Investigation

Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.
Kahlil Gibran

I subscribe to many RSS-feeds, and one of them brings me Motivational Quotations. Lately nothing there was worth mentioning, but this one made me jump in my chair.
The author was very popular in his time, a prophetical figure in literature, very often quoted and admired. I wonder... How much of relativism's growth can be ascribed to men like this one?

Look at some more quotations by him:

Every man loves two women;the one is the creation of his imagination and the other is not yet born.

God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.

Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof.

Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.

I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.

Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.

Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.

You have your ideology and I have mine.

Hm...

And then there are his writings on Jesus:

Jesus the Son of Man
His words and His deeds as told and recorded by those who knew Him
(1928)

This is painful to read, but read we should, to know the subtleties of Enemy and the ways his disciples use to blurr the Truth of Bible.

To God be the Glory

To God be the glory, great things He hath done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life, an atonement for sin,
And opened the lifegate, that all may go in.

O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer, the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see!

Refrain:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory, great things He hath done!

—Fanny J. Crosby (1820-1915)

About Fanny J. Crosby.

Being in very nature God

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)

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The true face of persecution

Doing Missions When Dying Is Gain Part 1
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Series: God's Word Stands

Doing Missions When Dying Is Gain Part 2

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Series: God's Word Stands

And then read this:
From the Protestant Church of Smyrna

The culture of death

A shocking piece of news struck Poland this past Wednesday:

"Former Polish Minister Commits Suicide

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 25, 2007

Filed at 10:30 a.m. ET

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- A former Polish government minister committed suicide in her bathroom Wednesday morning as police searched her house in connection with corruption allegations, authorities said.

Officers from Poland's Internal Security Agency staged an early-morning search of Barbara Blida's home in the southern town of Siemianowice, agency spokesman Magdalena Stanczyk said.

Blida, a lawmaker for the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance from 1989-2005 and construction minister from 1993-1996, ''was suspected of taking and receiving material gains,'' Stanczyk said.

Blida, 57, asked agents if she could use the toilet while they conducted their search.

The officers agreed, and a female agent accompanied Blida to the bathroom, the agency said later Wednesday in a statement.

Once in the bathroom, ''Blida suddenly and unexpectedly pulled a loaded gun from an unestablished location and shot herself in the chest,'' the agency said.

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his conservative Law and Justice party are making a broad push to root out corruption and shady ties between business and politics that they say thrived under previous governments led by ex-communists.

Wednesday's raid was part of an investigation into corruption allegations against 14 people, including Blida, said Tomasz Tadla, a spokesman for prosecutors in Katowice.

Tadla said police had planned to arrest Blida and 13 others in the region early Wednesday, and press charges including corruption, money laundering and possession of false documents.

Prosecutors were on the scene to determine whether Internal Security Agency officers followed the proper procedures.

Kaczynski called for an investigation.

''Why she couldn't be stopped before this tragic, desperate action still needs to be clarified,'' he said."

****************

How much is your life worth? And how much guilt feelings you really harbour in yourself?
I would have asked her these questions, if I could...

What is a condemnation from men compared to the ultimate condemnation from God?
By committing this horrible act she admitted to being guilty, and hence her condemnation in human eyes is certain. But by this suicide she also sentenced herself to an eternal condemnation, to an existence in hell, to zero hope.

What is the real face of human nature? How incredibly corrupt and sinful we are if we are able to take our own life? Some might try to explain it by mental illness, or momentary insanity, but whatever explanation we seek, we still end up looking the evil in the eye.
I do not understand suicide. It makes absolutely no sense, especially if you are a nonbeliever and this life is the only one you have. As long as people are rejecting Christ, they will be contradicting themselves, even unto this degree of tragedy and nonsense. Not relying on God, but on their own strength, shall lead them towards self destruction, either spiritually, or physically, but in the end, to both of them.

No compromise

by Dr. Jack Graham

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

--John 3:16

It seems like more and more, you hear people talking about how all the religions of the world are really leading to the same God. They want everyone to just get along, put aside our differences, and make this world a giant, hug-filled place of peace.

This kind of thinking has been especially prevalent since 9/11, when it became clear that religion can be not only divisive, but deadly.

If we’re not careful, we as Christians can fall into this peaceful-sounding trap. While you and I as believers are certainly to be characterized by peace and love, we are not to give up or give in on our convictions…and give credibility to another false religion.

The truth of Christ divides people. Christ certainly preached a message of love and forgiveness, but He made it clear that not all gods are equal, and there is only one path to God. He is the ONLY way!

People of this world don’t like the Gospel of Christ; they see it as narrow-minded and divisive. The world praises the idea of one religion that unifies everyone???which in fact is coming. But the problem is that it will be the religion of evil in the end times.

Don’t surrender the truth of the Gospel for the sake of peace. We know that Christ is the only answer to the world’s need, so be ready with that answer for people who are desperately searching for something real to believe in.

