Friday, November 20, 2009
Bob Lumadue EYE ON THE SPARROW
EYE ON THE SPARROW
Matthew 6:26
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Matthew 10:26-31
26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
About 70 years ago, in a small Methodist church in El Reno, Oklahoma, I first heard my mother sing “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. Even at that young age of seven, for some reason it had a significant effect on me. I did not fully understand the message, and certainly not the scripture behind it, but it touched me nevertheless. That is just the beginning of the story, which is somewhat self-serving, but I will tell it anyway.
This song is still in the Cokesbury Hymnal, thankfully, and I wish it were in the large Methodist hymnal. A lot of the old “down home” hymns have not survived the “improvements” that have taken place in the big hymnal over the years —but that is another story
Well, about 40 years ago, I was privileged to hear a cousin of my wife sing the same number in a small church in upper South Carolina, at a family gathering. Needless to say, it brought back memories.
About 15 years ago, at one of the first Hymn Sings at our church, a young tenor named Keith Hudspeth sang what has now become “my song” in his beautiful tenor voice. I cried like a baby.
Now, flash forward to about 10 years ago, and with no connection known to her, our daughter sang one of her first solos at St Andrews Methodist, and it was “His Eye is on the Sparrow’! Her voice bears an uncanny similarity to my mother’s voice — and that was a real experience, for me and for my wife Anne. Whatever talent our daughter has for singing, she got probably equally from my mother and from Arnie’s father, passed down to Anne and then to Liz. Certainly not from me!
Through the years of course, I have familiarized myself with the scriptures which were the inspiration for the song, mainly Matthew 6: 26, and 10:26-31. It becomes more and more apparent to me that God does have his eye on us, just as he has his eye on the smallest sparrow, and of course all living things.
I feel truly blessed to have the series of experiences I mentioned, and thank you for letting me share them.
My prayer would be that each of us continues to remember that “His Eye is on the Sparrow — and I Know He Watches Me”. Amen and Amen.
Matthew 6:26
26Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Matthew 10:26-31
26Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
27What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
29Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
About 70 years ago, in a small Methodist church in El Reno, Oklahoma, I first heard my mother sing “His Eye is on the Sparrow”. Even at that young age of seven, for some reason it had a significant effect on me. I did not fully understand the message, and certainly not the scripture behind it, but it touched me nevertheless. That is just the beginning of the story, which is somewhat self-serving, but I will tell it anyway.
This song is still in the Cokesbury Hymnal, thankfully, and I wish it were in the large Methodist hymnal. A lot of the old “down home” hymns have not survived the “improvements” that have taken place in the big hymnal over the years —but that is another story
Well, about 40 years ago, I was privileged to hear a cousin of my wife sing the same number in a small church in upper South Carolina, at a family gathering. Needless to say, it brought back memories.
About 15 years ago, at one of the first Hymn Sings at our church, a young tenor named Keith Hudspeth sang what has now become “my song” in his beautiful tenor voice. I cried like a baby.
Now, flash forward to about 10 years ago, and with no connection known to her, our daughter sang one of her first solos at St Andrews Methodist, and it was “His Eye is on the Sparrow’! Her voice bears an uncanny similarity to my mother’s voice — and that was a real experience, for me and for my wife Anne. Whatever talent our daughter has for singing, she got probably equally from my mother and from Arnie’s father, passed down to Anne and then to Liz. Certainly not from me!
Through the years of course, I have familiarized myself with the scriptures which were the inspiration for the song, mainly Matthew 6: 26, and 10:26-31. It becomes more and more apparent to me that God does have his eye on us, just as he has his eye on the smallest sparrow, and of course all living things.
I feel truly blessed to have the series of experiences I mentioned, and thank you for letting me share them.
My prayer would be that each of us continues to remember that “His Eye is on the Sparrow — and I Know He Watches Me”. Amen and Amen.
