Feast of Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258 As Christians, and followers of Jesus, we have not taken read more

Feast of Lawrence, Deacon at Rome, Martyr, 258 As Christians, and followers of Jesus, we have not taken pride half seriously enough. But the Devil has. The Devil knows that as long as he can control human pride it does not matter how many prayer meetings, how many services, how much devotion goes on -- he can still wrack any group of Christians, sooner or later, and frustrate God's purpose for them, and for the world. ... The Notebooks of Florence Allshorn August 11, 1999 Feast of Clare of Assisi, Founder of the Order of Minoresses (Poor Clares), 1253 Commemoration of John Henry Newman, Priest, Teacher, Tractarian, 1890 Never... think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Integrity on one side of our character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different from those we have hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do not know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins.

The Gospels contain what the Apostles preached -- the Epistles, what they wrote after the preaching. And until we understand read more

The Gospels contain what the Apostles preached -- the Epistles, what they wrote after the preaching. And until we understand the Gospel, the good news about our brother-king -- until we understand Him, until we have His Spirit, promised so freely to them that ask it -- all the Epistles, the words of men who were full of Him, and wrote out of that fullness, who loved Him so utterly that by that very love they were lifted into the air of pure reason and right, and would die for Him, without two thoughts about it, in the very simplicity of no choice -- the Letters, I say, of such men are to us a sealed book. Until we love the Lord so as to do what He tells us, we have no right to an opinion about what one of those men meant; for all they wrote is about things beyond us. The simplest woman who tries not to judge her neighbor, or not to be anxious for the morrow, will better know what is best to know, than the best-read bishop without that one simple outgoing of his highest nature in the effort to do the will of Him who thus spoke.

Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896 Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958 read more

Commemoration of William Morris, Artist, Writer, 1896 Commemoration of George Kennedy Bell, Bishop of Chichester, Ecumenist, Peacemaker, 1958 If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.

Feast of Barnabas the Apostle It is obvious ... that there are many lay people who can counsel more read more

Feast of Barnabas the Apostle It is obvious ... that there are many lay people who can counsel more effectively than the minister can in such areas as adjusting to widowhood, coming to terms with advancing age, bringing principle to bear upon business decisions, because they have experience in these fields which the minister does not personally have. At the very least, they can add a note of reality to what the minister offers. In many cases, the group takes up where the individual counseling left off, supplementing it or even eliminating it entirely. I have been repeatedly thankful that a group was available to give steady guidance who had made a fresh start in Christian living, but who still had a long way to go; this has been especially true in cases of loneliness, moderate emotional instability, inability to understand others, and need of continued guidance in the use of prayer and the Bible and the accepting and giving of love. In the nature of the case, no amount of individual counseling can fully deal with these needs. The "priesthood of all believers" becomes a recognized fact, with each person helping to open up for his neighbor the way to God.

Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 He was but a heathen that said, read more

Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 He was but a heathen that said, If God love a man, He takes him young out of this world; and they were but heathens, that observed that custom. to put on mourning when their sons were born, and to feast and triumph when they died. But thus much may we learn from these heathens, that if the dead, and we, be not upon one floor, nor under one story, yet we are under one roof. We think not a friend lost, because he has gone into another room, nor because he has gone into another land: and into another world, no man has gone; for that Heaven, which God created, and this world, is all one world... I spend none of my faith, I exercise none of my hope, in this, that I shall have my dead raised to life again. This is the faith that sustains me, when I lose by the death of others, or when I suffer by living in misery myself: that the dead and we are now all in one Church, and at the resurrection, shall be all in one Choir.

The period which marked the enormous statistical success of the revival churches was also the period which saw membership standards read more

The period which marked the enormous statistical success of the revival churches was also the period which saw membership standards decline almost to the vanishing point. Today the [various denominations] don't even have enough authority to keep their members out of mob violence, let alone hold them to difficult standards of theological or ethical or moral excellence.

The Creeds... were formulated gradually, as a result of a series of desperate controversies -- which are now named, sometimes read more

The Creeds... were formulated gradually, as a result of a series of desperate controversies -- which are now named, sometimes after the supposed leaders and representatives of a particular interpretation of the Christian religion, and sometimes after the particular interpretation itself. I need not now attempt to make precise these heresies, as they came to be called. It is necessary only to point out that in various ways all these heresies were simplifications. By means of them, the revelation of God to men was made -- or appeared to be made -- less scandalous. On the other hand, the various clauses of the Creed were not formulated as a new simplification, or as an alternative-ism. They were nothing more than emphatic statements of the Biblical scandal, statements which brought into sharp antagonism the new simplification and the old, Scriptural, many-sided, and vigorous truth.

Not pleading with the Father, but expressing the Father's good pleasure is the key-note of true intercession. Forgiveness is God's read more

Not pleading with the Father, but expressing the Father's good pleasure is the key-note of true intercession. Forgiveness is God's idea, God's desire; and it is He who appoints both the Judge and the Counsel for the Defense. It was He who inaugurated the priestly work, that men might receive His cleansing and turn to the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. God has provided for himself a Lamb. It is He who sends His Son to be our Elder Brother, and to incorporate us as adopted sons into the circle of His Fatherly love. So then it is the voice of His beloved Son which is most clearly heard by the Father in heaven. In that voice of intercession, all the voices of intercession are contained and heard. The Son is talking to the Father about us, and what He says is not Please but Yes.

Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100 One can believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and feel read more

Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100 One can believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and feel no personal loyalty to Him at all -- indeed, pay no attention whatever to His commandments and His will for one's life. One can believe intellectually in the efficacy of prayer and never do any praying.