NEVER COMPROMISE ON THE GOSPEL BECAUSE CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD!!! AND NOTHING ELSE IS!

************************

And a link to an appropriate article, posted today by pastor Ken Silva.

THE CHURCH OF ROME AND ISLAM WORSHIP THE SAME GOD

Coming to my senses

So the matter is this:

Discussion. Taking time to engage in true, loving, and teaching discussion on the things that matter. Probably something the majority of brainy people like to do.
Arguments - should be well-thought, balanced, proved, clear.


Here I was - freshly put in the Light, wanting to share it with the like-minded. Or so I believed that they were. But alas, the term 'protestantism' includes so much... Too much...
Welcome cold shower, people who do not give one second to seriousness of the Truth or to charity of God. People who proclaim themselves believers, but who, at the same time, shout out strange and unbiblical doctrines. People who call me names.
Why? Because I believe that my salvation is forever, and they consider it heresy. Because I embrace Doctrines of Grace, and they embrace doctrines of tongues.

The result - my sinful nature is more than happy to engage in the match, rising the level of adrenaline in my brain, making me deaf and blind to charity and decency, well, almost.

It was something Carla blogged about that woke me up from this self-pride.

Well - I know that Reformed Theology is the biblical truth. I have chewed on it, I have experienced it, I live it and am more than convinced. But it does not make any difference in the way others remain Armenian or Charismatic or Catholic - as long as Grace is not given to them. No amount of arguments can change that, and no amount of context-correct verses. There will always be that one particular verse given in response that puts everything I may present into oblivion.
So what can I do to take me out of that pit? Clear cut is the best thing. Otherwise, the only person scarred will be ann_in_grace.

Those religious forums...Let's be honest - people do not go there to be loving... They go there to fight, to engage in verbal gymnastics, to outshout those thinking differently.

No more of this. Repenting and talking to really like-minded now.

Immortality

One of Albert Mohler's programs took up the subject of aesthetic surgery. The sore spot for women, who, as the years go by, lose the looks and attraction, and seek the ways of reverting the process. A new fad in the business was mentioned on air, namely, hand lifting.
Well, we know that hands tell your age even if your face and your neck does not, right? So what the surgeons have started doing is to transplant the fat tissue from other regions of the body into the hands, thus making them look younger almost immediately. The procedure is safe and easy, they say.

Whatever.

That brought some thoughts in my female head, some of them I want to share with whoever wants to listen.
I was one of these terrified women, chasing after eternal youth, scared to death when I spotted first grey hair, first wrinkle, first signs of the age. I was playing with the thought of having some lifting procedure done in the future, and researching the field in order to find one that would be lasting and good. There are several possibilities, and it is not so straightforward to choose one without considering the other options.

But then God saved me.

So how do I look at it now, with my new eyes and new life?
Well, if you only have this one earthly life, it is quite understandable that you want to preserve your best features for as long as possible. What has a woman got left when her youth is gone? In this material world - not much. In this material world, governed by money and sex, old people are barely tolerated.
So women do all sorts of things - I do not have to list them here.

Ancient Egypt, pyramids and pharaohs - that is what comes to my mind when I think about it. Living mummies, preserving their looks, for the sake of superficiality. It is enough to look at some of the less fortunate victims of plastic surgeons to understand what I mean. They have made themselves look terrible, to say the least.
Why? Are they so scared of death, dying, scared to death by death, that they keep on deceiving themselves like that? They are liars and enemies of truth, and the price to pay will be high. Unless God opens their hearts.

Gory thoughts - how do you deal with the dead bodies of those "aestheticised" ladies? Filled with silicone, artificial tissues, rods? How do you cremate them and not harm the environment?
Will there be a need for removing certain things from the bodies before the cremation? Who is going to do it?
On the funny side - modern car companies have to recycle their products. Will the surgeons be expected to "recycle" the bodies of their late patients?

About getting knowledge on God - commenting on Meg's post

I have read Meg's blog post. I cannot comment on it over at her blog, because I am not logged in, so I will comment on it here.
Why don't you go over and read the text of the post first?

OK. you are back now. Let's roll.
So let me first express my great admiration for Meg's faith and convictions, and for her love and respect for her husband. It is highly commendable, and I would like to have more of these qualities myself. However, there are some things she writes that I have a problem with.

"I left women’s bible study groups because I found that I was learning way too much outside of my husband’s teaching."
So, Meg, I understand that a marriage is a unity of body and soul. But is it also an obligation to be one step behind your husband in the spiritual matters? Is it not every Christian's responsibility to know God? What if, and it is a big if, your husband were walking into some type of heresy or apostasy? Are you then obliged to follow him? Or maybe you need to have enough discernment to stop him? If I were to imitate your way of reasoning, I would have to stop reading Bible, stop going to church, stop listening to sermons on-line - because I am married into an unbelieving situation, to put it blunt. So where does the obedience start and where does it stop?
Isn't it more advisable to pray to God for fighting your pride, than to do something that final?

