Posts Tagged ‘Style: Somewhat Contemporary’
Posted April 24th, 2008
The Bible makes it clear that Christians will experience suffering, both as loving chastisement from our wise Father meant to grow us in holiness and as the result of living in a fallen and decaying world where sickness and death have still not been completely vanquished. In each case God designs our sufferings for our good (Romans 8:28) and for His glory but if we are honest, all of us have doubted God’s goodness and even His existence especially in times of suffering. But believer, be encouraged for suffering is a means to “know Him and the power of His resurrection.” (Philippians 3:10) In our weakness we can cry out to God like the man in the gospel of Mark (9:24) “I do believe; help my unbelief.” This song is filled with encouraging reminders that even though our way may be compared to a dark storm or a bitter illness, our Savior does not leave us and stays ever near us. He will soon appear for our relief, whether on the other side of glory or through deliverance and healing in this life.
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Posted March 21st, 2008
The Christian holiday of Good Friday, the Friday before Resurrection Day (commonly called Easter), is a very special day for on it we remember how our precious savior suffered and died on our behalf. To non-Christians our fascination with the death and suffering of Jesus may seem morbid at best and downright disgusting at worst. But there is a purpose to meditating on Jesus’ pain and torture. God has done something to our hearts like He promised in Zechariah 2:10 (“they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him”) so that considering the bloody cross moves us to repentance, faith, and love for Jesus. It is at the cross that we see most clearly how seriously God takes sin and the punishment it deserves. We learn from 1 Peter 2:24 that Jesus “bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” It should have been us on that cross; we put Him there. It is because of the sins that we commit daily, the sins we often dismiss and minimize as “not that big a deal,” that Jesus suffered. The cross is precious not just because we see the seriousness of sin but more importantly, the unbelievable depth of grace. On the cross God’s mercy moved Him to give His own beloved Son over to bear His wrath when He had done nothing to deserve it. Look what God did to reconcile us to Himself! Look what Jesus endured to pay for our sin and win us to Himself! We need not look to the cross with fear but with expectation, for it is there where we find true love, acceptance, and friendship because of what Jesus did.
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Posted September 12th, 2006
If you don't know this word, you will be blessed to learn it: omnipotent. This song rejoices at the fact that God is omnipotent or all powerful. There is nothing that the King of the universe cannot do. And because God is merciful and kind and has taken care of our sin on the cross through the sacrifice of His son, the Lord Jesus, we have reason to believe that He will make good on His promise to "work all things for good" (Romans 8:28) for believers. God's omnipotence should bring us comfort because we know that we can never be beyond His control. Each circumstance that comes our way, whether blessing or calamity, is from God (Isaiah 45:7). If you have a hard time swallowing the fact that calamity can be from God, remember that God uses calamity as a means by draw us back to Himself. As a loving Father He disciplines us for our good and to make us more like Christ (Hebrews 12). So take heart, believer, and rejoice! The Lord omnipotent is King!
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Posted June 1st, 2006
There is a great need for modern worship songs about Jesus' second coming. Most older hymnals have a section about the second coming but hymns there usually focus on the judgment Jesus will render there. But for those who belong to Christ, this coming will be a truly joyful time. Believer, Jesus is certainly coming back for you. Let that truth settle deep in your soul and move you to worship Him with your voice and your life. When you are tempted to despair, remember 1 Peter 4:12-13: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation."
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Posted June 1st, 2006
This powerful hymn from Isaac Watts ascribes wisdom, power, and majesty through song to the Lord our God. It looks ahead to the eternity in heaven that we will spend extolling and enjoying God in worship. In verse one we are exhorted to bring our humble praise before our King. Verse two declares that because of His love, God is preserving and will preserve us safely until we reach our final home. Then in verses three and four we look forward to the time when we will meet saints and angels around Jesus' throne and praise Him with everlasting songs. Perhaps Watts was thinking of Revelation 5:11-13: "Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.' And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.'"
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Posted December 27th, 2005
All Christians doubt their salvation from time to time. Satan, our remaining sin (called simply "the flesh"), and the sinfulness of the world cause us to take our eyes off of Jesus' work on the cross and focus on our own hopelessness and despair. If our salvation did depend on our own performance how miserably we would fail! But thanks be to God that we need simply to remind ourselves along with this song that:
Has not Jesus died for sin?
Did He not in resurrection
Victory o'er Satan win?
When we doubt God's salvation and despair at our own lack of holiness, let us remember the gospel, that Jesus died for sinners, including me.
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Posted March 14th, 2005
This hymn was originally written by Horatius Bonar, who has been called the prince of the Scottish hymnwriters. In it we are reminded of how God invites us to bring our sins to Jesus not just initially when we come to Christ for justification, but repeatedly as we continue to become trapped in the guilt and shame of our remaining sin. The chorus was added with Revelation 3:19-20 in mind, an often-misquoted passage about God's invitation to believers to repent and return to Him. "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Jesus is speaking to the church in Laodicea which had become "lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold" in thier deeds of righteousness. This song explores WHY we can bring our sins to Jesus, giving us peaceful trust that He is willing, able, and ready to forgive and restore sweet communion with Himself to us when we ask.
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Posted January 8th, 2005
In this song we sing about death which, unlike to the unbelieving world, is a topic of great joy! Jesus has conquered death, removing its sting (1 Cor 15:55) so that it is now our "gate to endless life." This song offers us a chance to remind ourselves of why heaven is such a place of joy and why we should set our hope there. How wonderful that heaven is where believers will "meet to part no more" and that it is the place where we can finally sing our praise to Him alone because we will be free of the idolatrous distractions of our sinful flesh. Particularly endearing is the idea of being so moved by God's loving smile that all we can do is collapse with joy at his feet. Imagine the passionate, whole body-mind-soul worship we can enjoy forever in heaven! But this song does not only stop at describing the joys of heaven and those who have gone on before us, but it confesses the struggle of our journey there. Oh how we long to be there, stripped of this "body of death" (Rom 7:24).
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Posted January 8th, 2005
This song is based on a hymn by famous songwriter Francis Scott Key (best known for writing "The Star Spangled Banner") named "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee." In this song we praise our sovereign God who "loved and sought" us, drawing us to the cross of Christ and lifting our heads to look to Him and live. Key sweetly renders God's work in our hearts by describing how "His loving promise warmed me" (v. 3) and goes on to plead with God to make this warmth into a flame of love for Him. Unfortunately, our passion for God quickly cools when subvert it with the passing, unsatisfying pleasures of this world. We can only rely on God himself to light the fire of our love for Him - not our own efforts, not by listening to really pretty music, or by relying on the passion of others around us. In this song we pray directly to God: "God, help my weak endeavor; this dull soul to rapture raise!" May this be our prayer as we come before God in worship!
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Posted September 8th, 2004
The deepest desire of true believers is that their lives might reflect the glories of their savior and master, Jesus. In this song, we pray along with the great songwriter Charles Wesley for God to deeply implant several attributes that Jesus modeled for us in his earthly ministry, humility and contentment, in our hearts. Jesus' humility before men can be seen in his self-controlled response (or lack of response) to Pilate in Matthew 27:12-14. Jesus' humility before the Father is seen in his constant acknowledgment that his only prerogative is to do the will of the Father (John 4:34). Let us strive to have a heart like our Lord's and take joy in the promise that in heaven we will. The chorus of this song was written by David Ward, and the lyric editing and adaptation was done by David and his mom, Elizabeth.
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