The rebuke

After 2 Samuel 12:1-25 

He leaps from story

to outrage without

missing a bear, the sin

so obvious, the wrong

done so clear.

 

The teller then says

it is a story about you;

you are the one who

lusted, and stole, and

murdered.

 

You saw the lamb

you didn’t own;

you were already

where you weren’t

supposed to be.

 

You stole it, used it,

and then lied, trying

to cover it up, even

to kill the innocent

in your sin and madness.

 

Photograph by Artyom Kabajev via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

The Courage in Encouragement – Trevis Wax at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Exposing Adultery to the Light – Kyle Borg at Gentle Reformation.

 

Long Live Within Our Hearts – Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

Against the Algorithm: In Praise of the Parish – Michael Jensen at Lost Arts.

Why is it?

After 2 Samuel 12:1-25 

Why is it

that I can see

the sin in others

but not in me?

 

Why is it

that others’ sin

seems so clear

but not the sin in me?

 

Why is it that 

even kings see wrong 

in others but their own 

they cannot see?

 

We see the sin

of others as black and white;

our own, of course, are

gray, or small, or light. 

 

Photograph by Keem Ibarra via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“A Hymn for the Epiphany,” poem by Richard Crashaw – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

No Life in God’s Service Is Wasted – Matt Rhodes at Desiring God.

 

Christmas Isn’t Over – Seth Lewis.

No matter the success

After 2 Samuel 11:1-27 

No matter the success,

no matter how great 

the achievement;

no matter the gain,

the accolades, the praises,

the success is not yours

or mine; the success

belongs to the Lord.

When you succeed,

give thanks; 

when you prosper,

give thanks;

when you accomplish,

give thanks. 

Do not think you did

it all, for you yourself

did nothing. The Lord

did it all for you.

It’s one of the lessons

we learn from the story

of Bathsheba. 

Photograph by Debby Hudson via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Sunday Readings

 

Happy New Year. Choose Your Kingdom – Ray Majoran at Glimpse of Infinity.

 

New Year Snow – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street. 

The Monk Bringing Orthodox Christianity to an Island at the Edge of the World – Huw Paige at The Free Press.

Not a broken hallelujah

After 2 Samuel 11:1-27 

He was not where

he should have been;

he stayed home instead

of leading his army. 

He observed what 

he should not have seen,

the wife of another,

the wife of a soldier

at war. He desired

what he should not have

wanted, another man’s

wife, her husband away

in battle. He took what

was not his, no matter

how dazzled he was.

He dishonored another

man’s wife, he dishonored

the man, he dishonored

himself, he dishonored

his God. It was all

broken, but it was never

a hallelujah.

 

Photograph by Mahdi Bafande via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

The Resurrection of Our Deeds – Randy Alcorn at Eternal Perspective Ministries.

 

When Our Hearts Turn Cold in the Winter of Suffering – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

 

Fearlessly Walking with God – Brian Sudlow at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

What if Everything We Thought about the “Nones” Was Wrong? – Tripp Fuller at Process This.

 

The Long Walk Home – Kirsten Black at Faithful Paradox.