On True Patriotism

"True patriotism is not manifested in short, frenzied bursts of emotion. It is the tranquil, steady dedication of a lifetime."

- Adlai Stevenson

Quote from Teddy Roosevelt...

"It is better to be faithful than famous."

Patrick Cleburne on the War

"Every man should endeavor to understand the meaning of subjugation before it is too late... It means the history of this heroic struggle will be written by the enemy; that our youth will be trained by  Northern schoolteachers; will learn from Northern school books their version of the war; will be impressed by the influences of history and education to regard our gallant dead as traitors, and our maimed veterans as fit objects for derision... It is said slavery is all we are fighting for, and if we give it up we give up all. Even if this were true, which we deny, slavery is not all that our enemies are fighting for. It is merely the pretense to establish sectional superiority and a more centralized form of government, and to deprive us of our rights and liberties."

- Major General Patrick Cleburne, January 1864, writing what would happen if the South lost the War Between the States

Remember those who fought for your freedom! Happy Memorial Day!

A Great Quote from Teddy Roosevelt

" A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."

April's Best Books

First of all, I have to admit that I didn't read a single fiction book last month! Out of all the books I read last month, though, I think the best was a book I recieved for my birthday from some friends, Politics of Guilt and Pity by R.J. Rushdoony. While it took me a while to read this book, it was definitely worth it! While I do not agree with everything he writes (he was a fallen, sinful man just like you and me), I believe he had one of the best perspectives on Christianity in culture and dominion. I would highly recommend this book! One of my favorite quotes from the book is one I've heard Mr. Doug Phillips say for years: "Culture is religion externalized."

However, another book you all might enjoy was Preparing for Marriage: The Premarital advice of John Calvin, which was edited by Mr. Scott Brown.

Poem from Rudyard Kipling...

I've really enjoyed several of Rudyard Kipling's poems, and I wanted to share this one with you, that I just heard recently on the Great Authors Webinar. It's called The Gods of the Copybook Headings.

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision, and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place;
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch.
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch.
They denied that Wishes were horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings.
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed they sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbor and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said:"The Wages of Sin is Death".

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew,
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four-
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man-
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began:-
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wobbling back to the Fire;

And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing, and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will bun,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!



Isn't that good?! Have a blessed day!

Kathleen Norris on Home

"Home ought to be our clearinghouse, the place from which we go forth lessoned and disciplined and ready for life."

- Kathleen Norris, author of Mother

"To stay at Home is Best"

"Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Homekeeping hearts are happiest,
For hose that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best."

-Longfellow

Courage

"Courage inspires courage. Lack of courage inspires timidity."

-Doug Phillips

My Favorite Hymn

Okay, I wanted to start this post with a question:

What's your Favorite Hymn?

If you are anything like me, that can be a tough question! There are so many hymns that contain wonderful doctrinal truths, and personally, I just like hymns!

But there is one hymn I love more than all the rest. It speaks so well the words in my heart. And it is...

Be Thou My Vision

In case some of you've never heard the hymn before, it's an Ancient Irish hymn, with a beautiful Irish tune, and here are the words-

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart-
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought, by day or by night-
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word-
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son-
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise-
Thou mine inheritance, now and always;
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart-
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of mine own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

So, what's your favorite hymn?

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty!

I've been thinking alot lately on the words of this hymn, by Joachim Neander, and wanted to share the words with all of you.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!
O my soul praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His temle draw near;
Join me in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee!
Decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee;
How oft in grief
Hath He not brought thee relief,
Spreading His wings for to shade thee!

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life, and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

I'm still here...

Most of you have probably figured out by now that I'm not a consistent blogger!! :) So, I thought I'd just tell you all what I've been doing lately.

We've been doing the Evenings with Victoria Botkin webinar, which has been very good, and we just started the Great Authors Webinar, as well. (see banner above)

But I've also been doing alot of reading. ALOT! Recently I've been reading things as varied as J.C. Ryle, Nutrition books, with a little bit of John Calvin, Louisa May Alcott, and (smile) Driver's Ed thrown in, too!

I've also been busy researching different doctrines of the church. I have learned so much, but I think the most rewarding thing has been discussing different Confessions, Scriptures, and viewpoints with my parents, particularly my Daddy.

