Grammy's Blog

March and April

2011-04-25T11:35:00.000-04:00

I have been putting this off, waiting for an announcement of another child in our family. So far, it has not materialized, and the month is nearly over, so I will go ahead with the currently known ones.

March 3 – Bobby – my brand new great-nephew, son of Bob and Suzanne
March 12 – the birthdate of my half-sister Lucille who died as a child – born 1920, died 1923
March 16 – Marlin, my ex-son-in-law, with whom I stay connected
March 23 – my nephew David, youngest son of my brother Paul
March 25 – my great-great-nephew, Sekander, great-grandson of my sister Lois
March 30 – my nephew Richard, older brother to David
March 30 – my niece Amy, daughter of my brother Gale
My father's only child by his first marriage, Mary, was born in March of 1907 (I haven't got the exact date), and died in October of the same year.

Still waiting to hear about Lena and Travis's child who was due to be born this month. Lena is the step-daughter of my nephew Richard.

Well, I blew it – here it is April and I haven't posted the March blog yet. And I still haven't heard about Lena and Travis's baby.

For the currently known April birthdays:

April 1 – Lois's granddaughter, Meghan
April 1 – also Meghan's step-sister Taryn
April 11 – my sister Mildred (Middy)
April 19 – my great-nephew (grandson of Paul) Paul III

Guess that's it for now. Maybe I'll have something new to blog about one of these days.

OK, got info on the new baby – Harper Sara. She was born February 27. Lena and Travis's baby.

February

2011-02-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

I guess I have to get at and write another blog, since the month of February is almost over, and I haven’t posted birthdays yet. I have been working as a township auditor, and every year the records are worse than the previous year. We’re getting a new secretary, so hopefully, that will improve things.

So, here are the February birthdays:
My mother’s was February 1. She would be 113 were she still living.
February 4 – my great-niece Emily
February 20 – my brother-in-law George, who went to be with the Lord over 5 years ago.
February 25 – my sister Lily
February 28 – my brother Gale
February 28 – my niece Jenny (Gale’s daughter, and Emily’s mother)

We expect 2 brand new entries next month!

I’m trying to get Mike to submit some of his writing for publication, and he thinks it’s not good enough. He says he doesn’t have enough knowledge to write publishing quality stuff. The last story he wrote was absolutely fantastic, but it wouldn’t qualify for publication for other reasons – it’s of the “fan fiction” genre.

Guess that’s all I have to say for now, to get this posted before the month is over!

Starting Over

2011-01-26T19:51:00.001-05:00

I have been neglecting my blog quite a bit lately. For a couple of years, I was posting family birthdays for every month, and sometimes that’s all I had to post. But my sister Lois said she liked that, so I’m going to try to proceed with the same this year.

Birthdays for January:
January 12 – my great-nephew Colin
January 16 – an unnamed niece
January 22 – my twin nieces, Judy and Jackie
January 26 – my niece Connie and my new great-great-niece – Elena – born today! Jackie’s granddaughter

I had been going to write a blog about the Golden Rule, comparing “versions” of it from various religions – many of the non-Christian, non-Jewish religions having forms that are “less” than what we know as the Golden Rule. For instance, some say “Do good to others so that they will do good to you;’ others say “Do good to others so they won’t do evil to you.” These are based on self-preservation, while the “real” Golden rule is based on doing for others – regardless of how it affects oneself. I decided not to go into that in detail after reading C.S. Lewis’s “Mere Christianity.” He describes the universal nature of the golden rule on the fact that it is born within us – part of our nature as God made us. He says every culture, every religion has a sense that some things are right, and others are wrong. They are not necessarily correct in specifics, but they have the general view of right and wrong. Only Christianity – and to an extent, Judaism – tell us the real reasons why some things are right and others are wrong. I highly recommend this book by Lewis. I don’t agree with every detail that he says throughout this book, but, as he says, if it doesn’t help, drop it.

The King James Cult

2010-10-25T20:34:00.001-04:00

“The Authorized Version” – the KJV cultists use this as their main base of claiming this to be “the” Word of God.
The truth is that it is called the Authorized Version because the translation was made on an authorization from King James to a group of people who wanted a standard Bible for usage at their time. It was a very good translation – no doubt the very best translation of its time. It is still a good translation. But it is not, all by itself, God’s Holy Word exclusively. Much of the language is obsolete, so that relatively few people can understand some parts of it. Also, there have been new discoveries of older manuscripts of parts of the Bible that were unavailable at the time this translation was made. As I understand it, because some parts of the Bible were not available in the original language to the translators of the KJV, they copied those portions from existing translations that they deemed reliable. Therefore, there is an indication that new translations or upgrades of the old translations are indicated. The New King James Version is one of those. It keeps most of the poetic language of the KJV, but changes some of the obsolete words to modern words with the same meaning. I understand, too, that it has corrected some minor errors by using old manuscripts that were not available to the translators in 1611. For this reason, it is rejected by the KJV cultists.

God will preserve His Word – the KJV cultists insist that this refers to the KJV and to the KJV only.
God will preserve His Word – through every honest and holy intended translation; despite possible small errors, the essential gospel and the Word of God is maintained. Even through multiple translations, He will still preserve His Word. The Douay-Rheims translation was made roughly at the same time as the KJV. It was translated from the Latin, which was translated from the original languages. There is truth in the saying “It loses something in the translation,” because most languages are not equal to one another in specific nuances and sometimes even deeper meanings. Based on this, all translations should be quite faulty, and especially a double translation, such as the Douay-Rheims. But put the KJV and the D-R side by side, and, except for the Latin influence on many of the words in the D-R, you will find them amazingly similar. God will preserve His Word!

All great revivals have occurred using the KJV
Aside from those recorded in the Bible, this may be true – but to attribute this solely to this version of the Bible is overlooking one very great occurrence that happened almost simultaneously with the KJV translation – people started reading the Bible on their own, and seeing for themselves what God’s Word says.

The KJV cultists disregard all Bible commentators of the past. They claim they were just “showing off their knowledge of the languages.” Well, it seems to me that if they know the languages so well, they must have a good idea of what they are commenting on. Furthermore, nobody writes a Bible commentary to “show off.” How many people read Bible commentaries? Precious few! If they wanted to “show off” their knowledge of the language, they would be translating what might be considered great secular works, not “wasting” their time with musty Bible commentaries that practically no one reads!

The KJV cultists do not even accept the “authenticity” of a Bible translated into another language. This is one of their greatest travesties, to deny God’s Word to people who do not speak English.

The KJV cultists spend their time trying to convince people that the KJV is the only true “God’s Word.” This breeds division and dissension. This is a Satanic influence, not a godly one. These people spend their time going around telling people, “you must accept this version of the Bible as the only true Word of God.” They have forgotten the great commission – “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” They are “preaching” their own gospel, not the gospel of Jesus Christ. If the disciples had asked Jesus if there would be any problem with translating the Bible into different languages so that the people they ministered to would have it available in their own language, or even to make changes when the language changes, I am sure He would have said, “Absolutely not! Do whatever it takes to bring the gospel to every person on the face of the earth.”

These people think they are doing God’s will, but instead, they are causing division and dissension. They need to have a Damascus Road experience. Saul thought he was doing God’s will, too, until his Damascus Road experience showed him otherwise.

Whether or not the following is true throughout the KJV cultists, I don’t know. But the one I know quite well believes that the book of James was written by the brother of John. It is generally accepted by scholars that it was written by the Lord’s brother James, who was the head of the church in Jerusalem. The above-mentioned person claimed that James wrote about works because he didn’t know about grace, implying that “grace” became known only through Paul’s ministry, and James (the brother of John) had died before that, thus “works” was all he knew. Of course, among experts on Biblical history, it is known that the gospel of Mark was the first book of the NT that was written, and it was written in AD 65 - long after the death of James, the brother of John.

Another issue of the KJV cult is that not all of the Bible is for everybody, that parts are for different peoples, most specifically, Jews or Christians. That is doing one of those things the KJV cultists are constantly harping on about people who consider other translations OK. They are taking from God’s Word.

The person I know who is involved in this cult has told his children that they don’t need to go to church – that he can tell them everything they need to know. The book he gave me (which I burned) I glanced at briefly, and saw that it had a great deal condemning the apocrypha – but the apocrypha is included in the (original) 1611 King James version.

A caveat: It appears to me that some of the modern translations, although very good, try too hard to put the Bible into modern language that they sometimes use words that lose the nuances of the original. However, I don’t believe that these necessarily distort the gospel. Also, beware of “paraphrases,” because some of them read the writers personal interpretation into what they write. Nevertheless, I don’t think they necessarily distort the gospel, either.

GOD WILL PRESERVE HIS WORD – NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES IT IS TRANSLATED, AND WHAT LANGUAGES IT IS TRANSLATED INTO.

Heaven or Hell

2010-05-18T20:47:00.002-04:00

This is based on some discussion going on on RO. A number of skeptics worry about God "sending" people to hell for eternity when they sinned for such a comparatively short time.

What did God do for us and to us and why

The crucifixion & resurrection:
It was not “just” death on the cross, and 3 days, and then all over. Jesus, the sinless One, paid the penalty and bore the sins of all man kind – from creation to now, and to the end, whenever that is. Can you imagine, being completely innocent, and yet bearing the guilt for the worst person you know? Multiply that to all the guilt of all people whoever lived and ever will live. I don’t think we are capable of even beginning to comprehend what Christ suffered from his arrest until the resurrection.

Heaven and Hell:
They are not simply “reward” and “punishment;” they are what we choose. We have the 70+/- years here on earth to make a decision. Make no mistake, it is our decision, not His. If we do not choose to make that decision for Christ, there is no place left for us except Hell. Hell was not originally meant to “house” human beings – it was made for “the devil and his angels.” But for people who refuse to choose Christ, the only way to Heaven, there is no other place for them. In Isaiah 5:14, it says that “Hell has enlarged herself.” This was necessary to accommodate the people who choose it. It is not necessarily a punishment. It is our choice. It is true that there are degrees of punishment and reward. The degrees of punishment seem to be based on knowledge more than the degree of the sin we commit – if we can even divide sin into degrees. Jesus said that more will be required of those who know more. This is in the Christian life, as well as in the non-Christian life.

We have all this life to make the decision. We can’t lay the blame on God if we make the wrong one. God is not punishing us for 70+/- years of sin. We have brought the punishment upon ourselves for refusing to accept the free gift he purchased with his blood, and is offering to us.

As for, why did God make us with free will? Because he wanted us to serve him by our own choice, not because we have no choice.

And who is eligible for salvation? The answer is in I Peter 3:9 – everyone – “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” We all – every single one of us, every person who has ever lived and who will ever live – have that choice. If we make the right choice, we will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. If we don’t make a choice – well, that is impossible, because by not making the right choice, by default, we make the wrong choice.

No comments allowed for the time being

2010-05-17T13:13:00.002-04:00

Moderating comments did not discourage spammers and their ilk. I have turned off comments, and will leave them turned off for what I consider a reasonable length of time, after which I will turn them back on to see if I have discouraged the spammers. I just recently had my computer in the shop - Mike's, too - to clean up the malware. I have been given to understand that there has been a spate of malware showing up in computers in the past 6 months, according to the shop we had ours in. We think we may have a handle on it now, with various anti-malware programs and firewalls. What I'm thinking is that the spam is coming from the same places as the malware, and it may not go away any time soon. I think it is better to have the comments turned off than simply reject them, because I believe the spammers get paid regardless. I am sorry if I have inconvenienced anyone - I do like to have comments on my blogs, but I have had very few genuine comments recently - only 2 that have shown up since I started seeing spam, so it's probably no loss. I don't see a method of allowing selective posts to the point that I want to allow them - it's either risk spam, or allow none.

Notice Concerning Blog Comments

2010-04-14T14:19:00.003-04:00

Due to a spate of spamming comments, I have been moderating comments lately. If a comment is obviously spam, it will be rejected; if a comment is so general it doesn't seem to apply to any of my blogs, it will be rejected. If I can't see clearly what blog entry it applies to, it will be rejected. There may be other reasons that I will feel that a specific comment will be rejected. I don't get many comments, but I am not so comment-hungry that I will allow just anything on my blog. Since I started moderating comments, I have seen only one that clearly applied to anything I wrote. So spammers, etc., don't bother - they will never see the light of day.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part X

2010-03-09T13:06:00.003-05:00

This is the last in a series of sermon notes based on a series of sermons by my pastor, Kevin Bockus.

X. Accepting the Unacceptable

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, everyone knows,
Anything Goes.

Matthew 13:24-25

Introduction:

The story was related about the two men who made an agreement with each other, that the one could kill and eat the other. As horrific as that incident was, many people defended the action because they were “two consenting adults.”

What was once unacceptable is now acceptable.

The church is not just quiet when it comes to these things, but has become comatose.

An anecdote was told about a couple in a church who seemed to be very devout Christians. When the pastor called on them, as could be expected, there was a Bible on the coffee table and a wall plaque attesting to their faith. They talk about thing that would be expected to be of interest to Christians. But as the pastor sits on the sofa, in a shelf just 3 feet from him are the family’s collection of movies. A quick glance shows him that most of them are what would be called “hard ‘R’” rated movies.

Let’s look at thinkgs the church needs to do in order to avoid accepting the unacceptable.

We need to wake up.

Matthew 13:24-25

We learn two things about the enemy:

• He’s calculating
• He’s conniving
Somebody needs to sound the alarm!

We need to speak up.

We cannot depend on the media to sound warnings for us.

Good things happen when God’s people speak up.

There was a boycott on Pepsi for donating money to a Gay & Lesbian organization. The boycott is no longer on. Why? Because Pepsi listened, and stopped supporting this organization.

Ephesians 4:15 – speaking the truth in love
We speak up because of love, not because we want to look “holier than thou.”

We need to shape up.

We must make sure that what we do matches our witness.

If you would feeling uncomfortable watching something on television, or a movie, if Jesus were sitting beside you watching, then you need to cease watching that type of thing.

II Timothy 2:16-23 – verse 21 “keeps himself pure”

Conclusion:

Don’t say,”I’m just one person; I can’t do anything.”

The most powerful alliance in the world is the Lord and His people.

Stop accepting the unacceptable!

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part IX

2010-03-04T14:45:00.005-05:00

IX. Allowing Wolves to Live Among the Sheep

Titus 3:10-11

Introduction:

There are three truths we must realize if we are to protect ourselves against these wolves.

A story was told about a lone gunman entering a church and shooting up the place, killing several people, at last turning the gun on himself. Churches immediately started taking measures to protect their people physically. But what about those who are on the prowl to attack and destroy us spiritually?

Truth #1 – We’ve Been Warned

II Corinthians 11:14; I Peter 5:8

If we are going to be prepared, we must know who our enemy is.

• Fact #1 – Spiritual wolves are masters of deception; they disguise themselves as sheep and make themselves look like super Christians
• Fact #2 – Spiritual wolves are dangerous.
• Fact #3 – Spiritual wolves are evil – “Satan’s servants”
• Fact #4 – Spiritual wolves always reveal themselves. Don’t label a person a wolf on one incident; a wolf will have a consistent pattern.
• Fact #5 – Good people can morph into wolves. Some will distort the truth to gain a following
• Fact #6 – Spiritual wolves love power. They are “upwardly mobile” – false prophets, teachers and apostles.

Truth #2 – We’ve Been Hesitant

• We foolishly believe people will change without discipline.
• The intertwining of personal relationships.
• We’re afraid of collateral damage.
• We don’t know what to do.

Truth #3 – We’ve Been Instructed

Conclusion #1 – No one should get a free pass for bad behaviour.
Galatians 6:1 Do all in humility, gentleness and love. We need to keep the goal in view that we may restore the offender without becoming a wolf ourselves.

Conclusion #2 – Not all bad behaviour makes a person deserving of confrontation or removal from the church.
Don’t confront someone just because they get on your nerves, or disagree with you, etc.

Conclusion #3 – Biblical discipline is a process, not an act.
Titus 3:10-11 There must be a first warning, then time allowed to pass for them to correct the situation; then a second warning. When adequate time has passed after the second warning, they should be put out.

Conclusion #4 – Biblical discipline should be carried out with patience, but not to an extreme.
Warn once, twice – no more. More warnings, more time would tend to undermine authority.

Conclusion #5 – The removal of a person from the church's fellowship should be a last resort.

Conclusion #6 – There should be no guilty feelings on the part of the church leaders who exercise church discipline…and no animosity directed toward them by members of the congregation. They are following the process of scripture.

Conclusion:

Our goal is not to move them out, but to see them transformed into sheep through repentance.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part VIII

2010-02-26T20:15:00.007-05:00

VIII. Settling for Mediocrity

Colossians 3:23

Introduction:

Excellence ought to be a priority in the Lord’s work.

We cannot thrive on mediocrity.

At this point, the pastor gave a humorous look at the “slipshod hall of fame.” I will identify the entities, giving some of the detail as I remember it. You can probably use your imagination pretty well.

1. Jerry the Janitor – needed a job, so they’re paying him $200 a week. Cleaning the restrooms involves emptying the waste baskets and flushing the toilets. His entire contribution to the job is about 20 minutes a week, making him the highest paid (by rate) employee of the church.
2. Willie the worship leader – I don’t remember any of the details about him.
3. Sarah the soloist – never saw a high note she didn’t like – or could reach.
4. Pearl the pianist – donated the piano, so no one else will ever get a chance to play.
5. Gary & Gwen the greeters – after the hassle of getting ready for church, they are not on the best terms with each other.
6. Larry the lawn mower – always does the mowing on Monday morning, so the grass is nice and tall again by the following Sunday.

Why excellence is important.

#1 – God Loves Excellence

We know God loves excellence because everything about Him bears its mark.
God’s Creation
God’s Character
God’s Commands
God’s Faithfulness

#2 – The Bible Commands Excellence

“Good enough for government work” isn’t good enough for God's work

#3 – People Respond to Excellence

If you have two churches that are pretty much the equivalent of one another, and one decides to pave their parking lot, people will tend to prefer that one.

This example reminds me of something that happened when I was in my teens. I attended a small country church, and the grass was not kept mowed. When it got very tall, they had a farmer come in and mow it with his sickle-bar mower. The mowed grass was just allowed to lay. I was griping about it once when riding home on a Wednesday night with a neighbor – we had no transportation of our own. One statement made was that “if the Holy Spirit is on the inside, what’s on the outside won’t matter.” I didn’t think at the time to say, “But how can they encounter the Holy Spirit on the inside if they balk at what the outside looks like?” Anyway, before we got home, the neighbor said, “OK, you come over here tomorrow, and I’ll loan you a rake and a pitchfork, and you can take care of it.” I agreed. But I didn’t go alone; my father came with me, and I raked most of the hay; Daddy took the pitchfork and hauled it back into the woods. He also spread out a pile of cinders that had been brought in to make a non-muddy parking surface. I have no idea what the people of the church thought about our action.*

Excellence requires five qualities on our part.

#1 – Courage

It takes courage to make the necessary changes in order to become and excellent church.

#2 – Giftedness

Mismanagement of God’s gifts is one of the greatest obstacles to excellence.
Know your gifts and use them; don’t insist in serving in an area you’re not gifted in.

#3 – Money

Quality costs. “If it bears His Name, it’s worth our best.”

#4 – Planning and Preparation

#5 – Perseverance

When we meet resistance, we must persevere.

Conclusion:

Are you willing to commit to excellence?

Excellence comes when we give up ourselves.

*Anecdote about the church grounds is the blogger’s own experience. I don't think the neighbor expected me to take him up on that.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part VII

2010-02-17T19:55:00.002-05:00

VII. Missing Golden Opportunities

Acts 8:26-38

Introduction:

I think there are trhe reasons why we miss God-given opportunities.

We have our own hurts and needs to contend with.

People are great actors.
They are very good at hiding their needs.

The pace of our lives.

Five practical lessons:

Lesson #1 – Some opportunities, if they are missed, will be lost forever.

Every morning, before you get too deep into your day, you need to ask God to open your eyes and help you recognize whatever divine appointments He has set up for you.

Lesson #2 – God will give special opportunities to those who are committed and prepared.

The single most important thing you can do to prepare yourself to be used by God is study the scriptures.
II Timothy 2:15 – Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Listen to the Word preached and taught.

Lesson #3 – Some opportunities are much larger than they first appear.

