Harig's Hindsight

Jesus Whispers

2012-01-12T10:12:00.003-05:00

I thought of another hymn that I did not list as one that every time I sing it, tames my fears. Jesus Whispers is one of my favorite hymns, and is probably a lesser known hymn that many people probably don't know. Joseph Hart wrote the hymn; his most famous hymn was probably Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy. The chorus is just beautiful, it makes me smile and revel in the truth of the Gospel each time I sing it. I will post the entire hymn below for your edification, and see if maybe some of your fears are tamed by it as well.

Lamb of God we fall before Thee

Humbly trusting in Thy cross

That alone be all our glory

All things else are vain and loss.

Thee we own a perfect Savior

Only source of all that's good

Every grace and every favor

Come to us through Jesus' blood.

Jesus whispers this sweet sentence

"Son thy sins are all forgiven."

Faith He gives us to believe,

Hearing ears and seeing eyes.

When we live on Jesus' merits

Then we worship God aright,

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Then we savingly unite.

Hear the whole conclusion of it,

Great or good whate're we call

God, or King, or Priest, or Prophet,

Jesus Christ is all in all.

Tame Your Fears

2012-01-11T16:05:00.002-05:00

A brief announcement, before I actually get to the subject for this post. The music I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I recorded with some friends are up online. Go to www.noisetrade.com/the77s and you will be able to listen to full samples of the tracks, and download all of them. I'm truly excited and proud of these tracks, and especially grateful to my friends, James Wistrom, Josh Tatum, and Sydney Gibson, for lending their instruments, voices, and creativity to the project.

Now, here is the real meat of this post. I have been listening to this great brother duo band called Elliot Road. I found them on Noisetrade, and for the last month or so, I have been listening to their album Dust Covered Man almost non-stop. By the way, I would definitely recommend this duo to any and all of you. They do not claim to be Christian, nor do their songs indicate that they are, but their music is beautiful. Anyway, there is a line in one of their songs, Ode to those Less Fortunate, that I really like: "We'll sing old songs to tame our fears..."

I don't think that this song or this line really has to do with why I love it, but this is why I love it. Those of who are regulars of the blog or who know me, know I am a bit of a hymn nerd. When I hear that line in the song I think of singing the great hymns of the faith, and how they really do function that way for me so often. There is a feeling of comfort and peace that accompanies the singing of hymns for me, and I truly cherish it.

Whether it's just the practice of singing them, you know, the feeling of tradition and comfortability in singing them; or truly pondering the rich meaning found in the text, I feel like my fears are tamed. It brings to mind a wonderful, and I think an underrated line from the hymn Amazing Grace, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved." John Newton captures a wonderful paradox of the Christian life, that we are to fear God, but in doing so all our fears are relieved, or tamed.

For me, I can remember times when singing a hymn truly was what my soul needed, it was the means that God gave me to be refreshed and to calm my soul. I remember one time, I was on a trip to Romania when I was a freshman in high school. Before I left, my church prayed over me and sang one of my favorite hymns, Be Thou My Vision. The first couple days of my trip weren't going so well. The flight wasn't great, the hotel was not what I expected, and we walked what seemed like forever to church that Sunday. To make the walk worse, I was wearing new shoes which were uncomfortable and were somehow scraping the back of my heel causing pain. Then the church service was in Romanian, but graciously God put a kind older Romanian woman who spoke English next to me who translated things for me.

We were singing, and I didn't know any of the songs. Then they began singing a song the tune of which I recognized but it took me a minute to figure it out. It hit me that the tune was that of Be Thou My Vision, and as we started singing, the kind woman began translating for me. I looked at her and said, I know this one! I sang the hymn in English as everyone around me sang it in Romanian, and it was one of the most wonderful worship experiences I have ever had. That song was exactly what I needed to refocus and fix my attitude towards this trip, and it gave me such peace.

That doesn't happen every week, but there are some hymns that every time I sing them, I am filled with peace because of the richness that is enclosed in those texts. Just to name a few, Let us Love and Sing and Wonder, Depth of Mercy, And Can it Be, Jesus Lover of my Soul, Dear Refuge of my Weary Soul, and of course When I Survey the Wondrous Cross are all that way for me.

The beauty of it is, while the singing of the songs does tame our fears in some sense, in truth it is Jesus, the one the hymns proclaim, that charms our fears by giving us peace and comfort from the sorrows of sin and death. The hymn writers so beautifully portray Jesus in their poems of grace, that all our fears are tamed by the glory and majesty of the Savior. Revel in your Savior, by reading His Word and praying in His name, and also by singing old songs to tame your fears.

Resolutions

2011-12-31T16:03:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about New Year's resolutions for a while, for the obvious reason that it is that time of year. But I have never been one to really make resolutions for the new year, because it has become a trite cliche, that really means nothing anyway. Plus, the resolutions that people usually make are merely outward things like exercising, eating healthier, or quitting smoking. While there is nothing wrong with resolving to get healthier and stop bad habits, the tradition of doing it for the new year is just an excuse to procrastinate doing it. They should start quitting in June when they thought they should, but instead they put it off so that they can psych themselves up for the task.

With that being said, I also have to take notice of the practice of many in church history to make resolutions. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield both regularly made resolutions to do certain things, or take on or put off certain behaviors. This leads me to think of course that there is something to resolutions. Now there is no indication that these men made resolutions at new years of course, in fact the indication is that they made these resolutions are far more regular basis.

But when you think about it, it really does make sense to make resolutions at the end of the year. It's perhaps the best time to take stock of your life and consider how you need to improve and reform yourself. It's not the only time for sure, but it does make sense to take advantage of a natural time like the end of year to make some resolutions. They may be some of those physical outward things like getting healthy, but for the Christian, I don't think our resolutions should stop there.

The resolutions of the Christian should regard the spiritual disciplines. We should take stock of our spiritual lives and see if there are things we are neglecting to do as followers of Christ. Are we taking the time to read our bibles and pray every day? Are we sharing our faith with others? These are some of the questions we need to ask and the things we need to resolve to be more faithful in. The need for obedience in the Christian life is essential. Obedience comes through an affection for the Lord, and being resolved to be obedient to His command for our lives.

I know that New Year's resolutions are often times thought of in a bad light, but don't dismiss them too quickly. Take time to think about what in your walk with Christ could be improved, how you could be more like Jesus. The reality is that we all need to be resolved to follow Christ; if we're not, we won't follow Him. If we are not following Jesus then who or what are we following? Resolve yourself this year to be growing in maturity, being transformed into the likeness of Him, who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light,

The Weight of Christmas

2011-12-22T21:57:00.002-05:00

Before I get to what this post is really about, I am excited to say that some friends and I recorded some songs together this week. It began as a Christmas project, and blossomed into a hodge-podge, or as we are going to title our little CD, a melting pot of songs with no real theme. It was really just for fun, it had been too long since we had all played together. I had a great time doing, I would say we, but I suppose I can't truly speak for everyone. We are going to compile them and put them online in the next couple of weeks, hopefully people will download them and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Now here is your regularly scheduled program. It's my favorite time of the year yet again! I love Christmas time for many of the same reasons most people do: time with family, snow, picking out the perfect gift for people, and of course getting the some wonderful gifts yourself. I have yet to delight myself in family time, that begins tomorrow night! No snow yet which is depressing, my shopping is complete, and I trust my friends and loved ones got the perfect gift for me.

Now obviously I left out one very important reason that Christmas is my favorite time of year. This is the season for celebrating God becoming man in the form of Jesus Christ, the "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing." I think Christmas is just as sweet and joyous for me as Easter, as it should be. Both are imminently important and they need to be given their proper due.

I had the opportunity to preach a couple of weeks ago on Colossians 1:15-23, perhaps the loftiest passage in all the New Testament. Familiar to most, Paul exalts Jesus as the preeminent being in all creation, Lord of all things, and He makes peace by the blood of His cross. The passage is not about the incarnation of Jesus, but it made me take a deeper and different look at the glorious event of Jesus' becoming Emanuel. It dawned on me, not for the first time, but perhaps for the first time with real weight, that this creator, sustainer, preeminent, peacemaker is the same as the man who came to earth to a poor Jewish family in a lowly stable.

Again that is no new revelation at all, but how often do we stop and think about that at Christmas. Too often I find myself just reading a familiar story and singing great old songs (which I love of course) that we only get to sing for a month, and the weight of the incarnation gets lost. It's easy enough for this to get lost in the culture that ignores Jesus altogether and focuses it's attention on the materialistic realm of gift-giving/getting. How dare we lose it even in the midst of our celebrations with our church families and in our family traditions on Christmas Eve/Christmas day!

Of course we need to read the story given to us, and of course we need to sing the great hymns and carols passed down to us through history, but is that where we stop? Shouldn't we be thinking more deeply on the wonderful mystery of that story? Aren't those hymns supposed to foster in us a deeper affection and understanding of the event, not just make us feel good because they're familiar to us? The answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes, but we must devote the time and energy to mine the treasures that are stashed away in the doctrine of the incarnation.

I am as guilty as any for not being more careful to truly revel in the coming of Jesus, and then as an extension, to the day when he will come again to make all things right. The truth that God became man should cause us to be baffled, amazed, humbled, and thankful. The truth that Jesus will come again should cause us to be fearful, amazed, humbled, and watchful. While these two events are different on many levels, the former signals the latter, and in between these two points we have the event that makes both of these events mean something: the death burial and resurrection of Jesus.

The celebration of Christmas should not be all about the manger, we must come to the cross. The incredible thing about the incarnation is that God became man, and that is taken even further when you add in the fact that the God-man came to die for sinners. We can read the story of Jesus' birth, and like His mother Mary, ponder all these things in our hearts, knowing that through Him we are cleansed of all sin. We can sing and rejoice this Christmas season because we are redeemed, forgiven of all our transgressions, because God came to dwell amongst us and die for us.

We can sing with confidence, "O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!" We can, "Sing praises to our heavenly Lord, who hath made heaven and earth of naught, and with His blood, mankind hath bought!" We can ask with faith, "By thine own eternal Spirit, rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit raise us to Thy glorious throne."

Enjoy the Christmas season, I sure plan to! Delight yourself in family and friends, presents and eventually the white snow. But don't let this wonderful season pass you by without taking a good hard look at the baby we read and sing about, and consider what He has done for us, for you.

Sepulchre Explained

2011-09-30T19:15:00.002-04:00

O Blessed body! Whither art thou thrown?

No lodging for thee, but a cold hard stone?

So many hearts on earth, and yet not one

Receive thee?

Sure there is room within our hearts good store ;

For they can lodge transgressions by the score :

Thousands of toys dwell there, yet out of door

They leave thee.

But that which shows them large, shows them unfit.

What ever sin did this pure rock commit,

Which holds thee now ? Who hath indicted it

Of murder ?

Where our hard hearts have took up stones to brain thee,

And missing this, most falsely did arraign thee ;

Only these stones in quiet entertain thee,

And order.

And as of old, the law by heav’nly art,

Was writ in stone ; so thou, which also art

The letter of the word, find’st no fit heart

To hold thee.

Yet do we still persist as we began,

And so should perish, but that nothing can

Though it be cold, hard, foul, from loving man

Withhold thee.

I realize that I posted this poem yesterday, but I also realize that this poem may not be completely understood just upon reading it, and I would hate for someone to read it and disregard it, or not like it, because they don't understand it.

The poem plays on the idea of our hearts being like the tomb that held Jesus. The blessed body referenced is Jesus' body, and the poet wonders why His body must dwell in the cold stone of a tomb.

It is demonstrated that there is plenty of room in our hearts to lodge Him, but they are filled with thousands of toys. Toys refers to our sins, the things that we do and love more than Jesus. Then Herbert says that the very thing that shows them to be large, is also the thing that shows that they don't deserve to have Jesus.

We are then accused of picking up stones to kill Jesus, and putting him through a false and phony trial. Of course these things bring to mind the accounts of the Gospels. Then there is yet another idea introduced related to the stone, the tablets which the law was written on in Exodus. The law does not find a heart fit to hold Jesus. The law only shows that every heart is completely unfit to house the Lord Jesus.

The poem ends with the declaration that though our hearts are cold, hard and foul, He will not withhold Himself from us. What grace that displays! We, in no way deserve or even actually want to have Jesus dwell with us, but He comes and does so, for our good and His glory!

Sepulchre

2011-09-29T21:06:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I went into one of my professor's, Dr. Orrick, office to play him a song. I had told him several weeks ago that I had written a tune to a poem by George Herbert called Sepulchre. Upon hearing this he told me that he has tried on several occasions to compose a tune for this same text but has been unsuccessful. So he asked me to come play my tune.

I did so, as he sat up on his desk chair, listening intently to me. When I finished he sat back and said that it was quite good. He gave a pointer on how to make it better, which I completely agreed with, and actually thought of the same correction myself, but didn't change it.

He asked me if I could make a recording of it and give him a chord chart for the song, so he could learn it well.

No to fill in some background to this story to hopefully help provide some meaning here. First of all, Dr. Orrick is one of, if not the, foremost scholar on George Herbert poetry, so he knows his poetry well. Secondly, he is also a good musician and tunesmith himself, so his inability to compose a tune is surprising. Also with this in view, him liking my tune means, somehow my tune captured the essence of the poem and is pleasant to the ear. And he didn't just say, "It's good, have a good day." He asked me to record it so he could really learn the melody and benefit from it in the future.

Beyond all this, as I have posted previously, I think Dr. Orrick is one of the best men I know. I have a great deal of respect for him so his opinion means a great deal more than most people.

I want to post the poem that I set to music, enjoy the text, it is a beautiful text.

O Blessed body! Whither art thou thrown?

No lodging for thee, but a cold hard stone?

So many hearts on earth, and yet not one

Receive thee?

Sure there is room within our hearts good store ;

For they can lodge transgressions by the score :

Thousands of toys dwell there, yet out of door

They leave thee.

But that which shows them large, shows them unfit.

What ever sin did this pure rock commit,

Which holds thee now ? Who hath indicted it

Of murder ?

Where our hard hearts have took up stones to brain thee,

And missing this, most falsely did arraign thee ;

Only these stones in quiet entertain thee,

And order.

And as of old, the law by heav’nly art,

Was writ in stone ; so thou, which also art

The letter of the word, find’st no fit heart

To hold thee.

Yet do we still persist as we began,

And so should perish, but that nothing can

Though it be cold, hard, foul, from loving man

Withhold thee.

Johnny Cash

2011-09-14T20:20:00.003-04:00

This post is a couple of days late because it was eight years ago on September 12, 2003, that the world lost one of it's greatest song-writers and musicians, Johnny Cash. I am a huge Cash fan, so much so, that I honestly do not understand why everyone else is not a fan. I've heard all the plausible reasons: I'm not a country music fan, or all of his songs sound the same, or whatever the case may be. But none of them are sufficient to me.

First of all I am not a country music fan myself. I can count easily on one hand how many country musicians that I listen to regularly, and Johnny Cash is definitely first on my list. (Brad Paisley is the only other one) And yes, I will concede that some of his songs have the same beat and sound, but I think that is part of the charm and allure of his music. And obviously not all of his songs sound the same, many have quite different sounds.

I think Johnny Cash may be the best story teller that I have ever heard. He has an ability to draw people in with his booming voice and accessible lyrics that speak to the reality of things. I was watching a show about him a few days ago, and in a black and white clip of him performing, I was sucked in. He had such a cool swagger to him as he performed that people went crazy for him.

I read a little story by June Carter Cash about how they fell in love, and she told a brief story about how she came to know who he was. Cash had only come out with a couple of songs and June was on tour with Elvis Presley among others, and Elvis was over in the corner playing his guitar. He was trying to play the song Cry, Cry, Cry by Cash. He was attempting to sing and play like him, but June did not yet know who he was. When she asked Presley what he was doing he told her he was trying to play like Cash. When she asked why, he said, "Haven't you seen him, he just stands there and sings and girls go crazy." So the king of rock n roll, tried to emulate Cash. Rightfully so in my opinion, I've never really been an Elvis fan.

