Come, Holy Spirit!
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Come, Holy Spirit!

And Pentecost is not just a one-off event. It extends to a whole season: it takes up half the calendar year, from Pentecost Sunday itself, through summer, fall and into winter – 25 weeks up to the Sunday that celebrates Christ as King and demarcates Pentecost from Advent.

‘You’re wrong and you’re loved’

‘You’re wrong and you’re loved’

Does the Bible teach that all same-sex sexual acts are sinful, and as such carry the eternal consequences that all unrepented sin carries? I believe it does.

How shiny will your crown of life be?

How shiny will your crown of life be?

Christ suffered God’s wrath to reconcile us to him. Gratitude is our response; greater striving to love him ever deeper with heart, soul, mind and strength as our “priceless treasure, source of purest pleasure.”

Watch and pray . . . and fast

Watch and pray . . . and fast

Fasting, like Lent itself, is foreign to the Reformed tradition. Calvin eschewed fasting since it was so rooted in Roman Church practices and had become mere ritual, he said – a stumbling block to real repentance and daily obedient living. Let your whole life be a “fast,” said Calvin, a sacrifice of service and thanks to God for his great salvation. Yes, on that last part! But I’ve come to believe he shouldn’t have ditched the baby with the bathwater in relation to fasting.

‘One little word shall fell him’

‘One little word shall fell him’

In the month since my last column about suffering, God has given me the chance to practice what I preach about trusting him in all circumstances. A virulent virus or bacteria or something – God can name it, if my doctor can’t – has laid me low. In winter climates that’s not shocking. I don’t mean this to be a complaint; countless people, surely some of you among CC’s readers, must endure far more than I.

‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’

‘Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him’

The days God allots to us fragile creatures are “few, and full of trouble,” said Job. He certainly knew whereof he spoke! As time rolls on I’ve become ever more aware that each of us “springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.” That’s Job again (14:1-2). God gives each of us crosses to bear: physical, emotional, mental, relational; he requires that some of us suffer far more than others.

‘We are his work, and not our own’

‘We are his work, and not our own’

Whether you read these words before Christmas or not, in the church year we’re still in the Christmas season; it straddles the Old Year and the New, ending on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany.

A dead, white hymn-writer revisited
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A dead, white hymn-writer revisited

Whether you sing “praise and worship” songs, traditional hymns or both at your church, I encourage you to reconsider the hymn texts of a dead white guy, born 340 years ago, whom you may have overlooked. We learn more theology from what we sing in church than we do from the sermons we hear.

Should we still celebrate the Reformation?

Should we still celebrate the Reformation?

“Should we still celebrate the Reformation? Should the Calvinism that grew out of the 16th century Reformation matter to 21st century congregations, to how we worship, what we hear in sermons, what we sing, how we live in the world?

A September New Year

A September New Year

I love September. It is the month God ordained my life to begin. It is the month I was married. It is also the month when the weather turns crisp and cool and the trees start to dress in their striking autumn garb.

‘Shout for joy, joy, joy!’

‘Shout for joy, joy, joy!’

I realize that happiness and joy are not the same thing. There are any number of irritating things in life, including the weather, that can make us unhappy. But joy is more fundamental. It’s a state of mind, of spirit, that, biblically speaking, should govern us every day of our lives. Yes, even when we’re unhappy.

‘They also serve who only stand and wait’
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‘They also serve who only stand and wait’

I find the actions of the Israelite girl and these servants instructive. Socially they are the next thing to slaves. Morally and spiritually they are people of integrity, and God uses them all out of proportion to their human-presumed importance to enact the outcome he desires.