Singing the Bible with a hint of Grace.

Yesterday I sat down to write lyrics and was frustrated by my inability to portray exactly what I wanted to in my song. As I wrote before, I have the chorus sorted out by the verses still evade me. I can see the image of what I want to describe, but getting the words to cooperate while I try to stick them on paper is maddening! You go into the process thinking, "I am going to write the greatest song that has ever been written!" And you come out saying, "wow, that just sounds ridiculous." Grrr the frustration.

So after that frustrating moment, after Bible study last night, I decided that what I would really like to do and think would be pretty and classic, is to sing through different psalms or passages of the Bible. Obviously this would still require a bit of rewording so that the passages suit song. Since my strongest point is not writing lyrics, and probably writing the music, this takes a little bit of stress off me and hey, can you really go wrong with singing the Bible? I don't think so. Plus, who wants to hear what I've said when you could hear what God says instead?

So that is my new challenge.

As a last thought, I wanted to share something from Bible study last night. We are talking about grace and reading through Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace and this passage constantly strikes me. Take as encouragement for living Christ-like today.

'A counselor, David Seamands, summed up his career this way:

Many years ago I was driven to the conclusion that the two major causes of emotional problems among evangelical Christians are these: failure to understand, receive, and live out God's unconditional grace and forgiveness; and the failure to give out that unconditional love, forgiveness, and grace to other people...We read, we hear, we believe a good theology of grace. But that's not the way we live. The good news of the Gospel of grace has not penetrated the level of our emotions.


"The world can do almost anything as well as or better than the church," says Gordon MacDonald. "You need not be a Christian to build houses, feed the hungry, or heal the sick. There is only one thing the world cannot do. It cannot offer grace." MacDonald has put his finger on the church's single most important contribution. Where else can the world go to find grace?'

Are you showing the world, your neighbors, your family members, your friends grace today?

What a challenge.

My photo of the day: