeiro rebaixou às profundezas para que pudessem suportar serem exaltados — para que não acontecesse de darem a si mesmos o mérito e não darem a glória a Deus.

José foi um deles. Dos 12 filhos de Jacó, era o preferido do seu pai. Seus irmãos mais velhos finalmente ficaram com tanta inveja dele que quase o mataram. Limitaram-se a lançá-lo em um poço e o venderem como escravo! Mas o Senhor usou isso para humilhá-lo. José foi feito escravo, preso e condenado como criminoso antes de Deus poder exaltá-lo para se tornar o salvador do seu povo.[1]

E olhe só Moisés! Durante 40 anos, foi educado na corte do faraó e se tornou o segundo homem mais poderoso em todo o grandioso império mundial do Antigo Egito. Segundo a Bíblia, Moisés foi “instruído em toda a ciência dos egípcios”,[2] mas Deus não podia ainda usá-lo para guiar o Seu povo à liberdade porque estava cheio dos costumes do mundo e não dos costumes de Deus. Moisés primeiro teve que ser quebrado. Por isso, Deus permitiu que ele se tornasse um fugitivo do faraó, o que o levou a passar 40 anos no deserto cuidando de ovelhas, até que finalmente estava suficientemente quebrado e humilde para Deus poder usá-lo para a grande tarefa para a qual o tinha designado.[3]

Considere o rei Davi, o maior rei que Israel já teve. Apaixonado por Bateseba, fez com que Urias, marido dela, fosse morto em combate. Como Davi mentiu para encobrir seu crime, Deus teve de desmascará-lo, humilhá-lo e julgá-lo severamente! Pouco depois, Davi foi traído e destronado pelo próprio filho, Absalão.[4]

Mas, Davi caiu para baixo ou para cima? Às vezes, o caminho de Deus para cima é para baixo — na verdade, é o que costuma acontecer! Exatamente o contrário daquilo que pensamos! Davi foi humilhado, todo o reino foi humilhado e todos se lembraram de que foi somente o Senhor que os tornara grandes! E desse aperto e esmagamento da vida de Davi saiu o doce mel dos salmos e a fragrância dos seus louvores ao Senhor pela Sua misericórdia! Uma lição que tem sido desde então um encorajamento para outros pecadores como eu e você.

O grande, corajoso e poderoso profeta Elias, conseguiu fazer descer fogo do céu para confundir os falsos profetas de Baal e para provar que ele estava certo![5] Mas depois de ter matado centenas de falsos profetas, entrou em pânico e fugiu de uma mulherzinha: a ímpia rainha Jezabel. Escondido na mata, Elias ficou tão desanimado que teve vontade de morrer! Mas ali, no seu período de aflição, o profeta do fogo e trovão se tornou um homem humilde que aprendeu a escutar a voz mansa e delicada de Deus! E assim se tornou um instrumento muito mais humilde e melhor nas mãos do Senhor, um profeta que voltou destemidamente para enfrentar não só a rainha, mas também o rei e todos os seus soldados.[6]

E veja só o apóstolo Pedro! Ele era tão orgulhoso e autoconfiante que jurou a Jesus: “Ainda que todos os outros Te deixem, estou pronto a ir contigo para a prisão e para a morte.”[7]. Mas horas depois, quando Jesus foi capturado pelos guardas do templo e arrastado para o tribunal religioso dos judeus, algumas pessoas no lado de fora do prédio reconheceram Pedro e o acusaram de ser um dos seguidores de Jesus. O discípulo negou veementemente dizendo que sequer O conhecia, praguejou e jurou que não tinha nem ideia do que estavam falando.[8]

Quando negava o Senhor pela terceira vez, Jesus, que estava sendo levado pelos Seus captores para outra parte do edifício, virou-se e olhou para Pedro, que se lembrou de como tinha jurado que nunca O negaria. A Bíblia diz que, depois disso, Pedro “saiu e chorou amargamente.”[9]. Será que foi o fim do serviço de Pedro para o Senhor? Não! Foi pouco depois desta humilhante derrota, deste grande fracasso, deste quebrantamento do seu orgulho, que o Senhor ungiu e elevou Pedro à posição de líder da igreja primitiva.

