62 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 7-4-14”

  1. Happy Fourth of July. I am just home from our celebration. So sweet to be outside at night, something I rarely get to do.
    We sang the Star Spangled Banner and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

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  2. Everybody but Jo and I are sleeping in.
    It’s Friday!
    You know what that means?
    Not the same thing.
    The Y is closed.
    The Lions don’t meet.
    The Wanderers are getting together and we unlucky louts have to wait around for some pictures.
    What time is this going to happen?
    We need a roster and some pictures.

    The Advil helped last night. The pain is still there, but reduced considerably and I slept well.

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  3. I read Unbroken some time ago on the recommendation of someone here. A bit of my reading does come from recommendations.
    Bob Buckles, on yesterday’s political thread, mentioned me and God’s War on Terror. I read it a while back due to a recommendation from him or Joe B. Forgot who.
    But, in light of the situation in the world and especially in the Middle East leads me to suggest that everyone read it.
    I don’t agree with Shoebat on everything. But he needs to be heard.

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  4. The Gathering will start around 11am tomorrow. My concern right now is my cell phone is comsuming battery too fast. I am planning to use it’s GPS. I am looking forward to it.

    Middle stepson is northwest of Baltimore this weekend. He won’t answer his fathers messages. Middle Son is with his aunt. We know this because of Facebook.

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  5. Kim, I’m certain that there are chargers that plug into your car. (They used to be called “cigarette lighters”, but that’s old stuff.)

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  6. Happy Fourth of July! Love the flag header. The American flag is the most beautiful of all the flags in the world. As husband and I drove up our street going to friend’s to take care of cats late yesterday, I noticed we are the only ones to have a flag at our mailbox. It is a small flag, but a nice way of acknowledging favor toward our nation. I also put a little flag on the doorknocker at work.

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  8. The Canadian flag is way up there as a beautiful flag. And as state flags go, the Arizona flag is really lovely, almost certainly the prettiest state flag and maybe the prettiest flag anywhere.

    I admit it’s harder and harder to feel patriotic these days. I forget who said it (I’ll have to google it), but a quote comes to mind: “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” We’re there.

    Here’s the full quote, and apparently it has wrongly been attributed to Tocqueville (http://www.tocqueville.org/pitney.htm):

    I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerc – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.

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  10. I celebrate the freedoms we have in the USA, but I am not a citizen of a political nation only, I am a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom. I know that true liberty only comes when I surrender my will to Him who died and rose again- Jesus, the Savior and Lord of my soul.

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  11. The USA is still the greatest nation on earth. Now or in history. We’ve lost much of it. But it still applies.
    Reagan: “If not us, who?” “If not now, When?”
    Remember. There are still ten good men in Sodom.

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  12. We are still the only nation on earth to carry the torch.
    God is able of these stones to raise up children of His.
    But most of the Christians in Asia, South America and Africa came from American missionaries during the last century.

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  14. Yes, Chas, IT’S FRIDAY!

    Hey, all. I know a lot of you have Facebook and have “friended” each other. But how about getting together on Google+? Since Mrs L has FB, I went with G+, so how about you? Search my name and when you see the avatar that should appear here shortly (Mrs L and I looking at Niagara Falls), click the add button. But only if you want to, as I understand some of you would rather not be so available on line.

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  15. Happy Fourth of July, to everyone.

    I think the Canadian flag edges out the American flag for beauty, but I could be biased. 🙂

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  17. Idaho with a run away first place, followed by the US with Canada on its heels.

    And here we have Idaho
    winning her way to fame
    silver and gold in the sunlight’s gleam
    I don’t remember the rest….

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  18. Oh!
    And romance lives in her name…

    Singing, singing of you,
    ah proudly too,
    All our lives through we go singing
    singing of you, singing of Idaho.

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  21. Cheryl, my father still complains that the bars on the Canadian flag should have been blue, to match our motto, Ad mari usque ad mare, “From sea to sea” from Psalm 72:8. He, of course, remembers when there was no Canadian flag and we used the British ensign.

    Kare, I’d have to disagree about the anthems. An anthem should be short, simple and easy to sing; so I’d say “O Canada” edges out “The Star Spangled Banner” on those grounds. But then, I could be biased 😉

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  23. Michelle, if you are the one who posted the link about the boy needing brain surgery on yesterday’s prayer thread, that was a fascinating read and a very educational one for me.

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  24. Is mumsee still singing? Something woke me up. …

    cheryl: “America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.” We’re there.

    Amen, and I’m also feeling more discouraged this 4th of July than I can remember. Chas (there are still 10 good men in Sodom), Karen O said you’d say that 🙂 when the two of us were gabbing about how bad things are right now via FB messaging the other day.

    But, yeah, I’m having a hard time getting the patriotic feelings going these days, too. 😦 What a mess we’re in.

