fast falls the eventide

there can't be many better ways to finish a day of worship than to sit reading on the front porch on a warm spring evening - reflecting on the providence of God and the lessons He is teaching me through time spent in His Word and the living of life in His world... tonight i took two light, enjoyable reads out with me (ones that i would highly recommend): Spiritual Birthline by Stephen Smallman and The Tapestry by Edith Schaeffer...

Spiritual Birthline is one that i picked up to read in conjunction with my preparation for teaching a sunday school class for the next term on regeneration (using primarily John Piper's Finally Alive)... so what are the chances that the chapter i would read tonight would make heavy reference to the 8th chapter of Acts and the story i just preached from this evening at church... even reinforcing many of the points i was making? well, i'd say 100% knowing how frequently God uses repetition to communicate truths that He is trying to teach me!

The Tapestry is the autobiography of Francis and Edith Schaeffer and the underlying theme throughout the book ties in well with the idea of being sensitive to how God is working in lives - mine and those around me... resting secure in the knowledge of His plan and trusting Him for guidance...


as i reflect on the past week, i praise God for what He has done... as i look ahead to the week to come, i ask for wisdom, direction and strength - may i be a vessel in the Lord's hand to do His will...

"The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands." Psalm 138:8

"a graduation from and a commencement of... ! ... an ending and a beginning! How incredible it is that Christianity gives us that to look forward to. We don't have to watch the sand run out of the sandglass of life's time for ourselves or for our loved ones without realizing that really, truly, actually, without any vestige of doubt, cruel though separation is, and hard though the contemplation of change is, we are moving toward a graduation which is also a commencement." edith schaeffer

abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
when other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, o abide with me.

swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around i see;
o Thou who changest not, abide with me.

i need Thy presence every passing hour;
what but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
through cloud and sunshine, o abide with me.

i fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness,
where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?
i triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies:
heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, o Lord, abide with me.