"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12 ESV)
22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I rose up and went out into the valley, and the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 The spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 As for you, mortal, cords shall be placed on you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people, 26 and I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be speechless and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; let those who will hear, hear, and let those who refuse to hear, refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
"Good luck with that." Wow. May the Lord open his eyes to the glory and perfection of God's word and its power.
Anne rightly cautions us to not be deceived by our tendency to recast Jesus and His words according to our own experiences, understanding, and point we are trying to make. I am quick to embrace the beautiful call to come to him for rest for my soul while glossing over the admonition that it is better to go into heaven without my eye and my right hand if they cause me to resist His call. I rejoice in the living water flowing freely but, unlike the Samaritan woman at the well, don't appreciate Jesus pointing out the areas of sin in my life which I have carefully papered over. I decide the uncomfortable words of Jesus are too difficult to understand rather than sitting with them and humbly asking for understanding and faith to obey.
“Good luck with that! Seems a bit different that Christ’s strategy in the gospels :)”
Mr. Valk has fallen into the trap of reading Scripture (I’m assuming he has read at least some of it) through the lens of his own belief system. Unfortunately, we can all fall into this trap if we aren’t careful. I try to always start my Scripture reading with the following from the BCP or something similar -
O Lord God, who hast left unto us thy holy word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our steps: Give unto us thy Holy Spirit, that out of that word we may learn what is thy righteous will, and frame our lives in all holy obedience to the same, to thy honor and glory and the increase of our faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
"Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen."
This is the Collect from the BCP that Dave Roseberry wrote about on his substack last year. I deeply appreciate both the enumerated instructions and the purpose listed. It sets my heart, mind, and spirit to be changed by the Word.
Thanks Kristen! I found this one in the 2019 BCP, #101. It is excellent. Going to find Roseberry’s post and read. The one I cited is in the 1662 BCP, p. 691, For Illumination.
I don't think he, or people like him, are reading the Bible. I think they do "Bible Studies" written by other people who also read a Bible study and on and on down the line in a game of telephone. They are reading others' opinions of what the Bible says, rather than the primary source material.
"What sort of metaphor, I wonder, would Jesus utter about people paying actual money to beat their bodies using heavy equipment because nothing about their ordinary lives is difficult enough to keep them in the proper shape?"
I don't know what metaphor would be used, but I'm absolutely sure that such people would be commended. Body beating is Biblical.
" ... I beat my body and bring it into submission ..." (1 Corinthians 9:27)
People like Valk only care about the # of clicks they get, or the revenue from their books and speaking engagements. He thinks mass appeal is the objective, not saved souls.
Screwtape to Wormwood: “Fortunately it is quite easy to coax humans round this little corner. Only today I have found a passage in a Christian writer where he recommends his own version of Christianity on the ground that ‘only such a faith can outlast the death of old cultures and the birth of new civilisations.’ You see the little rift? ‘Believe this, not because it is true, but for some other reason.’ That’s the game.”
Yes, Jesus did literally go to where the sinners were to speak to them.
Where he didn't tell them to keep on how they were, or justify their actions because "minority" or "love is love" or any denial that what they were doing was a sin. He was encouraging the sinners to change!
He said he wouldn't condemn them, but "Go and sin no more"
As I said Friday, they always stop their quotation of the Bible before they get to that verse. I wonder why. ;) (No I don't, it doesn't fit their rhetoric and it's HARD)
« If we think it important to empathize with each person in her pain, however justified that pain might be, then that is exactly what Jesus would do.
I have intended, as a nurse, to give grace, by listening, if perhaps, the other might see themselves, the truth, their sin, pain, and turn to GOD for help with it. I learned in my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, (wholistic care) program in the mid seventies, I am not to decide who deserves what, (or i might become a cantankerous Nurse Rachet from One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest —which I’ve not seen).
If it’s true: We all deserve death. Going on daydreaming did not seem like it needed such punishment as I got—seemingly from GOD—due to peoples’ unkind « Christian responses » for things we did not know—though now I’m grateful as I might not have recognized how devasting it is).
