Up Calv'ry's mountain (Blessed Redeemer)

275 Blessed Redeemer

1 Up Calv'ry's mountain one dreadful morn
   Walked Christ, my Savior, weary and worn;
   Facing for sinners death on the cross,
   That He might save them from endless loss.

Chorus:
   Blessed Redeemer! Precious Redeemer!
   Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree;
   Wounded and bleeding, for sinners pleading—
   Blind and unheeding— dying for me!

2 "Father, forgive them!" thus did He pray,
   E'en while His lifeblood flowed fast away;
   Praying for sinners while in such woe–
   No one but Jesus ever loved so. [Chorus]

3 O how I love Him, Savior and Friend,
   How can my praises ever find end?
   Thro' years unnumbered on heaven's shore,
   My tongue shall praise Him forevermore. [Chorus]
                         Avis B. Christiansen
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Feel-good religion? Not so much…

The religious imagination seeks uplift, not torture, humiliation, and death. Therefore the principal purpose of this book about the crucifixion will be to strengthen the reader’s surmise that the cross of Jesus is an unrepeatable event that calls all religion into question and establishes an altogether new foundation for faith, life, and a human future.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 2

Jesus Paid It All

273 Jesus Paid It All

1 I hear the Savior say,
   "Your strength indeed is small!
   Child of weakness, watch and pray,
   Find in Me your all in all."

Refrain:
   Jesus paid it all,
   All to Him I owe;
   Sin had left a crimson stain–
   He washed it white as snow.

2 For nothing good have I
   Whereby Your grace to claim–
   I'll wash my garments white
   In the blood of Calv'ry's Lamb. [Refrain]

3 And when before the throne
   I stand in Him complete,
   "Jesus died my soul to save,"
   My lips shall still repeat. [Refrain]
                         Elvina M. Hall
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
The author only wrote a few hymns; this one was by far the most popular, occurring in more than 850 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a verse:

2 Lord, now indeed I find
   Your pow'r, and Yours alone,
   Can change the leper's spots
   And melt the heart of stone. [Refrain]

</idle musing>

New book started!

Today we start a book I've been meaning to read for about ten years now. I was going to start it on Ash Wednesday, but finally started late last week. It's a thick book, and will probably take a few months to get through, but I think it will be worth it. The book? Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion. Here's the first excerpt:

The Christian faith is empty at its heart if congregations habitually skip over Good Friday as if it had not occurred.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, xvii

Jesus, the Son of God

269 Jesus, the Son of God

1. Do you know Jesus,
   Our Lord, our Savior,
   Jesus the Son of God?
   Have you ever seen Him,
   Or shared of His favor?
   Jesus the Son of God.

Refrain
   O sweet Wonder!
   O sweet Wonder!
   Jesus the Son of God;
   How I adore Thee!
   O how I love Thee!
   Jesus the Son of God.

2. God gave Him, a ransom,
   Our souls to recover;
   Jesus the Son of God.
   His blood made us worthy
   His Spirit to hover;
   Jesus the Son of God. [Refrain]

3. O who would reject Him,
   Despise or forsake Him,
   Jesus the Son of God?
   O who ever sought Him,
   And He would not take Him?
   Jesus the Son of God. [Refrain]

4. If you will accept Him
   And trust and believe Him,
   Jesus the Son of God,
   Your soul will exalt Him,
   And never will leave Him;
   Jesus the Son of God. [Refrain]

5. Then some day from Heaven,
   On clouds of bright glory,
   Jesus the Son of God
   Will come for His jewels,
   Most precious and holy,
   Jesus the Son of God. [Refrain]
                         G. T. Haywood
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Take a minute to read the biography of the author. Interesting guy, although his theology went a bit off the rails when he embraced, and became a founding member of, Oneness Pentacostalism.
</idle musing>

An Easter meditation

300 Easter

Some years ago a newspaper editor telephoned and asked me to tell in a few words what Easter means to me. My testimony was this: Easter means Christ to me. It means Christ in His kingly splendor, Christ in His serene glory, Christ in His gracious condescension. This is because Easter is the return of Christ from inflicted violence, from induced death, from imprisonment in a tomb. Easter is Christ triumphant over all that sin and death and man could do to Him. Easter means Christ.

