faith of our fathers

faith of our fathers, living still
in spite of dungeon, fire and sword

the speaker chooses this for the response today following a sermon on the fifth commandment. with all respect and even though i am fond of its soaring melodies it is a rather odd choice. a congregation of first and second generation believers mixes poorly with a song of catholic martyrs indeed.

doxology

40 years almost to the day from when we had the first sunday service at the current location. really? that sounds so long ago! i feel young yet. have 40 years passed?

the new building is where HOM and i meet and where we wed and bring up J1 and J2, at least for part of their fragmented childhood. it is the home to which we return from foreign assignments and, these days, from our travel adventures. it is where we are held to the most account, of all the churches and amongst all the small groups.

my heart and my soul swell as we sing, praise God from whom all blessings flow... praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

another sunday

all my life you have been faithful - all my life you have been faithful - with every breath that i am able - oh i will sing of the goodness of God. - Jenn Johnson (2019)

playing in the band today and thinking there are few more satisfying moments than when everyone plays their different parts and we all sound a voice together. the cello, of course, makes me want to take up a new instrument. or just weep.

sunday

we slip into the cantonese language service. they sing all hail the power of jesus' name. and the gloria patri. the liturgy is familiar yet unfamiliar. the preaching is borderline anodyne but mainstream enough. we end with the apostles' creed and the lord's prayer.

it is particularly memorable because my pew-mate whispers to me that trousers are more comfortable in this weather than my dress. it leaves me wondering if this is a veiled hint that i ought not show my legs in church but HOM says she is just trying to be friendly. nevertheless i switch seats with HOM after that so as to put him between me and her.

yet not i

what gift of grace is Jesus, my redeemer

there is no more for heaven now to give

he is my joy, my righteousness and freedom

my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace

grateful and glad yet amazed and bemused to sing this. to be able to sing this.

and ten thousand beside

feeling just a tad weepy thinking about the stalled renovation up-ended schedules and tussles with the unhappy management committee and then remembering that:

• J2 and A are here! and A likes us!
• J1 and Y are here soon!
• we've entered the season of dinners to renew friendships and fellowship!
• we have the resources to have dinners and friends to rejoice with!

reno woes meet sweater-weather-autumn-feels.

around the table

communion service today, and i look around the sanctuary at the dear faces of the people. we were young lithe and strong together, as we are thickened and heavier and slower together now. our children were babies together, and they have babies of their own now. how deep is the father's love for us.

old song

God and God alone created all these things we call our own
from the mighty to the small the glory in them all is God's and God's alone

God and God alone is fit to take the universe's throne
let everything that lives reserve its truest praise for God and God alone

God and God alone reveals the truth of all we call unknown
and the best and worst of men won't change the Master's plan
it's God's and God's alone

- phil mchugh

flipping thru my old song sheets and found this. painfully and comfortingly apt in the face of turmoil and mindless oppression.

sunday gladness

our sins they are many his mercy is more

very thankful that his mercies are profuse despite all that i am and am not

and also that they abound anew unsought and to overflowing

i need to say less of, really? i get to enjoy this? and more of, wow, thank you!

georgetown baptist church

hanyu pinyin. godsend for riff raff who cannot otherwise read beyond the basics but may nevertheless wish to participate in the worship of a chinese congregation. like me.

my life journey contains laughter and tears

which leave behind marks of the Lord's grace

easter sunday

random thoughts:

• strange how tears well whenever we sing certain songs, like and because he lives. it's not even a song one can sing with full conviction, if only because one needs to be so presumptuously confident in one's strength for tomorrow regardless of what happens. my only response is i believe. help my unbelief!
• eating places for families really should have a little corner for people who wish to dine without the need to endure other people's children's screams, not to mention maintain some vigilance so as to avoid incidental pieces of projectile food. lovely lunch that HOM and i have, except we are a little terrorized by Junior of the next cubicle
• thundery showers with flashes of lightning does not begin to do justice to the electrical storm currently holding E the dog in jittery unease and me in thrall and wonder. this is the white-out shower to end previous showers this year-to-date, if i may say so
• how glad i am for easter. how gratefully and with what relief i receive the grace that i do not deserve! you can have your grand experiences and life-changing conversions. i am simply thankful that i do not need to fear the demons at the door because my LORD has fought them for me

good friday

gorgeous sunset after the showers. fitting end to the day we call good.

with a little confession that i find today's worship painfully me-centered. who am i to sing thank you for the cross my friend* to the God of all the worlds? if ever there was a good time to bang our collective heads against the wall this must be it.

*once again (thank you for the cross) - matt redman

palm sunday

1. spirit of God, descend upon my heart. wean it from earth; through all its pulses move. stoop to my weakness, mighty as thou art! and make me love thee as i ought to love.
2. 
   
3. i ask no dream: no prophet ecstasies, no sudden rending of the veil of clay, no angel visitant, no opening skies. but take the dimness of my soul away. 

state of the soul

1. my sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!—my sin, not in part but the whole!
2. is nailed to the cross, and i bear it no more,
   praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul!
3. spafford's old words. timeless truth. that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his blood for my soul. how utterly undeserved. how completely liberating.

he giveth more grace

when we have exhausted our store of endurance - when our strength has failed ere the day is half done - when we reach the end of our hoarded resources...

slowly emerging from the recent distress* and today i gingerly test my memories and find they are less painful. the toothache is less sharply tender.

*relating to HOM's trip

it's a good friday

 flawed

 unworthy

sullied

 undeserving

ransomed

loved

redeemed

restored

the dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away

this is my song (finlandia)

this is my song, o God of all the nations: a song of peace for lands afar and mine. 

this is my home, the country where my heart is. here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine. but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. 

my country's skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine. but other lands have sunlight too and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine! 

oh, hear my song, o God of all the nations: a song of peace for their land and for mine.

- lloyd stone

a fit song for our times.

vita mutator

thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered... for what Thou dost deny... for storms that i have weathered... for all Thou dost supply!... for pain... for pleasure... for comfort... for grace... for love - august l. storm

sudden flashes of a tender young man who would play music to accompany me

thoughtful self-controlled and gentle, creative enquiring and restless

he grew up honorable and determined and kind

sudden memory of a little girl, saving her school snack to share with me

feisty and fearless and able, chatty and cheerful (and loud!)

she grew up generous and strong and loving

they both have partners now

matched to their strengths and weaknesses

better partners than their parents would have known to choose!

may you fly swift, my children! and soar high! may God grant that we make more memories yet

by gentle powers

unworthy and deeply grateful

recent refreshments

with much gratitude:

• unoffendable by brant hansen (2023). his premise of not getting upset with others simply because God isn't upset with me. how true! how often forgotten in my righteous indignation!
• recent sunday preachers who do not aurally assault neither do they bounce here and there on the pulpit. instead they make their quiet points and provoke me to new thoughts. most appreciated!
• and this lovely hymn with simple-yet-sneakily-profound words by bonhoeffer / siegfried fietz, by gentle powers:

by gentle powers lovingly surrounded

with patience we'll endure, let come what may

God is with us at night and in the morning

and certainly on every future day