The Church's One Foundation

We have chapel on Wednesday's at RTS Orlando.
It's a time I used to take for granted, but recently have come to look forward to.
There's something beautiful about standing shoulder to shoulder with other students, professors, men, and women, singing from someplace deep the great words of a hymn like this:


The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is his new creation by water and the Word.
From heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride;
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation, yet one o'er all the earth;
her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder we see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder, by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping; their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.

Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation of peace forevermore;
till, with the vision glorious, her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy! Lord, give us grace that we
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

Heima

I saw this on another blog.
Some of you may be familiar with the Icelandic band Sigur Ros.

Simply incredible.

This video is a promotional for an upcoming concert tour for Sigur Ros. The cinematography is out of this world.

This is fimlmaking at its finest, even if it's just a trailer... check it out.

Heima, trailer - Sigur Ros

Come Thou Fount

Here's my heart Lord,

Take and seal it,

Seal it for Thy courts above.

Morning and Evening

From Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Evening, August 13


“And I will remember my covenant.”
Genesis 9:15

Mark the form of the promise. God does not say, “And when ye shall look upon the bow, and ye shall remember my covenant, then I will not destroy the earth,” but it is gloriously put, not upon our memory, which is fickle and frail, but upon God's memory, which is infinite and immutable. “The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant.” Oh! it is not my remembering God, it is God’s remembering me which is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of his covenant, but his covenant’s laying hold on me.

Glory be to God! the whole of the bulwarks of salvation are secured by divine power, and even the minor towers, which we may imagine might have been left to man, are guarded by almighty strength. Even the remembrance of the covenant is not left to our memories, for we might forget, but our Lord cannot forget the saints whom he has graven on the palms of his hands. It is with us as with Israel in Egypt; the blood was upon the lintel and the two side-posts, but the Lord did not say, “When you see the blood I will pass over you,” but “When I see the blood I will pass over you.” My looking to Jesus brings me joy and peace, but it is God’s looking to Jesus which secures my salvation and that of all his elect, since it is impossible for our God to look at Christ, our bleeding Surety, and then to be angry with us for sins already punished in him. No, it is not left with us even to be saved by remembering the covenant.

There is no linsey-wolsey here—not a single thread of the creature mars the fabric. It is not of man, neither by man, but of the Lord alone. We should remember the covenant, and we shall do it, through divine grace; but the hinge of our safety does not hang there—it is God’s remembering us, not our remembering him; and hence the covenant is an everlasting covenant.

"To be Understood..."

Wednesday night I saw John Mayer live in West Palm Beach. Many of you know I'm a fan of Mayer's music, presentation, talent, and everything else. As usual, the show was great, but something unexpected stole my thoughts at the end.

This particular show was the last show of his summer tour, and also, the last show of a very long and big year for Mayer. At the end of the show, Mayer spent a few minutes talking about the ridiculousness of the past year, and gave his thanks to the hundreds of people who make his life happen. From tech people, roadies, agents, band members, Mayer said, "you may not like me, but the fact that you've been with me through all of this tells me that you understand me. And for me that's the greatest gift I could ever recieve."

To be understood. Mayer said is the greatest and most important affirmation and element of his life. It's what feeds him, what he longs and hopes for.

Many of you who read this blog are artists of some sort or another. Actually, most of you seem to either be writers or photographers, which is interesting. I do not claim to be an artist, only a person who hopefully thinks artistically sometimes.
I totally understand Mayer's desire, "to be understood." I feel it everytime I climb a stage or pulpit to preach the scriptures. But I also thought how interesting it is, that an artist of extreme talent, who gives his art as a self-expression of who he or she is, wraps his entire being in the reaction of others. If we the hearer, the watcher, the one viewing the art, understands the art, understands the artist, then the artist has been "understood", and feels affirmed and validated.

If I could dare say, I think this points to how beauty and art, although the outward flow of inward self-expression, is uniquely communal. If others cannot join in, comment on, or validate that which is so close to our beings, our art, our expression, what's the use? Can any artist truly ever say, "I do this just for myself"? Can they truly say "it doesn't matter if anyone else likes it or not"? I'm not sure. I'm not an artist.

Those of you who are, I'd welcome your comments and discussion...

What does it mean, "to be understood".

Mr. Stand-fast

The art is an illustration of Mr. Stand-fast and Madam Bubble in John Bunyan's, Pilgrim's Progress.
Do you remember Mr. Stand-fast in Pilgrim's Progress?


Dying, he confidently declared...

"I am going now to see that Head that was crowned with thorns, and that Face that was spit upon, for me. I have formerly lived by hear-say, and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight,
and shall be with him, in whose company I delight myself."

Transatlanticism

Nothing quite fills that space. The side of you that hopes for the perfect. There's a part of you that knows all this is beautiful. All this is here, now, breathtaking.

"the atlantic was born today and i'll tell you how:
the clouds above opened up and let it out."

But there's this other side. This part that sees the breakdown. The disconnect. What happened? How could the gap between what is so beautiful and what is so vile be this wide? What can be done? Can this all be saved? Can I be saved?

"I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere
when the water filled every hole.
and thousands upon thousands made an ocean,
making islands where no island should go.
oh no."

Is there something that can cross the distance? This vast wasteland of human depravity and mishap. This vile and cheap picture of something I know is out there. Something that once was. Something that will one day be again. Can mountains under seas cry out? Are they crying now? Is there a groaning for something to take place?

Can you feel it? Can you hear the longing?

The need for justice and beauty. For all things to be put to rights. For beauty to be restored.

Love bestowed.

Redemption given.

"those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats.
I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat.
the rhythm of my footsteps crossing flood lands to your door have been silenced forever more.
the distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
it seems farther than ever before
oh no."

O how I long! How we long! For the new. Not just recreated, but recreated so much fuller, so much plentiful, so much...

"I need you so much closer
I need you so much closer
I need you so much closer"

Pause...wait for it...

"I need you so much closer
I need you so much closer
I need you so much closer
I need you so much closer"

How long? How long should we sing this song? Someone asked.

Can you hear the longing? Can you hear the drums, the pulsing, the pain, the culmination, the fear and trembling? Can you hear the longing?

"so come on, come on
so come on, come on
so come on, come on"
(just keep singing it)

How long? Can you hear it?


**quoted lyrics from the song Transatlanticism, by Death Cab for Cutie