A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Faith

Rush … Stop

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Oddly enough, when the word rush comes up, I tend to think of slowing down or of deliberate action.  To rush around just feels so random and directionless because you are going so fast as to get so much done. Join us won’t you in this Five Minute Friday challenge?  What does rush mean to you?  To me it should be coupled with the word Stop.

Rush stop poem

Rush … Stop, a poem

It took just a moment.
A startled realization.
Coming straight toward me.
With deliberation in her step.

Tail up, head lowered.
I just knew trouble was brewing.

If I wasn’t careful
I was going to
What you’d call a
SITUATION on my hands.

I wanted to avoid that
At all costs.

Backing up slowly
I give some more space
Avoiding the teeth,
Those claws so sharp.

One would be amazed
At the need to avoid
A small herbivore
On a bit of a tear.

So adept at the rush!
That sparks such fear.

Such deliberateness of action.
She talks to me clear.
Mind your manners
Stay away from here!

Minding my hands
And saying taught words.
STOP, momma, STOP
It’s me talking here.

I see a halt,
A head cocks to the side

And the rush ends
Just like that.
Momma remembers
I bring the food.

No harm comes
At the sound of my voice.

rush Stop a poem, a bunny face

And so I’m called to mind,
the sound of God’s voice,
whispering in my ear. 
Reminding me of training received.
 
The knowledge I have gained
The trust given.
and the calming
that happens when
I hear that voice.

How very much like
a momma bunny I can be.

🙂

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

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Two verses in most hymnals, but four in others, sometimes sung with a descant.  A Lovely song of advent, reminding us of our wait for our Saviour.

Written by Charles Wesley.  Other hymns that I have featured by Wesley are as follows:

Charles Wesley ministered in the 1700’s.  He wrote more than 150 hymns.  He started out his ministerial life within the Church of England, but later took to preaching in open fields. Upon his death he asked to be buried in a graveyard for Church of England members and it was allowed. 

Lyrics

Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a king,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Below I put a video with a different tune, but I like it so thought you might too!  Sorry if I’m wrong.  🙂

Saviour, Thy Dying Love

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Saviour thy dying love, a quiet song of worship.  A person seeing what Christ did for him/her and wanting to give something back to the Lord.  This worshiping person works through what they can give, to the Lord who died, and now sustains their feeble faith.   A great song to offer to the Lord.

saviour, thy dying love

Lyrics

Savior, Thy dying love
Thou gavest me.
Nor should I aught withhold,
Dear Lord, from Thee.
In love my soul would bow,
My heart fulfill its vow,
Some offering bring Thee now,
Something for Thee.

O’er the blest mercy seat,
Pleading for me,
My feeble faith looks up,
Jesus, to Thee.
Help me the cross to bear,
Thy wondrous love declare,
Some song to raise, or prayer,
Something for Thee.

Give me a faithful heart,
Likeness to Thee.
That each departing day
Menceforth may see
Some work of love begun,
Some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won,
Something for Thee.

All that I am and have,
Thy gifts so free,
In joy, in grief, through life,
O Lord, for Thee!
And when Thy face I see,
My ransomed soul shall be
Through all eternity,
Something for Thee.

Sylvanus Phelps penned this lovely hymn in 1862.  It was originally entitled “Some­thing, my God, for Thee.”  He lived 1816-1895.  A Con­nec­ti­cut boy he was educated at Brown University in Rhode Island. He pastored at First Baptist in New Haven, Rhode Island.   

We know of four hymns that he wrote.  Hemarried and had a son who went on to become a preacher, author and professor.

Comments

I love the words of this hymn, a lovely song of worship, recognizing what Christ gave to us, and what we in turn give to him. 

These words strike me everytime I sing this song.

My feeble faith looks up,
Jesus, to Thee.
Help me the cross to bear,

This is me. My feeble faith needs the Lord.  Without him my faith struggles to survive. But Christ sustains, and the end result of that, is want to find a way to live my life for him.  Don’t you find the same?  

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

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I have sung When I Survey the Wondrous Cross for way to many years.  I’m not meaning that in a bad way.  It’s just so familar I have most of it memorized.   Another Isaac Watts song for you to enjoy. 

When I survey the wondrous cross

Lyrics

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

This first youtube video is a tune I don’t often hear, but I thought it was a pretty tune and therefore thought you all might like it too, or perhaps it’s a version that YOU are familiar with. 🙂

History

lsaac Watts is the author of this lovely hymn.  According to the Center for Church Music, this song was written for a communion service. It was originally called “Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ”.

Watts lived from 1674 to 1748.  Born in Southampton, England he became a Congregational Minister. He wrote at least 750 hymns over his lifetime. He enjoyed teaching more than preaching, and loved to train people.  Preaching to a particular denomination leaning was not his interest.

He eventually took a job as a private tutor for the Hartopps, and through them got to know the Abneys. Watts lived with the Abneys for a large portion of his life. 

Comments

The lyrics I found in the Cyber Hymnal contained five verses that I am very familiar with.  The sixth verse is a new one to me. It’s one of the things I find fascinating with looking at the hymns. Different tradition use different verses to sing, and sometimes they add new ones, change the words, or alter the tune. 

