Caatinga Cacholotes

To listen to a duet of the rust-red Caatinga Cacholotes was a beautiful thing this morning. The couples sing rounds together. They are crested and long-tailed about the size of a Blackbird or just a bit bigger. Another sound wonderful to hear is that of the White-naped Jay cornering a snake. A group of Jays gather round the snake with all of them, squawking their alarm call, which can be heard far away. I have photographed many a snake thanks to the Jays! I also heard today the Rufous-bellied Thrush, Cactus Parakeet, Guira Cuckoo, Smooth-billed Ani, Greater Ani, Dark-billed Cuckoo and the Campo Troupial. I also saw a wild Guinea Pig.

QPR moved up to 10th place in the Championship with a 2 x 1 win at home to Watford which is their third win on the run! 😃

Yesterday I finished reading my book 'The Bloomsbury Murder' by Mike Hollow which my sister sent me in January for my birthday. It was an excellent read! I have known Mike since he was with us in Brazil with Tearfund back in the nineties and he is the top writer of the 'Blitz Detective' series of which I have read all 10 books and which I highly recommend. Mike speaks Russian and French (Cambridge University), but writes in English, and used to work for the BBC before Tearfund.

Singing in the rain!

We are on our short Easter break at Green Pastures and it was wonderful yesterday afternoon having a siesta in the middle of torrential rain with tremendous thunder and lightening.

Yesterday it rained 28 mm at Green Pastures so things are gradually improving.

I had a relaxing day yesterday beating my granddaughter Louisa's husband Tiago at chess twice and reading 'The Bloomsbury Murder' by Mike Hollow which I should finish today.

This Good Friday is our 59th anniversary of Liz and I going out together! 😘😍

Praise the Lord!

Yesterday I again did without my siesta, as I did on Monday, so as to make further progress with my résumé of the Bible, and I managed to complete the big book of Psalms. This means I have finished 53% of the Bible which are the first 19 books of the Old Testament covering 628 chapters out of a total of 1,189 in the protestant Bible. I am very pleased with the speed I am maintaining with this work which started on the 23rd of September 2024. Hence I did the first half of the Bible in a year and a half on top of everything else I have on. If I can keep up this pace I should be able to complete the whole Bible by the end of next year. All this work is being published on the EAB website to be readily available for all our pastors and anyone else interested.

We will be having a short Easter break over the next few days as we do every year. We value your prayers. 😎

Yesterday it rained 26 mm at Green Pastures taking this year's total rainfall up to 511.6 mm.

Proverbs 1 (résumé): The Proverbs of Solomon

The book of Proverbs is attributed to King Solomon and is a wisdom book which offers short pithy instructions for Godly pious living. This book emphasizes that true wisdom begin with the fear of the Lord which is a reverent trust in God with total commitment to him.

Proverbs chapter 1 is the introduction to this 31-chapter book and right at the beginning lays out the key premise of the text which is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, knowledge and discipline. Then the text goes on to show father to son advice against keeping bad company with those who offer easy illicit gain or acts of violence. Then comes a warning against rejecting wisdom where wisdom is personified as a woman as happens continually in this book. Here wisdom personified as a woman "raises her voice in the public square"  promising safety, blessing and peace to those who heed her advice. But for those who do not heed "the complacency of fools will destroy them. However whoever listens to wisdom will live in safety, be at ease, without fear of harm."

Psalm 150 (résumé): Praise God in his sanctuary!

This is the final doxology of the book of Psalms calling everything that has breath to praise the Lord! Praise him for his greatness and acts of power! Praise him with multiple musical instruments such as trumpet, flute, strings, tambourine, harp, lyre and cymbals and with plenty of dancing! Praise the Lord!

Psalm 149 (resumé): Sing to the Lord a new song!

Psalm 149 is a vibrant song of praise exhorting Israel to rejoice in their maker and be glad in their king. The psalmist calls them to praise God with dance and music because he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice and sing for joy in bed! May they also hold a double-edged sword in their hands to inflict vengeance on the nations. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 148 (résumé): Praise the Lord from the heavens!

Psalm 148 is the third of the final 5 hallelujah / praise the Lord psalms that bring this book to a close. It is a song of jubilant universal praise from the highest heaven to the lowest place for God the creator. Thus the psalmist exhorts: "Praise the Lord from the heavens... angels... sun, moon and stars... for God commanded and they were created... he set them in place for ever... praise the Lord great sea creatures, lightening, hail, snow and clouds... mountains, hills, trees, wild animals, cattle, kings, princes, birds... everything praise the Lord!"