Feast of the Holy Innocents The whole being of any Christian is Faith and Love... Faith brings the man read more

Feast of the Holy Innocents The whole being of any Christian is Faith and Love... Faith brings the man to God, love brings him to men.

The symbol of the New Testament and the Christian Church is a cross, which stands for a love faithful despite read more

The symbol of the New Testament and the Christian Church is a cross, which stands for a love faithful despite physical agony and rejection by the world. No amount of air-conditioning and pew-cusioning in the suburban church can cover over the hard truth that the Christian life... is a narrow way of suffering; that discipleship is costly: that, for the faithful, there is always a cross to be carried. No one can understand Christianity to its depths who comes to it to enjoy it as a pleasant weekend diversion.

It is no strain of metaphor to say that the love of God and the wrath of God are the read more

It is no strain of metaphor to say that the love of God and the wrath of God are the same thing, described from opposite points of view. How we shall experience it depends upon the way we shall come up against it: God does not change; it is man's moral state that changes. The wrath of God is a figure of speech to denote God's unchanging opposition to sin; it is His righteous love operating to destroy evil. It is not evil that will have the last word, but good; not sorrow, but joy; not hate, but love.

In the communities of the faithful, men had to impress upon themselves and upon others what Jesus said and did, read more

In the communities of the faithful, men had to impress upon themselves and upon others what Jesus said and did, for the more convinced they were that he was neither a Jewish pretender nor an unsubstantial deity like one of the deities of the cults, the more urgent it was for them to recall that his words were the rule of their life, and that his actions in history had created their position in the world; they had to think out their faith, to state it against outside criticism, and to teach it within their own circle, instead of being content with it as a mere emotion; they had also to refresh their courage by anticipating the future, which they believed was in the hands of their Lord. The common basis of their life was the conviction that they enjoyed a new relationship with God, for which they were indebted to Jesus. The technical term for this relationship was "covenant", and "covenant" became eventually in their vocabulary "testament". Hence the later name for these writings of the church, when gathered into a sacred collection, was "The New Testament" -- New because the older relationship of God to his people, which had obtained under Judaism, with its Old Testament was superseded by the faith and fellowship which Jesus Christ his Son had inaugurated. It was the consciousness of this that inspired the early Christians to live, and to write about the origin and applications of this new life. They wrote for their own age, without a thought of posterity, and they did not write in unison but in harmony.

Turn your wounds into wisdom.

Turn your wounds into wisdom.

Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796 [Dr. Johnson to a Quaker:] Oh, let us read more

Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796 [Dr. Johnson to a Quaker:] Oh, let us not be found, when our Master calls us, ripping the lace off our waistcoats, but the spirit of contention from our souls and tongues.

Lord, come away; Why dost thou stay? Thy road is ready and thy paths made straight With longing expectations wait read more

Lord, come away; Why dost thou stay? Thy road is ready and thy paths made straight With longing expectations wait The consecration of thy beautious feet. Ride on triumphantly; behold! we lay Our lusts and proud wills in thy way. Hosannah! welcome to our hearts: Lord, here Thou hast a temple too, and full as dear As that of Sion; and as full of sin -- Nothing but thieves and robbers dwell therein; Enter and chase them forth, and cleanse the floor, Crucify them, that they may never more Profane that holy place Where thou hast chose to set thy face. And then if our still tongues shall be Mute in the praises of thy deity, The stones out of the temple wall Shall cry aloud and call Hosannah! and thy glorious footsteps greet.

Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Modern Christianity is crucially weak at three vital points. The first read more

Feast of Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist Modern Christianity is crucially weak at three vital points. The first is its compromised, deficient understanding of revelation. Without Biblical historicity and veracity behind the Word of God, theology can only grow closer to Hinduism. Second, the modern Christian is drastically weak in an unmediated, persona. experiential knowledge of God. Often, what passes for religious experience is a communal emotion felt in church services, in meetings, in singing or contrived fellowship. Few Christians would know God on their own. Third, the modern church is often pathetically feeble in the expression of its focal principle of community. It has become an adult social club, preaching shop, or minister-dominated group. With these weaknesses, modern Christianity cannot hope to understand why people have turned to the East, let alone stand against the trend and offer an alternative.

Easter Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast preserved me by Thy fatherly care through all the years of read more

Easter Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast preserved me by Thy fatherly care through all the years of my past life, and now permittest me again to commemorate the sufferings and merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, grant me so to partake of this holy rite, that the disquiet of my mind may be appeased, that my faith may be increased, my hope strengthened, and my life regulated by Thy Will. Make me truly thankful for that portion of health which Thy mercy has restored, and enable me to use the remains of life to Thy glory and my own salvation. Take not from me, O Lord, Thy Holy Spirit. Extinguish in my mind all sinful and inordinate desires. Let me resolve to do that which is right, and let me by Thy help keep my resolutions. Let me, if it is best for me, at last know peace and comfort, but whatever state of life Thou shalt appoint me, let me end it by a happy death, and enjoy eternal happiness in Thy presence, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.