I've struggled for a few weeks through Lent, tried to be about my local ministry and denominational service in the conference, and NOT blog in a negative way! Oh, I've got some drafts saved, and there have been a number of blogs I wrote and then deleted. Instead, I've tried to point more toward ministry practice or inspiration when I have had time to blog.
But there is something that is still bugging me and I can't shake it. I'm going to take this as something from God plaguing me here in Easter season, as my prayers are for resurrection and a present redemption for my life, my family, my church, my denomination, and my world. Matter of fact, I'm feeling a calling to this, as I'm a 47 year old who might be a "bridge" between where we've been and where we need to go. Generationally, institutionally, and in regards to career perhaps there are others like me who have experienced the one approach yet see something new developing.
After admiring the efforts of other bloggers in writing about the pros and cons of the upcoming conference votes on UMC amendments I attempted to follow suit. I waded through all of that, thought through aspects of it, and found myself of a split mind, yet still thinking there is something bigger going on.
I share this as one who loves the UMC, appreciates the Wesleyan doctrine and approach, and as one who has benefited tremendously as I wasn't born into this denomination but have been drawn to it and found a home in it. Yet, I don't think we've made it on to perfection just yet with the UMC.
Bear with me as I try to be concise yet express some varied issues that are nagging me.
Some Historic Institutions are Dying and Others are Transforming
Call this the emergence of postmodern institutions, or organizational restructuring, or streamlining, but it's a significant trend. Think GM, think of the 2nd largest mall company going into bankruptcy, think of schools struggling to reform, and certainly think of denominations. It's a new economy emerging, but it's also something more.
Mark Chaves certainly captures some of the issue with his blog on declining confidence . We live in a new, different, and challenging day and old institutional ways are not as efficient today as we need them to be.
Possibility of a New Denomination for a New Millenia?
Just as GM has been pushed to a new structure which is much more radical, much more aggressive, and much more imposed than anything they would have imagined on their own. No one within the "family" who has come up through the beloved institution would place on the table in late 2008 what they now see as a path in April 2009. The numbers, the economy, and the future weren't that radically different in the few months in between.
In our system, it seems to me, something so radical might only occur if God imposed a reformation upon us. And I don't tend to think God works that way! My fear then would be our huge, lumbering ship would "stay the course" and slowly dwindle. Of course, we'd positively redefine that, continue to be the Church, continue to express our doctrine and calling, yet we'd be slowly dying. You've seen that local congregation live out it's life once the "die is cast." :) We're beginning to see this in some conferences, and the thing will spread. Now, I'm not talking about the international, or southern hemisphere UMC as much as I am the United States version.
But what if we found a new energy, a new mission, and a new calling as we find new life in these days of a Risen Savior. In my campus ministry I find MANY college students who are not from church backgrounds, or who come from other religious stances, who are very open to Methodist thinking and Methodist ways. We are distinctive and we have some very real opportunities in this generation even with a postmodern and secular majority. I don't think we've got to yield any ground to anybody! I don't believe that it will make us spiritually superior to fight to the death in legislative sessions, or amend ourselves into more exotic configurations, or become a minority by attrition and institutionalization.
Not Anti-Institution, But A Radical Call for Reform
I no longer think we can take small steps in this "redenominational" effort. I am not anti-institutional as I see both doctrinal and practical value in our coordination for mission. And having served at various levels I know we have some of the best people doing the best they can. The thing is we haven't gotten it right just yet, & I strongly suspect it's a systemic issue. The whole process of us trying to be church and Church is now encumbered and no longer free for mission. And to place this within the context of postmodern thought, the individual finds too many barriers due to the institution.
I can't vote for more amendments that create more institution. We're already overly institutionalized. Instead, if we have opportunity to strip the institution down to the primary elements I'd be ecstatic.
Focus on local ministry such as congregation, chaplaincy, and campus ministry. In United Methodism substantially streamline so that the majority of input of resources impacts the local ministry level rather than draining the local work. The work of the denomination is then to equip, encourage, and radically support effectiveness in ministry at the local level.
