What Wonderous Love Is This

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this, O my soul!
What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,
To bear the dreadful curse for my soul.

When I was sinking down, sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down, sinking down,
When I was sinking down beneath God’s righteous frown,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul, for my soul,
Christ laid aside His crown for my soul.

To God and to the Lamb, I will sing, I will sing;
To God and to the Lamb, I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb Who is the great “I Am”;
While millions join the theme, I will sing, I will sing;
While millions join the theme, I will sing.

And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing and joyful be;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
And through eternity, I’ll sing on.

Isaiah 59 NIV

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
³ For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴ No one calls for justice;
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶ Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
⁷ Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
⁸ The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.

⁹ So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
¹¹ We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹² For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
¹³ rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
¹⁶ He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
¹⁸ According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
¹⁹ From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the LORD drives along.^[a]

²⁰ “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the LORD.

²¹ “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.

Your Great Name

Worship--expressing homage, honor, to bow down, to acknowledge power and greatness.

We are called to worship our creator, redeemer and sustainer...

Lost and Loss

Lower Manhattan, 1972 or 1973, either spring or fall, cloudy windy day--that is why there is hardly any contrast--it would have had to have been conjured up in the dark room. From the ferry out to the island in New York harbor where the Statue of Liberty stands.

I was a New Yorker, born a New Yorker, might still be a New Yorker, and at bottom I have to say that they did attack my city--I don't think it would have as deep a resonance if it was LA. I watched these towers go up, and the terrorists mugged them in front of the whole world.

It certainly didn't help that my personal world would go all to hell in about 50 days after this event...

So much loss from 2000 to 2008, so much hurt, so much stress, so hard in so many ways...

Have I processed it all? Not sure. Have I taken care of all the sequelae? Not by a long shot.

Kindness

Open up the skies of mercy and rain down the cleansing flood...

Take Heart

Appropriate, I think...

Holiness Unto The Lord

I was considering the symbol of the Church of the Nazarene--it has the words, "Holiness unto the Lord " on it. This is still something I take pretty seriously, to live holy, like Jesus.

This hymn is pretty much the denominational hymn for the Nazarene church:

Holiness Unto The Lord

Lyrics and Music: Leila N. Morris

“Called unto holiness,” church of our God,
Purchase of Jesus, redeemed by His blood;
Called from the world and its idols to flee,
Called from the bondage of sin to be free.

Refrain:
“Holiness unto the Lord” is our watchword and song.
“Holiness unto the Lord” as we’re marching along.
Sing it, shout it, loud and long,
“Holiness unto the Lord,” now and forever.

“Called unto holiness,” children of light,
Walking with Jesus in garments of white;
Raiment unsullied, nor tarnished with sin;
God’s Holy Spirit abiding within.

“Called unto holiness,” praise His dear Name!
This blessed secret to faith now made plain:
Not our own righteousness, but Christ within,
Living, and reigning, and saving from sin.

“Called unto holiness,” bride of the Lamb,
Waiting the Bridegroom’s returning again!
Lift up your heads, for the day draweth near
When in His beauty the King shall appear.