Silence, indeed, is the one form of worship which is almost universally thought intolerable by Dissenting clergy. Despite their not-too-distant read more

Silence, indeed, is the one form of worship which is almost universally thought intolerable by Dissenting clergy. Despite their not-too-distant affinity to the Quakers, they think they will be heard for their much speaking. And since their organists too are equally reluctant to let any liturgical action pass without a ruminative obbligato on the Swell manual, congregations are subjected to unrelieved noise during a service which may well have begun with the reading of the sentence, "Be still, and know that I am God.".

Feast of John, Apostle & Evangelist Father eternal, ruler of creation, Spirit of life, which moved ere form was read more

Feast of John, Apostle & Evangelist Father eternal, ruler of creation, Spirit of life, which moved ere form was made Through the thick darkness covering every nation Light to man's blindness, O be Thou our aid. Races and peoples, lo, we stand divided, And, sharing not our griefs, no joy can share; By wars and tumults love is mocked, derided His conquering cross no kingdom wills to bear. Envious of heart, blind-eyed, with tongues confounded, Nation by nation still goes unforgiven, In wrath and fear, by jealousies surrounded, Building proud towers which shall not reach to heaven. Lust of possession worketh desolations; There is no meekness in the sons of earth; Led by no star, the rulers of the nations Still fail to bring us to the blissful birth: How shall we love Thee, holy hidden Being, If we love not the world which Thou hast made? O give us brother-love for better seeing Thy Word made flesh, and in a manger laid.

Although prayer has been defined as communion with God, aspiration after the highest things, Stopford Brooke [Irish clergyman, 1832-1916] is read more

Although prayer has been defined as communion with God, aspiration after the highest things, Stopford Brooke [Irish clergyman, 1832-1916] is right when he insists that prayer, in its plainest meaning, is a petition addressed to God. When Jesus laid the duty of petition upon his disciples, He went on to assert the reasonableness of man's asking and God's answering. Jesus argues along the line of reason that, if an earthly parent does the best in his power for his children, ... the Almighty and All-Wise Love, of which human love is only the shadow, will do better still for His great family; and therefore our Master teaches that men ought everywhere to pray, without fear, with hope, and without doubt.

Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century Pentecost From his baptism until his return to Galilee, Jesus read more

Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century Pentecost From his baptism until his return to Galilee, Jesus lived in the company of the disciples of the Baptist. It was there that he received the first public witness of his Messianic role and found his first followers. The gospel was to be rooted in John's teaching of asceticism and regeneration. But we see from the start that the gospel of Jesus was to be quite different. To the baptism of water would be added the baptism of the Spirit, and the new message was to be addressed to all. The widening of the circle of hearers and converts, which had preoccupied John, was to expand still further with the gospel of Jesus. Of the hundreds of thousands of Jews, the Essenes only regarded as saved a few thousand elect. Jesus was soon to offer the Covenant of God to all men.

Lord, often have I thought to myself, I will sin but this one sin more, and then I will repent read more

Lord, often have I thought to myself, I will sin but this one sin more, and then I will repent of it, and of all the rest of my sins together. So foolish was I, and ignorant. As if I should be more able to pay my debts when I owe more: or as if I should say, I will wound my friend once again, and then I will lovingly shake hands with him -- but what if my friend will not shake hands with me?

Feast of David, Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales, c.601 Beginning a short series on the Bible: Arguments read more

Feast of David, Bishop of Menevia, Patron of Wales, c.601 Beginning a short series on the Bible: Arguments for the existence of God are very restricted; some of them are more restricted and limited than others. They do not prove beyond all question the existence of the God of the Bible. Furthermore, it must be remembered that man's mind, his thinking process, has been affected by his fall into sin. This means that there are definite limitations to God's revelation in nature. The problem is not in the revelation but in the receiver of the revelation.

The genius of the Methodist movement, which enabled it to conquer the raw lives of workingmen in industrial England, and read more

The genius of the Methodist movement, which enabled it to conquer the raw lives of workingmen in industrial England, and the raw lives of men and women on the American frontier, was the "class meeting" -- ten members and their leader, meeting regularly for mutual encouragement, rebuke, nurture, and prayer.

Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles Kind souls, you wonder why, love you, When you, you wonder why, love read more

Feast of Peter & Paul, Apostles Kind souls, you wonder why, love you, When you, you wonder why, love none. We love, Fool, for the good we do, Not that which unto us is done.

Feast of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687 It seems clear that those people who personally are completely read more

Feast of Cuthbert, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 687 It seems clear that those people who personally are completely convinced of justification by grace alone, and who heartily grant to people of another color the right to the same justification (as long as they remain in their own churches, schools, ghettos, handyman occupations), give an ugly expression to the Augustinian and Reformation understanding of justification. By their emphasis upon the primacy of individual justification, they deny the immediate social character and impact of the justification of the Jews and Gentiles, and they obstruct or delay the changes in common life which belong to the "new creation".