God Gives Jesus

Another quotation from Wells, summing up the thesis of his book: “God has given his people everything they need to worship him, to be his friends, and to eat with him. He has done this by giving them the body of Christ. He gives his people the body of Christ in three forms – Jesus, the . . . . Continue Reading »

Yikes!

In his Lectures on Calvinism , Kuyper describes “the severely spiritual cultus which Calvinism tried to restore in the services of the church.” He cites a “far-from-Christian philosopher” who knows that “cultus becomes more religious just in proportion as it has the . . . . Continue Reading »

Kiss of peace

In an old Theology Today article, Walter Lowrie claims that “Without the kiss of peace the Holy Communion is not evidently a Koinonia.” He recognizes that it’s an extreme claim, but gives a historical defense of the assertion: “Pope Innocent III (d. 1216) asserted in De . . . . Continue Reading »

Eucharistic meditation

1 Corinthians 10:21-22: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than he, are we? As Pastor Sumpter has emphasized, disloyalty in marriage doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Baptism exhortation

Matthew 10:37-39: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for . . . . Continue Reading »

Eucharistic meditation

Proverbs 5:1-3: My son, give attention to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding. That you may observe discretion, and your lips may reserve knowledge. For the lips of the strange woman drop honey, and smoother than oil is her speech. “The lips of the strange woman drip honey,” . . . . Continue Reading »

Exhortation

We honor Christian martyrs because they offer the supreme sacrifice for the sake of Jesus. But martyrdom is not for a heroic few. We are all called to be martyrs. The Greek word “martyr” means witness, and we should hear the full legal force of that word. History is a great trial in . . . . Continue Reading »

Mysteriological piety

Danielou summarizes the liturgical allegory of Theodore of Mopsuestia: “the offertory procession is a figure of Christ led to His Passion, the offerings placed on the altar are figures of Christ place in His tomb . . . , the altar-clothes are the burial-cloths, the deacons who surround the . . . . Continue Reading »