But lately, some deciding I needed much worse punishment—for not realizing how others had used and abused me, which it seems some have done, is how persecution gets done, and I’m pretty sure this is cruel, illegal, and hateful.
So, it’s better not to judge! Or do what Jesus said, if I judge, instead: Matthew 7:5
« If we think that the inclinations of the heart and mind aren’t always wicked, but are often precious and even sometimes adorable, then Jesus, likewise, feels the same way. »
Me: This was true of the OT, but should any of us write, as Christians, if we do not believe Christ is illuminating the Words?
Yet, I believe His Spirit often inspires some of them. And the discussion which can follow.
Little children are sinners, but to not see Christ in them, who have turned to Him, or been baptized, will these not have doubt themselves and possibly become discouraged? Mark 2:4-5
Or to not see others are treasures made in GOD’s image, one might learn not to treasure others. But YHWH called Israël His Treasure. There’s a script here somewhere, which is only partly true. We need the whole. See Psalms 8 and 51. David wrote both.
« If we think that obedience and adoration of the principalities and powers of this world are the only way to accomplish peace and justice, well, obviously Jesus shares our anxieties and concerns. »
Me:
This is a good eye opener for some, I’m sure. I appreciate the insight.
1 Timothy 2:1-6–or job…
Meanwhile, the things Jesus does and says go by unnoticed by us, just as they did for the crowds two millennia ago. »
Me: Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes, that I might behold,
Wonderful things from Thy Law (of agape). 1 John 3:23
If we think it important to empathize with each person in her pain, however justified that pain might be, then that is exactly what Jesus would do. If we think that the inclinations of the heart and mind aren’t always wicked, but are often precious and even sometimes adorable, then Jesus, likewise, feels the same way. If we think that obedience and adoration of the principalities and powers of this world are the only way to accomplish peace and justice, well, obviously Jesus shares our anxieties and concerns. Meanwhile, the things Jesus does and says go by unnoticed by us, just as they did for the crowds two millennia ago.
I would agree with Matt on his final point, but my response would not have been Valk's but rather that while we must rely on the working of the Holy Spirit, that still doesn't shift the reality that the phrase has shifted from a statement of truth to a truism. Words and phrases do become emptied of meaning as they're overused and misapplied. "God has a plan," while true and good has to be considered and restructured in order to find its bearings again. Entropy has found its way into the phrase, and as Yeats put it, "the falcon cannot hear the falconer. things fall apart." One of the cool things about Anne's posts and the generous discussions in this group is that it pushes me to go back and dig into the roots of things, to find that Gandhi used this expression in his struggles against British dominance, that to an extent it could also be used to say, as he did, "love your enemy, do good to those who hate you." As I said previously, I do think that this particular phrase only acts as a cliche because it has been so narrowly focused on a particular aspect of the culture wars. Ultimately, at this stage, the expression is as reductive and conveys more often than not a thoughtlessness as opposed to a thoughtfulness. Or to put it another way, it has become dismissive, much like, God has a plan, can be dismissive of one is speaking to somebody who is grieving. It shifts the profound to the commonplace. I'm not saying abandon the phrase altogether, but I do think that it if one has to use it, then frame it in a way that actually restores some level of meaning to it. I don't think that Valk is actually in the business of restoring meaning, and that making gotcha videos reveals a lack of graciousness that is required to build any sort of dialogue. Instead, I would urge those kids to unpack the phrase and see what kind of dialogue could come out of that.
A "companion verses" for the parable:
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12 ESV)
My mind went to Ezekiel 3:
22 Then the hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Rise up, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I rose up and went out into the valley, and the glory of the Lord stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the River Chebar, and I fell on my face. 24 The spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me: “Go, shut yourself inside your house. 25 As for you, mortal, cords shall be placed on you, and you shall be bound with them so that you cannot go out among the people, 26 and I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth so that you shall be speechless and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house. 27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God’; let those who will hear, hear, and let those who refuse to hear, refuse, for they are a rebellious house.
"Good luck with that." Wow. May the Lord open his eyes to the glory and perfection of God's word and its power.
