The Story Behind the Hymns.
THE STORY BEHIND "ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING"

“All Creatures of Our God and King” traces its roots to one of the most beautiful expressions of praise in Christian history: the Canticle of the Sun, written by St. Francis of Assisi around 1224.

St. Francis composed the canticle near the end of his life, during a period of physical suffering. Rather than allowing his circumstances to silence his faith, he looked at creation and saw it as a reflection of God’s glory. The sun, moon, wind, water, fire and earth became, in his poetic prayer, fellow worshippers joining humanity in praising their Creator.

Centuries later, the English clergyman William Henry Draper brought this ancient prayer into the world of congregational hymn singing. Draper translated and adapted portions of St. Francis’ canticle into English, creating the hymn now known as “All Creatures of Our God and King.”

Draper prepared the hymn for a children’s Whitsuntide celebration in Leeds, England. His version was subsequently published in the early 20th century and became widely used in churches, particularly in Britain and other English-speaking Christian communities.

The familiar melody adds another layer of history. The tune, commonly known as “Lasst uns erfreuen,” originated in Germany and appeared in a Catholic hymnal in 1623. Centuries later, it was arranged and popularised in the English-speaking church, notably through the work of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and the English Hymnal.

The hymn’s message is simple yet profound: all creation belongs to God and is called to praise Him. Its repeated invitation to “O praise Him” turns the song into a celebration of worship that reaches beyond humanity to the entire created world.

From a prayer written by a 13th-century saint to an English adaptation sung in churches centuries later, “All Creatures of Our God and King” has endured because of its timeless reminder that creation itself points toward the greatness, goodness and glory of its Creator.

Ellen G. White
To those who are contending with the power of habit, God says: “Would you walk by and by the streets of the holy city? Then obey the command, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing. I, the infinite God, the Creator of the universe, will receive you.
I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters.” “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Connect with Heaven. Thus you may become children of the heavenly King.
Do you want higher honor, greater exaltation? Riches God has in abundance for those who overcome; for the streets of the holy city are paved with gold. It is your privilege to enter this city, to partake of the tree of life, to listen to the voice that is sweeter and richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ears. There is strength in the arm of the Lord. Take hold upon it, and you will one day stand victors in the city of God, each wearing on his brow a crown of immortal glory. ST January 30, 1901, par. 9

Gods Creation, 100 / evolution, 0
WHY DID T. REX HAVE TINY ARMS?

Few animals capture the imagination quite like Tyrannosaurus rex. It's one of the most recognizable dinosaurs in the world. Towering over the landscape with a massive skull and bone-crushing jaws, one feature has puzzled scientists for decades: those tiny little arms.

A new study claims to have solved the mystery.

After examining the skulls and forelimbs of dozens of meat-eating dinosaurs, researchers found that species with larger, more robust skulls generally had smaller arms. From that relationship, they proposed that as these dinosaurs supposedly changed over millions of years, the head gradually became the primary weapon while the forelimbs became less important.

It's an interesting observation, but does that explanation really follow?

The study identified a relationship between skull size and arm size. It didn't discover how that relationship came to be. Instead, the evolutionary story is added afterward because that's the framework through which the evidence is being interpreted.

But there's another explanation that's much simpler.

Think about a playground teeter-totter. If one side becomes much heavier, the other side has to compensate or everything falls out of balance. A two-legged dinosaur faces the same engineering challenge. Its head, neck, torso, hips, legs, tail, and forelimbs all have to work together to keep its center of gravity exactly where it belongs.

A massive skull combined with equally massive forelimbs would place tremendous weight toward the front of the animal. Something else would have to compensate. The tail would need to become larger, the hips would need to change, or the body would become increasingly unstable. Suddenly those tiny arms don't seem strange at all. They make perfect engineering sense as part of a balanced, integrated body.

The researchers also describe the arms as "reduced" or "vestigial," yet they still don't know exactly what purpose those arms served. History has shown why we should be cautious with that conclusion. Again and again, structures once dismissed as evolutionary leftovers have later been found to perform important functions.

The difference ultimately comes down to where we begin.

If evolution is the starting point, then every feature must somehow be explained through millions of years of gradual change. But if we begin where Scripture begins, with God as Creator, then coordinated engineering is exactly what we should expect. The Bible tells us God created every creature according to its kind during Creation Week. From that perspective, T. rex wasn't a work in progress. It was created as a complete, fully functional animal whose skull, arms, legs, hips, and tail all worked together from the very beginning.

The word "dinosaur" wasn't even invented until 1842. Before that, these incredible creatures would simply have been known as dragons, great beasts, or perhaps even among the kinds of magnificent animals described in passages like Behemoth in the book of Job. Whatever name people used, they were part of the "very good" creation God made during Creation Week.

The tiny arms of Tyrannosaurus rex aren't evidence of a failed evolutionary experiment. They are another reminder that God's creation displays remarkable engineering, thoughtful design, and purpose, even in places where scientists are still searching for answers.

