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Category Archives: Hymns and Songs

“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell

27 Nov

“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
Looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It’s cloud illusions I recall
I really don’t know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I’ve looked at love that way

But now it’s just another show
And you leave ’em laughing when you go
And if you care, don’t let them know
Don’t give yourself away

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions that I recall
I really don’t know love
I really don’t know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say, “I love you, ” right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I’ve looked at life that way

Oh, but now old friends, they’re acting strange
And they shake their heads and they tell me that I’ve changed
Well, something’s lost, but something’s gained
In living every day

I’ve looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It’s life’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know life at all

It’s life’s illusions that I recall
I really don’t know life
I really don’t know life at all

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Joni Mitchell

Dear God, Joni Mitchell was in her late teens or early 20s when she wrote this song. Being born in 1943 and having this song first recorded in 1965 means she couldn’t have been more than 22. That’s amazing depth for such a young person. I wonder what her pain was at that point. When you’re young like that, you’re typically more idealistic about life and love. But pain can come from many directions and at any age.

I was talking with two young women I work with yesterday about marriage. We talked about how dangerous it is to go into marriage based solely on the idea that your spouse’s job and the role of marriage is to make you happy. What it’s really about is finding a partner for the journey. None of us have any idea what life holds. What pain it holds. What you’re looking for is someone you think you can go through the journey with together, come what may. And, frankly, you are my anchor through my own journey with my wife. Some will say that we use you as a crutch to get through life. I can’t remember who it was, but I heard someone say one time that someone accused him of using you as a crutch, and he replied that he didn’t use you as a crutch, but as even more than that (I can’t remember what he compared you to, but it was more an ambulance).

I think I first really came to appreciate this song through the movie Coda. A girl/young woman (played by Emilia Jones) experiences pain as she is the only member of her family who can hear. This puts difficult responsibilities and pressures on her. She has seen the issue of deafness from both sides. Deaf people have been the source of the most love in her life (her family), but they have also been her biggest burden (same family). The song really works for this.

Father, I’ve seen all kinds of things from both sides now. I’ve seen parenthood from both sides. I’ve known the absolute joys of it, and I’ve also know tremendous pain. I’ve had joy and pain in my marriage. I’ve had joy and pain as a child of my parents. As a brother to my siblings. As an employee. As a member of my community. I saw from a listing of recently granted divorces that two people I know received their final divorce decrees this month. That made me sad. One was actually a marriage I knew to be unhealthy, and I was kind of grateful, but the other I had no idea about and it made me sad. I know the wife and have never met the husband, but it made me sad for the woman I know. I don’t know her well enough for her to have told me about it, so I have no idea what happened or if it was even a good thing, but I know there have been tears. I know there has been pain. How could there not have been.

So, I pray for my wife and me as we get ready to go through the next couple of days of Thanksgiving. there is lament in our hearts, but there is also so much to be joyous about. We will hold hands together, support each other, and love each other as we ride in your very gracious ambulance through life. We cannot do this on our own. We cannot do this without you. I cannot do any of this without you. I need you, Father. Thank you for not shielding me from lament and the things that cause it, but for holding me through it, and then helping me to love others through their own trials. Use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 27, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Revelation 14:14-20

26 Nov

14 Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

15 Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” 16 So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.

17 After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. 18 Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, “Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment.” 19 So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The grapes were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress in a stream about 180 miles long and as high as a horse’s bridle.

Revelation 14:14-20

Dear God, the harvest is the end of the world. That’s actually the name of a song by Charlie Peacock that I just thought of as I started to write this: “The Harvest is the End of the World.”

This song doesn’t necessarily line up with this specific passage, but it includes angels with their sickles so it’s at least adjacent to this passage. My wife and I gravitated to this song because it came out a year after our miscarriage and right when our son was born. As we thought about the daughter we lost and the son we were gaining, this part of the song really struck us:

I see angels in the distance
In the distance, I see angels
And their shadows fall
Like crosses on the fields
Some are swinging low the sickles
Some are binding up the sheaves
Some are sifting out the harvest yield

Rachel, run to join the angels
In the harvest in the distance
Rising from your bed as from a dream
In the feint and splintered line
Where the wheat field meets the sky
You might find your sorrow made complete

