Jesus Is Calling (Crosby)

434 Jesus Is Calling

1 Jesus is tenderly calling thee home-
   Calling today, calling today;
   Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam
   Farther and farther away?

Refrain:
   Calling today,
   Calling today,
   Jesus is calling,
   Is tenderly calling today.

2 Jesus is calling the weary to rest-
   Calling today, calling today;
   Bring Him thy burden and thou shalt be blest-
   He will not turn thee away. [Refrain]

3 Jesus is waiting; O come to Him now-
   Waiting today, waiting today;
   Come with thy sins, at His feet lowly bow-
   Come, and no longer delay. [Refrain]

4 Jesus is pleading; O list to His voice-
   Hear Him today, hear Him today;
   They who believe on His name shall rejoice-
   Quickly arise and away. [Refrain]
                         Fanny Crosby
                         Hymns for the Family of God

The Trinity did it!

The important thing for our discussion here is Paul's announcement (kerygma) that God, in the person of his sinless Son, put himself voluntarily and deliberately into the condition of greatest accursedness — on our behalf and in our place. This mind-crunching paradox lies at the heart of the Christian message.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 100

Let Jesus Come into Your Heart

433 Let Jesus Come into Your Heart

1 If you are tired of the load of your sin,
   Let Jesus come into your heart;
   If you desire a new life to begin,
   Let Jesus come into your heart.

Refrain:
   Just now your doubtings give o'er;
   Just now reject Him no more;
   Just now throw open the door;
   Let Jesus come into your heart.

2 If 'tis for purity now that you sigh,
   Let Jesus come into your heart;
   Fountains for cleansing are flowing near by,
   Let Jesus come into your heart. [Refrain]

3 If there's a tempest your voice cannot still,
   Let Jesus come into your heart;
   If there's a void this world never can fill,
   Let Jesus come into your heart. [Refrain]

4 If you would join the glad songs of the blest,
   Let Jesus come into your heart;
   If you would enter the mansions of rest,
   Let Jesus come into your heart. [Refrain]
                         Lelia N. Morris
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I don't know if anyone ever clicks through to the bibliography of the hymnwriters, but some of them are really interesting. This author started to go blind in her early 50s, so her son built a 28 ft. blackboard with oversized music staffs so she could continue to compose music!
</idle musing>

Cleanse Me (Search me, O God)

425 Cleanse Me

1 Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
   try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
   See if there be some wicked way in me;
   cleanse me from ev'ry sin and set me free.

2 I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
   fulfill Thy Word and make me pure within.
   Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
   grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

3 Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
   fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
   Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
   I now surrender, Lord— in me abide.

4 O Holy Spirit, revival comes from Thee;
   send a revival– start the work in me.
   Thy Word declares Thou will supply our need;
   for blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
                         J. Edwin Orr
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Public theater

In a sense, crucifixion was a form of entertainment. Everyone understood that the specific role of the passersby was to exacerbate the dehumanization and degradation of the person who had been thus designated to be a spectacle. Crucifixion was cleverly designed — we might say diabolically designed — to be an almost theatrical enactment of the sadistic and inhumane impulses that lie within human beings. According to the Christian gospel, the Son of God Voluntarily and purposefully absorbed all of that, drawing it into himself.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 93

At Calvary

415 At Calvary

1 Years I spent in vanity and pride,
   Caring not my Lord was crucified,
   Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary.

Refrain:
   Mercy there was great and grace was free,
   Pardon there was multiplied to me,
   There my burdened soul found liberty–
   At Calvary.

2 By God's Word at last my sin I learned–
   Then I trembled at the Law I'd spurned,
   Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary. [Refrain]

3 Now I've giv'n to Jesus ev'rything,
   Now I gladly own Him as my King,
   Now my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary. [Refrain]

4 O the love that drew salvation's plan!
   O the grace that brought it down to man!
   O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. [Refrain]
                         William R. Newell
                         Hymns for the Family of God

Nobody expected it!

