Jesu, joy of man's desiring!

Several days back, I downloaded “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” sung by Celtic Woman. It was the first part of the 10th movement of the cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 composed by Johann Sebastian Bach. This small masterpiece is rich with theology and musical perfection. Following is the English translation of the cantata:

Jesu, joy of man's desiring,

Holy Wisdom, Love most bright;

Drawn by Thee, our souls, aspiring,

Soar to uncreated light.

Word of God, our flesh that fashion'd,

With the fire of life impassion'd,

Striving still to truth unknown,

Soaring, dying, round Thy throne.

Through the way where hope is guiding,

Hark, what peaceful music rings!

Where the flock, in Thee confiding,

Drink of joy from deathless springs.

Theirs is beauty's fairest pleasure;

Theirs is wisdom's holiest treasure.

Thou dost ever lead Thine own

In the love of joys unknown.

Source: Boyd, M., ed. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring", The Oxford Composer Companions: J. S. Bach, Oxford University Press.

A Sad Sunday: Beloved Pastor has gun-down at the Church

A unidentified Gunman walked down the aisle of the Illinois  First Baptist Church of Maryville, during the Sunday service and shot the pastor and then stabbed himself. The church web site issued a communiqué:

“On Sunday, March 8, 2009, a little after our 8:15 service began, a man entered First Baptist Church and fired several gunshots at our Senior Pastor, Dr. Fred Winters. Pastor Winters was taken to the hospital but died of his wounds.”

Dr. Winters had been their Senior Pastor since 1987, the same year that he was married to his wife Cindy Lee. He received a BA from Southwest Baptist University (1986), an MA in Systematic Theology and Church History from Wheaton (1986), an MDiv from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (1991), and a PhD from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was the former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

 One News Now reported that “First Baptist had an average attendance of 32 people when Winters became senior pastor in 1987; it now has about 1,200 members, according to the church's Web site. Winters also was former president of the Illinois Baptist State Association and an adjunct professor for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, according to the site.”

He is survived by his wife, Cindy Lee and two children, Alysia Grace and Cassidy Hope.

International Heralded tribune notes the rising violence against the Christian ministers: “Last month, a man shot and killed himself in front of a cross inside televangelist Robert H. Schuller's Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. In November, a gunman killed his estranged wife in a New Jersey church vestibule as Sunday services let out.

In July, two people were killed and six wounded in a shooting rampage at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. An out-of-work truck driver who police say targeted the church for its liberal leanings pleaded guilty to the shootings and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.”

The First Baptist Church further stated,

“Please pray for Dr. Winter’s family, our two brave members who were injured when they stopped the assailant, for the assailant himself and his family, and for our church members as they deal with this tragic loss.

In this day, where uncertainty seems to abound creating an environment in which people are vulnerable in doing things they might not do otherwise, one thing is certain, we, as human beings need a foundation upon which we can live our lives. We at First Baptist Maryville, along with other Christian believers, share this conviction: that foundation is God’s Word. In the pages of the Book we call the Bible, we find the pathway for peace, hope, and a quality of living life despite what circumstances we find ourselves in.

To those who believe in the power of prayer, we covet your prayers right now”

Gregory of Nazianzus, poem on his friendship with Basil

For God had given me yet one priceless gift

Uniting me with Wisdom's wisest son,

Himself alone above all life and word;

Who this could be you soon shall know full well;

Basil his name; our age's great support. 

And pair were we not all unknown in Grace;

All things we shared in common, and one sould

Linked us together, through in body twain.

One thing there was which joined us most of all,

The love of God and of the highest good. 

For, soon as courage came to us to speak

Each to the other of that we had at heart,

More closely were our spirits knit in love,

For fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind.

[Basil of Caesarea (c. 329-379); Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390); Gregory of Nyssa (335-395) considered as the Cappoadocian Fathers who were the proponants of Trinitarianism against the Arian controversy ]. 

Source: Nicene and Post-Nicene Father, Second Series, Vol. VII, 190.

 

Thank you for the shared life and friendship of my dearest friends!

 

Parting of a Godly Servent!: Tribute to Dr. Harold Hoehner (1935-2009)

Today was a bright sunny day. The chapel was getting filled and the faculty chairs were unusually empty. The chapel service started by Dr. Sedwick from CE department. I was disappointed because of not sing a hymen in the beginning. My mind wonders away thinking about the faculty—what happened to them, usually these chairs are full. The first chair left to the podium is dedicated to Dr Honor. Dr Hoehner rarely  misses chapel, I wondered. I love to watch him while, message been delivered by other Profs. This smart, strong, white-haired man rarely  read his bible at the chapel—he just closes his eyes and followed the text, while others are reading diligently. Once in a while some of the Profs throw a curve ball using the New Testament texts. And those perplexed times he would turned to his bible, following the lecture scratching his head. Times like those, we used to laugh watching his reactions.

