Grand visions of our own ministry, how we see ourselves serving God, and our own views of what success might look like must give way to will of God for our lives. No amount of self-directed busyness can be as fruitful as being called by and led by our God and King. John Milton, in […]
The Practice of the Presence of God is a collection of letters and conversations attributed to a man we know as Brother Lawrence. Brother Lawrence, though without any formal education, is noted for his life of contemplation and devotion as well as his ability to turn his earthly labors into time spent in the presence […]
Søren Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish theologian and philosopher. He was opposed to the empty rituals and customs of the Church of his day and thought it more important that we have an honest view of ourselves and how we live our lives. In this quote, from the collection The Prayers of Kierkegaard, he asks […]
Charles Spurgeon, an English pastor and preacher of the 19th-century, wrote many sermons and books on a myriad of topics. His book Spiritual Revival the Want of the Church, addresses the want (lack) of true and deep revival in the lives of individual Christians as well as in the Church as a whole. In this […]
Fourth-century preacher, John Chrystostom, in his sermon entitled Dead to Sin, shines a deeper light on Christian rebirth and baptism. John’s words call us to appropriate Christ’s resurrection as well as his death, and in this way to embrace more fully what it means to be born again. Do you believe that Christ was raised […]
French mystic and Christian writer, Madame Jeanne Guyon, was a contemporary of and sometimes co-author with François Fénelon in the late 17th- and early 18th-centuries. Madame Guyon, in her work, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, describes an ever-deepening relationship with Jesus. Since our Lord’s desire, she writes, is to have us know him, he […]
Sadhu Sundar Singh has been referred to as the St. Paul of India. Raised a devout Sikh Hindu, dedicated to becoming a Hindu Sadhu, or holy man, and strongly opposed to Christianity, Sundar was dramatically converted to Christianity and shared the gospel with the people of India. At one point, though physically ill and bed-ridden, […]
At the start of C.S. Lewis’ book, The Great Divorce, we see an omnibus stop and people who are choosing to take a ride from where they are (hell) to heaven, where they will be given a chance to submit to the will of God, to release their sinful desires and remain in paradise. In […]
In C.S. Lewis’ book, The Great Divorce, we encounter a well-dressed woman, one of the Ghosts, who, because of vanity, is afraid to make the decision to join the Solid People in heaven. In this illustration we see that, although we were created for life within the love and will of God, the choice is […]
Gerard Manley Hopkins, in his poem Heaven-Haven, longs for the lasting peace and rest of his heavenly destiny. Hopkins compares heaven to an eternal spring, a flowered field and a peaceful seaport. But mostly he describes heaven as a place devoid of pain (hail) and where life is never churned up by trials (storms – […]