The most radical of all perspectives on the cross will become clear to us if we reflect on the relation between the Old and New Testaments in this regard. To put it in the bluntest possible terms, no one expected a crucified Messiah. Isaiah 53 provided a clue of a suggestion of a hint of a prediction (“He was despised and rejected by men. . . . The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” 53:3, 6), but virtually no one understood this to refer to the Messiah of Israel until after the resurrection.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 90 (emphasis original)

Tozer for Tuesday

I am afraid our lukewarmness about the person of Christ is a great proof that we do not know very much about Him in personal experience. I tell you, we cannot keep still about that which we love. That which we love supremely and above all else, we are going to talk about it a lot. I will never get over it; it is still a delight to me; it is still a pleasure I cannot get over. I do not try to get over it. I just enjoy it.—A.W. Tozer, Experiencing the Presence of God, 141

Under His Wings

412 Under His Wings

1 Under His wings I am safely abiding.
   Tho' the night deepens and tempests are wild,
   Still I can trust Him; I know He will keep me.
   He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Refrain:
   Under His wings, under His wings,
   Who from His love can sever?
   Under His wings my soul shall abide,
   Safely abide forever.

2 Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow!
   How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
   Often when earth has no balm for my healing,
   There I find comfort, and there I am blest. [Refrain]

3 Under His wings, oh, what precious enjoyment!
   There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
   Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me.
   Resting in Jesus, I’m safe evermore. [Refrain]
                         William O. Cushing
                         Hymns for the Family of God

What's missing?

First Corinthians 1:18-25 draws us into the heart of the difficulty that third-millennium Christians share with those of the first century. It helps us remember that the Corinthian church was not unlike many burgeoning American congregations today. The church parking lot is always full, new services have been added, signs and wonders abound, testimonies are given about changed lives, and there seems to be no limit to the enthusiasm of the congregation. Paul, however, sees grave danger ahead, because the Corinthians’ life is oriented to the wrong center.—Fleming Rutledge, The Crucifixion, 85

<idle musing>
She's talking about the scandal of the cross. When was the last time you heard someone at a megachurch preach or teach about the cross? Right! The pews might be full, but without the message of the cross, it's just therapeutic deism. No cross, no real power.
</idle musing>

Am I a Soldier of the Cross

411 Am I a Soldier of the Cross

1. Am I a soldier of the cross,
   a follower of the Lamb,
   and shall I fear to own his cause,
   or blush to speak his name?

2. Must I be carried to the skies
   on flowery beds of ease,
   while others fought to win the prize,
   and sailed through bloody seas?

3. Are there no foes for me to face?
   Must I not stem the flood?
   Is this vile world a friend to grace,
   to help me on to God?

4. Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
   increase my courage, Lord.
   I'll bear the toil, endure the pain,
   supported by thy word.
                         Isaac Watts
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I find it hard to believe that I haven't posted this one yet, but a search comes up blank. Apparently, even though it occurs in nearly 2000 hymnals, it didn't make its way into a (non African) Methodist one until 1989! Be that as it may, here are two more verses that are pretty common:

5. Thy saints in all this glorious war
   shall conquer, though they die;
   they see the triumph from afar,
   by faith they bring it nigh.

6. When that illustrious day shall rise,
   and all thy armies shine
   in robes of victory through the skies,
   the glory shall be thine.

</idle musing>

Who Is on the Lord's Side?

409 Who Is on the Lord's Side?

1. Who is on the Lord’s side? Who will serve the King?
   Who will be His helpers, other lives to bring?
   Who will leave the world’s side? Who will face the foe?
   Who is on the Lord’s side? Who for Him will go?
   By Thy call of mercy, by Thy grace divine,
   We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

2. Not for weight of glory, nor for crown and palm,
   Enter we the army, raise the warrior psalm;
   But for love that claimeth lives for whom He died:
   He whom Jesus saveth marches on His side.
   By Thy love constraining, by Thy grace divine,
   We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

3. Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
   But with Thine own lifeblood, for Thy diadem;
   With Thy blessing filling each who comes to Thee,
   Thou hast made us willing, Thou hast made us free.
   By Thy grand redemption, by Thy grace divine,
   We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!

4. Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe,
   But the King’s own army none can overthrow;
   ’Round His standard ranging, vict’ry is secure,
   For His truth unchanging makes the triumph sure.
   Joyfully enlisting, by Thy grace divine,
   We are on the Lord’s side—Savior, we are Thine!
                         Frances R. Havergal
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
I'm surprised this one isn't in any of the Methodist hymnals I own. It occurs in about 465 hymnals. Hymnary.org includes a fifth verse:

5. Chosen to be soldiers, in an alien land,
   Chosen, called, and faithful, for our Captain’s band;
   In the service royal, let us not grow cold,
   Let us be right loyal, noble, true and bold.
   Master, wilt Thou keep us, by Thy grace divine,
   Always on the Lord’s side—Savior, always Thine!

</idle musing>