Whatever circumstances we may encounter in life, whatever difficulties may befall us, whatever suffering we may have to pass through, we can have the highest confidence that none of it has come apart from the knowledge and the will of God. As the Catechism says, God “watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.” …

We tend to think the issues in our churches are contemporary issues that we alone have had to contend with. Yet when we read voices from ages past, we are often reminded that many issues come and go, rise and wane. This is the case with the music we sing at church. At some points the church is (rightly) focused on enabling the amateur voices in the pews and at other points (wrongly) focused on prioritizing the professional voices in …

Janet Hamilton is one of those old poets whose work I have just begun to explore. She lived and died during an era when devotional poetry was important to Christians and I have found her poems quite enjoyable. Here is one that reflects on the beauty of a mother’s love for her child. Dear child! a faithful mother’s love For thee will toil, and watch, and pray; An angel hovering still above Thy couch by night, thy steps by day. …

I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I’m the only person in the world who reads through back issues of the Ann Arbor Baptist, a periodical from the late 1800s. But periodicals like that were the blogs of their era and within their pages I find such interesting articles and poems. One that I spotted recently (though I’ve spotted it in other works as well, sometimes adapted into a hymn) is Mary Brainard’s “I Know Not What Shall Befall Me,” …

With this being Mother’s Day, and with Father’s Day fast approaching, it seemed fitting to share something that reflects on the gifts God provides through parents. Charles Spurgeon offered some words that seemed to be just right in the way they associate motherhood and fatherhood with the character of God. A father’s compassion tenderly lifts up those who fall. When your child falls down, as children are very apt to do, especially when they first begin to walk, don’t you …

We are so prone to make such a mess of our lives—so prone to be wasteful with the good gifts that God has given us. And then life in this world has its ways of grieving and harming us even apart from our own sin. George H. Morrison once reflected on all this as he considered the words of 1 Peter 5:10, which read as follows: “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory …

I am new to the writings of George Herbert Morrison, but was quickly taken with this quote about the Bible—about the way it meets our needs and the way it satisfies our spiritual hunger. I hope you’ll enjoy it too! Whenever the Almighty satisfies his creatures, he gives them drink as abundant as the seas. Think of the Bible—an ancient book and yet intensely modern and practical. Think of the ages that have gone since it was written; think of …