Now is the Time to Sing

We have had a wonderful weekend at the Salvation Army in Ripley for the Home League weekend. Major Joy Caddy took the service on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. A time to sing was the theme and wonderful songs of praise and adoration were sung to the praise and glory of God by the Home League. 

Ruben gave us a wonderful rendition of how we should not be, Mrs Beamish written by Richard Stilgoe and Peter Skellern after which we had a wonderful rendition of how it should be by the choir. 

O come let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lord our King,

Let us whisper His name, wonderful name,

Jesus our Lord and King.

O come let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lord our King,

Let us whisper His name, wonderful name,

Jesus our Lord and King.

For He is Lord of all the earth,

His glory outshines the sun,

See Him clothed in robes of righteousness,

God’s beloved Son.

O come let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lord our King,

Let us whisper His name, wonderful name,

Jesus our Lord and King.

We also had a duet by my sister Pamela and myself called For every Answered Prayer. Major Caddy posed the question, when do you like to sing? Do you always feel like singing? And of course we don't always feel like singing, the song by the Rivers of Babylon that the timbrels played to showed that the Israelites did not want to sing in the strange land, 

Psalm 137:1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. 3 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? 

But we can, this world as the song says is not our home, we are just passing through and no matter how tough things get we can still sing the songs of salvation and redemption and play our tambourines. Major Joy reminded us of why we sing, we sing because of who God is, we sing because of what he has done and he has placed these songs upon our hearts, songs that we learn from our youth, songs that are taken from scripture, songs that tell of the God of glory and of grace.

Mary sang 

Luke 1: 46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54 He hath helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; 55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.

Mary would have learnt the songs of old and she would have remembered them, the song of Hannah, and the wonderful psalms. Psalms sung in times of victory and deliverance and also in pain and loss but always recognising the sovereignty, power and grace of God.

Major Ruth reminded us on Sunday evening of many in the Bible who sang in adversity, Paul in prison was just one example and of course the Lord Himself singing the Egyptian Hallel psalms at Passover when he was about to be delivered into the hands of His enemies to be whipped, mocked and hung to die on a cross for the sins of the whole world. There is nothing worse than that and yet Jesus sang praises of deliverance to the Father.

A time to sing? It is always a time to sing whether we feel like it or not, whether we are out of tune or not, God hears the songs of the heart and dwells within the praises of His people. May the Lord bless you. 

What price Freedom?

I was recently invited to go to the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas in Staffordshire with my friend Betty from the Salvation Army. I stayed with my daughter the previous evening as the coach was leaving from Belper, so I had a wonderful evening with my daughter and a wonderful day with my friend Betty, a double blessing. 

I had never heard of this memorial park before and I was quite overwhelmed when I saw it, there were so many memorials for so many different kinds of groups and individuals and it is being added to all the time. We went round on the train which gave a running commentary of the various memorials we were passing I only wish I could fully explain the deep emotional effect it had on me, and the deep gratitude I felt for all those who had paid the ultimate price for my freedom, and the freedom of all who live in our land. We also went into the chapel which was as expected a very calm and serene place. I took so many photographs that I really don't know which ones to share, but you should be able to see them here: Staffordshire We only stayed for a few hours, ideally you need a whole day because there are parts of the gardens that the train does not go to and so we missed some of them. I did manage a walk around afterward but couldn't go too far. The weather was glorious and the company was lovely.

There was one particular memorial that struck me which was the Korean War memorial of 1950-1953 which said, "Freedom is not free". There is a great cost for freedom as anyone living in a democratic society will know. Many in our own country have given their lives and are still giving their lives for the freedom of our nation, it is a sobering thought and we should always remember their willingness to die for our freedom. 

But the greatest freedom there is is not democracy, it is not freedom of a nation it is a freedom that has to do with individuals, a freedom from darkness, a freedom from sin, a freedom from fear and this has been payed for at a great cost to our Creator God and His Son Jesus Christ who was willing to take the punishment for our sins in order that we may know true lasting freedom. 

Our country owes a huge debt to those who gave their lives, but greater still is the debt we owe for our salvation, but it is a debt we can never, ever repay, and thankfully we don't have to because it is all of grace .

