Above:  The Pages of the Original Document

Images Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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EDITOR’S NOTES:

1. The proper label for those who practice Islam is Muslims (alternatively, Moslems), of course.
2. I make no apologies for the near-sacrifice of Isaac.  If my father had tried to sacrifice me….  http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/arguing-with-god/
3. My opinion of Abraham is considerably more nuanced than my great-grandfather’s opinion of him.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 27, 2014 COMMON ERA

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Heb. 11, 8-10

I.

The greatest man of antiquity, the father of those who believe in the one true God–Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians.  In a day of vague ideas of God he recognized the unity and personality of God.

II.

Moral rather than intellectual greatness, exalted and pure faith, so profound that he obeyed God unhesitatingly.

(a)  A man of peace, magnanimous toward Lot–“let there be no strife,” etc.  Rescued Lot from his captors–brave.

(b)  Man of prayer–interceded for pardon, very humble and reverent about it.

III.  

Of great faith:

(1)  The birth of Isaac when he was an old man.  He believed God’s word regarding it.

(2)  The offering of Isaac, the supreme test of his faith.  How then could he be the father of a great and mighty nation?  But if God called he would obey:  he had nothing too good to devote to God.

(3)  The father of the faithful and “the friend of God.”

“By faith Abraham.”  By faith all may become great before God and be the friend of God.  May our faith prove equal to every emergency.

O for a faith that will not shrink,

Though pressed by every foe,

That will not tremble on the brink

Of any earthly woe!

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That will not murmur nor complain

Beneath the chastening rod,

But in the hour of grief or pain,

Will lean upon its God.

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A faith that shines more bright and clear

When tempests rage without;

That when in danger knows no fear,

In darkness knows no doubt.

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Lord, give us such a faith as this;

And then, whate’er may come,

I’ll taste e’en now the hallowed bliss

Of an eternal home.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  Part of the Original Document

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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EDITOR’S COMMENTS:

My great-grandfather made a note to himself.  He prompted himself to use a sermon illustration about one Mrs. Taft saying something to one Bishop Beauchamp.  That style of prompt is nothing new or rare; I use it in my teaching notes.  I have, however, tried to understand who the people were and what Mrs. Taft said.  I have been partially successful:

• Virginia-born William Benjamin Beauchamp (1869-1931), from 1922 a bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (1845-1939), promoted ecumenical and missionary work, especially ecumenical missionary work.  He was especially involved in Methodist missions in Europe.  For a time he presided over the North Georgia Conference and the South Georgia Conference, USA.  My great-grandfather, being an official of the North Georgia Conference, would have known Beauchamp and heard some of his stories.
• “Mrs. Taft” was probably Anna Sinton Taft, wife of Charles Phelps Taft I (1843-1929), brother of President then Chief Justice William Howard Taft.  Beauchamp apparently had a speaking engagement in Cincinnati in 1925.

Yet I still have no idea what she said to Beauchamp, assuming that she is Mrs. Taft of the sermon illustration.  If anyone can replace my ignorance with the light of objectively correct facts, please do.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 1, 2014 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY NAME OF JESUS

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…but I am among you as he that serveth.

–Luke 22:27b, Authorized Version

I.

[There will be] need for service as long as there are needs, as food, raiment, intellectual needs.  To help supply these is helpful service.  Let all be done in his name, as unto the Lord.

II.

Jesus came not to be ministered unto but to minister.  Hence the text.  He founded a kingdom to be characterized by service.  Everything else [is] to be subordinated to service–to duty–illustration = Mrs. Taft to Bp. Beauchamp.

III.

How the lives of men have been enriched by service–Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Paul, [John] Wesley & multiplied thousands–mothers, teachers, young lives devoted to helpfulness.

There is no end to the story.

“Whose I am and whom I serve.”  When is there a higher life on this earth?

How great is the need today!  The church, yea, statesmen, are concerned about the world’s need.

Love can’t pass by on the other side now of all times.

May each of us have this vision and count it a joy to help.

His “well done” will be glory forever.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  Part of the Original Document

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Gen. 12, 2

I.  

