Whoa

While trying to write a review of Hillsong's new CD - This Is Our God - I was at their website, and read the following:

"20 August 2008
In the past 24 hours it has been brought to our attention that Michael Guglielmucci’s illness is not what we have been led to believe.

Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family.

This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family.
Please pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time."


I highlighted Michael's song, Healer, in this post. It remains an awesome song, even if the story behind it is a fabrication. Nonetheless, God has, and I believe, will continue to touch lives through the song.

Book Quiz

Ok, I usually don't put much stock in these things, but this one was interesting. Take the book quiz and find out which one you are! I am:

You're Confessions!

by St. Augustine

You're a sinner, you're a saint, you do not feel ashamed. Well, you
might feel a little ashamed of your past, but it did such a good job of teaching you
what not to do. Now you've become a devout Christian and have spent more time
ruminating on the world to come rather than worldly pleasures. Your realizations and
ability to change will bring reverence upon you despite your hedonistic transgressions.
Florida will honor you most in the end.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Christ Shares His People's Sorrows

Christ Shares His People's Sorrows

O child of God this grief
That bows your spirit low
Is yours but half, for Christ Himself,
Still shares His people's woe.

His wisdom planned it out
Then bore it on His heart
Till gently on your untried back
Love laid the lesser part.

So take it all with joy,
Together bear the cross
For while you suffer He distills,
A heaven from your loss.

Beneath His secret will
Subscribe with ready pen,
Add to this sorrow God has sent
A resolute "Amen."

Each day spend out in faith,
Nor prove His labor vain;
Cast still on Christ the pressing weight
Who only can sustain.

To Lady Kenmure
On the death of her son
October 1639
Letter 287

Faith Cook, Grace in Winter: Rutherford in Verse (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1989), 37. Quoted by Fitzpatrick, Elyse, A Steadfast Heart (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2006), 66 - 67.

Desert Song

In yesterday's post, I shared two videos from the new Hillsong album, This Is Our God. Here is another video from that same album. This song, Desert Song, also spoke to my broken heart. I hope it also speaks to you.


Zechariah 13:9 "And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, 'They are my people'; and they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'" (ESV)

Isaiah 54:17a "No weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed." (ESV)

Romans 8:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
(ESV)

Healer

Edited to add, 8/24/2008: Please read the post here BEFORE reading this entry. I debated whether to delete this entire post, but decided to leave it.

We received the bad news late Wednesday afternoon that my husband's cancer numbers are higher now than when he started treatment in April. We are pretty discouraged, but still trusting the Lord. There are so many times we don't understand the why's of this life, but we must choose to either trust that God is still God, and He is in control, or that He is not. That alternative - turning our backs on the Sovereign God of the Universe - is just not an option. And at these times, God often leads us to Scripture, songs, people, etc. that confirm what He is doing in our lives. Last night was just like that for me. Here is the first of several videos that spoke to the depths of my heart. This is the testimony of Mike Guglielmucci, who wrote the song Healer that appears on This Is My God, the latest project from Hillsong Church in Australia.



Here is the video of the actual song being performed.