We are frequently advised to read the Bible with our own personal needs in mind, and to look for answers read more

We are frequently advised to read the Bible with our own personal needs in mind, and to look for answers to our own private questions. That is good, as far as it goes... But better still is the advice to study the Bible objectively, ... without regard, first of all, to our own subjective needs. Let the great passages fix themselves in our memory. Let them stay there permanently, like bright beacons, launching their powerful shafts of light upon life's problems -- our own and everyone's -- as they illumine, now one, now another dark area of human life. Following such a method, we discover that the Bible does "speak to our condition" and meet our needs, not just occasionally or when some emergency arises, but continually.

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 Too late came I to love thee, O thou Beauty so read more

Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430 Too late came I to love thee, O thou Beauty so ancient and so fresh, yea too late came I to love thee. And behold, thou wert within me, and I out of myself, where I made search for thee: I ugly rushed headlong upon those beautiful things thou hast made. Thou indeed wert with me; but I was not with thee: these beauties kept me far enough from thee: even those, which unless they were in thee, should not be at all.

Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285 Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of read more

Commemoration of Crispin & Crispinian, Martyrs at Rome, c.285 Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts, Thou fount of life, thou Light of men, From the best bliss that earth imparts We turn unfilled to Thee again. We taste Thee, O Thou living Bread, And long to feast upon Thee still: We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead, And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. O Jesus, ever with us stay, Make all our moments calm and bright; Chase the dark night of sin away, Shed o'er the world Thy holy light.

Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836 You have your season, and you have but your season; neither read more

Feast of Charles Simeon, Pastor, Teacher, 1836 You have your season, and you have but your season; neither can you lie down in peace, until you have some persuasion that your work as well as your life is at an end.

Continuing a short series on Romans 8: [Of vv. 14-17] For the Spirit we have received read more

Continuing a short series on Romans 8: [Of vv. 14-17] For the Spirit we have received is the Spirit of the Son of God, and we possessing it are God's sons too, and "that of God in us" leaps out towards the God who is the source of it. The Spirit of Jesus within us moves us to prayer: indeed, prayer is just the moving of God's Son in us towards the Father. Though we are burdened with the greatness of our need, so that our prayers are not even articulate, yet in such "inarticulate sighs" the Spirit "intercedes for us.".

The New Testament is an intensely personal document. It is not the effort of a group of men who are read more

The New Testament is an intensely personal document. It is not the effort of a group of men who are out to prove something to us by the force of their rational arguments. But it is the testimony, or testament, of a group of witnesses... who are bent on simply reporting to us the experience of a love that overtook them and overwhelmed them, a peace that passed all their understanding, and a peace that they in turn would pass on to us.

Bless God, America.

Bless God, America.

Feast of the Holy Cross When scientists are honest, as most of them are, they are well aware read more

Feast of the Holy Cross When scientists are honest, as most of them are, they are well aware of the fact that their competence in science does not give them a clue to the problem of how their science should be used in the service of man. The sensitive visitor to the mesas of Los Alamos is almost sure to meditate on the experience of that gifted man, Klaus Fuchs. Though his work in the laboratories was outstanding, his decision concerning the use of what he knew was disastrous. What if, in addition to his scientific competence, the younger Fuchs had shared something of the Christian conviction of his father, Emil Fuchs? Much of the subsequent history of our earth might then have been different.

In vain does anyone pretend that he will be a martyr for his religion, when he will not rule an read more

In vain does anyone pretend that he will be a martyr for his religion, when he will not rule an appetite nor restrain lust nor subdue a passion nor cross his covetousness and ambition for the sake of it, and in hope of that eternal life which God that cannot lie hath promised. He that refuses to do the less is not like to do the greater. It is very improbable that a man will die for his religion, when he cannot be persuaded to live according to it. He that cannot take up a resolution to live a saint, hath a demonstration within himself that he is never like to die a martyr.