The Gospel of the Forty Days: Baptism, Part 3       In this third article on Christ’s command given to the Apostles to baptize, we left off last with the idea that Jesus Christ, in His glorified humanity, was now able to generate a whole new sanctified race of those who are incorporated into Him through baptism. What might Jesus have taught the Apostles during those forty days about being incorporated into Christ?       Scripture tells us quite a bit actually. The evening before Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, at the Last Supper He spoke to His Apostles about their future incorporation into Him in these words – and we are pointing out the number of ways He expresses it: [1] “You will know that I am in my Father and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20) and [2] if anyone loves Jesus, Jesus and the Father “will come to him and make Our home with him” (Jn 14:23). Then He admonishes them to [3] “Abide in Me,” and says that they [4] cannot bear fruit “unle...

Of the Imitation of Christ (Three)       For the last two weeks we have considered the book, Of The Imitation of Christ , by Thomas À Kempis, and read short excerpts. It is too good of a devotional classic to move on from too soon, so we will consider another excerpt today from a chapter called (in a modern translation), “Of Intimate Friendship with Jesus.”

Of the Imitation of Christ (Two)       Last week’s article introduced the book, Of The Imitation of Christ  by Thomas À Kempis. It was written about 1418-1427, and has never been out of print since its publication, It has been the all-time best-selling religious book second only to the Bible.

Of the Imitation of Christ (One) In the Fall of 1979, the author of these articles was a Presbyterian seminarian at Princeton Theological Seminary. While perusing books at the Princeton University Bookstore, a paperback book (only $1.95 then!) called, Of The Imitation of Christ , caught my eye. The book was by Thomas À Kempis, identified as a monk. Immediately my then anti-Catholic alerts went off: warning!