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 reign of the branch

After Isaiah 11:1-11 

The branch bursts

into view, soon

establishing itself,

establishing a reign,

a reign marked by

righteous judgment,

blessing the meek

of the earth, striking

the earth with words,

destroying the wicked

with his breath. He

uses a belt, a belt

of righteousness;

her wears a belt

of faithfulness.

Meekness is blessed,

belief is blessed,

faith a blessed,

wickedness is

destroyed.

 

Photograph by Nick via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Faith Is a Radical Master,” poem by Walt McDonald – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

A Blessing for the School Books – Kelly Keller at Story Warren.

 

“There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” hymn by William Cowper – Anthony Esolen at Word & Song.

 

Words Like Rain – poem by Seth Lewis.

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.

A shoot, a branch

After Isaiah 11:1-11 

From the stump

of the axed tree

comes forth a shoot,

tender and green,

emerging against

all odds, forcing

its way, tender

and green, into

the air.

 

From the roots

of the axed tree

comes forth

a branch, fragile

but growing,

soon bearing

fruit, unexpected

fruit, bursting

from the branch,

nourishing and

beautiful, into

the air.

 

Photograph by Akira via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

“Ultrasound: Your Picture,” poem by George David Clark – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

 

How to Change Your Perspective on Time – Seth Lewis.

 

Access All Areas: Exhilarating Proximity in the Christian Bubble – Stephen McAlpine/

The promise

After Jeremiah 33:10-16 

The Lord will fulfill

his promise, the one

made to the house

of Judah, to the house

of Israel. The Lord

will raise a branch,

a righteous branch,

a branch who will

bring justice, who will

bring righteousness,

to the land.

 

Judah will be saved.

Jerusalem will be

Secured.

 

And the branch 

will be called

the Lord is our righteousness.

 

This time will pass.

This time is not forever.

This will become 

what it is designed

to be, the design

of the branch

of righteousness.

 

Photograph by Osama Khan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Monday Readings

 

How God Used A Christmas Carol to Resurrect Literature in My Life – John Sommer at Story Warren.

 

Wonder Confronts Certainty, Then and Now – Gary Morson at Public Discourse.

 

The Real Christopher Lasch – Paul Baumann at Commonweal.

 

How the West Became Pagan –Again – Derek Rishmawy at The Gospel Coalition.

Well, I Guess It’s Christmas, men plow our roads, I remember Dad and Presents – Katie Andraskie at Katie’s Ground.

A promise made and kept

After Revelation 7:9-10 

A promise was made,

a promise was kept,

a command to go,

a command was kept.

And through that keeping

came the blessing, 

the blessing to the multitudes

no one could number, multitudes

from every nation, every tribe,

every people, every language,

standing together, one body,

clothed in white, waving

palms, crying out salvation,

the salvation that belongs

to God, the salvation 

that belongs to the Lamb.

 

Photograph by Farrinni via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Interplay – poem by Joy Lenton at Poetry Joy.

 

The 3.5 Uses of the Law in Romans 7 – Dan Crabtree at The Cripplegate.

 

If the Men Aren’t Singing: 5 Questions for Worship Leaders – Jon Bloom at Desiring God.

The oath

After Hebrews 6:13-20 

The promise was

accompanied by

an oath, to know

that it was true,

and real, and it

would happen.

 

The oath bridged 

the promise and

the moment, 

because we are

frail, inclined 

to impatience and

the demands 

of now.

 

The oath reminded

of what had been 

promised before

and delivered. 

The oath means

the promise will

not be forsaken. 

 

Photograph by Cytonn Photography via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Of Death and Resurrection – poem by William Strode at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

When I Don’t Love My Body – Lara D’Entremont at A Faithful Imagination. 

 

Slow Happiness – Seth Lewis.

 

Optimistic Denominationalism – Tim Challies.

 

Poems to Listen By: Buoyancies – 1: Casting Off – Laurie Klein at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Why trust?

After Hebrews 6:13-20

 

Why trust, you ask,

why believe that

a promise made

eons ago will be

delivered? Time passes,

cries made in pain

seem met with

silence.

 

I tell you this:

the promise will come,

the promise is coming.

It was made

with an oath; 

it was made with

perfect character;

it was made with

the sacrifice

of the son. 

Photograph by Jannis Lucas via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

Some Sunday Readings

 

Debunking Four Retirement Myths – Kristin Brown at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics. 

 

Poetry: The Spiritual Terrain of David Middleton – James Matthew Wilson at The Catholic World Report.

 

Rome Is Not Our Home: Live Counterculturally During Election Season – Pete Nicholas at The Gospel Coalition.

 

An oath, a promise

After Hebrews 6:13-20 

He swears an oath,

he makes a promise,

an oath, a promise

given in his name,

because no one is

greater. The man

receives the oath,

the promise, and he

waits, patiently,

because he knows

they are good,

they will be made

good. The promise 

would be realized;

the promise would be

obtained.

 

Photograph by Marcus Spiske via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Anne Askew – featured poet at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

You Know the Way – Cody Ilardo at Power & Glory.

 

To Welcome a Stain – Seth Lewis.

 

Vespers – Anna Friedrich at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

“Fides, Spes,” poem by Willa Cather – Sally Thomas at Poems Ancient and Modern.

