I love this song/parable by Shai Linne. It's a children's song, but it stirs my heart with greater affection for Christ. I particularly like the portrayal of the Holy Spirit's work in the lives of believers. It does have some unfortunate grammar (thanks for that phrase, Karen), but I can forgive that, can't you? Download it post-haste, or better yet, buy the album "Storiez" and enjoy all the great songs.
Penelope Judd
Once upon a time in a distant land
Far beyond the sea where there lived no man
Or woman- in fact, lo and behold
The oldest person there was only 12 years old
Because all the grown-ups had washed away in a flood
One town in particular there was called Mud
Because every sister, cousin and brother
From head to toe in mud they were covered
But anyway, in this town called Mud
There lived a little girl named Penelope Judd
Now Penelope was a very sad, sad girl
Because she was living in a bad, bad world
Where kid teased each other and acted really mean
They lied, cheated and stole and their speech was obscene
With no grown-ups around, nobody was really wise
So every kid did what was right in their own eyes
Penelope would cry- like every single day
No matter what she did, the tears wouldn’t go away
But deep down in her heart, she hoped it would get better
Because of what her grandpa had written in a letter
He said, “Penelope, it’s great news that I bring
On the mountain top there lives a great King
The King has a Son, and being a proud Father
He’s going to throw the Prince a huge party in His honor
But the good part: and I hope it gets you excited
Penelope Judd, you’re officially invited!
He’s sending a Dove- He’ll tell you all you need to know
Just have your bags packed and be ready to go”
It had been such a long time Penelope was waiting
She wondered if the letter was true or just faking
But one day she was playing outside
And to her great surprise, the Dove had arrived!
He said:
Off we go with no delay
Don’t let nobody try to make you stay
We’re gonna see the King, we're on our way
And all the old things gon’ pass away
The Dove told her that He was sent by the King
If she wanted to go, she had to run and grab her things
Penelope said, “OK. I’ll be right back!”
Ran into the house and came back out with her knapsack
The Dove said, “Penelope, the party is in a day
Stay alert, follow me and I’ll lead the way”
So as He flew and Penelope walked the path
She waived good-bye to her friends and they started to laugh
They said that she was silly for following the Dove
Just to go to some stupid party up above
Penelope and the Dove continued on their way
But then she got sad, because part of her wanted to stay
But then she thought to herself, “Why would I want to stay?
Because all they do is play in the mud all day
And while they’re doing that, I’m gonna see the King!”
It made Penelope so happy, she started to sing
She said
Off I go with no delay
And ain’t nobody gonna make me stay
I’m gonna see the King- I’m on my way
And all the old things gon’ pass away
Now when they had been walking for a long time
They reached the foot of the mountain and they started to climb
Penelope got scared, not sure if she could keep
going because the mountain was very, very steep
On top of that, it was now dark outside
The Dove said, “Keep your eyes on me- I’ll be your guide”
Getting to the top was a difficult trip
But the Dove was there to pick her up whenever she slipped
And she was so excited when they got near the top
that she didn’t even stop when her knapsack dropped
The Dove led her to the Palace and said, “Farewell!
See you inside!” He flew away; Penelope rang the bell
A huge angel answered, looked her up and down
She knew something was wrong because he had a big frown
“Can I help you, ma’am?” “Yes, I’m here for the party
I have an invitation” He said, “I’m so sorry!
There’s no way that I can let you through these doors
The King won’t let anyone dirty up His floors”
She didn’t understand, so without coming near her
He reached into his pocket and He pulled out a mirror
And for the very first time, she saw that she was dirty
The Palace was spotless- she knew she was unworthy
As the angel continued, “I’m sorry, little friend
but…”A voice inside the party said, “You can let her in”
The next thing she knew, the Prince Himself was at the door
He looked at her, smiled and said, “There’s room for one more”
He reached out and touched her- instantly she was clean
Wearing the brightest robe that she had ever seen
If the Mud kids had seen it, they would have gone blind
“Where’d you get it?”, she asked, He said, “Actually, it’s mine”
And as He lead her in through the Palace doors
He sang the sweetest song she ever heard before
He said:
Long ago, laid aside my crown
Became a Mud kid, traveled to your town
They kicked me out, didn’t want me around
But those who love me get to share my crown
Showing posts with label The Gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Gospel. Show all posts
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Good News Club, part 2
Yesterday I spent the afternoon in Vilonia, Arkansas visiting a Good News Club held in the local elementary school there. This club is one of my favorites (if not my favorite) and I love visiting with the kids and staff.