Then Dr. Sedwick said the president would bring an important announcement. Dr. Bailey took the podium and said, “today… Dr. Hoehner after his daily jog… went home…and collapsed.” I thought they have taken him to a hospital and he is going to ask us to remember him in our prayers. These kinds of notices are very common. But his voice became frail an sad, it starts to shiver—then I couldn’t believed what I was hearing. Dr. Bailey said, “They tried to resuscitate him, he went to be with Lord…” and then pointing to the chair and said, “that chair will never be the same again!!!”

Yes, Dr. Bairley is right—Dr. Harold Hoehner was a remarkable man to DTS. The New Testament department consider him as the same caliber with the Dr. Scoffield (founder) and Dr. Woolverd (Most influenced President). His contribution is bringing the critical thinking to that department. I have heard some Professors commenting on Dr. Hoehner saying, before his time DTS taught what to believe, but Dr. Hoehner brought the notion of training the students to search and find the truth by them selves. This was a risky thing to do, students may differ seeing what is lay behind the text. However he trusted God and brought the "thinking aspect" to the academia of the DTS New Testament department. He encouraged the PhD grads to go to different universities and get their PhD’s. That’s why most of New Testament Professors are trained in UK or else where. I was not qualified enough (unfortunately) to sat in his higher Greek exegetical courses. However, for me He will be remembered as a humble man, who is willing to even participate in the World Evangelism Conference feature film acting a laughable character, last proponent of majority text and Matthean priority in New Testament department.

DTS web site A Tribute to beloved Professor Dr. Harold W. Hoehner cites,

“As a department chair, he brought the highest ideals in academic standards to the DTS campus along with compassion and encouragement to his department faculty and their families. Along with others in the department, he crafted a thorough yet learner-friendly model of New Testament Greek exegesis that is widely used today.

As a teacher, he always pushed his students toward excellence, careful study of Scripture, and fair-minded interaction with the wider world of New Testament scholarship. His magnificent commentary on Ephesians—his magnum opus—will continue to instruct and inspire pastors and teachers for many years to come. Because one of his books is entitled Herod Antipas, he became affectionately known to a generation of students as “Herod Hoehner.” He was known for his unwavering love for the style manual by Kate Turabian. With King’s College of Cambridge, England, as his doctoral alma mater, some have said his only educational regret was that he did not attend Texas A&M (simply because he loved Aggie jokes so much)!

As a person, Harold was a man of integrity, frugality, hard work, strong opinions, and fairness to others coupled with a loyal, collegial spirit, humility, and humor. Though he was not a good actor by his own admission, he took opportunities to participate in Senior Chapel or Missions Conference videos because he knew students would get a laugh seeing him trying to act cool.”

You can read more about him and his impact on Harold W. Hoehner Tribute.

Dr. Hoehner will be sorely missed!

සිහිනෙන් ඇදුණු ලොතරැයියෙන් උද්දාම වී දෙදහසක් වැයකර මිතුරන් සමග විනෝදවෙලා!

[This article is written in Sinhalese unicode typescript]

රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දහයක ලොතරැයියක් තමාට ඇදෙනු සිහිනෙන් දුටු පුද්ගලයකු පසුදින අවදි වී ඒ සතුටට තමන් අත තිබූ රුපියල් දෙදහසක මුදලින් මිතුරන් සමඟ විනෝදවීමේ පුවතක් මහනුවර ප්‍රදේශයේ ගම්මානයකින් වාර්තා විය.

සිද්ධිය සැකෙවින් මෙසේය.

මහනුවරට නුදුරු ගම්මානයක පදිංචි මොහු වෘත්තියෙන් කම්කරුවෙකි. ඒවගේම දිනපතා ලොතරැයි මිලදී ගැනීමටද දක්වන්නේ විශේෂ උනන්දුවකි. ලොතරැයි දිනුම් ගැන නිතරම පේන බලන මොහු අවසානයට බැලූ පේනයෙන් කියා තිබුණේ රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දහයක් ඇදෙන බවකි.

මේ ගැන හිත හිතාම සිටි මොහුට දිනක් නින්දේදී තමන් මිලදී ගත් ලොතරැයියට රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දහයක් ඇදී ඇති බවයි.

