In her time, Marianne Farningham, who was actually named Mary Ann Hearn, was well-known for her devotional poetry, as well as some of her hymns, (though I am not aware of any of those that have really stood the test of time). While most of her poems were topical, some of them were narrative in style, including “The Last Hymn.” Though I admit this one perhaps tips into a bit of Victorian melodrama, I still quite enjoy it. Read—preferably aloud—and hear the tale she tells of a man’s final song.

The Sabbath-day was ending, in a village by the sea,The uttered benediction touched the people tenderly,And they rose to face the sunset in the glowing, lighted West,And then hastened to their dwellings for God’s blessed boon of rest.
But they looked across the waters, and a storm was raging there;A fierce spirit moved above them—the wild spirit of the air—And it lashed and shook, and tore them, till they thundered, groaned and boomed,And, alas! for any vessel in their yawning gulfs entombed.
Very anxious were the people on that rocky coast of Wales,Lest the dawn of coming morrows should be telling awful tales,When the sea had spent its passion, and should cast upon the shore.Bits of wreck, and swollen victims, as it had done heretofore.
With the rough winds blowing round her, a brave woman strained her eyes,And she saw along the billows a large vessel fall and rise.Oh! it did not need a prophet to tell what the end must be,For no ship could ride in safety near that shore on such a sea.
Then the pitying people hurried from their homes and thronged the beach,Oh! for power to cross the waters and the perishing to reach!Helpless hands were wrung for sorrow, tender hearts grew cold with dread,And the ship urged by the tempest, to the fatal rock shore sped.
“She has parted in the middle! Oh, the half of her goes down!God, have mercy! Is His heaven far to seek for those who drown?’”Lo! when next the white, shocked faces looked with terror on the sea.Only one last clinging figure on a spar was seen to be.
Nearer to the trembling watchers came the wreck tossed by the wave.And the man still clung and floated, though no power on earth could save.“Could we send him a short message! Here’s a trumpet! shout away!”‘Twas the preacher’s hand that took it, and he wonder’d what to say.
Any memory of his sermon? Firstly? Secondly? Ah, no.There was but one thing to utter in that awful hour of woe;So he shouted through the trumpet, “Look to Jesus! Can you hear?”And “Aye, aye, sir! “rang the answer o’er the waters loud and clear.
Then they listened,— “He is singing ‘Jesus, lover of my soul,”And the wind brought back the echo, “while the nearer waters roll;”Strange indeed it was to hear him, “till the storm of life was past,”Singing bravely from the waters, “Oh, receive my soul at last”
He could have no other refuge! “Hangs my helpless soul on thee;Leave, oh, leave me not.” —The singer dropped at last into the sea,And the watchers looking homeward through their eyes by tears made dim,Said, “He passed to be with Jesus in the singing of that hymn.”

Good morning! May you taste and see that the Lord is good this weekend.

Westminster Books has a good deal on the excellent Two Ways To Live.
Today’s Kindle deals include quite a number of academic books and classics.
(Yesterday on the blog: Set Loose in a Mud Pit)
While Waiting for Flight 6072
Andrée Seu Peterson writes about redeeming the time spent waiting for a flight.
Refreshed In Chains
“The Bible is far from barren prose on ancient parchment. Instead it ripples with life, it rises and falls with the breath of God, it ebbs and flows as the Spirit wields it with surgical precision.” So says, and proves, Chris Thomas.
The Surprising Gift of A Child’s Prayer
It’s simple and sweet, this one.
The People Who Talk about Death
“We are the people who talk about death. Though I doubt many of us think of Christianity that way. Our whole message centres on death: a single death and the defeat of Death through it.”
How to Be Less Thankful
Here’s a backward look at Thanksgiving. “If you’ve had enough of the thanksgiving police bullying you into a humble posture, this article is for you. Read on for some tried and true methods for growing in thanklessness.”
Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing
It’s good to be reminded of this. “We will be afflicted, we will be perplexed, we will be persecuted, we will be struck down, but we will not be crushed, we will not be driven to despair, we will not be forsaken, and we will not be destroyed. For although this treasure of the gloriousness of Christ is in weak jars of clay, it is to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us…”
Cleo Smith and the Failure of Secular Morality
“On the morning of Wednesday, November 3rd, Australia breathed a sigh of relief. Four-year-old Cleo Smith—who mysteriously went missing from her family’s tent 18 days earlier—was found alive well. She was found in the house of a man named Terrance Darrell Kelly, who has since been charged with kidnapping Cleo.” Akos Balogh says “Everyone agrees that kidnapping Cleo was an evil action” but asks, “can a secular approach to life give a compelling explanation of why it was wrong?”
Flashback: Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith
What do you consider the most prominent factors to explain why people abandon their childhood faith?

