Book Iv, Chap 9

That is why He warned people to "count the cost" before becoming Christians. "Make no mistake," He says, "if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect-until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less."

He has found me

All my life long, I had thirsted
For a drink from some cool spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.

Feeding on the filth around me,
Till my strength was almost gone,
Longed my soul for something better,
Only still to hunger on.

Hallelujah! He has found me
The One my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies all my long - ings
Through His blood I now am saved.

Poor I was, and sought for riches,
Something that would satisfy,
But the dust I gathered round me
Only mocked my soul's sad cry.

Hallelujah! He has found me
The One my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies all my long - ings
Through His blood I now am saved.

Well of water, ever springing,
Bread of life so rich and free,
Untold wealth that never faileth,
My Redeemer is to me.

Hallelujah! He has found me
The One my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies all my long - ings
Through His blood I now am saved.


Original words by Cla­ra T. Will­iams
Music by Ralph E. Hud­son 1875
(i can't find who did the recent version change)
YouTube

See what a morning

See what a morning gloriously bright
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem
Folded the grave-clothes tomb filled with light
As the angels announce Christ is risen

See God's salvation plan
Wrought in love borne in pain
paid in sacrifice
Fullfilled in Christ the Man
For He lives Christ is risen from the dead

See Mary weeping "Where is He laid?"
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb
Hears a voice speaking calling her name
It's the Master the Lord raised to life again
The voice that spans the years
Speaking life stirring hope bringing peace to us
Will sound till He appears
For He lives Christ is risen from the dead

See God's salvation plan
Wrought in love borne in pain
paid in sacrifice
Fullfilled in Christ the Man
For He lives Christ is risen from the dead

One with the Father Ancient of Days
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty
Honour and blessing glory and praise
To the King crowned with power and authority
And we are raised with Him
Death is dead love has won Christ has conquered
And we shall reign with Him
For He lives Christ is risen from the dead

Stuart Townend

God has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.

Dandelions

In a field of yellow flowers,
underneath the sun,
bluest eyes that spark with lightning,
boy with shoes undone.
He is young, so full of hope,
reveling in tiny dreams,
filling up, his arms with flowers,
right for giving any queen.

Running to her beaming bright,
while cradling his prize.
A flickering of yellow light,
within his mother's eyes.
She holds them to her heart,
keeping them where they'll be safe,
clasped within her very marrow,
dandelions in a vase.

She sees love, where anyone else would see weeds.
all hope is found.
Here is everything he needs.

Fathomless your endless mercy,
weight I could not lift.
Where do I fit in this puzzle,
what good are these gifts?
Not a martyr, or a saint,
scarcely can I struggle through.
All that I have ever wanted,
was to give my best to you.

Lord, search my heart,
create in me something clean.
Dandelions
you see flowers in these weeds.

Gently lifting hands to heaven,
softened by the sweetest hush,
a Father sings over his children,
loving them so very much.
More than words could warrant,
deeper than the darkest blue,
more than sacrifice could merit,
Lord, I give my heart to you.

Lord, search my heart,
create in me something clean.
Dandelions
you see flowers in these weeds.

Hold Me Now

On that day when I see
All that You have for me
When I see You face to face
There surrounded by Your grace

All my fear is swept away
In the light of your embrace
When Your love is all I need
And forever I am free

Where the streets are made of gold
In Your presence healed and whole
Let the songs of heaven rise to you alone

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now,
You hold me now

In this life I will stand
Through my joy and my pain
Knowing there's a greater day
There's a hope that never fails

When Your name is lifted high
And forever praises rise
For the glory of Your Name
I'm believing for the day

When the wars and violence cease
All creation lives in peace
Let the songs of heaven rise to you alone

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness, no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now,
You hold me now

For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your name

For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your name

For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your name

For eternity
All my heart will give
All the glory to Your name

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now,
You hold me now

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now,
You hold me now

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering You hold me now
You hold me now
No darkness no sick or lame
No hiding You hold me now,
You hold me now

Hillsong
Youtube me

Close to your Heart

Youtube

You look down from heaven
And melt me with your gaze
Then you come down from heaven
And wrap me in your wings

And it makes me feel loved again
So close in your arms
And it makes me feel home again
So close to your heart

ooh Lord,so close to your heart God

So close to your heart God
So close to your heart
I'm so close to your heart God
Come draw me into you
I'm so close to your heart God
Here I am God
Draw me into you


~The Glorious Unseen

The Call of the Kingdom

Hear the call of the kingdom
Lift your eyes to the King
Let His song rise within you
As a fragrant offering
Of how God rich in mercy
Came in Christ to redeem
All who trust in His unfailing grace

Hear the call of the Kingdom
To be children of light
With the mercy of heaven
The humility of Christ
Walking justly before Him
Loving all that is right
That the life of Christ may shine through us

King of Heaven we will answer the call
We will follow bringing hope to the world
Filled with passion, filled with power to proclaim
Salvation in Jesus' name

Hear the call of the Kingdom
To reach out to the lost
With the Father's compassion
In the wonder of the cross
Bringing peace and forgiveness
And a hope yet to come
Let the nations put their trust in Him

Keith and Kristyn Getty
youtube

more

favourite

Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

lewis

Yertle the Turtle

On the far-away island of Sala-ma-Sond,
Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond.
A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat.
The water was warm. There was plenty to eat.
The turtles had everything turtles might need.
And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed.

They were... untill Yertle, the king of them all,
Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small.
"I'm ruler", said Yertle, "of all that I see.
But I don't see enough. That's the trouble with me.
With this stone for a throne, I look down on my pond
But I cannot look down on the places beyond.
This throne that I sit on is too, too low down.
It ought to be higher!" he said with a frown.
"If I could sit high, how much greater I'd be!
What a king! I'd be ruler of all that I see!"

So Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And Yertle, the Turtle King, gave a command.
He ordered nine turtles to swim to his stone
And, using these turtles, he built a new throne.
He made each turtle stand on another one's back
And he piled them all up in a nine-turtle stack.
And then Yertle climbed up. He sat down on the pile.
What a wonderful view! He could see 'most a mile!
"All mine!" Yertle cried. "Oh, the things I now rule!
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And, what's more, beyond that
I'm the king of a blueberry bush and a cat!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

And all through the morning, he sat up there high
Saying over and over, "A great king am I!"
Until 'long about noon. Then he heard a faint sigh.
"What's that?" snapped the king
And he looked down the stack.
And he saw, at the bottom, a turtle named Mack.
Just a part of his throne. And this plain little turtle
Looked up and he said, "Beg your pardon, King Yertle.
I've pains in my back and my shoulders and knees.
How long must we stand here, Your Majesty, please?"
"SILENCE!" the King of the Turtles barked back.
"I'm king, and you're only a turtle named Mack."
"You stay in your place while I sit here and rule.
I'm the king of a cow! And I'm the king of a mule!
I'm the king of a house! And a bush! And a cat!
But that isn't all. I'll do better than that!

My throne shall be higher!" his royal voice thundered,
"So pile up more turtles! I want 'bout two hundred!"
"Turtles! More turtles!" he bellowed and brayed.
And the turtles 'way down in the pond were afraid.
They trembled. They shook. But they came. They obeyed.
From all over the pond, they came swimming by dozens.
Whole families of turtles, with uncles and cousins.
And all of them stepped on the head of poor Mack.
One after another, they climbed up the stack.
Then Yertle the Turtle was perched up so high,
He could see fourty miles from his throne in the sky!
"Hooray!" shouted Yertle. "I'm the king of the trees!
I'm king of the birds! And I'm king of the bees!
I'm king of the butterflies! King of the air!
Ah, me! What a throne! What a wonderful chair!
I'm Yertle the Turtle! Oh, marvelous me!
For I am the ruler of all that I see!"

