Good Friday -> Easter Sunday -> Eternity

For before he was born on the earth, Scripture was written about him: both man and God, servant and king, sacrifical lamb and priest, saviour and judge. For after his death, his disciples wrote down what he had taught them and what he had done. There was much more they had not recorded, for all the books in the world would be too few to contain everything. For through the ages, songs have been written and sung of his greatness and his marvellous deeds. And they will be continue to be written and sung, even in eternity.

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Consequently,when Christ came into the world, he said,

"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"

When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added,"Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
"This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,"

then he adds,

"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:1-25)

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, "See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him." So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, "Behold the man!" When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, "Crucify him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them,"Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him." The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God." When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus,"Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered him,"You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin."

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, "If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar." So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews,"Behold your King!" They cried out,"Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but rather, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Pilate answered,"What I have written I have written."

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

"They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots."

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother,"Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said,"It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken." And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced." (John 19:1-37)

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (1 Peter 3:17-22)

The Power of the Cross (Oh to See The Dawn)
Ahem...
Oh to see the Don*...

Stop that! This is serious!

Sorry.



Oh, to see the dawn
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

Chorus:
This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Chorus

Now the daylight flees;
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
"Finished!" the victory cry.

Chorus

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death;
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

This, the power of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Keith Getty & Stuart Townend © 2005 Thankyou Music


At the Cross
At the cross
God demonstrates His love for us.
While we were sinners, Jesus came to die
So by His Blood, we could be justified.

At the cross
God demonstrates that He is just.
Unpunished sins could not be overlooked
So Jesus took them on Himself

So be not ashamed of the cross,
It brings salvation to all who believe
God is revealed, guilt is removed,
Forgiveness can now be received

So be not ashamed of the cross,
Tell of its power to all who will hear.
Great is our joy, glory is ours,
From death we can now be set free.

At the cross
God demonstrates His endless grace.
He chose to send His precious only Son,
To punish Him for sins we’ve done.

So be not ashamed of the cross,
It brings salvation to all who believe
God is revealed, guilt is removed,
Forgiveness can now be received

So be not ashamed of the cross,
Tell of its power to all who will hear.
Great is our joy, glory is ours,
From death we can now be set free.

Bryson Smith & Philip Percival © 1996 Plainsong Music


Across the Great Divide
There is no more separation
There is no more need to hide
You have brought us near, O Jesus
Across the great divide
There is no more condemnation
Since the blood flowed from Your side
You have brought us near, O Jesus
Across the great divide

Oh glory to Your holy name
For the distance that You came
To bear my guilt and take my blame to save me
From heaven to a cross of pain
Oh the distance that You came
So I will love You without shame
You saved me, You saved me

There is no more fear of judgment
The Father's wrath is satisfied
You have brought us near, O Jesus
Across the great divide
There’s a way beyond the curtain
Through our Priest and King on high
You have brought us near, O Jesus
Across the great divide

Words by Mark Altrogge, Music by Jeremy White © 2001 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)


There Is A Redeemer

There is a redeemer,
Jesus, God's own son,
Precious lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy one,

Jesus my redeemer,
Name above all names,
Precious lamb of God, Messiah,
Oh, for sinners slain.

Thank you oh my father,
For giving us your son,
And leaving your spirit,
'til the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory,
I will see his face,
And there I'll serve my king forever,
In that holy place.

Thank you oh my father,
For giving us your son,
And leaving your spirit,
'til the work on earth is done.

There is a redeemer,
Jesus, God's own son,
Precious lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy one,

Thank you oh my father,
For giving us your son,
And leaving your spirit,
'til the work on earth is done.

And leaving your spirit,
'till the work on earth is done.

Keith Green

I Will Glory In My Redeemer

I will glory in my Redeemer
Whose priceless blood has ransomed me
Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails
And hung Him on that judgment tree
I will glory in my Redeemer
Who crushed the power of sin and death
My only Savior before the Holy Judge
The Lamb Who is my righteousness
The Lamb Who is my righteousness

I will glory in my Redeemer
My life He bought, my love He owns
I have no longings for another
I'm satisfied in Him alone
I will glory in my Redeemer
His faithfulness my standing place
Though foes are mighty and rush upon me
My feet are firm, held by His grace
My feet are firm, held by His grace

I will glory in my Redeemer
Who carries me on eagle's wings
He crowns my life with lovingkindness
His triumph song I'll ever sing
I will glory in my Redeemer
Who waits for me at gates of gold
And when He calls me it will be paradise
His face forever to behold
His face forever to behold
His face forever to behold

Steve and Vikki Cook © 2001 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP)

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive,'After three days I will rise.' Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, 'He has risen from the dead,' and the last fraud will be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can." So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard. (Matthew 27:57-66)

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. (Colossians 3:1-7)

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. (John 20:1-10)

So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea,beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. (Acts 10:34-43)

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." And he said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognised him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other,"Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

Behold the Lamb
Behold the Lamb
Silent before His accusers
As thorns are pressed into His brow
They lift Him up
Oh see the spikes that hold Him
Redeeming blood flows down
But look again
The cross stands empty now
And He is risen

Behold the Lamb
See Him crowned with glory
Behold the Lamb
Cast your crowns before Him
Crying Holy Holy is the Lamb

Behold the Lamb
Carrying all our transgressions
He freely takes our place
Endures the lash
The mocking and the laughter
Of those He dies to save
But look again
The cross stands empty now
And He is risen

Behold the Lamb
See Him crowned with glory
Behold the Lamb
Cast your crowns before Him
Crying Holy Holy is the Lamb

Mark Altrogge © 2000 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI)

Low In The Grave He Lay
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Saviour,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Chorus:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Saviour;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Chorus

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Saviour;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Chorus

Ro­bert Low­ry, 1874


See, What A Morning (Resurrection Hymn)

See, what a morning, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce, "Christ is risen!"
See God's salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, "Where is He laid?"
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It's the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow'r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

Keith Getty and Stuart Townend © 2003 Kingsway Thankyou Music


Christ the Lord Is Risen Today
Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!

Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where thy victory, O grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ hath led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail, the Lord of earth and Heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail, the resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, Soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing and thus to love, Alleluia!

Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!