To quote another song, “Lord, I don’t know where all this is going or how it all turns out. Lead me to peace that passes understanding. A peace beyond all doubt.” I have concerns. I have sorrows. I have things that burden me. Help me to lean on you as part of this. Help me to trust you when it seems like things are going in ways I do not like. Help me to turn loose of my idols and look to you as my only source of peace and comfort. Help me to repent when I need to repent, serve when I need to serve, and listen when I need to listen. Help me to worship you well throughout my entire being. Then I will let the end of the world happen as you have ordained it and go through whatever you’ve decided I must go through.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 26, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Revelation

 

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“He’s Everything to Me” by Ralph Carmichael

25 Nov

“He’s Everything to Me” by Ralph Carmichael

In the stars His handiwork I see,
On the wind He speaks with majesty,
Though He ruleth over land and sea,
What is that to me?
I will celebrate Nativity,
For it has a place in history,
Sure, He came to set His people free,
What is that to me?

Till by faith I met Him face to face,
and I felt the wonder of His grace,
Then I knew that He was more than just a
God who didn’t care,
That lived a way out there and

Now He walks beside me day by day,
Ever watching o’er me lest I stray,
Helping me to find that narrow way,
He’s Everything to me.

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Ralph Carmichael

Dear God, I was listening to an interview this morning, and I heard the woman, speaking of you, say, “He’s everything to me.” That made me think of this song. And as I thought about this song, I realized I knew every word, but I hadn’t thought about it in a long, long time. Like maybe since I was a camp counselor 35 years ago. But I think we sang it a lot back then.

I went to YouTube to look for a good recording of it, and I am sorry to say that it seems to have completely disappeared. Every recording was old and arranged like 1980s Christian music. I need to find someone to revive this song and help it be more contemporary with our times because it’s a good song.

The video I did find related it to the Billy Graham Crusades, which makes sense. So I thought I would spend some time with the lyrics this morning and worship you with them.

I seem your majesty everywhere. It’s quite amazing. The stars. The weather. The amount of complexity on this one planet is amazing. Then to think there are so many different worlds and planets (and “so many” is an understatement) that have more complexity than this one. You are amazing, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. You are AMAZING!

Then I think about your incarnation to come be with us. Your nativity. You physically entered our history and moved among us. You taught us. You sacrificed for us. You saved us. AMAZING!

But then it’s all personal to me. I was nine years old when I first repented and submitted my life to you. And while I’m sure what they were selling me was “fire insurance,” what I remember is not feeling like I was celebrating heaven, but celebrating freedom from shame and my sin. Celebrating feeling loved by you.

And now you and I have this relationship. I meet with you. You put up with me. And you seemingly do it gladly and lovingly. And while you might watch over me, it’s not necessarily in a “keep me from harm” way, but a level of interest in me, and rooting for me, and wanting the best for me through my development into becoming more and more Christlike way. You want to live in me and grow in me. You want to connect with me. And how ridiculous is that? You, the creator of all, want to be with me!

Father, you are EVERYTHING to me, and I love you!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 25, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Psalm 1” by Kim Hill

19 Nov

“Psalm 1” by Kim Hill

Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight

In his law he meditates, day and night
He will be like a tree planted by water
He will yield his fruit in its season, his leaves won’t die
In whatever he does, he will prosper

Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight

For the lost, they are like chaff that the wind drives away
They are not safe at any time their life could perish

Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight

The Lord holds the plans, and the paths of all who follow him
The righteous will stand secure and last forever

Blessed is he who will follow the Lord
He will not stand in the path of the sinner
He will not sit in the seat of the scoffer
For the law of the Lord is his delight

Dear God, this is the second Kim Hill song I’ve thought of over the last couple of days, and there probably aren’t many people who remember her music enough to think of two songs by her in the span of three days. I guess I have a unique knowledge of 90s Christian music.

In this case, the verse of the day from Bible Gateway was Psalm 1:1-2. I pulled up the whole psalm and then this song came to mind since it’s literally called “Psalm 1.” Here is the NLT version of Psalm 1:

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not
    follow the advice of the wicked,
    or stand around with sinners,
    or join in with mockers.
2 But they delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked!
    They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment.
    Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly,
    but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

I was talking several days ago as I prepared for my friend’s funeral about psalms of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. I would put this psalm squarely in the realm of orientation. The world makes sense to the psalmist. Those who follow you are blessed. The wicked condemned. When I am disoriented, it seems like those who follow you are abandoned and the wicked thrive. And then when I am reoriented, I can see beyond the physical world and realize that you hold those who love you, whether we can see it or not.

