J. Brandon Meeks is a writer, studio musician, and Christian scholar. He serves his local parish as Theologian-in-Residence. He received his PhD. from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. He is also a fan of Alabama football, the blues, and cheese. He blogs regularly at www.highchurchpuritan.com.
“Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” ~Ecclesiastes 5:2 P.T. Forsyth reminds us that the “Christian preacher is not the successor of the Greek orator, but of the Hebrew…
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” ~Matthew 5:6 Lent teaches us the pattern of cruciform living. It is a 40 day intensive course in the Theology of the Cross. Lent is about following Jesus. And Jesus was on his way to a cross. Lent is the…
We do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us…
“Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Ps. 90:12) Humans are temporal creatures bound in time. But time should not be viewed as a prison; it should be seen as the progress of potentialities—momentary movements from glory to glory. This relentless succession of minutes and months becomes a…
“It seems to me appropriate, almost inevitable, that when that great Imagination which in the beginning, for Its own delight and for the delight of men and angels and (in their proper mode) of beasts, had invented and formed the whole world of Nature, submitted to express Itself in human speech, that speech should be…
One of the greatest gifts with which humanity has been endowed is the ability to make fruitful distinctions. One of our greatest temptations is that of making false distinctions; the tendency to tear asunder what God has joined together. This presents a problem that goes beyond mere academic philosophizing. Ideas have consequences. At some point…
From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, things follow patterns. This is as inescapable as it is undeniable. Night follows day, the moon waxes and wanes, the tide ebbs and flows, man rises up and lies down again. This is life under the sun. But that which seems monotonous…
A tumble of dancing memories, Bits of yesterday on parade, Inscribe their indelible signatures Upon the pink pavement. Those early childhood mornings; That first hunt; Daddy holding the hook, And I the worm; sore fingers Shelling peas picked, plucked Fresh from Grandmother’s garden. Chewing and eating is time well-tasted; Every morsel a moment, bittersweet. Each…
The biblical portrait of the Christian Church presents the picture of a people at prayer. All action flows from this central activity. The Church makes her greatest progress when marching on her knees; her vision of the future is clearest when she looks forward with her head bowed. Her hands outstretched in service are filled…
Grant that all who have been baptized into Christ’s death andresurrection may die to sin and rise to newness of life, andthat through the grave and gate of death we may pass withhim to our joyful resurrection. Amen. Give courage and faith to those who are bereaved, that theymay have strength to meet the days ahead…
