The Example

Inspired by John 13


Creator of the universe
Inhabiting our little earth
Fulfilling ev’ry holy verse
The highest name of heaven’s worth
His glory he has laid aside
To grant a gaze to sinners’ eyes
The Savior stooped to now abide
To die for justice and to rise
He has the right to claim the throne
He need not face our fallen throes
But still he comes to call his own
To bear the cross his Father chose
His place as Lord is clearly seen
His praises, many men repeat
And yet he comes to make us clean
Our God is washing dirty feet
Humility in sacrifice
Messiah meeting man in plight
Our God has paid the highest price
Salvation springs from dying Light
His victory is now proclaimed
Exalted over ev’ry name
His standard, too, has now been framed
“Go now,” He says, “And do the same.”

image

Count It All Joy

Oh how quickly we abandon
Our morality and will
When, to our complete confusion,
Circumstances strike us ill.
Ill-advised is our rebellion,
Yet the rebel’s part we play:
From disciple into hellion
When the storm invades the day.
Can we not remember glory,
That our Lord has won the fight?
Do we yet forget the story?
Light has broken through the night!
Suffering is light and fleeting
When compared to Christ above.
No bereavement, bane, or beating
Breaks the grip of God’s great love.
Persecution serves to purge us.
Suffering now sanctifies.
We are bought by Christ’s own purchase,
Seeing now with open eyes.
Therefore, we count joy our sorrow,
Singing praise in deepest pain.
Should we face our death tomorrow,
Even this is wond’rous gain.

image

Theology

I really like theology. Throughout my relationship with the Lord, I’ve often found myself more at home in the academic realm than anywhere else. Thick books with big words and complicated explanations concerning the nature of God have long captivated my interest and stirred my heart for the Lord. I get excited when I get a better grasp of a doctrine, and I am thrilled when I get to share with others about possible ways of understanding the God of our salvation and his ways in the world. I desire to know him and to make him known, as the saying goes. But to grow in an understanding of God is to recognize that God will never be fully understood through my studies in this life. Continue reading

The Great Commandment

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Matthew 22:37-38

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5:21

Question: Do I love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind?

Answer: No. I do not. Continue reading

Jesus

Laying down to make atonement
Rising up to his enthronement
Humble condescension
Glorious ascension
God in flesh in place of sinner
Holy, sacrificial dinner
Blood and body broken
Word of God now spoken
Cross of wood for man’s salvation
Gift of God: propitiation
Work of Christ completed
Curse of sin deleted
Christ the fount of life eternal
Author of the church fraternal
God of highest glory
Hero of the story

A Prayer of Thanks

Thank you for your grace in sending
Clouds and rain to cool the day.
Thank you for your love unending,
God who listens when we pray.
Thank you that your love is founded
Not in what this man can bring;
In your life my own is grounded.
Of the cross and grave I sing.
Thank you for a hope unfailing,
For a future sealed and sure.
When my soul this world is ailing,
By your Word I will endure.
Let me always seek your glory,
Yours the Name that reigns alone.
Use my life to tell your story
Till I stand before your throne.

Awestruck

chuttersnap-LO7bR7RdPmo-unsplash

How can eternity be fit into
A heart wrapped up in temporality?
Can lying lips do justice to the True?
The finite comprehend infinity?
We quake before the whispers of his ways.
Who then could stand before his thund’rous might?
This God who is, the all-consuming blaze –
He dwelleth unapproachable in light.
And yet, in Christ, the Maker made a way
For mortal man to know immortal love.
And Beauty – more than words could ever say –
Became the Revelation from above.
Communion takes the place of death in sin
As God makes blinded eyes to see again.


Photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash