A good rep

After Revelation 3:1-6 

A good rep isn’t

the same as a good

reality. You have 

a good rep, a great

rep, but it is the mirage

of what you used to be. 

It is time to awaken, grab

on to and strengthen

what good remains

and is about to die.

Go back to what

you first knew; 

start there. Otherwise,

I will come as a thief,

a thief in the night,

rescuing the few who

still walk as they should.

Those few will walk

clothed in white, 

engraving their names

in the book of life.

 

Photograph by Iqx Azmi via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

When People Are Late to Church – Barbara Lee Harper at Stray Thoughts. 

 

Layover at Stansted – poem by Seth Lewis.

 

Excerpt from “The Wanderer,” poem by William Wordsworth – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

What do you do?

After Revelation 2:18-29 

What do you do about

heresy? You believe,

and do what you

believe, and do what

you should, even as

heresy is practices

in the place you

believe, in the place

you live. You hold true,

even as the false and

untrue are tolerated 

and flourish all around

you.

 

Keep on keeping on.

Hold fast. Hold fast

to the true; keep

to the true always

and to the end. It

won’t be easy; it

never is. But it is

your path; hold 

fast and keep

walking your

straight line.

The authority will

come to rest on you.

The reward will

come to you.

 

Photograph by Patrick Fore via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Redeeming the Time This New School Year – Kristen Hatton at CDM Women’s Ministry.

 

Ways to See and Support Foster Families – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

The Scandal of the Evangelical Heart – Doug Eaton at Fight of Faith.

 

‘And lead us not into distraction’ – Joel Miller at Miller’s Book Review.

 

Britain’s incredible Christian revival: Why young people are returning to church in their droves and putting faith in Christ– Ed Griffiths at GBN News.

 

 

So much right, yet...

After Revelation 2:18-29 

So much can be right,

and is, your works,

your love, and faith

that produce those

works, your patient

endurance, and your

ever-growing acts

and works of faith.

 

And yet.

 

You have a heresy

in your midst, not

hidden but openly

practiced, celebrating

self-indulgence and

all the sins of self.

You allow its leader

to practice her ways

and call herself

a prophetess, dishonoring

the word, dishonoring

the church. Heresy has

no place here, neither

does its toleration.

 

Photograph by Dan Cristian Paduret via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Ah, Christ, I love you rings to the wild sky,” poem by Allen Tate – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

In My Father’s School Are Many Classrooms – Tim Challies.

 

The Eyes of the Old and the Young – Seth Lewis.

That didn't take long

After Galatians 1:6-10 

You heard it, you learned it,

you internalized it, and

in no time at all,

you deserted it for what

you thought was

the next new thing,

shiny and bright,

enticing you away

from the right and

the true. That didn’t

take long. What can

you be thinking? 

Someone walks in the door,

claiming to have the latest

revised version of the truth,

and you rush like children

to grab the candy? 

On the person who misleads

you, a curse. On the person

who accepts the distortion,

a curse. Ask the questions:

are you seeking the approval

of man, are you serving

the one, or are you serving

yourselves?

 

Photograph by Ehimetalor Akhere Unubona via Unsplash. Used with permission.