Thy providence my guard

Lord, be thy word my rule

Words: C. Wordsworth, 1872
Tune: Quam dilecta

Lord, be thy word my rule;
in it may I rejoice;
thy glory be my aim,
thy holy will my choice;

Thy promises my hope;
thy providence my guard;
thine arm my strong support;
thyself my great reward!

Selah.

p.s. a prayer I ask this coming week, for all who read here with benefit... please lift me up for safety to and from youth camp, and for clarity of mind and heart during the camp! God bless you and thank you!

African orphan meals on two dollars a day

Lesotho orphans pray the Lord's Prayer together
before receiving their one hot meal for the week.

Identifying with the least of these

Item: 75 percent of Sub-Saharan Africans live on two dollars a day or less.
Item: 56 percent of Lesotho adults live in two dollars a day or less.

In praying for Lesotho orphan intervention, where the number of AIDS orphans is exploding at one of the highest rates in the world, an American couple decided that they would live on two dollars a day per person for a week, and send the rest of that week's food budget to the Lesotho orphans. It’s a great investment, because each dollar sent counts for seven, and feeds multiple orphans.

The result is a no lose situation: givers function on the same household budget while needy orphans gain the difference in food.

If you would like to participate in this unique fundraising experience, please do so.

You can read more about it here and here.

Checks can be made payable to Encounter Humanity and sent here:

ENCOUNTER
P.O. Box 841
Alabaster, AL 35040

God bless your care and efforts!

Rain kissed grass in the gloaming

The artistry of nature is remarkable to me... how light and water and sun can turn almost any scene into a masterpiece of wonder -- for that one moment in time! Here, the last rays of evening light catch the lingering rain on grass, crowning each stalk of grass with priceless, studded diamonds! Click to enlarge the pic, and enjoy the show! :-)

Tinted fields and sky in June gloaming

Since my last gloaming pic was so appreciated, here's another one from that same moment, that beautiful display of evening light after storms. Photo moments like this are rare! Enjoy!

A shining road in June gloaming

Last night the light was special... thunderstorms covered the landscape with water, and then the light broke through before sunset. The effect was remarkable! Here is one glorious view... a shining road in the gloaming!

The return of the king

“Cheer up…! You have been on the edge of very great troubles, and I am only glad to hear that you have not been deeper in. But better times are coming. Maybe, better than any you remember. The Rangers have returned. We came back with them. And there is a king again… He will soon be turning his mind this way.

“Then the Greenway will be opened again, and his messengers will come north, and there will be comings and goings, and the evil things will be driven out of the wastelands. Indeed, the waste in time will be waste no longer, and there will be people and fields where once there was wilderness…”

June glory and majesty

Here is tonight's light on a hill -- surreal color in the gloaming, lightning in the air. As I snapped this, storms moved in from my right and directly behind me, carrying rain and streaks of lightning... but this light on the hill was so singular that I just had to photograph it. It is a kind of 'suspended light' -- light conveying a sense of waiting, only for a few minutes, then gone in the darkening storm. I made it back inside my truck just in time for a nice bolt of lightning to hit nearby, and had to smile and say, "Thank you!" :-)

I am the Lord that healeth thee

Be still and know that I am God

Words: Anonymous, based on Psalm 46
Tune: Be still and know

Be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God.

I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee.

In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust!

Selah.

Sam Thomas presses the battle for orphans

Hopegivers orphan care carries on in faith

Hopegivers International is sporting a new website, fronted by recent coverage of Dr. Sam Thomas, and his return to India. Dr. Sam was recently reunited with his wife Shelley, and their boys, after being separated from them for 14 months. His time with them was brief… and he returned to India, to carry on for the orphans there.

It all sounds so easy, so clinical, but the reality is truly life-threatening. Sam is risking his health, his freedom and his life for these orphans. He’s already been persecuted terribly and imprisoned, facing threats spoken and physical. Like Nehemiah, Sam has many high profile enemies who seek his life. And yet, also like Nehemiah, the cause is worth the risk.

He’s offering himself to stand in the gap for the orphans, to take a lead for the work there. As the article states,

There have been many setbacks and obstacles for the ministry on the India side over the last year. And as much as he suffered through the persecution, his real heartbreak was for the hundreds of children who were forced back to the streets when the orphanage licenses were revoked last March. Since then, it's been an uphill battle all the way, trying to get them reinstated so the kids can come back. Any day now Sam is hoping to hear the news that the orphaned and abandoned kids – his kids – can come back home.

