Hallelujah! All I Have Is Christ!

This song is the one enduring memory of Together for the Gospel 2010 that likely brought home the entire week’s worth of Gospel exhortation. I’ve included a video of a live performance from the Na Band and lyrics below. The music is also available on iTunes. Enjoy and exult in the glory of Christ!

I once was lost in darkest night
Yet thought I knew the way.
The sin that promised joy and life
Had led me to the grave.
I had no hope that You would own
A rebel to Your will.
And if You had not loved me first
I would refuse You still.

But as I ran my hell-bound race
Indifferent to the cost
You looked upon my helpless state
And led me to the cross.
And I beheld God’s love displayed
You suffered in my place
You bore the wrath reserved for me
Now all I know is grace.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Now, Lord, I would be Yours alone
And live so all might see
The strength to follow Your commands
Could never come from me.
Oh Father, use my ransomed life
In any way You choose.
And let my song forever be
My only boast is You.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ
Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

Longing

The song I have written here is a reflection and meditation on what might have been going through the minds of the disciples during the Passion of Jesus. This is the most difficult song I have ever written, spanning two years of reflection and struggle to express what I have been thinking. The utter desolation and depression embodied in this song has driven me to my knees at the realization of my unworthiness to have such a great Savior.

Lied about, beaten around
Spit on your face, you don’t make a sound
Dragged through the square, jeered and mocked
Put on trial, you don’t seem shocked

“I find no wrong,” he said
“No! We want Him dead!”
Speak, Lord Jesus, shout
Speak, remove all doubt

Visage marred, disfigured
Blood flows forth, wrath incurred
Pricking thorns, sticking cloak
Mocking laugh, is this a joke?

He says, “Behold the man!”
The crowd cries out again
“Crucify!” they craze
The judge steps back, amazed

Chorus
One last work, my Lord
Don’t let them take You away
One show of power before
Before they drag You away
You’re the Son of God
Don’t let them go astray
One more miracle
Before they hang You today

Hammer falls, nails pierce through
You’re in shock, pain anew
Mother cries, Father leaves
You forgive, Heaven grieves

“It is finished!” No!
Jesus, You can’t go!
How will we go on?
Oh, we need the Son!

Chorus
One last work, my Lord
Don’t let them take You away
One show of power before
Before they drag You away
You’re the Son of God
Don’t let them go astray
One more miracle
Before they hang You today

One last breath, ghost gave up
Hope has died, the crowd breaks up
Disciples scatter, hiding in fear
Feeling so lost, You’re no longer near

No more miracles
Our debt paid in full
Holy anger, sate
The wrath of God abate

© 2010 by Stephen Newell.

He Loves Me Anyway!

I’ve been on a spiritual high ever since KBCD after Carter Bearden’s magnificent preaching, and then Pastor Tim bringing it this Sunday morning! I was looking through some old posts and found this little song I wrote about 3 years ago that summed up exactly how I feel this moment. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! 😀

What if I said there was a lover who
Loves you just the way you are?
To this lover, what makes you beautiful
Is every blemish, every scar
That lover says you are a fearful
And wonderful work of the Divine
Surprisingly, nothing’s in you to love
He looks at you and says, “You are mine!”

Though there’s nothing makes me lovely
Though my heart is hard and dirty
Though I’ve nothing ’bout Him good to say
He says He loves me anyway

What if I said there was a lover who
Would never leave you high and dry?
You could never leave His loving hand
You would never want to try
Like an orphan, He embraces you
Makes you to live just for His glory
Writes a Word of love for you to read
Calls on you to join His story

Though there’s nothing makes me lovely
Though my heart is hard and dirty
Though I’ve nothing ’bout Him good to say
He says He loves me anyway

Foreknown,
Predestinated,
Conformed to Him and called,
Glorificated!
Though I don’t deserve His mercy, what then shall I say?
He loves me anyway!

(Instrumental Bridge)

Though there’s nothing makes me lovely
Though my heart is hard and dirty
Though I’ve nothing ’bout Him good to say
He says He loves me anyway

What if I said there was a lover who
Brought all things about for good?
Everyone He loves, He chastens well
Hardship makes Him understood
Cast all your cares upon the lover, for
Every need is now okay
According to His riches and His purposes
He set His love upon you anyway

Foreknown,
Predestinated,
Conformed to Him and called
Glorificated!
Though I don’t deserve His mercy, what then shall I say?
He loves me anyway!

