Worship

Nothing But the Blood

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But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:13 NLT

I still remember the “I Found It” campaign, launched by Campus Crusade back in 1976. Billboards, bumper stickers and even lapel pins sported that phrase. The intent was to stir conversations, that would give Christians the opportunity to share the message of Christ. It was an interesting approach, but its message that, before being saved, we were searching for Christ and had somehow found Him, doesn’t line up well with the Bible. The entire Gospel is rather about Jesus coming as a shepherd searching for His lost sheep. He didn’t come because we were looking for Him, but because He was looking for us. The Good News of salvation is that the Holy Son of God, gave Himself as an innocent sacrifice for people like us, who had rejected Him. On the cross, as His blood poured down its timbers and touched the ground, a miracle occurred, a door opened wide, and a love story was told. Through the blood of Jesus, God reached out and claimed us as His own. “How can I be included?” you might ask. The answer is that, if God can redeem a failure like Peter, who had denied Him at His trial, a hater of Christians like Paul, and a doubter like Thomas, who demanded to put His hands on the nail prints before He would believe, then He can redeem you and me! In fact, I can’t find a thing, until He finds me first, not because of what I have done but through “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus!” Last Sunday, we introduced that hymn into our growing songbook at the nursing home. I hope you will enjoy listening to our simple rendition of this classic, coupled with the more contemporary Maranatha song, “White as Snow.” Have a blessed day everyone!

Where Shepherds Knelt to Worship

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Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? James 2:5 ESV

With our culture’s emphasis on success, the American dream and racing towards our goals, it is easy to lose sight of what really matters. But once a week God gives me a refresher course on the economics of what He values, in the memory care wing of Sunshine Christian Home. There I have the distinct privilege of meeting with a group of very special people. These friends of mine have lost everything that society says is important: their homes, their friends, their health, and maybe most precious of all, their memories. Not even in India have I met people poorer in the things of this world, and yet, every week they encourage my heart, by the richness of their faith. Though it may take a few minutes for them to focus, once they look up, I am greeted with smiles as big and beautiful as you will ever see in church. In today’s verse, the Apostle James points to people just like these friends of mine and asks, “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world, to be rich in faith?”

By stripping away all the external signs of wealth, they are left with the eternal riches that only God can give. They are rich in faith, because when everything they have depended on all their lives was taken, they found that God was still on their side. There in that tiny room we sing about the kingdom that waits on the other side of the door and the promises of God that stand forever. There the Savior draws close as He once did in a stable where He lay His head on hay, and cattle lowed, and shepherds knelt to worship!

Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

/ pastorpete51 / 9 Comments 
Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. Ephesians 5:19 KJV

In this verse, Paul writes about psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as if they were three friends. Sadly, in our modern age we have chopped these neatly up and then stored them on separate shelves in our pantry. But what a great joy it can be for those of us who call ourselves poets to attempt a reunion and invite all three to our kitchen table.

For example, when we use the word “Psalm,” most of us think only of the one hundred and fifty of them written in the Bible. But the Greek word, simply means a verse of any sort that is accompanied by stringed instruments. Stranger still, the phrase “spiritual song” was not a song as we know it, but more of a rhythmic chant, (a bit closer to what we call a poem). Last of all, the word hymn, meant a musical celebration, and was what Jesus sang with His disciples before they went out from the Last Supper. It might surprise you to learn that many of the hymns we sing today were not initially written as songs. Just to give one example, “How Great Thou Art” by Carl Boberg, was originally written in Swedish as a ten-stanza poem, titled “O Store Gud.” Somewhere along the way it was paired with a folk melody and then later translated into Russian. After that Russian version began to become popular in Ukraine, it was heard by a British missionary, named Stuart Hine. Stuart loved the song so much that he translated the first two of the verses into English, and then added the third and fourth verses which we sing today.

I won’t go into detail, but similar stories lie behind, well known songs such as “My Jesus I Love Thee” “Jesus Loves Me” and “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” One precious memory I have as a nursing home chaplain is of my friend Davonne – now singing with Jesus. Anytime our song service, if I would ask to sing only the first, second and last verse. Davonne would exclaim, “NO Pastor Peter! That song has a story and if we skip any of the verses, we will be missing part of it!” So, maybe it will help you the next time you are laboring away trying to tell a story with a poem, to close your eyes, then imagine the melody of your favorite hymn playing in the background and let it set a rhythm to your words and make a melody in your heart!