All Blog Posts (240)

I have been thinking about the reports in the British press that the Quakers (ie in Britain) are considering 'dropping God'. While this was a somewhat exaggerated report, there is a strong strain of nontheism or atheism in UK Quakers. I find this difficult, as I joined Quakers not to become a better person or find like minded people or even to do good in the world. I joined only to look for God. This (adapted) parable came to mind:

A woman lost a valuable coin. She lit a light and…

The dove descending breaks the air

With flame of incandescent terror

Of which the tongues declare

The one discharge from sin and error.

The only hope, or else despair

Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre-

To be redeemed from fire by fire.

Who then devised the torment? Love.

Love is the unfamiliar Name

Behind the hands that wove

The intolerable shirt of flame

Which human power cannot remove.

We only live, only suspire

Consumed by either…

This first appeared on my blog, This Was The True Light.

If I could stand before you and speak of the things of God, what should I tell you? What would be on my heart, as it is upon my mind now, is this one question: “Why are you here?”

There could be many answers to that question, ranging from the flattering “We are here to hear what you have to say” to the more mundane “I love the food that appears at…

When I began to concentrate my studies on all the writings of George Fox more than forty years ago, it was during the period of Quaker history that might be called the “high tide” of the mystical interpretation of Quakerism. And when I had first encountered Fox’s Journal just fifty years ago, I was not a professing Christian. If I had any bias when I read the Journal for the first time, it was in the direction of hoping to find in Fox the “perennial philosophy” of the mystics. But as I…

Is anyone here doing this?:

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/quakers/3/

There’s more to the New Testament story of the rich young man than the passage in Matthew 19:16-26 records. This additional information, when I recently learned it, explained many things to me and deepened my understanding of the episode.

In brief the story is: A rich young man asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. After Jesus establishes that the young man has kept all the commandments, the man further inquires, “What do I still lack?”

“Go,”…

“Ellis, do you believe in…?” I have been asked this question concerning many different “objects of belief:” God, Jesus, scripture, etc. But when I was recently asked “Do you believe in the Devil?” as an admonition to look at scripture as our safeguard against the wiles of Satan, I deemed it appropriate to make a thorough explanation.…

Per a recent discussion, I have looked at what George Fox had to say about Sanctificaion. My search terms were “sanctification,” “sanctify,” and “sanctified.” The greatest density of Fox’s statements occurred in Vol. III, but the terms are found throughout his writings.

1. Vol. III --- 183 hits
2. Vol. V --- 76 hits
3. Vol. VI --- 59 hits
4. Vol. VIII – 36 hits
5. Vol. I --- 23 hits
6. Vol. VII --- 20 hits
7. Vol. II --- 18 hits
8. Vol. IV…

The NFF exists to preach the Christian Message that was proclaimed by the Early Friends. Christ has come to teach his People himself.

I have heard this so many times - I wonder if anyone can explain it fully? I am presuming that it was a reaction against Protestantism, that had reacted against Catholicism and their reliance on Tradition as authority in the church. Protestants said that scripture is the sole source of authority and as Barclay rightly said,…

There is an old Indian…

Following a lengthy discussion, Brenda Redshaw (of this site), asked me to look into what Fox had to say concerning Romans chapter 7. In searching for “Rom. vi” or “Rom. 7” I turned up very few references. So I turned to searches for the concepts or phrases Fox used when he identified Romans 7 in his writing. There may be a better approach, or I perhaps could have used better phrases. I hope all readers will do their own searches and contribute what they find of significance. Here is what I…

Anne Olsen, of this site, has discovered a set of tapes containing more than 10 lectures of Lewis Benson. The date on the tapes is 1982. You will need an 8-track player to play these or need to have them converted to digital format.

Anne has offered to pay shipping. I am saying that this might apply to shipping in U.S. If you are outside the U.S. you should contact Anne regarding shipping.

If no one wants these tapes, they will be pitched. Anne no longer has equipment to listen…

[The following is based upon vocal ministry given at Germantown Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Twelfth month, the 31st.]

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed (Ex. 3:2).

One of the significant things about the burning bush that Moses saw was that it continued to burn. The bush burned and was not…

Church is supposed to be the place where Christians gather to learn from God and to draw closer to Him. However, too often church actually buffers the believer’s possible encounter with God.

The crux of really knowing God is listening to Him. Therefore, it’s easy to see how a certain component of a church service is not listening: hymn-singing and group prayers, for example. However, when the sermon is given, the congregation listens. All present assume that the minister is…

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Everyday will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name fore ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of  the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I…

Hello long time ago friends,

First I have a question. Is there a better recordng than the one I found here of Lewis Benson speaking on:

The Gospel Preached by John Wesley and its Echoes in Modern Christianity ?

I was very…

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. (Isaiah 9:2)...For unto us a a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand,…

I recently stumbled onto a downloadable file of Stephen Crisp's allegory, A Short History of a Long Travel from Babylon to Bethel. Even though the text is not very long, it provides a lot of material for pondering. You can download this work from archive.org. Go to https://archive.org/details/ashorthistoryofa15730gut. If you…

Note: Parts 1 and 2 originally appeared on my blog, under the title of A Question of Authority. Some of this material first appeared as comments on Steven Davison's blog post, …