Tom Stinson THANKSGIVING
(Linda typed this for us . . )
THANKSGIVING
Suggested Bible Reading: Psalm 100: 1-5 (NIV) "1. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3.Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His Name. 5. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Today's Scripture: Psalm 75:1 "Oh, God, we give thanks to you. We proclaim how great you are and tell of the wonderful things you have done."
This is the season of Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for - my family, friends, my church, and the fact that I live in a free country.
My lovely wife of 60 years and I moved to Charlotte in 1998 to be near our daughter and her family. It was quite an adjustment; however, we soon realized that with God's help, we had made the right decision.
I have had two open-heart surgeries and my wife has had cornea transplants, all of which would have been a 60-mile trip to a Birmingham hospital.
God has richly Blessed me and I am truly thankful.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to express our thanksgiving to you and all mankind.
Thought for the Day: Count our many Blessings.
Prayer Focus: Live your life in a Spirit of Thanksgiving.
TOM STINSON
THANKSGIVING
Suggested Bible Reading: Psalm 100: 1-5 (NIV) "1. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3.Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His Name. 5. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Today's Scripture: Psalm 75:1 "Oh, God, we give thanks to you. We proclaim how great you are and tell of the wonderful things you have done."
This is the season of Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for - my family, friends, my church, and the fact that I live in a free country.
My lovely wife of 60 years and I moved to Charlotte in 1998 to be near our daughter and her family. It was quite an adjustment; however, we soon realized that with God's help, we had made the right decision.
I have had two open-heart surgeries and my wife has had cornea transplants, all of which would have been a 60-mile trip to a Birmingham hospital.
God has richly Blessed me and I am truly thankful.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to express our thanksgiving to you and all mankind.
Thought for the Day: Count our many Blessings.
Prayer Focus: Live your life in a Spirit of Thanksgiving.
TOM STINSON
Monday, November 16, 2009
Jim asked me to lead the group Thursday , November 19, and so I have been thinking about it.
On Thursday remember we are scheduled to present our "Upper Room" type articles to each other.
Since we have not discussed procedures, I thought I would make up some and let you tell me if they need changing. Here we go.
1> Look ate the Upper Room and check its format.
2>The Upper Room articles have several sections:
Title of your Write Up
Suggested Bible Reading
Todays' Scripture
(The Write up)
Prayer
Thought for the Day
Prayer Focus
3>We probably need to have read before the session, otherwise we will be there all day making copies, reading for first time, and finding scripture references, all while we are trying to eat.
4> To save time we would lose in copying, I suggest we print/copy before the meeting as follows . . .
5> I suggest we email copies to each other and we each can print out the ones we receive.
4>Also print a couple of copies of yours to bring in case we need extra, the emailing does not work. or/and for those without email. I might usa mail mine to Ken who has no email
5>If you want to use the copier at the church, there is one in the library beside Ownbey Class Room 110. Try to do well before class as it might be backed up as the microwave is sometimes heating our food.
6> Even if you are not going to be present, go ahead and email your work to all. When this project came up no one objected to the idea.
7> Let me know if you want to change these suggestions.
8> I will send you my copy after I give you a chance first to voice any changes to these suggested procedures (and after I add the prayer which I forgot until I made the list under #2).
9>I also will put mine on our Blog Site and later I will ask you if I may add yours.These suggestions are on our Blog now at http://noonbiblestudy.blogspot.com/
See you Thursday
donRedding
On Thursday remember we are scheduled to present our "Upper Room" type articles to each other.
Since we have not discussed procedures, I thought I would make up some and let you tell me if they need changing. Here we go.
1> Look ate the Upper Room and check its format.
2>The Upper Room articles have several sections:
Title of your Write Up
Suggested Bible Reading
Todays' Scripture
(The Write up)
Prayer
Thought for the Day
Prayer Focus
3>We probably need to have read before the session, otherwise we will be there all day making copies, reading for first time, and finding scripture references, all while we are trying to eat.
4> To save time we would lose in copying, I suggest we print/copy before the meeting as follows . . .
5> I suggest we email copies to each other and we each can print out the ones we receive.
