music. singing

Come Thou Fount

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. Not as the result of works so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Maybe the reason this now ancient hymn strikes a chord in my heart is that the tumultuous life of young Robert Robertson was a lot like my own. Wandering far from the fold of God, was an understatement in both our lives. But into the middle of my mess, and on a collision course with disaster, God intervened, when someone offered me a ride while hitchhiking if I would just go to church. In Robert’s case, he and some ne’er-do-well friends, made plans to go to laugh and mock at a meeting where the famous evangelist George Whitefield was speaking. God must have chuckled, because there Robertson fell under the conviction of the Holy Spirit under Whitefield’s preaching, and not long afterward, committed His life to Jesu Christ. Then, just two years later, at the age of 22, the wonderful lyrics, of Come Thou Fount were born as Robert wrote:

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to me
Let Thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering soul to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart O take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above

That great debt of grace, only paid by the precious blood of Jesus is what binds us in love to Him forever, if we give our hearts to Jesus Christ. I pray that our simple rendering of this wonderful hymn, will be a blessing to you all this Sunday. Have a wonderful Sunday, and may you find rest and peace in His grace.

Higher Ground

/ pastorpete51 / 7 Comments 
I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 
Philippians 1:23 ESV

About ten years ago, I used to pay a weekly visit to an elderly couple from our church, who were no longer able to come to the Sunday services. Since they enjoyed singing, so I would always bring my guitar. Though their apartment was small, they made room for a cage where they kept two little parakeets, and the highlight of our singing sessions was when those two parakeets joined in. During the slower hymns, they would tweet to each other and dance on their perch, but whenever we sang the hymn, “I’ll Fly Away” they got so excited that they flew right out of the open cage door and sat up above the kitchen cabinets, where they joyfully tweeted with all their might!

That memory from years ago came back to me yesterday with the passing of yet another dear friend into the presence of Jesus. It reminded me that while we are here on earth, we are in a body that like the bird cage is not our permanent home. We can sing and praise the Lord the best we can from our low perch, but at the time that God chooses we have an appointment to keep with Jesus. Because of His death and resurrection, our cage door has been opened and when we hear His voice, we will spread our own wings and fly up and away. There He has prepared a high and heavenly new perch from which we be able to sing a hymn of praise forever – on that highest ground of all!

Hitting High Notes in Memory Care

/ pastorpete51 / 4 Comments 
I will praise to the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Psalm 146:2 ESV

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of…” I am sure as you read that phrase, that you were not only able to fill in the rest of the words, but that the melody from the Battle Hymn of the Republic also stirred in your memory. The linking of memory and melody is nothing short of miraculous. I still remember a night from a few years ago when a non-verbal 102-year-old resident who had been wheeled into our church services for months, suddenly broke into song at Christmas as we began singing “Silent Night.” Something in those words awoke a memory in her, and she sang along for more than just the first few lines. Amazingly, this dear lady made it all the way through all three verses! You could try to explain her response in some sort of scientific terms, but the plain truth is that there was a mystery there which only God understood. While we have commandments which forbid us from doing some things and require us to do others, as believers, singing praises to God is usually spontaneous. From the beginning of creation, God gave us singing as a wonderful gift to help us express our love and worship to Him. Even with people whose cognitive abilities have been severely compromised, they still retain a sometime hidden capacity to sing,

So, while visiting, friends or family who are living in memory care, why not try bringing along music. Turn on the radio, play a music CD or use a song list from your device. But no matter the form you use, be sure to sing with them. Listening is to hymns or worship songs is soothing, but singing together is priceless. Remember today’s verse says that we can sing to God, not just when we are young and our voices are clear, but as long as we live, and if we have eternal life through Jesus Christ that is a long-long time indeed!