Nostalgia Tuesday

Yes, the blog has been pretty silent.  Yes, I have more important things to do right now than post on the blog. No, I don’t much care if you aren’t getting your fix. If you need a fix of this blog, you’re worse than Calvinists who spend their time studying theology instead of preaching the Gospel. (If you don’t see the joke in that last statement, you’re even worse than I thought.)

So in the interest of making sure everyone knows I haven’t been raptured (yet), I give you some good music to listen to from my generation. Consider it an altar call of sorts, though I don’t use altar calls. I prefer invitations, not altar calls (which are unbiblical), but we’ll talk about that another time.

Here’s a selection from the band that started the alternative revolution in the 90s. I present to you Nirvana’s Come As You Are from their landmark Unplugged session, with lyrics following.

Come as you are, as you were
As I want you to be
As a friend, as a trend
As a known enemy

Take your time, hurry up
The choice is yours, don’t be late
Take a rest, as a friend
As an old enemy…ah

Memory…ah
Memory…ah
Memory…ah

Come doused in mud, soaked in bleach
As I want you to be
As a trend, as a friend
As an old enemy…ah

Memory…ah
Memory…ah
Memory…ah

And I swear that I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun

Memory…ah
Memory…ah
Memory…ah

And I swear that I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun
No, I don’t have a gun

Music on Friday

Here’s some more good music from the ’90s. Yes, I’m waxing nostalgic again. This video and lyrics selection is Seven Mary Three’s Cumbersome.

She calls me Goliath and I wear the David mask
I guess the stones are coming too fast for her now
You know I’d like to believe this nervousness will pass
All the stones that are thrown are building up a wall

I have become cumbersome to this world
I have become cumbersome to my girl

I’d like to believe we can reconcile the past
Resurrect those bridges with an ancient glance
But my old stone face don’t seem to break her down
She remembers bridges, burns them to the ground

I have become cumbersome to this world
I have become cumbersome to my girl

Too heavy too light, too black or too white,
Too wrong or too right, today or tonight,
Cumbersome
Too rich or too poor, she’s wanting me less
And I’m wanting her more
The bitter taste is cumbersome

No, yeah, no no, no…
No, yeah, no no, no, yeah…

There is a balance between two worlds
One with an arrow and a cross
Regardless of the balance, life has become
Cumbersome

Too heavy too light, too black or too white,
Too wrong or too right, today or tonight,
Cumbersome
Too rich or too poor, she’s wanting me less
And I’m wanting her more
The bitter taste is cumbersome

No, yeah, no no, no…
No, yeah, no no, no, yeah…
No no, no, no…yeah…

Your life has become cumbersome

My Dream Library and Nostalgia Friday

Not a lot of posting recently, I know. I’ve had family here since the lights went out last week so I’ve been busy. I’ve also had extended teaching opportunities the past month at church also, so there has been a lot of study time that doesn’t allow my usual posting. Not a lot of rest, so I will be spending the following week sleeping a lot when I’m not at work or at church. I also discovered Twitter as I said in the previous post, so you can keep somewhat updated in the sidebar.

Important stuff first. Please pray for Pastor Steve McCoy’s wife Molly. She had brain surgery today for Chiari I Malformation and so far the reports are encouraging. I have been lifting them up to God all week and I encourage you to do the same.

Also, please pray for me as I try to figure out what I want to develop a teaching/sermon series on. I am feeling led to do the Ten Commandments and/or one of the Gospels. These sermons would be preached on my turns on the preaching schedule or could possibly turn into a Sunday School or Wednesday night discipleship series, much like I did with 1 John this summer.

In addition, pray for my pastor, Tim Bender. He will be leading us through a series on Mormonism on Wednesday nights. We just completed a series on Jehovah’s Witnesses. After this he tentatively plans to lead us through the MasterLife curriculum.

Next week, I will post the two promised sermons from the previous post.

Anyhow, for some weekend fodder for you, I recently saw my dream library here (HT: Brent T.). Let’s see if I can provide a pictoral reference:

See it Original Size
(Photo by Andrew Moore)

If I had a library like that, I’d never leave the house.