God does not send us two classes of providences—one good and one evil. All are good. —J.R. Miller

This week’s Free Stuff Friday is sponsored by Missional Wear who also sponsored the blog this week.

Missional Wear has got your back this Christmas with amazing and unique gifts that you can’t find anywhere else! It’s important to do your online shopping early because of anticipated shipping delays that are expected to be even more challenging than last year. Because of this they have released their Black Friday doorbuster deals earlier than ever. Now is the time to get your orders in while getting some of the deepest discounts of the year! Don’t miss the early Black Friday Deals! Also check out the full 2021 Reformed Gift Guide.

The new ugly Christmas sweatshirts are very popular this year and are available only for a limited time. Some sizes are already close to selling out! You can save 10% on these sweatshirts this weekend only by using discount code CHALLIES.
Five winners will be able to choose between an ugly Christmas sweatshirt or a $75 gift certificate to buy whatever you want!
Enter Here
The format is changing a little this week in order to increase your odds of winning! You will be able to earn extra entries by taking actions such as sharing this giveaway on social media, following our various social media accounts, and even subscribing to my YouTube channel and podcast. You may earn as many entries as you wish! Also, the giveaway will be extended through Monday at noon to allow as many people as possible to participate and share. If you are viewing this through email, click here to enter or visit my site and enter there.

It would be a strange thing for a mother to set her daughter loose in a mud pit, but warn her that she must not let her clothes get dirty. It would be a strange thing for a father to instruct his son to ford a river, but warn him that he must not let his feet get wet. Yet when we come to God in repentance and faith, when we joyfully surrender our lives to him, he gives us that kind of challenge.

God asks us to live in a chaotic and tumultuous world, but to have hearts that are peaceful and calm. Having found peace with God, we are to be at peace with our fellow man. And not only that, we are to spread that peace—to leave behind us a trail of love and goodness and kindness. “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way,” says Paul, and “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” With that peace reigning within, we are to “strive for peace with everyone,” for “God has called us to peace”—to always and ever “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”
This is no small challenge. This is no small challenge because every day we encounter situations that threaten to rob us of our peace, contexts in which the uproar around us threatens to cause an uproar within. We see people behaving badly and long to respond in kind. We have people turn on us and feel the longing to retaliate. We grieve, we suffer, we face trial and persecution, and through it all find temptations toward despondency, despair, discord.
Yet the Christ who cried out to the storm and bid it cease its raging is the same Christ who whispers to our very souls to say, “Peace, be still.” As the storm had no right to rage when Christ had told it to be calm, our hearts have no right to rage when he has spoken his words of peace. As Christ had the power to command the storm, he has the power to command his people. He has the power to command you and me.
So let your heart and mind be always calm and submissive before God, always content in his providence. As God’s people were to allow no chore to interrupt the peace of their day of rest, you must allow no tumult to interrupt the peace within your heart. As Jesus was meek before God and man, so must you be.
When your heart is at peace, so too can be your hands, your feet, and your mouth. In times of difficulty, then, display in your outward demeanor the peace that rules within. In even the most taxing of all circumstances, let there be a serenity upon your face, a forbearing tone to your voice, a gentleness to your touch. Be more willing to suffer wrong than to break peace, more willing to endure long trials with meekness than to shorten trials through sinfulness. Tread softly through the world, speaking kindly and gently, never expressing the least note of cantankerousness or irritability. Pursue peace with friends and enemy alike.
You can do all of this and more when the peace of Christ is ruling you from within. At the close of each day, you can rest content in God, casting all your cares and anxieties upon him and resting in his sweet comfort. Then, when you awaken, you can once again embark on the very same God-given mission. And in that way, day by day and bit by bit, you will blanket the sorrows and troubles of this earth with the precious peace of God. You will be at peace, thus proving that the God of love and peace is with you and in you.