The main teacher is a older gentleman, a bit rough around the edges, but extremely lovable. He and his wife have been involved with CEF since before I was alive. His way of teaching is...interesting, to say the least, but the kids are learning and they do love coming to club.
Have you ever noticed the great penchant for cheesiness in American Christianity? I have. Yesterday during club we sang an old CEF song which, thankfully, has been laid to rest. One of the lines in the song went something like this: "so we travel this world together, my Bible and I...". As we sang that line I immediately pictured myself driving down the road chillaxing, with a giant Bible sitting next to me in the passenger's seat. In my mental picture, the Bible had hands and feet, like something akin to Psalty the Singing Songbook. I had to laugh.
For me, one of the best things about working with CEF has been the fact that it has pushed me outside of my "theological comfort zone". I've gotten to know some very wonderful people with some very different views of Scripture than mine. Yesterday after club I ran across this thought in a John Piper book:
In times of peril, a bringer of news is better than great philosophers. Nor does it matter if his accent is good. Or his grammar. Or his looks. If he has good news for beleaguered people, he will be more treasured than ten thousand theologians. Plain people who have heard the news and been saved by it should take heart from this. People need news first. Hard questions can be answered later. We need joyful, breathless news-bringers, not just intelligent news commentators.
As Piper says: "Christianity is news before it is theology". He goes on to remind us that, of course, we need both: the good news of the gospel, and the theology which explains that good news and applies it to our lives. But, oh, let's not forget that the good news came first! I don't remember the first time I heard the gospel, but I do remember the first time I comprehended it as good news for me. It was a glorious moment.
God continues to humble me and to remind me that it's not about the fitness of the message-bearer (whether that be me or another), but instead, it's all about the message - His message - of good news.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Lies
God is teaching me many lessons here in Little Rock. Lately, He's been teaching me a lesson I didn't know I needed to learn.
The lesson is about how I view myself. This past week I've realized that I don't often view myself through God's eyes, that is rightly, but instead I view myself through my dad's eyes.
My biological dad died when I was five. My mom remarried when I was seven and her husband adopted me and my brother and sister when I was nine. He was really the only dad I ever knew.
The way he viewed me was as a burden. As too loud, too blunt, too truthful. I soon learned to keep out of his way. I never felt accepted by him. As I entered my teenage years, our relationship remained tumultuous. But I never wanted to be a victim, and when I was nineteen God granted me the grace to forgive him. I mean, really forgive him.
However, lately I've realized that there is still some hurt there, wounds that God needs to heal. I don't really want to address them. I'd rather ignore them, and go on with my life. I don't want to dwell.
In the past several years, since my mom and dad divorced due to his continued emotional and mental abuse and infidelity, my mom has reminded me about certain ways he abused me. I can't even remember them. Could I really have blocked out so much?
I figured it would be best for those memories to stay buried. I don't want to re-hash the past, but recently they've kept me from experiencing the fullness I have in Christ. I can't accept other people's acceptance of me, as strange as that sounds, because I am quite suspicious of it for one thing, and for another, I don't feel like I could possible deserve it.
Not that I do. Not that I deserve anything, however, I know that in Christ I am accepted, regardless of what I do or don't do. What? That is so strange to me. I've been trying to earn love all of my life.
I think God wants to heal my heart, but it's painful to face the lies I've been believing for so many years. And yet, I'm asking that God heals my heart and continues to replace all those lies with His truth about who I am in Christ: accepted, loved, forgiven, welcomed. I want to be able to give and (more difficult for me) accept love.
Isn't it funny how easily we believe lies about God, and consequently, ourselves? What lies are you believing? And how does what God has done in Christ Jesus combat those lies? How does the gospel make a difference in your life?
The lesson is about how I view myself. This past week I've realized that I don't often view myself through God's eyes, that is rightly, but instead I view myself through my dad's eyes.
My biological dad died when I was five. My mom remarried when I was seven and her husband adopted me and my brother and sister when I was nine. He was really the only dad I ever knew.
The way he viewed me was as a burden. As too loud, too blunt, too truthful. I soon learned to keep out of his way. I never felt accepted by him. As I entered my teenage years, our relationship remained tumultuous. But I never wanted to be a victim, and when I was nineteen God granted me the grace to forgive him. I mean, really forgive him.
However, lately I've realized that there is still some hurt there, wounds that God needs to heal. I don't really want to address them. I'd rather ignore them, and go on with my life. I don't want to dwell.
