Charles Spurgeon: God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher; but because he was a justified, sanctified man, and consequently faithful in his Master’s work

The creeds, are meant to summarize the most important tenets of our Christian Faith.

1. The Apostle’s Creed
2. The Nicene Creed
3. The Athanasian Creed

This morning…

This is the Catholic Faith, anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

…one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

Soldering on, my aim? a full life.

What I really am glad to know is C. S. Lewis wouldn’t want me to be like him, rather, to be most myself, as God would want, and require of me.

I know how much I am still struggling to be able to judge and test assertions as I read. I often read something that I immediately agree or affirm its wit, especially among the great writers I admire like C. S. Lewis, only later to realize that they shatter that first assertion completely for a better one, or reveal why it fails or it is wrong. So how comes I never suspected it myself?

10 mistakes I am also making as a university student…

10 Mistakes I Made As a University Student

Read the blog post here

I hate how much of a sad endeavor it all usually is, trying to be something in the sight of men.

I spent the weekend at FOCUS Centre, Kasarani. An RSEC retreat.

FOCUS is Fellowship of Christians Unions. It is the umbrella body for the Christian Unions in Kenya. RSEC is Regional Students Executive Committee. RSEC members comprise the Chairpersons and Secretaries from a particular region, in this case, Southern Nairobi, where Medical School Christian Union, as well as other University of Nairobi(UoN) Christian Unions, is based. (I am just wondering if it should be are based, but oh well)

Yes, I had a few moments to talk about my interests, reading and writing, to those who indulged me. I might have impressed them, but by now I know that doesn’t count for much. It might not make such a big difference for them, and it might not for me as well if I end up teaching myself to talk endlessly about my reading and writing more than I do the actual stuff. So the retreat reminds me just how much I am behind my reading, and maybe my writing. There’s therefore some work to be done, but maybe I needed the reprieve that came with the retreat. But nor was it a retreat in the actual sense; at least not with all those discussions and conversations, much needed of course, that did indeed place a demand on my mental faculties. “You didn’t talk much,” a fellow chairperson observed. “Oh, I did not?” was my reply. “At least not like last time.”

On our way back to town by bus, I thought about an answer I should have given: “I was still a child then.” But was I? I think I just didn’t have so much to say and comment on, and everyone was already saying the same things anyway. But that line of thought reminded me just how much I like to replay conversations in my head. I find I have wittier and funnier responses to questions but then its usually too late.

The two sermons, from 2 Timothy, did make an impression on me, so I have quite a bit to think about. I should probably do short comments about them in another post and link them to this one. I hope I do.

Oh yes, I got two books; I didn’t have much money, and apparently there weren’t so many good titles. Yes, at FOCUS centre there’s the bookstall; the books are cheaper there, comparatively. Sadly, and expectedly, they are mostly Christian titles. I am yet to find a place where I can get very affordably priced novels and classics, and titles by Lewis and his ilk.

There’s a bit of something else, but that should go into my private journal, at least for now.

Yes, I think it feels a bit freeing and nice to talk about my weekend here. No lessons to share, just me talking about a normal weekend, and it doesn’t feel like I am shouting to get attention. Maybe I will do more of such blogs. I am not sure if I will keep the discipline.

I am learning that when I say an apparently difficult word, or just some big vocab, I should rush on with my speech so that people don’t spend the time focusing on the word. It makes all of it feel normal, as though I really never meant to draw attention to it. But goodness, it’s for the attention that I said it! Haha.

William Cowper:

This film about Henri Nouwen is just as moving as you would expect. youtu.be/faQXF33rQ…

In reply to my article, Was Jesus Lying, on substack,

Daniel: This is an intriguing topic to explore. Such thoughts often receive a sharp dismissal, “Your faith is wavering,” but as you rightly point out, this is a reality for many. Does it alter the nature of God as an entity? I don’t believe so. However, these questions persist in my mind. It’s one of the topics I would undoubtedly seek His wisdom on in eternity regarding our lives on Earth, as it sometimes seems unfair, yet we persevere.

