Another link I want to let you guys in on is about art and what defines true art. It was pretty fascinating, especially if you consider yourself an artist (I don't consider myself an artist...).
Speaking of art, in my life reading has been a neglected pursuit and is one that I am trying to pick up again. When I was a little kid, I was the dork of my family, my nose always glued to some book (my claim to fame was reading three Hardy Boy's books in one day). I just finished a book called Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. His writing style is one that is easy to read, yet challenging at the same time. In one of the chapters, he talks about the question of compassion and how we, meaning those who call themselves Christians, should be more compassionate and that comes with recognizing that we don't deserve the grace that God has given us. He talks about confession and how it is a necessary step in having compassion. He quoted a prayer from a guy named John Baillie's book A Diary of Private Prayer as a template for confessional prayer. I thought it was powerful... so here it is.
O Father in Heaven, who didst fashion my limbs to serve Thee and my soul to follow hard after Thee, with sorrow and contrition of heart I acknowledge before thee the faults and failures of the day that is now past...
My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards:
My self-deception in the face of temptation:
My choosing of the worse when I know the better:
O Lord, forgive.
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others:
My blindness to the suffering of others and my slowness to be taught by my own:
My complacence toward wrongs that do not touch my own case and my over-sensitiveness to those that do:
My slowness to see the good in my fellows and to see the evil in myself:
My hardness of heart towards my neighbors' faults and my readiness to make allowance for my own:
My unwillingness to believe that Thou hast called me to small work and my brother to a great one:
O Lord, forgive.
To end this, two songs lately have been rocking my world. I bought both of them on iTunes this week: "No Sacrifice" by Jason Upton and "Carried to the Table" by Leeland. Check 'em out (the link lets you listen to the song on rhapsody and youtube). The words from "No Sacrifice" begins with "To you I give my life, not just the parts I want to..." How hard this is to do, to not live as a "Christian" and just give the parts to God that are convenient. Let me know what you guys think, I would love to get your thoughts.
My failure to be true even to my own accepted standards:
My self-deception in the face of temptation:
My choosing of the worse when I know the better:
O Lord, forgive.
My failure to apply to myself the standards of conduct I demand of others:
My blindness to the suffering of others and my slowness to be taught by my own:
My complacence toward wrongs that do not touch my own case and my over-sensitiveness to those that do:
My slowness to see the good in my fellows and to see the evil in myself:
My hardness of heart towards my neighbors' faults and my readiness to make allowance for my own:
My unwillingness to believe that Thou hast called me to small work and my brother to a great one:
O Lord, forgive.
To end this, two songs lately have been rocking my world. I bought both of them on iTunes this week: "No Sacrifice" by Jason Upton and "Carried to the Table" by Leeland. Check 'em out (the link lets you listen to the song on rhapsody and youtube). The words from "No Sacrifice" begins with "To you I give my life, not just the parts I want to..." How hard this is to do, to not live as a "Christian" and just give the parts to God that are convenient. Let me know what you guys think, I would love to get your thoughts.
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