Sovereign Grace Music

Sovereign Grace Ministries are great! My focus here is on their music - which may well be familiar to many of us... Here goes:

• The songs have excellent words - really strong theologically.
• The tunes are generally strong too.
• And I don't know what more we would want, in all honesty!!

So, if you want to see what they're like, do check out their website here.

Top 3 CD Recommendations

OK, so I only list 1 or 2 tracks from each CD - but bear in mind they're 3 of my top 10 Christian CDs, and if I told you everything I liked, we'd be here all day!

1) Songs for the Cross-Centred Life is the first one I came across, with my top song of the last few years, namely I Come by the Blood which has verses setting up the problem of God's perfection and our sin, with choruses that show us the solution: "I come by the blood, I come by the cross...". Other crackers include two brilliant solos The Look and I Will Glory in my Redeemer. I also love the congregational Jesus my Only Hope which has the great section:

when Satan's accusations
make my poor heart afraid
I hear my King declaring
Father, that debt is paid

2) Valley of Vision is a bunch of songs taken from the great great book of Puritan prayers by the same name - which I use each day in my prayer times, and love... The highlights of that CD are the brilliantly trinitarian Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son, Spirit of Light and Truth and outstanding Let your Kingdom Come with O Great God a stunning solo piece...

3) Worship God Live is much more on the rock side of things - and is stunning from first to last if you like things a) live and b) rocked up. I love the first and last songs particularly, but the whole thing's cracking.

Anyway - Sov Grace comes highly recommended!

Grammar, Spelling and Usage

A couple of weeks ago the Times published this, which contains 32 errors of grammar, spelling and usage. Can you spot them?

"Being by nature a perfectionist, no one is keener than me to really get things right; indeed, had I not studied English to good affect, I may not have ended up working on The Times. However, although in some peoples’ book this might seem sacreligious, and even a council of despair, between you and I the lynchpin of good English lays in the acceptance that there are less rules than the hoi polloi believes. English spellings can offer three alternatives, and while not recommending pouring ad nauseum over dusty tomes, which would drive anyone beserk, recourse to a good dictionary mitigates against too many faux pars, and practise makes perfect. Writers disinterested in fact-checking will end up in dire straights with disasterous results, but even a miniscule effort at some elementary research brings it’s just desserts."

Commissioning Hymn

Today and next week I'm being commissioned by the elders at The Bible Talks (tonight) and Christ Church Mayfair (next Sunday morning, DV). At both services we'll be singing this great hymn - which I commend to all of our attentions.

I'm trying to memorise it - which is comparatively easy because the tune helps out. Then, of course, there's the business of trying to live it...

(Tune = Aurelia, often used for The Church's One Foundation)

Facing a task unfinished,
That drives us to our knees,
A need that, undiminished,
Rebukes our slothful ease:
We, who rejoice to know Thee,
Renew before Thy throne
The solemn pledge we owe Thee
To go and make Thee known.

We bear the torch that flaming
Fell from the hands of those
Who gave their lives proclaiming
That Jesus died and rose.
Ours is the same commission,
The same glad message ours;
Fired by the same ambition,
To Thee we yield our powers.

Where other lords beside Thee
Hold their unhindered sway,
Where forces that defied Thee
Defy Thee still today;
With none to heed their crying
For life, and love, and light,
Unnumbered souls are dying,
And pass into the night.

O Father who sustained them,
O Spirit who inspired,
Saviour, whose love constrained them
To toil with zeal untired,
From cowardice defend us,
From lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us
To labour for Thy sake.

Frank Houghton.
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