This is the reply I have written back.

Hi Daniel. First of all, thank you so much for such an elaborate and personal response. This one here shaped up out of C. S. Lewis’s Letter XI to Malcolm (from the book, Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer) As do all the ones I have read so far, Letter XI also tackles a difficult subject as regards petitionary prayer; faith, and the apparent reality that we don’t always receive whatever we ask. As it is, Jesus himself asked of the Father what He(the Father) wouldn’t give, and indeed He, before giving up His spirit, cried, “my God, my God why have you forsaken me?” Our Saviour’s experience in Gethsemane, and on the cross, deceptively seems easy to explain: it just wasn’t God’s will to grant the request. C. S. Lewis then asks if we are always to add the clause, ‘if it be thy will’, to every prayer we make? The Lord’s will isn’t always so clear to us, and when it is, we desperately would want it to be different. Like Jesus we often seek if there’s perhaps a chance that the cup could pass. Don’t we now see it isn’t as easy as we had at first thought? For then, what happens to our faith in the context of such a stark likelihood of a refusal, or indifferent silence?

I am reminded of Frederick Buechner’s words:

If you tell me Christian commitment is a kind of thing that has happened to you once and for all like some kind of spiritual plastic surgery, I say go to, go to, you’re either pulling the wool over your own eyes or trying to pull it over mine. Every morning you should wake up in your bed and ask yourself: “Can I believe it all again today?” No, better still, don’t ask it till after you’ve read The New York Times, till after you’ve studied that daily record of the world’s brokenness and corruption, which should always stand side by side with your Bible. Then ask yourself if you can believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ again for that particular day. If your answer’s always Yes, then you probably don’t know what believing means. At least five times out of ten the answer should be No because the No is as important as the Yes, maybe more so. The No is what proves you’re human in case you should ever doubt it. And then if some morning the answer happens to be really Yes, it should be a Yes that’s choked with confession and tears and . . . great laughter. (From The Return of Ansel Gibbs)

Sobering, aren’t they?

A screen-time of more than 2 hours! I wonder how I get anything done.

I wrote something about faith on substack: How much faith does a man need?

Twice the devil tempted Christ with the phrase if you are the Son of God… He made the sonship of Christ to depend on his giving in to the devil’s request.

1. If you are the son of God, change these stones to bread.
2. If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.

I have then had to ask myself, what makes me a son of God? What has made me a son of God? This sort of question probes my faith and security; my security in God’s love and, my trust in his promises and assurances. I might not have the bread I so desperately want, but I still am a son. What God has made a stone, like Jesus, I shouldn’t call bread, nor do I honor God by jumping from a pinnacle when there are stairs. The devil is a whisperer, a liar who comes to challenge the truth of God is us, asking, “did God really say?”

Dear Lord, may it please you to keep back our feet from his snare.

Great Spirit, give to me
A heaven not so large as yours
But large enough for me

-Emily Dickinson

I wasn’t so focused on some work, I was posing for the photo.

1. John 16:32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

2. Matthew 26:30-35 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.

3. John 2:23-25 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.

Peter swore he would not deny Jesus even if it came to death, he did so three times, just as Jesus said he would. Jesus knew Peter would deny him, yet he loved Peter still. He knew all his disciples would run and leave him alone, but he showed them no bitterness, knowing God would never leave him alone.

Men don’t always keep their promises, cursed are we indeed when we rely on men. Cast your eyes on God who alone is able to save you, and don’t hate a friend when they bail out on you. They have just done what you likely would have done had you also been in their position. Let’s learn from our Saviour, and entrust ourselves to no man.

If you trust God too little, you will trust men too much, and you will end up bitter on their account. When we trust God as we ought, it will be a little thing to us when men let us down.

