A.W. Tozer on ‘the sacrament of living’

“One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas- the sacred and the secular. As these areas are conceived to exist apart from each other and to be morally and spiritually incompatible, and as we are compelled by the necessities of living to be always crossing back and forth from one to the other, our inner lives tend to break up so that we live a divided instead of a unified life… “

“This is the old sacred-secular antithesis. Most Christian are caught in this trap… They try to walk the tight rope between two kingdoms and they find no peace in either…. I believe this state of affairs to be wholly unnecessary… The sacred-secular antithesis has no foundation in the New Testament… The Lord Jesus Christ himself is our perfect example, and he knew no divided life… “ 

“Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act. For such a man, living itself will be sacramental and the whole world a sanctuary…. “

Filed under: Theology

Saying good-bye

On his way to Goldsboro, North Carolina, my good friend Aaron stopped in Kent yesterday to hang out. He just took a job as Sports Director at a YMCA twelve hours away. The distance isn’t a huge deal for him- he moved from Kansas City to attend BGSU- where we met. Aaron has a free-spiritedness and sense of adventure I never will. Classic example: he spent this past summer living out of his Kia Sportage, camping in backyards and parks. And so, moving far away isn’t a huge deal for him. I respect him for that.  

We spent the day playing disc golf, hanging at a coffee shop, visiting a bookstore and a library, and walking along the Cuyahoga River here in Kent. I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend the day with an old friend. So with every possession packed into his Kia, I sent Aaron off early this morning. Our friendship will undoubtedly change, yet we are both eager to see how God will continue what He started. I am grateful for faithful friends who, in some way that cannot be explained, allow us to glimpse the heart of our God.

Filed under: Life

C.S. Lewis on coming to faith

For my graduate school class, I am reading a number of excerpts from influential people throughout history. The most modern author is C.S. Lewis, who, in his book Surprised by Joy, tells of his experience of arriving at belief in Jesus Christ. Here are a few of his words: ”To accept the Incarnation was a further step in the same direction. It brings God nearer, or near in a new way. And this, I found, was something I had not wanted. But to recognize the ground for my evasion was of course to recognize both its shame and its futility… When we set out I did not believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, ad when we reached [the destination] I did. Yet I had not exactly spent the journey in thought. Nor in great emotion. “Emotion” is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a person, after a long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake…”

“I now know that the experience, considered as a state of my own mind, had never had the kind of importance I once gave it. It was valuable only as a pointer to something other and outer. While that other was in doubt, the pointer naturally loomed large in my thoughts. When we are lost in the woods the sight of a signpost is a great matter. He who first sees it cries “Look!” The whole party gathers around and stares. But when we have found the road and are passing signposts every few miles, we shall not stop and stare. They will encourage us and we will be grateful to the authority that set them up. But we shall not stop and stare, or not much…”

Filed under: Theology

Packing our bags

It’s here…our final week in Bowling Green.

Filed under: Life