Poetry on Jezebel and Christ....

Jezebel Fell; Jesus Arose

Jezebel, used to having her own way,

vowed for Naboth's "No" there'd be hell to pay.

Worthless fellows were bribed to tell a lie:

"He cursed God and King -- stone this rebel guy!"

Painted face hosts tea under lush grape vines

But justice is not silenced by cakes and wines.

Nothing nullifies God's Word, clear and loud,

God gives grace to the meek, unseats the proud.

When Jehu came to town, Jezebel fell.

Hands and skull spoke that dogs had eaten well.

Jesus, stubborn to do his Father's will,

refused to bow to Satan on the hill.

He didn't come to drink tea in a vineyard

But to be the grapes, crushed and stomped down hard.

Worthless fellows were called to tell a lie:

"He'll wreak the temple -- crucify this guy!"

Cup of wrath drunk by the Innocent;

Justice served, hell paid, for those who repent.

We Gentile dogs don't feast on Jezebel.

Christ arose, by faith on Him we sup full well.

Jeannette Paulson 12/09

Paulson home flooded in 2009

If we have eyes to see, God sent a flood of grace in 2009 -- none of which we deserved and all of which we received with too little thanks......
First of all,
receiving the new mercies of the Lord every morning -- opportunity to be washed again from sin in the blood of the lamb,
enjoying health, home, jokes, flowers, food and the ability to think one thought after another,

feasting on Pastor John Piper's sermons on the gospel of John,

learning at Visionary Women to pray for our children and childrens' children and childrens' childrens' children,

hiking with Frieswicks on breath-taking Barn Bluff overlook the Mississippi,

swimming lessons early on cool summer mornings,

sewing doll quilts and doll clothes with Murphys,

discussing How to Write a Story by Lee Roddy with young writers,

Harlan and Jeannette helping in Sunday School with a staggering new curriculum: Rejoicing in God's Good Design: A Study for Youth on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood,

David working as an R.N. and living with Christian friends,

Joseph graduating with a B.A. in business from Thomas Edison,

Hannah getting a tooth implant and working in an assisted-living home in Rosemount,

Ruthiey selling shoes at Kohls,

Ruthiey, Andrew, and Stephen learning piano with gifted Mrs. Shepherd,

Stephen picking up guitar,

Esther and Abigail learning art with gifted Mrs. Mann,

and Hannah helping mom make a handy three-week menu.

These are God's gifts to us in 2009. Remembering them should shame us into a stubborn refusal, by His grace, to despair and quit. Remembering them should fill us with anticipation for God's continued gifts of grace on grace. He is GOOD.

Jamie Soles is coming to town!!

No, it is not Santa. It is Jamie Soles. I have blogged about him before, and now he is coming to Minnetonka on January 13. I do not have more detail that this right now but I wanted to give you a head's up. Check below for reviews. Here is what Dan Glover says about Jamie:

He does a wonderful job of simultaneously combining humour, gravity, solemnity, triumph, education, joy and praise as he retells many of the best and least known Bible stories from both the Old and New Testaments. Generally, each album progresses from creation to fall to redemption and shows God’s grace to His people throughout the full and continuous story of Scripture, culminating in Jesus Christ.

http://www.solmusic.ca/reviews.php

C.S. Lewis on Progress

"we all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive."

Jane Austin Understood...

I was saying in a former blog that good literature may give us some hints on Biblical feminity. Look at Fanny Price in Mansfield Park: Besides "beauty of face and figure," she had "graces of manner and goodness of heart."

She was gentle, modest, sweet, good-tempered, and affectionate. Her "understanding was beyond every suspicion, quick and clear; and her manners were the mirror of her own modest and elegant mind." Fanny also had good principles, "regularity of conduct and such a high notion of honour, and such an observance of decorum as might warrant any man in the fullest dependence on her faith and integrity."

Translation: Fanny took care of herself, dressing modestly. She was both sweet and bright. But besides being intellectually quick; she was morally educated. In other words, she had a fear of God that made her one to be trusted. A man can rest easy married to such a woman.

Fool Moon Rising

Fool Moon Rising is a new children's book written and illustrated by Kristi and T. Lively Fluharty.

Humourously and exquisitely illustrated (see cover for example), with sweet poetic lyrics, the book tackles the core problem of man stealing glory from God by sporting the moon bragging about its light until it opens its eyes to see that all of its light is borrowed.

A great Christmas gift.

http://books.shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=Fool+Moon+Rising&_sacat=267

Romance in the Air

In his book The Undercover Revolution Iain H. Murray describes how the fiction of men like Thomas Hardy and H.G. Wells corrupted Britian. It is an amazing analysis, and it got me thinking how some older British fiction might, by God's grace, be resurrected to make us better.

Alas in our day we are hopelessly confused about Biblical femininity. But O.F. Walton was not as confused as we are. In her book The lost Clue, first published in 1907, she describes a gracious young woman named Marjorie Douglas. Her sister Phyllis serves as a foil:

"After tea they had games and music. Phyllis was very clever at the latter and sang well. She was not at all like her sister, very much prettier most people said, but it was beauty of feature rather than of expression. Kenneth thought she had rather a discontented face, and she moved wearily, when she was asked to do anything by her mother, as though every exertion, however small, cost her an effort."

In contrast, "It was Marjorie who was the life of the party, who saw at a glance what everyone wanted, who was ready to run here and there for them all; it was Marjorie who carried Carl up to bed, who picked up her mother's ball of wool when it fell, and who kept her eyes open all the time to see what she could do for others, and how she could help them all."

Earlier in the book we see Marjorie bringing a basket of pudding and beef tea (she was a good cook) to old Mary, one of six widows that she took turns visiting.

Later Marjorie's mother, a widow herself, runs into financial straits, and it is Marjorie who moves to the dismal mining town of Daisy Bank to make a little money at the dismal Holtby home as a mother's helper. At the end of the first day we read: "it was late when she got to bed that night, and she felt almost as if life in that house would be more than she could bear. And then she remembered that she had come there willing to do God's will, whatever that might be, and she determined to make the best of the home to which she had come, and to do her utmost to brighten it."

Soon "Miss Duggie" had little ones on her lap, as she read Bible stories and sang children's hymns. And she befriended a dying old woman, Mother Hotchkiss, assuring her that her sins would be forgiven if only she would confess them to God.

Marjorie is a picture of Biblical feminity. And none of us are surprised that Kenneth, mentioned above (handsome Captain Fortescue) is as fascinated with Marjorie as we are. We haven't finished this read-a-loud yet, but we all smell romance in the air.