Last night I spent a memorable evening listening to photographer and author Alysia Burton Steele, who traveled 6,000 miles throughout the Mississippi Delta to interview 54 African-American women who grew up, married, and raised children during the Jim Crow era. Her Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom shares their stories. One of the grandmothers is Mrs. Velma T. Moore of Benoit. Married for 49 years when widowed, 15 children, 145 grandchildren, 33 great-grands, 26 great-great grands, and 14 great-great-great grands. Her testimony: “I always said, “Lord, I want one husband. I want all of my childen to be by that one man.’ And God fixed it so . . . I’m still Mrs. Moore. I be Mrs. Moore until…
Read MoreOn Psalm 6 William Plumer comments: “With believers when things get to the worst then they get better. To them darkness is the harbinger of light; grief, of gladness; humility, of exaltation; death, of life. The whole Psalm teaches thus . . . The pious man has a friend in heaven, and on that account has no reason to be violently overcome by his sorrow.” And Matthew Henry on Psalm 4:6: “It has often been the the lot of the best of men to be men of sorrows; our Lord Jesus himself was so.” ______ – William S. Plumer, Psalms: A Critical and Expository Commentary with Doctrinal and Practical Remarks. 1867 (Carlise, PA: Banner of Truth, 1990), 101. – Matthew Henry,…
Read More“GRANT, we beseech thee, merciful Lord, to thy faithful people pardon and peace, that they may be cleansed from all their sins, and serve thee with a quiet mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” – 1928 Book of Common Prayer
Read More“All the saints [that is, believers] come to the throne of grace on the same errand, and in this they are one, they all desire God’s favor as their chief good. We should beg it for others as well as for ourselves, for in God’ s favor there is enough for us all and we shall have never the less for sharing in what we have.” – Matthew Henry on Psalm 4:6
Read More“Most worthy art thou, O GOOD AND GRACIOUS GOD, of all praises, even for thine own sake, surpassing all things in holiness. By thee alone are we made holy and sanctified. We praise thee for our glorious redemption, purchased for us in thy dearly beloved Son, Christ Jesus, as our duty continually bids us. Give us thy Holy Spirit to govern us. And grant that all things which breathe with life may praise thee as the true life of all creatures, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. AMEN.” – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 149.
Read More“Thy mercies, LORD, are above all thy works; faithful art thou in all thy promises, just in all thy doings. Be a merciful Father unto us for Christ Jesus thy Son’s sake. Govern our ways for we are weak; strengthen us for we are frail; refresh us f0r we are famished; and plentifully bestow thy good gifts upon us. Defend us from the snares of Satan, our old enemy, that he tempt us not out of the right way, but that we be evermore ready to praise and glorify thy holy name, through Jesus Christ. AMEN.” – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 145
Read MoreThomas Brooks reflects on humility: “Labor to be clothed with humility. Humility makes a man peaceable among brethren, fruitful in well-doing, cheerful in suffering, and constant in holy walking (1 Pet. 5:5). Humility fits for the highest services we owe to Christ, and yet will not neglect the lowest service to the [most ordinary] saint (John 13:5) . . . Humility can weep over other men’s weaknessses, and joy and rejoice over their graces. Humility will make a man quiet and contented in the [lowliest] condition, and it will preserve a man from envying other men’s prosperous condition (1 Thess 1:2,3). Humility honors those that are strong in grace and puts two hands under those that are weak in grace (Eph.…
Read MoreJemar Tisby, RTS Jackson’s African American Leadership Initiative Director, and Steve Lanier, Assistant to the Pastor at Redeemer PCA, help my Introduction to Missions students think through cross-cultural missions. Very valuable instruction!
Read MoreCREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, however greatly the affairs and cares of this world do trouble, molest, and avert us from rendering unto thee that honour and obedience due unto thee, yet we beseech thee that, forgetting all other things, we may have no other aim but to praise and glorify thee all the days of our life, for the great benefits which we continually receive at thy hands, through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 136.
Read MoreMOST MERCIFUL GOD, Author of all good things, who hast given thy holy commandments unto us, whereby we should direct our life, imprint them in our hearts by thy Holy Spirit; and grant that we may so renounce all our fleshly desires, and all the vanities of this world, that our whole pleasure and delight may be in thy law; that we, being always governed by thy holy Word, may in the end attain to that eternal salvation which thou has promised through Christ Jesus, thy Son. AMEN. – Prayers on the Psalms from the Scottish Psalter of 1595 (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2010), 125.
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