DESTINY MUSIC NEWSLETTER - SongLover.com - APRIL 2001


CONTENTS:

LESS OF ME
By Laura Anderson
NEW SONG
By Kim
OH, TO BE IN LOVE
By Corbin Hodges
A SIMPLE FAITH
By Christine

Bookmarks
To Hurting People through Caring Hands



* * * * * * * *



LESS OF ME
By Laura Anderson
lauraand@juno.com
© Laura Anderson, all rights reserved



LESS OF ME


Verse 1
All I want to do is honor you
And magnify your holy name
I pray each day that I would lose myself in you
So that I won't get in your way

Chorus
Let there be less of me
So that the world will see your glory
Let there be less of me
Let your name be lifted high
Let there be less of me
So that my life may tell your story
More of you in my life
And less of me

Verse 1
I want my life to be an offering
A sarifice of praise
Oh, how I yearn for the whole world to know of
Your power, love, your mercy and your grace

Repeat Chorus



* * * * * * * *



NEW SONG
By Kim
© 2001 Kim Gilbert, all rights reserved



NEW SONG


I used to spend my time singing songs of deep affection,
Or searching for a better way to live;
But then I found the source of loves perfection
Through the blood that Jesus Christ alone could give.

And it took me all the way back to where I once belonged,
Sitting at the feet of the Master;
Knowing he will keep me through the night until the dawn,
Knowing there is victory in his song.

Now don't you be confused by the worlds bright glimmer,
For it will take you straight to hell;
Instead heed the voice of the Redeemer,
For he will save and cleanse and make you well.

And he'll take you all the way back to where we all belong,
Sitting at the feet of the Master,
Knowing he will keep us through the day and through the night,
Knowing there is victory in his might!



* * * * * * * *



OH, TO BE IN LOVE
By Corbin Hodges
© 2001 Corbin Hodges, all rights reserved



OH, TO BE IN LOVE


To know love is to be love,
To be love is to give love

To know she has received love,
By the way she responds to love and reciprocates love

Setting the stage, is the pleasantly strange tension,
That is felt when something is good yet uncertain and
Soothing to the soul

As her eyes glisten when she softly gazes into
The space unknown before her
What is to come of this?
For all is to wonderful to question as
Peace and Joy guides the way

Oh, to be in love

To know her and to learn of her beyond measure
To be in love, in the simplicity of love itself



* * * * * * * *



A SIMPLE FAITH
By Christine
© 2001 Christine, all rights reserved



A SIMPLE FAITH


The older I get the more it seems God intends my life to be much simpler than
my relentlessly analytical mind would have it. Questioning the mysteries of life,
though an important quest, often turns up inconclusive evidence, leaving me
disappointed and as hungry as ever for explanations. For people like me,
questioning and struggling with God will always be a part of that relationship
because for me the questions make sense. It makes sense when my
unbeliever friends and acquaintances tell me they are repelled - and hurt - by
the self-righteously intolerant teachings of some Christian churches. I am also
repelled by this and have been hurt more times than I care to remember by
Christian immaturity and intolerance. In the book, "A Portrait of Jesus," the
author suggests: "The conflict between the scribes and Pharisees and the
Good Shepherd is the tension between those obsessed with inflexible
insistence on the letter of the law regardless of the damage inflicted on people,
and the Good Shepherd, who went out in search of the bruised and hurting
sheep driven away by the self-righteous" (Girzone, p. 41).

I appreciate Girzone's point, "regardless of the damage inflicted on people."
How much damage does intolerant, self-righteous behavior accomplish?
Whose interest does it serve? How many people do we drive away, both
Christian and non-, by harsh words and unloving acts? And who is the One
seeking to woo them back? Intolerance only gives target to our own personal
anger, masking a sense of inferiority. Yet Jesus seems to ask us to keep it
simple by concentrating on love. He asks us to put people first - not religion - to
love those God puts in front of us and leave the Judgment to the God who alone
knows the entirety of our hearts. I have yet to see a person come to Christ as a
result of a condemnation message, unless this message coincides with his or
her own emotional make-up. Most people are seeking relief from
condemnation, whether it be inflicted by self or others. Jesus reprimanded the
Pharisees, the religious leaders of His time, for their self-righteousness and
the intolerable burdens they placed on people. Jesus reminded them, and us,
that the most important commandment of the Law is to: "Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important
commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one.
And it is love others as much as you love yourself. All the Law of Moses and the
Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments"
(Matthew 22:36-40).

