~!!Happy New Year's Eve!!~

Will you be staying up tonight? If so, what will you do to stay awake? :)

Merry Christmas

How did you all spend you time this Christmas?

~Merry Christmas Eve~

Do any of you have a tradition for Christmas Eve?

Gluten & Dairy Free Maple Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! 

It's is that time of year again when you pull out all of your favorite recipes, and I want to share with you my personal favorite. Gluten & Dairy Free Maple Pumpkin Pie!!! Being completely gluten and dairy free I was so disappointed when I learned that I could not have my favorite Thanksgiving dessert.  I have been gluten & dairy free for 3 years. Last year I found this recipe and decided to try it out, hoping and praying that it would taste the same. Surprise!!!!! It was even better then I remembered. So below is the recipe and I add a few notes of what I did that made it better. Enjoy!!

Gluten & Dairy Free Maple Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 unbaked Best Gluten-Free Flaky Pie Crust Recipe (I didn't have time to make a crust so I found one at the store. Also gluten free & dairy free.)

15 ounces unsweetened pumpkin puree

1/2 cup almond milk (or rice milk, hemp milk, coconut milk beverage, etc...) (I used rice milk.)

1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I used Agave.)

2 eggs (I used duck eggs.)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (the original recipe didn't have this ingredient, but I added  it because I like the pumpkin.)

Instructions:

Whisk all of the ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl until well blended.

Pour filling into the prepared unbaked pie shell and bake in a preheated 400 degree (F) oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (F) and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes. The pie is completely cooked through when a toothpick inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean. (It took longer to cook then I thought. The middle shouldn't jiggle anymore and it should have the darkened look. I didn't have to put foil on the crust this time, last time I did. I think it depends on the crust you have.)

Allow to cool completely before serving.

~Happy Thanksgiving~

A funny......

~Christmas Cantata~

You’re invited to our annual
Christmas Cantata
- & -
Candlelight Service

Sunday, December 13th 2015, 6:30pm

Grace Bible Church
3211 Eagle Dr. NE,
Lacey, WA 98516

---

Remembering the miracle of Christmas in story & song.
Refreshments will be served after the program.
All are welcome! Please bring your family & friends!

Scarlett the Horse

 A really fun picture that I took a few days ago!!

Martin Luther

Happy Reformation Day!!!

On October 31st, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. Reformation Day recognizes this event and other reformers who God mightily used to make known the true meaning of his word. The reformation is a break away from the main religion of it's time, Catholicism. This religion focused on man made approaches and principals that help a person possibly gain entrance into heaven. Reformation emphasizes what is communciated in the bible. By God's grace through faith, a person believes in Christ, repents of their sins, and the Lord becomes their Savior and Lord. The reformed says that God draws you and makes Himself known to you and you repent. Most importantly, God opens man's eyes and heart to desire to know Him more and get right with God. This verse says it so well, Romans 10:17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Sometimes....

Hymn For The Week: His Love

For Thy love is better than wine, In those days wine was the highest of the luxuries this earth offered. Paul wrote. "and be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess: but filled with the Holy Spirit." (Eph. 5:18).

THE LOVE OF GOD - Traditional Hymns

Oh, to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that (fill with your name) might experience that excitement, that belonging to Christ and fellowship with Him! Being dedicated Christians, this is what we need.

We need to come to that attitude of which Peter wrote:"whom having not seen, ye love; in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

Habakkuk stated it like this: although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine: the labor of the olive shall fail,.... Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17-18).

Wine gives a temporary lift, but it will let you down. Allow the Spirit of God to come into your life. He will shed abroad in your heart the love of God. That is one reason we need the Holy Spirit.

Hymn For The Week: There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)

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There Is A Fountain (A Quiet Place Instrumental Hymns)

1. There is a fountain filled with blood,
   Drawn from Immanuel’s veins,
   And sinners plunged beneath that flood
   Lose all their guilty stains.
2. The dying thief rejoiced to see
   That fountain in His day;
   And there have I, though vile as he,
   Washed all my sins away.
3. Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
   Shall never lose its pow’r,
   Till all the ransomed church of God
   Are safe, to sin no more.
4. E’er since by faith I saw the stream
   Thy flowing wounds supply,
   Redeeming love has been my theme,
   And shall be till I die.
5. When this poor, lisping, stamm’ring tongue
   Lies silent in the grave,
   Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
   I’ll sing Thy pow’r to save.