Johnny Cash has never been the best guitar player, or had the fanciest band, but his songs tell some of the most inspiring, or depressing stories you'll ever hear. To me he is one of the very best of all time, and certainly an American treasure and icon.

I wrote a song several weeks ago trying to channel Johnny Cash, and I have no idea if I was really successful. I used the imagery of a train because it is one of the recurrent themes in Cash songs. The finished product I ended up titling, "Johnny Cash Meets Pilgrim's Progress." I want to post the lyrics to the song and I welcome any and all feedback. Of course some of the effect of the song lies in the music so keep that in mind.

There’s a train, out in the distance

I hear the faint sound if it’s whistle.

I’m at the station, looking down the tracks

To try and catch a glimpse, of the engine.

But all I see, are billows of smoke,

They’re the first sign of hope to me,

They’re the first sign of hope to me.

As the train continues it’s approach

I stop and think, what brought me to this point

I’ve spent a long long time on the road,

In search of love, and a hope not my own.

But I’ve been told, that hope is only found,

On the train I’m waiting for,

On the train I’m waiting for.

I have been anywhere you can think of

I’ve seen it all, and done most of that.

At every stop, I pick up something new

A brand new bag, to carry on my back.

But I’m so tired from the weight of these bags,

But the train is almost here,

But the train is almost here.

The train stops right in front of me

I stand amazed and frozen with fear,

The weight of my bags falls to the ground

And I have the hope that I’ve been looking for.

So I board the train, and never look back

And on to glory I ride!

With a train whistle victory cry!

Mere Christianity

2011-08-10T22:21:00.003-04:00

Reading C.S. Lewis never disappoints me. He has a way of saying something that I know in a way that makes it make even more sense. I am currently reading through his book Mere Christianity; it is my second time through it, but the last time I read it I was in high school.

In the book he attempts, and is successful I might add, to address the key doctrines of the Christian faith from a logical and apologetic viewpoint, rather than a theological one. It was originally a series of radio broadcasts, in fact, several of his books were radio broadcasts.

He takes a chapter to address the issue of there being two powers in the world, a Good god, and a Bad god, known as Dualism.

Often times, people say that this has to be the case, of course this is not the teaching of the Bible. Lewis makes this deduction: in order for bad to be bad, it must have good. In other words, bad is only defined as bad if there is something considered good. To actually quote Lewis, "Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness."

This line of thinking leads to the concept that evil is not something which is original or created, but something that is devised in the minds and hearts of fallen creatures. A good example is eating. Eating is a necessary thing, and is very good for us. We were made to consume food, and to enjoy the taste and textures of each food. But that can quickly lead to overeating, and we learn that is wrong when we are in pain laying on our couch feeling stuffed. It can also lead to a misplacement of value on food.

If I like chicken, and my friend eats my chicken, I get upset and yell at my friend and call him names. This is a misplacement of value; the chicken is just food, but my friend is a person, and a person that I apparently like and trust.

I think we can do this with everything. God creates, and then Satan and the rest of us fallen creatures, take them and twist them into perverted passions bent on selfish designs.

Of course Lewis concludes that there is no such thing as a Good god and a Bad god, and the way he gets to that conclusion is because badness needs goodness to exist. Therefore, if there were two gods like this, the Bad one would need the Good one to exist in order for himself to exist.

I had these thoughts before, but for some reason when I read Lewis talk about it, it comes even more to life in my head. I wrote a post a while back about an author being like a good friend, and he is definitely one of my best friends.

I have not read anything by Lewis that I did not like, although I have not read everything he has written so there may be something by him I won't like, but I doubt it.

In my mind he had a special gift to communicate truth with clarity and a candor that makes me feel like he is just a friend engaging me in a good discussion. If you don't have an author that you connect with, find one, at least one, and try out Lewis, he very well could be the author for you.

Another Nerdy Post About Hymns

2011-05-27T11:40:00.004-04:00

I have been on a hymn reading kick this past couple of weeks, which is always a welcome thing for me. I have been reading Isaac Watts hymns in particular, and when I read them I like to have my guitar close by. I rediscovered a hymn that I had read months ago and set to a tune. I refreshed my memory on how it goes and thought to myself, "Why did I forget about this hymn and this tune."

Then I realized that Sojourn Community Church here in Louisville had recently put out a CD of Isaac Watts' hymns, and this hymn was the title track. So naturally I wanted to check it out and see if their tune was as good or better than mine. I listened and although I am biased of course, I think my tune is better. Their tune is good, but somewhat difficult to sing, plus they do not use all of the text which is somewhat of a pet peeve of mine, especially when it all of the text is good.

The song starts with confession of sin, and moves to praise of God's grace for it's protection and preservation power over sinners. I want to post it for you here and let you enjoy.

Lord we confess our numerous faults,

How great our guilt has been!

Foolish and vain were all our thoughts,

And all our lives were sin.

But O my soul forever praise,

Forever love His name,

Who turns Thy feet from dangerous ways

Of folly sin and shame.

Tis from the mercy of our God

That all our hopes begin

Tis by the water and the blood

Our souls are washed from sin.

Tis not by works of righteousness

Which our own hands have done;

But we are saved by sovereign grace

Abounding through His Son.

Tis through the purchase of His death

Who hung upon the tree,

The Spirit is sent down to breathe

On such dry bones as we.

Raised from the dead to live anew;

And justified by grace,

We shall appear in glory too,

And see our Father’s face.

Faith

2011-05-11T21:58:00.000-04:00

First of all, I have to share some very relieving and wonderful news, I successfully completed my senior guitar recital this morning. After five years of hard work, frustration, and discouragement, God has brought me through this season of my life successfully, and having taught me many hard, but good lessons. Words cannot accurately depict the feeling I had when they told me I passed. I do have one other hurdle to jump before I get my diploma, but it seems small in comparison, and I know God will be as faithful with my piano proficiency as He has been with guitar recital.

Now, the title of the post is faith, and while my journey through the music degree at Boyce College is a good example of someone having faith, it is not the real point of this post. I was reading a little pamphlet entitled, Around the Wicket Gate, by the great preacher of the 1800s, Charles Spurgeon. It is a gospel tract that he wrote, which I read for enjoyment and the benefit of my soul. I honestly did not expect to get as much out of it as I did, because after all it is a gospel tract, and I do know and believe the gospel already. However, another great theologian, Martin Luther, has a good quote on this subject. A member of his church came up to him after the sermon and asked him why he continued to preach the gospel every week, and why he hadn't moved on to something else. Luther looked at him and said something to the effect of, "Because week after week, you come in here looking like people who don't believe it." It of course is the gospel.

The truth is that we never should tire of hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we never move beyond it, it is what gains us eternal life, and it is what keeps us on the path to eternal life. So as I read Spurgeon, he talked about faith, and clarified that faith is not a work. Often we tend to make faith something that we do all on our own, but Spurgeon tells, and more importantly, the scriptures tell us that this is not so. Ephesians 2:8, says that we have been saved by grace, through faith, which is the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God which is given to us by the grace of God, this is what saves us from sin.

A member of Spurgeon's church told him once, "I am trying to believe in Jesus." His response was that that is not good enough. He asked them if he believed his father, and the response was yes, to which he replied, then why can you not believe Jesus. His point in this is that we make faith far too complicated, which is why we don't understand it. Faith is not something you have to do, it is something you have, something that just works on it's own. Spurgeon compares faith to eating or breathing.

He gives another helpful illustration from a Sunday school teacher he knew. The teacher had a classroom full of kids, and to each of them he offered them a nice new watch. As he did, each of them refused it and politely turned down the offer of the watch. Finally one boy, who he said was a little younger and less thoughtful than the others, gleefully accepted the gift. The other students asked if he would actually get to keep the watch, to which the teacher responded, of course I gave it to him. They exclaimed that they didn't know that he was being serious, that he would really give them the watch. He said, the same is true with Gospel, Jesus stands offering life eternal, and we often refuse his offer because we won't believe that He means what He says.

Spurgeon's plea with the reader is to not dare and distrust the love and grace of the savior, yet believe the words of sinful men. It echoes the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:11, "If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." This verse has always been a convicting and comforting word to my soul, and with the words of Spurgeon also ringing in my ears, not to distrust the words of Jesus as He calls me to come and find rest and salvation. Trying to believe Jesus' words is an insult to the character and nature of Jesus who freely gave His life as a ransom for many.

Faith in Jesus is much more simple than we think practice, we try to make some abstract thing which is only attainable by a few select few. But faith is given to us by God's grace that we may cling to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. He can and will bring us safely before God's presence to be delivered from sin and death and the wrath of God that comes with it. Hallelujah what a Savior, and what a salvation plan, never cease to fly to it for relief!

George Herbert

2011-04-20T21:11:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I have posted, and the reason is, I have been pretty busy, I am about to graduate from college! So I have been working hard to finish everything up in this phase of my life. I have been wrestling with a lot of things, some very personal and practical, some more distant and and theoretical or theological in nature. Such is the life of someone studying theology and ministry, all kinds of things run through your mind in a wide range of subject matter.

Eventually I will probably post something on some of those things, but honestly I am not mentally ready to do that just yet. Honestly all I am thinking about this particular moment is going home to Cincinnati tomorrow to see my family. I have missed them a lot, of especially my niece and nephew Alyssa and Tyler, they bring me so much joy, but it is hard for them to do that over the phone. But now on to the real meat of this post.

Something else I have been doing is reading George Herbert poetry. I have mentioned him before, but he bears repeating because I have been quite taken with his skill as a poet and his incredibly astute observations of the devotional life of the Christian. His poems are so moving, and very, as I said, devotional. They were in fact just his personal thoughts and feelings as he journeyed through the Christian life and experience.

So many of his poems have impacted me so far, and I haven't gotten to read them all, nor have I gotten to really dig into most of them. Some of my favorites, so that you can look them up and enjoy, are: The Altar, Sepulchre, Love (III), and the one I am going to post here for you to read, Redemption. Now Redemption is not really my favorite, but I think that is great for sure, and the reason I wanted to post that one is because I think it is very unique and intriguing. In this poem he refers to himself as a tenant of an apartment to a rich Lord, obviously, God. I won't say anything else about it, rather I will just post it here for you to read and savor the goodness of it.

Redemption

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolvèd to be bold,
And make a suit unto him to afford
A new small-rented lease and cancel th'old.
In Heaven at his manor I him sought.
They told me there that he was lately gone
About some land which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession,
I straight returned, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts,
In cities, theaters, gardens, parks, and courts.
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of thieves and murderers; there I him espied,
Who straight "Your suit is granted," said, and died.

The Fall

2011-02-23T23:14:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking lately about the subject of the fall of man as recorded in Genesis chapter three. The issue I have been considering is whether or not the fall was a historical event, or whether it was a story meant to symbolically represent some truth about the human experience and condition. So the question is, was Adam a real man, Eve a real woman, and their rebellion a historical event?

The spark for this pondering was a discussion that my roommate had and told me about in one of his classes. Of course there a two basic camps, one says yes it was, and another says no it was not. No one in the class claimed that it was not historical, but some did say that too big of a deal is made about the issue. I had been thinking about it, and then in the providence of God, my theology class spent some time thinking about it, and in the course of reading for that class, I was treated to a treatment of the issue by Anthony Hoekema. So I thought that I would spend some time thinking about this on my blog.

The issue is interesting because on first glance I was tempted to say that this is not such a big deal, so what if the fall isn't historical, but as I began to think it through and hear and read sound teaching, I became convinced that it is very important. First of all, if the fall is just folklore or some kind of saga to teach us something, what else in Genesis can we claim this about, and what do we do with the genealogies in Genesis that stem from Adam. More important than those genealogies, what about the one in Luke that ends with words, "the son of Adam, the son of God." Luke writes this with the idea that Adam was a real, historical figure which is the start of the lineage of the line of Jesus Christ, the messiah. If Adam is not real, is Jesus?

Another issue to consider is, Paul's writing in Romans 5. Paul spends half a chapter establishing Adam as the one from whom we receive the sin nature that we have, that he was the first Adam, but that a second Adam has come, namely Jesus. From Jesus we receive new life, we have been resurrected from the death we received in Adam, and brought into newness of life with Christ. This treatise in Romans five seems to assume that Adam and Jesus were both very real, historical figures, which begs the question, if Paul considers Adam real, why don't we.

At the end of the day, I don't know how we could not make a big deal about this issue. It is certainly not the most important issue we could think about, but it is crucial to the story of redemption, and we cannot afford to erase Adam from the historical record, and not stand the chance of erasing Jesus from the historical record, and that we certainly cannot afford.

Ramblings

2011-01-25T13:48:00.003-05:00

I just attended my first class of my last semester, Lord willing, as a student at Boyce College. It is a little weird, but far more than that, such a wonderful feeling. I realized today that Boyce has served me well, but the time has come for me to be done and enter the next phase of my life. I am beyond being a college student, and I am ready to be at the big boy school, reading big boy books. I know from others who have gone from Boyce to the seminary, that the difference is big and very good, and I look forward to that.

Of course, I am not there yet, I have a lot of work to do to get to that next, much awaited phase of my life. I have three classes to pass, a piano proficiency exam to conquer, and a senior guitar recital to triumph over. This last obstacle seems to me to be the biggest, most difficult, and the one that will require the most discipline and hard work of any of the others. But so far so good, and I know, by the grace of God at work in me, I will accomplish what is before me, to get the grade and my diploma, but more than that, to honor the name of my good and wise Father.

I feel right now so loved by God, but not that I deserve it, which is possibly the best state to be in. I am not writing this as a perfected being obviously, and not as one who does not have problems rolling around in my mind. However, I write this as a person who seeks to wonder at the grace of God, and rest upon Him for the answers to every problem, and His hand to move in any situation.

Jesus is as sweet to me right now as He ever has been in my life, and that is in no small measure thanks to the friends and family that he has blessed me with. Friends that will encourage me and give me their wise counsel. Those who are reading this will know who you are and I thank you very much.

I woke up this morning singing the John Newton hymn, Let us Love and Sing and Wonder, and even though I'm pretty sure I have blogged about that hymn before, I figured I would include in this post for your edification.

Let us love and sing and wonder

Let us praise the Savior's name

He has hushed the law's loud thunder

He has quenched Mt. Sinai's flame

He has washed us with His blood

He has brought us nigh to God.

Let us sing love the Lord who bought us

Pitied us when enemies

Called us by His grace and taught us

Gave us ears and gave us eyes

He has washed us with His blood

He presents our souls to God.

Let us sing though fierce temptation

Threatens hard to bear us down

For the Lord our strong salvation

Holds in view the conqueror's crown

He Who washed us with His blood

Soon will bring us home to God.

Let us wonder grace and justice

Join and point to mercy's store

When through grace in Christ our trust is

Justice smiles and asks no more

He Who washed us with His blood

Has secured our way to God.

Let us praise and joint the chorus

Of the saints enthroned on high

Here they trusted Him before us

Now their praises fill the sky

You have washed us with Your blood

You are worthy Lamb of God.

O How the Grace of God Amazes Me

2011-01-04T11:44:00.003-05:00

I am reading a book called BY Grace ALone by Sinclair Ferguson, and I have been greatly encouraged by it so far. The book is walking through the stanzas of a hymn entitled, "O How the Grace of God Amazes Me," written by a 20th century African pastor, Emmanuel T. Sibomana. The hymn is beautiful, so go look it up and enjoy!

One chapter has particularly gripped me, in it Dr. Ferguson walked through Luke's account of the passion of Jesus. He points out two things that I just did not realize or ever think about.

First he talks about Jesus being the Christ, meaning the Messiah, or the anointed one. If He is the Christ, and we know that He is indeed, that makes Him the Great Prophet, Great High Priest, and the King of kings. We know that Jesus fulfills all of those roles, of prophet, priest, and king, but the idea proposed here, is that those three roles were given to us, so that we could somehow grasp the idea of the Christ.

God gave us the roles and figures of prophet, priest, and king just for our benefit, so that when Jesus came, we could try and wrap our minds around who He is and what He does for us. That is very humbling to me. It encourages me to know that God is willing to come to our level for us to understand. It is more evidence for the fact that God is for us, and He longs for the salvation of men.

