Tried With Fire

There is a real spiritual “presence” of Christ with the hearts of all true-hearted communicants in the Lord’s Supper. Rejecting as I do, with all my heart, the baseless notion of any bodily presence of Christ on the Lord’s table, I can never doubt that the great or­dinance appointed by Christ has a special and peculiar blessing attached to it. That blessing, I believe, con­sists in a special and peculiar presence of Christ, vouch­safed to the heart of every believing communicant. That truth appears to me to lie under those wonderful words of institution, “Take, eat: this is My body.” “Drink ye all of this: this is My blood.” Those words were never meant to teach that the bread in the Lord’s Supper was literally Christ’s body, or the wine literally Christ’s blood. But our Lord did mean to teach that every right-hearted believer, who ate that bread and drank that wine in remembrance of Christ, would in so doing find a special presence of Christ in his heart, and a special revelation of...

It's my turn at Out of the Ordinary today in which I write about my favorite event of the Protestant Reformation,  Martin Luther's trial at the Diet of Worms, and a lesson from his example. Read the post  here . Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason-for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves - I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one's conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen. 

The peace of the true Christian is not a vague, dreamy feeling, without reason and without foundation. He can show cause for it. He builds upon solid ground. He has peace with God, because he is justified. Without justification it is impossible to have real peace. Conscience forbids it. Sin is a mountain between a man and God, and must be taken away. The sense of guilt lies heavy on the heart, and must be removed. Unpardoned sin will murder peace. The true Christian knows all this well. His peace arises from a consciousness of his sins being forgiven, and his guilt being put away. His house is not built on sandy ground. His well is not a broken cistern, which can hold no water. He has peace with God, because he is justified. He is justified, and his sins are forgiven. However many, and however great, they are cleansed away, pardoned, and wiped out. They are blotted out of the book of God’s remembrance. They are sunk into the depths of the sea. They are cast behind God’s back. They are ...

ht: Becky on FB

Heath aster I am thankful for: - The wonderful news that friends are expecting their first baby. - Wildflowers that add bright spots of color. - The combined pleasure of knitting while listening to a good mystery. - Saints who offer a helping hand. In this case, help with a mower that won't start. - Saints who are willing to wrestle through difficult issues together. - The ordinary means of grace as a means of sanctification. In particular, the blessing of celebrating the Lord's supper. - The love of God in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:39)

"Christians need to realize that while passion for family living and family values may feel timeless, how that is communicated and carried out in any place or any given generation will differ. We must be on our guard  that nostalgia for the traditional family, however that is defined, does not prevent us from ministering to the real needs of our communities... How do these nostalgic images and evangelical musings on the traditional family link to violence? you may wonder. The answer is quite straightforward. We teach and preach that the family is  sacred, ordained by God, honored by Christina people. The family may be sacred, but sometimes it is not safe. In our enthusiasm to support family, we often overlook that important fact. Statistically speaking, women, men and children are more likely to be harmed or threatened or injured within their own family home than outside it. When we place the family on a very high pedestal, we must recognize that the result is a cha...