Redo the Book of Discipline so it doesn't look and feel like the laws added to laws. We keep doing addition but never do any subtraction! I'm fairly certain that Wesley WAS NOT trying to recreate the Church of England, and it appears that we have successfully acheived this. We are too top heavy with structure and the BOD illustrates this.
Now here's the radical call for a dream denomination. Purge & eliminate the agencies, refocus the seminaries and colleges, strip and redefine apportionments, and after the demolition reconstruct a system that is streamlined and has strong connection between the elements at every level. Many congregations have gone through this and found tremendous benefit for mission, enthusiasm, finances, leadership development, etc. I'd still have churches "pay forward" for mission, but we wouldn't want to use mission language to fund purely institutional "stuff" with no direct relationship beyond the local ministry. Local church, district, conference, & UM college and seminary would depend upon and trust one another in pursuit of expressing God's kingdom today. The majority of input would be upon effective spiritual leadership for clergy and laity, and there would be a strong predisposition to working everyone while also finding the best place of service. This seems to me to be the priority which has gotten lost in the denominational business and largeness of the enterprise.
Forget most of those amendments because there are some MUCH larger issues which the UMC is being slow to address.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
A Church Music Death
I've been away from the world of blogging for the last week as my work sometimes moves beyond the local church ministry and extends into denominational service. With that larger world of the Church in mind the death of a seminary church music school got my attention. This was my seminary at one time. It was a place of rich tradition, of mainstream classical theological education, which drew a diverse student body of 3500 students in masters and doctoral work engaging students from throughout the national and world. But things changed rather dramatically.
Numbers of us left the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 90's as the "fundamentalist takeover" had run its course and permanent changes were in place in all arenas of religious life. For any moderate types there was little room in the new scheme despite the historic tradition that found strength in the combined thinking and efforts of the revivalists (Sandy Creek tradition) and the more liturgical, high church element (Charleston tradition). So, many of us became independent, or community church, or Methodist, Presbyterian, American Baptist, or other. Having served a UM church in New Albany IN while in seminary I found my home and context for ministry within United Methodism.
Through Facebook many old friends from college and grad school days have reconnected. I didn't realize it until my old college roommate posted a link informing me that part of our past died this week. He too has moved on and has Presbyterian identity while serving as a music professor at a university. He wrote about this as "remembering mourning" and I can't capture the feeling any better.
The extended excerpt below is taken from the link explaining the death of the School of Church Music at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. While music and maybe worship has undergone changes I think the model (though likely not the size of the model) still works even if the SBTS approach is officially dead. I remember SBTS music school for producing incredible musicians with the broader theological education, creating worship experiences and modeling some variety that helped many of us broaden our views, allowing me to live next musicians in Seminary Village (they'd practice music at 11 PM every night!), and allowing me to learn in a worship class with Raymond Bailey and Milburn Price as a teaching team. Perhaps death will lead to a new resurrection?
Southern Seminary Closing School of Church Music
By Bob Allen
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is closing its 65-year-old School of Church Music and Worship, combining it with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry into a new School of Church Ministries.
Southern Seminary opened the music school at a time when the Southern Baptist Convention's growing seminary system began moving beyond training preachers to additional tasks, like improving the quality of worship and discipleship training in Southern Baptist churches.
While taken for granted for more than a generation, combining classical music training with theology studies in a seminary setting is primarily a Southern Baptist innovation, said Paul Richardson, professor of music at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
Richardson said Southern Baptists began purposeful training of church musicians in the early part of the 20th century. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary established a School of Gospel Music in 1915.
In the 1940s, the SBC's Sunday School Board established a church-music department led by B.B. McKinney, a famous writer of hymns and gospel songs who taught at Southwestern Seminary from 1919 to 1931. Under his leadership the board released the Broadman Hymnal, creating a common worship tradition in Southern Baptist churches so pervasive it earned comparison to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The new pavilion will house Southern Seminary's admissions and security offices.
