Amazing Love
by Charles Wesley, 1708-1788

And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me who caused His pain …
for me who Him to death pursued!
Amazing love! How can it be
that Thou, my God, should die for me?

‘Tis mystery all: the Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above …
so free, so infinite His grace!
Emptied Himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free …
for O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature’s night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light!
My chains fell off, my heart was free …
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread.
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine.
Alive in Him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
and claim the crown through Christ my own!

“Trying to understand men gets confusing. Yet, just to put this out there, I once heard in one of my classes that when trying to understand the differences between the thought processes of guys and girls, it’s like waffles and spaghetti. While guys focus on one pocket of information at at time, girls thoughts are interconnected and run together like spaghetti noodles.”

– Kim Miller

“I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this directly, but I think you’re one of the most important people at our school, in terms of how you interact with the kids and do what you do. I want you to be excruciatingly happy here.”

– My boss

Seriously … can you think of something more encouraging to hear from your jefe? And I don’t think it’s just lip-service … I was just offered the opportunity to develop a program that is really in line with where my heart is here at school (with actual compensation) and given the freedom to marginalize some of the mundane things that often weigh this job down.

You think I’d have it down by now
Been practicin’ for thirty years
I should have walked a thousand miles
So what am I still doin’ here
Reachin’ out for that same old piece of forbidden fruit
I slip and fall and I knock my halo loose
Somebody tell me what’s a boy supposed to do?

I get so clumsy
I get so foolish
I get so stupid
And then I feel so useless
But You’re sayin’ You love me
And You’re still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
‘Cause You’re makin’ me holy
You’re still makin’ me holy, yeah

I’m gonna get it right this time
I’ll be strong and I’ll make You proud
I’ve prayed that prayer a thousand times
But the rooster crows and my tears roll down (again)
Then You remind me You made me from the dust
And I can never, no never, be good enough
And that You’re not gonna let that come between us

I get so clumsy
I get so foolish
I get so stupid
And then I feel so useless
But You’re sayin’ You love me
And You’re still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
‘Cause You’re makin’ me holy
You’re still makin’ me holy, yeah

From where I stand
Your holiness is up so high I can never reach it
My only hope is to fall on Jesus

I get so clumsy
I get so foolish
I get so stupid
And then I feel so useless
But You’re sayin’ You love me
And You’re still gonna hold me
And that You wanna be near me
‘Cause You’re makin’ me holy
You’re still makin’ me holy, yeah

– Chris Rice

I’m hesitant to write yet another post about China and the earthquake … but the following email, which I just received from Melody, a friend living 80km from the epicenter, is quite amazing:

Thank you Lance, for your concern and the prayers from your church. I am ok, so is my family. Chengdu wasn’t affected much by the earthquake because of its unique geographical features, no building is crashed here. But the rest of my hometown was damaged severly. Lots of pretty mountainous areas disappeared together with their people. The pandas are doing ok though.

Yes, all chinese people are pulling together because of this tragedy. And we have never felt so much love among us. Which is quite comforting. Lots of people are willing to sacrifice for others. Many school teachers died saving students, P.L.A. soldiers kept on saving others when some of them lost all their family members, all the taxi drivers in town drove out of the city to the dangerous places to help transport injured people for free … even beggers are helping, some of them donating all those small bills they have.

The earthquake destroyed our homes and families, but God will use it to create a strong bond of love among us. I can tell how much He loves Sichuan’s people.

Melody

It was really good to finally hear that Melody and her family are safe. Even more, it was awesome to hear her describe the upside to the earthquake. As devastating as it was, this disaster came at a time when the passion and fervor of the Chinese people is at its peak. Centuries of repressed emotion, terrible pain, and delayed gratification have been coming to the surface all year … and now, the quake has essentially provided lots of chances for love and compassion, things that the hearts in China so desperately need.

I’m convinced … disaster always has opportunity stapled to it. And I, for one, am eager to see what’s going to happen over there!

I’ve tried to explain to people that the area where I lived in China last year was pretty backwater. Sure, the infrastructure was fairly developed (in some ways), but the lifestyle and attitudes and society in general were pretty backwards, at times.