August 17th, 2026
Read; Psalm 139: 13-14

Our Creator intimately formed us, possessing our innermost being and covering us in our mother's womb. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, a testament to His marvelous works, and our souls know this truth well. Before anyone knew of our coming, He had divine plans for us. When we consider all God has done, we see His hand in our unique creation, His faithful care for our lives, and His powerful ability to heal. He is not only our Maker but also our constant Sustainer, demonstrating His infinite love through His works.

Prayer
God Almighty, my Savior and Redeemer, thank You for knowing me before I could know myself and for giving me life. I receive the abilities, limitations, history, and relationships You have entrusted to me as part of Your wise care. Keep me from turning my particular gifts into pride or comparing my life with another's. Teach me to steward what You have given with courage and gratitude, honoring the body You formed and using my gifts to love You and serve others. In Jesus' precious name, I pray. Amen.

Thought For Today - Remember Thy Creator
See if you can identify the descriptions of what happen to people as they age. Like what is the "almond tree" that shall flourish?
#bible #RememberThyCreator #godisgood #thoughtoftheday #thoughtfortoday #GodIsGoodAllTheTimeGodIsGood

https://youtu.be/WPiMS0LTrxQ

Christian Content Creator workshop

The Ten Commandments set up principles for God’s people, the Israelites, so they’d flourish. The first four commandments emphasize single-minded devotion to God (Exodus 20:3-11). The last six outline how devotion to God should shape human relationships (vv. 12-17). At the heart of these commands is showing respectful honor to all (Matthew 22:37-40).

Society flourishes when there’s respectful care for all people, including parents and the elderly. The command to honor parents (Exodus 20:12) doesn’t mean that people should remain in damaging relationships with parents or others or should minimize harmful behavior, for we’re also called to be truthful. But our Creator wants us to recognize that each person is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and therefore we should desire every person’s well-being and respect them.

The Lord Thinks of You

One of the most comforting truths in Psalm 40 comes near the end:

“I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” — Psalm 40:17 KJV

Think about that.

The Creator of heaven and earth knows you. He sees your struggles. He hears your prayers. He knows what you need.

Whatever you're facing today, remember:

You are not forgotten by God.

“The Lord thinketh upon me.”

#Psalm40 #GodLovesYou #TrustGod #HopeInGod #Jesus #ChristianEncouragement #BibleVerse #GodIsFaithful
https://youtube.com/shorts/7dJYTqiGlQ0?feature=share

