Okay, I put a rough recording of 'Your Light Has Come' up on www.myspace.com/joelwinters. The purpose of this is so you can hear the melody. It is not so you will be in awe of my mad recording skills!
To further comment on the song and the passage in Isaiah: This idea of being radiant is uplifting and exciting. "Raise your eyes and look around: they all gather and come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and rejoice..." (Is. 60:4-5a) This radiance takes place when God is with us. Emmanuel! We are becoming like Him because we are created in His likeness. When He dwells in and among us and we in Him we become more like Him! We are radiant, Emmanuel!
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Friday, November 2, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
The Song Kick
Occasionally I get on these song writing kicks. They last about a month and I write about 15 songs (2 of them might be presentable) and then it just goes away. So, I try to take advantage of the inspirational deluge. I have no idea what sparks the momentum. It would be easy to blame it on the Holy Spirit but I'm sure it has something to do with my current circumstance as well. A lot of times sermons will give me ideas. Sometimes a pastor will make a point and it will strike a chord in me and I'll start scribbling on an offering envelope. I usually miss the rest of the message so I try to make sure those songs are worth while.
Last night the praise band from church played at a Halloween extravaganza for one of our off-campus ministries. We dredged up a song I wrote this past week called "Your Light Has Come". It is my first attempt at writing a song for Advent. It is taken from these two passages...
John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, 2 for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent — Jesus Christ. 4 I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you. 2 For look, darkness covers the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the LORD will shine over you, and His glory will appear over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance. 4 Raise your eyes and look around: they all gather and come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip. 5 Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and rejoice...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So...here it is - Your Light Has Come
We are confident in this:
That eternal life is knowing You,
The only true God.
We are confident in this:
That eternal life is knowing You,
And the Son that You have sent.
We rejoice! Your children rejoice!
For Your Light has come,
The Light of Christ has come!
Though the darkness covers us,
It cannot overcome the Light, As You shine over us,
In Your glory.
We will lift our eyes to You,
To Your radiance O Lord, And glorify
The only God who reigns!
We rejoice! Your children rejoice!
For Your Light has come,
The Light of Christ has come!
The Son gives You glory,
So we give You glory,
And nations will come to Your Light,
And kings to You brightness!
We are radiant, Emmanuel! Hallelujah!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will put up a recording soon on myspace. May the God Who Is With Us grant you peace from on high!
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Last night the praise band from church played at a Halloween extravaganza for one of our off-campus ministries. We dredged up a song I wrote this past week called "Your Light Has Come". It is my first attempt at writing a song for Advent. It is taken from these two passages...
John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things, looked up to heaven, and said: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that the Son may glorify You, 2 for You gave Him authority over all flesh; so He may give eternal life to all You have given Him. 3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent — Jesus Christ. 4 I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with that glory I had with You before the world existed.
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you. 2 For look, darkness covers the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the LORD will shine over you, and His glory will appear over you. 3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance. 4 Raise your eyes and look around: they all gather and come to you; your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried on the hip. 5 Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will tremble and rejoice...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So...here it is - Your Light Has Come
We are confident in this:
That eternal life is knowing You,
The only true God.
We are confident in this:
That eternal life is knowing You,
And the Son that You have sent.
We rejoice! Your children rejoice!
For Your Light has come,
The Light of Christ has come!
Though the darkness covers us,
It cannot overcome the Light, As You shine over us,
In Your glory.
We will lift our eyes to You,
To Your radiance O Lord, And glorify
The only God who reigns!
We rejoice! Your children rejoice!
For Your Light has come,
The Light of Christ has come!
The Son gives You glory,
So we give You glory,
And nations will come to Your Light,
And kings to You brightness!
We are radiant, Emmanuel! Hallelujah!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will put up a recording soon on myspace. May the God Who Is With Us grant you peace from on high!
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Healer of the Broken
God of Mercy, we need you now,
Hold us up with Your power,
Holy Spirit, comfort us,
As we cry to You.
Let Your grieving children come,
To Your glory and be filled,
With peace, peace,
That passes understanding.