The National Association of Schools of Music began accrediting undergraduate degrees in church music in 1952. Before long many Southern Baptist congregations came to expect that a full-time minister of music would complete seminary training or comparable training at a university.
Influenced by the models of Westminster Choir College and Union Theological Seminary, SBC music schools focused on sophisticated choral music, graded choirs and more formal worship. While not alone in the effort, Southern Baptist seminaries were often considered unparalleled, in the theology-school world, in their commitment to church music. They grew into programs unsurpassed in size and scope.
For instance, only three schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools offer doctorates in musical arts, and all are SBC seminaries.
By the 1980s and 1990s, enrollments in schools of church music reached record highs.
Seminary Change
Numbers of us left the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 90's as the "fundamentalist takeover" had run its course and permanent changes were in place in all arenas of religious life. For any moderate types there was little room in the new scheme despite the historic tradition that found strength in the combined thinking and efforts of the revivalists (Sandy Creek tradition) and the more liturgical, high church element (Charleston tradition). So, many of us became independent, or community church, or Methodist, Presbyterian, American Baptist, or other. Having served a UM church in New Albany IN while in seminary I found my home and context for ministry within United Methodism.
Through Facebook many old friends from college and grad school days have reconnected. I didn't realize it until my old college roommate posted a link informing me that part of our past died this week. He too has moved on and has Presbyterian identity while serving as a music professor at a university. He wrote about this as "remembering mourning" and I can't capture the feeling any better.
The extended excerpt below is taken from the link explaining the death of the School of Church Music at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. While music and maybe worship has undergone changes I think the model (though likely not the size of the model) still works even if the SBTS approach is officially dead. I remember SBTS music school for producing incredible musicians with the broader theological education, creating worship experiences and modeling some variety that helped many of us broaden our views, allowing me to live next musicians in Seminary Village (they'd practice music at 11 PM every night!), and allowing me to learn in a worship class with Raymond Bailey and Milburn Price as a teaching team. Perhaps death will lead to a new resurrection?
Southern Seminary Closing School of Church Music
By Bob Allen
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is closing its 65-year-old School of Church Music and Worship, combining it with the School of Leadership and Church Ministry into a new School of Church Ministries.
Southern Seminary opened the music school at a time when the Southern Baptist Convention's growing seminary system began moving beyond training preachers to additional tasks, like improving the quality of worship and discipleship training in Southern Baptist churches.
While taken for granted for more than a generation, combining classical music training with theology studies in a seminary setting is primarily a Southern Baptist innovation, said Paul Richardson, professor of music at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
Richardson said Southern Baptists began purposeful training of church musicians in the early part of the 20th century. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary established a School of Gospel Music in 1915.
In the 1940s, the SBC's Sunday School Board established a church-music department led by B.B. McKinney, a famous writer of hymns and gospel songs who taught at Southwestern Seminary from 1919 to 1931. Under his leadership the board released the Broadman Hymnal, creating a common worship tradition in Southern Baptist churches so pervasive it earned comparison to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The new pavilion will house Southern Seminary's admissions and security offices.
The National Association of Schools of Music began accrediting undergraduate degrees in church music in 1952. Before long many Southern Baptist congregations came to expect that a full-time minister of music would complete seminary training or comparable training at a university.
Influenced by the models of Westminster Choir College and Union Theological Seminary, SBC music schools focused on sophisticated choral music, graded choirs and more formal worship. While not alone in the effort, Southern Baptist seminaries were often considered unparalleled, in the theology-school world, in their commitment to church music. They grew into programs unsurpassed in size and scope.
For instance, only three schools accredited by the Association of Theological Schools offer doctorates in musical arts, and all are SBC seminaries.
By the 1980s and 1990s, enrollments in schools of church music reached record highs.
