Is this the One?

After Luke 3:1-22 

They hear the words

searing their hearts.

Their experience

the simplicity of

the words turning

their hearts. They

ask the obvious:

is this the One?

 

They ask, they feel

his gaze on them.

I am not, he says.

I baptize with water;

he will baptize with

the spirit. 

He is mightier than I;

I am not worthy 

to untie his sandals.

He will baptize 

with fire,

his winnowing fork

in his hand, cleaning 

the threshing floor,

gathering the crop,

bringing the wheat

into his barn,

the chaff to be burned.

 

Photograph by Dyu-Ha via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

From Scotland to the Ends of the Earth – John Ross at Desiring God.

 

The Problems with So Much More: A Critique and an Apology – Botkin Sisters.

 

Reflections on Steve Larson’s Latest Book – Mark Jones at Reformation 21.

 

Why Does Life Seem to Move Faster as We Get Older? – Brad Hambrick.

 

The Mercy of God When Formulas Fail – Kirsten Black at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

The voice in the wilderness

After Luke 3:1-22 

The prophet appears

in the wilderness,

crying in the wilderness,

his message simple:

Prepare.

Prepare the way

of the Lord. 

The salvation

of the Lord

is at hand.

 

The crowds heard,

they came, bringing

themselves to be

baptized, like

Gentiles becoming

Jews. Did they expect

to hear themselves

called a vipers’ brood,

hypocrites, incompetent,

objects of wrath?

 

Bear fruit, he says.

Heritage and blood

mean nothing. Taking

refuge in Abraham

is futile. Repent,

you brood of vipers.

Repent!

 

Photograph by Annie Spratt via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Perfect Sabbath --- poem by Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

Christ Delights in Work Well Done – Ryan Dembeck at Desiring God.

Dumbfounded

After Luke 2:41-52 

His parents stare, almost

in shock. Their 12-year-old

son, their young son, this boy,

is teaching the teachers,

astonishing the teachers

in the temple of the most

high God. Searching for

this boy for three days,

fearing the worst, anxiety

almost out of control,

his parents are almost 

in shock. They say what

any parents would say:

“Where were you? We

looked everywhere! We

though the worst, we

feared the worst. How 

could you do this to us?”

The boy looks calmly

at them, as if surprised. 

“Why were you looking

for me? Didn’t you know

where I was, the only place

I could be and would be,

here, where I belong,

in my father’s house? Why

would I be anywhere else?"

 

Photograph by Toa Heftiba via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Hildegard of Bingen: A Sonnet – Malcolm Guite.

 

Even as the Soul Prospers – Kyle Borg at Gentle Reformation.

 

Missionary, Your Life Makes Sense – Seth Porch at Desiring God.

 

A Theology of Music – Griffin Gooch at Reality Theology.

 

Canada’s MAiD Regime: How We Became a World Leader in Assisted Death: And How Christians Should Respond – Ray Pennings at The Gospel Coalition Canada.

Three days

After Luke 2:41-52 

The travel group is large,

men and women, old

and young, children and

the elderly, parents and

grandparents, many

related, all known

to each other, all knowing

they’d watch out for each

other and the children.

They travel a day before

the couple realize their

son, their oldest, is not

with the group, Panic

seizes their hearts;

they hurry back to the city,

to Jerusalem. They look

everywhere, searching,

asking everyone if they’d

seen the boy, panic rising

in their hearts as they visit

and revisit every place

they’d seen and visited and 

rested. After three days, 

three days of imagining

the worst, three days 

of panic and anxiety, 

three days of growing

fear and despondency,

three days of looking

everywhere except,

perhaps, the least and

the most obvious,

the temple, the house 

of God. Three days, 

and the boy they feared

was dead, was found,

as if he’d risen again

in their hearts.

 

Photograph by Cole Keister via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

The Face We All Look For – Ami Wickiser at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

 

Delicious Life – Elizabeth Stice at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

A Shepherd’s Heart: Honest Conversations when Members Leave Upset – Dan Reiland.

Salt and light

After Matthew 5:13-16 

You are both

salt and light,

salt to season

and enhance, 

and light

to shine so

others may

see. You are

salt to flavor

the message,

you are light

to illuminate

the truth.

You are salt

to preserve;

you are light

to dispel

the darkness.

