A hymn for Thursday

The Lily of the Valley
Song of Solomon 2:1; 5:10; Psalm 45:2

I have found a friend in Jesus, He’s everything to me,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;
He tells me every care on Him to roll. (Hallelujah!)

He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart and now He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal. (Hallelujah!

He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessèd will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessèd face,
Where the rivers of delight shall ever roll. (Hallelujah!)

Charles W. Fry, 1881.
First appeared in the Salvation Army’s "The War Cry", December 29, 1881. Fry wrote the lyrics in Lincoln, England, while working with the Salvation Army there.

A hymn for Thursday

And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Words: Charles Wesley, Psalms and Hymns, 1738.
Music: Sagina, Thomas Campbell, 1825

I enjoy the descant in the refrain and I always give it my best!

In which I go to Ohio

This past weekend we went to Ohio to see my daughter and her family, and to watch my grandsons play some baseball. It was a nice weekend!



Thursday evening I drove down to Columbia to meet my son-in-law and bring my 6 year old granddaughter back so she could accompany us on this trip. Riding with her is always fun!

Friday morning we got up early and set off on our journey north. What a hard trip!







The traffic was terrible all day, including a stopped-still traffic jam in Charlottesville, WV. It took over an hour to get through Charlottesville. Weary and worn we finally arrived in Springboro (Ohio). What a joyous reunion we had! Then we sat down and enjoyed a supper of homemade pizza. Then it was off to bed because we had a long day of baseball on Saturday.

a little creek we discovered

Saturday morning dawned and I was up early, so I took a walk and explored the area around the hotel. Then it was off for a day of baseball! Ryan is 11 and Chase is 9 and the baseball is fun to watch. However, Saturday was not a great day – the team didn’t play well and lost both games. We got back to the house, had tacos, then Aimee and I took a walk





Sunday morning Mary took grandchildren to church and I went to watch another game. This was a great game and well played. Sadly, they lost in the bottom of the 9th (games are normally 6 innings), but it was exciting!

Ryan taking a swing. I love this shot - you can see the ball!

Sunday afternoon we spent lounging in the front yard, thoroughly enjoying an Ohio summer afternoon. After supper at EO Burgers we parted to prepare for an early start on Monday.

Monday didn’t dawn at all - it was raining. And raining hard. It rained buckets all through Ohio. So hard that visibility was maybe 20 feet and I drove with my flashers on most of the time. We finally escaped the rain and stopped in West Virginia for lunch, only to have the rain catch up and pour down more furiously! When the cloud exhausted itself we were off again. After driving all day we made it home.

Oh, I left something out. We had an additional passenger on the way home. My firstborn granddaughter, the lovely Aimee, came back with us for a couple of weeks. How exciting!!

this is Aimee giving her fierce look

Aimee is a writer and this is her, uh, writing

                         

This was a great trip and we had a wonderful time visiting the Meesters of Ohio!!!

The Lion of Judah

I used to sing this song in my devotions, but never felt comfortable introducing it to the church. Then one day my worship leader, Tim Childers, introduced it to the church, singing it to a tune he had written.

’Twas Jesus, my Saviour, who died on the tree,
To open a fountain for sinners like me;
His blood is that fountain which pardon bestows,
And cleanses the foulest wherever it flows.

For the lion of Judah shall break every chain,
And give us the vict’ry, again and again.

And when I was willing with all things to part,
He gave me His blessing, His love in my heart;
So now I am joined with the conquering band
Who are marching to glory at Jesus’ command.

Tho’ round me the storms of adversity roll,
And the waves of destruction encompass my soul;
In vain this frail vessel the tempest shall toss—
My hope is secure through the blood of the cross.

And when with the ransomed, by Jesus, my Head,
From fountain to fountain I then shall be led;
I’ll fall at His feet and His mercy adore,
And sing Hallelujah to God evermore.


