"Young people today (I include myself in this group) aren’t looking for something new. They aren’t looking for something relevant. We’re looking for something true. Something ancient." - C. Leaders
"Třanovský knew something about suffering. He lived during the devastating Thirty-Year War, was imprisoned once, exiled twice, and forced to move several times. Three of his children died, and both he and the people under his care suffered the consequences of wars, pillaging, and pestilence. He was bedridden and in pain for eight months before going to meet his Savior." - Ref21
"Users of the online database [hymnary.org] doubled as the novel coronavirus closed many church buildings this spring, and the website now is nearing 40 million page views for 2020, its highest ever." - RNS
Read Part 1.
As the darkness gives way to the daylight, we notice long shadows—perhaps moving directly upon us.
Shadows have the capacity to unnerve—even frighten us. Sometimes the shadows may be mistaken for something real. At other times, something real may be hiding in the shadows.
Shadows make us uncomfortable. They represent incompleteness and uncertainty—”variation or shadow of turning” (Js. 1:17).
Shadows create a sense of darkness. In reality, however, the shadows prove the existence of the light—although it is hidden from view.
As the Old Testament saints looked ahead toward the ineffable brilliance of their Messiah’s first coming, they saw enormous signs between it and them, casting shadows back upon them.
There were gigantic figures like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Daniel. These men, and others who followed their examples, pointed—albeit in a very finite and limited way—to the coming of the One that God had promised to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15, the “Seed” of “the woman.”
"Comparing Watts’ hymn with the Psalm on which it is based raises several important clues as to which advent Watts had in view. The Psalm itself does not necessarily give indication as to which advent it presents. Both salvation and judgement did come with Christ’s incarnation, although they will certainly come with finality when He comes again." - BPNews
"What you’ll hear in this episode: What it means to read the great hymns as devotional poems. Why should Christians read hymns as poems in addition to singing them. How Dr. Ryken envisions readers using this anthology of hymnic poems." - Servants of Grace
"Then again, I’m cool with singing 'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing' instead of 'Hark How All the Welkin Rings' this Christmas Eve, so…" - Aigner