 

Photograph by Tim Hufner via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

How Do I Live in God’s Presence Every Day? – Daniel Hyde at Reformation 21.

 

The Defining Mark of the Christian – Robb Brunansky at The Cripplegate.

 

Driving Through Cornfields: Past the End of the World – Timothy Willard at Rapt.

Salt

After Matthew 5:13-16 

Use salt to enhance

the taste, just enough;

too little and it doesn’t

work; too much, and it

ruins the food. Leave

it on the shelf too long,

not using it, and it’s

good only to be thrown out.

 

You are salt,

salt of the earth,

used when the time

is right, when

the seasoning is

needed, to bring

the full flavor

of the food.

 

Photograph by Pavel Neznanov via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Sunday Readings

 

An Overlooked Argument for Christianity – Gavin Ortlund at The Gospel Coalition.

 

When Your Child Moves Out as an Unbeliever – Stephen Jones at Increase Our Faith.

 

The Church Is Not a Museum – poem by Theresa Burley at What Christians Want to Know.

The wolf and the lamb

After Isaiah 11:1-11 

In the reign,

triumphant,

of the branch,

the shoot,

the wolf lives

with the lamb;

the calf and

the lion lie

down together;

a little child

shall lead.

The cow grazes

with the bear,

the lion eats

straw like an ox.

The child plays

by the snake.

And the reason

is the earth is

filled with

the knowledge 

of the Lord,

like the waters

cover the sea. 

 

Photograph by Gregoire Bertaud via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Fellow Father, You Are Not a Failure – Aaron Armstrong at Story Warren.

 

The Council of Nicaea and Christian Character – J.V. Fesko at The Gospel Coalition / Themelios 51:2

 

How to Gather Well: 5 Ways to Prepare for Corporate Worship – Rob Brockman at The Gospel Coalition.

The spirit

After Isaiah 11:1-11 

This root, 

this branch,

bursts into 

the air, long 

promised, mostly 

forgotten, little 

believed. This root, 

this branch, is 

infused with spirit,

the spirit of the Lord,

replete with wisdom,

with understanding,

with counsel and

might, with knowledge

and fear of the Lord.

 

Photograph by Suganth via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

When Little League Games Become Big League Idols – Cody Watson at Sovereignty in Motion.

 

Training Pastos to Care for Souls – Tim Challies.

 

‘In God Is Our Trust’ – poem by Roy Peterson at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Read the Bible Slowly – Murray Campbell at Murray’s Substack.

 

You Are Not Enough (And That is Not Failure) – Hannah Hagarty at Gospel-Centered Discipleship. 

 

Final Words – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

The right time

After Galatians 4:4-6 

Not early, not late,

but at the right time,

the fullness of time,

he came, sent

by his father,

for the right purpose

to redeem,

to redeem those

under the law,

to adopt those

under the law

as sons, followed

by the right action,

the sending of the Spirit

into our hearts,

the hearts of the sons,

the sons of the heirs

of God.

 

Photograph by Andrik Langfield via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Our Line in the Sand on AI: TGC’s Missional Opportunity – Brett McCracken at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Faith over Fear: Meeting Christ in the Middle of the Storm – Mike Hernandez at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

 

Peace is Better – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Had a Blog.

 

The greatest from the least

After Micah 5:2-5 

A backwater, a place

so small as to be

melded into another,

a place no one would

expect a king to be born.

 

Yet.

 

It is the birthplace

of David, and it is

from the line of David

that the king will come,

the one to rule,

the one to be great

to the ends of the earth.

 

The flock will return, and

he will shepherd them,

his flock, and they

shall dwell secure

as he rules in the name

of the Lord, as he rules

in the strength of the Lord,

as he rules in the majesty

of the Lord.

 

He is the greatest,

raised up from the least.

 

Photograph by Carlos N. Cuatzo Meza via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Fear That Sings and Dances: Basking in the Majesty of God – David Mathis at Desiring God.

 

The Porn Buster – Barry York at Gentle Reformation.

 

Love God with All Your Imagination: A Call for Christian Storytelling – Kahryn Butler at Desiring God.

 

Bells & Pomegranates: An Early Warning System – Andrew Kerr at Gentle Reformation.