As I look at the first stanza, the one line that hits me is that I will not “join in with mockers.” Oh, how that is so easy and tempting to do. I want to mock those who disagree with me. I want to roll my eyes at people I see as foolish. The frustrate me, and I want to join in with like-minded people and mock them. I want to scoff. I want to make the insecurities I have in my disagreements with them, and use scoffing and mocking to elevate myself over them. That’s my human, carnal solution to it. What should my solution be? I suppose I should be looking to you, examining my thoughts and my heart for and then laying them before you to see if they are your thoughts and your heart. Then, if there is disagreement between you and me, I need to repent. If there is agreement, I need to simply love those who disagree and perhaps develop enough relationship with them where I can speak into their lives.

Father, help me to live up to all of this. It is so much easier to say/type than it is to live. But I want to worship you. I want to represent you to the world. I want to love you well. You are my God, and I want the roots of my life to be deep into your presence. Help me to be that throughout this day.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 19, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Psalms

 

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Mark 13:1-2

17 Nov

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Mark 13:1-2

Dear God, is it bad that I just don’t care about end time prophecies? The Gospel reading for the Catholic church this morning is verses from later in Mark 13 when Jesus is describing end times. Is it bad that I’m incurious about them?

I guess it makes me think of the Rich Mullins song “Be With You.”

“Be With You” by Rich Mullins

Everybody each and all
We’re gonna die eventually
It’s no more or less our faults
Than it is our destiny
So now Lord I come to you
Asking only for Your grace
You know what I’ve put myself through
All those empty dreams I chased

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly ruined me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You start this world over
Again from scratch
Will You make me anew
Out of the stuff that lasts?
Stuff that’s purer than gold is
And clearer than glass could ever be
Can I be with You?
Can I be with You?

And everybody all and each
From the day that we are born
We have to learn to walk beneath
Those mercies by which we’re drawn
And now we wrestle in the dark
With these angels that we can’t see
We will move on although with scars
Oh Lord, move inside of me

And when my body lies in the ruins
Of the lies that nearly runied me
Will You pick up the pieces
That were pure and true
And breathe Your life into them
And set them free?

And when You blast this cosmos
To kingdom come
When those jagged-edged mountains
I love are gone
When the sky is crossed with the tears
Of a thousand falling suns
As they crash into the sea
Can I be with you?
Can I be with you?

I have this down as one of my funeral songs. Whatever happens. However this all works out, I simply just want to be with you. I really don’t want to use any mental energy trying to gain this knowledge because, even if I were the one person who could figure this out (which Jesus says in Mark 13:32), what good would the knowledge gain me? Maybe I could use it to scare people into faith in and worship of you. But that doesn’t seem to be how you motivate people. At least, I don’t think selling people “fire insurance” is a good way to motivate them.

Father, I’ll be fascinated to hear this morning how the priest applies the daily reading (which is actually Mark 13:24-32) here in a little bit. One of the things I’ve decided is a “floor” for my life is that I need to get some good teaching at least once a week. Be with the priest this morning and teach me through him. Teach me through the songs we sing. Teach me through the people I encounter. Teach me through your still small voice as I worship you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 17, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Mark

 

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Judges 14

06 Nov

14 One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

3 His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?”

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” 4 His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

5 As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. 6 At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it. 7 When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.

8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men. 11 When the bride’s parents saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.

12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing. 13 But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.”

“All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your riddle.”

14 So he said:

“Out of the one who eats came something to eat;
    out of the strong came something sweet.”

Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth[b] day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?”

16 So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell you?” 17 So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to the young men.

18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer:

“What is sweeter than honey?
    What is stronger than a lion?”

Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have solved my riddle!”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. 20 So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.

Judges 14

Dear God, I find the Samson story interesting because it shows me that you sometimes do things that are completely counterintuitive to me. How could you use this profane, ungodly man? How could you condone so much pure awfulness in a leader? How could you select him? What are you doing? I like this description of his parents in verse 4 because it would have to be said of me a lot of times, including today: 4His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

There’s a Rich Mullins song called “Who God is Gonna Use.”