Anne rightly cautions us to not be deceived by our tendency to recast Jesus and His words according to our own experiences, understanding, and point we are trying to make. I am quick to embrace the beautiful call to come to him for rest for my soul while glossing over the admonition that it is better to go into heaven without my eye and my right hand if they cause me to resist His call. I rejoice in the living water flowing freely but, unlike the Samaritan woman at the well, don't appreciate Jesus pointing out the areas of sin in my life which I have carefully papered over. I decide the uncomfortable words of Jesus are too difficult to understand rather than sitting with them and humbly asking for understanding and faith to obey.
Mr. Valk is dangerously ignorant.
You are right, Anna! He's is dangerously ignorant.
“Good luck with that! Seems a bit different that Christ’s strategy in the gospels :)”
Mr. Valk has fallen into the trap of reading Scripture (I’m assuming he has read at least some of it) through the lens of his own belief system. Unfortunately, we can all fall into this trap if we aren’t careful. I try to always start my Scripture reading with the following from the BCP or something similar -
O Lord God, who hast left unto us thy holy word to be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our steps: Give unto us thy Holy Spirit, that out of that word we may learn what is thy righteous will, and frame our lives in all holy obedience to the same, to thy honor and glory and the increase of our faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
"Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen."
This is the Collect from the BCP that Dave Roseberry wrote about on his substack last year. I deeply appreciate both the enumerated instructions and the purpose listed. It sets my heart, mind, and spirit to be changed by the Word.
Thanks Kristen! I found this one in the 2019 BCP, #101. It is excellent. Going to find Roseberry’s post and read. The one I cited is in the 1662 BCP, p. 691, For Illumination.
I'm sorry I didn't link. This series made me a paid subscriber to The Anglican. https://davidroseberry.substack.com/p/the-anglican-view-of-scripture-and?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=5oxsy
I don't think he, or people like him, are reading the Bible. I think they do "Bible Studies" written by other people who also read a Bible study and on and on down the line in a game of telephone. They are reading others' opinions of what the Bible says, rather than the primary source material.
What? You're not telling us to go to church? ;)
"What sort of metaphor, I wonder, would Jesus utter about people paying actual money to beat their bodies using heavy equipment because nothing about their ordinary lives is difficult enough to keep them in the proper shape?"
I don't know what metaphor would be used, but I'm absolutely sure that such people would be commended. Body beating is Biblical.
" ... I beat my body and bring it into submission ..." (1 Corinthians 9:27)
So by Valk's own criteria we should judge him by his effectiveness in turning out faithful disciples...
Honestly i don't see any... so Valk fails at his own criteria
People like Valk only care about the # of clicks they get, or the revenue from their books and speaking engagements. He thinks mass appeal is the objective, not saved souls.
Precious Anne and your Caro Sposo, thank you, may Gods blessings be upon you and your household. “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
Screwtape to Wormwood: “Fortunately it is quite easy to coax humans round this little corner. Only today I have found a passage in a Christian writer where he recommends his own version of Christianity on the ground that ‘only such a faith can outlast the death of old cultures and the birth of new civilisations.’ You see the little rift? ‘Believe this, not because it is true, but for some other reason.’ That’s the game.”
Yes, Jesus did literally go to where the sinners were to speak to them.
Where he didn't tell them to keep on how they were, or justify their actions because "minority" or "love is love" or any denial that what they were doing was a sin. He was encouraging the sinners to change!
He said he wouldn't condemn them, but "Go and sin no more"
As I said Friday, they always stop their quotation of the Bible before they get to that verse. I wonder why. ;) (No I don't, it doesn't fit their rhetoric and it's HARD)
I listened to this post while driving and half panicked when I thought I suddenly had a cop or ambulance or fire truck right on me 🤣
Anne, thank you for yet another wonderful and gentle piece. Indeed God’s ways are not Valk’s ways, and neither are they ours.
"For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away."
This, to me, is just about the most beautiful Bible verse ever.
« If we think it important to empathize with each person in her pain, however justified that pain might be, then that is exactly what Jesus would do.