Then again, from below, in the great heavy stack,
Came a groan from that plain little turtle named Mack.
"Your Majesty, please... I don't like to complain,
But down here below, we are feeling great pain.
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights,
But down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.
We turtles can't stand it. Our shells will all crack!
Besides, we need food. We are starving!" groaned Mack.

"You hush up your mouth!" howled the mighty King Yertle.
"You've no right to talk to the world's highest turtle.
I rule from the clouds! Over land! Over sea!
There's nothing, no, NOTHING, that's higher than me!"

But, while he was shouting, he saw with suprise
That the moon of the evening was starting to rise
Up over his head in the darkening skies.
"What's THAT?" snorted Yertle. "Say, what IS that thing
That dares to be higher than Yertle the King?
I shall not allow it! I'll go higher still!
I'll build my throne higher! I can and I will!
I'll call some more turtles. I'll stack 'em to heaven!
I need 'bout five thousand, six hundred and seven!"

But, as Yertle, the Turtle King, lifted his hand
And started to order and give the command,
That plain little turtle below in the stack,
That plain little turtle whose name was just Mack,
Decided he'd taken enough. And he had.
And that plain little lad got a bit mad.
And that plain little Mack did a plain little thing.
He burped!
And his burp shook the throne of the king!

And Yertle the Turtle, the king of the trees,
The king of the air and the birds and the bees,
The king of a house and a cow and a mule...
Well, that was the end of the Turtle King's rule!
For Yertle, the King of all Sala-ma-Sond,
Fell off his high throne and fell Plunk! in the pond!

And to say the great Yertle, that Marvelous he,
Is King of the Mud. That is all he can see.
And the turtles, of course... all the turtles are free
As turtles and, maybe, all creatures should be.

~dr. seuss

Second Season

I wonder if these minutes were my last,
If I should start to feast or start to fast.
Would I pray or would I curse,
Hope for good or something worse?
What emotion would I feel?
Would I run or would I kneel?

Time is winding down but only for this life.
I want to be found enjoying the next life.
I see leaves and they are starting to turn brown.
They'll be green and growing when the second season comes around.

The strongest will expire just the same,
The quick will fall exactly like the lame.
I'll do nothing at the most
To keep from giving up the ghost,
Try to make my shoulders broad,
But I am helpless without God.

Time is winding down but only for this life.
I want to be found enjoying the next life.
I see leaves and they are starting to turn brown.
They'll be green and growing when the second season comes around.

I may try to grip control,
But when for me shall this bell toll?
If the answer is to bow,
To him that makes how soon is now?

Time is winding down but only for this life.
I want to be found enjoying the next life.
I see leaves and they are starting to turn brown.
They'll be green and growing when the second season comes around.

~five iron

Matter of Time

The rain fell down in my life today
and I almost drowned
Sometimes the happiness just all fades away
And it can't be found, no

But I won't give up, no I won't give in
cause after the night, a new day will begin

Oh the sun will come up gonna shine again
See the clouds roll away and the rain end
I know after it all I will live again
It's only a matter of time

The waters rise above my head
It's a churning flood
Make me feel like givin' in
or even wish that I was dead
But then You pull me out

And You lift me up to a higher place
to a refuge of hope, sheltered in Your embrace

But I won't give up, no I won't give in
cause after the night, a new day will begin

Oh the sun will come up gonna shine again
See the clouds roll away and the rain end
I know after it all I will live again
It's only a matter of time -
Till I'm back on my feet and I'm standing tall
No it won't bring me down, I will not fall
I know You're by my side, You help me through it all
You're with me all the way

When storms arrive and vile tempests blow
There's only one safe harbor that I know
You calm the storm, You calm the raging sea
And You will never turn Your love from me

Oh the sun will come up gonna shine again...
It's only a matter of time -
Till I'm back on my feet and I'm standing tall
No it won't bring me down, I will not fall
I know You're by my side, You help me through it all
You're with me all the way

Oh the sun...

~Church of Rhythm
youtube

Seek ye first

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you,
Allelu, alleluia.

Man shall not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God,
Allelu, alleluia.

Ask, and it shall be given unto you.
Seek, and ye shall find.
Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.
Allelu, alleluia.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And His righteousness,
And all these things shall be added unto you,
Allelu, alleluia.

© 1972 Maranatha! Music
Words and Music by Karen Lafferty

find me

Finding You finding me
What a holy mystery
Someone prayed, one day i'll know
Who it was that loved me so.
Lord you answered: Lord you came
Lord you called me by my name
Melted fast my frozen spirit
Showed me Jesus who by merit
Died to put my sin away
How could i forget that day?
Such a precious memory,
Finding You finding me!



~Jill Briscoe

the slave

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His Gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother
And in His Name all oppression shall cease.
(see Philemon)

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy Name!
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

jonny

Sometimes the people who know who you are, are the ones who have the hardest time seeing who you could be.

Jon Acuff

2 Samuel 22:20

He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

Digigee Dime

(an oldie, but a goodie)

There's a place where I come from
It's the place where I belong
Where you will never die
Wipe the tears off from your eyes
Sun and moon and stars above
Never match this perfect love
Just look to the painter's hands
Like an ocean meets its sand.

Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime

Twisted castles in her hair
Building mountains in the air
Making profits, lending loans,
Ancient TV's, golden telephones
But within this misty cave,
Lies a painter, blind but brave
Paints the story of where we've been
Where we are, where we could be.

Digigee Digigee Dime Dime Digigee Digigee Dime

So Kiss the light, seize the day
Shine your shoes, come to play
Sun is shining, sky is clear
Leave your worries with your fears
Light eternal, sleep inside
To my heart and through my eyes
Bringing in sweetness to my soul
Close your eyes, be made whole

~burlap to cashmere

--Reflections on the Psalms

"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation."

csl

Needle And Haystack Life

The road begins with new born skin
We are right now
Needle girl, in a haystack world
We are right now

You're breathing in
The highs and lows
We call it living

In this needle and haystack life
I found miracles there in your eyes
It's no accident we're here tonight
We are once in a lifetime

Don't let go
Don't give up hope
All is forgiven

Breathing in
You're breathing in
We call it living

In this needle and haystack life
I found miracles there in your eyes
It's no accident we're here tonight
We are once in a lifetime

All is not lost
All is not lost
Become who you are
It happens once in a lifetime

In this needle and haystack life
I found miracles there in your eyes
It's no accident we're here tonight
We are once in a lifetime

Alive
We are once in lifetime
In this needle and haystack
(We are once in a lifetime)

~switchfoot
youtube

mistake of my life

I’m in love, never been so sure of anything
Then again, could be a tumor in my brain
Tricking me into thinking that we were meant to be
Either way I’m about to shock my family
And my hometown again
‘Cause this time I’m leaving

Once I’m gone I cannot look back
I’ve got to trust this is right
‘Cause maybe I’m on my way to find you
But maybe I’m gonna make the mistake of my life

Since we met my life’s been so up in the air
Here today but by next week I could be there
On the street struggling to support my newest vice
with a sign, says ‘I will work for love advice’
‘Cause I will mow your lawn
if you tell me what I'm doing wrong

Once I’m gone I cannot look back
I’ve got to trust this is right
‘Cause maybe I’m on my way to find you
But maybe I’m gonna make the mistake of my life

But I'll leave the car running’
And I'll leave half the boxes packed
For the slim chance I’ll go right back

Once I’m gone I cannot look back
I’ve got to trust this is right
‘Cause maybe I’m on my way to find you
But maybe I’m gonna make the mistake of my life