God had great and far-reaching things in mind concerning Abraham–so great their influence would extend to all time & into eternity.  Hence his promise to bless Abraham.

II.  

No man is of himself equal to life’s opportunities & responsibilities.  At best he is weak and cannot see into the future.  He needs divine guidance and wisdom & strength.  He needs to have his proven developed & there to consecrate them to God.

III.

God’s great purpose is service.  Men need help and God wants to make all who receive his grace a blessing to others.  “Then will tell to sinners round/What a dear Savior I have found.” “And ye shall be witnesses unto me…unto the ends of the earth.”

IV.

Abraham’s name is one to conjure with till now, a power for good over men as they review sacred history.  He is “the father of the faithful.”

Of his race Christ came whose reign shall never cease.

Heed God’s call, follow him and be a blessing unto others.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  Part of the Original Document

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Gen. 24, 63

1.  Abraham sends his servant to find a wife for Isaac.  Meets Rebekah at the well and her kindness to him.  In the house he tells his mission.  She consents to return with him & become Isaac’s wife.

2.  Before they reach home Isaac goes into the field alone.  Of course he is dreaming of what the future may bring–of his house to be.  And well might he thus dream.

3.  What sort of house shall it be?  Of course everyone desires a happy home; else life were a torment.  But this does not just happen; it must result from causes and conditions that bring happiness.

4.  How make for a home?

(a)  By making proper business preparation.  The groom-to-be should seek establishment in business that gives confidence in his future.

(b)  Take the best care of one’s health.  The bread-winner will need health.  Homemakers find illness a strain on happiness.

(c)  Become noble & good in every aspiration of the soul.  What one is is the chief factor in happiness.  To stoop to folly in anything is as evil seed whose harvest will rob life of much sweetness.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT

Above:  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Newnan, Georgia, June 30, 2013

Image Source = Library of Congress

(https://plus.google.com/photos/114749828757741527421/albums/5895787306205745121/5896018951925445106?banner=pwa&pid=5896018951925445106&oid=114749828757741527421)

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EDITOR’S COMMENT:

My great-grandfather mixed Protestant revivalism with old-style anti-Roman Catholicism and opposition to ritualism.  All those elements were like circles in a Venn diagram.  I have expressed my thoughts about worship here:  https://taylorfamilypoems.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/ode-to-liturgy/.  And, regarding my great-grandfather and his indirect influence upon me, I have written here:  http://blogatheologica.wordpress.com/why-i-am-a-christian/.

And he wrote this between 1905 and 1913, well before the times of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.  We, as it turns out, did lift ourselves to the Moon by means of technology–close enough to boot straps, I suppose.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 11, 2013 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT OF NURSIA, FATHER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM

Above:  Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, Apollo 11, July 1969

Image Source = NASA

(http://history.nasa.gov/ap11ann/kippsphotos/apollo.html)

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John 1, 12

1.  “Sons of God.”  This relation is spiritual.  He created & preserves all; but not all are sons.  “Not all are Israel who are of Israel” is clearly a spiritual distinction.  Not all the descendants of Abraham are like him morally.  Once rebellious, unbelieving, etc., now they love what He loves–are new every whit–sons.

2.  But man is not able to effect this change.  Were the power inherent in man Christ & the Spirit would not be necessary.

Ritualism fails utterly.

(a)  Works change not the moral nature.

(b)  Neither can water.  It is no more than a ceremonial cleansing.

(c)  Morality as an anchor does not reach the bottom spiritually.

At best such is only almost a Christian & almost is to fail.  As well pull on is boot straps to lift himself to the moon.  Rom. 7, 24-25.

3.  But Christ has this power–all power in heaven & on earth.  He conquered the devil, death, & the grave.  “Which were born…of God”  (v. 13).  “The Son…hath power to forgive.”  See Rom. 8, 2.  Christians in all ages testify thereto.

4.  This power is given to all who by faith receive him; the Spirit imparts it.  See John 5, 12; Luke 13, 34; Jno. 5, 4 & 10, 10.  To do this his constant pleasure; his longing.

5.  The Spirit who imparts the power testifies to us of it.  Sons of God & rejoice in the consciousness of it.

GEORGE WASHINGTON BARRETT