Oh Men of God, Arise

Oh men of God arise,

awake from slumber's night,

shake off sin's drowsiness

and rouse yourself to fight.

Run from vain this distraction,

keep your vision clear;

cast out all fleshly stowaways,

refuse to harbor fear.

Oh men of God arise,

take up your sword and shield.

Your foe has no defense

against the power they wield.

Christ has gained the victory

the outcome is assured,

Satan is defeated

by the power of God's word.

Oh men of God arise

and face the eastern skies,

for Christ will soon descend

with lightning in his eyes.

Then our ancient foe long vanquished

will meet his rightful end,

and sin's dark night of terror

will never fall again.

Lift up the cup of holiness,

drink long and take your fill.

Oh men of God arise

to carry out, to carry out God's will.

Oh men of God arise

to carry out, to carry out God's will.

Steve Green - From the album, "The Letter"

Hope Shone Forth From an Infant Child - Christmas Poem

This Place

This place is where I live.
My heart has grown attached.
Even thought there is something more,
My heart has chose to lack.

This place is not my home.
So why can I not leave?
The inhabiter that I am
Is quickly losing track.

This place has made me see,
How grand my need for thee.
I will embrace your open arms,
The day when I get back.

-Doug Eaton-

Acquit

They walk around in haze.
They think they have it made.
It’s all but wasted days,
Trespasses yet unpaid.

They say that they believe.
They say their soul’s alright.
Yet, you they won’t receive
Their pride has blocked your light.

Lord show your verity.
Please let your light abound.
Be their priority.
So with grace they can be crowned

-Doug Eaton-

I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow - John Newton

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hoped that in some favoured hour
At once He'd answer my request,
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, he made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with his own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

'Lord, why is this?' I trembling cried,
'Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?'
'Tis in this way,' the Lord replied,
'I answer prayer for grace and faith.

'These inward trials I employ
'From self and pride to set thee free;
'And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
'That thou may'st seek thy all in me.'

-John Newton-

Beautiful Scandalous Night

Go on up to the mountain of mercy
To the crimson perpetual tide
Kneel down on the shore
Be thirsty no more
Go under and be purified

Follow Christ to the holy mountain
Sinner sorry and wrecked by the fall
Cleanse your heart and your soul
In the fountain that flows
For you and for me and for all

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night

On the hillside, you will be delivered
At the foot of the cross justified
And your spirit restored
By the river that pours
From our blessed Savior's side

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree
On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me
Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white
On that beautiful, scandalous night

-Steve Hindalong and Derri Daugherty-

Hope Shone Forth From an Infant Child - A Christmas Poem

Hope shone forth from an infant child

In the manger that cold dark night

In humility, God himself appeared mild

Yet His plan moved forth in all its might

Salvation to humanity was born

The angels could not help but sing

This Infant Child would bear our scorn

This newborn Sovereign King.

Helpless was mankind in sin

Until the star shone forth its light

Our salvation to begin

Bringing hope to the contrite

The sin we bear has shown us guilty

Under the righteousness of God

Our defense is proven faulty

As He sees through our façade

But this Child would fulfill

The law that we could not

And by our sin, His blood we’d spill

to pay our debt and take our lot

There is no guilt which can’t be cleansed

The darkest stains can be removed

When His Grace has been dispensed

By Jesus Christ, in Him approved

Let us worship the infant child

Born, a life, to set us free

By His grace we are beguiled

Infant born of sovereign decree

-Doug Eaton-

God Has Condescended to Win Our Hearts

It is he that sitteh upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. Isa. 40:22

Speaking of the beauty of the poetry found in the Book of Isaiah, J. Gresham Machen makes the following profound statement.

"Though the primary importance of the Bible is found in its recording of facts, the way in which the facts are recorded is by no means a matter of indifference. A bald, dry record of the history of redemption might possibly have convinced the mind – though even that, because of subtle moral factors involved may be doubtful – but it would at any rate never have touched the heart. As it is, God has been very good; He has spoken to us in gracious fashion; He has condescended to win our hearts by the variety and beauty of His Book. In the Bible there is that which meets every need of man, which answers to every mood, which speaks to every heart. No one who comes to this feast need go empty away; and there are time in every life when even the least considered of the things that the Bible contains are just what is needed by the soul. So there is a place in the nurture of the Christian life, among other things, for the majestic poetry of Isaiah."

