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files.)
Who is that babe in the manger? God?
Or a good man sent by God to save us? “Of the Father’s Love Begotten” is an ancient
song affirming the deity of Jesus. It echoes the very earliest claims about Jesus.
The
eyewitnesses proclaimed that Jesus is God.[1]
The infant church believed that Jesus is God.[2]
The ancient church officially acknowledged the deity of Jesus:
We believe in one
Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.[3]
Spanish lawyer,
Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, retired from public life to write poetry in
defense of the deity of Jesus.[4]
The church used his fifth century poems
to create liturgical hymns in worship of Jesus as God.[5]
His poem, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” is still sung at Christmas
For almost two
thousand years Jesus has been proclaimed, believed, acknowledged, defended, and
worshipped as God! From the album “The HymnBook – Thirty-Four Hundred Years of
Praise” this video is scrolling playback of Prudentius’ Christmas carol.
Kathy
You can get
print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Of the Father’s Love Begotten
for Celtic Instruments.
Click here
for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check
the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™
files.)
I was recently asked how a creation filled with millions
of years of pain, suffering, and death could be very good.
Pain and Suffering
I would agree that in the Garden of Eden there was:
•No
relational pain and suffering (Adam and Eve didn’t devalue or abuse each other)
•No
emotional pain and suffering (no depression, no panic attacks)
•No
spiritual pain and suffering (no guilt, no shame)
However, based on scripture, I am convinced that there was
physical pain. After the couple disobeyed God, God told Eve that her pain in
childbirth would greatly increase. You can’t greatly increase something that is
not already present. If Adam stubbed his toe in the Garden, it would hurt. If a
coconut fell on Eve’s foot, it would be painful.
Death
Job was a blameless and upright man who trusted God. Satan
is a predator.[1] God
allowed Satan to prey on Job, to destroy his family, his business, his health.
When Job complained to God, God didn’t comfort him. Instead, God directed Job’s
attention to very good creation, one filled with predators, prey, and powerful,
frightening animals.
Satan was present in the Garden of Eden as a serpent. Adam
and Eve were his prey. In a predator-prey relationship something is going to
die.
if
Adam and Eve’s desire for forbidden fruit didn’t die, they would die.
and,
knowing they would eat forbidden fruit, God planned to die.
The serpent deceived Eve. So, God cursed the serpent,
limiting its prey to dust.[2]
Adam was made from dust, as was Job, as are we. Satan deceives and preys on us.
Pain, suffering, predation, and death have been part of God’s
very good creation from the very beginning. Before time began God had a plan to
use death to make life possible.[3]From the album “Sing” this video is
scrolling playback of a song based on Titus 1:2.
[1]
The lyrics for Doxology are compiled from these versions of The Holy
Bible:
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and
to present
you blameless before the presence of his glory with great
joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,
majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 24 – 25 ESV)
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to
the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 24 – 25 NASB)
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you
before
his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before
all ages,
now and forevermore! Amen. (Jude 24 – 25 NIV)
Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and
to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with
great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory,
majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
(Jude 24 – 25 Christian Standard Bible)
And to Him who is able to guard you not
stumbling, and to set youin the presence
of
His glory unblemished, in gladness, to the only wise God our Saviour, isglory and
greatness, power and authority, both now and to all the
ages! Amen. (Jude 24 – 25 Young’s Literal Translation)
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present youfaultless before the presence
of
his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion
and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 24 – 25 KJV)
He was dismayed by the misery around him, the power of the
oppressors, the jealousy and envy undergirding the drive to succeed. He
declared that it was all meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Even so, he
decided that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink and find
satisfaction in his toilsome labor during the few days God has given him. For
who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days
he passes through like a shadow?
According to the Teacher, the Son of David, King in
Jerusalem, life can bring joy, but it cannot give meaning.
From the album “Ecclesiastes” this video is scrolling
playback of a rap based on Chapters 4 – 6.
Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check
the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™
files.)
Naked without
their cloaks of verdant green, the twisted remains of once majestic trees lie
wrecked on the ground, their roots too shallow to hold them upright in the
violent wind, their grotesque shapes now laid bare.
Naked without
the luxuriant cloak of cultural correctness, what shape would a violent wind
uncover if my world view be so shallow that I lay uprooted, exposed, and
wrecked on the ground?
From the musical
The Majesty of the Maker! this video
is scrolling playback of the song.
Kathy
Click here to
download 50-page PDF of the musical: book, music in lead sheet format, lyrics.
Click here for digital sheet music. (MusicXML™
is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help
files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)
Their enemies were cruel. And on the march. The nation
had a leader, a man who had united them politically. He was a prophet and a
priest and a judge. He taught the people God’s laws and settled civil disputes.
But the nation wanted more. The surrounding nations had kings. And that’s what
they wanted. A king. A man who would lead them into battle against their
enemies.
So, God asked Samuel to anoint Saul as their king. Saul
was successful in war. In the first two and a half years of his reign he led
the nation into victory against almost all their enemies. Then God asked Saul
to wage war and destroy God’s enemy, the Amalekites. Saul assembled the
soldiers for battle. They defeated but did not destroy God’s enemy. They saved
the best of the spoils of war for themselves. They captured king Agag and made
him a prisoner of war. According to one source, by “…
letting the king of Amalek live, his line eventually gave birth to the likes of
Haman and Hitler.”[1]
King Saul was a tragic figure. Instead of leading his
soldiers, he bowed to their wishes. That was the
beginning of his demise. From
the album “This and That – A Little Bit of Everything” this video is music
overlaid on slides.
Digital (MusicXML) and/or print (PDF) sheet music is available for Hangman’s Game.
Click here for MusicXML. (MusicXML™ is
the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files
in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML files.)