Mind the mines

My friend Maggie lent me a DVD called Against all Odds, it's the story of a Journalist meeting people in Israel who have experienced a miracle. One of the things that happened was in the Yom Kippur war, some Israeli soldiers found themselves in a Syrian minefield, it was night and the sky was cloudy. All they could do was get down on their knees and very carefully dig around and if they found a mine disarm it. This of course would have been painstakingly slow however as they started to carefully dig around a fierce wind blew then the clouds parted and all the mines were exposed, the Israeli soldiers could now walk through the minefield in safety. There had been no wind before and there was no wind after, I was awestruck, God is an amazing, powerful and surprising God. He is also faithful to His word and He certainly has not finished with Israel, if He had then they wouldn't be back in their land that He gave them.

He hasn't finished with us as individuals either, and when we are born again, in other words repent of our sin and ask Jesus into our hearts and lives, He continues to change us from the inside, we can't do it of ourselves, many people try all sorts of things for true peace and joy but their searching is always in vain. There are self-help books but no matter how much you help yourself, no matter how much you do to make yourself feel better it is not lasting, what the world offers is fleeting and it cannot offer true peace. But God in His mercy when the devil sets out all those mines in our lives will expose them by His Holy Spirit and through His word. When we became Christians we didn't get on a cruise liner as the faith and prosperity movement would have you believe, no we got on a battleship, we are in a war.

Those mines can be anything, secret sins, arguments with a brother or sister, broken relationships, all kinds of things. The devil, the world and the flesh will try and blow up your relationship with the Lord. There are also all the false teaching and false religions, if the devil can get you to believe anything but the truth then he's happy, he just wants to cause as much devastation and destruction as he can for the child of God, for the unsaved also who is seeking. The Holy Spirit if we ask for wisdom and discernment will expose these mines, and the word of God will disarm them. The devil cannot do anything to us when we are keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus and obeying His word. Of course to obey His word you need to know what it says so it is good to read and study God's word every day to see what He has to say to us.

Don't fear the devil, don't fear man, and don't fear these mines as God helped those soldiers through that minefield He will help all His children through all the problems and battles that come against them. Our God is a faithful God and we can trust Him and His word. Amazing, awesome things happen when a child of God goes on their knees and I find it amazing that God our Father is interested in the smallest detail of our lives as well as the big things. Praise His name.

Listening to the owls song part 2

Wednesday at Willersley was our Christmas day which of course would not have been complete without a visit from Santa.

We had a traditional turkey lunch which was delicious and a buffet at teatime. I was going to go out for a walk but decided on a lie down instead. We had entertainment in the evening a group of singers called Friends in Harmony, I thoroughly enjoyed it so much so that I forgot to take any photographs.

Thursday our Boxing day we had another walk into Matlock for a walk around the shops and a lovely cuppa in Costa. The evening entertainment was put on by all the Turkey and Tinsel people we had a varied evening with comedy poems and songs and some traditional Christmas songs and poems. Not forgetting Ralph's comedy routine. I sang a song "Whose are they are they your fathers?" in operatic style and then sang "All the Way" by Mo Wilkinson, a song that has the gospel message in it, because that is what Christmas is all about. The truth of why Jesus came.

Friday morning I waved everyone off, I was staying a couple of extra nights so that I could relax after the busy days and evenings we'd had. I walked along the river to Matlock and came out at Ley's park where they were having a Victorian Christmas weekend. It was wonderful there was lots to do and to see. Massive tents with all kinds of craft and things in, I could have spent a fortune but what fascinated me most was the falcons and owls, I did manage to get some lovely photo's, you could pay to have your photo taken with one of the birds all the proceeds went to charity, anyone taking a picture of the birds was asked to drop a donation in the bucket.

The one in the top corner just screeched and screeched but the rest were very quiet. After walking round and buying a few bits I caught the bus back to Willersley to a lovely evening meal and an early night. I had to changed rooms for the extra two nights but even so I could still hear the owl's hoot as he let everyone know it was his territory, I think it must have been a tawny owl because he sounded just like this one. 

Saturday I walked around the grounds of Willersley fungi hunting and I did manage to find some.

And then off again for a walk along the river there had been a frost and everywhere looked so lovely, when I got to the river it was steaming as the suns rays were on it.

After a quick walk through Matlock I got a bus to Bakewell I wasn't there long as it was getting late, I was getting tired and my feet were aching. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and even went on a trip down memory lane when I caught a Hulley's bus back to the hotel. I used to catch those buses forty years ago when I stayed with my mum and dad at Cliff College. Of course they have modern buses now but they used to be real bone shakers :) And the thing about Hulley's is that they go all around the houses up the hills and down the dales, it was lovely I saw geese, lama and ostrich in the Derbyshire countryside!! Forty years ago I would have seen the geese but not the rest.

