BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD ABOVE

Before the throne of God above I have a strong, a perfect plea

A great High Priest whose name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me
When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there,

Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Saviour died my sinful soul is counted free

For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me

To look on Him and pardon me
Before the throne of God, I come

Before the throne of God, I come
Behold Him there, the risen Lamb my perfect spotless righteousness

The great unchangeable I Am, the King of glory and of grace
My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heartI know that while in Heaven, He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart
One with Himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased with His blood

My life is hid with Christ on highWith Christ my Saviour and my God

With Christ my Saviour and my God

Factoid of the Day

Today, the idea of providence survives for many only in the word goodbye, the contracted form of an old benediction, “God be with you.”

David Wells, Above All Earthly Pow’rs: Christ in a Postmodern World: Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 2005.

Quote of the Day II

McGill University has bought the Anglican Diocesan Theological College.

"The church's influence and position in this city has been in sharp decline since the 1960s," college principal John Simons said. "Anglicans today represent less than one per cent of the city's population, and while the church still owns valuable real estate, the question as to how long we can maintain our buildings is one that won't go away. We're going down the river, and we can hear the roar of the falls."

More here: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=c69f9b41-6f04-4c13-bc6c-89bba0ffe380

Quote of the Day

From Wikipedia:

"Springfield is a city in Christian and Greene Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. On July 1, 2006, its estimated population was 150,797, of whom 150,790 lived in Greene County and 7 lived in Christian County."

I checked the United States Census website - and this is correct.

Gretta Vosper

Gretta Vosper, a United Church minister in Toronto, recently wrote a book about Christianity.

This is somewhat ironic.

Charles Lewis wrote recently in the National Post, “Ms. Vosper does not believe in the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, the miracles and the sacrament of baptism. Nor does she believe in the creeds, the presence of Christ in communion or that Jesus was the Son of God.”

"The central story of Christianity will fade away," she told the reporter. "The story about Jesus as the symbol of everything that Christianity is will fade away."

Her worldview, of course, is not surprising. Despite the valiant efforts of a small faithful remnant, the United Church of Canada continues its descent into absurdity.

“It's not that we're trying to do something new. It's that we're trying to catch up on a thousand years of backlogged progress files that have yet to be inputted into the 21st century," she said.

Her book is called With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important Than What We Believe.

This concept is not exactly novel.

Martin Luther wrote in 1525 to Erasmus, “In a word, what you say comes to this: that you do not think it matters a scrap what anyone believes anywhere, so long as the world is at peace; you would be happy for anyone whose life, reputation, welfare or influence was at stake to emulate him who said ‘if they affirm, I affirm; if they deny, so do I;’ and you would encourage him to treat Christian doctrines as no better than the views of human philosophers – about which, of course, it is stupid to wrangle and fight and assert, since nothing results but bad feeling and breaches of outward peace.”

Sources:

Charles Lewis, “Christianity Without Christ.” The National Post, 3 May 2008. Accessed 3 May 2008. Available: <http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=490325&p=1>

Martin Luther, The Bondage of the Will (1525) Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 18th ed. 1957.