I am just asking questions, Meg. I wouldn't like to step on your territory, or cross the line. I am just worried.

Promise

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)

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Not afraid

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)

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Message about assurance

Inseparable from God While "Going Without Going" 2

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Series: The All-Conquering Love of Christ

Romans 8:38-39

No Created Thing Can Separate Us from the Love of God

Then, at the end of verse 39, Paul adds one all-inclusive encouragement to make sure he hasn’t missed anything: ". . . [no] other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That covers everything that is not God. No thing and no person in all the universe can separate us from the love of God.

And that includes ourselves. There are those who say the elect can’t be snatched out of God’s hand (John 10:29) but they can jump out. In other words, they say, you can be elect, born again, justified, and in the end perish. That is not what the Bible teaches. "Those whom he justified he glorified" – that is the radical assurance of the elect. The assurance is not that you can forsake the faith and live in sin and go to heaven. The assurance is: God keeps his elect from final apostasy and unbelief. The new covenant promise for all God’s people is this: "I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me" (Jeremiah 32:40). There may be many stumblings and wanderings, but if you are his, you will be brought back. Trust him.

So nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate God’s elect from him. The result is massive security for merciful service through many sufferings.

Don't Waste Your Cancer

My husband's uncle died on Monday. He was a wonderful person, full of life and passion for future, always willing to help everybody, always smiling and finding ways of comfort to those who needed it.
His life was rich in work and various occupations - he was a fire fighter, a constructor, a bus driver, a tourist guide. He was a wonderful chef, a superb story teller. He was a father of three boys, all grown-up now.

He helped us with making our travels to Poland a reality, he even drove me and my students to Poland once, and is warmly remembered by many at my workplace.
He was a fighter. He never gave in to his illness, with all the confidence and strength he battled until the end. I do not know whether he was a believer - we never had a chance to talk about it. But I want to think he was, granted his history, his upbringing and the fruit of his life.

I shall miss him terribly, he was one of those people who welcomed me into the family and into the country, and who always had some good things to say to me.

Olle is with God now. That has to be my comfort.

The article I publish below is on the subject of Olle's illness. I wanted to read it to Olle, but I was too late...




by John Piper, January 1, 2006



I write this on the eve of prostate surgery. I believe in God’s power to heal—by miracle and by medicine. I believe it is right and good to pray for both kinds of healing. Cancer is not wasted when it is healed by God. He gets the glory and that is why cancer exists. So not to pray for healing may waste your cancer. But healing is not God’s plan for everyone. And there are many other ways to waste your cancer. I am praying for myself and for you that we will not waste this pain.

1. You will waste your cancer if you do not believe it is designed for you by God.

It will not do to say that God only uses our cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason. And that reason is his design. If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose. Since he is infinitely wise, it is right to call this purpose a design. Satan is real and causes many pleasures and pains. But he is not ultimate. So when he strikes Job with boils (Job 2:7), Job attributes it ultimately to God (2:10) and the inspired writer agrees: “They . . . comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him” (Job 42:11). If you don’t believe your cancer is designed for you by God, you will waste it.

2. You will waste your cancer if you believe it is a curse and not a gift.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). “There is no enchantment against Jacob, no divination against Israel” (Numbers 23:23). “The LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

3. You will waste your cancer if you seek comfort from your odds rather than from God.

The design of God in your cancer is not to train you in the rationalistic, human calculation of odds. The world gets comfort from their odds. Not Christians. Some count their chariots (percentages of survival) and some count their horses (side effects of treatment), but we trust in the name of the LORD our God (Psalm 20:7). God’s design is clear from 2 Corinthians 1:9, “We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” The aim of God in your cancer (among a thousand other good things) is to knock props out from under our hearts so that we rely utterly on him.

4. You will waste your cancer if you refuse to think about death.

We will all die, if Jesus postpones his return. Not to think about what it will be like to leave this life and meet God is folly. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, “It is better to go to the house of mourning [a funeral] than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” How can you lay it to heart if you won’t think about it? Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Numbering your days means thinking about how few there are and that they will end. How will you get a heart of wisdom if you refuse to think about this? What a waste, if we do not think about death.

5. You will waste your cancer if you think that “beating” cancer means staying alive rather than cherishing Christ.

Satan’s and God’s designs in your cancer are not the same. Satan designs to destroy your love for Christ. God designs to deepen your love for Christ. Cancer does not win if you die. It wins if you fail to cherish Christ. God’s design is to wean you off the breast of the world and feast you on the sufficiency of Christ. It is meant to help you say and feel, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” And to know that therefore, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 3:8; 1:21).

6. You will waste your cancer if you spend too much time reading about cancer and not enough time reading about God.

It is not wrong to know about cancer. Ignorance is not a virtue. But the lure to know more and more and the lack of zeal to know God more and more is symptomatic of unbelief. Cancer is meant to waken us to the reality of God. It is meant to put feeling and force behind the command, “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD” (Hosea 6:3). It is meant to waken us to the truth of Daniel 11:32, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is meant to make unshakable, indestructible oak trees out of us: “His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:2). What a waste of cancer if we read day and night about cancer and not about God.