I have intended, as a nurse, to give grace, by listening, if perhaps, the other might see themselves, the truth, their sin, pain, and turn to GOD for help with it. I learned in my Bachelor of Science in Nursing, (wholistic care) program in the mid seventies, I am not to decide who deserves what, (or i might become a cantankerous Nurse Rachet from One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest —which I’ve not seen).
If it’s true: We all deserve death. Going on daydreaming did not seem like it needed such punishment as I got—seemingly from GOD—due to peoples’ unkind « Christian responses » for things we did not know—though now I’m grateful as I might not have recognized how devasting it is).
But lately, some deciding I needed much worse punishment—for not realizing how others had used and abused me, which it seems some have done, is how persecution gets done, and I’m pretty sure this is cruel, illegal, and hateful.
So, it’s better not to judge! Or do what Jesus said, if I judge, instead: Matthew 7:5
« If we think that the inclinations of the heart and mind aren’t always wicked, but are often precious and even sometimes adorable, then Jesus, likewise, feels the same way. »
Me: This was true of the OT, but should any of us write, as Christians, if we do not believe Christ is illuminating the Words?
Yet, I believe His Spirit often inspires some of them. And the discussion which can follow.
Little children are sinners, but to not see Christ in them, who have turned to Him, or been baptized, will these not have doubt themselves and possibly become discouraged? Mark 2:4-5
Or to not see others are treasures made in GOD’s image, one might learn not to treasure others. But YHWH called Israël His Treasure. There’s a script here somewhere, which is only partly true. We need the whole. See Psalms 8 and 51. David wrote both.
« If we think that obedience and adoration of the principalities and powers of this world are the only way to accomplish peace and justice, well, obviously Jesus shares our anxieties and concerns. »
Me:
This is a good eye opener for some, I’m sure. I appreciate the insight.
1 Timothy 2:1-6–or job…
Meanwhile, the things Jesus does and says go by unnoticed by us, just as they did for the crowds two millennia ago. »
Me: Psalm 119:18
Open my eyes, that I might behold,
Wonderful things from Thy Law (of agape). 1 John 3:23
If we think it important to empathize with each person in her pain, however justified that pain might be, then that is exactly what Jesus would do. If we think that the inclinations of the heart and mind aren’t always wicked, but are often precious and even sometimes adorable, then Jesus, likewise, feels the same way. If we think that obedience and adoration of the principalities and powers of this world are the only way to accomplish peace and justice, well, obviously Jesus shares our anxieties and concerns. Meanwhile, the things Jesus does and says go by unnoticed by us, just as they did for the crowds two millennia ago.
Thanks for this. Praying about it.
I would agree with Matt on his final point, but my response would not have been Valk's but rather that while we must rely on the working of the Holy Spirit, that still doesn't shift the reality that the phrase has shifted from a statement of truth to a truism. Words and phrases do become emptied of meaning as they're overused and misapplied. "God has a plan," while true and good has to be considered and restructured in order to find its bearings again. Entropy has found its way into the phrase, and as Yeats put it, "the falcon cannot hear the falconer. things fall apart." One of the cool things about Anne's posts and the generous discussions in this group is that it pushes me to go back and dig into the roots of things, to find that Gandhi used this expression in his struggles against British dominance, that to an extent it could also be used to say, as he did, "love your enemy, do good to those who hate you." As I said previously, I do think that this particular phrase only acts as a cliche because it has been so narrowly focused on a particular aspect of the culture wars. Ultimately, at this stage, the expression is as reductive and conveys more often than not a thoughtlessness as opposed to a thoughtfulness. Or to put it another way, it has become dismissive, much like, God has a plan, can be dismissive of one is speaking to somebody who is grieving. It shifts the profound to the commonplace. I'm not saying abandon the phrase altogether, but I do think that it if one has to use it, then frame it in a way that actually restores some level of meaning to it. I don't think that Valk is actually in the business of restoring meaning, and that making gotcha videos reveals a lack of graciousness that is required to build any sort of dialogue. Instead, I would urge those kids to unpack the phrase and see what kind of dialogue could come out of that.
Amen & Amen!