The fuller's soap

After Malachi 3:1-4

 

He’s coming, both

as a fire and as 

a cleansing, a washing

like the fuller’s soap

used to clean and

cleanse linen, taking

the soiled garment

and making it white

as snow, cleansed

of all impurities,

making us acceptable

and righteous to the Lord,

making us an acceptable

dwelling place of the Lord.

 

Photograph by Sincerely Media via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Sunday Readings

 

Six Ways to Shepherd Kids Through Loss – Kirsten Black at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.

 

It’s Hard to Grow Up – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog. 

The Words We Need to Speak – Glenn McCarty at Story Warren.

In this place of waste

After Jeremiah 33:10-16 

In this place of waste,

this place so depopulated

even the beasts are gone,

in this place will be

laughter and sounds of mirth,

in this place will be

shepherds guarding flocks,

in this place will be

sounds of rejoicing and

gladness, in this place

will be the voice of

the bridegroom,

the voice of the bride,

in this place will be

the voice singing praise,

in this place will be

choruses of thanksgiving

and offerings made

in the house of the Lord.

 

It is not over.

The day is coming.

 

Photograph by Wolfgang Hasselmann via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Cultivating Fatherhood: Stories from Scripture – “Help My Unbelief” – Adm Nettesheim at Cultivating Oaks Press.

 

Gen Z Churchgoers Attend More but Often Lag in Application – Aaron Earls at Lifeway Research.

 

Rest Is Not a Thing to be Bought, but Received – Sarah Reardon at Mere Orthodoxy.

What to do when sick

After James 5:13-20 

If you are sick,

if you are hurting,

if your heart

shrieks and shrinks,

if times seem bleak,

if sin dogs your steps,

 

then call upon the elders,

the elders of the church.

Allow them to pray

over you, allow them

to anoint your brow,

let them pray the prayer

of faith, because faith

is its own healing,

the healing of the soul.

 

Confess your sins

to each other,

pray for one another,

and you are healed.

Few things are as

powerful as

the prayer of

a righteous person.

 

Photograph by Alexander Grey via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Cultural Enemies – James Emery White at Church & Culture.

 

Whitewashed Tombs – Jason Clark at This Is Jason.

 

The Bible’s Influence on America’s Founding – Daniel Dreisbach at Text & Canon Institute.

 

Swearing is out

After James 5:7-12 

I don’t know how

to say it any plainer.

Don’t swear. Above

all else, don’t swear.

Don’t swear by heaven,

don’t swear by earth.

Don’t swear in any

other way. Do

something novel;

do something that’s

revolutionary. Let

your yes be yes; let

your no be no. In

that way, you will 

avoid condemnation.

Do the righteous thing,

now. Do the Godly

thing, now. Don’t swear.

 

Photograph by Usman Yousaf at Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

If God Meant Everybody, Why Did He Say Neighbour? – Seth Lewis.

 

Choose Better Words – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

The Presbyterian Revolution: The Faith That Founded America – Rob Pacienza at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

Patience

After James 5:7-12 

Patience is a trial,

but it is also to what

you are called, so

be patient, for

the Lord will come.

Follow the farmer,

who knows his fields

and waits for

the harvest to come.

The coming of the lord

is soon; the coming

of the Lord is at hand.

That is what you’re

awaiting, and patience

will be rewarded, just

as the farmer is rewarded

with his harvest.

 

Photograph by Free Walking Tour Salzburg via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

The Lost Art of a Wandering Mind – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

‘Religious Affections’: Textbook of the American Soul – Obbie Tyler Todd at Desiring God.

Watch your plans!

After James 4:10-5:6 

We believe we’re

in control; we act

as if we control

our lives and

everything that

happens. Watch 

your plans! You

don’t know what

tomorrow brings.

You are a mist,

present for a short

time, and then

you vanish. Make 

your plans in

the Lord’s will,

if God allows it.

He may allow it,

and he may not.

Embrace humility;

embrace direction

from the one,

the only one, truly

in control.

 

Photograph by Alvaro Reyes via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Is My Pain God’s Punishment? – Vaneetha Rendall Risner at Desiring God.

 

What We Learned from Dad – the team at Story Warren.

 

A Prayer for Father’s Day – Yuri Bezmenov at How to Subvert Subversion.