“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household” (Acts 16:30-31). Disclaimer: I don’t mean to step on toes. I’m just a bad dancer. “What must I do to be saved?” This is THE question, isn’t it? The question for…
Tag: faith
The Hands of the Father–George MacDonald
What follows is an excerpt from George MacDonald’s Unspoken Sermons The Hands of the Father “Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit.”—St Luke xxiii. 46. Neither St Matthew nor St Mark tells us of any words uttered by our Lord after the Eloi. They both, along with St Luke, tell us of a cry with a…
You Might Be a Legalist if…
You might be a legalist if: You’re trying to be a good spouse, parent, child, sibling, etc. Appearances are everything. You’re afraid of making mistakes. You might be a legalist if: A person is made unclean by what goes into them (Mark 7:18-23). You’re afraid to make decisions when the Holy Spirit gives no…
Lord of the Dead and of the Living
Picture by Patrick Murphy Death and resurrection cannot be separated. This is so obvious it seems like a platitude. Often our words and thoughts divide these into separate categories. For the sake of clarity it’s sometimes helpful to consider them separately. But it’s disastrous in real life. Perhaps we are too used to treating death…
A Single Stone
David used only one stone to defeat Goliath and the entire Philistine army (1 Sam. 17:49, 50). One stone set right the many blasphemies Goliath shouted at God’s people day after day (1 Sam. 17:16, 23). One stone redeemed the disobedience of every Israelite soldier who did nothing to resist Goliath. One stone was all…
Reject All Lies. I Am in Christ.
Living Sacrifice album cover Living Sacrifice is one of my favorite bands. The other day I was listening to a compilation of their songs that I put together. As the chorus of one of the songs came on, it seemed the Holy Spirit was pounding the lyrics into me: “Reject all lies! Reject all lies!”…
What the Lord Said…
This what the Lord said to me last night: “If you never sinned you still wouldn’t be righteous.” “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). “Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I…
Give Me Your Worst
Sketch by Patrick Murphy “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). “Grace” is the Life which can suffer and die yet be raised again. Christ in us is grace. He can go through weaknesses, difficulties, persecutions, and the like (2 Cor. 12:10). Not only do these not…
Chasing Santa
“Grandpa, what are you doing out here?” He was standing in the snow leaning a couple long 2×4’s against the house. “I was chasing Santa Claus,” he explained. “Almost had him too.” He handed me one of the biggest sleigh bells I’d ever seen. Then he showed me two long, straight depressions in the…
Another Scary Verse from Hebrews
http://vimeo.com/9654814 “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10:26-27). This is one of those passages that most of us would like to wish away. Until…
The Voice of One 