Inspired by Blessed Are Ye by F.B. Meyer

The Lord be with you and the Lord bless you today.

I wanted to remind you of my site SquareQuotes where you can freely download hundreds of the quote graphics I share every day.
Borrowing from the KJV Bank and Trust
This is a good article from a new site titled Text & Canon (which is associated with Phoenix Seminary). “The KJV translators were not KJV-Only. It is actually those who wish to see the venerable King James revised who are most honoring the KJV tradition.”
Battle Commence
“The prayer meeting is the battle ground on which the church fights together for the advancement of the kingdom. Of all the reforms that a pastor can agitate for in the life of his congregation, the one that will be the lifeblood of further reformation is the gathering of the saints in a concert of prayer.”
Missional Wear: Early Black Friday Deals!
Worldwide shipping delays and supply chain challenges make it more important than ever to get your Christmas shopping done early. Check out some of the best deals of the year while they last! (Sponsored Link)
It’s Not Your body
“We’re (rightly) eager to teach our children the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touch. We don’t want them to be abused or to abuse others. But how do we arm them intellectually to resist such abuse? Western culture tells them to oppose abuse ‘because it’s your body’.” But perhaps there is a better thing to say…
Intergenerational Church
I appreciated this little acknowledgement of the sheer goodness of an intergenerational church.
How Ocean Shipping Works (And Why It’s Broken)
This helpful video explains how ocean shipping works and how it has gotten so badly broken in recent months.
Raising Little Flowers
I thorough enjoyed this story in WORLD by Emily Belz. “Crystal Hardy-Flowers always wanted her early childcare center in the low-income, high-crime neighborhood of Sandtown-Winchester in Baltimore, Md., to be a safe place for the 200 children who showed up every day.”
Flashback: Give Me a Man with an Open Bible!
…as Christians, we must insist that authority is not derived first from experience, but from Scripture. Greater than our need for people who have experienced it in their lives, is our need for people who will teach it from the Word.

Unbelief is the cause of all our troubles and failures. This is the strategic point where Satan concentrates his forces against us, and therefore it is here above all that we need divine help. —A.W. Pink

Good morning. Grace and peace to you.

