Blessings to You, Memorial Day

And 620,000 casualties from the Civil War.

DD went to the Union cemetery at Gettysburg on Saturday. Heart wrenching. Thank God for preserving our country through all these wars, even the one which threatened from within. Praying He’ll preserve us from turning our backs on Him altogether. A different kind of warfare.

Beautiful Savior

Please forgive me my dear friends for my gross neglect of this blog and of you. Please be blessed by this reminder of the beauty of our Savior, which I posted before. He is worthy of all our praise.

The End

It's difficult to rejoice over the death of someone who undoubtedly has just entered a Christless eternity with all the suffering that entails, but I, along with most Americans, am thankful to God for His mercies to us for the end of this decade of tracking down this one person who has been responsible for so much horror and terror. I am proud of our country, and though I've never been a fan of our current President, I felt a sense of oneness with him last night as he delivered his speech telling us of the events of yesterday. I particularly felt immense pride when hearing about that courageous group of people who carried out this mission with success and efficiency. God bless America.

"Silver" Church Anniversary

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

In September of 1983 my husband and I and our three year old daughter gathered with three other couples and their children for a picnic. Now having a picnic with other families is not an unusual occurrence by any means, but this meeting together was special in nature. You see, this group came together that day to discuss the possibility of establishing a church in our area. We were all like-minded in our theology and in what we believed concerning what God required of His Church in its worship. For a year we met as a Bible Study, with the help and covering of an established congregation which "mothered" us and with continued growth in our number during that year. Then, in September 1984, we had our first worship service, meeting for another year as a fellowship. By God's mercies, in December of 1985 we constituted as an official church body and ordained our pastor, who remains to this day.

Tomorrow, we are having a celebration of our 25th anniversary as a body of believers. We started out in a school, have at times used borrowed facilities graciously lent to us by other congregations, and for the past eighteen years worshipped in a building of our own. The faces of the various people meeting at one time or another have changed over the years. There have been glorious days and painful days. We have been a people with feet of clay, as is the case with every single child of God in every single congregation on the face of the earth. After all, aren't we all sinners in need of daily forgiveness? We have pressed on, however, seeking to serve our Lord and doing our best to honor Him.

But this is not a post about us; it's about the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Himself who has been kind enough to allow us to see this anniversary, still proclaiming His Person and Work. It's most of all an expression of my gratefulness to a Savior who has promised to meet with His people at each and every gathering in His Name on this earth, wherever that gathering may be and even if they're only two or three of them.

These are the words of my dear Bishop Ryle on Matthew 18:20:

"There is comfort in these words for all who love to meet together for religious purposes. At every assembly for public worship, at every gathering for prayer and praise, at every missionary meeting, at every Bible reading, the King of kings is present, Christ Himself attends. We may be often disheartened by the small number who are present on such occasions, compared with the number of those who meet for worldly ends; we may sometimes find it hard to bear the taunts and ridicule of an illnatured world, which cries like the enemy of old, "What do these feeble people?" (Nehem. iv.2) But we have no reason for despondency: we may boldly fall back on these words of Jesus. At all such meetings we have the company of Christ Himself." ~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew.

Thank you, dear Lord Jesus, for your faithfulness to us these past twenty-five plus years. Help us to "persevere and not be ashamed," as Mr. Ryle further exhorts.

Our church website is here. Also the above picture is a drawing of our building.

Fairest Lord Jesus

Giving honor and praise to our Beautiful Savior.

Increased Strength

For more encouraging and uplifting Word-Filled Wednesday posts, visit Susan at Forever His.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Isaiah 40:29

We have loads of critters exactly like this one in our backyard, always scampering about trying to get at the birdseed. Actually, we like them. The other day when my daughter let our dog out, a fairly young squirrel like this one tried to escape via a dead limb which broke, dropping him with a loud banging sound atop our outdoor grill. He fell onto the ground, lying there limply whereupon our dog Fro hurried over (of course) and picked up this poor helpless creature in his mouth. Neesie , who was horrified, hollered at Fro to "drop it" (he's been trained to drop whatever he has at that command), which he promptly obeyed, and Neesie dragged him (Fro, not the squirrel) inside and then locked our bewildered dog in his crate. She came and got me and both of us stood at the back sliding door with sad hearts, watching this poor little bushy tailed animal trying unsuccessfully to lift itself up. We thought perhaps it had injured its spine or something. Finally, I did something: I prayed for him. Agree with me or not, that's what I did. I asked the Lord to either take him out of this world and end his misery or help him to get out of our yard. About 30 seconds later, he turned on his stomach and inched forward a bit; then, after another minute or so, he began to scamper at a pretty good pace across the yard and through the fence! A few minutes after that, we saw him heading up one of the bigger healthy trees in that yard!

