I first heard of this poet many Sundays ago at church. Her name is Amy Carmichael. She has long since passed from this world, but her words still remain in a powerful way. This is one of my favorite poems thus far.
Joy

NO SCAR?

Hast thou no scar?
No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?
I hear thee sung as mighty in the land;
I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star.
Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?
Yet I was wounded by the archers; spent,
Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent
By ravening beasts that compassed Me, I swooned.
Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?
Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,
And piercèd are the feet that follow Me.
But thine are whole; can he have followed far
Who hast no wound or scar?

Do you have a favorite poet?

My niece, Grace, had a program last night at her school. During the program, we were asked to stand for the pledge of allegiance. Obviously, being 28 years old, I have said the pledge many times throughout my life, but, admittedly, it has been a while since doing so.

So, there I was in the church auditorium with a huge cross hanging on the wall in front of me (Grace and Isaiah both go to a Christian school). I stood up, placed my hand upon my heart, and recited the century old words that I have said many, many times. But something was different last night. In spite of what is going on in our country and in our world, I was proud. I was proud to be an American. I was proud to be a Christian. Seeing the flag held with the cross behind and overshadowing it, was a profound and sobering moment for me. God made this country free. Lives were sacrificed to bring about that freedom, but it was ultimately God who gave us the victory in the many wars that have been fought to maintain our freedom. God gave us freedom from sin and death with the sacrifice of His Son, and He gave us freedom from tyranny and dictatorship with the sacrifice of men and women throughout the years.

I guess that makes me a patriot. I love my country. I love my God. I want to see this country be great again. I want it to return to the principles of our founding fathers. They knew that to be a great country meant keeping God first and seeking His counsel. Honestly, I don’t know what God has planned for the USA. For those of you who read the the Bible thoroughly…you know what’s coming, and I don’t know what part our country will play in all of that. Ultimately, at the end of all of this, there will be no divide. There will be no Russians. No Americans. No Arabs. No Mexicans. We will all be citizens of Heaven. And there we will know what true freedom is.

I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading.
Joy

P.S. Did you know that the original pledge of allegiance was written in 1892 and did not contain the words “under God’? The words “under God” were actually added in 1954.
Guess who added those 2 words……Congress.

So, I’ve been listening to a new CD. It is “Cannons” by Phil Wickham. All I can say about it is…..amazing.

Now, if I am being honest, which I strive to do, I must say that I am a bit skeptical of mainstream Christian music. Alot of it sounds as if it just came off an assembly line out of some factory. It sounds manufactured. To be fair, though, I am sure that God has used mainstream Christian radio to reach many people. It would be foolish of me to say that kind of music serves no purpose. Its just not my preference.
BUT….Phil Wickham’s album is so far from manufactured…its not even funny. From beginning to end it is amazing. From lyrics to instrumentation….amazing. This guy is believable. I believe every word that he sings. This CD just makes me want to…..be better. It paints a portrait of God and His Son, which in turn makes me look upon myself, and realize that I am lacking. I am lacking in wonder and amazement at how different and marvelous God is. This CD makes me want to see God the way Phil does. It spurs me on to completely lay my life down for Him.

So……a question. What do you want to hear? What do you need to hear musically? Is there a part of the Christian walk that is not being addressed by artists? If you could make a request as to what kind of song you wanted someone to write, what kind of song would it be?
Sorry…. that was 4 questions.

Joy

-joy

Check it out folks. Tonight I will be doing a live interview with Total Axxess.  You can listen online at WayFM.com at 7:00 PM Central Time.

Meet you there.

joy

Well, today is September 16th. To most of you it is probably just another day, but to a few of us here in the great city of Memphis…today has been 3 years in the making.
Today….our record…God and a Girl…hits stores all over the this great country. I’m actually going to check it out myself. I guess I need to see it to believe it has finally happened!

God is so great to let me have the privilege to make music for Him and for you. So, I hope you buy it. I hope you like it. And, most of all, I hope you hear and see more of Him, than you do me.
Joy