And where Christ goes, drama goes. For it is impossible to look anywhere in the Gospels and fail to find something powerful happening. This is because Christ is Himself the Gospel and He is life, abundant life, and His life means action, pilgrimage, arrival. Easter means life. Christ defeated death in order that life in Him might always live. And it is life that we want, life in Christ. Whether we put it in words or not, our constant thought is “Life, more life, always more and more life.” We want life in ourselves, in our loved ones, in our friends, the kind of life that cannot be diminished, the kind of life that always expands. Easter is Christ’s victory over all that would restrict, deny and strangle life. “For to me to live is Christ.” That is Easter.
                        —Raymond Lindquist
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Nothing but the Blood

266 Nothing but the Blood

1 What can wash away my sin?
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
   What can make me whole again?
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain:
   Oh! precious is the flow
   That makes me white as snow;
   No other fount I know,
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2 For my pardon this I see -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
   For my cleansing this my plea -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]

3 Nothing can for sin atone -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
   Naught of good that I have done -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]

4 This is all my hope and peace -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
   This is all my righteousness -
   Nothing but the blood of Jesus. [Refrain]
                         Robert Lowry
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Interestingly, this hymn doesn't appear in any United Methodist/Methodist Episcopal hymnal until 1989!
</idle musing>

Are You Washed in the Blood?

259 Are You Washed in the Blood?

1 Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
   Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
   Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?
   Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Refrain:
   Are you washed in the blood,
   In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
   Are your garments spotless?
   Are they white as snow?
   Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

2 Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
   Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
   Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?
   Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? [Refrain]

3 When the Bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white,
   Pure and white in the blood of the Lamb?
   Will your souls be ready for the mansions bright
   And be washed in the blood of the Lamb? [Refrain]

4 Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin
   And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?
   There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean;
   Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb? [Refrain]
                         Elisha A. Hoffman
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Thwarted!

Then he, without any voice or opening of his lips, formed these words in my soul: ‘By this is the Fiend overcome.’ Our Lord said these words meaning overcome by his blessed Passion, as he had shown it earlier. Now our Lord was revealing how with his Passion he defeats the Devil. God showed that the Fiend is still as wicked as he was before the Incarnation and works as hard, but he continually sees that all those to whom salvation is due escape him gloriously through the power of Christ’s dear Passion, and that grieves and humiliates him severely; for everything that God allows him to do turns into joy for us and into shame and vexation for him. And he feels as much sorrow when God allows him to work as when he does not work; and that is because he may never do as much evil as he would wish, for God holds all the Devil’s power in his own hand.—Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, 60

You can't glamorize it (Good Friday thought)

The crucifixion of a man on a cross outside of the hills of Jerusalem must have been a repulsive thing. There just is no way to glamorize the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Just like the altar in the Old Testament tabernacle was a gory and unpleasant mess, so the cross of Jesus Christ was unpleasant in just about every aspect of it. But the altar in the Old Testament tabernacle foreshadowed the cross of Jesus Christ, and pointed to the one and only acceptable sacrifice for God. To take away the reproach of the cross is to undo God’s remedy for man’s revolt. Not only was the altar in the inner court, but also the laver.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 130–31

A Good Friday meditation

257 Good Friday

We acknowledge, O Lord, that there is so little in us that is lovable. So often we are not lovely in our thoughts, in our words, or in our deeds. And yet Thou dost love us still, with a love that neither ebbs nor flows, a love that does not grow weary, but is constant: year after year, age after age.

O God, may our hearts be opened to that love today. With bright skies above us, the fields and woods and gardens bursting with new life and beauty, how can we fail to respond? With the clear notes of bird songs challenging us to praise, with every lowly shrub and blooming tree catching new life and beauty, our hearts indeed would proclaim Thee Lord, and we would invite Thee to reign over us and make us truly Thine own. May Thy healing love invade our inmost hearts, healing sorrow, pain, frustration, defeat, and despair.

May this day create within us a love for Thee of stronger stuff than vague sentimentality—a love which seeks to know Thy will and do it. So grant that this day of hallowed remembrance may be the beginning of a new way of life for each of us, a new kind of living that shall be the best answer to the confusion and to the challenge of evil in our day. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
—Peter Marshall
Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
It wasn't planned by me that this would be the post from the hymnal I am blogging through! It just "happened" to be the next one. Call it divine appointment.
</idle musing>

Person(ality)-to-person(ality)

Because I am a personality, and God is a personality, I believe that we can have personal interaction with God—the interaction between one personality and another in love and faith, and conversation, to speak and to be answered. It is no proof that we have great faith if we solemnly, glumly, grimly and coldly live our lives, saying, “I believe,” and never have God give any response to our faith. There ought to be a response.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 125

Down at the Cross

255 Down at the Cross

1 Down at the cross where my Savior died,
   Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
   There to my heart was the blood applied;
   Singin', Glory to His name!

Refrain:
   Glory to His name, Precious name.
   Glory to His name, Precious name
   There to my heart was the blood applied;
   singin' Glory to His name, His name!

2 I am so wondrously saved from sin,
   Jesus so sweetly abides within;
   There at the cross where He took me in;
   singin' Glory to His name, His name! [Refrain]

3 Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
   I am so glad I have entered in;
   There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
   singin' Glory to His name, His name! [Refrain]

4 Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
   Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
   Plunge in today, and be made complete;
   singin' Glory to His name, His name! [Refrain]
                         Elisha A. Hoffman
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Gotta love a hymn that doesn't just say forgiven, but says cleansed and saved from sin. And one that says keeps me clean, not just forgiven but still dirty. Good holiness theology there.

