On Sunday morning our Choir and Orchestra are singing and playing a wonderful arrangement of the hymn, O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. Samuel Trevor Francis wrote the hymn in 1890 after experiencing God's love in a very compelling way. On a cold, winter night, Francis found himself walking across London's Hungerford Bridge. He was at a point in his life where his faith was wavering, and he was mulling over his sadness and loneliness. As he walked, and contemplated his life, he heard a whisper tempting him to end his misery and jump into the churning waters below.
Fortunately, Francis didn't pay attention to the dark voice. Instead, he heard God's reassuring words speaking to him that night. On that bridge, he reaffirmed his faith in Jesus Christ, and put complete trust in him as his Savior.
As you read the words of his hymn, you hear echoes of this transformational experience. I love the thought of the first verse;
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 my glorious rest above.
There are days when I desperately need the love of God to roll as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me. How about you? Are you hearing a dark voice whispering that you are not worthy? Or that God doesn't love you? Have people hurt you or disappointed you? Cry out to Christ, ask Him to allow his love to roll as a mighty ocean over you. He loves you, and He'll honor your heart's desire.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
How Will You Be Remembered
I was straightening my office today and paused to look at a photograph I have on my wall next to my bookshelf wall. I had put some things away and looked up to see the photo of the church I was raised in. It was one of those "everyone in the front of the church" pictures, taken outside, probably at the end of the morning service. I was about 5 years old in the picture, so I don't remember the event. My grandfather was right in front. He was the founding pastor of the church and pastored it until he passed away in 1966. He was just 65 years old and died of cancer. In the years just prior to his passing, he had purchased a 10 acre plot of land and had built a barn, utility room and pump house on the land. He bought a house from a military base and had it moved onto the property. For all of my growing up years I was his shadow. I suspect I didn't help much, and probably got in the way some, but I was always with him. Sadly, he never got to retire on that land. Whenever I think about him I have instant recall of his face. It is as vivid today as it was any day I was with him. Sometimes the grief I feel, even now, is so intense that I can hardly stand it. I have broken down more than once, telling about experiences with my grandfather. One of the biggest regrets I have is that he never got to see me become a minister, receive my ordination credentials and hear me preach or lead a choir. I never got to "pick his minister's brain" or ask him professional advice.
Once a wave of grief passed, today, I sat at my desk and did something I had never done before. I Googled my grandfather's name. Nemias Ruybalid. The first two items that came up were blogs that I had written about him. There were several items that had either his first name or his last name, and none were related to him. The last one on the page was a Social Security website that listed dates of birth and dates of death. I clicked on it and scrolled down to his name. Interestingly enough, my grandmother's record was just above his, even though she lived to be 92. All the record showed was my grandfather's birth date and the month and year of his death.
I thought to myself, "maybe I should write a Wiki page for him. There is so much to tell about this wonderful man who left much too early." How will you and I be remembered? Will someone Google your name 45 years after your death? One thing I remember about my grandpa was that I could see Christ in him. That's how I want to be remembered, that someone could say that they saw Christ in me.
Once a wave of grief passed, today, I sat at my desk and did something I had never done before. I Googled my grandfather's name. Nemias Ruybalid. The first two items that came up were blogs that I had written about him. There were several items that had either his first name or his last name, and none were related to him. The last one on the page was a Social Security website that listed dates of birth and dates of death. I clicked on it and scrolled down to his name. Interestingly enough, my grandmother's record was just above his, even though she lived to be 92. All the record showed was my grandfather's birth date and the month and year of his death.
I thought to myself, "maybe I should write a Wiki page for him. There is so much to tell about this wonderful man who left much too early." How will you and I be remembered? Will someone Google your name 45 years after your death? One thing I remember about my grandpa was that I could see Christ in him. That's how I want to be remembered, that someone could say that they saw Christ in me.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross
On February 13 1915, the New York Times carried this headline: "Fanny Crosby, Blind Hymn Writer, Dies." The article said in part: Franny Crosby, the blind hymn writer, died at her home at 4:30 AM. She had been growing feeble for the last six months and of late was very weak. She would have been ninety five years old if she had lived until March 24.