I just received an email from Grahm Dion, one of my “fellow Americans” in Loudi, that gives a good example of what I’m talking about.

last night was by far the strangest experiment in social psychology i have ever seen. of course you all know the earthquake that recently destroyed part of the west here. well, for the past week the country has been watching images of earthquake victims, all the time. and there have been many tears spilled watching tv, and relating to the victims. the thing is most chinese feel things as a group. if you ask them how they feel, they will tell you how everyone feels, not how they indivudualy feel.

so, last night, a rumor hit loudi that there was going to be an earthquake. not this year, not ths month, not this week,….but last night! it is completly rediculous. and i tried to calm the people i talked to, but they were completly incapable of thinking for themselves. so, everyone went outside with their blankets and things, just like they say on tv. they were living their tv experience and did not want logic to intervene.

it was awesome. the whole city of loudi, was outside last night. midnight. the food vendors were selling food, the police were telling people not to worry, there were public announcements on the signs, and just general, having a good time, paranoia. whee!

there was one chinese guy that asked me if my government told me about an earthquake coming to loudi. he was convinced that the u.s. government could predict earthquakes and was only telling u.s. citizens the results. so he is prodding me to tell him the big secret of when the earthquake is goin to hit. Awesome! like i said, last night was incredible. i wish you could have been here with me.

ok , gotta go teach.

much love,
grahm

Oh, man … I miss that place.

How do you explain, how do you describe
A love that goes from east to west
And runs as deep as it is wide
You know all our hopes, Lord, You know all our fears
And words cannot express the love we feel
But we long for You to hear

So listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing
A song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed
We will use the words we know
To tell You what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough to tell You of our love
So listen to our hearts

If words could fall like rain from these lips of mine
And if I had a thousand years
Lord, I would still run out of time
If you listen to my heart, every beat will say
“Thank You for the life, thank You for the truth
Thank You for the way.”

So listen to our hearts, hear our spirits sing
A song of praise that flows from those You have redeemed
We will use the words we know
To tell You what an awesome God You are
But words are not enough to tell You of our love
So listen to our hearts

– Geoff Moore

“If ten men are carrying a log — nine of them on the little end and one on the heavy end — and you want to help, on which end will you lift?”

– William Borden

I love how this quotation, which refers to world missions, implies that church work and missions work are two sides of the same log. And the imagery of nine men struggling to be successful while their solution is so obvious … it’s just poignant.

In May 2004, Bill Cosby gave a famous talk at the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown vs Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court Decision. It has since become known as the Pound Cake speech.

His words were scathing in their criticism of black culture. And they ignited quite a bit of controversy … just check out this excerpt to see why.

They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English. I can’t even talk the way these people talk: Why you ain’t, Where you is, What he drive, Where he stay, Where he work, Who you be … and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. In fact, you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around. The lower-economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what? And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was 2? Where were you when he was 12? Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol? And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward … isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong? People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something? Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up? Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from? We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem. We have got to take the neighborhood back. People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now. have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us. We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.

We cannot blame the white people any longer.

Now that’s real.

To learn more about the speech (and some of Cosby’s other recent social activism), check out this fascinating article. It’s long, but definitely worth the read.

“Thanks for the advice, Mr. Webel. I don’t know why, but sometimes it’s easier to talk to you than to my mom. That’s kinda weird.”

– Elise, sixth grade

“God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.”

– Genesis 1:4

“God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ’seas.’ And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:10

“The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:12

“He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:17-18

“So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:21

“God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

– Genesis 1:25

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

– Genesis 1:31

“The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”

– Genesis 2:18

“It’s tomato playdough!”

– Caleb Martin

Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo
The Washington Post

SEOUL, South Korea — They came from all over the world, poles in hand, and feet ready to inch more than half a mile across a high wire strung over the Han River in a spine-tingling battle of balance, speed and high anxiety …

“Your spouse’s bills are yours and yours are yours.”

– From my latest fortune cookie

Dear Impersonal Online Employment Application Website:

Your organization’s recent accounting position recently caught my attention. But let’s be honest, so does any financially related job opening located up to a twenty minute drive from my current residence, so, really. Don’t get too excited. Upon examining this position, I believe that I am clearly the most experienced, qualified, kick-ass candidate for this opening.

…

Yeah … mdog is hilarious, and right on. Check out the rest of the letter … and let her know what you think!