Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Happy Reformation Day!


REFORMATION DAY, October 31, 2009
John Calvin @500

The following is a hymn text that I wrote with Paul Jones on the 5 solas of the Reformation. Note the allusions to the 5 solas in each stanza and corresponding refrain, Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria. Further note the allusion to John Calvin's inscription on his personal seal: "My heart I offer Thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely," rendered in his original Latin in the title of Paul's tune, Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere.

Creator God, our Sovereign Lord,
The heavens tell, the stars have shown,
Your splendor, might, and Deity,
But Truth lies in your Word alone.

My heart to you, O God, I give,
And by your Word I live.

In Truth your Word reveals my guilt,
My lost, unworthy self makes known,
But now made new I’m justified
And live and move by Faith alone.

My heart to you, O God, I give,
And now by Faith I live.

Before you made the world you chose,
In love, to send your only Son
To ransom me and make me one
With Christ, my Lord, by Grace alone.

My heart to you, O God, I give,
And now by Grace I live.

O Christ, Redeemer, Savior, King,
Subdued by grace, I am your own;
Enthrall my soul and make me free,
Reformed, redeemed by Christ alone.

My heart to you, O God, I give,
And now in Christ I live.

O glorious God, who reigns on high,
With heart in hand, before your throne,
We hymn your glory ‘round the world
With psalms adoring you alone.

My heart to you, O God, I give
And for your glory live.

Copyright, Douglas Bond, October 31, 2007
COR MEUM TIBI OFFERO Paul S. Jones, 2008





You can follow hymn developments at http://www.bondbooks.net/NEW%20HYMNS.htm and at http://douglasbondbooks.blogspot.com/. I'm working on writing another article to submit to Modern Reformation—this one on hymnody for the Modern Reformation. I have audio lectures on poetry and hymnody at http://www.douglasbond.webs.com/ as well as audio examples of some of the new reformation hymns. A lecture that might be of interest is available for listening or download here: http://www.box.net/shared/lru1ruvxqf

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Guns of Providence: Artist working on book cover art

Here are some more pictures of the replica of 12-gun sloop Providence, John Paul Jones's first command in the US Navy in 1775. The artist will be studying these to create the cover art for the last Faith & Freedom Trilogy book, Guns of Providence. Watch for cover art progress to be posted soon.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Reformation Month Speaking Schedule

October is a busy month! I will be speaking several times on themes related to the life and theological legacy of John Calvin who turned 500 this summer, July 10, 2009. If you are in the Tacoma, Peoria, Illinois, or Gig Harbor, WA neighborhoods on the following dates, join us.

October 16-17, I'll be speaking at The Music Symposium (FPC) on Psalmody and hymnody, including a tutorial on poetry and hymn writing. fpcmusicsymposium09@earthlink.net


October 23-25, I'll be speaking at The Reformation Faire, sponsored by James McDonald and Providence Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Illinois. Psalms and Hymns for the New Reformation, Readying our Sons for the New Reformation, and Calvin's Heroic Offspring. For more information and to see the program for the event go to http://www.providencepeoria.org/Documents/Reformation_Day_Program.pdf

October 30, 2009, Reformation Day eve, sponsored by the Gig Harbor Reformed Bible Study and the URC. I'll be delivering an address open to the public at the Peninsula Room of the Gig Harbor Library. The talk will include a multi-media presentation of images from Noyon, Paris, Geneva, and Strasbourg taken on the John Calvin @ 500 Tour, July, 2009. The first five guest families will receive a complimentary signed copy of my novel on John Calvin, The Betrayal. There will be opportunity for questions, activities for children, and Reformation cookies. www.gigharborreformed.wordpress.com and gigharborreformed@gmail.com for more information.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Why Guns of Providence?

