Current Affairs and Causes on Third Third Of Life

liturgy

Faithful God–Father, Son and Holy

Faithful God–Father, Son and Holy Spirit: You are always there in times of transition or trial, times of uncertainty and anxiety, or times of accomplishment and celebration. You do not leave us nor fo...

liturgy

Prayers of the People, Form I

Scripture

Romans 8:38-39, Acts 2:42-47, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 17:11-19, Psalm 68:19

Deacon or other leader With all our heart and with all our mind, let us pray to the Lord, saying "Lord, have mercy." For the peace from above, for the loving-kindness of God, and for the ...

liturgy

We bring before you, O Lord, the

Author

Anselm of Canterbury

Keywords

We bring before you, O Lord, the troubles and perils of people and nations, the sighing of prisoners and captives, the sorrows of the bereaved, the necessities of strangers, the helplessness of the we...

liturgy

Prayer for the Poor and the Neglected

Keywords

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have non...

illustration

The Messy Middle

Author

William Bridges

Keywords

Crises

Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Hebrews 10:23, Romans 12:2, Psalm 37:23-24, Philippians 1:6, Isaiah 43:19, Ecclesiastes 3:1

The Messy Middle In his classic work Transitions, author and professor William Bridges shares an excellent anecdote about life in crisis: it can happen at any time and in a myriad of ways. It also de...

illustration

Defenders Of Children

Author

Ben Lansing and D. J.Marotta

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 1:15–22, 1 Samuel 1:20–28, 2 Kings 4:18–37, Matthew 2:16–18, Mark 10:13–16, Psalm 127:3–5

Pharaoh viewed the Hebrews as a growing threat to the Egyptian way of life, so he ordered all Hebrew baby boys killed. King Herod feared that a future king would arise from Bethlehem, so he ordered al...

illustration

A Phone Call Away

Author

D. Michael Lindsay

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Matthew 6:34, Job 1:21, Psalm 46:1, James 4:14, Proverbs 27:1, Ecclesiastes 9:11

I interviewed Jamie Dimon, current CEO of JPMorgan Chase (the largest bank in the United States) and previous cofounder of the financial services conglomerate Citigroup (the third largest). While at C...

blog

Prayers of Lament for Times of Violence: A Liturgical Response

Keywords

We are again in a moment of intense anger, fear, and sorrow. We've been here too often, lately. In September 2025, prominent activist Charlie Kirk was killed in front of a crowd in Utah. This ca...

illustration

John Perkins' Children: Among the Very First Students to Integrate at an All-White School

Author

John M. Perkins

Keywords

Six of my children—Spencer, Joanie, Phillip, Derek, Deborah, and Wayne—were among the first black children to attend the all-white school in Mendenhall. But while they were there, their white teachers...

illustration

Crisis Intensifies our Search for Wisdom

Author

Andy Cook

Keywords

Scripture

Romans 8:28, Ecclesiastes 7:12, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 30:21, Proverbs 3:5-6, James 1:5

A life-threatening crisis came to my home when I was only 25. My wife suffered a near-fatal stroke and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors scrambled to keep her alive. Within hours, we were maki...

Quote

Author

Martin Luther

Keywords

Scripture

Luke 19:1-10, Proverbs 3:5-10 , Malachi 3:10 , Acts 4:32-37, Matthew 10:8, Deuteronomy 16:17

A man needs three conversions: first of the head, then of the heart, and finally of the pocketbook.

illustration

Christian Persecution & The Real Power

Author

John Dickson

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 5:10-12, John 15:18-20, 2 Timothy 3:12, Acts 14:22, Romans 8:35-37, 1 Peter 4:12-14, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:11, Isaiah 41:10

What is the witness of the church in times of persecution? The historical record demonstrates that persecutions of Christians were regular and prolific in the first centuries of the church, especially...

illustration

Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) in Detail

Author

Timothy Keller

Keywords

Scripture

Exodus 30:10, Hebrews 7:27, Leviticus 16:11, Hebrews 10:19-22, Leviticus 16:32-34, Hebrews 9:7

A week beforehand, the high priest was put into seclusion—taken away from his home and into a place where he was completely alone. Why? So he wouldn’t accidentally touch or eat anything unclean. Clean...

illustration

How We Get our Calling Wrong

Keywords

Scripture

James 4:17, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Micah 6:6-8, Matthew 16:23, Jeremiah 17:9

First, we get our calling wrong when we imagine that God needs us, to be the hero of our own story, rather than Christ. Second, we routinely misdiagnose the problem of our world, underestimating estim...

