The true philosopher's stone

I've been reading All Things for Good by Thomas Watson this afternoon. It is a book that expounds Romans 8:28. After discussing the fact that every seeming evil that befalls us, God always turns for our good, he says:

See then what encouragement here is to become the godly. All things shall work for good. Oh, that this may induce the world to fall in love with religion! Can there be a greater lodestone to piety? Can anything more prevail with us to be good, than this; all things shall work for our good? Religion is the true philosopher's stone that turns everything into gold. Take the sourest part of religion, the suffering part, and there is comfort in it. God sweetens suffering with joy; He candies our wormwood with sugar. Oh, how may this bribe us to godliness!

How sweet it is.

We've come a long way....!

From the old covenant's way of sacrifices to remove our sin!!

I've been reading through Hebrews this month. Wow, it is fantastic in its logical arguments for Christ being the end of the old covenant and its way of doing things. It's hard some days to stop reading at the end of the day's reading because the logic is taking me on and on. Today's reading repeats this phrase "for all time" or a variation like "once for all" three times. The author is telling us that the old sacrifices were only shadows. They could not do anything to take away sins or to clear my conscience. When Christ came, His sacrifice was the sacrifice to end it all.

"He abolishes the first [old covenant sacrifices] in order to establish the second. And that by that will [the Father's will] we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all"( Heb. 10:9-10) "But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, HE SAT DOWN at the right hand of God"(v. 12) "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." (v. 14)

Then the author inserts the passage from Isaiah about God writing the laws on our hearts and minds. So not only does Christ's sacrifice now cleanse our conscience, which the old law could not, but He writes it on our hearts and minds. The chapter closes with "NO MORE". "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

I need these reminders. I think that God sometimes is only rather tersely pleased with me. It's hard to feel that He doesn't even remember what I've done. So as an act of the will and with the help of the Holy Spirit, I can come to God knowing (what is true and not my feelings) that God accepted Christ's sacrifice and I am perfected. And I am being sanctified....it's a process.

Ending with the last verse of today's Psalm, (108:13) "With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes."

Man, it's all about God, isn't it??

Katherine K. Davis

I was reminded of K.K.Davis, an old friend of ours, this morning when a friend from Scotland wrote to ask how she could get a copy of a song we sang together. Well, KK Davis is sort of a friend. When we were in high school our girls' septet sang several classical music pieces arranged by her for three women's parts. We had a lot of fun with it. The Green Hills Book became a staple at school reunions and family get-togethers. I bought one and continued to sing those arrangements with my five sisters. We even made a very informal recording of some of them! Then when I moved to Scotland I took the book and some of us women sang an arrangement of Psalm 23 called "The King of Love". It is an arrangement of an Irish tune. The book doesn't give me any more information than that, so if one of you friends or family can tell me the name of the tune, friends in Scotland want to sing it again!

I would love to sing some of these songs with women again. We just have to find the right women who sing the right parts. When we sang these in high school and with my sisters, I never guessed how precious those musical times were.

If you want to know more about her, here is the link.
She died in 1980.
Back to housecleaning....thanks for the break, Mairead! *smile*!

Great ideas from friends.

I've gotten the idea for this post and the links for the last post from friends' posts. Boy is it nice to stay connected! I learn so many cool things! This is from my friend from the Heartland. This is from the movie Les Choristes. We've seen it twice and it's fantastic! These boys sing like angels! Go to "Notes from the Heartland" for the movie trailer. And then go check out the movie. You will cry from the beauty of both music and story. Caveat, if you're watching with your kids. Some vulgarity, like one scene and some violence. It's PG-13.

Montana Cougars

The homeschool volleyball tournament was here in Omaha this weekend. I wouldn't have paid much attention to it if it hadn't been for my old high school friend, Al, and his daughter Victoria who arrived here late Wednesday evening with their team from Montana. Our local news station even covered the event. It was fun to watch these fired-up girls play ball. They ended up in second place in their division, an excellent feat since they had never come to the national tournament before AND had the added disadvantage of playing together only for an hour and a half before coming! Their team was a combination of the Bozeman and the Billings homeschool volleyball teams. Our family enjoyed catching up with Al and Victoria as well as getting to meet some of their friends. We had a relaxing evening of visiting and eating at China Buffet on Thursday night. Although our visit was short and sporadic, mostly late at night, it was good to have an old friend in our home. And this friendship goes back nearly 40 years....if you can believe that!!! The Eagles new album came out on Thursday, so our visit will be remembered every time we listen to that music. Wow, they have fantastic harmony. And Al can do it too! *smile*

Return to Capitol Steps

Here's the link to the "American Pie" song on globalization, mostly about China. It IS funny!

Green and Gold. Good smells. Home smells.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? I subbed today in Bellevue. It was one of those "need a warm body" days in a resource room. (Do we wonder why the public school system needs so much money??) This is the same class where I subbed a few years ago and read, O Pioneers all day. That day I got the book finished. Maybe I was a little more diligent than today. But today I got just over half-way through A Swiftly Tilting Planet. For some reason, I'm in to Madeleine L'Engle lately. I was hoping it was on Linnea's shelf when I got home, but alas, I'll have to go get it from the library. The title of the blog entry is a line from that book. I thought it described me and my house. Andrew thinks I paint everything green and yellow. Well..... And I used to write letters to friends in the summer and talk about Iowa's green and golden evenings...ah. Green and golden. Good smells. Home smells.