Return to God and be Uplifted!
Repentance brings a change of attitude concerning God. The sinner naturally vilifies God. Even when he speaks of His love, he has no conception of God’s justice and wrath. True repentance brings a sense of the Holy God who cannot look upon sin. It impacts a change of mind concerning sin itself upon a person.
The unrepentant delight in sin. A child of God may be tempted to sin and even fall into sin, but his bosom aches when he does so. A true child of God who has repented cannot enjoy sin and continuously longs for deliverance. Before every child of God, there is a vision both of what he is and what he ought to be. He cries with the poet; “O that a man might arise in me that I might ease to be.”
Repentance gives the sinners a change of mind concerning him. Before our salvation, we all had a good opinion of ourselves. Like the Pharisees, we often thanked God that, “we were not as other men, extortionist, unjust, adulterers, or even as the publican" (Luke 18:11). But, every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted (Verse 14). Where there is true repentance, though, men often despair of themselves, and like the publication, their cry is, “God be merciful to me a sinner”. They echo Paul’s exasperated plea: “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (Romans 7:24). For Christ came not to call the righteousness, but sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32).
Repentance affects the motions and will, and also creates a change of feeling. We must beware here lest we are deceived. The old time evangelist who specialized in death-bed stories often created mere human emotion filling the mourners' bench with weeping people. These mourners often had a remorse for their evil doings, deeply regretting they had not been better men and women when they were told about meeting their “mother” in heaven. But remorse in not repentance, though I must say remorse is a very common experience for those who commit sin. Someone has called remorse the “echo of lost virtue”.
Remorse is the attitude of mind and heart for some evil done. Repentance, however, goes deeper. Repentance creates a sorrow for what we are rather that remorse for what we have done. Therefore says the Hebrews writer, “Leaving the principles of the doctrines of Christ (Messiah), let us go into perfection by not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).
Christian repentance is not merely the pangs of an injured conscience. Christian repentance follows the Holy Spirit’s convicting work deep within our soul (John 16:7 and 8). It lays strong hold upon the human will and brings the sinners into conformity with the will of God. It is heeding God’s call from a life of destruction (Mark 1:15). Repentance does not mean merely shedding tears over our wrong doings. It ends in faith in Christ, the Saviour. The Church must preach and teach until these conditions are obtained in the ministries. Then our revival shall have come. For this is the will of God for all mankind (Acts 17:30).
Today what the Church and the continents at large need is repentance. The call of the pulpit to the pew must be repentance. And that of the crusades to the nations must similarly be repentance, and this must eventuate in confession of sins. The scripture, therefore, tells us: “Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord your God” (Jeremiah3:13).That will move our God to come down and heal our many wounds. We are reminded that, “The Lord’s hands is not shortened, that it cannot save neither is His ear heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquity have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isaiah59:1 and 2). He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confess and forsake them shall have mercy (Proverbs 28:13). “For as many as the Lord loves, He rebukes and chastens; be zealous therefore and repent!” (Revelation 3:19).
The repentance must not only be among the lowly citizens but must spring from the governors trickling to the governed. “Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them not shall be likened to a foolish man which built his house upon the sand,” declares the Lord Jesus Christ (Mathew 7:24 and 26).
Almighty God is calling to the people today as He did to former Israel that, “Therefore also now, says the Lord, Turn even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning. And rend your heart and not your garments, and turn to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repent Him of the evil. Who knows if He will return and leave a blessing behind Him, even a meat offering and drink offering unto the Lord your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly; gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts; let the bride-groom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar and let them say: Spare your people O Lord and give not your heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them; wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then the Lord will be so jealous for His land and pity His people. Yes the Lord will answer and say unto His people, Behold I will send you corn, and wine and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen but I will remove far off from you northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face towards the east sea and his hinder part towards the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up and his savor shall come up because he has done great things. Fear not O land; be glad and rejoice; for the Lord will do great things. And I will restore to you the years that locusts has eaten, the cankerworm and the caterpillar and the palmerworm my great army which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that has dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never be ashamed" (Joel 2:12-21: 25 and 26).
The Lord’s northern army is the destruction God brings upon a people as a result of their wickedness. Indeed righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 13:34). For the Lord God of Israel, the Creator of the heavens and the earth loves righteousness and judgement (Psalm 33:5). He stresses that judgement is his strange work (Isaiah 28:21). The reason being that when his judgements are on the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9). When a nation leaves wickedness and turns to the Lord, such a people receive pardon and sure favour from the Lord God Almighty. The psalmist thus wrote: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance” (Psalms 33:12).
The Lord delights in the humility of a people. This makes Him hear our plea and smile back at us with a pardon. And this humility must start in His sanctuary. He says: “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 I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Therefore every Christian by and far, let us rally in repentance for the healing of our lands. For repentance turns away God’s wrath.
Nineveh found itself in a similar situation many African nations are in today. Plagued with wickedness in diverse places and faced with imminent judgment, the Almighty God used Jonah to deliver a message of judgment to the people of Nineveh: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Unlike most of our folks who hear and turn the head the other way, the Ninevehs believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest-including the king-to the least of them. And God saw their works that they turned from their evil way, and God repented them of the evil that he had said He would bring upon them, and He did it not (Jonah 3).
Repentance touches the core of God’s heart. Humble yourself and return to the Lord your Creator. Repentance automatically brings healing. The Lord says, “Wash you, and make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil. Learn to do well, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, and judge the fatherless plead for the widow. Come now and let us reason together; though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land” (Isaiah 1:16-19).
The Living God is the healer of nations. The psalmist has declared of Him: “God be merciful to us, and cause His face to shine upon us. That your way may be known upon the earth, your saving health among all nations” (Psalm 67:1 and 2). Perhaps this ought to be the prayer on everyone’s lips now.
Stay awake O Christian in the truth!
The good LORD has always extended this gracious invitation to man over the millennia. And, therefore, if it is your desire to know Him as He truly is - the Lord of lords and King of kings, the Savior, and Redeemer of mankind, then pray this prayer of repentance unto salvation: “Lord Jesus Christ, I come to you with all the sins I have committed and I beg you to forgive me. I confess that I am a sinner and that I cannot save myself. Please cleanse my body, soul, and spirit with your precious blood. I need your help Lord, and I ask you to come and live in my heart. I want to serve you, obey your commands and do what is right. I want to live for you every day, please lead and guide me by your Spirit into righteousness. Thank you, O Lord for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen!”
Welcome now to this grand and mighty army of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on earth. Read the Bible often, and join a congregation near you where Christ Jesus is preached and the Almighty Godhead: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, is worshiped in Spirit and in Truth for your own spiritual growth and strength.
The Almighty God make you the apple of His eyes as I solemnly declare of Him: “After He has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you - for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye - I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them” (Zachariah 2:8). The peace and love of Christ Jesus the Lord be with you now and forever.

Gods Creation, 100 / evolution, 0
THE MIRACLE OF WHALE MILK

Whale calves nurse in the open ocean, where ordinary milk would quickly disperse into the surrounding water. Instead, whale milk is extraordinarily rich, containing roughly 35-50% fat depending on the species, compared to about 3-5% fat in human milk. Its thick, paste-like consistency helps it stay together underwater so the calf can consume it rather than watching it wash away. This nutrient-dense milk fuels incredible growth. A blue whale calf can gain 150-200 pounds every day, drinking well over 100 gallons (400+ liters) of milk daily during its first months of life.

A whale calf is typically born tail first, helping prevent drowning during delivery while its head remains inside the mother until the final moments of birth. From birth to feeding, every detail is perfectly suited for life in the sea.

These coordinated systems had to work together from the very beginning. They point to the wisdom, planning, and foresight of our Creator, not to countless unguided accidents over time.

"O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all." Psalm 104:24