Experiencing the Manifold Grace of God
The famous American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, penned these words out of great personal tragedy. Life was good in 1831 when at the age of 24, Henry married his childhood sweetheart Mary Storer Potter. He was offered a job as a professor at Harvard but had to study abroad for a year before he got [...]
“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” is one of the oldest Advent hymns. Dating back to the 15th or 16th century, the author is unknown. It was written in England and sung for 400 years before it was officially published in 1815. Knowing the Old English meaning of this old song, along with the hardships people [...]
"Joy to the World" by Isaac Watts is known as "the accidental Christmas carol" (Greg Foister). Watts had originally included it as part of a book of poetry in 1719. In this collection, he wrote "Joy to the World" as an adaptation of Psalm 98. Over 100 years later, composer Lowell Mason put the words [...]
This worshipful carol was written by Christina Rossetti in the 1800's. So many of these Advent hymns were written in the 1800's and earlier. If you read Sunday’s post, you got a glimpse into what life was like in England back then. Somehow, these older hymns speak louder to me knowing the hardships most people [...]
How do you capture the wind on the water? How do you count all the stars in the sky? How can you measure the love of a mother? Or how can you write down a baby's first cry?Shepherds and wise men will kneel and adore Him. Seraphim round Him their vigil will keep. Nations proclaim [...]
This poem written by English country clergyman Robert Herrick in the 17th century, was put to beautiful music by John Rutter 3 centuries later. It so beautifully expresses the heart from which we look upon this Christmas Day, that I had to include the words for you here. What an amazing season of Advent! We [...]
We are living in the midst of amazing times. I opened my phone this morning and read these headlines: "Virus infections top 600,000 worldwide, long fight ahead" "DON'T COME HERE: FL Governor authorizes checkpoints at state lines to keep travelers from COVID-19 epicenters out" "NYC Mayor de Blasio: Religious services will be shut down; fines, [...]
Once again it has been several months since I posted. Lots has happened over the last year! Our son started college, our daughter graduated from college, and God moved us from the sunny southwest to a new church family in the northeastern United States. The summer has been hot, but I am just beginning to [...]
I am writing this in the spring of a new year and I cannot believe it's daylight savings TONIGHT, and that it's been almost a year since I've posted. Back in January, I began thinking and praying about a personal theme for this year. Over the last 3 months, words like vision, sight, seeing and [...]
This week we are just going to cover the Preface of We Would See Jesus. It's all so good!! I have been exceedingly blessed by reading it again. I hope you are able to get your hands on a copy! Roy begins by discussing how easy it is to focus on making certain "aspects" of [...]
Simply Persuaded 