The Commercialization of Childhod

I came across this video on Challies a few weeks ago but just got around to watching it. Some good things to consider, especially the questions at the end.

Sunday Hymn - I am not Skilled to Understand

I am not skilled to understand
What God hath willed, what God hath planned;
I only know that at His right hand
Is One Who is my Savior!

I take Him at His word indeed;
“Christ died for sinners”—this I read;
For in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my Savior!

That He should leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die,
You count it strange? So once did I,
Before I knew my Savior!

And oh, that He fulfilled may see
The travail of His soul in me,
And with His work contented be,
As I with my dear Savior!

Yea, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this Spring;
That He Who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior!

Here is a link to a piano midi file - it's not fancy but it is the tune I grew up singing. I found a dreadfully slow choir version here.

And I didn't know that there's a modern version by Aaron Shust. I still like the original tune but it's so great to see the older hymns revived.

Sunday Hymn

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me

All the way my Savior leads me;
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my Guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me,
Cheers each winding path I tread;
Gives me grace for every trial,
Feeds me with the living Bread.
Though my weary steps may falter,
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the Rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Savior leads me
O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages—
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages—
Jesus led me all the way.

Here's a beautiful version of it (missing the second verse):

Sunday Hymn

This was the soundtrack in my head yesterday morning. Then I started to really think about the words, especially in the second verse, and was so thankful for them.

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

The Robins are Back!

Today the robins came back.





Well, actually they may have been back for a few days but today they were suddenly heard everywhere. There was a steady chirping around town - spring must be here!

I was teaching piano, watching the robins congregate in the front yard birch. Of course, by the time I got outside, they weren't hanging around in the birch any more. But I did manage to get a couple of pictures and I enjoyed listening to them sing as I walked around the yard looking for one to photograph.



Our copywork for tomorrow:

Sir Robin

Rollicking Robin is here again.
What does he care for the April rain?
Care for it? Glad of it! Doesn't he know
That the April rain carries off the snow,
And coaxes out leaves to shadow his nest,
And washes his pretty red Easter vest,
And makes the juice of the cherry sweet,
For his hungry little robins to eat?
"Ha! ha! ha!" hear the jolly bird laugh,
"That isn't the best of the story, by half!"

Robin, Sir Robin, gay, red-vested knight,
Now you have come to us, summer's in sight;
You never dream of the wonders you bring,
Visions that follow the flash of your wing;
How all the beautiful By-and-by
Around you and after you seems to fly!
Sing on, or eat on, as pleases your mind,
Well have you earned every morsel you find.
"Aye! ha! ha! ha!" whistles Robin, "My dear,
Let us all take our own choice of good cheer!"

Lucy Larcom

Sunday Hymn - All Hail the Power

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!

These are additional verses that I am not familiar with but they are very rich:

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fall
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.

Resurrection Sunday Hymn

Christ, the Lord, is Risen Today

Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

**The words in italics are the ones I know. But the other verses are very rich too.

A beautiful guitar version:

Steve Green sings it:

Sunday Hymn

MY HOPE IS IN THE LORD
Words by Norman J. Clayton

My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me
And paid the price
Of all my sin at Calvary.

Refrain:
For me He died;
For me He lives,
And everlasting life
And light He freely gives.

No merit of my own
His anger to suppress
My only hope is found
In Jesus' righteousness.

And now for me He stands
Before the Father's throne
He shows His wounded hands
And names me as His own.

His grace has planned it all
Tis mine but to believe
And recognize His work of love
And Christ receive.

Book Notes (and a little bit of poetry)

I just came across this list of quotes about reading on George Grant's blog. Great quotes!

I just finished reading Josh Harris's Dug Down Deep. Can I say that I was pleasantly surprised? I don't know why I had low expectations of it but I enjoyed skimming through it. I think it would be a great book for a new Christian or someone who says that they don't like doctrine. He does a really good job of making it real and practical without leaving out any of the essentials.

I read The Great Gatsby for the first time. My son is reading it for a class so I picked it up. Quite depressing and the ending was predictable. I'm wondering why it's considered a classic? However, I do think if I read it again for the writing and not for the story (isn't that what the first time through a book is for - the story?), I would appreciate it more. It does show the futility of pinning all your hopes on one person, however.

