A HYMN FOR TODAY – My God, I Thank You, Who Have Made The Earth So Bright

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

My God, I thank You, who have made

The earth so bright

So full of splendor and of joy,

Beauty and light,

So many glorious things are here,

Noble and right.

I thank You more that all our joy

Is touched with pain,

That shadows fall on brightest hours,

That thorns remain;

So that earth’s bliss may be our guide

And not our chain.

I thank You, Lord, that you have kept

The best in store;

We have enough, yet not too much

To long for more:

A yearning for a deeper peace

Not known before.

I thank You, Lord, that here our souls,

Though Amply blessed,

Can never find, although they seek,

A perfect rest;

Nor ever shall, until they lean

On Jesus’ breast.

8.4.8.4.8.4 – Adelaide Anne Proctor, 1884

Tune: EULOGIA – Matthew Harber, 2011

#415 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

Ashkelon through the Ages, Part II

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Grace and Obedience both Necessary

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What Does Preaching Do To Your Brain? — Christianity Today Online

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What Does Preaching Do To Your Brain? — Christianity Today Online

What Does Preaching Do to Your Brain?

Richard Cox explores the findings of neuroscience on how we hear sermons.
William Struthers       [ posted 7/15/2013 8:39 AM ]
Rewiring Your Preaching: How the Brain Processes Sermons
OUR RATING:  4 Stars - Excellent
BOOK TITLE:  Rewiring Your Preaching: How the Brain Processes Sermons
AUTHOR:  Richard H. Cox
PUBLISHER:  IVP Books
RELEASE DATE:  December 6, 2012
PAGES: 182

When I first picked up Rewiring Your Preaching: How the Brain Processes Sermons(InterVarsity Press), by Richard H. Cox, I was a drawn immediately to its title. In today’s day and age, where virtually every scholarly endeavor attempts to pour its topic into the new wineskin of neuroscience, my concern was that this book would fall short of the title’s claim. The premise that preaching is somehow fundamentally different from all other forms of oral communication is one that the majority of people might find curious. But it could certainly resonate with many people of faith. Could it be that there is something “sacred” about active preaching? Does the brain have a unique area or cortical region that helps it make sense of religious teaching? Is it possible that pastors could use the findings of neuroscience to somehow alter their preaching and, in doing so, get the people in the pews to grasp the theological truths they are trying to communicate?

The brain scientist in me instinctively pushed back, and I found myself approaching Cox’s thesis with an element of doubt. As I read through the book, however, I gained an appreciation for what the author was trying to do, the integrative process he was engaged in, the limitations of the scientific claims being made, and the eagerness of publishers to take the brain angle.

The author is a well-known and highly regarded academic and clergyman. He brings a unique perspective to this material and a refreshing sensibility. At times the text is an awkward combination of medicine and psychology, and at other times an insightful fusion of neuroscience and theology. As a result I found myself being pushed and pulled through the different chapters.

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Read more: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/july-web-only/neuroscience-what-does-preaching-do-to-your-brain.html?utm_source=ctweekly-html&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_term=12912131&utm_content=193524605&utm_campaign=2013

Heat, steam and Roman cooking

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From the British Museum blog — check it out!

A HYMN FOR TODAY – There Is a Land of Pure Delight

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign,
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.
Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand dressed in living green:
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between.

There everlasting spring abides,
And never-with’ring flow’rs:
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heav’nly land from ours.
But timid mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea;
And linger, shiv’ring on the brink,
And fear to launch away.

O could we make our doubts remove
Those gloomy thoughts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes!
Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o’er,
Not Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood
Should fright us from the shore.

CMD (8.6.8.6.D) – Isaac Watts, 1707

Tune: JORDAN – William Billings, 1786

Arr. Charles L. Willis, 2010

#751 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

Has “King David’s Palace” been uncovered in the Judean Shephelah

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Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

Archaeological digs in Israel are winding down and the maximalists are having a great time. Today’s report comes from the excavation of Khirbet Qeiyafa which is conducted jointly by Professor Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Here is today’s Press Release from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“

King David’s Palace was Uncovered in the Judean Shephelah

Royal storerooms were also revealed in the joint archaeological excavation of the Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority at Khirbet Qeiyafa ***
These are the two largest buildings known to have existed in the
tenth century BCE in the Kingdom of Judah 

Two royal public buildings, the likes of which have not previously been found in the Kingdom of Judah of the tenth century BCE, were uncovered this past year by researchers of the Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority at Khirbet Qeiyafa –…

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Another Bookstore Casualty — O’Gara & Wilson Leaving Hyde Park/Chicago

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Another Bookstore Casualty — O’Gara & Wilson Leaving Hyde Park/Chicago

Hyde Park bookstore O’Gara & Wilson closes after decades in operation — Move to Indiana prompted, in part, by ‘toxic environment for small businesses,’ owner says

Doug Wilson, owner of O’Gara and Wilson bookstore in the Hyde Park neighborhood, says a “toxic environment for small businesses” is partly to blame for him closing his shop, which has been a fixture in the neighborhood for more than 50 years. (Terrence Antonio James, Chicago Tribune / June 25, 2013)

By Mugambi Mutegi, Chicago Tribune reporter  —  July 18, 2013

At the O’Gara & Wilson bookstore in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Rory Preston, 25, was packing more than 27,000 books into 900 brown paper bags Tuesday. Each bag was to contain 35 books of the same genre.

