Month: April 2021

Gospel music, Holy Week, resurrection2 Comments

In the Garden

Gary Furr

“And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. and the joy we share as we tarry there None other has ever known.” (C. Austin Miles, “In the Garden”) (this is a chapter I wrote in a book edited by Dr. Paul Basden called Encountering God in the Prayers of Others. used by permission.) For more information click here Moments of sensitivity to God’s presence happen in the oddest places—foxholes, pinned in a car wreck, or or a meal with friends and a good book.  God can show up anywhere, unannounced. … Continue reading In the Garden

Christianity, death, easter, Grief, Holy Week, Hope, spirituality, Suffering1 Comment

Prayer for a Requiem

Gary Furr

I am grateful that I have served with three wonderful worship leaders over the twenty-seven years at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church before I retired–Dr. Milburn Price, Dr. Terre Johnson, and Rev. Marty Watts. Thanks to being in a church with these outstanding musicians, we were exposed to some of the great music of the Christian church. Terre Johnson asked me to compose a closing prayer following a presentation of the Requiem by John Rutter, a beautiful and somber remembrance of human sorrow. Before we can hope again, we must grieve honestly to reckon our loss, and the Rutter Requiem is … Continue reading Prayer for a Requiem

Art, Christianity, Death, death, Family, God, Grief, Holy Week, Jesus, Mother, Race, spirituality3 Comments

Mother and Son

Gary Furr

Jaroslav Pelikan’s marvelous book Jesus Through the Centuries takes a sojourn through the vast and complex history of the interpretations of Jesus.  Among the chapters is one entitled, “Christ Crucified,” in which he notes the disproportionate focus on Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection in the gospel accounts.  By even the most “generous” reading, he notes, we have at most information about less than a hundred days of Jesus’ ministry on earth, but of the last few days we have an hour by hour account. Says Pelikan, “What was said of  the thane of Cawdor in MacBeth was true pre-eminently of Jesus: … Continue reading Mother and Son