O Church Arise

by Stuart Townend, Keith Getty

O Church, arise
And put your armor on
Hear the call of Christ, our Captain
For now the weak can say 
That they are strong
In the strength that God has given
With shield of faith 
And belt of truth
We’ll stand against the devil’s lies
An army bold
Whose battle cry is love
Reaching out to those in darkness

Our call to war
To love the captive soul
But to rage against the captor
And with the sword that 
Makes the wounded whole
We will fight and faith and valor
When faced with trials on every side
We know the outcome is secure
And Christ will have 
The prize for which He died
And inheritance of nations

Come see the cross
Where love and mercy meet
As the Son of God is stricken
Then see His foes lie 
Crushed beneath His feet
For the Conqueror has risen
And as the stone is rolled away
And Christ emerges from the grave
This victory march continues till the day
Every eye and heart shall see Him

So Spirit, come
Put strength in every stride
Give grace for every hurdle
That we may run with
Faith to win the prize
Of a servant good and faithful
As saints of old still line the way
Retelling triumphs of His grace
We hear their calls 
And hunger for the day
When with Christ 
We stand in glory

It Is Well With My Soul

by Horatio G. Spafford

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   • Refrain:
     It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
   Let this blest assurance control,
   That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
   And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
   My sin, not in part but the whole,
   Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
   Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
4. For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
   If Jordan above me shall roll,
   No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
   Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
5. But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
   The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
   Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
   Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
6. And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
   The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
   The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
   Even so, it is well with my soul.

Be Still My Soul

Songwriters: SCHLEGEL, KATHARINE / SIBELIUS, JEAN / MICKELSON, PAUL

Be still, my soul,
The Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently, the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to your God, to order and provide.
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul,
Your best your heavenly friend, 
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul,
Your God will undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake.
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul,
The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he lived below.

Be still, my soul,
Be still, my soul,
Be still.

Lead Us Back

by Bobby Gilles and Brooks Ritter

Falling down upon our knees

Sharing now in common shame 

We have sought security 

Not the cross that bears your name

Fences guard our hearts and homes

Comfort sings a siren tune

Weʼre a valley of dry bones

Lead us back to life in you.

Lord we fall upon our knees 

We have shunned the weak poor 

Worshipped beauty courted kings 

And the things their gold affords 

Prayed for those weʼd like to know 

Favor sings a siren tune 

Weʼve become a talent show 

Lead us back to life in you

Lord youʼve caused the blind to see 

We have blinded them again 

With our manmade laws and creeds 

Eager ready to condemn 

Now we plead before your throne 

Power sings a siren tune 

Weʼve been throwing heavy stones 

Lead us back to life in you.

Ending 

Weʼre a valley of dry bones 

Lead us back to life in you. 

Weʼve become a talent show 

Lead us back to life in you 

Weʼve been throwing heavy stones 

Lead us back to life in you.

Listen to the song here: http://sojournmusic.bandcamp.com/track/lead-us-back

Chord Sheet and Licence # found here: http://www.sojournmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Lead-Us-Back.pdf

Sovereignty and Prayer

I believe most Evangelical Christians would  argue that prayer is very important. The reason(s) why may differ from person to person, but we recognize as a whole it is important. I bring this up because I have heard people say, "If God has decided everything, why should we pray, evangelize, or do anything?" To quote Pastor Daniel, "Because God tells us to!" We are told many times to take things to the Father in the Name of the Son, Jesus Christ. 


Jesus says in John 14:12-14 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."


If we believe in Jesus, we will do the things that Jesus does. He said so! It is the evidences of God's grace and the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Secondly He said whatever we ask for in His Name will be done. I think it is important to see here the order in which these things are said. First we will do the works Jesus does and then He will give us whatever we ask. I do not believe this means we have to get the works right to get what we want, though many interpret these verses like that. What I see is Jesus showing that we have had a change of heart because He has changed our hearts and therefore we do His works. Because He has changed our hearts to do His works, He also changes our hearts of prayer to match His heart. Therefore, if we are praying in the power of the Spirit in Jesus Name to the Father, we will be asking for those things which God intends to do. This might be a bit crazy sounding to you. I still am struggling to wrap my head around it. But I have see things and heard things that are amazing simply because people prayed in the will of God. 