But the pains that He endured, Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured, Alleluia!
Now above the sky He’s King, Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Charles Wesley

Beautiful Saviour

All my days I will sing the song of gladness
Give my praise to the fountain of delights
For in my helplessness, you hear my cry
And waves of mercy poured down on my life

Chorus:
Beautiful Saviour, wonderful counsellor
Clothed in majesty, Lord of history
You're the way, the truth and the life
Star of the morning, glorious in holiness
You're the risen one, heaven's champion
And you reign, you reign over all

I will trust in the cross of my Redeemer
I will sing of the Lamb that never fails
Of sins forgiven, of conscience cleared
Of death defeated and life without end

Chorus

I long to be where the praise is never ending
Yearn to dwell where the glory never fades
With countless worshippers singing one song
And cries of "worthy" will honour the Lamb!

Chorus

Stuart Townend © 1998 Thankyou Music


Because He Lives
God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Chorus:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

Chorus

And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!

Chorus

William J. Gaither © 1971


Crown Him With Many Crowns
Crown him with many crowns,
the Lamb upon his throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns
all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of him
who died for thee,
and hail him as thy matchless King
through all eternity.

Crown him the virgin's Son,
the God incarnate born,
whose arm those crimson trophies won
which now His brow adorn;
fruit of the mystic rose,
as of that rose the stem;
the root whence mercy ever flows,
the Babe of Bethlehem.

Crown him the Son of God,
before the worlds began,
and ye who tread where he hath trod,
crown him the Son of Man;
who every grief hath known
that wrings the human breast,
and takes and bears them for His own,
that all in him may rest.

Crown him the Lord of life,
who triumphed over the grave,
and rose victorious in the strife
for those he came to save.
His glories now we sing,
who died, and rose on high,
who died eternal life to bring,
and lives that death may die.

Crown him the Lord of peace,
whose power a scepter sways
from pole to pole, that wars may cease,
and all be prayer and praise.
his reign shall know no end,
and round his piercèd feet
fair flowers of paradise extend
their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of love,
behold his hands and side,
those wounds, yet visible above,
in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky
can fully bear that sight,
but downward bends his burning eye
at mysteries so bright.

Crown him the Lord of Heaven,
enthroned in worlds above,
crown him the King to whom is given
the wondrous name of Love.
Crown him with many crowns,
as thrones before him fall;
Crown him, ye kings, with many crowns,
for he is King of all.

Crown him the Lord of lords,
who over all doth reign,
who once on earth, the incarnate Word,
for ransomed sinners slain,
now lives in realms of light,
where saints with angels sing
their songs before him day and night,
their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown him the Lord of years,
the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
ineffably sublime.
all hail, Redeemer, hail!
For thou has died for me;
thy praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity.

Words, verses 1, 4-9: Matthew Bridges (1800-1894), 1852;
verses 2-3: Godfrey Thring (1823-1903), 1874


Majesty
Majesty, worship his majesty;
Unto Jesus be all glory, honor, and praise.
Majesty, kingdom authority,
Flow from his throne unto his own, his anthem raise.
So exalt, lift up on high the name of Jesus.
Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus, the King.
Majesty, worship his majesty,
Jesus who died, now glorified, King of all kings.

Jack W. Hay­ford © 1980 Rocksmith Music (ASCAP)


To God be the Glory
To God be the glory, great things He hath done,
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life our redemption to win,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice;
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.

Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.

Lyrics: Fanny (Frances) Jane Crosby, 1820-1915
Music: William H. Doane
____________________________________

*other less blasphemous results of this terrible sense of humour:

me to M and R: check out "Pun For The Ages"!
R: like what an infantry man said when he saw the armour division, "tanks
a lot".
me: as the singaporean watchman said to his master when he saw a
water source arrive at the gate: "your well come".
M: like the cook told his assistant to fit all the dried noodles into the small pot
"Give mee a break".

Outside, It Was Stormy And Dark...

... perhaps so we might follow His street lamps and road signs.

For James tells us:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-3)

and

As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:10-11)

and from a distance of centuries, John Newton shouts encouragement to those who, having asked the Shepherd for similar directions, have been put on that good old trodden path:

I asked the LORD that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, his face.

'Twas he who taught me thus to pray,
And he, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favoured hour,
At once he'd answer my request;
And by his love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with his own hand he seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

LORD, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
"’Tis in this way, the LORD replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may'st find thy all in me."

(John Newton, Olney Hymns)

And we do not stop to gawk at car wrecks in the darkness, for our hope drives us on homewards:

There is a hope that burns within my heart,
That gives me strength for ev'ry passing day;
a glimpse of glory now revealed in meager part,
Yet drives all doubt away:
I stand in Christ, with sins forgiv'n;
and Christ in me, the hope of heav'n!
My highest calling and my deepest joy,
to make His will my home.

There is a hope that lifts my weary head,
A consolation strong against despair,
That when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit,
I find the Savior there!
Through present sufferings, future's fear,
He whispers, "Courage!" in my ear.
For I am safe in everlasting arms,
And they will lead me home.

There is a hope that stands the test of time,
That lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave,
To see the matchless beauty of a day divine
When I behold His face!
When sufferings cease and sorrows die,
and every longing satisfied,
then joy unspeakable will flood my soul,
For I am truly home.

© Stuart Townend, Kingsway Music
(An untoward dislike of wind instruments means i only listen from 0:58 to 4:28)
(HT: the B)

Running Away To Sea

So we ran away to sea and lived aboard a Beneteau First 40.7 sloop and learnt to crew her.

Living on the water. Most days were blessed with clear blue skies and sunshine – friendly warmth in the salty strong sea-wind. Despite slip-slap-slopping on sunblock, nut-bronzed bodies in large sunnies were soon drapped about the fresh white deck and lounged against the pushpit as we cruised over sparkling emerald waters. Lazy hot afternoons, we anchored off a Southern Island, pumped up the dinghy and rowed ashore to pick coconuts while the others of us with the boat dived off from the bow and boom into the waters that were cool and calm and deep.