4>Also print a couple of copies of yours to bring in case we need extra, the emailing does not work. or/and for those without email. I might usa mail mine to Ken who has no email
5>If you want to use the copier at the church, there is one in the library beside Ownbey Class Room 110. Try to do well before class as it might be backed up as the microwave is sometimes heating our food.
6> Even if you are not going to be present, go ahead and email your work to all. When this project came up no one objected to the idea.
7> Let me know if you want to change these suggestions.
8> I will send you my copy after I give you a chance first to voice any changes to these suggested procedures (and after I add the prayer which I forgot until I made the list under #2).
9>I also will put mine on our Blog Site and later I will ask you if I may add yours.These suggestions are on our Blog now at http://noonbiblestudy.blogspot.com/
See you Thursday
donRedding
Friday, November 6, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
Our Study Process
NOTE 2007 Change in FORMAT:
Guys: (5/14/2007)
Men's Bible Study - New Study Process
After discussion, we've decided to change the process which we use in
Thursday's Bible studies. It seemed that, in the old way, we talked
about Scripture but gradually got away from actually studying in the
Scripture. We began to emphasize the Upper Room stories (giving grades 1 - 10),
and rarely discussed the Scriptural references.
In the new way, we'll read/discuss the Scripture references in the
applicable Upper Room stories and discontinue the grading of the stories.
(We didn't feel it right to "grade" the Scripture, so the entire grading process has been eliminated).
That said, now all you need do is come prepared to discuss the Upper
Room Scripture references for the week..... maybe taking/bringing some
notes on each referenced Scripture passage and being prepared to
discuss any that enlightened, impacted, puzzled, intrigued, amused, angered,
lifted, depressed, or concerned you. Your call.
(We also use the Men's Bible according to the schedule as well.dsr 5/12/09)
We've tried this for a couple of weeks and it seems to work out OK.
Discussions have been lively.
Look forward to seeing you Thursday.
Any questions, just ask.
Jim Hatfield
(5/14/2007)
Guys: (5/14/2007)
Men's Bible Study - New Study Process
After discussion, we've decided to change the process which we use in
Thursday's Bible studies. It seemed that, in the old way, we talked
about Scripture but gradually got away from actually studying in the
Scripture. We began to emphasize the Upper Room stories (giving grades 1 - 10),
and rarely discussed the Scriptural references.
In the new way, we'll read/discuss the Scripture references in the
applicable Upper Room stories and discontinue the grading of the stories.
(We didn't feel it right to "grade" the Scripture, so the entire grading process has been eliminated).
That said, now all you need do is come prepared to discuss the Upper
Room Scripture references for the week..... maybe taking/bringing some
notes on each referenced Scripture passage and being prepared to
discuss any that enlightened, impacted, puzzled, intrigued, amused, angered,
lifted, depressed, or concerned you. Your call.
(We also use the Men's Bible according to the schedule as well.dsr 5/12/09)
We've tried this for a couple of weeks and it seems to work out OK.
Discussions have been lively.
Look forward to seeing you Thursday.
Any questions, just ask.
Jim Hatfield
(5/14/2007)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Bible Scholars and others, win $$ for you or your favorite charity
Bible Scholars and others
So what if you do not know all you want to about the Bible, if you learn just the books in order you can win $ for you or your favorite charity - contact don, get together, and recite the names successfully in order by memory two times in a row. Offer ends soon. Click here to see winners from the Ownbey class for a similar offer at http://www.donredding.com/aaaa/index.html
$50 Bible books in order
Extra $25 for including the (18 Books of the) Apocrypha!
and $25 more for 10 Commadements
Books of Bible at http://www.mpumc.org/ownbey/books_of_bible
and
http://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/66books.html
Apcorypha list at www.mb-soft.com/believe/txs/apocryph.htm
or
Poems with Bible Books' Names
get Bible Business Cards from the Ownbey Class
Win $50
Thursday, February 5, 2009
02/05/09 Thu "Truth Project"
We did the first volume of the TRUTH PROJECT and will do the remaining 10 volumes the first of each month (we did #2 or 3 last month). Link to Truth Project Web page
A careful examination of molecular biology and the fossil record demonstrates that evolution is not a "proven fact." Meanwhile, history shows that ideas, including Darwinism as a social philosophy, have definite consequences – consequences that can turn ugly when God is left out of the picture. (Part Two) Back to top
Lesson 1 - Veritology: What is Truth?
