A Christmas Prayer

Thoughts From Horatius Bonar

Dear Friends, If you are like me, you may have had a bad experience in the past with churches that stressed “holiness.” Not because churches shouldn’t, but because the focus was placed on outward conformity to externalisms, or a prescribed set of moralism’s that sucked the atmosphere of grace out of the church. In fact, the more effort-based versions of “holiness” are stressed, the more grace disappears – and the vacuum left in its wake is filled with even more rigid standards of morality and law-based duties – driving all who truly struggle with sin into hiding or pretending. And of all the books I have ever read on holiness (or godliness) none (in my opinion) hold a candle to “God’s Way of Holiness” by the Scottish minister Horatius Bonar (1808-1889). A book I have given to numerous people to read. If you were one who was turned off, or wounded, by a form of holiness based on what Bonar calls, “constrained externalism” or self-effort, I offer you this selection as a taste of w...

Thoughts on the Moravian Revival

Dear Friends, I have told many that if I was not a pastor, I would be a history teacher! History thrills me! Any history, but church history in particular. Therefore, today, I would like to share one of my favorite events in church history. It is the Moravian Revival or Moravian Pentecost of 1727. It’s too significant of an event for you NOT to know about! So, I offer you this condensed summary, hoping it inspires you as much as it has me. Thanks given to Tony Cauchi whose post on “The Revival Library” ( https://revival-library.org/histories/1727-the-great-awakening-moravians/ ) much of this material was borrowed from and expanded upon. Enjoy! Who Are We Talking About? The Moravians were the spiritual descendants of Jan Hus, the Czechoslovakian reformer/martyr who took his stand on the biblical Gospel of “Grace alone, by Faith alone through Christ alone” and paid for it with his life on July 6, 1415 –just over 100 years before Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of t...

Thoughts From Rick Morgan and Wendell and Melanie Nofziger

Dear Friends, Today, instead of passing along a thought from a published book, I wanted to offer two different “thoughts” from two personal friends presently ministering in other parts of the world. They attended my church in Honduras at some point between 1994-2005 (on occasions when they were not doing their mission work there). I still follow their ministries with a little bit of envy – just a little, not a sinful amount! The first is by Rick Morgan. Rick now resides with his wife Kim in El Salvador and continues to minister throughout Latin America and Spain as a traveling Pastor/Evangelist/Encourager to pastors and churches. The second is by Wendell and Melanie Nofziger who serve with EMM (Eastern Mennonite Missions) mentoring and making disciples as they direct VidaNet (LifeNet) in Costa Rica. I enjoy ge...

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