Forty decades in the desert and we were worn down, weary from our weakness, despairing of doubt,catching past only in fragments like morning manna: a whiff of Egypt’s garlic, a vague floating thought of dangerslurking like crocodiles in the Nile.Some fragments heavied us with the burdens of their memories: water bursting angrily from rock,rebellions andContinue reading “Waiting 4: Miriam”
Tag Archives: salvation
Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10
“What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. Jonah 2:9b-10 And here we arrive at the point that the children’s bibles are always leading: Jonah leaving the fish for dry land and “making good” what he has “vowed”. YetContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 10”
Count It Loss
Whether misplaced or stolen, the effect is the same: the search, the panic, the retracing of steps, the sense that not an object but an organ, not a possession but a position, has vanished, without trace. Whether passing or lasting, the search seems boundless. The mind must run to what-ifs because you never know: theContinue reading “Count It Loss”
Catechism 33
Should those who have faith in Christ seek their salvation through their own works, or anywhere else? No, they should not, as everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ. To seek salvation through good works is a denial that Christ is the only Redeemer and Savior. (New City Catechism) Continue reading “Catechism 33”
Catechism 32
What do justification and sanctification mean? Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us. (New City Catechism) First, declared – altogether Continue reading “Catechism 32”
Catechism 30
What is faith in Jesus Christ? Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel. (New City Catechism) Price paid – rest. Continue reading “Catechism 30”
Catechism 29
How can we be saved? Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfectContinue reading “Catechism 29”
Catechism 27
This next question from the New City Catechism is a hard pill to swallow. It touches on what for me has long been one of the toughest questions of faith: the doctrine of election. The Bible is full both of invitations for all to come and also clear teaching that not all will come, and indeedContinue reading “Catechism 27”
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”
“Shriven” – Streaming Page CXVI Day 7
Today is Shrove Tuesday, a day simultaneously associated with pancakes and confession of sin. It is also the day before Lent begins, with Ash Wednesday’s focus on repentance: a day of feasting before the fast begins. Today’s song, the final track from Page CXVI’s “Lent to Maundy Thursday”, is a beautiful reflection on the loveContinue reading ““Shriven” – Streaming Page CXVI Day 7″
The Consolations of Writing 