Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637 Some men, not content with [Christ] alone, are borne hither and thither from one hope to another; even if they concern themselves chiefly with him, they nevertheless stray from the right way in turning some part of their thinking in another direction. Yet such distrust cannot creep in where men have once for all truly known the abundance of his blessings.
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Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, 1750 Jesus, priceless treasure, source of purest pleasure Truest friend to me; Long read more
Commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach, musician, 1750 Jesus, priceless treasure, source of purest pleasure Truest friend to me; Long my heart has panted, till it well-nigh fainted, Thirsting after Thee. Thine I am, O spotless Lamb; I will suffer naught to hide Thee, Ask for naught beside Thee. In Thine arm I rest me; foes who would molest me Cannot reach me here. Though the earth be shaking, every heart be quaking, God dispels our fear. Sin and hell in conflict fell With their heaviest storms assail us: Jesus will not fail us. Hence, all thoughts of sadness! For the Lord of gladness, Jesus, enters in: Those who love the Father, though the storms may gather, Still have peace within; Yes, whate'er we here must bear, Still in Thee lies purest pleasure, Jesus, priceless treasure!
A Christian marriage is [not] one with no problems or even a marriage with fewer problems. (It may well mean read more
A Christian marriage is [not] one with no problems or even a marriage with fewer problems. (It may well mean more problems.) But it does mean a life in which two people are able to accept each other and love each other in the midst of problems and fears. It means a marriage in which selfish people can accept selfish people without constantly trying to change them -- and even accept themselves, because they realize personally that they have been accepted by Christ.
Feast of the Conversion of Paul The life of faith does not earn eternal life: it is eternal life. read more
Feast of the Conversion of Paul The life of faith does not earn eternal life: it is eternal life. And Christ is its vehicle.
Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637 There is a pride of faith, more read more
Commemoration of Nicholas Ferrar, Deacon, Founder of the Little Gidding Community, 1637 There is a pride of faith, more unforgiveable and dangerous than the pride of the intellect. It reveals a split personality in which faith is "observed" and appraised, thus negating that unity born of a dying-unto-self, which is the definition of faith. To "value" faith is to turn it into a metaphysical magic, the advantages of which ought to be reserved for a spiritual elite.
Whatever, therefore, is foolish, ridiculous, vain, or earthly, or sensual, in the life of a Christian is something that ought read more
Whatever, therefore, is foolish, ridiculous, vain, or earthly, or sensual, in the life of a Christian is something that ought not to be there; it is a spot and a defilement that must be washed away with tears of repentance. But if anything of this kind runs all through the course of our life, if we allow ourselves in things that are either vain, foolish, or sensual, we renounce our profession. For as sure as Jesus Christ was wisdom and holiness, as sure as He came to make us like Himself and to be baptized into His Spirit, so sure is it that none can be said to keep to their Christian profession but they who, to the utmost of their power, live a wise and holy and heavenly life. This, and this alone, is Christianity, a universal holiness in every part of life, a heavenly wisdom in all our actions, not conforming to the spirit and temper of the world but turning all worldly enjoyments into means of piety and devotion to God.
Satan the envious said with a sigh: Christians know more about their hell than I.
Satan the envious said with a sigh: Christians know more about their hell than I.
Commemoration of Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, 1951 If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly read more
Commemoration of Amy Carmichael, Founder of the Dohnavur Fellowship, 1951 If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.
The 'outsider' who knows nothing of the mixture of tradition, conviction, honest difference, and hidden resentment, that lies behind the read more
The 'outsider' who knows nothing of the mixture of tradition, conviction, honest difference, and hidden resentment, that lies behind the divisions of the Christian Church sees clearly the advantage of a united Christian front and cannot see why the Churches cannot 'get together'. The problem is doubtless complicated, for there are many honest differences held with equal sincerity, but it is only made insoluble because the different denominations are (possibly unconsciously) imagining God to be Roman or Anglican or Baptist or Methodist or Presbyterian or what have you. If they could see beyond their little inadequate god, and glimpse the reality of God, they might even laugh a little and perhaps weep a little. The result would be a unity that actually does transcend differences, instead of ignoring them with public politeness and private contempt.
Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678 Man is challenged to participate in the sufferings of God at the read more
Feast of Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, c.678 Man is challenged to participate in the sufferings of God at the hands of a godless world. He must therefore plunge himself into the life of a godless world, without attempting to gloss over its ungodliness with a veneer of religion or trying to transfigure it. He must live a 'worldly' life and so participate in the suffering of God. He may live a worldly life as one emancipated from all false religions and obligations. To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way, to cultivate some particular form of asceticism (as a sinner, a penitent, or a saint), but to be a man. It is not some religious act which makes a Christian what he is, but participation in the suffering of God in the life of the world.