We are seeing some Kindle deals related to ETS. They are worth checking out.
(Yesterday on the blog: The Beauty of an Heirloom Bible)
Assurance of Things Hoped For: Christians Will Meet Again in Heaven
You know what I love about blogs? That people write content as good and encouraging as this, and then joyfully give it away for free. “‘You’re welcome,’ I replied, mostly because those were the only words that formed in the weight of the moment. If he noticed my emotion, I’ll never know. For he simply returned to reading the open Bible in his lap. Our visit to Maine was filled with times like this—long periods of quiet introspection, beside an octogenarian who has been a significant force in my life for more than thirty years, with staccato spurts of outward expression.”
Capturing A Moment
Here’s another great example. “The warm sunlight is filtering through the trees, there’s music in the air, and amid the bustle of the servers and the clink of the cutlery there’s a constant hum of lively conversation. I’m not there. I don’t even know where it is, but when I look at the painting of this scene that hangs over our mantle, I can hear it all. I can feel it all, and I love it.”
The 2021 Reformed Gift Guide
Having trouble checking off your Christmas list? Here is a curated guide packed with great ideas that is sure to make them smile! Also, don’t miss out on the early Black Friday deals. (Sponsored Link)
Why did God wait to reveal the Trinity?
That’s a very good question! Dr. Blair Smith answers it in this video from RTS.
Book Tribalism
It’s worth reading Jim Elliff’s little tale about a tribe that was exposed to the Bible and then, a while later, to Christian books.
Why Did God Give Us the Book of Revelation?
Many of us are about to begin reading Revelation in our Bible-reading plans. Here’s an article from Lucky Mogakane that reminds us why God gave us that particular book. “When asked, most Christians will admit they haven’t read the book of Revelation. And those who have, usually say they will never read it again. Forgetting that it was written for our blessing (Revelation 1:3), many Christians are fearful of Revelation.”
Until You Pray
Glenna Marshall discusses what it means to “pray until you pray”—an old Puritan expression.
Flashback: Satan’s Great Trick
Satan’s great joy is to convince you that the sin you are about to commit is very small and the sin you have just committed is very large.

The choice is not whether you will be a Christian soldier or a Christian civilian but whether you will be a prepared Christian soldier or an unprepared one. —Iain Duguid

I once sat at George Müller’s desk and read James 1:27 from his Bible. I once visited a library that contained artifacts from William Carey’s life and leafed through a Bible that he had owned and studied. I have pondered the color-coded notes in Amy Carmichael’s Bible and have paged through a first-edition King James. Closer to home, my father’s Bible was placed at the front and center of the church during his funeral and I had a special wooden case constructed to hold my son’s Bible after he went to be with the Lord.

All of this is to say that I believe in the Bible—I believe in the Bible as the Word of God, the divine scriptures, but also as a special object or artifact that will often outlast the one who owned it, who read it, who treasured it. It is for this reason that I affirm the importance of “heirloom Bibles”—Bibles that are meant to take a place of prominence in the life of an individual or family and that are constructed in such a way that they are likely to last through the rigors of long use. These are the kind of Bibles that can truly be an heirloom—an artifact to be left behind to future generations as a symbol and reminder of the owner’s faith in God and trust in his Word.
The ESV has recently released refreshed editions of three heirloom Bibles: the Omega Edition, the Legacy Edition, and the Heritage Edition. Each of them shares a number of traits: They have black, goatskin covers with gold print and four ribs on the spines. They are soft and supple and generally able to lie flat when open, even when turned to Genesis or Revelation. They are all printed and bound by Royal Jongbloed, feature high-quality paper, have four ribbon markers, and come wrapped in velvet in a handsome two-piece box. They all have the traditional presentation page, along with pages to record births, marriages, and deaths. They are all exquisite in every way and all come with a lifetime guarantee on the print and binding.
They also have some differences.
ESV Heirloom Bible, Legacy Edition is 6” x 9” in size and is modeled after the Renaissance ideal of a perfect page, which means it has a single column of text and wide margins. The font is 9-point, has 1,680 pages, and is 47.43 ounces in weight. Footnotes are in small print at the bottom while headings are in italicized print in the margins. There are no cross references, though it does feature a concordance and selection of full-color maps at the back.

ESV Heirloom Bible, Heritage Edition is quite a bit smaller at 5.5” x 8.25”, though also quite a bit thicker with a page count of 2,056 and a font that is slightly bigger at 9.25 points. It weighs 47 ounces. It has a single column of text and wide margins, though the headings are inline and bolded rather than to the side. It has no concordance, though it does have the maps.

ESV Heirloom Bible, Omega Edition is the biggest of the three at 6.125” x 9.125”. It also has the biggest font at 10.5-point, is laid out in two columns, and has a page count of 1,248. It is the only one of the three to feature cross references, which are set at the bottom of the right-most column of each page. It has both a concordance and a collection of maps. It weighs in at 39.6 ounces.

