Category Archives: Wednesday Worship

Bookmarked Summer, Books, Children's Books, Christmas, Faithfulness, Family, Inspired, Love, Neighbors, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – All Is Well – Storyteller Frank Peretti and Songwriter Michael W. Smith

December 24, 2014 admindeb 2 Comments

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

All Is Well – A Story for Christmas brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. It was published in 1990 and we read it to our children every Christmas until they were old enough to read it themselves. Then I read it to myself. Frank Peretti is the author and Robert Sauber did the illustrations for the first book. It seems to be out of print now, and a newer edition, with illustrations by Gary Glover, came out in 2002.

I fell in love with the first edition, and it’s still my favorite. Don’t you love when you recover something once precious to you which you thought lost forever? In our many moves, somewhere along the way, we lost All Is Well – A Story for Christmas. I was delighted when, just today, I found the book, that old one, captured on a YouTube video.

Screen Shot

The memories of that book have stirred again – reading together cuddled up with the children in front of the fire in Tennessee, Or listening to the audiobook as they stared sleepily into the dark on those long drives to grandparents. Then childhood years across North Africa when stories familiar brought home closer. The tears came again today, as I watched that YouTube video and the telling of All is Well.

The story focuses on a single mother and her little girl, in tough times financially. There was no money for rent and they were facing losing their home. The little girl, Jenny, was determined to help, and she found an old box of Christmas ornaments that she peddled to neighbors in hopes of helping her mom, Ruth, with the rent. One of those ornaments was a small homemade piece of clay inscribed with the phrase, “All is well.” The rest of the story is a lovely picture of courage, hope, love, and kindness – of neighbors reaching out to this little twosome so in need.

The last page of the book ends with this:

“All is well, huh, Mom?”

“All is well, Jenny. Some way, somehow. We can’t see it yet, but all is well.”

(Narrator) “Well, like I said in the beginning, it all depends on where you’re standing and how good the view is from there. When you’re the storyteller, you have a pretty good view. You know things people in the story don’t know… I know Ruth and Jenny will be taken care of…

You know what tickles me: Ruth knows it, too. She knows. She can’t see any of it from where she is…but she knows. Now that she remembers how come all is well, she knows. She remembers and she’ll tell Jenny once again: that God is the grandest storyteller of our lives. He weaves our days then strings them like beads on the chain of history. He knows the placement of every person…the end from the beginning. From His lofty heights, He has the best view of all.

She remembers and she’ll tell Jenny that in a stable in Bethlehem so long ago, God wrote Himself into the story and became that central character . Now the Weaver of the Story walks with us in the midst of the story…and He will stay with us, until that story is complete, in His way, in His time, for His glory…and that’s how come all is well. Remember?”

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says the Lord, “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” – Jeremiah 29:11-13

Image Credit

Take the time to worship today…and then read this story as a family if you can. Or click on the YouTube video and cozy up with your kiddos to watch the story unfold. My children are all grown up now, but I don’t think they will have forgotten. All is well…or can be. Remember that.

Image Credit

YouTube Video of original story All Is Well (1990) by Frank Peretti – book and audio CD no longer available. Illustrations by Robert Sauber

All Is Well: The Miracle of Christmas in July by Frank Peretti (2002) with illustrations by Gary Glover – this story is updated from the one above – with Daniel as our young hero, and his mom, Ruth – same great message of love, neighbors, and God’s faithfulness

YouTube Lyric Video of All Is Well by Michael W. Smith (featured in audiobook of All is Well above

YouTube Lyric Video of All Is Well sung by Carrie Underwood & Michael W. Smith (Spirit of Christmas Album)

For the long nights and heavy burdens – Jesus is coming.

PostScript – January 2, 2015 – Look what my daughter gave me for Christmas – she had the original book among her Christmas books for her 3rd grade class. Now I have them both again….

Christmas, Family, Inspired, Music, peace on earth, Reconciliation/Forgiveness, Redeeming & Restoring, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – I Heard the Bells – Casting Crowns

December 3, 2014 admindeb 1 Comment

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord…And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” – Luke 2:10-11, 13-14

In December, 1863, American poet and scholar Henry W. Longfellow received his wounded son home from battle. It was Christmas time, and the U.S. Civil War raged on. Having already lost his wife years earlier, Longfellow nursed his son, Charley, back to health. His own thoughts, in turmoil over all that was happening around him, he poured out in the poem “Christmas Bells”.