The second thing Dr. Ferguson brought to my attention was the charges that Jesus was put on trial for. First, the Pharisees and religious leaders try and convict him for blasphemy. Then, knowing that this charge would not interest the Romans at all, they try and convince Pilate that Jesus is committing treason by claiming to be a king. I say try, because the Luke records several statements from Pilate himself that Jesus is innocent, and that he finds no fault in Him. Of course He is crucified anyway, but Pilate never condemns Jesus as guilty.

What is the significance of these two charges? Well they are the same charges that we are guilty of before the throne of God. We have blasphemed God by trying to be like Him, or to put ourselves before Him. And we have committed treason, rebelling against His rule and authority.

Again a humbling thought, but also encouraging to know that it has not ended there. If we have placed our faith and trust in Jesus, we are no longer guilty of treason or blasphemy, but we are the righteousness of God. God is so good, kind, and wise!

Hallelujah what a Savior!

The Christmas Season: A Season for Longing

2010-12-16T16:17:00.003-05:00

The Christmas season is upon us and I have to confess that it is at least one, of my favorite times of the year. I think most of us would make the same statement, of course not everyone, but most of us like the holiday season, spending time with family and enjoying all the Christmas lights and festivities.

I was thinking about the Christmas season and how it is a lot of people's favorite time of year, and I wonder why that is? I have to say for me, and I think many of us, at least a portion of the reason we love it is the ideas we are told to believe about the Christmas season. Undoubtedly we will watch many Christmas movies and shows that we have grown up watching all of or lives and be filled with affection for Rudolph, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, and the Christmas Spirit. Nothing wrong with that at all, but is Christmas really about a special spirit that comes upon people this time of year?

The obvious answer is no. However all too often I am more excited about presents, holiday movies, and time with family, more than I am for remembering the incarnation of Jesus. This season is a time of advent, the arrival of a notable person, in this case Jesus Christ. It is a time for us as Christians to remember the longing for the messiah, and for us to long for his return. We must celebrate his coming the first time to live and die and rise again on our behalf. Jesus promised us that He would return, and we are called to watch and wait for Him to come back; this time of year is a special time for us to focus our attention to the sky longing for Jesus to return and make all things new, and all things right.

I was watching an episode of Full House, and one of the characters explained what Christmas was about using terms like, a special feeling, doing good to others, and forgetting about ourselves. This may be what Christmas is about for the world, but for Christians is so much more, so much better. There is certainly nothing wrong with doing good to others and we should be doing so, but that is not relegated to Christmas time. We must take full advantage of the opportunity to celebrate the coming of our messiah, and to long, to watch and wait for His return.

Now I would be remiss if I did not mention that one of my favorite things about the Christmas season is singing Christmas carols. It is unfortunate that these songs only get sung one month out of the year, but it is what it is. I thought I would include a list of my favorite Christmas carols for your benefit, let me know what you think.

Joy to the World - Incidentally this was not even written as Christmas song, but it's good.

Angels we Have Heard on High

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The First Noel

O Come All Ye Faithful - This is my mom's favorite, and I love the very first line, "joyful and triumphant."

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - The whole text to this song is so good.

He is Born

Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming

Hark the Herald Angel's Sing

O Holy Night - Go listen to David Phelps sing this song, it is unreal.

Winter Break Is Here

2010-11-18T00:18:00.002-05:00

Well, another semester has come and gone, and I am now at the threshold of basically a two month break. It is always relieving to know that the semester is over, no more quizzes or exams, no more papers and projects, nor more juries and recitals, it is all over a couple of months. I like the feeling of having next to no pressure on me to get things done, and to know that I have time to pick books that I would like to read, and projects I want to pursue.

I have a list of books I want to read this winter ranging from books on Christian living, to systematic theology, to poetry, to novels.

The latter is a bit unusual for me, I am not usually someone who will read novels, but I am trying to grow in my appreciation for literature. I've been inspired this semester more than any other to really make an effort to wean myself off of the television and onto reading good books. I am going to be spending time reading George Herbert poetry, which I have already been doing. He has been a great inspiration to me so far in my reading of his work; it is very rich, you really have to read carefully to truly get what he is saying. His work has a unique ability to stretch my mind and my heart as I read and understand it.

I also have decided that I finally want to record some of my songs. You may or may not know that I write songs, mainly for myself and they are usually just tunes that I write to old hymn texts. I have written a couple of dozen of them by now and I want to try and record them this winter, or at least some of them. I need to go through and rediscover some of them and decide whether I still like them or not. Inevitably I will play them again and I will say to myself, "Why did I write this." It has happened before I trust it will happen again.

Out of curiosity, would there be any interest from you blog readers in recordings of said songs? I found out that I can put music on noisetrade.com for free, and then you could download them for free from there. Or you could leave me a tip if you so desired, although I am not doing this to make money, just to have a recording of these songs and see if they would be helpful to anyone else but myself.

On top of these fun projects, I still have work to do. Of course I've got a job, but beyond that I desperately need to practice both guitar and piano this winter break so that I can be prepared to have both a proficiency exam and senior recital next semester. I am not so excited for this part of my break, but I must do it. This is the part of my break that I will greatly appreciate prayer for, that I would be diligent to work hard at practicing, not just doing my reading for fun or my recording project.

This post has just been an update on my life and a shameless attempt to feel out the possible interest in an album. I don't think there is anything in this post that could possibly be helpful to you at all, but it does give you an idea of what's going on in my life and ways to pray for me, and hopefully it was at least a little entertaining.

A Faithful Friend

2010-11-09T23:23:00.002-05:00

I have heard it said that when you find an author that speaks to you, you have found a faithful friend. I think that the same is true for a preacher and for a professor. I have been very grateful for the ministry of so many faithful professors over the years at Boyce, and when I begin thinking of my favorites, my mind is filled with good memories.

I have been truly blessed with some very smart, funny, wise, and loving professors, but one I feel has surpassed them all for me personally. Dr. Jim Orrick has had a profound impact upon my heart and mind since my very first semester in 2006. I have taken him for anything that I possible could, I am even thinking about taking a class with him next semester that I don't even need.

He taught English my first semester, and I have taken him for both sections of Great Books, as well as Speech. I don't want to elevate him so much, as I do the gift that he has to communicate truth in such a loving and practical way. He has the ability to make me think and want to think more, and want to grow in my walk with Christ. He has a wonderful heart for his students, and for Jesus, it cannot help but shine through as he teaches. He quotes poetry and hymns for us in class, which I love, and he somehow causes me to take interest in things like literature and poetry, though normally I wouldn't be.

I am truly thankful for his ministry to my life, it is so pervasive I may never know how much of an impact he has had on my life. He encourages me to love Jesus more, and to be well equipped to serve Christ in my daily life, and in my ministry. He is a faithful example of humility, wisdom, knowledge, and piety.

Like I said, I don't want to make it sound like he is some superhero or something, only that in some way, he speaks to me in ways that no other professor does, and I believe I have found a faithful friend in Dr. Jim Orrick.

Psalm 130

2010-10-26T23:08:00.002-04:00

I have realized something today: sin is tiring. Sin really makes me feel tired and weary, and unfortunately I learned this firsthand today. I just blew it today on almost every level, and even though I did absolutely nothing today, as I went to work this evening, I felt very tired and weak. I realized, I felt this way because of the sin I was carrying around with me. I felt like Pilgrim in Pilgrim's Progress today, carrying a huge backpack of my sin and shame around on my back.

Oddly enough I have been working on an assignment for my speech class which I have to do an exposition of scripture for the class. Yesterday I decided to do my exposition on Psalm 130 which is a penitent psalm. The psalmist is in the depths of his sin and he cries out to God, trusts in God's forgiveness, and hopes in God's plenteous redemption for himself and Israel.

It was very fitting for me to have been reading and thinking through this psalm, because it came to my rescue today as I wallowed in the depths of guilt, shame, and heaviness of heart. I was reminded to cry out to God for mercy, but beyond that to trust in God's faithfulness to forgive me. God has forgiven me for my sin, because Jesus has appeased His wrath and I no longer must fulfill the law myself. I have an advocate above pleading my case before the Father, Jesus Christ, mercy speaks by his blood.

The psalmist also turns his attention away from himself at the end, and calls all of Israel to hope in God for in Him there is plenteous redemption. So I write this little blog to do just that, hope in God! He has unfailing love in store for every one who will come and cry out to Him. If you are wallowing in your sin, or if you are running from God, further and further into sin, stope, turn to God and place your trust and hope in God's forgiveness. Allow Jesus to whisper this sweet sentence, "Son thy sins are all forgiven."

This is the Christ

2010-10-23T13:36:00.002-04:00

This hymn is a Martin Luther text he wrote as a meditation for advent. Sandra McCracken wrote a beautifully tune for it and put it on her album In Feast or Fallow. As I listened to it, I was encouraged, and thought it was helpful to begin thinking about Jesus' incarnation even though it is only October. I also thought it is fitting since it almost Reformation Day, maybe it would be good to think about a Martin Luther text other than A Mighty Fortress is Our God, although that hymn is quite amazing. The hymn is about advent, but it touches on the broad scope of the story of Christ and our redemption. Read and enjoy.

good news from heaven the angels bring,
glad tidings to the earth they sing
to us this day a child is given
to crown us with the joy of heaven

Refrain:
this is the Christ, our God and Lord
who in all need shall aid afford
he will himself our savior be
and from our sins will set us free

all hail, thou noble guest this morn
whose love did not the sinner scorn
in my distress thou come’st to me
what thanks shall i return to thee?

were earth a thousand times as fair
beset with gold and jewels rare
she yet were far too poor to be
a narrow cradle, Lord, for thee...
praise God upon his heavenly throne
who gave to us his only son
for this his hosts on joyful wing
a blest New Year of mercy sing.

Fall Break Fever

2010-10-01T08:03:00.003-04:00

I have discovered that there is something called Fall Break Fever. This past week was the last week of school before fall break and I have been itching for it to be over and get home to Cincinnati for a few days. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go home, or even for wanting a break, but the fever comes in when you begin to grow lax on your responsibilities.

Unfortunately that is what happened to me. I wanted one thing: go home and see my family. But the other part of it is that I have been working really hard for weeks, reading, writing, and practicing, I was ready and in need of a little break. There is nothing wrong with needing or wanting the break, but you must wait for the break to take it, and not forget to fulfill your duties.

This is much easier said than done. I have demonstrated this the past several days, but thankfully I had worked ahead in some areas, so I am still in pretty good shape, but you cannot work ahead in practicing guitar or piano, so I have some ground to make up. My prayer for this break is that for this first half at home I can enjoy my family and refresh my mind and spirit. Then in the second half of break, and the rest of the semester, I can go back and get things done, practice hard, and finish my semester well.

This is also a valuable lesson for me to remember, so that next spring, I don't get a case of Spring Break Fever. I think the thing to think about it, is I must rely on Jesus as the source of my strength when I feel lazy or weary of work. If I fix my eyes on Him I will have the ability to focus and do the work I have been called to do, rather than slack off and get behind in my work. The Gospel is always the answer to our problems, it always the source of our strength to do what is good and right, because we can't do what is right and good on our own. On our own we are doomed to catch Fall Break Fever, or whatever kind of fever that may be sneaking up on you right now, but through Christ, we can be more than conquerors over our bouts with fevers.

Love

2010-09-20T20:57:00.003-04:00

My professor quoted this poem by George Herbert this morning, and I just thought it would be beneficial for me to read it again. As I have read it over a few times this evening, I just had to share it with someone, so here it is blogosphere.

Love (3)

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-ey'd Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,

If I lack'd any thing.

A guest, I answer'd, worthy to be here:

Love said, you shall be he.

I the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,

I cannot look on thee.

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

Who made the eyes but I?

Truth Lord, but I have marr'd them: let my shame

Go where it doth deserve.

And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?

My dear, then I will serve.

You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:

So I did sit and eat.

Hymns

2010-08-31T11:28:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to say how much I love hymns. If you read this blog with any regularity you already know this, but I attended a Hymn Sing lat night and was very encouraged. There is something about singing great hymns of the faith, whether they are familiar, or they new to you, that is good for the soul. The focus last night was Baptist hymnody and the cross. Much of Baptist hymnody has fallen out of favor, but in fact much of the Baptist hymn writers and their hymns, can be thought of in the same league as Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley.

For instance my personal favorite is Anne Steele, who was an eighteenth century hymn writer. She was the most prolific, influential, and widely sung Baptist hymn writer of her time, and for nearly a century after her death. She wrote hymns full of vivid imagery and creative use of punctuation. Her hymns are powerful, meditative works, which instruct with truth, and also drive the reader to a posture of awe and worship.

Unfortunately, her hymns have almost completely disappeared from the scene. You have not been able to find any of her hymns in the Baptist Hymnal for the past fifty to one hundred years. Recently, in the last ten years or so, she has come back into view through the effort of The Reformed University Fellowship at Belmont University. They have utilized some of her hymns in their hymn projects putting new tunes to her hymns. Along with that, they have spent time getting her story and importance in the history of hymnody out to the masses.

I wanted to provide a text of hers which we sang last night, and hope it will spur you on in your faith in God, and maybe in your love for hymns.

He lives! the great Redeemer lives!

What joy the blest assurance gives!

And now, before His Father, God,

Pleads the full merit of His blood,

Pleads the full merit of His blood.

Repeated crimes awake our fears,

And justice armed with frowns appears,

But in the Savior’s lovely face

Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace,

Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.

In every dark, distressful hour,

When sin and Satan join their power,

Let this dear hope repel the dart,

That Jesus bears us on His heart,

That Jesus bears us on His heart.

Great Advocate, almighty Friend!

On Him our humble hopes depend;

Our cause can never, never fail,

For Jesus pleads, and must prevail,

For Jesus pleads, and must prevail.

Work

2010-08-23T18:43:00.002-04:00

A discussion came up in Sunday School yesterday about work, and it got me to thinking about work and how I, and I would venture to say, most people, have a wrong perspective on work. I think of work as a bad thing. The word work has a negative connotation in our culture, because the purpose of work is to make money so that we can have the weekend off and enjoy ourselves.

However, this is not the concept we find in the Bible about work. Work was not a product of the fall; this can be seen in the fact that God worked when He created the universe, and had to set aside a day for rest. God works each day of creation and when He finishes, He declares that it is good. So it is obvious that God works and that He takes pleasure in His work.

God made man to work as well, we see this in Adam, when God gives him dominion over the garden and tells him to keep it well managed. And we see no indication that Adam didn't like to work, since the Garden of Eden was paradise. Plus, after the fall part of the curse was to make work hard and toilsome, which would indicate that work was not hard before.

So what has happened is, with work becoming hard, man has developed a dislike and discontent with work. But is this okay? After all, God has still ordained work for us, and God Himself is always at work, so shouldn't we be working and taking joy in our work?

Also, think about this, God constantly tells us of our redemption, and over and over again he He tells us that He has redeemed us for good works. Ephesians 2:1-10, a beautiful passage about our salvation in Christ, and in verse ten he says, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." So we are redeemed from a life of sin, to a life of good works. God expects us to be people who are working, for His Kingdom's sake, and for our own pleasure.

We should enjoy doing the work of our Father, just like Jesus came and did the work of His Father, we must be seeking to do His will as well. We, well, let me just speak for myself, I am so fixed on my entertainment, that my idea of enjoyment is plopping down in front of the TV or browsing the internet for interesting videos, and not wearing myself out for the Gospel. Instead of working my body and my mind to their maximum, I am satisfied with the bare minimum of activity, and basically being a vegetable, trying to gain my pleasure from mindless, effortless amusement.

Work is not an evil thing, a thing we should be avoiding, it should be what we are embracing. We should be striving to work as hard as we can at whatever we do. And we need to be teaching the younger generation, and that includes my own generation, because I am certain that the value of hard work, even in just a non-Christian sense. But that is not what I am talking about, I am talking about hard, Christian work, work that is for the glory of God and for our pleasure in Christ.