William Cowper is one of God's gracious gifts to those suffering from depression. Like the Psalmist who cried, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" (Psalm 42:5), Cowper shows us that our emotional struggles often give us heightened sensitivity to the heart of God and to the need of others.

Cowper (pronounced Cooper), born in 1731, was the forth child a British clergyman and his wife. William's three siblings died, then his mother died while giving birth to the fifth child. William was six when he lost his mother, and it was a blow from which he never recovered. Years later, when someone sent him a picture of her, he wrote:

My mother? When I learn'd that thou wast dead,

Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?

Hover'd  thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son,

Wretch even then, life's journey just begun?...

I heard the bell toll'd on thy burial day,

I saw the hearse that nor thee slow away,

And, turning from my nurs'ry window, drew

A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu!

William, emotionally frail, was sent to a boarding school where for two years he was terrorized by a bully which further shattered his nerves. From ages 10 to 18, he had a better experience at Westminster School, developing a love for literature and poetry. His father wanted him to be an attorney, but, preparing for his bar exam, he experienced runaway anxiety. Concluding  himself dammed, he threw away his Bible and attempted suicide.

Friends recommend an asylum run by Dr. Nathaniel Cotton, a lover of poetry and a committed Christian. Under Dr. Cotton's care, William recovered. In the asylum in 1764, he found the Lord while reading Romans 3:25: His life was still to hold many dark days of intense depression, but at least he now had a spiritual foundation. As he later put it: there is a fountain....

Happy Memorial Day!!

Honey Mustard Chicken

The first recipe is the recipe that our family uses. We LOVE this dish and it has always been a great hit with all friends that we have served it to.

After the pictures there will be another recipe, that is the original recipe.

Honey Mustard Chicken
Enough Chicken to cover the bottom of the pan.
4 T Butter
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1 tsp salt

 Place the chicken into the pan. In a bowel, mix the honey, salt, and mustard together until blended thoroughly. Pour the sauce into the pan on top of the chicken. Cut the butter to a 1/4" thickness and place all around the pan. Preheat the oven to 375° and cook for 1 hour. When the chicken is fully cooked inside take it out and serve.
Note: If you are going to use a 9x13 pan, you need to double the recipe.
Note: This dish is Gluten Free, but not Dairy Free. I used Earth Balance Vegan shortening.

Rice ready to be made!!

Gluten Free and Dairy Free dish!!!!

Regular.

This is how we make our plate up. It is so good!!!!

Chicken Diablo
1 cut-up fryer chicken
4 T butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 tsp Salt
t tsp curry powder

Melt Butter. Mix in honey, mustard, salt, and curry powder. Roll chicken in mixture. Place in baking dish skin side up. Bake at 375° degrees for 1 hour.

Hymn For The Week: Praise Ye the Lord the Almighty

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding."

 Job 38:4

Praise Ye the Lord The Almighty

This hymn was written by Joachim Neander, born in 1650, whose father, grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather all Joachim Neanders had been preachers of the gospel. But as a student, Joachim on St. Martin's Church in Bremen to ridicule and scoff the worshippers. But the sermon that day by Rev. Theodore Under-Eyck arrested him and led to his conversion. A few years later, he was the assistant preacher at the very church.

Joachim often took long walks near his home in Hochal, Germany. They were worship walks, and he frequently composed hymns as he strolled, singing them to the Lord. He was the first hymn writer from the Calvinist branch of protestantism. When he was 30-the year he died- he wrote this while battling tuberculosis:

Praise Ye The lord, The Almighty, the king of Creation.

O my soul praise Him, for He is Thy health and Salvation.

One of Joachim's favorite walking spots was a beautiful gorge a few miles from Dusseldorf. The Dussel River flowed through the valley, and Joachim Neander so loved this spot that it eventually was named for him-Neander Valley. The Old German word for "valley' was 'tal" or "thal" with a silent "h".

Two hundred years later Herr von Beckersdorf owned the valley, which was a source of limestone, used to manufacture cement. In 1856, miners discovered caves which contained human bones. Beckersdorf took the bones to a local science teacher who speculated they belonged to one who died in the Flood.

