Lmst

Anthony Gilby—an English Puritan and translator of the Geneva Bible—reads Micah 6 as a rebuke of corrupt trade. False weights, bribery, and extortion don’t just cheat customers; Gilby says they store up God’s wrath and crush the poor. He even names the merchants of his own cities. Would we dare preach that plainly today? How will you keep integrity in dealings when it costs you?

#bible #puritan #justice

Black quote card with no portrait, featuring only white text. The quotation condemns bribery, extortion, and dishonest trade practices, accusing the use of false measures and scant weights as provoking divine wrath. At the bottom, the text attributes the passage to “ANTHONY GILBY (ca. 1510–1585)” from A commentarie upon the prophet Mycha.

Robert Horne, an #Anglican chaplain, points out that the Unjust Steward isn’t Jesus saying, “Have a little fraud, as a treat.” It’s about money being a deeply suspicious thing that nonetheless has to be used. Horne says the trick is to let it flow—to be so generous your “fountain of liberality” actually splashes someone. Which is awkward, because we much prefer fountains with lids, signs, and a committee deciding who’s allowed a sip.
#christian #usaid

Black-background quote graphic showing white text from Robert Horne (1565–1640) on the right and his name on the left. The text notes that the Parable of the Unjust Steward does not teach unfaithfulness but urges wise and just use of wealth so that “the fountains of our liberality may run over to all that need.” A small title line names the sermon collection Of the Rich Man and Lazarus.

George Price Hays, a Presbyterian minister and college president, warns against pious sentimentality. We imagine serving Christ at Bethany or defending Him in Gethsemane, he says, yet miss Him daily. Christ meets us in every impenitent soul—rich or poor—whom we encounter. If Matthew 25 is true, evangelism itself demands reverence. How would our witness change if we treated those we seek to convert with the same awe we claim for Christ?

#christian #faith #evangelism

Black quote card with a black-and-white portrait of George Price Hays on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “GEORGE PRICE HAYS (1838–1897)” and Our pit and our rock, or The Presbyterian Church, a fruit of missions. On the right, a long white quotation contrasts sentimental wishes to have served Christ in biblical scenes with the present call to action, urging readers to recognize Christ in every impenitent person—rich or poor—whom they encounter.

Andrew Gray, a minister in the Church of Scotland, warns that Christians often prize visible spiritual acts—prayer, hope, religious feeling—while neglecting what he calls the “lower duties”: self-denial, mortifying sin, and charity to the poor. He insists these are not optional add-ons, but essential marks of faith. Devotion that bypasses discipline and mercy, he suggests, is quietly incomplete.
#FaithandCulture #ReformedTheology #prayer

Black quote card with an image of a book title page on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “ANDREW GRAY (1633–1656)” and Sermon II. On the right, a long white quotation criticizes a common Christian error of valuing lofty spiritual duties like faith and prayer while neglecting everyday obligations such as contentment, humility toward the world, and charity to the poor, which are essential to true Christian life.

Thomas Gouge, a Puritan minister, reflecting on the rich man and Lazarus, warns that unmerciful wealth is spiritually perilous. The rich man’s sin was not luxury alone, but withholding even crumbs from the needy. Gouge presses his hearers to be “free and forward, liberal and bountiful” toward the poor—treating generosity not as optional kindness, but as a chief Christian duty.

#christian #parable #spiritual #duty

Black quote card with an engraved portrait of Thomas Gouge on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “THOMAS GOUGE (1605–1681)” and Directions to the Rich. On the right, a long white quotation recalls the rich man in Luke 16 who lived lavishly yet gave nothing to poor Lazarus, warning wealthy readers to consider his end and urging them toward free, generous, and bountiful care for the needs of the poor.

David Brown, director of the Alliance of Reformed Churches in Scotland, reflects on the Good Samaritan. He argues the priest who passed by did not act from ignorance but in violation of known law—Scripture already required mercy even toward enemies and animals. The warning is sobering: righteousness that explains away neglect is no righteousness at all. How do we see “passing by” these days? How will we help those in distress?
#christian #reformed #usaid

Black quote card with an oval engraved portrait of David Brown on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “DAVID BROWN (1803–1897)” and A commentary, critical, experimental, and practical, on the Old and New Testaments. On the right, a long white quotation reflects on the parable setting near Jericho, criticizing deliberate neglect by religious figures despite biblical commands to show mercy—even toward enemies.

Timothy Dwight, grandson of Jonathan Edwards, imagines a revival of kindness so deep it would resemble Paradise restored: doors open to the poor and stranger, hearts ready to welcome, hands eager to relieve distress. Wealth would exist to bless; poverty only to invite generosity. The vision unsettles because it demands real openness. How might such kindness begin in us?