We must remember there are no small opportunities.

Lesson #4 – Some opportunities bear immediate fruit for the kingdom.

“You probably rub shoulders with a dozen people every day who hate their lives an d would be willing to try something different in a heartbeat. . .if they only knew what to try.”

Lesson #5 – The goal of every opportunity should be to point people to Jesus.

People should see and hear Jesus in all we do and say.

Conclusion:

A story is told of a Dutch woman named Greta who had a severe stroke; the only movement she could make was to blink her eyes. But even so, in her last days in the hospital, she led 2 people to the Lord.

The secret to advancing the cause of Christ is not talent or ability. It’s not youth, good health, or good looks. It’s not even wit or intelligence.

It’s passion.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part VI

2010-02-15T16:33:00.002-05:00

VI. Fighting amongst ourselves

James 4:1-2

Introduction:

Our friendly fire, or internal fighting, has taken a toll.
(Here the pastor related the incident of friendly fire in Afghanistan in which Pat Tillman was killed).

This fighting leads to seven terrible things happening in the church:

The church leaders are distracted.

The noncombatants are discouraged.

The Lord’s work is disrupted.

The community’s seekers are disenchanted.

Long-held beliefs are disregarded.

The congregations testimoney is discredited.

The Lord is dishonored.

I want to suggest several behaviours that will help us create a culture of calm.

Obey Leaders
Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Confront Troublemakers
Titus 3:10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject

Refute Heresy
Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

Meet Needs
If we would get busy meeting people’s needs, we would not have time to fight.

Suppress Legalism
Matthew 23:4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
This does not mean getting rid of the rules.

Discourage Arguments
Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

Forgive Sinners
Ephesians 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Conclusion:

Knuckle down and do the work of love.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part V

2010-02-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

V. Hopping from Church to Church

I Corinthians 12:12-27

Note: this topic does not rule out the validity of changing churches under certain circumstances.

Introduction:

Church hopping is counter-productive.

Two kinds of church hoppers:

The Complainers

The Consumers - often hopping around among a group of churches within a given length of time.

Conclusions about Church Hoppers

Church hoppers tend to be very critical.
If you look hard enough, you can always find the garbage pile.

Church hoppers tend to have a “me first” attitude.

Church hoppers almost never get involved.

Church hoppers almost never make a serious financial commitment to the church.

Church hoppers make it a point to remain emotionally detached.

Church hoppers enjoy living free from accountability.
One doctrine the Bible keeps harping on is “We need each other.”

The Blessings of Long-term Commitment:

Blessing #1 – Serving faithfully in one church over the long haul will give you a sense of belonging.

Blessing #2 – Serving faithfully in one church over the long haul will give you a sense of accomplishment.

Blessing #3 – Serving faithfully in one church over the long haul will lead you to some wonderful discoveries about yourself.

Blessing #4 – Serving faithfully in one church over the long haul will fill your life with meaningful relationships.

Blessing #5 – Serving faithfully in one church over the long haul will make you a powerful witness for the Lord.

Conclusion

God intends for all of His children to be committed to and intimately involved with a local church.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part IV

2010-02-11T12:54:00.002-05:00

IV. Speaking Above the Level of Our Knowledge

I Timothy 1:6-7

Introduction:

Good-hearted people with the best of intentions can cause harm by speaking above the level of their knowledge.
If we want to do no harm to the kingdom, we must avoid four temptations.

The Temptation to Analyze People

“Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” – David’s brother Eliab

“The next time you are tempted to blurt out an analysis of someone you dislike or disagree with, remember that only God is wise enough (and fair enough) to make judgments regarding another person’s deepest secrets and private motives.” – Mark Atteberry

The Temptation to Explain Suffering

None of us has the knowledge to always know what God is up to.

The only things we can be sure of in suffering are these two:
God loves me
God is faithful

The Temptation to Spread Rumors

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

The Temptation to Believe Everything You Hear

I John 4:1 Dear Friend, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Conclusion

We must watch what we speak.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part III

2010-02-09T14:22:00.002-05:00

III. Living Below the Level of Our Beliefs

Introduction:

Many in the church, many believers, have become blind to their own sin.

The Sins That Drag Us Down

Materialism
Our commitment to Him will rise and fall in direct proportion to our interest in material things.

A story was told about a woman who was going to teach her Bible study class a lesson on materialism. She was writing up her outline at her computer. She would suggest that the members of her class go through their houses and look for evidence of materialism. As she worked on her outline, it occurred to her that she needed to do this herself, not just ask it of her class. She got up and went to her closet and opened the door. There, on racks, in boxes – never opened or worn – on the floor from recent wearings, were shoes. She counted them – 84 pairs, and was convicted of her materialism.

Worry
Most Christians understand that worry is a sin.

Worry also serves as a wrecking ball to your witness.
If you say you trust in God, and people see you worrying, it puts a negative image on your trust.

The naïve don’t have a problem with worry. The pastor tells of his early days as a pastor in Mississippi, when a tornado warning went out. He got the family to the safest place in the house – the bathroom. Mississippi houses don’t have basements! Meanwhile, he kept darting out to look out the window and watch the tornado with interest. It never touched down. He wasn’t familiar with tornadoes. He was not worried at all. Some time later, he drove the 60 miles to the church he was pastoring, to find out that a tornado had touched down in a small town nearby. The town was virtually wiped out. One church had nothing left except the communion table, and the Bible on it. He had a healthy respect for tornadoes after that.

Superiority

We must be careful not to slip into a prideful, cocky attitude that causes us to throw out words of judgment and condemnation. The illustration given here is that of the Pharisee and the tax collector – the Pharisee telling God how good he is, and how he obeys the letter of the law; that he is not like this tax collector (far superior, you can read between the lines!). And the tax collector bows his head, beats on his chest and says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” And who goes down to his house justified? The humble and repentant tax collect rather than the proud and self-righteous Pharisee.

Elevating Our Game

Put the power back into preaching.

We need to remember that the primary reasons why God gave us the Bible is because it is “usefule for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Jonah 3:4-5 Jonah preached a sermon on repentance to the Ninevites, and 120,000 people repented.
Acts 2 Peter preached a sermon on repentance on the day of Pentecost, and 3,000 people were saved.

Move our heart closer to the Lord.

Your heart is the one thing you can’t afford to be without when you come before God.

Whe powerful preaching and tender hearts come together in the presence of Almighty God, incredible things always happen.

Isaiah 29:13
Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Amos 5:21-23
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.

Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.

Conclusion:

When we live below the level of our beliefs we allow sin to settle in and make itself at home.

If you do not want to be a hindrance to the kingdom, your behaviour must meet with the king’s approval.

The story is told of a knight coming before his king, disheveled and bleeding, and he says to the king, “I have been harassing your enemies to the west.” The king replies, “I don’t have any enemies to the west.” Says the knight, “You do, now.”

We need to remember who we are and whose we are.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part II

2010-02-08T16:18:00.003-05:00

II. Winning People to the Church, Not to Christ

Hebrews 12:2-3

Introduction:
The church has a problem.

The Problem:
We tell people, “Just come to church and…”

When a loved one dies, “Just come to church…”

When a marriage is falling apart, “You need to come to church.”

When parents have problems with a teenager we say, “Just come to church.”

When people lose a job we say, “Just come to church.”

When people are discouraged or depressed or hopeless we say, “You should go to church.”

Too often we make the church sound like it, rather than Jesus, is the source of salvation.

It’s possible for us to witness to our friends and get them all fired up and started to church without ever mentioning Jesus.

People begin their faith experience with their hope pinned on a group of imperfect people rather than the Lord of all creation.

Warnings people need to hear about the church:

Warning #1 – You will encounter some difficult and unpleasant people.

We allow anyone and everyone into the church.
Difficult and unpleasant people make going to church risky business.

I frequently say that I’ve met some of the greatest people in the world in the church.

What I rarely say (but what is just as true) is that I’ve met some of the weirdest, most irritating people in the church.

Warning #2 – The church you join is not always going to be like it is today.

A person generally loves the pastor of the church he joins.

But what happens if the pastor leaves and is replaced by someone with a totally different style and personality?

A person generally loves the music of the church he joins.

But what happens when our favorite songs are replaced with songs we’ve never heard before and don’t like?

A person generally loves the location of the church he joins.

What happens when the church buys ground and builds 10 miles out of town?

A person generally loves the fellowship of the church he joins.

What happens when factions arise and a fight breaks out?

People, like wineskins, need to be flexible enough to accommodate new strategies, methods, and formats without blowing up.

What people need to know about Jesus.

People need to know that Jesus, not the church is the way.

When a person is battling depression, facing the death of a loved one, has lost a job, or staring cancer in the face what they need to hear about is not the church, but Jesus.

You see, the volleyball team, the Sunday School class, the worship team, the fellowship dinner, and all the other programs and activities are not the way.

They can help people along the way, but they aren’t the way.

Jesus is the way.

People need to know that Jesus, not the church, is the truth.

The church holds the truth.

The church should share the truth.

The church is not the truth.

The truth will set people free, and the church does not set anyone free.

Jesus is the truth, the One who sets people free.

People need to know that Jesus, not the church, is the life.

The church cannot breathe life into anybody.

We can only lead people to the One who can.

Jesus is the Life.

Conclusion:

Our witnessing and help should be Christ-centered, not church-centered.

It is good to invite people to church.

Getting them into the Lord’s preferred working environment is important.

But let’s make sure they understand where their hope lies.

It’s not the church.
It’s Jesus.

How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part I

2010-02-07T19:43:00.005-05:00

This is the first in a series of posts based on a series of sermons our pastor has been presenting in the last several weeks. Some of the earlier entries don't have the scripture references, but I have been diligent lately to get them down.

I. "Slinging Mud on the Bride of Christ."

There are 4 types of mudslingers:
1. The Missing
These are people who left the church and are ready to tell you everything that is wrong with it - some of which might be true, but most of which probably isn't. Otherwise known as the blame game.
2. The Malcontents
The chronic complainers - they always have something to complain about.
3. The Moochers
The people who believe the church exists solely for meeting their needs. They never have any input, but they'll let you know if their needs, as they see them, aren't met.
4. The Misbehavers
Church members who misbehave publically - an example was a man in a restaurant who was so critical & demanding (and loud) that he had a waitress almost in tears.

Three results of mudslinging:
1. The devil is handed an opportunity
2. The lost are handed an excuse.
3. The Lord is handed a heartache.

Freedom vs License

2010-02-05T14:02:00.006-05:00

We hear many people claiming that certain things are their right because this is a “free” country. And quite often, we succumb to their demands, even though what they demand as a freedom is not freedom at all, but license. One cannot have true freedom without discipline. These people demanding these licentious “freedoms” want to do away completely with discipline. “Freedom is the ‘right’ to do whatever I want, regardless.” Often they add on to that, “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.” That is a bogus claim, because any licentious behaviour is bound to hurt someone else. Everything everyone does touches other people in one way or another. We have a group clamoring to legalize illicit drugs, insisting that the users hurt no one but themselves. And not all of these are users, although a good percentage of them are. So, who is hurt by someone who uses, say, for example, marijuana? This is the drug most often demanded to be legalized. It has been called a gateway drug. Some people insist that it isn’t. People who have worked with drug users say otherwise. Even if marijuana is non-addictive (as many claim), it is likely to promote the desire for a greater high. Many addictive behaviours do the same. And who is it hurting beside the user? At the least, the user’s family. At the most, society in general.

We are right now in the process of giving into the demands for homosexual marriage – while the homosexual community is, at the same time, making demands that we go all out to find a cure for AIDS – a costly item for every taxpayer in America. People pooh-poohed Rick Santorum’s statement that if the Supreme Court dealt with Lawrence vs. Texas, that the next thing would be a demand for allowing homosexual marriage, saying, “It’ll never happen.” Six months later activists started demanding homosexual marriage. I have seen homosexuals demand the “right” to make a marriage with another person of the same sex. Now people are concerned that eventually polygamy will be approved, or any varying type of “marriage.” And the homosexuals say, “It’ll never happen.” We already have NAMBLA pushing for eliminating, or at the least, lowering, the age of consent.

A little sin begets a bigger sin, just as a little “white” lie demands another lie to back it up, and so on, ad infinitum. I have seen sexual abuse addiction. When the novelty of one type of abuse wears off, another one, worse than the previous, must be found by the abuser. The victim of the abuse may be virtually unable to get free of this abuse for whatever reason.

Our Founding Fathers said that our Republican form of government would work only for a moral and spiritual people. This is because moral and spiritual people tend to practice self-discipline. People point to slavery to deny this belief. But most people are unaware that slavery was one of the issues of the American Revolution as well as the Civil War. King George III refused to allow the colonies to make any laws curtailing slavery in any way. As soon as the Union was formed, 12 of the 13 states passed laws forbidding the importation of slaves. The fact that this was not always followed (blackmarket, etc.) does not negate its existence.

With the decay of morality and righteousness, more and more people are demanding the “right” to do anything they want. They accuse the “moral and righteous” people of trying to make a theocracy of our nation. I’m sure that our Founding Fathers would see reason to make more laws against immoral behaviour, and to tighten the ones we have, because we are no longer a moral and spirtual/religious/righteous nation. They never intended the degradation that is now occurring in our country. They told the people of America that the kind of government they had given us was “a Republic, if you can keep it.” We have not kept it.

Not only have we discarded self-discipline, we have even started to demand that our government “take care of us.” This involves the government taking money from the diligent and honest, and distributing it to the lazy and indolent. Oh, to be sure, there are some people who are poor not through their own fault, but such people used to be cared for by the “moral and religious.” Now, the government has usurped that position, and takes our money against our will, and determines who is “worthy” of receiving it. And we have even got to the point where many people, who have not been properly taught about our history, honestly believe it is truly the government’s job to take care of the needy.

I have, on a number of occasions, told of an incident that describes true freedom. Some of you old-timers like me may remember a ballet dancer named Edward Villella. I saw him interviewed once on television. The interviewer asked Villella if he wasn’t ever afraid of falling when he was performing. His answer went something like this: “No, I am never afraid of falling. I discipline myself and practice diligently so that when I get on the public stage, I am perfectly free (italics mine).” This response shows the relationship between self-discipline and freedom.

Blogging 2010

2010-02-04T10:13:00.004-05:00

I didn’t post a blog in January. I’ve already posted most family birthdays, some of them twice. There are no new “Magnacalendar” pictures. If you want to review the entire year of “Magnapictures,” they are posted here. I haven’t been very good at writing up stuff, so have neglected my blog shamefully.

However, I do have a new area of interest to write on. My pastor is giving an excellent series of messages, and I have been keeping notes on them. It helps that he gives us a brief outline each Sunday with “Fill in the blanks.” With his permission, I will be posting a brief overview of each of the messages in this series, and perhaps other messages eventually. I will probably occasionally write up a completely original blog. I am working on one right now. But I do have the notes ready to go for the first four sermons in the series I mentioned.

December

2009-12-13T14:13:00.004-05:00

Every month I am later and later with the first-of-the month blog. I need to get back into writing a little again!

Today I decided not to go to Sunday School since we were having freezing rain. It was a good thing I made that decision. About fifteen minutes after I would have left, I got a phone call telling me all the morning services had been cancelled.

I have our Christmas tree up and decorated. I may post a pic later, if I can find my camera.

Birthdays for December:
December 14 – My oldest sister Leora
December 27 – Me
December 27 – My nephew Philip
December 30 – My nephew Richard (Philip’s brother).

And of course, on December 25, we celebrate Jesus' birthday.

And the last Magnacalendar image:
Magnacalendar images:December

There won’t be any new Magnacalendar images next year, as Mike didn’t make any. Hopefully he will have a new one for the following year.

November Features

2009-11-11T15:07:00.003-05:00

OK, lazy me, finally getting to post the “regular” features for November.

For the birthdays:
November 6 – My nephew Paul
November 16 – My niece Amy’s husband René
November 16 – My granddaughter’s husband Carl
November 21 – My nephew Gene
November 23 – My great-granddaughter Briana
November 25 – My great-great-niece Annelise
November 28 – My half-sister Lois

My father was born on November 23, 1877, and passed away September of 1967
My half-brother LeRoy was born November 25, 1921, and passed away in 2000 (August, I think, or September).

Magnacalendar!
Magnacalendar images:November

Baby Svana was scheduled for surgery, I think it was Monday November 9. I’ve heard nothing further. She had growths where the previous surgery on her esophagus had taken place, making swallowing difficult and painful. She had to go full-time to the feeding tube. Prayer that the surgery will be successful & permanent.

I’ve got a great deal of clean-up done in my yard this summer! I can now haul stuff in the wagon right behind the house where the ground is flat. There is still a lot to go, and I want to get some more work done in the garden before winter really sets in.

We got almost a bucket full of apples from our two trees. A very late frost destroyed most of the developing apples; others were affected in such a way that they had a rough scab-like surface on the skin, and it kept them from growing to full size. However, they got very ripe, and even if they afford just a few bites, they are delicious!

I ordered a bunch of books for Mike & me. One of mine was lost in the mail, and I was reimbursed for it. I’ll probably reorder it later.

Good news for my niece Suzanne! She & her husband Bob have the date set for going to the location of their missions assignment. Keep them in your prayers.

October Already!

2009-10-06T19:04:00.005-04:00

I am getting lazy about my blog. I have had things I could have written about, but just don’t think about it when the opportunity is at its best.

The news about baby Svana is still good. She is going to need back surgery some time in the future, but as far as I know, she is doing fine otherwise.

Monthly features:
Birthdays:
October 10 – My son Mike
October 27 – My brother-in-law Tony
My great-great-niece Emmah also has an October birthday, but I don’t know the day.

The October “Magnacalendar” :
Magnacalendar images:October

I started this several days ago, intending to post it on Saturday. I’ve been kinda sick, and not up to doing much thinking.

I went to a dinner at the Richardsville Social Center on Saturday before Labor Day. Saw a lot of the new friends I had made at the Richardsville Road get-together last year.

Last Sunday we had a carry-in dinner for pastor appreciation Sunday. I got to the church, and realized I didn’t have my purse. I wound up having to borrow $5 to put a little gas in my car.

I changed my car insurance, and I’m saving nearly $400 a year, and have better coverage. I was putting my new insurance cards in my car, and I found a bank envelope in the glove compartment with $2 in it. I know I never put that there. It has the last name of the previous owner of the car on it – and I’ve had this car for 6 years now!

This week is our high school reunion – #55. We will be meeting informally at one of the homes on Friday night. The reunion dinner is Saturday night at the Country Club. One of our members will be serving a lunch to any interested on Saturday at noon. I won’t likely go. In any case, more than anything, it’s for the convenience of those who come from out-of-town. They also have a brunch on Sunday morning, which I never attend, since I’m in church at that time.

My brother’s high school reunion was in the local paper last week, and they had his name wrong.

On top of all this, I get to go to work Saturday morning! Hooray! (NOT!) We were supposed to go in every quarter to see that the secretary was keeping stuff in order so the audit would go more smoothly next year. But she couldn't “find stuff”, and this is the first time we’re getting to check it out – should have been in June. This will go toward next year’s audit. I think they need to start looking for a new secretary for the township.

Edit to update birthdays: Emmah's is the 23rd - and the same date is also my great-nephew Alex's; he's Emmah's uncle.

September features and other things

2009-09-03T13:11:00.004-04:00

Last weekend was a good time. My brother Tommy, his wife Pat, and my half-sister Lois were down from Michigan. Tommy was here for his high school reunion. They stayed at Middy’s. I was down there most of Friday and Sunday afternoon. We don’t see them often. Tommy brought us a bunch of apples. On Sunday, I guided them to the cemetery where our mother is buried. Her parents are also buried there, and her brother and two of her sisters. Lois’s father and his parents and one uncle are also buried there, as well as two of her full siblings – Lucille, who died as a toddler, and LeRoy who died just a few years ago.

For those of you interested in the story of baby Svana, she is now home, and almost up to normal for a child her age. She still has some problems with feeding – she has to have supplements via artificial means because she is not yet able to eat enough to sustain her.

And now, for the monthly “features”:
Birthdays:
September 4, my great-niece Kathryn
September 26, my grandson Christopher
September 27, my sister-in-law Pat

I hope to keep building up my list of family birthdays; there is still a large number of them that I don’t have any birthday info on, and some that I do not have all. I’m not making a practice of posting the birth year, but I do want to get all that information in my own records. I have just recently added several more, which will show up when their “month” comes up.