But when William King, an Irish professor of anatomy, saw the bones, he claimed they were proof of evolution's famous "missing link." other Neanderthal fossils were found, and for many years they were used to "prove" Darwin's theory of evolution. Today we know the Neanderthal was fully human, and extinct people group of great strength.

But, as one expert put it, "when Joachim Neander walked in his beautiful valley so many years ago, he could not know that hundreds of years later his name would become world famous, not for his hymns celebrating creation, but for a concept that he would have totally rejected evolution."

Hymn For The Week: Onward Christian Soldiers

Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you(2 Chronicles 20:17)

Onward Christian Soldiers

Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould was born in Exeter in 1834. His father an officer with the East India Company, had a disabling carriage accident and decided that if he couldn't work, he could at least travel. As a result, little Sabine was dragged from one end of Europe to the other, year after year. It gave him an unsettled childhood, spotty schooling, and a wanderlust he never outgrew. He later managed to scrape through Cambridge, but for the most part he is remembered as a brilliant, self-taught scholar. That helps explain why he developed certain eccentric habits. When he taught school, for example, he kept a pet on his shoulder.

From Sabine's original mind flowed an endless number of books, articles, poems, hymns, and tracts. This particular hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers," was written on a Whitsunday's evening in the mid-1960s. Whitsunday is better known as Pentecost Sunday. It got its "Nickname" because it became a popular day for new Christians to be baptized. The baptismal candidates marched to the rivers or fonts wearing robes of white. Thus it came to be called "White Sunday" or Whitsunday.

It was on this day in 1865, in the little town of Horbury, England, that Sabine stayed up late searching through hymnbooks for a martial-type hymn for children. The next day, Monday, all the village children were marching to the neighboring town for a Sunday School rally. Sabine wanted to give them a "marching song" for the trip. Searching his hymnals and finding with words, dashing off lines until he had written a hymn of his own just for the occasion:    Onward, Christian soldiers,/Marching as to war,.....

"It was written in great haste." he later said, "and I am afraid some of the rhymes are faulty. Certainly, nothing has surprised me more than its popularity."

Victor Borge's Greatest Piano Jokes

Victor Borge - His Greatest Piano Jokes

Victor Borge Improvising

Victor Borge improvising on the piano. :)

Chickens and 5/5/15

Today we moved our 12 chicks to our old Chicken Condo. We are getting ready for 6 ducklings to arrive tomorrow, so that was the reason for the move for our chickens. :) The first two pictures pictures of our chicks were when they were about three days old and the rest of the pictures are from today. The Chickens will be about four weeks old on the 7th of this month and I think we have a Rooster in the batch. ;) Fun times!!!!

Also, today is 5/5/15. Thought that would be something fun to share. :)

Inspiration

Well, I have been inspired..... I guess seeing the month of May roll in, flowers start to bloom, my new blog background (what do ya'll think?), the sunny days, and the start of making plans for summer. I am inspired to post, write, take pictures, and be creative.

I was wondering if you all would tell me of some things that would would like to hear about? I don't know who really sees or reads these posts, but I would like to hear your ideas.

Have a good summer.

Allegre Giocoso

Allegro Giocoso by Joseph Hadyn

This is my audition for the Alliance of Christian Musicians Competition. I would suggest looking into this program. It is wonderful and such an amazing opportunity.

Max Reger

Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was born on March 19th, 1873, in Brand, Balvaria. He was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist and academic teacher. Among Reger’s students were Joseph Haas, Sándor Jemnitz, Jaroslav Kvapil, Ruben Liljefors, George Szell and Cristòfor Taltabull. In 1907, Reger worked in Leipzig as a Music Director of the Paulinerkirche University until 1908, and he was Professor of Composition at the Conservatory. In 1915, he moved to Jena, traveling once a week to teach in Leipzig; however, during one of those trips in May of 1916, he died of a heart attack at the age of 43.There wasn’t any information mentioned about being married yet Max Reger was the cousin of Hans von Koessler another German composer.