#christian #kindness #reformed #examinedlife

Black quote card with an engraved portrait of Timothy Dwight on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “TIMOTHY DWIGHT (1752–1817)” and Effects of Benevolence. On the right, a long white quotation imagines a world renewed by kindness, where doors and hearts are open to the poor and stranger, distress is relieved, and wealth and poverty alike exist for mutual blessing.

J. C. Ryle, evangelical and first Bishop of Liverpool, urges practical religion: pity the poor, and actively help lift them—by increasing knowledge, promoting morality, and improving material conditions. The list is broad on purpose. Faithful obedience often means supporting good work even when it isn’t our preferred kind.

#evangelical #DoctrineWithHands #NeighborIsNotOptional #ScriptureFirst

Black quote card with a sepia portrait of J. C. Ryle on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “J. C. RYLE (1816–1900)” and Practical Religion. On the right, a long white quotation urges compassion for the poor, calling readers to active efforts to lift them from hardship through education, moral improvement, and practical action to better their material condition.

Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, reflects on Zaccheus and notes that Christ calls him a “child of Abraham” after his resolve to give generously and restore what he wronged. The label follows the fruit. Cyprian isn’t teaching merit, but recognition: mercy made visible. The question he leaves us with is practical—what are we laborious about, and who would say it shows?

#christian #zaccheus #wealth #grace #solafide #africanchristianity #Solidarity #CommonHumanity #AppliedEthics #PatristicAfrica

Black quote card with an icon-style image of Cyprian of Carthage on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “CYPRIAN (c. 210–258)” and On Works and Alms. On the right, a long white quotation explains that God calls those true children of Abraham who actively aid the poor, citing Zacchaeus’s repentance and generosity as evidence of salvation entering his household.

Picture Baxter, the #Puritan leader, peering over your shoulder like a disappointed British uncle: “You know that lavish dinner? Straight from wallet to waist to sink.” He says when food doesn’t even nourish—just parades in and exits—it’s money literally flushed away. Not banning menus, mind you, just social side-eye. Epicures of all ranks: did we really need takeaway… again?

#christian #sustainableliving #greed

Black quote card with a painted portrait of Richard Baxter on the left. Beneath it, white text reads “RICHARD BAXTER (1615–1691)” and Christian Ethics. On the right, a long white quotation argues that gluttony consumes wealth that could serve the public good—schools, almshouses, colleges, and hospitals—lamenting how national treasure is “thrown down the sink” by epicures of every rank and calling such waste a disgrace.

Edward Stillingfleet, an Anglican minister, notes that the early church used its growing resources to build hospitals for the homeless poor—treating this not as politics, but as a duty of religion. Care for the sick and displaced was part of Christian obedience. How do we receive those who cannot house themselves?

#ChurchHistory #MercyInPractice #CostlyCharity #anglican #christian

EDWARD STILLINGFLEET (1635-1699) "SERMON XIX. Of Protestant Charity" ... but still as the Church increased in Riches by the free and large oblations of the People ; so greater care was taken for the erecting Hospitals for the reception of the Poor, who could provide no habitation for themselves; and this was then always looked on as a particular concernment of Religion, and not as a mere political Constitution."

Jeremy Taylor, Bishop in the Church of England and a prolific devotional writer, reflects on “Blessed are the merciful.” Mercy, he says, is not merely forgiving slights, but active relief—helping the poor, hungry, indebted, oppressed, widows and fatherless, captives, and those in danger. The older church assumed mercy must take bodily form. How will it take form in you?
#christian #churchofengland

Black background quote graphic featuring a painted portrait of Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) on the left, identified as Bishop in the Church of England. On the right is a long quotation defining “mercifulness” as concrete acts of bodily assistance: relieving the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, redeeming captives, forgiving or paying debts for the distressed, rescuing those in danger, defending the oppressed, and comforting widows and fatherless children.

Andreas Hyperius, a 16th-century Flemish Lutheran/Reformed theologian, reads “You shall not steal” with unnerving specificity: withholding wages, shaving pay, defaulting on what is owed. His moral clarity assumes obedience reaches into ordinary economic life—even where raising such concerns makes people bristle. Scripture leaves little room for comfortable evasions.

#christian #lutheran #reformedscholastics #faith #tencommandments

Black background quote graphic with an engraved portrait of Andreas Gerhard Hyperius (1511–1564) on the left. Text on the right quotes Hyperius explaining the eighth commandment, identifying theft as refusing or reducing wages owed to hired laborers.

Chrysostom, with admirable bluntness, notes that some happily dress a prostitute in gold while stepping over Christ shivering in the poor. Same wallet, different priorities. He wonders what sort of forgiveness—or punishment—fits that logic. It’s an uncomfortably practical question, then and now: who exactly are we most eager to clothe?