And now for the poetry. Rebecca posted this poem today and it made me cry.


De Profundis

by Christina Rossetti

Oh why is heaven built so far,
Oh why is earth set so remote?
I cannot reach the nearest star
That hangs afloat.

I would not care to reach the moon,
One round monotonous of change;
Yet even she repeats her tune
Beyond my range.

I never watch the scatter'd fire
Of stars, or sun's far-trailing train,
But all my heart is one desire,
And all in vain:

For I am bound with fleshly bands,
Joy, beauty, lie beyond my scope;
I strain my heart, I stretch my hands,
And catch at hope.

"And catch at hope." That's the line that gets me every time. I am so thankful to God that He gives me hope.

Sunday Hymn - Joys are Flowing Like a River

Joys are flowing like a river,
Since the Comforter has come;
He abides with us forever,
Makes the trusting heart His home.

Refrain

Blessèd quietness, holy quietness,
What assurance in my soul!
On the stormy sea, He speaks peace to me,
How the billows cease to roll!

Bringing life and health and gladness,
All around this heav’nly Guest,
Banished unbelief and sadness,
Changed our weariness to rest.

Refrain

Like the rain that falls from Heaven,
Like the sunlight from the sky,
So the Holy Ghost is given,
Coming on us from on high.

Refrain

See, a fruitful field is growing,
Blessèd fruit of righteousness;
And the streams of life are flowing
In the lonely wilderness.

Refrain

What a wonderful salvation,
Where we always see His face!
What a perfect habitation,
What a quiet resting place!

Refrain

Interview Links

Here are the links for the interview we did with 100 Huntley Street. We thought it was handled quite well.

Part 1
Part 2

It`s strange to see oneself on TV!

Trying This Again

Our interview is set to air Thursday, March 4 at the 9 am (and 9 pm) broadcast on 100 Huntley Street. I hope it really does!

If you aren't able to watch it, it should be available to view online here. I'll try to post a more specific link once it's actually up.

Sunday Hymn: Saved by Grace

I had forgotten about this hymn until I was given the music to accompany some ladies singing it. It's not in our current hymnal, which I think is a shame. (I also have to say that I think the words are better than the music - this would be a great one for someone to rewrite the music.)

Saved by Grace

Some day the silver cord will break,
And I no more as now shall sing;
But oh, the joy when I shall wake
Within the palace of the King!

Refrain

And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story—Saved by grace;
And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story—Saved by grace.

Some day my earthly house will fall.
I cannot tell how soon ’twill be;
But this I know—my All in All
Has now a place in Heav’n for me.

Refrain

Some day, when fades the golden sun
Beneath the rosy tinted west,
My blessèd Lord will say, “Well done!”
And I shall enter into rest.

Refrain

Some day: till then I’ll watch and wait,
My lamp all trimmed and burning bright,
That when my Savior opens the gate,
My soul to Him may take its flight.

Refrain

Sour Cream Orange Buns

I spotted this recipe a while ago on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog but hadn't tried it yet. Yesterday I felt like baking so tried them out. They were a hit! They are less sweet than regular cinnamon buns but still decadent enough.

The recipe can be found here. Highly recommended!

Lava Cakes

I've been looking for a good lava cake recipe for a long time. At the gym in the mornings, one of the tv's is often tuned to "French Food at Home". It's a great show to watch (we try not to drool too much) but I haven't tried any of her recipes.

But recently she featured "Moelleux au Chocolat" - lava cakes. I just tried them tonight in preparation for dinner guests on Saturday night. They are amazing! And very easy to make too.

So if you are looking for a great dessert, maybe even for Valentine's, check it out.

*Note: I didn't have dark chocolate so I used chocolate chips instead. It worked fine. They are probably a little sweeter than they would be with dark chocolate but still great.

Yummy Homemade Buns

I enjoy making bread and buns. Last week, I tried a new recipe for buns from Mennonite Girls can Cook - Honey Bran Buns. It is probably the best bun recipe I have made - this one is a keeper.

