AnthonyFosterPhD

Can't believe I have been blogging for over 8 years. That is alottagloggin, and it's been fun. Now Facebook shares in the fun, but I will keep on posting lyrics and news, clues, and views here ad infinitum...

The hills are calling me today And waters gush from virgin clay And I will leave plow and team And follow the bright winding stream Traveling its course along What a beautiful silvery song The pebbled brook sings just for me And I am filled with ecstasy To the hills I will lift up my eyes And see the living Lord arise This is where my help comes from There I will rest till my day comes. Before me lies the gushing spring Around its blue mouth tall blades cling I’ve found the shady hills at last And trees their cooling shadows cast They hold me as a bosom friend I wish the day would never end God’s hills are wondrous fair today And I could here forever stay. To the hills I will lift up my eyes And see the living Lord arise This is where my help comes from There I will rest till my day comes. After a depression era poem by John B. Cruise Anthony Foster February 22, 2011

‘Neath the cross I will take refuge In this dry and weary land In the glory of His sacrifice I will hope and I will stand. Oh the shadow of the Cross Fall full upon me I pray Oh shadow of the Cross Cover me in your refreshing shade Be my refuge In this wilderness Be my place of shelter And my place of rest Be the place where I am fully blessed Neath the shadow of the cross. In the light of the glory of the Presence Casts a cross shaped shadow on our walls And we tremble in this glory As on our lives this shadow falls The cross is a tower Erected on the Rock Where His outstetched wings Shelter His own flock Oh the shadow of the Cross Fall full upon me I pray Oh shadow of the Cross Cover me in your refreshing shade Be my refuge In this wilderness Be my place of shelter And my place of rest Be the place where I am fully blessed Neath the shadow of the cross. Anthony Foster February 13, 2011

The blood of Jesus runneth deep Deep enough to cover all your sin. There is no depth to which you can sink There is no thought that you can think There is no secret place That’s beyond the reach of grace Blood that covers, blood that covers Blood that covers all our sin. The blood of Jesus reaches wide Wide enough to overwhelm our sin There is nowhere man can hide Where the love of Christ will not abide He delivers us from that evil place Such is the scope of redeeming grace Blood that conquers, blood that conquers Blood that conquers all our sin. The blood of Jesus is ever strong Strong to cast out all all our sin There is no land beyond His reach The blood of the Word shall forever preach Until the day a man dies It redeems and sanctifies Blood that casts out, blood that casts out Blood that casts out all our sin. The blood of Jesus cleanses clean Cleanses us from all our sin It cleanses those who are defiled Cleanses us and reconciles And every one who is redeemed Is cleansed by the...

What we have in the latest adaptation of True Grit is a film that keeps in cadence with the tone and pace of the original Charles Portis book. The film stays true, to some degree, to the Biblical overtones of the novel, which portrayed Mattie almost as the avenging angel of a wrathful God. In my opinion, however, this somewhat pedantic adherence to the text stifles the cinematic interpretation. What reads well on the page does not make great dialog. The movie mirrors the same flaws as the original text, so this is no surprise. It is a tale of vengeance, not justice. The result is plodding and sometime boring exercise. More than too much attention is paid to the archaic English that sidesteps contractions so obviously that it seems strained. My main complaint is for the weakness of the villains in the film. They are neither well-developed or particularly interesting. This might have been alleviated by a scene showing the murder of Frank Ross. The drivenness of Mattie is fueled b...

We have been going through the Tozer classic again as part of our nightly devotions. Tozer's prayers have been resounding in my heart as I have been drawn to meditate on God as our portion. Here are some words that flowed from the readings... Follow Hard O God, I taste and see that You are good At your table I am satisfied to feed I thirst anew and hunger for your food So painfully conscious of my need I am desperate for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. Oh Lord my God I seek Your face Your presence is what I require. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing for You I thirst to be made more thirsty still. And want to quench this thirst anew Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, That so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love Within me plant Your holy seed. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, My fair one, and come away.” Then give me grace to rise above And fly from this misty lowland I pray. I would follow up and fol...

We will weep with those who weep And laugh with those who laugh This is deep calling unto deep The paradox of compassion’s path Rejoice with those who rejoice And mourn with those who mourn This is the consecrated choice The blessing to which we are born To enter in with empathy Longsuffering with sympathy Where deep despair and joy sublime In tension make a perfect rhyme We will ache with those who ache And be blessed with the blessed This dust shall die for love’s own sake For this is our trust and test. Anthony Foster January 9, 2010