Longfellow clearly took comfort from God as he wrote, ending the poem with this stanza:

“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”*

I Heard the Bells is a Christmas carol, not a worship anthem. Yet, given the continuing wars of our day, we must tend the fires of our hope. God is the “lifter of our heads” (Psalm 3:3). He is the One who gives strength to our “weak hands and shaking knees” (Isaiah 35:3). He will do as He’s promised. He is faithful. When you hear the bells ring where you are this Christmas season, take heart in that. We must continue to pray for His peace on earth. We can be vessels of His good-will toward our neighbors, both near and far away.

Worship with me…

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Lyric video)

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men

And the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir they’re singing (Peace on Earth)
In my heart I hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth I said
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men

But the bells are ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir singing (Peace on Earth)
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men

Then rang the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth He sleep (Peace on Earth, peace on Earth)
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men

Then ringing singing on its way

The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men

And the bells they’re ringing (Peace on Earth)
Like a choir they’re singing (Peace on Earth)
And with our hearts we’ll hear them
Peace on earth, good will to men

Do you hear the bells they’re ringing? (Peace on Earth)
The life the angels singing (Peace on Earth)
Open up your heart and hear them (Peace on Earth)
Peace on earth, good will to men

Peace on earth, Peace on earth
Peace on earth, Good will to men

YouTube Video – Casting Crowns performing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall On Christmas (Teaching Vignettes)

Christmas Carol Soldier – Story of Charley Appleton Longfellow & the occasion for H. W. Longfellow’s writing of the poem/lyric

The Story Behind I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day – Tom Stewart

*Longfellow’s poem Christmas Bells

Photo Credit: CastingCrowns.com

Culture & Religion, Film, God, Inspired, Jesus, Music, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – All Good Gifts – Thanksgiving Memories

November 26, 2014 admindeb 6 Comments

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. – James 1:17

For most of 20 years, we lived in North Africa where a Thanksgiving holiday was a foreign concept. “Eid el Shukr” (“Feast of Thanks” in Arabic) was understood but not a day set aside. We, along with other expat Americans, brought Thanksgiving with us and invited our local friends into the experience. On the surface, American Thanksgiving has pretty much three constant components – food, family, and football. In those days of living overseas, watching football on T.V. on Thanksgiving Day was a bit challenging, but these days, it seems, all things are possible.

Now, back in the States, the old traditions are changing. My Mom, who always laid out an incredible Southern-style feast on the kitchen counter back home in Georgia, is no longer with us. As with some of you, I’m sure, I miss her still every day and how she lavished love on us through these family times together. Our children are grown now and establishing their own traditions with more families and friends added into the mix. After so many years being away, we find ourselves needing to re-work our own traditions as well.

Last night, we participated in a community Thanksgiving dinner for international students. This is our fourth year, So I’m thinking it’s a new tradition for us. As we visited with new friends from Iran and Colombia, we marveled at how small the world has become. Enjoying Thanksgiving yummies together with them took us fondly back to our years in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Thanksgiving is, for us, all about food, family, and football…but there’s also another element…faith… I am grateful every day for the kindnesses of God and those he’s placed in my life. Celebrating Thanksgiving allows us to put an exclamation point on being grateful. It’s not just about a tableful of food, although food is clearly a focal point. Thanksgiving, even as a national holiday and not a religious one, focuses our sight beyond ourselves. There is an object in Thanksgiving beyond ourselves.

Over 30 years ago, a funky little Broadway musical was turned into a film – Godspell. It was an adaptation of the life of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew. At that time, I was in that season of life young people pass through of searching out what I believed. It wasn’t going well at that time. Praise God, He did not forget me during those days when I had all but forgotten Him. Watching Godspell, of all things, was one of the occasions God used to wake me up. There’s a wonder and delight in the young followers of Jesus in the musical. It reminded me of what I had once with God…and what could be again.

All the songs in the musical Godspell are lovely. Composer and Lyricist, Stephen Schwartz, beautifully captured some of Jesus’ teaching and the depth of love and rightness between Him, His followers, and creation, in general. All Good Gifts, adapted from an old hymn, is one such song and is a pure and proper doxology of praise for Thanksgiving.

Worship with me. [Here’s the YouTube video from Godspell to give you the melody.]