I thought I'd share with everyone my family's "Hymn of the Month", too-- Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Robert Robinson.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tounges above;
Praise the mount- I'm fixed upon it-
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer-
Hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand'ring from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee:
Prone to wander- Lord, I feel it-
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart- O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Isn't that a great hymn? It is so convicting when I read that section of the last verse where it says, "Prone to wander- Lord, I feel it- Prone to leave the God I love". What a great reminder that I must daily give my heart to both my fathers- Heavenly and earthly!

Oh, and by the way, I passed the Driver's Permit exam! :D

Definitions are Important

"He who defines, wins. He who defines the language, defines the culture."

Doug Phillips

Quote on Daughterhood

"Love your daughterhood. Rejoice in it!"

Doug Phillips

True Heroes

"How desperately we need true heroes! The influence of example can hardly be overestimated."

Joshua Harris

Be a Visionary!

"We have big dreams and big aspirations, but we have a big God... Think big. Think beyond yourself."

-Doug Phillips

R.M. M'Cheyne on the Believer's Life

I thought this was a wonderful, thought-provoking passage from the pen of R.M. M'Cheyne:

"A Believer is to be known not only by his peace and joy, but by his warfare and distress. His peace is peculiar: it flows from Christ; it is heavenly, it is holy peace. His warfare is peculiar: it is deep-seated, agonising, and ceases not until death...Coming to Christ takes away your fear of the law; but it is the Holy Spirit coming into your heart that makes you love the law. The Holy Spirit is no longer frightened away from your heart; He comes and softens it; He takes out the stony heart and puts in a heart of flesh; and there He writes the holy, holy, holy law of God... the law of God is sweet to that soul... Oh that all the world but knew that holiness and happiness are one! Oh that all the world were one holy family, joyfully coming under the pure rules of the gospel! Try yourselves by this. Can you say, "I delight", etc? Do you remember when you hated the law of God? Do you love it now? Do you long for the time when you shall live fully under it- holy as God is holy, pure as Christ is pure?"

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

Good Friends...

Good friends know enough about you to be dangerous, but love you enough to not tell anyone what they know.

Unknown

Praise God

"Believers should praise God for what He is in Himself. Those that have never seen the Lord cannot praise Him. Those who have not come to Christ have never seen the King in His beauty. An unconverted man sees no loveliness in God. He sees a beauty in the blue sky- in the glorious sun- in the green earth- in the sparkling stars- in the lily of the field; but he sees no beauty in God. He has not seen Him, neither known Him; therefore there is no melody of praise in that heart. When a sinner is brought to Christ, he is brought to the Father. Jesus gave Himself for us, "that He might bring us to God." Oh! What a sight breaks in upon the soul- the infinite, eternal, unchangeable God...Oh! Praise Him then for what He is. Praise Him for His pure, lovely holiness...Praise Him for His infinite wisdom that He knows the end from the beginning. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Praise Him for His power- that all matter, all mind, is in His Hand."

Robert Murray M'Cheyne

As I read this, it made me think, "Do I praise God 'for what He is'?" Too often, I don't. It's easy to praise God for the beauty He has created in the world around us, but it's not always so easy to praise God simply 'for what He is'. To be truthful, I don't usually give much consideration to God's holiness or wisdom. But I should. I really like what Michael Billings had to say about this-

"Did you notice that the seraphim don't just say that God is 'Holy'? Nor are they content to say that God is 'Holy, Holy.' But the heavenly song that celebrates the character of God declares that He is 'Holy, Holy, Holy'- the superlative degree. Nowhere else in Scripture is any other attribute elevated to the third degree. The Bible does not say that GOd is 'Love, Love, Love'; or 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy'; or 'Justice, Justice, Justice'; but that He is 'Holy, Holy, Holy'. This is a dimension of God that consumes His very essence."

WOW!

Today's Quote

Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home, Lead Thou me on!

Keep thou my feet! I do not ask to see the distant scene- one step's enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on; I loved to choose and see my path; but now, Lead Thou me on!

I loved the garish day, and spite of fears, pride ruled my will: remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on,

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till the night is gone,

And with the morn those angel faces smile will lead me on.

John Henry Newman
(1801-1890)