Seminary Change
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Disaster Response Training
Disaster Response
Monster Training Event
Dates: Friday April 24th and Saturday April 25th.
Location: Salem Camp Ground, 3962 Salem Road, Covington, Ga. 30016.
Directions: From I20 East of Atlanta take the Salem Road/ SR162 Exit south 6 miles and Salem Camp Ground is on the left beside Salem UMC.
Friday's Schedule:
Starting at 12noon Registration for the weekend will be open
Starting at 12noon Display material and Equipment trailers will be setup.
4:00pm NG Conference Ham Radio demonstration of the equipment and how it works
5:30pm Dinner will be served at the camp Hotel at a cost of $13.50 per person.
Online Reservations must be made in advance (see link above)
7:00pm Informational Sessions
1. Connecting Neighbors (PowerPoint Presentation)
2. The role of Methodist with amateur radio (PowerPoint Presentation).
8:00pm Devotion (modeled after debriefing that occurs each evening with Early Response Teams)
Saturday's Schedule:
7:00 am Event Registration will be open
7:00am Breakfast will be served at the camp Hotel at the cost of $ 8.50 per person
Online Reservations must be made in advance (see link above)
8:00am Assembly in the Tabernacle
8:30 am Classes Start
Choose a Class:
1 UMCOR ERT Training
2 UMCOR ERT Training
3 Hands on Chain Saw Training
4 Emotional and Spiritual Care Training
5 HAM Cram Class and Technician Test
6 Red Cross Shelter Worker Operations and Simulation
12:00 pm Lunch ($5 Pork BBQ) and free time to get to know others and look at displays
1:30 pm Classes resume
4:00 pm Event Closing
Base Cost for Lunch/ID Badge:
1. Saturday Noon Pork BBQ lunch $5.00
2. There is a $5.00 charge for an ID badge for each class
Cost for Classes:
1. There is a $20.00 charge for the Ham Operators License and test
2. There is a $10.00 charge for a background check
Note: A background check is required for the following classes before an ID badge can be issued:
Emotional & Spiritual Care, Hands on Chain Saw, and UMCOR ERT Training
Register for Monster Training Event
Cost NOT INCLUDED IN REGISTRATION (must register separately in advance-limited space):
5. Hotel stay at the Salem Hotel is $42.50 per person including Dinner and Breakfast (max: 2 people per room; you may have a roommate assigned to you)
Make Salem Hotel Reservations (includes Friday dinner & Saturday breakfast)
Link here
Monster Training Event
Dates: Friday April 24th and Saturday April 25th.
Location: Salem Camp Ground, 3962 Salem Road, Covington, Ga. 30016.
Directions: From I20 East of Atlanta take the Salem Road/ SR162 Exit south 6 miles and Salem Camp Ground is on the left beside Salem UMC.
Friday's Schedule:
Starting at 12noon Registration for the weekend will be open
Starting at 12noon Display material and Equipment trailers will be setup.
4:00pm NG Conference Ham Radio demonstration of the equipment and how it works
5:30pm Dinner will be served at the camp Hotel at a cost of $13.50 per person.
Online Reservations must be made in advance (see link above)
