Contending for the parish list
Would you believe it if I told you that more than a few have showed up in church these past few Sundays since I began praying over them?
Devotional
Mercies temporal and spiritual reviewed
God of the morning, at whose voice
The sun begins his daily race;
And every day and every hour
Proclaim thy faithfulness and grace.
God shows himself
God keeps me ever mindful of him. When I rise in the morning, when I open a book, when I turn a corner, God is there—his face in mine.
Empty vessels
What would you say is the defining characteristic of a Christian? Faith? Love? Kindness? Zeal for the gospel? A Christian certainly should cultivate these and many other virtues, but is there one that underlies all the others? From the list above, my guess is that most people would say love …
Christ the Christian’s support
Once, Lord, a broken reed I was,
And could not stand at all;
And now my standing is by grace,
Should grace remove I fall.
Aspiring to heaven
Inflamed with ardour half divine,For heaven I earthly gain resign;Those starry lamps that grace the pole,Inspire with joy my raptured soul. O the dear festivals of night,What glorious dazzling to the fight!A fair angelic band maintainsDelightful watch o’er heavenly plains. Why am I kept a prisoner here,So distant from that …
The vicar’s life
Through the portal and down the Nave,
he march’d with Holy Writ in hand,
to kneel and pray
at break of day,
and lean upon the reading stand.
What is humility?
To be nothing in order that God may be everything. That is Murray’s definition of humility. And I dare say it was John the Baptist’s definition as well.
The fruitless fig tree
That God that dwells in heaven above,
Whose glory none can tell:
He condescends, in matchless love,
With worthless man to dwell.
When we survey the eternal God
When we survey the eternal God,
As nature’s spring and bliss;
What wonders doth the scene afford;
And God, how great he is!
Jesus was hungry
After not eating for forty days, Jesus was hungry. When you read it in isolation it seems like such an understatement. My stomach is growling now, barely three hours after my last meal. He’s not just hungry, he is famished: literally, he is craving food.
The cross of Christ the Christian’s glory
Behold the words of Christ fulfilled!His promise is made good we see,That as he was on earth reviled,So must our faithful followers be. Since he, the master of the house,The prince of devils here was deemed,Then sure his servants cannot chooseBut be as ill by men esteemed. Lo, the disciple …
Reflections on the Conversion of Paul
Jesus breaks into the lives of sinners and saves them of his own accord. He must, because no one can make that move for himself.
The discipline of community
Josh is one of my best friends. He and I have known each other since elementary school. We both went to Bible college and seminary. We are both fans of Cleveland sports. We’re both married. We both have kids. We haven’t seen each other that much, though, in the past …
On Wycliffe, the Morning Star of the Reformation
When papal darkness over our isleIts dim diffusion spread,Then Romish priests, by subtle wiles,The ignorant misled. Then gospel light did faintly shine,And few beheld its rays,Till mercy shot her beams divine,And did a Wycliffe raise.
