I do not believe anyone ever yet humbly, genuinely, thoroughly gave himself to Christ without some other finding Christ through read more

I do not believe anyone ever yet humbly, genuinely, thoroughly gave himself to Christ without some other finding Christ through him.

Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way read more

Feast of Saints & Martyrs of England I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of which Whitfield set me an example on Sunday; having been all my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done in a church.

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, read more

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Joan of Arc, Visionary, 1431 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933 I would have the whole of my experience one continued sense -- first, of my nothingness, and dependence on God; second, of my guiltiness and desert before Him; third, of my obligations to redeeming love, as utterly overwhelming me with its incomprehensible extent and grandeur.

It may fortune thou wilt say, "I am content to do the best for my neighbor that I can, saving read more

It may fortune thou wilt say, "I am content to do the best for my neighbor that I can, saving myself harmless." I promise thee, Christ will not hear their excuse; for He himself suffered harm for our sakes, and for our salvation was put to extreme death. I wis, if it had pleased Him, He might have saved us and never felt pain; but in suffering pains and death He did give us example, and teach us how we should do one for another, as He did for us all; for, as He saith himself, "he that will be mine, let him deny himself, and follow me, in bearing my cross and suffering my pains." Wherefore we must needs suffer pain with Christ to do our neighbor good, as well with the body and all his members, as with heart and mind.

The supreme antidote against strife and confusion, the supreme principle of unity and service in the Church, was also the read more

The supreme antidote against strife and confusion, the supreme principle of unity and service in the Church, was also the greatest gift of the Spirit and the perfect and abiding proof of its presence, namely, love. This introduces a third criterion of the Spirit, and on the wider stage of the moral life. It is loyalty to the moral ideal of Christ. "If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk" (Gal. 5:25). Where the Spirit dwells, it produces a new, a higher, a unique type of moral life. For Paul, the Christian life was not the normal and natural product of human activity, but a gracious divine gift, received by the descent of the Spirit into the human heart, for "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance" (Gal. 5:22-23). And there is yet one higher manifestation of the Spirit, the participation in the divine sonship of Jesus Christ. "And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6). Where sonship is, there the Spirit is. On the other hand, "as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:l4). Where the Spirit leads, there sonship is... The possession of the Spirit and participation in Christ's sonship are but two aspects of the same experience. Here, the phenomenon, if it may be so called, bears its own credentials. Sonship is a self-evident work of the Spirit. But the evidence is available only for its owners in order that the Spirit of adoption may attest itself to others, it must issue in the life according to the Spirit, by walking in the spirit and bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are read more

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

He who has found his soul's life in God is happy -- not, In truth, with perfect happiness: that is read more

He who has found his soul's life in God is happy -- not, In truth, with perfect happiness: that is not granted to men in this world, but a foretaste thereof --he has a secret joy which is beyond the reach of temptation, unrest, and sorrow; a quiet confidence and steadfastness which abide even while the waves and storms of life sweep over him... When the soul has sincerely given itself up to God, He fills it with His own peace, a peace which makes all earthly things indifferent -- as before His Presence, absorbing the heart. It is our strength, our comfort, our guide, the deeper and more confirmed it becomes, the greater our spiritual perfection; so that in truth to obtain and preserve this peace is the real secret of the interior life.

Commemoration of Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of 'Save the Children', 1928 Let a clergyman but intend to please read more

Commemoration of Eglantine Jebb, Social Reformer, Founder of 'Save the Children', 1928 Let a clergyman but intend to please God in all his actions, as the happiest and best thing in the world, and then he will know that there is nothing noble in a clergyman but a burning zeal for the salvation of souls; nor anything poorer in his profession [than] idleness and a worldly spirit.