Wednesday Words - All Good GIfts

All Good Gifts

We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land;
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand:
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

He only is the maker of all things near and far;
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star;
The winds and waves obey Him, by Him the birds are fed;
Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

We thank Thee, then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seed time and the harvest, our life, our health, and food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts,
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all His love.

Verse by Matthias Claudius, 1782.
Translated into English by Jane Montgomery Camp­bell, 1861.

Tuesday Tome - Prayer Books

Have you ever used a daily prayer book? I have a number of these books and one I've been using for awhile is a little Lutheran prayer book I bought for a quarter at an estate sale across the street from my house a couple years ago. It is titled simply, My Prayer Book.

A newer version of the book is still available. It contains morning and evening prayers for each day of the month, and prayers for Christian living, including preparation for worship; family situations; vocations; national affairs; times of illness; and table prayers. It's also written in more contemporary language and grammar.

Some of the prayers in this book are better than others, but I find all of them to have a worthwhile thought or two that lead me to pray in ways I may not have otherwise considered. It's like having a friend alongside me as it stimulates new ideas and new directions for prayer.

Do you have any prayer books you have found to be helpful? I'd like to hear about them.

Here are a few lines from the Tuesday morning prayer of Week 1:
May I trust in Thy promises and ask no more than Thou hast promised. In prosperity keep my humble; in adversity keep me strong; and at all times give me a deep devotion to duty and confident trust in Thy mercy, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Monday Music - Back Down Under

My number one son, Tyler, is back on the road for a stint of touring with Missy Higgins in Australia. He's pretty tired from all the touring he's done this year, but he loves his tour mates and they'll make a good time of it.

Sunday Supplication - Heirs of Eternal Life

O Father, we thank you for your Son Jesus who came into the world to deliver us from evil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life. Help us to follow him and to pursue righteousness in all we do.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Help us to extend forgiveness to each other and help us grow into a redemptive and healing community. Help us to have a redemptive and healing impact on the world around us.

O God, may the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight. Help us to walk with integrity. Teach us to speak and act justly. Give us hearts that are guided and shaped by your Spirit so that we might be a blessing to others.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Saying What We Mean

With the election behind us, I'm looking forward to a significant reduction in difficult political conversations. This BEK cartoon from The New Yorker made me smile.

Friday Food - Tiny Turkey

With Thanksgiving Day just a couple of weeks away, many of us are thinking ahead to our menus for the day. If you're like me, you love the traditional turkey dinner, and it's perfect when hosting a big gathering of friends and family. But what happens if you're an empty nester and your Thanksgiving Day dinner is only for two or three people? Preparing a turkey can be a little too much work and ends up being too much food.

Well, turkey is still a great option, but now it's a bit easier because you can just prepare a turkey breast instead of the whole bird. Less time, less work, and less waste. Interested? Here's a great little video from Clean and Delicious with Dani Spies.

Thursday Thinking - Hail to the Chief

Dr. Russell Moore is a conservative cultural commentator who serves as the Dean of the School of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also serves as Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics.

I hope all my thoughtful Christian friends, both conservative and liberal, will take a few minutes to read what he posted on his blog the morning after the 2012 election--a short essay titled "Christians, Let's Honor the President."

Here is a short excerpt from that post:

However we voted in the election, let’s pray for God to bless our President. We can pray for him to be granted wisdom and health. We can pray that God would prosper his good ideas, and change his mind on his bad ideas. Moreover, we can teach our children to respect our President, starting with referring to him as “President Obama” or “Our President,” not as “Obama” or “the guy our parents voted against” or what have you.

There’s a time to vote. There’s a time to campaign. And there’s a time to petition. But, through it all, let’s be the people who, even as we speak with conviction, are marked by kindness and respect. When we have to differ with President Obama, let’s do that, with backbone. But let’s make sure we do all this with honor, with respect, with prayer, and, most of all, with love.

Let’s render unto Caesar, as free people with natural rights. Because we know as believers that we will eternally say “Jesus is Lord,” we can as citizens temporally say, “Hail to the chief.”

Click Here to Read the Entire Post

One more post-election observation...

I thought Mitt Romney's concession speech was a class act. He was gracious, poised, and respectful. He kept the focus on America, his concerns, and his hopes, not on fear, partisanship, or his personal loss. This helped set the tone for his audience who, though disappointed, managed to be positive even in the first intense moments of defeat.

This was a marked improvement over what I remember seeing during McCain's concession speech back in 2008 where much to McCain's genuine embarrassment the newly elected President Obama was booed. So kudos, Mr. Romney, for taking the high road and showing us the respectable way to face a difficult loss.

Wednesday Words - A Sabbath Mood

Whatever is foreseen in joy
Must be lived out from day to day.
Vision held open in the dark
By our ten thousand days of work.
Harvest will fill the barn; for that
The hand must ache, the face must sweat.

