Thursday, April 28, 2016

Pray4America (part 19) - Australia has our back in prayer!

Australia/Wikipedia.com

National Day of Prayer

The 65th annual National Day of Prayer is set to be observed on May 5, 2016. And they have our back, down under, for the last 40 days.


The National Day of Prayer has a long history in the United States. It started in 1775 by the Continental Congress. Ronald Reagan amended Harry Truman's bill, designating the day of the first Thursday of May each year for the National Day of Prayer. [reference:  National Day of Prayer in the United States ]

* For more information: nationaldayofprayer.org

As we come to this week, other nations have America in their prayers, such as Australia with a ....

Global Call: Prayer and Fasting for America

Below is an appeal for that global call for prayer and fasting for America: April 30 - May 5, 2016. The example is Abraham Lincoln's call for a national day of prayer and fasting during the Civil War on April 30, 1863. [ reference: Abraham Lincoln: Proclamation 97 ]


Before the United States became of nation, events in the past indicated Providence had intervened during time of peril. One such crisis was the French Fleet, seeking vengeance on Britain and the American Colonies in 1746, which brought about the ...

Fast Day Proclamation, October 16, 1746

The Governor Of Massachusetts, William Shirley, declared A Day Of Prayer And Fasting For Deliverance - as a French invasion seemed imminent. The clip below reminds us of this deliverance:



* reference: The Miraculous Defeat of the French Fleet, 1746

Another great crisis in American history came during the Civil War. This rift brought America to her knees. So came the call for a ...

Day of Repentance – April 30, 1863

Abraham Lincoln's proclamation of a National Day of Humiliation, prayer and Fasting for 30th April 1863 is read in the clip below with an appeal for forgiveness:

Ezekiel Prayer for America

I looked for someone
among them 
who would ...
stand before Me in the gap 
on behalf of the land ....

Ezekiel 22:30 (NIV)

And Australia is standing the gap for our land with this prayer:



If My people,
which are called by My Name,
shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek My face,
 and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land.
II Chronicles 4:17 (KJV)
 

Keep praying for America

---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------








---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------

Photo: Australia/Wikipedia.com

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Music (part 3) - Passover

Pessach/Wikipedia

Passover in 2016 will be celebrated April 22 - April 30. And it is a most significant event in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Reference: Everything you need to know about Passover 2016

Old Testament

The ancient feast has its roots in the Law of Moses. It celebrates the deliverance of the Jews from the bondage of Egyptian slavery as Moses, in the power of the Lord, led them to freedom into the Promised Land.

For a good summary:  In a Nutshell: The Passover Story

New Testament

Later, Jesus made a new covenant, the New Testament, at this feast, which became known as the Last Supper. Christians to this day celebrate it as communion.

For more information: The Last Supper - Bible Story Summary

The Story in Song

Passover Medley, below, tells the story in pictures and music, sung by a group that merges both the Old and Testaments, the Liberated Wailing Wall.


Most of this Passover Medley is sung in Hebrew (with a few verses in English from Charles Wesley's hymn, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus). But the lyrics and its translation of the Hebrew into English can be found here: Passover Medley by Liberated Wailing Wall

Old meets New

Jesus coined the word, New Testament (Matthew 26:28, Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, I Corinthian 11:25), and St. Paul, referencing the Jewish writings, coined the word, Old Testament (II Corinthians 3:14).

And St. Paul wrote these words, bringing the Old and the New together:

Get rid of the old yeast, 
so that you may be
a new unleavened batch—

as you really are. 

For Christ, our Passover lamb, 
has been sacrificed.
1 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

And this message lives on through the centuries in religious rituals as well as music.

Blessings and new beginnings, my friends!


-----------------------------
-----------------------------

Previous posts in the series:
  


-----------------------------
-----------------------------

Photo: Pessach/Wikipedia

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

CC (part 9) - Buffalo Bill's Wild West

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show/wikipedia.com

The Wild West has been romanticized. 