But this was no luxury pleasure cruise. In a good wind, we sped along at more than 8 knots, hiking our asses as the boat heeled at an angle so improbable, it defied this landlubber's logic that we'd yet to capsize altogether. Once, we spotted a slightly smaller keelboat practising some tacking off the coast of Changi and proceeded to race her to a designated finishing line. She beat us by 5 boat-lengths and as we drew alongside to applaud her crew, we saw they were well-equipped with water squirt guns which they proceeded to use to great effect on us!

No rest for the weary was to be had while the day was young: between figuring out points of sail, doing tacks ("Ready about?", "Helm to Leeeeee!", "Lee Hold!") and gybes and reefs and other sailing manoeuvres as the wind permitted, helming best course to windward while aiming for a fixed point in the distance and keeping an eye on the windex, learning ropework, keeping a good lookout in the heavy traffic in the Singapore sea (bumboats, tugboats, tankers, refuellers, cruise ships, naval vessels returning from friendly naval exercises, lasers, powerboats and deep-sea fishing boats encircled by hopeful seagulls on weekends, a hot pink and purple boat the skipper called his "gay boat" and even a motorised sampan containing a dodgy pirate-looking man dressed completely in black and wearing a full black balaclava on a hot day), interpreting buoys and offshore markers, remembering the rules of the road, practicing man-overboard runs and doing logs, there was hardly time for a sit-down and a cup of tea.

Then there was being on mother watch - cooking in the sweltering galley, making drinks, washing up. Fortuitously, no one was poisoned while I was on, though those on deck were treated to the sight (through the companionway hatch) of me being thrown from the gas stove on port to the navigation table on starboard while stubbornly holding a pan of half-cooked dinner in one hand and a frying slice in the other and then back again towards the gas fire, as the vessel rocked to and fro. The other Mother managed to slice off a bit of finger together with the green capsicums during a particularly strong wash.

Nightfall, nipping between anchored ships with their decks twinkling like Christmas lights, we were guided by red light to port and green light to starboard in the approach channels to berths at Raffles Marina near the Second Link to Johor Bahru, Marina at Keppel Bay and SAF Yacht Club where the skipper pointed out some salty old sea dogs who lived onboard their own vessels. Imagine the joy of spending their days with the sun always on their faces and salty sea breeze in their hair, roaming the open seas, the simplicity of being temporarily untethered to society. At one marina, a passing wine proprietor was invited to a dinner we'd russelled up on our mother watch, and not only did he not keel over and die, he pronounced it fantastic and sent along his boy with two boxes of Coke, 100 Plus and Fiji water which stood us in good stead for the hot days ahead. Berthing at marinas meant an abundance of water and therefore, the luxury of showers. Other nights, when we hooked up mooring balls and moored in the waters off Changi Beach Club, water conservation dictated only a powder or wet-wipe bath.

It being too hot and stuffy to sleep in the shared cabins below deck, I took to spending the night on the hard wooden benches in the cockpit under the stars, lulled into deep slumber by the bobbing of the boat in calm waters, the familiar chinking and flapping of ropes and the cool night breeze. At the mozzie and sandfly-infested SAF Yacht Club, had to rig a large scarf to act as a mosquito net to pass the night unscathed.

Well, even if a cloud of bloodsuckers had descended, might have been none the wiser. This was confirmed by my snoozing through storm winds while the boat rocked violently from side to side, apparently waking up only to hand a crewmate who'd come on deck to check on things some wet-weather gear, before absently sinking back to sleep again.

One of the best bits of sailing was when we were far from any other group of humans, and huge silver fish flew through the air beside our boat and a pair of dolphins nosed up for a look, and then, coming out of heavy rain into some sunshine, the sight of a beautiful double rainbow. (Was at the helm so no photographic evidence of any of this.) It was pretty difficult not to break out into song at this reminder of God's grace.

In fact, it was really hard-going not being able to marvel expressly about the Creator of sea and the sky and the wind and the sun and all the creatures that live under it, or speak about how frightened the disciples must have been in the storm when we on our modern vessel could hardly see where we were going in heavy rain while being pounded on all sides by bone-achingly cold wind and wild waves, or discuss the Jewish fear of the sea and the characterisation of the Leviathan and Behemoth as creatures of the sea. On Sunday morning though, while anti-bac-ing the saloon with Class 95's Soft Rock weekend on loud, Jars of Clay's Love Song For A Saviour came on air unexpectedly. Lyrically shabby but cathartic.

Back on land, was asked to consider doing some offshore yacht racing around the world for a few months, full sponsorship thrown in. Really love the sea, the open water, and the sailing and the idea of going around the world, and the offer is very tempting. This morning, I woke in my own bed and didn't recognise it. But there is pause for thought - less than a week and already I missed spending a few lazy hours with God's word... :'-(

Anyway, enough already of yabber. Now to get cracking on the good shrewd stuff.

Indescribable
From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing your majesty
From the colors of Fall to the fragrance of Spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing, God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing, God

Who has told ev'ry lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable
You placed the stars in the sky
And You know them by name
You are amazing, God
Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart
And you love me the same
You are amazing, God

Chris Tomlin

Tin Hill Wine Bar & Bistro, The White Rabbit at Dempsey, Dim Joy, True Worship and Romans 12:1-2

At the birthday party of a three year old, there were veggie dinosaurs and chicken patties made to look like teddy bear faces, fancy balloons that got little hands entangled, abandoned drumsets, new electronic keyboards for drumming on, a back-patio barbecue, toy cars running over adult toes, chatter and laughter, and a bit of fighting.

In another time, in another place, these little ones running around so free and (mostly) happy might have been laid struggling and crying upon cold stone and sacrificed by their desperate parents in a fruitless bid to win the favour of their gods. We remember sick account of the time the king of Moab was beseiged by Israel and could not break through their ranks, and how, in a vain attempt to bribe his god to give him victory, he took his eldest son and sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall (2 Kings 3:26 - 27).

Behold the gods of human invention: we make them in our own fallen image but assign them more power. So it follows that pagan worship is like curry-favouring a corrupt official; it is all about twisting the arm of a reluctant deity who has better things to do with his time and apparent power.

And so how immensely sweet and wonderful the true God is, who (as we have seen from Romans 1 - 11) is not only a good God but has willingly worked for the good of his people even before they knew what help to ask for: despite man deliberately sinning, God saved them from his own righteous wrath; he grafted Gentile who were not his people into his own family tree; he delayed judgement so that people could be saved; he proved the Law so that blind, conscience-challenged humans might have some idea of how far wrong they'd gone in the first place; and he provided his only son to pay for the sins of the world.

