Simplicity

I subscribe to John Stott's daily thoughts.  Here is another gem:

Materialism is an obsession with material things.


Asceticism is the denial of the good gifts of the Creator.

Pharisaism is binding ourselves and other people with

rules. Instead, we should stick to principles. The

principle of simplicity is clear. Simplicity is the first

cousin of contentment. Its motto is, 'We brought nothing

into this world, and we can certainly carry nothing out.'

It recognizes that we are pilgrims.

It concentrates on what we *need*, and measures this by

what we *use*. It rejoices in the good things of creation,

but hates waste and greed and clutter. It knows how easily

the seed of the Word is smothered by the 'cares and riches

of this life'. It wants to be free of distractions, in

order to love and serve God and others.



--From "The Christian and the Poor" (All Souls Paper:

London: All Souls Church, 16 February 1981).



----------------------------------------------------

--Excerpted from "Authentic Christianity", p. 363, by

permission of InterVarsity Press.

Why I find preaching so interesting....

I am on John Stott's daily mailing list. His ministry sends snippets of quotes from his writings and Bible commentaries to those who are interested. John Stott is now retired but he has been, and in my mind remains, one of the giants of the Church for this generation. His thoughts for today include the challenges of communicating the Good News of Christ to a people of a different culture. Even though he writes in the context of cross cultural communication in the mission fields of Africa, his words apply to the homiletical task. He writes:

"How can I...take the Gospel from the Bible which was written in the cultures of Judaism and the Greco-Roman world....and communicate it...without either falsifying the message or rendering it unintelligible? It is the interplay (of cultures) which constitutes the exciting, and yet exacting, discipline of cross cultural communication." From "Culture and the Bible" (Downers Grove: IVP, 1981, pg 40).

My Testimony

All too often you hear Christians speak of wanting to give a testimony. If you listen carefully, there are alot of pronouns in their speech, the speaker keeps speaking about I and me. Is there a way when testimony can be utilized? I like what John Stott says about testimony, in a book entitled Preacher's Portrait. Stott writes: "So much so called testimony today is really autobiography and even sometimes thinly disguised self-advertisement, that we need to regain a proper Biblical perspective. All true testimony is testimony to Jesus Christ as He stands on trial before the world." (From the Preacher's Portrait, London, Tyndale Press 1961, page 57).

This is the proper way to speak of testimony, to lift high the cross of Christ, to be determined, in the Apostle Paul's words, to know nothing less than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If we are to give a testimony, or boast, let it be about Jesus!