Glory Forever

OH Lamb of God
Your time-less love
Will never fade a-way
You are Holy, You are Holy

And no Matter what
This life may bring
I will give you all my praise
You are worthy, You are worthy

Days will come
Years will pass by
You Lord will reign
Forever on high

So bring your anointing as
Your name we praise
Jesus exalted for now and always

You are worthy of glory forever
So holy, with glory forever
To you be all glory forever, Oh lord my God.

Be the Glory
To you Lord the glory

Glory Forever, Glory Forever, Glory Forever
To you my God.

-Denver and the Mile High Orchestra

“The story is told of Hudson Taylor, missionary statesman to China, in the terrible days of the Boxer uprising there. As one report followed another of mission stations being destroyed and missionaries massacred, Taylor remained quietly at his desk, singing softly these words that he loved so dearly:

Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart. Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul, for by Thy transforming power Thou hast made me whole.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art, and Thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart—Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its ev’ry need, compasseth me round with blessings. This is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee. Resting ’neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth’s dark shadows flee. Brightness of my Father’s glory, sunshine of my Father’s face, keep me ever trusting, resting; fill me with Thy grace.”

Osbeck, K. W. (1990). Amazing grace : 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (287). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications. {Emphasis added by me.}

Through The Fire

So many times I’ve questioned certain circumstances
Things I could not understand
Many times in trials, weakness blurs my vision
Then my frustration gets so out of hand
It’s then I am reminded I’ve never been forsaken
I’ve never had to stand the test alone
As I look at all the victories the spirit rises up in me
And it’s through the fire my weakness is made strong

(chorus)
He never promised that the cross would not get heavy
And the hill would not be hard to climb
He never offered our victories without fighting
But he said help would always come in time
Just remember when you’re standing in the valley of decision
And the adversary says give in
Just hold on, our Lord will show up
And he will take you through the fire again

(bridge)
I know within myself that I would surely perish
But if I trust the hand of God, He’ll shield the flames again

(repeat chorus)

Source: The Crabb Family

“This song was written by a mother (along with her husband) who carried her baby 34 weeks knowing the baby would not live soon after birth. I may never listen to it again because it is so hard for me to listen to without getting crazy emotional, but the words are so close to my heart. They are so close to the thoughts continually racing through my head. So, anyways, I thought I would share it with those of you who haven’t heard it.” – Natasha Tolson

From me:

Here is a song by Selah about a situation with a member of their group similar to what we are going through now (read the story here or here). They were informed that their baby was “incompatible with life” (like we were) and that the recommended solution was termination of the pregnancy. They didn’t agree, and chose to carry her. This song was written to described what the wife was feeling so they could play it at her memorial service. The lyrics are below and here is a link to the song in itunes.

This song is an encouragement to me so I thought I would share it with you!

Thanks for your continued prayers during this time.

I Will Carry You (Audrey’s Song)

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies, wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this?

People say that I am brave but I’m not
Truth is I’m barely hanging on
But there’s a greater story
Written long before me
Because He loves you like this

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the One Who’s chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to His voice
And He says …

I’ve shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies, no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the One Who’s chosen me
To carry you

As the sun rose that morning on the day of Job’s trials,
He rose up to serve God as any other day;
Bound and determined to live in God’s favor,
And nothing would stand in his way.

But then the messengers came one by one with their story,
In just a few moments Job lost all he had;
Great wealth and riches the health of his body,
And even his children were dead.

The Lord giveth, he taketh away,
Blessed be the name of the Lord;
I served him before and I’ll serve him today,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Then his wife came before him to voice her opinion,
She said, “You should end this, just curse God and die.”
But Job he rose from the ashes, he looked toward the heavens,
He brushed back the tears in his eyes.

And He said:

The Lord giveth, he taketh away,
Blessed be the name of the Lord;
I served him before and I’ll serve him today,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

When troubles come suddenly,
Blessed be the name!
When strong winds blow violently,
Blessed be the name!
When Satan comes oppressing me,
Blessed be the name!
I’ll still serve God faithfully,
Blessed be the name!

