Saturday Song

 

 

My dear friend, Kara posted this song on her facebook yesterday and I've had it on replay ever since...in my mind, if not on my computer.  I've been reading in Romans for the last couple weeks and this song fits in so well.

 

"Where sin runs deep, your grace is more.  Where grace is found, is where you are. 

Where you are Lord, I am free.  Holiness is Christ in me!"

 

"Could it be any clearer?  Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life-- no longer at sin's every beck and call!  What we believe is this:  If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection...Never again will death have the last word...You are dead to sin and alive to God.  That's what Jesus did!

 

That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives...Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time-- remember, you've been raised from the dead!-- into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live.  After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer.  You're living in the freedom of God!

 

So, since we're out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want?...Hardly.  You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom.  Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act.  But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits.  All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!

 

Now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a suprise!  A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!  Work hard for sin you whole life and your pension is death.  But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master."

 

selected from Romans 6, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message

 

Happy weekend, friends!

Wide Open Spaces

 



I know this looks like a lot of text, but I encourage you to read it *slowly* this morning.  I pray it will bless you as it has blessed me!

 

"By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us- set us right with him, make us fit for him- we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus.  And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover that at the same moment the has already thrown open his door to us.  We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand- out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

 

There's more to come:  We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next.  In alert expenctancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged.  Quite the contrary- we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.

 

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.  He didn't, and doesn't wait for us to get ready.  He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready.  And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway.  We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice.  But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatsoever to him.

 

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.  If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrifical death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!  Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose.  We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!"

 

Romans 5: 1-11, as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message

 

"But me he caught- reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning...He stood me up on a wide open field; I stood there saved- surprised to be loved! God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him...God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes...What a God!  His road stretches straight and smooth...Everyone who runs toward him makes it."

 

Psalms 18: 16-19, 20, 24, 30, Msg

 

Happy weekend, friends!

Saturday Song

 

I'm loving this song by Josh Ritter.  It's relaxing and fun... gives me visions of a lazy summer afternoon... laying in a hammock, leg draped over the side, book on my stomach and a glass of wine in arms reach.

 

David and I have a real fondness for singer/songwriter music.  A couple others we regularly enjoy... Peter Bradley Adams, Gillian Welch, and Phillip Phillips.

 

If you like Josh Ritter, also check out Folk Bloodbath.  Totally different sound, but just as good and maybe even better.

 

Have a happy weekend, y'all!

New Favorite Artist

 

"Glory to God, glory to God.  This is how emptiness sings."

 

Have you ever heard of Christa Wells?  I never had until I followed the link to her site from a church in Raleigh.  In May, this church is hosting Jen Hatmaker as speaker and Christa Wells as music leader.

 

After listening to the playlist on her website for literally an entire day, I'm just as excited to hear her music in real life as I am to meet Jen.  Seriously, if you have a chance, hop over and have a listen.  It's worth it.

 

Christa wrote "Held" recorded by Natalie Grant and "Need You Now (How Many Times)" recorded by Plumb.  One of my favorite lines is from her song "All That You Need".

 

"There's no way to earn what you've already got.

There's nothing to loose when you're loved from the start."

 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

ps.  If you're interested in going to Raleigh in May, let me know!  :)

Forgotten Song

 

 

I am not a country music fan.  Never have been.  Actually, when the news came out about Mindy McCready a couple weeks ago, David assured me that I would recognize at least one of her songs.  I didn't.

 

This week I found and reread some old diaries (which I look forward to burning by the way) and ran across the words to this song.  The tune is very predictable and repetitious, but I still love the words so, so much.  May this song bless you today!

 

"We're tied to our memories.  They won't let us stray.

We're not gonna loose ones we made yesterday.

We look to our future and we make all our plans

as if we control what is out of our hands.

 

We start getting older the moment we live.
Look over your shoulder, there's hindsight to give.
Come good days and bad days the sun's gonna rise
so why look beyond what's in front of your eyes?"

Listening To...

Are you picky about Christmas music?  I am.  It has to be just the right blend of traditional and fun, not too much crooning or personalization, and not a new overly perky tune to traditional lyrics.  All in all, there seems to be a point in which the album is trying a bit too hard to jolly me up for the holidays.  True sincerity shines through and, even if it isn't completely my style, makes me consider the real meaning of the season and puts me in a festive mood.

What are your go-to Christmas albums?  I'm especially interested in suggestions you might have for old Christmas music, classic stuff that was recorded in the 30s and 40s.

I'll be anxiously awaiting your comments!