Husband, father, and Anglican priest living in the North Georgia Mountains. Sermons, reflections, and articles promoting the "Ancient Faith for Modern Times". Subscribe below to get the latest posts in your inbox.
June 24: the Nativity of John the Baptist. One of only two births celebrated in the Anglican calendar, the other being Christmas. The Church does not observe birthdays generally. That it has kept June 24 since the fourth century says everything about John’s place in salvation history.
June 24: the Nativity of John the Baptist, one of only two birthdays in the Church calendar. Born as the days shorten; Christ born as they lengthen. He must increase, I must decrease. Even the sun preaches John’s sermon.
Three times in six verses Jesus says do not be afraid, and each fear-not comes with a reason. The truth will be revealed. God alone holds eternity. And the Father who numbers the hairs of your head has not lost track of you. The theology of Christian courage.
The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few — so Jesus tells them to pray first. And they were praying for themselves without knowing it. This is how God works: the prayer for laborers equips the people praying to become them.
On the Feast of Saint Barnabas, we meet a man who lived the commissioning of Matthew 10:7–16. He sold his field to help the poor, vouched for Paul when no one else would, and stepped aside so the Gospel could advance. Barnabas sought not his own renown but the well-being of the Church.
Today the Church observes the Feast of Saint Barnabas. He stood before the apostles in Jerusalem and vouched for Saul when no one else would. If he had been wrong, the cost would have been real. He was not wrong. The man he testified for wrote half the New Testament.