Fanny Crosby wrote more than 8,000 hymns which have been sung in Protestant churches throughout the world. Her lyrics were so numerous that at the peak of her career, hymnal publishers gave her nearly 200 pen names in order for her hymns and name not dominate every hymnal. She had a tremendous gift of recall and composed many lyrics at a time, committing them to memory before they were written down. One of the hymnal publishers, Phillips Brooks, once gave her seventy five topics and asked her to write verses based on them. She composed every one of the hymns before a line of any of them was placed on paper.
The newspaper article went on to list Fanny Crosby's most well known hymns, including, Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain.
Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calvary's mountain.
In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever.
Till my raptured soul shall find, Rest beyond the river.
In our present church culture, hymn singing is falling out of fashion. Many churches do not include any hymns in their church worship services anymore. When you read Fanny Crosby lyrics, you realize what a loss her writing is to the present day church. Thank you, Fanny Crosby, for sharing your amazing gift with us.
Fanny Crosby wrote more than 8,000 hymns which have been sung in Protestant churches throughout the world. Her lyrics were so numerous that at the peak of her career, hymnal publishers gave her nearly 200 pen names in order for her hymns and name not dominate every hymnal. She had a tremendous gift of recall and composed many lyrics at a time, committing them to memory before they were written down. One of the hymnal publishers, Phillips Brooks, once gave her seventy five topics and asked her to write verses based on them. She composed every one of the hymns before a line of any of them was placed on paper.
The newspaper article went on to list Fanny Crosby's most well known hymns, including, Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.
Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain.
Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calvary's mountain.
In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever.
Till my raptured soul shall find, Rest beyond the river.
In our present church culture, hymn singing is falling out of fashion. Many churches do not include any hymns in their church worship services anymore. When you read Fanny Crosby lyrics, you realize what a loss her writing is to the present day church. Thank you, Fanny Crosby, for sharing your amazing gift with us.
Friday, February 11, 2011
The Coming of Christ Foretold
As I began to plan a Choir-Orchestra-Drama production for this past Christmas, I wanted to use the prophecies of Christ's coming as a basis for the drama and music that we performed. After looking at many scripts and musicals, I finally determined that the product I was looking for did not exist. I gave a number of scriptures and resources to one of our choir members and he wrote a marvelous script set in modern times, using many of the scriptures that foretell the coming of Christ. We wove in appropriate music, called it Christmas Foretold, and had a wonderful production. Many people said "it was the best ever", but then again they always say that...it was very good.
One thing that struck me about the abundance of scriptures is that we only scratched the surface of the available Bible references. The other thing that amazed me is that almost from the beginning, the first chapters of Genesis, there were references to the coming Messiah. In some of the most unlikely places and stories, references to Christ and His coming popped up. This morning in my daily reading I found another one. I was reading the account of the people of Israel coming to the edge of the Promised Land. After their multi-year journey in the dessert, they are about to enter the land and begin conquering it. In Numbers, chapters 22-24, we find king Balak terrified at the prospect of the Israelites being on the edge of his kingdom, Moab. He enlists the services of a pagan prophet by the name of Balaam. King Balak figures that if he can't defeat Israel militarily, maybe he can have a well known diviner put a curse on them and they'll go away. As the story develops, God puts the words in Balaam's mouth and he winds up blessing Israel instead of cursing them. In chapter 24, his last oracle says "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel." This is a clear foretelling of the coming of the Messiah. What an interesting place for this reference to occur. It showed me, once again, that God has a clear plan that spans the ages. He knew what needed to be accomplished and it confirmed to me once again that God's plan extends to me, and you. Today, let us rejoice that God provided a way for us to know Him, and to be known by Him. We know that Star, we know that Scepter, Christ Jesus.
One thing that struck me about the abundance of scriptures is that we only scratched the surface of the available Bible references. The other thing that amazed me is that almost from the beginning, the first chapters of Genesis, there were references to the coming Messiah. In some of the most unlikely places and stories, references to Christ and His coming popped up. This morning in my daily reading I found another one. I was reading the account of the people of Israel coming to the edge of the Promised Land. After their multi-year journey in the dessert, they are about to enter the land and begin conquering it. In Numbers, chapters 22-24, we find king Balak terrified at the prospect of the Israelites being on the edge of his kingdom, Moab. He enlists the services of a pagan prophet by the name of Balaam. King Balak figures that if he can't defeat Israel militarily, maybe he can have a well known diviner put a curse on them and they'll go away. As the story develops, God puts the words in Balaam's mouth and he winds up blessing Israel instead of cursing them. In chapter 24, his last oracle says "A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel." This is a clear foretelling of the coming of the Messiah. What an interesting place for this reference to occur. It showed me, once again, that God has a clear plan that spans the ages. He knew what needed to be accomplished and it confirmed to me once again that God's plan extends to me, and you. Today, let us rejoice that God provided a way for us to know Him, and to be known by Him. We know that Star, we know that Scepter, Christ Jesus.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
What Are You Reading In 2011?
