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    • Not in Vain: 1 Corinthians Devotional
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That Happy Certainty - Gospel | Culture | Planting
John Calvin, Hudson Taylor

New Year!

“Without the Word, there is nothing left for us but darkness.”

from John Calvin’s commentary on 2 Peter 1.19
Over the last week or so it’s been a joy to discover the life of Hudson Taylor in his biography, A Man in Christ, by Roger Steer. I’m barely a third of the way through, but the faith a man so young shows is a real wake-up call.

He seems to have such great dependence on God to provide, on his sovereign hand, on the power of his gospel to bring the Chinese to faith. I do hope 2007 is year marked by living by faith.

Taylor’s willingness to drop everything to put the needs of the Chinese first are a real stark prod at my, and I’m sure many Western Christians, comfort with ‘the way things are’. I was reading an article on Calvin for my dissertation, and he showed a similar readiness to abandon his own priorities once the call of God was clear. Calling is a mysterious word – we can use to defend ourselves as comfy Christians – and yet the call to ‘Go and make disciples’ is there – we’ve been called by grace into the kingdom of light. The only viable response, to share that same kingdom call, is what we’re all called to. I hope that this year would be one where I do ‘Abandon it all, for the sake of the call’.

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January 1, 2007by Robin Ham

About Me

 

Hello, my name is Robin. Welcome to That Happy Certainty, where I write and collate on Christianity, culture, and ministry. I’m based in Barrow-in-Furness in South Cumbria, England, where I serve a church family called St Paul’s Barrow, recently merged together from two existing churches, St Paul’s Church and Grace Church Barrow.

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“If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and grateful to God. But because we often fear and doubt we cannot come to that happy certainty.”
- Martin Luther

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