I wonder if you have ever thought about the kind of courage—but also the kind of conceit—it takes for a young man to ask a father for the hand of his daughter. De Witt Talmage once considered this in a discourse on marriage and, frankly, his thoughts are hilarious. I trust you’ll enjoy reading about…
Among Nick’s things I found a collection of George Herbert’s poetry—a text from one of his Bible college courses (and presumably one taught by the book’s author, Jim Orrick). Herbert was a Puritan-era devotional poet who left behind some wonderful reflections on Christian living and doctrine. I especially appreciated this short one in which he…
In recent months I have often mentioned the growing importance of poetry in my life. As we come to Good Friday and Easter, I have been enjoying some of the devotional poetry of days gone by, and was especially struck by Hannah Flagg Gould’s “To the Mourner.” It does not deal with Easter per se,…
I have been reading some of the works of Charles Ebert Orr who wrote in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Besides books he also penned a small number of poems and hymns and, among them, I most appreciated one titled “Savior, Lead Me.” It is a simple profession of confidence in God’s goodness and…
I have mentioned in the past that I have been exploring some of the Christian poetry of the nineteenth century—an era in which poetry was a prime devotional genre for the church. I was recently making my way through Christopher Newman Hall’s Pilgrim Songs in Cloud and Sunshine, and was taken by a number of…
Few of us take the time to mine and appreciate the vast stores of poetry laid up by so many of our Christian forebears. Yet in centuries past poetry was the language of many a sorrowful and rejoicing believer. In the last several months I have been discovering some of treasures and particularly enjoying the…
The Apostle tells us that “the present form of this world is passing away.” Horatius Bonar once reflected on this and wrote a beautiful bit of writing that shows just what that means and how we should live accordingly. The world is passing away — like a dream of the night. We lie down to…
I have been making my way through the works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first through his shorter poems and eventually through his epics. One of his shorter works particularly resonated with me since it touched on a theme complementary to an article I wrote just last week. Friday’s article was titled “There Is Only Ever…
Jesus promises that “everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.” As I continue my dabbling in nineteenth century devotional writers, I came across a neat passage from Charles Ebert Orr in which he imagines how Jesus may do that very thing. I share it in…
I have spent the past few months learning from nineteenth century writers. In the past I’ve read much of the best of the Puritans and much of the best of today’s writers. I’m now trying to catch up with some who fall between. I am benefitting tremendously. This reflection comes from George Everard who wrote…
As time passes, I find myself increasingly drawn to old authors and old books. I scour the used bookshops to look for lost treasures. At the back of one such nineteenth-century work I found this old poem by Edward Morris. I don’t know who Edward Morris was or when he lived, but I’m grateful for…
A book I’ve come to much enjoy is Piercing Heaven, which shares favorite prayers from the Puritans (and a few others). Many of the prayers are ones I’ve been able to pray myself. This example comes from the pen of Robert Hawker. Precious Jesus, you are the Source, the Fountain, the Author, the Finisher of…
There is little we can know scientifically about what happens after we die. There are no experiments we can carry out that offer conclusive evidence of what happens when the eyes close for the final time, when the heart at last stops beating. We know, of course, that the body will immediately begin to decline…
A new year is now well underway, and at the beginning of this year I found myself reading and reflecting upon James Smith’s powerful new year’s address. (James Smith was one of Charles Spurgeon’s predecessors at New Park Street Chapel in London.) At the conclusion of his message he tells his church what he is…
One of my favorite things is to find someone else’s prayer that I can pray quietly by myself on a Sunday morning. I suppose there’s a kind of freshness to it—a different way of expressing similar truths. On this Sunday morning I’m praying along with J.R. Miller who once created a whole collection of prayers…
Merry Christmas! I pray that this will be a sweet day of rest and remembrance for you—a day in which you will be able to rest from your normal labors to remember our Savior’s birth. As you do so, perhaps you will be blessed by this old prayer drawn from The Valley of Vision. It…
If you have ever wanted a taste of Calvin’s Institutes but without committing to the whole thing, you may want to try reading A Little Book on the Christian Life. It is an excerpt of the larger work, and one focused largely on Christian living. Here’s an extract from a new edition translated by Aaron…
When Jesus prayed to the Father he said, “Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Charles Spurgeon once reflected on these words as they pertained specifically to the Christian’s responsibility toward missions and evangelism. His thoughts are worth pondering today. “Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”…
The book Piercing Heaven shares some wonderful prayers from the Puritans. This is one of the first and, to my mind, one of the best prayers in the collection. Lord, I would be the most miserable person in the world if my hopes were only in this life. Why? Because I am hopeless without Christ’s…
Who is Jesus? And why do Christians make such a big deal of him? Charles Hodge provides a stirring answer in his Systematic Theology. Why do Christians make such a big deal of Jesus? Here’s why… All divine names and titles are applied to Him. He is called God, the mighty God, the great God,…