Tag: worship

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Morn shall tearless be

O love, that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light, that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy, that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross, that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.


Lyrics: George Matheson (1842-1906)
Music: Albert Lister Peace (1844-1912)

哦，那不肯放我之爱，
我將疲魂安息於你；
我把所欠余生归来，
好使牠在你这深海，
得更丰满洋溢。

哦，那照耀我路之光，
我將残灯带来交你；
我心因得你光復亮，
牠的日子藉你太阳，
得更光明美丽。

哦，那苦中寻我之乐，
我心不能向你关闭；
我在雨中彩虹寻得，
知你应许不会空说，
天亮便无泪涕。

哦，那使我抬头十架，
我不敢求与你稍离；
今生虚荣死葬土下，
那土长出生命红花，
永远开放不已。

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True and Proper Worship

This is probably only interesting to Christians. Sorry about that. My physics work is all classified at the moment so I can’t write about that…

I was thinking about the different churches I’ve been to, and particularly the Sunday services, normally called worship services.

In general, in the UK and maybe in the wider Western world, there seem to be two main approaches.

Continue reading “True and Proper Worship”

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Blessed be the name of the Lord

Paul says in Philippians 4:

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Sometimes we forget what a mind-blowing statement this is! Paul was beaten, whipped and stoned almost to death, thrown into prison for months, years. In all this he learned to be content. 

Could I do that?

Recently we had a scare with Zach and had to take him into hospital. The doctors and nurses said that Farrah and I seemed very calm. We may have been on the surface, but we were terrified underneath! I wouldn’t say we were content in that situation.

Continue reading “Blessed be the name of the Lord”

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Our God is a global God!

I’ve had such a good day today. I was worried earlier in the week that I’d feel really sad on Sunday because I wasn’t at home at church. I found an Anglican church here but the service was at 8am and I, ahem, didn’t make it. I also have to confess that, last week, Sunday seemed like any other day – this is because at Physics conferences, all the student stuff happens on the Sunday before the conference actually starts, so I had my poster up and had to learn how to copy files from one computer to another.

Today, I went to Arashiyama, which is an area of Kyoto outside the city centre, and I hired a bike and trundled around. I went through bamboo groves and into temples, along the streets and past the fields, along the river path and (partly) up a mountain. It was really nice, beautiful, picturesque and calm. And God was there with me.

Continue reading “Our God is a global God!”

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Holy Spirit breaking through!

God is good!
(You say, “All the time!”)

Yesterday and today I’ve been at the Worship Central London event with Fairy and a gang from our church. We learnt lots and had a great time, but by far the most exciting thing for me was what happened in the last worship session tonight.

I’ve been struggling for ages with feeling emotionally detached from God. It’s been a long time since I’ve tangibly felt the Holy Spirit, and although I feel fine in the “head” part of my relationship with him, I’ve been missing the “heart” part. It has felt like, whenever I pray, I’m talking at God rather than meeting with him and hearing from him. The only times I’ve really felt close to God have been when I’m leading worship, which isn’t a healthy state to try and serve in.

Tonight though, something broke through. I was worshipping God and giving him everything, when suddenly it just clicked, and I felt a wave of the Holy Spirit running through my body. It wasn’t dramatic or overpowering, but it felt like the beginning of something big. I’m excited about what God might do next!

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my week…

had a nice trip to glasgow this week. seemed to go quite well, and fixed all problems before i leave, so we might have some happy clients! yay! decided glasgow isn’t the nicest part of scotland by quite a way, but the hotel i stayed in was quite pleasant, and the client payed for my food and drink so i had fun…

very nice to be home though: two nights feel like a very long time. still recovering from the 5am start on wednesday and the 6 and a half hour airport/aircraft experience getting home on friday. yukky.

played djembe at reroute this morning. reroute is the worship service for the youth in our church in woking. first time i’ve played a djembe on stage, but it seemed to go well. very good to see so many kids meeting with God.

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where is God when you need him?

so this is a live journal. or a life journal. or a journal of life.

seems strange to be sharing thoughts with the world. i guess i’ll get used to it. if anyone reads it, let me know!

been struggling today. trying to prepare for worship on sunday but can’t feel where God wants me to go. i think i’ve been rubbish at keeping in touch, with God as much if not more than anyone else. and when i don’t keep the lines of communication open, it’s hard to hear what he’s saying.

i get flashes—i’m meant to be doing something… we must go—i know that much but how? it needs to be God breaking through into our lives, we can’t go without him. maybe it’s not about how we go but how we live when we get there. or when we’re here. joseph didn’t “go” to egypt, but God used him there. maybe it’s about opening eyes, ears and hearts. maybe that’s where we need to come from?

still working on it.