Luther on God's good gifts
God could easily give you grain and fruit without your plowing and planting. But He does not want to do so. Neither does He want your plowing and planting alone to give you grain and fruit; but you are to plow and plant and then ask His blessing and pray: “Now let God take over; now grant grain and fruit, dear Lord! Our plowing . . .
pastors, read your Greek (and Hebrew) in print
I love electronic resources for bible study, like Logos and Olive Tree. In fact, I have been using Logos since before it was Libronix for a few years, back when the program came with a ridiculous number of 3.5" disks to install all the resources. Long before smartphones were invented, I used Olive Tree on my Treo Handspring during . . .
unanswered prayer: wisdom from C.S. Lewis
lection reflection for 19 August 2019 / reading the bible daily with the church
In today's Gospel reading (Mark 11.12-26), Jesus teaches us to pray with a believing heart:
Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell . . .
Posted in: reflections
Luther on studying God's Word
We must earnestly and diligently study the Word of God and pray not simply that we may learn to know the Will of God, but that we may be filled with it and always walk in His way and continue in it, and so seek strength and comfort.
Martin Luther, Sermon on the Twenty-fourth Sunday After Trinity, 1536
"Jesus mixes with the wrong kind of people..."
The accusation made about Jesus is that He mixes with the wrong kind of people. He has friends that respectable people would be ashamed to be seen with. It is not even as if He can keep these friends hidden away in a different world; some of them follow him around, and the circles begin to overlap. He recognizes that how rich . . .
true greatness: following Jesus, not bestsellers
lection reflection for 15 August 2019 / reading the bible daily with the church
Every month, the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) publishes their bestselling book list. Every month, even when the titles change or shift their order, the never-ending parade of bestselling Christian books touts the same message:
God loves you and wants you to succeed, so try harder, find your purpose, . . .
Posted in: reflections
"Great holiness..."
Josemaria Escriva on little things
