This week let me share with you a few wise words of the famed British theologian, J.I. Packer (from his
“Hot Tub Religion”), which I came across on my computer files today. With all of them I deeply resonate.
On the nature of gossip:
Gossip has been defined as “the art of confessing other people’s sin.”
(p. 58)
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On our modern obsession with play:
“Our forefathers rested in order to be fit to work; we work in order to be free to rest.”
(p. 68)
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On the agenda of true ministry:
“. . . we are called to faithfulness, not necessarily fruitfulness. Faithfulness is our business; fruitfulness is an issue we must. . . leave with God.”
(p. 63)
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On the root of meaninglessness and despair:
“God’s world is never friendly to those who forget its Maker. The Buddhists, who link their atheism with a thorough pessimism about life, are to that extent correct. Without God, man loses his bearings in this world. He cannot find them again until he has found the One whose world it is. It is natural that non-believers feel their existence is pointless and miserable. We should not wonder when these bitter, frustrated souls turn to drugs and drink, or when teenagers respond to the traumatic chaos around them by commiting suicide. God made life, and God alone can tell us its meaning. If we are to make sense of life in this world, then, we must know about God. And if we want to know about God, we must turn to the Bible.”
(p.22)
