DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

Today WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT Catholic Daily Readings First Reading  Je 18:18–20 Response  Ps 31:17b Psalm   Ps 31:5–6 ,  14–16 Gospel Acclamation  Jn 8:12 Gospel   Mt 20:17–28 Today WEDNESDAY AFTER THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings Psalm   Ps 105:1–11 ,  37–45 First Reading  Je 30:12–22 Second Reading  Jn 12:36–43 Today WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN LENT Book of Common Prayer (1979) Daily Office Lectionary Psalms (Morning)  Ps 72 Psalms (Evening)  Ps 119:73–96 Old Testament  Ge 42:18–28 New Testament   1 Co 5:9–6:8 Gospel   Mk 4:1–20 Today WEDNESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF LENT, MORNING PRAYER Book of Common Prayer (1928) Daily Office Lectionary Psalm  Ps 56 First Reading  Ge 27:46–28:4 ,  10–22 Second Reading  1 Co 6:12

February 28: Neon Gods Leviticus 26–27 ; John 10:22–42; Song of Solomon 8:10–14 Idolatry seems archaic. Who worships idols anymore? We all know that in other countries, traditional idol worship of gold and wooden statues still goes on, but we often forget about our own idols. What does all our furniture point toward? Why do we care who is on the cover of a magazine? How do you feel if you miss your favorite talk show? If we’re really honest, what do we spend the majority of our time thinking about? Idols are everywhere, and most of us are idol worshipers of some kind. When we put this in perspective, suddenly the words of Lev 26 become relevant again. The problem that is addressed in Leviticus is the same problem we’re dealing with today. Leviticus 26 and its harsh words against idolatry should prompt each of us to ask, “What are my idols?” and then to answer with, “I will end my idolatry.” And if the temptation is too great with these things present in our lives (like t...

Morning, February 28 Go To Evening Reading “My expectation is from him.” — Psalm 62:5 It is the believer’s privilege to use this language. If he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor “expectation” indeed. But if he looks to God for the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual blessings, his “expectation” will not be a vain one. Constantly he may draw from the bank of faith, and get his need supplied out of the riches of God’s lovingkindness. This I know, I had rather have God for my banker than all the Rothschilds. My Lord never fails to honour his promises; and when we bring them to his throne, he never sends them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at his door, for he ever opens it with the hand of munificent grace. At this hour I will try him anew. But we have “expectations” beyond this life. We shall die soon; and then our “expectation is from him.” Do we not expect that when we lie upon the bed of sickness he will send angels to car...

February 28th Do ye now believe? By this we believe … Jesus answered, Do ye now believe? John 16:30–31 . ‘Now we believe.’ Jesus says— ‘Do you? The time is coming when you will leave Me alone.’ Many a Christian worker has left Jesus Christ alone and gone into work from a sense of duty, or from a sense of need arising out of his own particular discernment. The reason for this is the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. The soul has got out of intimate contact with God by leaning to its own religious understanding. There is no sin in it, and no punishment attached to it; but when the soul realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and produced for himself perplexities and sorrows and difficulties, it is with shame and contrition he has to come back. We need to rely on the resurrection life of Jesus much deeper down, to get into the habit of steadily referring everything back to Him; instead of this we make our commonsense decisions and ask God to ...

February 28 Forgetting those things which are behind … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3:13 , 14 It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have. What we are and where we are, is God’s providential arrangement—God’s doing, though it may be man’s misdoing. Life is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian who makes the fewest false steps. He is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes. F. W. Robertson  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

The Children of God Excerpt The kind of love God demonstrates is active and creative love, which “calls” us the children of God. “Calling” means more than naming. It means the inauguration of a relationship, of a reality that can best be pictured by the metaphor of being God’s own children. By God’s creative act of love, we belong to God as surely and permanently as children belong to their parents. The Elder emphasizes this new relationship when he writes,  And that is what we are!  and  now we are children of God.  We do not simply  look at  a love that is external to us and marvel at its greatness; we  know  a love that resides  within  us. As Westcott comments, God’s love is not simply exhibited, it is imparted to us (1966:93).  More Thompson, Marianne Meye.  1–3 John . Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992. Print. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series.

Aquinas: The Reason for the Sacraments Excerpt Through the institution of the sacraments man, consistently with his nature, is instructed through sensible things; he is humbled, through confessing that he is subject to corporeal things, seeing that he receives assistance through them: and he is even preserved from bodily hurt, by the healthy exercise of the sacraments.  More Thomas Aquinas.  Summa Theologica . Trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province. London: Burns Oates & Washbourne. Print.

David’s fame Excerpt As Goliath moves in to silence his brash opponent, David slings one of the stones with unerring accuracy. It strikes the Philistine on the forehead, perhaps killing him instantly ( v.  49 ). David then removes Goliath’s sword from the scabbard and cuts off his head. Stunned by this turn of events, the Philistines flee back to their coastal cities with the Israelites in hot pursuit. As David had predicted in  verse 46 , many of the Philistines are killed along the way. David puts Goliath’s weapons in his own tent and later dedicates the sword to the Lord, taking it to the tabernacle ( 21:9 ) as a way of acknowledging that God gave him the victory. According to  verse 54 , David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem. This may refer to a later time after David conquered Jerusalem ( 2  Sam. 5:1–9 ) or it may mean that a number of Israelites already lived in Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem was a major city, it would have been a logical place to display a...

The Consolation of Israel Luke 2:25 Excerpt This refers to the consolation that would be brought about by the inauguration of the messianic age. Compare   Luke 2:26 , where this consolation is described as “seeing the Lord’s Christ” ( cf . also   1:54 ,  68–75 ). For Luke this referred not to the fulfillment of Jewish political hopes involving deliverance from their enemies and restoration of David’s throne but rather to the salvation Jesus brought. This is clear when one compares   2:30  with such verses as  19:10 . See the discussion at  1:69 . Like other devout model believers (Anna,  2:38 ; Joseph of Arimathea,  23:51 ; cf . also   12:36 ;  Acts 24:15 ), Simeon was looking forward to Israel’s consolation ( 2:25 ), i.e. , Jerusalem’s redemption ( 2:38 ); the coming of God’s kingdom ( 23:51 ); the Master’s return ( 12:36 ); the resurrection of the just and the unjust ( Acts 24:15 ).  More Stein, Robert H....