All Good Gifts*
We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land..
But it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand..
He sends us snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain…
The breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain…

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love…

We thank thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good,
The seedtime and the harvest, our life our health our food,
No gifts have we to offer for all thy love imparts
But that which thou desirest, our humble thankful hearts!

All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above..
Then thank the Lord, thank the Lord for all his love..

I really wanna thank you Lord!
All good gifts around us
Are sent from Heaven above..
Then thank the Lord, oh thank the Lord for all his love..

Food – Family Favorites in Mom’s Kitchen

Football – on T.V. or out on the street with cousins and friends

Family – Time together…savoring every minute.

Happy Thanksgiving…

Oh…just in case Thanksgiving is a struggle…and it isn’t all happy family fun…I pray you take courage and rein in your heart to remember that God sees and loves you. We can be a blessing…if you’ve read this far…you are a blessing to me. Wish you were at our table…maybe one day you will be. You are definitely welcome at God’s table.

*Lyrics and Story Behind the Song – All Good Gifts (Godspell)

YouTube Video – All Good Gifts (Godspell 1990)

YouTube Video Clip – All Good Gifts (Godspell original cast 1973)

Wikipedia article on original hymn/lyric – We Plough the Fields and Scatter (1862)

God, Inspired, Jesus, Music, Redeeming & Restoring, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – No Other Name – Jesus Christ of Nazareth

November 19, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

There are days I just want to cry out the name of Jesus over my city. HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS. His followers, in those early days of the church, knew Him. After He returned to the Father in Heaven, these followers were transformed by the power of God’s Spirit burning inside of them. Their boldness and earnestness gave witness to that. They put their lives on the line for the truth of who Jesus was…is. Read and resonate with just one of the accounts from the Bible, in the Acts of the Apostles:

Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer…and a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

“By what power or by what name have you done this?” [Peter was asked by the religious authorities present that day in Jerusalem]

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all…that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:7-12

There is no one like Him. He is the picture God gave us of Himself…His very Word. He came close to us that we might know God…

Worship with me.

No Other Name

One name holds weight above them all
His fame outlasts the earth He formed
His praise resounds beyond the stars
And echoes in our hearts
The greatest One of all

His face shines brighter than the sun
His grace as boundless as His love
He reigns with healing in His wings
The King above all kings
The greatest One of all

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Find hope when all the world seems lost
Behold the triumph of the cross
His power has trampled death and grave
Our life found in His name
The greatest name of all

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God
Jesus

The earth will shake and tremble before Him
Chains will break as heaven and earth sing
Holy is the name
Holy is the name of
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus
[x2]

Lift up our eyes, see the King has come
Light of the world reaching out for us
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus Christ our God

Seated on high, the undefeated One
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up
There is no other name
There is no other name
There is no other name
There is no other name
Jesus *

*No Other Name Lyrics & Chords – Writers Joel Houston & Jonas Myrin

YouTube Video – No Other Name – With Lyrics – Hillsong

No Other Name Hillsong Worship album

Give Me Jesus – Trevin Wax – Kingdom People

Image Credit – Hillsong Church Germany

God, Inspired, Music, Seasons, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – Thanksgiving – For the Beauty of the Earth – as Fall Fades into Winter

November 12, 2014 admindeb 2 Comments

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth. – Psalm 96:11-13

The wild and staggering beauty of nature renders me speechless some days. How can we take in the changing seasons and the fruit of each one and not wonder at a creator? How could all of nature work itself out in such amazing ways without a Master Designer? I love all the seasons of the year, but Fall is my favorite. There is so much to savor, with all our senses. For many years we lived in places where there was no noticeable Fall season. Still, the glory of oceans, deserts, and mountains left us satisfied.

Now that we are back in the US, I consider Fall a great gift to sooth the missing of those other places in my heart. Places where stands of cherry and almond trees in the Spring look snowy with pink and white blossoms. Places where olive orchards are tucked into mountain valleys. Places where wheat fields, golden in the sun, are punctuated by poppies, all swaying in the warm wind. These places always gave me pause – soaking up all before me, with worship in my heart.

Our journey now has taken us to Richmond, Virginia. Here, we are at the end of Fall. Some have told me that the colors this year haven’t been as spectacular as years before. I couldn’t say, because I am bedazzled by what we’ve experienced over the last several weeks.

