A refiner's fire

After Malachi 3:1-4 

The one foretold

is coming,

coming like a fire,

a purifier’s fire,

a refiner’s fire

sifting like a refiner

of silver and gold,

purifying and whittling

away of impurities.

The purified will bring

offerings, offerings

pleasing to the Lord

as they did in days

of old.

The fire of righteousness

purifies and cleanses,

making the offerings

making us, pleasing

and acceptable to the Lord.

 

Photograph by Yasin Hemmati via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Eschatology,” poem by Jose Tolentino Mendonca – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

How to Wait for Cultural Reckoning – Joe Carter at The Gospel Coalition.

 

“Away With Our Sorrow and Fear,” hymn by Charles Wesley – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Poetry Helps You Open Your Heart to God – Catherine Lawton at Glimpses of Glory in the Unfolding Story. 

 

The Skill That Unlocks Other Skills – Seth Lewis.

 

An Ear for the Outsider, Part 2 – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

If you wander

After James 5:13-20 

If you wander,

if anyone you know

wanders from the truth,

 

allow someone to bring

you back, bring

the wanderer home.

 

Whoever brings the wanderer

home, whoever brings

the sinner home from

his wandering, saves

his soul from death,

saves his soul from

destruction.

 

Whoever brings the wanderer

home, the sinner

to repentance, covers

a multitude of sins,

a multitude.

 

Photograph by Giuliano Gabella via Unsplash. Used with permission.Some Friday Readings

 

“A Simple, Cheerful Active Live on Earth,” poem by N.F.S. Grundtvig – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

“Hark! The Voice Eternal,” poem by John Julian – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Does the Day End in Night, or the Night End in Day? – Seth Lewis.

 

Dwell – poem by Megan Willome.

 

Riding Like the Riding of Jehu – poem by Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

Suffering and praise

After James 5:13-20 

Do you suffer?

Sing praise!

Do you ail in body

or heart? Sing

praise! Do you

hurt? Is your

heart sick?

Sing praise!

 

Praise is not

the first thing

we think of

when we’re sick,

when we suffer.

But to sing praise

is an act of

submission,

acknowledging

the One,

celebrating

the One, even

as we suffer.

He is there.

His is always

there.

 

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Some Friday Readings

 

“Balloon Flower,” poem by Claudia Lee Hae-in – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

You Can Forgive Someone and Still Lock the Door – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

 

“Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” hymn by John Newtson – Anthony Esolen at Word & Sing.

 

“The Book of the World,” poem by William Drummond of Hawthornden – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

No grumbling!

After James 5:7-12 

No grumbling against

one another; grumbling

implies you’re judging

one another, and you,

too, will be judged;

the Judge is standing

at the door. Consider

the prophets. They were

patient on their suffering,

and they suffered 

for how they served

the Lord. Be patient

and steadfast in your

patience. Job remained

patient and steadfast

in the face of terrible

trials and ordeals.

And Job received

compassion and mercy.

So, cut the grumbling.

 

Photograph by Engin Akyurt via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Concerning a Nightingale,” poem by Alcuin – D.S. Matin at Kingdom Poets.

 

“He Leadeth Me,” hymn by Joseph Henry Gilmore – Anthony Esoloen at Word & Song.

 

The Secret Place – Daniel Kunkel t Mere Orthodoxy.

Watch it, rich man!

After James 4:10-5:6 

A fundamental question:

what do you do with

your wealth? What do

you do with all the Lord

has blessed you with?

Riches for the sake

of riches is chasing

after the wind. You

blink your eyes, and

your riches have rotted,

your clothes become rags,

your stocks have crashed,

your banks have closed,

your comfortable life

of indulgence have ended.

You’ve condemned and

defrauded the righteous

person. It is time for you

to weep and howl for

the miseries coming

upon you.

 

Photograph by Jingming Pan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Treasures of TANAKH Hebrew: Hineni,” poem by Brian Volck – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

A Lot of Christian Tech Criticism is Missing Three Important Things – Samuel D. James at Digital Liturgies.

 

Icthus – poem by Andrew Roycroft at New Grub Street.

 

“From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,” hymn by Reginald Heber – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

A pair of sonnets for St. John the Baptist – Malcolm Guite.

 

A Puddle of Pure Joy – Seth Lewis.

Watch your tongue!

After James 4:10-5:6 

Watch your tongue;

don’t speak evil

against your brother.

If you do, you

become a judge,

not of the behavior,

but a judge of the law,

a judge against 

the law. That means

you become one

who judges, not

one who obeys the law,

one who lives the law.

You try to turn

yourself into the one,

the only one, who

can truly judge,

the one who saves.

Sometimes, all times,

Keep your tongue

in your mouth, and

keep your mouth closed.

 

Photograph: The Day of Judgment by William Blake; Art Institute of Chicago via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

From “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

When Innovation Isn’t the Answer – Darryl Dash at Dashhouse.

 

What Do You When You Fail? – Jeffrey Stivason at Gentle Reformation.

 

“In the Sweet By-and-By,” hymn by Sanford Fillmore Bennett – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

The world

After James 4:1-10 

How do you

define the world?

Quarrels, fights,

passions at war

within, desire,

covetousness, pride,

misguided praises,

adulterousness.

To befriend that,

to be a friend 

of the world,

is to be an enemy

of God, is to declare

war on heaven.

 

God is jealous;

he wants your heart.

It’s why he made

the spirit to dwell

within us.

 

Photograph by Greg Rosenke via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“What the Young Saint Said,” poem by Gerard Smyth – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

How to Read the Bible When Your Heart Feels Cold – Andrew Dacis at Ligonier.

 

Columba and my calling – Malcolm Guite.