Icons

2010-08-16T21:16:00.003-04:00

Today in Great Books, we got on he topic of the use of icons in the practice of the Christian faith. We talked about the second commandment which says that we are not make any image of God to worship it, and the discussion at first was about pictures of Jesus being in churches, or anywhere, and movies about Jesus. I personally think that these things are a breaking of that commandment, and try my best to stay away from images of Jesus or Bible movies depicting Jesus.

I raised the question about the image of the cross which permeates all of culture, not just religious culture as jewelry, decoration, and many other things. I wonder if crosses can be a problem for us since they are so heavily used to decorate our sanctuaries. Now I do not think that you can say that displaying a cross is breaking the second commandment, since the cross is not an image of God, and I don't believe that most people are tempted to worship the cross, although, if they are, then they are breaking both the second and the first commandments I think.

I do think though that crosses can be a detriment to our faith if not thought of in the correct light. For instance, Roman Catholics I believe have an unhealthy view of the cross because they are so commonplace. I think a few things can happen as a result:

1. They view the cross as almost a lucky rabbits foot that keeps away evil spirits and demons.

2. They view the cross as merely a status symbol, a way to pump up their pride.

3. They focus on the cross so much, that their worship becomes solemn rather than joyful because they lose sight of the resurrection.

4. The cross in fact is merely jewelry, or something that serves as a nice decoration, but is in no way something that they believe has any significance whatsoever.

You may be wondering, "Well okay so Roman Catholics have an issue with crosses but what about Protestants? What about us?

Well I don't think we are exempt or too far from some of these dangers ourselves. I do not see any evidence for Protestants being in danger of viewing the cross as a lucky rabbits foot, I am so deceived to think that it is not happening and I just don't know about it. I definitely think that there are many Christians who where crosses just to make themselves feel a sense of pride for being a Christian or to draw attention to themselves. No doubt that churches and church members everywhere just think the cross is a nice thing to display, but have no idea what the significance of the cross is, or could truly claim to be a follower of Christ.

But beyond all of these I fear that the biggest danger with regards to this issue is that our worship can become somewhat somber, because when surrounded by crosses, we can quickly become so focused on His suffering and death that we forget that He is not dead anymore, He rose from the dead. I see this most prevalantly in our observance of the Lord's Supper. We always come to the Lord's Supper table somber and serious, focusing almost totally on the cross of Christ, not giving attention to the fact that He has risen. I would like to call the Lord's Supper a celebration rather than an observance; of course not to say that there is not a seriousness to the occasion, but it is no sad or somber, it is the joy of our salvation.

I can personally testify to this. I am constantly battling the tendency to, if possible, over-emphasize the cross, and downplay the resurrection of Jesus. By that I don't mean I need to downplay the cross, I just need to remember that the cross is not the end of the story and the resurrection is a glorious ending to a glorious story of my redemption.

It has been helpful for me to think through these things, I hope my ramblings have been helpful to you the reader. Please comment and let me know what you think.

John 15:9-11

2010-07-25T20:53:00.002-04:00

I just realized that I have not posted anything this month, and felt that it would be bad to go a whole month with nothing. Part of the reason I haven't blogged is because I left my laptop at home in Cincinnati and still have not recovered it from there. I am on my roommate's laptop now, and thought I would post a little something.

This morning in the sermon my pastor read John 15:9-11, and I don't know what it was, but something about it really struck me. I think it is amazing that you, (well maybe not you), but I can read a passage of scripture and it not have any impact on me, but then just by having someone else read it, it hits me. I think it was also the way that he read it, he paused and I could feel it impacting him as he read it. It wasn't just a rote quoting of a passage in a sermon, it was meaningful to him, and he made me feel it as I sat in my pew.

I'm not going to comment too much on it, I just encourage you to read it and let it impact your heart.

Fear

2010-06-30T13:44:00.003-04:00

Right now my head is dizzy with things running through it vying for my attention. First of all, I just moved into a new apartment which is exciting, but thinking about paying rent, coupled with loan payments, plus other daily expenses is overwhelming at times, and specifically right now. I am realizing that while I am not poor or broke, I have to stop spending money on things I don't need, which is easier said than done. I am being a children's worker/leader tonight and from now on at church, which again, is exciting, but thinking about the responsibility involved in teaching and spending time with kids, is once again a bit overwhelming. This fact is not helped any by the fact that there is no real good, definite plan in place as to how the night will be structured or what it will be like. I also had the idea to undergo the process of helping disciple one of the youth in the church by reading a book with him in the month of July. Again this is exciting, and will be all joy, but it is also a bit overwhelming to think that I am in a place where I can actually be a helper in discipleship, rather than just being discipled myself. On top of all of that I have had a week of hiding from these responsibilities by lounging about as if I had not a care in the world, being sinfully lazy and wasting time. So I am also wrestling with the how and why I went from a disciplined productive week, to a lazy, nearly completely unproductive week. The answer is simply that I fear growing up, as a man, and as a Christian. I fear paying bills and being responsible for my job and spending, and I fear leading and discipling other Christians and kids. I fear not being prepared and not being ready to do the task I am called, and I ultimately fear the task, because after all, the task is not a small one, helping people know God better. I write this to vent, and to let those of you who read this can pray I cast off my fears and trust Christ to make me prepared to grow up, be responsible, disciplined, and to lead. My prayer is just that I would be planted deep in His Word, not faltering or stumbling, never taking my eyes off of Jesus, that I may run the race with no fear, and win the prize.

Forgiven and Loved

2010-06-14T21:41:00.002-04:00

If you have talked to me in the past few weeks, I have probably recommended Jimmy Needham's music to you, specifically his new album Nightlights, which by the way I do recommend to anyone reading this right now. This song is a bonus track on that album, but it was originally released on the album, Not Without Love. It is one of those songs, that makes me tear up a little every time I hear it, because it is always a truth that I need to be reminded of.

Tell me I’m forgiven and loved

‘Cause I hear it from the street corner priests

On how God is love and how man can be clean

But my joy has been on holiday

And my peace has almost passed away

Tell me I’m forgiven and free

O I tried and tried to rectify my hopeless situation

But I bought the lie I still have work to do

Now I’m working nine to five like I can earn my own salvation

But there is no condemnation in You

O whisper to me now that it’s for real

‘Cause in the silence of these walls righteousness lost its appeal

Dirty deeds have done me in

O but that can’t stop the faithful friend

Giving mercy once again as You heal

Here it is I’m feeling it

O He died, He died to rectify my hopeless situation

And His blood commands my guilt to leave

Now on Calvary I stand

Empty pockets, open hands

O there is no condemnation for me

Child, you’re forgiven and loved

Child, you’re forgiven

And child, you are loved

Child, you’re forgiven and loved

The single line of "Child your forgiven and loved," is enough to make me get emotional, not to mention that Jesus died in order for that to be true. I am constantly held hostage by the feeling that I have to try and earn my keep, that the death of Christ was not enough to accomplish my salvation, and therefore I must work daily for my place in God's kingdom. This is simply not the case! That is the glorious news of the Gospel, it doesn't depend on us at all, we are forgiven and loved, there is no condemnation for us in Jesus Christ.

"Dirty deeds have done me in, O but that can't stop the faithful friend." What a glorious line, so true, so encouraging to hear! No matter many, or how grave my sins are, that will not, and cannot stop Jesus from forgiving me. Then to thnk that I now stand with empty pockets and open hands before God, nothing to give, and everything to receive from Him, O what a wonderful affirmation! This song truly is a gem of modern times, filled with wonderful truth and encouragement for the soul!

Law and Gospel

2010-05-27T10:58:00.004-04:00

I have been preparing to teach a lesson on Leviticus, and though it is not finished, I am working through what I want to say. I am covering chapters 17 to 27, and it is apparent that it is about the moral law of the covenant. The first 16 chapters are about the sacrificial system, how and why it works, but Moses switches gears and addresses moral behavior in the remaining chapters. I think the thing to do is isolate a chapter or passage and work through the morals put forth, how do they apply to us today, and go to Matthew and show how Jesus explicates some of the commands. But I have been bombarded it seems with thoughts about the law and the gospel, not just from Leviticus but songs and quotes that drive me to go a step further, I think a necessary step further. Here are some of the things I have encountered.

"The law requires works of human achievement; the gospel requires faith in Christ's achievement. The law makes demands and bids us obey; the gospel brings promises and bids us believe."

John Stott

"To run and work the law commands, but gives me neither feet nor hands. But better news the gospel brings, it bids me fly and gives me wings."

Jimmy Needham

"Let us love and sing and wonder, let us praise the savior's name.

He has hushed the law's loud thunder, he has quenched Mount Sinai's flame.

He has washed us in His blood, He presents our souls to God."

John Newton

"Indignant justice stood in view,

To Sinai's fiery mount I flew,

But Justice cried with frowning face,

This mountain is no hiding place."

Jehoida Brewer

All of these quotes are saying the same thing: the law is a big pointer to the wonderful news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The law serves the purpose of showing us the mess we are in, and points us to One who has fulfilled the law and has laid his life down so that the guilty may go free. To teach a lesson and give moral demands to people who cannot possibly keep them, is wrong, but to give them moral demands in light of the truth that they have been redeemed from their inability and their proneness to sin is gracious.

You cannot preach law to people without telling them that have already been justified in the sight of God. If you do, then they will depend on the completion of the law to save them, but this is an impossible task. The law cannot save you, but it can point to a gracious savior. As Christians we are expected to be obedient to the laws and commands of God, but that is not our salvation, rather our reasonable act of worship. Ephesians 2:8-10 says it best:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

The law has been fulfilled, hushed, Mt. Sinai is no hiding place; but Jesus is a hiding place for sinners, because justice has been satisfied by his offering himself as a sacrifice for them. So while we must have moral demands on our lives, in fact the gospel calls us to it, we must remember that the gospel calls us to it, not the need and desire for salvation. The Gospel must be the bedrock of all commands to obedience, because it is only under those circumstances that we have the ability to pursue obedience.

Anyway I am still rattling all of this around in my head trying to form it into a concise understandable way, so any suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading this, I hope this post and all of my posts are beneficial, and that you don't feel like you've wasted your time after you read my blog.

I Know Whom I've Believed

2010-05-03T21:08:00.002-04:00

I was listening to the cd personal worship today by Stuart Townend, and on it he sings this wonderful song a capella, and it just reminded me of how good these lyrics are. I figured I would post them to give others the opportunity to rediscover this hymn, or perhaps discover it for the first time, and ponder the richness of it.

I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemed me for His own.
- Refrain:
  But “I know Whom I have believed,
  And am persuaded that He is able
  To keep that which I’ve committed
  Unto Him against that day.”
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing men of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air

All That Thrills My Soul is Jesus

2010-04-29T13:58:00.002-04:00

I was looking through the hymnal for class, and I rediscovered this hymn, that has been quite convicting. It is written as a statement of truth, but I must sing this with a prayerful spirit, asking that God would make this true of me. I encourage you to read through it and ask yourself, if you could sing this honestly today, or does it lead you to confess your love for other things and not Jesus.

Who can cheer the heart like Jesus

By His presence all divine

True and tender, pure and precious

O, how blest to call Him mine

Chorus

All that thrills my soul is Jesus

He is more than life to me

And the fairest of ten thousand

In my blessed Lord I see

Love of Christ so freely given

Grace of God beyond degree

Mercy higher than the heavens

Deeper than the deepest sea

What a wonderful redemption

Never can a mortal know

How my sin, though red like crimson

Can be whiter than the snow

Every need His hand supplying

Every good in Him I see

On His strength divine relying

He is all in all to me

By the crystal flowing river

With the ransomed I will sing

And forever and forever

Praise and glorify the King

U2, Inspired by the Scriptures?

2010-04-25T15:34:00.002-04:00

I have wanted to write this post for a long time, and today on my way to church, I listened to this song and thought, time to finally post it. Every time I listen to Sunday, Bloody Sunday, by U2, I am reminded of the songs that are recorded in the Bible, in the Psalms and elsewhere like Habakkuk. Here is the song, then I will explain:

I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away
How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long? How long?
'Cause tonight we can be as one, tonight

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end streets
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And the battle's just begun
There's many lost but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

How long, how long must we sing this song?
How long? How long?
'Cause tonight we can be as one
Tonight, tonight

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your tears away
Oh, wipe your blood shot eyes

Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday

And it's true we are immune when fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die
The real battle just begun to claim the victory Jesus won on

Sunday Bloody Sunday
Sunday Bloody Sunday

So there is an obvious call to the scriptures in the line, "How long, how long must we sing this song." This is apparently drawn from countless times where the Psalmists and other biblical writers had this same cry. But I think that this entire song is structured very much like songs thare recorded in the Bible, especially lament Psalms and songs.

I think more of the first chapter of Habakkuk as a great example. Habakkuk records his griefs, his fears for the people. In chapter one he asks God why He is not working in the lives of the people. He cannot see the purpose of God at work, all he sees is wickedness, violence and sin. So he cries out to God, how long O Lord.

Now of course Habakkuk is much more direct in addressing his complaint to God, and remember he is the prophet of God, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Obviously there are big differences, but I think U2 raises their plea up to God in this song for the our culture, as they look around and see worn-torn nations, sickness, and murder. The song is a cry for peace, and refers to the bloody Sunday in 1972 in Ireland. On that day British troops killed thirteen Irish people during a civil right's march. A similar occurrence happened in America as well, but since U2 is Irish, obviously they were more concerned with Irish occurrence.

I think Bono wanted to just cry out for peace, in fact, when they would perform this song live, he would wave a white flag symbolically calling for surrender. Habakkuk was not just asking for peace though, he was asking that God come and work repentance in the hearts of His people.

Another interesting thing about this song, is that Bono parallels that Sunday with Easter Sunday in the last lines of the song. He says that the battle has begun to claim the victory that already Jesus won. The spiritual war is raging, yes, but the result is stamped into history, Jesus is the winner. The cross and resurrection have given the death blow to sin and death, and while we long for peace and rest here on earth in these days, it is coming, when Jesus returns to make all things new.

Let me give a disclaimer here. I am not trying to defend the faith of Bono or members of U2. They don't need me to defend them, they are more than capable of defending their own faith. I am not arguing for them being Christians whatsoever, because only they and God know. However, to give my opinion on the matter, I believe that Bono is a believer in Jesus Christ, though many will disagree. I have often said, that if I could have lunch or coffee with one person and ask anything I wanted it would be Bono, so that I could get some straight answers.

Let me know what you think about this, I hope it has been thought provoking.

Look Ye Saints! The Sight is Glorious

2010-04-19T15:51:00.002-04:00

I just read this hymn for the first time in a while, and my heart was gladdened. I know that Easter has already come and gone, but it is never a bad time to be spurred on to love and good deeds by the resurrection of the savior Jesus Christ. Read it and be encouraged!

Look, ye saints! the sight is glorious:

See the Man of Sorrows now;

From the fight returned victorious,

Every knee to Him shall bow;

Crown Him, crown Him,

Crowns become the Victor’s brow,

Crowns become the Victor’s brow.

Crown the Savior! angels, crown Him;

Rich the trophies Jesus brings;

In the seat of power enthrone Him,

While the vault of heaven rings;

Crown Him, crown Him,

Crown the Savior King of kings,

Crown the Savior King of kings.

Sinners in derision scorned Him,

Mocking thus the Savior’s claim;

Saints and angels crowd around Him,

Own His title, praise His name;

Crown Him, crown Him,

Spread abroad the Victor’s fame,

Spread abroad the Victor’s fame.

Hark, those bursts of acclamation!

Hark, those loud triumphant chords!

Jesus takes the highest station;

O what joy the sight affords!

Crown Him, crown Him,

King of kings and Lord of lords!

Come Ye Sinners

2010-03-23T16:19:00.002-04:00

I was planning for worship this Sunday and decided to sing, as the invitation hymn, Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy. I looked it up so I could put it in the powerpoint and discovered some verse that I had no idea existed. It was refreshing to read new verses to this great hymn. Read it and be encouraged to come to your faithful savior Jesus Christ.