One man did much to promote this -  William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. And it was no coincidence he came of age and lived through many iconic moments during this period of American history.

In his youth, Cody had worked as a driver on a wagon train, tried his luck at prospecting in the Pikes Peak Gold Rush, joined the Pony Express, and served during the American Civil War. And after the war, he worked as a buffalo hunter to feed the Kansas Pacific Railroad workers. (It was where he got his nickname, "Buffalo Bill". ) Later Cody rejoined the Army as a scout for the Third Calvary during the Plains Wars. (Also reference: A Brief History...)

But Ned Buntline's "Buffalo Bill" dime novels extolled Cody's deeds (undoubtedly exaggerated) as a buffalo hunter and Indian scout, which made him a national folk hero. And to solidify this living legend, in 1872, Buffalo Bill made his stage debut in Chicago in The Scouts of the Prairie, one of Ned Buntline's original Wild West shows.

A year later, the Wild West show would include James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok. A double "Bill-ing"? ;) So began Cody's new career and mission to preserve the Wild West legend. And as we learn...

There's No Business Like Show Business

After a 10 year run, Buffalo Bill created his own Wild West show, called, you guessed it, Buffalo Bill's Wild West. It was more like a circus-like show that went on tour, showing off the horse-culture including the military, the cowboys, American Indians, and other performers from around the world.

Cody's show and many like it were very popular in the latter part of the 19th and early 20th century. Noted performers in various Wild West shows were cowboys, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, and Pawnee Bill. Noted American Indians were Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, and Geronimo. (reference: Native Americans...) Among the women were such legends as Calamity Jane and Annie Oakley.

And the legend continues to this day....

Below is a clip from the musical based on Annie Oakley's career as a sharpshooter - Annie Get Your Gun (1950). Here she is being recruited by Frank Butler (and future husband) and Buffalo Bill Cody and Charlie Davenport, the show manager. They entice her with this song, There's No Business Like Show Business, composed by Irving Berlin (who wrote such hits as God Bless America and White Christmas).



In the series, The Commander and the Chief, another fictional chief was in the Wild West shows. He was Nova's great grandfather, Chief Elijah Rainmaker.  Here is an excerpt of that discussion when Nova and her British guides, Colonel Jack Sheffield and Commander Reginald Barrett, seek shelter in a cave:

Nova put a hand on her holstered gun as they walked further in. “My great grandfather, Chief Elijah Rainmaker, he was the snake handler in Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show. Some think I inherited the propensity for handling snakes from him.”

After Jack cleared the area, Reggie settled down, resting his back against the cool rock wall. Both Nova and Jack removed their pistols and set them out, aiming their barrels in a safe direction. Both kept their guns loaded, within easy reach.

“Your gun, Reggie?” Nova asked.

“I don’t carry one.” Reggie glanced at her.

“Right…so it’s a good thing we do.” She returned a sarcastic smile. “To protect you from all the bad things out there.”

“As a doctor, I’ve seen what guns can do to people, madam.” Reggie stiffened up. “Especially in war and in the street.”

“But they don’t shoot themselves, do they?” Nova sat between Reggie and Jack, crossing her legs.

“But they’re deadly…like snakes.” Reggie twisted his mouth. “Furthermore, I didn’t think snake handling was a genetic trait, darling.”

“Why not?” Nova asked. “I’m a natural at it. When I was growing up on the ranch, my big brother Nick once found a den of rattlesnakes in the rocks. I used to catch those suckers and pry open their jaws while Nick spit tobacco juice into their mouths.”

From Book 1: His Tribe of One, Part 5, Chapter 4, The Snake Handler
[for more info on the book:  smithsk.com/cc.htm ]

To find out more about The Wild West heritage, please feel free to read the book.

His Tribe of One, now available:

* Paperback:  CreateSpace

* eBook:   Kindle
                  Nook

Your readership is much appreciated. Sequel is coming soon....

S. K. Smith


----------------------------
----------------------------

----------------------------
----------------------------

Photo:  Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show/wikipedia.com