7. You will waste your cancer if you let it drive you into solitude instead of deepen your relationships with manifest affection.

When Epaphroditus brought the gifts to Paul sent by the Philippian church he became ill and almost died. Paul tells the Philippians, “He has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill” (Philippians 2:26-27). What an amazing response! It does not say they were distressed that he was ill, but that he was distressed because they heard he was ill. That is the kind of heart God is aiming to create with cancer: a deeply affectionate, caring heart for people. Don’t waste your cancer by retreating into yourself.

8. You will waste your cancer if you grieve as those who have no hope.

Paul used this phrase in relation to those whose loved ones had died: “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). There is a grief at death. Even for the believer who dies, there is temporary loss—loss of body, and loss of loved ones here, and loss of earthly ministry. But the grief is different—it is permeated with hope. “We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Don’t waste your cancer grieving as those who don’t have this hope.

9. You will waste your cancer if you treat sin as casually as before.

Are your besetting sins as attractive as they were before you had cancer? If so you are wasting your cancer. Cancer is designed to destroy the appetite for sin. Pride, greed, lust, hatred, unforgiveness, impatience, laziness, procrastination—all these are the adversaries that cancer is meant to attack. Don’t just think of battling against cancer. Also think of battling with cancer. All these things are worse enemies than cancer. Don’t waste the power of cancer to crush these foes. Let the presence of eternity make the sins of time look as futile as they really are. “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (Luke 9:25).

10. You will waste your cancer if you fail to use it as a means of witness to the truth and glory of Christ.

Christians are never anywhere by divine accident. There are reasons for why we wind up where we do. Consider what Jesus said about painful, unplanned circumstances: “They will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:12 -13). So it is with cancer. This will be an opportunity to bear witness. Christ is infinitely worthy. Here is a golden opportunity to show that he is worth more than life. Don’t waste it.

Remember you are not left alone. You will have the help you need. “My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).

Condition

“That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)


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Forgive me not posting much today. We had a death in the near family. I will be posting about it tomorrow, God willing.

Jehosua's Story, a book about life of Jesus

Apparently, a guy named Sture Johansson, got envious of Dan Brown's millions and decided to spin on the same thread a bit more.
So if you have $35 at hand, you are more than welcome to buy this very "necessary" piece of literature. A short teaser? Anybody?

In the book the author has used as much as possible the peoples' real names. Jehosua was Jesus' name in Aramaic. The book is a story about a man Jehosua. We are with him from before his birth until his stay in Kashmir (???? - question marks mine) after crucifiction. As a thirteen years old, he had to flee from Israel, and we meet him in India, Pakistan and Tibeth. Here he is taught according to the old esoteric scriptures and takes his first steps in the love tantra. As a grown man Jehosua comes back to Israel, where he meets Mary Magdalene again. Vi take part in his wedding to the woman who is the love of his life. In his older days he tells about his life for his grandson, Iman, who would take the book of his life and pass it to the future generations of the family. We can hear the old man's, Jehosua's, soft voice:
'Zaccaria was a Jewish priest who lived in Judea at the time Herod was king. Elisabeth was his wife. They both belonged to Aron's family...'


I feel sick.

According to Wikipedia, Sture Johansson is a medium talking to a spirit of Ambres... And the ad for this book is to be found in a magazine for women, Tara.

Reflections on Tragedy

I could not put it better.
Carla Rolfe wrote a profound post. Go and read it.

The dying churches in Sweden

I came across this article about many church buildings being in an acute need of renovation, from the very grounds. The floors are poor, rotten, moldy, and the air in the churches is dangerous for the visitors.

There was even a picture of a church interior, with a floor taken away, during the replacement process. The problem with these types of needs is of a financial nature - it costs millions of Swedish crowns and the local churches are not able to cover those costs by themselves.

I found it very symptomatic and metaphorical, this subject of dying churches in Sweden. Somebody, the author, is very concerned about preserving the pieces of architecture and the monuments of culture for the future generations. I wonder, why.

I bet the same author would not give one thought to the more serious problem, but one that could have the very same title, "The dying churches in Sweden", only this time not dealing with the architecture, but with the very essence of those churches, the very reason they were once built. The sad reality of the Church of Sweden is that it is a dying institution, already being a spiritually dead church. By choosing to be a church universal and open to everything politically correct, it opened its door to any kind of abomination possible. I have taken it up many times before on this blog. I do not think that Spirit of God lives in this place. And this place is dead, fills up with people for few times every year. Nobody cares...

So why suddenly bother about walls and floors? To preserve what and why? Christianity in Sweden has become a historicaly past phenomenon, something to show to children in a museum, to condescendingly point modern fingers at the old-fashioned way of life and say some nice formulas about it, how grateful we all are to Luther and King Gustav Vasa and the language reform, how wonderful it was to have those churches once in time to gather people in and teach them the law, and look now how great it is to look back and remember, but oh how much more free we are without all this bubble about God and sin and punishment...