Some of you might have noticed that the sower in Mark 4:3-8 sowed his seed indiscriminately. He wasn’t especially keen to make sure that they all fell on good soil, which expectedly, would have yielded him a great crop. It might have been prudent not to waste so many good seed, yet: behold a sower went out to sow, and as he sowed some seed fell along the path, other seed fell on rocky ground, other seed fell among thorns, and other seeds fell into good soil. The sower sows the word, everyone hears, but we know the word will not bear fruit in them all.

Like me, you probably have been too careful with the master’s seeds. Often, I have hoarded my kindness, keen to give it only when I am sure it will be received gladly. Insisting that I won’t lay precious pearls before swine, I have mostly kept the good news to myself, fearing my words would be unwelcomed or deprecated. I hate being insulted, I also dislike feeling as though I have been insulted, so I have stayed mute. At other times, I wasn’t just being fastidious, I also was ashamed of the Gospel, and now the word of God condemns me.

Two lessons:

1. As men we do not have the capacity to convict men of their sin. It is wholly the work of the Holy Spirit.
2. As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. ( Ecclesiastes 11:5–6 ESV)

Tell of Jesus if you have opportunity, and then pray that the Holy Spirit does his work. Do not be too careful with the good news. The roadside, the rocky-ground, the thistle-ground too deserve the seed. Only God knows from whence the yield will be abundant; that knowledge is not allowed us.

Jesus is walking with his disciples, they come to a town, and then suddenly he turns to ask them who people say he is. “Some say you are John the Baptist. Some say you are Elijah. Still, others say you are Jeremiah.” The way I see it? Very exceptional titles indeed.

He’s not done: “but who do you say I am?” Very impressed by Peter’s answer, Jesus in fact confirms it to be a revelation God has himself given Peter. “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you.” Jesus was obviously interested to hear what men thought of him, but he seemed keener to know what his disciples thought. Is it that he was even okay with the speculations, because he charges them to tell no one of his being Christ? Interestingly, about to be crucified, Jesus still answers Pilate evasively, and in a manner that feels a little too impertinent for his own good.

Pilate: Are you king of the Jews? Jesus: You say that I am.

It’s mostly a pleasure to be well thought of by outsiders; to be honoured, respected, and celebrated. Jesus was, in his own right. But just like Jesus did, would we not also rather ask those closest to us: “who do you say I am?” Our neighbors and friends might think us angels, but our siblings and roommates know we are devils. What do those closest to you say about you? It might be the most fair and accurate assessment of your character. Why fret so much about lighting up a whole city when you are unable to light the room you reside in.

So, who do you say I am? You see, if you haven’t yet shared a life with me, I don’t care so much for your answer, or at least I want to not care so much for it. Some of you judge me too harshly; still, some of you praise me too profusely, I fear that the latter are likely more wrong about me.

Dear Sam,

For some time, I have noticed how you particularly seem dazed about the idea of having a girlfriend. You seem so much taken in with the thought of being in love; most of the things you say or write, implicitly or explicitly make mention of love. I know you are single, at least formally, but I am very afraid that your heart isn’t. I am at a loss of words to explain why it is singleness in heart that really counts as singleness. That means most single people, especially in medical school christian union, live as though they were married already, as though they already are in a relationship. Will you believe me when I say it is such a miserable state to be in?

Do you want the truth? There isn’t much to exult about being in a relationship. You have read what Paul has to say on the matter? I’m sure you have. The only reason to marry is a lack of self control: his urge being that if you can control your passions, stay single (It is way better to stay single, but if you marry you have done nothing wrong).

You are in an environment that pressures you, mostly tacitly, to have a girlfriend. I join Paul in his saying: it is better if you stayed single. There’s so much of life to focus on, and sexual love stands in the way of it. Don’t get married unless it’s absolutely necessary. No, stop looking for a girlfriend.

Jacob Allee:

It is our actions that define us and it is what we do today that matters more than what we did yesterday. Who will we be this day? Today is all that is really ours to command.

To know less than nothing about something… Jacob’s First Law

Skip the syndication, Alan Jacobs

The Pleasure of Reading, Alan Jacobs