Thus, while all three are similar in being beautifully made, all three have their own collection of special attributes related to dimensions, font size, layout, and features. If I had to pick just one, I would probably favor the Legacy Edition, but that is merely a matter of preference, and it would truly be impossible to go wrong with any of them. These are special Bibles meant to serve a special purpose and they will serve it well. They are precious, durable, and just the kind of Bible that can be read over a lifetime of personal and family devotions, then left behind as a precious heirloom. In fact, I will be making sure that my daughter and her fiancé are given one at their forthcoming wedding so they can begin that legacy even as they begin their life together.
To purchase these Bibles, try: Legacy Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books); Heritage Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books); Omega Edition (Amazon, Westminster Books). They are also all available directly from Crossway.
(Note: beginning in December, 2021, all three editions will also be available in Horween Leather—a deep brown high-quality cowhide that is meant to develop character over time and with use.)
Here, to show the difference in dimensions, is a snap of all three side by side: Legacy, Heritage, Omega.

Good morning. May the Lord bless you and keep you today.

Grace Fellowship Church is now accepting applications for our Winter 2022 Pastoral Internship. This is a 12-week, full-time intensive program that runs from February to May. Please apply if you meet the criteria!
On sale this week at Westminster Books is Paul Tripp’s new book on doctrine.
Today’s Kindle deals include a list of titles from Crossway. The theme seems to be relationships.
In Our Rejection of the Prosperity Gospel, Are We Missing God’s Provision?
Jared Wilson wonders whether, in our fervor to condemn the prosperity gospel, we’ve perhaps gone just a bit too far and condemned God’s provision.
Ottomans and Incarnation
Here’s a neat account about taking one of those opportunities God provides.
Sound Doctrine: The Foundation for Faithful Ministry
There’s a new issue of the 9Marks Journal read for reading via download or in your browser. This issue deals with sound doctrine.
The Voices Behind Us
Andrea says “we all have voices behind us – their hot breath of condemnation against our necks. Many times we hear our own words joining theirs, bearing down on us in the night.”
The Destroyer of All Darkness
“Jesus came into this dark and fallen world as the new creation and to bring about a re-creation of all those for whom He died. He is ‘the Destroyer of the darkness,’” says Nick Batzig.
Church is Back, But Where Are The People?
“In a day when we can personalize and customize all our interactions, at least those of a digital nature, the church forces us into relationships that don’t fit social media algorithms. The church, the embodied gathering, doesn’t reconfigure to our likes and shares and news preferences. We need this kind of community or we may end up lost down some worm hole on the Internet.”
Flashback: 3 Parenting Myths We Are All Tempted To Believe
As Christian parents raise their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, we can be tempted to believe some dangerous myths about what we are doing and how we are to go about it.

That place and position is most healthful for us in which we are kept most humble—most taught our own sinfulness, drawn most to the Bible and prayer, led most to live by faith and not by sight. —J.C. Ryle

May the God of love and peace be with you today.

(Yesterday on the blog: The More We Drink, The More We Thirst)
Walking the Streets of Gold
I love simple stories like this one. “Last week I preached the funeral of a dear friend and sister in Christ. The Lord used her as a constant reminder of his amazing grace to me and so many others. I knew her as Mrs. Jo, and she passed away at the age of ninety-eight.”
Defending Sound Doctrine Against the Deconstruction of American Evangelicalism
There’s a lot to ponder in Jonathan Leeman’s long article about sound doctrine and the deconstruction of American Evangelicalism.
The Death of Hospitality
Kudos to the author for the originality of this article.
What is Attractional Ministry?
“It’s become popular to stomp all over ‘attractional’ ministry. These types of easy-takedowns usually contrast legalism with grace, man-centered teaching with Bible-centered teaching, and fun events with intentional discipleship. In this way, the critics are bolstering their own ministry philosophy as grace-drive, Bible-centered, and discipleship-focused, while attractional youth workers are the exact opposite.”
Dear Younger Me, Remember Your Most Important Work
Amber has written a letter to her younger self. I expect we’d all have some good words to say to the “ourselves” of ten years ago.
What Is an Apologist?
William Boekestein is writing a whole series on apologetics for Reformation21. He’s now two entries into the series, so this is a good time to get caught up.
Thanksgiving in Everything, Not for Everything
There’s a key distinction to be made in being thankful in everything and for everything.
Flashback: A Call for Christian Extremists
We are to bring glory to God by doing good for others. Allah may be glorified in maimed bodies and blood-soaked city streets, but God is glorified in acts of love and deeds of kindness.

