Look at the beauty of this tree that I have been privileged to see through many seasons of change. It was here way before I was born and will probably be here long after I'm gone. I was amazed as I saw the sun coming through those leaves - the beauty was overwhelming.

We sang this song in church today and it washed over my mind and heart and soul. This song was overwhelming too. Whenever I hear a song like this that is so powerful and true I always want to add it to songs I would like to have as part of my funeral someday. That list is getting pretty long.

That last verse - "Oh to see my name written in the wounds, for through your suffering I am free. Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live, won through your selfless love." Wow!

One of the main reasons I want to continue to have Acorn Day on September 21st each year is to begin to prepare my children and grandchildren for my death someday. Death in Christ is not to be feared. Just as that acorn falls into the ground and this amazing new thing happens - that acorn becomes a majestic oak - just imagine what God will do with us as we see him face to face and know as we are known! Ahhhhh!

Oh to see the dawn (The power of the cross): Pdf sheet music

Stuart Townend / Keith Getty

£1.49

Key: C
Tempo: slow

OH, TO SEE THE DAWN
Of the darkest day:
Christ on the road to Calvary.
Tried by sinful men,
Torn and beaten, then
Nailed to a cross of wood.

This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us.
Took the blame, bore the wrath -
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Oh, to see the pain
Written on Your face,
Bearing the awesome weight of sin.
Every bitter thought,
Every evil deed
Crowning Your bloodstained brow.

Now the daylight flees,
Now the ground beneath
Quakes as its Maker bows His head.
Curtain torn in two,
Dead are raised to life;
‘Finished!’ the victory cry.

Oh, to see my name
Written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death,
Life is mine to live,
Won through Your selfless love.

(Final chorus)
This, the power of the cross:
Son of God - slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2005 Thankyou Music

Coming Out into the Sunshine

This morning I listened to a CD by Rich Mullins. I actually had about 15 or 20 minutes to myself to listen to his words and music and it was like I was hearing his words for the first time. My soul was overcome with joy as I sang in my heart the truths in his songs. There is a depth and richness that comes from the heart of this man who knows his God and knows himself that soothes my soul and makes it yearn for God alone.

On Sunday night at small group I asked the group to pray for Kurt, Josh and Jen, Leah and Cannon. Then I also asked for prayer for my cousin, Ron, who continues to struggle with the aftermath of a heart attack and for the fear that he might also pass away soon. And as I was talking I was overcome with emotion and the words sort of fell out, "I'm just so tired of funerals...and that there must be something God has for me to learn and I don't want to miss whatever that is." Steve, one of the men in our group, prayed and in addition to praying for what I'd asked he prayed that God would allow me to simply grieve and not feel I had to try so hard to figure everything out but trust the One who knows everything.

So this morning as I listened to Rich Mullins' voice, I thought of him singing in heaven, and I was overcome with joy and peace. If you've not listened to Rich Mullins lately, you might want to find a quiet place and let the music soothe and satiate your soul.

Here are the words to

"calling out your name"

Well the moon moved past Nebraska and
Spilled laughter on them cold Dakota Hills
And angels danced on Jacob's stairs
There is this silence in the Badlands
And over Kansas the whole universe was stilled
By the whisper of a prayer
And the single hawk bursts into light
And in the east the whole horizon is in flames

Chorus:
I feel the thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I can feel the earth tremble beneath
The rumbling of the buffalo hooves
And the fury in the pheasant's wings
It tells me the Lord is in His temple and there is
Still faith that can make the mountains move
And a love that can make the heavens ring
Where the sacred rivers meet beneath
The shadow of the Keeper of the plains

Repeat chorus

From the place where morning gathers
You can look sometimes
Forever 'til you see
What time may never know
How the Lord takes by its corners this old world
And shakes us forward - shakes us free
To run wild with the hope
The hope that this thirst will not last long
That it will soon drown
In the song not sung in vain

Repeat chorus

I know this thirst will not last long, that it will
Soon drown in the song not sung in vain
I feel the thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And with the prairies I am calling out Your name

- Rich Mullins