At the beginning of this video, Rich talks about how you used Balaam’s donkey to save him (Numbers 22:21-35), and that story inspired the rest of the song. You use all kinds of people and all kinds of things. And not necessarily the holy ones. And not necessarily to do holy things. You used Pilate and Herod to kill Jesus. But what the disciples couldn’t see at the time is that it was taking one step back to take five steps forward. They killed Stephen, which seemed like a huge setback, but you used it to spread the church throughout the world (Acts 8). Stephen’s death is one of the reasons I am here today.

I have a friend who lost her father last week, and then was in an unfortunate accident yesterday that sent her to the ER. She loves you. She worships you. It seems like awful timing. Why would this happen? Why would you let this happen? Well, maybe there are just things I cannot see. Please be with her and her mother today as she recovers and they mourn the loss of a great, godly man.

As I type this email this morning, we now know who won the election yesterday for POTUS. There are some Christians who are delighted. Some are devastated. If the winner had been different, the roles would have been reversed. I talked with both sides over the last few weeks, and I told them, “Whoever wins, I will not let it be my idol. I am not putting my faith in either candidate. I am putting my faith in God and the things he is doing that I cannot see. So the day after the election, regardless of who wins, I will wake up, worship God, pray, and then go about loving everyone I can that day.”

Father, use President-elect Trump to do your will in this world whether he even knows your doing it or not, and regardless of what your will is for our country or this world. And my prayer would be the same if Kamala Harris won. I don’t know what you have for our country. I don’t know what you have for the people within it and around the world. I don’t know what you have for me. I know that I have no demands on you. I know that I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task you’ve given me–the task of testifying to the gospel of your grace through Jesus. So help me to live into that today. For those who will be impacted materially by policies of a new administration, both foreign and domestic, I pray. Find your remnant and strongly support them. Use everything going on this world to draw us closer to you. I pray that the American church my find true faith in you and turn loose of the idols we look to for our certainty. I pray that I will do the same. I am here to offer you my worship, my life, and my service. Use me as you will.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2024 in Hymns and Songs, Judges

 

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“One Tin Soldier” by The Original Caste

04 Nov

“One Tin Solider” by The Original Caste

Listen, children, to a story
That was written long ago
‘Bout a kingdom on a mountain
And the valley-folk below

On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone
And the valley-people swore
They’d have it for their very own

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

So the people of the valley
Sent a message up the hill
Asking for the buried treasure
Tons of gold for which they’d kill

Came an answer from the mountain
With our brothers we will share
All the secrets of our mountain
All the riches buried there

Now the valley cried with anger
“Mount your horses! Draw your sword!”
And they killed the mountain-people
So they won their just reward

Now they stood beside the treasure
On the mountain, dark and red
Turned the stone and looked beneath it
“Peace on Earth” was all it said

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

Go ahead and hate your neighbor
Go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven
You can justify it in the end
There won’t be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after
One tin soldier rides away

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brian Potter / Dennis Earle Lambert

Dear God, when I hit “shuffle” on my “Oldies” playlist this morning, this song was the first one that played. Somehow, it seemed fitting for the election tomorrow. I’ve seen a few of my Christian friends sacrifice a lot of their beliefs and make an idol out of who they want to win and lose tomorrow. I’ve seen some of my liberal friends make an idol out of who wins and who loses tomorrow. I guess the thing that has troubled me most are the Christians. The compromises made for power and influence astound me. And I’m not talking about my friends who legitimately want one person’s policy over the others. I get that. I get why anyone would vote for any of the candidates, whether the candidate is at the top of the ticket or at the bottom. But it’s the people who are preoccupied with power and influence that sadden me. The ones who want to vanquish the other side. Who demonize the other side. Everything they are doing is so incongruous with anything Jesus taught us while on earth. Absolutely incongruous.

I loved this song as a child. I even sang it in a talent show. I think it was third grade, but I’m not sure. Of course, this was 1978, so it was before you could easily buy instrumental versions of songs. I took my 45 rpm record to school and sand along with the original singers. I think a lot of the students thought I was lip-syncing because I don’t think I had a microphone. Regardless, it was one of my favorites.

Years later, we used to sing this song with the kids when I was a camp counselor. They loved it too. But I wonder how much the message is lost on us. It’s a little like watching the “be curious, not judgmental” scene in Ted Lasso, and then judging Rupert in that very same scene. We can all be very obtuse.