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and pow’r.

Refrain

I will arise and go to Jesus,

He will embrace me in His arms;

In the arms of my dear Savior,

Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.
Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.
View Him prostrate in the garden;
On the ground your Maker lies;
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Sinner, will this not suffice?
Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood:
Venture on Him, venture wholly,
Let no other trust intrude.
Let not conscience make you linger,
Not of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth
Is to feel your need of Him.

Judges

2010-03-22T13:05:00.002-04:00

On Sunday nights my church has been going through the book of Judges, and just by reading through the narrative of the story, you see the wonderful but horrifying story the narrator is telling. I have been amazed at how beautifully written Judges is, weaving together the stories of men who were not men to be revered, however who were used by God to do amazing things to fulfill God's plan.

The re-occurring phrase that comes up in the book is, "In those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes." That phrase or some form of it appears several times in the book to reinforce that the people were left to their own devices and then it clearly portrays the downward spiral of that society. My favorite story is that of Samson.

As a young boy, Samson seemed the unstoppable force who was mighty, courageous and right. I wanted to be as strong as he was and be able to kill a thousand men with a jaw bone of a donkey. Every time I hear that I just say, "Man that is so cool!" Cool as it may be, I have discovered as I can read the story for myself with no editing for kids, that Samson was not such a righteous character. Throughout the story he shows no regard for God or His will, but merely his own lustful passions and desires.

First of all the scripture tells us that he was called to be a Nazarite which, among other things, means he cannot drink wine or grape juice or eat grapes. Yet we encounter Samson walking through a vineyard; why would he even go to a vineyard knowing his calling. I wonder how many of us can be seen in places where we have no business being too?

Also we see Samson desiring a Philistine woman, but why would he do that being not only an Israelite but a Nazarite? He was doing whatever say fit, whatever was right in his own eyes. His lust for women ultimately ends up in him being captured and having his eyes gauged out. His prostitute had tried and tried to find the secret of his strength, and he finally gave it up, why? He gave it up because he was tired of her nagging, and so, because it suited him at the time, he relinquished his secret.

It cost him his eyesight, and ultimately his life. It isn't until the end of his life that he ever calls on God to help. We see throughout the narrative that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, but he doesn't ask for it. That just illustrates the point that he was doing what he wanted, but God was using to do what he wanted. In his last moments he asks for God to provide him one more feat of strength, and he collapses the palace killing the Philistines and himself.

My pastor made an interesting comment about Samson's story, he said that it seems like Samson could only see when he was blind, and was actually blind when he could see. Samson had no clue what he was being used by God to do until the end, he just followed his own appetites wherever they led him, but the sovereign God of the universe never doubted for a moment whether His plan for Samson and the people of Israel would work out.

It should encourage us that God uses the sinful, selfish men of the world to do His will. But it should light a fire under us to not be so sinful and selfish and be conformed to the likeness of Christ. We must desire the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to change us, and work in us a desire to call on the name of the Lord to do what he has called us to. We cannot do anything in our strength, and we need not follow our desires, unless those desires have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.

Laden with Guilt

2010-03-14T22:16:00.002-04:00

I was just reading some hymns this evening and rediscovered this great one by Dr. Watts. Indelible Grace reset this hymn as well, which Caedmon's Call recorded too; here is a link to give it a listen. I hope it as much of an encouragement to you as it is to me.

http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=laden+with+guilt+lyrics&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Laden with guilt, and full of fears,

I fly to Thee, my Lord,

And not a glimpse of hope appears

But in Thy written Word.

The volume of my Father’s grace

Does all my griefs assuage;

Here I behold my Savior’s face

Almost in every page.

This is the field where hidden lies

The pearl of price unknown;

That merchant is divinely wise

Who makes the pearl his own.

Here consecrated water flows

To quench my thirst of sin;

Here the fair tree of knowledge grows,

Nor danger dwells therein.

This is the Judge that ends the strife

Where wit and reason fail,

My guide to everlasting life

Through all this gloomy vale.

O may Thy counsels, mighty God,

My roving feet command;

Nor I forsake the happy road

That leads to Thy right hand.

Thou Lovely Source of True Delight

2010-03-04T12:41:00.002-05:00

I was reading through some hymns, and came across this one which I love, by Anne Steele. It is one of my favorite hymns, my favorite part being the third verse. Read and enjoy. Indelible Grace has recorded this song with their own musical spin, and Jars of Clay did it as well, here is the link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T7CxwWXiow

Thou lovely Source of true delight,

Whom I unseen adore;

Unveil Thy beauties to my sight,

That I may love Thee more.

Thy glory o’er creation shines;

But in Thy sacred Word,

I read in fairer, brighter lines,

My bleeding, dying Lord.

’Tis here, whene’er my comforts droop,

And sins and sorrows rise,

Thy love with cheerful beams of hope,

My fainting heart supplies.

Jesus, my Lord, my Life, my Light,

O come with blissful ray;

Break radiant through the shades of night,

And chase my fears away.

Then shall my soul with rapture trace

The wonders of Thy love;

But the full glories of Thy face

Are only known above.

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

2010-03-03T21:14:00.003-05:00

I have mentioned before that I am writing a book about hymns, and I thought maybe I would post a potential chapter and see if I get any feedback. I hope people like it. This chapter was easy to write because it is about When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, probably my favorite hymn of all time. Read and enjoy, and please let me know what you think.

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain, I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

Forbid it Lord that I should boast

Save in the death of Christ my God

All the vain things that charm me most

I sacrifice them to His blood

See from His head His hands His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were a present far too small

Love so amazing so divine

Demands my soul my life my all

Dr. Isaac Watts was born in 1674 to a Congregationalist family, his dad was a pastor, his mom a homemaker. He was an extremely intelligent boy, learning Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and English of course by the time he was thirteen years old. He loved rhyme, and would constantly speak using rhymes. His father did not like it so much, he found it very annoying, and he threatened to reprimand him if he continued. His response was in rhyme, and he was indeed reprimanded.

One Sunday after church Watts complained that the singing was dispassionate and the Psalm setting unsuitable. At this time, hymn-writing and singing was not common place, it was the practice of the church to sing only Psalms in bland, sing song fashion. The leader would say a line in a chant type style, and the congregation would repeat. His father told him that if he was displeased he should write something better. The next week he presented his first hymn to the church, which was well received, and from then on out, he wrote a new hymn every week.

That was how it started, and from there, he reworked each Psalm with exception only a couple, with the intent, as Watts said, to Christianize them. In addition to that he wrote his own original hymns, and garnered the name, in his time, “The Father of English Hymnody.” He wrote over six hundred hymns, and his goal was to be simple, in fact he wrote a whole edition just for children. He wanted his hymns to be accessible to everyone. This is interesting because Watts was no simpleton. In fact he wrote a book called Logic, which was used for a century as the text-book on logic at Oxford.

Isaac Watts is the one who started the modern hymn movement, and he is widely regarded by many as the best. It seems that people who love hymns tend to pick one of two favorites: Isaac Watts or Charles Wesley. Personally I think it is near impossible to compare the two. As I stated, Watts wanted to write hymns that were simple, he used only three different poetic meters, and tried to make them understand so that they could be easily memorized and sung. On the other hand, Wesley wrote in a variety of meters, and not that he din’t want them to be easily sung, he used much more poetic device and skill.

When I read or sing this hymn, I can picture Dr. Watts sitting at his desk, quill in hand, a fire roaring beside him, and his Bible open to a Gospel account of the crucifixion, or perhaps Isaiah 53. He is reading and praying, considering what his emotions would have been had he been there, at the foot of the cross, knowing all of the implications that the death of Jesus brought with it. He is not surveying, as John or Mary would have been, not knowing for sure He would rise again, not knowing this was the way in which God was going to save the entire world; no, he has the advantage of being many years removed, and knowing all these truths as he surveys the scene. So in fact he is surveying the implications, just as much as he is the actual event.

The undeniable theme of this hymn is a sense of not being worthy of the sacrifice. Constantly Watts refers to counting all things as loss, or sacrificing all things to him. He is considering the sacrifice of Christ, and realizes that the only fitting response is to count everything he has as utter loss and lay it down at the foot of His cross. This theme carries through all of the stanzas, but it reaches its climax in the last stanza, where Watts says that if he had the whole world, it would be too small a present to give in return.

A passage that quickly comes to mind, and that is familiar as well, Philippians 3:1-11. In this passage Paul gives us a lengthy and meaty list of credentials which would have made him a very prominent and prestigious man in his culture, the fact that he is basically a Hebrew of hebrews, a pharisee and even in matters of the law, blameless. But then in verse eight he says, that he counts it all as loss, much like Watts does. I really think that Watts may have been reviewing this text as well, or if he wasn’t, he knew it so well, and was so moved by it, it bled through in this communion hymn.

This hymn is one of, if not my absolute favorite hymn of all time. The beauty and richness is almost unparalleled, yet it is so simple and easy to understand. The language he uses is so biblically rich, and so emotionally moving, I find it difficult to sing this hymn without welling up with tears, or outright crying. As I said, I can see Watts sitting there, teary-eyed himself as he considers the God of the universe bleeding and dying on the cross, counting everything he has as loss. I believe this is exactly what he wants us to feel as well, that same passion and sense of undeserved favor and love, as we with him, survey the wondrous cross.

Watts does not hesitate to identify Jesus as the Son of God, designating Him as the Prince of Glory, again, he is not John or Mary, unknowing, or perhaps unsure, of who exactly this man was, or what this was going to accomplish. As noted about him, he was a man of great intellect and stature in his community. He was a preacher and pastor and great thinker, everyone knew him and revered him. However in the first verse, he counts his richest gain loss, and pours contempt on his pride. He was one who was capable of having a sense of pride for his knowledge and accomplishments, but in comparison to the Prince of Glory it is nothing, he has noting to be proud of.

The second verse continues on this theme, saying that he has no reason to boast in anything except for in Christ. The next line gets me every time, when he says, “All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” It makes me think of all the things that I allow to occupy my thoughts, time and activities, and how many of them are not God at all. Now they are not sins, they are usually things like family, music, church, friends, sports and a variety of other things of the sort. Those things are not bad, but they are all about me, and they may be good, but they are not nearly as good as God Himself who has given those things to us to enjoy. But am I sacrificing them to His blood, letting Him make those things even better, by enjoying them in the shadow of the cross? Are you?

The phrase from verse three that makes me think is, “Or thorns compose so rich a crown.” How is a crown of thorns rich? Is the crown itself rich or is it rich because of the blood that stained it. I believe the answer is the blood, the blood makes the crown rich. And what does rich mean here? Well it means that it has value, it contains something that is worth a great deal. Again that is the blood, it is what makes the crown worth anything; an instrument for inflicting pain full of salvific implications.

Verse four is the culmination of the hymn, it is like a big exhale after you have been holding your breath as long as you can. If we could offer the whole universe back to God, it would not be enough, not even close to enough, to pay Him back for what He has done for us. And the scene there at the foot of the cross is so overwhelming that it demands our soul, our life, our all. Watts uses the some of the most beautiful and dynamic language I have ever read or sung. It almost feels wrong not to raise your hands, and prostrate yourself before God in that moment.

Overall this song is meant to draw out the emotions of the Christian, and it does an amazing job of it. It is meant to cause us to think about what we value and treasure, and how it pales in comparison to the wondrous cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Salvation

2010-03-02T22:37:00.002-05:00

My psychology class this semester has been one of the most intriguing classes of my college career. This is due in part to some questions and concerns that have come along in my thought processes, which this class is addressing, and also just because psychological issues are an interesting thing to delve into. Last week we talked about the word salvation.

My professor was unpacking 2 Timothy 3 and he gave us six truths about scripture, the first being, from verse 15, that it makes us wise for salvation. The interesting thing is that the word salvation in this context is contrasted with verse 1-9 of chapter 3 where Paul gives a laundry list of sins and deeds of the flesh. So the word salvation is a word which in contrasts, is an encompassing word which signifies a life transformed from those sinful deeds to a life of righteous living.

The theological error which occurs, as pointed out by my professor, is that the word salvation often gets whittled down to mean merely justification. While justification is included in the definition of salvation, it does not end there; salvation carries with it the meaning of sanctification, and glorification. Think about it, when you trust Jesus, you were saved. Now you are continuing to live out the Christian life, and are being saved. And in the last day we will be saved in an ultimate sense of the word.

So the word salvation has a much broader meaning than justification, so what does that mean? Well in the context of this passage, it means that the scripture makes us wise for the entire Christian life. which says something about the sufficiency of scripture. In all of our problems, the answers can be found in the scripture, if this passage is accurate. My professor said that your view of soteriology and of the sufficiency of scripture will go hand in hand. So the issue raised is, what is the value of secular psychology, can it answer questions for us that the scripture cannot.

From this passage, and my study so far in psychology and biblical counseling, I would say that the scripture has to be sufficient for life and godliness as Peter says, and it must make us wise for salvation, not just justification, but for a godly life as well, for the complete transforming of a person. Let me know what you think, of course I am still endeavoring to understand all of this stuff, I am no expert, nor do I feel like I have it all together.

Weary

2010-03-01T15:27:00.002-05:00

I have not posted in a while, and I have been wondering why exactly that is.

The first reason I came up with was that I am really busy. I feel like the busiest person in the world, although I know that is not literally possible, I can think of fifty people right now who I know are busier than I am. But is is figuratively true, by that I mean, should I feel like it. Well I have school, 17.5 hours of classes, which includes eighteen books, and twelve hours of practice time a week. I am interim worship, the work for which equals out to about twelve hours worth of time, if that. I also teach 1-3 graders on Wednesday nights, with a preparation time of one hour tops, and lead a Sunday night service with a one hour preparation time as well. I work about twenty hours a week at Kroger, and other than those things, that is all I have to do. That is no small load for sure, but I still have time to watch television shows I want to, hang out with friends, play guitar for fun, and plenty of other things that are not necessary. So I am really not that busy.

The second answer I came up with was that I have a lot on my mind. With the aforementioned school work on the brain, plus some family stuff that weighs not only my mind but my heart, concerns for my church, well actually churches, since I am affiliated with three that I care for, and beyond all of that my own personal walk with God. So I do have quite a bit on my heart and mind. My school work this semester is not easy, and much of it is very convicting, and thought-provoking, or a mixture of the two, so it is not just put away for the week after class, I am mulling it over all the time. My sister has me on my knees, as well as my grandmother, two people who need Jesus, but just don't see it, and I desperately want them too. I wonder what God is doing, and how He will grow all three churches I am a part of, in one way or another, and I feel like I am not being the best churchman I can be by being a part of three churches at once. My own personal walk with God is okay, but I feel like I am being pressed by the Spirit to put away sin but I just won't do it.

It is my conclusion that my feelings of busyness, or heavy-heartedness really rests on the fact that I am like the person in Romans 7. I want to put sin away, no more than that, I want to put it to death, but I am so easily enticed to keep on sinning. I am telling myself that my spiritual walk is okay, when in actuality, it is not, it needs refreshment. The effects of sin are many, and I'm not out there committing the "bad" sins, it's just little things, subtle things that draw me in, and that blind me so badly I don't even know that I am sinning. I am being challenged by my reading, and my professors, indirectly, to be a better Christian, to be diligent, and disciplined, and my spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

So I haven't posted because I am weary and heavy with sin, covered in other concerns, covered in busyness. I am praying for God to grant me grace, that I would desire His Word above all things, and spend time in deep sincere prayer. I need to be refreshed in spirit, and God is the only one who can do that. I have great friends to encourage me along the way, and I know God is bigger than all my sin, my worries, or my tasks, and He is faithful to His people.

