I don't need reminding to look after myself
So maybe when you wave goodbye
You could think of something else
I don't need reminding who is number one
On my list of priorities when all is said and done
I've never grown from the terrible two's
I've just learned to hide from all of you
Who is gonna sing my selfish song
Well the answer is me so don't sing along
Who is gonna change this heart of stone
Oh my God my life is a selfish song
Every revolution leads the people on
With promises and changes egalitarian
Hitler Mussolini Stalin Bonaparte
Well they proved a revolution
Doesn't really change your heart
I've never grown from the terrible two's
Don't you know nothing changes after a coup
They build a wall from the east to the west
Saying maybe Jesus was a communist
'Cause he spoke of love and equality
Then tell me why did they nail Him upon a tree?
'Cause he said, everyone is singing such a selfish song
And we don't want help not from anyone
I can make a change in your heart of stone
Hey don't you know that you can't
Do it on your own
Wednesday 29 April 2009
Selfish Song - Paul Colman Trio
Wednesday 22 April 2009
Cannons-Phil Whikham
It's falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It's ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays
You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are
Beautiful and free
Song of Galaxies
It's reaching far beyond the milky way
Lets join in with the sound
C'mon let's sing it loud
As the music of the universe plays
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever amen
Tuesday 21 April 2009
Bees
'There is one thing I don't get,' I said.
'What's that?'
'How come if your favourite colour is blue, you painted your house so pink?'
She laughed. 'That was May's doing. She was with me the day I went to the paint store to pick out the colour. I had a nice tan colour in mind, but May latched on to this sample called Caribbean Pink. She said it made her feel like dancing a Spanish flamenco. I thought, "Well, this is the tackiest colour I've ever seen, and we'll have half the town talking about us, but if it can lift May's heart like that, I guess she ought to live inside it." '
'All this time I figured you just liked pink,' I said.
She laughed again. 'You know, some things don't matter that much Lily. Like the colour of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart- now, that matters. The whole problem with people is-'
'They don't know what matters and what doesn't,' I said, filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so.
'I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is, Lily? I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Caribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.'
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
'What's that?'
'How come if your favourite colour is blue, you painted your house so pink?'
She laughed. 'That was May's doing. She was with me the day I went to the paint store to pick out the colour. I had a nice tan colour in mind, but May latched on to this sample called Caribbean Pink. She said it made her feel like dancing a Spanish flamenco. I thought, "Well, this is the tackiest colour I've ever seen, and we'll have half the town talking about us, but if it can lift May's heart like that, I guess she ought to live inside it." '
'All this time I figured you just liked pink,' I said.
She laughed again. 'You know, some things don't matter that much Lily. Like the colour of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person's heart- now, that matters. The whole problem with people is-'
'They don't know what matters and what doesn't,' I said, filling in her sentence and feeling proud of myself for doing so.
'I was gonna say, The problem is they know what matters, but they don't choose it. You know how hard that is, Lily? I love May, but it was still so hard to choose Caribbean Pink. The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters.'
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd
Sunday 19 April 2009
Ffald-y-Brenin (The Grace Outpouring)
A new resolve had entered my life. Instead of talking about him and preaching about him and evangelising about him and being a pastor for him, I wanted to know God. And now that's my heart: to know him and to know him more. Not to know more about him, but to know him more. Everything else follows as an overflow of that relationship. When the major passion of my heart changed from mission to simply knowing him, the mission activity then began to flow out of the knowing.
To live a life for God involves loving Jesus and desiring his presence above all things, and then pouring out love to the least and last, the lost and lonely, speaking for the voiceless, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, declaring good news and being good news to the world around- all from the overflow of time in his presence.
A number of years ago I felt a cry rising up in my inmost being- there has to be more than this. As I remembered my dreams of what living like a child of God would be like, there was that cry again. There has to be more than this. I was stirred by memories of great days in the past when God had seemed so close, but that's where they were- in the past. O God, there must be more than this.
Looking at church initiated the same cry. There is so much good, so many signs of blessing in many local churches and fellowships, but looking more broadly at the national scene raised the question 'Is this really all the Father has in mind for the bride of his Son?'
These cries reflect the searching of the early desert fathers. And I sensed that this was more than merely the cry of my own heart. I could hear echoes of it in the conversations I had with others as they reflected on their own lives and the reality of church life. I believe that God himself has put that cry in people's hearts because he's stirring them up.
www.ffald-y-brenin.org
To live a life for God involves loving Jesus and desiring his presence above all things, and then pouring out love to the least and last, the lost and lonely, speaking for the voiceless, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, declaring good news and being good news to the world around- all from the overflow of time in his presence.
A number of years ago I felt a cry rising up in my inmost being- there has to be more than this. As I remembered my dreams of what living like a child of God would be like, there was that cry again. There has to be more than this. I was stirred by memories of great days in the past when God had seemed so close, but that's where they were- in the past. O God, there must be more than this.
