Dr. Jay Forrest

The thought of God, the thought of Thee, Who liest in my heart, And yet beyond imagined space Outstretched and present art, The thought of Thee, above, below, Around me and within, Is more to me than health and wealth, Or love of kith and kin. The thought of God is like the tree Beneath whose shade I lie, And watch the fleets of snowy clouds Sail o’er the silent sky. ’Tis like that soft invading light, Which in all darkness shines, The thread that through life’s sombre web In golden pattern twines. It is a thought which ever makes Life’s sweetest smiles from tears, And is a daybreak to our hopes, A sunset to our fears; One while it bids the tears to flow, Then wipes them from the eyes, Most often fills our souls with joy, And always sanctifies. Within a thought so great, our souls Little and modest grow, And, by its vastness awed, we learn The art of walking slow. The wild flower on the messy ground Scarce bends its pliant form, When overhead the autumnal wood Is thundering like a stor...

In all our travels and movements, in all our coming in and going out, in putting on our shoes, at the bath, at the table, in lighting our candles, in lying down, in sitting down, whatever employment occupies us, we mark our forehead with the sign of the cross. – Tertullian Although not mentioned in the Bible, the sign of the cross is very ancient. There are stories in the Middle East that it was the Apostle Paul who first used the sign of the cross. This makes sense, since it symbolizes that one is “crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20 NKJV). For the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus symbolizes that “our old self was crucified with him” (Rom 6:6). It might be good to explain this. Sin is selfishness, it is placing the good of self above the good of God and neighbor. In order to be united to God, the old self has to die, be buried, before one can be united with God. The sign of the cross is actually a prayer. One begins their day and activities with the Sign of the Cross: “in th...

“The root of all sin is selfishness, separating first from God and then from man.” – Andrew Murray “We hold the essential principle of sin to be selfishness.” – A. H. Strong “We have also seen, that all sin is selfishness.” – Charles Finney This agrees with the Bible. It says that “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV). The law is love (Matt 22:37-40), that is why “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom 13:10). And we know that “Love isn’t selfish” (1 Cor. 13:5 CEV), therefore sin is selfishness. It is refusing to love God will all our heart, but instead loving ourselves with all our heart. Sin is a wrong aim. It is the aim or motive to look out for oneself first and foremost. It is making oneself the center of the universe, the supreme good, the most important person in the world. In other words, everyone must bow to the whims and wishes of the self, whether by force, guilt, or playing the po...

The following is a list of books recommended by A. W. Tozer. It was published by David Fant in his biography of Tozer. It was through A. W. Tozer that I was introduced to the mystics and it forever changed my life. Here are the 35 books that were recommended.     1. The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage by Jan van Ruysbroeck     2. The Amending of Life by H. L. Hubbard     3. Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John     4. The Ascent of Mount Sion Being the Third Book of the Treatise of That Name Translated with an Introduction and Notes By E. Allison Peers by Bernardino and E. Allison Peers De Laredo     5. A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom by Blessed Henry Suso     6. Centuries of Meditations by Thomas Traherne     7. Christian Perfection (Christian Classics) by François de Salignac de La Mothe- Fénelon     8. The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous     9. Confessions by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo     10. Dark Night of the Soul: A Masterpiece in the Literature of Mysticism by St. John of t...

The Anglican middle way embraces Orthodox and Charismatic tendencies. But it is not Pentecostal. Let me explain. Both Pentecostals and Charismatics believe in an infilling of the Holy Spirit that takes place sometime after conversion. This infilling is sometimes also called the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the enduement of power, and charismation (Acts 2:4). It is at the point of this infilling that one receives the spiritual gifts and anointing from God (Acts 1:8). Many people mistakenly assume that Charismatics are Pentecostal. But there is historically a difference between these two labels. Pentecostals insist that speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit. If you don’t speak in tongues, you don’t have the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Charismatics would say that such a requirement is unbiblical and that any spiritual gift may serve as evidence that one has been anointed and infilled by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:30). Some ...