Of all the things I have seen and done on this holiday I have to say that one of the highlights had to be hearing and seeing the owls. People can be territorial, they say that an Englishman's home is his castle. I am very grateful for my little castle but I'm not territorial about it after all as a Christian I'm just passing through I have a home waiting for me that far surpasses any castle here. I am grateful for what I have but I am even more grateful for what God has done for me through His Son Jesus Christ in order that I might know forgiveness and have everlasting life, now that is something worth hooting about!!! 

Listening to the Owls song

This year was my fourth year at Willersley Castle, three years for Turkey and Tinsel and the second year I went for Christmas, (I said I wouldn't do that again as I came home expecting another Christmas :) ) I arrived on Sunday to my favourite room which has a wonderful view

and as dusk fell there was that wonderful sound again, the owls hooting in the distance, it really is a wonderful sound I find it so soothing and most evening I left my window open so that I could hear them, I do love owls but it is very rare that I would ever be able to see one so I was delighted when on the last day of my holiday I went into Matlock and someone had a display of owls and falcons at the Victorian Christmas Weekend

But I'm getting ahead of myself, Monday the people arrived who come by coach and it was lovely to see familiar faces and catch up. There were new faces too and Ann and I soon became acquainted and spent sometime together on walks. Willersley isn't too far from Matlock and you can get the key from the reception and take a wonderful walk through the grounds and by the river and come out at the gate at Matlock Bath which is what we did before continuing on the Matlock and a hunt round their wonderful charity shops. We both found a few bargains and so we got the bus back as our feet and bodies were rather tired and weary. A wonderful dinner awaited us and we were soon refreshed and ready for the evening activities, making Christmas decorations, I made a sun-burnt penguin, there wasn't a black and so I coloured it red and a couple of baubles too, it was a lovely relaxing evening. 

Tuesday was our Christmas eve and we spent the day on a lovely trip. The weather was lovely, the sun was shining and it was quite warm for the time of year. I for one was quite disappointed that I didn't get my longed for snow, never mind there's always next year! We called first at Carsington Water and had a lovely walk through part of the grounds,

After this we went on to Ashborne Methodist church for homemade soup and roll, it was delicious, I had tomato and basil, and then there were lovely homemade puddings, I had homemade blackberry and apple crumble. Someone had worked very hard for us and they made us feel very welcome, the

church building too inside and out was very impressive.

We went on then to a garden centre which had all kinds of beautiful decorations, and gifts, it was wonderfully decorated as you came in.

A couple of hours later and I'm sure for some of us a few pounds lighter in our purses we came out to a glorious sunset.

After our evening meal we had a carol service  remembering the reason for Christmas and why it is a joy for all Christians and therefore a celebration of God's love and grace to us. The last carol being sung in the "well".

More to follow.......

There's a Cost

I went to Derby I was on a mission for some peel off Christmas stencils to use on my cards only to find that Wilkinson no longer do them, (it was their own brand) why I didn't buy more than one at the time is beyond me, they have had so much use they are started to tear, hence my desire to purchase new ones.

I had a walk round and as I came around a corner there was this rather tall, yellow lady handing out lollipops, quite a few people went to take one but before they could take it out of her hand she had moved it to point down to a bowl on the floor, this treat was not free you had to put some money in the bowl first. Quite a few people didn't take the sweet but just walked off.

There are lot of things to entice us, we are tempted by all kinds of pleasures but very rarely does anyone tell us there will be a cost. Satan certainly isn't going to tell you that you will have to pay for the life you are leading, unlike the yellow lady pointing to her bowl he isn't going to point to the punishment that all men will receive for their sin, the greatest of which is the rejection of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Many people say, "well I don't do anybody any harm, I don't go round stealing, and committing adultery, I don't lie", really!!

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?

Be honest with yourself have you never told a lie? Have you never ever stolen anything? Have you never looked at a member of the opposite sex with lust? Jesus said,

Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

That goes for the ladies too, Jesus is talking about everyone

The Bible warns us of the cost of staying in our present state, a sinner, rejecting Jesus and not accepting the free gift of salvation from God.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

There is not one person who can stand before God and say that he is worthy to go to heaven by his own merit for the Bible says,

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Just as we are punished by our own judicial system if we break the law, so God will judge everyone and those who are not righteous will be punished. The only way we can avoid this is by asking God to forgive our sins and ask Jesus into our lives, Jesus has taken the punishment for our sins, when He died on the cross at Calvary He took your place and mine so that we would not be condemned and eternally punished.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according the the Spirit.