Our neighborhood was built in an old forest. The hardwood trees stand tall and majestic. Right now, even at the end of Fall, the leaves are glorious in all kinds of shades and hues. Even as they turn to brown, I can’t get enough of it.

It’s sunny and warm for a November day, as I write, and an old hymn has come to mind. For the Beauty of the Earth (Pierpont & Kocher, 1864). This is sung especially at Thanksgiving or harvest time. For me, it takes me back to my childhood church where we sang out of the Baptist Hymnal. It reminds me of Fall even though the composer’s focus was really on raising up praise to God for all the good we have in our lives(especially the gift of Himself through Jesus).

This is Fall’s gift to me – nature’s testament of the glorious, creative, generous nature of God. When the leaves are all down, and the trees are bare, then Winter will come with its own witness of the Lord.

Worship with me – with the help of the Canadian band Eli Eli and a lovely acoustic arrangement of this old hymn.

For the Beauty of the Earth

For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.

Refrain

Lord of all, to Thee we raise,*
This our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.

Refrain

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.

Refrain

For Thy Church, that evermore
Lifteth holy hands above,
Offering up on every shore
Her pure sacrifice of love.

Refrain

For thyself, best Gift Divine,
To the world so freely given,
For that great, great love of Thine,
Peace on earth, and joy in heaven.

Refrain

*Originally, Christ our God, to Thee we raise

Photo Credit of pic just above – Alicia Bowman

For the Beauty of the Earth – with the hymn tune I most love – by Eli Eli

*Lyrics & Hymn Notes – For the Beauty of the Earth (Pierpont & Kocher)

**Lyrics & Hymn Notes #2 – For the Beauty of the Earth (other stanzas)

For the Beauty of the Earth – Sung by Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) choir. Not traditional melody. Beautiful still.

11 of the Great Hymns in Church History

Babies & Children, Music, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Volunteering/Serving, Walk with God, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – Babysitting, Ballads, and the Beauty of God

November 5, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

Don’t you love when the nearness of God penetrates an ordinary afternoon? I was babysitting for a little buddy of mine while her mom and dad went for a prenatal appointment for adorable baby #2. Her mom had left a Pandora radio station playing on her Apple computer for our listening enjoyment.

Side-Bar: I’m pretty narrow in my music preferences – both in genre and method of listening. The music on my computer was selected and installed by my family. Typically, I listen to my classical guitarist son, Nathan Mills, Christmas music (starting in October), and contemporary worship. If you’re like me, you may not know these songs (below; links are at the bottom of page). Hang in there with me on this. I think you will resonate with how God can turn any ordinary into something extraordinary.

As my little buddy finished her snack, and we retired to her living room to play, the music became more of a focal point. The Pandora channel was Jack Johnson (Children’s) which I’ve never heard before. As my little charge and I began playing together, one song after another (4 in a row) set my heart to praise.

Adele’s Make Me Feel Your Love – Cover of Bob Dylan’s song (1997).

“I could make you happy, make your dreams come true.
Nothing that I wouldn’t do.
Go to the ends of the Earth for you,
To make you feel my love.”*

Crazy romantic song and yet also full of images of my experience of a God who pursues and goes, not just to the ends of the Earth but, to the Cross for us. Not just so I can feel His love but to know it absolutely.

Jason Mraz’s I Won’t Give Up (also by Michael Natter) – It’s a ballad about fighting for relationship(s), about holding on to one’s life aspirations, and about remaining steadfast.

“I won’t give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I’m giving you all my love
I’m still looking up.

I don’t wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I’m here to stay and make the difference that I can make.”**

Coming on the playlist after Make You Feel My Love, this song reminded me of the culture of today. Commitments aren’t forever. Too often, we walk away from each other…and sometimes we walk away from God. So much is at stake in life, and I don’t want to be “someone who walks away so easily”. I want to be a person who doesn’t give up on life, or God…or you.

As I was twirling around the living room with my little buddy, singing this song, it was like a proclamation of praise to God that He doesn’t give up on us, and I’m not going to give up on us either.

Ingrid Michaelson’s The Way I Am – This quirky little love song doesn’t really take me to the throne of God or anything. Yet, there are a couple of lines that speak volumes to me:

“I love you more than I could ever promise.
And you take me the way I am.”***

How grateful I am that God knows us, through and through, and loves us anyway. His love causes me to love Him. He is not surprised or put off by my brokenness, and I love Him for that… No need to say, “I promise”. He knows I love Him…as imperfect and messy as that is…and He still takes me the way I am…and by His grace, makes me something beautiful.