From my body

After 2 Samuel7:1-17 

From my body 

will come 

the offspring 

who will lead

a kingdom.

His throne

will be set

forever.

He will be

disciplined, but

he will be loved 

always and forever. 

And through him,

my house will be 

established

forever and

all time. 

My throne

will last 

forever. And 

I know this

because he

has promised.

 

Photograph by Hasan Almasi via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Prayer for Traversing the Eye – poem by Laura Reece Hogan at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

The Challenge of Choosing Between Bitter and Better – Seth Lewis.

 

Civility: Reading Each Other – Sarah Skwire at The Imaginative Conservative.

 

My Father – poem by Paul Wittenberg. 

The promise

After 2 Samuel 7:1-17 

I thought to build

him a house, but

he promised to build

me a dynasty.

 

He brought me from

the hillside, he set

me on a throne. I was

a shepherd of sheep; he

made me a shepherd

of a nation.

 

He made a promise to me;

he made a promise

to the nation. He will

make me a great name;

he will give the people

 

a place to dwell in.

And he will give me,

and he will give the people,

rest from our enemies.

Photograph by Benjamin Davies via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Dear ChatGPT Users – Ashley Kim at Sola Network.

 

Self is Boring: Even it its decline, “The Crown” gets it point across – Samuel James at Digital Liturgies.

Snørøyk – poem by Chris Wheeler at Rabbit Room Poetry.

An epiphany at Cana – poem by Malcolm Guite.

A prayer for businesses in your community – Dan King at Bibledude.

Waiting

After 2 Peter 3:9 

We wait on a promise,

a promise to be fulfilled,

a promise spoken and

unspoken from

the beginning. Waiting

is not an acceptable word

in our vocabularies. Yes,

we believe. Of course,

we believe. But can’t it

happen now? The years

become decades, become

centuries, become 

millennia, and yes, we

believe, but when, when

will it be time? We don’t

understand why it’s so

slow, why it takes so long,

almost as if you want all

to be saved, none to perish,

all to repent, none to be 

left behind, all to be

embraced, all to walk

in the light.

 

Photograph by Zhu Liang via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Zeal – poem by Sofia Starnes at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin). 

 

Forgiveness in the Foam – Dwayne Sheridan at An Unexpected Journal.

 

Israel, Palestine, Hamas and Some Things That Are True at the Same Time – Eric Geiger.

She stops laughing

After Hebrews 11:1-3, 11-12 

She laughed at how

ridiculous it was,

to become pregnant

at her age. She

laughed, and kept

laughing, until she

knew, she sensed

the changes, the first

flutters and movements

of the child growing

within her. And then,

only then, did the words

of the promise strike her

senseless. From her

would be born a child,

and more than that,

a multitude, one flowing

from that child, her child, 

a multitude as numerous

as the stars, as plentiful

as the grains of sand

on the shore. And she

stops laughing.

 

Photograph by Aiony Haust via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne: A Reader’s Guide to a Christian Classic – Jordan Stone at Desiring God.

 

Stand – poem by Mark Lukey at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Is Sound of Freedom the Next Uncle Tom’s Cabin? – Cap Stewart at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Forget about Hollywood for a moment: Where is the biblical Mount Sinai located? – Richard Ostling at Get Religion.

Why a promise?

After Galatians 3:15-25 

One wonders: why make

a promise? Why tell

a childless old man

that his offspring

would be countless, like

grains of seashore sand?

What did a promise, 

when to could have been

simply a matter of doing it?

 

Perhaps it is a plan,

the plan unfolding over

time, designed with

a purpose an aim. First,

the promise. Then, the law,

serving as guardian. Then,

the promise fulfilled,

the guardian no longer

needed, the guardian

replaced by faith

indwelled.

 

It is a plan all along.

The earth shook,

the prison doors blew

open. Faith has come;

the promise is fulfilled.

 

Photograph by Pinakeen Bhatt via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A guardian

After Galatians 3:15-25 

The promise comes first;

the law follows. The promise

remains; once made, it’s

inviolable. The law comes

as a guardian, the guardian

who protects. The law isn’t

a promise; the law doesn’t

supplant the promise. It

serves as a guardian,

until the time when

the promise is fulfilled,

when faith comes 

in One. When faith

comes, the need 

for a guardian passes

away.

 

Photograph by Benjamin Wedemeyer via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A promise is a promise

After Galatians 3:15-25 

A promise made is

a promise kept.

A promise made

to one man becomes

a promise to his

offspring. Once 

the promise is made,

no one annuls it,

no one cancels it,

no one abrogates it,

no one reverses it.

When the law comes

later, 430 years later,

to be exact, the promise

stands. The law did not

replace it; the law did

not void it. The promise

is made, and the promise

is kept.

 

Photograph by Karsten Winegeart via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Heirs

After Galatians 3:1-9 

It’s an ongoing reading

of the will, a daily event

to which all are invited.

The will is read, announcing

the inheritance for the heirs.

It is a will like no other,

read aloud, the words

themselves taking form,

taking life, leaping from

the page to the heart. 

The heirs learn what it is

they’re receiving, that

it is not based on what

they did, their deeds and

accomplishments (also

known as the way 

of the world, at least

on a good day). Instead,

the inheritance comes

from what they believe.

It is about who they are,

not what they did. 

 

Photograph by Towfiqu barbhuiya via Unsplash. Used with permission.