William Knelsen As I wait in hope for the Lord.

Archive for April 2008

Common Life Part 2

April 17, 2008

William Law Continues…

If our common life is not a common course of humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affection, we do not live the lives of Christians.

A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

Here Law lists off a few virtues of Christianity, virtues that cannot be neglected if I claim Christ as my Lord. The issue I face most often is remembering that humility, self-denial, renunciation of the world, poverty of spirit, and heavenly affection are actual things I do in my everyday life. It seems as though I have the ability to ignore these virtues when they get in the way of progress and advancement on earth.

1 John Sermon Series

April 16, 2008

I, along with a close friend, will be preparing a 5-part sermon series on the Book of 1 John over the next few months. We would both covet your prayers during this time as this is a task neither of us have tackled before.

I will begin the series on June 29, and the other four parts will take place throughout the remainder of the summer.

Look forward to some notes here and there while we study. I quite enjoy exegetical studies and often have a hard time not sharing what I have learned with others.

Cheers.

Common Life

April 16, 2008

If we are to be in Christ new creatures, we must show that we are so, by having new ways of living in the world. If we are to follow Christ, it must be in our common way of spending every day.

William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

If I claim that Christ is my saviour and I have been made new by the Life Christ offers me, my daily actions should most certainly reflect that new life.

If I ignore or neglect that new life, it will soon fade. If I forget about it, or not even realized it has ever existed, it quite possibly may have never been there in the first place. Rather, I may have simply intellectually accepted the idea of sin and a saviour, but never even partially understood the true concept of God’s rejection of my natural, sinful self.

We are all Dragons

April 8, 2008

Just like Eunice, we are all dragons in need of a good skin shedding. We are all selfish and spoiled at times and are in need of Christ’s help to remove that old skin, for we can not remove it ourselves. Our attempts to remove the old are futile and only work backwards.

When we let Jesus remove the old, he will then give us a new life. Once again, only He can provide it, for it is only by Him that we are given a new life. When Christ rose from death, he rose to a completely new life than He had before, and it is this very life that He offers to us as new “skin”. The life we are given is a life that has defeated death and will live for eternity in the fellowship of our Creator, the One who is able to fulfill our greatest needs and desires.

One more thing… we must remember, when we are dealt a bad hand, and must suffer through something miserable, think about how God has the power to turn that miserable thing into an opportunity to shed another dragon layer and become more like who He intends us to be.

Becoming a Dragon

April 3, 2008

In the book “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, a spoiled little boy named Eunice is turned into a creature that resembled very much his own character, a dragon. Of course, he is devastated, but over time, he finds uses for becoming a dragon.

Eunice begins to help people. The Dawn Treader is in need of repairs, so Eunice helps with the heavy lifting. Over the next few days, the crew members of the ship notice a change in character. Eunice has gone from a spoiled, whiney little brat, to a helpful dragon.

When the Dawn Treader is once again ready to put to sea, Eunice decided he didn’t want to be a burden to King Caspian and his crew so he slips away into the forest, with the intention of living on the island for the rest of his dragon life. However, Aslan, the Great Lion shows up and guides him to a lake, where Eunice is supposed to take a bath. But first, Eunice must remove his “clothes”.

“But I’m not wearing any clothes,” Eunice thinks to himself. What Aslan wants him to do is shed his outer dragon skin. Eunice does this, but afterwards the skin is still dry and scaly. So, he proceeds to shed another layer, and another. After a few attempts, the skin doesn’t get any better.

Aslan is the One who must shed the skin. Only the Great Lion can completely remove the dragon skin from the boy. So, with His sharp claws, Aslan claws deep into the dragon skin and tears it with great pain to Eunice until there is nothing left but a naked boy. Eunice points out that he is now without clothes. Aslan responds, “I will dress you”.

I have more to say about this story, but for now, let this sink in…

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