Praise and Thanksgiving

This morning in church we sang the hymn All Creatures of Our God and King. The words, originally by Francis of Assisi, were paraphrased by Thomas Ken (1637 – 1711) and translated by William H. Draper (1855 -1 933). Here are verses 1 & 3. All creatures of our God and King, lift your voices and… Continue reading Praise and Thanksgiving

Loud Songs of Joy

Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! Psalm 47:1 The pandemic has made it difficult for us to worship at church. In the beginning weeks of the lockdown I listened to the hymn sing led by the Getty family on Facebook. The hymns refreshed my faith and gave me… Continue reading Loud Songs of Joy

How to Have Hope

The Bible does not shrink from telling us the ugly side of human history. God’s word tells us the truth, and clearly states that God’s desire for us is good. We need to seek God and His ways in every aspect of our lives.  “How you have helped him who has no power!How you have saved the arm… Continue reading How to Have Hope

No Fear of Tomorrow

Spring Snowdrops

We are in challenging times . . . like people who came before us. I think of the civil war, the Spanish flu, World War II. The Bible records times when fear hung over the people of Israel. Currently I am studying the book of Ezra. After 70 years of captivity in Babylon, Zerrubabel led… Continue reading No Fear of Tomorrow

Sunrise of Hope

Many years ago I worked the night shift in the neonatal intensive care unit at the University of Michigan. We had 12 hour shifts, and I worked from 7 pm to 7 am. Around 5:00 am as daylight crept across the sky, we were weary and needed to get our second wind.  We would take… Continue reading Sunrise of Hope

Building a Home

It is day eight for #Write28Days.  I am joining the Five Minute Friday Community and will write with Kate’s prompt for today: BUILD. One of the Songs of Ascents in the book of Psalms mentions building a house. The Hebrew word for house in the text is bayith. The definition, according to Strong’s concordance is:… Continue reading Building a Home