The evidence for Christian truth is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. Too often, Christianity has not been tried and read more

The evidence for Christian truth is not exhaustive, but it is sufficient. Too often, Christianity has not been tried and found wanting -- it has been found demanding, and not tried.

We have to repent of our blindness, our lukewarmness, and our disobedience, and turn back to the central truth of read more

We have to repent of our blindness, our lukewarmness, and our disobedience, and turn back to the central truth of Christ as Lord and Saviour; an ethical system will not save us here, nor a timid sentimentalism, nor an excited emotional return, nor a dilettante mysticism. We have to find that deep contrition which is the condition of His abiding. Repentance is not a mere feeling of sorrow or contrition for an act of wrongdoing. The regret I feel when I act impatiently or speak crossly is not repentance... Repentance is contrition for what we are in our fundamental beings, that we are wrong in our deepest roots because our internal government is by Self and not by God. And it is an activity of the whole person. Unless I will to be different, the mind will not follow. True repentance brings an urge to be different, because of the sense of the incessant movement of what I am, forming, forming, forming what I shall be in the years to come. ... The Notebooks of Florence Allshorn January 11, 1996 Commemoration of Mary Slessor, Missionary in West Africa, 1915 Every virtue is a form of obedience to God. Every evil word or act is a form of rebellion against Him. This may not be clear at first; but, if we think patiently, we shall find that it is true. Why were you angry? You will probably find that it was because you were not willing to accept the world as God has made it, or because you were not willing to leave it to God to deal with the people that He has made.

Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; residences chosen without prayer; read more

Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages contracted without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; residences chosen without prayer; friendships formed without prayer; the daily act of prayer itself hurried over, or gone through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows them to have a tremendous fall.

Feast of Michael & All Angels Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.

Feast of Michael & All Angels Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.

Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916 Race highlights the fact that in our read more

Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916 Race highlights the fact that in our congregational life we usually do not reflect the variety of cultures. There are Asian, West Indian, and Anglo-Saxon congregations worshiping and meeting close to each other. These groups meet at work and in school, but not always in church. If the church is middle-class and intellectual in the language of the services, in the music employed, in the life-style expected of Christians, in its leadership, and in the methods of presenting the gospel, then the whole atmosphere is such as to repel those who are not middle-class and intellectual. They feel out of place and unwanted, even if they are given a friendly greeting at the door. The life of the New Testament Church was evidence of the supernatural; God was in their midst. The power of Christ was a reality. The fellowship could not be explained in simple natural terms. A church divided on social and racial lines is not evidence for the supernatural, but for the simply human and social.

Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941 As the Christian life in the individual is the work of the read more

Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941 As the Christian life in the individual is the work of the Spirit, it follows that the corporate realization of that life, in the Church built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, is also His creation... The great creative acts and significant turning-points were recognized, either by the Church or by its historian, as determined by the Spirit. The Spirit confirmed and preserved the community from the outset, by the descent at Pentecost (Acts 2:4). The extension of the Gospel beyond Judea and the first mission to the Gentiles were commanded and approved by the Spirit (Acts 8:29, 10:19, 44, 13:2, 4). Paul, on his journeys, was led by the Spirit (Acts 16:6, 7). He himself was especially conscious that his whole ministry was inspired by the Holy Ghost (Rom. 15:18,19). All the apostles were conspicuously men of the Spirit. (Continued tomorrow).

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, he will be in the furnace with them.

As sure as ever God puts his children in the furnace, he will be in the furnace with them.

Feast of Perpetua, Felicity & their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203 We may look into a church, almost any read more

Feast of Perpetua, Felicity & their Companions, Martyrs at Carthage, 203 We may look into a church, almost any church, and discover someone who, though he is offered a gospel of love, must subtly convert it into a gospel of hate before he can receive it. The gospel of love -- with its emphasis upon brotherhood, equality before God, the dignity of every human being, and man's social responsibility toward man -- does not satisfy the lack that he urgently feels. That calls for something altogether different, for an assurance that he is superior, that he is right where others are wrong -- a kind of cosmic teacher's pet.

Holy Saturday Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878 Sing, men and angels, sing, for God read more

Holy Saturday Commemoration of George Augustus Selwyn, first Bishop of New Zealand, 1878 Sing, men and angels, sing, for God our Life and King Has given us light and spring and morning breaking Now may man's soul arise as kinsman to the skies, And God unseals his eyes to an awaking. Sing, creatures, sing; the dust that lives by lure and lust Is kindled by the thrust of life undying; This hope our Master bare has made all fortunes fair, And man can on and dare, his death defying. After the winter snows a wind of healing blows, And thorns put forth a rose, and lilies cheer us; Life's everlasting spring has robbed death of his sting, Henceforth a cry can bring our Master near us.