Creation Sings the Father’s Song

This song was a suggested video supplement yesterday on the devotional blog Daily Encouragement (always listed in the sidebar at right.)   The songwriters Keith and Kristen Getty are best known for the song “In Christ Alone,”   though this song is by another writer.  This particular video adaptation is quite well done.

He’s on the throne with His mighty power exalted.
And within His hand, great joy He holds.
Don’t despair, be not afraid, intercession has been made.
And today, I’m glad to say, He’s on the throne.

In the midst of pain and suffering,
Many friends had gathered ’round.
All were trying to bring comfort, but no comfort could be found.
Even some began to murmur, Job, You’ve suffered for so long.
Yet He said, “I’m gonna trust Him, He’s sitting on the throne”.

Are You captive to a prison of temptation and defeat?
You have never tasted victory, over your spirit sorrow sweeps.
Like Isaiah in the throne room, raise your head you’re not alone.
For He’s high and lifted up, and He’s sitting on the throne.

“He’s On The Throne” Hill, Tim © 1983 Wind In Willow Publishing (BMI) (Admin. by Integrated Copyright Group, Inc.)

It’s How You Live

I keep coming back to a phrase that I once heard more frequently than I do today:

Religion = Doctrine + Ethics

You can believe all sorts of things to be positionally true, positionally right or even positionally beautiful; but until the positional becomes practical in your comings and goings, it really doesn’t mean a thing.

No wonder James said that faith without works is meaningless.   That verse got sidetracked into a discussion about salvation, but it’s a verse about faith having meaning for your everyday life.

We aren’t saved by what we do, but we possible are not saved if that salvation has not resulted in action.

This wasn’t a problem for the early church, who understood salvation in terms of a “turning.”

For some it’s an “about face,” but for others, it just means increasing focus and devotion to Christ that results in a change in the way we live.

Andrew Murray on Psalm 51

In our family prayer time, we’ve started reading Confession and Forgiveness which Andrew Murray wrote in 1896.   He takes 33 chapters to go through Psalm 51 phrase-by-phrase.

If you’re not familiar with this Psalm, take a moment to read it now…

… This is from the second chapter:

The reason then why I would have you learn to understand and take this psalm to your heart is that I think its lessons are so necessary and, indeed, indispensable.  We are taught in our [Heidelberg] Catechism that there are three elements in the spiritual life that we must know if we would live and die as saved  souls.   These three elements are:

• how great our sin and misery are
• how we can be delivered from them, and
• how we should live in thankfulness to God for this deliverance.

And nowhere do we find these great lessons concerning mercy, deliverance, and thankfulness more clearly explained than in this psalm…

The Discontented Self

Today’s post is lifted from the blog Mockingbird, which, as you’ll read, excerpted it from somewhere else…

A few more priceless quotes from the book-length interview Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, pg. 256-57, this time touching on the black hole of ambition, inwardly-speaking, in regards to the law:

The great lie of the [ocean-liner] cruise is that enough pleasure and enough pampering will quiet this discontented part of you. When in fact, all it does is up the requirement… I can remember being twenty-four years old and having my, you know, smiling mug in The New York Times Book Review, and it feeling really good for exactly like ten seconds.

And then you’re hungry for more. So that, clearly, I mean if you’re not stupid, you figure out that the real problem is the discontented self. That all this stuff that you think will work for a second, but then all it does is set up a hunger for more and better.

And… that general pattern and syndrome seems to me to get repeated, at least in our culture, for our kind of plush middle-class part of the culture, over and over and over again in a million different arenas. And that we don’t seem to get it. We do not seem to get it…

It may be that those ambitions are what get you to do the work, to get the exposure, to realize that the original ambitions were misguided. Right? So that it’s a weird paradoxical link. If you didn’t have the ambitions, you’d never find out that they were sort of deluded.

Mark 8:36-37 (NLT) And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Great Are You

I first heard this song at a worship service in the Chicago area a couple of years ago, but didn’t realize until tonight it’s by the band Downhere.  Close your eyes — the video image doesn’t change — and think about the fact that He’s God and we’re not.  Times a billion.

The chorus (especially) is truly a refreshing lyric.

How I love Your works
My God, My King
How I love Your works
My God, My King

Your Name rings on the plains
Like a not so distant train
And Love and history are near
In the flowers that you make
The flowers that you make

Because I’ll never hold the picture of the whole horizon in my view
Because I’ll never rip the night in two
It makes me wonder
Who am I, Who am I, Who am I
And great are you

How I love Your Word
My God, My King
How I love Your Word
My God, My King

Your love cuts through
these pages to my heart
As you grieve our sins,
right from the start
And sacrifice and paradise are in
The plans that you made, The
plans that you made

Because I’ll never hold the picture of the whole horizon in my view
Because I’ll never rip the night in two
It makes me wonder
Who am I, Who am I, Who am I
And great are you

On Asking God to “Disturb” Us

This was posted earlier this month at Jay Cookingham’s blog Soulfari:

Disturb Us, Lord – 1577 – A Prayer by Francis Drake

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves
When our dreams have come true
Because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the Waters of Life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery:
Where losing sight of land
We shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push us in the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Post for Hymn Lovers

In the Christian blogosphere, modern worship rules.   But if you grew up in church in the hymn era, and you had extra time on your hands, you probably know that each of the hymn tunes has a name.

