{"id":25342,"date":"2020-06-25T07:12:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T11:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25342"},"modified":"2020-06-25T07:12:40","modified_gmt":"2020-06-25T11:12:40","slug":"worship-wednesday-if-i-stand-rich-mullins-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=25342","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – If I Stand – Rich Mullins"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Blog<\/a>Photo Credit: azquotes.com<\/a><\/p>\n

[Adapted from the Archives<\/a>]<\/p>\n

In these turbulent days, we are called to take our stand with or against. No middle ground. Seemingly no choice in the matter but with or against. Our culture seeks to define our choices. As believers, we once experienced the drawing of the Holy Spirit in a choosing of a loving Lord. Now we choose every day to shut out the noise that draws us away from Him, and to listen to that still small voice to choose life…to choose love…to choose Him.<\/p>\n

This morning I want to focus on those in our lives who reflect this great God to us. Those who’ve gone before and in our lives today. Influencers. Not the ones in our culture who seek to tear down and condemn…but those whose own loving and steadfast hearts remind us of Jesus.<\/p>\n

We stand \u201con the shoulders of giants\u201d (attributed to Isaac Newton<\/a>, but not original to him, standing on giant shoulders as well). How thankful I am for praying women, Godly teachers, sincere encouragers, true friends, and kind strangers. Among these as well are musicians who wrote and sang about the God they knew.<\/p>\n

Worshipping God is something I long to do better. He is worthy of so much more. Fortunately for us, He has given\u00a0heartsongs to a faithful few songwriters who put words to how we know, or want to know, God. Keith Green<\/a> was one of those influencers in my life. I actually remember where I was when he died \u2013 working on a construction site in Surigao City, Philippines, over 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

Another such influencer is\u2026was Rich Mullins.<\/strong> His songs always help me shake off self and soar to worship God. He also died young in 1997. His legacy to us is song after song of gut-honest worship and wonder. He struggled in his own personal brokenness and that of our world. Yet\u00a0he turned that into praise to a God who created all the beauty of this world for us and lavished His love on us, no matter what. Listen to this worshipper speak truth to you himself:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible is not a book for the faint of heart\u2026It is not the collection of pretty little anecdotes mouthed by pious little church mice \u2014 it does not so much nibble at our shoe leather as it cuts to the heart and splits the marrow from the bone. It does not give us answers fitted to our small-minded questions, but truth that goes beyond what we even know to ask.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u2015 Rich Mullins<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGod did not give Joseph any special information about how to get from being the son of a nomad in Palestine to being Pharaoh\u2019s right hand man in Egypt. What He did give Joseph were eleven jealous brothers, the attention of a very loose and vengeful woman, the ability to do the service of interpreting dreams and managing other people\u2019s affairs and the grace to do that faithfully wherever he was.\u201d<\/em> \u2015 Rich Mullins<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI had a professor one time\u2026 He said, \u2018Class, you will forget almost everything I will teach you in here, so please remember this: that God spoke to Balaam through his ass, and He has been speaking through asses ever since. So, if God should choose to speak through you, you need not think too highly of yourself. And, if on meeting someone, right away you recognize what they are, listen to them anyway\u2019.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 \u2015 Rich Mullins<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then he [Job] went to God and wanted to know why the righteous suffer. And Beuchner points out, God never gave him an answer. That God merely gave him Himself. And when Job had encountered the Almighty, the questions lost their power over him. And I think that a lot of us are real interested in some easy answers, and some \u2018Wow, if I can, if we can come up with some kind of an easy answer to make life comfortable\u2026\u2019 We\u2019re much more interested in answers than we are in the Truth. And the Truth is always going to be a mystery. It will always be a paradox. It will always be a little beyond our grasp. And if we\u2019re uncomfortable with that, that\u2019s okay, because a little bit of discomfort will keep us moving.\u201d \u2014 Rich Mullins<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won\u2019t also cost you yours.\u201d<\/em> \u2015 Rich Mullins<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

Worship<\/a> this beautiful, loving, just and merciful God with me:<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more that rises in the morning
\nThan the sun
\nAnd more that shines in the night
\nThan just the moon
\nIt\u2019s more than just this fire here
\nThat keeps me warm
\nIn a shelter that is larger
\nThan this room<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a loyalty that\u2019s deeper
\nThan mere sentiments
\nAnd a music higher than the songs
\nThat I can sing
\nThe stuff of Earth competes
\nFor the allegiance
\nI owe only to the giver
\nOf all good things<\/p>\n

CHORUS:
\nSo if I stand let me stand on the promise
\nThat you will pull me through
\nAnd if I can\u2019t, let me fall on the grace
\nThat first brought me to You
\nAnd if I sing let me sing for the joy
\nThat has born in me these songs
\nAnd if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more that dances on the prairies
\nThan the wind
\nMore that pulses in the ocean
\nThan the tide
\nThere\u2019s a love that is fiercer
\nThan the love between friends
\nMore gentle than a mother\u2019s
\nWhen her baby\u2019s at her side<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a loyalty that\u2019s deeper
\nThan mere sentiments
\nAnd a music higher than the songs
\nThat I can sing
\nThe stuff of Earth competes
\nFor the allegiance
\nI owe only to the Giver
\nOf all good things<\/p>\n

CHORUS(2x)<\/p>\n

And if I weep let it be as a man
\nWho is longing for his home.<\/p>\n