Archive for March, 2008
Good Friday Lyrics
Two of the best and most beautiful songs I know of to commemorate Good Friday. If you don’t like reading song lyrics, maybe you could read them as poetry.
O sacred head now wounded
With grief and shame weighed down
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorns Thy only crown
How art Thou pale with anguish
With sore abuse and scorn
How doth that visage languish
Which once was bright as morn
What Thou, my Lord, hath suffered
Was all for sinners’ gain
Mine, mine was the transgression
But Thine the deadly pain
Lo, here I fall, my Savior
‘Tis I deserve Thy place
Look on me with Thy favor
Vouchsafe to me Thy grace
What language shall I borrow
To thank Thee, dearest friend
For this thy dying sorrow
Thy pity without end
O make me thine forever
And should I fainting be
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love for Thee
(lyrics)
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted
See Him dying on the tree
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He
‘Tis the long-expected prophet
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord
By His Son God now has spoken
‘Tis the true and faithful word
Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning
Foes insulting His distress
Many hands were raised to wound Him
None would interpose to save
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that justice gave
Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly
Here its guilt may estimate
Mark the sacrifice appointed
See who bears the awful load
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed
Son of Man and Son of God
Here we have a firm foundation
Here the refuge of the lost
Christ the rock of our salvation
His the name on which we boast
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded
Sacrifice to cancel guilt
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built
(lyrics)
The Long and the Short of It
As you may have guessed, since I’ve dropped the ball on a couple of posts this week, I’ve been just a tad busy since Monday. The kind of busy and the kind of tired that make me want to lie on the couch, eat Skittles, and watch an I Love Lucy marathon. The great thing about it is that tonight, even though I still have to finish a paper that’s due at midnight, I can lie on the couch, eat Skittles, and write my paper. Ah, the life of a college student.
Another great college perk - spring break ended on Sunday. Easter break officially begins as soon as I finish this paper. The living is hard.
Thanks for all of your encouragement about my after-graduation plans… or lack thereof. That reminds me, I need to make a phone call tonight turning down a nanny job. That’s right, my first official job opportunity, and I’m turning it down. Alas and alack. It’s just not the right timing or situation. But at least there was an opportunity for once! This weekend I’m trying to finish a few more applications. There’s one opportunity in particular that I’m excited about, and it looks promising.
Well, this post was Xanga-worthy with all of its everyday-life banality. But that’s what’s in my head right now. I’ve got a hangover from Tuesday night when I got four hours of sleep (not a real hangover, of course). For some reason, the second day after a short night is often worse than the first day. Does anyone else experience that?
I’m off to make some Crystal Light and get cracking on this paper. Catch you on the flip side! (Wow, my writing tone is so elevated tonight.)
Twitter Oops!
Yesterday I tried to change my Twitter updates to protected, and in doing so accidentally denied some of my followers. The updates thing was malfunctioning and I was trying to approve people and suddenly half of my followers were gone. Ah, the tragedy. All this to say - if you’re trying to follow me and suddenly got kicked off, it’s not because you don’t qualify for my Super Secret Updates. Try again and I’ll most likely approve you. 
Confession #41
I still don’t know what I’m doing after I graduate!
Holy Week Readings
Good Friday and Easter are my favorite holidays of all. And I love following Jesus on the pathway to the cross all during this week, the most important one on the church calendar. On the sidebar this week, I’ll be featuring daily readings from the Book of Common Prayer Daily Office Lectionary, found on the ESV website. Be sure to check back every day if you would like to read along. You can also get the readings via RSS from the website.
Being Different Isn’t So Bad
Welcome to the fifth entry in the Soul Sisters series! Click here for the introduction to the series.
Today’s truth:
You can be different from your peers. It’s okay.
“Peer pressure.” We hear about it all the time. To be honest, when I hear that phrase, I usually think about the pressure to buy drugs or something. It’s a cliche, so for me, it’s not very helpful. But what is helpful is the realization that the people around us really do exert a powerful influence over our lives.
Especially as a young person, being different is just so hard. You want to fit in, to be accepted, to be one of the group. Social standing almost defines your identity. So if you’re different, that must mean you’re not important, or you’re just plain weird… right?
Wrong. The thing is, Jesus tells us that as His followers, we will automatically be different from the world. In John 16:18-19, He says, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” He also says in Matthew 5:11, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.”
We’ve been talking about all these paths to walk that are going to make us different from the world around us - questioning cultural norms, submitting to our husbands (now or in the future), being modest, and finding worth in God’s opinion most of all. It can be scary to leave behind what the world says is necessary and right, and start letting that Bible on the shelf be the guide to how we live. It’s going to make us stand out; it’s going to make us look odd.
But I find great comfort in knowing that Jesus walked this road first, with much more radical results than I will ever experience. He knows what it is like to be thought strange and ridiculous by the people He cared about. He was living for His Father’s smile, not the approval of people.
And as an added note, even those little things that aren’t really part of being a Jesus follower, but just make you who you are - those are important. Don’t be so quick to give them up so others will think well of you. It doesn’t really matter in the long run.
Boxes
Just now I came across the blog of someone I used to do ministry with a few years ago. I scanned through some of her entries, and read about where she’s been ministering and what her hopes and dreams are after graduation. And I just started thinking, when did I start dreaming small? I know I dream bigger than some people, but seriously, I used to dream so much bigger than I do now. When did I become so afraid? When did I start thinking inside the box? Why can’t I break free and be up for anything, like I used to be? Can’t I find the balance between craziness and realism? What would happen if I opened my hands and let go of all these fears and regrets I’m holding on to? What might be around the corner? How would I feel if I stopped dreading the unknown and started embracing it? If I started making plans in spite of financial issues? If I quit slapping the “impossible” label on everything I really want to do? If I trusted?
I had to laugh at myself today
For thinking about how I had it made
And day after day just slips away
As if I’ve got it figured out
I’m so used to being comfortable
To life being uninterruptable
But that’s not what I’m about
I’m gonna live outside the box today
And capture everything around me
Thank the Lord for what surrounds me
Maybe I’ll just throw the box away
‘Cause it’s so much better out here anyway
I’m tired of my life being typical
Why should it have to be predictable?
Life can be irresistible
And that’s what I’m finding out
I’m seeing things from a different view
Closing my eyes and trusting You
‘Cause that’s what I’m all about
Thank You for the life You’ve given me
Thank You for the way You make me free to be
Someone who can look at every day
Seeing all the beauty You have made
(Alli Rogers, “Boxes”)
I think I’ll throw the box away.
Coming Next Week
Monday: The fifth installment of the Soul Sisters series
Tuesday: A confession
Wednesday: Entry on the persecuted church
Thursday: Yet another Young Woman to Watch; someone I’ve really enjoyed the last few weeks
Friday: Various and Sundry; some great things I’ve read around the Web lately
Also, last week the ESV Personal Size Reference Bible was finally released. I’ve been waiting for it to come out for a really long time. I ordered it and it should be here sometime this coming week, so I’ll probably do a post about that.
See you back here Monday!
Twitter, Anyone?
Today I started using Twitter a bit more. You can see my updates in the sidebar too. I don’t know if it will last or how long, but you should follow me if you have it too.
The Prosperity Gospel
This is TRUE and powerful. Not only does it debunk the lie of the prosperity gospel, it drives home the message of Jesus as all-satisfying and worthy of our only worship. And it includes my favorite Scripture, Psalm 73:25-26. Beautiful. Watch.
(HT: The Prodigal Jon)
Author
Anna, 21. Saved by grace, called to follow Christ. Book-lover, writer, caregiver, wannabe runner.
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