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder

2010-01-13T23:35:00.002-05:00

Let us love and sing and wonder

Let us praise the Savior's name,

He has hushed the laws loud thunder,

He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame

He has washed us with His blood x3

He has brought us nigh to God

Let us love the Lord who bought us

Pitied us when enemies

Called us by His grace and taught us

Gave us ears and gave us eyes

He has washed us with His blood x3

He presents our souls to God

Let us sing though fierce temptation

Threatens hard to bear us down

For the Lord, our strong salvation,

Holds in view the conqu'ror's crown

He Who washed us with His blood x3

Soon will bring us home to God

Let us wonder grace and justice

Join and point to mercy's store

When through grace in Christ our trust is

Justice smiles and asks no more

He Who washed us with His blood x3

Has secured our way to God

Let us praise and join the chorus

Of the saints enthroned on high

Here they trusted Him before us

Now their praises fill the sky

Thou hast washed us with Thy blood x3

Thou art worthy Lamb of God

I don't know that I really have to say that this is an amazing song. The depth and richness in this hymn is off the charts. The poetic device employed and beauty of the text just adds to its wonder, no pun intended. This song has impacted me so much, and I have opportunity today to think more about it.

In my reading this morning, I read Hebrews chapter 7, which compares Jesus to Melchizedek. The chapter of course argues that Jesus is far better than Melchizedek because he is the everlasting God made flesh, and He did not have to make atonement for His own sins, but merely offered Himself as the atonement for the world's transgressions. The author of Hebrews touches on the fact that the law is now quenched by Jesus, the covenant at Sinai is no has been kept and there is a new covenant in the blood of Christ.

I believe that this is the message of this song. It is explicit in the first verse, but it is implicit throughout. I think it interesting that stanzas begins with one of the terms from the title. Verse two begins with love, three with sing, and verse three begins with wonder. The first verse begins with all three, and the last verse sums up the whole thing with praise.

Also something of note, John Newton the author of this hymn, repeats the phrase or at least the idea of being washed in the blood of Jesus. He also points to many things that we have been given in Christ, or that Christ is for us, such as: hushed the law's loud thunder, brought us nigh to God, bought us, pitied us when enemies, called us, taught us, gave us ears and eyes, our strong salvation, appeased justice, and secured our way to God. That is quite the list, but the thing he comes back to is the somewhat simple phrase he has washed us with his blood.

I think what is being communicated, is that all those other things we have in Him, is a result of the washing we received. All things hinge on Him shedding His bled and covering us with it. Remember this is a new covenant, and Christ said it himself, it is a new covenant in His blood.

This is just me thinking through a beautiful poem and song. This is one that should be committed to memory, it is on my list of things to do this week for sure. Please give me your thoughts.

2010

2010-01-02T00:03:00.002-05:00

It was almost exactly one year ago that I began this blog, and I sincerely hope it has been beneficial in some way to those have read it all this year. I haven't posted in quite some time, I have thought about it, but just have not had anything I felt was worth writing about. Plus I have been busy with some things, mostly church related.

I planned and led a Christmas service at my church, which was a little stressful, but it went well, and was a great experience. I got the pleasure of rearranging a couple of the Christmas hymns, which I found fun, but those of you who know me know that already. That was on the 20th of December, but for the weeks before that, I had a decision to make.

Right before Thanksgiving, in the midst of planning the Christmas service, I was asked to by a church in Franklin Ohio to come and be their interim worship leader. This was a big question, and I had to give it the thought necessary. I met the pastor, talked with trusted people for advice, and have now decided that I am going to do it.

I led there for the first time last week, and I think it went really well. I will be leading every week for about six moths, basically, as long as it takes for the church to find someone to fill the position permanently. It is exciting, but it will be a challenge to be preparing and leading every week, plus doing school, and working at Kroger, but it will be a good challenge.

A lot has been happening in my life lately, and I think what I need most is a faithful walk with God, allowing Him to give me the strength to be disciplined to do everything I need to do.

Consuming Fire

2009-11-01T22:03:00.003-05:00

Today at church the sermon was on Deuteronomy 4:9-31. Several times Moses refers to fire, the most impacting for me was in verses 23-24:

"Take care lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord you God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

Now the obvious implication of this verse is do not set up idols because God is a jealous God and His justice will reign. God will consume you if you transgress His law, for He wants all of your worship directed at Him and only Him. But also this is a description of what the Holy Spirit does for the believer. Here is what I mean: the Holy Spirit burns up all of the idols in your heart. The idols we have set up in our hearts, whether it be our family, work, music, school, ministry, hobbies, or any other variety of thing, are consumed by the zealous, jealous Spirit of God.

This was convicting. Taking an honest look at my heart, there are a lot of things that I have placed on pedestals, of various sizes, that I bow down to with how I use my time and energy. I have spent tons of time entertaining myself with pointless videos, TV shows, and sleep, when I could have used that time to do any number of more noble pursuits, not least of which being reading God's Word and praying. But it has also taken place of things like school-work, and going to classes, which is never good, especially at this point in the semester. The good news is, my papers are almost finished, just a lot of guitar practice on the horizon for the next two weeks.

The fire of God is a dangerous and very serious thing, and it must run rampant through our souls and destroy all the evil. Like gold is refined by the fire, so must our desires and wants. Our worship must be products of difficult life experiences which melts away the idols we are still clinging to in our sin and rebellion against God. Our God is a jealous God. He is God and there is no other. We are His people, and He is a consuming fire.

How oft, alas!

2009-10-26T20:26:00.002-04:00

I just came across this hymn by Anne Steele, and was really moved, thought I would share it.

How oft, alas! this wretched heart

Has wandered from the Lord,

How oft my roving thoughts depart,

Forgetful of His Word.

Yet sovereign mercy calls, “Return”;

Dear Lord, and may I come?

My vile ingratitude I mourn;

O take the wanderer home.

And canst Thou, wilt Thou yet forgive,

And bid my crimes remove?

And shall a pardoned rebel live

To speak Thy wondrous love?

Almighty grace, thy healing power

How glorious, how divine!

That can to bliss and life restore

So vile a heart as mine.

Thy pardoning love, so free, so sweet,

Dear Savior, I adore;

O keep me at Thy sacred feet,

And let me rove no more.

Saying Goodbye is Hard

2009-10-25T21:52:00.002-04:00

Today was a hard day for me, and many people at North Oldham Baptist Church. Of course we had our normal events on a Sunday, for me at least, worship band rehearsal, Sunday School, the worship service, but then we had a luncheon. Usually everyone is excited for the luncheons at church, but this was a more sad occasion. A family in the church was leaving to do ministry in Maine. Matt was a seminary student, so it was expected that eventually their family would be leaving, but I, and if I can speak for the church, no one else really wanted them too. I have become really close to Matt and Kara, and especially their two kids Gabby who is six, and Luke is three. I play their kids all of the time when we are at church, I don't know what really started it, but I have enjoyed it so much. For some reason those kids have become quite fond of me, and of course I have of them. It has been great because I have a little niece and nephew at home, that I miss so much, and when I get to spend time with Gabby and Luke it was kind of like spending time with my niece and nephew. On top of that, I was becoming embroiled in some difficult issues in the church, and Matt was right there with me. We had been able to talk about those things, and his wife is one of the godliest women I have ever met. Their family have been very dear to me, seeing them raise their children, I have been helped and encouraged by them. But now they are gone, all the way to Maine. I am very happy for them, and I know that it was best for them, but it hurts to lose close friends like that from the church. When you are used to seeing people every week, talking to them and having lunch with them it is hard to stay in touch long distance. But I have to say, my selfish wants cannot override God's will, and His plan and purpose is the most important thing in the world. He obviously has plans for the Parkers to minister to people in Maine, and there is a need for good churches there, and certainly the Parkers are more than qualified to be there and minister. I will miss them, but they have been called to go, as many others in my life will be in the future, and I must begin to learn how to let go of things.

On top of the Parkers leaving, I found out this weekend that one of my professors, who I have had for classes nearly every semester, is leaving to take a church position in Michigan. Dr. Platt is one of the finest men I know, and one of the most influential men in my life. I have not been as close personally to him as some others, but his teaching and passion for worship, and his wisdom has been so beneficial to me. This is hard, but I ahve to say, I have told Dr. Platt before that I think he should be in a church position for a while. he has a passion for worship and for teaching people about worship that he should be in a church, not in a classroom. He has a real gift for preaching the word, and for effectively leading people in genuine worship before the throne of God that he needs to be in a full time church position. I am very happy for him, but it will not be easy to say goodbye to him in the least. He has been a great help in my these times going through college, helping me through my guitar juries and encouraging me to hang in there through sight-singing.

At the end of this weekend, I felt really sad, and disappointed that people very dear to me are leaving or have left, and selfishly I want them to stay. However God is in control and He has big plans for them, and for me. He will lead other godly people into my path to give me advice, be examples to me, to stand with me in the trenches, and to encourage me in the faith.

Psalm 17

2009-09-25T09:36:00.002-04:00

My quiet time this morning was in Psalm 17, and I was really encouraged by it, challenged too, but that can be encouraging. I read the Psalm, then read Isaac Watts' version, and Watts, as always blew me away with his ability to not only present a nice English poetic version, but also to read Christ right into it. Of course Christ is already there, but it would be easy to miss him. I wanted to share Watts' version and let you read Psalm 17 from your Bible, and maybe let your heart be encouraged and challenged today. The title is: Psalm 17. The sinner's portion and saint's hope.

Lord, I am thine; but thou wilt prove

My faith, my patience, and my love:

When men of spite against me join,

They are the sword, the hand is thine.

Their hope and portion lies below:

'Tis all the happiness they know,

'Tis all they seek; they take their shares,

And leave the rest among their heirs.

What sinners value I resign;

Lord, 'tis enough that thou art mine:

I shall behold thy blissful face,

And stand complete in righteousness.

This life's a dream, an empty show:

But the bright world to which I go

Hath joys substantial and sincere:

When shall I wake and find me there?

O glorious hour! O bless'd abode!

I shall be near and like my God!

And flesh and sin no more control

The sacred pleasures of the soul.

My flesh shall slumber in the ground

Till the last trumpet's joyful sound;

Then burst the chains with sweet surprise,

And in my Saviour's image rise.

Let's Go

2009-09-17T23:05:00.002-04:00

I have been thinking about something lately, something that has been mildly bothering me, and I just need to kind of get it off my chest. I am a Bible school student, going to Seminary when I get done here, and of course I know a lot of people here going into ministry. I have been amazed at how many of the people that come here to study, end up staying here in Louisville at a church.

Now what is wrong with that? Someone comes here and plugs into a church that they really love and the church asks them to come on staff, or circumstances fall into place that they get the pastorate or whatever position they desired. Is that wrong? Well obviously not necessarily, but I think it is a shame that it is such a widespread practice, and I feel this way for a couple of reasons.

First, this city has more good churches than most other cities in the world because of the seminary and seminary professors influence. Many churches here are pastored and/or staffed by seminary and Boyce professors, so why add yourself to an already strong staff. You would think that students would come here to learn and learn how to be good pastors, then leave and go somewhere they need a good solid minister of the gospel. Go where there aren't many if any good churches at all.

Second, I think this can be, not always of course, a way to remain safe and not venture out into the real world. Stay close to a seminary bubble where you can be safe and secure, and have other good godly men to rely on when they can't cut it. That is a somewhat harsh way to say it, but I think it may be true of some people. The environment here at the seminary is very safe, and when you are serving at the church, you know you have a professor, or other seminary students to hold you accountable and look over your shoulder, or even to take the fall when your idea flops. This is a dangerous thing. We need men who have no fear, not of failure, rejection, or especially getting into the real world. We have to become part of our culture and see people in their natural habitat, not in a seminary classroom, or the Christian coffee shop.

Me personally, I love Louisville, it is a great city, and certainly needs the gospel, but I am already ready to leave. I know that mentally and spiritually I have more growth to do, before I can ever venture out to a new city pastor a church, so I will remain and receive my training, but unless the Lord really leads me to a church here, I am going out, somewhere where they need good churches, or where good churches need a good leader and shepherd.

I have been encouraged by a couple in my church, who have now finished seminary and are searching for churches, none of them in the area. They came from Maine, an area where the amount of healthy churches is slim to none, and so they want to go back there and be faithful ministers of the gospel there. That is what this world needs, people who have a heart for a place and are willing to give up some of their luxuries, and their good Christian friends living close, and pour out their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Sin is Not the Solution?

2009-08-22T18:08:00.003-04:00

In a previous post entitled Wedding Dress Part 2, I said this: "We are not called to nakedness, for that would be shameful; we are called to beautiful wedding dresses." I didn't realize how true this statement was until recently in thinking through some things. In the course of accountability I was asked what other satisfaction I was getting from some sin other than the obvious. I had to honestly say that I did not know at that time, but that I would think about it and let him know the next week. Upon considering it, I realized it was two-fold, but with a main a foundation of pride. I wanted to be worshipped, I wanted someone to think of me, and show me that I was the greatest thing on earth. I was guilty of the oldest sin in the book, the same that satan fell into, that he lead Adam and Eve into, I was now steeped in, but it was manifested in a way that on the surface didn't look like pride at all. I am not saying what it is, not necessarily out of shame, but because I don't think a blog is a forum to divulge sin, especially that which I am dealing with at present. This reminded me of the verse that says we are so easily entangled in sin, in the sense that, sin is a tangled web which has a beginning, but as it extends out, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish what sin is what. Eventually i rises to the surface and blossoms, but it may take on a completely different form that what it started to be, which in most cases I have found out, is pride. We all really do everything we do with mainly, or only us in mind, save through the grace of Jesus Christ. It also reminded me, as you might have guessed from my quote at the beginning, of not being called to nakedness. It may be easy for me now to breathe a sigh of relief because I now know the root cause of my sin. That would be foolish though, because I am still in bondage to the sin, I just know the cause. I still must apply the work of Jesus to my sin and trust Him to eliminate sin from my heart and soul. I must allow Jesus to provide a wedding dress for me to wear in place of my old garments, and not just take the old garments off, because that would be nudity, and that is not the state of a Christian. We are not called to nakedness, but to beautiful wedding dresses!

Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness

2009-08-20T23:38:00.004-04:00

In my previous post I mentioned that I had rediscovered another hymn, which communicated they idea of Jesus being our wedding dress of righteousness, but that I needed more time to think about it. I have done so, and feel it fitting to post the complete text of that hymn, which as you can tell from the title of this post is Jesus Thy Blood and Righteousness:

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father’s bosom came,
Who died for me, e’en me to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.

Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Ev’n then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died, for me.

This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue,
The robe of Christ is ever new.

Jesus, the endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me—
For me a full atonement made,
An everlasting ransom paid.

O let the dead now hear Thy voice;
Now bid Thy banished ones rejoice;
Their beauty this, their glorious dress,
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness.

This hymn was written by Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf, a German, and was translated by John Wesley, the great preacher and brother of prolific hymn writer Charles Wesley. The hymn is parenthesized with the imagery of Jesus' blood and righteousness as our dress. Now, as should be evident, dress does not overtly describe an actual dress, but refers to clothing in general, regardless though the idea is there. It seems to me that the rest of the content of this hymn is somehow based on this truth. We can stand bold before His throne, we are fully absolved, or since we have believe His blood has atoned for my sin, we are clothed with Christ's righteousness. This is a great hymn, and not just because it supports this analogy, but because it is rich with truth about what Christ has done, and endears Him to my soul through beautiful poetry. Use this for the encouragement of your soul as I have mine these past few days.

My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

2009-08-19T11:00:00.003-04:00

I have discovered a hymn that contains the language of having Christ as our dress. Those of you that read this blog and/or know me well, this is big deal. I have a special affection for hymnody in my heart, and when I sang this song a few days ago I was delighted to sing the last verse which says this: "When He shall come, with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found; dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before Thy throne." I have sung this song dozens, even hundreds of times, but never realized the significance of that phrase, "Dressed in His righteousness alone," before. The whole hymn is about resting in Christ for all that you need, in all situations and trials, because, He is our solid rock. This is a familiar hymn, so I will not provide the whole thing, I am sure you are already humming it to yourself, but if you don't know all the words it is in the Baptist Hymnal number 406. I rediscovered another hymn which contains language like this, but I need more time to meditate on it, plus, it is a far less known text unfortunately, even though it is a glorious one. I am truly being comforted by the fact that Christ wants to clothe me and does so, so that I may be acceptable in God's sight. It is a wonderful feeling to know I don't have to sew my own clothes together, because I have tried and it never really works out; there is always something I miss, it never covers me completely. But Jesus always covers me, and when I let Him, I always stand faultless before the throne of God.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5

2009-08-12T23:14:00.002-04:00

This is a revisit of the idea of a wedding dress, which I have blogged about in the past. This is an idea that I think about and it always comes back up in my mind, which I hope means that it is solid and worthy of reflection. I will provide the passage here and unpack my view a bit here; however, it would probably be beneficial to, if you have not, read the previous posts on this topic.

