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.
Proper 8. The cross-bearing of verses 37–39 is our calling as little ones. A cup of cold water given because a person belongs to Christ will by no means lose its reward. A double negative in the Greek: absolutely not, under any circumstances. No act of faithful service is forgotten.
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.