This song is no different.  Watts wrote a fourth stanza he expected would get left out, and two other verses were later added.  I remember a conversation I had with someone on facebook.  He understood the desire of people to update hymns to today’s linguistics, but as an author he felt bad for the people who wrote the songs.  What would they think of the words they wrote being changed?

I don’t know that Watts would have minded, since he changed some of the words himself. (visit the center of church music to learn more)  It just might be something we want to be cognizant of when we change music to suit our present day sensibilities and understandings.   It would not harm us to learn the meanings of unfamiliar words and learn to praise God using them, now would it?

Other Isaac Watts Songs:

Hiding the Unknown

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So the five minute Friday word this week is unknown and the blogging through the alphabet letter is H this week.  When Kate presented the word unknown this idea immediately popped into my head. Hiding the Unknown. How does one see the unknown?  How can one hide the unknown? What does one do when the unknown is discovered? Isn’t that an intriguing thought?   🙂

Hiding the Unknown

Hiding the Unknown

Talking with my lad, we considered the future.
So many unknowns, so many possibilities.
How does one make a decision?
Can one know the correct path to take?

All one can do is consider what is directly there.
Learn yourself and the needs you have.
Then take the path that meets those needs
EVEN IF you don’t know exactly the end result.

Knowing my lad’s brain I brought up
Schrodinger’s Cat.
How there are two endings: Life or Death.
In life, you have success or failure at the end of a given path.

And that the end of a path,
Success or failure isn’t determined in the immediate
All that learning never goes to waste.
Lessons learned always move you forward.

Our conversation moved on
Talking about a gap year between
High-school and college.
The solidifying of faith.

The value of understanding one’s faith
Before moving into a place that
Challenges your faith in so many ways.
Causing many young people to leave their faith behind.

How does one help a young person to
Know the hidden secrets of the kingdom of heaven?
To know the parables they hear, apply to them.
And don’t hide Christ behind a mirror dimmly seen.

How do I help my son not be one who
Seeing does not see
and hearing does not hear and
Does not understand.

Over the next four years
I see continued learning
and searching out
Of teaching and seeing.

Trying to help a lad
Solidify his faith, Hiding the Unknown
As he moves forward into life
As an independent adult.

Hiding the Unknown

The Bible Tells Us This

Then the disciples came and said to [Jesus], “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to known the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. (Matthew 13:1-17)

abcblogging

Wondrous Love

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Oh, I haven’t sung this song enough to have it memorized completely, but enough that I know Wondrous Love fairly well.  Interestingly enough it was harder than expected to find videos since a number that I found had different words to it.  Also known as What Wondrous Love.

wondrous love

Lyrics

What wondrous Love is this, oh my soul, oh my soul
What wondrous Love is this, oh my soul
What wondrous Love is this that caused the Lord of Bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down
When I was sinking down, sinking down
When I was seeking down beneath God’s righteous frown
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing
To God and the the Lamb, who is the great I AM
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be
And through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on
And through eternity I’ll sing on

Who wrote is a bit of a mystery, there is no definitive answer.  It is known to be an traditional American folk though. 

Comments

Ah, to remember what Christ did for us eh?   It’s definitely a reason to sing.  I was mentioning on a fellow FMF writers blog today that I find it easier to sing a pray than to say a prayer.   This song just reminds me of that truism. 

What would you sing to the Lord in prayer?

Mansion over the Hilltop

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I am almost finished going through this little hymnbook that I have here.  It’s an old Singspiration folk Hymnal.  Anyways, I’m hoping to finish up soon so I can either give it to my lady who likes the old songbooks I have, or put it back on our hymnal shelf.   It’s a rather nice song with a forward looking theme. 

Mansion over the hilltop
I’m satisfied with just a cottage below
A little silver and a little gold
But in that city where the ransomed will shine
I want a gold one that’s silver lined
 
Refrain
I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we’ll never grow old
And some day yonder we will never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold
 
Don’t think me poor or deserted or lonely
I’m not discouraged I’m heaven bound
I’m but a pilgrim in search of the city
I want a mansion, a harp and a crown
 
Refrain
 
I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop
In that bright land where we’ll never grow old
And some day yonder we will never more wander
But walk on streets that are purest gold
 
Refrain

Written by Ira F. Stanphill in 1949.   He also wrote Happiness is the Lord.  Born in New Mexico, he spent most of his formative years in Kansas.   He became a pastor within the Assemblies of God.  Later on he gave up pastoring to focus on evangelistic meeting and concerting. 

According this Wiki Article I found, he was known to “Occasionally as part of his crusades, he would ask members of the congregation to suggest titles for songs. Selecting one title from the suggestions, he would write words and music for a song during the service.”  Doesn’t that show talent?

Comments

I Found it interesting when I was looking for videos to share how often the songs would start the same, but then they would vary from the tune I had in my head.  It’s a bit disconcerting to start singing along and then oops… that’s not how they are singing it!  Slight changes matter!

I love the forward looking of this old gospel tune.  Knowing what we have here, and what we have to look forward to.  Do you ever consider that?   Does it make a difference in your contentment levels to know that here is temporary.  Might be a life of struggle (or not) but either way we have something to look forward to, and that (at least for me) makes the going easier.