What an exchange, my sin for His righteousness.

Think carefully, is a few moments pleasure really worth an eternity of punishment. Would you not rather have something that doesn't fade, that isn't gone in a moment? True love, true joy, true peace and lasting pleasure are all found in Christ Jesus alone, no one and nothing else can offer you what He can.

John 6:68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

No Satnav for Heaven

Tuesday lunch club at St Mary’s church today was busy, poor Margaret was having to cope with only two staff, so some of the diners mucked in and gave a hand and everyone had a lovely hot dinner.

Brian and Pat took the little service afterward, we sang a few hymns and then had a Who wants to be a Millionaire quiz, it was based on the TV show needless to say we did very well but blew it on the £64.000 question. Afterwards he read out a poem from a magazine which went as follows:

I have a little Satnav, it sits there in my car

A satnav is a driver's friend, it tells you where you are.

I have a little satnav, I've had it all my life

It’s better than the normal ones, my satnav is my wife.

It gives me full instructions, especially how to drive.

"It's thirty miles an hour", it says, "you're doing thirty five."

It tells me when to stop and start and when to use the brake

And tells me that it's never ever safe to overtake.

It tells me when a light is red and when it goes to green

It seems to know instinctively just when to intervene.

It lists the vehicles just in front and all those to the rear

And taking this into account, it specifies my gear.

I'm sure no other driver has so helpful a device,

For when we leave and lock the car it still gives its advice.

It fills me up with counselling, each journey's pretty fraught.

So why don't I exchange it and get a quieter sort?

Ah well, you see, it cleans the house, makes sure I'm properly fed,

It washes all my shirts and things and keeps me warm in bed!

Despite all these advantages and my tendency to scoff,

I do wish that, once in a while, I could turn this Satnav off.

I think quite a few of the gentlemen could relate to this J

Brian explained though that Jesus is the only way, we can’t trust in anything or anyone else to save us and give us eternal life it is only through Jesus. He is the only way we can be forgiven by God for our sins, He alone can give us freedom, light and life.

£64,000 can’t buy you forgiveness, joy, peace and eternal life, all the books on self-help can’t give you forgiveness, joy and peace, if you truly want help then Jesus is the only way, in Him you will have forgiveness of sin, joy, peace and eternal life, now that’s real treasure.

Jesus said 

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life

No one comes to the Father except through me".

John 14:6

Pass it On

We had a wonderful afternoon at the Salvation Army on Tuesday, I had asked the ladies to bring something to do with war which they duly did, Pat brought a kit-bag, Julie brought trench art it which was a shell made into a coal scuttle, and photographs and Dori brought a soldiers housewife sewing kit which was a pouch contained all that a soldier would require to carry out any repairs to his clothing when necessary. Inside it would contain a thimble, two balls of grey darning wool (for socks), 50 yards of linen thread wound around card, needles, brass dish buttons (for Battledress) and plastic buttons for shirts. The Housewife was often contained within the Holdall and stowed within the man's haversack. I took my father’s cap badge,

We had a quiz they had to say what the rest of the words would be on a poster, ie Make do............ and mend. I had managed to find a couple they had not heard of. Then we played name that tune, I sung a few notes and they had to guess the song from World War 2, they did very well and most of them we sang all the way through, it was lovely. 

It was great how everyone knew the words for most of them would have been young during the war, although we have one lady who has lived through both wars, and some of us were born after the war and yet we too knew the words. They are passed on from generation to generation, as is all the news of the wars, the why and the wherefore and all the great things that happened. We have photographs, written documents, book, discs etc, so there is no need for anyone really not to know about it but there will still be some who don’t.

I thought about this after and how important it is as Christians to pass it on and not leave people wondering what it’s all about. The Bible tells us that we should not be ashamed of the gospel and that we should be able to tell people the reason for the hope that we have,

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Do you know why you have this hope? Not a hope that is uncertain, not a hope that everything will turn out alright in the end. But a sure and steadfast hope in God and His word, in Jesus and all He has done. When we receive Jesus as our Saviour then we have a sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life with Him, how amazing, surely this is worth passing on.

1 Peter 3: ¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:¹⁶ Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

I talked about how during the war everywhere was blacked out so that we could not be seen by the enemy but of course as Christians we are to let our light shine in the darkness so we are in the enemies firing line. Next time we are going to talk about our need for the armour of God, making sure first that we have on the helmet of salvation.