There is perhaps no greater secret of progress in Christian living than a healthy, hearty spiritual appetite. —John Stott

What does your heart hunger for? What does your spirit thirst for? What is that thing that if you had it, that dream that if you achieved it, that reward that if you gained it, you’re sure you would now be satisfied, you’re sure your restless heart would finally be at peace?

There are many things we hunger for, but only one so very good that Jesus promises to satisfy it: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” he says, “for they shall be satisfied.” Here is a hunger so good that it should take preeminence above all others; here is a hunger so right that it should subsume all others; here is the one hunger that is so close to the heart of God that he promises it will be satisfied.
But what is this “righteousness” that we are to long for? The root word is used about 600 times in the Bible so it’s obviously quite important. Like so many other words, it can be translated in different ways—sometimes as “righteous” or “righteousness,” and other times as “justice” or “justified.”
The word is associated with salvation so that in God’s sight we are either righteous or unrighteous—either saved or unsaved. It’s associated with sanctification so that behavior can be righteous or unrighteous—either consistent or inconsistent with God’s will. It’s associated with justice so that society itself can be righteous or unrighteous—either promoting peace and equality or partiality and favoritism. And it’s associated with the future, the fullness of the kingdom of heaven when righteousness will permanently conquer unrighteousness.
So the question is, when Jesus says “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” what kind of righteousness does he mean? I think it’s best to see him as including all of these dimensions because they are so closely linked to one another. While personal holiness may have been foremost in his mind, surely he would not wish for us to disentangle that dimension from the others. After all, it’s impossible to long to be saved but not sanctified; it’s unnatural to long for holiness but not heaven. And so there is a hunger within the Christian soul that is very deep and very wide: A hunger for righteousness expressed in salvation, in holiness, in justice, and in heaven.
And what is God’s promise toward those who have such a hunger? “They shall be satisfied.” The hungry shall be made full. The thirsty shall be quenched. But here’s the thing: Of these four hungers, only the hunger for salvation is completely satisfied here and now. In the moment we are saved, we are fully justified. We can never be more righteous in God’s eyes than we are right now, and never less righteous. And that’s because when God looks at us, he sees the perfect righteousness of his perfectly righteous Son.
But we can be more holy than we are right now; we can see more justice than we do right now; we can have a deeper longing for heaven than we have right now. And so we need to observe something interesting about these appetites. As God begins to meet them, he also increases them. The fuller we get, the hungrier we get. The more we drink, the more we thirst. Our longing for righteousness doesn’t diminish over the course of our Christian lives, but grows all the more! Our growth in holiness makes us crave even more holiness. We are glad to see advances in justice, but it increases our longing for perfect justice. We have a deep longing for heaven, but the closer we get the more we yearn for it.
We will long and yearn and hunger and thirst until the day God finally fulfills the great promise he makes in the book of Revelation. In that day…

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;the sun shall not strike them,nor any scorching heat.For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,and he will guide them to springs of living water,and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

All those tears we’ve shed over the sins that made our salvation necessary, God will wipe them away. All the hunger we have to be holy even as God himself is holy: God will satisfy it. All the thirst we have to see justice extend from sea to sea, from pole to pole: God will quench it. All the craving we have to live in a world where there is only ever righteousness forever: God will grant this most precious desire. We will eat, we will drink, we will feast, and our hearts will be at perfect peace. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.