So what is it like to be engaged in true worship that the true God desires?

(Why would we want to worship God? Because that is the precise reason for which we were made. Until we live under his loving rule, we will never achieve our "potential". If we do not worship God, we are missing the whole point of our existence. Plus, refusing to worship God is the heart of sin.)

True worship is a response (Romans 12:1)
If it is God that always takes the initiative in saving us and making us his children, then true worship must always a response. This is what the "therefore" in Romans 12:1 is there for. In light of what God has done as spelt out by Paul in the preceding 11 chapters, true worship cannot be about us seeking to secure God's favour, for that is the basis of pagan worship. It is about us responding to God's favour already given; it is about living in the light of what God has already done for us: we are already justified, we are already holy and acceptable to him. No amount of fasts or prayers or pilgrimages will bring us closer to God...if we are Christian, we are already children of God. That is the marvellous difference between Christian and pagan worship.

Therefore, no church leader or song leader or holiness retreat can bring us closer to God than we already are. Nothing will bring us into the holy of holies because when we believe in Christ and are granted access to God through his blood, we are already in the holy of holies (Romans 5:1 - 2). When we lead a meeting of Christians we are not leading worship but giving clear statements of what God has already done for us so that people can respond appropriately.

(Singing in church then is about us responding to God in thanksgving and praise. It is also us encouraging each other and filling our minds with the truth of what God has done. All the psalms give a reason for why we are praising God. The purpose of us singing songs is to remind and share with one another what God has done for us so that we can worship acceptably - here and when we go out. Bad singing (not tuneless singing) is singing that is not biblical, that does not draw on the promises of God, or singing that is all about me. Good singing should reflect on the goodness of God.)

And do we think we can offering God anything? We have nothing we can offer to God except what he has already given, in response to what he has already done.

Compared to Knowing Jesus
Nothing I can offer to heaven
Nothing I can bring to make peace
Nothing in the way that I sing his songs
Nothing in the way that I pray

Though I can say that I love him
Though I can lift up my hands
Though I have actions and words of grace
Though I hold my head up high

There's nothing in the world or in my life
That doesn't disappear or fade away
Everything I've come to know I count as loss
Compared to knowing Jesus, my Lord
Compared to knowing Jesus, my Lord

If I am right with my maker
It is through faith in my Lord
If I have goodness it comes from him
If I am pure I give thanks

I want to know Jesus my saviour
I want to know his power to rise from the dead
I want to have fellowship in his grief
I want to be raised up with him!

© Mark Peterson

True worship is everywhere, all the time (Romans 12:1)

Even in the futsal cages of Sports Planet, East Coast Park

True worship is not confined to a particular place and particular time. God does not insist that it be done in a "holy" place or in a church building nor through a specially consecrated priesthood/pastor-hood/anointed few. In fact, to think so would be a denial of Jesus' work on the cross.

True worship is everywhere, all of the time, in all of life. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1) consists of 3 different ideas.

The idea of presenting one's body is taken from the command to the priestly family of Levites to present themselves to God at the temple. It is to minister and serve...as a priest! We do not need a pastor or a priest to bring us into the holy of holies because we have gained access through the blood of Christ!

The idea of a living sacrifice appears rather ironic since a sacrifice was an animal that gave its life so that the Jews could approach God. But now that Jesus has died as a sacrifice for our sins, there is no more sacrifice to be made.

A sacrifice had to be unblemished or else it would not be acceptable to God. But what Paul is saying is not try to be holy and try to be blameless. He is saying that in view of what God has done for us, we are already holy and blameless! We can do what the high priest could only do once a year after elaborately purifying himself could do, appear before God himself. Now Christ's death has washed us clean, now God already sees us as holy. We don't swish in and out of the presence of God trailing the scent of frankinsence and myrrh. We live in the presence of God 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, every year, in every situation. 360 degrees.

The implication of this is that everywhere is a place of worship: our office, the driving seat of our cars, the family meal table, tennis court and even the side of the goal post in a futsal cage. The view of worship only taking place in the austerity of a monastic retreat in the cool mountains or in a consecrated space vehemently denies the Christian faith altogether.

And true worship is immensely earthy - it is in driving the car, in honouring marriage, in giving someone a meal, in leading our Christian families...all in response to what God has already done for us.

Do we trust in Jesus to save us from our sins? Then we have been justified by God and we are part of God's family. You are a priest as much as another Christian. Now that you are finally freed from the shackles of the consequences of your sins, now that you can see and hear, worship God.

(The Monday after spending a weekend stuck into Romans 12 when, after I'd told my Christian colleagues that Don Carson was in Singapore for the Living Word series organised by the Anglican Diocese of Singapore at St. Andrew's Cathedral and they'd expressed complete ignorance of his person, we got into a good discussion about why we believed in the Christian faith in the first place, the interpretation of the Bible, dinosaurs and intelligent design and the 7 days of creation, and then there was a beautiful sunset - a glowing red orb sinking behind the silhouettes of, erm, oil refineries, and I wanted to burst out singing:

All Heaven Declares
All heaven declares the glory of the Risen Lord;
Who can compare with the beauty of the Lord?
Forever He will be the Lamb upon the throne;
I gladly bow the knee and worship Him alone.

I will proclaim the glory of the Risen Lord;
Who once was slain to reconcile man to God.
Forever You will be the Lamb upon the throne;
I gladly bow the knee and worship You alone.
© Noel and Tricia Richards

Fortunately, I remembered that my life was not a musical and stopped in time. But, maaan, the joy of proclamation of the good things of God in a situation so unused to the sound of his name. Yet not just this time but every minute should be lived in light of the reality of this marvellous God.)

True worship is mindful and not mindless
"Spiritual worship" in the ESV is a strange translation. The Greek word is logicos - we get the word "logical" from it. So the NIV translation of "reasonable worship" or "rational worship" is better. As we fill our minds with all that God has done for us, then the response we make is a rational, reasonable one. Falling over and making animal noises or whatever the current fashion of the age is, is not the worship God requires.