#christian #virtues #matthew25 #churchfathers

Black background quote graphic featuring a gold mosaic icon of John Chrysostom at left, labeled “JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (349–407), Homily XIX.” To the right, a long quotation rebukes lavish spending on immorality while neglecting Christ in the poor, warning that failing to clothe the naked Christ deserves severe judgment rather than forgiveness.

Luther says a Christian doesn’t curl up like a house cat and call it faith. You stretch. By faith, you reach up into God like a tree grabbing sunlight; by love, you reach down into your neighbour like roots in everyone’s garden. If you’re only growing upward, you’re basically a very holy stick.

#ChristianYoga #FaithAndFlexibility #RootedAndReaching #StretchYourTheology #lutheranchurchmissourisynod #lutheran #christian #faith

Portrait-style graphic of Martin Luther (1483–1546) against a black background. On the left is a painted likeness of Luther wearing a black cap and robe. Beneath his name and dates is the title “Treatise on Christian Liberty.” On the right is a long quotation explaining that a Christian lives not in himself but in Christ through faith and in his neighbor through love.

James Hamilton, a Presbyterian minister in Scotland, peers at Ecclesiastes 4:1 and says God is apparently running the world’s most meticulous tear archive. Babylonian exiles, cheated workers, enslaved people, Siberian prisoners—every tear is logged. And when the cup is full, it doesn’t leak politely; it tips over onto the oppressor. So yes, history, theology, and basic human decency all agree: tears count. Are you counting them?

#DearReverendHamilton #christian #presbyterian #justice

Black background graphic featuring a 19th-century portrait of James Hamilton (1814–1867), a Scottish Presbyterian minister. Text beside the portrait quotes Hamilton’s sermon on Ecclesiastes, describing God collecting the tears of the oppressed—from enslaved people in the American South to Siberian exiles—and warning that when the measure is full, those tears become judgment upon oppressors.

Eliphalet Nott, a Presbyterian minister and college president, basically says: calm down, generosity isn’t Marxism. Helping a widow with bread, an old man with a cane, or a dying mother with a pillow is not the end of civilization—it’s just using a bit of the abundance you already have. Mercy doesn’t require a revolution, just a heart.

#ChristianEthics #GenerousLiving #FaithInAction #christian #RPIHistory #UnionCollegeRoots #CollegePresidentsWhoPreached #OldSchoolRPI #Job29AtRPI

Black background graphic featuring a 19th-century painted portrait of Eliphalet Nott (1816–1900), Presbyterian minister and college president, holding a rolled paper. Large white text quotes his discourse on Job 29:11–12, arguing that charitable giving does not promote idleness but should provide simple mercies: a staff for the old man, bread for the widow, a nurse for the infant, and comfort for the dying mother.

Benjamin Trumbull, a Congregationalist in Connecticut, says real Christians look like Dorcas or the Roman centurion: God-fearing, generous, peaceable, gentle, prayerful, allergic to lawsuits, forgiving enemies, doing good even when abused.

Which does raise a question about modern “Christian manhood™”: perpetually outraged, legally armed, spiritually busy, and oddly hostile to mercy.

How can you fear God and actually do righteousness?
#christian #MasculinityRedeemed #biblicalmanhood

ALT text: Black background graphic with a grayscale engraved portrait of Benjamin Trumbull on the left. Text identifies him as “BENJAMIN TRUMBULL (1735–1820), Twelve Discourses.” On the right is a long quotation describing true Christians as those who fear God, work righteousness, abound in good works and alms, pray continually, live peaceably and gently, avoid lawsuits and controversies, forgive enemies, and do good even to those who reproach or abuse them.

Robert Hawker, an evangelical Anglican preacher, notes that seeing a stranger should melt the heart—a reflex Moses required and Job practiced. Hawker says this tenderness isn’t sentimentality but grace. Which raises the awkward question: what are evangelicals teaching children now—hospitality, or how to step over people politely? How do you keep your heart from freezing shut?

#christian #evangelical #anglican #immigration #MeltDontHarden #HospitalityIsHoliness #RememberYouWereStrangers

Black background quote card featuring a painted portrait of Robert Hawker (1753–1827), evangelical Anglican preacher. The text quotes Hawker reflecting on seeing a stranger and remembering one’s own vulnerability, echoing Moses and Job’s call to hospitality—opening one’s door so the traveler does not sleep in the street.

David Chytraeus, the Lutheran theologian, reads 1 John with unnerving clarity: to refuse love is already a kind of death. Christ’s self-giving redefines what life looks like, and when we seal our hearts against need, we quietly deny that love lives in us at all. Love, then, must become concrete—truth taking flesh in action.

How can you show love?
#lutheranchurchmissourisynod #lutheran #usaid #sustainabledevelopment #bibleverse

Client Info