The Lord he giveth, he taketh away,
Blessed be the name of the Lord;
I served him before and I’ll serve him today,
Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I served him before and I’ll serve him today,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name,
Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Our Heart, Our Desire

CHORUS:
Our heart our desire
Is to see the nations worship
Our cry our prayer
Is to sing Your praise to the ends of the earth
That with one mighty voice
Every tribe and tongue rejoices
Our heart our desire
Is to see the nations worship You

Verse 1
Heavenly Father
Your mercy showers down upon all people
Every race upon this earth
May Your Spirit pierce the darkness
Break the chains of death upon us
Let us rise in honest worship
To declare Your matchless worth

Verse 2
There is no power that for one hour
Can withstand the greatness
Of Your Word on tongues of faith

So we’re bold in intercession
Claiming all of your possession
Praying now that every heart will bow

Before You Lord in praise

You can contact the church office to order your copy, call 770-456-5881 or send an email to info@visionbaptist.com.

1. From Greenland’s icy mountains,
From India’s coral strand,
Where Afric’s sunny fountains
Roll down their golden sand;
From many an ancient river,
From many a palmy plain,
They call us to deliver
Their land from error’s chain.

2. What though the spicy breezes
Blow soft o’er Ceylon’s isle,
Though ev’ry prospect pleases,
And only man is vile;
In vain with lavish kindness
The gifts of God are strown;
The heathen in his blindness
Bows down to wood and stone.

3. Shall we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Shall we to men benighted
The lamp of life deny?
Salvation! O salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim,
Till earth’s remotest nation
Has learned Messiah’s name.

4. Waft, waft, ye winds, his story,
And you, ye waters, roll,
Till, like a sea of glory,
It spreads from pole to pole;
Till o’er our ransomed nature,
The Lamb for sinners slain,
Redeemer, King, Creator,
In bliss returns to reign.

Words: Reginald Heber, 1819.

Click Here and download the sheet music.

All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Chorus:
Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You’re my all, you’re the best
You’re my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord

Now my heart’s desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die

By: Graham Kendrick
Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music,
www.grahamkendrick.co.uk

I think I know where the inspiration of the song came from:

Philippians 3:7-11 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead”

Music Should Be Scriptural (Colossians 3:16) – We want our music to be filled with Bible truths that are “teach and admonishing” us in great doctrinal truths and the lyrics are accurate according to the Word of God.

Music Should Be About Jesus (Colossians 3:16-17; Psalm 96:2) – We are to “let the word of Christ dwell in ‘us’ richly in all wisdom” and want our focus on the One who was crucified for our sins, buried, and rose again the third day and redeemed our souls from hell. “And whatsoever ‘we’ do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Music Should Be “to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16; Psalm 34:3) – We want our music not to be man-centered but God-centered. Man was created to Glorify God (Revelations 4:11) and that should show forth “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

Music Should be Passionate (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19) – We are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind; music is a way for us to involve all three of those and to passionately sing out to God from our heart “singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” and “making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

Music Should Be Reverent (Hebrews 12:28-29) – In all kinds of service to God we should sing and play music that shows we “serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.”

Musical Instruments Should Be Used And Played Skillfully (Psalms 33:3; 150:4) – The Bible speaks of many different instruments used that fall into three categories: percussion (1 Chronicles 16:5), stringed (1 Kings 10:12), and wind (1 Chronicles 5:12). We should “play skillfully” and with “distinction in the sounds.” (1 Corinthians 14:7)

Music Should be Easy to Understand (1 Corinthians 14:9-12) – Music is to be “loud” (Psalm 98:4) but not blaring to the point the words can not be understood or the instruments distract from the message being taught and the praise being sung. Lyrics unheard are useless. It is our goal to “seek that ‘we’ may excel to the edifying of the church.”

Music Should be Sung Congregational & Individually (Psalm 149:1; Psalm 42:8) – We are to sing when we come together as a Church and praise His Name and we need to sing in our personal walk with the Lord.

Music Should be Blended (Ephesians 5:19) – Our music should be blended between three types of songs: psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is also blended in its means, as stated previously, a way of teaching and admonishing (Colossians 3:16) or expressing joy (James 5:13) and giving thanks unto the Lord (Psalm 92:1-3). Also, as acts of praise (Acts 16:25) and a means of prayer (Psalm 72:20).

Conclusion: Music is from God, for God, about God, and to God. It is all about Him! We want the substance and style of our music to be Scriptural and honor God. Therefore, these principles are laid forth as guidelines to God honoring music in our local churches (this is a small summary of principles, there are many more verses).

Note: In the realm of music it is never our goal to look at, be like, or copy the world in their way of music but to follow Biblical guiding principles!