Hymn For The Week: O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

....the whole multitude....began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; (Luke 19:37)

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing Hymn (Piano)

The Wesley brothers sent word of their conversation to their sainted mother, Susanna, who didn't know what to make of it. "I think you have fallen into an odd way of thinking," She replied. "You say that till within a few months you had no spiritual life and no justifying faith....I heartily rejoice that you can think that you were totally without saving faith before, but it is one thing to have faith, and another thing to be sensible we have it."

Well, Charles was now very sensible of having it. His life changed, and he gained victory over both his temper and his unfortunate drinking habit. "I was amazed to find my old enemy, intemperance, so suddenly subdued, that I almost forgot I was ever in bondage to him"

He also began to spread to spread the news of what had happened to him. "In the coach to London," He wrote, "I preached faith that in Christ. A lady was extremely offended.... (and) threatened to beat me. I declared I deserved nothing but hell; so did she; and must confess it, before she should have a title to heaven. This was most intolerable to her."

New vitality came into Charles' public preaching. He discontinued the practice of reading his sermons, and began preaching extemporaneously. He found a fruitful arena for ministry at the infamous Newgate Prison, and allowed himself to be locked up with condemned men on nights before their executions, that he might comfort and witness to them during their final hours.

As the first anniversary of his conversion approached, Charles wrote an eighteen stanza hymn describing his praise to the Lord. It was titled, "For the Anniversary Day of One's Conversion" and the first stanza began: "Gloy to God, and praise, and love...." Verse seven began, "O for a thousand tongues to sing," inspired by a statement Charles had once heard: "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with them all."

Beginning with a 1767 hymnbook, the seventh stanza was made the first, and when John Wesley compiled his Collection of Hymns in 1780, he chose this for the first hymn in the book.

Hymn For The Week: It Is Well With My Soul

It Is Well With My Soul

This video was so well made, please take a few minutes to watch it. 

It is Well with My Soul, the song and the story composer Horatio Spafford (1828-1888) was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, a wife, four daughters, and a son. He was also a devout Christian and faithful student of the Scriptures. His circle of friends include Dwight L. Moody, Ira Sankey and various other well-known Christians of the day.

At the very height of his financial and professional success, Horatio and his wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. Shortly thereafter on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost every real estate investment that Spafford had.

In 1873, Spafford scheduled a boat trip to Europe in order to give his wife and daughters a much needed vacation and time to recover from the tragedy. He also went to join Moody and Sankey on an evangelistic campaign in England. Spafford sent his wife and daughters ahead of him while he remained in Chicago to take care of some unexpected last minute business. Several days later he received notice that his family's ship had encountered a collision. All four of his daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.

With a heavy heart, Spafford boarded a boat that would take him to his grieving Anna in England. It was on this trip that he penned those now famous words, When sorrow like sea billows roll; It it is well, it is well with my soul....

Philip Bliss (1838-1876), composer of many songs including Hold the Fort, Let the Lower Lights be Burning and Jesus Love Even Me was so impressed with Spafford's life and the words of his hymn that he composed a beautiful piece of music to accompany the lyrics. The song was published by Bliss and Sankey, in 1876.

For more than a century, the tragic story of one man has given hope to countless thousands who have lifted their voices to sing, It is Well With My Soul.

Hymn For The Week: All the Way My Savior Leads Me

.....that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. (Col 1:9)

All The Way May Savior Leads Me

When Fanny Crosby wrote, "All the way my Savior leads me" she was expressing her own testimony of God's guidance. Even her blindness, she realized, was part of His plan.

When Fanny was about six weeks old, her parent had realized with alarm that something was wrong with her eyes. The local doctor was away, but the Crosby's found a man-no one afterward recalled his name- who claimed to be a physician. He put hot poultice on the baby's inflamed eyes, insisting it would draw out the infection. The infection did clear up, but white scars appeared, and in the months that followed the baby registered no response to objects held before her. As it turned out, Fanny was not totally blind. Even in old age she could discern day from night. But her vision was gone.

Yet this stimulated other gifts, such as her phenomenal memory. As a child, Fanny memorized whole sections of the Bible, including most of the Pentateuch, the four Gospels, all of Proverbs, and vast portions of other books. Whenever she wanted to "read" a passage, she just turned there in her mental "Bible" and read it verbatim. "This Holy Book," she said when eighty-five, "has nurtured my entire life."