In Sam’s words, “I breathe, sleep, dream, and talk about my goal and deepest desire – one million orphaned and abandoned children raised up for God.”

That is a passion worth giving one’s life for! Read the whole article here.

Sam’s departure words from Atlanta airport are reminiscent of the Apostle Paul, as he stood at safe harbor and said, “I must go to Rome for the sake of the gospel, whether I am free or bound!” Essentially, Sam looked at the reality on the ground in India, and said, ‘I am willing to be free or bound for the sake of saving orphans.”

He entrusted his wife and boys to the God who does all things well, and then flew to India – facing threats, persecution, intimidation, legal manipulation, and spiritual warfare… all for the sake of the call. He doesn't know for sure if he will see them again, but he is driven to the calling of saving lives: a million orphans in his vision.

God bless you, Sam Thomas! You are in our prayers…

For those of you who want to be a part, offer your prayers today, and consider visiting the new Hopegivers site and making a donation for orphans and leaders.

It will be a small part, a cog in the wheel of integral orphan care and deep sacrifice!

God bless you too, for your care!

Selah.

A thank you for American sacrifice

The responsibility of liberty

Here’s a special Memorial Day thank you for all those who have offered their lives to defend the far-flung borders of America, to build a rock-solid wall around the freedom we hold so dear.

To those of you who serve and those who have given their lives, thank you! Ironically, your work makes it possible for homeland critics to caricature you… but let not the critics disturb you! [Humor alert: speaking of critics, who knew that Rosie O’Donnell & Khalid Sheikh Mohammad are the same person? Warning, don't eat lunch before looking, lol! Forgive me, Rosie, for laughing, but this is funny! :-)]

And, this is also a tribute for those who use their freedom as God intends: it is you who make it possible for America to continue as a nation in the eyes of God. As the song says, “I believe we will answer each to heaven, for how we live our lives in liberty.”

Liberty brings with it a great responsibility.

We dare not waste it on self-centered lives, lives of bloated comfort and material rule... As the great song says, in prayer, “Confirm thy soul in self-control, thy liberty in law!”

So for those of you who serve in armed forces, and those of you who serve ‘in the full armor of God,’ helping this nation on the path to redemption and freedom, thank you!

And for those of you who read this, consider reading these poetic words as a prayer, today:

America, the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life !
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy purer jubilee!

God bless you this day!

Selah.

p.s. update: a friend emailed me and asked me to post a caveat on this Memorial Day blog, just to ensure that no one mistakes my support for the idea of America as a blanket approbation for all the actions of America. It's a good point, and perhaps needs to be discussed more fully. All readers should know that I view America through a Providential lens, a lens which declares intent and judgment in the same breath: the cost of liberty is high, and the price of living in liberty is even higher, though far more subtle. The Christian understanding of freedom and liberty is one of obligation -- as Augustine might put it, freedom is the power to do right. Such empowerment carries with it divine demand, which I fully understand! My prayer is for our nation, and individuals within our nation, that we might enter that confirmation of soul "in self-control" and understand that liberty "in [divine] law," whether in the armed forces or not. In this understanding, such Memorial tribute can appreciate without baptizing [or Christianizing] American force. God knows we haven't always been right. And that's just the point: living in the right, the law that frees, takes hard work! I am grateful for those who have successfully walked this line, and strive for that kind of life in my inner person...

Jesus, draw thou nearer

O Jesus, I have promised

Words: John Ernest Bode, 1868
Tune: Llanfyllin

O Jesus, I have promised
to serve thee to the end:
be thou ever near me,
my Master and my friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if thou wilt be my guide.

O let me feel thee near me!
The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but Jesus, draw thou nearer,
and shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear thee speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control;
O speak, and make me listen,
thou guardian of my soul.

O let me see thy features,
the look that once could make
so many a true disciple
leave all things for thy sake:
the look that beamed on Peter
when he thy name denied;
the look that draws thy lovers
close to thy pierced side.

O Jesus, thou hast promised
to all who follow thee,
that where thou art in glory
there shall thy servant be;
and, Jesus I have promised
to serve thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
my Master and my friend.