I don't know what happened to him after that, of course, (they all look alike you know), but what a beautiful lesson this little critter was for me on Matthew 6:26 and the above Scripture. There have been and certainly will be times in my life and yours when we are physically, emotionally, and spiritually sapped of all strength. But the wonderful Creator God of this universe, who cares for the smallest of His creatures, won't He care for each one of us and increase our strength for yet another day in the journey?

Praise Him!

Now is this cute or what? Oh how I wish I had a video like this of my granddaughters. They sing like this in the car!

Immortal, Invisible

I love this hymn! This ought to get us ready for worship tomorrow. Don't these words give the proper honor and glory to our great God?

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render; O help us to see
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!

~~Walter Chalmers Smith

Hallelujah!

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 1 Corinthians 15:20-23

He is risen! Worthy is the Lamb who has been slain and has redeemed us to God by His blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; He was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. He was slain, yet He is alive! What is there to say? Happy Easter, yes. But more than that--Hallelujah! Okay, now, turn your volume up and get a foretaste of what we'll be doing in heaven:

I Have THAT Guy

Today my husband colored and shined my favorite pair of comfortable shoes so that I can get some more time out of them. I'm counting that as a Valentine's gift. So he gets out of giving me diamonds this year. Oh, and he also gave this needy lady a dozen red roses. I think I'll keep him--next to the love of God, his is the best.

My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. I John 3:18

O Day of Rest and Gladness

O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright;
On thee the high and lowly,
Through ages joined in tune,
Sing Holy, Holy, Holy,
To the great God Triune,

On thee, at the creation,
The light first had its birth;
On thee, for our salvation,
Christ rose from depths of earth;
On thee our Lord, victorious,
The Spirit sent from heav'n;
And thus on thee, most glorious,
A triple light was giv'n.

Thou art a port protected
From storms that round us rise;
A garden intersected
With streams of Paradise;
Thou art a cooling fountain
In life's dry, dreary sand;
From thee, like Pisgah's mountain,
We view the promised land.

Today on weary nations
The heav'nly manna falls;
To holy convocations
The silver trumpet calls,
Where gospel light is glowing
With pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing
With soul-refreshing streams.

New graces ever gaining
From this our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining
To spirits of the blest.
To Holy Ghost be praises,
To Father and to Son;
The church her voice upraises
To thee, blest Three in One.

~Christopher Wordsworth

We have come to another Saturday evening, dear friends, and you know what that means. We are on the brink of another Lord's Day. Do you look forward to this day of rest and gladness? I have no doubt in my mind that our God would have this day to be a day of joy and a day of rest for us. We have so much to rejoice in. What can be better than to be able to have a day set aside that we can worship our Lord with His people and keep the day holy unto Him? This sweet hymn is a reminder to us. I meditated on it a bit tonight, especially the second stanza. It's not often that we think about the fact that light was "born" on the first day of creation. That, along with the resurrection and Pentecost, is an exciting thought--a triple light given as the song says.

What a blessing this day is to us, fellow saints. I am so thankful for it. The Israelites' Sabbath day was on the seventh day of the week. But for the church, it's right and fitting that our Sabbath is on Sunday. God was so gracious to give us this blessed day.

Most of you know that I like sports, even though I'm not as fanatical about it as I once was. Many of you know, also, that I am quite a fan of the New York Giants. And you probably know that tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and "all the world" will be watching the Giants and the Patriots on this biggest football game of the year. "Not I," says the lady whose family doesn't do TV on the Lord's Day. And it's alright. During the week, if I look at the video we'll be taping I'll enjoy it so much better--win or lose. And what does it matter anyway, right? Tomorrow, you and I will be gaining "new graces" from our Sunday, no matter which city gets to have the big parade next week. For you and me, it will be a time of refreshment at a "cooling fountain in life's dry, dreary sand."

Have a blessed and Christ-filled day of gladness!

About Awards and a Hymn

But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

The World Book Dictionary in our home gives this definition for the word "award": "Something given as a reward, payment, or the like, after careful consideration; prize." I am very thankful to Barbara of Tidbits and Treasures for kindly giving me the above Excellence in Discipleship award, which originated at Dan King's Management by God blog where you can learn more about it.