And now the “Magnacalendar” for September:
Magnacalendar images:September

Blogger's note - once again, I have to edit my blog to correct the relationship of one of my grandchildren.

First post of August, and other stuff

2009-08-08T13:42:00.002-04:00

Well, I always have something to blog about the first of each month, even if it’s just family birthdays and Magnaclams.

I missed posting in time to catch Lucile’s birthday – in fact, I kinda forgot it until Kathryn brought it up on her blog.

Well, anyway, here are the August birthdays, as far as I know. Once again, any of my family members, if you can help me out, I’d like to get a list of all of them – both day & year, although I won’t be posting ages – except occasionally, perhaps, for the very young.

August 1 – my sister-in-law, Lucile
August 16 – my half-brother Paul (Lucile’s husband)
August 18 – my niece Melody
August 25 - my great-grandson Gavin
August 31 – my great-niece Kitiara (Melody’s daughter)

And here is the link to the August Magnacalendar:
Magnacalendar images: August

Our church was robbed a couple of weeks ago. Whoever did it broke into the window of the pastor’s study, but they knew where to find the keys to the church office. They took the safe. Everyone who frequents the church office – or even goes in there at all – was asked to go to the police station to be finger printed, so they would be able to eliminate as many as possible of the many finger prints they had collected from the site. I went down last Thursday and was fingerprinted. The really funny thing (I thought) about the fingerprinting was that one gentleman who was fingerprinted is retired FBI.

The following two Sundays, they have taken the offering at the beginning of the service, had it counted immediately, so it could be dropped in the night depository at the bank immediately after the service, and would not stay overnight in the building.

Svana

2009-07-29T15:20:00.002-04:00

Svana is nearly 2 months old now, I think. She “should” be dead. She had many things wrong with her. Her esophagus went nowhere. Fluid leaking into the cavity around her lungs caused them to collapse. Other issues led to her being on a machine to “replace” her heart as well as her lungs. She had no rectum.

When she was about 2 or 3 days old, some men from the church her grandfather pastors gathered around and prayed for her. That evening, she had a bowel movement. Her grandfather said, “I don’t care if I am a Christian and a pastor – the first doctor who suggests that the original diagnosis (no rectum) was a mistake gets my fist in his face.” The issue with her lungs was up and down. She had surgery to connect her esophagus where it belonged. She has had other surgeries; I don’t know the details of all of them.

But while she was on the breathing machine & heart machine, there came a point where the doctors said, “She’s used up all her reserve. She has nothing left to fight with.” Her grandfather said, “She may not have any reserve, but we have – in God.”

The next thing we knew, Svana started improving. The lung machine was removed and she was put on a ventilator. Soon that was removed, as well as the heart machine. Her parents were able to hold her for the first time. The last I heard, they were even able to dress her. Interesting, isn’t it, that she has been improving steadily ever since the doctors said she had no more reserve?

Her grandfather is the pastor of the Brookville, PA, Assemblies of God Church; her great-grandparents are retired Nazarene missionaries.

The Thin Line

2009-07-14T19:34:00.003-04:00

The last couple of weeks have been rather hectic – again. I’ve done a lot of lawn mowing, of which there is always a lot to do. And I’ve finally gone over 1000 miles in my car without the “check engine” light coming on. There was another little problem arose – whenever I went to pump gas, the pump would kick off ‘way too soon. Hopefully, that is fixed now; Wally found where one of the new hoses he installed was kinking a bit and causing the back pressure. I took the car in for inspection today, and he has to order parts – struts and ball joints. This is going to be an expensive proposition!

Last week was the exciting time, though. A very short time, but could have had very long term – possibly permanent – implications. We have a rather steep bank next to our driveway. At one point in that bank, there is a set of make-shift stone steps. I use those steps to go into the upper part of my yard, where my clothesline is. I was up there hanging clothes Monday morning, and my dog was wondering around. Then the people who were staying in the cabin next door took their dogs outside. They were restrained, but I was afraid my dog might run over there. Time to take her down to the porch and put her on the chain. I was hurrying a bit, although the dog was behaving herself so far.

I started down the steps. On the second step, the sole of my shoe “stuck,” causing me to lose my balance. There were stones from the partially tumbled-down stone wall near the bottom of the steps. One of them had a pointed corner aimed upright. Had I fallen immediately, I would probably have struck my head on that point, and it would likely have been the end. As it was, I caught my balance just enough to take one more step before I fell, and missed the rock – well, not completely, I wound up with a cut near my temple. I also scraped my left shin, and stoved my left ankle, wrist and shoulder.

I started calling for Mike. I wondered why I had to call so loud; he’d just been at his computer and in a place where he should be able to easily hear me. Then I remembered that he had gone into the bathroom just before I came out, and that’s upstairs, and about as far away in the house as you could get from where I was. I was close enough to the fallen rocks that I was able to shift around a bit and pull myself up getting hold of them. I went into the house, and started up the stairs just as Mike started down. He hadn’t heard a thing. He wound up having to put a bandaid on my temple. The way it was torn, he thought maybe I should have stitches, but it wasn’t deep, so I didn’t think so.

The line is very thin between life and death.

In spite all this, the next day I was still up to going to Clarion for groceries. Then on Wednesday I mowed. On Thursday I mowed. On Friday I mowed. Saturday it rained. On Monday, I did laundry – and mowed. Today I took the car into the shop, ran a few errands – and mowed.

I’m going back out in a few minutes and do a little more mowing.

Welcome to the Rat Race!

2009-07-03T13:13:00.004-04:00

Things have been rather hectic the last week or so. It actually dates back to my last doctor’s appointment in early May. Nothing I did gave me relief from the pain in my back that I get whenever I spend more than 5 or 10 minutes doing a task that requires standing or walking. He prescribed a very strong pain medication, and faxed the perscription to my perscription company.

It was that same week that my hot water heater went out – well, it started leaking. It was still working, but a leaking hot water heater is not to be tolerated. A neighbor, who does most of my plumbing work, got a new hot water heater and installed it. This was on Thursday. He lit the pilot light, and fired up the heater. It lit up for a few seconds, then went out. After trying for some time to make it work, he found out that it was a factory fault – in a sealed compartment. GE was to call me and make an appointement – they would come out with a new hot water heater and install it. When they finally called me, they said they didn’t have a rep in the area, so I should have my plumber do the work, and they would reimburse him. Well, he doesn’t do much plumbing work any more (I’m one of his few plumbing customers), and he runs a tourist trap, where he and his wife were running a seminar that weekend, so it was out of the question for him to get back to me until Monday. So no hot water before Monday. Ray came Monday morning and took out the tank, to get the replacement. He had to go to Oil City, and cut a lot of red tape, and did double duty by doing some personal shopping while there. By evening I had hot water again.

But to continue with the story about the medications – Monday morning, my perscription came in the mail. It was one of those “take one or two tablets every 6 hours as needed for pain.” Well, in the doctor’s office, he said take two, etc. So I took two. This was about 11:00 am. Around noon I ate lunch. Shortly after, I started feeling weak and a little dizzy. Then my stomach started acting up. I grabbed the sheet that came with the medication, and read the side effects. It included all of the above. I called the doctor. He said, “Cut the medication to 1 tablet, and take every 4 hours.” Just shortly after that, I experienced another of the side-effects – vomiting. Loss of appetite was another. As I told several people, I not only lost my appetite, I lost my lunch. I slept all afternoon. After Ray came back & reinstalled the hot water heater, I went back to bed, and slept out most of the evening.

I ended up just taking the medication twice a day. Oddly enough, it still affected my appetite, to the point that I lost about 12 pounds in 6 weeks. I’ll take that side-effect any day of the week. Unfortunately, it seems to have worn off, and I’m gaining a little back.

OK, now fast forward to a week ago Monday. I did my laundry as usual, and was able to hang the clothes out. However, I was having just a little more pain than usual in my hips.

On Tuesday, our “hen party” was scheduled. That’s a bunch of us ladies who went to high school together. That was also my grocery day. I went to Brookville early, cashed a couple of checks, then went to the BiLo to get my vitamin D perscription filled. There was still a little time before the dinner, so I went up to my sister’s in Roseville and shot the breeze with her for a while. Then over to the Country Club for lunch. I was sure I couldn’t eat the whole meal that I ordered, because of the effects of the medication. I didn’t eat all of it (I’m usually a clean-plate person) but most of it, with no apparent ill affects. Then, by the time I got out of there, my stomach was started to get a little queasy. I drove over to Clarion to the Walmart for my regular grocery shopping. On the whole trip, my stomach was in pain. I started pushing the cart around, and in a very short time, the pain dissipated. The weather outside was rather warm, but they had the air conditioning going in the Walmart. So, now, I am pushing my cart around the nice, cool Walmart – and sweating like crazy!

By the time I headed for home, all my symptoms were pretty well gone. But I still had some pain in my hips.

Now we’re to Wednesday morning. I turned on my computer, and did some other things while waiting for it to boot up. I came back to a blue screen with a few messages on it, the most significant being “No Boot Device.” I restarted it several times, with no luck. I went to setup, and it appeared that one of the disk devices didn’t exist. I called Dell. After the tech had me try several things, it was concluded that the system didn’t recognize my hard drive. It could be either a cable, or the drive itself. The computer was still in warranty (and in-home warranty, at that!), so Dell made arrangements to have a tech come out and do whatever needed to be done. That took a while to get all straightened out since I’m out in the boonies, and I didn’t get the problem fixed until late Friday. Unfortunately, it was the disk, not the cable – and I lost everything, except what I had backed up, which was precious little. I lost absolutely all my documents. I had pictures backed up to September 2007; most of the pictures I lost were scanned in (so I still have the originals) or, if digital, the ones that were any good were posted on the internet and I can retrieve them from there. I still have some software I have to download.

One thing I lost – I had an ancient piece of software with which to record recipes. I had copied everything from an old diskette, and downloaded some software to convert them to a usable format. I’m pretty sure I have since thrown away all my old diskettes. I was usually able to read them, but I couldn’t reformat them, because of their age. Some of the recipes I still have somewhere from another source. Some I never tried – they were that type of “I’d like to try that some day.”

Now, while all the rest of this is going on, the pain in my hips is getting worse, and I can barely hobble around. I had ordered some plastic clogs from a mailorder house to wear outside in the mornings, because the grass is always quite wet. They arrived in the mail this past Monday. They don’t fit quite right. They are a little large in the back, but they put pressure on my big toes. What was amazing was that as I walked around in them, the pain in my hips eased. I suspect it something to do with the composition of the soles – thick, spongy plastic. They didn’t completely eliminate the pain, though. The next day, I was thinking, now the doc said that I could still use my OC pain medication (naproxen sodium) in addition to the prescription meds. I decided that I’d try taking one of them in the middle of the day, and maybe it would help a little. I have done so for the last three days, and it has virtually eliminated the hip pain. Now, if I could only get rid of the back pain . . .

Now, for the “monthly features” – first of all, the Magnaclam calendar:
Magnacalendar Images - July

And birthdays:
July 15 – my great-niece Qavah
July 21 – my daughter Karen
July 25 - my brother-in-law Phil
July 30 – my granddaughter Annie

Just fixed that last entry - Annie is definitely not my daughter!

Hey, family, I lost my birthdays list when my computer crashed, so I’d appreciate any of you helping me out with getting them back. I have at least the month & day for all those that I have posted here throughout the past year, but if possible, I’d like to have the year, too. I’d like to have a comprehensive list of all the birthdates in our family, and there are some whose birthdays I have never had – or at least, never had recorded.

June's Beginnings

2009-06-02T15:18:00.004-04:00

It’s a new month. June. It’s supposed to be almost summer, but when I woke up yesterday, the temperature was 32º. Brrr!

Monthly features:
Magnaclam Calendar:
Magnacalendar Images: June

I love those little "Magnajets" in the background!

June birthdays:
My nephew’s wife, Dawn – June 20
Great-great nephew Nehemiah (Dawn’s grandson) – June 21
Brother Tommy – June 25
Niece Suzanne (Tommy’s daughter) – June 25
Nephew Larry (now deceased) was born on June 15, 1949

Once again, it looks like my “check engine” light problem has been solved. This is the longest I’ve gone without its coming on since late January.

I dumped a bunch of shredded paper inside my fenced-in garden area. I covered most of it with newspaper weighted down with stone. It seemed to be staying in place pretty good, even where not covered. The grass and other plants are growing up through it. But I suddenly started noticing a bunch of it on the ground under the nearby hemlock tree. It didn’t make sense, because there wasn’t any evidence of it being blown about by the wind. And periodically the amount under the tree seemed to increase. I wondered if perhaps the birds were carrying it about. I looked up in the tree and saw a big gob of it hanging from a branch. I guess I need to cover the rest.

I have several bags of shredded paper that I want to spread out in the garden area. I put some out there once before, long ago, and it improved the soil in those areas considerably when it deteriorated. I’m also putting out big pieces of card board, hoping to kill out most of the weeds – especially the quack grass! And the peppermint which is virtually taking over the garden, and not being worth much because it always gets leaf miners very early. There is better peppermint growing down by the road, but I have to get it before the deer eat it off.

I’ve got my "burning place" rebuilt where I want it, and without any concrete blocks or pieces. I will probably build it higher, bit by bit, by bringing rocks from a pile in the southwest corner of my property. Someone was dumping them there before I bought the place and I have continued the practice.

This 'n' That

2009-05-28T12:45:00.003-04:00

I just sent off a birthday card to my great-granddaughter Keely. She will be 2 tomorrow.

My grandson Christopher is getting married Saturday. I haven’t sent them anything yet. I notified my daughter, and told her I would be sending something, so they won’t be disappointed not to have heard from me. I wanted Mike to make an image of a Magnaclam bride and groom for a card for them, but I don’t think he’s gonna do it. I wanted a baby Magnaclam for Keely’s birthday card, and didn’t get that either.

My brother-in-law & my nephew Rich installed a signal-booster on our TV antenna so that we can get digital TV. So far, we still can’t get it. The only option left to us is to buy a new antenna, and I hesitate to do that, because, what if, after spending all that money, it still doesn’t work?

Rich hauled some rocks in my yard down to where I want to set up a place for burning stuff, and at the same time, getting the rocks out of a place where I want to mow. He missed a few. He set up the rocks in a circle, but (shhh, don’t tell him) I’m doing it over. He set it up just a little too close to my garden fence. Also, there are some concrete blocks in it, and they don’t hold up very good with fire. Today I hauled down the rest of the rocks he’d missed, and started rebuilding the circle. I wanted to be able to burn stuff without going half-way up the hill, where I’ve been burning stuff for some time.

I may finally have got the “check engine” light on my car fixed. The tech caught it just at the right time with an intermittent problem, and replaced a part. So far, it’s gone over 160 miles without the light coming on. Those intermittent problems are really the bear to find.

I had to replace my hot-water heater a couple of weeks ago. I may have to replace my clothes dryer, too, before the year is out.

Life is never dull!

Not yet

2009-05-10T15:56:00.000-04:00

My "check engine" light is on - again - after about 90 miles.

May Musings

2009-05-06T16:25:00.005-04:00

I suppose, while posting the Articles of Faith with the graphics, I should have gone into some detail on at least some of the graphics as to why they represent the specific article. Some, of course, are self-explanatory.

Earlier this year I got a little kitchen gadget I thought might be useful. It’s one of those little things you find in novelty catalogs that may or may not work correctly. It’s a little plastic slicer with a nice sharp blade. It gives you warnings about proper use to avoid cutting yourself. The problem was, it didn’t tell you how to wash it. I was washing it preparatory to use, and managed to “slice” a bit of my index finger. Ouch! However, I will say, as for the use, it works very nicely. I sliced up a couple of potatoes to fry, and they sliced up fast and uniform.

Yesterday was one busy day. I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning – just routine stuff. I went from there to the hospital for X-rays to try to find out why I have so much back pain. All the X-rays showed was a little arthritis.

From the hospital, I went to Middy’s, expecting to stay there until my car appointment in the afternoon. I had intended to skip lunch. Middy wasn’t home; my nephew Rich probably was, but he would be leaving very soon to go to work, so I just drove off. I went to Plyer’s and had salad bar for lunch. Then I went to the grocery store & picked up a few things. On to the garage. I was early, so I sat in the car about 20 minutes reading. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve got the check engine light fixed . . . I went back into town & the grocery store, and picked up some frozen stuff. Then gassed up the car. I should have done it when I first got into town before my Dr.’s appointment. In the mean time, the price of gasoline had increased by 5¢.

I got home at about 3:00 pm (after leaving home about 9:00 am).

Now for the monthly features:
Magnaclam image for May
Magnacalendar images: May

May birthdays:
My nephew Ben – May 5
My niece Elizabeth – May 7
My nephew Steve – May 8
My brother-in-law Erling – May 25
My great-granddaughter Keely – May 29

If any of you know any family birthdays I’ve missed, let me know. There are a lot that I don’t have a record of.

Articles of Faith - Continued - 15 & 16

2009-05-04T13:05:00.004-04:00

This is the final installment of the Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene. These last two articles each has its own graphic.

XV. Second Coming of Christ

19. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.

(Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:26-28; 2 Peter 3:3-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 22:7-20)

XVI. Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny

20. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies of both the just and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirits—“they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

21. We believe in future judgment in which every person shall appear before God to be judged according to his or her deeds in this life.

22. We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.

(Genesis 18:25; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 50:6; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; 20:27-38; John 3:16-18; 5:25-29; 11:21-27; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:1-16; 14:7-12; 1 Corinthians 15:12-28; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Revelation 20:11-15; 22:1-15)

Articles of Faith – Continued – 11-14

2009-05-04T11:04:00.003-04:00

The part of this graphic representing the church is made of bricks representing people. It's not clear enough to see at this size, but the artist put a person's image on each brick. The missing brick on the upper left hand wall indicates that there are still more bricks to be added.

XI. The Church

15. We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the convenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.

God calls the Church to express its life in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit; in worship through the preaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, and ministry in His name; by obedience to Christ and mutual accountability.

The mission of the Church in the world is to continue the redemptive work of Christ in the power of the Spirit through holy living, evangelism, discipleship, and service.

The Church is a historical reality, which organizes itself in culturally conditioned forms; exists both as local congregations and as a universal body; sets apart persons called of God for specific ministries. God calls the Church to live under His rule in anticipation of the consummation at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Exodus 19:3; Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 8:11; 10:7; 16:13-19, 24; 18:15-20; 28:19-20; John 17:14-26; 20:21-23; Acts 1:7-8; 2:32-47; 6:1-2; 13:1; 14:23; Romans 2:28-29; 4:16; 10:9-15; 11:13-32; 12:1-8; 15:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; 7:17; 11:1, 17-33; 12:3, 12-31; 14:26-40; 2 Corinthians 5:11—6:1; Galatians 5:6, 13-14; 6:1-5,15; Ephesians 4:1-17; 5:25-27; Philippians 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 13; 2:4-12, 21; 4:1-2, 10-11; 1 John 4:17; Jude 24; Revelation 5:9-10)

XII. Baptism

16. We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying acceptances of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and full purpose of obedience in holiness and righteousness.

Baptism being a symbol of the new covenant, young children may be baptized, upon request of parents or guardians who shall give assurance for them of necessary Christian training.

Baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, according to the choice of the applicant.

(Matthew 3:1-7; 28:16-20; Acts 2:37-41; 8:35-39; 10:44-48; 16:29-34; 19:1-6; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 2:12; 1Peter 3:18-22)

XIII. The Lord’s Supper

17. We believe that the Memorial and Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is essentially a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death, through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual blessings in Christ. It is distinctively for those who are prepared for reverent appreciation of its significance, and by it they show forth the Lord’s death till He come again. It being the Communion feast, only those who have faith in Christ and love for the saints should be called to participate therein.

(Exodus 12:1-14; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; John 6:28-58; 1 Corinthians 10:14-21; 11:23-32)

XIV. Divine Healing

18. We believe in the Bible doctrine of divine healing and urge our people to seek to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through means of medical science.

(2 Kings 5:1-19; Psalm 103:1-5; Matthew 4:23-24; 9:18-35; John 4:46-54; Acts 5:12-16; 9:32-42; 14:8-15; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 5:13-16)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 10

2009-05-02T14:21:00.003-04:00

Since the graphic for this article was part of the graphic in the previous post, I will repost the graphic for clarity.