7:00pm Informational Sessions
1. Connecting Neighbors (PowerPoint Presentation)
2. The role of Methodist with amateur radio (PowerPoint Presentation).
8:00pm Devotion (modeled after debriefing that occurs each evening with Early Response Teams)
Saturday's Schedule:
7:00 am Event Registration will be open
7:00am Breakfast will be served at the camp Hotel at the cost of $ 8.50 per person
Online Reservations must be made in advance (see link above)
8:00am Assembly in the Tabernacle
8:30 am Classes Start
Choose a Class:
1 UMCOR ERT Training
2 UMCOR ERT Training
3 Hands on Chain Saw Training
4 Emotional and Spiritual Care Training
5 HAM Cram Class and Technician Test
6 Red Cross Shelter Worker Operations and Simulation
12:00 pm Lunch ($5 Pork BBQ) and free time to get to know others and look at displays
1:30 pm Classes resume
4:00 pm Event Closing
Base Cost for Lunch/ID Badge:
1. Saturday Noon Pork BBQ lunch $5.00
2. There is a $5.00 charge for an ID badge for each class
Cost for Classes:
1. There is a $20.00 charge for the Ham Operators License and test
2. There is a $10.00 charge for a background check
Note: A background check is required for the following classes before an ID badge can be issued:
Emotional & Spiritual Care, Hands on Chain Saw, and UMCOR ERT Training
Register for Monster Training Event
Cost NOT INCLUDED IN REGISTRATION (must register separately in advance-limited space):
5. Hotel stay at the Salem Hotel is $42.50 per person including Dinner and Breakfast (max: 2 people per room; you may have a roommate assigned to you)
Make Salem Hotel Reservations (includes Friday dinner & Saturday breakfast)
Link here
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Saturday Night Rock Concert Fundraiser 4 Relay for Life
Find below a rock concert fundraiser honoring a Lakeside High School teacher who has cancer. The proceeds will benefit Relay for Life and help fight cancer. My oldest son, a junior at Lakeside High School in Evans, plays bass guitar in a jam band that's up first Saturday evening. FYI- they'll be playing at Augusta's First Friday this summer so they're pretty good. Only $5, an entertaining evening, and you'll help a great cause. Spread the word and bring a friend. And if you are local to the Augusta area share this post to your Facebook site http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=57820978001&ref=nf
BAND Together: BANISH Breast Cancer
A Benefit Concert in Honor of Karen Chase
Host: Grace Bellmer
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Wesley United Methodist Church
Street: 825 North Belair Road
City/Town: Evans, GA
Phone: 7069517466
Email: gracebellmer@aol.com
Come enjoy a rockin' concert while supporting the fight against cancer!
The concert will feature local artists such as Quadraphonic, Ship of Fools, Patrick Reagan, David Owen, etc.
Tickets are five dollars and can be purchased at the door.
Concessions will be available and donations are accepted.
All proceeds go to Relay for Life.
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! :)
BAND Together: BANISH Breast Cancer
A Benefit Concert in Honor of Karen Chase
Host: Grace Bellmer
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Wesley United Methodist Church
Street: 825 North Belair Road
City/Town: Evans, GA
Phone: 7069517466
Email: gracebellmer@aol.com
Come enjoy a rockin' concert while supporting the fight against cancer!
The concert will feature local artists such as Quadraphonic, Ship of Fools, Patrick Reagan, David Owen, etc.
Tickets are five dollars and can be purchased at the door.
Concessions will be available and donations are accepted.
All proceeds go to Relay for Life.
PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS! :)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Easter Bloggers
There are many Easter friends I've never met, but who encourage me and challenge me everyday with their blogging. I won't list the 20 plus bloggers I review most weeks though you know I'll often vigourously "cut and paste" from some who really strike a chord or nerve with me.
Wesleyan Basics says:
"The basic move - the Wesleyan root - seems to be an energetic creativity and willingness to innovate inside our outside the establishment if it gets people over the hump from being “Almost Christians” to fully Christian. Of course, doctrine matters. But even Wesley’s famous arguments with Calvinism strike me as being about practice. He found “double predestination” outrageous because it tended to undermine people’s love of God and cool their zeal for good works."
"But - and this is where I probably go way off the path - recapturing Wesleyan practice is not about adopting his innovations. It is not about going back to field preaching or societies and band meetings. Those were well tuned to his setting. Our settings are not his."
"We might end up in some of the same places that Wesley did, but we should not start there."
"We need John Wesley’s spirit and zeal. That is a Wesleyan root to which our United Methodist Church would do well to graft itself."
