Tag: Poetry

Links for the Weekend (2023-12-01)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out. (Just two links this week!)

‘The Biggest Story’ Christmas Devotional with Printable Ornaments

Crossway published The Biggest Story as a children’s story Bible this year, and now they’re releasing some companion items in time for Advent. Families may find this helpful during this season. (Note: I have not read this story Bible.)

How the Poet John Milton Responded When He Went Blind in His Forties

How does a medical tragedy affect the writing of a Christian poet? John Milton is one example, and this post includes a sonnet he wrote after going blind.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called How to Prevent a Spiritually Dry December. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-06-09)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Delighting in the Trinity

Michael Reeves is a wonderful writer, specifically about the Trinity. In this article, he describes the love we could expect from a single-person god in contrast to the Trinity.

Just imagine for a moment a single-person god. Having been alone for eternity, would it want fellowship with us? It seems most unlikely. Would it even know what fellowship was? Almost certainly not. Such a god might allow us to live under its rule and protection, but little more. Think of the uncertain hope of the Muslim or the Jehovah’s Witness: they may finally attain paradise, but even there they will have no real fellowship with their god. Their god would not want it.

3 Ways Our Relationship With Social Media Warps Friendship

I appreciate the way this article explains how social media connections can taint our thinking and beliefs about in-person friendship.

Shallow, transient friendships (or “acquaintances”) aren’t all bad—not every “friend” can be a best friend, of course—but those kinds of relationships aren’t built to bear the weight that comes with walking side by side on the road of faith. Unfortunately, the social internet specializes in the generation and maintenance of shallow, transient friendships that masquerade as deep ones. And because we spend more time scrolling our feeds than we do looking at faces, we’ve become far too comfortable with the shallow, transient relationships that social platforms provide.

The kingdom of heaven is like

Here’s a brief, vivid poem about the kingdom of heaven. I especially like the last stanza!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2023-04-28)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out. (Just two links today; it’s been a busy week!)

Truths and Tips for Discipling Teens

I enjoyed this reflection by Jen Oshman on how she and her husband are raising several teenagers at once.

I don’t know the ins and outs of your relationship with your teen. I do know you want the best for your child and you’d do anything for him. Parenting teens is hard. Trusting the Lord is hard. But take heart. God knows our teens deeply and treasures them immeasurably. He desires that all our teens would come to him.

Two Sonnets for the Road to Emmaus

These two poems by Malcolm Guite reflecting on the resurrected Jesus’s encounter with disciples on the road to Emmaus are worth your while.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2022-12-16)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Our Advent Waiting Goes Back to Eden

In this Advent meditation, Jen Wilkin connects Simeon and Anna to Adam and Eve.

Deuteronomy 19:15 decrees that “a matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses,” a theme that can be traced throughout the Bible. We need both Simeon and Anna in our Advent imaginations because they are placed there to establish a credible witness. Together, they testify to the fulfillment of God’s promise, a promise given thousands of years earlier to another man and woman.

God in the Manger

When we declare that God came to the manger, we are declaring the gospel.

Why? Because God in heaven has come to be with his creation. God in the manger is God who stoops. God who gets into the dirt. God who comes and sits in the ash heap with the mourners. God who comes and sits in the dark with the sufferers. God who joins the work party with the oppressed. God who sits in prison with the captives. God who associates with the blind and the lame and the leprous and the tax collector and the adulterer and the one society calls a sinner.

The Bethlehem Story

This is cool. The Bethlehem story is an animated Christmas poem. It begins by stating that every culture has two types of city—a city of kings and a house of bread. Which one would we expect God to visit? This is a 4-minute video, appropriate (and helpful) for all ages.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article written by Maggie Amaismeier called Christmas Music Recommendations. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2022-08-19)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Is Your Gospel an Urban Legend?

What’s the difference between Santa Claus and Jesus? From our behavior and our stories, our children should be able to see a big difference.

I imagine that it was not too difficult, even when our girls sort of believed Santa was a real person, to separate the importance of Santa from Jesus because our familial life didn’t revolve around Santa. We didn’t read every day about Santa or discuss how Santa would want us to treat our friends at school. We didn’t talk about the importance of Santa for our everyday life. Dad didn’t write books about Santa or preach on Sundays about Santa. When we sinned against our kids, we didn’t come to them for forgiveness out of a desire to make Santa look beautiful. We didn’t tuck them in with prayers to Santa. And the community of faith we raise our kids in isn’t devoted to Santa. In the grand scheme of things, learning Santa wasn’t real was not a huge deal.

Look Until You See

Cassie Watson urges us to behold beauty in all areas of our lives, especially those where it might be hardest to discover.

When I’m feeling crushed by my to-do list or discouraged by my weakness, I need to slow down and look ever more carefully until I see. In my ordinary days, there’s my niece’s giggles, letters in the mailbox, delightful endpapers in picture books, and Australasian figbirds. The more I look, the more I see. 

