Kenton J. Kutney

What we need most is to shine the change that the Light of the World truly makes in a person. That is the greatest apologetic.  (It is God's purpose for His Bride. 'Be' the Church; we don't merely go to a building and 'do' churchiness. That's just Churchianity and not the real Christianity the world needs to see so badly. It's as different as Winterfest is from the Spirit of Christmas.) To the cynical rationalist we only have to turn to old souls like Blaise Pascal - "The heart has its reasons that Reason cannot understand." Belief supersedes reason. Reason serves faith. Another wise person said: "I believe in order that I may understand." - Augustine I think that order is crucial. The greatest reply for the seeker to consider is, What is "the God who speaks" saying to me? If one is not even seeking to understand, then what more could we ever say endlessly into the wind? Even a witnessed miracle pr

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us, and be so in us, that every person we should come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus. Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine; so to shine as to be a light to others; the light, Jesus, will be all from you. None of it will be ours. It will be you shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching: not by words, but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic infuence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for you. Amen.  — Mother Teresa

Prayer Write your blessed name, O Lord, upon my heart, there to remain so indelibly engraved, that no prosperity, no adversity shall ever move me from your love . Be to me a strong tower of defence, a comforter in tribulation, a deliverer in distress, a very present help in trouble and a guide to heaven through the many temptations and dangers of this life. — Thomas A Kempis A timeless prayer as the old year gently slips away and the new one comes into view - may it be one blessed with love and grace in your life.

If you are at all compelled by Christmas: The kids, the lights, the joy of giving, the comfort and love of the season, it is not what they call the 'magic' of Christmas that is at work.  It is the 'Spirit' of the Season, God's own gracious, loving abundance.  Consider all the beauty of it and, "Let every heart prepare Him room" (Joy To The World).   Merry Christmas!!

  O Lord, to be turned from you is to fall, to be turned to you is to rise, and to stand in you is to abide forever. Grant us in all our duties your help,  in all our perplexities your guidance, in all our dangers your protection, and in all our sorrows your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  —St. Thomas Aquinas

O Lord my God;   Teach my heart this day where and how to see you;   Where and how to find you.   You have made me and remade me;   And you have bestowed on me all the good things I possess;   And still I do not know you.   I have not yet done that for which I was made.   Teach me to seek you;   For I cannot seek you unless you teach me;   Or find you unless you show yourself to me;   Let me seek you in my desire;   Let me desire you in my seeking;   Let me find you by loving you;   Let me love you when I find you.  — St. Anselm

  Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon Where there is doubt, faith, Where there is despair, hope, Where there is darkness, light, Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, not so much to be understood as to understand, not so much to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.  — St. Francis Of Assisi

Preaching , by Timothy Keller Approximately 6 hours reading time.  They say, 'It takes one to know one!'  If that's so then it's probably a good thing that this New York Times best-selling author is also a pastor and  preacher.   I went over this book three times, not because it is a 'comprehensive text' but for much the same compelling reason as Rev. Fred Fulford, who says it has helped the most of anything he has read since Bryan Chapel's 'Christ-Centered Preaching'."  Fred  estimates this to be the best book he has read on Preaching in a decade.   Timothy Keller offers up fresh insights on communicating the essence of the Christian faith, whether it is delivered via a Sunday sermon - or a chat in a coffee shop.  Well-known for his other solid books like, 'Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering', 'The Reason for God', and  'The Meaning of Marriage', Keller here offers another practical re