True worship comes from a mind, a changed mind, the mind that God has renewed or changed in a Christian. Without a changed mind, we cannot worship God pleasingly.

In the Bible, the mind does not simply mean the intellect. The mind points to what we think about things and feel about things. The heart is used to mean almost the same thing. The heart is not just about feeling but also the control centre. Both are metaphors for what we are on the inside, the core of our being.

True worship can only come from a renewal of the mind

Things needing straightening out

Some things need only a bit of painful straightening out, but what true worship requires is for the worshipper's old mind to be completely recreated.

The renewal of the Christian's mind is a one-off event when God breaks into a person's life and renews what we are on the inside. It is our conversion and it is not on-going. What is on-going is the work of God by the power of his Spirit which he has given us and the Spirit's work has life-long implications.

We know from Romans 1:28 that the action of God as judgement for our non-worship of him is to deaden what we are on the inside so that we cannot truly worship him. From this debased mind which God gives us up to comes all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. It is because of our debased minds that we are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness; that we are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless (Romans 1:29 - 31). This means that any of us having a debased mind and given the right opportunity would have been an Austrian dungeon dad, a corrupt politician or a maniacal tyrant. This is what anybody could be if we were not with God. No amount of policing or laws or education would help that. It is only by washing us clean and literally recreating our minds from the inside that God gives us new desires and ambitions. We are literally a new creation; born again. And Jesus says that unless a man is born again, unless God's Spirit breaks in and renews the mind, then that person can never enter the kingdom of god.

True christian worship flows out of this renewed mind.

Romans 8 reminds us that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. For so long as we fail to recognise Jesus as Lord, we are not born again. Our inability to see his kingly rule means that we are conformed to the false advertising of this world, unable to break out of its mould, and cannot worship God acceptably, no matter what we do or how hard we try or how creative we get. We could be the archbishop or the pope or Mother Teresa or the winner of the Nobel Peace prize but we would not be able to worship God acceptably if we were not born again.

True worship requires careful prayerful consideration
We are told to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The transformation is something that happens to us, Paul is not telling us to get out there and transform ourselves. For if it is the Spirit that renews our mind and thus transforms us, then we would not be able to do anything on our own. We could not force ourselves or screw up our eyes and think we can, think we can.

Yet this transformation is also a command. It does not say just lie back, let go and let God; hot-tub holiness. Instead, we are to take action. The tense is present continuous - go on being transformed for 6 months, 6 years, 6 decades.

God expects us to be so transformed and renewed to go on working on this project of transformation. Once we were so depraved, we couldn't and wouldn't think of how to please God. So now that we have a renewed mind, how we will change to please God! In our personal thought, in our careful application of his word, in our prayerful activity.

There is no set pattern, no rule book, no route to follow. If we have renewed minds, if we are truly Christian, God expects us to set our new minds to work to figure out how to truly worship him.

True worship is the proof of the pudding

Happy reviews of TinHill were not proved right in the snapper bouillabaisse pie which was thin and fishy, nor the pork which was smelly and bland (though the blachan made it edible), nor the nutella cupcake which had the taste and consistency of cardboard until we got them to nuke it, nor the passable sticky date pudding which wasn't terribly tasty even with the toffee sauce.

Unhappy reviews of The White Rabbit were not proved right either at least in the post-dinner drinks department. The enjoyable makeover of the gin fizz has made the old cocktail shaking hand tingle. Now to find guinea pigs for experiments before I bust a liver.

But Dim Joy (despite the omnious name, lack of central air-conditioning and the long wait) lived mostly up to the hype. The pork and chives wo tie were delicate and tasty, and the prawns in the har gow were fresh with the right crunch. Opinions on the char siew baos and grilled pork porridge however, differed.

Unlike the uncertainty (or rather, certain inconsistency) of food/restaurant reviews which may depend on whether the cook or waitstaff or customer had a bad day or their different tastes, Paul says with great assurance that a Christian may taste and approve/prove the will of God. We can prove the will of God in the same way we prove metal or a second car; we see that it is what it says it is.

This is not the arrogant judgement of a mere human on the work of God. It is God's intention is the ordinary Christian be so transformed by the renewal of his mind, as to be able themselves responsibly, in light of gospel and fellowship of the faithful, to prove that God is doing what he had always said he would do - to make for himself a people, to both save mercifully and judge righteously. It is not that we find out his specific will/calling for us but that in our lives we demonstrate that what God has said is true. God's great will is that people will be like his son Jesus in how they think and behave.

And what about Christians who still sin terribly? Christians have renewed minds and it is the renewed mind that keeps transforming the Christian. He is not yet perfect. And how do we know the mind is renewed? Because we keep coming back in repentance.


Tin Hill Wine Bar & Bistro
797 Bukit Timah Road
Tel: 6463 3811

The White Rabbit
39C Harding Road, Dempsey
Tel: 6473 9965

Dim Joy
80 Neil Road
Tel: 6220 6986

Sports Planet, East Coast Park
1020 East Coast Parkway
Tel: 9326 6635

Lee Thian Kay Medical Hall
Blk 5 Banda Street, #02-80

_______________________________________

Working through current series on Romans:
First Thai, Jay Chou's Birthday Concert and Romans 1
Feasting and Larval Thoughts on Faith and Romans 4
Privé, Cilantro and the Marvellous Comfort of Romans 8:1 - 16
Basil Alcove and the Pre-destination-based Comfort of Romans 8:17 - 39
Kapok at Newton and Romans 9 - 11
Tin Hill Wine Bar & Bistro, The White Rabbit at Dempsey, Dim Joy, True Worship and Romans 12:1 - 2
Sodagreen 苏打绿 Sing With Me 陪我歌唱 Concert, Futsal Tournament, Romans 13

The Desert of the Real

Jamie Oliver's taller buffer blonder doppelganger, an Afrikaner from Capetown, and I were lounged about on piles of brightly woven cushions in the middle of the Oman desert. Through the strawberry-flavoured shisha smoke, we could just make out a twinkling star or two in the night sky overhead, a pair of winking voyeuristic satellites perhaps, or balls of plasma which had, in the intervening lightyears, since fizzed into cosmic dust oblivion.