Anonymous, from Sacred Songs and Solos

(Sacred Songs and Solos: Twelve Hundred Hymns Compiled Under the Direction of Ira D. Sankey)
other sources say it was written by Henry Q. Wilson

also known as Fountain of Mercy, Chains Broken, ’Twas Jesus My Savior

other verses that have occasionally been added

And when the last trumpet of judgment shall sound
And wake all the nations that sleep in the ground
Then, when heaven and earth shall be melting away
I’ll sing of the blood of the cross on that day

Come, sinners to Jesus, no longer delay
A full, free salvation he offers today
Arouse your dark spirits, awake from your dream
And Christ will support you in coming to Him

What a good word!

This is an excerpt from Chrysostom’s homily on Acts 11:19-30. After explaining each verse he dwelt on the statement, Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea. You do not hear such an emphasis on alms today. I am ashamed to admit I did not grasp this when I was pastoring. This is such a good word; direct and practical! 

But alms may be done not only by money, but by acts. For example: one may kindly stand by a person to succor and defend him, one may reach to him a helping hand: the service rendered by acts has often done more good even than money. Let us set to work all the different kinds of almsgiving. Can you do alms by money? Be not slack. Can you by good offices? Say not, Because I have no money, this is nothing. This is a very great point: look upon it as if you had given gold. Can you do it by kind attentions? Do this also. For instance, if you are a physician, give your skill: for this also is a great matter. Can you by counsel? This is much greater than all: this is better than all. For in so doing you put away not starvation, but a grievous death. With such alms the Apostles above measure abounded, exhibiting the (mercy) shown by words. Or is it, think you, a small alms, to a lost, castaway soul, a soul in uttermost jeopardy, possessed by a burning fever, to be able to rid it of its disease? For example, do you see one possessed by love of money? Pity the man. Is he in danger of suffocation? Quench his fire. “What if he will not be persuaded?” Do your part, and be not remiss. Have you seen him in bonds?—for wealth is indeed bonds. Go to him, visit him, console him, try to release him of his bonds. If he refuse, he shall bear the blame himself. Have you seen him naked, and a stranger?—for he is indeed naked, and a stranger to heaven. Bring him to your own inn, clothe him with the garment of virtue, give him the city which is in heaven. What numbers of women now wear silken apparel but are indeed naked of the garments of virtue! Let their husbands clothe these women. “But they will not admit those garments [virtue]; they choose to have these [apparel].” Then do this also first: induce them to have a longing for those garments: show them that they are naked: speak to them of judgment to come: answer me, what is the clothing we shall need there? If then I shall prove to you that your rich men, and rich women, the more they put on, the more naked they are, do not take it amiss.

Now indeed, after all that we can say, the nakedness is not yet apparent: but it will be plain enough there. How, and in what way? When these silken garments and precious stones shall have perished, and it shall be only by the garments of virtue and of vice that all men are shown, when the poor shall be clad with exceeding glory, but the rich, naked and in disgraceful sort, shall be hauled away to their punishments. What more naked than that rich man who arrayed himself in purple? What poorer than Lazarus? Then which of them uttered the words of beggars? which of them was in abundance? Say, if one should deck his house with abundance of tapestry hangings, and himself sit naked within, what were the benefit? So it is in the case of these women. Truly, the house of the soul, the body I mean, they hang round with plenty of garments: but the mistress of the house sits naked within. Lend me the eyes of the soul, and I will show you the soul’s nakedness. For what is the garment of the soul? Virtue, of course. And what its nakedness? Vice. For just as, if one were to strip any decent person, that person would be ashamed, and would shrink and cower out of sight; just so the soul, if we wish to see it, the soul which has not these garments, blushes for shame. What is the gain of your costly garments? how long shall we continue agape for this attire? Let us put on the glory of Christ: let us array ourselves with that beauty, that both here we may be praised, and there attain unto the eternal good things, by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, with Whom, to the Father and the Holy Ghost together, be glory, dominion, honor, now and ever, world without end. Amen.

John Chrysostom c. 349 – 407, Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his preaching, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders and the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Chrysostom means "golden-mouthed" in Greek and denotes his celebrated eloquence.

I was disappointed

I visited a new church this past Sunday. I was really blessed at some points, but as thought about it all, I was disappointed. You could say offended. I felt betrayed. I’ve been searching for the right word: troubled, disturbed ...

