Charles Wesley just blew me away!

In my search for the lyrics to "Soldiers of Christ Arise", I found this beautiful nugget of poetry. Little did I know when we sing this hymn in worship, we only touch on 5 of a potential 24 stanzas of this amazing piece of art. My hopes in my search was to add some of these lyrics to a paper I was writing about on courage. As I began reading the parts unfamiliar to me, I began reading them to the tune of this song. And guess what? The music goes perfectly with every line. Soldiers, give it a try!

Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son
Strong in the Lord of hosts, and in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror.

Stand then in His great might, with all His strength endued,
But take, to arm you for the fight, the panoply of God;
That, having all things done, and all your conflicts passed,
Ye may o'ercome through Christ alone and stand entire at last.

Stand then against your foes, in close and firm array;
Legions of wily fiends oppose throughout the evil day;
But meet the sons of night, and mock their vain design,
Armed in the arms of heavenly light, of righteousness divine.

Leave no unguarded place, no weakness of the soul,
Take every virtue, every grace, and fortify the whole;
Indissolubly joined, to battle all proceed;
But arm yourselves with all the mind that was in Christ, your Head.

But, above all, lay hold on faith's victorious shield;
Armed with that adamant and gold, be sure to win the field:
If faith surround your heart, Satan shall be subdued,
Repelled his every fiery dart, and quenched with Jesu's blood.

Jesus hath died for you! What can His love withstand?
Believe, hold fast your shield, and who shall pluck you from His hand?
Believe that Jesus reigns; all power to Him is giv'n:
Believe, till freed from sin's remains; believe yourselves to Heav'n.

To keep your armor bright, attend with constant care,
Still walking in your Captain's sight, and watching unto prayer.
Ready for all alarms, steadfastly set your face,
And always exercise your arms, and use your every grace.

Pray without ceasing, pray, your Captain gives the word;
His summons cheerfully obey and call upon the Lord;
To God your every want in instant prayer display,
Pray always; pray and never faint; pray, without ceasing, pray!

In fellowship alone, to God with faith draw near;
Approach His courts, besiege His throne with all the powers of prayer:
Go to His temple, go, nor from His altar move;
Let every house His worship know, and every heart His love.

To God your spirits dart, your souls in words declare,
Or groan, to Him Who reads the heart, the unutterable prayer:
His mercy now implore, and now show forth His praise,
In shouts, or silent awe, adore His miracles of grace.

Pour out your souls to God, and bow them with your knees,
And spread your hearts and hands abroad, and pray for Zion's peace;
Your guides and brethren bear for ever on your mind;
Extend the arms of mighty prayer, ingrasping all mankind.

From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray,
Tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well fought day.
Still let the Spirit cry in all His soldiers, 'Come!'
'Til Christ the Lord descends from high and takes the conquerors home

Make Mention of Him!

"I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us..." Isaiah 63:7.

As I 'punch out' this post for my Ministry Technology class, I'm reminded by this text of how little I make mention of my God. I sit here at my dining room table (my school desk until July 2010) wondering just how have I represented my Lord to the world around me. Have you ever been asked by a stranger, "How are you doing"? What is your response? What do you really want to say? I remember working for a Captain at my last duty assignment in the Air Force who always answered that question with "better than I deserve". He was a wonderful man to work with and never once treated me with the air of authority since I was an enlisted subordinate. He often talked of and praised Jesus when possible. He was not ashamed of who he represented.

As I look around my house, I can't help but praise God for the blessings I have. Why does He pour out His lovingkinesses to me? Here I am an inconsistent, rebellious (at times) child of God who finds himself worrying more often than living joyously because of my redemption by the blood of Christ. I appreciate Paul's attitude throughout the book of Acts. What really amazes me is where his mind is even during the shipwreck on his way to Rome. From what I see, there are 276 prisoners who endured 14 days of starvation. Paul encourages them through notifying them they will survive this trial and by feeding them. In front of all 276 men he gives thanks to God in the presence of all (Acts 27:35)! What an example of steadfastness Paul is. May we all follow in the footsteps of this leader that boldly lived and represented his Savior well.

God is the fountain whence
Ten thousand blessings flow;
To Him my life, my health, and friends,
And every good, I owe.

The comforts He affords
Are neither few nor small;
He is the source of fresh delights,
My portion and my all.

He fills my heart with joy,
My lips attunes for praise;
And to His glory I’ll devote
The remnant of my days.