J. Gresham Machen – God Transcendent

When Pain and Faith Collide

When pain and faith collide
The one absorbs the other.
But not without an impact
That shakes us to the core.

We walk as if omnipotent
Forgetting that we’re frail.
Until that faithful moment
We’re broken, hurt, and sore.

It can come in many ways,
But never goes unnoticed.
As with perfect strategy
It weakens where we’re strong.

Our thoughts become unclear
When hit while unaware.
And brings to mind our sins,
As we barely scrape along.

Then in our shaken voice
Our faith lets out a groan.
And thunders cross the heavens,
As by Him it’s supplied.

For faith is the power
That overcomes the world.
And the one absorbs the other
When pain and faith collide.

-Doug Eaton-

Was That Worship?

I had a co-worker once who loved just about everything Disney. He put a sticker on his car, and would proudly wear Disney hats and shirts. He was one of the managers at the store where I was working, and I remember one day when everything was going wrong he said to me, when this day is over I am going home and I’m going to watch an old Disney movie. When I pressed him a bit as to why he chose to watch an old Disney movie as opposed to anything else, he said, "Disney things just bring me back to when I was a kid." Ultimately there was a sense of nostalgia from all the memories of growing up, and these things moved his affections in a way that made him feel a bit better after a hard day.

On another note (no pun intended), music has a way of doing the same type of things for us. I can remember in high school and college and it even happens now occasionally, when I would be listening to secular radio, and that new song that I had been waiting to hear would come on. Immediately, I would turn up the volume and I would be energized by what I was hearing, singing along with all the passion I could muster.

Now there really is nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia and being energized or moved by some piece of music, but when you put these things together with a Christian worship service or program we must be careful to discern our affections. I bring this up because sometimes I think we can be misled to think that we have had a time of worship or that we have heard a really good sermon simply because our affections were moved.

We must pay close attention to what is actually moving our affections in order to discern whether or not it is worship or even spiritual. When those first chords of our favorite praise song are played by the worship leader, are we being energized much like any natural man who hears a secular song that causes him to turn up the radio or are we really worshipping? And when grandma’s favorite Hymn starts to play and causes us to experience a time of peace and contentment while thinking back to when she used to sing it to us as a child, do we sometimes confuse that with worship?

Now I am not saying we should only sing boring songs or songs that don’t remind us of anything, or that it is impossible to really be worshipping during these times. In fact, I think it can be good at times to remember our family worship from when we were growing up, and I also think it is good that we still have people today writing new psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for us to sing today that get us excited. But what I want to stress is that simply because we have these moments does not mean we are worshipping or that we have been moved by in adoration of God. Charles Spurgeon once said that if he wanted to, he could move congregations to tears by telling them sad stories of mothers with sick children or energize them by telling them stories of men and women who accomplished great things. But he said it would be a waste of time unless they where moved to cry over their sin and take joy in Christ and the cross.

Even the natural man’s affections can be moved in strong ways, but those affections will never be worship unless they are moved by the word of God as it points us to Christ and what He has done for us. Whether we attend a modern or traditional worship service is not the biggest issue, but we must be sure to seek out worship and preaching that convicts us of sin, and shows us the remedy in Christ.

-Doug Eaton-

Jehovah-Nissi. The Lord My Banner

(Exodus, xvii.15)

By whom was David taught
To aim the deadly blow,
When he Goliath fought,
And laid the Gittite low?
Nor sword nor spear the stripling took,
But chose a pebble from the brook.

Twas Israel's God and King
Who sent him to the fight;
Who gave him strength to sling,
And skill to aim aright.
Ye feeble saints, your strength endures,
Because young David's God is yours.

Who order'd Gideon forth,
To storm the invaders' camp.
With arms of little worth,
A pitcher and a lamp?
The trumpets made his coming known
And all the host was overthrown.

Oh! I have seen the day,
When with a single word,
God helping me to say,
"My trust is in the Lord,"
My soul hath quell'd a thousand foes
Fearless of all that could oppose.

