I pray that darkness may not rule my sight,
That worldly wealth not govern nor delight:
A single eye to see a single thing,
A single heart that serves a single King.
RNDL
Fit for God
When I bleed, my clothes are stained,
A chore to get them clean;
By the blood of Christ, pardon’s obtained,
A purification sublime.
The soul is soiled and ruined by sin,
No longer fit for God;
But by the death of his dear Son
Complete forgiveness flowed.
All for Jesus
by Mary D. James
All for Jesus, all for Jesus!
All my being’s ransomed powers:
All my thoughts and words and doings,
All my days and all my hours.
Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.
Worldlings prize their gems of beauty,
Cling to gilded toys of dust,
Boast of wealth and fame and pleasure;
Only Jesus will I trust.
Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside;
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Looking at the Crucified.
Oh, what wonder! how amazing!
Jesus, glorious King of kings,
Deigns to call me His belovèd,
Lets me rest beneath His wings.
Source: https://songsandhymns.org/hymns/lyrics/all-for-jesus
Racism in the American church?
From a brotherhood group blog:
… there is still a long way to go in overcoming systemic racism1 in our society.
Unfortunately, I fear we have a long way to go in overcoming systemic racism in the church of our Lord.
There is only one way to solve any problem of racism in the church: confront it head-on. People must be admonished then and there, as Paul confronted Peter in Galatians 2.
If a Christian who hears or witnesses racist attitudes does not confront it immediately, he is part of the problem.
As far as the problem of “systemic racism” in society and the church, see this article, which appeared immediately below the article quoted above, in my RSS reader.
My Goal Is God Himself
By Frances Brook
My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
’Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His—
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.
No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
No matter though the cost be oft-times great,
He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
The way that leads to Him must needs be strait.
One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my great Reward.
What Contrast Ours!
A hymn to God and to my Jesus praise,
Imperfect words and music out of tune —
What contrast ours! For righteous are his ways,
But at his table he bids us to commune.
Potholes in the Road
Potholes in the road
Sometimes we get stuck
The Lord can pull us out
If we really want
But he’ll let us stay there
And will sometimes leave us
For longer than we’d like
Until we learn a lesson
Lord, I think I got the idea.
Problems of ministry
The problems in institutional “ministry” are structural, that is, we have made it into a clergy system with all its inherent problems. The solution is not to shore it up with teaching that seeks to minister to the “ministers.” The solution is to tear down the system that is foreign to the New Testament.