Quote of the Week: J. I. Packer

Christianity is the true worship and service of the true God, humankind’s Creator and Redeemer. It is a religion that rests on revelation: nobody would know the truth about God, or be able to relate to him in a personal way, had not God first acted to make himself known. But God has so acted, and the sixty-six books of the Bible, thirty-nine written before Christ came and twenty-seven after, are together the record, interpretation, expression, and embodiment of his self-disclosure. God and godliness are the Bible’s uniting themes.

J. I. Packer, Concise Theology

Sunday Hymn: Art Thou Weary, Art Thou Languid

ART THOU WEARY, ARTY THOU LANGUID

Art thou weary, art thou languid,
Art thou sore distress'd?
"Come to me," saith One, "and, coming,
Be at rest."

Hath he marks to lead me to him,
If he be my Guide?
"In his feet and hands are wound-prints,
And his side."

Is there diadem, as Monarch,
That his brow adorns?
"Yea, a crown, in very surety,
But of thorns."

If I find him, if I follow,
What his guerdon here?
"Many a sorrow, many a labor,
Many a tear."

If I still hold closely to him,
What hath he at last?
"Sorrow vanquished, labor ended,
Jordan passed."

If I ask him to receive me,
Will he say me nay?
"Not till earth and not till heaven
Pass away."

Finding, following, keeping, struggling,
Is he sure to bless?
"Saints, apostles, prophets, martyrs
Answer, 'Yes.'"

Trinity Hymnal #389

Vote for Your Favorite

Two of my favorite comedy clips of all time. Leave a note for me in the comments and tell me which one you like best!

I can see for miles and miles. . .

Not content with having the tallest building in America, the owners of Sears Tower in Chicago have installed four glass box viewing platforms which stick out of the building 103 floors up.

The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's Skydeck.

Check out the photos at the link.  It's really remarkable.  The photos are particularly spectacular. 

I'll be traveling downtown in a few weeks, but you can rest assured, you won't find me out on that crystal ledge. . .

What about you?  Would YOU step out onto that platform?

Happy Fourth!

A secret revealed. . .

For more than 200 years, buried deep within Thomas Jefferson's correspondence and papers, there lay a mysterious cipher -- a coded message that appears to have remained unsolved. Until now.

The cryptic message was sent to President Jefferson in December 1801 by his friend and frequent correspondent, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. President Jefferson and Mr. Patterson were both officials at the American Philosophical Society -- a group that promoted scholarly research in the sciences and humanities -- and were enthusiasts of ciphers and other codes, regularly exchanging letters about them.

Read all about it. . .

Fascinating!

Atta Girl, Helen!

Helen Thomas

Recipe: Sourdough White Bread

I tried a new Sourdough Bread Recipe today. Mmmm. As you can tell, there are several pieces missing already. Wish you could smell this bread baking. . .

5 cups unbleached flour

3 tablespoons white sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm milk

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

Egg Wash:

1 extra large egg

1 tablespoon water

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Warm milk in microwave, about 45 seconds. Add milk and butter. Stir in starter. Gradually mix in rest of flour. (You may need a little more.)

Knead on a floured surface 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, flip to oil top of dough, and cover. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.

Punch down, and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into loaves. Place in buttered loaf pans. Allow to rise until doubled (about 1 hour.)

Brush with egg wash or butter

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Top should be brown and make a hollow sound when tapped.

Sunday Hymn: Come, We that Love the Lord

COME, WE THAT LOVE THE LORD

Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.

Let those refuse to sing
That never knew our God;
But children of the heav'nly King
May speak their joys abroad.

The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.

The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heav'nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.

Then let our songs abound,
And ev'ry tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground
To fairer worlds on high.

Trinity Hymnal #588

Quote of the Day: Michael Jackson

And I remember going to the record studio and there was a park across the street and I'd see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead.

Michael Jackson

Some random and rather disjointed thoughts:

Last night we talked about him at the dinner table. During the conversation, the names of other child stars came up--Judy Garland, Lindsey Lohan, Britany Spears, Elizabeth Taylor, Drew Barrymore and others whose lives been marked with excess, tragedy, eccentricity, and pain. The pursuit of fame and riches does not satisfy--cannot satisfy. It's especially sad when a person's entire childhood is lost when the desires of parents for fame and fortune are played out in the lives of their children.

A tragic end to a tragic life. So much talent, so little normalcy. The King of Pop, Peter Pan, The World's Greatest Entertainer. . .to me he always seemed like the iconic lost soul.

This morning, while I was cleaning the house, I listened to a presentation by Steve Lawson on the life of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was a man who understood the purpose of life. As I listened, it really came home to me how fleeting is this life and how important it is that we understand our purpose and use our time and talents to pursue that purpose.

Question One of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks: What is the chief end of man?

The answer: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The time to glorify God is now. The number of our days are by God and we will not have one second more than what He has determined for us. The time to live for God's glory is now.

Michael Jackson was preparing for a series of concerts in England. He did not know that his life would be required of him on that given day. Neither do we know what day will be our last.

DROP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND CALL

It's that important.

While America and the world is immersed in all things Michael Jackson, our Democratically controlled Congress is set to pass the largest tax increase in American history! 

The National Energy tax will create a 75% increase in gas prices (not a 75 cent increase--75%)  and double your electric bill.  And get this; nearly 85% of the taxes collected will go to special interest groups--not the national coffers.

Don't know your Congressman?  Call 202-224-3121 to find out.  Or if you just need the number, check out the Congressional Directory.

You don't need to know the ins and outs of this horrific bill to make the call; just tell your Congressman to vote 'NO' on the National Energy tax.  Feel free to contact Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and the rest of the Congressional Leadership, too.

Don't wait. Make your calls this morning.