In our pants, a different sort of dust, from hours of dune-bashing in a tyre-pressure-lowered 4X4 driven by Dubai-born Pakistani with a passion for loud Indian music, from sandboarding down silken dunes with used snowboards and from no-holds-barred (and no safety roll bars) quad-biking.

Despite the driver becoming increasingly reckless after breaking up with his girlfriend via sms while charging up a 45 degree dune, we managed not to flip over and break any vertebrae and by nightfall, had stopped at a campsite to top up our tummies with pita bread, hommus, chickpeas, tabbouleh, biryani and kebabs.

Indulging in a postprandial huddle with the aforementioned strawberry molasses, we were surrounded by, well, nothing. To our right, nothing but sand flats reaching into darkness. To our left, nothing but sand flats and darkness again. Nothingness in front, nothingness behind us. Lyrical waxers love a void and the Afrikaner was filling it with loving accounts of the Kalahari Desert. The Kalahari Desert isn't a real desert of course. Being home to silly creatures like hyenas and meerkats and having a bit of telltale savannah grass showing means that the Kalahari is merely a mock-Tudor Surrey-style noveau-riche wannabe desert. Still. nothing a hot blast of global warming can't fix.

Back in Dubai, where housewives were getting the groceries in Porsche Cayennes, stretch Hummers were family cars (how else to fit 4 families into 1 car?) and the Bugatti Veyrons in the Dubai Motorshow were so ugly someone ought to have smacked the designer when he unfurled his plans, I was putting up with a friend (rather, he was putting up with me tracking half the desert into his posh apartment) and we were up late one night catching up and chatting about the wonder of deserts.

There's nothing like a vast sandpit to spark all sorts of Exodus-related free associations with us Christians. (Apparently, the Hebrews, like the Eskimos for snow, had several words for desert: midhbar, chorbah, yeshimon, `arabhah, tsiyah, tohu; eremos, eremia.) Standing in the midst of its silent barren barrenness, having first come out of the noisy cosmopolitan conspicuous consumption of Dubai, we could empathise with the constant grumbles of the Israelites that so annoyed poor old Moses (Exodus 16:1-3, Exodus 17:3, Numbers 14:2). Contrast weeks of no respite from the monotonous scenery broken only by bitter harrassed scrubbery with the colours and smells of a happening city with its busy marketplaces and magnificent monuments bedecked with decorative stones and advances in writing and literature and art; contrast having nothing but manna and quail for every meal (surely, there are only so many ways of cooking quail) with the rich produce from the fertile Nile lands - barley, wheat, emmer, pots of meat, as much bread as they could eat (Exodus 16:3), water on tap (cf Exodus 17:1-3), and a bit of slavery and a few licks of the master's whip every night wouldn't seem so bad.

How blinkered and narrow-minded. A famished Jesus, faced with a similar temptation to doubt God's goodness in the desert, had his wits about him when he scoffed the ridiculous tempter, saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:1-4, Luke 4:1-4). Trust God and his promises, than the half-truths of the tempter who deliberately misinterprets our experiences.

Watching the red sun bed down on a dune horizon from the top of another dune, the earworm inexplicably put Newsboy's The Orphan on repeat. The lyrics are mostly conjecture but the sentiment remains. How Moses must have, many years after Abraham, stood upon Mount Nebo after those hard tough years in the desert and looked upon the Promised Land, the end to his labour. And how, knowing that he was forbidden to enter because of his past faithlessness in God (Deuteronomy 34:1-8), he might have wept. If he did, he needn't have turned on the taps, what with all that water scarcity, because that Promised Land wasn't quite the ultimate promised land. It was a sort of mock-Tudor Surrey-style noveau-riche wannabe, yet God-instituted shadow of the real Promised Land still to come.

Constantly on the move, living out of a backpack for days in the Middle East, was to be reminded how we are stateless, rain dogs, gypsies, wandering Jews, longing for the real Promised Land, a place to settle down, a place to sink roots. All the places we sleep in in this life are not ours.

Like Mozart (because who can argue with all the hype that surrounds the chap), I have a great distaste for brass instruments. Their sound is so impure, they make a kleptocrat look like a boy scout. But there's a trumpet I live to hear: the trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15 that will sound on that Last Day, the day when us weak perishable types, with all our petty rebelliousness against God and our half-struggles with sin, will, by God's mercy and grace through the blood of his son, be raised imperishable and immortal. Immortal because we will sin no more and will no longer deserve death that is the punishment for sin.

How nice it'll be to finally arrive at our real home, a place where we can finally fully unpack the backpack and chuck the passport away in the drawer, put on the kettle, tend the garden, and live in wonderful relationship with our Father forever.

But there is a bit tucked away at the end of 1 Corinthians 15:"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain." Knowing the real Promised Land and new bodies that await us, how can we give up hope now? And knowing that only our work in the Lord - the salvation of souls, will survive, how else shall we spend our time, energy and resources?

Well then, the friend said, shall we pray?

Yes, I said. Because the only way we can keep holding on the promises of God unmoved by the trials of this life and the only way we can keep doing God's work despite the pain in ministry is by dependence on God, through the power of God.

I Long For The Day
I long for the day when faith sees its goal,
When the things now unseen will be seen.
The day when my Saviour comes for his bride,
Whom his blood has washed spotlessly clean.
Whom his blood has washed spotlessly clean.

I long for the day when hope is fulfilled,
On which all of the saints will be raised.
The day all the nations kneel to the Lamb,
Giving him all their honour and praise.
Giving him all their honour and praise.

I long for the day when love will abound,
When the family of God will unite.
Our pain and our tears will have disappeared.
Freed at last from the trials of this life.
Freed at last from the trials of this life.
© 1997 Words by Bryson Smith. Music by Philip Percival.
Plainsong Music/Emu Music Australia Inc.

Magnify the Lord

We are sorry there was w00ting from the back of the hall at service this morning. It was for this old chestnut written in response to ARPC's studies on Nehemiah in 2000:

Magnify the Lord
In trouble and disgrace,
I come to You and bow before Your throne.
Laying bare my inconstancy,
surrendering my sin,
I yield to the mercy of Your love.
And I ask for redemption
that I do not deserve.
Then I wait upon the knowledge of Your grace.

Magnify the Lord, who strengthens feeble hands.
Magnify the Lord, who stays the trembling knees.
Glorify the King,
who in His hands holds victory.
Servants of the King, magnify your God.

