A pastor settles on one of two versions of salvation he will emphasize. The first salvation is that from a sub-Christianity. Let’s sketch an image of ‘sub-Christian Bill.’ Bill has grown up in an understanding of Christianity that is (the kindest word for it) diminished. He is truly joined to God through Christ, but has [...]
Author Archives: Pastor Colin Landry
I am of Paul
March 10, 2010 – 2:50 pmPsalm 13
February 17, 2010 – 10:01 amPsalm 13 is a lament—a category of prayer that you are surprised to find in the Bible, since there is in it the potential for God to be thought of poorly. Here the psalmist is confused, impatient to the point of exasperation. Four times he declaims, “How long?” to God. We are not sure of [...]
Spirit in the World
November 23, 2009 – 6:14 pmNevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning [...]
But the Hour is Coming
September 26, 2009 – 7:45 pm“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” – John 4:23,24 Jesus says to the Samaritan woman that [...]
Library Announcement
September 15, 2009 – 11:14 amOur church library is almost completed, and books can now be borrowed. Thanks to all who have contributed volumes and have worked to set up the library, including especially Allie Thompson, Kelsea Molitor, and Melita Matzko (from a distance!) I said almost: we still have a few things to do. 1) place bookplates in the [...]
As Kingfishers Catch Fire
April 6, 2009 – 12:06 pmA more eloquent version of what I was trying to say in “Go for it,” by Gerard Manley Hopkins: As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme; As tumbled over rim in roundy wells Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name; Each mortal [...]
All Kinds of Change
April 6, 2009 – 11:55 amIn this post I want to bring to light some things from our study on “Christian Change.” Crossroads: a step-by-step guide away from addiction, by Dr Ed Welch, lists ten steps to change. The first one given is “Listen.” Christian change can begin when one decides to humble himself and dedicate himself to listening to [...]
Go for it
March 17, 2009 – 11:19 amOn Sunday we heard Jesus refer to his followers’ relationship with him as a participation in him, specifically a participation in his death. When we become followers of Christ, we truly receive him, and our identity is altered. The events that formed Jesus’ destiny—his death, resurrection, and ascension—must now inform the calculations and priorities for [...]
Missionary Zeal
March 17, 2009 – 11:10 amYou’ll enjoy this: Following is a letter written in the early 1800s by a ten-year-old boy and his sister. The letter was sent to the natives of modern-day Sri Lanka through a missionary who was going to the island. HT: Doug Wilson Dear Heathen: The Lord Jesus Christ hath promised that the time shall come [...]
Patterns in Revival
March 6, 2009 – 8:15 amHT: Ray Ortlund Horatius Bonar, writing the preface to John Gillies’ Accounts of Revival, proposes that men useful to the Holy Spirit for revival have been marked in these nine ways: 1. They were in earnest about the great work on which they had entered: “They lived and labored and preached like men on whose [...]