You're the Healer of the broken,
You're the Healer of the broken,
You're the Healer of the broken,
So we'll rest in You.
God of Hope, we trust in You,
Rescue us, O Christ,
Let the wounded ones arise,
And shout Your praise.
How long, how wide,
And how high,
Is the deep, deep Love of Jesus?
You've rescued us, and redeemed us,
With the blood of Your Son,
You have called us to be Your people,
So hold us up, hold us up,
Hold us up with You Love.
Ephesians 3
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
I wrote this the other day as I was preparing for a service in which our church will dedicate a child that passed away earlier this year. The God of creation has shown His power mightily in our congregation over the past year. He has corrected actions, healed hurts, reconciled relationships, given guidance and provided in ways we could never have imagined. We have seen first hand that the Lord's promises are true. Still, we must pray for peace in the midst of things we cannot understand. I love verse 21 of Ephesians 3: "to Him be the glory in the church..." Lord we pray this in our generation!
Grace and Peace,
Joel
P.S. You can listen to a scratch recording of this at http://www.myspace.com/joelwinters
Hold us up with Your power,
Holy Spirit, comfort us,
As we cry to You.
Let Your grieving children come,
To Your glory and be filled,
With peace, peace,
That passes understanding.
You're the Healer of the broken,
You're the Healer of the broken,
You're the Healer of the broken,
So we'll rest in You.
God of Hope, we trust in You,
Rescue us, O Christ,
Let the wounded ones arise,
And shout Your praise.
How long, how wide,
And how high,
Is the deep, deep Love of Jesus?
You've rescued us, and redeemed us,
With the blood of Your Son,
You have called us to be Your people,
So hold us up, hold us up,
Hold us up with You Love.
Ephesians 3
14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
I wrote this the other day as I was preparing for a service in which our church will dedicate a child that passed away earlier this year. The God of creation has shown His power mightily in our congregation over the past year. He has corrected actions, healed hurts, reconciled relationships, given guidance and provided in ways we could never have imagined. We have seen first hand that the Lord's promises are true. Still, we must pray for peace in the midst of things we cannot understand. I love verse 21 of Ephesians 3: "to Him be the glory in the church..." Lord we pray this in our generation!
Grace and Peace,
Joel
P.S. You can listen to a scratch recording of this at http://www.myspace.com/joelwinters
Monday, October 8, 2007
The Wedding
A Father's Love: Saturday evening, my wife and I attended a wedding. Ordinarily these events are less than exhilarating for me. I was fatigued, my spirit gaunt. But, friends are friends, and these particular friends were more than worthy of our presence. As the service (I say service because the word ceremony would be inappropriate) began the musicians played the well known hymn "How Deep The Father's Love For Us." The entire wedding party entered during the song with the bride entering last. It was lovely and if one was present and thinking his thoughts would have been spurred to ponder the deep love of the Father for His Son's Bride. Even if one was not thinking about this while the bride walked in, the minister spoke to it blatantly and beautifully. The words from the hymn were crafted into the message as he charged the bride and groom to love one another unconditionally.
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my Mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished,
His dying breath has Brought me life
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything;
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ;
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart,
His wounds have paid my ransom.
There is a Fountain: After the exchange of vows and rings, bride and groom
embark to complete their first action as a married couple. It is an act of worship. A centering. The musicians sing "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood." The attention of the assembly is arrested by the awe-filling act of communion. The body broken. The blood spilled out. The sacrifice that initiated our reconciliation, our hope to worship the everlasting God. The Lamb has plunged His Bride beneath the cleansing flood. The ransomed Church of God is being saved to sin no more. Marriage is worship. Marriage tells the story of God's salvation.
God of mercy, grant us grace that we may tell your story faithfully.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders.
Ashamed I hear my Mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished,
His dying breath has Brought me life
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything;
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ;
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer,
But this I know with all my heart,
His wounds have paid my ransom.