The Truth Project begins by defining truth as "that which corresponds to reality." This absolute and eternal truth, at the heart of Jesus' mission on earth, continues to be the focal point of the Cosmic Battle in our own time.
Lesson 2 - Philosophy and Ethics: Says Who?
Truth is not simply an academic concept. The way we think about truth has a direct bearing upon the way we live our lives. What's more, our understanding of right and wrong is directly dependent on our worldview: is the universe God's creation or a closed cosmic cube?
Lesson 3 - Anthropology: Who is Man?
Link to Video (Give it up to 3 minutes to load, it will !)
The Bible tells us that man was created in God's image but fell from innocence through sin. Modern psychology, on the other hand, asserts that man is inherently good and behaves badly only under the influence of social or institutional pressure. This lesson explores the implications of both views.
Lesson 4 - Theology: Who is God?
Eternal life, according to Jesus, is knowing God in an intimate, personal, and relational way. Such knowledge, which is possible only because of divine revelation, transforms us from the inside out as we begin to see ourselves in the light of His majesty and holiness.
Lesson 5 - Science: What is True?
Science, the "systematic study of the natural world," brings to light innumerable evidences of Intelligent Design. But Darwinian theory transforms science from the honest investigation of nature into a vehicle for propagating a godless philosophy. (Part One)A careful examination of molecular biology and the fossil record demonstrates that evolution is not a "proven fact." Meanwhile, history shows that ideas, including Darwinism as a social philosophy, have definite consequences – consequences that can turn ugly when God is left out of the picture. (Part Two) Back to top
Lesson 6 - History: Whose Story?
Does the past have an objective actuality and significance? Or does it, as postmodernist philosophy asserts, exist primarily inside our heads? This tour considers the meaning of history as God’s story and shows us why remembering is so important.
Lesson 7 - Sociology: The Divine Imprint
The order we observe in the natural realm is even more apparent in the social systems God has established: family, church, community, state, labor, and the union between God and man. Life is a series of relationships that flow out of and reflect the Trinitarian nature of the Creator. Back to top
Lesson 8 - Unio Mystica: Am I Alone?
Is it possible for the infinite, eternal Creator to dwell within the heart of an individual? The implications of this great mystery, which represents the very core of the Christian faith, are explored at length in this examination of the most intimate of the social spheres. Back to top
Lesson 9 - The State: Whose Law?
Of all the social spheres, the state, to which God grants the power of the sword for the punishment of evil and the preservation of the good, has the greatest potential to go awry if it oversteps its authority. The civil magistrate must always remember his place under the sovereignty of God – otherwise, havoc will ensue.
Lesson 10 - The American Experiment: Stepping Stones
America is unique in the history of the world. On these shores a people holding to a biblical worldview have had an opportunity to set up a system of government designed to keep the state within its divinely ordained boundaries. Tour #10 follows the history of this experiment and explores what happens to freedom when God is forgotten.
Lesson 11 - Labor: Created to Create
Contrary to a great deal of contemporary popular opinion, work is not a "curse." God Himself is active and creative, and He calls man to share in the joy of His activity and creativity. Labor, economics, media, and the creative arts all have a role to play in magnifying the glory of the Creator.
Lesson 12 - Community and Involvement: God Cares, do I?
The ethical law and the meaning of the Christian life are summed up in the commandment to love God and one's neighbor. This command is the source of the believer's motivation for self-sacrificial service to the needy and their personal involvement in our culture. Link to Truth Project Web pageFriday, January 23, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
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