Derek Webb, Caedmon's

Sing it out

I'm on the run
I'm on the ropes this time
Where is my song?
I've lost the song of my soul tonight

Sing it out
Sing it out
Take what is left of me
And make it a melody

Sing it out
Sing out loud
I can't the words to sing
You'd be my remedy

My song
My song
I'll sing with what's left of me

Where is the sun?
Feel like a ghost this time
Where have you gone?
I need your breath in my lungs tonight

Sing it out
Sing it out
Take what is left of me
And make it a melody

Sing it out
Sing out loud
I can't the words to sing
You'd be my remedy

My song
My song
I'll sing with what's left of me

I'm holding on
I'm holding on to you
My world is wrong
My world is a lie that's come true

And I fall in love
With the ones that run me through
When all along all I need is you

Sing it out


~jon foreman, Switchfoot
youtube

long-expected

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus, born to set Thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us; let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth Thou art;
dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver, born a child, and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever, now Thy gracious kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit rule in all our hearts alone;
by Thine own sufficient merit, raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley

Hello hurricane

Ohhh yeah yeah ohhh

I've been watching the skies
They've been turning blood red
Not a doubt in my mind anymore
There's a storm up ahead

Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love, my love

Every thing I have I count as loss
Everything I have is stripped away
Before I started building
I counted up these costs
There's nothing left for you to take away

Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love
Yeah my love

I'm on fire fighting for control
I'm a fighter fighting for my soul
Everything inside of me surrenders
You can't silence my love
You can't silence my love

Hello hurricane
You're not enough
Hello hurricane
You can't silence my love
I've got doors and windows
Boarded up
All your dead end fury is
Not enough
You can't silence my love

Yeah I said hello hurricane

Youtube

Ris'n with healing in His wings

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"


Malachi 4.2

Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

youtube

Luke 2.36

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Tell It On The Mountain

While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens,
There shone a holy light:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Saviour's birth:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

Down in a lowly manger
Our humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation,
That blessed Christmas morn:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

When I was a seeker,
I sought both night and day;
I asked the Lord to help me,
And He showed me the way:
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

He made me a watchman
Upon the city wall,
And if I am a Christian,
I am the least of all.
Go, Tell It On The Mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere;
Go, Tell It On The Mountain
That Jesus Christ is born.

engaged

Jill:
When Stuart and I got engaged, we knew what sort of a ring we wanted. We wanted one with three stones, Jesus in the middle, Stuart on side and me the other and that’s what we got.
I was an English major and I had all these romantic ideas of what my husband would say to me when he put that ring on my finger. And I thought it would be sorta of Wordsworthy or Shakespearian or, you know I had all these little dreams.
Well we got engaged in the middle of rush hour in Liverpool. It wasn’t a very romantic spot but it was how it had to be. We got the ring, rushed back over the street got in the car, and I waited for these wonderful poetic words. And my husband put, well he wasn’t my husband then, my fiancé put this on my finger and said, ‘Well Jill, That’s that.’
Well I thought we’ve got a whole lifetime, I’ll buy some poetry books and get going on this and see what we can do. And at the end of that, sort of a little bit in shock, he went back to inspecting banks and catching criminals and I went home. At the end of the day Stuart and I went to my mom, and she was on the phone with a friend of hers who had a jewelry store. And she had promised this woman, without telling me, that we’d get the ring from her. So its now very embarrassing, I’m flashing this ring in front of her – my mother throws the phone at me and says, ‘well you explain.’ And so I get on the phone and I say ‘oh Mrs Kennle I’m so sorry we’ve already got the ring but, maybe next time.’ And it was then that Stuart took the phone out of my hand put it down, took me in his arms and said ‘Jill, there won’t be a next time because remember; that’s that.’
And suddenly those two little words: ‘that’s that’ became the bedrock of our marriage.
And they kept me faithful and in faith through many a strain that came as we left the banking world went into missions were separated for months on end for about ten years. And sometimes very lonely I would sit in my little cottage and struggle and then I would remember ah! – that’s that. That’s that -for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health till death us do part.

Stuart:
Hearing that story again just makes me think, ‘boy is she lucky.’

does anyone live here?

Love's as warm as tears

Love's as warm as tears,
Love is tears:
Pressure within the brain,
Tension in the throat,
Deluge, weeks of rain,
Haystacks afloat
Featureless seas between
Hedges, where once was green.

Love's as fierce as fire,
Love is fire:
All sorts-infernal heat
Clinkered with greed and pride,
Lyric desire, sharp-sweet,
Laughing, even when denied,
And that empyreal flame
Whence all loves came.

Love's as fresh as spring,
Love is spring:
Bird-song hung in the air,
Cool smells in a wood,
Whispering 'Dare! Dare!'
To sap, to blood,
Telling 'Ease, safety, rest,
Are good; not best.'

Love's as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing He had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and His.

Psalm 30:11

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy

Revelation Song

Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heaven’s mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
Yeah…

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Kari Jobe
youtube

viva.org

viva vision

"you, me, let's go"

restored

we are one in the Spirit
we are one in the Lord

we are one in the Spirit
we are one in the Lord

and we pray that our unity may one day be restored...

God be merciful to me

God be merciful to me
on Thy grace, I rest my plea
Plenteous in compassion Thou
Blot out my transgressions now

Wash me, make me pure within
Cleanse, oh, cleanse me from my sin

My transgressions I confess
Grief and guilt my soul oppress
I have sinned against Thy grace
And provoked Thee to Thy face

I confess Thy judgment just
Speechless, I, Thy mercy trust

I am evil born in sin
Thou desirest truth within
Thou alone my Savior art
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart

Make me pure, Thy grace bestow
Wash me whiter than the snow

Gracious God, my heart renew
Make my spirit right and true
Thy salvation’s joy impart
Steadfast make my willing heart
Steadfast make my willing heart

Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just
Let my contrite heart rejoice
And in gladness hear Thy voice

From my sins, oh, hide Thy face
Blot them out in boundless grace

jars

candlelight

To know her is to love her
I’m going undercover
To catch a glimpse
But not get caught

But to see her
Could be worse
If I don’t get my head straight first
On second thought I guess I’ll not

She’s almost brighter than the Sun
Seems to me to be unfair
When you consider everyone
Who pales when they compare
When they compare

Can’t hold a candle to her
Cause all the moths get in the way
And they’ll begin to chew her
Entire, entire to embrace

She outshines anyone
Who ever might dare to bask in the same candlelight

Oh please don’t seat us in the back
With all the insects and the trash
She is a lady, I’m the tramp
Collecting stares from pairs close by
Then flutters and the butterflies
You are just a moth drawn to the lamp

She’s like an ancient artifact
Something you’re lucky to have found
She’ll pinch the nerves in all the necks
When she turns those heads around
Those heads around

Can’t hold a candle to her
Cause all the moths get in the way
And they’ll begin to chew her
Entire, entire to embrace

She outshines anyone
Who ever might dare to bask in the same candlelight

Who ever might dare to bask in the same candlelight
She’s almost brighter than the Sun
Seems to me to be unfair
When you consider everyone
Who pales when they compare
When they compare

Can’t hold a candle to her
Cause all the moths get in the way
And they’ll begin to chew her
Entire, entire to embrace

For he outshines anyone
Who ever might dare to bask in the same candlelight

In the same candlelight

relient k
youtube

sca

it's ok to be a mess.

just know that you don't need to be a mess alone.

hallelujah

hallelujah

Its Amazing

Baby doll, my baby doll
You're just fine the way you are
So what's the matter?
Where's the problem?
They don't love you
'Cause they don't know you
Like I do

