Devout Protestant

jeremy wrote:

Why is it always Catholics that are “devout?” When’s the last time you heard of a “devout Protestant?” Strange.

Celebration of Discipline – receiving grace

So I haven’t blogged in about a month, and now I have two posts about books. Interesting.

I’ve begun reading Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, and on page 7 of the copy I have, Foster says “God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace.”

I was hung up on the “means of receiving” bit. As I continued to pick apart the sentence and ponder it all, I came up with a few thoughts …
1) Foster says the disciplines are “a means” not “the means” by which one receives grace … this is what I think was initally causing my befuddlement.
2) Foster is talking about two “giving’s” … giving of the disciplines and giving of grace … which in turn means one needs to think about the process of receiving, being in receipt of, etc.
3) If the disciplines are a means, what are other means by which one would receive grace … through faith, repentance, other things?
4) The purpose of grace … justification, redemption, ongoing teaching/instruction (Titus 2:11-12) – “Grow in grace” (2Peter 3:18)
5) What about the Catholic catechism that mentions two kinds of grace, sanctifying and actual?
6) Back to the basic definitions of grace and mercy as explained in Sr High Sunday school by Ken Wiebe (also where prophecies, apologetics, and geneologies become interesting … read more for details)
__grace – getting what you don’t deserve
__mercy – not getting what you do deserve

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Mr God This Is Anna

I have been captivated by this book (Mr. God this is Anna by Fynn) ever since I read it several years ago. And about since that time I’ve often wondered who the author actually is/was. Up until now, my attempts to find the person behind the pseudonym went in vain.
Recently I discovered that both Fynn and the individual who wrote the foreword to Mr God this is Anna have passed away. However, on a message board someone seems to have found one of the settings in the book…

… the EAST LONDON CEMETRY GRANGE ROAD LONDON E13. The nearest train station is PLAISTOW. To enter you go through the iron gates Fynn mentioned. I’d say these have obviously painted since Anna’s time. When you walk down the main drive there are a number of marble angels to your right. However you will come to a small stone cottage here you turn right. On your left is a few more angels but one in particular is I think the one Fynn refered to. When you consider the base it stands on plus the height of the statue itself it would easily be 12 foot or more. It holds a small bunch of flowers in it’s left hand and seems to be bending slightly to put the flowers on the grave. I looked but could not find any grave that I could positively identify as Anna’s. Of course it is over 60 years since Anna’s death and the cemetry has no doubt been extended, but I think when you see it you can get a pretty good idea where Fynn was. Outside the cemetry grounds is a long cement/concrete wall. It surrounds a large open area but most significantly there is a mainline railway track. This I think is the cemetry wall where Anna showed Fynn how shadows move faster than light.

Since I just happen to be going to London myself, perhaps I shall see if I can make it to this particular locale.