    Today I’m working, starting off with (believe it or not) a brief city council meeting in one of our small rural cities on the peninsula where the issue will be the flag feud that’s been ongoing for 8 years with Trump (who put up a 70-foot-tall flagpole for his golf course that the state’s coastal commission has taken exception to, partly because he needed to submit a full application with $10,000 to the agency but never did). Now the commission is asking that the height be lowered significantly.

    After that I’ll be heading out to hit at least a couple daytime 4th of July events around the area for a short feature on that, then need to keep an eye out for any crime we’ll need to write up (hopefully it’ll be too early for crime which will pick up later tonight).

    So a long day, but then I’ll have a long weekend which I need.

    Our state flag has a bear on it which I’ve always liked.

    Ok, sing on mumsee!

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  25. Posted by the Colson Center on FB today:

    Since when was following Christ supposed to be easy? Since when was the world supposed to like us? Since when was life supposed to always be in our favor? If we are true followers of Christ, we will always be driving into the storm, in the storm, or watching it in our rearview mirror.

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  26. I agree with Roscuro about the National Anthem. The “Star Spangled Banner” is not about a country, but about a flag. It’s too long and unsingable. None of you remember Kate Smith. Kate wanted to change the national anthem to “God Bless America”. That would be more appropriate, but now it would be declared unconstitutional. But we need it now more than ever.

    Speaking of songs, there is an article in the NC Baptist paper entitled, “Why people are not singing anymore”. In it, he says: “I see several reasons congregations aren’t singing anymore:
    1. They don’t know the songs.
    2. We are singing in keys too high for the average singer.
    3. The congregation can’t hear the people around them singing.
    4. We have created worship services that are spectator events, building a performance environment.
    5. The congregations feels they are not expected to sing.
    6. We fail to have a common body of hymnody.
    7. Worship leaders are not connecting with the congregation.

    I agree with all but # 5&7.

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  28. Good points from the singing article, Chas — I read either that one or something similar that I think Linda had posted on FB and it made the point that too often worship leaders/bands become “performers,” to the point that even if the congregation tries to sing along it’s impossible to hear themselves!

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  32. Here’s a song for you (supposedly one of George Washington’s favorites):

    Published on Nov 9, 2013
    Tune and lyrics by William Billings during the American War for Independence (hence the references in the second verse to British Generals Howe, Burgoyne, Clinton, Prescott, and Cornwallis).

    Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
    And Slav’ry clank her galling chains,
    We fear them not, we trust in God,
    New England’s God forever reigns.

    Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton too,
    With Prescott and Cornwallis join’d,
    Together plot our Overthrow,
    In one Infernal league combin’d.

    When God inspir’d us for the fight,
    Their ranks were broke, their lines were forc’d,
    Their ships were Shatter’d in our sight,
    Or swiftly driven from our Coast.

    The Foe comes on with haughty Stride;
    Our troops advance with martial noise,
    Their Vet’rans flee before our Youth,
    And Gen’rals yield to beardless Boys.

    What grateful Off’ring shall we bring?
    What shall we render to the Lord?
    Loud Halleluiahs let us Sing,
    And praise his name on ev’ry Chord.

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  33. Feeling down today thinking about that little boy who died in his father’s car. As the facts appear it seems it was premeditated at this point. I just can’t get over how horrid it was/is. And I also saw a post earlier about a three-year-old Syrian boy who had been tortured and it said he spoke as his final words, ” I am going to tell God everything that’s happened.” ( close to what the quote said if not exact) God is our only hope especially when children are so mistreated by adults who should be responsible for their care.

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  35. Work moves along here. One is mowing (he got my special ultra strong hose, husband bought for me so I would stop having broken hoses), one boy is making butterscotch pudding, another is making cheesecake, another fruit salad, another lettuce salad, one of the girls is getting the chile ready and the baked beans, another will be cooking the hamburgers (with a big brother to help) another will be serving fresh peas from her garden, and another boy will be making no bake cookies. Another boy will be grilling hot dogs with big brother over seeing. One girl is making flowers for the centerpieces and will pick some closer to time. One boy swept the porch, the others set up the tables, the youngest four gathered chairs, I think we are about ready.

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  36. Thanks for the link, Roscuro. Thanks to Donna on the Colson Cener quote and song.

    Peter, I do Google + and not Facebook. I also do Linkedin. I am not sure I understand how Google circles work. I will try to find you through Google +.

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  38. Peter, Michelle is on Google+ with her middle initial D but I never post anything. My blog posts there automatically.

    That was me with Shane, roscuro. I’m not sure, now, when surgery will take place. While Kaiser allowed for brain surgery costs, they didn’t agree to pay for some of the pre-ops stuff, so mom was struggling with it all yesterday. Dad, then, made calls and it looks like they’ll be back on.

    I’m making Mom’s apple crisp and the. It’s a family BBQ this afternoon. Life is good. I haven’t touched my computer since Tuesday night . . .

    Of course, I now need to write a blog post. Hmmm m.

