Tag: Faith

Podcast Episode: Light And Hope In Faith

Pip: There is something quietly stubborn about faith — it keeps knocking, keeps promising a better world, and somehow keeps finding a brass band to make the point.

Mara: Kenneth's posts this episode do exactly that — moving from a beloved Salvation Army piece built around the image of Christ at the door, to a vision of the new creation where that door is finally, fully open. Let's start with the music.

Light at the Door — Salvation Army Band Piece

Pip: The post opens with a piece of band music that carries a very specific theological image — Christ standing outside a closed door, waiting, knocking. The question is what that image actually asks of the listener.

Mara: The hymn woven through Dean Goffin's composition puts it plainly. The third verse reads: "I died for you, my children, and will you treat me so? O Lord, with shame and sorrow we open now the door; dear Savior, enter, enter, and leave us never more."

Pip: That is the whole gospel compressed into a request. Not a demand — a request. The scarred hand knocking, the thorns, the tears — the hymn makes sure you understand the cost before you answer.

Mara: Holman Hunt painted exactly this scene, and the post notes it can be seen in St Paul's Cathedral in London. The image and the music are working the same ground — patience, persistence, the door still shut. Kenneth adds that watching the video moved him to tears, which is its own kind of testimony.

Pip: A brass band reducing a grown man to tears is not a small thing. That is the piece doing its job.

Mara: From a door being knocked on, to a world where the separation is over entirely.

A World Without Grief — New Creation Hope

Mara: The post titled "A Better World" anchors itself in Revelation 21, which describes what happens after the door is opened — not just for one person, but for all of creation.

Pip: And the passage does not soften the contrast. It names what disappears specifically.

Mara: Verse four: "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There won't be death anymore. There won't be any grief, crying, or pain, because the first things have disappeared."

Pip: That list is not abstract. Death, grief, crying, pain — these are the contents of an ordinary human week. The promise is their permanent removal.

Mara: The post pairs this with a song by the Melbourne Veterans Band. The structure of the song itself maps the contrast — earthly world in the first half of each verse, the better world in the second. The shape of the music carries the argument.

Pip: Salvation Army bands, it turns out, are doing serious theological heavy lifting.

Mara: A door being knocked on, and a world where that waiting finally ends — the two images belong together.

Pip: Next time, we will see what else is standing at the threshold.

Podcast Episode: Body And Belief

Pip: There's something quietly radical about a site that holds together colonoscopies and resurrection in the same week — as if the body and the soul both deserve a proper look inside.

Mara: Kenneth covers exactly that this episode — a plain-language guide to what endoscopy actually is and does, and then a reflection on Romans 6 and what it means to be alive in Christ rather than ruled by sin.

Pip: Let's start with what happens when doctors need a closer look.

What Endoscopy Is and Why It Matters

Mara: The post on endoscopy sets out to demystify a procedure that many people find daunting — what it involves, what it examines, and why a doctor might order one.

Pip: Harvard Health is quoted directly in the piece, and the description is worth reading aloud: "An upper endoscopy allows the doctor to explore the cause of such symptoms as difficulty swallowing, abdominal pain, vomiting up blood, or passing blood in the stool."

Mara: So the upshot is that this is a diagnostic tool with real reach — not just the stomach, but the oesophagus, bowel, bladder, lungs, and womb, depending on the type ordered.

Pip: And the types have names most of us have never had reason to learn — gastroscopy, colonoscopy, bronchoscopy, cystoscopy, hysteroscopy — each one a different entry point into a different system.

Mara: Most procedures take between thirty minutes and two hours, and sedation or local anaesthetic means patients typically feel pressure rather than pain.

Pip: A thin tube with a camera turns out to be doing a lot of quiet, essential work.

Mara: That same idea — seeing clearly what's hidden — carries into the next territory, though the instrument is scripture rather than an endoscope.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

Mara: The post titled Jesus Lives centres on Romans 6, which asks a pointed question: if grace covers sin, does that mean sin no longer matters?

Pip: Paul's answer is immediate and unambiguous — the passage reads, "By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

Mara: What this means in practice is that baptism, in Paul's framing, is not a ritual of membership but a participation in death and resurrection — the old self crucified, a new life made possible.

Pip: The stakes sharpen further by verse fourteen: "sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." Grace here is not permission — it's transfer of ownership.

Mara: The reflection closes by connecting the passage to a Salvation Army chorus — "It's no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me" — which distils the whole argument of Romans 6 into a single repeated line.

Pip: Doctrine set to music tends to travel further than doctrine set to commentary.

Mara: The chorus and the chapter land on the same point: that the life now lived is oriented toward God, not toward the patterns the old self followed.

Pip: A week that moves from the interior of the body to the interior of the self — both asking what's actually going on in there.

Mara: And both suggesting that a clear look, however uncomfortable, is where any honest reckoning begins.