Can you see
It's amazing what you do to me
Took my heart and made me feel things
I never felt before
It's changing me
Which direction so certainly
Shook me up and threw me around
Helped me learn to breathe
It all in

Tiger lily, my tiger lily
You're just wild
You're as wild as they come
So what's the trouble?
Where's the problem?
You're just a growing beautiful someone

Can you see
It's amazing what you do to me
Took my heart and made me feel things
I never felt before
It's changing me
Which direction so certainly
Shook me up and threw me around
Helped me learn to breathe
It all in

When I was afraid to reach out
Oh, when I was the one to run
You came along with a new lease on love
To show me how it's done

Can you see
It's amazing what you do to me
Took my heart and made me feel things
I never felt before
It's changing me
Which direction so certainly
Shook me up and threw me around
Helped me learn to breathe
It all in

Helped me learn to breathe it all in


mindy smith
youtube

The Tale Of Flibber-o-loo

The sun always shone on the mountains of Fibble
The wind and the rain never came
To call the place beautiful no one would quibble.
Though hard on the feet they’d explain.
But high in those hills, past the rocks and the rubble,
So high that the clouds were below,
Were two tiny towns that were nothing but trouble.
As you listen you’ll see that it’s so.
The town to the west, that thought it was best,
Bore the name Flibber-o-loo.
Where the women and men, since seventeen-ten,
Have worn on their heads one big shoe.
Now in town number two, one big shoe wouldn’t do.
So the people of Jibberdy-lot,
Would look down and below at shoe headed fellows,
And place on their own head a pot.
For days without end these two neighbors would bicker,
As to whose headdress was best,
And the shoes and the pots would fly ever thicker
From morning to night without rest.
But not all the people who lived in these cities
Were angry and bitter and vile,
A few would write poems and sing happy ditties.
And greet all their friends with a smile.
One flibbian fellow who hated a fight, tried hard not to act like a monster.
While pots crashed around him from morning to night,
He’d just play with his pet wind up lobster.
They kept to themselves and they’d talk and they’d talk,
Till one day he said, ‘Hey let’s go for a walk.
I’m tired of laying around like a squid, I want to get out there’?
So that’s what he did.
The shoe headed boy and his blue plastic friend,
Walked out of the town and began to descend,
To the dark rocky valley between the two cities
Away from his friends and their light-hearted ditties.
‘Hey this is swell’? He said, ‘Gosh this is fun.
It’s great that my lobster can get out and run?”
But neither the toy nor the boy with the shoe,
Could see the disaster about to ensue.
For up in the rocks, hidden just out of sight,
Were six beady eyes filled with anger and spite.
Six beady eyes watched our hero meander,
Two shifty crooks, and their ruthless commander.
‘Oh look what good fortune?’ The nasty one said,
‘Here comes a poor fool with a shoe on his head’?
‘I bet he’s got money. I bet he’s got gold.
Our maybe some jewelry he’d like us to hold’?
‘Whatever the booty I think I can stand it,
Why that’s what I live for. That’s why I’m a bandit’?
And then they attacked him from under their rock.
First they knocked off his shoe, then they knocked of his sock.
And what they did next was extremely unfunny.
They shook him so hard that he dropped his milk money.
‘hey’? He protested. ‘I don’t like you ilk.
How will I grow strong if I don’t drink my milk?’?
But they didn’t care. They’d accomplished their goal,
So they put our friend down, stuck his head in a hole.
Then they walked off with his money, every last nickel,
And yelled back as they left, ‘see ya ‘round silly pickle’?
‘Um, um, I’m a cucumber’?
Then he said with a moan, ‘well, I guess I’m alone’?
But this was a loneliness he’d never known.
His friends were far off and his lobster was missing.
The sound he could hear was just the wind. Hissing.
Things looked pretty grim for our flibbian buddy,
His head in a hole and his shoe bent and muddy,
But wait. Were those footsteps? Oh could it be true?
Why here came the mayor of Flibber-o-loo.
Of anyone surely he’d help the poor soul,
‘Hello,’? said the boy with his head in a hole.
‘I seem to have fallen. I seem to be stuck.
But now that you’re here, well, I guess I’m in luck’?
‘Oh dear’? Said the mayor observing the shoe,
‘a fellow in need and he’s flibbian too.
Young man I have seen your dire situation
And please rest assured I share your frustration.
But how shall I put this, oh what shall I say?
Maybe you’ll understand better this way. [Song.]
As soon as the mayor had finished his song,
A flibbian doctor came strolling along.
‘Out of my way’? She said starting to slid,
‘If you and your pickle would please step aside.
I’m very important I can’t stand and chat,’?
‘Why that’s not my pickle I found him like that.
Besides I am noteworthy too. Why, I am the mayor of Flibber-o-loo’?
‘Um, um, I’m a cucumber’?
‘I see,’? said the doctor, ‘than you understand,
That without an appointment I can’t lend a hand.
There are folks with bronchitis. There are kids with the flue.
If I’m not mistaken you’re quite busy too’?
She said to the mayor of Flibber-o-loo.
So they talked about schedules, compared daily planners
Until a voice said, ‘please pardon my manners,
I don’t mean to bug you; I see that you’re busy,
But being inverted has made me quite dizzy’?
The two other flibbians paused for a while,
Then looked at each other and said with a smile, [song.]
Why that was just dreadful.
How could they desert
Their flibbian friend with his head in the dirt?
‘That’s it then. I’m finished. I’ll die here down under.
If they would not help me than who would?’ he wondered.
But wait. Someone else on the road over head.
Would they help a friend, beaten up left for dead?
Oh look. On his head he is wearing a pot.
Why this little fellow’s from Jibberdy-lot.
Would he help a flibbian? Certainly not.
The boy with the pot saw our friend with the shoe.
‘Oh look’? He exclaimed. ‘He’s from Flibber-o-loo.
They think we’re garbage. They pelt us with shoes.
Why should I care if he’s beaten and bruised?
But here in the wild his chances are slim.
If I were in need would I want help from him?
He looked at our friend and he looked at the shoe,
And then in his heart, he knew what to do.
‘He may be flibbian, that’s plain to see,
But god made him special. Just like he made me’?
So he got him unstuck and he picked up his shoe
And together they walked back to Flibber-o-loo.
Out of the valley and into the town,
Where he stayed by his side till the doctor was found.
‘Oh my’? Said the doctor. ‘He’s wearing a pot.
Why this little guy is from Jibberdy-lot.
You helped this fellow? You pulled him through it?
I don’t under stand. Tell me why did you do it? [Song.]
Then the boy with the pot gave the doctor some money
To pay for the cucumbers bill,
And the mayor said with his eyes moist and runny,
‘I’m touched by his act of good will.
If this little guy can take care of his brother,
When he lives in one town and he in another,
Why can’t we all try to help one another?
And love will surround our fair hill’?
Now if you visit the mountains of Fibble,
You won’t see a shoe or a pot.
Instead they throw flowers and candy to nibble.
I think that you’d like it a lot.

From Where You Are

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you
Yeah, I miss you
So far away from where you are
Standing underneath the stars
And I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things I never thought that they’d mean everything to me
Yeah, I miss you
And I wish you were here

I feel the beating of your heart
I see the shadows of your face
Just know that wherever you are
Yeah, I miss you
And I wish you were here

I miss the years that were erased
I miss the way the sunshine would light up your face
I miss all the little things
I never thought that they’d mean everything to me
Yeah, I miss you
And I wish you were here

So far away from where you are
These miles have torn us worlds apart
And I miss you
Yeah, I miss you
And I wish you were here


~lifehouse
youtube

The sin and soaked heart

I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
And wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remains
More and more I need you now,
I owe you more each passing hour
The battle between grace and pride
I gave up not so long ago
So steal my heart and take the pain
And wash the feet and cleanse my pride
Take the selfish, take the weak,
And all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
The sin and soaked heart and make it yours
Take my world all apart
Take it now, take it now
And serve the ones that I despise
Speak the words I can't deny
Watch the world I used to love
Fall to dust and thrown away
I look beyond the empty cross
Forgetting what my life has cost
So wipe away the crimson stains
And dull the nails that still remain
So steal my heart and take the pain
Take the selfish, take the weak
And all the things I cannot hide
Take the beauty, take my tears
Take my world apart, take my world apart
I pray, I pray, I pray
Take my world apart

Worlds Apart.