When enemies surround,
my strength gives out, I stumble in my fear.
But when I lean on Your constancy,
Your faithfulness, Your might,
You graciously restore me to Your hope.
And You pour out Your blessings,
past what I know to ask,
then I find Your strength sufficient for my need.

Chorus

When earthly things crowd round,
temptation slides a veil across my sight.
Yet in You my sufficiency, in Christ, my only hope.
Forgetfulness, oh, let it not obscure,
that my life has no meaning but to seek Your face,
Lord please break me down 'til I see only You.

Chorus

© Li Sa Ng

Christmas and Sufjan Stevens' Christmas Songs

You know it's Christmas when, it's cold and grey and rainy outside, but inside, on account of someone's early morning spritz of DKNY's "Be Delicious" and someone else's grande Starbucks itsredagain! toffee nut latte, the office lift smells deliciously of toffee apple; and in the fridge, all manner of ribbon-wrapped packages from The Patissier and Cedele and Canele and Hot Fuschia (yay, Lish!) and Harrods and Fauchon; and spilling off tables and onto shelves and all about the floor, wicker-basket hampers of wine and fruit cake and chocolate and gingerbread and jars of cookies; and amongst clusters of friends, turkey and stuffing recipes are bantered about; and over many a deli counter, where legs of honey-glazed ham are reserved, there is the promise of rousing good parties to come; and everywhere, baubles, garlands, bottles of bubbly tucked under arms, good cheer and carolling. And best of all, you know it's Christmas when, pottering down supermarket aisles, you can sing praises to God (said carols do not include the words "Santa", "winter", "yuletide", "snow" or "reindeer") and complete strangers smile and hum along in tune; and whilst swotting Luke 24, the post-gym chaps having a coffee at the next table earnestly debate the Resurrection.

(You know it's Christmas in Singapore when you almost run over a gaggle of jaywalkers who've suddenly halted in their dangerous trek across the crowded slippery dark Orchard Road to stand in the middle of the street and capture, on their mobile phone cameras, the fire at Tangs.)

So.

Hot, like mulled wine, on the heels of the end of a painful yet joyfully encouraging youth camp, the season's partying starts tomorrow night (even if it is with a bunch of outrageous intrepid journalists (ed: even if said journalists have a predilection for liquid diets - notably Pan Pacific's Keyaki Bar saketinis, thoroughly confusing pubescent waiters, Scottish accents, suicide-inducing Doris Lessing, and, at the same time, kitschy blinking LED Christmas tree brooches)) and ends past the New Year.

But first.

Hold on to your stockings (Christmas, not fishnet). For the indie kid out there (the all of one of you); for you who won't hurl your eggnog on the carpet, here're banjos, oboes, Casiotones, glockenspiels, ukeleles, crappy guitars, hand claps, sleigh bells, Hammond organs, a frail tottery voice, a throw of tinsel and a sprinkling of exclamations, here's Sufjan I'm-not-CCM-I-just-happen-to-be-Christian ("God'll Never Let You Down", "Woman At The Well") (as opposed to Cat) Stevens:

Yes, the look is parmesan, cheddar and gruyere.

Noel: Songs for Christmas, Vol. I (recorded December 2001)
1. Silent Night
2. O Come O Come Emmanuel
3. We're Goin' To the Country!*
4. Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming
5. It’s Christmas! Let’s Be Glad!*
6. Holy Holy, etc.
7. Amazing Grace

Hark!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. II (recorded December 2002)
1. Angels We Have Heard on High
2. Put the Lights on the Tree*
3. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
4. I Saw Three Ships
5. Only at Christmas Time*
6. Once in Royal David’s City
7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
8. What Child Is This Anyway?
9. Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Ding! Dong!: Songs for Christmas, Vol. III (recorded December 2003)
1. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
2. Come on! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance!*
3. We Three Kings
4. O Holy Night
5. That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!*
6. Ding! Dong!*
7. All the King’s Horns*
8. The Friendly Beasts
(thanks to drop7)

Joy: Songs for Christmas, Vol. IV (recorded December 2005)
1. The Little Drummer Boy
2. Away In A Manger
3. Hey Guys! It’s Christmas Time!*
4. The First Noel
5. Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!)*
6. The Incarnation*
7. Joy To The World

Peace: Songs for Christmas, Vol. V (recorded June 2006)
1. Once in Royal David’s City
2. Get Behind Me, Santa!*
3. Jingle Bells
4. Christmas in July*
5. Lo! How A Rose E’er Blooming
6. Jupiter Winter*
7. Sister Winter*
8. O Come O Come Emmanuel
9. Star of Wonder*
10. Holy, Holy, Holy
11. The Winter Solstice*

* denotes original songs by Sufjan Stevens © 2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

(Blue Collar's collection here. Asthmatic Kitty's stream here)

...and also Majesty, Snowbird from his next album.

(Songs slapped together by the good man and sent round to his friends over the last 5 years. Said friends subsequently shared the joy on the net. Messy copyright-royalties situation, really. Some are up for a limited period. Buy the CDs if you like 'em.)

It's great, innit, to be able to celebrate Christ's birth?

Compelled By Love

Compelled By Love
Compelled by love Christ left His Father's glory
The Word took flesh as man He did appear
The Son of God took on the role of servant
And emptied all to bring salvation near

Compelled by love Christ heralded the Gospel
Repent believe the Kingdom is at hand
Despite His call Israel failed to follow
They turned aside despised the Son of Man

Compelled by love Christ set His face to Zion
He gave His life nailed to the tree in pain
Though without sin He took our place in suffering
To set us free from all our guilt and shame

Compelled by love Christ will return in glory
And all the earth will join in endless praise
But until then we go to all the nations
Compelled by love to share the news of grace
Bryson Smith and Philip Percival

In Which There Was A Thunderstorm and Some Curry

On a stormy night, when nothing can be heard but the roar of water crashing down from the dark expanse above and nothing can be seen in the pitch-blackness but the hazy hazard lights of passing cars, it is a joyful thing to walk home under the pounding rain, completely cold and thoroughly wet, jeans hanging heavily, when there is the knowledge that you will be greeted with the warm smell of bubbling tomato soup curling, like a welcome home, from under the front door.

