To Thee O Lord, I lift up my soul

Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners

Who do they think they are, that make a pretense of reforming and updating the church, as though it were a mere human instrumentality that can be improved by man's ingenuity, as though there were some defect in the Gospel received from antiquity? Who is it that pretends to set aside the preaching of the cross, which St. Paul calls "the power of God" (1 Cor.1:18) for an "updated" Gospel that is no Gospel at all?

And what is this preaching of the cross? That man is condemned already because of his sin and unbelief, and that God has accepted the priestly sacrifice of His only begotten Son on the cross to redeem and justify those who believe and obey.

All the blathering on about evolution, anonymous Christians, and speculations about God owing all His creations some debt of ordering them to beatitude are all distractions from the central truth: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. If you are not a sinner, this message is not for you. If you are, rejoice, because the Gospel has come to you today. May you say say with the Apostle, "for I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe..." (Romans 1:16)

Originally posted 9 November 2012

Broken fathers

I last saw my dad and grandfather in the late 1960s.

My mother's father died before I was born.

I've tried to be a good husband and father but fallen miserably short.

These were men I could not always admire but certainly loved.

I can't say I understand their challenges, faults, or their times.

I don't.

Yet I am willing to accept them and love them as they are [were], broken men negotiating with life the best way they could with what they had.

That's all I ask for myself.

Before you judge and condemn me, stop just a half-second and consider where and who I come from.

I'm nowhere near the man I ought to be, but I'm not the man I used to be, either.

God be merciful to me, a sinner.

Originally posted 11 November 2018

Holy fear is indispensable

We are living in times of exceptional wickedness. It is far too easy to acclimate our souls and our consciences to the filth, debauchery, idolatry and diabolical evil all around us.

In such a time, holy fear is indispensable for the salvation of our souls. Without it, we are probably doomed to embrace that which God Almighty hates and thereby condemn ourselves to eternal damnation.

O Lord our Maker and our only hope for deliverance from our sins, grant in Thy mercy that we may fear Thee as we ought, and in humility flee to Thee for strength against the flesh, the world, and the devil. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Originally posted 21 November 2019

A father's tears

This was something I scrawled on the back of a military document on 28 August, 1997. Some of military life is hidden discreetly from the general public (a good thing). There are sacrifices we make that exact a deep emotional price. This one recalled the abandonment of my father and the anguish in spending so much time away from my little Johnny whom I would never abandon, but who was too young to understand that at the time.

Originally posted 25 November 2021

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God. (Isaias 40,1)

If you are in pain tonight, in the midst of a dark and seemingly relentless trial, persecuted, calumniated, lied to or about, in a hospital bed or facing a divorce, have been abandoned or are in deep grief over some loss, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

If your heart is breaking because of rejection, abuse, or because of personal guilt, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

If you are facing Christmas with a burden of seemingly hopeless debt, unable to put food on the table, let alone presents under the tree, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Your Creator Who formed you in the womb of your mother, Who fully intended for you to be here, Who watches over you with unfathomable tenderness and fatherly pity, whispers to you even now: "you are mine."

Simply pray in childlike simplicity, "I am Yours Lord, and yours I wish to be."

Then just be quiet and wait upon your loving Redeemer. He will never leave you nor abandon you. He is nearer to you than your own breath.

Originally posted 13 December 2019

Christmas is from Christ

So I'm walking through a shopping area... and have heard the radio... Christmas music without Christ and the Nativity? Empty. Its like tens of thousands of people cheering in a stadium, but there are no players on the field. Like serving all the great complimentary dishes but no turkey on Thanksgiving. Its all sweetness and sugar, icing and topping but nothing substantial at the base. This secular Christmas is a moral and spiritual flop.

Praise be to God for sending His only Son to save sinners!

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Originally posted 17 December 2014

Grief is not an enemy

We cannot perpetually avoid grief. Eventually it manifests itself in our souls, even against our will. It cannot be put off or gone around, but only gone through. Grief is nature's way of allowing the soul to feel the full weight of it's loss.

Grief deferred often returns in unexplained waves of deep and relentless sadness. It must accomplish it's work in order for the soul to be healed. The mystery of grief cannot be fully understood by human words, ideas, and rationale. It can only be absorbed by the soul patiently and with trust in the Creator Who allows such unfathomable pain to overwhelm us at times.

Grief is not an enemy; grief is a process portending to wholeness. When Lazarus died, "Jesus wept" (St. John 11:35).

Personally, I hate grief because it often invades the emotions like an intruder at specific triggers. For me, Christmas is one of those triggers.

Yet in my rational mind, I accept that grief must perform her entire and comprehensive work for the soul to reach perfection. By the gift of faith, I also must accept that not everything will be explained to us on this side of the curtain separating life and death. May God grant us the grace to accept the work grief comes to do within us, and in His infinite compassion, provide us with sympathetic companions.

Originally posted 28 December 2017