rock of ages, cleft for me

by Augustus M. Toplady & Thomas Hastings

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see thee on thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.

the shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Christ has given me his very self as the great gift of the gospel, and he will never leave or forsake me. In light of this, why do I fear? We are founded on a God who is more certain than the dawn. Last night my small group sat together talking about stepping into the unknown, not knowing if family or financial security or children or marriage or other things would be there. What do we have to stand on, Lord God, besides you? Who is there in heaven in any corner of the earth besides you? On stepping out into the unknown today, by crossing the street, by going to my desk, by opening my mouth, and each member of my small group to his or her post, let us consider these verses and the power of His promises. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, dear shepherd. (This will not happen unless you root me deep in these truths) ...

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Hebrews 13:14-15

darwin's warning

One of my fears is that I will become like Darwin in his later years when he wrote,

"My mind seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts ..."

He said that he lost all higher tastes for true beauty and the loss of these tastes were the loss of his happiness.

Wanting to heed this warning, I want to run the other way, to good literature and good music, as Clyde Kilby suggests. If I were you, Darwin, I don't think I would have spent five years on the boat studying and grinding out facts. I might have decided to swim to shore and read Shakespeare and watch sunsets instead. Or would I have?

special days

I awoke to the new sound of traffic on the stretch of 35W by my house. There was a new bridge, smooth as my tires slid across at 7:30am. On the other side, there was a latte steamed to perfection. Time and energy to read Hebrews 10 and Luke 23-24. There was a Savior who died once for all and rose again. There was a man who had to see the empty tomb with his own eyes. There was sunlight across my page with the first crisp of Fall and last warmth of summer. There were bulletins, and child dedication names, phone calls, and e-mail newsletter settings. There was lunch at 4:00pm, and gasps at the clock. There was a wedding shower for the coworker that everyone loves. There were encouragements from friends and a long drive home. There were more hours of work, updating of Web site pages, documents, and there was lots of thought. There was the descent of the stairs, late at night after the students had left the resource room. There was my car under the street light. There was a bouquet of plants from the woods, wrapped in scotch tape, on my porch. There was the smell of manzanita and California and the sorting of clean laundry. There was a bed to climb into at the end of a special day.

can't sleep

It's Fall, a new semester begins, new activities, new friends, new hopes. I cannot sleep, much like the Harry. Does anyone else love Teeny Little Super Guy?