Swedes do not strike me as people caring a lot about their artifacts. If something is old and ugly, it goes. If something costs too much to restore, it is not worth the trouble. They pride themselves in being modern and 'of today'. So I do not believe those old churches stand much chance in remaining where they are, and getting some face lifting done. Many of them are doomed, some may be bought and remade into villas, a few may become mosques... And those few that will be lucky shall play a very dubious role in this country of feminism, of money and of humanism, in this country that rejected God and made itself an idol...

Love one another

“ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)


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When you are afraid to witness

What is it that hinders you? Is it just the fear of being ridiculed and scorned? The obvious?
The more I think about it, the more another reason comes to my mind, apart from this obvious one.

Think for a while: you love those people, you were one of them, lost, sinful, hopeless, looking for answers, not finding any, living in a spin of time and things. You were rejecting the Gospel, too, until something struck you like it struck Paul on his way to Damascus.
What were your thoughts about "those Jesus-freaks" then? And, most importantly, about the message they were trying to share with you? Not very high thoughts, I bet. You might have forgotten, but you were laughing at them and at their message.

Isn't this one reason precisely that makes us hesitate in our witnessing? We have this Truth and we cherish it like we've cherished nothing else. Our only true love is in this message. Are we strong enough to expose this love to people who couldn't care less? Just think about it: if somebody said ugly and nasty things about your spouse, you would be deeply hurt and furious. So in this situation we have precisely the same starting point - we let complete strangers cast mud on our love. It hurts, and it hurts badly.

But I also think that we must remember about the Hero of this message and His active power in it and in us. And we should believe in it, in Him. Because it is, ultimately, the lack of belief and trust, that makes us silent...

Interestingly, Steve Camp's blogpost is like an answer to this text.

Every Day In the Word

Joshua 11-12

Conquests in Northern Canaan

11:1 When Jabin, king of Hazor, heard of this, he sent to Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Shimron, and to the king of Achshaph, 2 and to the kings who were in the northern hill country, and in the Arabah south of Chinneroth, and in the lowland, and in Naphoth-dor on the west, 3 to the Canaanites in the east and the west, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites under Hermon in the land of Mizpah. 4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. 5 And all these kings joined their forces and came and encamped together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time I will give over all of them, slain, to Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire.” 7 So Joshua and all his warriors came suddenly against them by the waters of Merom and fell upon them. 8 And the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel, who struck them and chased them as far as Great Sidon and Misrephoth-maim, and eastward as far as the Valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until he left none remaining. 9 And Joshua did to them just as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

10 And Joshua turned back at that time and captured Hazor and struck its king with the sword, for Hazor formerly was the head of all those kingdoms. 11 And they struck with the sword all who were in it, devoting them to destruction; there was none left that breathed. And he burned Hazor with fire. 12 And all the cities of those kings, and all their kings, Joshua captured, and struck them with the edge of the sword, devoting them to destruction, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. 13 But none of the cities that stood on mounds did Israel burn, except Hazor alone; that Joshua burned. 14 And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every man they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed. 15 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.

16 So Joshua took all that land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland 17 from Mount Halak, which rises toward Seir, as far as Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. 18 Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. 19 There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

21 And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. 22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the people of Israel. Only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod did some remain. 23 So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments. And the land had rest from war.

Kings Defeated by Moses

12:1 Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: 2 Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead, 3 and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah; 4 and Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei 5 and ruled over Mount Hermon and Salecah and all Bashan to the boundary of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and over half of Gilead to the boundary of Sihon king of Heshbon. 6 Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the people of Israel defeated them. And Moses the servant of the Lord gave their land for a possession to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

Kings Defeated by Joshua

7 And these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan, from Baal-gad in the Valley of Lebanon to Mount Halak, that rises toward Seir (and Joshua gave their land to the tribes of Israel as a possession according to their allotments, 8 in the hill country, in the lowland, in the Arabah, in the slopes, in the wilderness, and in the Negeb, the land of the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites): 9 the king of Jericho, one; the king of Ai, which is beside Bethel, one; 10 the king of Jerusalem, one; the king of Hebron, one; 11 the king of Jarmuth, one; the king of Lachish, one; 12 the king of Eglon, one; the king of Gezer, one; 13 the king of Debir, one; the king of Geder, one; 14 the king of Hormah, one; the king of Arad, one; 15 the king of Libnah, one; the king of Adullam, one; 16 the king of Makkedah, one; the king of Bethel, one; 17 the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one; 18 the king of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one; 19 the king of Madon, one; the king of Hazor, one; 20 the king of Shimron-meron, one; the king of Achshaph, one; 21 the king of Taanach, one; the king of Megiddo, one; 22 the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one; 23 the king of Dor in Naphath-dor, one; the king of Goiim in Galilee, one; 24 the king of Tirzah, one: in all, thirty-one kings.

