“Let us be paracletes to each other.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Remember that a paraclete is called/invited to come alongside someone in order to help and bear burdens, through advising, reminding, advocating, comforting, listening, exhorting, teaching and encouraging, with the ultimate purpose of pointing to God and glorifying Him. The following scriptures help unpack what us little paracletes …
“…There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24b) The Holy Spirit is that Person of Love mutually and eternally shared by the Father and the Son, revealing a God of Three-in-One. In the gospel of John, the Lord Jesus names their Spirit “Paraclete.” which means “called to come alongside of.” Depending …
Ten Glimpses of Sainthood: “A saint is a little Christ. Not only do we see Christ through His saints, as we see a light through a stained glass window, but we also understand the saints only through Christ, as we understand eggs only through chickens.” (Peter Kreeft) “Life holds only one tragedy, ultimately: not to …
“In terms of the world’s sanity, Jesus was crazy as a coot, and anybody who thinks he can follow Him without being a little crazy too is laboring less under a cross than under a delusion.” (Frederick Buechner) When I was a teenager thick in the middle of the 60’s Jesus Movement, I liked wearing a …
“Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days you may labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.” (Exodus 20:8-10) 1. The Liturgy for the Family Table. (the night before the chosen Sabbath day, which officially starts at sundown) a. Put fresh flowers, nice …
Whatever is foreseen in joy Must be lived out from day to day. Vision held open in the dark By our ten thousand days of work. Harvest will fill the barn; for that The hand must ache, the face must sweat. And yet no leaf or grain is filled By work of ours; the field …
Honest questions from a faithful believer, when the Bird in the mist seems to disappear. Notice the questioner knows where to go with his questions, who to ask. He names Him, he assumes His presence, His open ear. These are good questions to ask when the Dove is sight unseen. 1. “How long, Yahweh, will …
Before everything When emptiness was waiting to be filled, and Nothingness was silent in the formless deep, The Spirit of God flutters over the thick eggshell of the watery abyss. A songbird hovering over her brood to come, God waits until the right moment to sing a universe into being And take it, all of …