X. Entire Sanctification

13. We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.

It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit bears witness.

This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as “Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” “heart purity,” “the baptism with the Holy Spirit,” “the fullness of the blessing,” and “Christian holiness.”

14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace.

We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor, one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.

(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; John 7:37-39; 14:15-23; 17:6-20; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9; Romans 6:11-13, 19; 8:1-4; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14—7:1; Galations 2:20; 5:16-25; Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:17-18, 25-27; Philippians 3:10-15; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 4:9-11; 10:10-17; 12:1-2; 13:12; 1 John 1:7,9)

(“Christian perfection,” “perfect love”: Deuteronomy 30:6; Matthew 5:43-48; 22:37-40; Romans 12:9-21; 13:8-10; 1Corinthians 13; Philippians 3:10-15; Hebrews 6:1; 1 John 4:17-18

“Heart purity”: Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:8-9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3

“Baptism with the Holy Spirit”: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9;

“Fullness of the blessing”: Romans 15:29

“Christian holiness”: Matthew 5:1—7:29; John 15:1-11; Romans 12:1—15:3; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:17—5:20; Philippians 1:9-11; 3:12-15; Colossians 2:20—3:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7-8; 5:23; 2 Timothy 2:19-22; Hebrews 10:19-25; 12:14; 13:20-21; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; 3:18; Jude 20-21)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 8 & 9

2009-05-02T13:34:00.004-04:00

Although Article 10 is included in this graphic, it is rather long, so I will put it in a separate post. As mentioned in the previous post, this graphic was originally connected to the previous one. The returning arrow, representing Repentance, originated at the bottom of the gift box, representing Prevenient Grace.

VIII. Repentance

8. We believe that repentance, which is a sincere and thorough change of the mind in regard to sin, involving a sense of personal guilt and a voluntary turning away from sin, is demanded of all who have by act or purpose become sinners against God. The Spirit of God gives to all who will repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of mercy, that they may believe unto pardon and spiritual life.

(2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 32:5-6; 51:1-17; Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 3:12-14; Ezekiel 18:30-32; 33:14-16; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 3:1-14; 13:1-5; 18:9-14; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 17:30-31; 26:16-18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9)

IX. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption

9. We believe that justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Saviour.

10. We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.

11. We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated believe is constituted a son of God.

12. We belive that justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God and are obtained upon the condition of faith, preceded by repentance; and that to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.

(Luke 18:14; John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; 5:24; Acts 13:39; Romans 1:17; 3:21-26, 28; 4:5-9, 17-25; 5:1, 16-19; 6:4; 7:6; 8:1, 15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Galatians 2:16-21; 3:1-14, 26; 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:6-7; 2:1, 4-5; Philippians 3:3-9; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 1:9; 3:1-2, 9; 5:1, 9-13, 18)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 5-7

2009-05-01T20:38:00.005-04:00

Continuing with Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene. The picture below was supposed to inclued articles 8-10, but I had to separate them, because the portion of the image I was working with was too large to separate from the rest of the page.

V. Sin, Original and Personal

5. We believe that sin came into the world through the disaobedience of our first parents, and death by sin. We believe that sin is of two kinds: original sin or depravity, and actual or personal sin.

5.1. We believe that original sin, or depravity, is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, and that continually. We further believe that original sin continues to exist with the new life of the regenerate, until the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

5.2. We believe that original sin differs from actrual sin in that it constitutes an inherited propensity to actual sin for which no one is accountable until its divinely provided remedy is neglected or rejected.

5.3. We believe that actual or personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God by a morally responsible person. It is therefore not to be confused with involuntary and inescapable shortcomings, infirmities, faults, mistakes, failures or other deviations from a standard of perfect conduct that are the residual effects of the Fall. However, such innocent effects do not include attitudes or responses contrary to the spirit of Christ, which may properly be called sins of the spirit. We believe that personal sin is primarily and essentially a violation of the law of love; and that in relation to Christ sin may be defined as unbelief.

(Original sin: Genesis 3; 6:5; Job 15:14; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 1:18-25; 5:12-14; 7:1—8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Galations 5:16-25; 1 John1:7-8

Personal Sin: Matthew 22:36-40 (with 1 John 3:4); John 8:34-36; 16:8-9; Romans 3:23; 6:15-23; 8:18-24; 14:23; 1 John 1:9—2:4; 3:7-10)

VI. Atonement

6. We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adam’s race. The Atonement is graciously efficacious for the salvation of the irresponsible and for the children in innocency but is efficacious for the salvation of those who reach the age of responsibility only when they repent and believe.

(Isaiah 53:5-6, 11; Mark 10:45; Luke 24:46-48; John 1;29; 3:14-17; Acts 4:10-12; Romans 3:21-26; 4:17-25; 5:6-21; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:3-4; 3:13-14; Colossians 1:19-23; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:9; 9:11-14; 13:12; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:19-25; 1 John 2:1-2)

VII. Prevenient Grace

7. We believe that the human race’s creation in Godlikeness included ability to choose between right and wrong, and that thus human beings were made morally responsible; that through the fall of Adam they became depraved so that they cannot now turn and prepare themselves by their own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God. But we also believe that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight.

We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost.

(Godlikeness and moral responsibility: Genesis 1:26-27; 1:16-17; Deuteronomy 28:1-2; 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 8:3-5; Isaiah 1:8-10; Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:1-4; Micah 6:8; Romans 1:19-20; 2:1-16; 14:7-12; Galations 6:7-8

Natural inability: Job 14:4; 15:14; Psalms 14:1-4; 51:5; John 3:6a; Romans 3:10-12; 5:12-14, 20a; 7:14-25

Free grace and works of faith: Ezekiel 18:25-26; John 1:12-13; 3:6b; Acts 5:31; Romans 5:6-8, 18; 6:15-16, 23; 10:6-8; 11:22; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; 10:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 4:10a; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3); 3:12-15; 6:4-6; 10;26-31; James 2:18-22; 2 Peter 1:10-11; 2:20-22)

Continued: Articles of Faith - 4

2009-04-30T18:44:00.003-04:00

Articles of Faith #4

IV. The Holy Scripture

4. We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

(Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Articles of Faith - 1, 2 and 3

2009-04-28T15:32:00.009-04:00

Articles of Faith – 1, 2, and 3

Here is the representation of the first 3 articles of faith of the Church of the Nazarene as mentioned in my previous post, using the pictures produced by an African pastor to help describe them (scripture references at the end of each article are not part of the text of the article, but are there to support it):

I. The Triune God
1. We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of the universe; that He only is God, creative and administrative, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

(Genesis 1; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 5:16; 6:1-7; 40:18, 31; Matthew3:16-17, 28:19-20; John 14:6-27; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2
Corinthians 13:14; Galations 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:13-18)

II. Jesus Christ
2. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God, and very man, the God-man.

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.

(Matthew 1:20-25; 16:15-16; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-18; Acts 2:22-36; Romans 8:3; 32-34; Galatians4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:12-22; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Hebrews 1:1-5; 7:22-28; 9:24-28; 1John 1:1-3; 4:2-3, 15)

III. The Holy Spirit

3. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, that He is ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent and believe, sanctifying believers, and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.

(John 7:39, 14:15-16; 16:7-15; Acts 2:33; 15:8-9; Romans 8:1-27; Galations 3:1-14; 4:6; Ephesians 3:14-21; 1Thessalonians 4:7-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:24; 4:13)

Busy Time

2009-04-22T13:17:00.003-04:00

This seems to be quite a busy time of year. I’ve been working in the yard when I get a chance. I haven’t done a lot of that in the past several years, but I seem to have gained quite a bit of strength since I quit taking cholesterol medicine. Seems like the cure was worse than the disease.

A number of activities have been taking place. Of course, earlier this month was Easter.

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Then Monday evening, we had a missionary speaker at our church. She is stationed in South Africa. I’d like to go into some detail about some of the things she told us about. She was talking about how in the Africa Region (she works in the regional office), she sees much evidence of the African Church being much like the church of the Book of Acts. One thing she mentioned specifically was the amount of time they spend in prayer. She told of one pastor who will often walk four miles to get to his “special” place of prayer up on a mountain. Sometimes he will spend the night in prayer. Once, after one of those nights spent in prayer, he felt the urging of the Lord to go to an area that was very unfriendly to Christians. There was a factory there, and he was led to go to that factory. At the gate of the factory, the guard challenged him. I can’t remember the exact words the pastor spoke when responding with his reason for being there, but essentially that he was there to bring the message of Christ to the people. The guard asked him what the book was that he was carrying, and he told him it was the Bible.

There was, right next to the gate, a sort of furnace/oven type thing that was used in the manufacturing process (I don’t remember what that was), and the guard told him to throw his Bible in there. The pastor hugged the Bible to himself and said, “Oh, no, I can’t do that! This is the words of my God!” The guard said, “OK, then, put your arm in there.” The pastor agreed, and put his arm in the furnace. When he pulled it back out, it appeared not to have any effect at all from the fire – not even a hair was singed – like the Hebrew children in the book of Daniel. The guard said, “You didn’t keep it in long enough! Put it back in, and keep it in longer!” The pastor did so, with the same results. The guard said again, that it wasn’t long enough; that he should put it back in and keep it there until he (the guard) told him it was long enough. This time, it was longer, but the pastor’s arm was still intact when he withdrew it.

About this time, a senior guard came by, and seeing the pastor with the Bible, he told the other guard to take the Bible & throw it in the furnace. The first guard refused, recounting what had happened with the pastor’s arm. The senior guard grabbed the Bible and threw it in.

Some time after, that senior guard took a stray bullet in the head, from some kind of a gang fight, I think. The people of that area, who, as I mentioned above, were quite unfriendly to Christians, did an about face, and welcomed the pastor to their area.

I think it was this same pastor who did a pictorial presentation of the 16 articles of faith of the Nazarene Church. When I get a copy of it, I will post it here.

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I am still trying to get the “check engine” light in my car to go out. The mechanic has tried numerous things; after replacing all the plumbing connecting with the charcoal cannister, a smoke test showed everything secure, but the light still came back on. He tried something else yesterday. He said that on more modern cars, the computer test is more specific, but on mine (a ’98) it’s almost as vague as “check engine”!

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The first Sunday in May, we will be having our Faith Promise for missions service. Our speakers are retired missionaries, whose son-in-law pastors a church of another denomination in our community. This couple – with their daughter – went to Chile (the field of their missonary work) in October, for the celebration of the denomination’s 100th anniversary. They will be showing slides of their trip.

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I had an indirect message from my great-niece Meghan about two April birthdays that I missed – hers, and her step-sister Taryn’s – both on April 1. Meghan, you should have just commented on the blog!

Another month, another blog

2009-04-06T13:27:00.010-04:00

No matter what, I can’t seem to get into writing a blog more than once a month these days. Last month, with the nice weather, and the improvement in my health, I was able to get out and do a lot of yard work. There is still a lot to be done. Some of it, of course, is seasonal, and is here to be done every year, but I’m also doing some “one-time” stuff that will be finished for “time & eternity” when I get it done. I am thankful for the health to be able to do this work.

Last week, my brother’s mother-in-law passed away. I had read that she was in the hospital & not likely to live almost a week earlier. I had read about it on my niece’s (and her husband’s) blog. See “Bob and Suzanne” in my links. It was great to read that she had found the Lord a little over a week before her passing. God is good.

Did you participate in “Red Envelope” day? Three red envelopes went out from our home. Among the many free addresses labels I have received, I found the perfect return address label. It pictured a child sleeping with an angel guarding it.

For the “regular” features:
The “Magnaclam” calendar image:
Magnacalendar images: April

April birthdays:
April 11: My sister Mildred
April 19: My great-nephew Paul Burton (III)

I also have a very good friend whose birthday is April 8. I just sent her a birthday card using a Magnclam bearing a cake as the front. Mike posts this picture regularly on RO when wishing someone a happy birthday.

March!

2009-03-09T15:23:00.004-04:00

The past month has been relatively hectic. I am a township auditor, and we finally got that completed. We were also able to persuade the commissioners to take some steps that will make for a cleaner and easier audit in the future. We still have a county-related audit to do, but that job will be passed to another township next year.

There have been a few small changes in my life that have had significant effects. 1 – Mike took down my old double bed that had a mattress that was about done for, and put up my twin bed that I had bought and been using when I was working in Ohio, spending weekdays there, coming home weekends. The mattress on that is relatively new, and more inducive to comfortable sleeping. 2 – the doctor agreed to let me stop using my cholesterol medicine. The result of this was that I was able to cut my arthritis medicine in half, and still feel a lot better. 3 – the doctor also noted on my blood work that I had an extremely low level of vitamin D. This was probably what was causing me to feel weaker and weaker as time went by. So now I’m on a very high dosage of vitamin D. I no longer feel quite so weak; I’m not nearly as strong as I would like to be, but the change has been significant.

Now for the regular monthly features. First, the March Magnaclam image:
Magnacalendar images: March

March birthdays:
March 16 – my ex-son-in-law, Marlin
March 23 – my nephew David
March 30 – My nephew Rick (David’s older brother)
March – exact date unknown – My niece Amy
My half-sister Mary was born to my father & his first wife in March of 1907. She died in October of that same year.

Here is an old hymn that you don’t often hear anymore – in fact, I only know it because about 47 years or so ago I was working with a children’s group in our church, and this song was supposed to be learned by the children, according to literature from denominational headquarters for the group. I had to learn it myself first, and then teach it to them. I don’t think I’ve ever heard in any other circumstances, before or since. It was written by Haldor Lillenas, who was also the writer of the great hymn “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”

The Bible Stands

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
‘Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime.

Chorus:
The Bible stands tho’ the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands.

The Bible stands like a mountain tow’ring
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can.

(Chorus)

The Bible stands and it will forever,
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given,
All its precepts I will obey.

(Chorus)

The Bible stands ev’ry test we give it,
For its Author is divine,
By grace alone I expect to live it,
And to prove it and make it mine.

(Chorus)

February already!

2009-02-06T11:15:00.008-05:00

Since it doesn't fit very well on the blog, I'll just put up a link for the Magnacalender:
Magnacalendar images: February

For February birthdays:
My li'l sister Lil - February 25
My "baby" brother Gale - February 28 (he'll be all of 67)
My niece Jenny (Gale's daughter) - also Februay 28

My mother was born February 1, 1898. She passed away in March of 1974.
My brother-in-law, George, was born February 20, 1925. He passed away in late 2005.

Did you hear about the global warming conference at Buffalo State College yesterday? They weren't prepared for a temperature of -6 Fahrenheit.

I forgot!

2009-01-26T13:22:00.007-05:00

I forgot January Birthdays, and here the month is almost over!

January 12, my great-nephew Colin.
January 16, an unidentified niece.
January 22, my twin nieces, Judy and Jackie.
January 25, my niece Connie.

And here is the January image of the "Magnacalendar" (sorry - it got cut off a little - the far right of the pic shows the Daddy Magnaclam shovelling the snow off the driveway):

You can see the whole picture here:
Magnacalendar Images: January

A Unique Christmas Carol

2008-12-28T20:16:00.002-05:00

I couldn't find any trace of this on the internet; I suspect that the only place it exists in print is in a hymn book I have. This book was actually published as a Sunday School hymn book, but we used it as a hymnal in our church when I was a kid. Copyright date is 1928, so I'd say that's pretty safe. The only reference I could find on the internet of the song writer was of an endowment to Seattle Pacific University. If any one is interested in the music, I could copy and post that also.

In the Manger of Bethlehem

One night long ago over Bethlehem’s plian
The stars shone with radiant light;
The shepherds were watching their flocks where they lay,
When suddenly burst on their sight
A vision of angels, who sang a sweet song
Of peace and good-will unto men:
“A Saviour is born,” cried the heavenly throng,
“In a manger in Bethlehem.”

Chorus:
Seeking, they sought till they found Him,
Jesus, the Saviour of men;
Humbly they knelt and adored Him,
In the manger of Bethlehem.

Three wise men beheld a most wonderful star,
Announcing the birth of a King;
It showed them the way from their countries afar,
Their presence and homage to bring;
In great kingly palace they sought Him, but then
The star’s light was hidden from them;
They found Him, at last, in the sweet virgin’s care,
In a manger in Bethlehem.

(Chorus)

So still we must seek Him with longing untold,
With purpose unchanging and true;
We cannot bring off’rings of incense and gold,
His infant face we cannot view;
But we may His glorious gospel adorn,
Give glory unto His great name;
To all we may tell of the Christ who was born
In a manger in Bethlehem.

(Chorus)

My sister Lil and I sang this in a school Christmas program once, and the teacher asked us where we found it.

Where They Grow

2008-12-04T15:21:00.005-05:00

I posted this some time ago on my blog, but it was incomplete. Since then, I found it on the internet. I will post it first as I found it on the internet:

WHERE THEY GROW.

DOWN in the valley, deep, deep, deep,
Where little sunbeams wink and peep,
Under the grasses hiding low —
There's where the dear little violets grow.

Out in the meadow, bright, bright, bright,
Close by the clovers red and white,
With heart of gold, and a fringe of snow —
There's where the dear little daisies grow.

Up in the sycamore tree, tree, tree.
Peep — and a tiny nest you'll see,
Swung by the breezes to and fro,
There's where the dear little birdlings grow.

Up in the nursery, neat, neat, neat.
Hear the patter of wee, wee feet —
Hear little voices chirp and crow —
There's where the dear little babies grow.

Here is a slightly changed version that more closely reflects the way I learned it, and makes it flow more smoothly:

WHERE THEY GROW.

DOWN in the valley, deep, deep, deep,
Where little sunbeams wink and peep,
Under the grasses hiding low —
There's where the dear little violets grow.

Out in the meadow, bright, bright, bright,
Close by the clovers red and white,
With heart of gold, and fringe of snow —
There's where the dear little daisies grow.

Up in the alder tree, tree, tree.
Peep — and a tiny nest you will see,
Swung by the breezes to and fro,
There's where the dear little birdies grow.

Up in the nursery, neat, neat, neat.
I hear the sound of wee, wee feet —
Sweet little voices chirp and crow —
There's where the dear little babies grow.

Repentance and Revival

2008-12-02T19:45:00.000-05:00

The Bible never uses the term “revival;” however, it frequently uses the term “revive.” We often think of “revival” as a series of meetings, held to inspire and lift us up and encourage us.

Psalm 85:6 – Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
Psalm 138:7 – Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
Isaiah 57:15 – For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
Hosea 6:2 – After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
Hosea 14:7 – They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
Habakkuk 3:2 – O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.

Most of these passages follow a description of a returning – or repentance.

The message of all the Old Testament prophets was “Repent!” Whenever God’s people had turned their backs on Him and disobeyed His commands, the message was “Repent!”

In the New Testament, the first prophet was John the Baptist. And what was his message? “Repent!”

On the day of Pentecost, Peter’s message was “Repent!”
Acts 2:38 – Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Then after Peter & John healed the lame man at the Temple gate, he spoke these words:
Acts 3:19 – Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

In this last passage, Peter says that if we repent, our sins will be blotted out – and that times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

In other words, repentance always precedes revival. It can be summed up in II Chronicles 7:14 – If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Repentance is always required for salvation – but there are other times to repent – whenever we fall, whenever we sin, whenever we realize that we have not been walking in all the light that God gives us. But in the book of Daniel, there is a unique prayer of repentance – Daniel is repenting on behalf of the nation of Israel, as well as on his own behalf.

Daniel 9:3-19 – And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
7 O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.
9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;
10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.
12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem.
13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.
14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.
15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.
16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.
17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.

Daniel made “my” confession to God; he said “we” have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled. He said “we” have not hearkened to thy servants, the prophets. He said “we” have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God. Then “All Israel have transgressed thy law.”

Then he recounts all the things God has done or allowed, to cause his people to acknowledge their sins and repent – which Daniel has been doing on their behalf. Once again he says, “We have sinned, we have done wickedly.”

Then he throws himself and Israel upon the mercy of God and asks for forgiveness.

Note once again that everyone is required to repent in order to be saved. But in II Chronicles 7:14, it says “If my people” – not the pagans, not the unbelievers, not those who profess nothing, but “my people” – in the specific instance, he was referring to Israel, God’s chosen people, but in this day, we can say it refers to everyone who claims the name of Christ, who claims to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “shall humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked ways” – yep, that’s what it says – “then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Just as Daniel repented on behalf of Israel, I believe we Christians must all repent on behalf of America. If we do, he will heal our land, and we will truly know what it means to be revived.