I do want to say here that God wants to hear our hearts. He knows we struggle. He knows our prayers are not perfect. He knows we hurt and wonder because we are only human. He wants to hear those things too! Prayer ought to be a conversation with our Father that is real and genuine. That does not mean that all of our prayers will be answered in the way we think they should be, but be assured, Christian, God hears your prayers and He will answer them based on His glory and will. 


I am still struggling with this everyday. But I am thankful to be struggling through it as it is teaching me to pray and to be bold with my prayers asking for things that I know from Scripture are God's will such as salvation, growth, closeness to Him, reconciliation of believers to the church and each other and for strength, wisdom, grace and mercy for the saints. I still have much to learn on this and as God shows me I hope to share more with you.


Today I challenge those in Christ to pray boldly before the Father. Take all things to Him. And then rest in knowing He will handle it in the way that is best.

Sovereignty and the Exodus

I believe I posted a while back that I had a new found appreciation for the Old Testament and was wanting to study it more in depth. I have been reading slowly and am only now in the beginning parts of Exodus reading through the plagues sent on Egypt by God to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The debate of free will is one as old as time and one not easy to let go of, but the more I read in Scripture the more I am convinced that though God's call demands a response, it is ultimately up to Him what happens.

Exodus 10:1-2 says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them that you may know that I am the Lord'."

These are the Lord's words. Not mine, not Moses's, not anyone else. The Lord said, I have hardened Pharaoh's heart. This is not the first time this is mentioned. Exodus 7:3,13-14,22, 8:15,19, 9:12,35 all refer to Pharaoh's heart being hardened which is initiated by God and we see it a few more times after this passage in Exodus 10:20,27 11:10 and 14:4.

I have read the story of the Exodus many times, but this time God has shown me this so clearly, I believe, to show me over and over again that He is in control of everything, even the hearts of men. Pharaoh would have been probably the greatest earthly ruler of that time (I am guessing. I am no historian, so I beg forgiveness if I am wrong), and God was in control of His heart. Why? God said it, "that I may perform these signs of Mine among them...that you may know that I am the Lord." It was all for God's glory to show that He is the Lord Almighty. He is in control of all things, even the mightiest of rulers.

The Sovereignty of God

God is sovereign. I have heard this numerous times over the course of my life. I have heard it from numerous people. But what does this really mean? 
The dictionary has many definitions including:
"a person who has sovereign power or authority"
"a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler"
"having supreme rank, power, or authority"
"greatest in degree; utmost or extreme"
"being above all others in character, importance, excellence, etc."

I am not going to get all technical here. This is just what one dictionary says and I am no study in words, roots and definitions. This is just to see what the world defines sovereign as and to give a starting point. 

It is clear that the word sovereign is often associated with a ruler. Perfect! God is the ruler of the universe. It is also associated with importance. Again perfect as God is perfect. And so we begin to see a picture. God is the perfect supreme ruler of the universe. 

And then what? Here is where it begins to differ from a simple earthly explanation. This is what God has been teaching me. To say that God is sovereign means that He is in absolute control over everyone and everything in the entire universe. This has not been an easy thing for me to understand or swallow some days. Let's face it, we like to be in control. I know I do. I can feel myself begin to lose my temper when things do not go as planned or something interrupts what I want to do. But the more I learn about God, the more I learn that really I am not in control. Not at all. And the more I embrace the truth that I am not in control of everything, the more freedom I begin to experience. 

God never intended us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. He does not want us worrying about what may come. He has given us Christ. He has given us instructions and things to do for His kingdom and His glory, but the results are in His hands and are done in His timing. How I long to rest in this truth consistently. God is teaching me step by step how to rest in this truth, how to say everyday "I will do what the Lord tells me and leave the results in His hands". 

So how about you? Are you resting in the sovereignty of our great God, Christian?