"For if we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge."

Now my view on this wedding dress thing is that our sanctification is the process of removing the garments of sin and shame, and them being replaced by a wedding dress, namely Christ as our righteous dress. Now just based on the language of this passage, we see that Paul employs similar language dealing with clothing. he talks about taking off and putting on, and he talks about a desire within us for this to happen. We don't want to be naked, but we are trying to improve what we are wearing, or trying to take off what we're wearing, but we are then laid bare, and that we do not want. But Christ provides himself as our dress, the beautiful garment that gains us access to the wedding feast.

That brings me to another facet of this particular passage, namely that in the context it fits. The context here is the resurrection of the believer, which means that this is a process, and a battle we must engage in during this life. But in the last day it will be complete and we will be fully clothed, not with our own fashioned fig leaves, or the mere animal skins, but the righteousness of Jesus Christ our redeemer.

Jesus Thy Boundless Love To Me

2009-08-10T11:03:00.005-04:00

I wanted to share this hmn with those that read this blog, because it has done a lot of good for my soul, yet I can't find many people who know this hymn. It is in the Baptist hymnal, yet, neither my home church nor the church I attend sing, and most people I talk to at Seminary have never heard of this hymn. That is quite a shame, because it is so rich with meaning, and comforting to my soul. In the hymnal there are only four verses, but I have provided all nine verse that Paul Gerhardt wrote for your enjoyment. I often will sing it as I lay down to go to sleep, one because it's good, but also because the tune sounds much like a lullaby. So for you parents who need a song to sing to your kids at night this is a good one. It is called Jesus Thy Boundless Love To Me. Enjoy!

Jesus, Thy boundless love to me

No thought can reach, no tongue declare;

Unite my thankful heart with Thee

And reign without a rival there.

To Thee alone, dear Lord, I live;

Myself to Thee, dear Lord, I give.

O, grant that nothing in my soul

May dwell but Thy pure love alone!

Oh, may Thy love possess me whole,

My joy, my treasure, and my crown!

All coldness from my heart remove;

My every act, word, thought, be love.

O love, how cheering is thy ray!

All pain before thy presence flies;

Care, anguish, sorrow, melt away

Wherever thy healing beams arise.

O Jesus, nothing may I see,

Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!

This love unwearied I pursue

And dauntlessly to Thee aspire.

Oh, may Thy love my hope renew

Burn in my soul like heavenly fire!

And day and night be all my care

To guard this sacred treasure there.

My Savior, Thou Thy love to me

In shame, in want, in pain, hast showed;

For me, on the accursed tree,

Thou pourest forth Thy guiltless blood;

Thy wounds upon my heart impress,

Nor aught shall the loved stamp efface.

More hard than marble is my heart,

And foul with sins of deepest stain;

But Thou the mighty Savior art,

Nor flowed thy cleansing blood in vain;

Ah soften, melt this rock, and may

Thy blood wash all these stains away!

O that I, as a little child,

May follow Thee, and never rest

Till sweetly Thou hast breathed Thy mild

And lowly mind into my breast!

Nor ever may we parted be,

Till I become as one with Thee.

Still let Thy love point out my way;

How wondrous things Thy love hath wrought!

Still lead me, lest I go astray;

Direct my word, inspire my thought;

And if I fall, soon may I hear

Thy voice, and know that love is near.

In suffering be Thy love my peace,

In weakness be Thy love my power;

And when the storms of life shall cease,

Jesus, in that important hour,

In death as life be Thou my guide,

And save me, who for me hast died.

Hypocrite

2009-07-14T22:23:00.003-04:00

I must confess my hypocrisy! In my previous post just a few days ago I talked about this statement from Matthew Henry, "If Satan have half he will have all, if the Lord have but half He will have none." I said how awakening that was to me, and how it is time to stop entertaining myself to death and pursue God with all that I am. Yet for the past several days I have done nothing but be an entertainment glutton. I have done absolutely nothing worth while in the last three days, except go to work I suppose. But in all of my free time, I have been watching pointless videos on my computer, sleeping too much, and not going to six days of service at my church when I am perfectly capable. Satan has certainly had half of me this week so far, and I am quite disgusted with myself. I have sought the forgiveness of my Savior, who of course has done so because He died for me and paid my penalty of death on the cross. I suppose this was somewhat unnecessary, but I wanted to share this because I would hate to put forward a false holiness or unintentionally dupe someone into thinking I am going hard after God, because in truth I am stagnant in my faith and need revival. Those of you who can, please pray for me, I am not in dire straights or anything like that, but I could sure use prayer, I mean, who doesn't right?

All Or Nothing

2009-07-10T00:11:00.002-04:00

I just started reading Zephaniah, and I am reading Matthew Henry's Commentary on the whole Bible along with it. Zephaniah talks about destruction coming for Israel, and he talks about their idolatry as the source of the reason for the coming destruction. Henry said, "If Satan have half, he will have all; if the Lord have but half, he will have none." That was a startling statement to me. Not really surprising, but jarring, almost like my alarm clock in the morning, and for those of you who know me, know that that can be quite startling for me. In Zephaniah, idolatry equated with destruction, and how guilty are we, or more directly, how guilty am I of idolatry. I am constantly battling with placing my affections on Christ rather than television and entertainment, music, and even church attendance and involvement. I am constantly spending all my time and energy on things that are secondary. If only I would spend as much time reading the Bible and praying, seeking God, as I do entertaining myself. I wish that Henry had flipped his statement and said that If Satan have but half, he will have none; if the Lord have half, he will have all. But even if he had, he would be wrong, because it is not the statment that concerns me, it is how true it is of my heart. I cannot give God half or even more than half and not give all, he will accept no less than my all. But Satan will take any small sliver that I will give him, and he will then take everything. "Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving." Colossians 2:6-7.

Genesis 1:24-25

2009-07-07T22:12:00.003-04:00

I was reading Devotional Thoughts on the Bible by Charles Spurgeon, and was humbled and encouraged by his comments on Genesis 1:24-25. I will just reproduce here, because I do not think that I could add anything to it to make it any better.

Genesis 1:24-25: "And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

"There is as much wisdom and care displayed in the creation of the tiniest creeping insect as in the creation of the leviathan himself. those who use the microscope are as much amazed at the greatness and the goodness of God as those are who use the telescope. He is as great in the little as he is in the great. After each day's work, God looks upon it, and it is well for us every night to review our day's work. Some men's work will not bear looking at, and tomorrow becomes all the worse to them because today was not considered and its sin repented of by them. But if the errors of today are marked by us, a repetition of them may be avoided on the morrow. It is only God who can look upon any one day's work and say of it, as a whole, and in every part, that it is 'good.' As for us, our best things need sprinkling with the blood of Christ, which we need not only on the lintels and side posts of our house but even on the altar and the mercy-seat at which we worship God."

Wedding Dress Part 2

2009-06-06T00:13:00.003-04:00

I have done some more thinking about this idea, and I have begun to embrace it even more. In Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve fall, the first thing they do is make clothing for themselves, because they now realize that they are naked and are ashamed of it. God confronts them and mhe He does not remove their fig leaves that they made for garments, and make them naked again. Instead He makes the first sacrifice and gives them animal skins for clothing. I am reading a book by John Piper called This Momentary Marriage, and he talks about this passage; he says that this indicates that the issue was not clothing, but where they came from. They needed those clothes to cover themselves, but they were not able to make them themselves; they needed God to provide it for them. The same is true for us! We are trying to sew our own suit of fig leaves together through our good works and being good people, and we have on these old dingy clothes that we are trying to scrub clean, but the stains won't come out, they just get worse. But God, He has provided a clean, beautiful white gown that is ours when we trust Christ as our savior. And so then the rest of lives is the process of the removal of our old clothes, and the application of the gown, so that we are ready for the consummation of our marriage with Jesus. Currently at my church, we are talking about living in the light from 1 John. We have talked a lot about being real, about removing our ragged garments and letting people in on the real you. While I think this needs to happen for true Christian community to take place, we must not forget to emphasize that when we do that, we are not just taking clothes off and being naked. We are not called to nakedness, for that would be shameful; we are called to beautiful wedding dresses. As I said before take this analogy for what it is worth, and let me know what you think about it.

Not Eating or Eating to the Glory of God

2009-06-03T20:41:00.004-04:00

I was reading a biography of George Whitefield the great preacher of the eighteenth century, and in the opening chapter, there is a record of him fasting for an extreme length of time. He would fast for two or three days out of the week, and work constantly, visiting with and ministering to people. As a result he became very ill and was sick for seven weeks. It coincided well with a day of fasting that my church did this past Sunday meant to drive us to pray for our missionaries. My question is is that okay. Is it okay for us to fast to the point where our bodies become ill and we cannot function properly? Whitefield said that he never regretted the time of fasting, and that the seven weeks he was ill, were a great minister to his soul. So it seems he did not suffer from it, and he had a very successful ministry following it. But our bodies are the temple and we are to take care of them. So wouldn't this be the same type of sin as smoking or drinking alcohol? The most common argument against those things is that it hurts your body and God has told us to take care of our bodies because they are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So the same argument could be made against Whitefield for fasting excessively so that his body was harmed, and of course the argument works the other way as well, that eating too much is a sin because it causes harm to your body. I guess the real lesson in this is to do all things including, and perhaps especially our eating to glory of our great God who has saved us from our sin through sending His only Son to live and die paying the penalty for all our sin and shame, enabling us, "to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, beaing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." - Colossians 1:10.

Lift High The Cross

2009-05-28T11:36:00.004-04:00

I was reading through my hymnal, as is a pretty regular custom, and I stumbled upon a hymn I had never sung, or even seen before entitled, Lift High the Cross. I figured, that this must be a pretty good song based solely on the title, so I began reading the text and I was not disappointed by it. It was a very good hymn, with good declarations of what happened on the cross, what Christ accomplished, and then the anthem like chorus which tells us to lift high the cross. I wrote a tune for it, and I like quite a bit; I write lots of songs and tunes, but most of them I just think are okay, and of little significance, but this one I really do like, and I hope to find an outlet to use this song in some capacity. So here's the hymn as I have arranged it, the hymnal had the chorus first, but I changed that, other than that, the hymn is exactly as it is written.

Come, Christians, follow where our Savior trod, Our

King victorious, Christ, the Son of God.

Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim,

till all the world adore His sacred name.

O Lord, once lifted on this glorious tree, As

Thou hast promised, draw men unto Thee.

For Thy blest cross which doth, for all atone, Creation's

praises raise before Thy throne.

So shall our song of triumph ever be: Praise

to the Crucified for victory.

Contentment

2009-05-22T23:44:00.005-04:00

I have been reading a book on contentment, and it has been very good for my soul. It is a Puritan Paperback titled The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. At times it is a little too repetitive I think, but I think that is because the book was originally a sermon series, so Jeremiah Burroughs repeats himself for effect, and for clarity. Other than that small complaint, this book has been a wonderful treasury of helpful insight as to what real contentment is, why it is so vital, and how to attain it. I think I have come across the most compelling arguments for why I, and I believe most people are not content. The first argument Burroughs makes is that we need to be content because of our standing with God. By this he means that we are sons of the Most High God, heirs of all He owns, namely everything. By nature of our sonship with God, we should not have to worry or be anxious for anything because our Father is the maker of Heaven and earth, and He wants to bestow on us riches of mercy and grace. The second argument he makes is that we are the bride of Christ. With a husband like Christ, how could we be in want of anything. He has provided us with all that we need, namely, pardon of all our transgressions, freedom from guilt and shame because of those past transgressions, and the power to live as a new creation of God. Our husband does not ever look at us with disgust, but he always embraces us as his beloved bride, He never loses his wonder of his bride, though she often loses her luster, and though she often loses her wonder of her bridegroom. Plain and simply we forget what our estate is, that we were once helpless and without any worth, and God in his rich mercy towards us, has called us sons and daughters, and we are the bride of Christ, the perfect husband, so how can we not be content.

Am I a Soldier of the Cross

2009-04-22T00:34:00.004-04:00

This is a hymn I have been thinking about lately, thought I would post it. This is an Isaac Watts text which I have altered slightly to make more contemporary; the refrain is actually the fourth verse of the song, but I made it a chorus, which I have designated with italics. Enjoy!

Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb

And should I fear to, own his cause, or blush to speak his name.

Oh no I must, I must fight if I would reign,

Oh no I must, I must bear the toil and the pain,

Because you, bore my shame.

Must I be carried to the skies, on flowery beds of ease

While other fought to win the prize, and sailed through bloody seas.

Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace, to help me on to God?

Wedding Dress

2009-03-12T01:34:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about something, kind of a possible analogy or thought about the Christian life. It is certainly not my own creation, it has been inspired by a few sources, first and foremost the Bible, and the faithfulness of good preachers of the Bible, and also of one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Derek Webb.

The imagery of marriage and how it mirrors the relationship between Jesus Christ and the church, is one of my favorite images in all of scripture. I find it so helpful to think about Christ as the lover, and Him wooing me to Himself, even though I am so easily satisfied by other lovers which can never satisfy. What a humbling thought, that He would be so loving, so steadfast and patient with us, to do what He has done for us.

With that in view I have been thinking about sanctification, and whether the picture can be carried out further. This idea was sparked by a Derek Webb song, in which he says, "I'll do whatever it takes to squeeze us into this wedding gown." And there is another, more famous song by him called Wedding Dress where he follows the same thought. This made me think that perhaps our sanctification, our progressive growth in Christ, is like getting into our wedding dress and getting ready for our wedding day.

You think about all the work and preparation that goes into a bride getting ready for her wedding: her hair, makeup, shoes, and of course the all important dress. The time and energy they put forth into doing so is to get themselves ready for their groom to look their best for him when she walks down the aisle to marry him. Is that our Christian life? Are we in the process of putting on our wedding dress to meet our bridegroom? Are we trying to look our best for Him?

If so, then the question is, what does the dress look like? Well I think the wedding dress is Christ himself. It is putting on His righteousness, embracing the sacrifice He made on our behalf, and being like Him. And so our sanctification is like us taking off our self-righteous attempts at being holy and blameless, and then putting on the righteousness of God.

Colossians three is where I have really been inspired with this notion. There Paul says that we need to put to death, to take off our old selves, and to put on love and compassionate hearts, or the righteousness of Christ. because we know that we cannot possibly be loving perfectly, Christ has to do that for us, we must trust in the work that Christ has already accomplished for us. We have to take off, and slim down from our sinful, deceitful selves, to fit into our wedding dress.

Now the best part is that Christ is our groom, dress, and you know what, he takes our old clothes off of us, and he slims us down to fit into the dress. So He has done all the work for us. What a gift!

I don't know how much sense this will make to others, and I am still thinking through all of the implications this can have, but it has been very rewarding to think about. And of course, I don't for one moment think that it is a perfect analogy and without flaw, because we all know there is no such thing when considering spiritual matters. That is why God gives us som many wonderful pictures of Himself and our relationship to Him, so that we can grasp Him, and our standing with Him more fully. I hope this has been beneficial, I know it has been for me, and let me know what you think.