While browsing the web I came across a band I’d listened to in high school that had one of the most peculiar songs I’d ever heard. When we carpooled to varsity tennis matches we used to play this song over and over in my car, singing it at the top of our lungs. So with no further ado, I present you the video and lyrics to The Flaming Lips’ She Don’t Use Jelly.

I know a girl who thinks of ghosts
She makes them breakfast, she makes them toast
She don’t use butter, she don’t use cheese
She don’t use jelly or any of these
She uses vaseline…vaseline…vaseline

I know a guy who goes to shows
When he gets home he, he blows his nose
He don’t use tissues, or his sleeve
He don’t use napkins or any of these
He uses magazines…magazines…magazines…magazines

I know a girl who reminds me of Cher
She’s always changin’ the color of her hair
She don’t use nothin’ you buy at the store
She wants her hair to look real orange
She uses tangerines…tangerines…tangerines…tangerines…
Tangerines…tangerines…

That’s all, folks. Remember to spend the Lord’s Day in His House with the Local Body of Believers of Which You Are a Member!

Somewhere in the Vasoline

As I’ve said several times now, Tricia and I went to see Stone Temple Pilots this past Saturday at the Horseshoe Casino (formerly Caesar’s Indiana). It was a fantastic concert and was opened by an excellent band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

STP had an outdoor crowd of several thousand rocking to classic STP tunes from their 5-album catalog. Some of the best parts were when the band jammed to what frontman Scott Weiland said were songs they were working on for a new album! If what we heard was any indication, the newest STP album will be very bluesy. Here’s the setlist:

Big Empty
Wicked Garden
Big Bang Baby
Silvergun Superman
Vasoline
Lounge FLy
Lady Picture Show
Sour Girl
Creep
Crackerman
Plush
Interstate Love Song
Too Cool Queenie
Coma
Down
Sex Type Thing
Sin

Encore:
Dead And Bloated
Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart

And here’s some pics, courtesy of my iPhone. Did I mention I love the pics my iPhone takes? Now if only it had zoom…

Stone Temple Pilots Returns

There are several great bands to come out of the 90s, three of which I had a lot of exposure to. Oasis (my favorite band) is one, Pearl Jam (whom I loathe) is another. But one of the bands that deeply influenced my guitar tastes has reunited. Stone Temple Pilots has returned!

Most of you probably don’t care, and that’s just fine. Those of you who, like me, went through your teen years in the 90s ought to know these guys and the great songs they performed. The charismatic singing of troubled frontman Scott Weiland, the exquisite, creative guitar tones of the Deleo brothers, the driving drums of Eric Kretz, all combined to create an intelligent, addictive sound that I still play on a regular basis.

I have just learned that STP will be at Caesar’s Indiana on August 16. If by some providence we can save some greenage, I plan to take Tricia to her first ever rock concert as part of her birthday present. That would be too cool, to take my wife to see one of my favorite bands after pampering her all day. 🙂

I’ll leave you for the weekend with a sampling of great songs from their discography, with a link for lyrics for those of you who need them. Click on the song name for lyrics.

Plush

Vasoline

Big Bang Baby (the first STP song I ever learned)

Lady Picture Show (Not the best video, but the official video is rated PG-13 to R)

Sour Girl

Hello, It’s Late

Days of the Week

And finally, A Song For Sleeping. This isn’t a video (they don’t have one), but I sing this to baby Grace.

Have a great weekend!

More Latin Praise for Breakfast

Since you liked that so much, here’s another. It’s a very appropriate prayer for those of us who work the graveyard shift.

Pie Jesu, Pie Jesu,
Pie Jesu, Pie Jesu,
Qui tollis peccata mundi;
Dona eis requiem,
Dona eis requiem.

Angus Dei, Angus Dei,
Angus Dei, Angus Dei,
Qui tollis peccata mundi;
Dona eis requiem,
Dona eis requiem.
Sempiternam, sempiternam requiem.

Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,
You who take away the sins of the world;
Grant them rest,
Grant them rest.

Lamb of God, Lamb of God,
Lamb of God, Lamb of God,
You who take away the sins of the world;
Grant them rest,
Grant them rest.
Everlasting, everlasting rest.

Latin Praise for Breakfast

This just had to be said this morning.

Non nobis domine, non nobis,
Non nobis domine
Sed nomine, sed nomine
Tuo da gloriam.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us
Not to us, Lord our God
But to your name, but to your name
Be all the glory.

Selah.