E considere o grande apóstolo Paulo. Ele tinha sido um importante líder judeu, o Rabi Saul, e por iniciativa própria tinha decidido ele mesmo pôr termo a essa seita — que apresentava um rápido crescimento —, dos seguidores de Jesus de Nazaré. Quando Paulo estava a caminho de Damasco para capturar, prender e executar todos os cristãos que encontrasse, Deus teve de literalmente fazê-lo cair do cavalo e o deixou cego com a luz brilhante da Sua presença! Tremendo, indefeso e sem enxergar, o outrora orgulhoso rabino teve de ser conduzido pela mão para a cidade. Ficou tão atônito com o ocorrido que não conseguiu comer nem beber durante três dias inteiros! Um discípulo do Senhor foi então para lhe dar a mensagem de Deus e orar pelos seus olhos, e Saulo foi convertido e se tornou o apóstolo Paulo. Deus teve primeiro que humilhá-lo, quebrá-lo e transformá-lo num novo homem antes de poder usá-lo.[10]

Na verdade, é a história de cada um que tenha sido verdadeiramente usado para a obra do Senhor. Para podermos ser aquilo que Ele quer que sejamos, geralmente é preciso muitos quebrantamentos e humilhações, pelos quais Ele nos derrete, remodele, modifica e restaura, transformando-nos em vasos melhores — melhores do que éramos e do que pensávamos que éramos —, muito mais submissos e úteis para o Seu reino.

Esses testes, provas e tribulações vão torná-lo mais flexível e terno ou endurecê-lo e deixá-lo rancoroso! O sofrimento deixa a pessoa amorosa ou rancorosa. Tenha cuidado para não ficar endurecido, amargo e ressentido com Deus em seu coração quando passar por uma prova. Sua Palavra diz: “Tendo cuidado de que ninguém se prive da graça de Deus, e que nenhuma raiz de amargura brotando vos perturbe, e por ela, muitos se contaminem.”[11]

Se você deixar que as provas o humilhem e enterneçam, ficará muito mais feliz, pois se aproximará muito mais do Senhor. Se endurecer o coração contra o Senhor, se resistir ao Espírito Santo e fechar o coração para o amor de Deus e para a verdade, vai ficar calejado, perderá sensibilidade e pode se tornar totalmente insensível.[12] Cuidado para não acabar como o homem em “Invictus”, aquele poema horrível. “Sou dono e senhor de meu destino; Sou o comandante de minha alma. Minha cabeça — embora em sangue — está erguida.”[13] Mesmo ferido, machucado e ensanguentado, ele ainda insistia em seu o próprio chefe e se recusava a “se curvar” diante do Senhor.

A verdade resistida perde o poder sobre a alma! Todas as vezes que você resiste à verdade, endurece o espírito ao Senhor. É como quando você tem um lugarzinho sensível no pé onde o sapato roça. No início, é muito sensível, muito dolorido. Machuca. Mas se não parar de esfregar, em breve se forma um grande calo, a pele fica mais grossa, mais rija e dura. É o que acontece com o coração de quem se recusa continuamente a se submeter ao Senhor! A solução para o sofrimento não é endurecer o coração! Ele diz: “Não endureçais os vossos corações”[14], mas “lança o teu cuidado sobre o Senhor e Ele te susterá! Buscai ao Senhor enquanto se pode achar, invocai-O enquanto está perto! Perto está o Senhor dos que têm um coração quebrantado e salva os contritos (quebrados, arrependidos) de espírito!”[15]

Seja o que for que Deus fizer, sempre o faz por amor! — “Misericordioso e piedoso é o Senhor, longânime e grande em benignidade. Não nos tratou segundo os nossos pecados; nem nos retribuiu segundo as nossas iniquidades. Pois quanto o Céu está elevado acima da Terra, assim é grande a Sua misericórdia para com os que O temem. Como um pai se compadece dos seus filhos, assim o Senhor se compadece daqueles que O temem. Pois Ele conhece a nossa estrutura; lembra-se de que somos pó.”[16]

O Senhor ama você e se compadece das nossas fraquezas.[17] Mas Ele sabe que jamais o usará muito a menos que você seja humilhado. Quando você se torna uma ferramenta, um canal e um pequeno diamante de poeira, então Ele pode usá-lo poderosamente!

Ele nos transforma pelos nossos quebrantamentos. É preciso passar por sofrimentos, perdas, tragédias e fracassos para aprender a amar os perdidos do mundo, a ser solidário e a alcançar os outros com o Seu amor. Mas se você Lhe permitir quebrar e derreter seu coração, Ele poderá atraí-lo, aquecê-lo, derretê-lo, torná-lo brilhante e feliz, ardendo com Seu amor — para que você possa compartilhar esse amor com os outros.

Compilado dos escritos de D. Brandt Berg, publicado originalmente em abril de 1987. Adaptado e republicado em novembro de 2014.

Footnotes
[1] Gênesis 37, 39–41.
[2] Atos 7:22.
[3] Êxodo 2–3.
[4] 2 Samuel 11,12,15.
[5] 1 Reis 18.
[6] 1 Reis 19 e 21.
[7] João 13:37; Lucas 22:33.
[8] Marcos 14:66–71.
[9] Lucas 22:62.
[10] Atos 9.
[11] Hebreus 12:15.
[12] Efésios 4:19.
[13] William Ernest Henley (1875).
[14] Hebreus 3:15
[15] Salmo 55:22, 34:18; Isaías 55:6.
[16] Salmo 103:8–14.
[17] Ver Hebreus 4:15.

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