I don’t know of a tune that continues to inspire and continues to remain somewhat ‘current’ as the tune known as Hyfrydol.     Its meter is such that it can be used with so many different hymns.   It’s a tune that has a strong identification with Christians, and sung with passion (sung that is, not choired) there’s nothing like it.

But this is where YouTube is less than helpful.   I would like to have included a version of this sung by a powerful choir and using the lyrics to “Our Great Savior” aka “Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners;” or “I Will Sing of My Redeemer;” but alas, we’ll have to make do with the Crystal Cathedral Choir using the lyrics for “Love Divine, All Love’s Excelling.”  (But I can re-edit the video insert if anyone has a better link.)

Regardless of who is singing, this is one of those moments where a unique tune melody blends with inspiring lyrics.

Friendship Accountability

There’s something to be said for the times you run into “people who knew you when;” those people with whom you shared memorable times in the distant past who suddenly collide with the present.

While it’s great to catch up with old friends, it can also be a mirror by which you see yourself in their comments and reactions to the reconnection.

It’s a kind of accountability moment; only you’re not being held accountable for anything you did in the preceding hours, days or months; but rather you’re being held up to the light of where you’ve come in the preceding years or decades.

While you’ve moved on and have new acquaintances and new friendships, it’s those “people who knew you when” who really have the best stories to tell, and can provide one of the “full length” mirrors of where you’ve come from.

Of course, if both of you were walking with God then and continue this spiritual journey today, the friendship accountability is also a form of spiritual accountability, taking a long view of where you’re at today.

Conditional Promises

If I’m not getting the desires of my heart,

Maybe I’m not delighting myself in the Lord

If I’m not finding my paths being made straight,

Maybe I’m not trusting in the Lord with all my heart.

If I’m not finding God is adding good things to my life,

Maybe I’m not seeking first His Kingdom.

If it doesn’t seem like God is working in all things for His glory,

Maybe I’m not loving God or trying to live according to His purpose.

If it doesn’t feel like God is hearing from heaven, healing the land and forgiving sin,

Maybe it’s because as His people, we’re not humbling ourselves, seeking his face and turning from our wicked ways.

If it doesn’t seem like God is lifting me up,

Maybe I’m not humbling myself in His sight.

Apostleship and “Becoming the ‘Being’ in the ‘Doing’”

I published this on my personal blog, Thinking Out Loud, this morning, but decided later that it also belonged here.

No matter what the people who print calendars tell you, the school year cycle determines when the start of the “new year” is in most churches.

Nothing lasting happens in your local church without (a) vision, (b) prayer and (c) planning. Vision begins with people who are ‘initiators’ that is, people who feel God is sending them into the middle of a situation or area to give birth to something that will either (a) serve those with needs, or (b) proclaim Christ; to provide opportunities to be salt and light at particular place and time or for their particular generation.

At a very low point in my life about ten years ago I asked God, “If my health improves and I am able to take on something, what do You want me to do for Your kingdom?”

The answer came in the middle of a worship service as clear as what you’re reading right now: “You need to be doing more.”

More? More what?

I wasn’t sure.

Some day, I’ll finish that story on this blog. It wasn’t the answer I expected. I was looking for a fresh vision. Instead, I was led to expand on a vision already in progress.

Let me say here that there is nothing you can “do” for God. He is concerned with what you can “be” for Him. But I know a lot of people are working on that “being” to the extent that nothing happens about “doing.” Sometimes by “doing” God shapes our “being.” With the exception of a handful of people who have some major stuff they need to work out, you can’t wait until you are perfect. That day will just keep slipping further and further into the future.

As the fall season approaches in your local church (or some local parachurch organization) you have a choice: You can maintain the status quo in your life, or you can choose to be a little apostolic; you can be a person who makes things happens.

What will your role be as another season of ministry commences in a few weeks?

You need to be doing more.

Divine Appointments

Although I think I had previously crossed paths with David Fisher in some other context, I became more aware of him during the time he was the chaplain to The Toronto Blue Jays, as in Major League Baseball.     We’ve had many great encounters since, and this is from Dave’s blog Pilgrim Scribblings.

Although I don’t frequent Facebook as often as I used to, I still check in from time to time and leave an update regarding my “status”.  The following “status” was posted yesterday:

“David Fisher found a “quiet” spot in a secluded (?) place to read a book this morning. Friends from Quebec came long. We chatted. Then a childhood friend and his wife just “happened” to be walking past. They joined in the conversation. Another couple I’ve known for 50 years approached. How many pages did I read? None! But I cherished the conversation!”