Lydia Baxter

Lydia Baxter (1809–1874) was an American poet and hymnwriter, best remembered for deeply devotional hymns that became staples of 19th‑century Sunday School and evangelistic movements.

Who She Was

Born: Lydia Odell, 2 September 1809, Petersburgh, New York
Died: 23 January 1874, New York City
Affiliation: Baptist
Spouse: Col. John C. Baxter

She became a Christian at a young age under the ministry of Rev. Eber Tucker, a Baptist missionary. Her conversion, along with her sister’s, helped lead to the formation of a Baptist church in her hometown.

After marriage she moved to New York City, where her home became a gathering place for ministers, musicians, and writers—despite her being bedridden for nearly 30 years due to chronic illness.

Her Hymn Writing

Lydia Baxter wrote many hymns for:

Baptist Sunday School Unions
Evangelistic services
Annual hymn collections in New York churches

Her writing is marked by:

Simplicity
Emotional warmth
Strong devotional focus on Jesus’ name, comfort, and hope

Most Famous Hymns

1. “Take the Name of Jesus with You” (1870)

Her best‑known hymn today, written for composer W. H. Doane. It reflects her personal reliance on the name of Jesus as a source of comfort during illness.

2. “There Is a Gate That Stands Ajar” (c. 1872)

Written for S. J. Vail, later popularised by Philip Bliss and Ira Sankey. It became widely sung in the U.S., England, and Scotland.

3. “The Gate Ajar for Me”

Another widely‑loved hymn, influential in the early ministry of Ira D. Sankey.

Other notable hymns include:

One by One We Cross the River
In the Fadeless Springtime
Cast Thy Net Again, My Brother

Publications

Gems by the Wayside (1855) — a collection of religious poetry

Legacy

Despite lifelong suffering, Lydia Baxter’s hymns radiate hope, patience, and confidence in Christ. Her work became central to the Moody–Sankey revival era and remains beloved in many hymnals today.

Podcast Episode: Faith, Music And Scripture

Pip: There's something quietly remarkable about a site that holds brass bands and biblical farewell speeches in the same breath — as if the Spirit moves equally well through a trombone and a tearful dockside goodbye.

Mara: Kenneth's recent posts do exactly that — moving from the devotional music of Salvation Army composer Howard Davies to Paul's charged farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20. Let's start with the music.

Howard Davies and Salvation Army Music

Mara: Howard Davies is an internationally known Salvation Army composer whose work spans songster choirs, brass band arrangements, and devotional recordings across multiple countries and decades.

Pip: The post notes that his brass band selection "Songs of Encouragement" from 1978 incorporates melodies including "Guardian Grace," "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," and "Keep on Believing" — and is still available today through the Salvation Army Music Index.

Mara: What that longevity signals is that his music has remained genuinely useful in worship, not just historically interesting. His book Words and Music adds another layer — it documents the stories and inspiration behind the songs, making him a chronicler of Army musical heritage as much as a composer.

Pip: Devotional music with footnotes. There are worse legacies.

Compelled by the Spirit: Paul's Farewell at Miletus

Mara: Acts 20 presents one of the most personally revealing moments in Paul's ministry — a farewell speech where he accounts for his conduct, warns of what's coming, and explains why he's pressing on anyway.

Pip: The post anchors on verse 22, where Paul says directly: "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there."

Mara: That single line carries the weight of the whole passage. He knows hardship is ahead — the Spirit has told him so in every city — yet the compulsion overrides the calculation. The destination is certain; the outcome is not.

Pip: It's a remarkable posture. Not blind faith, not recklessness — he's fully informed and going anyway.

Mara: Verse 24 sharpens it further: "I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

Pip: That's not resignation. That's a man who has genuinely reordered what counts as a loss.

Mara: The farewell itself is visceral. Paul warns the elders that savage wolves will come after he leaves, urges them to guard the flock, and reminds them he worked with his own hands rather than taking from them. When he finishes, they weep and embrace him — grieved most, the text says, that they will never see his face again.

Pip: A dockside goodbye that still lands two thousand years later.

Mara: From a brass band selection still in print after nearly fifty years to a farewell speech still read across the world — both posts are really about what it means to give your work to something larger than yourself.

Pip: Next time, we'll see what else from this corner of the internet is worth the journey.

Trust in God

Psalm 146 New International Version

Psalm 146

¹Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise the Lord, my soul.

²I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
⁴When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
⁵Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

⁶He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
⁷He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
⁸    the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Compassion

Image result for The Lord' Compassion

Isaiah 49: 15

“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.

Mark 6: 34

When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

When I was looking for readings for today’s blog I felt I had to put both of the above readings up.

