Benediction
I am sorry, my God.
I have stumbled along
alone, and lost
the sight of Your
holy way.
I have fought so hard
and struggled so long –
my God, please
help me, I pray!
Help me to break
this cycle of doubt,
this cycle of fear;
open my eyes,
and open my ears.
Help me to see You and
hear Your blessed word.
Help me to cease my
own ways and just
stop.
I am sorry, dear Friend,
for letting you down,
for not having the
strength
to stand up and fight;
to stand up and fight
against this dark world,
to stand up and fight
against my own flesh.
It’s just so hard
to fight
every day,
every night –
even now, I think of flight!
Of running away
from the path ‘neath my feet;
I’m sorry, my Lord,
I am too scared and weak.
I am not good.
I am not strong.
I am not right.
I only do wrong.
Oh, what a wretch that I
am, I am –
Father, forgive me these,
sins, these sins
that constantly haunt my
dreams, my dreams.
Purge me and make me
clean and whole.
Restore unto me,
dear God, my soul.
Give me the strength,
Your strength, each day,
to walk as You walk,
in Your holy way.
Father,
forgive me,
these sins.
The Tree
Lord, didst Thou die upon a tree,
enduring pain and agony,
to save this wretched world below,
to save Thy precious, wand’ring sheep?
Eternal light and endless joy,
amazing grace sublimely sweet –
were these the objects of Thy sight
as nails pierced hands and wounded feet?
“The King of Jews!” they didst proclaim,
a crown of thorns upon Thy brow;
they tore Thy flesh, yet still Thou cried,
“Forgive them, Lord, they do not know!”
Oh, Gracious God, oh Spotless Lamb,
forgive this wretched, wayward soul!
Restore unto me a tender heart,
unbroken – Father, make me whole!
Trials to Blessings
It is absolutely amazing to me to see God move through your life. He can take a terrible situation – a situation where you feel as if you’ve sunk to your lowest point, where you feel that no one understands what you’re going through or experiencing – and turn it into an unfathomable opportunity for blessing beyond measure.
Grace Eternal
Behold the Lamb of God
who purged away the stain
of sin from off our souls,
that we might be again
Burnout
I’ve been kind of burned out lately.
Not from writing, or reading, or anything of that nature, but I’ve been burned out from the politics of religion – specifically, Christianity. I have so many different friends, all of whom are Christians, but each different circle holds a different set of beliefs. Some say Christ died for the world, others say that He died for His people; some say you must first hear the Gospel to be saved, others say Salvation is of the Holy Spirit and is separate from hearing the Gospel.
But then they get even more divided.
The Truth in Avatar
Earlier this week, I stumbled upon a certain YouTube video titled “Avatar is satanic and demonism.” Curious, I clicked on it, and, in the video, Christian pastor Mark Driscoll boldly asserted that James Cameron’s Avatar is the most demonic/satanic film he has ever seen. Normally I would simply summarize, but seeing as he is completely destroying the value of this movie, I will share with you his exact statement:
“[Avatar] is saying that we shouldn’t develop culture, that primitive is good and advanced is bad, and that we’re not sinners; that we’re just disconnected from the divine lifeforce – just classic, classic, classic paganism; that human being should connect with trees and animals and beasts and birds and that there’s this spiritual connection that we are all a part of; that we’re all a part of the divine.”
One of These Things is Not Like the Others…
In addition to the previous post, there’s been another issue on my mind, and it’s something that I feel really strongly about.
It’s about the Great Commission.
In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells his disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Now, this charge sounds straightforward enough, right? We’re supposed to evangelize and spread the Gospel –and most Christians agree with that statement – but I think there’s been some misinterpretations as to who is supposed go out and spread the Word, and therein lies my problem.
