My Song is Love Unknown

I prefer its Chinese translation.

Words: Samuel Crossman (1664)
Music: Unknown

歌颂无比大爱
深奧奇妙难猜
加於冷酷之人
铁石心肠为开
主竟为我道成肉身
捐躯舍生苦杯独饮

主曾舍弃宝座
成全救恩为我
人不认识天父
竟将主恩错过
基督是我最好朋友
舍弃生命赎我愆尤!

有人以衣铺路
对主热烈拥护
前簇後拥高唱
和散拿归基督
竟又大声叫釘死衪
要把衪高悬在十架

人们如此恨主
究竟是何緣故
衪使跛者行走
又使盲者复睹
但这些人妬忌愤慨
同施毒計将衪谋害

我愿永远歌颂
主爱何等高崇
从无如此大爱
从无如此苦痛
因衪是我天朋良友
我愿歌唱赞美不休

"Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be."
My song is Love Unknown,
My life is Christ enthroned!

Above the canopy of stars surely a loving Father dwells

Two nights ago, I saw a whole sky full of stars. That's something I've never seen in Singapore. I believe Beethoven had seen it too.

Do you sense the Creator, world?
See Him above the canopy of stars!
Brothers! Brothers!
Above the canopy of stars surely a loving Father dwells.

-- Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 in D-Minor, Opus 125, "Choral"

I was reminded that it took a miracle from none other than the loving Heavenly Father, the Great Conductor of the celestial chimes, to put the stars in place.

He gave us direction and written a part for us to play. He gave us a reason to make music in the grand symphony of life that he has orchestrated. Let the Lord make beautiful music in and through our lives. =)

Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD. (Psalms 4:5)

Close Call

It’s kinda nice staying near church. As one of the Queens townfolk used to say, if the church needs extra hands, you’re just a few minutes away. Well, it was weird to be sitting in front of the terminal at home on a Wednesday night, though I was really looking forward to a quiet evening of work and a Sunday service where I could participate in corporate worship without a care.

Recently, I found singing in the worship ministry a tremendous means of grace, through which God draws me nearer to Him, shows and reminds me who He is, comforts and strengthens me. I have a persistent Martha problem, I think most of you already know – my hands are so busy, my mind is preoccupied and my heart prone to wander. Imagine my delight when I realized that the quietest moments of last week came during the weekend through serving in song, both in Shao Tuan and Hua2. So I didn’t hesitate when the ‘call of duty’ came last night.

Yes, I said DUTY.

Duty, not in the “I don’t want to, but if I must, I will do it” attitude but more like answering the compelling call within, to fulfill the purpose for which you were made. Both are obligations in some way, but their effects are profoundly different. Taken in the first sense, there is an element of dread and grudge because you are bound by only by commitment, in turn only our promises are honoured. Taken in the second sense, there is JOY in duty – when God’s will is revealed to you, when the Spirit moves you to respond to this revelation in appropriate ways!

Wait, what ‘revelation’???

No, I’m not talking abstract here, but I’m also taking this in two senses.

God’s will is revealed to us in Scripture – what pleases God, what He is concerned about, what He wants His children to be, His desires…These we can know, by His grace, through God-given wisdom. And if we are truly passionate about God and His glory, I pray that we will be ignited and inspired within to answer these calls.

The other kind of ‘revelation’ is more specific and it differs from person to person. For me, I know that I’ll be in the worship ministry for a long time. This is the area of service I’ve been called to take up many years back. It was a strong, resounding call and I know deep within that this is where God has put me in His family. It’s my duty lovingly assigned by Him, to work, to play and to serve right here.

Knowledge always has its implications and this is probably why I answered ‘the call’ last night. I wasn’t going beyond the call of duty. I was merely fulfilling it, with joy.

If I may borrow the words from When I Look Into Your Holiness:
When we find the joy of reaching His heart, when our wills become enthralled in His love, our only appropriate response is WORSHIP.

"你爱我比更深吗?"

This post came pretty late but I just wanted to point out something.

When we look at John 21:15-17, it seems as if Jesus and Peter have been repeating the same phrases three times.

Three times the same question was asked. But for the first two times Jesus asked if Peter love(agape) Him and Peter answered, that he love(philia) Him. On the third time, Jesus asked if Peter love(philia) Him and that was when Peter grieved, as Jesus revealed to him that he was, perhaps, reluctant to make a claim of supreme devotion to God because in the past, his life did not support such a claim.

Agape meant total devotion, to hold high regard of, to be contented at or with a thing.
Philia meant brotherly love, friendship and affection.

