The giving of ourselves to Christ is not the decision of an hour or a day, it is the work of a lifetime, with a new commitment every morning and a fresh surrender every night, until death finally seals our offering and our commitment is complete.
It is sometimes forgotten that hymns are the offering of the entire congregation, not merely of the clergy and choir. In the worship of almost all Christian groups (even those with a pre-scribed liturgy) hymns are pre-eminently the part of corporate worship in which...
It is a help to think of the life and death of Jesus as sacrifice, but the word needs to be used with care. In the world of religion a sacrifice is either an offering to the ultimately holy or the giving up of something in devotion to the holy. The two ideas can blend...
The sad things that happened long ago will always remain part of who we are, just as the glad and gracious things will, too, but instead of being a burden of guilt, recrimination, and regret that make us constantly stumble as we go, even the saddest things can become,...
How could following Jesus really be that easy? Didn’t he say, himself, that people had to be prepared to leave behind family, possessions, even their own life? Yes, he did. But the ease and the joy, the rest and refreshment which he offered, all spring from his own...