Make Us Learn

WITH humble heart and tongue,
Our God, to thee we pray;
O! make us learn while we are young,
How we may cleanse our way.

Make us, unguarded youth,
The objects of thy care;
Help us to choose the way of truth,
And fly from every snare.

Our hearts to folly prone,
Renew by power divine;
Unite them to thyself alone,
And make us wholly thine.

O! let thy word of grace
Our warmest thoughts employ;
Be this through all our following days,
Our treasure and our joy.

To what thy laws impart,
Be our whole soul inclined;
O! let them dwell within our heart,
And sanctify our mind.

May thy young servants learn,
By these to cleanse their way;
And may we here the path discern
That leads to endless day.

--E.D. Harwood

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Everything... to God in Prayer

What a Friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Original photo by Hannah Hanson. Editing by Emily.

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

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:)

Click, click. Tilt. Zoom. Snap. Tilt. Click, click, click.

What's this? Why, it's my new vocabulary! If you wanna speak to Emily you'll have to do so in clicks and shutter sounds, now :-) . My new Olympus SP-550 Ultra Zoom has been my best and closest friend for the past few days (got it Monday morning)!

So just a heads up to be watching for lots and lots... and lots of pictures.

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Purity

Purity is innocent.
Purity is clean.
Purity is devoted.
Purity is virtuous.
Purity is clear.
Purity is untainted.
Purity is beautiful.

Purity is rare.

Purity must be strong.

“…Keep thyself pure.”

1 Timothy 5:22b

Original photo from www.public-domain-photos.com

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Stephen

A little over 3 weeks and my family and I are on our way to see my brother, Stephen, graduate from Basic Training in Oklahoma! His time down there has had its challenges, but through his letters and phone calls, I've been blessed to see the many ways in which he has taken a stand of leadership for his faith in Christ while in such a secular environment. Remember to pray for all of our U.S. Military!

Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His name?
-
Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace, To help me on to God?
-
Sure I must fight if I would reign; Increase my courage, Lord;
I'll bear the toil, endure the pain, Supported by Thy Word.

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Being Still...

I put my left foot in the stirrup and swung myself in to the saddle. Leather against leather and a slight breeze rustling summer greenery were the only sounds. Reins in hand and adjusted comfortably, I gave a soft click of my tongue, and we were on our way for a peaceful ride, to think.


Sometimes these quiet times are so needful. The business in life surrounds us so quickly. God told Elijah that He was not in the strong wind, the earthquake or the fire, but the still, small voice. This is such a beautiful picture to me, that God, in all His power and majesty, speaks so softly, so tenderly, to the heart of man.

I rode up a hill, weaving between this tree and that bush, taking in the complexity of God’s creation. Upon arriving at the top, I pulled gently at the reins, “Whoa, boy.” Again, the breeze came and then left ever so quickly. Our life is like a vapor. Looking around at the landscape below, I began to cry, thinking of all the assumptions that are put on God, the fearlessness and sinfulness that we brought to what was once so pure!

Coming down the hill, I began to focus once again on the joy of being loved by God and being given the liberty to commune with Him in prayer. I rode around some, discovering little areas in the pasture, and then decided to come home. Leaning forward, I braced myself for a full gallop. Slowly having come to a stop, I swung myself down from the saddle and was ready to continue from the short pause in my day.

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The Hidden Man of the Heart

Photo by Sarah Schuurmans. Editing by Emily.

"3Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."

1 Peter 3:3-4

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The Body of Believers

I’ve been reminded, because of the upcoming business meeting at our church, that we as Christians are a body. There are many parts to the whole: some small, some unique, some hidden- but all necessary to the completion of the body. It takes a like-minded, faithful people who are geared with initiative to build a successful, God-honoring Church. To do this, each and every member is needed to do his or her part for the body of her believers.

Photos by Melissa Schuurmans. Editing by Emily.
On July 3rd, men and women from GBC walked the land to discuss placement for the new Church building.

In application to our Church, as we await the upcoming business meeting, we have been blessed with beautiful land to build upon. The plans for how to pursue it are still being laid on the foundation of prayer and dedication to seeking the Lord’s will. I think just because most of us [specifically the youth] are not literally in leadership position of making the final decisions, it’s easy to forget how important it is that we pray. So just a reminder: let’s join in prayer, especially for our pastor, that the Lord would make it abundantly clear to him, as well as the deacons and congregation, how we should go about building the new church and that we would all be of one accord; content with what will be decided. Let’s all be willing to fulfill our unique roles as parts of the body.

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The World

For God so loved

the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have

everlasting life.

John 3:16

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Freedom

We stand in freedom because they knelt in prayer.

We stand in freedom because they knelt in prayer.
Remember and continue in the faith of our fathers this July 4th.

O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine!

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First Post

Thoughts.

We have about 2-3,000 of them a day. How many of them are not captive to the obedience of Christ? 50%? 75%? How devoted is your thought life to the righteousness of godliness?

May it be a quote, hymn, poem, verse, photograph or just a reflection of the day, I will be posting thoughts that I hope will bring glory to the One who gave us the very capability: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Many thanks to Ryan Hoshor ( http://www.photojewels.blogspot.com/ ) for his prompt and willing help with the technicalities of the HTML format and for the use of his web server. Your help was very much appreciated :) !!

I hope you all will find this blog to be edifying- please feel free to leave a comment every now and then to let me know your thoughts on mine ;)!

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