I Love You, Christ, My Crucified

This is one of the earliest hymns that I wrote. I believe the occasion was Good Friday, meditating on "the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

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The Fury of the Wind

This text by Eric Schumacher is a beautiful mixing of the fiery descriptions and words of God in Job and the need that seeing such wrath stirs within the human soul to “flee to Christ.” We would all be “knocked off our high horse” if God were ever to appear to us the way He did to Job in the final five chapters of the book. What a frightening and humbling experience that would be! Our only sane response would be to fall before the feet of the Holy One. It is this very realization of our mortal and sinful selves that shows us the need that we have for the Holy God to make provision for us (no other could possibly do so!). God the Son is the only one who can “make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).

This text can also be set to a traditional tune.

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Update on our God’s Attributes Project

If you follow our blog, you know that last week Eric and I carved out some time to work on our Hymns on God's Attributes project. We had a very enjoyable time together catching up with our lives and ministries. Both of us were tempted to postpone the trip because of the number of responsibilities on our plates right now, but we decided to persevere and trust the Lord, asking Him to help us manage our anxieties by casting them on Him. We're glad we decided to stick with it, for we not only enjoyed spending many hours plumbing the depths of God's character and how it was revealed at Calvary and works its ways into our lives, but we also had a productive time. We finished (that's a relative term) 12 stanzas, or 4 hymns. I thought you might be encouraged to read one of the texts. Remember, this is to the tune of "A Mighty Fortress"

The Lord is Holy
The Lord is holy, free from sin, unmatched in all his glory.
Before His throne angelic ones cry "Holy, Holy, Holy."
His holiness does fill His being, works, and will.
No eye can fully see His

...

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Happy Birthday, John Newton!

Thanks to JT for reminding us that today is John Newton's birthday.

Here are a couple sermons that David and I preached through Newton texts:

A Sermon on the Hymn “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder” (David)

Amazing Grace: Faith's Review and Expectation (Eric)

Working Retreat: Hymns on God’s Attributes

I just wanted to let you know that Eric and I are going to be working on this project for the next couple of days. Please pray for safe travel, an enjoyable time of fellowship together, and for productivity with our writing. We are really excited about this project as we feel that is needed and timely.

Here's a snippit from the original project post:
Project: Hymns on God’s Attributes
Description: A series of hymn stanzas, set to a popular and well-known tune, that teach on each attribute of God, show us how it relates to the gospel, and includes personal applications.

A Sermon on “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”

The audio from my July 5 sermon on Psalm 46 and Luther's hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" is now available as a download.

It is titled "A Mighty Fortress is Our God: Resting in the Presence and Promise of Christ."

A Sermon on the Hymn “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder”

I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, July 5th, 2009

Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder: The Proper Response to the Gospel

Selected Scriptures
Do you ever notice the tiny little font that runs across the top of our worship songs? That’s the place where we put author and credit information. It’s purposefully small so as not to detract from the lyrics which we are seeking to engage with as we sing. It’s also small to fight the tendency to exalt songwriters or authors for the gifts they have used in giving us tools to move our hearts and minds towards God. This morning I’m going to go against that trend and make the tiny font of our last hymn huge by spending an entire sermon telling you about the hymn’s author and how it instructs and encourages us in worship. Why would I spend time telling you about the life of a Christian and pointing out the Biblical truths that are present in His song?

Because we are commanded to teach one another through our songs and to sing with understanding. Our muzak and iPod connected lives are...

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John Newton on Writing Hymns

In preparation for a sermon this Sunday I came across this wonderful little piece of advice by my favorite hymn-writer, John Newton. This comes from the preface to his collection of hymns, Olney Hymns.

There is a style and manner suited to the composition of hymns, which may be more successfully, or at least more easily attained by a versifier than by a poet. They should be hymns, not odes, if designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people. Perspicuity (clarity), simplicity, and ease, should be chiefly attended to.

I wholeheartedly agree with Newton. The most successful hymns have just enough poetry to satisfy the artistic sensibilities of those inclined to notice such devices, but no so much that the average, unlearned person would have a difficult time understanding the meaning. Newton could at times be justly condemned for oversimplification, even very bad poetry (or versification), especially when compared to his co-writer William Cowper, a poet par-excellence.

Saved by Blood

Paul exhorts Christians to remember our former way of life and the mercy that God has shown us in Ephesians 2:12-13: "Remember that you were [once] separate from Christ, ... having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." It is a healthy Christian discipline to meditate on the manner of our conversion and the kind of life that God saved us from. This will cultivate gratitude and humility as we remember that our sins were so vile as to demand Jesus’ suffering and death as payment. There is perhaps no one better at remembering God's amazing mercy than John Newton. The famous hymn-writer was saved from imminent death, according to his own testimony, fourteen times, yet through most of those deliverances remained unmoved at God's patience and mercy. Having learned the Christian faith as a boy, he lived a dark life throughout his teen years, pursuing his own pleasures and excluding God from his thoughts. But even while he lived "secure in sin, sporting on destruction's brink," God touched John's heart by the power of the Holy Spirit and awakened Him to His spiritual poverty and brokenness before the Lord. When he realized that Jesus' death could cover even the blackest of his sins, "joy and wonder, love and shame" filled his heart as he embraced the forgiveness Jesus offers. May we see our own conversion in the picture that John Newton has drawn for us and also be filled with joy and wonder at the amazing mercy and grace God has shown us.

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A Sermon on “And Can It Be”

My latest sermon from our hymn memory project is available on-line now:

And Can It Be: Wondering at Free Grace