I am working my way through my quote books indexing them, ten at a time. It is a task I neglect and then pick up again. Here is the best of the latest ten:
743. To say that God guides by his Spirit is to say that God guides by God. It doesn't answer the real question.
(How Does God Guide? The Briefing 72)
Showing posts with label Guidance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guidance. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Quote Book Index 381-390
I wrote down or highlighted a lot of quotes from Jim Packer's 'Laid Back Religion'. Rightly so:
386. ...there is no Biblical warrant either for correlating spiritual maturity with direct divine guidance, or for denying that God may still directly indicate his will to his servants...
386. ...there is no Biblical warrant either for correlating spiritual maturity with direct divine guidance, or for denying that God may still directly indicate his will to his servants...
Thursday, May 09, 2013
Quote Book Index 310-320
From Derek Tidball's excellent little book 'How Does God Guide?'
320. God can and does guide through 'bolts from the blue'. But far from being a simpler or more privileged form of guidance these means are fraught with as many problems as others.
320. God can and does guide through 'bolts from the blue'. But far from being a simpler or more privileged form of guidance these means are fraught with as many problems as others.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
The Whole Messy Guidance Thing Revisited
Ever had the experience of hearing someone say 'God guides by the Holy Spirit' as if that somehow settles matters? Only me then. Ah well.
Thing is, given the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (don't worry for now if you're not familiar), saying 'God guides by his Spirit' is a tautology. It is saying, because we believe the Holy Spirit is just as divine as God the Father or God the Son, that 'God guides by God.'
It doesn't take us any further forward.
Others say that it would be so much easier if we were back in the days of the Bible where God spoke so much more clearly. Depends which bit. Do you fancy the bit at the beginning of 1 Samuel where the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions? How about the time of the philosopher concluding all is useless and chasing after wind? How about the time when God clearly allowed Satan to kill Job's kids? Oh. Not those bits.
Even after a massive vision of a man beckoning to 'come on over to Macedonia' Luke records in Acts that the apostles 'concluded' that they had been called there. However powerful the word or vision the decision to act upon guidance, however slight, is still a human conclusion to be drawn. You know what? I reckon God cares far less about what you decide than your motive in deciding it in the first place and your attitude towards him in the decision you took.
Think there's a Mr Right out there for you? Of course there is. Pick someone and treat him like that. For worse, poorer and in sickness. Probably best to make sure, for the next few weeks at least, that he's not called Ashley but form is only temporary. Make your promises into truth.
Happiness is not having what you want; it's wanting what you have. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, act today as if God has put you exactly where you are, doing exactly what you are doing.
Bob Dylan, in one of his moments of Christian lucidity said, 'No-one does what's right; they just do what they want and then repent.' Guy had a point.
Guidance got you where you are today. If God wants you somewhere else he has ways.
Now. What's next?
Thing is, given the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (don't worry for now if you're not familiar), saying 'God guides by his Spirit' is a tautology. It is saying, because we believe the Holy Spirit is just as divine as God the Father or God the Son, that 'God guides by God.'
It doesn't take us any further forward.
Others say that it would be so much easier if we were back in the days of the Bible where God spoke so much more clearly. Depends which bit. Do you fancy the bit at the beginning of 1 Samuel where the word of the Lord was rare and there were not many visions? How about the time of the philosopher concluding all is useless and chasing after wind? How about the time when God clearly allowed Satan to kill Job's kids? Oh. Not those bits.
Even after a massive vision of a man beckoning to 'come on over to Macedonia' Luke records in Acts that the apostles 'concluded' that they had been called there. However powerful the word or vision the decision to act upon guidance, however slight, is still a human conclusion to be drawn. You know what? I reckon God cares far less about what you decide than your motive in deciding it in the first place and your attitude towards him in the decision you took.
Think there's a Mr Right out there for you? Of course there is. Pick someone and treat him like that. For worse, poorer and in sickness. Probably best to make sure, for the next few weeks at least, that he's not called Ashley but form is only temporary. Make your promises into truth.
Happiness is not having what you want; it's wanting what you have. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, act today as if God has put you exactly where you are, doing exactly what you are doing.
Bob Dylan, in one of his moments of Christian lucidity said, 'No-one does what's right; they just do what they want and then repent.' Guy had a point.
Guidance got you where you are today. If God wants you somewhere else he has ways.
Now. What's next?
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Guidance
The whole, 'God speaking to me' thing has been niggling away at me since Sunday and I remembered where I had read something really helpful. Here follow a few selective quotes from Packer's Laid Back Religion (IVP 1987).
'What should Christians do when they feel God has directly told them to say or do something?...
'1. If anyone today receives a direct disclosure from God, it will have no canonical significance. It will not become part of the church's rule of faith and life, nor will the church be under any obligation to acknowledge the disclosure as revelation; nor will anyone merit blame for suspecting that the disclosure was not from God. If the alleged disclosure is a prediction ... Moses assures us that there is not even a prima facie case for treating it as from God until it has come true (Deut. 18:21f.) If the alleged disclosure is a directive ... any who associate themselves with this project should do so because wisdom tells them that it is needed, realistic and God-honouring, not because the leader tells them that God directly commanded him (and by implication them) to attempt it.
'People who believe that they have received direct indications of what God will do ... should refrain in all situations ... from asking others to agree that direct revelation has been given ... and Christians should greet any such request with ... silence.
'2. Guidance in this particular form is not promised. For it to occur is, as we have said, extraordinary, exceptional, and anomalous...
'3. Direct communications from God take the form of impressions, and impressions can come, even to the most devoted and prayerful people, from such murky sources as wishful thinking, fear, obsessional neurosis, schizophrenia, hormonal imbalance, depression, side effects of medication, and satanic delusion, as well as from God. Impressions need to be suspected before they are sanctioned and tested before they are trusted. Confidence that one's impressions are God-given is no guarantee that this is really so... Bible-based wisdom must judge them.'
Now Packer tends to paint things in extremes in order to make his points but lurking under this anti-delusional rant is the truth that we should be suspicious of all 'God told me..' statements.
'What should Christians do when they feel God has directly told them to say or do something?...
'1. If anyone today receives a direct disclosure from God, it will have no canonical significance. It will not become part of the church's rule of faith and life, nor will the church be under any obligation to acknowledge the disclosure as revelation; nor will anyone merit blame for suspecting that the disclosure was not from God. If the alleged disclosure is a prediction ... Moses assures us that there is not even a prima facie case for treating it as from God until it has come true (Deut. 18:21f.) If the alleged disclosure is a directive ... any who associate themselves with this project should do so because wisdom tells them that it is needed, realistic and God-honouring, not because the leader tells them that God directly commanded him (and by implication them) to attempt it.
'People who believe that they have received direct indications of what God will do ... should refrain in all situations ... from asking others to agree that direct revelation has been given ... and Christians should greet any such request with ... silence.
'2. Guidance in this particular form is not promised. For it to occur is, as we have said, extraordinary, exceptional, and anomalous...
'3. Direct communications from God take the form of impressions, and impressions can come, even to the most devoted and prayerful people, from such murky sources as wishful thinking, fear, obsessional neurosis, schizophrenia, hormonal imbalance, depression, side effects of medication, and satanic delusion, as well as from God. Impressions need to be suspected before they are sanctioned and tested before they are trusted. Confidence that one's impressions are God-given is no guarantee that this is really so... Bible-based wisdom must judge them.'
Now Packer tends to paint things in extremes in order to make his points but lurking under this anti-delusional rant is the truth that we should be suspicious of all 'God told me..' statements.
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