Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Love
I just wanna take the time to say that I absolutely love my wife. She's absolutely beautiful and wonderful and I can't imagine what my life would be like without her. I thank the Lord for her. She's my partner, my friend, my counselor. She also has a fantastic sense of humor.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Monday, January 28, 2008
Let the Worshipers Arise
This weekend I was able to take the students in our youth choir (The Proclaimers) to an event called PraizFest. It was hosted by Geyer Springs, First Baptist Church in Little Rock. I had the opportunity to lead worship during an early morning session on Saturday. 8:30am. Normally I would not be very excited about such an opportunity. Most people don't really care about anything that early in the morning. The difference this weekend is that the room was full of students eager to be there and to lift up their voices in praise. Some things are difficult. Leading a room full of hungry teens to the throne of God is easy. You see, they wanted to be there. They paid their money, fought the storm (we had an ice storm), stayed up all night, got up early and came to worship God! I suppose they are unique anyway because not every student would give up a whole weekend to a weekend of youth choir. But over 600 showed up for this event.
What is it about worshiping early in the morning that seems so fresh and free? If you can get yourself out of bed it can be a wonderful event! Since God never sleeps I do not imagine the time of our worship is much of a concern to Him. Here is what I think is significant about the whole thing. Sacrifice. It is not easy to get up early. It is definitely not easy to get geared up to thrust yourself into a time of worship. It costs you something. It is not comfortable. God requires a sacrifice from us. That offering, that sacrifice is ourselves. We must let go of our desires and wants. This is the example Jesus has set for us. "Give up yourselves," He cries. "Come and follow me. Don't worry about the cost, for great is your reward!"
It will be worth it all
When we see Jesus
Life's trials will seem so small
When we see Christ
One glimpse of His dear face
All sorrow will erase
So bravely run the race
'Til we see Christ ~ Esther Kerr Rusthoi
Christ is our Reward, so, do not lose heart. Join in the song. Look to Christ and see what He is doing. He is glorifying the Father. He's our leader. Let us follow.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
What is it about worshiping early in the morning that seems so fresh and free? If you can get yourself out of bed it can be a wonderful event! Since God never sleeps I do not imagine the time of our worship is much of a concern to Him. Here is what I think is significant about the whole thing. Sacrifice. It is not easy to get up early. It is definitely not easy to get geared up to thrust yourself into a time of worship. It costs you something. It is not comfortable. God requires a sacrifice from us. That offering, that sacrifice is ourselves. We must let go of our desires and wants. This is the example Jesus has set for us. "Give up yourselves," He cries. "Come and follow me. Don't worry about the cost, for great is your reward!"
It will be worth it all
When we see Jesus
Life's trials will seem so small
When we see Christ
One glimpse of His dear face
All sorrow will erase
So bravely run the race
'Til we see Christ ~ Esther Kerr Rusthoi
Christ is our Reward, so, do not lose heart. Join in the song. Look to Christ and see what He is doing. He is glorifying the Father. He's our leader. Let us follow.
Grace and Peace,
Joel
Friday, November 2, 2007
Your Light Has Come
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
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