Then, last of the 4 in a row:

American Authors’ Best Day of My Life – Anybody who knows this song has to wonder how I could derive any thought of God from it. It could be a stretch…but not for me. The lead vocalist of American Authors tells how the song is about how we can all escape from whatever our reality is and enter into some sort of better world we make up, if need be.**** We can make any day “the best day of my life”.

The irony here is that this situation is totally flipped, thanks to God. Whatever our situation is, or seems to be, we can know that God is at work in it, whatever it is, for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28). Rather than letting whatever is “seen” devastate us or bring us down, we focus on what is “unseen” – the marvel of God at work in our lives and all around us. He makes “best days” possible…always.

The rest of the songs on the Pandora playlist yesterday are a blur to me. The afternoon wound down with books, babydolls, and bears…and my little charge. When her parents returned, I left for home…blessed. A bit of time serving a young family I love, and 4 pop ballads that filled my heart, all over again, with joy and gratefulness at knowing God.

This sort of thing happens to you, too, right? Finding sacred in the supposed secular? I’m sure of it.

YouTube Video – Adele – Make Me Feel Your Love Lyrics

*Lyrics to Make Me Feel Your Love

YouTube Video – Jason Mraz – I Won’t Give Up [Official Music Video]

**Lyrics to I Won’t Give Up

YouTube Video – Ingrid Michaelson – The Way I Am [Official Music Video]

Story Behind the Song – The Way I Am

***Lyrics to The Way I Am

YouTube Video – American Authors – Best Day of My Life

****Story Behind the Song Best Day of My Life

God, Inspired, Jesus, Lives Full of God, Music, Walk with God, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – Hallelujahs Multiplied by NeedToBreathe

October 29, 2014 admindeb Leave a comment

[The LORD speaking] “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19

I was so mad. Details aren’t important for this. Let’s just say, all it takes for me sometimes to rocket from baseline to ballistic is to be ignored. Especially when I think what I’m saying is important. Sigh. Not that I would do anything with my anger except to go all silent and fuming. Yet, it still happens…after all these years, walking with the Lord. Getting angry because I didn’t get the consideration “deserved”.

Entitlement is such an indictment of our heart – our all-out absorption with self.

En·ti·tle·ment – the fact of having a right to something; the amount to which a person has a right; the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.

Thanks be to GOD, that He doesn’t leave His children wallowing in their muddled thoughts. Within minutes, the Holy Spirit’s kind reasoning broke through my anger. I came to my senses thinking of how GOD must deal with our ignoring Him. Nothing in what I’ve experienced of His character shows Him stewing in anger toward us. He is not surprised at our behavior. He knows our frailty when we stomp our feet and kick at the dust in whatever frustration we’ve allowed ourselves to focus on.

He does not retaliate. Even when He is silent, it never seems like the kind I perpetrated against my husband, for instance, in those early years of marriage. It would take me three days to return to normal conversation with him when he “made me mad”. How thankful I am that God has grown me well past those days. How thankful that He does not get angry at His children in ways that punish.

Now, in minutes, instead of days, God gently reminds me how to release the anger toward another, frail as me. He brings Himself to mind in the life and example of Jesus, who suffered long with those He loved. My entitlement falls in pieces at the foot of the Cross, where He died for me.

Bear and Bo Rinehart, brothers out of Seneca, South Carolina, wrote Multiplied. They, along with Seth Bolt, make up the band NEEDTOBREATHE. The song Multiplied came to mind yesterday as I recovered from my fit, remembering Whose I am. His love, not judgment, helped me clear my head. How amazing that He (like the song says) comes to find us, wherever we are and whatever condition we put ourselves.

We have such a small life…such a short one here…God, please take all our “hallelujahs” and multiply them to Your magnificent glory.

Worship with me.

Multiplied

Your love is
Like radiant diamonds
Bursting inside us
We cannot contain
Your love will
Surely come find us
Like blazing wildfires
Singing your name

God of mercy
Sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to your design
may this offering stretch across the sky
And these hallelujahs be multiplied.

