God is love
He gives light
Eternal life for us
We were lost
Dead as night
Alive now in Jesus
It's just incredible how He loves
Despite the wickedness in my heart
It's unbelievable how He knows
My words before they are even thought
It's like a miracle when He shines
His truth inside of my broken soul
Illuminating my darkened mind
What once was shattered is now made whole
He's just a comfort that never fades
Despite the doubt that invades my flesh
There's no comparing to how He saves
I'm just exceedingly over-blessed
His truth shines
Through the darkness all around
The true God is ours
We are His
He's our solid rock
Worldly lies
And godless myths
It's all just idle talk
It's just incredible how His word
Submerges all of the other sound
Replacing everything I have heard
With truth that's built on His solid ground
And when He came as the blessed Son
To live out all of the Father's will
The gruesome purpose for why He'd come
To bear His cross up that holy hill
His heart forgiving until the end
Not bitter ever that they could see
It's just amazing the Lord would send
His Son to die for a wretch like me
On that cross
Death was banished evermore
He gave life
To sinners such as us
And one day
He will gather all His own
To that place
For all who overcome
Our great God is love
He gives light
Eternal life for us
We were lost
Dead as night
Alive now in Jesus
It's been a long, cold, lonesome road
And the wind tears at my coat
There's a lump that's in my throat
Over You
Over You
Should have known it from the start
That this pain would stab my heart
Every day that we're apart
I cry for You
I cry for You
In a doomed and broken world
With the flag of sin unfurled
And the words of hate are hurled
All at You
All at You
Yet You strove on just the same
In Your Father's Holy Name
As He poured our guilt and shame
All on You
All on You
But we're goin' up to Zion
Where there'll be no more cryin'
When the Lamb lies with the Lion
There with You
There with You
There with You
Oh my Lord, I confess
That my life is a mess
That my mind is beset
By the pangs of regret
Only in You does it make any sense
You saved my life when You made recompense
For me
And my sin
In my drive for success
Lord, please help me suppress
These dark thoughts in my head
From a past that is dead
Only in You can I rise up above
All of this lust and replace it with love
For You
And Your truth
Help me never forget
How it felt when we met
You brought life out of death
With the touch of Your breath
Only in You am I truly alive
You give me strength that I need to survive
This world
And its sin
Our dear Lord, we confess
That our lives are a mess
That our minds are beset
By the pangs of regret
Only in You does it make any sense
You saved our lives when You made recompense
For us
On the cross
Well, there's a million reasons I'm unfit to serve
I'm reminded every day
But if broken vessels are what You prefer
Then I'm Yours in every way
Oh Lord, hear me
Use me, I pray
Oh Lord, hear us
Use us, we pray
Now, in a fishing village on a distant shore
You began to call Your own
Just a bunch of guys who wanted nothing more
Then to find their way back home
Oh Lord, hear me
Use me, I pray
Oh Lord, hear us
Use us, we pray
And if You need someone who never makes mistakes
Then I'm afraid I wouldn't do
But if You'd take someone whose heart has known some aches
Then I'm the perfect one for You
Oh Lord, hear me
Use me, I pray
Oh Lord, hear us
Use us, we pray
Well, there's a million reasons we're unfit to serve
We're reminded every day
But if broken vessels are what You prefer
Then we're Yours in every way
Oh Lord, hear me
Use me, I pray
Oh Lord, hear us
Use us, we pray
Oh Lord, hear me
Use me, I pray
Oh Lord, hear us
Use us, we pray
I will trust in Thee
Lord, for everything
Thou hast set me free
To Thy grace I cling
Though the fields should flame
The foundations fall
I will call Thy name
And be saved from all
Thou hast brought to mind
What I truly need
Thee I long to find
For Thy mercies plead
Though all worldly wealth
Should depart from me
I will die to self
And live life in Thee
Some trust in silver
Others in gold
They trust in only
What they can hold
Thou art my hope, Lord
Thou art my strength
This is Thy kingdom
Come may Thou reign!
I will trust in Thee
And not store by ploy
Trifling vanities
Which rust doth destroy
All is under curse
And will cease from view
But this universe
Thou wilt soon renew
What a fool am I
To forget Thy creeds
And Thy truth deny
By my thoughts and deeds
Though the world would mock
Such a love as Thine
On Thy path I'll walk
Past the end of time
No mind can conjure
What Thou hast made
There in Thy glory
Rainbow-arrayed
For us Thy children
Whom Thou shalt raise
Sing Hallelujah!
Sing to Thy praise!
I will trust in Thee
As this world's consumed
Its insanity
E're to be entombed
Running round and round
In a spinning cage
Till Thy roaring sound
Comes to end this age
Let my final breath
Speak Thy Holy Word
And in life or death
May my prayer be heard
Though all earthly hope
From my heart should flee
I will rest and only
Trust in Thee
Hey, Юлия A
What d’ya say?
How ‘bout today?
My Юлия
He, Юлия E
Never could see
All you could be
My Юлия
Straddling this precipice
And waitin’ for the right time
Struggling with avarice
And prayin’ for divine signs
I, Юлия I
Just gotta sigh
When you go by
My Юлия
Oh, Юлия O
Time passes slow
Till we can go
My Юлия
Fumbling for words to say
To help convey this feeling
Soaring like a bird of prey
Who’s trapped beneath the ceiling
You, Юлия U
Know what to do
When I am blue
My Юлия
Why, Юлия Y?
Couldn’t we try?
To reach for the sky?
My Юлия
Loved with everlasting grace
He’s workin’ on my wish list
Sprintin’ at a faster pace
As we approach the finish
Oh, Юлия O
Time passes slow
Till we can go
My Юлия
The picture here is of my brother and I enjoy a good sing together as little kids growing up in Walla Walla WA. All of these songs reflect a renewed passion for the things of God, and especially for the opportunity to serve, as in Use Us, We Pray. The main way that this passion worked out in my personal life is that I set about the task of addressing the relational brokenness of the St. Louis region, especially its extreme segregation and continuing racism. A series of conversations with local leaders about these issues ultimately resulted in a new non-profit that I founded, the St. Louis Reconciliation Network (STLRN), whose mission is to “heal the broken race relations of the St. Louis region by harnessing the potential collective power of its diverse faith communities.” The last song in this grouping has an interesting history that has resulted in three recorded versions, the first of which was created in 2006 and is available as an MP3 below. A second version was recorded in 2012 and is also available as an MP3. The most recent version (2024) is currently available only as a YouTube demo. The song explores a lyrical experiment that began in my childhood with songs like "HOPE" (1975), where I used letters of the alphabet as words. In this case, the song uses all six vowels as successive last name initials for the first name of a woman, now rendered as Юлия ("Yulia" - the Russian version of Julia). The way-too-clever trick is that a transliteration of Юлия into all capital English letters can be rendered as YUIEA, which looks like 5 of the 6 vowels. All of this re-writing and trickery has been intended to respect the privacy of two real women who served as inspiration for past versions of the song. Whew ....
for personal use only
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