Resistor

Under twenty thousand tons of brick and stone,
She carries all the weight of her own world,
But somewhere deep inside,
Beneath the cartilage and bone,
Beats the battered heart of one little girl alone.
She is sweet, like sugar,
But she is bitter like the broken sugar pot.
that says that she could be anything she wants to be,
She only sees what she is not.

Disbeliever, underachiever,
Disconcerted with the way things look from here,
Disinclined and disinterested,
Nothing in your world seems clear.
Disbeliever, underachiever,
Don't you shed another tear,
Little Sister, broken heart resistor,
It's not like that over here.

With the Blanket of Security,
And the mighty force of her own will,
Treading water in her pink pajamas,
She is treading water still.
Hopelessly hopeless,
and she is swimming,
further into the sea.
Thinking she's substandard,
While all the while,
She is beautiful to me.

She is strong and silent,
She is blunt and shrewd,
She thinks that nobody loves her,
If she only knew,
How much we all have missed her,
We all pray for you, my little sister.

Disbeliever, underachiever,
Disconcerted with the way things look from here,
Disinclined and disinterested,
Nothing in your world seems clear.
Disbeliever, underachiever,
Don't you shed another tear,
Little Sister, broken heart resistor,
It's not like that over here.

never

"This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

~Winston Churchill

about time

Enough had been thought, and said, and felt, and imagined. It was about time that something should be done.

mess of me

I am my own affliction
I am my own disease
There ain´t no drug that they could sell
Ah there ain´t no drugs to make me well

There ain´t no drugs
It´s not enough
There ain´t no drugs
The sickness is myself

I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
The rest of my life alive!

We lock our souls in cages
We hide inside our shells
It´s hard to feed to the ones you love
Oh when you can´t forgive yourself
Yeah forgive yourself!

There ain´t no drugs
There ain´t no drugs
There ain´t no drugs
The sickness is myself

I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
The rest of my life alive!

There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
There ain´t no drug
No drugs to make me well
There ain´t no drug
It´s not enough
I'm breaking up
The sickness is myself
The sickness is myself

I made a mess of me I wanna get back the rest of me
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna reverse this tragedy
I´ve made a mess of me I wanna spend the rest of my life alive
The rest of my life alive!

youtube
~Switchfoot

The Stand

You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand

You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

So I'll walk upon salvation
Your spirit alive in me
This life to declare your promise
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart, Oh God
Completely to you

I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all
I'll stand
My soul Lord to you surrendered
All I am is yours

Youtube
~Hillsong

Man of Sorrows

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Words & Music: Phil­ip P. Bliss 1875

Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore!
How He watches o’er His loved ones, died to call them all His own;
How for them He intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean full of blessing, ’tis a haven giving rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Words: S. Tre­vor Fran­cis, 1875.
Music: Eb­e­ne­zer, Thom­as J. Will­iams, in Llaw lyfr Mo­li­ant, 1890
youtube

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou has first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree.
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.


Words: Will­iam R. Fea­ther­ston, 1864;
Music: Gordon, Adon­iram J. Gor­don, 1876

ourselves

love of ourselves does not mean that we like ourselves

~csl

The Dirty Worm

Since no one really seems to care about here, i'll simply put up whatever i want. and this falls into the smile category anyway.

This by the way was presented in person in front of all of impact, in the chapel mind you by Benj (on staff) and Matt Depreist (on EB staff).


(the intro by benj)

In a missions trip there’s a lot of things that can stir within our soul, there’s a lot things that we can come back with. And one of the more emotional ways we thought we could share that is through song. So Matt and I wrote a song about our/my experiences and what we came back with and how that changes things. So, this is our little tune…

(the song)

When Benj came back from the Guatemala dump
He had something inside

His recovery was proceeding he was almost o’er the hump,
But that was just the start of the ride

The Doc’s diagnosis was a deadly parasite,
water-borne now feasting on a man

The look in the doctor’s eye said it all that night,
you’ll be spending 2 weeks on the can

Cryptooooooosporidium
Resident of my gut
Cryptooooooosporidium
Please come out of my butt

The following days were characerized by intense intestinal strife
as the pain it did increase
A once nominal Benj saw revival in his life
as he prayed for it to cease

Time marched on with the Dirty Worm inside
as Benj felt constant pain
But suddenly 1 day he felt a movement in his bowel
and that dirty worm sprayed out like rain

Cryptooooooosporidium
Resident of my gut
Cryptooooooosporidium
Please come out of my butt

(bridge)
Pooping and moaning
farting and groaning
as bananas came out liquefied
Pooping and moaning
farting and groaning
as bananas came out liquefied
as bananas came out liquefied
as bananas came out liquefied

(Everyone!)

Cryptooooooosporidium
Resident of my gut
Cryptooooooosporidium
Please come out of my butt


© Benj Petroelje and Matt DePriest

(there is video, but its on a limited view capability)

Be Sick. Be Loved

Be sick. Be loved.

Be sick. Be loved.

Be sick-Be loved.


"The 4 word Gospel"
~Jon Acuff

imperfect

It's people's imperfections that make them beautiful.

~Mason, Dead Like Me

monkey's paw

I held the monkey's paw
and put my wishes into play
To know the will of God,
or show a motive for delay
I'm holding on to find myself
Just one more wish

I found a pot of gold
or something shining anyway
And caught in my reflection
a conviction held at bay
I crafted a cross to adorn my neck
and finally earned my due respect
And then a jewel encrusted crown
To complement my priestly gown
Just big enough to weigh me down
And bring this temple to the ground
From inside out without a sound
I found a pot of gold today

I held the monkey's paw today
and put my wishes into play
Thanked heaven for the trophies
but I still had hell to pay

So I brought my spoils to the altar's edge
Heard You say obey instead
For all of my labors and best laid plans
I'd only earned a reprimand
Forevermore to understand
that dreams come true can kill a man
If never graced by sovereign hands
I held the monkey's paw

Songwriters: Moody, Lee; Stephens, Daniel Franklin
~Smalltown Poets
http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Monkey_s_Paw/7646069

Una Notte A Napoli :

Una notte a Napoli
Con la luna ed il mare
Ho incontrato un angelo
Che non poteva più volar
Una notte a Napoli
Delle stelle si scordò
E anche senza ali
In cielo mi portò

Con lui volando lontano dalla terra
Dimenticando le tristezze della sera
In paradiso, oltre le nuvole
Pazza d'amore come le lucciole

Quanto tempo può durare?
Quante notti da sognare?
Quante ore, quanti giorni
E carezze infinite
Quando ami da morire
Chiudi gli occhi e non pensare
Il tempo passa, l'amore scompare
E la danza finirà!

Una notte a Napoli
Con la luna ed il mare
Ho incontrato un angelo
Che non poteva più volar

Una notte a Napoli
Delle stelle si scordò
E anche senza ali
In cielo mi portò

Tristemente tutto deve finire

Ma quando il cuore mi ha spezzato
Ed in cielo mi ha abbandonato
Adesso sulla terra son tornata
Mai più di amare mi sono rassegnata

Ma guardo su!

