Some exquisiteness from the magnificent 'On the Incarnation' by St. Athanasius (298-373 AD) (Kindle Edition)! My title 'What was God to do?' comes from a repeated question Athanasius asks in this chapter. Chapter III: The Divine Dilemma and its solution in the Incarnation - (continued) (11) "When God the Almighty was making mankind through His... Continue Reading →
Christmas isn't usually the time to talk about evil, or of Satan's ultimate destruction, but that is precisely what Christmas, the coming of God in Christ, means. Evil encompases all the chaos and dysfunction in the world, all the rebellion against God; and God's salvation means an end to all that, and the return to... Continue Reading →
We are in a bind are we not? I mean, a church is a community of mixed people, at every conceivable stage of life and experience, but together never-the-les. The bind though, is that we are in this community as individuals gathered to love and serve the Lord and each other - and by-and-large, we... Continue Reading →
"If we fix our eyes upon the place where the course of the world reaches its lowest point, where its vanity is unmistakable, where its groanings are most bitter and the divine incognito most impenetrable, we shall encounter there - Jesus Christ. . . The transformation of all things occurs where the riddle of human... Continue Reading →
"The Reformation set free the question and nature of the church from the question of who belongs to it. This was a decisive stage. Roman Catholicism and the pre-Reformation church had thought that the question of the nature of the church would be answered by a definition of its extent. The Reformation, and particularly the... Continue Reading →
Bread of the world in mercy broken, Wine of the soul in mercy shed, By whom the words of life were spoken, And in whose death our sins are dead; Look on the heart by sorrow broken, Look on the tears by sinners shed; And be Thy feast to us the token That by Thy... Continue Reading →
Quite a lot! The classic passage in Jeremiah 18 about the potter and the clay is very famous and an incredible lesson for us in how to hear, and expect to hear the Word of the Lord in the ordinary everyday things of life! While I was studying and preparing a recent sermon, the thought... Continue Reading →
Gralefrit Theology 