Devotions

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment." — Matthew 22:37-38 All day the religious leaders came at Him — with trick questions, political traps, theological puzzles. And all day He answered with a wisdom that silenced every challenger. Then He turned it all into one breathtaking simplicity: love God, love people. Everything else hangs on this. In a world drowning in complexity, He hands us a compass. Are we still following it? Image from  Christians Unite

  ✦ Reading Scripture as it was written — not as we wish it to be Scripture & Interpretation Why context still matters when Christians reach for Luke 22:36 Every few months, the debate flares up again about guns and weapons. Even in countries that generally don't have a high level gun issue. Someone, almost always identifying as a Christian, drops Luke 22:36 like a trump card:   "Jesus told his disciples to buy swords. He would want you armed today." It's a compelling sound bite. It's also a textbook case of reading a verse while ignoring everything around it. Don't get me wrong we all do it sometimes. But, in cases like this it is profoundly dangerous. The Scene Jesus and his disciples are on their way to the Mount of Olives — just hours before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. The atmosphere is charged with foreboding. Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus tells them that Scripture is about to be fulfilled in him: he will be numbered among the transgressor...

Summary:  In 1384 Wycliffe published a tract called The Seven Deadly Sins. Among the sins John Wycliffe examines envy, anger, and sloth as they corrupt the three parts of the Church — priests, noblemen, and common laborers. He argues that envy destroys love and unity within the Church, that sinful anger (rooted in pride) leads men to war and violence in direct contradiction to Christ's law of patience and peace, and that sloth in God's service opens the door to every other vice. Notably, Wycliffe takes a bold pacifist stand, contending that warfare under the New Covenant is unlawful unless directly commanded by God, and that Christ's kingdom advances not through the sword but through love, suffering, and the faithful preaching of the Gospel. Devotion:   Wycliffe wrote these words more than six centuries ago, yet they cut with startling freshness against our own age. He saw clearly what we so easily forget — that envy blinds us, anger enslaves us, and idleness em...

Summary:  John Wycliffe was known as the "Morning Star of the Reformation". The biblical background of the title "Morning Star" — is it was applied both to Satan in Isaiah 14:12 and to Jesus Christ in Revelation 22:16. Wycliffe had a historical role in restoring the gospel to the church in the centuries before the Protestant Reformation. Devotion:  The same title — Morning Star — belongs both to the one who fell in prideful rebellion and to the one who descended in humble redemption. What a striking contrast Scripture sets before us. Satan grasped at glory and was cast down; Christ, who possessed all glory, poured Himself out to lift us up. John Wycliffe, called the "Morning Star of the Reformation," was a man who pointed others toward that true Light in a dark age when the gospel had been buried under tradition and corruption. Like all faithful servants, his greatness lay not in shining for himself, but in reflecting the brilliance of the true Morning Sta...

Summary:  Written in 1849 by Rev. Amos Dresser, The Bible Against War is a thorough biblical and moral argument that all war — offensive or defensive — is incompatible with Christian teaching. Dresser contends that the Old Testament wars of Israel were not divine endorsements of violence but rather consequences of Israel's lack of faith, since God repeatedly promised to fight for his people if they would simply trust him and hold their peace. Drawing on the prophets, the teachings of Christ, the example of the early church, and the horrific human cost of war throughout history, Dresser argues that the gospel of peace, centred on Christ the Prince of Peace, leaves no room for Christians to justify taking human life under any military pretext. He also methodically addresses common objections such as Romans 13, concluding that submission to governing authorities does not require participation in war. Devotion:   "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called c...