The voice that shakes

After Hebrews 12:18-29 

His is the voice

that shakes the earth,

his is the voice

that shakes the heavens,

the shaking removing

what is made so that

only the unshaken

remains. The temporal

passes, crumbling into dust.

Only the true, the eternal

remains, the kingdom

that remains unshaken,

the kingdom of the one

who is the consuming

fire.

 

Photograph by Brandon Morgan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Reading

 

30 Pieces of Writing Advice from C.S. Lewis – Barnabas Piper.

 

Neil Postman on Words and Images: An Antidote to Truth Decay – Douglas Groothuis at Christ Over All.

 

“Methought I Saw My Late Espoused Saint,” poem by John Milton – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

Some Stories Read Us: Why Jesus Spoke in Parables – Matthew Harmon at Desiring God.

 

How to Hate the Vulnerable – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

Two kingdoms

After Hebrews 12:18-29 

It inspired terror,

this kingdom of fire,

a blazing fire and

billowing darkness

and gloom, a storm

of trumpet sound and

a voice so terrible

that they begged

for silence. That is

not your kingdom. 

 

Your kingdom is alive,

pulsating with hope

and life, accompanied

by angels singing

with the firstborn

singing to the Father,

singing to the Son,

singing with the righteous

made stainless, singing

of the blood sprinkled,

cleansing. That is

your kingdom.

 

Photograph by Genevieve Perron-Migneron via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Older – poem by Luci Shaw at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

Don’t Confuse NEW with BETTER – Michael Kelley at Forward Progress.

 

The Wandering Friar of the Appalachian Trail – Daniel Sundahl at The Imaginative Conservative.