USS PROVIDENCE, 12-gun sloop featured in my new book (to release June, 2010). Below is an excerpt from the timeline in the appendix:

1775 June 15, George Washington named commander-in-chief of Continental Army
1775 June 17, Bunker Hill
1775 August 23, George III refuses to read the Olive Branch Petition and declared the colonies to be in rebellion
1775 October 13, Continental Congress establishes Continental Navy, with Esek Hopkins as first commodore
1776 January 15, Common Sense, by Thomas Paine
1776 May 10, John Paul Jones given command of 12-gun sloop, Providence
1776 July 4, Declaration of Independence
1776 William Howe, commander-in-chief of British Navy, takes New York and Rhode Island
1776 September 22, Nathan Hale executed as a spy. “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” he said, quoting Joseph Addison
1776 Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith
1776 Edward Bancroft, inventor of invisible ink, spies on Benjamin Franklin in Paris
1776 December 25, Washington’s victory at Trenton, New Jersey
1777 January 3, Washington’s victory at Princeton, New Jersey
1777 June 14, Continental Congress adopts Stars and Stripes as American flag...

PROVIDENCE, Why Guns of Providence?

“What are God’s works of providence? God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.”
Westminster Shorter Catechism, # 11

“I shall most religiously believe that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies.”
General George Washington

“Beware of murmuring and fretting under any dispensations of Providence that you meet with; remembering that nothing falls out without a wise and holy providence, which knows best what is fit and proper for you. And in all cases, even in the middle of the most afflicting incidents that happen to you, learn submission to the will of God.”
Thomas Boston

“…thanks to God, since Providence has so determined, America must raise an empire of permanent duration, supported upon the grand pillars of Truth, Freedom, and Religion, encouraged by the smiles of Justice and defended by her patriotic sons…”
General Nathanael Greene

GUNS OF PROVIDENCE, Faith & Freedom III

Book III in the Faith & Freedom Trilogy is complete and at the publisher! It was a flurry of a summer with the Calvin Tour cutting in on my writing time, but things came together well, and I am very happy with the outcome. Not only is this book the last of the F&F Trilogy, it is the last of six books, beginning with the M'Kethe family in Duncan's War and the Crown & Covenant Trilogy, and ending here with Guns of Providence. So this is a happy and sad sort of moment for me as a writer.

Guns of Providence is set in the turbulent days of the American War for Independence. The book is in the form of a war memoir penned by my protagonist who bears the same name as his great-great grandfather Sandy M'Kethe. This Sandy is the son of Ian M'Kethe featured in Guns of Thunder. Some may be wondering about Gavin and Fiona from Guns of the Lion. I'm afraid I simply cannot (or is it will not?) divulge how the Scotland side of the M'Kethe family comes into play in the tale. But it does. Readers will have to wait until June, 2010 to get the whole deal.

I thought readers might be interested in a sample chapter or two. Watch forthcoming posts for those samples--coming soon. I promise!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

October, Reformation month, Speaking schedule

October is a busy month! I will be speaking several times on themes related to the life and theological legacy of John Calvin who turned 500 this summer, July 10, 2009. If you are in the Tacoma, Peoria, Illinois, or Gig Harbor, WA neighborhoods on the following dates, join us.

October 16-17, I'll be speaking at The Music Symposium (FPC) on Psalmody and hymnody, including a tutorial on poetry and hymn writing. fpcmusicsymposium09@earthlink.net


October 23-25, I'll be speaking at The Reformation Faire, sponsored by James McDonald and Providence Presbyterian Church, Peoria, Illinois. Psalms and Hymns for the New Reformation, Readying our Sons for the New Reformation, and Calvin's Heroic Offspring. For more information and to see the program for the event go to http://www.providencepeoria.org/Documents/Reformation_Day_Program.pdf

October 30, 2009, Reformation Day eve, I'll be delivering an address open to the public at the Peninsula Room of the Gig Harbor Library. The talk will include a multi-media presentation of images from Noyon, Paris, Geneva, and Strasbourg taken on the John Calvin @ 500 Tour, July, 2009. The first five guest families will receive a complimentary signed copy of my novel on John Calvin, The Betrayal. There will be opportunity for questions, activities for children, and Reformation cookies. www.gigharborreformed.wordpress.com and gigharborreformed@gmail.com for more information.