Stanley Singers

This is a snapshot of our new singing group. This was a practice session Sunday before last. Yesterday (Sunday 7th) was their debut for the congregation. They sang Amazing Grace. I'm not a singer so I can't render a professional judgement but it sounded good to this old southern gospel ear. Channah Edwards is the director and pianist for the group.


Nancy Shiver gave a short history of Amazing Grace and John Newton who wrote it. I knew he was a slave ship captain before being saved. Newton later became a curate in the Church of England. God surely knew what he was doing when he gave inspiration to its writing and for it being passed down through history over for over two hundred years. It has and will continue to bless and move us all. Praise God.


We have a wonderful video entitled, Amazing Grace. It was a PBS documentary by Bill Moyers. It aired back in the late '80s. I was able to order from the PBS store. Recently I tried to order it on DVD but learned it was no longer available. I have asked a friend to copy the video to DVD format. Hopefully he will do so soon.

Glorifying God

As I was talkng to the Lord in prayer this morning I felt lead to post this note. There are times when we get so busy with our own daily schedules that we forget to give sufficient time to worshiping God.

We all need to remember that Isaiah 43:7 reminds us that we were created for God's glory. Psalms 86:12 says that we are to glorify his name forevermore.

In Matt 5:14 God says, that we as individuals and the church, are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hidden. Matt 5:16 says, we are to let our light so shine before men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our father, who is in heaven.

In 1 Thes 5:19 we are commanded by God to not quench the Spirit. If we go through our life quenching the Holy Spirit we will never be lead to glorify God in the way that he desires. Since we were created for God's glory and to be used for his will, the bible tells us in 1st Cor 6: 20, we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit which belong to God. We were bought with a price, the precious blood of Jesus Christ that flowed from the Cross at Calvary. We are not our own, we belong to God. So let us all forget about ourselves, put Jesus first, and glorify God in everything we do.