December Already?!

2008-12-01T13:41:00.004-05:00

All I posted in November were the birthdays. Because of the election, the political site I post on was extremely busy, and I tended to forget about my blog.

So, for December birthdays - the 14th, my oldest (full) sister Leora will be 77. On the 27th, I will be 73. I am getting so old! My nephew, Philip's, birthday is also the 27th. He is a young 45. On the 31st is his brother, Rich's, 43rd birthday. Happy birthday to all!

November Birthdays

2008-11-17T14:21:00.004-05:00

The political forum I post on has been so busy since shortly before the election, I forgot to do the monthly birthday post, and two of them are already past. On November 6, my nephew, Paul Campbell II was 61.

November 16 was the birthday of Carl, my granddaughter's husband. I don't know how old he is, late 20's, I guess.

The 21st was the birthday of my nephew Gene, oldest son of my sister Leora.

On the 23rd is the birthday of my great-granddaughter Briana. She will be 3. That was also my father's birthday, but he has been gone for more than 40 years.

The 25th is the birthday of my great-great-niece Annelise (granddaughter of my nephew Paul mentioned above). This was also the birthday of my half-brother LeRoy, who passed away a few years ago.

The 28th is the birthday of my half-sister Lois.

Happy birthday to all!

Happy Birthday, Mike!

2008-10-17T15:19:00.008-04:00

Last Friday was Mike’s birthday – number 44! I had a tee shirt made for him with the single “Magnaclam” floating through space, on the front, while the Magnaclam fleet can be seen on the back. Unfortunately, the colors didn’t come out right – instead of shades of gray & black, they turned out brown. The people who made it said it had something to do with the paper I had the original images printed on, but that makes no sense to me, as they scanned it into their computer. I wanted to put it on a black shirt, but they only do light-colored shirts. Another defect was that they didn’t get the picture on the back centered properly.

Underneath the Magnaclam on the front was the “salute” Mike made up for the Magnaclams: “Oh, hail to the great Magnaclams! May their neutronium shells shine in splendor forever!”

I also had a cake made with a Magnaclam on it, and it turned out better than the shirt. I have a picture of it that didn’t turn out too well, because the flash against the white made everything look washed out.

Picture on the front of the shirt:

Picture on the back of the shirt:

Sorry about the pictures being cut off at the edge!

Pastor Appreciation and Centennial Celebration

2008-10-13T19:21:00.001-04:00

Sunday October 5, we had a double celebration in our church. Since October is Pastor Appreciation month, we honored our pastor and his family. We had a carry-in dinner, and the pastor and his wife were given a place of honor – a small table all to themselves, with candles. Of course, it wasn’t candlelight, because it was broad daylight, and besides, the entire fellowship hall was lit up. The parsonage family was honored with a card shower. I usually make all my greeting cards, and I hadn’t got one made for them, so I made it the following week, and handed it to the pastor on Wednesday.

On Sunday, we also celebrated 100 years of the official existence of our denomination. One hundred years ago, in Pilot Point, Texas, the Church of the Nazarene was officially organized. We were made up of several groups of churches with like beliefs. The person known as the father of our denomination, Phineas Bresee, came from a Methodist background.

Our denomination was honored with a video clip from Willard Scott of NBC, and a letter from President George W. Bush.

Several of our members, in past weeks, have bought tee-shirts to commemorate this event. On the front, the shirt has our church emblem in the background, and the words “His Century” and underneath that “100 years of Holiness.” Of course, we don’t pretend that we invented holiness, but that is the defining doctrine of our church. On the back of the shirt, we had the name and location of our local church – Calvary Church of the Nazarene, Brookville, PA.

October's Bright Blue Weather

2008-10-04T11:06:00.010-04:00

This is a poem written by the same author who wrote "September," which I posted on an earlier blog.

October's Bright Blue Weather

O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather;

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When gentians roll their fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.

Helen Hunt Jackson

October birthdays:
My son Mike - October 10 (44)
My brother-in-law Tony - October 27 (79)

Blogger's note: Corrected date of Tony's birthday

This Book Is Sooooo Good!

2008-09-17T21:05:00.003-04:00

I bought 2 of Randy Alcorn's fiction books - "The Edge of Eternity" and "Safely Home."

The first book I read the whole way through in one day. The other was a little slow starting, but once you get into it, it's hard to lay it down. If you can imagine this! I had to tear myself away from it to get on the internet to get up to date.

The first book is somewhat of a allegory, a sort-of modern "Pilgrim's Progress," that the main character went through in a difficult time in his life. He didn't start out on his journey as a Christian, but found Christ while on it.

The second book depicts the persecuted church in China. It goes into such detail that you think the author must have been there and seen (for all I know, he may have been, or he may have had information from people who did). It was very realistic. But it has little bits here and there of people already in Heaven watching with the Lord as the story unfolds, with the frequent refrain, "How long, oh, Lord?" (Quotation from the saints "under the altar" in Revelation). It also has the view of a man in the afterlife who never repented. It doesn't name him, but in the context, it clearly refers to Mao Tse Tung.

I will certainly buy more of Alcorn's fiction!

I was introduced to Randy Alcorn when my great-niece Kathryn recommended his non-fiction book, Heaven. I fully intended to buy a copy of it, then our Sunday School class got it and we are working our way through it. It has a study guide available, but only the teachers have those in our Sunday School Class. I have already read that book in its entirety, and it inspired me to buy some of his fiction.

Drying Apples

2008-09-05T12:49:00.004-04:00

I have 2 Northern Spy trees. These apples are great for apple pies. Every year that I have a decent crop, I can apple pie filling. Then, any time during the year, when I want a pie, I just have to make (or buy) the pie crusts, and just dump the filling in and seal and bake them.

One year, we had a lot of early windfall apples, and I kept them picked up. They weren’t quite ripe enough to eat, nor did I get enough at one time to make a canner load. So I sliced them, and froze them. Eventually, I used them to make apple cobbler. The last batch of them (already almost 3 years old) I used about a month or so ago. As I had them setting out to thaw, I would periodically pull a piece off and eat it. I realized that it tasted a lot like dried apples, and thought, “I’ve got to get a food dehydrator, and dry some apples this year.” The crop looks to be pretty abundant this year, so there will be plenty to can, and I can still dry some. So, I got my food dehydrator last week. There are a few apples falling, but I’m not sure they’re really ripe enough to dry. I may try some of them anyway, to see how they turn out – when I get enough to load the dehydrator.

Now thinking about drying apples reminded me of a piece of doggerel my father quoted a couple of times. I couldn’t remember all of it, but I found it on the internet, and also a small write up on how it came about. At this link Overland Stage, scroll down to page 97 (don't worry, it's just one page, starts with Page 93). The little poem doesn’t have a specific author; my understanding of it is that it just sort-of grew – contributions by people who shared the sentiments thereof. And here is the little poem:

Dried Apple Pies

I loathe, abhor, detest, despise,
Abominate dried-apple pies.
I like good bread, I like good meat,
Or anything that's fit to eat;
But of all poor grub beneath the skies,
The poorest is dried apple pies.
Give me the toothache, or sore eyes,
But don't give me dried apple pies.
The farmer takes his gnarliest fruit,
'Tis wormy, bitter, and hard, to boot;
He leaves the hulls to make us cough,
And don't take half the peeling off.
Then on a dirty cord 'tis strung
And in a garret window hung,
And there it serves as roost for flies,
Until it's made up into pies.
Tread on my corns, or tell me lies,
But don't pass me dried-apple pies.

September Views

2008-09-03T14:40:00.008-04:00

How many of you had to memorize this in school?

September

THE golden-rod is yellow;
The corn is turning brown;
The trees in apple orchards
With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook.

From dewey lanes at morning
The grapes' sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer's best of weather,
And autumn's best of cheer.

But none of all this beauty
Which floods the earth and air
Is unto me the secret
Which makes September fair.

'T is a thing which I remember;
To name it thrills me yet:
One day of one September
I never can forget.

Helen Hunt Jackson

I only have 3 family birthdays on record for September. Note that I don't have a record of everyone's birthday. September 4th is the birthday of my great-niece Kathryn. She is not sure of the exact date of her birthday, since she was abandoned as an infant (adopted by my nephew at age 4), but it was near enough to September 4. Kathryn will be 24. September 26 is my grandson Christopher's birthday. He will be 27. The 27th is the birthday of my sister-in-law, Pat Harriff.

August Birthdays

2008-08-15T13:47:00.008-04:00

There are 4 generations around of a family that was rather large to start with, so it seems there are quite a few birthdays every month. I don't even know the birthdays of all the great-nieces & nephews, and the great-greats.

For August, my sister-in-law Lucile turned 80 on the 1st. It was fun to read on Kathryn's blog how she selected a gift for her grandmother - an electronic "brag book." It is a small electronic frame and you can load pictures into it. Kathryn's biggest difficulty was in convincing the sales people that an 80-year-old woman could learn to use an electronic device without on-going assistance.

Tomorrow - August 16 - is my half-brother Paul's 82nd birthday. He is Lucile's husband. Some of their children and grandchildren and great-greatchildren attended a combined birthday celebration on the 3rd.

And on the 8th & 9th, there was another type of celebration. Paul & Lucile, my half-sister Lois and her son Steve, and my brother Tommy arrived in town. Tommy & Lois timed their visit with Paul's, as we don't often have the opportunity to get together. Paul's main purpose for the trip was to attend his high school reunion (he graduated 64 years ago!).

My sister Mildred (Middy) - at whose home we congregated - and Lois & Steve & I went to a small cemetery on Saturday afternoon. The cemetery is not very well cared for. The grass appeared to have been cut for Memorial Day - and no more since. Our mother (Lois, Middy & I) is buried in that cemetery; also our maternal grandparents; Lois's father & paternal grandparents and uncle; several of our maternal aunts & uncles are buried there; also our (half)brother LeRoy is buried there (he was Lois's full brother); he passed away 8 years ago, and is probably the last person buried in that cemetery. Also, a small child - Lucille - sister to LeRoy, Lois & Paul - is buried there.

Our main mission to the cemetery, though, was to dig out the yucca on Roy's (Lois's father) grave. Of course, we couldn't get all the roots, so it will grow back again. I tried spraying it with Round-up once, but it didn't do a thing. I'm thinking that perhaps if, in the future sometime, we just cut the crowns of the yucca off and spray the exposed cut roots with round-up, that might do the trick.

We had a good time together, but it wasn't long enough.

And there is still another birthday coming up this month - on the 25th, my great-grandson, Gavin, will be 6 years old! I haven't seen him since before he was 2. I hope to have an opportunity to see him next summer, along with his two little half-sisters, Briana & Keely, whom I've never seen.

Addendum - just discovered more August birthdays! My niece Melody will be 37 on the 18th of August, and her daughter Kitiara will be 16 on August 31.

Lotsa Birthdays

2008-07-18T15:03:00.005-04:00

Today is the birthday of Miss Qavah Campbell, my great-niece. She was adopted by my nephew and his wife and she first came to live with their family last August. So this is her first birthday with her new family. She is 5 years old. Check out her birthday wishes here: Qavah

Next Monday, July 21, is my daughter’s birthday. She will be 47 (impossible!). And on the 30th is my granddaughter’s birthday. Annie will be 25. Once again, impossible! Annie is also the mother of my 3 great-grandchildren – Gavin, Briana and Keely. Annie will be celebrating her birthday without her husband Carl who is serving our country, currently in Afghanistan.

Sarah

2008-07-16T16:15:00.003-04:00

I never met Sarah in person, but I considered her a friend. We posted together on the same internet site. She was a feisty little lady, hot-tempered sometimes, but quick to cool off. She was very intelligent and had a quick wit. She was beautiful in body and mind. She was instrumental in Mike’s “invention” of “Magnaclams.” (See the blog dated June 22 – 3 entries down). She and Mike chatted on line a great deal.

Sarah passed away late this past May, at the age of 24. She left behind her father, her husband, and her young nephew, all of whom depended on her. She and her family had already gone through a great deal of trauma in the past few years. She was the glue that held her family together. Now it’s broken. Her husband is planning to take a job in Hong Kong, where they had been planning to move before Sarah’s illness. Her cousin has taken in her little nephew, who has suffered far too much loss for a young child.

The first phase of treating Sarah’s illness – supposed to be a very treatable form – failed. The last we had heard of her, she was looking toward a more intense treatment. We heard nothing from her after that – from about February on. Her cousin knew she had many friends on the internet, but wasn’t able to find them until last week. I have been in email communication with the cousin since then.

When I first heard of Sarah’s illness, she became a subject of my daily prayers. Having acknowledged no religion at all, I just wanted to be sure that she would be ready to meet her Maker when the time came. During all that time, I never heard of any change in her beliefs. So, when I first heard of her passing, I was troubled, and prayed asking the Lord to let me know. I received an indication from Him that Sarah was indeed ready! I had several indications of that later from different sources. I praise God for his mercy!

We miss you, Sarah! I will not say the familiar line “Rest in peace;” instead, I will say, “Enjoy Heaven!”

If you hasten off to glory
Linger near the Eastern Gate,
For I’m coming in the morning,
So you’ll not have long to wait.

I will meet you,
I will meet you
Just inside the Eastern Gate over there;
I will meet you,
I will meet you,
I will meet you in the morning over there.

Memorial to Sarah here

Richardsville Road & Community

2008-07-13T13:57:00.003-04:00

The first annual reunion went off very well. There were about 100 in attendance. Plans are already in the works for next year’s reunion.

They had the refurbished bell from the old Richardsville school house. It was not difficult to get people’s attention with that! Danny, as promised, had many old pictures enlarged, hoping to get more identities (I don’t know yet how that worked out). He had a large picture of the old Richardsville School, and asked everyone who attended to put their name on it, and the dates they attended.

There were many old school and other historical records there, that were presented to the Jefferson County Historical Society. There was an old Victrola there, that still works! It was slightly smaller than the one we used to have. I can’t remember what happened to it. I think one of my brothers got it and turned it into something “useful.” The one at the reunion actually had the original packing case with it.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera! There will be pictures posted on the site, though. There are several there already.

A couple of my cousins were there, and a number of other people I knew fairly well or slightly, and some new acquaintances! There were a number of old Brookville yearbooks there. Someone had a scrapbook of obituaries. I said I knew more people in there than were actually at the picnic! I even found out a connection I wasn’t aware of. I was reading Clarence Smith’s obituary, and found out that Leota Heitzenrater (married to my cousin Floyd Heitzenrater) was Clarence’s sister. I don’t remember if I mentioned it in a previous blog or not, but Leota babysat me and my little sister Lily when we were 4 and 2 years old, and baby brother Tommy was in the hospital fighting for his life. That was . . . umm . . . in 1940, I do believe. An incident that happened that day (I don’t remember if she stayed with us more than one day) was that Paul was sent home from school with a big cut on his upper leg. I don’t remember how big it was, but I know it looked awfully big to me. He had dropped his (open) pocket knife, and tried to catch it between his knees. It hit his thigh.

Danny had asked for people who had musical instruments to bring them. I took my guitar, and another couple took their mandolin & guitar (the same couple that played at my friend’s 80th birthday party), and we played a few numbers. It really didn’t matter much that there weren’t more – everyone was enjoying talking to each other.

Patriotic service again - June 29

2008-07-11T16:19:00.003-04:00

This was in anticipation of July 4th. As usual, I got damp-eyed when singing the patriotic songs - The Star Spangled Banner, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and America. For special music, a Ladies' Ensemble sang "God Bless the USA."

We had a fill-in pastor, as our pastor was with the group on the missions trip in Guatemala. The speaker used as his topic "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed." Unfortunately, I took too long to write this, and don't remember details too well.

One thing I do remember is that in the evening service, a little girl - about 4th grade or so - played "America" on the trumpet. She stumbled a little at one point, and getting ready to take up where she left off, she looked back in the congregation at her cousin (who may have been mouthing something), and said, "T____, shut up!" Then she got going again and finished the song.

Just for fun

2008-06-22T16:08:00.008-04:00

The Magnaclams are coming!

Check out this link:
Magnaclams!
You might also want to check these:
Magnaclams are FAKE
CTG Revisited

Addendum to "Happy Birthday"

2008-06-08T14:03:00.003-04:00

The birthday lady changed her mind. She's not going to jump out of an airplane for #90 - instead, she's going up in a hot air balloon!

Happy Birthday

2008-06-04T16:15:00.007-04:00

On Friday evening, I attended a surprise birthday party for a dear friend. She was 80 years old (or will be, this coming Friday). Her children planned the event a week early in order to surprise her, because she had been told long ago that they would give her a birthday party for her 80th birthday. She lives in an independent living complex, and because the party was to be held there (in the large dining room), someone had to get her out of the way while the guests were assembling. They did such a good job of getting her out of the way that she was over half an hour late. There was a good crowd there. And she was indeed surprised! Her children had been so elusive about the party recently that she was almost convinced they weren’t going to give her a party after all. It was tricky trying to get to talk to one of her children about it when she was around.

I don’t know how many people showed up, but the place was full. There were some poems honoring her, and a humorous one by one of her daughters that was a prayer to allow her to live just one more year, and then one more, etc., up to 89, then “I’ll be ready to go . . . maybe!” One couple played mandolin and guitar and sang some old songs. I can’t remember the first one they sang; the second one was about learning to love Jesus in grandma’s rocking chair. Then those of us who knew it were asked to join with them in the last song. I hadn’t heard – let alone sung – that song since I was in high school (I graduated in 1954), but as we sang, the words all came back to me. Anyone remember this?

Mockingbird Hill

When the sun in the morning peeps over the hill
And kisses the roses on my window sill,
Then my heart fills with gladness when I hear the trill
Of the birds in the treetops on Mockingbird Hill.

Chorus:
Tra-la-la, Tweedly-dee-dee, it gives me a thrill
To wake up in the morning to the mockingbird’s trill;
Tra-la-la, Tweedly-dee-dee, there’s peace and good will;
You’re welcome as the flowers on Mockingbird Hill.

Got a three-cornered plow and an acre to till,
And a mule that I bought for a ten dollar bill.
There’s a tumbledown shack and a rusty old mill,
But it’s my home, sweet home, up on Mockingbird Hill.

(Chorus)

When it’s late in the evening I climb up the hill
And survey all my kingdom while everything’s still –
Only me and the sky and a lone whippoorwill
Singing songs in the twilight on Mockingbird Hill.

(Chorus)

Then – one of the highlights of the evening – someone announced that the guest of honor had always wanted to ride a Harley. So, out they go to the parking lot (I stayed inside), and watched this lady ride on the back of her son-in-law’s Harley. Later on, she said that one of her grandsons said to her, “Don’t worry, Grandma, if you fall off, I’ll pick you up.” As I said, I didn’t see the event, but she had a picture of it at church Sunday. Presumably, the pastor is going to have a picture to put up on the screen this coming Sunday.

Now, she says that for her ninetieth birthday – with the disclaimer if she lives that long, and the Lord doesn’t come – she will jump out of an airplane. After saying this (I heard this from her twice), she immediately goes into an attitude of prayer, and says, “Oh, Lord, please come, so I won’t have to do that!”

Correction: She misunderstood what her grandson said; it turns out he said, "If you fall off I'll catch your teeth."

Another Uplifting Patriotic Service

2008-05-26T09:26:00.006-04:00

I am a patriot. I think I am never more aware of that as when our country and our men in the military are honored in our church services.

Sunday, May 25, we had such a service in our church. I wish someone had videotaped at least the opening. In additon to our normal "worship team" of 4 or 5 people along with the the piano and organ, 4 teenagers joined them with trumpet, sax, guitar, and drums. The first hymn was "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." As many times as I have sung that, I got choked up a bit and couldn't even sing at first. Then, when I finally got my voice under control, two men walked down the aisle, one carrying the American flag, and the other carrying the Christian flag. After they had placed them in the stands, they stood behind them for the reminder of the opening. So I "lost" my voice again. The next hymn was "America, the Beautiful." I started imagining what those words stood for, and still couldn't sing. I finally got my voice back (pretty much) for the last hymn, "America."