Quanto tempo può durare?
Quante notti da sognare?
Quante ore, quanti giorni
E carezze infinite?
Quando ami da morire
Chiudi gli occhi e non pensare
Il tempo passa, l'amore scompare
E la danza finirà!

Una notte a Napoli
Con la luna ed il mare
Ho incontrato un angelo
Che non poteva più volar
Una notte a Napoli
Delle stelle si scordò
E anche senza ali

In cielo mi portò

In cielo mi portò
In cielo mi portò
In cielo mi portò

~pink martini
youtube

City of night

Well the sun’s going down
With its deep amber light
Embracing the town as we fall into night
To the silvery sound as the birds fly away
Getting ready for love
Getting out of the day

It is the city of night
It is the city if night
Leave the worries of day behind
And dream a new dream tonight

All the lands are a glow
All the lids painted red
And you wish you could take
That last thing you said
Well the night is a drum
Singing songs of delight
But when dawn comes along
Love is lost in the light

But in the city of night
Oh, in the city of night
Leave the troubles of day behind
And dream a new dream tonight

Youtube
~pink martini

Tonight the stars speak

Tonight the stars speak of your infinite love
And it serves to remind me
That what I have means nothing at all
Compared to your glory, Oh lord

How long till your voice speaks clearly?
How long till your arms envelope me?
I cry be my strength when I am weak
Oh Lord have mercy on me please

My spirit is willing but my flesh is so weak
I cry in your arms now
God grant me the strength to rest in you
I lift my hands and cry

How long till your voice speaks clearly?
How long till your arms envelope me?
I cry be my strength when I am weak
Oh Lord have mercy on me please

The Glorious Unseen © 2007 Bec Recordings / Emd
Youtube

Aspetta mi

Aspetta mi
Wait for me
I've been lost
Adrift at sea
In your dreams
Dream my way
Someday I'll find my heart
And come back to stay

Do you miss me
My darling
As I miss you
Take my hand
And pull me near
And never let me go again my dear

There was a time
I was safe in your arms
And the stars fell away like diamonds
Then we were young
And our love was younger still
Was it just an illusion

Aspetta mi
Wait for me
Close your eyes
And you will see
I'm coming home
Every sky in my heart will be blue
On the day I come back to you

I'm coming home
Every sky in my heart will be blue
On the day I come back to you

~pink martini

sweet apples

It is no disparagement to a garden to say that it will not fence and weed itself, nor prune its own fruit trees, nor roll and cut its own lawns. A garden is a good thing but that is not the sort of goodness it has. It will remain a garden, as distinct from a wilderness, only if someone does all these things to it. Its real glory is of quite a different kind. The very fact that it needs constant weeding and pruning bears witness to that glory. It teems with life. It glows with colour and smells like heaven and puts forward at every hour of a summer day beauties which man could never have created and could not even, on his own resources, have imagined. If you want to see the difference between its contribution and the gardener’s, put the commonest weed it grows side by side with his hoes, rakes, shears, and packets of weed killer; you have put beauty, energy, and fecundity beside dead, sterile things. Just so, our “decency and common sense” show grey and deathlike beside the geniality of love. And when the garden is in its full glory the gardeners contributions to that glory will still have been in a sense paltry compared with those of nature. Without life springing from the earth, without rain, light and heat descending from the sky, he could do nothing. When he has done all, he has merely encouraged here and discouraged there, powers and beauties that have a different source. But his share, though small, is indispensable and laborious. When God planted a garden He set a man over it and set the man under Himself. When He planted the garden of our nature and caused the flowering, fruiting loves to grow there, He set our will to “dress” them. Compared with them it is dry and cold. But its laborious – and largely negative – services are indispensable. If they were needed when the garden was still Paradisal, how much more now when the soil has gone sour and the worse weeds seem to thrive on it best? But heaven forbid we should work in the spirit of prigs and Stoics. While we hack and prune we know very well that what we are hacking and pruning is big with splendour and vitality which our rational will could never of itself have supplied. To liberate that splendour, to let it become fully what it is trying to be, to have tall trees instead of scrubby tangles, and sweet apples instead of crabs, is part of our purpose.


csl

Lilly

Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!

Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!

One day she passed him by
A twinkle in her eye
He said " she was meant for me!"
But when he turned around
He lost what he had found
Oh where can his Lilly be?

Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!

He searched the city streets
He tempted her with treats
But nobody stopped to taste them
Some are in his pocket
Some are in a locket
He couldn't bring himself to waste them

Ever since she's gone
Some days he can't go on
She runined him for another
Pressed up against the glass
He prays that she will pass
Now he's living with his mother

Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!

Lilly comes when you stop to call her
Lilly runs when you look away
Lilly leaves kisses on your collar
Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, stay!

Stay, stay, stay, stay

youtube

ins and outs

This signature on each soul may be a product of heredity and environment, but that only means that heredity and environment are among the instruments whereby God creates a soul. I am considering not how, but why, He makes each soul unique. If He had no use for all these differences, I do not see why He should have created more souls than one.

Be sure that the ins and outs of your individuality are no mystery to Him; and one day they will no longer be a mystery to you.

Eye of the Storm

Hey you, what do you do
when the rain falls
who do you call
when you’re hurt inside

Hey there, are ya scared
when the flames grow high
who do you cry to
where do ya hide

get down on your knees
and lift your hands up to heaven
you’re praying in the eye of the storm

you’ll survive in the fire
of life, and its trials
don’t give up in the eye of the storm

Hey son, do you run
when the night is long
will you stand strong
when you’re on your own

Hey girl, in the world
when the wind blows
where do you go
when you feel alone

get down on your knees
and lift your hands up to heaven
you’re praying in the eye of the storm

you’ll survive in the fire
of life, and its trials
don’t give up in the eye of the storm

Hey child, hold on while
the waters churn
where do you turn
when the pain begins

Hey friend, in the end
when the storm is through
who will you look to
to find your strength again

get down on your knees
and lift your hands up to heaven
you’re praying in the eye of the storm

you’ll survive in the fire
of life, and its trials
don’t give up in the eye of the storm

~Dave Lutz

let's never stop falling in love

I wish a falling star could fall forever
And sparkle through the clouds and stormy weather
And in the darkness of the night
The star would shine a glimmering light
And hover above our love

Please hold me close and whisper that you love me
And promise that your dreams are only of me
When you are near, everything's clear
Earth is a beautiful heaven
Always I hope that we follow the star
And be forever floating above

I know a falling star can't fall forever
But let's never stop falling in love

When you are near, everything's clear
Earth is a beautiful heaven
Always I hope that we shine like the star
And be forever floating above

I know a falling star can't fall forever
And let's never stop falling in love
No let's never stop falling in love


~pink martini
youtube

Hang on Little Tomato

The sun has left and forgotten me
It's dark, I cannot see
Why does this rain pour down
I'm gonna drown
In a sea
Of deep confusion

Somebody told me, I don't know who
Whenever you are sad and blue
And you're feelin' all alone and left behind
Just take a look inside and you will find

You gotta hold on, hold on through the night
Hang on, things will be all right
Even when it's dark
And not a bit of sparkling
Sing-song sunshine from above
Spreading rays of sunny love

Just hang on, hang on to the vine
Stay on, soon you'll be divine
If you start to cry, look up to the sky
Something's coming up ahead
To turn your tears to dew instead

And so I hold on to his advice
When change is hard and not so nice
If listen to your heart the whole night through
Your sunny someday will come one day soon to you


Pink Martini
Youtube

lifted

Happily for us, the fundamental Christian message concerns not what we ought to do, but what God has done and what God is willing to do. In fellowship with Him and with others who are likewise trying to be like Him, we can be lifted up above our native possibilities.