(I may not grasp the complete meaning for these two words but philia is nothing like agape.)

As we search our hearts for answers, it is my hope that you will bring this knowledge with you, as you consider your area of service next year.

On Desires

O THOU THAT HEAREST PRAYER,
Teach me to pray.

I confess that in religious excercises
___the language of my lips and the feelings of my heart have not always agreed,
___that I have frequently taken carelessly upon my tongue
______a name never pronounced above without reverence and humility,
___that I have often desired things which would have injured me,
___that I have depreciated some of my chief mercies,
___that I have erred both on the side of my hopes and also of my fears,
___that I am unfit to choose for myself,

______for it is not in me to direct my steps.

Let thy Spirit help my infirmities,
___for I know not what to pray for as I ought.
Let him produce in me wise desires by which I may ask the right things,
___then I shall know thou hearest me.

May I never be importunate for temporal blessings,
___but always refer them to thy fatherly goodness,
___for thou knowest what I need before I ask;
May I never think I prosper unless my soul propers,
______or that I am rich unless rich towards thee,
______or that I am wise unless wise unto salvation.

May I seek first thy kingdom and its righteousness.
May I value things in relation to eternity.
May my spiritual welfare be my chief solicitude.
May I be poor, afflicted, despised and have thy blessing,
___rather than be successful in enterprise,
______or have more than my heart can wish,
___or be admired by my fellow-men,
______if thereby these things make me forget thee.
May I regard the world as dreams, lies, vanities, vexation of spirit,
______and desire to depart from it.
And may I seek my happiness in thy favour, image, presence, service.

__

a leaf from

The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions

A savour of death unto death itself, and life unto life to others.

Excellent video, Beat. And yes, Sermon Index is truly a wonderful resource.

My short response:

"The glory of the gospel is that when the Church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. It is then that the world is made to listen to her message, though it may hate it at first. That is how revival comes. That must also be true of us as individuals. It should not be our ambition to be as much like everybody else as we can, though we happen to be Christian, but rather to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can possibly be. Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like Him the better, and the more like Him we become, the more we shall be unlike everybody who is not a Christian."

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Introduction to the Beatitudes

In preparation for this week's anthem, I think this will shed some light for our reflection.

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/photo.php?lid=1412

"The denial of self in any form is suffering". -Katz

Do we allow ourselves too many comforts?


This is an awesome site by the way. They actuallly have audio sermons by Tozer! @_@
And some more amazing videos and sermons...

No fear.

Children are really the most innocent.

As I was teaching my 6 year old niece and 8 year old nephew, their conversation left a deep impression on me.

B: Mei, are you very honest? (while doing his maths homework)
G: What does honest mean? (colouring her rabbits)
B: Honest means like you like to tell the truth la…
G: (Silence and still colouring attentively)
B: Why are you so honest ah… Why you so honest…
G: I don’t know… (still colouring her rabbits)
M: So, are you honest?
B: No, I am not. I always lie.
M: (Silence)
B: Ya, I always tell lies so I’m not honest. (doing his work)
M: Then why do you always tell lies?
B: Because I fear punishment.
M: (Silence)

His response stunned me.
I knew I couldn’t reply then, taken aback at the innocent forthrightness.

Fear is a human condition.

Punishment is a human response to the human condition of fear. Punishment can only give birth to fear.

Fear eats away our ability to Love, to Embrace, to Encourage.

Our world is crazy-filled with fear of all sorts and sizes. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, basically hinges on the opponent’s fear. See what it spells?

Yep, MAD.

That is how perverse our minds can get when we grow up under the atmosphere of fear; when fear surpasses love, we are under pressure to stick to the rules or be ready to receive punishment. So, when fear loses its grip, hell breaks loose. This is when we do not fear the punishment anymore.

We see it in anarchy, where there is no government rule; no laws to control, people just do whatever they want because their actions are unpunished.

So, can you imagine living under a fear of something tangible or intangible, every minute of your life?

If you list down all your fears and compare it, we are all the same actually.

Death
Failure
Acceptance
Rejection
Forgiveness
Loss
Judgment
Life, after death.

“God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. “ -1John 4: 16-19(ESV)

How revolutionary this message is to our fear-filled world!

Thanks and glory be to God, our dear Father, thanks be to Jesus Christ, our messiah and embodiment of love, our atonement. Thus we no longer live under the rule of fear if we abide in God. What else do you fear that Christ has not bore for you?

Love for Him ought to motivate our every breathing, every living, and every dying.

So, no(t) fear.

Ah, I love those little children.