Years later, Fanny viewed her blindness as a special gift from God, believing He had given her a particular "soul-vision" which equipped her for a special work. "It was the best thing that could have happened to me," she declared. "How in the world could I have lived such a helpful life had I not been blind?"

"Don't blame the doctor, "Fanny said on another occasion. "He is probably dead by this time. But if I could meet him, I would tell him that he unwittingly did me the greatest favor in the world."

Through this hymn expressed Fanny Crosby's lifelong testimony, it was prompted by a specific incident in 1874. One day she didn't have enough money to pay her rent. Just as she committed the matter to God in prayer, a stranger appeared at her door and pressed a ten-dollar bill in her hand before disappearing. It was the very amount needed. That night, she wrote the words to "All the Way My Savior Leads Me."

Hymn For The Week: Christ the Lord Is Risen Today

Christ the Lord Is Risen Today-Easter Hymn (Organ)

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. (1 Corinthians 15: 14)

John and Charles Wesley soon found themselves out of favor with many fellow Anglican ministers who spurned their fiery evangelistic preaching. Many pulpits were closed to them.

A friend from his Oxford days, George Whitefield, 22, who was having the same trouble, began preaching in the open air. In London, he asked Charles to stand with him as he preached to thousands on the open air at Blackhearth, and Charles, too, got a vision for reaching the multitudes.

He made his first attempt in the outskirts of London.  "Franklyn, a farmer, invited me to preach in His field," he wrote. "I did so to about 500, I returned to the house rejoicing." soon he was preaching to thousands,  "My load was gone, and all my doubts and scruples. God shone upon my path; and I knew this was his will concerning me."

A man named Joseph Williams heard Charles in Bristol: "I found him standing on a table-board, in an erect posture...surrounded by, I guess, more than a thousand people, some of them fashionable persons, but most of the lower rank of mankind. He prayed with uncommon fervency...He then preached about half an hour in such a manner as I have scarce ever heard any man preach...I think I never heard any man labor so earnestly to convince his hearers they were all by nature in a sinful, lost, undone, damnable state; that notwithstanding, there was a possibility of their salvation, which he explained and illustrated, and then by a variety of the most forcible motives, arguments, and expostulation, did he invite, allure, quicken, and labor, if it were possible, to compel all, and every of his hearers, to believe in Christ for salvation."

Charles Wesley still preaches today in much the same way through his ageless hymn which are sung around the world each Sunday. 

Happy Resurrection Day!!!!!!!

Were You There

Hymn For The Week: When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

"And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha." John 19:17

This hymn by Isaac Watts, labeled by the well-known theologian Matthew Arnold as the greatest hymn in the English language, was written in 1707 for use at a communion service conducted by Watts. It first appeared in print that same year in Watt's outstanding collection, Hymn and Spiritual Songs. It's original title was "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ."

Isaac Watts was born on July 17, 1674, in Southampton, England. The eldest of nine children, he was the son of an educated deacon in a dissenting Congregational church. At the time of Isaac's birth, his father was in prison for his non-conformist beliefs. Young Watts showed an unusual-aptitude for study and learned Latin at the age of five, Greek at age nine, French at eleven and Hebrew at thirteen. He began to write verses of good quality when he was very young.

Watts once wrote, "The singing of God's praise is the part of worship most closely related to heaven; but it's performance among us is the worst on earth." One Sunday after returning from a typically poor service, Watts continued to rail against the congregational singing. His father exclaimed, "Why don't you give us something better, young man!" Before the evening service began, young Watts had written his first hymn, which was received with great enthusiasm by the people.

The youthful poet wrote a new hymn every Sunday. He went on to write new metrical versions of the Psalms with a desire to "Christianize the Psalms with the New Testament message and style." Several of his hymns that were based on these new Psalm settings are such favorites as "Jesus Shall Reign" (No. 48) and "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" (No. 66). Watts is also the author of a children's hymn, "I sing the Mighty Power of God" (No. 38). Because of this bold departure from the traditional Psalms, Isaac Watts was often considered to be a radical church-man in his day.