But unbelief, self-will,
Self-righteousness, and pride,
How often do they steal
My weapon from my side!
Yet David's Lord, and Gideon's friend,
Will help his servant to the end.

-William Cowper-

Grace and Nothing More

I thought while on this voyage long
My strength God would increase
And at some point along the way
My struggling would cease
I fought with boldness, wind and wave
And yet the skirmish lost
Exhausted, all provision gone
The channel still uncrossed
As lifeless I in stillness drift
Just strength enough to pray
It's only then I feel the surge
That speeds me on my way

By His own hand and faithfulness
He steers me toward a distant shore
And the wind that billows in the sail
Is grace and nothing more
Yes, it's grace and nothing more

I seek the bloom of holiness
He leads me deep within
Reveals the hardness of my heart
Unearths my hidden sin
My barren soul groans in despair
In brokenness I cry
Oh, God, I find no hope in me
A smile His sweet reply
For where the tears of brokenness
Have soaked the fallow ground
The tender shoots of holiness
Now spring up all around

Strength in my weakness
Joy through the pain
Hope when I'm helpless
Loss my greatest gain

Words by Jon Mohr

My Advocate

I sinned. And straightway, post-haste, Satan flew
Before the presence of the most high God,
And made a railing accusation there.
He said, "This soul, this thing of clay and sod,
Has sinned. 'Tis true that he has named Thy name,
But I demand his death, for Thou hast said,

'The soul that sinneth, it shall die.'
Shall not Thy sentence be fulfilled?
Is justice dead?
Send now this wretched sinner to his doom.
What other thing can righteous ruler do?
"And thus he did accuse me day and night,
And every word he spoke, O God, was true!

Then quickly One rose up from God's right hand,
Before Whose glory angels veiled their eyes. He spoke,
"Each jot and tittle of the law
Must be fulfilled; the guilty sinner dies!
But wait -- suppose his guilt were all transferred
To Me, and that I paid his penalty!
Behold My hands, My side, My feet! One day
I was made sin for him, and died that he
Might be presented, faultless, at Thy throne!"
And Satan flew away. Full well he knew
That he could not prevail against such love,
For every word my dear Lord spoke was true!

-Martha Snell Nicholson-

Apostasy

Our cold hearts tend to wander
And fancy for its flight
When sin we start to ponder
With darkness reunite.

The warning’s loud and clear
The Word of God proclaim
To Christ we must adhere
Or cause Him open shame

Do not be led astray
By enticements of this world
For some have gone away
To be entirely unfurled

Remember what was said
About those who’ve gone away
They were never really of us
And are clearly gone to stay

If with sin you want to play
Don’t forget Lot’s wife
For the reason that you stray
May just cost your life.

-Doug Eaton-

Truth These Days Seems Up For Grabs.

Truth these days seems up for grabs,
When at God Word they take their jabs.
The truth of God, it will not fail
Though so many against it rail.

They will someday, bear the shock
When they stand before the God they mock
“How can we know” is their battle cry
Ignorance is bliss, is what they imply.

If we cannot know, we can’t be charged.
With immorality enlarged
God is not fooled by sinful games
And everyone, He knows their names.

For all men know, is what He said
Still they suppress the truth instead.
Without excuse, they stand and wait
To face the Law they desecrate.

Yet truth can still break the Lock
When they meet the Stumbling Block
His mercy’s there for all who come
When to Truth, they do succumb.

-Doug Eaton-

Distress

My soul at times will not be still,
And tremblings with, my heart doth fill
Yet perfect bliss was not His pledge
Nor paradise within His hedge.
But every trial will be endured.
The victory has been secured
And death itself’s a vanquished foe
By Resurrection’s mighty blow

-Doug Eaton-

Looking Upwards In A Storm - William Cowper

God of my life, to thee I call,
Afflicted at thy feet I fall;
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail!

Friend of the friendless and the faint!
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where but with thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor!

Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner’s plea?
Does not the word still fix’d remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer-hearing, answering God,
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that’s cast for me;
I have an Advocate with thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.

Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not:
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to plead.

-William Cowper-