Wesleyan Basics says:
"The basic move - the Wesleyan root - seems to be an energetic creativity and willingness to innovate inside our outside the establishment if it gets people over the hump from being “Almost Christians” to fully Christian. Of course, doctrine matters. But even Wesley’s famous arguments with Calvinism strike me as being about practice. He found “double predestination” outrageous because it tended to undermine people’s love of God and cool their zeal for good works."
"But - and this is where I probably go way off the path - recapturing Wesleyan practice is not about adopting his innovations. It is not about going back to field preaching or societies and band meetings. Those were well tuned to his setting. Our settings are not his."
"We might end up in some of the same places that Wesley did, but we should not start there."
"We need John Wesley’s spirit and zeal. That is a Wesleyan root to which our United Methodist Church would do well to graft itself."
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Friends
This happened about 5 years ago when I was serving Greensboro GA First United Methodist Church.
Mr. Herbert, age 87, came by the church today with an 8 foot ladder sticking out the trunk of his car. His Sunday School class, named the Adult Men’s Class, once over 100 strong but now down to 4, had 3 lights burned out of the 5 light chandelier that hangs in their room. Their room is actually a side entry way for the choir, a room which is taller than it is wide. Mr. Herbert shows up on a rainy Monday with a 4 pack of 75 watt bulbs and his ladder. He's a tall, lean, and somewhat frail man who is beginning to walk a little delicately as his body is showing its age. But he's independent, and maybe a little stubborn. He came into the office asking for a key to get into the main building. I volunteered to help with the door and the ladder thinking I might end up taking care of the thing myself, and avoiding the possibility that my old friend might fall on such a wet day. But this was Mr. Herbert’s job, his idea, and his ladder. So, guess who climbed the ladder?! There I was, the 41 year old youngster steadying the ladder for the old man who wanted to make sure his friends had the light.
Mr. Herbert, age 87, came by the church today with an 8 foot ladder sticking out the trunk of his car. His Sunday School class, named the Adult Men’s Class, once over 100 strong but now down to 4, had 3 lights burned out of the 5 light chandelier that hangs in their room. Their room is actually a side entry way for the choir, a room which is taller than it is wide. Mr. Herbert shows up on a rainy Monday with a 4 pack of 75 watt bulbs and his ladder. He's a tall, lean, and somewhat frail man who is beginning to walk a little delicately as his body is showing its age. But he's independent, and maybe a little stubborn. He came into the office asking for a key to get into the main building. I volunteered to help with the door and the ladder thinking I might end up taking care of the thing myself, and avoiding the possibility that my old friend might fall on such a wet day. But this was Mr. Herbert’s job, his idea, and his ladder. So, guess who climbed the ladder?! There I was, the 41 year old youngster steadying the ladder for the old man who wanted to make sure his friends had the light.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Sunday 2009
Lord of the Dance
words by Sydney Carter, music traditional
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:
I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
words by Sydney Carter, music traditional
I danced in the morning when the world was begun
I danced in the Moon & the Stars & the Sun
I came down from Heaven & I danced on Earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth:
Dance then, wherever you may be
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
(...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
I danced for the scribe & the pharisee
But they would not dance & they wouldn't follow me
I danced for fishermen, for James & John
They came with me & the Dance went on:
I danced on the Sabbath & I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame!
They whipped & they stripped & they hung me high
And they left me there on a cross to die!
I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body & they thought I'd gone
But I am the Dance & I still go on!
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the Life that'll never, never die!
I'll live in you if you'll live in Me -
I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
What to Do Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday
Depth of Mercy
Words: Charles Wesley, 1740
Music: Adapt. from Orlando Gibbons, 1623
1.
Depth of mercy! Can there be
mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forbear,
me, the chief of sinners, spare?
2.
I have long withstood his grace,
long provoked him to his face,
would not hearken to his calls,
grieved him by a thousand falls.
3.
I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
oft profaned his hallowed name,
put him to an open shame.
4.
There for me the Savior stands,
shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.
5.