Pollsters tell us that most adults in the United States do not read a single book in a year's time. In fact, just 15 percent of people read books regularly. 80 percent have less then 10 books at home. One thing that I am grateful for is that my parents took my sisters and I to the library and purchased many books for us to read while we were growing up. That early leading and guiding has stayed with me through adulthood.
I have two distinct reading routines. The first one is first thing in the morning. This year I am reading through The Daily Bible In Chronological Order. I have used this 365 readings book several times and I am really enjoying it again this year. During my morning reading I am also reading Near To the Heart of God by Robert Morgan. This devotional uses 365 hymns as a basis for each daily reading. In addition to these two, I pick another book to read a short portion of each day. In January I read Where Angels Walk by Joan Anderson. In February I started reading Send Me Your Guardian Angel by Padre Pio. (as you can see, I'm on a theme here...)
The second part of my reading routine is reading for pleasure and to enhance my professional career. This year I have read three books in a five book series by Joel Rosenburg based on end times events. The Last Jihad, The Last Days and The Ezekiel Option. I'm looking forward to reading the other two books in this series. I'm also finishing Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I just started Cracking Your Church's Culture by Samuel Chand, two books that will help in my church work. So, are you reading? I'm always looking for good suggestions. Let me know what your book list looks like. If you are not reading, this is a great time to start. Since you can't be outside much, take some to read a book this week.
I have two distinct reading routines. The first one is first thing in the morning. This year I am reading through The Daily Bible In Chronological Order. I have used this 365 readings book several times and I am really enjoying it again this year. During my morning reading I am also reading Near To the Heart of God by Robert Morgan. This devotional uses 365 hymns as a basis for each daily reading. In addition to these two, I pick another book to read a short portion of each day. In January I read Where Angels Walk by Joan Anderson. In February I started reading Send Me Your Guardian Angel by Padre Pio. (as you can see, I'm on a theme here...)
The second part of my reading routine is reading for pleasure and to enhance my professional career. This year I have read three books in a five book series by Joel Rosenburg based on end times events. The Last Jihad, The Last Days and The Ezekiel Option. I'm looking forward to reading the other two books in this series. I'm also finishing Crazy Love by Francis Chan and I just started Cracking Your Church's Culture by Samuel Chand, two books that will help in my church work. So, are you reading? I'm always looking for good suggestions. Let me know what your book list looks like. If you are not reading, this is a great time to start. Since you can't be outside much, take some to read a book this week.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Time To Start Writing Again
If you subscribe to my blog, you may have wondered what happened to me. During the middle of the Christmas season, I decided it was time to take a break from some of the things that make my life busier than I would like it to be. While I really enjoy writing a blog, it takes a lot of thought to write about things that I think might be meaningful to other people. While many of my writings have come from my life experiences, many also come from my feelings about current events, cultural issues and just plain life. So after a 55 day break, I am going to start writing again.
Back to the issue of busyness. One of the things that prompted me to slow down during Christmas and the month after was an analysis of all the things that I do both professionally and personally. One of the difficult conclusions to come to is that some of what you do, on a regular basis, really doesn't matter. It may be necessary to fulfil a job commitment, or to insure continuity for other people, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. The realization that you are whipping a dead horse, and didn't recognize it can be disconcerting.
God and I are in conversations now about some things that I would really like to do, things that really matter. We'll see how patient I am, and if He thinks these things are important enough to act on them. In the meantime, back to my blog...
Back to the issue of busyness. One of the things that prompted me to slow down during Christmas and the month after was an analysis of all the things that I do both professionally and personally. One of the difficult conclusions to come to is that some of what you do, on a regular basis, really doesn't matter. It may be necessary to fulfil a job commitment, or to insure continuity for other people, but in the end, it really doesn't matter. The realization that you are whipping a dead horse, and didn't recognize it can be disconcerting.
God and I are in conversations now about some things that I would really like to do, things that really matter. We'll see how patient I am, and if He thinks these things are important enough to act on them. In the meantime, back to my blog...
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