Belief

"Belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God; it is the way to address every obstacle and grow in every aspect."
- Tim Keller

"It is easy to believe in God, but far more difficult to believe God."
- Dr. Stephen Kellough, Wheaton College Chaplain

"If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."
- St. Augustine

To a Mouse

Wee, sleek, cowerin', tim'rous beastie,
O, what a panic's in thy breastie!
Thou need not start away so hasty
With bickering brattle!
I would be loath to run an' chase thee,
With murdering pattle.

I'm truly sorry man's dominion
Has broken Nature's social union,
An' justifies that ill opinion
Which makes thee startle
At me, thy poor, earth born companion
An' fellow mortal!

I doubt not, sometimes, but thou may thieve;
What then? poor beastie, thou must live!
A rare, small piece but from the thrave
Is a small request;
I'll get a blessin' with the lave,
An' never miss it.

Thy little housie, too, in ruin!
It's silly walls the winds are strewin'!
An' nothing, now, to build a new one,
Of foliage green!
An' bleak December's winds ensuin',
Both sharp an' keen!

Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,
An' weary winter comin' fast,
An' cozie here, beneath the blast,
Thou thought to dwell,
Till crash! the cruel coulter past
Out through thy cell.

That wee bit heap of leaves an' stibble,
Has cost thee many a weary nibble!
Now thou's turned out, for all thy trouble,
But house or hold,
To bear the winter's sleety dribble,
An' gray frost cold.

But Mousie, thou art not thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes of mice an' men
Go oft awry,
An' leave us nought but grief an' pain,
For promised joy!

Still thou are blest, compared with me!
The present only toucheth thee:
But oh! I backward cast my eye,
On prospects drear!
An' forward, though I cannot see,
I guess an' fear!

By Robert Burns

Prophets of a Future Not Our Own

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

By Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw