Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Ivory Palaces




Scenic Montreat North Carolina in autumn




"This song was written near to my home in the mountains of North Carolina.
In the summer of 1915, the famous evangelist, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, was
preaching at the Presbyterian conference grounds at Montreat.
With him were the song leader, Charles M. Alexander, soloist Albert Brown,
and their pianist Henry Barraclough.



Dr. John Wilbur Chapman
(1859-1918)
American evangelist


Barraclough, the author of this hymn, was a twenty-four year old Britisher;
he met Chapman the previous year during a preaching mission in England.
During the conference, the evangelist spoke one evening on the forty-fifth
Psalm. In 1893, Chapman had written a book called,
"Ivory Palaces of the King".

He believed, as I do, that this is a prophetic, "Messianic" psalm which
speaks of the relationship of Christ, the bridegroom, to His bride, the church...
After the evening service, "Charlie" Alexander and Henry Barraclough drove
some friends to the Blue Ridge YMCA Hostel a few miles away.

Sitting in the front seat of the car, young Barraclough thought about the
message and the four short phrases of the refrain began to take shape in his mind.
When they stopped at a little village store, he quickly wrote them down on a
"visiting card"-the only paper that was available.

Returning to the conference hotel, he worked out the first three stanzas,
using the outline of Chapman's message.  The following morning, Mrs. Alexander
and Mr. Brown sang the new hymn at the Montreat conference session."
-Reverend Billy Graham
"Crusader Hymns and Hymn Stories"
Cliff Barrows
Billy Graham Evangelical Association
(1967)




"Your garments are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
stringed instruments make You glad."
Psalm 45:8


Myrrh


My Lord has garments so wondrous fine,
And myrrh their texture fills;
Its fragrance reached to this heart of mine
With joy my being thrills.

(Refrain)
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.

His life had also its sorrows sore,
For aloes had a part;
And when I think of the cross He bore,
My eyes with teardrops start.



Aloe


(Refrain)
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.

His garments too were in cassia dipped,
With healing in a touch;
Each time my feet in some sin have slipped,
He took me from its clutch.

(Refrain)
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.


Cassia


In garments glorious He will come,
To open wide the door;
And I shall enter my heav'nly home,
To dwell forevermore.

(Refrain)
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.


Touch Of Faith
Yongsung Kim
Korean artist




"Ivory Palaces"
Henry Barraclough
(1891-1983)
English hymn writer, pianist
Veteran of World War I




Monday, September 9, 2019

Poppies In The Wheat




Along Ancona's hills the shimmering heat,

A tropic tide of air, with ebb and flow

Bathes all the fields of wheat until they glow

Like flashing seas of green, which toss and beat




Gathering Wheat
Daniel Ridgway Knight
(1839-1924)
American artist



Around the vines. The poppies lithe and fleet

Seem running, fiery torchmen, to and fro

To mark the shore. The farmer does not know

That they are there. He walks with heavy feet,



Counting the bread and wine by autumn's gain,

But I,-I smile to think that days remain

Perhaps to me in which, though bread be sweet

No more, and red wine warm my blood in vain,

I shall be glad remembering how the fleet,

Lithe poppies ran like torchmen with the wheat.


"Poppies In The Wheat"
Helen Hunt Jackson
(1830-1885)
American poetess and writer
Activist for American Indians



Sunday, September 8, 2019

The Chaldean Mystery Jonathan Cahn



"Know and understand that it is really the people
who live by faith who are the true children of Abraham."
Galatians 3:7



"The Chaldean Mystery"
(Part 1-3)
Jonathan Cahn
The Jim Baker Show
(November 5, 2016)
Connie Oelbaum




"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
May they prosper who love you, the Holy City!"
Psalm 122:6



Jerusalem, Israel

The Mystery of Ishmael Jonathan Cahn




"But the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring
of water in the wilderness on the road to Shur.
And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where are
you intending to go? And she said I am running away
from my mistress Sarai.

The Angel of the Lord said, "Go back to your mistress
and humbly submit to her control.  Also, the Angel said
to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so
that they shall not be numbered for multitude. 

And the Angel of the Lord continued, See now,
you are with child and shall bear a son and shall
call his name, Ishmael, (God hears) because the
Lord has heard and paid attention to your affliction."
Genesis 16:7-11



Hagar And The Angel In The Desert
James Tissot
(1836-1902)
French artist
The Jewish Museum
New York




The mystery which began in the tents of the patriarch Abraham has
affected world history for centuries and explains the rise of Islam...



The Mystery Of Ishmael
Jonathan Cahn
The Jim Baker Show
(March 26, 2016)
Connie Oelbaum



Second Sunday Meditation: The Rejoicing Heart





REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS;
AGAIN, I SAY, "REJOICE"!


Brilliant Arizona Desert Sunrise With Pinnacle Peak In Background
Ray Redstone
(April 23, 2019)


DO NOT FRET OR HAVE ANY ANXIETY
ABOUT ANYTHING, BUT IN EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE
AND IN EVERYTHING, BY PRAYER AND PETITION
WITH THANKSGIVING, CONTINUE TO MAKE 
YOUR WANTS KNOWN TO GOD...
AND GOD'S PEACE SHALL BE YOURS,
THE PEACE WHICH TRANSCENDS ALL UNDERSTANDING
SHALL GARRISON AND MOUNT GUARD OVER YOUR
HEARTS AND MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS."
Philippians 4:4,6,7



Saturday, September 7, 2019

From Sunset To Star Rise





Go from me, summer friends, and tarry not:

I am no summer friend, but wintry cold,

A silly sheep benighted from the fold,

A sluggard with a thorn-choked garden plot.



Summer's End
Jo Wilmot



Take counsel, sever my lot from your lot,

Dwell in your pleasant places, hoard your gold,

Lest you with me should shiver on the wold,

Athirst and hungering on a barren spot.


For I have hedged me with a thorny hedge.

I live alone. I look to die alone.


Yet sometimes, when a wind sighs through the sedge,

Ghosts of my buried years and friends come back

My heart goes sighing after swallows flown

On sometime summer's unreturning track.




"From Sunset To Star Rise"
Christina Georgina Rossetti
(1830-1894)
English romantic poetess




Friday, September 6, 2019

In The Aftermath Of Dorian



In the wake of this week's devastating weather catastrophe in 
The Bahamas, my thoughts and prayers are with the survivors
of this horrible tragedy.  If you can, please make a donation
to the relief or humanitarian aid organization of your choice.



The aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas




"When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me, stand by me.
When the storms of life are raging,
Stand by me, stand by me;
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship upon the sea
Thou who rulest wind and water
Stand by me, stand by me..."


Stand By Me
Elvis Presley