In the past several years, since my mom and dad divorced due to his continued emotional and mental abuse and infidelity, my mom has reminded me about certain ways he abused me. I can't even remember them. Could I really have blocked out so much?
I figured it would be best for those memories to stay buried. I don't want to re-hash the past, but recently they've kept me from experiencing the fullness I have in Christ. I can't accept other people's acceptance of me, as strange as that sounds, because I am quite suspicious of it for one thing, and for another, I don't feel like I could possible deserve it.
Not that I do. Not that I deserve anything, however, I know that in Christ I am accepted, regardless of what I do or don't do. What? That is so strange to me. I've been trying to earn love all of my life.
I think God wants to heal my heart, but it's painful to face the lies I've been believing for so many years. And yet, I'm asking that God heals my heart and continues to replace all those lies with His truth about who I am in Christ: accepted, loved, forgiven, welcomed. I want to be able to give and (more difficult for me) accept love.
Isn't it funny how easily we believe lies about God, and consequently, ourselves? What lies are you believing? And how does what God has done in Christ Jesus combat those lies? How does the gospel make a difference in your life?
Monday, February 15, 2010
Progress
To honestly confess your sin and failure brings one to the point of despair time and again. Where can we flee when we know that we are "nothing else but sin"? To see the depth of your sin is a wonderful thing though. It makes the Gospel so glorious.
Yesterday in church we sang a hymn that brought tears to my eyes. I try so hard to get it right instead of resting in the finished work of Christ. Such arrogance on my part, such blindness to the beauty of Christ, but there is forgiveness.
I am a slow learner when it comes to all that it means to be "in Christ", but by God's grace I continue the journey. Such sweet progress, however slowly, to such a glorious Destination.
Yesterday in church we sang a hymn that brought tears to my eyes. I try so hard to get it right instead of resting in the finished work of Christ. Such arrogance on my part, such blindness to the beauty of Christ, but there is forgiveness.
"Thy work alone, O Christ,
Can ease this weight of sin
Thy blood alone O Lamb of God,
Can give me peace within.
Thy love to me O God,
Not mine, O Lord, to Thee
Can rid me of this dark unrest
And set my spirit free!"
- "Not What My Hands Have Done" by Horatius Bonar
I am a slow learner when it comes to all that it means to be "in Christ", but by God's grace I continue the journey. Such sweet progress, however slowly, to such a glorious Destination.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Quote
"Christ did not die to forgive sinners who go on treasuring anything above seeing and savoring God. And people who would be happy in heaven if Christ were not there, will not be there. The gospel is not a way to get people to heaven; it is a way to get people to God. It's a way of overcoming every obstacle to everlasting joy in God. If we don't want God above all things, we have not been converted by the gospel."
— John Piper from, God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself
Thursday, January 28, 2010
The Reluctant Missionary
Dear Friends,
Sometimes I just want to chuck it all, load my things into the car, and hightail it back to Missouri. There are some days I feel really discouraged and alone, just me in the CEF office, the missionary that time forgot.
Listen, I know how truly bratty and self-centered that sounds. I do. But it doesn't stop me from thinking it and feeling it. Oh, the feelings that come from such a deceitful heart as mine.
This month I have done more pouting than praying. I think about all my friends at home going about their business, happily oblivious of ME suffering all ALONE on the MISSION FIELD. Yeah, I know. I'm ridiculous.
I am a little bit prone to depression. I know this about myself and usually I can deal with it by telling myself that "this too shall pass". And it always does. Also, I knew before I moved to Little Rock how truly depressing and lonely the mission field can be at times. I am not new to this party. Sometimes I see all the little newbie missionaries entering the field so excited and hyped up and I think rather cynically "oh, just you wait..."
Well, this blog isn't entitled "Confessions of a Super Happy Missionary", now is it? No, it is not.
All of these thoughts have been swirling around in my head this past month. I have almost been in Little Rock for six months now. There are some days when I really, really love this city and the people here. And there are some days when I just want to sleep (classic depression) and eat carbs (I have gained a good ten pounds since Christmas. This cannot continue).
Before I came onto the field the mission board that interviewed me asked me how I was going to cope when things got tough. I rather smugly replied "trust in God's sovereignty", "of course", I added in my head, "I'm a Calvinist for pity sakes". I could tell they were impressed.
But you know what's NOT impressive? That now, six months later I am NOT trusting in God's sovereignty. Last night I looked up an article regarding depression on my favorite counseling website CCEF (check it out!). I wanted pity and a good excuse to be depressed. I got this instead, in an article by Ed Welsh:
Well, what do you know, Ed Welsh?
