Grand River Seasons

To See America

.

Photos and video clips from our recent trip to Alaska set to Simon & Garfunkel's "America".

Pilgrims' Hymn - Stephen Paulus

Have Ye Not Known - Ye Shall Have A Song

The link below will take you to the YouTube page of the video of the National Lutheran Choir performing Randall Thompson's "Have Ye Not Known/Ye Shall Have a Song" based on the texts of Isaiah 40:21 and 30:29. Unfortunately embedding of this video is not allowed, so I can only provide the link. Many years ago we were in the Evangelical Choral Society of Grand Rapids, Michigan and this was one of the pieces we performed. It is very beautiful and I think if you love music at all, you will enjoy this.

National Lutheran Choir: Have Ye Not Known

"Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?" (Isaiah 40:21)

"Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD..." (Isaiah 30:29)

Behold Our God!

O God Our Help in Ages Past

"O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.

Under the shadow of thy throne,
still may we dwell secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting, thou art God,
to endless years the same.

A thousand ages, in thy sight,
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night,
before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever rolling stream,
bears all who breathe away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come;
be thou our guide while life shall last,
and our eternal home. "

~ Isaac Watts

This past month (December 2012) we have had occassion to bury both my mother and my father. Dad passed away two weeks and one day after mom did. As I contemplated what a major change this is going to be in my life, the above words of Isaac Watts came to mind.

(Cross posted to Poetry Particulars.)

Some Good Piano Music for Free

#Joy

Driving down the highway, windows down, wind blowing in face, and the radio cranked up real loud to a Felix Mendelssohn score.

The Mountian  (TSO Photography)

The Mountain from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

This is really nice. 

~ The Billy Goat  ~

Alan Hovhaness: Symphony No. 39

Billy Goat Log; October 17,2010

• In thinking of the Lord's Supper, the question is not, "Is the Lord's table a sacrament?" The question is "How is the Lord's table a sacrament and what is the nature of the grace conveyed in that sacrament?" That there would be an ordnance of worship that is not somehow a means of grace in bringing the worshiper closer to God strikes a discordant note similar to that of a fingernail scratching on a chalk board.
  
  This week I picked up the book; This is My Body: The Presence of Christ in Reformation Thought by Thomas J. Davis (Baker, 2008). I'm just getting into it. It is a bit on the scholarly side, but traces the development of reformation thought regarding the Eucharist. Stay tuned.
  
  
• In the discussion of young earth/old earth or young universe/old universe there seems to be a missing element on both sides. Time is not constant, but relative. I don't know enough about physics to understand if or how e=mc² proves time is not a constant. I do have a philosophical rationale argument for saying time is relative based on its measurement being founded in the relationship of mass and motion.
  
  Has anyone in the young earth camp on the one side, or the theistic evolution camp on the other side, ever discussed the implications of time's relativity on the whole creation question and our understanding of Genesis 1? They may have, and if so, I'd like to see it.
  
  
• Back in May I posted a note here about second and third hand reports of some of the turmoil in the loose association of churches our former church is part of. Recently I came across first hand proof of that turmoil on one of the blogs associated with that movement. The division, (and it is a division), is between the "old path" group and the "Reforming" group. The blog post was defending the old-path side, and it was in the comments that the differences between the two became highlighted as representatives from each side set forth their case.
  
  It is not my point to get into the details of those issues. (That's why I'm not linking to that blog post). That blog post and the comments made in response reinforced the conclusions I expressed back in the May posting referenced above.
  
  Reading that blog post reminded me of why it was that nine years ago we left that church and movement. I am so relieved and thankful we are away from that atmosphere and culture; that we are now beyond all that, and have gone on with our lives. And I'm also thankful the Lord directed our paths to another church that is much more healthy and balanced. "Here to the Lord has helped us."
  
  
• Story line: "The Life and Times of St. Lester the Unbeliever and His Role in the First Intergalactic Ecumenical Synod of 3457 (CEE)¹".
  
  (¹ Common Earth Era, formerly designated AD.)
  
  
• Once upon a time, in another lifetime, I graduated from high school. One of the hit songs of 1967 was this rock classic.
  

Of This and That

• I am in the final pages of H. C. Willmontt's "coffee table" edition of World War I(Dorling Kindersley, 2006). Though all war is depressing, WW-I was one of the most depressing wars of all. The reasons it started, the expectations versus the reality, the slaughter of trench warfare, the self-serving political maneuverings on both sides; utterly tragic.
  
  This "coffee table" book has "tons" of photographs, side-bars, and informative insets. I'm not entirely confident about some of the assertions Willmott makes regarding some of the events. For one example, I'm a little skeptical of the devaluing of the U.S. Army's offense in the Argonne Forest in relation to the ultimate collapse of the Hindenburg Line and the German defeat. That said, this is another good resource for gaining an understanding of World War I.
  
  
• Death is inconvenient. It upsets the pattern and flow of life. Back on June 2, I was at work when I got the call that my sister Joy had died. After hanging up the phone, I felt all other concerns for work and the other press of life drain away. I was going to take a timeout from the world for a few days. The world would have to just get along without me. And it did... A week latter, after the funeral I was back at work, picking up and going on with my life in this world. Death be not proud... Death is an enemy, and one day death will be put to death...
  
  
• I have concluded that Covenant Theology has just as much bologna in it as Dispinsationalism does. God did not speak out of both sides of His mouth...
  
  
• We watched the DVD version of The Blind Side. It was pretty good. Unfortunately the best line from that movie is not one you want to repeat without careful consideration of who will be hearing you quote it. It would be well though if many a momma would say the same thing to their college bound son.
  