Hugh Martin

maner and the means

The heart is a lonely thing to lose in the dead of night
The heart is a sad thing to lose in the throws of a fight
The heart is the match to the fire
And the embers of desire, to keep it burning

I am a shell of the manner and the means
Mine is a story of nothing as it seems
But when we have come this far
And still don't know who we are, does it keep burning?

I call for angels to breathe holy on this rust
I call the snakes to come out slowly from the brush
I need a massive overhaul
A revival to fall, to keep it burning

The heart is a costly thing to sell in the prime of the years
And my heart is thinly veiled in the usual fears
The heart is the dream, and the kiss
That there could be more than this . . . to keep it burning

~C.C.

new name

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

rev. 2.17

the world

By afflictions, God is spoiling us [i.e., taking away from us] of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When he makes the world too hot for us to hold, we let it go.

John Powell

Amado mio

Amado mio
Love me
forever
And let forever begin tonight

Amado mio
When we're together
I'm in a dream world
Of sweet delight

Many times I've whispered
Amado mio
It was just a phrase
That I heard in plays
I was acting a part

But now when I whisper
Amado mio
Can't you tell I care
By the feeling there
'Cause it comes from my heart

I want you ever
I love my darling
Wanting to hold you
And hold you tight

Amado mio
Love me forever
And let forever
Begin tonight

Many times I've whispered
Amado mio
It was just a phrase
That I heard in plays
I was acting a part

But now when I whisper
Amado mio
Can't you tell I care
By the feeling there
'Cause it comes from my heart

I want you ever
I love my darling
Wanting to hold you
And hold you tight

Amado mio
Love me forever
And let forever
Begin tonight
And let forever
Begin tonight
And let forever
Begin tonight

youtube
1946: Fisher, Doris; Roberts, Allen

My Deliverer

i will wait for you to move
for your mighty hand to save
when troubled waters rise
you are my hiding place
you are my hiding place

your walls are - salvation
your gates are praise
your walls are - salvation
your gates are praise

my deliverer
my deliverer
my deliverer is the Lord

who is like you mighty God
who can take me from your hand
as i walk with you in freedom
you're the rock on which i stand
you're the rock on which i stand

your walls are - salvation
your gates are praise
your walls are - salvation
your gates are praise

my deliverer
my deliverer
my deliverer is the Lord


(c)2008 Vamos Publishing
sixsteps Music
worshiptogether.com
Thankyou Music
spiritandsong.com

Screwtape

[T]he humans are to be encouraged to regard as the basis for marriage a highly-coloured and distorted version of something [God] really promises as its result. Two advantages follow. In the first place, humans who have not the gift of continence can be deterred from seeking marriage as a solution because they do not find themselves 'in love', and, thanks to us, the idea of marrying with any other motive seems to them low and cynical. Yes, they think that. They regard the intention of loyalty to a partnership for mutual help, for the preservation of chastity, and for the transmission of life, as something lower than a storm of emotion.
~The Screwtape Letters

liberating work of love

The reconciliation of man to God begins when God accepts the child of man, exactly as he is, into a relationship with himself—“this grace wherein we stand.” This He does for the sake of what man is to inherit, to become. And for the means, He gives him over to a Person, Christ, and a community, the Church; and in attachment to these, personality grows, freedom is attained, sin is forgiven, estrangement is ended, capacities for relationship extend. Reconciliation is the Spirit’s liberating work of love, exercised through a Person and a community of persons.

G. R. Dunstan

You're Beautiful

I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we’ll sing
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful
I see Your face, I see Your face
I see Your face, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful

youtube
~Phil Wickham
Copyright: 2007 Seems Like Music Phil Wickham Music

beat

Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more.

~John Bunyan

golden

She's alone tonight,
With a bitter cup and,
She's undone tonight,
She's all used up,

She's been staring down the demons,
Who've been screaming she's just another so and so,
Another so and so

You are golden,
You are golden, Child

You are golden,
(Don't let go)
(Don't let go tonight)

There's a fear that burns,
Like trash inside
And you're ashamed of the curse,
That burns your eyes

You've been hiding in your bedroom,
Hoping this isn't not how the story has to go
It's not the way it goes, It's your book now,
You're,

Golden,
You are golden, Child

You are golden,
(Don't let go)
(Don't let go tonight)

You're a lonely soul,
Inlet of broken hearts
You're far from home,
It's a perfect place to start


So this final verse,
Is a contradiction
And the more we learn,
The less we know

We've been talkin' about a feeling,
We both know inside but couldn't find the words
I couldn't write this verse,
I've seldom been so sure,
About anything before

Golden,
You are Golden, Child

You are Golden,
(Don't let go)
(Don't let go tonight)

This world is a dead man down (Golden, you are)
Every breath is a singing crown away, (Golden, Child, you are)
Like some debilitated king, (Golden, don't let go)
Don't let go tonight

Earth Spins and your mind goes round' (Golden, you are)
Green comes on the frozen ground, (Golden, Child, you are)
And everything will be made new again, (Golden)
Like freedom and spring, (Golden, Golden)
Hey, like freedom and spring, (Golden, you are, hey)
Like freedom and spring (Golden, Child, you are)
(Gold...)

~Switchfoot
youtube

ancient

I wonder how often the spiritual cure of faith in the Son of Man, the Great Healer, has been tried on those possessed with our modern demons. Is it proved that insanity has its origin in the physical disorder which, it is now said, can be shown to accompany it invariably? Let it be so; it yet appears to me that if the physician would, like the Son of Man himself, descend as it were into the disorganized world in which the consciousness of his patient exists, and receiving as fact all that he reveals to him of its condition—for fact it is, of a very real sort—introduce, by all means that sympathy can suggest, the one central cure for evil, spiritual and material, namely, the truth of the Son of Man, the vision of the perfect Friend and Helper, with the revelation of the promised liberty of obedience—if he did this, it seems to me that cures might still be wrought as marvelous as those of the ancient time.

George Macdonald

Stars

Maybe I’ve been the problem
Maybe I’m the one to blame
But even when I turn it off and blame myself
The outcome feels the same

I’ve been thinking maybe I’ve been partly cloudy
Maybe I’m the chance of rain
And maybe I’m overcast
And maybe all my luck’s washed down the drain

I’ve been thinking about everyone, everyone
You look so lonely

But when I look at the stars, when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars, the stars
I feel like myself

Stars looking at a planet, watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder
How the chaos in our lives could pass as sane
I've been thinking about the meaning of resistance
Of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home
I've been thinking about everyone, everyone you look so empty

But when I look at the stars, when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars, I see someone else
When I look at the stars, the stars
I feel like myself

Everyone, everyone feels so lonely
Everyone yeah everyone feels so empty

When I look at the stars,
When I look at the stars,
When I look at the stars,
I feel like myself
When I look at the stars
The stars
I see someone


~switchfoot
youtube

beauty

The lights go out all around me
One last candle to keep out the night
And then the darkness surrounds me
I know I'm alive
But I feel like I've died

And all that's left is to accept that it's over
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that I made
I try to keep warm but I just grow colder
I feel like I'm slipping away

After all this has passed
I still will remain
After I've cried my last
There'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today
Someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

My whole world is the pain inside me
The best I can do is just get through the day
When life before is only a memory
I wonder why God let me walk through this place

And though I can't understand why this happened
I know that I will when I look back someday
And see how You've brought beauty from ashes
And made me as gold purified through these flames

After all this has passed
I still will remain
After I've cried my last
There'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today
Someday I'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

Here and I am at the end of me (at the end of me)
Trying to hold to what I can't see
I forgot how to hope
This night's been so long
I cling to your promise there will be a dawn

youtube

superchick

crazy!? still old school

you're cold that way
And that's why you say
The things that you say
You can't attract
The things that you lack
You're trying in vain

It seems it's always the crazy times
You find you'll wake up and realize
It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right

You spiral down
You've broken your crown
You don't feel like a queen
You've seen the proof
But you're still crying wolf
You'll never believe

It seems it's always the crazy times
You find you'll wake up and realize
It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right

You try to climb a broken ladder
Grip the missing rungs
And fall down, down, down
Seems sometime ago you said
This wouldn't last
And now you sit here crying

Beside your bed
You feel left for dead
You kneel in the dark...