Last night I shut the site down and went back to my silent pout fest, and then to sleep. This morning I was still alive, so I figured God had, in His grace, once again given me a chance to repent and return. As I lay in bed I read the first few verses of Romans 5. Something about suffering producing endurance? But it's not. Why? Because I'm not believing God's promises.
As I climbed the steps to the CEF office this morning I pray for God to soften my heart and use this time for His purposes, which are hidden to me right now. I want endurance, I want character, I want that hope of eternal bliss in the presence of my Savior. I want to gaze on His loveliness for all of eternity...the time to start is now.
Will you pray for me? As you can tell, I need an attitude check. I don't want to waste this experience in sin and despair. I know God wants me here and I know He is faithful. He hasn't moved, I have. Pray for repentance and a return to Him with my whole heart.
Thanks!
Signed,
The Reluctant Misisonary
P.S. I listen to this CD A LOT when I have days like this. It is good to set my mind on the attributes of God and just worship, preaching the gospel to my own heart. Get. It.
Sometimes I just want to chuck it all, load my things into the car, and hightail it back to Missouri. There are some days I feel really discouraged and alone, just me in the CEF office, the missionary that time forgot.
Listen, I know how truly bratty and self-centered that sounds. I do. But it doesn't stop me from thinking it and feeling it. Oh, the feelings that come from such a deceitful heart as mine.
This month I have done more pouting than praying. I think about all my friends at home going about their business, happily oblivious of ME suffering all ALONE on the MISSION FIELD. Yeah, I know. I'm ridiculous.
I am a little bit prone to depression. I know this about myself and usually I can deal with it by telling myself that "this too shall pass". And it always does. Also, I knew before I moved to Little Rock how truly depressing and lonely the mission field can be at times. I am not new to this party. Sometimes I see all the little newbie missionaries entering the field so excited and hyped up and I think rather cynically "oh, just you wait..."
Well, this blog isn't entitled "Confessions of a Super Happy Missionary", now is it? No, it is not.
All of these thoughts have been swirling around in my head this past month. I have almost been in Little Rock for six months now. There are some days when I really, really love this city and the people here. And there are some days when I just want to sleep (classic depression) and eat carbs (I have gained a good ten pounds since Christmas. This cannot continue).
Before I came onto the field the mission board that interviewed me asked me how I was going to cope when things got tough. I rather smugly replied "trust in God's sovereignty", "of course", I added in my head, "I'm a Calvinist for pity sakes". I could tell they were impressed.
But you know what's NOT impressive? That now, six months later I am NOT trusting in God's sovereignty. Last night I looked up an article regarding depression on my favorite counseling website CCEF (check it out!). I wanted pity and a good excuse to be depressed. I got this instead, in an article by Ed Welsh:
The other path (isolated independence) is the more common one, even among Christians. Even if you believe that God has revealed himself to you in Jesus Christ, it doesn’t seem to make much difference. You don’t feel as though you are consciously avoiding God. You are just trying to survive. But if you look closely you will notice that you are pushing God away. Look at the tell-tale signs:
* You have no hope, even though Scripture, God’s words to you, offers hope on almost every page. Here’s just one example, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21–23).
* You think life is meaningless, even though you are a servant of the King and every small step of obedience resonates throughout eternity. This is God’s purpose for you today, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6).
* You think God doesn’t care, even though Scripture makes it clear that we run from God, not vice versa. Listen to what God says to you, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6–7).
* In other words, in many areas of life, you simply do not believe what God says.
Well, what do you know, Ed Welsh?
Last night I shut the site down and went back to my silent pout fest, and then to sleep. This morning I was still alive, so I figured God had, in His grace, once again given me a chance to repent and return. As I lay in bed I read the first few verses of Romans 5. Something about suffering producing endurance? But it's not. Why? Because I'm not believing God's promises.
As I climbed the steps to the CEF office this morning I pray for God to soften my heart and use this time for His purposes, which are hidden to me right now. I want endurance, I want character, I want that hope of eternal bliss in the presence of my Savior. I want to gaze on His loveliness for all of eternity...the time to start is now.
Will you pray for me? As you can tell, I need an attitude check. I don't want to waste this experience in sin and despair. I know God wants me here and I know He is faithful. He hasn't moved, I have. Pray for repentance and a return to Him with my whole heart.
Thanks!
Signed,
The Reluctant Misisonary
P.S. I listen to this CD A LOT when I have days like this. It is good to set my mind on the attributes of God and just worship, preaching the gospel to my own heart. Get. It.
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