Quote

Author

Thomas Merton

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 22:1-14, Exodus 3:1-12 , Isaiah 6:1-8, John 12:24-26, Romans 6:3-11, Psalm 46:10

To enter into the realm of contemplation one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a higher life. It is a death for the sake of life, which leaves behind all that we...

Quote

Author

Victor Hugo

Keywords

Scripture

Matthew 7:24-27, James 4:13-15, Psalm 90:12 , Proverbs 16:3, Proverbs 21:5, Nehemiah 2:11-18

He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out the plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life.

Quote

Author

Lord Chesterfield

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 10:4-5 , Ecclesiastes 9:10, Exodus 16:16-21, Luke 16:10 , Matthew 25:14-30, Psalm 90:12

Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.

illustration

The Three Twilights

Author

Barbara Brown Taylor

Keywords

Scripture

Genesis 1:3-5, Exodus 10:21-23, Isaiah 50:10, John 8:12, Mark 13:35-37, Psalm 121:5-6

In the midst of an experiment to become more attuned to darkness, author and pastor Barbara Brown Taylor decided to spend time outside as dark sets in: According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, eve...

Quote

Author

G. K. Chesterton

Keywords

The modern world has had far too little understanding of the art of keeping young. Its notion of progress has been to pile one thing on top of another, without caring if each thing was crushed in turn...

Quote

Author

Craig Dykstra And Dorothy Bass

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 12:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, Nehemiah 6:3, Matthew 6:33, Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 90:12

We long to see our lives whole, to know that they matter. We wonder whether our many activities might ever come together in a way of life that is good for ourselves and others. Lacking a vision of a l...

Quote

Author

Craig Dykstra And Dorothy Bass

Keywords

We long to see our lives whole and to know that they matter. We wonder whether our many activities might ever come together in a way of life that is good for ourselves and others. Are we really living...

illustration

The Waiting Room

Author

Max Lucado

Keywords

So here I sit in the waiting room. The receptionist took my name, recorded my insurance data, and gestured a chair. “Please have a seat. We will call you when the doctor is ready.” I look around. A mo...

illustration

Work, Relationships, and Personal Maturity

Author

Tom Nelson

Keywords

Scripture

Proverbs 12:11, Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, Matthew 22:37-39, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Psalm 133:1

Sharan Merriam and Carolyn Clark, in their fine study Lifelines , effectively show that life is fundamentally about two things—our work and our relationships. And maturity is found in having the c...

illustration

I Don’t Know What to Do

Author

Kate Bowler

Keywords

The Following is an excerpt by Duke University Professor Kate Bowler, soon after finding out she has stage four cancer as she sits in her hospital bed following surgery: “I’m going to need for you to...

illustration

The Day of Epiphany

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

Keywords

Scripture

Isaiah 6:1–8, Genesis 28:10–22, 2 Kings 22:8–20, Acts 9:1–19, Luke 24:13–35 , Psalm 119:105

The Texas-based pastor Matt Chandler spent a decade working with teenagers, and during that time, he realized how a specific change takes place between sixth graders and ninth graders. As Chandler say...

illustration

Finding God in the Slowness of Life

Author

A. J. Swoboda & Nijay K. Gupta

Keywords

We admit that embracing slowness is hard . But slowness transforms us. One of our favorite theologians, Dr. John Goldingay, served for decades as a professor of Old Testament theology. Goldingay ...

illustration

Listening to God and Others

Author

Adam S. McHugh

Keywords

Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 11:15, Luke 8:8, James 1:19-20, Psalm 46:10

The very first word of the Rule of St. Benedict, that famous text that has guided the life of monastic communities since the sixth century, is listen . I want for us to put listening back where i...

Quote

Author

Joan Chittister

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, Psalm 39:4-5, Job 14:5, James 4:13-15 , Matthew 6:27, Psalm 90:12

Life and time are ghosted creatures for us all. They belong to us—and are not ours at the same time.

Quote

Author

Kathleen R. Fischer

Keywords

At every point in the human journey we find that we have to let go in order to move forward; and letting go means dying a little. In the process we are being created anew, awakened afresh to the sourc...

Quote

Author

Robert Banks

Keywords

While American society is rich in goods, it is extremely time-poor. Many societies in the two-thirds world, by contrast, are poor in material possessions, by our standards, but they are rich in time. ...

current affairs and causes on Third Third of Life

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

liturgy

illustration

illustration

illustration

blog

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

illustration

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 Samuel

2 Samuel

1 Kings

2 Kings

1 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

Job

Psalm

Proverbs

Ecclesiastes

Song of Solomon

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Hosea

Joel

Amos

Jonah

Micah

Nahum

Habakkuk