Don't be a Potato

I heard a very interesting talk on ancestors at the Salvation Army, we were asked if there were any in our families who had been instrumental in our coming to know the Saviour. I have to say that my mother and father, I believe prayed for my soul and salvation every day until I came to the Lord, there are times when we have no idea what someone is bringing before the throne of mercy on our behalf.

Both my parents had gone to church from being young, as had I. My mum had a life changing experience when she was fifty, as she was walking home she heard a voice say to her, "There is sin in your life and you can have no part of Me", she realised that it was the Lord Jesus, and that all her years of church going, good works, playing the organ at the church services, leading the choir etc. were of no use to her, she had tried to walk a Christian life on the back of her parents salvation. I found and interesting quote in an old book called A Daily Message from Many Minds:

         

"Never mind who your grandfather was, who are you?

The man who has nothing to boast about

but his good ancestors is a like a potato,

all that is good of him is underground."

Whilst it is a wonderful privilege to have family members who are in the Lord, and who have taught us many spiritual truths, we are not saved just because we are related to them. We all have to come to that place of repentance and trust only in the finished work of the cross. Jesus died on the cross for the world, He will save anyone and everyone who is willing to listen and accept this free gift of salvation.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Believing in Jesus, means that we repent of our sin, we realise our need because we cannot be righteous by our own works, or by going to church, or by praying, or by reading the Bible, all these things are good but they are not good enough for us to have a relationship with God, or to get us to heaven. The only way is by repenting of sin and asking God to forgive you through His son, Jesus, who took the punishment for your sin and mine on the cross, then all these other things will happen because there will be a desire in your heart to want to know God more, to talk to Him on a daily basis, and to serve Him and please Him by living your life through His Son Jesus.

All who are in Christ Jesus, are blood related, because Jesus shed His precious blood for each and every one who would believe in Him. There are no ancestors in God’s family, we are all God’s children, and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. Isn't that wonderful.

We can learn a lot from people who have gone before us, their testimonies of God’s grace are inspiring and should encourage us but they can’t save us,  

only Jesus can do that because He is alive.

We'll keep a Welcome in the Hillside

I stayed at my friend Linda's on the Monday evening and the following morning we were up bright and early ready for our day trip to Llandudno. We arrived in plenty of time and as usual sat on the back seat, everyone bar one had arrived on time and so we were late setting off but arrived safe and sound at 12.30. Having never been before I was quite overwhelmed by the view; it was beautiful.

First things first we went on a hunt for a hotel that was owned by Linda's sister's widower, Linda had not seen any of the family for twenty years since the funeral of her sister. Her niece with her two boys came and they had a catch up it was lovely. Then it was off for sight-seeing, we decided we would go on the boat around the Orme. We had to walk down a wooden jetty which was fine until you hit the water and then it felt weird as you were standing still but underneath you was movement, I was quite relieved when the boat arrived and I have to be quite honest I could have gone around again.

It was interesting hearing all about the caves, 

smugglers and shipwrecks and such like.

When we finished our boat trip, we set off for a walk along the pier, we had thought to go up on to the Orme but we weren't sure we would have time. I bought myself a new hat which I have only worn once as I have left at my daughters. 

On to the coach for the trip back home we went past The Marble Church again,

and of course, at some point crossed the border from Wales to England, this fascinated me I know it would have only been a split second but for a moment in time half the bus was in Wales and the other half in England, and of course it was that fast you didn't even notice. It reminded me of the scripture passage: 

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

There is coming a time when all people who are born again, that is those who have repented of their sin, have put their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and have asked Him into their lives will be taken off the earth, their bodies changed and they will be with the Lord and meet Him in the air. But the people who have not believed on Jesus will be left behind on the earth. No one knows when this is going to happen but one thing is for sure we must be ready and prepared, how? By living as God would have us to live which of course we can only find out about by reading His word, the Holy Bible and joining a fellowship of believers and listening to God's word explained by His teachers. And by careful study together. Jesus will not be waiting for anyone unlike the bus driver who waited for the late arrival if you’re not ready Jesus will have come and gone, don’t be one of those who will be left behind.

We don’t know when the Lord will come some of us will taste death before He comes, but whether we die or whether the Lord comes are you prepared.

There is a welcome in the hillsides of Wales for those who return, We'll keep a Welcome but there is a bigger welcome for people who turn to God and become His children when they get to heaven.
When we all get to heaven

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