Watts not only rewrote the Psalms in this way, but he also wrote a number of hymns based solely on personal feelings. These hymns were known as hymns of human composure. Such hymns were very controversial during his lifetime. "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" is an example of this type of hymn written by Watts. In all Isaac Watts composed more than 600 hymns.

Hymn For The Week: He Leadeth Me

He Leadeth Me - Piano/Cello Arrangement of the Classic Hymn

1. He leadeth me, O blessed thought!
   O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!
   Whate’er I do, where’er I be
   Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.
   • Refrain:
     He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
     By His own hand He leadeth me;
     His faithful foll’wer I would be,
     For by His hand He leadeth me.
2. Sometimes ’mid scenes of deepest gloom,
   Sometimes where Eden’s bowers bloom,
   By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
   Still ’tis His hand that leadeth me.
3. Refrain:
   He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
   By His own hand He leadeth me;
   His faithful foll’wer I would be,
   For by His hand He leadeth me.
4. Lord, I would place my hand in Thine,
   Nor ever murmur nor repine;
   Content, whatever lot I see,
   Since ’tis my God that leadeth me.
5. Refrain:
   He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
   By His own hand He leadeth me;
   His faithful foll’wer I would be,
   For by His hand He leadeth me.
6. And when my task on earth is done,
   When by Thy grace the vict’ry’s won,
   E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
   Since God through Jordan leadeth me.
7. Refrain:
   He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
   By His own hand He leadeth me;
   His faithful foll’wer I would be,
   For by His hand He leadeth me.

"He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalms 23:3

On autumn nights as we sleep peacefully in our beds, millions of songbirds travel under cover of darkness, heading south. Somehow, they know their way. God has given them a state-of-the-art internal guidance system.

We're more valuable than many sparrows. If God guides His creation, will He not also His children? The Psalmist thought so, saying, "He leadeth me....He leadeth me..." Psalm 23: 2-3

Dr. Joseph H. Gilmore, son of a Governor of New Hampshire, gave this account of writing his famous hymn on this theme:

A a young man recently graduated..., I was preaching for a couple of Sundays at the pulpit of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At the midweek service, on the 26th of March, 1862, I sent out to give the people an exposition of the Twenty-third Psalm, which I had given before on three or four occasions, but this time I did not get further then the words "He Leadeth Me." Those words took hold of me as they had never done before, and I saw in them a significance...of which I had never dreamed.

It was the darkest hour of the Civil War. I did not refer to that fact-that is, I don't think I did-but it may subconsciously have lead me to realize that God's leadership is the one significant fact in human experience, that it makes no difference how we are lead, or whither we are led, so long as we are sure God is leading us.

At the close of the meeting a few of us in the parlor of my host, Deacon Watson, kept on talking about the thought I had emphasized; and then and there, on a black page of the brief form which I had intended to speak, I penciled the hymn, talking and writing at the same time, then handed it to my wife and thought no more about it. She sent it to The Watchman and Reflector, a paper published in Boston, where it was first printed. I did not know until 1865 that my hymn had been set to music by William B. Bradbury.

Hymn For The Week: Take My Life and Let It Be

Take My Life and Let It Be 

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." Philippians 3: 8

Although hymnist Frances Havergal, 36, had served the Lord for years, she felt something was missing in her Christian experience. Then one day in 1873, she received a little book called, "All for Jesus," which stressed the importance of making Christ the King of every corner and cubicle of one's life. Soon thereafter, she made a fresh and complete consecration of herself to Christ.

Years later when asked about it, she replied, Yes it was on Advent Sunday, December 2, 1873, I first saw clearly the blessedness of true consecration. I saw it as a flash of electric light, and what you see you can never un-see. There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness." 

Not long afterward, she found herself spending several days with ten people in a house, some of them unconverted. Others were Christians, bur not fully surrendered to Christ. "Lord, give me all in this house," she prayed. She went to work witnessing, and before she left, all ten were yielded Christians. On the last night of her visit, Frances-too excited to sleep-wrote this great consecration hymn, "Take My Life..."

Have you given your whole life-everything-over to Jesus? Why not make this the date of your own complete consecration?