රැයක් එළිවෙනතුරුම ලොතරැයි ජය ගැන සිහින දුටු මොහු අවදි වීමෙන් පසුවද එය අමතක කළේ නැත. නින්දෙන් අවදිවුණු ඔහු සිතුවේ තමන්ට සත්‍ය වශයෙන්ම ලොතරැයියක් ඇදී ඇති බවයි.
උදෙන්ම ගමේ කඩ පොළට ගිය මොහු මිතුරන් කිහිප දෙනෙකුද එක් කරගෙන නගරයට ගොස් තමන් අත තිබූ දින ගණනක් තිස්සේ කුලී වැඩ කර හොයා ගත් රුපියල් දෙදහසක් වියදම් කර මිතුරන් සමග කාබී විනෝද වූයේ රුපියල් ලක්‍ෂ දහයක් නිසැක වශයෙන් ලැබෙන බැවිනි. මේ වන විටත් මිතුරාගේ මේ සත් ගුණවත් පරිත්‍යාගයට හේතුව නොදත් මිතුරන් ඔහුගෙන් හේතුව විමසන විට ඔහු අත තිබූ රුපියල් 2000 ක මුදලම අවසන් වී තිබිණ.

ලොතරැයි සිහිනයේ නිමග්නව සිටි මොහුට පියවි සිහිය ලැබෙන විට සියල්ල අවසන්වී සාක්කුවද හිස්වී තිබිණ.

David C. Cook only had five dollars in his pocket after the 1871 Chicago fire, yet he spent it buying milk for homeless children. The desire for kids to know Christ consumed him, and in 1875 he founded a publishing company. We have been publishing Sunday school and vacation Bible school materials ever since.

Christians lobby against anti-conversion bill

In February, the Sri Lankan parliament is due to debate a draft bill entitled "Prohibition of Forcible Conversion of Religion." The debate on this bill comes as the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress launched a report in January that contained highly inflammatory and false accusations against the Christian community in an attempt to bolster support for the repressive legislation. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka is urging immediate attention in advocating against the proposed anti-conversion bill. Anti-conversion bills are often used to stop Christians from evangelizing. Pray this legislation is not passed into law in Sri Lanka. Ask God to encourage believers to remain faithful in their commitment to Christ despite attempts by the government to silence them. Thank God for the faithfulness of believers in Sri Lanka.

Source:

Weak is the will of man (1815)

“Weak is the will of Man, his judgments blind;

Remembrance persecutes, and Hope betrays;

Heavy is woe;--and joy, for human-kind,

A mournful thing, so transit it the blaze!”

Thus might he paint our lot of mortal days

Who wants the glorious faculty assigned

To elevate the more-than-reasoning Mind,

And colour life’s dark cloud with orient rays.

Imagination lofty and refined:

’Tis hers to pluck the amaranthine flower

Of Faith, and round Suffer’s temple bind

Wreaths that endure affliction’s heaviest shower,

And do not shrink from sorrow’s keenest wind.

 

William Wordsworth, Selected Poems and Prefaces, ed. Jack Stillinger (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965),428.

Pray For the Military Forces:THE FINAL INSPECTION

A soldier stood and faced God, 
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you ?
Have you always turned the other cheek ?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep. 

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

Death of a Prominant Christian Journalist

People often ask me why I take such risks and tell me it is a matter of time before I am bumped off. Of course I know that: it is inevitable. But if we do not speak out now, there will be no one left to speak for those who cannot, whether they be ethnic minorities, the disadvantaged or the
persecuted. An example that has inspired me throughout my career in journalism has been that of the German theologian, Martin Niem”ller. In his youth he was an anti-Semite and an admirer of Hitler. As Nazism took hold in Germany, however, he saw Nazism for what it was: it was not just
the Jews Hitler sought to extirpate, it was just about anyone with an alternate point of view.

Niem”ller spoke out, and for his trouble was incarcerated in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945, and very nearly executed. While incarcerated, Niem”ller wrote a poem that, from the first time I read it in my teenage years, stuck hauntingly in my mind:

  First they came for the Jews
  and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
  Then they came for the Communists

  and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.
  Then they came for the trade unionists
  and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
  Then they came for me
  and there was no one left to speak out for me.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim, low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to which you have become accustomed. Do not take that commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for you. Whether you deserve their sacrifice is another matter. As for me, God knows I tried.

Lasantha Wickramatunge was murdered by unidentified gunman on January 8, 2009. These words are taken from his last article.