Looking at church initiated the same cry. There is so much good, so many signs of blessing in many local churches and fellowships, but looking more broadly at the national scene raised the question 'Is this really all the Father has in mind for the bride of his Son?'
These cries reflect the searching of the early desert fathers. And I sensed that this was more than merely the cry of my own heart. I could hear echoes of it in the conversations I had with others as they reflected on their own lives and the reality of church life. I believe that God himself has put that cry in people's hearts because he's stirring them up.
www.ffald-y-brenin.org
Thursday 16 April 2009
Stupid Sheep
"I decided that the greatest cross would be to be without these crosses. Every time the crosses stopped for a brief time, I saw that I had not used them well, missing out on advantages to my soul by not responding properly. I could not reconcile these two opposite things: to desire the crosses for their advantages; to bear them when they caused so much difficulty and pain. Gradually I understood that experiencing crosses was more profitable than living a life that abounded with blessing. Without crosses, the soul never dies to itself. Blessings lead to self-love, which is crafty and dangerous by how it is woven into everything we do." Madame Guyon
"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" Proverbs 24:10
Consider it PURE JOY when you endure trials of many kinds. It is so easy to be joyful when life is good and when things are going well, and it is even easy to say then that I will continue to be joyful if things get difficult. But that shows how little I know myself! It has been interesting to read the story of a remarkable woman who lived in France in the seventeenth century, Madame Guyon. She faced trials and persecution almost constantly throughout her life, yet her attitude was so unusual in that she accepted whatever came her way as being God's will and plan and so had a peace about it. Everything should be for the glory of God- even the struggles.
Lambing was not much fun as it turned out. After the first week, I was desperate to leave and just existing until I could do that. Instead of rejoicing, I despaired. Instead of glorifying God in it, I put Him on hold and forgot. But even so, I did learn a lot from being there. And not just about how to lamb sheep! I learnt (again) that you can never know what is going on in a person's life and what stuff they are coping with. We need to deal with each other with the same grace that we have been shown. I learnt that it is easier to argue with someone speaking foolishly than to hold your tongue (Proverbs 26:4-5). I learnt that sheep are the most stupid animals. I learnt that a lot of people live with a lot of regret.
A few more quotes from Madame Guyon:
"God gives what is best for us, though not always what we most wish for. We are called to enjoy God himself and not merely His gifts. Otherwise we spend our lives running after happy little moments, feeding on them instead of God."
"How we pass the time treasuring God's gifts and thinking ourselves happy. We must not stop there, short of true rest, but go forward to God himself- through the loss of those cherished gifts."
"The gifts God gives us do not make us good servants unless we use them with deep humility. Dying to ourselves is more beneficial."
"Devotion to God grows out of pain and weariness. When God builds His sacred temple within us, He first razes our pompous self, and from its ruins He forms a new structure."
"I realized I tried to acquire by my own efforts what I could have only by ceasing from all effort."
"If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!" Proverbs 24:10
Consider it PURE JOY when you endure trials of many kinds. It is so easy to be joyful when life is good and when things are going well, and it is even easy to say then that I will continue to be joyful if things get difficult. But that shows how little I know myself! It has been interesting to read the story of a remarkable woman who lived in France in the seventeenth century, Madame Guyon. She faced trials and persecution almost constantly throughout her life, yet her attitude was so unusual in that she accepted whatever came her way as being God's will and plan and so had a peace about it. Everything should be for the glory of God- even the struggles.
Lambing was not much fun as it turned out. After the first week, I was desperate to leave and just existing until I could do that. Instead of rejoicing, I despaired. Instead of glorifying God in it, I put Him on hold and forgot. But even so, I did learn a lot from being there. And not just about how to lamb sheep! I learnt (again) that you can never know what is going on in a person's life and what stuff they are coping with. We need to deal with each other with the same grace that we have been shown. I learnt that it is easier to argue with someone speaking foolishly than to hold your tongue (Proverbs 26:4-5). I learnt that sheep are the most stupid animals. I learnt that a lot of people live with a lot of regret.
A few more quotes from Madame Guyon:
"God gives what is best for us, though not always what we most wish for. We are called to enjoy God himself and not merely His gifts. Otherwise we spend our lives running after happy little moments, feeding on them instead of God."
"How we pass the time treasuring God's gifts and thinking ourselves happy. We must not stop there, short of true rest, but go forward to God himself- through the loss of those cherished gifts."
"The gifts God gives us do not make us good servants unless we use them with deep humility. Dying to ourselves is more beneficial."
"Devotion to God grows out of pain and weariness. When God builds His sacred temple within us, He first razes our pompous self, and from its ruins He forms a new structure."
"I realized I tried to acquire by my own efforts what I could have only by ceasing from all effort."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)