Luke 17:11-37

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

22 And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back.32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”

Psalm 84

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.

8 O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!

10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Proverbs 13:5-6

5 The righteous hates falsehood,
but the wicked brings shame and disgrace.
6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
but sin overthrows the wicked.

My complaint about Prof. Richard Dawkins :)

While you're probably sick of hearing about Prof. Richard Dawkins, it is crucial that you read this letter. Before I launch into my rant, permit me the prelude caveat that I'm willing to accept that Prof. Dawkins has made a big mistake. I'm even willing to accept that his ballyhoos are the opiate of the snarky. But there may be nothing we can do to prevent him from making good on his word to make my blood curdle. When we compare this disturbing conclusion to the comforting picture purveyed by his representatives, we experience psychological stress or "cognitive dissonance". Our only recourse is to offer true constructive criticism -- listening to the whole issue, recognizing the problems, recognizing what is being done right, and getting involved to help remedy the problem. You can sum up his indiscretions in one word: virulent. I was, however, going to forget about the whole thing when it suddenly occurred to me that Prof. Dawkins has been trying for some time to convince people that clever one-liners are a valid substitute for actual thinking. Don't believe his hype! Prof. Dawkins has just been offering that line as a means to control what we do and how we do it.

I can no longer get very excited about any revelation of Prof. Dawkins's hypocrisy or crookedness. It's what I've come to expect by now. Prof. Dawkins would have us believe that "metanarratives" are the root of tyranny, lawlessness, overpopulation, racial hatred, world hunger, disease, and rank stupidity. Yeah, right. Certainly, I enjoy the great diversity of humankind, in our food, our dress, our music, our literature, and our forms of spiritual expression. What I don't enjoy are Prof. Dawkins's self-absorbed scribblings which take credit for others' accomplishments. Prof. Dawkins would not hesitate to deny us the opportunity to lend a helping hand if he felt he could benefit from doing so.

So, Prof. Dawkins, maybe the problem is not with purblind Luddites of various stripes, but with you. I know more about vigilantism than most people. You might even say that I'm an expert on the subject. I can therefore state with confidence that Prof. Dawkins is addicted to the feeling of power, to the idea of controlling people. Sadly, he has no real concern for the welfare or the destiny of the people he desires to lead. Now, I hope he was joking when he implied he was going to unleash an unparalleled wave of ruffianism, but it sure didn't sound like it. If I had to choose the most execrable specimen from Prof. Dawkins's welter of covinous gabble, it would have to be Prof. Dawkins's claim that stoicism and racialism are identical concepts. While Prof. Dawkins is a drooling, hydra-headed monster of force and terror, one of his pals keeps throwing "scientific" studies at me, claiming they prove that there should be publicly financed centers of militarism. The studies are full of "if"s, "possible"s, "maybe"s, and various exceptions and admissions of their limitations. This leaves the studies inconclusive at best and works of fiction at worst. The only thing these studies can possibly prove is that when Prof. Dawkins was first found trying to introduce disease, ignorance, squalor, idleness, and want into affluent neighborhoods, I was scared. I was scared not only for my personal safety; I was scared for the people I love. And now that Prof. Dawkins is planning to break our country's national and patriotic backbone and make it ripe for the slave's yoke of international pauperism, I'm indeed terrified. My goal for this letter was to question authority. Know that I have done my best while trying always to reach the broadest possible audience with the message that Prof. Richard Dawkins's plans for the future are somewhere between a scam and a sham. Let an honest history judge.

HT http://www.pakin.org/complaint/

Remember always

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24)

(Read by Max McLean. Provided by Zondervan.)

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Thinking Blogger Awards

Sweet Mary of Home-Steeped Hope noticed my humble blog and listed it among her five picks. I thank you, Dear Friend, it was unexpected and kind. By the way, you are my pick, too, but since you already have the award, I will save your place for another blogger.

Indeed, five is such a small number... I would like to reward many more blogs, but it is an impossible task, and, many of them already have got the award.

Now, I am not very sure as how to do that, but here are my five picks, in no particular order:

1. Hackberry House, for taking up a subject of love and compassion for the people of North Korea. This pastor's heart is bleeding, and our hearts should be bleeding, too.

2. CampOnThis, of course, one of the most important blogs on my way to God. Steve Camp has passion, love, fire and knowledge - and a great talent with words and with music. He is a gift to all of us.

3. WOLNA MYŚL RELIGIJNA, a blog in Polish, always thoughtful and up-to-date, taking up the everyday apologetics against the Catholicism in Poland.

4. Where Is The Word Of The Lord?, a very important blog for me, dealing with deep analysis of biblical truths, debating catholic claims.

5. The Narrow Mind Aftermath, which is not so much to read, but to listen to, pastor Gene Cook makes me think all the time and develop my knowledge of God and Bible.

Congratulations, you won a !
Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them with the meme.
The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn’t fit your blog).