  
• The year I started kindergarten, this was one of the top hit songs of the time.
  
  

Of This and That

• So some people are taking issue with John Piper inviting Rick Warren to a conference. What would these same people have said about Spurgeon inviting D. L. Moody to preach at the Tabernacle?
  
  
• I am slowly reading through H. P. Willmott's World War I. This is one of those "coffee table" kind of books with lots of pictures and side notes along with the main text. It is interesting and yet I can only read so much at a time because of all the wars to read about, reading about World War I is the most depressing. Given the reasons behind, and how it started, it was so totally unnecessary, and yet to this day we still live with the results of that colossal blunder.
  
  
• I recently led a men's Bible study session on the Suffering Servant passage in Isaiah 52 - 53. As a result I had a few preliminary ideas on a Biblical theology of that passage. We so often go to the suffering Servant passage bringing all of our New Testament perspective with us. How often do we ask how a believing Jew of Isaiah's time would have understood that passage? The images of the temple sacrificial system would have been pretty key to how it was understood.
  
  
• We've been keeping an eye on the Detroit Red Wings playoff games with Arizona. The series will be decided in game seven. In the meantime baseball has started and I've enjoyed catching a little bit of some of the Tigers games on TV.
  
  
• I'm told that the day I was born this was the number one pop song at that time.

"No One Else"

I look for you in the middle of the night
Savior and guardian of my soul
From highest heaven You hear my call
And in my trouble You comfort and hold me
I long for You when I cannot hear Your voice
And my heart is dry as the dust
Oh Lord, be near me if I should fall
And show me how to believe and to trust
You alone

There is no one else beside you
In the darkest night
In the wilderness
There is no one else beside you
At Your feet I cry
In Your arms I rest

I hope in You and Your promise to return
With angels and dark clouds of thunder
When death and evil and sorrow flee away
And all creation will bow and proclaim
You alone

There is no one else beside You
You will fill the sky
When You come again
There is no one else beside You
Heaven's only light
Burning without end

Fernando Ortega

It was about ten years ago. I was driving down the road and in a fit of frustration turned the radio dial to one of the local Christian radio stations. This song was playing. It was a time when we were in the midst of dealing with some very serious matters at the church we were then attending. It was in the midst of all the questioning, seeking, frustration, and burden of that situation, this song came into my life.

As I listened, I was practically in tears. Whatever happened, there would always be hope; hope in God and His promises alone. In the end He alone was all that mattered; no one else and nothing else but Him alone... "No One Else.."

~ The Billy Goat ~

We All Believe in One True God

By: Tobias Clausnitzer

We all believe in one true God,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Ever present help in need,
Praised by all the heavenly host;
All he made his love enfolds,
All creation he upholds.

We all believe in Jesus Christ,
Son of God and Mary’s son,
Who descended from his throne
And for us salvation won;
By whose cross and death are we
Rescued from all misery.

We all confess the Holy Ghost,
Who from both in truth proceeds,
Who sustains and comforts us
In all trials, fears and needs.
Blest and holy Trinity,
Praise forever yours shall be.

Hymn # 212 from Lutheran Worship
Author: Kirchengesangbuch
Tune: Wir Glauben All An Einen Gott
1st Published in: 1699


Amen!!!

~ The Billy Goat ~

In the following video, the above hymn is sung in German with the English translation scolling on the screen.

Linkin Park- In The End

Mystic Mountain by Alan Hovhaness



I first heard Mystic Mountain on the radio many, many years ago, but I missed the composers name, and at that time did not have the Internet to help me find it. Earlier this year I came across this particular YouTube video, as well as a number of other works by Hovhaness also on video. The visual part of this video takes you on a ride into the Alps. As nice as that is, for myself it is enough once again to hear that beautiful music that captured my attention so many, many years ago. As a side note, I also found out a younger friend of mine had the privilege in his younger years of studying organ under Dr. Hovhanass.

Solo Deo Gloria!

~ The Billy Goat ~

Saint Paul Cathedral Choir: The Lord Bless You and Keep You





A friend had this posted on his blog. I checked my YouTube account and found I had already picked this as a favorite. Up to now I had not thought to post YouTube vidios here, so this is a trial run of sorts. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and I will be posting more YouTube goodies in the future.

Shaloam,

~ The Billy Goat ~

U2 and the Christian Imagination

"In Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 , Steve Stockman reflects upon the way the church has received U2 throughout their music career to discuss the role of the arts in the Christian community. A theological grasp of art requires the use of a Christian imagination which allows for a person to conceive of the world in a way that is flavored with Christian thought through stories, music, art, poetry, etc. A Christian theological imagination presents the Christian with an opportunity to expose their spiritual journey in a personally, real, and deep way. Unfortunately, Christians today often lack the type of imagination necessary for viewing and interpreting the world through artistic expressions. Stockman traces the historical roots of this phenomenon while explaining the ways in which U2 uses the Christian imagination to inform their faith and music.

To begin, the loss of the Christian imagination began with the Protestant Reformation....."

The place I cut this quote off was deliberately chosen. The last statement standing by itself is deliberately provocative. Before you start sounding the heresy alarms, you may want to go to Semper Reformanda and read the whole article. Yes, I have a sympathy for the general thrust of the article, though retaining a critical mind regarding some of the things said. Read the whole article for yourself, and draw your own conclusions.

Jesus reigns!

~ The Billy Goat ~

Nice Arrangments of Familiar Hymns and Songs: Joel Rosenberger is making available at Piano by Joel some of the arrangements he writes and performs on piano. The files are in MP3 format. The selections include some of the older traditional hymns and songs. They make for really nice listening.

For His glory,

~ The Billy Goat ~