Hymn Lovers - It's Your Turn...!

An old farmer went to the city one weekend and attended a big city church. He came home, and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the farmer, “It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns.”

“Praise choruses?” asked the wife. “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re OK. They’re sort of like hymns, only different,” said the farmer.

“Well, what’s the difference?” asked the wife.

The farmer said, “Well, it’s like this: If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn,’ well, that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you, ‘Martha, Martha, Martha, Oh Martha, Martha, Martha, the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows, the white cows, the black and white cows, the cows, cows, cows are in the corn, are in the corn are in the corn, are in the corn, the corn, corn, corn’ – well, that would be a praise chorus.”

Meanwhile, a young Christian went to the country one weekend and attended a small rural church. He came home, and his wife asked him how it was.

“Well,” said the young man, “it was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs.”

“Hymns?” asked his wife. “What are those?”

“Oh, they’re OK. They’re sort of like regular songs, only different,” said the young man.

“Well what’s the difference?” asked his wife.

The young man said, “Well, it’s like this: If I were to say to you, ‘Martha, the cows are in the corn, well, that would be a regular song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

‘O, Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.

For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God’s sun or His rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.

‘Yea, those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.

‘So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn,
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.’

“Then, if I were to sing only verses one, three and four and do a key change on the last verse, well, that would be a hymn.”

Author unknown.

(Courtesy of Moishe Rosen's blog at http://moisherosen.org/2009/09/08/hymn-lovers-its-your-turn)

City Plan Commission Denies Our Request for An SUP for Coram Deo Academy

I am sorry to report that this afternoon the Dallas City Plan Commission (CPC) denied "without prejudice" our application for the Special Use Permit (SUP) that we need in order to host the Coram Deo Academy Christian school (CDA) here at Hillcrest Church. This action was taken by the CPC in spite of the fact that the CPC staff had recommended our SUP be approved.

CDA is currently located a mere 600 yards or so up the street on Hillcrest Road on the premises of the Trinity Hillcrest Episcopal Church. CDA would like to move onto our facility in order to be able to grow from their current enrollment of approximately 90 students in grades K-6 to a maximum daily presence of 250 students in grades K-12. Their unique scholastic approach blends traditional classroom education with home-schooling, yielding outstanding results both academically and in the formation of the students' character. They have been a great neighbor and an asset to our community since they have been at Trinity Hillcrest and we would be thrilled to partner with them in the Christian education of children from our congregation and beyond.

Please pray that God would give us wisdom regarding any steps we should now take and that He would bless our neighbors and the members of the CPC.