Vision 2025

Facts

Languages spoken in the world:

6,912


Languages needing Bible translation work to begin:

2,286



Population of people groups waiting for work to begin:

196 million



Languages with some or all of the Bible:


2,426



Language-based development and translation programs in progress (still needing varying degrees of help) in languages without adequate Scripture:

1,941

Population of people groups with projects in progress:

Estimated

1000 million+

Something for summer... not!

If you by any chance come to my neighbourhood and want to grow spiritually this coming summer, here is a list of activities prepared by the Church of Sweden in Jönköping. The activities will take place in Tallnäs Stiftsgård. Here it comes, brace yourselves:

• Topical weeks, rich in contents, celebrating worship, and a possibility of walks and rest
• Light and pleasant walks in nature
• IM - individual man-help - before and now
• Yearly celebrations and life's feasts
• Everyday occupations - how we used to do before
• Do you remember the song?
• Short and living stories!

And the slogan:

deaconal organization - a meeting between people.


Do you, by any chance, miss some topics? Some essential ones? Like Gospel? Like Cross? Like Bible?
I do.
They, obviously, do not. But hey, it is summer, why bother with the serious stuff?

Coffee Jesus, anybody?

Right. Easter is over. Mind you, I do not write "Resurrection is over". The season of eggs and bunnies is, though, only some left-overs in the fridge remind me and my family that we indeed had Easter time. That is fine. A person has to eat, and why not some more eggs and some ham, if the occasion appears?
The press and media have not offered anything new. The usual stuff: lots of articles about spring, some appraisals of spiritualism, many pictures of the local folklore according to which small girls dress up like witches and collect candy by 'treat-or-trick' (Swedish Halloween at Easter, sort of), crosswords for older ladies, and many, many receipts for delicious dishes supposed to unite families at the table. One or two attempts to actually write about the reason why we celebrate this day were weak and universalistic - I mentioned about one of them while commenting here.

And I thought that nothing may surprise me - after all, it was Tuesday yesterday, and everybody was busy working, right?
My lovely local newspaper, though, did it again - made my jaw drop in amazement over ... I don't know: lack of discernment? sensationalism? cheap attention? Take your pick.
So here is the deal: they did not put one reasonable article about Resurrection and Christ throughout the whole Easter, but one day later they put this:

Jesus showed himself in a coffee cup

Apparently, the coffee grounds formed a somewhat unclear "picture" of Jesus after a woman from Balkan had taken her coffee (there is a name, but I want to spare you that. You may get it if you insist.) The family comes from Serbia and is of Serbian-Orthodox faith, and, as they say, in Serbia it is usual to tell fortune from coffee grounds, as well as to explain various signs as if they were God-given.
The family members are not very religious, they say, but reacted immediately to the picture in the coffee cup. They took many pictures of the phenomenon and say that in the summer, when they are spending their holidays in Serbia, they will show them to a priest in order to get a more clear explanation of the pictures in the coffee cup.

Well, see for yourselves...

First, the cup.















And the close-up of 'Jesus'.
















It just makes me sad... No serious treatment of the most important moment in our history, and instead - the silliness of cheap sensation... Is this the way our apologetics should go against? To fight lies of a coffee cup?

The Day Death Died

---

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. . . For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22, 25-26

One day, a mother and her two children were in the park having a wonderful time. They were enjoying the outdoors until a big bumblebee landed on little Brother and then stung him! He began to cry and scream like any child would as the wound on his arm became swollen. The bee was still buzzing around, and his little sister was petrified. The mother comforted her daughter by saying, "Darling, wait a minute." As she was wiping Brother's tears away, she said, "Look down here on your brother’s arm." Right in the middle of that swelling was the bumblebee's stinger. "You see that, Sweetheart? That bee can buzz and fight you, but he can’t hurt you. You see, he can only sting once and he has left his stinger in your brother."

While death is a decided fact, Death is also a defeated foe. We are able to laugh in the face of Death if we know the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to tell you, friend, Death may buzz around you and frighten you, but our elder brother, the Lord Jesus, bears that sting. Jesus took the sting out of Death, and He has given us a hope that is steadfast and sure.

Jesus told Death that he couldn't keep Him. You see – Jesus willingly and vicariously laid down His life. The wages of sin is death, but Jesus was not a sinner and did not have to die. Jesus willingly, voluntarily, vicariously laid down His life.

Death thought he had a victory. Old King Death laid his icy, bony hands on the Lord Jesus Christ and shackled Him with the bonds of death. Jesus lay cold, stiff, and stark in that tomb. Old King Death possibly clapped his bony hands, shrieked a hoarse laugh and declared, "I have Him! He's mine. I am going to keep Him." But after three days, the Lord Jesus stirred, and He majestically rose from His resting place. Jesus did more than survive death. He defeated and decimated death in that tomb.

He got up from that stone slab. He turned around and folded the napkin that covered His face. There was no hurry. He was in complete control. I love that part -- when the disciples entered the tomb, they found that folded napkin placed over His face.