I don't want to break the spirit of another person. I've had my own spirit broken
and I know how it has caused me to run from God. All around me I see people
struggling with issues of faith and I can only believe they want what I first came
to Jesus for, His life and love; a meaning and fullness to an otherwise
nonsensical life. The only way I can point them in that direction is if they see
Life and Love in me and if I try to care for them as God loves them.

It also makes sense to me when others say it is "unfair" that Jesus Christ be
proclaimed the only God among many proposed gods. It seems unfair to me
too, considering all the different religions out there and the vast numbers of
people following them. Yet, it is the major theme throughout the Old and New
Testaments that Jesus will be and is the Messiah, the one and only God. Far
be it from me to contest this most central of Biblical themes. No matter how
unfair it appears - and, mind you, I did not write it - I feel responsible to take
seriously a message in the Bible that is stated over and over again, from start
to finish. I understand it is this absoluteness of Jesus' teaching that makes
people stumble, I kind of wish it wasn't so. But Isaiah predicted Jesus would
become a "stumbling stone" and what a stumbling stone He has become:
"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes
them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame" (Isaiah
28:16; Romans 9:33; 1Peter 2:6). The scriptures are clear here but it is still
treacherous for those of us with loved ones who do not accept the exclusivity of
this message: "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those
who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone'
and 'A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall'"
(1 Peter 2:7,8).

And then, speaking of questions and struggles, there are the valleys... The
valley of the shadow of death which none of us escape. These are the valleys
that test our faith and, hopefully, strengthen our character. Bob Dylan writes
powerfully (as usual) of heartache in the valley in his song "Trying to Get to
Heaven" on the Time Out of Mind c.d.:
The air is getting hotter
There's a rumbling in the skies.
I've been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes.
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It doesn't haunt me like it did before.
I've been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door.
...You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write any more
I've been walking through that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door.

How many times have our hearts been broken? Sometimes it seems God is
doing the breaking. As difficult as valleys can be, for me it is only a simple faith
that endures the complex questions. A simple faith that focuses on a good,
loving, and, ultimately fair, God; a God who wants only good for me; who loves
his other created beings as much as He loves me; and who asks me to move
aside and let Him do the Judging.
"Blessed be God,
the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercy,
and the God of all comfort;
who comforts us in all our troubles,
so that we may comfort those
who are in any trouble,
with the comfort we ourselves
have received from God." (II Corinthians 1:3-4)

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
Plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
Plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)



* * * * * * * *



CAREGIVERS HELPING HURTING PEOPLE

The following are a few of this month's inspiring examples of
People Helping Hurting People. These Caregivers will
be passing out Salvation Prayer and Poem Bookmarks


* * *


"I work at a homeless shelter and would love to have
something like this to give to those I can speak to Christ
about. I also would like to give them to the members of my
teen youth group at church to be able to give to their friends
when they are sharing the gospel with them. Thank you."

- Partricia (Goldsboro, NC)


* * *


"I am the president of the bible club at our school. The school
wants nothing to do with us and refuses to help us raise any
money for anything. We meet once a week during our lunch
period and I would like for our club to get something,
something that they would enjoy. We tried to get t-shirts, but
our principal would not help us with fundraising. If you were
to choose me, I would give the bookmarks to the members
of the club because I know they would enjoy them and they
have been really upset about not being able to have any
funds for the club."

- Jessica (Nampa, ID)


* * *


"There are two groups of people i would give these to. My
daughter is a part of a youth group at our church made up of
about 30 teenagers. Only a handful of them attend church
regularly, the rest just need a place to go where they can talk
and not be wrongfully judged or pressured by other teens. I
would give each of them one personally or through their
director.
My parents live in a very poor part of the Rio Grande Valley,
TX. They are administrators and music leaders for the ONLY
church in their tiny town/fishing village. Many of these people
in their town have never even heard the Word until this church
really became a part of the town. I think the bookmarks would
be a great way to continue to spread the gospel. my mom
also uses bookmarks, books, music, etc. as gifts for the
children and teens there...or as prizes for games the kids
play at church. I think these would be great, and might even
be something their church would like to buy in the future."

- Regina (Corpus Christi, TX)



* * * * * * * *


Except where otherwise noted, (c) copyright 1999-2001 Destiny Music, Inc. All rights reserved.