It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right
It seems it's always the crazy times
You find you'll wake up and realize
It takes more than your saline eyes
To make things right

~Jars

old school - Shine

dull as dirt
you can´t assert the kind of light
that might persuade
a strict dictator to retire
fire the army
teach the poor origami
the truth is in
the proof is when
you hear your heart start asking,
"What´s my motivation?"


and try as you may, there isn´t a way
to explain the kind of change
that would make an Eskimo renounce fur
that would make a vegetarian barbecue hamster
unless you can trace this about-face
to a certain sign...

shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

out of the shaker and onto the plate
it isn´t Karma
it sure ain´t fate
that would make a Deadhead sell his van
that would make a schizophrenic turn in his crayons
Oprah freaks
and science seeks a rationale
that shall excuse
this strange behavior

when you let it shine
you will inspire
the kind of entire turnaround
that would make a bouncer take ballet
(even bouncers who aren't happy)
but out of the glare
with nowhere to turn
you ain´t gonna learn it on "What´s My Line?"

shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

shine

shine

shine

shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

shine
make ´em wonder what you´ve got
make ´em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let´em see good works, and then
let ´em glorify the Lord

shine

Lyrics: Steve Taylor / Music: Peter Furler
© 1994 Ariose Music

youtube

He reigns

It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise above the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns


~Newsboys

youtube

Lead me

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemption's hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom

Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart


~Hillsong

true

Any alleged Christianity which fails to express itself in cheerfulness, at some point, is clearly spurious. The Christian is cheerful, not because he is blind to injustice and suffering, but because he is convinced that these, in the light of the divine sovereignty, are never ultimate.

~Elton Trueblood

not the land

So many miles behind
Still I drive with the pedal down
I was off the map hours back
It’s beneath the seat, I think
It’s with two pennies and a match
And something else, I can’t remember
But in the time that it would take to fish it out
I’ll be another mile gone

And I feel so wrong
Trying to feel right
In light of all the things I’ve passed
You’d think that I’d have learned

This is not the land was promised me
Even as far as my eyes can see
I’m so wound up, Lord, I can’t even breathe
And I don’t want words
I just want some peace
Some peace, some peace

It seems I’ve misplaced my faith
‘Cause it’s 11:12, nothing’s changed
Well, nothing except the channel I’m afraid
And the number there
No, it’s the same
Oh, this must be the savior of the month
And what I must have
Where’s the night gone?
‘Cause I’m so tired and out of shape
You’ve gotta get me up
But I can’t get up today

‘Cause it’s been so long
Since I’ve felt right
All the rote, rehearsal, proof
You’d think that I’d have learned

This is not the land was promised me
Even as far as my eyes can see
I’m so wound up, Lord, I can’t even breathe
And I don’t want words
I just want some peace
Some peace, some peace

Break me, break me, break me

This is not the land was promised me
Gotta get out of bed, get something to read
I gotta feed my brother, not my eyes
If not, then I’ll be all I despise
This is not the land was promised me
Even as far as my eyes can see
I’m so wound up, Lord, I can’t even breathe
And I don’t want words
I just want some peace


Derek Webb: Caedmon's Call

diffuse and vague

Many people confuse the conviction of sin with such feelings as inferiority, lack of self-confidence and so on. Yet whoever observes people closely can see that these feelings and the conviction of sin are not only different from each other but in certain regards are mutually exclusive. A diffuse and vague guilt feeling kills the personality, whereas the conviction of sin gives life to the personality. The former depends on people, on public opinion, while the latter depends on God.

~Paul Tournier

Flail

If you can't run to where you need to go, walk.

If you can't walk, crawl.

and if you can't crawl - FLAIL!

Brandon Brown

Person

Suffering is sometimes a mystery. We must affirm both the mystery and God. The paradox remained, but now, at least, Job knew that it belonged there -- that it is built into the moral and physical orders, and into the very nature of God as He has permitted us humans to perceive Him. In a world where the universal principle is cause/effect, the book of Job reminds us that the principle is a reflection of the mysterious, self-revealing God. It is subsumed under Him, however, and He cannot be subsumed under it. The God-speeches remind us that a Person, not a principle, is Lord.

C. H. Bullock

Video Post?

Is that even legal?

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high of 75

We were talking together
I said, “What’s up with this weather?”
Don't know whether or not
How sad I just got
Was on my own volition
Or if I’m just missing the sun

And tomorrow I know
Will be rainy at best
And the forecast I know
Is that I’ll be depressed
But I’ll wait outside
Hoping that I’ll catch sight of the sun

Because on and off
The clouds have fought for control over the sky
And lately the weather has been so bi-polar
And consequently so have I

But now I’m
Sunny with a high of 75
Since you took my heavy heart and made it light
And it's funny how you find you enjoy your life
When you’re happy to be alive

And the temperature is freezing
And then after dark
There’s a cold front
Sweeping in over my heart
And we might break up
If I don’t wake up to the sun

Because on and off
The clouds have fought for control over the sky
And lately the weather has been so bi-polar
And consequently so have I

But now I’m
Sunny with a high of 75
Since you took my heavy heart and made it light
And it's funny how you find you enjoy your life
When you’re happy to be alive


~relient K

compassion

THERE IS AN EVERLASTING KINDNESS You lavished on us,
When the radiance of heaven came to rescue the lost.
You called the sheep without a shepherd to leave their distress
For Your streams of forgiveness and the shade of Your rest.

What boundless love, what fathomless grace
You have shown us, O God of compassion.
Each day we live an offering of praise
As we show to the world Your compassion.

And with compassion for the hurting You reached out Your hand
As the lame ran to meet You and the dead breathed again.
You saw behind the eyes of sorrow and shared in our tears;
Heard the sigh of the weary, let the children draw near.

We stood beneath the cross of Calvary and gazed on Your face
At the thorns of oppression and wounds of disgrace;
For surely You have borne our suffering and carried out grief,
As You pardoned the scoffer and showed grace to the thief.

How beautiful the feet that carry this Gospel of peace
To the fields of injustice and the valleys of need.
To be a voice of hope and healing, to answer the cries
Of the hungry and helpless, with the mercy of Christ.


Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2008 Thankyou Music

shines

The Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or — if they think there is not — at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.

play

How can the characters in a play guess the plot? We are not the playwright, we are not the producer, we are not even the audience. We are on the stage. To play well the scenes in which we are “on” concerns us much more than to guess about the scenes that follow it. In King Lear there is a man who is such a minor character that Shakespeare has not given him a name: he is merely “First Servant.” All the characters around him – Regan, Cornwall, and Edmund – have fine long-term plans. They think they know how the story is going to end, and they are quite wrong. The servant has no such delusions. He has no notion how the play is going to go. But he understands the present scene. He sees an abomination (the blinding of old Gloucester) taking place. He will not stand it. His sword is out and pointed at his master’s breast in a moment: then Regan stabs him dead from behind. That is his whole part: eight lines all told. But if it were real life and not a play, that is the part it would be best to have acted