~Benjamin Beddome, 1817

Chinook-ered

I love the weather! Did you know that? But what I love more is knowing God created it. Last night was an amazing display of God's creation of weather. Some areas of Denver reported 80-90mph winds from this phenomenon called a Chinook wind. This is a common feature for us on the leeward side of the Rockies. What always comes to mind when I observe wind of this magnitude is how God managed to evaporate the waters of the Great Flood. In Genesis 8:1, "...God caused a wind to pass over the earth"(emphasis mine). God didn't have to bring on a wind at all to dry up the water. He could have just made the flood disappear in an instant but He didn't. He created that wind that began the evaporation process. This was and is His world and He has a specific purpose for all elements created. Also, in Genesis 8:2 "...the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained"(again, emphasis mine). When I see such actions by God such as Him closing the fountains of the deep and floodgates and Him restraining the rain from falling then I know, without a doubt, that He created all the weather patterns and elements that exist. I've never viewed weather forecasting as a challenge to see if I could "out guess" God, but rather as a challenge to understand His beautiful creation better. He is the One who has put all in motion with a loving purpose. All Laws of Science (Laws of God) are His and for us to try to understand, if we want to, but they are definitely here for us to enjoy.

A Little 'Quizalinko'

So I've been thinkin'. If the temperature inside a refrigerator is warmer than the garage it is being stored in, then is a refrigerator still called a refrigerator? Hmmm. Think about that one tonight when it gets well below freezing tomorrow.

Run Like The Wind

"Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love
and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." 2 Timothy 2:22

Yesterday's Leadership class was fantastic. We covered 12 facts that cannot fail when in a leadership position. One in particular that I wanted to highlight was practicing self-control.

Nothing gets my goat more than to see this world deliberately pinpoint our society with lustful marketing tactics. Since I was part of the world for the first 19 years of my life, I did not have my guard up when it came to fleshly temptations. Yes, I was affected by my poor choices in life and those poor choices resulted in consequences that, in some cases, had residual outcomes.
From what I can gather, thus far, in my minimal amount of Greek is that the words flee and pursue are present active imperative verbs (Wow, look at Jon using those 50 cent words!). What I believe Paul is trying to get across is that this is what you MUST do (commands). I also believe that most of us in the church have a grasp of pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace. Where some tend to fail though is in understanding how and when to flee. In practicing self-control, some believe we need to stand face to face with temptation in hopes that our faith will persevere and we will survive the test. And if this trial does not go in God's favor, we may go through a period of remorse, followed by a reevaluation of our faith accompanied with prayer and then back to the battlefield against temptation, face to face. Is this a practice of self-control? No, this is a result of what's called desensitization. Basically, the more we purposely face the same temptation the more we come back to it. We begin rationalizing what God's word says.

What fleeing is is self-control. Fleeing a situation does not make someone a coward. Fleeing a enticing situation makes you wise and pleases God. Recognizing your weaknesses and not allowing Satan to even get close to that weakness is another area of righteousness. Yesterday we also learned in class we should only focus 5% of our time to our weaknesses. Those weaknesses may always be there but if we can focus on our strengths and fortify them through devotion to God's will, we develop a stronger defense. Don't forget, God will always provide a way out of temptation (1 Cor. 10:13) even if it means putting our track shoes on.

Pearl Harbor Memorial (late)

Regrettably, I forgot to post on Dec. 7th. Our country's 67th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. I've always loved the lyrics to the song "What Did He Die For?" by Twila Paris

He was twenty-one in 1944
He was hope and he was courage on a lonely shore
Sent there by a mother with love beyond her tears
Just a young American who chose to rise above his fears
And as I watch him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder

What did he die for?
When he died for you and me
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question

What did he die for?
When he died for me

To the darkest day in A.D. 33
Came the mercy and compassion of eternity
Sent there by a Father with love beyond His tears
Blameless One, the only Son
to bear the guilt of all these years
And as I watch Him struggle up that hill
Without a thought of turning back
I cannot help but wonder

What did He die for?
When He died for you and me
Made the sacrifice
So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question

What did he die for?
He died for freedom
He died for love
And all the things we do not pay Him back
Could never be enough
What did He die for?
When He died for you and me
Made the sacrifice

So that we could all be free
I believe we will answer each to heaven
For the way we spend a priceless liberty
Look inside and ask the question
What did he die for?
When He died for me

Apt to ...COOK?

No, this picture has not been doctored in any way, shape or form. What you are observing is an eldership in work! This morning at the Bear Valley church of Christ many deacons and preachers were treated to the second monthly breakfast meeting hosted by these fine men. Harry Denewiler (not pictured), Mark Hanstein, Clint Stephens, Brian Wilkie, and Maynard Woolley should be applauded for their active service for God's kingdom. In my 21 years of being a Christian, never before have I seen an eldership take their role as shepherds as seriously as these men have (I'm talkin' 10 congregations or so). Did you know these men meet every other Thursday night to discuss church business for usually a minimum of 3 hours? That also means their families are making a sacrifice in order for the congregation to be properly watched. Is that all they do? By all means, no. Just watch these men if you get the chance. Daily they are submitting themselves to God's will. See them as they care for the spiritually and physically ill. Watch as they strive to meet and welcome every visitor that passes through the doors. Biblical truths are being taught in every aspect of education and worship here. And so on and so forth.
If you get the opportunity, thank these humble men and their families for their love and dedication to God's will (1 Peter 5:1-5). Oh, and if you haven't already, pray for them daily.