In The Shadow of the Glorious Cross

A great song that has served as a cup of fresh cool water to my soul.

It is from Sojourn Music. You can listen to a clip HERE!

The lyrics are fantastic!

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In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross

Brooks Ritter and Rebecca Bales

In the shadow of the glorious cross

Compelled by grace to cast my lot

I’ll discard the loss and bare your name

Forsaking all for your own fame

Your hymn of grace sung over me

Abounding forth in glorious streams

My thirst is quenched by you my Lord

Sustained am I redeemed restored

Sustained am I redeemed restored

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

When death’s dark shadow’s at my feet

When I am plagued by unbelief

You place my hands into your side

By precious blood identified

By precious blood identified

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

These crowns I’ve clenched with fisted hands

I cast them down before the throne

Of Christ my God the worthy lamb

Christ crucified, the Great I AM

Christ crucified, the Great I AM

Christ crucified, the Great I AM

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

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Download that Chord Chart HERE

Check out Sojourn Music on www.sojournmusic.com

Coffee... the remedy to combatting cynical Tuesday

There is a black chair in our office... upon which I sit to get the best wireless signal. And the joke is that you sit in this chair on Tuesdays... cynical Tuesdays... after reading something outrageous, brokenhearted because your fantasy football team sucked it up over the weekend, or you are just needing to vent a little bit of "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?" about something...

Early this morning I had a good time meeting with a couple guys over a cup of coffee and I think I may have found a remedy... or at least a calming salve for cynical Tuesday...

Coffee.

Now... I don't want to diminish the Mercy of the Lord that is new this morning and available to me... but the coffee doesn't hurt one bit!

Enjoy some Coffee-isms...

"No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness."

~Sheik Abd-al-Kadir

"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee."

~Flash Rosenberg

"In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running."

~Jeff Bezos

"Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister."

~Bob Irwin

"It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. I bet this kind of thing does not happen to heroin addicts. I bet that when serious heroin addicts go to purchase their heroin, they do not tolerate waiting in line while some dilettante in front of them orders a hazelnut smack-a-cino with cinnamon sprinkles."

~Dave Barry

The Gospel Saves AND...

The Supremacy of God's Son

Hebrews 1:1-4

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.”

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The Holy Spirit has been bringing some conviction to me recently as I consider how I can in one breath both give thanks for the saving work of Christ Jesus and then add to Christ’s work one hundred other things on which hinges my own, or someone else’s Salvation. Now... I KNOW that Salvation is by Grace alone, through Faith alone in Christ alone... but I see in myself a trend that is pervasive in those all around me... How quickly we are to move PAST the Gospel that Jesus Christ saves sinners. We keep it in our back pocket like a Trump Card for heaven but strip it of its power to continually transform those who by it [The Gospel] are gripped! In reality I am learning afresh that it is the GOSPEL that SAVES us but also is PRIMARILY at work in our Sanctification!

In Romans 1:15 - The Apostle Paul says that he is, “Eager to preach the gospel to you too who are in Rome.” Paul is writing to those “in the church” so that they might be sanctified and continually challenged and transformed BY the Gospel.

Are there deep, head-hurting, heart-wrenching, Biblical Doctrines to wrestle with and seek to understand as we mature and grow in Christ? Absolutely. However, we don’t move PAST the Gospel to get to them. We only mature in character and understanding THROUGH the continued application of the Gospel!

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“We see that our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ. We should therefore take care not to derive the least portion of it from anywhere else." - John Calvin