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Before The Pumpkins: Faith In The Flames

...oice from heaven saying, “Be strong, and show thyself a man, O Polycarp!”. The other believers who were with Polycarp also heard the voice but no one saw where it came from. Due to Polycarp’s advanced age, the proconsul tried to persuade him to just declare what was asked of him and say, “Swear by the fortune of Cæsar; repent, and say, ‘Away with the Atheists’”. In this context at the time, “Atheists” referred to Christians because they denied the pantheon of Roman gods. But Polycarp, he wasn’t so easily intimidated. Looking around at “all the multitude of the wicked heathen” in the stadium seats, he waved his hand towards them and sai...

Before the Pumpkins: The Barbecued Deacon

...s eyes to heaven and gave thanks to God for counting him worthy to suffer. After some time, the account continues with words that have made Lawrence one of the most memorable of all martyrs: Having been a long time on the fire, he said to his tormentors with a cheerful countenance: ‘This side is done; turn me over and eat.’ It is difficult to read those words without laughing at how funny it sounds! It matches the kind of dark humour that I can have and often think of, which is probably why the story of Lawrence appeals to me so much, it’s the kind of silly thing I would think to say (though I’m not sure if I would in Lawrence’s place!). In the...

The Author of Life Knew Death For Our Sake!

...rth or in heaven”, through Christ in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” making peace “through the blood of the cross” so he can “present [us] holy and blameless and irreproachable before [God]” – and now, in turn, God has given us who accept and believe the Gospel, the mission to do the same for anyone and everyone else we meet along the way as “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:18-20; Col1:19-22)! Remember, even though it seemed as though death reigned and had won the day on Good Friday, it was actually the total opposite happening in the death of Jesus. He died and took death with him! Whilst the “first adam” brought de...

Lent: Day 16 - Justin Martyr: First Apology, Chaps. 48-59

...gates of heaven; be opened, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty.   From this point on, Justin argues that since he has proven that the prophecies of old have come to pass, then it follows that those which “are yet to come to pass, shall certainly happen”. The General Resurrection and Punishments Ezekiel 37:7-8; Isaiah 45:24 Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow again; and every knee shall bow to the Lord, and every tongue shall confess Him. Isaiah 66:24 Their worm shall not rest, and their fire shall not b quenched   The closing chapters of this sectio...

Lent Day 18: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 1-9

...ng of the heavenly Master”. “Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith?” Cyprian asks, really hammering home the point of keeping unity within the Church and the faith; as Christ endowed the Twelve with power, but commissioned Peter to feed the sheep, in doing so Jesus arranged the “origin of that unity” for which the partnership of the Apostles began the Church. To strengthen his argument for unity within One Church, he quotes Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6, calling it the “sacrament of unity” by which we know the true Church. In speaking of the Bishops, or the “episcopate”, Cyprian says they above all need to...

Lent Day 19: Cyprian: On the Unity of the Church: 10-18

...Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” There are a few preachers today, mostly within the Prosperity Gospel movement, who would claim this verse means that you can literally ask for anything and have it (and if you don’t get it, then it’s your own lack of faith stopping you). Cyprian interprets this instruction by Jesus as a way of him urging for “unanimity and peace upon His disciples” in the things which they pray for; that they are all of one mind and purpose when they come together and come before God. This is similar then to what Jesus says in John 17:11 where he prays for his disciples to “b...