Hymn For The Week: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Hymn For The Week: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus（Instrumental）

Helen H. Lemmel was born in (1863-1961) England, but lived most of her life in America. She was a gifted concert soloist, a music teacher at the Moody Bible Institute, and music critic for the Seattle Post. She also worked as director of a woman's choral group. Helen wrote the words and music of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus in 1922, to be sung at those meetings.

The inspiration for Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, which Helen entitled The Heavenly Vision, came from the writings of author and artist Lilias Trotter (1853-1928).

Lilias Trotter was a brilliant artist whose talent opened the doors to wealth and influence. Her other love was missions. After struggling in prayer for two years, Trotter came to the conclusion that she must lay down her love of art in order to fix her eyes solely on Jesus, and on His calling to the mission field. She subsequently served for more than 38 years as a missionary to Muslims of Algeria. She also authored several book and tracts. The following is an excerpt from her tract, Which Passion Will Pervail?

"Never has it been so easy to live in half a dozen harmless worlds at once --art, music, social science, games, motoring, the following of some profession, and so on. And between them we run the risk of drifting about, the good hiding the best." It is easy to find out whether our lives are focused, and if so, where the focus lies. Where do our thoughts settle when consciousness comes back in the morning? Where do they swing back when the pressure is off during the day? Dare to have it out with God, and ask Him to show you whether or not all is focused on Christ and His Glory. Turn your soul's vision to Jesus, and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him."

Hymn For The Week: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help on trouble. (Psalm 46: 1)

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God-Instrumental

A Mighty Fortress Is Our God-lyrics

We think of Martin Luther as a great reformer, Bible translator, political leader, fiery preacher, and theologian. But he was also a musician, having been born in an area of Germany known for its music. There in his little Turingian village, young Martin grew up listening to his mother sing. He joined a boys' choir that sang at weddings and funerals. He became proficient with the flute (recorder), and his volcanic emotions often erupted in song. 

When the Protestant Reformation began, Luther determined to restore worship to the German Church. He worked with skilled musicians to create new music for Christians, to be sung in the vernacular. He helped revive congregational singing and wrote a number of hymns.

Often he "borrowed" popular secular melodies for his hymns, through occasionally a tune brought criticism and he was "compelled to let the devil have it back again" because it was to closely associated with bars and taverns.

In the forward of a book, Luther once wrote: "Next to the Word of God, the nimble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds hearts, and spirits....Such a person who does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs."

Luther's most famous hymn is "Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott."-"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." Based on {Psalm 46, it reflects Luther's awareness of our intense struggle with Satan. In difficulty and danger, Luther would often resort to this song, saying to his associate, "Come, Philipp, let us sing the 46th Psalm."

This is a difficult hymn to translate because the original German is so vivid. At least 80 English version are available. The most popular in America was done by Frederic Henry Hodge.

Hymn For The Week: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Hymn for the week: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Robert Robinson (1735-1790) was eight years old at the time of his father's death. He was a very bright, headstrong boy who became increasingly more difficult for his mother to handle. When Robert turned 14, she sent him to London for an apprenticeship with a barber. Robert proceeded to get into even more trouble, taking on a life of drinking and gambling.

At 17, Robert and some of his drinking buddies decided to attend an evangelistic meeting, with a plan to make fun of the proceedings. When George Whitfield began to preach, Robert felt as if the sermon was just for him. He did not respond to the altar call that night, but the words of the evangelist would haunt him for the next three years, 

On Dec. 10, 1755, at age 20, Robert finally yielded his life to Christ, and very soon thereafter answered a call to the Ministry. Three years later, as he was preparing to preach a sermon at the Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England, Robert wrote Come Thou Fount of Evey Blessing to complement his sermon. The music for the hymn was composed by Asahel Nettleton in 1813.

The song has since been included in most protestant hymnals of England and the U.S. The song has been recorded by several artists, including Jars of Clay and The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and is a recurring background theme of the film Love Comes Softly, which is based on a Janette Oke novel. 

Music!!

I really liked this.:D

Hymn For The Week: In The Garden

Hymn for the week: In The Garden-Instrumental

I come to the garden alone,

While the dew is still on the roses;

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,

The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:

And He walks with me, 

And He talks with me,
And He Tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of his voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;

And the melody that He gave to me 

Within my heart is ringing. 