When the pastor called the children up front to give them a short lesson before dismissing them to children's church, he told an anecdote about Abraham Lincoln. He told how he had made an appointment with a man to meet him at 5:00 am one morning. The man arrived 15 minutes early, and asked if it was possible to see the President a little ahead of the scheduled time. The person who received him told him it wasn't possible. The man said he knew he was there, he heard sounds from his office. The secretary (or whatever he was) responded, "The President comes into his office at 4:00 every morning, and spends that first hour reading the Bible and praying." What a great example given by one of the leaders of our country!

Addendum: The special music was done by 4 teenagers, one on piano, one on drums, one on guitar, another (along with the pianist) singing "Letters from War." All 4 were wearing camouflage jackets.

Blogs and websites

2008-05-23T10:17:00.009-04:00

I hope you are checking out my links from time to time - especially the Campbell Family Journal and Kathryn's Keepsakes. These two blogs chronicle the medical problems and triumphs of my nephew's two adopted daughters. These blogs are very inspiring!

If you are a regular viewer of the Richardsville Road web site, you may have noticed that there have been no changes for a few days. I don't know how long this condition will last; Danny, who created the site, "lost" his computer during a bad storm. Let's hope he's up and running soon. I don't have any real authority here, but I have a suggestion, that if you wish to RSVP for the reunion in July, Pat Davis might be able to keep records for you. If you wish to contact me, for that matter, I will make sure Danny gets the info when he's back on line, but I think Pat is more in the loop than I am. If you have never looked at this site, there is a lot of info there. It took me quite some time to get through it all, and meanwhile, Danny was adding more. Particularly interesting are the pages he posted from the 1926 Echo (Brookville High School Year Book).

I suppose I shouldn't mention this, since I was somewhat instrumental in its being posted, but Paul Campbell's story on the Richardsville site is excellent! It can be found through either Bios or Recollections. He is the father of my nephew I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post (same name, too).

I have been spending so much time submitting info and corrections to Danny's site, that I have rather neglected my own; however, I don't usually post here unless something specific comes up that interests me. But I did get to see pictures of my 2 great-granddaughters, finally!

Keely (almost 1), and Briana (2 1/2)- I believe they were a little younger when these pics were taken:

Turning back the clock

2008-04-28T10:45:00.010-04:00

I just recently found a new website - well, I found the link for it in a friend's newspaper column. It is based on the general area around which I grew up. It's kind-of a "do you remember?" site. It caters to memories and old pictures. There isn't a lot from the immediate area where I grew up, as there aren't too many contributors from that area. The site is called www.richardsvilleroad.com. The idea of the creator of the site is that it will be about all of Warsaw township (Hazen and Richardsville) and part of Polk township (Munderf). These are in Jefferson County in Pennsylvania. There are already quite a few memories posted there, also some pictures, which they are trying to get identification for. Some of the pictures are very large, and it would take forever to download them with my slow dial-up internet. I have submitted a few pictures myself, and have a few more to submit. Because of the size of some of them, combined with my slow dial-up, I am sending the rest on CD by snail mail. I may send more later if I find that there are others that would be of interest to the site. They have a long history of the Richardsville school, divided by years - except that the first entry includes years from 1879 through 1888 (it says '85, but I know there are records for 1887, because I have a specific comment concerning that year).

These old records contain various items - pictures, lists of students, even minutes of school board meetings. I found on the earliest entry another link to lists of students of various schools in the area (before consolidation). They show dates for when the records are, as well as students' names and ages (if available). On one of the schools' student records, I found 4 names I recognized. These were all dated 1887 (as I mentioned above). The names were Robert, George, Frank and Henry Harriff. They had Frank's age listed as 14, but they did not have ages for the other 3. I was able to give them George's age (he turned 10 that year) - as he was my father, and Robert's - 9 - as I knew that Uncle Bob was exactly one year to the day younger than Daddy.

Most of the pictures posted so far are directly from Richardsville, as there has not been much activity from the people of Munderf or Hazen as of yet. Even so, I recognize a number of people in some of the later pictures.

They are planning a reunion in July. Since I live close enough to the area, I will probably attend, and my sister Mildred who also lives nearby may attend also.

Blogger's note: Changed back to original - Middy said Uncle Bob was 2 years younger than Daddy, but Tommy is in agreement with me that it was only one year. Anyway, that's how I reported it to the site.

Ossian's Serenade

2008-04-22T19:20:00.004-04:00

This is an ancient one that sister Middy was asking me about. I think this one came from Daddy. I looked it up on the internet, found bits and pieces here and there, and pulled another piece out of my memory. The "bits and pieces" don't all agree with each other, and some of them I am certain are outright mistaken, so I'll present it here as close to possible from my memory, jogged by the "bits and pieces." Incidentally, one of the locations treated it as anonymous, but another gave credit to one Ossian E. Dodge, thus the name, Ossian's Serenade. Another title it's known by is "The Burman's Serenade."

1. O come with me in my little canoe,
While the sea is calm and the sky is blue;
O come with me, for I long to go
To the land where the mango apples grow.

Chorus:
I'll chase the antelope over the plain
The tiger's cub I'll bind with a chain,
The wild gazelle with its silvery feet
I'll give to thee as a playmate sweet.

2.O come with me and be my love,
For thee the jungle depths I’ll rove,
I’ll gather honeycomb bright as gold
And chase the elk to its secret hold.

3. I’ll climb way up to the cuckoo’s nest,
Bright leaves I will gather for to deck thy crest;
I'll pierce the coconut for its wine
And haste to thee if thou'lt be mine!

4. Then come with me in my little canoe,
While the sea is calm and the sky is blue,
For if we linger another day
Storms may rise and love decay.

Origins, the Love of God

2008-03-30T20:43:00.006-04:00

This may be a more accurate translation of the original words of Rabbi Meir ben Isaac Nehorai - a Cantor in Worms, Germany at the time (written originally in Aramaic):

Were the sky of parchment made,
A quill each reed, each twig and blade,
Could we with ink the oceans fill,
Were every man a scribe of skill,
The marvelous story,
Of God's great glory
Would still remain untold;
For He, most high
The earth and sky
Created alone of old.

The Love of God

2008-03-24T15:35:00.002-04:00

There is an old familiar hymn we used to sing a lot in church when I was a kid growing up. A note below the title said that the last verse was found scratched on the wall of an insane asylum, found after the resident of the room where it was had died, and was removed from the room, or cell. It was thought to have been written by him in one of his sane moments. It was never attributed to him by name. But apparently, someone did some research on that poem, and it became apparent that the insane man must have read and memorized it some time in his past, and scratched it on the wall from memory. It was actually part of poem written by a Jewish man named Meir ben Isaac Nehorai, in the year 1050. Here is that verse:

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love
Of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll
Contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

"Our Father . . ."

2008-03-06T10:28:00.006-05:00

I got this from an internet friend who is a Methodist pastor. He used it as the opening to a sermon he posted on the internet.

This is a story about a lady that religiously says the words to the Lord's Prayer every single day, but never considers the words she says. Until one day, when someone interrupts her. She starts off by saying …

"Our Father which art in heaven ..."

"Yes?"

"Don't interrupt me. I'm praying."

"But you called me."

"Called you? I didn't call you. I'm praying. Our Father which art in heaven ..."

"There ... you did it again."

"Did what?"

"Called me. You said, Our Father which art in heaven. Here I am. What's on your mind?"

"But … I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's Prayer. It makes me feel good, kind of like getting a duty done."

"All right. Go on."

"Hallowed be thy name ..."

"Hold it! What do you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"By ‘hallowed be thy name'?"

"It means ... it means ... good grief! I don't know what it means. How should I know? It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?"

"It means honored ... holy ... wonderful."

"Hey, that makes sense. I never thought about what ‘hallowed' meant before. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Sure, why not?"

"What are you doing about it?"

"Doing? Nothing, I guess! I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there."

"Have I got control of you?"

"Well ... I go to church."

"That isn't what I asked you. What about your bad temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And then there's the way you spend your money ... all on yourself. And what about the kind of books you read?"

"Stop picking on me! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at the church."

"Uh excuse me. I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that is to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it ... like you, for example."

"Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others."

"So could I."

"I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I really would like to cut out some of those things. I would like to ... you know ... be really free."

"Good ... now we're getting somewhere! We'll work together, you and I. Some victories can truly be won. I'm proud of you."

"Look, Lord, I need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. Give us this day, our daily bread."

"You need to cut out the bread. You're overweight as it is."

"Hey, wait a minute! What is this ... 'Criticize me day?' Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hang-ups."

"Praying is a dangerous thing. You could wind up changed, you know. That's what I'm trying to get across to you. You called me, and here I am. It's too late to stop now. Keep praying. I'm interested in the next part of your prayer ... (pause). Well ... go on!"

"I'm scared to."

"Scared? Of what?"

"I know what You'll say."

"Try me and see."

"Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us."

"What about your next door neighbor Ann?"

"See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! Why Lord, she's told lies about me, spread stories about my family. She never paid back the debt she owes me. I've sworn to get even with her!"

"But your prayer? What about your prayer?"

"I … didn't mean it."

"Well, at least you're honest. But it's not much fun carrying that load of bitterness around inside, is it?"

"No, but I'll feel better as soon as I get even. Boy, have I got some plans for that neighbor. She'll wish she had never moved into this neighborhood."

"You won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you already are. But I can change all that."

"You can? How?"

"Forgive Ann. Then I'll forgive you. Then the hate and sin will be Ann's problem and not yours. You will have settled your heart."

"Oh, you're right. You always are. And more than I want to revenge Ann, I want to be right with you... (pause) ... (sigh). Alright! Alright! I forgive her! Help her to find the right road in life, Lord. She's bound to be awfully miserable now that I think about it. Anybody who goes around doing the things she does to others has to be out of it. Someway, somehow, show her the right way."

"There now! Wonderful! How do you feel?"

"Hmmmm ... well, not bad. Not bad at all. In fact … I feel pretty great! You know, I don't think I'll have to go to bed uptight tonight for the first time since I can remember. Maybe I won't be so tired from now on because I'm not getting enough rest."

"You're not through with your prayer. Go on."

"Oh, all right. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

"Good! Good! I'll do that. Just don't put yourself in a place where you can be tempted."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't turn on the TV when you know the laundry needs to be done and the house needs to be picked up. Also, about the time you spend having coffee with your friends ... if you can't influence the conversation to positive things, perhaps you should re-think the value of those friendships. Another thing, your neighbors and friends shouldn't be your standard for 'keeping up with.' And please don't use me for an escape hatch."

"I don't understand the last part."

"Sure you do. You've done it a lot of times. You get caught in a bad situation. You get into trouble and then you come running to me. 'Lord, help me out of this mess, and I promise you I'll never do it again.' You remember some of those bargains you tried to make with me?"

"Yes and I'm ashamed, Lord. I really am."

"Which bargain are you remembering?"

"Well, there was the night that Bill was gone and the children and I were home alone. The wind was blowing so hard I thought the roof would go any minute and tornado warnings were out. I remember praying, 'Oh God, if you spare us, I'll never skip my devotions again.'"

"I protected you, but you didn't keep your promise, did you?"

"I'm sorry, Lord. I really am. Up until now I thought that if I just prayed the Lord's Prayer every day, then I could do what I liked. I didn't expect anything to happen like it did."

"Go ahead and finish your prayer."

"For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen."

"Do you know what would bring me glory? What would really make me happy?"

"No, but I'd like to know. I now want to please you. I can see what a mess I've made of my life. And I can see how great it would be to really be one of your followers."

"You just answered the question."

"I did?"

"Yes. The thing that would bring me glory is to have people like you truly love me. And I see that happening between us. Now that some of these old sins are exposed and out of the way, well, there is no telling what we can do together."

"Lord, let's see what we can make of me, okay?"

"Yes, let's see."

Of Such Is the Kingdom of Heaven

2008-02-24T14:06:00.001-05:00

“Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

My sister Lil and I recently had a bit of a discussion about children in Heaven. I mentioned about a retired minister I know who does not believe anyone in heaven will be children – that we will all be equal, disembodied souls. She immediately responded with “Of such is the kingdom of heaven” – implying that it is literally so, because there are more children in heaven than adults. We usually think of it as meaning that we must come to Christ in childlike trust and faith, which is true enough, but it is equally true that many scriptures can contain multiple (not contradictory) meanings. I just recently came to the understanding (through the heavenly experiences of my great-niece Kathryn) that people who died while they were children are still children in heaven – maybe not the same age as they were on earth, but still children nonetheless. I often wondered about that, because it is not addressed specifically in the Bible. I wondered if they would all grow up, and eventually there would be only adults in heaven. I’m glad to know that isn’t so; wouldn’t heaven be less than perfect without any children? When you think of all the miscarriages, stillbirths and childhood deaths of the past, and even now in countries without good medical care, as well as the horrendous numbers of abortions, there simply have to be far more children than adults in Heaven.

Kathryn tells of children in heaven who are there because of miscarriages – when determining the age of the body the Father gives them, he takes into consideration what would please their earthly parents. If the parents had already chosen a name for them, they have that name; at least, that was the case with the ones Kathryn met. He also gives them specific children’s “days” – although time is not the same there as here. Kathryn described one of those days with children playing in the field with kites and hot air balloons. Another time they were visiting the big farm and playing with the animals there. And children get to watch their parents and siblings who are still living. People in heaven get to see what goes on with those still on earth, and they can still pray to Jesus on their behalf.

I have a child in Heaven as a result of a miscarriage; a friend of mine has a child in Heaven as a result of a forced abortion. We like to think of our two little girls playing together in Heaven and waiting for us to meet them there.

The Donut Master

2008-02-23T15:16:00.007-05:00

Authored by Art Nelson; email forwarded from my sister, received from our niece, Connie:

There was a boy by the name of Steve who was attending college where Brother Christianson taught seminary.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many pushups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said.

"Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front.

When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind with cream centers and frosting swirls.

Everyone was pretty excited. It was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?" Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten pushups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donuts and down the second aisle, until Bro. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.

When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down.

You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.

Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face; his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely.

Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on.

Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in." Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort.

Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face, and by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut? Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan.

"Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, Bro. Christianson, "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone. I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.

When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work.

Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups.

He and I made a deal for your sakes.

Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said.

"And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, plead to the Father, 'Into your hands I commend my spirit.'

With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk,

...uneaten."

~Art Nelson~

Sam

2008-02-05T16:33:00.002-05:00

A while back I posted about death-bed repentances. Now I want to mention the recent passing of a friend whose repentance was long before his death-bed.

I have known Sam for about 17 years. I never heard him say much. But whenever he spoke, what he had to say was worth listening to. People who spent time in his home found that he spoke more freely there. Every Sunday morning Sam sat in a chair by the door and distributed church bulletins and Sunday school papers. Our pastor hasn’t had the heart yet to ask someone to replace him. He had been missing from his “spot” most of the time since he fell down the church steps a few months ago, and we all missed him.

If Sam had lived a couple months longer, he and his wife would have celebrated 60 years of marriage. They were both saved shortly after their marriage, and they never looked back. Sam was a good husband and father, and he was a good provider. His pastor said that there was only one other person whose funeral he had in his 20 years as a pastor that was as high a caliber Christian as Sam was.

Sam’s legacy will live a long time. Who knows how many lives he touched and influenced in the right direction?

"Out of the Mouths of Babes"

2008-01-31T19:04:00.001-05:00

One Wednesday night in church, a lady who works with a Christian school was talking about some of the prayers and comments of some of the little ones, and it reminded me of a few things.

**********************

When I was about 4 ½ years old and little sis Lil was about 2 ½, and baby brother Tommy was in the hospital struggling for his life, during our regular family prayer time, instead of saying the memorized prayer the smallest ones always said, she started praying in earnest for Tommy, and (I think, although my memory is not all that clear that far back) using some very adult sounding phrases. Us 3 older girls – myself, Mildred, and Leora, were irreverent enough to laugh at her, and she clammed right up. I believe we were later scolded severely for laughing.

**********************

Now, when the above mentioned brother Tommy was about 4, we were at Bible school, part of the Free Methodist camp meeting in Brookville, PA. All the children were together for the opening part of the session. Apropos of nothing, Tommy piped up, “I know how the devil got to be the devil.” The Bible School director asked him, “How?” His response was, “He wanted to be God, so God made him the Devil.”

**********************

Every Sunday morning, at the beginning of the worship service, our pastor has what he calls “Children’s Chat.” He has all the children who are willing to come to the front pew, and he has a little lesson for them. It’s always related to the topic of his sermon.

One Sunday morning he wanted to know if they would get excited if he promised to give one of them a dollar. Unfortunately, he had to bump it up to four dollars before any of them even became interested. He said, “Now, what do you have to do to get these four dollars?” He was, of course, trying to get them to say they just had to accept them (since he’d already promised).

He got all kinds of answers. “Do good things. Pray to get them.” One young fellow, about 3rd grade or so (who hadn’t come up to front pew, but was sitting back with his grandmother), said something about saying nice things. The pastor said, “OK, turn to your grandmother and tell her she looks nice.” He said, “You look nice that was against my will.” (all run together like that).

Finally one little guy, about kindergarten or first grade apparently came up with the right answer. I didn’t hear him, but the pastor said to him, “Come here.” He stood up. “Put out your hand.” He did so, and the pastor put the four dollars in his hand.

But the crowning point comes later. It’s necessary at this point to say that we have 12 people in our church who are going with a district team on a 2-week missions trip to Guatemala this summer. After the service, as people were leaving, I was just about to shake hands with the pastor, and this little fellow (the one who "accepted" the four dollars) came up. He handed the money to the pastor, saying, “This is for your Guatemala trip.”

**********************

Blogger's note: Brother Tommy mentioned above is the father of missionary Suzanne several blogs back.

Getting to Know Your Friends

2008-01-28T16:34:00.001-05:00

Got this from one of my yahoo 360 friends

Welcome to the new 2008 edition of 'Getting to know your Friends!'

Okay here's what you're supposed to do: change all the answers so they apply to you. Have Fun!

1. What is your occupation: Retired
2. What color are your socks right now: Navy blue
3. What are you listening to right now: a ticking clock
4. What was the last thing you ate: a sandwich
5. Can you drive stick shift: learned on one (there weren't many of the other kind around then)
6. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone: a friend from church
7. Do you like the person who sent this to you: yes
8. How old are you: 72
9. What's your favorite soda: Dr. Pepper
10. What's your favorite sport: sitting in front of the computer
11. Have you ever dyed your hair: never, can't imagine wasting time & effort to do that
12. Do you have any pets: Dog, Bonnie; Cat, Nutmeg
13. Favorite dessert: Apple pie
14. What's the last movie you've seen: The Passion of Christ
15. What's your favorite day of the week? Nearly all the same to me
16. How do you prevent anger? Avoid anger making situations
17. What was your favorite toy when you were little: Sister Lil reminded me - a home-made stuffed toy called "Lucy Goosey." We affectionately called it the "gloose."
18. What's your favorite season: Spring - it means winter is over
19. Hugs or Kisses: both
20. Cherries or Blueberries: both
21. Will your friends e-mail you back: Usually
22. Who's most likely to respond: My Chinese friend
23. Who's least likely to respond: My daughter
24. Current living arrangement: house
25. When was the last time you cried: don't remember
26. What's on the floor of your closet: junk
27. Who is the friend that you've known longest and are sending it to: Whoever reads my blog - Dee, perhaps, and sister Lil
28. What did you do last night? Slept
29. Favorite smells: Lilac, Mock Orange
30. Who inspires you: My great-niece Kathryn
31. Who were you afraid of as a little kid: God
32. Do you prefer plain, cheese, or spicy hamburger: cheese
33. Favorite dog breed: whatever I have at the moment (right now, a blue heeler)
34. How many states have you lived in: 3
35. Favorite Holiday: Christmas
36. Most missed memory: My grandchildren visiting
37. Favorite Store: Best buy
38. Whom do you miss right now: My grandchildren & great-grandchildren
39. When was the last time you slipped on ice? This afternoon
40. If you could be a cartoon character, who would you be and why?: ???

"Oh, Make Me Clean!"

2008-01-25T21:52:00.001-05:00

This hymn was brought to my mind because I have been studying some books about the theology promoted by John Wesley, which, for ease of reference, bears his name, although it did not originate with him. This hymn itself probably (based on what I have read so far) does not reflect this theology as Wesley himself would have expounded it, but its terminology and usage is quite common in Wesleyan circles. Another point about this song – it was written by George W. Bennard, who is better known for having written a very well known hymn – “The Old Rugged Cross.”

