yesterday i went to westminster presbyterian church... *gasp* "mark, how could you?!" i know, i'm a faithless miscreant whose loyalty is ridiculously given to the cross instead of a denomination but i hope you will accept me...
anyway, this week we went to the traditional service (which i found to be much more interesting than the contemporary service that we went to last week... can someone enlighten me as to the purpose for a contemporary presbyterian service?) and there were a lot of interesting differences between their service and ours (ours being an a/g service as i am used to). both have many things i like and dislike and many things i find helpful and many things i find distracting. this post isn't going to go into all that stuff though, instead, there was a specific hymn that stood out to me that i wanted to write down and talk about.
the hymn was called "today we all are called to be disciples."
today we are called to be disciples of the Lord,
to help to set the captives free, to make plow-share out of sword.
to feed the hungry, quench their thirst, make love and peace our fast,
to serve the poor and homeless first, our ease and comfort last.
God made the world and at its birth ordained our human race,
to live as stewards of the earth, responding to God's grace.
but we are vain and sadly proud, we sow not peace but strife,
our discord spreads a deadly cloud that threatens all of life.
pray justice may come rolling down as in a mighty stream,
with righteousness in field and town to cleanse us and redeem.
for God is longing to restore an earth where conflicts cease,
a world that was created for a harmony of peace.
may we in service to our God act out the living word,
and walk the road the saints have trod till all have seen and heard.
as stewards of the earth may we give thanks in one accord,
to God who calls us all to be disciples of the Lord.
i don't know anything about the history of this hymn. the author was h. kenn carmichael and that's about all i know about him. i was very impressed though by this song.
i like the opening word "today." this expresses the urgency of the idea being expressed. today, now. it is to be lived out in the present. not a goal for the future. not an ideal of the past. today, now.
i am also impressed by the focus of the first verse, the beginning definition of "disciple" here is one who sets the "captives" free and serves the "poor and homeless" before themselves. i think this is a wonderful insight that would change the nature of the church if we could get that into our heads...
the second verse expresses the frailty and weakness of the human race who have failed as stewards of this planet. instead we threaten it with our selfish ambitions.
verse three expresses the desire for God to bring his justice and redeem the world that we corrupted through restoring us to righteousness in Him.
the final verse is a prayer for us whom He has called to be faithful disciples.
i found this hymn to be very interesting and inspiring, i had never heard it before.
thoughts anyone?
marksantistevan.
anyway, this week we went to the traditional service (which i found to be much more interesting than the contemporary service that we went to last week... can someone enlighten me as to the purpose for a contemporary presbyterian service?) and there were a lot of interesting differences between their service and ours (ours being an a/g service as i am used to). both have many things i like and dislike and many things i find helpful and many things i find distracting. this post isn't going to go into all that stuff though, instead, there was a specific hymn that stood out to me that i wanted to write down and talk about.
the hymn was called "today we all are called to be disciples."
today we are called to be disciples of the Lord,
to help to set the captives free, to make plow-share out of sword.
to feed the hungry, quench their thirst, make love and peace our fast,
to serve the poor and homeless first, our ease and comfort last.
God made the world and at its birth ordained our human race,
to live as stewards of the earth, responding to God's grace.
but we are vain and sadly proud, we sow not peace but strife,
our discord spreads a deadly cloud that threatens all of life.
pray justice may come rolling down as in a mighty stream,
with righteousness in field and town to cleanse us and redeem.
for God is longing to restore an earth where conflicts cease,
a world that was created for a harmony of peace.
may we in service to our God act out the living word,
and walk the road the saints have trod till all have seen and heard.
as stewards of the earth may we give thanks in one accord,
to God who calls us all to be disciples of the Lord.
i don't know anything about the history of this hymn. the author was h. kenn carmichael and that's about all i know about him. i was very impressed though by this song.
i like the opening word "today." this expresses the urgency of the idea being expressed. today, now. it is to be lived out in the present. not a goal for the future. not an ideal of the past. today, now.
i am also impressed by the focus of the first verse, the beginning definition of "disciple" here is one who sets the "captives" free and serves the "poor and homeless" before themselves. i think this is a wonderful insight that would change the nature of the church if we could get that into our heads...
the second verse expresses the frailty and weakness of the human race who have failed as stewards of this planet. instead we threaten it with our selfish ambitions.
verse three expresses the desire for God to bring his justice and redeem the world that we corrupted through restoring us to righteousness in Him.
the final verse is a prayer for us whom He has called to be faithful disciples.
i found this hymn to be very interesting and inspiring, i had never heard it before.
thoughts anyone?
marksantistevan.
2 comments:
dude, that hymn was Suhwheat!!! Yeah, the word today is probably the most important part of the song. when we think we can't live the Christian life today, we know we can because God has called us to do so today (book of Hebrews). when we think we have to wait until we become more spiritually mature to help homeless people and take care of the earth, we must remember that God has called us to do something today.
I forgive you for going to that church, and I'm sure God does too...LOL! I've never heard that Hymn before either...Hymns are cool...but I don't really know many bcause I'm a naiive a/g Kid...hehe. I Love you.
Post a Comment