Faith

The mercy of God

~ admin

You might ask: why is he saying this on this day? Well plough on…

It was the sinking of the Thai destroyer a week or so ago that provoked the thought, but it could have been any other of many recent and not so recent events. King David spoke in this way: Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea to mount up to the heavens and go down again to the depths. Their souls melt because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like drunken men, and are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress. He calms the storm, so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so he guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the company of the elders. (Psalm 107)

We often think of the old tars as a rum lot. Men can be shamed by the suggestion that their language is such as even a sailor would not use. And we shall leave aside any comment on their personal lives which are likely more chaotic than what is common place in Neighbours or East Enders.

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Abyssal

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I came across a new word today and thought to look it up. Well, it is not exactly a new word, but it was used in quite an unexpected context. The abyss is what we expect it to be, a deep, unfathomable hole, pit, mine labyrinth or whatever else may have the physical quality of depth, such as the sea. We speak of the abyss for depths beyond the fathoms we can count on two hands. So what is abyssal?

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A safe stronghold

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A safe stronghold our God is still
A trusty shield and weapon;
He’ll help us clear from all the ill
That hath us now o’ertaken.
The ancient prince of hell
Hath risen with purpose fell;
Strong mail of craft and power
He weareth in this hour;
On earth is not his fellow.

With force of arms we nothing can,
Full soon were we downridden;
But for us fights the proper Man,
Whom God himself hath bidden.
Ask ye, who is this same?
Christ Jesus is his name.
The Lord Sabaoth’s Son;
He, and no other one,
Shall conquer in the battle

And were this world all devils o’er,
And watching to devour us,
We lay it not to heart so sore;
Nor they can overpower us.
And let the prince of ill
Look grim as e’er he will,
He harms us not a whit:
For why? his doom is writ;
A word shall quickly slay him.

God’s Word, for all their craft and force,
One moment shall not linger,
But, spite of hell, shall have its course;
‘Tis written by His finger,
and though they take our life,
Goods, honour, children, wife,
Yet is their profit small;
These things shall vanish all;
The city of God remaineth.

Words and music: Martin Luther 1483-†1546; Translation: Thomas Carlyle 1793-†1851; Harmony: JS Bach

Found on CPDL. Other versions of Ein feste Burg may also be found here and here.

Coco’s alternative set of words is here

A sure foundation

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This is Martin Luther’s melody,. Ein feste Burg, arranged with a harmony closely following Bach’s but without his passing notes, and newly written words.

A sure foundation God has laid
On which he builds the church of Christ.
The prophets and the apostles
His word have laid before us all.
His word declares the truth:
One man for us has come,
The real man of God
And God’s anointed one.
Jesus of this man is the name.

Jesus the great defender came
To claim his people as his own.
Once bound they were by sin’s strong power
He saves them in his darkest hour.
When Satan did his worst
On the cross was he cursed
To break the power of sin
And then to enter in
The kingdom which he had been given.

Jesus, the man, with troubled heart
Was vexed by Satan’s cunning art,
But Jesus failed not to perform
The task for which he had been born.
The Father saw the Son,
The obedient One,
With his work was he pleased
God’s wrath it was appeased,
His people then stood justified.

Jesus now sits at God’s right hand
From which he shall to judgement come.
He is the Lord of every man
Whate’er of ill or good they’ve done.
They all shall bow the knee;
Confess Jesus is Lord.
The righteous he shall take,
The wicked he forsake,
His justice seen on Jesus’s stake.

In Jesus Christ God’s glory shines
And shine it will for evermore.
His people a kingdom of priests
Shall sing his praise and him adore.
This is the gift of Christ
Who purchased by his blood,
The real Lamb of God
Who took away their sins,
The One Lord Jesus whom they love.

The sure foundation which God laid
Is where he builds his dwelling place.
His people safely gathered in
There offer him their songs of praise.
Nothing is there to harm
For all is peace and calm;
A world of love prepared
For those for whom he died,
And Jesus is their good Shepherd.

Found on CPDL. Other versions of Ein feste Burg may also be found here and here.

Thomas Carlyle’s translation Luther’s words is here.

Evil: the problem of it

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You will have heard it said: I cannot believe in God. Look at the evil in the world! Or perhaps more personally: I saw how they treated each other even though they believed in God. I cannot believe in that.

I should like to show that the very reason that is given for not believing in God, is the very reason that says you must believe in him. Now this is a short article and will not necessarily answer all the questions you may have, and certainly will not be an exhaustive description of all the possible understandings of the problem.

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Harvest time

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It is the end of harvest time.

If you received the letters ‘himnnsy’ in Scrabble, you might think you had been dealt a loser, unless you were second to play and the first word put down before you was ‘groin’. On the other hand ‘harvest’ is full of possibilities, you would stare at the vast array knowing that would not starve for choice as you share the heat with your opponents, just as the pastor demonstrated in his children’s talk today, and when you add a single letter to them the field is fully ripe to harvest. There will be no tares or tears when your turn comes round. But there were two words he did not mention, probably because they were not in line with what he wanted to say today, but do you see them?

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History

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It had escaped Coco’s notice, but in 2011 EIIR said:

Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person, neither a philosopher nor a general, important though they are, but a saviour, with the power to forgive.

On the other hand Georg Hegel said:

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De morte

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We were in the Republic when the day came, and even though not on this occasion in a Chambre d’hôtes where Louis XXII had once resided, great consolation was shown towards us, but it was not until subjects of the House of Orange also came for refreshment, rest and repast that in the brotherhood of equality, liberty was granted to cry out:

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