Store owner Doug Wilson, 63, was on a ladder with a drill, trying to get the lighting off the ceiling. Removing the wooden shelves was on the to-do list.

The two had been at it since Sunday, when the store, which specialized in used books and was a fixture in Hyde Park for more than 50 years, officially closed. Wilson cited a restrictive business environment in the neighborhood, compounded by dwindling readership, as reasons for the closing.

“The changes in the book trade with the advent of Internet book sales have altered the number and the vitality of bookstores that still exist,” Wilson said at the 1448 E. 57th St. location, which had served the likes of University of Chicago students and faculty to renowned writer Saul Bellow.

Wilson has seen the business shrink irreversibly but believes “there is life in bookstores, but we will continue seeing less of them in select communities that don’t support the culture.”

His plan is to set up shop in Chesterton, Ind., where he lives. He will run the business with his wife, Jill, and is hoping the town’s annual European Market, held between May and October, will provide the boost his business needs.

National chains are hardly immune to the same kinds of forces that helped prompt Wilson’s store to close.

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Read more at http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0718-bf-bookstore-troubles-20130718,0,7559692.story

New Yorker Reviews “Darwin’s Doubt:” Mis-Reading Meyer

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New Yorker Reviews “Darwin’s Doubt:” Mis-Reading Meyer

How “Sudden” Was the Cambrian Explosion? Nick Matzke Misreads Stephen Meyer and the Paleontological Literature; New Yorker Recycles Misrepresentation

Casey Luskin July 16, 2013 11:14 AM

IMG_6808Trilobite-COLOR1413a.jpg

On June 19, the day after Darwin’s Doubt was first available for purchase, Nick Matzke published a 9400-word “review” of the book in which it appears that he tried to anticipate many of Stephen Meyer’s arguments. Unfortunately, he often either guessed wrong as to what Meyer would say or — assuming he actually read the book as he claims — misread many of Meyer’s specific claims. As I showed in a previous response to Matzke, Matzke repeatedly misquoted Meyer, at one point claiming he referred to the Cambrian explosion as “instantaneous,” when Meyer nowhere makes that claim. Indeed, Matzke faulted Meyer for not recognizing that the Cambrian explosion “was not really ‘instantaneous’ nor particularly ‘sudden.'” Oddly, he also criticized Meyer for not recognizing that the Cambrian explosion “took at least 30 million years” — despite expert opinion showing it was far shorter.

Since Matzke published his review, The New Yorker reviewed Meyer’s book. Gareth Cook, the science writer who wrote the piece, relied heavily on Matzke’s critical evaluation, even though Matzke is a graduate student and not an established Cambrian expert. Cook uncritically recycled Matzke’s claim that the Cambrian explosion took “many tens of millions of years,” even saying that the main problem with Darwin’s Doubt is that Meyer failed to recognize this alleged fact.

DebatingDD.jpegSo, was Matzke right about the length of the Cambrian explosion? In fact, Matzke’s preemptive — or hastily written — review not only misrepresented Meyer’s view, it also misrepresented the length and character of the Cambrian explosion as numerous authoritative peer-reviewed scientific sources on the subject clearly show.

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– See more at: http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/07/how_sudden_was_074511.html#sthash.9Pp3MpO3.dpuf

– See more at: http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/07/how_sudden_was_074511.html#sthash.9Pp3MpO3.dpuf

606 – Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

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606 – Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow

This YouTube vid features Ken Nafziger of Eastern Mennonite Seminary in Harrisonburg, VA, leading a Mennonite group in “606” — as it is known.  It recently became a feature of an extensive discussion among participants of a hymnody discussion board I’m on.  Fair Warning: It might get “in your head” and refuse to go away!

I heard Ken speak about this hymn at a 2008 conference at Pepperdine University in Mailbu, CA.  Using the 1709 Thomas Ken lyrics, “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow,” it is almost universally known among acapella Mennonite churches as “606” as it was numbered in an older Mennonite hymnal. After singing it in Stouffer Chapel at Pepperdine with Ken leading, I lobbied hard to include it in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs — a new hymnal for which I was co-editor — but it is 3 pages long which could become cumbersome. Ken was gracious enough to come to a lecture I did regarding the new hymnal, and made several valuable suggestions which contributed to the project.

Below is another link to an article discussing the usage of the hymn among acapella Mennonite churches.

What do you think?

http://www.themennonite.org/issues/11-6/articles/606_When_why_and_how_do_Mennonites_use_the_anthem

 

Addendum:

The earliest instance of this tune in print (discovered to-date, that is) is the ninth edition of Lowell Mason’s Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection in 1830, where it was designated as “Doxology.”  It first appeared in the fifteenth edition (1876) of Harmonia Sacra, entitled “Dedication Anthem,” which is its designation in the Hymnal: A Worship Book, alongside “(606).”     [p. 290, Hymnal Companion, Writer/Compiler – Joan A Fyock, ed. Lani Wright, ©1996, Brethren Press]

Source: http://rockhay.tripod.com/worship/music/606.htm