Hatch-shew

I remember once reading a book that said something like, "men say they love the cold because they have conquered it." This is what popped into my mind as I wrapped myself in a very sacred (as in holey) jacket and huddled to pound out a post. Here in my corner of Texas, cold is always wet. (Hence, water is leaking through the window-seal.) But this is some of my favorite weather--especially for reading, a lot of which I need to do! (It's also good weather for sneezing. "Hatch-shew!"--typing that felt very King-Jamesian!)

So, between the tissues, I shall here slap down bits of what I'm digging through.


"Perhaps in a fallen world the social problem can in fact never be solved and we must take more seriously--what all Christians admit in theory--that our home is elsewhere." --C.S. Lewis

"I naturally loathe nearly all hymns...the charwoman in the next pew who revels in them, teach[es] me that good taste in poetry or music are not necessary to salvation." --C.S. Lewis

"...the notion that everyone would like Christianity to be true, and that therefore all atheists are brave men who have accepted the defeat of their deepest desires, is simply impudent nonsense. Do you think people like Stalin, Hitler, Haldane, Stapledon...would be pleased on waking up one morning to find that they were not their own masters, that they had a Master and a Judge, that there was nothing ever in the deepest recesses of their thoughts about which they could say to Him 'Keep out. Private. This is my business'?" -C.S. Lewis

"Notice how we are perpetually surprised at Time...why? Unless, indeed, there is something in us which is not temporal." --C.S. Lewis

"Ninevah was a pagan city in a completely pagan nation...It had been rebellious for as long as it had been in existence. But God, out of his compassion for the lost and rebellious, kept at it until they repented. This evil culture was on God's radar. Their rebellion did not close the door to God's mercy. You can't say it too often: God is never pro-sin or pro-rebellion, and we shouldn't be either. But sin and rebellion are man's natural condition--so God is pro-redemption. We should be too...Yes, God's wrath is stored up toward the unrighteous...yet at the same time, God can show mercy and favor towards rebellious people. Sodom was destroyed, but Ninevah was won over by God's compassion and repented. We never know exactly how things will turn out. But God does." --Curtis Allen

"God no longer intends for his people to be physically separate from the nations. Instead, we should go everywhere in the world and preach the message of salvation...Rather than structuring our lives around avoiding pollution from unbelievers, we are called to be engaged actively and personally with those who do not know Christ...Our participation in local churches is not so we can become better isolationists. Rather, it is intended in no small part to strengthen and equip us for a lifestyle of outreach." --Curtis Allen

"[Richard] Lovelace takes the position that as long as Christians are careful not to become morally compromised (which would dishonor God and taint our witness), we ought to be actively engaged with the unbelieving cultures we live in or are sent into. The most popular Christian phrase echoing this perspective, 'to be in the world, not of the world," is adapted from one of Jesus' prayers recorded in John 14...a more accurate and positive way to summarize the intent of Jesus' prayer is to say that while we are not of the world, we are nevertheless sent into the world." --Curtis Allen

It's dripping outdoors, and steaming soup in the kitchen. I believe I will turn myself unto Galatians...or maybe 2Timothy. (Both are lovely!) A very splendid evening to you, especially those with snow!

And if your nose is wrinkling like mine...Bless you in advance!

Hatch-shew!