Search results for: “church as cross”
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Self-Emptying Prayer
Read more: Self-Emptying PrayerWe are told that Christ “emptied Himself” in His death on the Cross (Philippians 2:5-11). Further, we are told that this self-emptying is to be the “mind” that we ourselves have. It is possible to grasp that such self-emptying can be practiced in our dealings with others when we place them above ourselves – when […]
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Living Large – And Long
Read more: Living Large – And LongModernity is in love with time – or with a certain version of time. That version goes under the heading of the “future” and is married to notions of “progress,” “change,” “advancement,” and the like. It is inherently a version of time that appeals to those who are young, in that it privileges the future […]
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Fleeing Paris with Vladimir Lossky – and Some Afterthoughts
Read more: Fleeing Paris with Vladimir Lossky – and Some AfterthoughtsI posted this article a year ago, thus the reference to events in August of 2020. Times of relative peace and prosperity are far more rare than we realize. Our present difficulties reflect stresses and strains that have been common in many parts of the world and through time. I have found some comfort in […]
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The Sacrifice of Worship
Read more: The Sacrifice of WorshipWhen God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Genesis 22), there was no questioning on Abraham’s part about what was intended. He understood precisely what was involved in such a thing. There was wood to be gathered, an altar of stones to be constructed, the victim to be bound, and then the slitting of […]
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Robed in the Glorious Garment of Salvation
Read more: Robed in the Glorious Garment of Salvation“My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for He has clothed me with the garment of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of gladness; as a bridegroom He has set a crown on me; and as a bride adorns herself with jewels, so my God has adorned me.” With these words from Isaiah, […]
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Shame in the Public Arena
Read more: Shame in the Public ArenaIn 401 AD, twenty-nine Saxon “slaves,” strangled each other to death with their bare hands in their prison cells. They chose this death rather than being forced to fight one another in Rome’s arena. Better death than shame. Their “owner,” the Senator Symmachus (famously known as the “Last Pagan”), wrote of them that they were […]
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Over Come Evil By Doing Good
Read more: Over Come Evil By Doing GoodDrawing on the Book of Proverbs, St. Paul offers a simple admonition to his readers: “…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:20) He then adds: Do not be overcome by evil, but […]
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When America Got Sick
Read more: When America Got SickIt was in the years following the Civil War, America was hard on the path to “becoming great.” The industrial revolution had moved into full swing, railroads criss-crossed the country, immigration was gaining speed, and wealth was accumulating at a rate never seen before. We were slowly moving from our original agrarian economy towards life […]
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A Beautiful Heart – The Acquisition of Grace
Read more: A Beautiful Heart – The Acquisition of GraceFinally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil 4:8 +++ Some people tell me that they are scandalized because they see many things wrong in the […]
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The Limits of Holiness
Read more: The Limits of HolinessI saw a commercical recently that proclaimed, “Freedom has no limits!” It sought to capture the modern imagination with what is a patently absurd statement. Everything in creation has limits – that is the nature of created things. It is nonetheless the case that we can imagine our life without limits – a shameless existence […]
Matthew, in western art the painter is always present, the person in the picture is a creature of the painter.…