Oh, Make Me Clean

1. With aching heart and spirit sore destressed,
I came to Thee, and Thou didst give me rest;
Now, Lord, I pray and long with deep desire
To be made clean by Thy refining fire.

Chorus – for vs. 1&2
Oh, make me clean, Oh, make me clean,
Mine eyes Thy holiness have seen.
Oh, send the burning, cleansing flame,
And make me clean in Jesus’ name.

2. I hate the sin which grieves Thy loving heart;
Speak, precious, Lord, and bid it all depart;
Thy temple cleanse, and make my heart Thy home;
Come, King of kings, and reign Thyself alone.

(Chorus – for vs. 1&2)

3. Dear Lamb of God, I yield my all to Thee.
Thine, wholly Thine, forevermore to be;
Now in my heart I feel the sacred flame,
He makes me clean, oh, glory to his name!

Chorus – v 3
He makes me clean, He makes me clean,
Mine eyes the glorious King have seen;
Just now I feel the sacred flame,
Oh, glory to His precious name!

I couldn’t find this anywhere on the internet, so I have no way to let you see or hear the music.

(Originally posted January 12, 2008)

Room at the Cross

2008-01-25T21:45:00.001-05:00

This post was inspired by my friend Dee, when she told me about the big cross she sees when she looks across the street from her house. This song came immediately to mind. It appears in some modern hymnbooks, but I have verified that it is in Public Domain.

Room at The Cross
By Ira Stanphill

The cross upon which Jesus died
Is a shelter in which we can hide
And its grace so free is sufficient for me
And deep is its fountain as wide as the sea.

Chorus
There's room at the cross for you
There's room at the cross for you
Though millions have come, there's still room for one
Yes there's room at the cross for you.

Though millions have found him a friend
And have turned from the sins they have sinned
The Savior still waits to open the gates
And welcome a sinner before it's too late.

(Chorus)

The hand of my Savior is strong
And the love of my Savior is long
Through sunshine or rain, through loss or in gain,
The blood flows from Calvary to cleanse every stain.

(Chorus)

Click on the link below to hear the music.
http://www.my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis2/room2.html

(Originally posted December 31, 2007)

Missionaries

2008-01-25T21:37:00.001-05:00

Picture: New missionaries, my niece Suzanne and her husband Bob

I grew up hearing about – and hearing – missionaries. My mother had a real heart for missions, and it was her strong desire that at least one of her children become a missionary. I think it was probably that strong desire that caused 3 of her children to believe at one time that they were called to the mission field, but never went. I have no reason to believe that they were called, then reneged on their call. Perhaps they were “called” in a way, but not to a foreign field.

Of the 3, her oldest son suffered brain damage as a child, and as an adult, this affected his mental condition, and eventually he was unable to live independently.

The next son pursued the intent of being a missionary for much longer – it was not until after he was married (I believe) that he no longer held to his call to a foreign field. I cannot believe that he reneged on a genuine call – he has five children and many grandchildren, and all his family are serving the Lord today, so I cannot believe he has lived outside of God’s will.

The second daughter actually tried to go to a mission field – Cuba – when she was 19 years old, but was not permitted to go by herself as a minor (the majority age was then 21). She continued in Bible school, but she did not pursue the foreign mission field again.

The youngest (5th daughter) went to high school at a Bible school. She was the “rebellious” daughter (no one would think that in this day and age!), but while she was in high school, she found the Lord, and returned home full of the intent to go to a foreign mission field, without the influence of Mom’s desire. She did go. She was in Mozambique at the time of the Communist revolution. She was later in Zaire (now the Republic of the Congo), then in Rwanda (before the outbreak of the fighting between the 2 factions). After her marriage (at the age of 47), she and her husband went on several short term missions trips to the Philippines, and they also spent some time in Brazil (where her husband grew up).

Now – my brother’s younger daughter is preparing, with her husband, to be a full-time missionary. They went on a short-term missions trip to the Czech Republic earlier this year, and as a result, they felt the Lord’s call to full-time missionary service. This month – starting the 15th – they are going to Kampala, Uganda for a 2-week “introductory” missions trip. They will be there over Christmas. Then some time next year they will go on a 4 to 6 month “exploratory” trip to the area. By the end of 2008, they plan to be there as full-time missionaries. My mother’s dream continues!

(Originally posted December 12, 2007)

Table Grace

2008-01-25T21:34:00.001-05:00

I have been thinking a bit lately about the table grace that is often taught to children:

God is great, God is good,
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His hand we all are led;
Give us now our daily bread.

I think that it is sometimes limited to just the first two lines, but I have been thinking only about the very first line – that is good theology, is it not? “God is great, God is good.”

To continue, I have also been thinking about the table grace I was taught as a child:

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.
Let these gifts to us be blest.

This is a bit convoluted, but I thought about this because of my new Yahoo friend, Tori, who is from Germany. A few years ago, a lady from our church lent me a copy of a (very small) book about Christian doctrine, etc., written in German, and it contained a number of prayers (I copied some portions of this). There was one small section on table graces, and what do I first see but:

Komm, Herr Jesu, sei unser Gast
Und segne, was du uns bescheret hast.

There was another one that caught my eye:

Segne, Vater, diese Speise
Uns zur Kraft, und dir zum Preise.

I never thought much about the possibility that my father ever used memorized prayers, at the table, or elsewhere (except on the few occasions when the congregation in our church recited The Lord’s Prayer), but, invariably, when he said the table grace, included in it would be the words, “Father, bless this food to our strength and to your glory.”

(Originally posted November 16, 2007)

Death-bed Repentance

2008-01-25T21:29:00.001-05:00

I had a pastor once who said, “I used to believe in death-bed repentances, but I don’t anymore, because people who are dying are often so doped up to relieve pain that they do not have the ability to think and reason about their condition.”

I wasn’t thinking on this line at that time, but don’t you think God is able to override the “dopiness” to make the person’s mind clear enough for long enough to repent? There was an article in our Sunday School paper some years ago about a woman with advanced Alzheimer’s. Her children were concerned that she had never repented of her sins and accepted the Lord. I can’t remember all the details, but I believe they called a pastor to come and pray with her, and try to lead her to the Lord. While he was there – or just before – she became quite lucid, and as the pastor dealt with her, she repented of her sins and accepted Christ as her Saviour. I think it was the next day, the pastor contacted her again and she gave a lucid testimony. After that, however, she reverted to the advanced Alzheimer’s, not understanding anything or recognizing anybody. If God could do that for an Alzheimer’s victim, he could surely do it for a person whose body & mind were drugged with pain killers.

I have been aware of at least two death-bed repentances of relatives of people in our church. The one was several years ago; I don’t believe the man ever went to church. I never met him. As he knew he was nearing death, he acknowledged that he needed to be saved, but kept saying he wasn’t ready yet to take the step. Then one day when the pastor was visiting him, he said, “It’s time, preacher.” “Time for what?” the pastor asked. “Time to pray,” he said, and then and there he made his peace with God. A few days later he was gone.

The second one happened less than a week ago. This man was the brother of a very dear friend of mine. I met him once. He was raised by a Christian mother. He had accepted the Lord in his 20’s or 30’s, but later, due to something that happened in the church he was attending, he turned his back on God, and professed to be an atheist. In fact, from that time on, he was paying $500 a year as dues to an Atheists’ club of some kind. He refused to listen if anyone wanted to talk to him about God, but he demanded that they listen to his atheistic views. I’m not sure how old he was, but I think he was in his eighties when he died. His sister said that about 3 weeks previous, the Lord had lifted from her the burden to pray for him. This sister is now living in the “independent living” section of the equivalent of the old “County Home.” Her daughter also works there. It became her daughter’s task to tell her that her brother had died, and she was loath to do it, knowing what she knew about her uncle. She has a friend who also works there on whom she often calls for prayer under difficult circumstances. She asked her friend to pray for her because, “I have to tell my mother that her brother died, and he’s not a Christian.” The friend went into the bathroom (where she would go to pray when she was on duty). After a while, she came out with a smile on her face. “The Lord said to tell your mother that her prayers were not in vain.” So she went and gave the message to her mother. Later on, she had another indication when talking to the man’s wife. Knowing her brother, she would have expected curse words on his lips up to the time he died. And indeed, he was his “old” self up until about 4 days before he died. Then he was unable to function at all. But, 2 days before he died, his wife, seeing his lips moving, leaned closer, and asked, “What did you say, Joe?” Joe repeated, “Sorry, God.” This story impressed me about the goodness and graciousness of God who will take in the rebellious one who repents even at the last minute.

What a far cry from another “Joe” (Josef Stalin) who spent his last moments shaking his fist at God! (This was witnessed by his daughter Svetlana).

(Originally posted November 2, 2007)

Snippets of Memories

2008-01-25T21:26:00.001-05:00

I mentioned in a previous entry that big brother Paul figured in a lot of my earliest memories. I have a few bits and pieces of memories that don’t make up a whole incident. One of them was walking in the little bit of woods that we had on our property with Paul, Laurie, and Middy. I remember whining to Paul that I wanted to be carried. Apparently he had carried me quite a bit already, and was weary of it, and he refused to carry me any more. That’s all I remember of that incident. On another outing, we three girls with Paul, we were in the old Glenn Riggs property, and I fell in the run. That was a little more significant, because when we got back home, Mom was surprised that I had gone out, and laid down the law about it – because I had the measles at the time.

Another memory I have involved big sister Lois instead of Paul. A little background of this – which I don’t remember, but Lois related it to me later: when my little sister Lily was born, Lois was in one of the bedrooms upstairs, keeping an eye on the younger kids, while Mom was in a room downstairs, that had been temporarily converted to a bedroom, having the baby with a midwife in attendance. Lois said, “Well, that’ll be another little stinkpot to take care of.” Later on, at one point, I was heard to have said of Lily, “She’s a little stinkpot.” Mom related this later as an indication that I was jealous of Lily. Well, I may or may not have been jealous, but I don’t think that was my reason for saying that. In fact, when Mom related it, I told her, “I got that from Lois!” Mom kinda brushed that off, opining that no matter what, it indicated jealousy. Hey, I thought that was what she really was! After all, Lois called her that. And clearer memory comes in here – I was playing on the floor in the dining room, and Lois was sitting in the rocking chair, rocking the baby, singing to her. One of the “common” lullabies in our house was “Little birdie in a tree, in a tree, in a tree, little birdie in a tree, sing a song to me.” Only instead, Lois was singing “Little stinkpot in a tree . . .”

Lois said she could have told Mom that she was the initiator of the nickname when I protested that I got it from her, but she said she never would. She preferred to save her own hide in those days. After all, I was no more than a baby myself then and much could be overlooked, but she was a big girl (about 13), and responsible for her actions! I was 2 when Lily was born.

(Originally posted August 28, 2007)

Not so old . . .

2008-01-25T21:11:00.001-05:00

. . . but this is definitely in public domain. The composer/author of this died in 1959; the original copyright was 1918. The Refrain is printed in a double line so that the men & women's parts are clearly defined. This is done because the men's part has the melody in the first half of the refrain. Here is also a link to the music (click on the control when you get to the site):

www.avoiceinthewilderness.org/extol/hymn82.html

Wonderful Grace of Jesus
hymn and music by Haldor Lillenas

1. Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
Setting my spirit free;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

REFRAIN:
Wonderful the matchless grace, the matchless grace of Jesus
Wonderful the matchless grace of. . . . . . .Je - - - - - - - - - - sus,

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; the rolling sea
Deeper than the mighty rolling sea. . . . . . . . . . . .

Won - - - - - - - der - ful grace, . . . . . . . .all suf-
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain,

fi - - - - - - - - - - -cient for me, for even me
All sufficient grace for even me . . . . . . . . . ,

Broader than the scope of my transgressions . . . . . ;
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, sing it!

Greater far than all my sin and shame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,
Greater far than all my sin and shame, my sin and shame.

Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus, Praise His name!
Oh, magnify the precious name of Jesus, Praise His name!

2. Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching to all the lost,
By it I have been pardoned,
Saved to the uttermost,
Chains have been torn asunder,
Giving me liberty;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

3. Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power,
Making him God's dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven,
For all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.

(Originally posted August 6, 2007)

Some Other Oldies I Ran Across

2008-01-25T21:05:00.002-05:00

The second verse of this one reminds me so much of my great-niece Katy. She has gone through so much pain & sickness in the past year.

When I Get to the End of the Way

The sands have been washed in the footprints
Of the Stranger on Galilee's shore -
And the voice that subdued the rough billows
Will be heard in Judea no more.
But the path of that lone Galilean
With joy I will follow today;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.

There are so many hills to climb upward,
I often am longing for rest;
But He who appoints me my pathway,
Knows just what is needful and best.
I know in His Word He hath promised
That my strength "it shall be as my day;"
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.

He loves me too well to forsake me,
Or give me a trial too much;
All His people have been dearly purchased,
And Satan can never claim such.
By and by I shall see Him and praise Him,
In the city of unending day;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
And the toils of the road will seem nothing
When I get to the end of the way.

When the last feeble steps have been taken,
And the gates of that city appear,
And the beautiful songs of the angels*
Float out on my listening ear;
When all that now seems so mysterious
Will be bright and as clear as the day;
Then the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way;
Then the toils of the road will seem nothing,
When I get to the end of the way.

And another one - I don't think I've ever heard the 4th & 6th verses before:

Footsteps of Jesus

Sweetly, Lord have we heard Thee calling,
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee.

Chorus:
Footprints of Jesus, that make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus where'er they go.

Though they lead o'er the cold dark mountain,
Seeking His sheep;
Or along by Siloam's fountains,
Helping the weak:

(Chorus)

If they lead through the temple holy,
Preaching the Word;
Or in homes of the poor and lowly,
Serving the Lord:

(Chorus)

Though, dear Lord, in Thy pathway keeping,
We follow Thee
Through the gloom of that place of weeping,
Gethsemane!

(Chorus)

If Thy way and its sorrows sharing,
We go again,
Up the slope of the slope of the hillside, bearing
Our cross of pain.

(Chorus)

By and by, through the shining portals
Turning our feet,
We shall walk, with the glad immortals,
Heav'n's golden street.

(Chorus)

Then at last, when on high He sees us,
Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus
End at his throne.

(Chorus)

*On Katy's behalf, I'd like to change that to "children" - she tells of hearing a heavenly choir made up of millions of children.

Note: The book from the previous post was compiled in 1908.

(Originally posted August 3, 2007)

I hadn't thought of this in years

2008-01-25T21:03:00.002-05:00

One of the reasons I started this blog was to try to keep track of some of the old hymns and songs I knew when I was a kid. I have a bunch of old hymn books, some which I got at a sale when the neighbor across the street died. I wished later that I had got all that she had. Well, in the past couple of weeks, I have been going through them, and all the others I have lately, to see just exactly what I have. One of them is really ancient, old-style soft-cover, and poor quality paper. It apparently wasn't used much, because, in spite of the discoloration and deterioration of the paper, it is in very good condition. As I was looking through it, I came across a hymn I hadn't even thought of in 50 or 60 years. I didn't recognize any part of it but the chorus, so that may have been all that I knew. The title is "Jesus, the Light of the World."

All ye saints of light proclaim,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
Life and mercy in His name,
Jesus, the Light of the world.

Chorus:
We'll walk in the light, beautiful light,
Come where the dew-drops of mercy are bright;
Shine all around us by day and by night,
Jesus, the Light of the world.

Hear the Savior's earnest call,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
Send the gospel truth to all,
Jesus, the Light of the world.

(Chorus)

Why not seek Him then today,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
Go with truth the narrow way,
Jesus, the Light of the world.

(Chorus)

Come, confess Him as your King,
Jesus, the Light of the world;
Then the bells of heav'n will ring,
Jesus, the Light of the world.

(Chorus)

(Originally posted July 31, 2007)

I Found It!

2008-01-25T20:53:00.001-05:00

On one of my earlier blogs I mentioned that I was looking for a specific hymn and couldn't find it anywhere. Well, I've found it - and not on the internet. In a hymnbook that I own! It is the one mentioned early in the entry indicated in the link below, with the beginning "All the Saviour's glory mind can never measure" and the correct title is "Chiefest of Ten Thousand". It is probably in public domain, but since I'm not sure, I won't post the words here.

(Originally posted July 23, 2007)

Smitty the Cop and the "Runaway"

2008-01-25T20:50:00.001-05:00

Not really a runaway, just a youngster on a quest.

If you lived in Brookville, PA, in the ‘40’s – or spent a significant amount of time there - the name of “Smitty” the cop will be familiar to you. He was probably the most well-known and well-liked borough official of his time.

On this particular occasion, I was with my family at the Free Methodist camp ground at the top of the hill, just off Pickering Street. And once again, big brother Paul figures in this story, but only peripherally. We had just come out of the church, and the fire siren, just a couple of blocks away sounded. Paul said something about the fire, and I gathered from what he said that he was going to the location of the fire.

Hmm, I wanted to see the fire, too, so I started off. I guess I thought I was following Paul. I believe I was about 5 at the time. I don’t remember very much of my “journey,” but I had to have gone the whole way down Pickering Street, across the bridge, and then out Mabon Street. The only reason I know it was Mabon Street was that many years afterwards, I was able to recognize the house next to the Mabon Street bridge where I ended up. I don’t know how I came to stop there, but I do remember telling someone that I wanted to see the fire. They told me it was along way off. I remember tossing a ball back and forth with some older kids. I don’t remember Smitty the cop (I have to presume, of course, that adults in the house called the police) coming to get me, but I remember walking with him back to the campground, where, I believe, my parents were waiting for me, and to my surprise when I got there, Paul was still there! He had never gone anywhere!

(Originally posted July 19,2007)

Great-Grandkids

2008-01-25T20:37:00.002-05:00

This is the latest picture I have, and it is just about a year old. It was taken with my daughter's webcam: Left to right - great-grandaughter Briana, granddaugher Annie, great-grandson Gavin.

(Originally posted July 11, 2007)

New Great-Grandchild

2008-01-25T20:35:00.002-05:00

No pictures yet; Keely Susanna was born May 29, 2007. I haven't seen her yet, nor even her older sister Briana.

(Originally posted June 13, 2007)

Another Ancient memory!

2008-01-25T20:16:00.001-05:00

Middy (Mildred) and I had the unique opportunity last Saturday to visit with a distant cousin we had never met before, and whose existence we had just learned of a few months ago. Her name is Beverly, and her great-grandmother, Sarah, was a sister of our grandfather (my father's father), James. After our meeting & conversation with her, we started talking about some things from our past - naturally, many of these came up during the conversation. The specific incident we were discussing once again involved me as a very small child, maybe as young as 2, and big brother Paul. Since Paul is our half-brother - from my mother's first husband - he is no relation to Beverly.

OK, this incident took place when Paul (perhaps as young as 11 then) built a little dam on the "run" that ran through our property, in order to fish (we never saw any fish of any size there). Once again, I personally remember very little, but Middy was there, and she remembered more of it. I remembered Paul scolding me for making too much noise, and scaring away the fish (Middy said I was stomping around!) I had always thought that Paul had deliberately "ducked" me, because he kept threatening to, because I was scaring all the fish away, but Middy says he accidentally knocked me in the water. He made her give me her panties, and made Laurie give me her dress, "because I was soaking wet, and I was little." The other piece that I remember was when I arrived at the house crying, and told my mother, "Mom, Paul drownded me!"

(Originally posted April 4, 2007)

Bye Bye Furnace Problems!

2008-01-25T20:13:00.001-05:00

This week I had a brand new high efficiency furnace installed. The only maintenance it requires is the changing of the filter, and that slides in and out on the side of the furnace. No need to get behind the furnace, and if there were, there's far more space. We also have an additional supply register in an area where there was none before. We may add another air intake - I found out there had been one, but a previous owner had covered it up when he installed his wood-burning stove. We kept getting a whistling sound, particularly in the room where the wb stove is, and found where air is "leaking" into the air intake conduit. We've temporarily taken care of the the whistling, but will probably eventually put a return-air register there. This furnace is 92% efficient - the old one was no more than 53%, possibly as low as 40% efficient. Besides, just the pilot light alone was costing about $25/month in the summer time. We used to turn it off for the summer, but we had problems with the thermo-coupling, making it more & more difficult to relight, so we started leaving it on.