Take joy in your kids

2009-02-23T15:41:00.004-05:00

This post will be much more personal than any other post before, because it is about my niece, Alyssa. Anyone who knows me knows how close we are, in fact I would not say that we have a niece/uncle relationship, we function more like brother and sister because of me being fourteen when she was born and her living with us, and all that stuff, we are much closer than most nieces and uncles are. All that is to say that I miss her a lot, and it doesn't help me handle things when I know she misses me too, and this semester more than any other has had a hard time with me being away. She doesn't have a dad, so I have always felt that me and my dad have tag-teamed that role in some ways; obviously he more than me because well I am young and stupid, and he is well, old and wise, no offense on the old thing dad. I have said to some people that if my dad wasn't there, i don't think I would have left for school, I would have gone to school close to home to be with her, because she needs a man to love her and respect her and to spend time with her, so thank goodness my dad is there to do that. But I still feel like, when i leave I am abandoning her, though I am not at all. My heart is still with her, and I still love just the same, but I cannot be there for her and play with her, and that hurts a lot. For example, I told her weeks, maybe even a month or so ago, I would take her to see the Jonas Brothers movie which will be in theaters this Friday, but my mom told me that it is only in theaters for a week, and that my dad was going to take her. When my dad asked her if she wanted to go to the movie with him, she said, no, that she was going to go with me. When my mom told me that my heart sank. Not only did she remember, but she was counting on me taking her to that movie, but now I was not going to be able to. She will still see that movie and have a great time with her papaw, but she will not have a great time with her uncle who told her he would take her, and that makes me sad. I want to say something to you parents, and uncles and aunts, or any of you have the opportunity to love on kids; do not take it for granted, and take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with them because they may come a time when you can't, and that will be sad. I know I am not a parent, and one day I will an altogether different feeling when I have my own kids, but for now, Alyssa is the closest thing to a child of my own as I have, and not being there with her and for is heart-wrenching. So take joy in your children, don't be too busy, or gone too much, take time to love them, spend time with them, and teach them, because if you don't, who will?

Revision

2009-02-18T23:08:00.002-05:00

After my most recent post, I was notified that my last sentence was not well thought out, or mis-informed. My pastor, Kurt Strassner emailed me and said that I was overstating music's importance and place in the church. And interestingly he said that this can be one of the reasons that musicians are put into a music box, because they over-emphasize the role of music. I take this to heart and wanted to respond, and clarify my last sentence. I misspoke when I said that the way people think about God is formed more by the songs they sing. What I meant to say was that when people leave a worship service, they will probably be singing one of the songs you sang that morning, rather than recounting the points of the sermon. This not trying to say that the songs are more important than the sermon, because the sermon is coming straight from the Word of God, and that is what people are saved by according to Romans 10, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." I would not want to downplay that for a second, all I meant was when people leave on Sunday, they will be humming the tune and singing the songs you sang, which means that must be important. We must give thought to what songs we choose, that they are teaching our people the truth of the Bible, not encouraging weak theology with no substance, because people's theology is affected by their singing, not exclusively, and not primarily, but it does play a role, and we must be mindful. As my pastor told me, I am not saying any of this to start a pastor vs worship leader war. It is time for pastors and worship leaders to get on the same page about this, and for you pastors who read this, please put me in check when I need to be, we need to unite our thoughts on these issues, so that we can most effectively serve our people.

Stuck in a music box

2009-02-16T23:52:00.004-05:00

I've doing a lot of thinking for a long time about what I am called to do. I have going to school for the pat two and a half years to be a music minister, but have discovered a couple of things about myself in those two and a half years. One is that while I do enjoy music immensely, I don not have, what some people like to call natural talent when it comes to music. I work very hard at being a decent guitar player, but I do not have a natural ability to be the next Phil Keaggy or anything. The second thing I discovered actually before I came to school, is that I have a real desire to invest in people's lives and really minister to people's souls. I have known for a long time that these things are supposed to go hand in hand. Meaning that if you are a minister of music you are a minister first and not a musician first. I understand, and I think that many people would say that to be true, but how many churches put that into practice? I see so many times in local churches that congregations, and more importantly pastors still place the minister of music in a music box and don't let them out. They are considered the music guy, and the extent of their responsibilities, they are not expected to actually be ministers. I find this disappointing and in fact frightening. I was nervous about being one of those kind of music ministers. Not by choice but by assignment. I mean, I as a music minister understand that I am not the man in charge of the church, I am expected to act and behave in accordance with what he and the other elders would want and expect. I can't break the mold and go against what they want to me to be. I don't want to be stuck in a music box that I can't get out of, because my passion for God's word and theology and investing in people, teaching them the truth is too strong. So am I saying that I want to be a pastor and not a music minister, well no, because I still love music and think that I can and will be used in that area. What I'm really saying is that I want to, and not just me, but I think my generation needs to redefine what a music minister is identified with, not just music, but with ministry, people and passionate pursuit of God's Word. I want to be marked for an ability to proclaim God's Word and teach people the faith, not just arranging a set-list on Sundays and running rehearsals through the week. I want to force churches and pastors to rethink why they hire a music minister, and to be urposeful about making them part of the pastoral staff and eldership of the church, because the songs we teach the people will shape the way the think about God much more, and for much longer than any sermon they will ever hear.

The Inconsistency Of Our Love

2009-01-28T15:51:00.004-05:00

This is yet another hymn text, and I think that if you read this blog with any regularity, you will find this to be a common practice for me. I love hymns and hymn-writers and this hymn happens to be written by my all-time favorite hymn-writer, Isaac Watts. He was an English pastor in the seventeen hundreds, who wrote hymns for his church each week. He wrote this one and entitled it, "Backslidings and returns; or, The inconsistency of our love." I have been very moved by this wonderful text and hope it me move some of you as well.

Why is my heart so far from Thee,

My God my chief delight?

Why are my thoughts no more by day,

With Thee no more by night?

Why should my foolish passions rove?

Where can such sweetness be

As I have tasted in Thy love,

As I have found in Thee.

When my forgetful soul renews

The savour of Thy grace,

My heart presumes I cannot lose

The relish all my days.

But ere one fleeting hour is passed

The flatt'ring world employs,

Some sensual bait to seize my taste

And to pollute my joys.

Trifles of nature or of art,

With fair, deceitful charms,

Intrude into my thoughtless heart,

And thrust me from Thy arms.

Then I repent and vex my soul,

That I should leave Thee so;

Where will those wild affections roll,

That let a Saviour go?

Sins promised joys are turn'd to pain,

And I am drown'd in grief;

But my dear Lord returns again,

He flies to my relief.

Seizing my soul with sweet surprise,

He draws with loving bands;

Divine compassion in His eyes,

And pardon in His hands.

Wretch that i am to wander thus

In chase of false delights!

Let me be fastened to Thy cross,

Rather than lose Thy sight.

Make haste, my days, to reach the goal,

And bring my heart to rest

on the dear centre of my soul,

My God, my Saviour's breast.

Hail Sovereign Love

2009-01-27T00:53:00.004-05:00

I heard this hymn a few months ago, not sung, but quoted by one of my professors at the start of class. He choked up a bit as he quoted this lovely hymn, and as i have examined it a little further. This is a great hymn, it communicates the gospel in such a beautiful way; please read it and enjoy!

Hail Sovereign love that first began,

The scheme to rescue fallen man;

Hail matchless free eternal grace,

That gave my soul a hiding place.

Against the God who rules the sky,

I fought with hand uplifted high,

Despised the mention of His grace,

Too proud to seek a hiding place.

Enwrapped in thick Egyptian night,

And fond of darkness more than light,

Madly I ran the sinful race,

Secure without a hiding place.

But thus th' eternal counsel ran,

"Almighty Love, arrest that man!"

I felt the arrows of distress,

And found I had no hiding place.

Indignant justice stood in view,

To Sinai's fiery mount I flew,

But justice cried with frowning face,

"This mountain is no hiding place."

Ere long a heavenly voice I heard,

And Mercy's angel form appeared.

Who led me on with gentle pace,

To Jesus Christ, my hiding place.

Should storms of sevenfold vengeance roll,

And shake this earth from pole to pole;

No flaming bolt could daunt my face,

For Jesus is my hiding place.

On Him almighty vengeance fell,

That must have sunk a world to hell;

He bore it for a chosen race,

And thus became their hiding place.

A few more rolling suns at most,

Shall land me safe on heaven's coast.

There I shall sing the song of grace,

To Jesus Christ, my hiding place!

Justification and our Union with Christ

2009-01-09T00:54:00.006-05:00

Our justification, and our union with Christ, are two of the most important truths of the most important truths of the Christian faith; but as I have been reading the past couple of days, I have noticed some similarities in these two ideas, and I began to wonder, if they are not one in the same. In other words, is justification synonymous with union with Christ, or is there more of a cause and effect relationship between the two. First let me flesh out what these things are so that the answer can be seen.

First of all, justification: the simple way to define it is: we are made just as right as Jesus in the sight of God. That is a small statement with huge implications of meaning. What that means is, we are sinners, as Ephesians 2:1 says, we are dead; in theological terms we are totally depraved. Just as a side note here, I thought this was an interesting thought on total depravity, which comes from a book by Jerry Bridges called, The Discipline of Grace.(That book was also the breeding ground for this post.) He said that total depravity does mean that we are as wicked as we can be, rather that sin has affected our entire being, right down to our core.

Anyways, we are dead in our sins, and we now stand eternally guilty before a holy and righteous God. He is just, and so he cannot let sin go unpunished, and so since we are guilty He must punish us by sentencing us to hell. But God, two of the most encouraging and hope-filled words in all of the Bible, has shown compassion on us, and He, as the second person of the Trinity has come and paid the price for our sins. So he has justified us, we are no longer guilty, He died in our place, we have received all of his blessings and he took on our shame and sin. And is a one time, all-inclusive transaction.

The most helpful analogy of this is about a bank account. Lets say that I am trillions of dollars in debt, which isn't too far from the truth. Then one day I meet this rich man and he says, "I will pay your trillions of dollars in debt so that you owe nothing." Great news right! How gracious of this man to do such an act for me. But then he says, "And on top of that, I'm going to give an unlimited credit line." Wow! That is way above and beyond the call of duty, and that is exactly what God did for us on the cross and through His resurrection.

Now, union with Christ I think is a little trickier to explain. It is tricky because when you describe it sounds like justification. It happens in a moment in time, when we are unified with Christ, we are for all time. But I think it becomes clear that these two things are not the same as we see that we can divide our union with Christ into two aspects; first the representative, or legal union. simply, this means that through Adam, our first representative, we have all sinned, and now are under God's wrath. But in Christ, our new representative, we have been justified. See, perhaps the difference between the two is not quite so clear yet.

I think that these two events in the Christian life are so closely related that it is hard to tell them apart; but I think the relationship between them is closer to cause and effect, rather than synonyms. The two events are no the same, but they happen so close to one another, in fact they happen practically simultaneously, so they can be confused for one another. But I think our union with Christ is there to remind us of our justification. He has justified us, but he has not continued on His way and left us to fend for ourselves; no He is our representative to Father, now pleading our case before His throne. Through our justification we have died to sin, and through our union with Christ we are putting our sin to death.

That is where the second aspect of our union with Christ comes into play. It is the spiritual union; this refers to Christ indwelling us. Bridges relates it to John 15:1-5 where Jesus gives us the analogy of the vine and the branches. This means, that we have been crucified with Christ, and now we no longer live, Christ now lives within us, and we live in righteousness by His power.

All of this is me thinking out loud, and I may very well be wrong about this. I think I know what these things mean, but how they relate to one another is another story. Perhaps this just asking the age-old what came first, the chicken or the egg, and none of this matters, but it did give me a chance to think more about my justification and my union with my savior Jesus Christ.

Money

2009-01-04T17:58:00.002-05:00

The subject of money, and wealth has always been a thought provoking issue for me, but it has been an issue have put on the backburner of my mind of late. But this morning, Sunday School and the sermon were on money. It rekindled the spark on my burner, so I want to consider it again.

I often think of people who have money, as being people who are not following God as they should because they have too much. After all, Jesus said it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. But how is a poor man any more holy or godly, if they spend all of their time worrying how they will live? Jesus also said, be anxious for nothing. Besides all of that, when Jesus spoke about money, he was never talking about money, there was a deeper issue in view; he was addressing the heart.

Had the rich young ruler, when Jesus told him to go sell all of his possessions, gone and done it, it wouldn't have mattered unless, his heart was right. Unless he went out and cheerfully gave his wealth away out of love and devotion to Jesus, he would just been a poor man without Christ.

If a rich man loves his stuff more than God, he is committing sin; but at the same time if a poor man hopes and wishes for wealth, more than trusting in God, then he is committing sin. Wealth is not an issue only for the wealthy, nor is it only for the poor, but everyone at sometime gets pulled into this trap.

This is a hairy issue, because on top of this pride can come into play on either side of the spectrum; a rich man can take pride in his possessions, and a poor man can take pride in his humility. i find it quite funny, in an ironic and sad sort of way, that pride possesses us all in regards to money, and many other aspects of life, no matter what our status.

The question i must ask myself is, to I hold too dear my possessions, such as my computer or my guitar? Do I look down my nose at people who have more than me and say that they aren't holy because of their wealth? Or do I do that to people who have less than me? Sadly, I am guilty of all three, but through my perseverance in the grace of Christ, he will rid me of my pride and sin, and restore to me the joy of my salvation.

Well I think my fire is burned out for the time being. Although this is not all encompassing on this topic, it was what was on my mind and heart.

Introduction

2009-01-01T00:21:00.002-05:00

I just decided to start a blog, and I'm not entirely sure why. i guess I felt out of the loop, since everyone and there mom seems to have one these days. Regardless, the first post is not a new post, for those of you who have read my notes on my Facebook page, but it is still what I am thinking through, and probably will be as long as I live. But I wanted to post this just to say, feel free to read and comment on anything on this blog, I mean that is what it's for. I want to be thoughtful about topics of faith, music, culture, and anything else that I deem worthy of writing about. I hope it will be helpful and though-provoking to anyone who reads this blog.

This cold, This stupid heart

2009-01-01T00:16:00.001-05:00

I've been doing some thinking about a lot of things lately, but one of the main things I've been thinking about is my heart. From reading the Canterbury Tales, and reading really good hymns by people like Isaac Watts (the handsome stud who is in my profile picture) and Anne Steele. At one time I would have ardently professed Watts as my all time favorite hymn writer of all time, but in the last several months I have discovered the hymnody of Miss Anne Steele, and now the race for greatest hymn writer is much closer.

She writes such beautiful poems about the condition of the human heart, I am just moved to brokenness. She was single her whole life intentionally, which allowed her to be introspective, and I think see the heart in a light that none of us can. Plus she then had the poetic skill to communicate that observation in the most beautiful way. My heart is wicked and it desires only wickedness. It was because of my wretched heart that Christ had to come and lay His life down. When I do things that aren't right it isn't because I went against my nature and made a mistake; no, it's because I wanted to do it, I like to sin, and my heart willingly chose to do evil, because that is all it is capable of choosing. My heart is so deceitful, and it wants to foster the growth of bad habits and sinful desires.

Now before I become manic depressive, like another great hymn-writer William Cowper, and attempt suicide for lack of belief in the grace of a loving savior, I must assure myself, and you who are still reading this babble, that my heart is not doomed to this end. Jesus Christ has come, lived, and died on the behalf of my heart, and is working on redeeming my heart. Cleaning out the black gook that has corroded my heart into the mess that it is, and as Cowper, says, losing the guilty stains of my heart. He has plunged int he flood of His blood, the only cleaning solution strong enough to get the grime off of my heart. Read this hymn by Anne Steele and be encouraged.

Stretched on the cross, the Savior dies,
Hark! His expiring groans arise;
See, how the sacred crimson tide
Flows from His hands, His feet, His side.

To suffer in the traitor’s place,
To die for man—surprising grace!
Yet pass rebellious angels by—
O why for man, dear Savior, why?

And didst Thou bleed? for sinners bleed?
And could the sun behold the deed?
No! he withdrew his sickening ray,
And darkness veiled the mourning day.

Can I survey this scene of woe,
Where mingling grief and wonder flow,
And yet my heart unmoved remain,
Insensible to love or pain?

Come, dearest Lord, Thy grace impart,
To warm this cold, this stupid heart,
Till all its powers and passions move,
In melting grief, and ardent love.