Generals John Gowans & John Larsson of The Salvation Army were two very talented officers in the Salvation Army who wrote 10 musicals. This song is from the second musical, titled “Hosea” – the story of the Old Testament prophet’s faithfulness and forgiveness towards his unfaithful wife, relating this to God’s forgiveness of His people who had broken their promises to Him.

1.
If human hearts are often tender,
And human minds can pity know,
If human love is touched with splendor,
And human hands compassion show,
Chorus
Then how much more shall God our Father
In love forgive, in love forgive!
Then how much more shall God our Father
Our wants supply, and none deny!

2.
If sometimes men can live for others,
And sometimes give where gifts are spurned,
If sometimes treat their foes as brothers,
And love where love is not returned,

3.
If men will often share their gladness,
If men respond when children cry,
If men can feel each other’s sadness,
Each other’s tears attempt to dry,

“Take the Name of Jesus with You”

A Hymn Born in Suffering but Overflowing with Joy

The hymn was written in 1870 by Lydia Odell Baxter, a woman whose life was marked by chronic illness and long periods of confinement. For nearly thirty years, she lived as an invalid, often bedridden, yet her room became a place where pastors, evangelists, and Christian workers came not to comfort her—but to be comforted by her.

Despite constant pain, Lydia radiated a deep, unshakeable joy. Her “secret,” as she told visitors, was simple but profound:

“I have a very special armor. I have the Name of Jesus.”

Whenever discouragement crept in, she would whisper His name, and peace would return.

📖 Her Love for Biblical Names

During her years of illness, Lydia became a devoted student of Scripture, especially fascinated by the meanings of biblical names. She loved to talk about them with friends—names like Sarah (“princess”), Samuel (“asked of God”), and Isaac (“laughter”). But her favourite name, the one she clung to in suffering, was Jesus—“Savior.”

This deep affection for the name of Christ naturally blossomed into the hymn we know today.

✍️ Writing the Hymn

Lydia wrote “Take the Name of Jesus with You” just four years before her death, while still confined to her bed. The text was later set to music by William H. Doane and first published in 1871 in Pure Gold for the Sunday School.

The hymn quickly spread, becoming especially popular during the Moody–Sankey revival campaigns of the late 19th century. Its message—carry Jesus’ name as a shield, a comfort, and a joy—resonated deeply with believers everywhere.

💬 Why the Hymn Still Speaks

Knowing Lydia’s story gives the hymn a richer texture. These weren’t abstract words; they were the lived testimony of a woman who found strength in the name of Jesus when her body failed her. Her sickroom became a sanctuary of encouragement, and her hymn continues that ministry today.

It’s no wonder the Salvation Army and many evangelical traditions still treasure it—you can almost feel her faith woven into every line.

Hope and Trust

Psalm 71 New International Version – UK

Psalm 71

¹In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
²In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear to me and save me.
³Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.
⁴Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

⁵For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,
    my confidence since my youth.
⁶From my birth I have relied on you;
    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.
    I will ever praise you.
⁷I have become a sign to many;
    you are my strong refuge.
⁸My mouth is filled with your praise,
    declaring your splendour all day long.

Solemn Vow

When I first heard and sang this song I fell in love with it straight away and have loved it ever since. It is a song of dedication and commitment . The words of the song tell a story. Powerful words to an equally wonderful tune.

In verse one we red of the writer’s faith, in verse two we read how the writer see’s Christ. Verse three goes on to tell us the writer has nothing but love and how they wish to have his saving power. Finally in verse four the writer speaks of the suffering cry of him who died for all mankind

My Solemn Vow – Catherine Baird

Eternal Spirit, my unchanging friend,

I come with joy for Thou art ever near;

O bless my eyes with vision, boundless, pure;

My promise hear in realms where truth is clear.

My faith in Thee I boldly own,

Since Jesus led me to Thy Throne.

Spirit of truth attend me now,

While I present my solemn vow:

All that I am I pledge to Thee,

Spirit of love abide in me.

I see Thy splendour in the Holy One,

Thy might revealed in lowliness and grace;

O may I choose a stable or a cross

If He be there to sanctify my place.

O glory of the Christly name,

Be Thou my treasure and my aim!

All I possess, apart from Thee, is naught,

Still would I offer Thee my life, my love;

So shall the desert be a harvest field,

And my whole being Thy abundance prove.

Lord, I would witness every hour

To my Redeemer’s saving power!

O may I hear, in every suff’ring cry,

The call of Him Who died for all mankind;

Help me to share the Shepherd’s lonely watch,

Or climb the steeps His lost to find.

I dedicate my love to Thee,

That love may overflow in me.

Right from Wrong

2 Timothy 3 New Living Translation

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

¹⁰But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. ¹¹You know how much persecution and suffering I have endured. You know all about how I was persecuted in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra—but the Lord rescued me from all of it. ¹²Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived.

¹⁴But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. ¹⁵You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. ¹⁷God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.