my burg

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5 ESV) Here are a few excerpts from Geerhardus Vos, commenting on "a living hope" and the future orientation of Christians...   "Sometimes we are altogether too much concerned with what the present world will say about us –- whether it will regard us as progressive and enlightened and liberal; while we but too seldom consider what would be the historic judgment passed upon us by the church of the former ages if its great figures could gather around us and review the part we take in the making of the history of the present –- whether they would be shamed or gladdened...

"I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted." (Psalm 77:1-2 ESV) Twice a month men of the church join together to pray for the persecuted church. Here are the prayer concerns that were printed for this week, as compiled by one of our pastor/elders:   Nigeria,  Aug 7. Fulani herdsmen continue brazen killing of Christians, slaying 17 since July 17, including women and babies. Over 50,000 believers have been martyred, and millions displaces since the violence began.  Pakistan,  Aug 1. Nabeel Masih, a Christian man, 25 yrs old, detained in 2016 in Pakistan (at 16) for "blasphemy" against Islam, has died after years of suffering, imprisonment, and medical neglect.  DR Congo, July 31. A horrific massacre unfolded Sunday in eastern Congo where Islamic State-affiliated jihadists beheaded at least 49 Christians-nine of t...

Here are a couple of excerpts from T. S. Eliot, regarding how a society should deal with its past evils, as well as with affirming the good things inherited...   "Of all that was done in the past, you eat the fruit, either rotten or ripe.   And the Church must be forever building, and always decaying, and always being restored.   For every ill deed in the past we suffer the consequence:    For sloth, for avarice, gluttony, neglect of the Word of God.    For pride, for lechery, treachery, for every act of sin.    And of all that was done that was good, you have the inheritance.    For good and ill deeds belong to a man alone, when he stands alone on the other side of death,    But here upon earth you have the reward of the good and ill that was done by those who have gone before you.    And all that is ill you may repair if you walk together in humble repentance, expiating the sins of your fathers;...