And then, furthermore and additionally, because there is the understanding that between you, Carl Maria von Weber and a glass of shiraz there will be chopping and dicing and stirring in the heated kitchen as the clothes dry on your back, a good hot pot of chicken curry will sit rustled up on the dinner table for the starving bedraggled waterrats late arrivals: loads of gravy for the one who adores gravy on his choice of carbohydrate, creamy bulbs of garlic for the one who enjoys his garlic creamy, sautéed onions for the one who loves her onions sautéed, and tender chicken pieces for the one who must have her chicken tender.

How Excellent Your Name
O Lord our God
How excellent Your name is
How excellent Your name in all the earth

Your glory fills the heavens
Beyond the farthest star
How excellent Your name in all the earth

When I think about the heavens
The moon and all the stars
I wonder what You ever saw in me

But You took me and you loved me
And You've given me a crown
And now I'll praise Your name eternally
Text & Music: P. Jacobs

Road Trips

I love travelling. Give me a whiff of a map and I'll beat a path out the front door before anyone can think of saying,"Pack yer bags and gas up the car!". Of all forms of travel, roadtrips beat 'em all, especially when the mode of transportation is a mean machine with a roaring turbo and steady handling (and neat cupholders).

From our little sunny island of Singapore, the only direction for a roadtrip is north up the Malaysian peninsula. Armed with valid passports, a wad of ringgit and the Bible and a change of underwear in the backseat, the wide open country is but a border away where empty highways reach beckoningly into the horizon; where you can rev past sweeping fields and oil palm plantations and forests of rubber trees, collecting splats of bugkill on the windscreen; where you can brave thick fog, go off-roading on dirt tracks and cross rickety wooden bridges of dubious stability.

There is no timetable, no itinerary to follow. Anytime you want, you can pick a town to stop in, chow down, wander around and discover new places, new foods, new cultures and get to know new people.

It's been a lifelong dream to do a Jim Rogers or just an epic roadtrip up the Malaysian peninsula, into Thailand, hop over to Beijing and then bounce overland across Russia, past some of those little 'stans, through Western Europe and across the Channel to England. Hopefully, when the time comes to do it, technology would have advanced enough to allow us to "kick the oil habit" and run on some environmentally-friendly clean-burning fuel (we might even be able to convince a carmaker to sponsor our ride. No, not quite "What Would Jesus Drive?".). Perhaps there'll even be some help from a local version of Road Trip Nation by then!

Compared to that dreamy odyssey, last weekend's trip was a mere babe: we whizzed up the North-South Highway to Simpang Pulai in Perak and then across the peninsula on the Second East-West Highway from Simpang Pulai to Gua Musang in Kelantan and then down again through dusty trunk roads skirting Fraser's Hill, Kuala Lumpur and Genting Highlands. But boy was it a fun one. The speed demons (who were on 2-3 hour feeds to keep them happy) had great fun chasing each other round exhilarating hairpin corners on mountain roads with thousand metre drops. There were stops for plates of mee rebus, bags of fresh hot Dunkin' Donuts and coffee, a hearty steamboat dinner accompanied by cover versions of Michael Jackson/Bryan Adams/All-4-One/Debbie Gibson, smoky sticks of satay seranaded by an old jukebox in a corner (yes, the satay was seranaded), sukiyaki fit for alcoholics, a huge bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken and stacks of scones lathered with cream and strawberry jam and washed down with innumerable pots of tea.

For thousands of miles, we sped past the huge billboards and glittering steelwork of cities and the wooden houses on stilts with chickens resting on their corrugated iron roofs of shanty towns. We passed people crammed in dirty hovels and crowded graveyards on the sides of hills. We passed old mining towns with vehicles rusting in abandoned buildings, devoid of life. We passed people in their colourful best, streaming into a white Malay wedding tent, gold thread embroidered into its sides. We passed homes and trees and corners where lives were lived and dreams were dreamt and loves were consummated and babies were bounced on laps and deaths were mourned. Intimate spaces inhabited by generations which passing strangers would never be able to penetrate.

At times, we were dwarfed by magnificent limestone cliffs dotted with enticing caves, and at other times, by hills of black cold hard slate. There were lakes covered with water hyacinth, spectacular waterfalls, hundreds of tomatoes ripening on vines, eagles riding the wind drafts, scavaging goats and giant squirrels scampering across the roads. And when we reached a place where the sun shone so beautifully in the blue sky and the lush green hills were laid out so gloriously, everyone burst out in spontaneous praise:

All Heaven Declares
All heaven declares
The glory of the risen Lord
Who can compare
With the beauty of the Lord

Forever He will be
The Lamb upon the throne
I gladly bow my knee
And worship Him alone

I will proclaim
The glory of the risen Lord
Who once was slain
To reconcile man to God

Forever You will be
The Lamb upon the throne
I gladly bow my knee
And worship You alone
Noel Richards, Tricia Richards © 1987 Kingsway’s Thankyou Music

For God's invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So man everywhere is without excuse (Romans 1:20). So, inevitably, what followed was the Psalms set to music and then err...Christmas carols... How brilliant it was to roadtrip with likeminded friends. :-)

There shouldn't be a need for specially-designed Christian road trips like those by Nieu Communities, Share Jesus International or Road Trip Mission to get Christians evangelising in foreign places, because the essential Christian-ness of a Christian should not be something that is turned off when the Christian is on holiday (but that is not to suggest that they are of no use whatsoever). Wandering about and meeting fellow travellers, buying each other drinks, exchanging road gossip, chatting with a diversity of locals, bartering life stories, it takes no special effort to talk about the gospel and about Jesus because these are so overwhelmingly present in the life of a Christian. "Making the most of every opportunity" (Colossians 4:5-6) should already be an intrinsic part of our lives. And stories like that of Alan Quigley and Chris Forbes of The Most Important Thing help to remind us that wherever we are, there are people to be saved. And sometimes, they are more amenable to hearing the gospel from a passing traveller than from their local Christian friends. Of course if you happen to be Stephen Baldwin, Livin' It extreme sports vids are tantalising bridges all on their own. ;-)

PS: No, it wasn't like this at all:

from xkcd

(But Casting Crowns does sound better when blasted at 160.)