Which leads me to the natural place where you want me to be. How am I guilty of being what this song condemns? How do I reach for power in futility? Do I try to try to use my power over my relationships, or do I strive for your power with others? Do I lead with love? You said blessed are the peacemakers. Am I a peacemaker?

Father, let these lyrics ring in my ears today as I go through my day. Love through me. Love through the work I do. Use my life, especially the failed parts of my life, as a way to glorify yourself in the eyes of the world. Let me decrease as you increase. And forgive me for the times I have been unmerciful, unloving, unpeaceful, and unjust.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 4, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong

28 Oct

Dear God, it was hard to find the lyrics to post for this song this morning, so I’ll just have to mention what touched me about it this morning. What touched me is that it was released for the first time in 1967. We complain right now about how chaotic our current times feel, but it feels small compared with 1967. I think our current times only feel chaotic because the politicians create a chaotic atmosphere and narrative so we will vote for them. But in 1967 we had riots in the streets, we were coming off the assassination of Kennedy and we were coming up on the assassinations of King and Kennedy’s brother. There was the Vietnam War that was brutal for everyone. And yet, somehow in the midst of this, Bob Thiele and George David Weiss were able to come up with a song that saw the beauty in the things around them. The sky. The flowers. The love between people.

So what do I see that reminds me this is a wonderful world? I see people reach out to help each other when they are struggling. I see the rich donate their resources and volunteer. I see the poor sacrifice to help their friends. I see cashiers smile at people who are downtrodden as they check out at the store. I see husbands love their wives and wives love their husbands. On nights like the one coming up at Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio this Halloween when Rotarians will hand out candy to children and their families, I see parents loving their children, including their children with special needs. Watching the love those parents have for their children is a definite reminder that it is not only a wonderful world, but also that you love us so much more than even that. I see pastors preach your Word and introduce people to you. I see lay people go into prisons to let those who are broken and damaged that you are what they are looking for.

Father, what you created is good. Genesis 1 says as much. Your world is good. We are good. We just let this selfishness creep in that disguises itself as nobility. But it’s selfishness. I have it. People around me have it. Help me to be part of your wonderful world by considering my life worth nothing to me. Help me to bring you into the world by finishing the race and completing the task you called me to. The task of testifying to your grace.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 28, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“The Now and the Not Yet” by Amy Grant

27 Oct

“The Now and the Not Yet” by Amy Grant

No longer what we were before,
But not all that we will be.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our compromising,
When He appears,
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

We will be like Him,
For we shall see Him,
As He is.

No longer what we saw before,
But not all that we will see.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our disbelieving,
When He appears (holy, holy),
Our view will clear,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

But I’m caught in between
The now and the not yet;
Sometimes it seems like
Forever and ever,
That I’ve been reaching to be
All that I am,
But I’m only a few steps nearer,
Yet I’m nearer….

No longer what we were before,
But not all that we will be.
Tomorrow, when we lock the door,
On all our disbelieving,
And He appears (holy, holy),
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

When He appears (holy, holy),
He’ll draw us near,
And we’ll be changed by His glory,
Wrapped up in His glory….

Written by Pam Mark Hall

Dear God, so I woke up with another song going in my head this morning. I suppose I’m grateful these are sweet Christian songs that are coming to mind. It’s nice to know that’s where my head is when I wake up. An interesting coincidence between this song and the song I prayed about yesterday, “Finally” by Gary Chapman. Amy Grant is Gary’s ex-wife. So there’s a connection there.

I suspect (I don’t know because I don’t think I will know for sure until I am on the other side of death), that I was taught some errant things about heaven back in the 80s when I first heard this song. I don’t believe some of the rapture/tribulation theology I believed back then. So when I sat down to hear this song this morning in full, I wondered if I would be disappointed in what it said. I was relieved to know it fits into more my current thoughts on New Earth and “the not yet.”

So back to the song that apparently Pam Mark Hall wrote. With songs like this, I like to think about the writer sitting somewhere and expressing these feelings. In this case, feeling the growth of her spiritual life and development in the fruits of the Spirit, but also feeling the distance that still exists between her and the woman she wishes she could be under you. I’ve felt that a lot. I know I’m not the man I was 30, 15, 5, or even one year ago. I am slowly being formed. But if there is a spectrum of 1 to 100 on human holiness, with Jesus being 100, I have maybe moved from an 8 to a 15 (even that feels too generous). There is a long way to go between me and the “not yet.” I think the bridge to the song is my favorite part:

But I’m caught in between
The now and the not yet;
Sometimes it seems like
Forever and ever,
That I’ve been reaching to be
All that I am,
But I’m only a few steps nearer,
Yet I’m nearer….

