All Blog Posts (312)

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." If you turn that around, we can say, "If you have come to the Father, you have come by the way, you have embraced the truth, you have life within you--you know and are known by Jesus. These three--way, truth, and life--are the most precious assets a human can posses. Allow me to put these three under one umbrella: Truth with a capital T.

In a 1965 paper published by Lewis Benson (Friends and the…

The voice of Christ frees us from bondage to rules. Focusing on the immediate, direct teaching of our Shepherd simplifies our task, because all we need to do is wait for guidance. With God’s voice comes the power to obey, something a focus on rules, even the right rules, can never provide.

However, reading Scripture, especially the New Testament, can tempt us into focusing on Jesus’s precepts for living. This in turn siphons our…

A Sermon preached at Mooresville (Indiana) Friends Church, Sixth Month 13, 2021, and previously blogged at Brethren Life & Thought (www.brethrenlifeandthought.org/2021/06/27/great-joy-dreadful-danger-a-sermon-by-john-jeremiah-edminster/). Reprinted by permission

“Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,”…

I just posted this comment on a Facebook page, and it seemed important enough to tell the whole world. Whoever is moved to, share it freely:

The attitude I'd encourage in all my fellow enjoyers of well-educated, able-bodied, tall white male American-with-no-felony-record privilege, is this: everyone you know, everyone you meet is not your "equal," but Jesus Christ, your Lord, clothed in their skin. You have probably sinned against them in more ways than you realize, so you…

In 1995, while seeking understanding regarding a previous spiritual encounter speaking about a sovereign Friend's revival, a spiritual voice said, 

"The Friend's revival is the last revival and perfection of the church for God, the culmination of history as we know it. The next stage is the transformation of our mortal body and we will know as we are known."

I have shared elsewhere the Friend's revival encounter but the 1995 manifestation has not been shared with other…

Hi,

I'm french and 40' yo. I'm member of Nantes local assembly.  I feel that George Fox and the quaker vision is the best way to Christ. The early quakerism is so inspiring. 

God's love is like when a friend or family member tells you they love you, even after you hurt them or make the same mistakes over and over. They hold you, and tell you they love you, again and again; they make you believe it. I have been so blessed to have friends and family like this. People who have reflected what the love of the Creator is like to me.

This love is like having a job, but one…

Last night, in my dream, I was in a familiar neighborhood. As I walked, I came upon a house where a crew of people were busily cleaning. This crew was led by Lewis Benson. I readily joined in the effort of cleaning windows, cleaning eve troughs, sweeping the roof, and cleaning the inside. It was as thorough a cleaning job as I have ever witnessed! Nothing was left untouched.

I have had the clear understanding that I must share what I have seen. Even though I can't say precisely what…

On the 15th of November we again considered Fox's Epistle XXXVIII. You can access the recording at 

https://zoom.us/rec/share/dwzNCYm3qF_AKYK7dCes0u6WIuoMdvahWiApeyNSdCPCOWMrbVX8S8Qwp6FphCiN.Ez3nyZ_VA3XrBTzZ

Access Passcode: @*2unN*q

This past Saturday morning was our regular time for reading and discussing Fox's Journal (Volume 1, p. 363 and following from the Works of George Fox). It was a good discussion regarding what Fox said about the seven things people could "sit down in." Today's list might be somewhat different, but the seventh, our sabbath rest, will always be sitting down in Christ Jesus who never fell. What does that mean, to sit down in Christ Jesus? This was part of our discussion which you can see by…

2 P. M. FIRST-DAY MEETINGS NOW SET FOR THIRD FIRST DAY OF EACH MONTH: 11/15, 12/20, ETC.

A group of Indiana Friends have reopened the Sugar Grove Meeting House in Plainfield, just west of the Indianapolis Airport, for a monthly hour of waiting worship after the manner of Conservative Friends. The time was chosen with a view to letting Friends worship at their home meetings in the morning and then travel to Sugar Grove without pressure to hurry. The Meeting House, a…

On Sunday, the 18th of October, we read and discussed the first few paragraphs of Fox's Epistle XXXVIII. In this epistle, Fox calls us to abandon the great city of Sodom with its fascination of all things of this world. Even though we are not to reason with flesh, we live by a different reasoning. "Come let us reason together," says the Lord. It is in the council of the Lord that we see the victory of the Lamb against the great beast with 10 horns.

Listen in to our reading and…

This past Saturday was our regular Zoom meeting for reading and discussing the Journal of Fox. Following is a link and the passcode to access the recording. It is one hour and 15 minutes long. The reading is from Vol. 1, page numbers are given at the beginning. This recording will only be available for 1 week when we will need to make space for the next session.

The link is …

Greetings, Ellis.

In "Welcome to..." at the top of the page you have, "When George Fox spoke of passing through the two-edged flaming sword upon entering the paradise of God..." I'd like to read that in full. Where can I find it? 

Thanks, Allan

Dear Friends,

This is not a regular Blog, but I'd like to solicit everyone's opinions about upgrading this site to the next Ning Platform.

This site is currently running on a platform called Ning 2.0, but, a couple of years ago, Ning released it's latest platform, Ning 3.0. So far, I've ignored their pleas to upgrade.

From a users perspective, it will make little difference to the ordinary users of this site. It will work pretty much as before. There will be no impact on…

The scriptures proclaims that:

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; …

HOW TO FIND YOUR FAVORITE GEORGE FOX QUOTE IN THE DIGITAL QUAKER COLLECTION, SO THAT YOU CAN CITE IT IN SOMETHING YOU'RE WRITING, PONDER IT, TAKE WARNING OR ENCOURAGEMENT FROM IT, OR JUST BASK IN ITS WISDOM, GOODNESS, AND BEAUTY:

Step 1: Say, for example, that you recall that somewhere George Fox wrote the phrase, "in this thick night of darkness that may be felt," and you want to find its source. Go to…

“He must increase, but I must decrease,” said John the Baptist of Jesus (John 3:30 NRSV). Can you imagine having that be your own seven-word graduation speech when you leave seminary? Five years into your post-graduate career, can you imagine yourself saying, with Paul, “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20)? If a serious soul comes to you for counsel, will you be able to credibly say “we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (1 John…

Hear the word of the LORD...give ear unto the law of our God...To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me?...When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?...Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth...when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment,…

In Part II I looked at Fox's exposition concerning three estates and three teachers wherein he declared that by following the serpent's teaching, mankind entered the fallen estate. By following Jesus Christ's teaching, we are brought up out of the fall into the state of Adam and Eve before the fall and into a higher state in Christ Jesus who never fell.

In Part III I am continuing to explore the answer to the question, "How are we to encounter this divine influence upon the heart that…