Selected Reading, July 10, 2021

 

A few good reads for your weekend.

Missions

George Liele — First Baptist Missionary in Jamaica
The story of the former slave who may have been not just the first Baptist missionary in Jamaica, but the first American Baptist missionary. 

God

How Does God Relate to Time?
This is an excellent short essay on the timelessness of God. Yes, it’s difficult for us to wrap our brains around this doctrine, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a vital one. “Tampering with timelessness triggers a ripple effect through many of the other forgotten attributes of God. Evangelicals who deny timelessness must account for the implications that denial has for immutability, simplicity, and God’s eternality. If you change, redefine, or alter these doctrines of God, you have created a different God.”

Why “Abba” Does Not Mean “Daddy”
New Testament scholar Murray Harris explains why you shouldn’t address God the Father as “Daddy.” 

Life

Do Not Fear: Command or Comfort?
“Life is hard and full of painful and frightening circumstances. We may lose our jobs or get sick. Our family and friends may die or abandon us. We may experience war or civil unrest. All of these have happened to Christians since Jesus ascended into heaven. And we can expect them to continue until He returns. But whatever happens, we can take comfort from the many verses reminding us, ‘Do not fear’ and ‘Do not be afraid’. Through them, we are reminded not of our sinfulness and failings but His constant presence with us and His everlasting love for us.”

Church

The One Critical Thing Missing in Most Sermons
I, too, wish pastors took more time to explain why what they are teaching is true.

Theological Term of the Week: John Chrysostom

John Chrysostom
“One of the most glorious preachers of the early Church, or indeed of the Church in any age.”.1 He was born around 349 and lived until 407.

• From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. H. Needham, page 220: 

John’s preaching in Antioch won a matchless reputation for brilliance. Later, after his death, the Church gave him the nickname Chrysostom, which is Greek for “golden mouth”. He preached his way verse-by-verse through books of the Bible, and was astonishingly direct and outspoken in denouncing sin among believers, especially the sin of compromising with worldly standards of behaviour. He also made hard-hitting criticisms of the way that rich Christians used or abused their wealth. Others wrote down Chrysostom’s sermons as he preached them, and many have survived, e.g. his 58 sermons on selected Psalms, 90 sermons on Matthew’s Gospel, and 88 on John’s. Most modern students find them to be among the easiest to read and most practically helpful of all the writings of the early Church fathers.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: Who was John Chrysostom?
2. Theopedia: John Chrysostom
3. 5 Minutes in Church History: This Church Father Could Preach
4. Christian History Institute: Christian History Timeline: John Chrysostom
5. Christian Classics Ethereal Library: John Chrysostom

Related terms:

• Ambrose of Milan
• Athanasius
• Basil of Caesarea
• Cappadocian fathers
• Gregory of Nanzianzus
• Gregory of Nyssa
• Hilary of Poitiers
• Irenaeus of Lyons
• Justin Martyr
• Origen
• Sabellius
• Tertullian

Filed under Christian History

1From 2000 Years of Christ’s Power by N. R. Needham.

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Sunday's Hymn: There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood

There is a fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there have I, as vile as he,
Washed all my sins away.

E’er since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Be saved, to sin no more.

—William Cowper

Other hymns of worship songs for this Sunday:

• Lead Me to Calvary at The Happy Wonderer