A favorite poem

This is "Verses Upon the Burning of Our House," by the American Puritan author Anne Bradstreet. It is one of my favorites: her strong faith in God rather than in her possessions is a great example.

In silent night when rest I took
For sorrow near I did not look
I wakened was with thund’ring noise
And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
That fearful sound of “Fire!” and “Fire”
Let no man know is my desire.
I, starting up, the light did spy,
And to my God my heart did cry
To strengthen me in my distress
And not to leave me succorless.
Then, coming out, beheld a space
The flame consume my dwelling place.
And when I could no longer look,
I blest His name that gave and took,
That laid my goods now in the dust.
Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.
It was His own, it was not mine,
Far be it that I should repine;
He might of all justly bereft
But yet sufficient for us left.
When by the ruins oft I past
My sorrowing eyes aside did cast,
And here and there the places spy
Where oft I sat and long did lie:
Here stood that trunk, and there that chest,
There lay that store I counted best.
My pleasant things in ashes lie,
And them behold no more shall I.
Under thy roof no guest shall sit,
Nor at thy table eat a bit.
No pleasant tale shall e’er be told,
Nor things recounted done of old.
No candle e’er shall shine in thee,
Nor bridegroom’s voice e’er heard shall be.
In silence ever shall thou lie,
Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity.
Then straight I ‘gin my heart to chide,
And did thy wealth on earth abide?
Didst fix thy hope on mold’ring dust?
The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
That dunghill mists away may fly.
Thou hast an house on high erect,
Framed by that mighty Architect,
With glory richly furnished,
Stands permanent though this be fled.
It’s purchased and paid for too
By Him who hath enough to do.
A price so vast as is unknown
Yet by His gift is made thine own;
There’s wealth enough, I need no more,
Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store.
The world no longer let me love,
My hope and treasure lies above.

A Prayer for Israel

This is an interesting link that I received in my e-mail. It is important that we remember how special Israel is to the Lord, and we need to be praying for them.

A Prayer for Israel

Turtle Brownies

I made these brownies for some people the other day, and they are so good that I'm putting the recipe here so that you can try them too. I've made these brownies many times, and they are very easy and delicious. They are fun to make, too. I think the recipe came from an employee cookbook at the company where Mom used to work. Let me know if you like them!

Turtle Brownies
Ingredients:
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 14-ounce package caramels, unwrapped
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 package German chocolate cake mix
¾ cup butter, melted
6-ounce package (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 9” x 13” baking pan.
Melt caramels and 1/3 cup evaporated milk; set aside.
Mix together cake mix, melted butter, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and nuts. Press ½ of the dough mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 6 to 7 minutes and remove from oven.
Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips on baked layer. Drizzle melted caramel over chocolate chips, and drop remaining dough by small spoonfuls over caramel. Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 16 to 18 minutes. Cool. Cut into squares.

Thoughts on the Resurrection

Last night, the guest speaker at church really got me thinking. He pointed out how good it is that we cannot take pilgrimages to Jesus’ grave, because our God does not lie in a grave somewhere.

Now, of course, I have always believed in and appreciated the resurrection. But for some reason, it really struck me harder last night. Can you imagine what our world would be like if He still lay in the garden tomb, if He had not risen again? The preacher is right: we would all be taking pilgrimages to Israel to visit His grave, focusing on the grave rather than on the Person. Think of all the scientific research that would probably be done, desecrating His body. Think of the wars that would be fought in Israel because of the presence of this sacred site: as Islam moved in, they would fight over the control of the grave; and throughout history, the grave would have been a hotspot of aggression toward Christians and Jews.

Or would it? No, I suppose none of these problems would exist if He were still in the tomb. Why? Because if Jesus had not risen again, then nobody would believe, nobody would care. The Romans and the unbelieving Jews would have been victorious, believing that the body in the tomb really did belong to an imposter. For if He were still in the tomb, if He had not triumphed over death, then we would not know that He truly was our Savior; for only God can conquer the grave. If the resurrection had never happened, then we would have nothing to believe in.

I Corinthians 15:14-19 explains it like this:

14: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15: Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16: For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18: Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But verse 20 makes all the difference in our lives and in the history of the world:

20: But now is Christ risen from the dead.

Praise the Lord! He has conquered death, making it possible for all of us to join Him in Heaven if we accept Him. Thank You, Lord, that His body does not remain on the earth. He is not here: He is risen!