Often in our attempts to “get away” from people in our quest for solitude we find ourselves in the presence of those who God has “sent” to encourage us and lift our spirits during a difficult time.  That was the case yesterday.  I just wanted to be alone for an hour or two with a good book, never dreaming that I would be “found” by three Christian couples whom the Lord would use to bless me.  Each one spoke of times in the past when I had encouraged them or ministered to them in a significant way.

The scriptures remind us that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” (Psalm 37:23) When we aren’t feeling very “good” ourselves He will direct the steps of other “good” people to intersect with ours.

Thank you Lord for Lloyd and Pamela, Gord and Lynda and Gord and Marg.  You all quietly refreshed my spirit in my search for “quietness”.

In the days ahead, be open to the possibility of God sending someone to refresh your spirit.  Better yet, ask Him to do so!

This is a Holy Moment

First heard this song at James MacDonald’s church in Elgin, Illinois.  You can just read these lyrics as a call to worship at your next service.   The writer is Matt Redman.   If this song is new to you (or even it isn’t) allow this to be your Holy Moment.

As we come today
We remind ourselves of what we do
That these songs are not just songs
But signs of love for You
This is a holy moment now
Something of heaven touches earth
Voices of angels all resound
We join their song

Come come come let us worship God
With our hands held high
And our hearts bowed down
We will run run run
Through Your gates O God
With a shout of love

Lord with confidence
We come before Your throne of grace
Not that we deserve to come
But You have paid the way
You are the holy King of all
Heaven and earth are in Your hands
All of the angels sing Your song
We join them now

Come come come let us worship God
With our hands held high
And our hearts bowed down
We will run run run
Through Your gates O God
With a shout of love

Christianity 201

Christianity 101:

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. II Peter 3:18 NIV.

Two growth areas:

• Grow in grace
• Grow in knowledge

Christianity 201

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Col 1 9-12 NIV

Nine growth areas:

• Grow in knowledge of God’s will
• Grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding
• Live a worthy life
• Please God in every way
• Bear fruit
• Grow in knowledge of God
• Be strengthened with power
• Reflect great endurance and patience and joy
• Be thankful

Nine Out of Ten Commandments Ain’t Bad

Today’s post was lifted from 300 Words a Day by Jon Swanson.

The disposable one

There are, as “everyone” knows, ten commandments. Some of us even remember them, or some of them.

Don’t kill. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal.

They are pretty clear. We try to figure out the edges, of course (“I’m just borrowing it. I was planning to pay it back”) but we have a sense of what they mean and some stirrings of “That’s not right.” Taking what belongs to someone else, whether life, relationship, or stuff, isn’t fair somehow.

Don’t lie about your neighbor. Don’t spend your time wanting what your neighbor has.

They make sense, you know? I mean, how do you build community if you can’t trust the person next to you? If I don’t know that you are going to tell the truth about me, whether in court (“Your honor, I will swear on a stack of Bibles, once they are written, that my neighbor Mo wasn’t home on the night in question”) or in conversation (“Do you know what goes on in that house?”) then how can we build the relationship fabric necessary for supporting anything. And if I am constantly staring at your stuff, at your spouse, at your everything, how am I going to know that you care about me for me, not for what it gets you?

Don’t have other gods. Don’t make idols. Don’t drag God in as support for your stuff.

Though we often treat the “God’s name in vain” as swearing, it’s as much about speaking on his behalf without his support. And if God is going to be God, it makes sense to not dilute that attention.

Honor your parents.

For some people this is hard. Some parents are stupid. But I do want to be honorable.

But the sabbath? A day completely off? Isn’t that a bit too much?

Saving the Best Wine

I’ve blogrolled and linked several times to Dana at the blog Upwrite many times at Thinking out Loud, but this July 6th post is her first visit to Christianity201.   I really like what she begins to draw out of this familiar passage; you can really take this idea and run with it:

Choice Wine First

I am about to “misinterpret” this passage. But I am doing it on purpose (which makes it okay, ha).

Actually, maybe now would be a good time to explain my approach to the Bible. I believe in the rigorous study of the Scriptures. I think Scripture should be contextualized and understood with attention to the culture and customs of that day, the original audience and purpose of the text, and with attention to the original languages whenever possible. Good lexicons, commentaries, and dictionaries are indispensable for a diligent student of the Word. This type of approach is intellectual in focus and profitable in numerous ways.

However…I think there are other ways of interacting with the Word too.  It is alive. So it moves. And it speaks. In this case, the Word functions to create a space for God to speak to our hearts.  And so it was this morning.

John Chapter 2. I love this story for many reasons. Jesus trying to keep low-key. Jesus keeping the party goin!  Jesus “saving face” for people. There is so much to love about this whole thing. But it was the master of the banquet who caught my attention this morning. He pulls the bridegroom aside and says (and I parapahrase), “Hey man, normally people serve up the good stuff first, and then when everyone’s drunk, they bring out the cheap stuff. But you…you saved your best stuff for last.”  Perplexing and impressive.

You will run out of whatever it is that has kept you going. And when you do, Jesus will supply. And what he supplies will be better than everything you had up until then. The world will offer you its choice wine first, but it will not be enough. Jesus will save the best for last.