Each year at this time I try to reflect over the past year using notes I have kept through the year and discussion with the family. I find it a helpful and meaningful exercise. I also find myself wishing I kept better notes through the year. This year I noticed that I recorded more direct …
Continue reading ‘Some Favorite Children’s Quotes from 2009’ »
If you have read John Calvin but have not read from his sermons, you have missed his best. I have been edified this past week in reading from Songs of the Nativity, a new translation of selected sermons from Luke 1&2 (only one of which has previously appeared in English). In commenting on the angel’s …
“Holy Communion is intended surely for all those who love our Lord and Saviour in sincerity and truth. This Mystery cannot be ‘cornered’ by any denomination and reserved exclusively for the use of its own members. We are one in Christ, whether we like it or not, and whether we approve of the other denominational …
“We really show irreverence, we really dishonor Christ, when we refuse to believe that His Life, with its transforming and activating powers, can be resident in such people as ourselves.” (32) “It is obvious that the Christian life can be maintained without Holy Communion at all. Indeed, it is so maintained, for example, both by …
I have discussed at various other times the importance of the corporate element of our worship. This is also true in communion, as Phillips notes in these quotes: “Christians of every kind need to beware of pietistic individualism, and this no less true at the focal point of worship than at any other place in …
Continue reading ‘J B Phillips on Awareness of Others in Communion’ »
Following on from yesterday’s post, Phillips in these quotes diagnosed (50+ years ago) a problem which is common in evangelical churches. I cite these quotes as a part of the call to reconsider our practice of communion so that we might appreciate anew the value of this practice which Christ Himself commanded, and which He …
Continue reading ‘J B Phillips on Lack of Appreciation of Communion’ »
Yesterday I read J. B. Phillips little book from 1956, Appointment With God: Some Thoughts on Holy Communion. Phillips is best known for his interpretive translation of the New Testament. He was an Anglican priest so I knew I would have some differences with him on this topic, but I have appreciated his writing ability …
Jonathan Park and the Secret of the Hidden Cave, Sandy & Pat Roy (Master Books, 1999), pb., 110 pp. This is a fun little story which is intended to teach some points about creationism and the biblical flood. It is not great writing. The plot is obvious and the stereotypes in the characters are so …
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