What in the world could’ve happened that would cause me such distress? The pastor is teaching through the book of Acts (I had checked out their website) and Sunday we were to look at 11:19-30. I was looking forward to it. He read the passage, then explained that we could look at several parts but, “We aren’t.” Finally, he announced we would focus on “And the hand of the Lord was with them” and off we went, exploring how we can all have the hand of the Lord with us.

What’s wrong with that? Why would this distress me? First, he promised a feast, only to give us a convenience store hot dog. Second, this portion is an important one in the progress of the gospel – the gospel jumps a big fence and Paul begins to rise to prominence - and he jumped over it like it was a mud puddle. Third, the passage itself contains plenty of nuggets (And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch or Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea), there was no need to go running off like that. After I got home and thought about this, I read Chrysostom’s homily on the same passage – I needed some edifying!

Now, this wasn’t merely a matter of disagreeing with his interpretation. I know that happens from time to time. Even though I can’t imagine why, I’m sure people occasionally disagreed with me! No, here was an important and rich passage and he passed on it!

This wasn’t the first time I’ve encountered this. When we were looking for a church a few years ago, I visited a church just around the corner from us. I looked at their web site and saw the pastor would be preaching from Romans 9-11 (it looked like he was preaching through Romans). These three chapters in one study? That’s a tall order, but I was intrigued. When the time for the sermon arrived, he said something like, “This is a difficult passage. I don’t think I can really contribute anything so...” and he took some fragment of a verse and spent the next 30-40 minutes telling us the importance of inviting people to church!!!

I know this kind of thing happens every Sunday in “liberal” churches. The disappointment and distress is because both these churches would say they believe and teach the Bible. In the most recent case he would say he did “preach the Word”, but he passed on his own announced text, and I’m not too sure about his handling of “and the hand of the Lord was with them” (but that's really a minor point). I hope and pray this sermon was an aberration, an anomaly; in other words, a departure from the norm.

As I was saying, I visited a church this past Sunday and was sore distressed.

I guess they don’t do that anymore

The first church I pastored was in Pensacola, FL. I was fresh out of Bible College, where I received a good theological training, but, it would seem, not a lot of practical training. When I said the Amen at the end of my closing prayer church was over, so I guess I just stood around waiting for the folks to leave so I could lock up. I wasn’t there long when Mr. Richards, a precious brother, took me aside and said, “You may not know this, but our other pastors would stand at the door when church was over and shake hands with the people as they left.” I got the message, and even though we were a small group, I began standing at the door after the service.

I admit, it was uncomfortable - I was not really a “people person” and this felt forced. Besides, I told my self, they may tell me my sermon was good and I will start to believe it. Yeah, whatever! But I did it anyway. I was so uncomfortable with this that I prayed about it. Prayed? It would be more accurate to say I complained to the Lord, “Lord, why do I have to do this?” I believe the Lord ministered to me one day, “Just love on them.” Amen! I can do that!

And that’s what I did, I just loved on the people I pastored. Meanwhile, God was doing a deep work in me and I was a changed man. Before the service I would go through the auditorium greeting and speaking to every one, then after the service I would stand at the door and shake hands with everyone as they left, joke with the young people, and hug the children.

That’s what I did for the next twenty five years. Since leaving the pastorate, I have visited a lot of churches, and today I realized, none of those pastors stood at the door after the service. I don’t think the pastor of the church we attended these last four years did either. We recently attended a church three weeks in a row, the pastor never spoke to us. Well, one time I said something to him and he replied. But that’s it.

I don’t think they do that anymore. I’ve been to several churches and none of them do it, so this has to be intentional. I have noticed most of the churches do have a greeting system set up – someone posted at the front door to greet you and open it for you, and at the door leading into the auditorium, two people passing out the bulletin. Sometimes the bulletin passer-outers are at the front door. And in the foyer, folks with name tags that say “Greeter” greeting you. There has to be a school somewhere teaching this and everybody seems to attend. But, when church is over, there is no one at the door.

I want to be clear, I’m not criticizing or finding fault with anyone, I’m simply making an observation. But I did reach a conclusion – I was clearly old-school!