Now incline me to repent,
let me now my sins lament,
now my foul revolt deplore,
weep, believe, and sin no more.
Words: Charles Wesley, 1740
Music: Adapt. from Orlando Gibbons, 1623
1.
Depth of mercy! Can there be
mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forbear,
me, the chief of sinners, spare?
2.
I have long withstood his grace,
long provoked him to his face,
would not hearken to his calls,
grieved him by a thousand falls.
3.
I my Master have denied,
I afresh have crucified,
oft profaned his hallowed name,
put him to an open shame.
4.
There for me the Savior stands,
shows his wounds and spreads his hands.
God is love! I know, I feel;
Jesus weeps and loves me still.
5.
Now incline me to repent,
let me now my sins lament,
now my foul revolt deplore,
weep, believe, and sin no more.
Friday, April 10, 2009
The Messiah Dies
`Tis Finished! The Messiah Dies
Words: Charles Wesley, 1762 (Jn. 19:30)
Music: William B. Bradbury, 1853
1.
'Tis finished! the Messiah dies,
cut off for sins, but not his own.
Accomplished is the sacrifice,
the great redeeming work is done.
2.
The veil is rent; in Christ alone
the living way to heaven is seen;
the middle wall is broken down,
and all the world may enter in.
3.
'Tis finished! All my guilt and pain,
I want no sacrifice beside;
for me, for me the Lamb is slain;
'tis finished! I am justified.
4.
The reign of sin and death is o'er,
and all may live from sin set free;
Satan hath lost his mortal power;
'tis swallowed up in victory.
Words: Charles Wesley, 1762 (Jn. 19:30)
Music: William B. Bradbury, 1853
1.
'Tis finished! the Messiah dies,
cut off for sins, but not his own.
Accomplished is the sacrifice,
the great redeeming work is done.
2.
The veil is rent; in Christ alone
the living way to heaven is seen;
the middle wall is broken down,
and all the world may enter in.
3.
'Tis finished! All my guilt and pain,
I want no sacrifice beside;
for me, for me the Lamb is slain;
'tis finished! I am justified.
4.
The reign of sin and death is o'er,
and all may live from sin set free;
Satan hath lost his mortal power;
'tis swallowed up in victory.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Maundy Thursday
Come, Sinners, to the Gospel Feast
Words: Charles Wesley, 1747 (Lk. 14:16-24)
Music: Katholisches Gesangbuch, ca. 1774; adapt. from Metrical Psalter, 1855
1.
Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
let every soul be Jesus' guest.
Ye need not one be left behind,
for God hath bid all humankind.
2.
Do not begin to make excuse;
ah! do not you his grace refuse;
your worldly cares and pleasures
leave, and take what Jesus hath to give.
3.
Come and partake the gospel feast,
be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;
O taste the goodness of our God,
and eat his flesh and drink his blood.
4.
See him set forth before your eyes;
behold the bleeding sacrifice;
his offered love make haste to embrace,
and freely now be saved by grace.
5.
Ye who believe his record true
shall sup with him and he with you;
come to the feast, be saved from sin,
for Jesus waits to take you in.
Words: Charles Wesley, 1747 (Lk. 14:16-24)
Music: Katholisches Gesangbuch, ca. 1774; adapt. from Metrical Psalter, 1855
1.
Come, sinners, to the gospel feast,
let every soul be Jesus' guest.
Ye need not one be left behind,
for God hath bid all humankind.
2.
Do not begin to make excuse;
ah! do not you his grace refuse;
your worldly cares and pleasures
leave, and take what Jesus hath to give.
3.
Come and partake the gospel feast,
be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;
O taste the goodness of our God,
and eat his flesh and drink his blood.
4.
See him set forth before your eyes;
behold the bleeding sacrifice;
his offered love make haste to embrace,
and freely now be saved by grace.
5.
Ye who believe his record true
shall sup with him and he with you;
come to the feast, be saved from sin,
for Jesus waits to take you in.
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