Poverty in spirit is the porch of the temple of blessedness…Till we are emptied of self we cannot be filled with God. Stripping must be worked upon us before we can be clothed with the righteousness which is from Heaven. (C.H. Spurgeon, “The First Beatitude”) I remember a dream I had once, when I wasContinue reading “From Ashes 11: The Poor in Spirit and the Fainting Minister”
Category Archives: Devotional
Disintegration Prayer: For Kazimierz Dabrowski
Let my mind disintegrate, O Lord, Until the former things have died, All these lesser selves that vie For me, for pride of place. Take, transform, erase, Until this mind Is wholly Whole in You.
Catechism 25
Does Christ’s death mean all our sins can be forgiven? Yes, because Christ’s death on the cross fully paid the penalty for our sin, God graciously imputes Christ’s righteousness to us as if it were our own and will remember our sins no more. (New City Catechism) All? It seems a dream which never humanContinue reading “Catechism 25”
From Ashes 10: Søren Kierkegaard – Original Sin and the Fear of Possibility
“When you’re absolute beginners,” folk singer M. Ward tells us, “it’s a panoramic view, from her majesty Mount Zion, and the kingdom is for you.” What he seems to suggest here is that, at any beginning point, there appears an infinite potentiality to life, stretching out like a majestic panorama before us. W.H. Auden, in hisContinue reading “From Ashes 10: Søren Kierkegaard – Original Sin and the Fear of Possibility”
From Ashes Part 9: The Philosopher’s Wretchedness
When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed into the eternity which comes before and after…the small space I occupy and which I see swallowed up in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I know thing and which know nothing of me, I take fright and am amazed to see myself hereContinue reading “From Ashes Part 9: The Philosopher’s Wretchedness”
Number Nine
Carlton kept in darkness slept, The streetlights out, the roadside swept With rain that afternoon and feet Bewildered by the night. The city never sleeps, they say, And anxious souls in search of day Pit-pattered while inside the homes Smart-phones took place of light. Commerce halted, leisure paused,Continue reading “Number Nine”
Catechism 24
Why was it necessary for Christ, the Redeemer, to die? Since death is the punishment for sin, Christ died willingly in our place to deliver us from the power and penalty of sin and bring us back to God. By his substitutionary atoning death, he alone redeems us from hell and gains for us forgivenessContinue reading “Catechism 24”
Pentecost
What wind swept through the house that day – what dawn arose, what day became? What life shone through the shuttered doors and lit a dancing flame? What trifold truth unloosened tongues – what fractured past now set aright? What joy made sober men seem drunk and woke the town to sight? What destiny setContinue reading “Pentecost”
Catechism 23
Why must the Redeemer be truly God? That because of his divine nature his obedience and suffering would be perfect and effective; and also that he would be able to bear the righteous anger of God against sin and yet overcome death. (New City Catechism) The price too great to pay ourselves, the heightContinue reading “Catechism 23”
Winter came
unnoticed; we thought it had arrived. The subtle lull of autumn tricked us with its need for cardigans and leaves aesthetically arranged Continue reading “Winter came”
The Consolations of Writing 