A mighty fortress is our God...

 A mighty fortress is our God,

A bulwark never failing;

Our helper he, amid the flood

Of mortal ills prevailing.

For still our ancient foe

Does seek to work us woe;

His craft and power are great,

And armed with cruel hate,

On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,

Our striving would be losing,

Were not the right Man on our side,

The Man of God's own choosing.

You ask who that may be?

Christ Jesus, it is he;

Lord Sabaoth his name,

From age to age the same;

And he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God has willed

His truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim,

We tremble not for him;

His rage we can endure,

For lo! his doom is sure;

One little word shall fell him.

That Word above all earthly powers

No thanks to them abideth;

The Spirit and the gifts are ours

Through him who with us sideth.

Let goods and kindred go,

This mortal life also;

The body they may kill:

God's truth abideth still;

His kingdom is forever!

-Martin Luther image

Church is to develop a Christian counter-culture with its own distinctive goals, values, standards, and lifestyle...

Instead of always being one of the chief bastions of the social status quo, the Church is to develop a Christian counter-culture with its own distinctive goals, values, standards, and lifestyle, a realistic alternative to the contemporary technocracy which is marked by bondage, materialism, self-centredness, and greed. Christ’s call to obedience is a call to be different, not conformist. Such a Church—joyful, obedient, loving, and free—will do more than please God: it will attract the world. It is when the Church evidently is the Church, and is living a supernatural life of love by the power of the Holy Spirit, that the world will believe.  -John R. W. Stott

We should all endeavor and labor for a calmer spirit...

We should all endeavor and labor for a calmer spirit, that we may the better serve God in praying to Him and praising Him; and serve one another in love, that we may be fitted to do and receive good; that we may make our passage to heaven more easy and cheerful, without drooping and hanging the wing. So much as we are quiet and cheerful upon good ground, so much we live, and are, as it were, in heaven. -R. Sibbes

“Hear what the Lord has done for me.”

Have you no words? ah! think again,

Words flow apace when you complain;

And fill your fellow-creature’s ear

With the sad tale of all your care.

 

Were half the breath thus vainly spent,

To Heav’n in supplication sent;

Your cheerful song would oft’ner be,

“Hear what the Lord has done for me.”

-William Cowper

If thou but suffer God to guide thee...

If thou but suffer God to guide thee,

And hope in Him thro' all thy ways,

He'll give thee strength, what-e'er betide thee,

And bear thee thro the evil days;

Who trust in God's unchanging love

Builds on the rock that naught can move.

Obey, thou restless heart, be still

And wait in cheerful hope, content;

To take what-e'er His gracious will,

His all discerning love, hath sent;

Nor doubt our inmost wants are known

To Him who chose us for His own.

Sing, pray, and swerve not from His ways;

But do thine own part faithfully.

Trust His rich promises of grace,

So shall they be fulfilled in thee.

God never yet forsook in need

The soul that trusted Him indeed.

-Georg Neumark

There is a stream, whose gentle flow...

There is a stream, whose gentle flow 

Supplies the city of our God; 

Life, love, and joy still gliding through, 

And watering our divine abode: 

That sacred stream, thine holy word, 

That all our raging fear controls; 

Sweet peace thy promises afford, 

And give new strength to fainting souls. 

-Isaac Watts

The fretting friction of our daily life...

The fretting friction of our daily life, 

Heart-weariness with loving patience borne, 

The meek endurance of the inward strife, 

The painful crown of thorn, 

Prepare the heart for God’s own dwelling place, 

Adorn with sacred loveliness His shrine, 

And brighten every inconspicuous grace, 

For God alone to shine. 

-Mary E. Atkinson

“Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow...

“Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow,

Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea,

What matters beating wind and tossing billow

If only we are in the boat with Thee?

Hold us quiet through the age-long minute

While Thou art silent and the wind is shrill :

Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, are in it;

Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?

-Amy Carmichael