Oh, yes, and while we were at it, we had the ductwork cleaned. Since there was no evidence of access holes for the cleaning, the furnace people deducted that it had never been cleaned. We've owned the place 20 years, and the furnace was old when we bought it. It was not as bad as some places - I overheard one of the furnace guys talking on the phone to his supervisor, and he mentioned one place that had one duct completely blocked off.

Had I known how inexpensive a new furnace was, and how quickly it will pay for itself (3 to 4 years), I'd have done this long ago!

(Originally posted March 23, 2007)

For St. Patrick's Day

2008-01-25T20:10:00.001-05:00

An old song we used to have on 78rpm record (in the dark ages, when we had the old wind-up victrola):

A Little Bit of Heaven

Have you ever heard the story of how Ireland got its name?
Oh, let me tell the story of from whence old Ireland came.
No wonder why the angels love that land across the sea;
Oh, here's the way me dear old mother told the tale to me:

Sure a little bit of Heaven fell from out the skies one day;
It landed on the ocean and it sparkled all the way.
And when the angels found it, sure it looked so sweet and fair,
They said, suppose we leave it, for it looks so peaceful there.
So they sprinkled it with stardust just to make the shamrocks grow;
'Tis the only place you'll find them no matter where you go.
And they studded it with silver to make its lakes so grand
And when they had it finished, sure they called it Ireland.

(Originally posted March 17, 2007)

More about Katy

2008-01-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

Katy has been suffering from a great deal of pain for a long time. At one time, she was diagnosed with gall bladder problems, but the medical profession either thought that was a false symptom (due to the many GI problems that come with her disease), or that surgery was unwise at the time due other complications. A week ago, her pain was so intense, they took her to the Roanoke hospital where she underwent tests all night. Everything came out normal, except that one of the CT scans showed a slight thickening of the gall bladder wall. They discussed the matter with a couple of doctors who were familiar with Katy's case, and they decided that her gall bladder should come out. Because of her blood problems, the hematologist did not recommend surgery at this time. But, although they knew there were risks, they scheduled the surgery for (last) Saturday morning. Katy was given platelet transfusions in advance of the surgery; the surgery went smoothly, Katy returned home on Sunday, and is doing GREAT! She is also pain-free.

Addendum: Katy is in pain again - her entire body. They believe it to be some kind of reaction to the platelets she received.

Addendum 2: Katy's current pain seems to be due to the tapering off of the prednisone she has been on for several months. Two other sufferers of HPS have added credibility to this diagnosis, as they have suffered from the same type of pain for the same reason.

(Originally posted March 5, 2007)

Frozen Water

2008-01-25T20:03:00.001-05:00

These days of sub-normal/sub-zero temperatures have taken their toll. It goes without saying that our water line into the house from the well is frozen whenever the temperature approaches and/or drops below zero Fahrenheit. This happens in spite of the fact that the well access is filled with insulation. Several days in a row, we thawed the line using a hairdryer. The water line comes into the house from the well inside a large PVC pipe – about the size of a dryer vent pipe. On Monday morning (February 5), Mike set up the hairdryer to thaw the line; when he thought it should be thawed, he turned the pump back on – and water ran into the basement outside the water line.

So, we’re without water and the temperature is sub-zero. We called a neighbor who has done some plumbing for us. He didn’t have any power tools with him, and Mike didn’t have his cordless screwdriver batteries charged up, so we couldn’t remove the panel from the porch, through which we access the well. The guy who built our new porch several years ago screwed up royally, and only put the well access panel in as an afterthought, and it’s not squared with the well. Also, with the old porch, the top of the well access was flush with the bottom of the porch, so the cover was part of the porch floor. With the new one, we just have a makeshift cover that lies loosely on top of the well. Since we couldn’t get the panel off, and the temperature was just barely above zero, and nothing could really be done, the man said he’d come back Wednesday, when the temps were supposed to be up a little.

The temps were up a little – very little – on Wednesday and the man never showed up. I finally called him on Friday. He had got very busy and forgot he was supposed to come. He doesn’t do plumbing jobs for a living anymore; it’s just a sideline. He came over, got the panel off, pulled all the insulation out, found that the problem was relatively simple – the line into the house, which is actually a plastic hose, had just popped off the well inlet. But it was frozen solid, and it was still too cold to put an electrical device in the well to thaw it. So we wait until Monday, which will probably be the only day warm enough next week to work on it.

For our water needs during this time – we had several 5-gallon buckets of water in the basement, that we had saved from the dehumidifier in past summers; this water served for minimal washing, and for flushing the toilet (also minimal) for a few days. We filter all our drinking water, and we already had 3 or 4 gallons of that on hand. Fortunately, we had just run the dishwasher on Sunday, so we had a good supply of clean dishes. On Thursday, I got all the empty (clean) plastic milk jugs we had, and went & got water at a roadside spring. I also filled 2 5-quart picnic jugs. Those had to be used for washing, because, not having been used for a long time, they had developed a little mold in the bottom. For flushing the toilet, we melted snow. It takes 2 of those big buckets (slightly over 5 gal.) full of snow to melt down to enough water for a minimal toilet flush. It is amazing the amount of junk that is in that “nice, white snow.” Among other impurities, hemlock seeds float to the top.

On Saturday, I managed to wash my head, and took a spit bath. On Sunday, I loaded jugs and a bucket into the car with the thought of getting water from the church. But as I headed for church, I noticed that our neighbors across the road were home, and I knew we could get water from them if we needed it.

The sink is piled with dishes. The dirty clothes baskets are full. 2 weeks worth of laundry is waiting, since the day the line broke is my normal laundry day. And as for the minimal flushing of the toilet – I hate even to think of the cleaning job I will have there.

Monday afternoon: the water is running again! The plumber is going to get a heat tape for it, so that I won’t have to worry about it any more. Hope he gets back with it before the bottom drops out again.

Mike has had a shower and has gone out to pick up a pizza. The toilet cleaner is soaking in the bowl, and the dishwasher is running. I can’t do laundry & dishes at the same time, the well doesn’t recover fast enough for that much water usage. It will probably take me all week to get the laundry done.

(Originally posted February 12, 2007)

Memories

2008-01-25T16:36:00.001-05:00

Lily and I were discussing setting up a web site for family memories. The idea was ignited from the Wensley web site, which was started when Mary Ellen's cancer became advanced, and they wanted to provide memories for and about her. We're not sure how many of the family would be willing/able to contribute; some don't have internet access, and others are limited with their computer literacy (or lack thereof).

Anyway, I thought I'd share a memory from my way-background. I've talked about this with Middy (Mildred), and she thinks I'm only remembering what people told me. But I'm remembering what nobody else even knew about this incident. I must have been about 3 years old at the time, when I wandered off, probably about 1/2 mile, stopped at at neighbor's house, went in and lay down on the sofa and took a nap. That part I didn't remember, nor, as the family told me, that I had taken off my panties! Nor did I remember, when my big half-brother Paul came to get me, saying, "Paul, the dog peeked out." I do remember walking home with Paul, holding his finger. And what nobody else knew was the reason for my little escapade. I was standing up against the wall near my mother, who was sitting down and working at something. I was singing, "Bring Them In." My mother said to me, "You'll have to sing that for Aunt Nan." I took her very literally, and set off toward Aunt Nan's home, so I could sing for her. I was on the right track, but apparently the distance was far too much for a 3-year-old!

(Originally posted January 29, 2007)

And More Songs!

2008-01-25T16:32:00.001-05:00

Lily requested a few other songs:

A Toad Went a Courtin'

A toad went a courtin', he did ride
A sword and a pistol by his side;
He knocked on Lady Mouse's door
And he said "Lady Mouse, are you within?" Mm-hmm.

Oh, he took Lady Mouse upon his knee
And he said, "Lady Mouse, will you marry me?"
He said, "Lady Mouse, will you marry me?" Mm-hmm.

"You'll have to ask Uncle Rat," said she;
"You'll have to ask Uncle Rat," said she;
"You'll have to ask Uncle Rat," said she. Mm-hmm.

Oh, Uncle Rat laughed till he shook his fat sides
Saying Lady Mouse must be his bride;
Saying Lady Mouse must be his bride. Mm-hmm.

Oh, where shall the wedding supper be?
Where shall the wedding supper be?
'Way down yonder in a hollow tree. Mm-hmm.

And this one (Mom sang it to us just once, and we never forgot it, to her regret; she thought it was disrespectful.):

The Old Man Died and Was Laid in His Grave

The old man died and was laid in his grave,
Laid in his grave, laid in his grave.
The old man died and was laid in his grave,
Laid, laid, laid in his grave, grave, grave.

There grew an old apple tree out of his grave,
Out of his grave, out of his grave.
There grew an old apple tree out of his grave,
Out, out, out of his grave, grave, grave.

The apples got ripe and began to fall down,
Began to fall down, began to fall down.
The apples got ripe and began to fall down,
Began, 'gan, 'gan to fall down, down, down.

There came an old woman a pickin' them up,
Pickin' them up, pickin' them up.
There came an old woman a pickin' them up,
A pick, pick, pickin' them up, up, up.

The old man arose and he hit her a clout,
Hit her a clout, hit her a clout.
The old man arose and he hit her a clout,
Hit, hit, hit her a clout, clout, clout.

This made the old woman go flipperty-flop,
Flipperty-flop, flipperty-flop.
This made the old woman go flipperty-flop,
Flip, flip, fliperty-flop, flop, flop.

I'm not really sure of all the words, I originally thought some of them were different, but I presented them here as my oldest sister Laurie (Leora) remembered them.

And the piéce de resistance - this is not quite so old, a novelty song sung by Gordon MacRae in the early '50's*. We had an old 78rpm record of it that was a gift to Lily, but she got so tired of hearing it that she hid it, and it was never found. I know where she hid it, she told me, but no one will ever find it now, because the house it was in has fallen down, and it is not only buried in rubble, but probably deteriorated to nothing (some of the words might not be exactly accurate, and don't press me for the correct spelling of the nonsense words):

The Tongi Islands

I sailed from port one summer day
And to the south I made my way,
But I got wrecked in Boski Bay
Down in the Tongi Islands.
At last I landed on the shore,
Where I found pearls and maids galore
I vowed I'd live there evermore
And never leave the Islands.

Refrain:
Hongi Tongi, hokey pokey,
Hingledy, jingledy, pokey mokey,
Hongi Tongi, hingledy gee
In the Tongi Islands.

The king was Tunci Winci Wangle
Flipsy Flopsy Whiskey Bang
And he could fling the boomerang
Around the Tongi Islands.
I said I'd be his son-in-law
And wed his daughter Wisky Wau
And we'd live in a hut of straw
Right in the Tongi Islands.

(Refrain)

My wife was kind as she could be,
And we both lived in harmony
Till all the natives envied me
Throughout the Tongi Islands;
They said my marriage they would break
And then they'd burn me at the stake;
I swore that they would never take
Me in the Tongi Islands.

(Refrain)

I knew that I could never stay
And so, when dawn turned into day,
I stole away from Boski Bay
And left the Tongi Islands.
And now at last I'm safe and sound
Once more upon me native ground
And nevermore will I be found
In the Tongi Islands.

(Refrain)

*This may have been in the '40's yet, but I was thinking it was after we got our first electric radio/record player (which happened late 1950), as opposed to our hand-cranked victrola.

(Oringally posted January 18, 2007)

A Few More Songs

2008-01-25T16:25:00.001-05:00

My li'l sis Lil wanted to see some more songs. I've already posted some of those she asked about. Another one was, I think, from the music book my mother used when she was teaching school (grades 1-8).

The Robin and the Brooklet

Oh, the robin and the brooklet are singing
Such a very, very merry song.
They are telling us that summer is coming,
That the chill days of winter are gone.
Tra la la la la la la la
Tra la la la la la la la
Hear the robin and the brooklet;
Join in the robin's song.

Another old one got me into trouble on an internet message board (not really, just that the admin was still fighting the civil war, and bore an extreme hatred for "Yankees" - and he was the only one that got nasty about it). It was one my father used to sing, and I believe it was intended to be to the tune of "Wait for the Wagon," although that was not exactly how my father sang it.

Jeff Davis built a wagon
And on it put his name.
Old Beauregard was driver
Of Secession's ugly frame.
Oh, the horses, they got hungry
As most of horses do,
And they had to draw the collar tight
To keep from pulling through.

Oh, bully for your wagon!
Your new secession wagon!
Oh, Beaure, hold your nag in
And we'll all take a ride.

I think that some of the songs my father used to sing were slave songs, like "My Pretty Quadroon" and "Dearest Mae." I think we are too politically correct in this day and age to recognize that even black slaves were able to love and be loved, or else we want to pretend that people never owned other people in this country.

(Originally posted January 17, 2007)

Flat Tires and Furnaces

2008-01-25T16:23:00.001-05:00

On my way home from church Sunday, I noticed I had a very low tire. I aired it up before driving the rest of the way home. On Tuesday my son & I went out for supper (our power was out), a round trip of about 30 miles. On Wednesday, I was getting ready to go to the Wednesday night prayer service, and my son said he'd noticed the tire was low. He drove to the nearest station (about 8 miles one way), and aired the tire up. It was so low, I decided I didn't want to drive into church at night, so I just planned to go to the shop on Thursday morning to get it fixed.

On Wednesday evening, our furnace blower decided to stop. Mike & I went downstairs, and I held the flashlight while he pumped in the oil. Flipped the switch, and the blower kicked right in. About 11:00 pm, it quit again. Mike pulled the motor, and decided we must have a bad bearing. He couldn't fix it, wanted me to get parts.

I went to the auto shop and got my tire fixed. It had a horseshoe nail in it. Then I went to my sister's and she & her husband recommended a heating & cooling shop. My brother-in-law thought that the motor was shot, and I operated on that premise and bought a new motor. I had also to buy a new pulley, because Mike bent the other one when pulling it off. Got it home, Mike installed it, and it was turning the blower in the wrong direction. The instructions seemed to indicate that switching the incoming wires would switch the polarity of the motor, and that was verified when we called the shop. He switched the wires. It still ran backwards. I called the shop and said, "Send us a technician." He said he had a man working not too far from us, and would send him out. Later he called and said there was something else we could do. Mike, based on what he had seen when installing the motor, wasn't quite sure what he was talking about, and besides, he was already stressed out - his health is not very good - and said just to send the tech on out. It seemed that there were wires inside the motor housing that were reversed, and of course, we didn't see them. The tech got it fixed up, and now we have heat. The tech's services cost more than the motor & pulley together.

End of another looooong day.

(Originally posted January 4, 2007)

Same Old War Songs

2008-01-25T16:20:00.001-05:00

I can't seem to find an authentic version of "I'm Glad My Wife's in Europe," although I have seen it for sale on a CD made to sound like the original 78rpm recording. I did find another "casual" version of the words - and according to this version, the man was eating "cream on peas." And there is far more to it than anything I've found.

Oh, yes, and I found an actual 78 record on eBay - the exact same one we had, with "I'm Going Back to Louisiana" on the other side.

As for "Watch, Hope, and Wait, Little Girl" - I found a copy of old sheet music on the internet, and got the words from that. It shows 2 verses; I only remember one on our old record. What I posted previously was the chorus only. But the first verse goes like this:

Had a little time today
So I write these lines to say
I am feeling fine
Soldier life for mine
Hard work and some play
Underneath the pale moonlight
Thinking of you every night
Have no fear
Sweetheart, dear,
And while I'm over here

Chorus:
Watch, little girl, and hope, little girl,
And wait, little girl for me.
Pray, little girl, every day, little girl,
While I'm across the sea;
Give my love to Ma;
Say "hello" to Pa;
And you know I'm longing, dear,
To know just how you are;
So write, little girl, every night, little girl,
And promise you'll be true.
And I'll fight, little girl,
With all my might, little girl,
'Till I come back to you.

(Originally posted November 27, 2006)

More Old War Songs

2008-01-25T16:01:00.001-05:00

Ah, and talking about war songs!

My father once bought an old Victrola at an auction - one of those you had to wind up - with loads of records - the old 78 rpms. There were a couple of old war songs, probably from World War I. The first one I remember is "Watch, Hope, and Wait, Little Girl" - well, I don't remember the whole thing, and what I do remember is not very clear. It's a soldier, writing home to his sweetheart.

What I remember goes something like this:

Watch, little girl, and hope, little girl,
And wait, little girl, for me.
Pray, little girl, every day, little girl,
While I'm across the sea.
Give my love to Ma;
Say "Hello" to Pa;
And you know I'm longing,dear,
To know just how you are.
So write, little girl, every night, little girl,
And promise you'll be true.
And I'll fight, little girl, with all my might, little girl,
Till I come back to you.

And then there was the one my mother wouldn't let us play - but we sneaked it in once in a while when she wasn't around - or when we thought she wasn't around. I don't remember the terminology she used, but essentially, she told us that the sentiments expressed therein were inappropriate - which was true enough, but we thought it was funny - in fact, I still kinda think it's funny. Eventually she caught us playing it one time too many, and she scratched up the record so we couldn't play it any more. She didn't break it, because the one on the reverse side was acceptable. Just the title will tell you what's wrong with the sentiment - "I'm Glad My Wife's in Europe." I can't remember it all too well, but here is the chorus, as best I can remember it. Maybe one of my brothers or sisters can remember it, and give me corrections.

I'm glad my wife's in Europe
And she can't get back;
She can't get back;
While I'm eating ham and cheese*
She's eating beans with a refugee;
The only way she can reach me
Is to swim across the sea.
I'm sorry that there should be war;
I don't know what they're fighting for,
But I'm glad my wife's in Europe
And she can't get back to me.

*I really don't remember what he was eating.

Note on edit: I found a version on the 'net, said he was eating "lamb and cheese."

Note - (Jan 13, 2007) - Middy says the victrola was given to us. What do I know, I was just a little kid then.

(Originally posted November 21, 2006)

More Old Songs

2008-01-25T15:36:00.003-05:00

Something came to my mind just today that I hadn’t remembered for probably 60 years. But to introduce it, I have to go back even further. This song has a tune that many are probably familiar with due to Sunday School songs.

Apparently the tune was original with this old Civil War Song. As written here, there is a note in the book I have that the chorus was changed slightly from the original, but since then it has remained unchanged. However, the version I learned of it is somewhat different, and I will present that later:

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

On the battle front we stand, ‘neath the flag that made us free,
Ever ready for the words to do and dare;
Tho’ we’re twice a million strong, still they’re coming from the sea,
We can hear the tread like thunder in the air.

Chorus:
Tramp, tramp, tramp! the boys are marching!
Cheer, brave comrades, they will come;
Every heart is in the fight
For the cause of Truth and Right
And the freedom of our own beloved land!

They are coming from the West, you can hear the mighty roar,
As they tramp the earth and sing a battle song;
There are millions in the fight, and as many millions more
Only wait the Nation’s call to come along.

There’s a God in glory still, and His Word is on the sky,
Blazing letters for the dastard foe to read:
Ye are traitors to the truth and as traitors ye shall die,
Tho' a world be made to suffer and to bleed.

The original version I learned is probably from World War I. My mother was a school teacher near the end of that war, and she probably learned it in her teacher’s training school (called “Normal School” back then). I know only one verse to this version, but it’s the only version I ever heard when I was young. It is written as a prisoner of war writing home to his mother.

In my prison cell I sit, thinking, mother, dear, of you
And our sweet and happy home so far away;
And the tears they fill my eyes, ‘spite of all that I can do,
Though I try to cheer my comrades and be brave.

Tramp, tramp, tramp! the boys are marching!
Cheer up, comrades, they will come
And beneath the starry flag
shall breathe the air again
Of the free land in our own beloved home.

Now this tune has been used for a couple of Sunday School songs, with which you may be familiar: “Jesus Loves the Little Children” and “Jesus Died for All the Children.”
And this brings me to my original thought. My mother once used to sing a song that was based on the confrontation between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. I think there was much more to it, but I remember only the chorus – and, as I said above, I hadn’t heard it or even thought about it in many years:

Pray again, my good Elijah!
Prayer will bring abundant rain.
By His grace and mighty power*
May the Lord our hearts inspire
‘Til we get down on our knees and pray again.

*This term may actually be “holy fire,” I’m not sure.

(Originally posted November 20, 2006)