Lyrics of Multiplied from the album Rivers in the Wasteland; written by Bear Rinehart and Bo Rinehart

YouTube Official Video of Multiplied

YouTube Unofficial Lyric Video of Multiplied

Story Behind the Song and the Band

Images – NeedToBreathe Website

Culture & Religion, God, Inspired, Jesus, Lessons Learned, Transitions, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – There is No One Else For Me – None But Jesus*

October 15, 2014 admindeb 1 Comment

Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” – John 6:67-69

I love the pink glow of the sky at sunrise…for me, it’s the reward of the early morning wake-up. Getting up before the birds begin their singing, and it’s still dark. That quiet, with my first cup of coffee, and only God and my thoughts. This morning it gave me pause to remember last night’s late conversation with a friend.

We were lamenting, brooding even, about the larger-than-life influence of college professors (on our children) and the sometimes narrow arrogance of higher education. How extraordinary that in a liberal arts education supposedly training the thinkers of the next tomorrow, the example of the life and leadership of Jesus is so often minimized, as to not even exist in history.

There was a time earlier in my life, during college actually, that I stepped away from my faith. If you knew me then, you might not have noticed. I was involved in church, more or less, and the goodness of God was still imprinted on many of my life choices…but not all, for sure. I stepped away…desiring the approval of my intellectual agnostic classmates (and colleagues, later) and the acceptance of my Friday night Happy Hour crowd. That was the peer group that drew me in like a child gazing up at a department store window filled with Christmas toys.

The problem with that is the toys break and they’re never quite enough fun. The search for more toys always follows. We are never satisfied.

During an amazing time in the life of Jesus, after He demonstrated Himself to have such power that He could only be God, even then, He had disciples to walk away from him…never to return. It was at that time He asked one of His closest disciples, Peter, if he would leave. Peter answered in a way that I would now, having regained my senses after my post-college wanderings.

“To whom would [I] go?” There is “none but Jesus.”

I have my own advanced degree, and decades of keeping company with highly educated, extraordinarily competent and accomplished people. We talk about all sorts of issues and we work to make a better world. When all is said and done, if I bring anything at all to the table, it’s because of knowing Jesus. He has changed me, my thinking and way of living, in profound and deeply satisfying ways.

What a great deceit and injustice to society that our culture has been swayed to disregard the wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy, and love of God as displayed through His Son. May we see the day that this turns…may we be part of the turning.

Worship with me…None But Jesus*

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

[Chorus] There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

[Chorus]

I am Yours and You are Mine (x4)

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore (x2)

[Chorus]**

*YouTube Video of None But Jesus with Lyrics – Sung by composer Brooke Fraser

**Lyrics to None But Jesus

YouTube Video of None But Jesus – worship led by Hillsong

Brooke Fraser website

Chart of Religious Views of Jesus – Jesus is so much more than religion.

I Will Follow Him – Andre Rieu – Under the Stars, Maastricht V, the Netherlands – just for fun and the joy of thinking of Jesus while watching/singing with it

Photo Credit – Alicia Bowman

God, Jesus, Lives Full of God, Walk with God, Wednesday Worship

Worship Wednesday – Let My Life be the Proof of Your Love – For King & Country

October 8, 2014 admindeb 4 Comments

Proof

noun \ˈprüf\

: something which shows that something else is true or correct

: an act or process of showing that something is true

“Believe what you want to believe.” “That’s fine for you.” “I’m not convinced.” “You can’t really prove it.” “Whatever.”

What if our lives were the proof of God’s love? What if the existence…no, the very presence of God…could be shown irrefutably through our lives…by our love for God and for others?

I am so weary of the cultural call to tolerance and acceptance. It’s as if that is as high as we can aim in society. Even in the church, we can be lulled to sleep…groveling at the altar of “Live and let live.” May it not be so…never be so. The truth is that in the adage of “Live and let live”, in real life, some actually die. Unloved. Without a thought.

Living a smaller life is so attractive – taking care of my own, having plenty of time for me, preparing for my retirement…and so it goes. Being responsible in these ways is a good thing, of course, yet God calls us to a larger life…of true, and genuine, life-giving and life-saving love.

If we are true followers of Jesus, God transforms us into a people who can express His unwavering love to each other and each other and each other…not in our own strength, but His, as we daily give ourselves to His love and His purposes.