Goofy Dog

Ivy's Perch

This is cool

A friend sent me a link to this video. It's sort of long, but at least take a few minutes and give it a listen. The beginning is amazing!

Dictionary Word of the Day: Sough

sough \SAU; SUHF\ , intransitive verb:
1. To make a soft, low sighing or rustling sound, as the wind.

noun:
1. A soft, low rustling or sighing sound.

Heehee.  I read this and listened for a soughing sound.  Sure enough, I could hear Eve snoring and whistling in her sleep.

This brought back memories. . .

. . .of my own dad feeding John a banana split when he was about Elliott's age.

He would have been crazy about his red-headed great grandson.

Unintended Drug Use?

You may be a user.

The Wisdom of Tim*

*or, "The medium contradicts the message."

Tim Challies is on a roll. He's writing a series entitled "Don't Take your iPod to Church!"  He's developing the theme that when it comes to technology, 'the medium is the message' and goes on to explain how the medium affects our 'use' of the material in front of us. 

He is singing my song.  I've been concerned about these issues for some time.  I've begun to limit my own use of the computer and ancillary devices such as Palms and cell phones for many of the reasons he has listed.  I'm sure that the handful of readers that are still hanging in here at Hiraeth have noticed that my blogging has slowed to a trickle over the past year or so.  This has been, in part, a purposeful response to detrimental patterns I was seeing in my own use of technology.

Here's a small quote to spark your interest:

Reading the Bible in electronic format makes it easy to chase down cross-references, to read notes related to the content, to find word definitions and so on. But all of this is at the cost of the natural, God-given flow of the text. As we use our iPods in place of our Bibles, we begin to understand Scripture as we do Wikipedia, a text suited more to browsing than deep study. We begin to feel the Bible is interactive, that it is more for skimming, for following trails from A to B to Z than for deep study or analysis. This is all wrapped up in the very worldview of the electronic device.

As I was preparing this post, I got two calendar notices, and received several emails.  I confess that as I scrolled through Tim's blog in search of the links to his articles, I was strongly tempted to stop and read several posts that interested me.  Such is the siren call of the hyperlink.

As I get ready to shut down my computer and pick up my Bible, I leave you to ponder this quote from Mr. Challies:

My Bible never rings; it never buzzes or beeps or shows up with sudden calendar notifications. It simply shows me the words given by God in a medium that is inherently undistracting.

Don't Take Your iPod to Church!  Part 1, Part 1.5, Part 2

Sunday Hymn: Around the Throne of God in Heav'n

AROUND THE THRONE OF GOD IN HEAV'N

Around the throne of God in heav'n
Thousands of children stand,
Children whose sins are all forgiv'n,
A holy, happy band,

Singing, "Glory, glory,
Glory be to God on high."

In flowing robes of spotless white
See ev'ry one arrayed;
Dwelling in everlasting light
And joys that never fade,

What brought them to that world above,
That heav'n so bright and fair,
Where all is peace, and joy, and love;
How came those children there,

Because the Saviour shed his blood
To wash away their sin;
Bathed in that pure and precious flood,
Behold them white and clean,

On earth they sought the Saviour's grace,
On earth they loved his Name;
So now they see his blessed face,
And stand before the Lamb.

Trinity Hymnal #648

Quote of the Week: Calvin

We renounce the guidance of our own affections, and submit ourselves entirely to God, leaving Him to govern us, and to dispose our life according to His will, so that the afflictions which are the bitterest and most severe to our nature, become sweet to us, because they proceed from Him.

John Calvin, John Calvin: Writings on Pastoral Piety

A 'down' day

Today will be a 'down' day. 

My niece, Katie, and her boyfriend, Steve, have been visiting for a few days.  They took the train back to Ohio last night after dinner.

We had a wonderful time with them!  I always feel sad and out of sorts after we've had visitors.  I felt the same way when Meghan, Katie's sister, was here for a visit last week.  I'm never quite ready for our family visitors to leave. So often, it's a long time before we see them again.

So, the day after I always seem to drift around, puttering here and puttering there and never really accomplishing much.  I have beds to change and laundry to do and somehow that will get done, but I'll read more than usual and play around on the computer more than usual and I may even take a nap.

I love having company, especially when it's my family.  Don't you?

The catalpa tree is finally blooming.  I was beginning to wonder if it ever would!  We had some tree service done this spring and the catalpa had a hard prune.  Now the flowers are so high up in the tree that you really can't see them unless you're at a fair distance.  But this morning, the yard was peppered with flowers--the remains of a strong overnight storm that swept through the area.

Today promises to be another day of high temperatures and unstable weather.  We made it past the middle of June before having to close up the house and put on the air conditioner.  I am so thankful for air conditioning but it was very nice to have the windows open for weeks on end.  That is a rare treat.

Johnny Depp was in Chicago yesterday for the Chicago opening of Public Enemies, his new movie about John Dillinger.  You can see a bit of the local coverage here.  I just love Johnny Depp.  Of all the 'big time' movie stars, he seems to be a regular guy who doesn't seek the lime light and yet is always willing to sign autographs and talk with fans.  Because of the filming and now the soon release of this movie, there's been a lot of information in the local press about John Dillinger and that whole Public Enemy period.  I've always found that an interesting era, especially the relationship between the 'crooks' and the public.  So many legends have sprung up around the gansters that they have become at times cult heros of sorts.  I don't know if I'll go see the movie.  Probably not.  I don't handle movie violence all that well, but I'd like to see it.  Maybe I'll just go to the library this morning and check out Finding Neverland and watch it this afternoon on this rainy, down in the dumps sort of day.  That should hold me over until Alice in Wonderland comes out next year.  I think I can handle Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter! (And Alan Rickman as the Caterpiller!)

A storm is rolling in right now.  Better unplug the computer and get busy!