And yet no leaf or grain is filled
By work of ours; the field is tilled
And left to grace. That we may reap,
Great work is done while we're asleep.

When we work well, a Sabbath mood
Rests on our day, and finds it good.

"1979, no. X (Sabbath Poems)" by Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir. © Counterpoint, 1998.

Tuesday Tome - The Divine Conspiracy

In every reader's life, there are a few books that make such an impact and resonate so deeply that they become what I call "lifebooks." Dallas Willard's The Divine Conspiracy is one such book for me.

My first reading of the book was a rich and wonderful series of aha moments. It challenged presuppositions, offered new ways of thinking about God and life, and gave me hope that there was a Christian way of living I could actually pursue with humility, honesty, and hope.

Over the years, I've recommended and given The Divine Conspiracy to many friends and relatives. Not all of them have shared my enthusiasm for it, but I'm always delighted when one of them does.

Just this past month I got an email from an excited young friend who was reading the book upon my recommendation. He said he was loving it and planned to read it through a second time as soon as he finished his first reading. I'm looking forward to getting together with him for a fun conversation.  There is a special affinity you feel with someone who has read one of your lifebooks has now discovered it has become one of their own.

So let me know if you've read or would like to read this special book. Maybe we could get together for an interesting talk!

From The Divine Conspiracy:

"My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. Very few people today find Jesus interesting as a person or of vital relevance to the course of their actual lives. He is not generally regarded as a real life personality who deals with real-life issues, but is thought to be concerned with some feathery realm other than the one we must deal with, and must deal with now."

"Actual discipleship or apprenticeship to Jesus is, in our day, no longer thought of as in any way essential to faith in him. It is regarded as a costly option, a spiritual luxury, or possibly even as an evasion. Why bother with discipleship, it is widely thought, or, for that matter, with a conversational relationship with God? Let us get on with what we have to do."

"This book, then, presents discipleship to Jesus as the very heart of the gospel. The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in His present kingdom, now on earth and available to all. So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying. It is about living now as his apprentice in kingdom living, not just as a consumer of his merits. Our future, however far we look, is a natural extension of the faith by which we live now and the life in which we now participate."

Monday Music - The Tallest Man on Earth

If you haven't yet discovered the music of Swedish folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. The Tallest Man On Earth, then today is your lucky day. Enjoy!

Sunday Supplication - Pressing Forward

Almighty and merciful God, we want to be your faithful people and we want to serve you and honor you through our lives. We ask you to make this possible by your grace and guidance.

Help us to press forward. Lift us up when we stumble. And help us to run to win the prize of your upward calling.

Lead us away from temptation. Free us from selfishness and pride. Give us the honesty and humility to recognize our need for your grace and mercy. Forgive us our sins and make us ready to forgive others.

O God, thank you for providing for our needs. Give us the wisdom and humility to recognize your provision.

Give us hearts that are generous toward others. Make us ready and willing to help those in need. And may your grace and provision in our lives always result in us being more gracious and generous as we follow in the way of Christ.

Through Him, we pray. Amen.

Saturday Smile - Disencultification

Skip ahead to 2:55 to hear Colbert's theory of how to get upgraded from cult status.

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Friday Family - Birds Weekend

For the third time in five weeks, my sweet wife is on the road again. The first weekend in October, Cheri headed down to Omaha for a family wedding. Then a few weeks later, she flew down to Nashville for a weekend with Tyler and Ali and our grandsons. This time she headed south to Kansas City where she is meeting up with her mom and three sisters for their annual "Birds Weekend."

None of the men in our family knows for sure what happens at Birds Weekend because we're all banished from being anywhere near their chosen location. If Cheri were hosting the weekend, I would be the one taking a trip.

Birds Weekend is a tradition Cheri, aka "Barnswallow" (yes they all actually have code names), her mom, and sisters have been keeping for a long time. When all of my sons were kids and still at home, we used to take advantage of Birds Weekend to head up to the North Shore for a father/son trip. So even though I've never been to a Birds Weekend, said weekend has afforded me plenty of sweet times and fond memories. 

This year, I'm just doing work around the house and getting things ready for winter, reading, and tinkering around with music, and getting things ready for Sunday at Valley. I'm also planning to check out a new eatery in South Mpls with a friend on Saturday night. Oh, and I'm planning to Skype with son #1 this afternoon. In other words, I'll be fine.  :-)

Have a great weekend with your dearly beloved birds, Cheri! See you at the airport on Sunday! xo

Thursday Thinking - Minnesota's Marriage Debate

Minnesota Public Radio recently aired a documentary called "The Deep Roots of the Marriage Debate." The program was very well done and gives a lot of good perspective and context for Minnesotan's who will be voting on the proposed constitutional amendment. Thoughtful voters will want to be sure their votes are based on more than sound bites and yard signs. Take a little time and give the issue some serious thought.



Read the transcript here.

View an interactive timeline presentation HERE.