What a wonder if those around us see us not just as nice or moral but as proof of God’s love…that our very lives resonate with something altogether different…something so winsome that we are seen in shadow, and God is manifested in all His glory!

Oh to love like that….may it be so, God.

[Jesus taught them, saying] “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” Matthew 5:43-44

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” – John 13:35

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. – John 15:13

God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:8

This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. – Philippians 1:9-11

We have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: as He is, so are we in this world. – 1 John 4:16-17

Worship with me….

The Proof of Your Love

If I sing but don’t have love
I waste my breathe with every song
I bring, an empty voice
A hollow noise

If I speak with a silver tongue
Convince a crowd but don’t have love
I leave a bitter taste
With every word I say

(Chorus)
So let my life be the proof
The proof of Your love
Let my love look like You
And what You’re made of
How you lived, how You died
Love is sacrifice
So let my life be the proof
The proof of Your love

If I give to a needy soul
But don’t have love then who is poor
It seems all the poverty
Is found in me

Chorus

Ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
When it’s all said and done
Ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
When we sing our final song

Only love remains
Only love remains

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love. (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, The Message)

Chorus

(Music & Lyrics: Joel Smallbone / Luke Smallbone / Mia Fieldes / Jonathan Lee / Fred Williams / Ben Glover)

The Proof of Your Love – Official Music Video

YouTube video of The Proof of Your Love with Lyrics

Inside Look at the Song and the Video

For King & Country Website

Definition of Proof

Photo Credit

Lessons Learned, Music, Thanksgiving or Gratefulness, Walk with God, Wednesday Worship, Word of God

Worship Wednesday – In the Hands of Our Redeemer, Nothing Is Wasted – Jason Gray

October 1, 2014 admindeb 5 Comments

I love the words of the old prophet Joel calling God’s people to repentance with the promise that He would restore the years destroyed by locusts. Read the passage (below) and allow rejoicing to take the place of regret… How thankful I am for the grace, mercy, and kindness of Almighty God.

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”

So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you;
and My people shall never be put to shame…I am the Lord your God
and there is no other. My people shall never be put to shame.” – Joel 2:12-13, 25a, 26, 27b

Jason Gray’s song Nothing Is Wasted is poignant in its message and melody. Listening to it takes me back to those years of locusts in my own life – years in my youth when I praised God on Sunday and went my own way the rest of the week. Truth be told, I was far from Him, taken in by the deceit of the world and the Evil One…and my own self-serving heart. How thankful I will forever be that God is such a great Restorer, a gentle Redeemer, and that, as Jason wrote, nothing is wasted in His hands.

As the years have passed since that time, I have seen God use those years of brokenness in my life to tender my heart toward others struggling with the pull of the world, drawing them away from God. Losses, failures, and disappointments abound in this world and can cloud our view of what is true about God and His Gospel. He wants to turn our “mourning into dancing” (Psalm 30:11), and He wastes nothing in doing so.

“There isn’t anything that happens that is beyond God’s reach to redeem. He gives us a place to bring our brokenness, our weakness, our sadness.” – Jason Gray

Whatever has happened in your past – whatever separates you from the hope and healing God desires for you – give it to Him. He alone is able to bear it. Then reach forward and upward…He is reaching out to you. I know…He reached very low for me, and I will love Him forever with the most grateful of hearts.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14

Worship with me…

Nothing Is Wasted

Jason Gray, from the album A Way to See In the Dark

The hurt that broke your heart
And left you trembling in the dark
Feeling lost and alone
Will tell you hope’s a lie
But what if every tear you cry
Will seed the ground where joy will grow

(chorus)
Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

It’s from the deepest wounds
That beauty finds a place to bloom
And you will see before the end
That every broken piece is
Gathered in the heart of Jesus
And what’s lost will be found again

(chorus)
Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

(Bridge)
When hope is more than you can bear
And it’s too hard to believe it could be true
And your strength fails you halfway there
You can lean on me and I’ll believe for you
And in time you will believe it too

(chorus)
Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
Sometimes we are waiting
In sorrow we have tasted
But joy will replace it
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

YouTube Video – Nothing Is Wasted – Official Music Video

Nothing Is Wasted – Thoughts on a Music Video

YouTube Video – Nothing Is Wasted – Official Lyric Video

Jason Gray Song Diary – Nothing Is Wasted

Jason Gray Music

Photo Credit – Jason Gray Music