A Summary of the Christian Faith
There are over 2,500 EmailMeditations already posted, covering a wide range of what Christianity is all about. But each meditation by itself gives only a brief glimpse of Christian truth, and meditations are presented each day without an overall, organized outline or system. Therefore, I have added to this website a ten chapter book that gives a more systematic overview of the entire Christian faith. The book is Living Faith, by John Schwarz, and the entire book may be found HERE at ‘A Good Book.’.
Rock (and Roll) of Ages
Several years ago, I taught a class in my church called “Rock (and Roll) of Ages.” I would play popular songs, and then use them as a springboard into a discussion of our Christian faith. Most of the initial songs were from the music of my youth— ‘Classic Rock’ from the 1960’s and 70’s (Later sessions got into other types of music). We would look at what the lyrics were saying in light of what we believe as Christians. It was a fun way to get some new insights into some old truths. Then in 2014, I started to rework some of the content of that class into my daily Emailmeditations. You might enjoy the old songs posted there, and also, learn something from them. Those Emailmeditations may be found HERE.
More Songs and Some Hymns
A list of links to previous Emailmeditations similar to the meditations above, except most of these are on specifically Christian hymns and songs. The list contains a mix of old traditional hymns, more recent gospel music, some country western songs, and some contemporary worship music; presented in no particular order. Look for your favorites, or go through them all. All may be found HERE.
Sunday Worship Services
Several of the postings contain a full hour of worship. You may find those Emailmeditations HERE.
Prayers for All Occasions
This website contains the equivalent of several books of prayers. Almost every meditation concludes with a prayer related to the theme of that day’s devotional reading and the Scripture passages. There are also many prayers from a wonderful prayer book by John Baillie (see following paragraph). Along with that, there are many meditations that are made up entirely of assorted prayers for all occasions and needs. You may go to the “prayers” tag, posted with all the other tags (the ‘prayers’ tag contains prayers; the ‘prayer’ tag contains meditations about prayer). The many prayers listed under that tab can also be accessed HERE.
A Diary of Private Prayer by John Baillie
My favorite prayer book is A Diary of Private Prayer (1949) by John Baillie (1886-1960). Baillie was a Church of Scotland pastor and theologian. The book’s simple format contains morning and evening prayers for thirty-one days. I recommend this book in the words of one of my old seminary professors who would say of his favorite book: “Buy this book. I don’t care if you don’t have any money. Sell your shoes if you have to, but buy this book.” I have used it every day for decades. You may read more about this book, and find links to many of Baillie’s prayers HERE.
“The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis (1380?-1471) is the most widely read Christian devotional book in history. No book of any kind, besides the Bible, has been translated into more languages. Unfortunately, many translations are difficult to read, and, the entire book will be too much for most people. However, the book contains some of the best guidance ever written on what it means to follow Jesus. Therefore, I have assembled the best of the book, arranged them in fifteen Emailmeditations, and paraphrased the text for easier reading. Links to those meditations, and more about Thomas a Kempis and this book, may be found HERE.
Best Bible Verses
The Bible is filled with hundreds of wonderful individual verses. Most Emailmeditations include three. In addition to that, I am including HERE an arrangement of all the best verses, three each day, for an entire year. There are over 1200 in all. Each one is a little nugget of truth to comfort, encourage, and inspire; or, to teach, challenge, and admonish. Some of the verses will be very familiar; some will surprise you. Like many people, I have always been in the habit of marking favorite passages as I read the Bible. One year, I went from cover to cover through my Bible, writing down all these favorites, and, adding more as I read. From that list, I assembled this schedule, gave it to my congregation, and starting using it myself. I still use it every day. This year-long schedule of verses may be found HERE.
Bible Studies
Blogs that can be used as Bible Studies can be found HERE. There are also many under the Bible tag which teach about the Bible itself, or, about specific Bible stories and passages, and could be used in a Bible Study. These may be found HERE or by clicking on to the ‘Bible’ tag at the Homepage of this website.
Stories by Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy has been called the greatest novelist of all time. He was at first an atheist, and then he was a Christian. Once he became a Christian, he took his faith very seriously. He quit writing novels for a long time, and used his considerable talent to write about what it means to have faith in Jesus. His writings about following Jesus are brilliant, intense, and challenging; sometimes off the wall and unorthodox, but always thought-provoking. He wrote about a life of faith far beyond his own ability to live up to, and that caused him unceasing guilt and anguish for the rest of his life. He was always struggling to be a better follower of Jesus, and often failed miserably. Tolstoy wrote many short stories that reflected his views on life and what it means to follow Jesus. Links to several of these stories, and more about Tolstoy, may be found HERE.