O let me see thy footmarks,
and in them plant mine own;
My hope to follow duly
is in thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me,
uphold me to the end;
and then in heaven receive me,
my Savior and my Friend.

Selah.

You are a present joy, O Lord

A hymn of glory let us sing

Words: The Venerable Bede (673-735)
Tune: Jam lucis orto sidere, Deo gracias

A hymn of glory let us sing,
new hymns throughout the world shall ring;
by a new way none ever trod
Christ takes His place – the throne of God!

You are a present joy, O Lord;
you will be ever our reward;
and great the light in you we see
to guide us to eternity.

O risen Christ, ascended Lord,
all praise to you let earth accord,
who are, while endless ages run,
with Father and with Spirit, One.

Selah.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless

Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1874
Tune: Tallis' Ordinal

O Holy Ghost, thy people bless
who long to feel thy might,
and fain would grow in holiness
as children of the light.

To thee we bring, who art the Lord,
ourselves to be thy throne;
let every thought and deed and word
thy pure dominion own.

Life-giving Spirit, o'er us move,
as on the formless deep;
give life and order, light and love,
where now is death or sleep.

Great Gift of our ascended King,
His saving truth reveal;
our tongues inspire His praise to sing,
our hearts His love to feel.

True Wind of heaven, from south or north,
for joy or chastening, blow;
the garden-spices shall spring forth
if thou wilt bid them flow.

O Holy Ghost, of sevenfold might,
all graces come from thee;
grant us to know and serve aright
one God in Persons Three!

Selah.

A divine palette

A painted May sky -- depth and range of color: deep blue, lighter blue, faint white and layered pink! The divine Painter's palette is textured indeed! :-)

Father, hear us, we are praying

For Our Children

by Amy Carmichael

Father, hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying;
We are praying for our children.

Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril;
Father, hear us for our children.

From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand, pluck them;
Father, hear us for our children.

From the wordling’s hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Father, Father, keep our children.

Through life’s troubles waters steer them;
Through life’s bitter battle cheer them;
Father, Father, be Thou near them.

Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children.

And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.

Selah.

An evocative prayer-poem written by Amy Carmichael -- a woman who bore no children, yet had thousands of children own her -- countless girls in India saved from the carnal jaws of Shiva. For these girls, Amy was more than a mother... for them she was the hands and feet of Christ!

All the paths of the Lord are faithful

All the paths of the Lord are loving and faithful.

Psalm 25:10

All means all

Amy Carmichael

All the paths…

I have pondered this verse lately and found that it feeds my spirit.

All does not mean, “all – except the paths I am walking now,” or “nearly all – except this especially difficult and painful path.” All must mean all.

So, your path with its unexplained sorrow or turmoil, and mine with its sharp flints and briers – and both our paths, with their unexplained perplexity, their sheer mystery – they are His paths, on which He will show himself loving and faithful. Nothing else; nothing less.

I am resting my heart on this word. It bears me up on eagle’s wings. It gives me courage and song and sweetness, too – that sweetness of spirit which is death to lose even for a half-hour.

I remember in times past almost desperately repeating to myself these lines, written as though spoken from the lips of our Lord:

Am I not enough, My own –
not enough for you?
Am I not enough, My own –
I, forever and alone,
I, needing you?

It was a long time before I could honestly answer, “Yes, you alone are enough for me.” I remember the turmoil of soul that I experienced before committing myself to follow Him on whatever path He would lead – remember as if it were yesterday. But at last – oh the rest that came to me when I lifted up my head and followed! For in acceptance there lies peace.

God bless you and utter satisfy your heart… with himself.

Prayer

My Father, you alone… you yourself are enough for me.

No matter what path you lead me on today, it is not strange and unknown to you…

Only let me go with your presence!

Selah.

Amy Carmichael, Candles in the Dark, p. 46.

All nature sings and round me rings

This is my Father's world

Words: Maltbie D. Babcock
Tune: Terra Beata

This is my Father's world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father's world:
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas,
His hands the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world,
the birds their carols raise,
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker's praise.
This is my Father's world:
He shines in all that's fair;
in the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world,
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
the battle is not done,
Jesus, who died, shall be satisfied,
and earth and heaven be one!