A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Tuesday,
June 8,
2021
A Lehigh Canal lockmaster's house near
Freemansburg PA built in 1829.
Remnants of the canal lock can be seen in the
foreground.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
"Don't
Let The Rocks Cry Out!"
Listen
to this message on your audio player.
"When
He (Christ) came near the place where the road goes
down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of
disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud
voices for all the miracles they had seen: 'Blessed
is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest!' Some of the
Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher,
rebuke your disciples!' 'I tell you,' He replied,
'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out. (Luke
19:37-40).
This last Saturday we rode our
bikes 24 miles down along the Lehigh and Delaware
Rivers (including side excursions); first on the Canal
Towpath on the Lehigh River and then along the Canal
Towpath on the Delaware River. Following the rivers
downstream we had a generally downhill ride. My
brother Pat took us to our starting point in Bethlehem
in the morning and then picked us up in the afternoon
in Riegelsville. You can have fun even in your senior
years we've already learned.
This last Saturday we rode our
bikes 24 miles down along the Lehigh and Delaware
Rivers (including side excursions); first on the Canal
Towpath on the Lehigh River and then along the Canal
Towpath on the Delaware River. Following the rivers
downstream we had a generally downhill ride. My
brother Pat took us to our starting point in Bethlehem
in the morning and then picked us up in the afternoon
in Riegelsville. You can have fun even in your senior
years we've already learned.It was a
very hot day and we were very tired when Pat picked us
up but we wanted to go over to Ringing Rocks Park in
Bucks County where it seems everyone goes in carrying
a hammer, since the rocks ring when you strike them.
It's an unusual sight and sound as you look out upon
the seven acre boulder field and see people of all
ages banging on the rocks with a hammer!
The rocks produce different tones
and some have played a musical tune by hitting the
rocks. In June, 1890 Dr. J.J. Ott collected enough
rocks with different pitches to play some tunes
accompanied by the Pleasant Valley Band. It was,
perhaps, the first ever literal rock concert! We
heard one version of what sounded like "Hear The Bells
Ringing" made famous by the 2nd Chapter Of Acts when
we searched for the music with ringing rocks on the
web.Today's
Scripture text is from a portion of the Bible dealing
with the Triumphal Entry. "When He (Christ) came near the place
where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the
whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise
God in loud voices for all the miracles they had
seen: 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name
of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the
highest!' For those of us who follow
the Lord it's a beautiful sound to hear such praises
to the Lord!
But some
of the Pharisees, the angry
and jealous ones, demanded that
they be silenced and rebuked, "Teacher, rebuke
your disciples!"
But Jesus made a powerful observation, "I tell you," He replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
We are created to praise the Lord. We recall a song we learned many years ago taught to us by Steve Moore, a musician who would periodically visit our church in northern Pennsylvania. The recurring line was, "Ain't no rock gonna cry out in my place!" based on the daily Scripture verse. God's Word makes it abundantly clear that He desires His people to praise Him.
Hebrews 13:15 states, "Through Him [Jesus] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name".
The call to praise includes:
But Jesus made a powerful observation, "I tell you," He replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
We are created to praise the Lord. We recall a song we learned many years ago taught to us by Steve Moore, a musician who would periodically visit our church in northern Pennsylvania. The recurring line was, "Ain't no rock gonna cry out in my place!" based on the daily Scripture verse. God's Word makes it abundantly clear that He desires His people to praise Him.
Hebrews 13:15 states, "Through Him [Jesus] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name".
The call to praise includes:
- Everyone: "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD" (Psalm 150:6).
- Everywhere: "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised" (Psalm 113:3).
- All the time: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Jesus,
I want to praise You, my great Redeemer, for
who You are and for Your acts of kindness seen
so many times throughout my day. The rocks
won't cry out in my place because I never want
to cease praising You because You never cease
to work on my behalf. Your mercy and love,
Your strength and comfort, Your sustaining
power and guiding hand are only a tiny
fraction of the many reasons that lead me to
praise You. Instead of a murmuring and
ungrateful attitude, I want to join with the
multitude of believers and sing of my great
Redeemer's praise to everyone, everywhere, all
the time. Amen.