I must make mine bigger because I doubled it and got about four dozen where the recipe said it would make about three dozen. But make them whatever size you want. I also reduced the yeast in doubling it (maybe it's just me but if I double the yeast in a bread recipe, it often tastes "yeasty" to me) and used about half whole-wheat flour.

Enjoy!

100 Huntley Street interview

*Update: Apparently, our segment has been bumped and we don't know the new date yet. I'll update when I know. *

Last fall, we did an interview with a reporter from 100 Huntley Street, a Canadian religious show. Many of you prayed for us in doing the interview. We just received word that it will be aired

Feb. 3rd, at 9AM on CTS (I'm not sure what station that is) and Global TV and 9PM on CTS. The story will also be on the website at www.100huntley.com if you miss it or if you don't have access to those stations.

I'm interested to see how it turned out!

Kids in Church

In our church, all the children are in the church service until the message. The nursery is staffed so some babies and toddlers go during the early part of the service but most of the time, all the kids are in the service until just before the message, when the 2-5 year olds head off for junior church.

I've been reflecting lately on how much I love having the kids in church. There's some "buzz", especially on some Sundays, but it's so wonderful to hear them. And what's been really exciting is hearing them sing out. There's a couple of little guys, about 5 years old, who have been singing out loudly lately and I love hearing it! It's so great to know that the children are learning to worship with their families and that they can participate in worship with the adults.

There seems to be a trend in churches to have the children out of the service entirely until they are older. But I wonder what the children are learning. They can learn about the Bible, they can sing together, and do all those types of things. But what they aren't learning is how the body of Christ functions together in corporate worship and I think that's a shame. It takes effort and training sometimes to have your kids in the service with you but in the long run, it's worthwhile as the children see and hear how the church works together in song, prayer, Bible reading, preaching, Lord's table and baptisms.

If you have little ones and are looking for ways to train them to sit in church, the Deputy Headmistress at The Common Room had a really good post a while ago about training children.

We have found that it works best to not bring a lot of toys with us as the more choices we had, the more busy the kids seemed to be. One or two little things worked well but the more important thing is to help them participate in the various parts of the service. Stand up to sing, follow along with Mommy in the Bible during the Scripture reading and try to listen during other times. My kids are allowed to draw during the message. It's amazing, though, how much they pick up, even when it seems like they aren't listening.

And the best training? Attending regularly. Even if it seems like they aren't learning to sit, try to look at it in terms of months (and maybe years) rather than weeks and you'll soon see how much your kids are learning and growing.

Peace

I wrote this devotional for a ladies' banquet at the beginning of December and thought I would post it here. I hope it is encouraging.

Peace. We hear a lot at Christmas time about peace. “Imagine” is heard on the radio stations –

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

John Lennon thought that the absence of religion would lead to peace. He’s right if you think of “religion” as something you do to gain favour with God. But true religion only leads us to peace.

I’ve learned a lot about peace in the past year and a bit since Emily’s death. I didn’t even realize what I was learning until one Sunday this summer, we sang “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy” for the children’s song. The second verse is “I’ve got the peace that passes understanding”. All of a sudden it hit me – I now know what the peace that passes understanding is that Paul talked about in Philippians when he said,

“Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Tonight, I’d like to spend a few minutes thinking out loud with you about peace.

First, Paul assumes something in this verse. He assumes, because he’s already written several chapters to the Philippians, that the people there already have a relationship with God. They can make their requests known to God because they already have that relationship.

True peace starts with our relationship with God. John Lennon was wrong – it’s not the absence of a relationship with God that leads to peace but instead a true relationship with Him. But that relationship also has to be on God’s terms. Part of the reason for conflicts around the world is that people use religion as an excuse for conflict. But God says differently – He tells us that all of us are in conflict with Him. Our sin keeps us from God. It’s a rebellion against God and His holiness. True peace starts when we admit our sin to God and trust in the actions of Jesus Christ on the cross when He took our sin upon Himself. Only when we bow before God in humility and admit our sin and our need for a Saviour, will we have peace with God. That’s why the angel said, in speaking to the shepherds, “Good will and peace to men.” It had to come through Jesus. We will never have true peace until we have first made our peace with God.

In this verse, Paul urges his readers to be anxious for nothing. Think about that – nothing. How can it be that we can be anxious for nothing? What do we need to know about God in order to apply this command that will result in a peace that passes understanding?

