Riff's Christian Journal

A Layman's View Of Christian Theology

Archive for November 2024

A Song Of Thanksgiving



Come, Ye Thankful People, Come


Colossians 2:6-7 KJV
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.


According to Wikipedia, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” is an English Christian harvest festival hymn written in 1844 by Henry Alford, who was rector of Aston Sandford in Buckinghamshire, England. The full song is listed below.
I was a member of an Anglican (Episcopal here in the U.S.)/Church in the 1950’s and 60’s. I really enjoyed that church and the services, before they turned liberal and embraced worldly ways, and one of the songs we sang every year at Thanksgiving was this song. It is a beautiful song full of good theology, if you to take time to read and study the lyrics.


You can hear the song sung by a choir, if you click on the link below.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5FqdCskC0QE

Hope you enjoy listening to this wonderful song of Thanksgiving.

  1. Come, ye thankful people, come,
    Raise the song of harvest home!
    All is safely gathered in,
    Ere the winter storms begin;
    God, our Maker, doth provide
    For our wants to be supplied;
    Come to God’s own temple, come;
    Raise the song of harvest home!
  2. We ourselves are God’s own field,
    Fruit unto his praise to yield;
    Wheat and tares together sown
    Unto joy or sorrow grown;
    First the blade and then the ear,
    Then the full corn shall appear;
    Grant, O harvest Lord, that we
    Wholesome grain and pure may be.
  3. For the Lord our God shall come,
    And shall take the harvest home;
    From His field shall in that day
    All offenses purge away,
    Giving angels charge at last
    In the fire the tares to cast;
    But the fruitful ears to store
    In the garner evermore.
  4. Then, thou Church triumphant come,
    Raise the song of harvest home!
    All be safely gathered in,
    Free from sorrow, free from sin,
    There, forever purified,
    In God’s garner to abide;
    Come, ten thousand angels, come,
    Raise the glorious harvest home!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Written by Glenn C. Riffey

November 24, 2024 at 9:00 am

Christians, Politics, and Voting


New Testament Scriptures To Ponder

In writing essays it is the writers prerogative to put forth his opinion based on given facts. In this case, however, the facts will only be Scriptures from the New Testament, and it will be up to you, the reader, to decide for yourself, guided by the Holy Spirit, if you are following biblical teaching when it comes to politics and voting.

Romans 12:1-2 KJV

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. [4] No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Romans 13:1-2 KJV

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. [2] Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

Whom do you follow and whose kingdom do you belong?

John 18:36 KJV… Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world:

Written by Glenn C. Riffey

November 1, 2024 at 6:00 am