There was that cruel king of terrors, Death, sitting upon the throne. But this time Death had a terrified look on his face because no one had done this before. Jesus began to walk toward him. Jesus reached up and pulled him from the throne and cast him to the floor. Death cowered in the corner of that tomb that had become his dungeon. Jesus put His heel on the neck of Death and reached down and pulled the sting out of Death. Jesus put the crown upon His own head and walked out of that tomb a risen, living, victorious Savior. Hallelujah!

One of these days there’s going to come a shout from the lips of the Lord Jesus when He returns. And that shout will go into the tombs of those who have named Him as Lord and Savior. We're going to hear the shout that Lazarus heard. Our Lord is going to step down from His majestic throne in glory, and I believe the shout will be: "Come forth, come forth." The voice of the Savior will roll through the length and breadth of Satan's ruined empire and bring it crashing down.

At the command of the Lord Jesus Christ, the seas will heave and give up the dead which are in them; the winding sheets of the deserts will give up the dead that are in them; the battlefields of this world will give up the dead that are in them and the graveyards will, perhaps, look like plowed fields as the Lord Jesus shouts, "Come forth."

“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
1 Corinthians 15:55

• Love Worth Finding (Monday, March 22, 2004)

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Rock of Ages

Words: Au­gus­tus M. Top­la­dy, 1776.
Music: Toplady, Thom­as Hast­ings, 1830.

Sir Will­iam Hen­ry Wills, in a let­ter to Dean Le­froy, pub­lished in the [Lon­don] Times in June, 1898, says ‘Top­la­dy was one day over­tak­en by a thun­der­storm in Bur­ring­ton Coombe, on the edge of my prop­er­ty, Blag­don, a rocky glen run­ning up in­to the heart of the Men­dip range, and there, tak­ing shel­ter be­tween two mass­ive piers of our na­tive lime­stone rock, he penned the hymn,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

There is a pre­ci­pi­tous crag of lime­stone a hun­dred feet high, and right down its cen­tre is the deep re­cess in which Top­la­dy shel­tered.’

Telford, p. 257

This hymn was sung at the fun­e­ral of Will­iam Glad­stone in West­min­ster Ab­bey, Lon­don, Eng­land. Prince Albert of Britain asked it be sung to him as he lay dy­ing. In Hymns That Have Helped, W. T. Stead stated:

…when the Lon­don went down in the Bay of Bis­cay, Jan­u­ary 11, 1866, the last thing which the last man who left the ship heard as the boat pushed off from the doomed vess­el was the voic­es of the pass­en­gers sing­ing “Rock of Ag­es.”

In ano­ther sto­ry:

A missionary…complained of the slow prog­ress made in In­dia in con­vert­ing the na­tives on ac­count of ex­plain­ing the teach­ings of Christ­i­an­i­ty so that the ig­no­rant peo­ple could un­der­stand them. Some of the most beau­ti­ful pass­ag­es in the Bi­ble, for in­stance are de­stroyed by trans­la­tion. He at­tempt­ed to have [Rock of Ages] trans­lat­ed in­to the na­tive di­a­lect, so that the na­tives might ap­pre­ci­ate its beau­ty. The work was en­trust­ed to a young Hi­ndu Bi­ble stu­dent who had the rep­u­ta­tion of be­ing some­thing of a po­et. The next day he brought his trans­la­tion for ap­prov­al, and his ren­der­ing, as trans­lat­ed back in­to Engl­ish, read like this:

Very old stone, split for my ben­e­fit,
Let me ab­sent my­self under one of your frag­ments.

Jones

The hymn was al­so re­port­ed­ly sung at the fun­er­al of Amer­i­can Pre­si­dent Ben­ja­min Har­ri­son be­cause it was his fa­vo­rite hymn, and the on­ly one he ev­er tried to sing.


Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to the cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyes shall close in death,
[originally When my eye-strings break in death]
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

******

Skało zbawcza, otwórz się!
W męce srogiej grzechu schnę.
Boku Twego święty zdrój,
To jest lek zbawienny mój;
W mocy Twej wylanej krwi,
Złota wolność dana mi!

Chociażbym się łzami zlał,
W postach, umartwieniach mdlał,
Nie zapłacę za swój grzech,
Nie odwołam czynów złych;
Tę zapłatę tylko da,

Jezu, sroga męka Twa!
Nędzny, biedny, w sobie sam,
U stóp krzyża Twego łkam;
Jestem nagi, przykryj mię!
Posil, bo w niemocy drżę!

Zmyj nieczystość mą i brud,
Bo nie pójdę żywy stąd!
Skało zbawcza, skryj mój grzech,
Nim ostatni wydam dech,
Nim opuszczę grobu cień,
W ostateczny sądu dzień!
Skało wieczna, zgładź mój grzech,
Skryj mię, Chryste, w ranach Swych.

From www.cyberhymnal.org