 

“Teach Me, My God and King,” hymn by George Herbert – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Where wisdom is not

After James 3:13-18 

If you see jealousy,

if you experience it 

yourself, you will

not find wisdom.

If you feel selfish

ambition in your heart,

a desire for glory,

recognition, praise 

of others, you will

not find wisdom.

Jealousy and selfish

ambition produce

disorder and vileness.

That’s the wisdom

of this world, unspiritual;

that’s the wisdom

of this world, demonic. 

 

Photograph by Priscilla Du Preez via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Eusebius, Early Christianity’s Historian – Michael De Sapio at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

“She Prays,” poem by Ella Higginson – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

The Distance We Keep – Michael Mellette at Mockingbird.

 

The Life God Didn’t Let You Live – Katie Kaitkep. 

Abraham and Rahab

After James 2:14-26 

The writer cites

two examples

of faith with works:

first, Abraham,

who demonstrated

he would give up

what was most

precious if that’s

what God asked;

and Rahab, who

hid the spies,

risking arrest

and death if 

they were found. 

One would 

sacrifice his son,

the other would

sacrifice her

freedom and life.

Both showed faith 

in action; both

showed faith

plus works.

 

Photograph by Gabriel Lamza via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“None Other Lamb,” poem by Christina Rossetti – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

The Trouble Underneath – Seth Lewis.

 

One Step Becomes a Three-Day Walk – Timarie Friesen.

Works! Faith!

After James 2:14-26 

Faith alone saves,

but it is faith with

works that justifies.

Works alone do not 

save; they must be

attended and enveloped

by faith. Both matter.

Both are necessary.

Faith without works

is dead. Works without

faith will not save you.

Works come from faith,

not to earn God’s favor,

but to demonstrate 

God’s power to transform.

Works with faith changes

the won who does them 

as much as the one who

receives.

 

Photograph by Billy Pasco via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“The Central Moment,” poem by A.F. Moritz – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

The Best Way to Resist Temptation – Seth Lewis.

 

Heart of the Verse: Psalm 34:18 – Jason Clark at This is Jason.

 

Dimensions – Patrick Luscri.

The rock

After Matthew 16:16-20 

What do the people

say, he asked, who

do the people say 

I am? Perfunctory

and expected answers:

John the Baptist,

Elijah, Jeremiah,

a prophet like them,

that’s what the people

say. He makes it personal:

What about you? Who

do you say I am? 

Simon Peter, ever large

and ever in charge,

answers, the Christ,

the son of the living God.

He responds: blessed

are you, Upon you,

upon this rock, 

I will build my church.

 

Photograph by Zoltan Tasi via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

The One Walking in the Fog Beside Us – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

 

Let the Lord Handle It – Chris Martin at FYI.

 

“Awake, Arise,” hymn by Christopher Smart – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

The Ingredients of a Petal – poem by Seth Lewis.

 

Milking a Two-Bucket Cow – Linda Egenes at Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices.

Radical inclusion

After James 2:1-13

 

We are the body

of Christ, equal

in his eyes, equal

in our own eyes,

the CEO no different

from the plumber,

the driver of the Mercedes

no different from

the driver of the rent-a-wreck.

 

Because he died for each

of us, because he died

for all of us, he leveled

the distinctions we love

to make. He destroyed

human hierarchies. He

erased the boundaries

we make for ourselves.

He removed partiality

from the church dictionary. 

Photograph by Alicia Quan via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Friday Readings

 

“Thou Who Dost Write Thy Name,” poem by Emma Latham – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Ordering the Church for Ordinary Growth – Jake Wright at For the Church.

 

The God of the Astronauts – Spencer Klavan at The New Jerusalem. 

When I Feared Who God Might Be – Lara d’Entremont at A Mother Held.

Worthless religion

After James 1:26-29 

A definition

of religion:

to visit orphans

and widows

in affliction.

Beyond that:

keep unstained

from the world,

If you can’t

control your

tongue, you’re

deceiving yourself

about your faith;

it’s worthless. 

Your tongue 

speaks from

your heart, so

guard your heart

and bridle 

your tongue.

 

Photograph by the blowup via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Dwelling,” poem by Nellie deVries – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

The Fundamentals of the Faith: Why Creeds & Catechisms Still Matter – Jonathan Shirk at Gentle Reformation.

 

Searching for a Sign – Seth Lewis.

 

A Mundane Life Is a Courageous Life – Alan Noble at The Gospel Coalition.

Put it away

After James 1:19-21 

Put away 

filthiness,

all of it. 

Do the same

with wickedness, 

rampant as it is. 

Instead, receive

the word implanted

in you, and more 

than that, receive it

in meekness,

because that word 

can save your souls. 

Receive it as it’s 

intended to be

received: 

teaching you,

sanctifying you, 

edifying you, 

encouraging you,

transforming you.

 

Photograph by Ruchindra Gunasekara via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“From Canzoniere 264,” poem by Petrarch – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

Crumbs – poem by Seth Lewis.

 

Here I Raise My Ebenezer – Maribeth Barber Albritton at Letters from Crickhollow.

 

He is there

After James 1:12-18 

In all the trials

of our life, he is

there. In all

the temptations

of our life, he is

there. In all

the evil we

encounter and

the sin we 

commit, he is

there. If we 

remain steadfast,

he is there. If

we fail, he is

there. He is

immutable; he

doesn’t change. 

 

Photograph by Greg Rakozy via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Crown Him with Many Crowns,” hymn by Matthew Bridges – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

My God, In Whom I Trust – Sarah Ivill at Alliance for Confessing Evangelicals.

 

“The Strife is O’er,” Latin hymn, 1695 – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

The Genius of Dirt – Seth Lewis.

 

The Voice of ‘A Great Awakening’ – Greg Morse at Desiring God.