Jesus walks within OUR clump of earth

We thrill that Jesus walked on water.

Oh, let us thrill more that He walked on earth

(Thus among & one with us)

And More Yet, that when we’re redeemed,

He walks within OUR clump of earth. 

– eab, 4/18/12

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E O (Edwin Othello) Excell – birth, Dec. 1851

I have a song I love to sing,
Since I have been redeemed,
Of my Redeemer, Savior King,
Since I have been redeemed.

Refrain

Since I have been redeemed,
Since I have been redeemed,
I will glory in His Name,
Since I have been redeemed,
I will glory in the Savior’s Name.

I have a Christ Who satisfies
Since I have been redeemed,
To do His will my highest prize,
Since I have been redeemed.

I have a witness bright and clear,
Since I have been redeemed,
Dispelling every doubt and fear,
Since I have been redeemed.

I have a home prepared for me,
Since I have been redeemed,
Where I shall dwell eternally,
Since I have been redeemed.

I have a joy I can’t express,
Since I have been redeemed,
All through His blood and righteousness,
Since I have been redeemed.

E O (Edwin Othello) Excell was born this date, 12/13/1851, in Stark Co, OH.  He was a son of a German Reformed pastor who converted to Christ under a Methodist while leading the music in a revival.  He is said to have published some 50 gospel songbooks and to have written and composed some 2,000 hymns/Gospel songs, including “Since I Have Been Redeemed” “I Am Happy in Him” and the music to “Count Your Blessings” and “I’ll Be a Sunbeam for Jesus.”   Excell assisted evangelist Sam P. Jones in his revival meetings for twenty years.  Excell died 6/10/1921 in Chicago.

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Will L Thompson – death, Sep. 20, 1909

Jesus is all the world to me, my life, my joy, my all;
He is my strength from day to day, without Him I would fall.
When I am sad, to Him I go, no other one can cheer me so;
When I am sad, He makes me glad, He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, my Friend in trials sore;
I go to Him for blessings, and He gives them over and o’er.
He sends the sunshine and the rain, He sends the harvest’s golden grain;
Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain, He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, and true to Him I’ll be;
O how could I this Friend deny, when He’s so true to me?
Following Him I know I’m right, He watches o’er me day and night;
Following Him by day and night, He’s my Friend.

Jesus is all the world to me, I want no better Friend;
I trust Him now, I’ll trust Him when life’s fleeting days shall end.
Beautiful life with such a Friend, beautiful life that has no end;
Eternal life, eternal joy, He’s my Friend.

Will L. Thompson died this date, 9/20/1909, at NY, NY.  He had been born 11/7/1847 in East Liverpool, OH.  Will also penned “Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling.”

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C B Widmeyer – birth, Jul. 19, 1884

When the toils of life are over,
And we lay our armor down,
And we bid farewell to earth with all its cares,
We shall meet and greet our loved ones,
And our Christ we then shall crown,
In the new Jerusalem.

Refrain

There’ll be singing, there’ll be shouting
When the saints come marching home,
In Jerusalem, in Jerusalem,
Waving palms with loud hosannas
As the King shall take His throne,
In the new Jerusalem.

2. Though the way is sometimes lonely,
He will hold me with His hand,
Through the testings and the trials I must go.
But I’ll trust and gladly follow,
For sometime I’ll understand,
In the new Jerusalem.

3. When the last goodbye is spoken
And the tear stains wiped away,
And our eyes shall catch a glimpse of glory fair,
Then with bounding hearts we’ll meet Him
Who hath washed our sins away,
In the new Jerusalem.

4. When we join the ransomed army
In the summer land above,
And the face of our dear Savior we behold,
We will sing and shout forever,
And we’ll grow in perfect love,
In the new Jerusalem.

C B (Charles Brenton) Widmeyer was born this date, 7/19/1884 at Morgan, WV. 

He attended God’s Bible School (Cincinnati, OH), was Pre­sident of Point Lo­ma Na­za­rene Un­i­versity (CA), and later was chair­man of the Na­za­rene De­part­ment of Min­is­ter­i­al Re­lief (1923-48).  He also wrote the words and music to “Come and Dine.”  

Wid­mey­er died De­cem­ber 14, 1974, at Los An­ge­les, Cal­i­for­nia.

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L D Wilcox – birth, Jul. 12, 1907

…God is ready to share His holiness with men…

                      – L. D. Wilcox, Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (Salem, OH: Schmul, 1985), 67.

 

He [man] is free to choose how he will act, but

            he is not free to choose the results of this action.                       

                    – L. D. Wilcox, Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (Salem, OH: Schmul, 1985), 136.

 

The term original sin was a term first used by the Calvinists…

                    – L. D. Wilcox, Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (Salem, OH: Schmul, 1985), 157.

 

Man’s departure from God was voluntary;

            his return must likewise be voluntary.

                    – L. D. Wilcox, Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (Salem, OH: Schmul, 1985), 200.