Awards are one of those things in life that are blessings. We all like to receive them; they are good things. And I would venture to say that we all like to give them as well, because we like to give good things to others. At least as Christians, we should. But the last time I received one of these good things, I struggled. I wrote a post about it on July 30th, which expressed my heart about the whole matter.

This current award has to do with being a disciple of Christ. It was originally given to five recipients who "share the message in their own creative ways." Again, as before, I know so many bloggers who are sharing the message in innumerable creative ways: some are sharing the message by writing beautiful poetry; some by posting hymns and Scriptures; some tell interesting stories and apply them to the things of God; some are telling about happenings in their families, making application to biblical truth; some are writing fantastic devotionals; some are honoring God in the midst of trials; some are even using photography to honor the Creator; and on and on. So, I'm chicken. I don't want to pick out just five of these folks and I do NOT want to name names, because sure as anything, I'll leave out somebody that I'll kick myself for not mentioning.

One of the nice things about this is that eventually most folks will be picked for a particular award as it circulates, and usually it does finally reach most of the deserving blogs, but I can't bring myself to pick out just a few. So, my apologies to Barb and to Dan for not passing this on properly. I'm really thankful for it, and again, I think it's a good thing.

And our real reward is in heaven, right? Our Savior is the One who deserves all the glory and honor! All praise to Him! Hallelujah! I think I'll use this opportunity to post my Saturday hymn a day early and the second stanza of this one seems just right. For the rest of the stanzas of "Look, Ye Saints, the Sight is Glorious" and the tune, go here.

Crown the Saviour, angels, crown him;

Rich the tropies Jesus brings;

In the seat of pow'r enthrone him,

While the valt of heaven rings:

Crown him! crown him!

Crown the Saviour King of Kings.

~Thomas Kelly

Not What My Hands Have Done

For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2: 8-10

Not what my hands have done
Can save my guilty soul;

Not what my toiling flesh has borne

Can make my spirit whole.

Not what I feel or do

Can give me peace with God;

Not all my prayers and sighs and tears

Can bear my awful load.

Thy work alone, O Christ,

Can ease this weight of sin;

Thy blood alone, O Lamb of God,

Can give me peace within.

Thy love to me, O God,

Not mine, O Lord, to thee,

Can rid me of this dark unrest,

And set my spirit free.

~Horatius Bonar

This hymn was definitely laid on my heart tonight. Do you know this one? I never knew this particular hymn until about twenty or so years ago. This, like so many of the oldies but goodies, as I call them, is solid doctrine and theology. Expressing the truths that we are not saved by our works, but by the work of Christ, its final stanzas contain utterances of praise to the God of Grace and His Son. For me, it's difficult to sing these words without getting all teary. Mr. Bonar is one of my all time favorites. His writings minister MUCH to my soul! I like him because he can write about deep things, but with simplicity. He was concerned for children and wanted them to learn biblical truths from his songs, so I like him for that also. If your children don't know "I Was a Wandering Sheep," I encourage you to search for it and teach it to them. I think I'll write about it one of these hymn posts.

I'm so thankful that my salvation is not dependent upon my work, but on HIS work, aren't you? You and I have no good in ourselves, no righteousness, but He provides it for us. Now isn't that worth all our praise?

I strongly encourage you to read all the verses while listening to the tune at the Trinity Hymnal.

An Anniversary

Wishing a Happy Anniversary to our daughter and son-in-law. If you get a chance, go over to her spot and read their story. Three years and one baby later, these are still precious memories for all of us.

I am posting calla lilies in honor of the occasion. They were in abundance that day in 2004, as was the above picture. I hope they will be a reminder to our family of the mercies of a kind and benevelent God, from whom comes every good gift and every perfect gift, which we heard about in our sermon on Sunday.

So, we count our blessings and I hope this finds you and your family doing the same.

All Freed

You probably have heard that the remaining South Korean hostages have been freed by the Taliban. We certainly can give praise for that. Naturally, whenever the news media is involved, it's difficult to get a clear perspective on any given matter. But I really like the latest post at Persecution Blog. As far as I'm concerned, THAT'S the right way to look at this matter. Hope you have opportunity to read it.

Hope on the Horizon

You may or may not agree with South Korean's policy of negotiating with terrorists, but this is a time of rejoicing and hope. Twelve down, seven to go. Keep praying, friends.

In case you haven't heard the news, go here.

Home With Jesus

RUTH BELL GRAHAM

Another saint gone home. She has fought the good fight, she has finished the race, she has kept the faith. There is little doubt that she has taken possession of her crown of righteousness. I know we will all be praying for her husband, children, and grandchildren.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Psalm 116:15