Refrain:

And He walks with me, 

And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

I'd stay in the garden with Him

Tho' the night around me be falling;

But He bids me go; thro' the voice of woe,

His voice to me is calling. 

Refrain:

And He walks with me, 

And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

The song and the story composer C. Austin Miles writes In The Garden. C Austin Miles (1868-1946) was a pharmacist turned hymn writer and church music director. He was also an amateur photographer. One day in March, 1912, while in his dark room waiting for film to develop. Miles had a profound spiritual experience in which he saw an incredible vision of Mary Magdalene visiting the empty tomb. He saw her leave the tomb and walk into a garden where she met the Master and hear Him speak her name.

When Miles came to himself his nerves were vibrating and his muscles tense; the words to a new song were filling his mind and heart. He quickly wrote out the lyrics to In The Garden and later that evening composed the musical score. The song was published that same year and became a theme song of the Billy Sunday evangelistic crusade.

In The Garden was recorded on an album by Perry Como in 1950, and was sung in the closing scene of the 1984 film 'Places in the Heart' and continues to be a favorite of  hymn lovers who treasure that quiet 'garden time' with their savior.

Hymn For The Week: Day By Day

Hymn For The Week: Day By Day

Day by Day

Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment, I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what He deems best, Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest. Every day the Lord Himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r. The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; “As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,” This the pledge to me He made. Help me then, in every tribulation, So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation, Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E’er to take, as from a father’s hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till with Christ the Lord I stand. by Lina Sandell

Lina Sandell (1832-1903), the author of this hymn, was a Lutheran pastor's daughter in Froderyd, Sweden. She was a "daddy's girl" -very close to her father. As a child, she enjoyed playing quietly in her father's study as he worked.

Lina began writing hymns at an early age. Then, when she was 26 years old, tragedy struck. She and her father were passengers in a boat crossing Lake Vattern when the boat lurched and her father fell overboard. As Lina watched in horror, her father drowned before anyone could mount a rescue effort.

When tragedy strikes, some people allow it to destroy them, but Lina's faith saw her through the tragedy. Her grief gave her music a depth and sensitivity that had been missing earlier.

During her lifetime, Lina wrote 650 hymns. "Day by Day" is familiar to many English-speaking congregations. Many people will also recognize the hymn that begins with the words, "Children of the Heavenly Father"-a hymn of quiet assurance.

The hymn, "Day by Day,"offers that same kind of assurance. It speaks of finding strength to face trials-and having no cause for worry or for fear. It encourages us to love with the promise of "a special mercy for each hour" (v.2). It asks God's help in tribulation-to trust God's promises (v.3)-"till I reach the promised land."

This sort of song readily becomes popular, because it provides comfort to people in distress. That describes most of us at some time or another. We need strength to meet the trials that we encounter. We need the assurance that God is with us-and loves us- and will help us-even when our circumstances are grim. We need to know that God will hep us "till (we) reach the promised land." Those are the assurances that this hymn provides.

Hymn For The Week: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great Is Thy Faithfulness (from A Quiet Place Instrumental Hymns)

Thomas Obadiah Chisolm (1866-1960) had a difficult adult life. His health was so fragile that there were periods of time when he was confined to bed, unable to work. Between bouts of illness he would have to push himself to put in extra hours at various jobs in order to make ends meet.

After coming to Christ at age 27, Thomas found great comfort in the Scriptures, and in the fact that God was faithful to be his strength in time of illness and provide his needs.Lamentations 3:22-23 was one of his favorite scriptures: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."

While away from home on a mission tip, Thomas often wrote to one of his good friends, William Runyan, a relatively unknown musician. Several poems were exchanged in these letters. Runyan found one of Williams' poems so moving that he decided to compose a musical score to accompany the lyrics. Great is Thy Faithfulness was published in 1923.

For several years, the hymn got very little recognition, until it was discovered by a Moody Bible Institute professor who loved it so much and requested it sung so often at chapel services, that the song became the unofficial theme song of the college.

It was not until 1945 when George Beverly Shea began to sing Great is Thy Faithfulness at the Billy Graham evangelistic crusades, that the hymn was heard around the world.

Thomas Chisolm died in 1960 at age 94. During his lifetime ,he wrote more than 1,200 poems and hymns including O To Be Like Thee and Living for Jesus.