Overcoming Sinful Anger

With some help from Jonathan Edwards, Nick Batzig takes a look at sinful anger.

The issue of sinful anger is one that is not addressed enough in theologically conservative circles. It is one leading mark of self-righteousness; and, is a sin of which we need to repent and against which we must watch and pray.

A Sonnet on the Transfiguration

The poet Malcolm Guite has written poetry celebrating and reflecting on different parts of the church calendar. This poem on the transfiguration of Jesus is particularly good.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (1/7/2022)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

The Neglected Ministry of Specific Encouragement

I’ve never heard of anyone who has been encouraged too much. Here’s a short, practical article on how to give and receive encouragement.

Herein lies the primary difference between worldly compliments and biblical encouragement. Worldly compliments exalt self; biblical encouragement exalts God. When someone receives biblical encouragement, she walks away praising and thanking God—not praising and inflating self.

Say Hi to the Old Lady on the Porch

Here’s a delightful story about an unlikely friendship in Memphis between two women who didn’t have many other people in their lives.

So I waved back, because if a cute old lady waves at you and you don’t wave back, you might be the biggest jerk ever to exist. But day after day, wave after wave, it began to feel weird to not stop and say hello. How many times can you wave and not actually speak without it getting awkward? And I was curious about her. Who was this old woman who sat on this porch in her rocking chair, her hands folded nicely over her stomach as she rocked, waved, rocked, waved? So one day, I stopped my bike and said hello.

A Sonnet for Epiphany

Epiphany is January 6 on the church calendar, and Christian poet Malcolm Guite wrote a poem for the occasion. In the winter it feels like we all could use a little more poetry in our lives.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (12/18/2020)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

Is Christmas a Pagan Rip-off?

Kevin DeYoung addresses the idea that Christmas is a copycat of a pagan holiday. Though this is a longstanding and accepted argument, DeYoung says that it’s just not true.

Unlike Easter, which developed as a Christian holiday much earlier, there is no mention of birth celebrations from the earliest church fathers. Christian writers like Irenaeus (130-200) and Tertullian (160-225) say nothing about a festival in honor of Christ’s birth, and Origen (165-264) even mocks Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries as pagan practices. This is a pretty good indication that Christmas was not yet on the ecclesiastical calendar (or at least not widespread), and that if it were, it would not have been tied to a similar Roman holiday.

Advent I: The Face of God

Brad East has written a nice Advent meditation on the face of God over at Mere Orthodoxy.

Advent is the season when the church remembers—which is to say, is reminded by the Spirit—that as the people of the Messiah, we are defined not by possession but by dispossession, not by having but by hoping, not by leisurely resting but by eagerly waiting. We are waiting on the Lord, whose command is simple: “Keep awake” (Mark 13:37). Waiting is wakefulness, and wakefulness is watchfulness: like the disciples in the Garden, we are tired, weighed down by the weakness of the flesh, but still we must keep watch and be alert as we await the Lord’s return, relying on his Spirit, who ever is willing (cf. Mark 14:32-42).

Liturgy for a Pandemic Christmas

To quote a part of this would be to ruin the whole, so I will just urge you to read this lovely poem written by Jessica Merzdorf at Fathom Magazine about Jesus coming for (and identifying with) his people.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called A Contrast of Kings at Christmas. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (6/5/2020)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

God Never Forgets His Promises

At Ligonier’s website, Derek Thomas reflects on Joseph’s life and what it teaches us about God’s providence. Though we often want to read the events around us and make meaning for ourselves as individuals, Thomas tells us we should keep God’s promises in mind.

Providence has wider issues in mind than merely our personal comfort or gain. In answer to the oft-cited question in times of difficulty, “Why me?” the forthcoming answer is always, “Them!” He allows us to suffer so that others may be blessed. Joseph suffered in order that his undeserving brothers might receive blessing. In their case, this meant being kept alive during a time of famine and having the covenant promises of their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, reaffirmed before their eyes.

What Makes Any Marriage Difficult

Let me say this first: this is not a great title for this article. With that out of the way, I think this could be a really helpful article for married couples! Darren Carlson provides three questions that he and his wife worked through to strengthen their marriage.

Those who know me best know some of these weaknesses; my wife knows them all. Living with someone leads to the unavoidable exposure of one’s shortcomings. Pride tells us we are good at everything, that we are not the issue, that it’s really our spouse who has all the weaknesses. Be careful: God stands against people like this (Proverbs 16:5; James 4:6). Love is not proud (1 Corinthians 13:4).

5 Contemporary Poets Christians Should Read

I would wager that most of us don’t read much poetry. But poetry can put into words some reactions, moods, and emotions that prose just cannot. English professor Mischa Willett points us toward five of his favorite contemporary Christian poets. Troubled times may issue an especially pointed cry for poetry.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article written by Sarah Wisniewski called When the House of God Doesn’t Feel Like Home. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.