Daily
prayer: Jesus,
I want to praise You, my great Redeemer, for
who You are and for Your acts of kindness seen
so many times throughout my day. The rocks
won't cry out in my place because I never want
to cease praising You because You never cease
to work on my behalf. Your mercy and love,
Your strength and comfort, Your sustaining
power and guiding hand are only a tiny
fraction of the many reasons that lead me to
praise You. Instead of a murmuring and
ungrateful attitude, I want to join with the
multitude of believers and sing of my great
Redeemer's praise to everyone, everywhere, all
the time. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
"Hear The Bells Ringing" Video 2nd Chapter Of Acts (I found the "Hear The Bells Ringing" ringing rocks version on the road on my phone but couldn't find it again when I got home!)
"Hear The Bells Ringing" Video 2nd Chapter Of Acts (I found the "Hear The Bells Ringing" ringing rocks version on the road on my phone but couldn't find it again when I got home!)
"Ain't No
Rock" Video
Chris Christian
"Ain't Gonna
Let No Rock" Video Ron
Kenoly
The
Sonorous Rocks of Ringing Rocks County
Park short video
"Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star" on the Ringing
Rocks Video
More
photos from our weekend where we biked in
four Pennsylvania counties.
The Chain Dam on the Lehigh River was built
in the 1970's and is named for a chain
bridge used to ferry canal boats from one
side of the river to the other. See here. In the
foreground is a fish ladder. You can see a
lockmaster's house on the other side.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Another
view of the chain dam from the other side.
Stephen's brother, Pat, and his wife,
Laverne, live about 1/4 mile up from this
point on the other side.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Lehigh
Canal boat at the National Canal Museum
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Delaware
Canal lock
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Delaware
Canal Spillway
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Finally
today: We
have another memory of inanimate praise.
"The
Case of The Praising Computer"
Dottie was our mixed breed
barn cat we had from her birth on May
15, 2001 till she died in January 2019.
We know her precise birthday since she
was born to a wild barn cat in the
dilapidated summer kitchen of our rented
farm house three months after we moved
from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania.
Ester picked her favorite from the
litter of four.
Dottie had no idea of her
humble beginnings and acted pretty
sophisticated. Due to her insistence on
scratching furniture over the years we
relocated her to our utility barn or she
also roamed around in our yard but never
much farther.
But we occasionally let her come in and she liked to lay near us when we did our work on the computer. Brooksyne had an interesting experience she shares in her own words:
But we occasionally let her come in and she liked to lay near us when we did our work on the computer. Brooksyne had an interesting experience she shares in her own words:
I was typing out the words
to some older choruses that I was
going to lead our congregation in
singing. They included the songs, "Oh,
How He Loves You and Me", "He Is
Lord", and "Hallelujah, Hallelujah."
Right after I typed these songs along came Dottie sauntering across my desk. Instead of sitting beside the computer she decided to plop down right on my keyboard. Several random letters came across the screen. All of a sudden a stilted, emotionless voice came out of the computer speaker which initially startled me. I turned up the volume only to hear the words of the choruses I just typed!
Apparently Dottie launched a function I didn't even know existed on our computer and it converted the text to voice. Though it was a rather monotone voice, hearing the words of the songs brought them to life in my heart. By the time the computer generated voice broke into the chorus of "Hallelujah, Hallelujah" and repeated it eight times, strangely enough, I found myself beginning to praise God!
I called Stephen to join me so I could share with him about my unusual experience. We were both rather blessed but we also considered a spiritual application that we might render this way, "If you keep quiet, the computer will cry out".
Right after I typed these songs along came Dottie sauntering across my desk. Instead of sitting beside the computer she decided to plop down right on my keyboard. Several random letters came across the screen. All of a sudden a stilted, emotionless voice came out of the computer speaker which initially startled me. I turned up the volume only to hear the words of the choruses I just typed!
Apparently Dottie launched a function I didn't even know existed on our computer and it converted the text to voice. Though it was a rather monotone voice, hearing the words of the songs brought them to life in my heart. By the time the computer generated voice broke into the chorus of "Hallelujah, Hallelujah" and repeated it eight times, strangely enough, I found myself beginning to praise God!
I called Stephen to join me so I could share with him about my unusual experience. We were both rather blessed but we also considered a spiritual application that we might render this way, "If you keep quiet, the computer will cry out".
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& Brooksyne
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Weber".Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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