Mar 19, 2007 Written on the Road

Holy Lord

Cherubim and Seraphim
With songs the temple fill
Where other light seems strangely dim
Upon God's Holy Hill
Where Christ sits down in splendor
Upon the glorious throne
All praise to Christ we render-
We sing to Christ Alone!
Lord your glory fills the heavens
Store your fulness in the Earth
Till to You all glory's given
And all things declare your Worth
Singing Holy Holy Holy
Holy Holy Holy
You alone are Holy
Holy Lord!
Heaven's hosts shall sing it
So now with them joins each voice
Earth raises up her offering
Till every captive shall rejoice
Lord your glory fills the heavens
Store your fulness in the Earth
Till to You all glory's given
And all things declare your Worth
Singing Holy Holy Holy
Holy Holy Holy
You alone are Holy
Holy Lord!

Anthony Foster
March 18, 2007

We Cannot Live Without You

We cannot live without you
Redeemer of the lost
Your precious blood makes us new
At devastating cost
You make of righteousness a gift
A pardon for our plea
Our chains you break-Our heads you lift
Until your face we see.
We cannot live without you
We cannot stand alone
We have no strength or goodness
No wisdom of our own
But you, beloved Savior
Shall be our all in all.
Our weakness shall be power
When on your Name we call.
We cannot live without you
You know the hearts of men
You know each spirit's longing
You know our every plan.
Yet you will not forsake us
You'll not reject our souls
Until you come and take us
To reach our final goal.

Anthony Foster
March 18, 2007

Secret Place

Ground of our hope
Spring of our joy
We would be found in You
Where we can enjoy
The blessings of new life
The glories of grace
And we would abide there
In that secret Place.
Beneath your wings one heart sings
Of wondrous things as in the refuge we hide
Each heart brings humble offerings
Beneath your wings oth there may we abide!
The righteous will find rest
Reserved for the heirs of grace
And there with bounty blessed
We stay in that secret place.
Beneath your wings one heart sings
Of wondrous things as in the refuge we hide
Each heart brings humble offerings
Beneath your wings oh there may we abide!

Anthony Foster
March 18, 2007

Spotless Lamb

In faith we turn our gaze
To the Author of our Days
We see the glorious victory
In the spotless lamb of Calvary.
To this we would aspire
To burn with living fire
A righteous, ransomed soul
Under Christ's control.
Remove our distrust and fear
Make our clouded vision clear
So that we may see your worth
We would live a life of gracious birth
So take our cursed load
The tares that doubting sowed
Oh Spotless Lamb of God we plead
Your precious blood is what we need.

Anthony Foster
March 18, 2007

We saw The Bridge to Terabithia last night. Warnng: Spoilers ahead!

I was very, very dissappointed. I understand it was a close rendering of the book it was based on,which I had not read. The trailer left one with the impression that this would be a very different movie than it turned out to be. That's my first gripe. Secondly, there were so many mixed messages I am not sure what was being said. We had a child's eye caricature of the Christian Faith that was left totally unresolved. We have a beautiful muselike young woman who says she doesn't have to believe the Bible and then declares that christians thing the Jesus story is horrible, but that she sees it as "beautiful." The Christians in the film seem to defend an unbiblically unbalanced view of a vengeful God who damns arbitrarily rather than man damning himself by sin.

Responsibility for one's actions is ignored, and when the young man feels justifiable remorse for the ramifications of a selfish decision near the end, he is told it is not his fault. The young lady seemingly rejects the only bridge that God provides and then dies for the want of a bridge on a rope that dangles over a precipice that leads to the fantasy land of "Terabithia". She is literally falls upon a "rock" and is killed. I am not sure if the producers got this allusion.

The Father affirms a sentimental pseudo-Christian worldview late in the film. Revenge is glorified, and violence to toys("extreme Barbie") is practiced by the younger child in the film. This is a deeply disturbing film that seems to exalt fantasy over reality and negatively portrays a poor working father who is trying to keep his family to gether as an ogre who lambasts his son's imagination and creativity. this was a hodge podge of the worst effects of fantasy mixed with an unclear moral message and a disturbingly slanted view of Christian children presented by our friends at Disney...

We didn't Know it was You

How many times have you touched us
And we didn't know it was You?
How many times have You healed us?
And we didn't know it was You
How many disasters have you saved us from?
When we were blind and we were numb
All will be revealed when your Kingdom comes
For we didn't know it was You.

How many ways have we been preserved
And we didn't know it was You?
Delivered from destinies that we deserved
And we didn't know it was You?
Things that only Goodness knows
Graces to which each of us owes
The gratitude that Grace bestows
But we didn't know it was You!

If we'd known You at all
We'd know Your goodness prevails
Mercyies new every morning
Mercy that never fails!

How many dangers and toils and snares
Have we been delivered from by You?
Your grace has caught us unawares
And we didn't know it was You!
Your mercy is like the morning dew
Though trials may come they are all from You
For your lovingkindness sees us through
When we didn't know it was You.

Anthony Foster
March 24, 2007

Rantsville

I am sick of sentimental "Christianity":

Where identification with one another is centered in our former unregenerate state

Where we feel comfort in the fact that others are as sinful as we are

Where men jokingly take a boys will be boys and/or God understands and winks attitude.

I am sick of hearing songs about how needy Jesus would rather die than live a day without us.

Sick of hearing church people re-crucifying Christ to comfort each other in their sin.

Making light of that which nailed the Son of God to a tree.

I long for the body to rediscover the truth of 1 Peter 2:24 : He himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin might live unto righteousness. By his wounds we are healed!