The 10-Minute Rule #LeadersAreReaders February 2024

The months of February and March are quite packed for me but I still managed to find time to read. First, it's due to necessity. If I don't read, I can't do my work and ministry efficiently. Secondly, it's due to habit. Since reading books is a part of my life, I can't imagine a day without reading, especially the Scriptures, even if only for a few sentences. Thirdly, it's due to a principle that I've practiced since last year: the 10-Minute Rule. Namely, starting to read from a book for at least 10 minutes every day. My aim is at least 10 minutes, but usually, I end up reading longer than that.

I find that this rule is helpful because it is achievable and a good way for me to jump-start my mind's engine! Plus, if I don't feel like I want to read (which is rare), I can just endure the 10 minutes and close the book! So, would you like to try a 10-Minute Rule? If it's too hard, try 5 minutes; you have to at least try. Reading books 1) keeps me inspired by other people’s thoughts and if I read the Scriptures, by God's thoughts, wow!; 2) gives me a different perspective; 3) restores my ability to be more discerning with my time; 4) encourages me to spend time with lasting benefits; 5) opens the creative flow as concepts and ideas appear in my mind; and many more. Pick a book, set the timing to 10 minutes, and read!

NOTE: Currently, I'm exploring Roman Catholicism. The book on the Eucharist by Bishop Robert Barron is inspiring, and as I examine the Scriptures and some traditions regarding the argument for transubstantiation, I find myself more inclined to this interpretation. Jimmy Akin, Trent Horn, Joe Heschmeyer, and especially Scott Hahn and Brant Pitre have argued very well on this subject. However, in the case of a book by Father Frederick William Faber on Purgatory, I still find myself skeptical. As I heard half a dozen arguments by Catholics to defend the doctrine of purgatory, I came to my initial suspicion that it is more philosophical rather than Scriptural. By the way, a debate between Trent and James White on this subject is interesting.

#ServeToLead #LeadersAreReaders #The10MinuteRule #ReadingIsLiving #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

So You Want to Be a Calvinist? John Calvin on the Nature of Sacraments

as remembrance of Him

In this section from the 1559 edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin explores the relation between a sacramental sign and the grace which it signifies. Notice the emphasis placed on God’s deliberate accommodation to human weakness. He writes:

“To start with, we must consider what a sacrament is. It seems to me that a simple and proper definition is that it is an outward sign by which the Lord [Jesus] seals on our consciences the promises of his good will towards us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and by which we in turn bear witness to our piety toward him in the presence of the Lord and of his angels, and before human beings. More briefly, it is a testimony of divine grace toward us, confirmed by an outward sign, with mutual attestation of our piety towards him. Whichever of these definitions is preferred, its sense does not differ from that given by Augustine, who teaches that a sacrament is ‘a visible sign of a sacred thing’ or ‘a visible form of an invisible grace’; however, it explains the thing itself better and more clearly…

Now, from this definition we understand that a sacrament is never without a prior promise but is joined to it as a sort of appendix, with the objective of confirming and sealing the promise itself, and of making it clearer to us and, so to speak, ratifying it. God thus makes allowance first for our ignorance and slowness, then for our weakness. Yet, properly speaking, it is not so much needed to strengthen his holy Word as to support out faith in it. For God’s truth is of itself firm and sure enough; nor can it receive better confirmation from any source other than from itself. But as our faith is slight and feeble unless it is supported at every point and sustained by every means, it trembles, wavers, totters, and finally falls down.

So our merciful Lord, by his infinite kindness, adjusts himself to us in such a way that, since we are creatures who always creep on the ground, cleave to the flesh, and, do not think about or even conceive of anything spiritual, uses these earthly elements, and sets before us in the flesh a mirror of spiritual blessings. For if we were incorporeal (as Chrysostom says), he would give us these very things naked and incorporeal. Now, because we have souls inserted into our bodies, he imparts spiritual things under visible ones. This does not mean that the gifts set before us in the sacraments are bestowed with the natures of those things; rather, that they have been given this signification by God.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Institutes, IV.xiv.1, 3; in Joannis Calvini: Opera Selecta, ed. P. Barth and W. Niesel, vol.5 (Munich: Kaiser Verlag, 1936), 259.1-261.3

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrawth (Oxford UK: Blackwell Publishers Inc, 1995), 312-313.

So You Want to Be a Calvinist? John Calvin on the Marks of the Church

Pic taken from: http://resurgencecdn.com/

John Calvin here defines the essential features, or “marks” of the true church as the preaching of the Word of God, and the proper administration of the sacraments. A degree of failure or diversity on other matters may be permitted, providing that these two essential features are present. He wrote:

“Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and listened to, and the sacraments administered according to Christ’s institution, it is in no way to be doubted that a church of God exists. For his promise cannot fail: ‘Whenever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20)… If the ministry has the Word and honours it, if it has the administration of the sacraments, it deserves without doubt to be held and considered a church. For it is certain that such things are not without fruit. In this way the unity of the universal church is preserved, which diabolical spirits have always tried to tear apart; and we do not deny authority to those lawful assemblies which have been set up in accordance with the opportunities of different places in mind.

We have identified that the distinguishing marks of the church are the preaching of the Word and the observance of the sacraments. These can never happen without bringing forth fruit and prospering through God’s blessing. I do not say that wherever the Word is preached there will be immediate results, but that wherever it is received and takes root, it shows its effectiveness. When the preaching of the gospel is reverently heard and the sacraments are not neglected, there for the time being no false or ambiguous form of the church is seen; and no one is permitted to ignore its authority, flout its warnings, resist its counsels, or make light of its chastisements – much less to break away from it and wreck its unity. For the Lord values the fellowship of his church so highly that all those who arrogantly leave any Christian society (provided that it holds fast to the true ministry of Word and sacraments) are regarded by him as deserters. He so values the authority of the church that when it is violated he believes that his own authority has been diminished…

When we say that the pure ministry of the Word and pure mode of celebrating the sacraments are a sufficient pledge and guarantee by which we may recognize as a church any society, we mean where both these marks exist, it is not to be rejected, even if it is riddled with faults in other respects. What is more, some shortcoming may find its way into the administration of either doctrine or sacraments, but this ought not to estrange us from communion with this church. For not all articles of true doctrine are of equal weight. Some are so necessary to know that they should be certain and unquestioned by everyone as proper to religion, such as: God is one; Christ is God and the Son of God; our salvation rests in God’s mercy; and the like. There are other [articles of doctrine] disputed among the churches which still do no break the unity of faith…

I am not condoning error, no matter how insignificant it may be, nor do I wish to encourage it. But I am saying that we should not desert a church on account of some minor disagreement, if it upholds sound doctrine over the essentials of piety, and maintains the use of the sacraments established by the Lord.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.