“And you think you can get the truth from me?” asked Hugo. “You might as well ask a chicken the truth about the fox.”
“It might be truer than the fox’s own story,” said Janna.
– Hilda Van Stockum (The Borrowed House)
Proverbs 18:17
He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
Proverbs 18:13
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.
There’s a lot of people that got hurt. There’s a lot of people that I’m sure are not going to be here tomorrow. …a big old cut that we got across our hearts right now.
– Tommy Muska, mayor of West, Texas
I Corinthians 15:26
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Revelation 22:20
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
I received the following from a work colleague some years ago:
(name withheld) is getting married soon – April 21st to be exact. I want to put together some “advice to the groom” as a fun thing to give him.
If you have some serious or some humorous observations to share, please email them to me and I will put them together to give to him.
Most would be from a guy’s perspective, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a women’s view as well…..
Here is my contribution (with one or two minor alterations). This is by no means complete (I generally give multiple sessions of premarital counseling), but it is a good start on some things to remember.
I just saw that George Beverly Shea passed away at the age of 104. He took part in the unbiblical ecumenism of the Billy Graham evangelistic campaigns, but I appreciated much of his music. He was perhaps best known for singing these words by Rhea Miller to a tune he himself had composed (as he mentions in the video).
As we continue looking at “Passion Tuesday,” the Tuesday before our Lord’s death, we come to a parable sometimes called “The Parable of the Vineyard.” I prefer “The Parable of the Husbandmen,” because it focuses on those who were left in charge of the vineyard.
We’ll do this in two parts, because this post is long enough as it is. 🙂
This was probably written by John Milton in 1655, the year he became completely blind at the age of 47. Only in his middle-age, he may have felt that writing, his one great gift by which he hoped to serve his Maker, may have been lost to him.
Yet, his greatest work, Paradise Lost, was still to come. God is not done with us here until He is done, and then He takes us Home to serve Him there, which is far better.
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Some of the wording of this hymn may sound antiquated to the modern ear, but the message is glorious, of a compassionate God who has every answer to every sorrow — to heal, to cure, to remove. The hymnwriter seems to have known how to write of the unfailing, compassionate love of God, but his story tells us he also knew how to live in love.
Mind Renewers 