Father, today is another day. And if I am at a 15, I have choices. I could go back to 8, or I could try to reach for 15.000001. I might only get a step nearer, yet I would be nearer. So love through me. Live through me. Speak through me. I give you glory for everything, oh, my God. Thank you for guiding me in this life. I celebrate this journey with you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 27, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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“Finally” by Gary Chapman

26 Oct

“Finally” by Gary Chapman

I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be

When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally

The day to day just keeps on spinning round
But this one thing I have found
I can close my eyes and be there in Your arms
You take me to a place that’s safe and warm
You’re my harbor in the storm
Wanna lose myself in being there with You

When finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and it came to me finally

Oh, when finally I look inside Your eyes and see
Reflections of Yourself in me
The way You always said it would be
When finally, I’m loving You like You love me
It happened oh, so easily
I looked at You and the love in Your heart cut right through to me
And my eyes can see finally

Source: LyricFind

Dear God, sometimes I wake up with a song in my head and I have no idea where it came from. This one from this morning, “Finally” by Gary Chapman, is a deep cut. Of course, I heard it when I was a kid sung by T.G. Sheppard. Years later, however, I worked for a Christian music publisher called Word that distributed the song’s writer, Gary Chapman, and found this song on his first album, Everyday Man. It was then I realized it was one of those could be a song about love/could be a song about God songs that were pretty prevalent in Christian music in the 80s and 90s. So I heard it in a different way.

With that said, since I woke up with it in my head this morning, and even though I am sure I’ve probably prayed through this song before, I thought I would spend some time with again this morning.

I wish my mind wouldn’t argue with my heart
It splits the day apart
Into time well spent and time just thrown away
I wish my heart would please make up my mind
I’m wasting so much time
Gotta catch a glimpse of how it’s gonna be

Wasting time. Oh, how much time do I waste a day? Each day? Every day?!? It’s a lot. It can be so much easier to settle into watching something on a screen that it is to do something constructive that requires brain power, physical power, and conscious effort. It’s easier to just “veg.” I listened to the Russell Moore Podcast this week. It was an interview with Carlos Whittaker about his technology detoxing experience. He said his phone told him he was spending 7 hours per day on the phone. 49 hours per week. 2,500 hours per year. A full-time 40-hour per week job is 2,080 hours, so it was a lot. Therefore, he decided to try something different. He went to a monastery and spent either 21 or 23 hours per day in silence for 9 weeks. Then he went and hung out with the Amish. To some extent he rediscovered himself. Going back to the 1950s, I would say the introduction of screens into our lives has definitely shaped who we are as humans. I spent so much time watching TV as a kid. And while I don’t watch my actual living room television much anymore except for live sports, the little screen that fits in my hand has successfully replaced it effectively.

I say all of that because, even though Chapman wrote this in 1982 (I think I heard him say that in an interview), before there were cell phones and even very many personal computers, he was still finding plenty of things that would take him away from you. People always have throughout the centuries. We don’t need cell phones and the Internet to lure us away. As the hymnist wrote in “Come Thou Fount,” “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” It’s who we are.

Back at Lent I purposed in my heart that I was going to make this time praying to you a priority in my life. I would spend some time every day journaling my a prayer to you. Now, I’ve decided it is part of what I must do to function. I need you. Because when I show up here I am able to see you and a reflection of you in me. I hear from your Holy Spirit. I am convicted of sin. I am inspired and instructed by the Holy Scripture you left for me to use to help me find you. And the reason I know you are a loving God is because the closer I get to you the more loving I become. The reason I know you are forgiving is because the closer I get to you the more forgiving I become.

Father, well, I’m not even sure how to pray about this. According to Whittaker, even the Amish are seeing technology like computer and flip phones enter their world because they have to use them to conduct business with the outside world. And if I think about getting a flip phone I start to wonder about texting and the apps I use to even conduct business during the day. So help me find my way in all of this. Help me glorify you in my life. Help me to not miss the opportunities you have for me to love and serve you and love and serve others.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on October 26, 2024 in Hymns and Songs

 

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