Showing posts with label calvin's institutes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label calvin's institutes. Show all posts

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Better "Daily Devotional"


I'm not certain if the case is the same in the U.S., but I think it would not be a hasty generalization to state that RBC's "Our Daily Bread" is the staple pietist "devotional" literature here in the Philippines. I used to be one of the consumers (stacks of the booklet still bedeck a part of our storeroom). Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone desiring their daily dose of spiritual high. In fact, I wouldn't recommend seeking such highs.

Lest I be taken wrongly, I am not advocating the notion of the unimportance of private devotion. Private Bible study and prayer are indeed important—but they take a back seat to the corporate expression of piety that is manifested in the context of the visible church (read: attending the Sabbath meeting, expecting the covenant of grace renewed through preaching and ratified through the Sacraments). Approaching private devotion in the attitude of seeking emotionally-charged theophanies is a recipe for grounding one's sense of assurance on oneself (subjectively) rather than on Christ's person and finished work (objective), and that would be precarious.

But if you must insist, I can recommend D.A. Carson's "For the Love of God" for your daily devotional needs (just beware of Baptistic innuendos every now and then)—AND THIS(!):





Also available here.

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