so he sat behind his natural defenses
and there he wrestled with the song
he heard his name in every line,
his life in every measure
faced with feelings he could not explain
there was hunger in his hollow hesitation
there was posturing for peace
but even where the spirit willed
the flesh was still maintaining
ground to give only for a sign
and the [...]
Archive for the ‘By Genre’ Category
Trust
Posted in Songs, trust on July 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
His Purposes Will Ripen Fast
Posted in Songs, William Cowper, sovereignty on August 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace,
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
–William [...]
Know Your Brothers Suffer Also
Posted in Peter, Scripture, suffering on August 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
1 Peter 5:8-9
We Tremble Not
Posted in Martin Luther, Songs, sovereignty, suffering on August 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure;
One little word will fell him.
–Martin Luther
“A Mighty Fortress is Our God” (1529)
as quoted in Suffering [...]
No One Was Quite Sure
Posted in East and West, Islam, Literature, Orhan Pamuk on July 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Although everyone knew it was freedom from the laws of Islam, no one was quite sure what else westernization was good for.
–Orhan Pamuk
Istanbul (2006, p.10)
read 6-26-08
So I’ve Been Told
Posted in Literature, Orhan Pamuk, memory on July 7, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I feel compelled to add or so I’ve been told. In Turkish we have a special tense that allows us to distinguish hearsay from what we’ve seen with our own eyes; when we are relating dreams, fairy tales, or past events we could not have witnessed, we use this tense. It is a useful distinction [...]
You Jonah
Posted in Poetry, comfort, health and wealth on March 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
And Jonah stalked
to his shaded seat
and waited for God
to come around
to his way of thinking.
And God is still waiting for a host of Jonahs
in their comfortable houses
to come around
to His way of loving.
–Thomas Carlisle
from “You Jonah”
as quoted by Johannes Verkuyl
(Perspectives Reader p.33)
Who Is This Who Even Forgives Sins?
Posted in Friend of sinners, Jesus, Scripture, redemption, worship on March 6, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she [...]
Francis Schaeffer
Posted in Francis Schaeffer, Os Guinness, biography on February 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
One thing above all I will never deny, and for that I am eternally grateful, however great his flaws and however wrong he was on certain details of philosophy and history: I have never met anyone anywhere like Francis Schaeffer, who took God so passionately seriously, people so passionately seriously, and truth so passionately seriously.
–Os [...]
Edith Schaeffer
Posted in Os Guinness, biography on February 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Edith Schaeffer was one of the most remarkable women of her generation, the like of whom we will not see again in our time. I have never met such a great heart of love, and such indomitable faith, tireless prayer, boundless energy, passionate love for life and beauty, lavish hospitality, irrepressible laughter, and seemingly limitless [...]