 

A foreigner won’t likely invest in real estate…he doesn’t intend to stay…picture of the Christian and his lack of interest in earthly values.

                    – L. D. Wilcox, Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (Salem, OH: Schmul, 1985), 275.

 

Leslie D (L D) Wilcox was born this date, 7/12/1907 at Silver Creek, NY. His parents and siblings were all converted to Christ in the same Wesleyan Methodist revival in January, 1924.  He entered God’s Bible School in 1927 (later taught there for 25 years) and received an MA from University of Cincinnati.  He married Ruth Grode and was the father of Paul and Lucile.  

 

Wilcox pastored sixteen years and was president of Ohio Conference sixteen years, both with the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of Churches.  Later he was an officer in the Bible Methodist Connection of Churches.

 

He authored Power from on High (n.d.), Beyond the Gate (1961),

                                    Be Ye Holy (1965), Profiles in Wesleyan Theology (3 vol.,1985).  He died 12/2/1991, in South Carolina.

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Elisha Hoffman – birth, May 7, 1839

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Refrain

Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

2.

Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

3.

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

4.

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

 

Elisha Albright Hoffman was born this date (5/7/1839) at Orwigsburg, PA.  After attending Union Seminary in New Berlin, Pennsylvania he was ordained in 1868. He worked with the Evangelical Association’s publishing plan (Cleveland, OH) and later pastored in Cleveland and Grafton, OH, in Benton Harbor, MI, and in Cabery, IL.  He also wrote “Is Your All on the Altar”   and “I Must Tell Jesus.”  He died 11/25/1929 at Chicago.

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A W Tozer – birth, Apr. 21, 1897

  A religion, even popular Christianity, could enjoy a boom altogether divorced from the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and so leave the church of the next generation worse off…

                – A W Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub.,1957), 12.

 …That word perfection never meant a spiritual terminal point nor a state of purity that made watchfulness and prayer unnecessary.  Exactly the opposite was true.

                – A W Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub.,1957), 30.

 …We so desperately need leaders with the gift of discernment…we do not have them and are compelled to fall back upon the techniques of the world.

 This frightening hour calls aloud for men with the gift of prophetic insight.  Instead we have men who conduct surveys, polls and panel discussions.

 We need men with the gift of knowledge.  In their place we have men with scholarship – nothing more.   

                – A W Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub.,1957), 40.

 …Let us beware of that imitation faith which is no more than a mental assent to truth… True faith invariably brings a witness.

                – A W Tozer, Keys to the Deeper Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub.,1957), 52.

A W (Aiden Wilson) Tozer was born this date (4/21/1897) in (what is now) Newburg, PA.  He was converted after hearing a man preaching on the street in Akron, were Tozer was working in a tire factory. 

 It is said that he never owned a car and seldom made pastoral calls.  He did pray, preach, and publish: “The Pursuit of God”, “The Root of Righteousness” and “God Tells the Man Who Cares.”

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Spring

Here and there on branches bare,

A cocoon earthward swings,

Waiting, a month or two, to be a zoo,

Of six-legged flying things.

 

Earth is so pleased to end the freeze,

It’s bursting up with joy.

And down the street, with peddling feet,

Rides a six-year boy. ^[1]     -eab,  4/1971

---

^[1] Andrew in the first grade, riding his new red bike bought by Granddaddy and Grandmother Scarbrough. Written in Paris, OH.

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – birth, Feb. 27, 1807

“A Psalm of Life”

 

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
        Life is but an empty dream ! —
   For the soul is dead that slumbers,
        And things are not what they seem.

 

    Life is real !   Life is earnest!
        And the grave is not its goal ;
    Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
        Was not spoken of the soul.

 

    Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
        Is our destined end or way ;
    But to act, that each to-morrow
        Find us farther than to-day.

 

    Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
        And our hearts, though stout and brave,
    Still, like muffled drums, are beating
        Funeral marches to the grave.

 

    In the world’s broad field of battle,
        In the bivouac of Life,
    Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
        Be a hero in the strife !

 

    Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant !
        Let the dead Past bury its dead !
    Act,— act in the living Present !
        Heart within, and God o’erhead !

 

    Lives of great men all remind us
        We can make our lives sublime,
    And, departing, leave behind us
        Footprints on the sands of time ;

 

    Footprints, that perhaps another,
        Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
        Seeing, shall take heart again.

 

    Let us, then, be up and doing,
        With a heart for any fate ;
    Still achieving, still pursuing,
        Learn to labor and to wait.

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born this date (2/27/1807) in Port­land, Maine.

He was one of the greatest poets of America.  See also his “Oh, How Blest Are Ye Whose Toils Are Ended” And his well known Christmas Carol “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”  He died 3/24/1882.

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There’s Proof

There’s the beauty of rain,

As it sheets across the way.

The beauty of snow,

As it blurs a winter day.

And the beauty of hail,

As it balls – bouncing, on the roof

There’s beauty, There’s God, There’s proof!  -eab, 11/73

Written in Nevada, OH as we lived on Goodbread Street

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