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  39. Donna, the words to that hymn are somewhat outdated, but the tune is lovely. William Billings was a great composer of hymns. Listening to him reminded me of another great hymn writer, Justin Morgan, immortalized by Marguerite Henry’s book Justin Morgan had a Horse. I used to hear this piece on the radio station growing up – a neglected masterpiece of Americana:

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  40. Wesley Pruden in The Washington Times Re: Obama
    “Like a lot of liberals, he has learned a lot of thing s that ain’t so and is eager to apply them. He learned, as the hyper-educated often do, to mistrust experience and common sense. Only such a sage, armed with prodigious book learning will sit down on a red hot stove twice (if that’s where the textbook tells him to sit.)
    Speaking of Obama WRT foreign affairs.
    It applies everywhere.

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  41. Chas, isn’t ‘God bless America’ sung to the same tune as ‘God save the Queen’? That could be why it never became the anthem.

    I agree with the NC Baptist article. As I’ve said before, I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing wrong with contemporary Christian music, but I do not appreciate it in the church setting. My tiny little church is filled with people who strongly object to that “contemporary stuff” and it has annoyed me that they are starting to harp on the subject again (new pastor, old ideas). However, I always want to examine things for myself, so I have been going over the issue again.

    I have, via the wonderful world of Youtube, been reviewing the history of “Rock Music” and looking for what the disconnect is between it and church music. I once again eliminated the “rock music is of the devil” hypothesis, as well as the “rock music is worldly” argument. Although many rock songs have very secular lyrics, that is also the case with most folk songs and classical opera and art songs; yet folk and classical music have strongly influenced hymnody.

    I think I have it: rock and pop music are genres developed primarily by solo performances. Even groups which used harmony, like The Beatles or The Supremes, always had a lead vocalist. Hence the awkward transition to the church, where singing is primarily corporate. One of the only contemporary genres which made the transition smoothly was Gospel, which is not surprising as it was firmly rooted in the traditions of singing Spirituals.

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  44. Awful, yet instructive article, by a pornographer who has turned his life back to Christ, about how he groomed a young woman for pornography and destroyed her life. Informative, perhaps is a better word. I know the author’s pastor and that the author now walks with the Lord and is terribly sorry for what he did. 😦

    It’s just sad, not graphic.

    http://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/this-is-mindy-and-this-is-how-i-destroyed-her-life-by-making-her-a-porn-sta

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  45. Today has seemed like Saturday all day.
    I even worked on my SS lesson for Sunday.
    I may post the outline tomorrow for review and criticism by anyone who cares.
    Or, maybe not.
    Tomorrow is really Saturday.

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  46. Hi all. We’ve been spending the holiday with Hubby’s family.

    Just got great news from my sister in Rwanda. They’ve adopted a five year old boy! They’ve been trying to adopt him for about a year and it’s finally official! I’m so happy for everyone!

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  47. 2 stories done, 6 hours of work completed. I don’t think I’ve ever covered a City Council meeting on the 4th of July before.

    But it’s been a beautiful day out here, especially at the event I attended on the ocean cliffs. Breathtaking, some of those views are. Ran into a couple of my dog trainers there, too. The event was fun, they had a lot of contests like egg-throwing, watermelon races, pie eating, etc. Along with lots of patriotic music, a petting zoo & pony rides.

    And did I say it was absolutely gorgeous out there on the cliffs?

    Now we’re hunkering down for what will surely be a very loud booming night which the dogs hate. 😦

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  51. Yuck, is right. We always found gross half chewed dead rodents around the yard – haven’t seen any since the cat went missing. Sigh… he was such a good cat.

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  58. I was being more than half tongue-in-cheek. Logistically it would be impossible. (Most of us aren’t coming.) And anyway, you want to visit and not talk on the phone.

    But in my college days, the whole family (except for me) would get together on Christmas Eve. Well, some of my brothers might not have made it, those who had families and lived a long way away, but at least most of the family would be there, and I think that at least once I was the only one who wasn’t. And one of those four years I did get to my mom’s house for Christmas. (The next time all seven of us were together was for my mom’s funeral about eight years later, and the next time after that was last month, 10 1/2 years after her funeral. But I digress.) Anyway, each Christmas Eve I would call my mom’s house and have her pass the phone around. In those days when you paid for long-distance calls by the minute, it was an expensive phone call, but at least I got to talk to everyone!

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  59. Michelle and Janice- I found you on Google+ and added you to my circles. If you don’t want to reciprocate, I will understand.

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  60. I was thinking along those lines too. Next time a bunch get together perhaps we can set up Skype for it or something. That way any one could participate. That would be cool. 🙂

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  61. I’m posting tomorrow’s threads in a little bit. I have a lot to do tomorrow, so I’m just posting it tonight. Even the west coasters get a shot at First! tonight.

    Or tomorrow technically, although still tonight. In like 22 minutes.

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