There is a Fountain: After the exchange of vows and rings, bride and groom
embark to complete their first action as a married couple. It is an act of worship. A centering. The musicians sing "There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood." The attention of the assembly is arrested by the awe-filling act of communion. The body broken. The blood spilled out. The sacrifice that initiated our reconciliation, our hope to worship the everlasting God. The Lamb has plunged His Bride beneath the cleansing flood. The ransomed Church of God is being saved to sin no more. Marriage is worship. Marriage tells the story of God's salvation.
God of mercy, grant us grace that we may tell your story faithfully.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A Caution...
O children of the the Living God, carefully guard your heart and mind because Ideology so easily becomes Idolatry.
...But seek first his Kingdom and his Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
Grace and Peace,
Joel
...But seek first his Kingdom and his Righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Thursday, July 26, 2007
η αληθεια
The Truth never changes and it is always changing us. Or so it should be in us.
I was talking with a man the other day about church. We were discussing ways to get more people to show up. The question always tends to come up; "what are the people looking for?" The thing about people who do not know Jesus is they do not know what they are looking for. Should we let people's preferences dictate to us what we should be doing in church? I fear that if this is the case then we will have to dismiss the Gospel from our gathering. You see, the Gospel is uncomfortable, offensive even. We cannot expect sinners to walk into a service, be confronted with the Truth, walk away and feel comfortable. At first encounter it is possible, even likely, one would not interpret Christ's redemptive work as an act of love. Remember, the world's idea of majesty is far different from the King of kings, bloodied and suffocating, on a cross. This takes time to comprehend. Even seasoned believers cannot expect to fully understand the scope of the Gospel.
I wonder if the feeling of un-acceptance or of being un-loved that is often spoken of is in reality a misinterpretation of a feeling of conviction.
No matter what we do to appeal to our culture's senses we can never make this Gospel pretty. It is harsh and dirty. The most majestic choral anthems, the most dramatic dances, the best cappuccino, the most colorful and stimulating media presentations will never do anything to change the reality and true majesty of Calvary. Instead of changing the face of the Truth with our aesthetically pleasing elements of worship we should let the Truth change the way we live our worship in community.
The lost and unsaved do not need to be made comfortable, they need to be set free. "...you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:32
Grace and Peace,
Joel
I was talking with a man the other day about church. We were discussing ways to get more people to show up. The question always tends to come up; "what are the people looking for?" The thing about people who do not know Jesus is they do not know what they are looking for. Should we let people's preferences dictate to us what we should be doing in church? I fear that if this is the case then we will have to dismiss the Gospel from our gathering. You see, the Gospel is uncomfortable, offensive even. We cannot expect sinners to walk into a service, be confronted with the Truth, walk away and feel comfortable. At first encounter it is possible, even likely, one would not interpret Christ's redemptive work as an act of love. Remember, the world's idea of majesty is far different from the King of kings, bloodied and suffocating, on a cross. This takes time to comprehend. Even seasoned believers cannot expect to fully understand the scope of the Gospel.
I wonder if the feeling of un-acceptance or of being un-loved that is often spoken of is in reality a misinterpretation of a feeling of conviction.
No matter what we do to appeal to our culture's senses we can never make this Gospel pretty. It is harsh and dirty. The most majestic choral anthems, the most dramatic dances, the best cappuccino, the most colorful and stimulating media presentations will never do anything to change the reality and true majesty of Calvary. Instead of changing the face of the Truth with our aesthetically pleasing elements of worship we should let the Truth change the way we live our worship in community.
The lost and unsaved do not need to be made comfortable, they need to be set free. "...you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:32
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Monday, July 23, 2007
Question?s
How do we worship God when He has taken away?
When is it easier to worship faithfully; in God's giving or His taking?
Why should we struggle with our faith when we have been denied what we think we need when we daily deny God what He deeply desires from us? (obedience, communion, fellowship, a relationship)
Why do we worship at all?
I want some answers.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
When is it easier to worship faithfully; in God's giving or His taking?
Why should we struggle with our faith when we have been denied what we think we need when we daily deny God what He deeply desires from us? (obedience, communion, fellowship, a relationship)
Why do we worship at all?
I want some answers.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
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