First, we see the character of God – we can trust Him in our prayers because of who He is. When we read the Bible, we find out about God’s character – He is merciful and loving, He is holy and perfect and He gives grace to us. I have heard of a call & response used at some churches that says, “God is good all the time. All the time, God is good.” When we pray, when we’re looking for peace, do we believe that? Do we trust God because of His character to know that He is good and He will do what is best for us? We rarely have understanding of God’s plans, especially at the time, but we must look at God’s character as revealed to us in the Bible and based on that knowledge, trust in Him. That will bring peace because we know that “whatever God ordains is right”.

It is because God is holy that we can have confidence that he will fulfill his promises to us, that his power will be used to help us, that his mercy will be poured out on us, and that his wisdom will design our suffering and everything else in our lives to work together for our good. (Dustin Shramek)

This brings us to our second thing to understand about God: His sovereignty, which means that He is in control of all things. When we pray, we understand that because God is sovereign over all things and because He sees all things from the perspective of eternity, we can trust God with what happens in our lives. And because we trust Him, we have peace – peace that seems incomprehensible to those who don’t trust in God.

Some might argue that God is not sovereign and not in control of all things. But what kind of a god would He be in that case? If He is not in control, He is a weak god and we can’t trust Him with anything.

Now this comfort, this trust in a sovereign God doesn’t mean that we necessarily will find it easy to submit to God’s will. I think that is why Paul tells us to come to God with prayer and supplication. David Powlison says that ‘Prayer means “ask for something you need and want.” Supplication means “really ask.”’

In times of trouble, in times of grief, we call out to God and really ask for help. The psalms are great examples of this. God promises that when we cry out to him, when we pray earnestly to Him, that He will give us peace.

This peace doesn’t necessarily come easily. It takes time and it takes study of God’s character and His word and other writings about God. There were times for me when I would read something and feel like throwing the book across the room. But I had to stop and think about what I was reading. Sometimes I had to close the book and come back to it the next day after thinking about it for a while. I had to ask myself - Is it true? Many times, I could see that it was true but I didn’t want to believe it. But I had to submit to God’s word. God’s grace gave me the ability to accept what was written, although it wasn’t easy. It was a long process to get to the point where I could see results by understanding the peace that I experience.

So peace is found not in a lack of conflict or in a “perfect” life. Peace is not something that just happens, nor is it put on like a sweater. Instead peace starts first with our relationship with God – have we knelt in submission to God and had our sins forgiven? Then do we understand something of God’s character? Are we looking for ways to learn more about Him? And are we willing to submit to His sovereign will? Do we pray and bring every request to God? When we do that, the promise is this: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You.” Is. 26:3.

Streams in the Desert – The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you His unwavering strength that you may bear it. Be at peace then and set aside all anxious thoughts and worries.

from Spurgeon - Beside Still Waters – Have we ever had the shadow of a reason to doubt our Father’s goodness? Have not His loving kindnesses been marvellous? Has He once failed to justify our trust? Ah, no! our God has not left us at any time. We have had dark nights but the star of love has shone forth amid the blackness; we have been in stern conflicts but over our head He has held aloft the shield of our defense…. What we have known of our faithful God proves that He will keep us to the end.

Thankful for Advent

Advent starts on Sunday. At first, I was surprised - how could it be Advent already? That means that Christmas isn't far behind! How could we be nearly at December?

But this morning, I was thinking about it and I was thankful for Advent. Because if it wasn't for that time of contemplation, I would hit December 24th and think, "Whoa, it's Christmas, where did that come from?" So the season of Advent is an important reminder to prepare for Christmas.

And that doesn't mean just the baking, shopping, decorating part of Christmas. The important part of Advent is the heart preparation. I was working through a list of Advent activities and found a devotional I found last year. It struck me again how important it is to contemplate Christ's coming and the reason for His coming. I'm looking forward to reading the daily passages with our family and singing the carols everyday.

I've also ordered a new book with a compilation of devotionals, essays and messages on the Christmas season titled Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus. I have the Easter one and thoroughly enjoyed it so I'm looking forward to this Christmas one.

The two advent devotional guides can be found here.