The hymn appears in more than 820 hymnals. I recall singing it at VBS and church camp—even though I didn't have a clue what it meant : )
</idle musing>

The humble heart

He who attributes any goodness to himself, obstructs the coming of God’s grace, for the grace of the Holy Spirit always seeks a humble heart. If you would perfectly overcome self and set yourself free from love of creatures, I would come to you with all My grace. But while your interest is in creatures, the vision of the Creator is hidden from you. Learn, then, for love of the Creator, to overcome self in everything, and you shall come to the knowledge of God. But so long as anything, however small, occupies too much of your love and regard, it injures the soul and holds you back from attaining the highest Good.—Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 148-49 (ch. 42)

"Man of Sorrows," What a Name!

246 "Man of Sorrows," What a Name!

1 Man of sorrows! what a name
   For the Son of God who came
   Ruined sinners to reclaim!
   Hallelujah, what a Savior!

2 Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
   In my place condemned He stood,
   Sealed my pardon with His blood;
   Hallelujah, what a Savior!

3 Guilty, vile, and helpless we,
   Spotless Lamb of God was He;
   Full atonement! can it be?
   Hallelujah, what a Savior!

4 Lifted up was He to die,
   "It is finished," was His cry;
   Now in heaven exalted high,
   Hallelujah, what a Savior!

5 When He comes, our glorious King,
   All His ransomed home to bring,
   Then anew this song we'll sing,
   Hallelujah, what a Savior!
                         Philip P. Bliss
                         Hymns for the Family of God

That our peace cannot depend on Man

CHAPTER 42 That our Peace cannot Depend on Man

Christ speaking: My son, if your peace depends on anyone. by reason of your afiection or friendship with him, you will always be unsettled, and dependent on him. But if you turn to the living and eternal Truth, the departure or death of your friend will not distress you. Your love for a friend must rest in Me, and those who are dear to you in this life must be loved only for My sake. No good and lasting friendship can exist without Me, and unless I bless and unite all love it cannot be pure and true. You should be so mortified in your affection towards loved ones that, for your part, you would forego all human companionship. Man draws the nearer to God as he withdraws further from the consolations of this world. And the deeper he descends into himself and the lower he regards himself, the higher he ascends towards God.—Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, 148

Tozer for Tuesday

The full purpose of our salvation is that we might enjoy the manifest, conscious presence of God as well as He enjoys our presence. When we are enjoying the conscious presenceof God, we are fulfilling the tenets of our salvation. The purpose of our redemption is to bring us into a right relationship to God in order that He might bring us into a conscious relationship with Himself.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 123

Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners

244 Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners

1 Jesus! what a friend for sinners!
   Jesus! lover of my soul;
   Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
   He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Refrain:
   Hallelujah! what a Savior!
   Hallelujah! what a friend!
   Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
   He is with me to the end.

2 Jesus! what a strength in weakness!
   Let me hide myself in Him;
   Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
   He, my strength, my vict'ry wins. [Refrain]

3 Jesus! what a help in sorrow!
   While the billows o'er me roll,
   Even when my heart is breaking,
   He, my comfort, helps my soul. [Refrain]

4 Jesus! what a guide and keeper!
   While the tempest still is high,
   Storms about me, night o'ertakes me,
   He, my pilot, hears my cry. [Refrain]

5 Jesus! I do now receive Him,
   More than all in Him I find,
   He hath granted me forgiveness,
   I am His, and He is mine. [Refrain]
                         J. Wilbur Chapman
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Civilization...

“Civilization was fun while it lasted.”—David Brooks in the New York Times, April 10, 2025

The Unveiled Christ

236 The Unveiled Christ

1 Once our blessed Christ of beauty
   Was veiled off from human view;
   But thro' suff'ring, death and sorrow
   He has rent the veil in two.

Chorus:
   O behold the Man of Sorrows,
   O behold Him in plain view;
   Lo! He is the mighty conqu'ror,
   Since He rent the veil in two.
   Lo! He is the mighty conqu'ror,
   Since He rent the veil in two.

2 Now He is with God the Father,
   Interceding there for you;
   For He is the mighty conqu'ror,
   Since He rent the veil in two. (Chorus)

3 Holy angels bow before Him,
   Men of earth give praises due;
   For He is the well-beloved
   Since He rent the veil in two. (Chorus)
                         N. B. Herrell
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever hearing or singing this hymn, which isn't surprising, given that it only occurs in 25 hymnals. Hymnary.org adds a fourth verse:

4 Thro'out time and endless ages,
   Heights and depths of love so true;
   He alone can be the giver
   Since He rent the veil in two. (Chorus)