Bucket Full of Grace

Scripture References Genesis 17-50 Exodus 2-6, 32-33 Leviticus 26:42 Numbers 32.11 Deuteronomy 1:8, 6:10, 9:5, 9:27, 29:13, 30:20, 34:4 Joshua 24:2-3 1 Kings 18:36 2 Kings 13:23 1 Chronicles 1:27-34, 16:16, 29:18 2 Chronicles 20:7, 30:6 Nehemiah 9:7 Psalm 47:9, 105:6, 105:9,105:42 Isaiah 29:22, 41:8, 51:2, 63:16 Jeremiah 33:26 Ezekiel 33:24 Micah 7:20 Matthew 1:1-2, 1:17, 3:9, 8:11, 22:32 Mark 12:26 Luke 1:55, 1:73, 3:8. 3:34, 13:16, 13:28, 16:22-30, 19:9, 20:37 John 8:33-58 Acts 3:13, 3:25, 7:2-32, 13:26 Romans 4:1-18, 9:7-8, 11:1 2 Corinthians 11:22 Galatians 3:6-4:22 Hebrews 2:16, 6:13-15, 7:1-10, 11:8-19 James 2:21-23 1 Peter 3:6 First Impression and Observations Abraham's life really began with his covenant with the lord at the age of 99. He wasn't perfect but he was obedient. He was concerned with his descendants and what would come after him but was willing to sacrifice it all when asked to by the Lord. He was gracious to people and generous, which made people also be...

So, here we are at the end.  Day 30 or my 30 Day Worship Challenge.  If you haven't seen the rest, I recommend starting at Day 1. Is a Worship Song Too Emotional, Too Repetitive, Too Self-Focused, or Too Commercialized?  Have you noticed that criticism, especially on the internet, is a way of life.  The way to get views, and therefore clicks, and eyeballs and ad revenue is to be controversial, critical, and get comments.  I'm sure this article won't do that and I don't plan on getting any ad revenue because I am not interested in being controversial.  I'm interested in Grace and speaking the Truth in Love.  So, I'd like to look at how worship songs from Bethel, Hillsong, Elevation, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, John Newton, etc... have been characterized as too emotional, too repetitive, too self-focused, too commercialized, and more by looking in the Word of God to say, guess what! So are the Psalms!   A careful analysis of Amazing Grace could lea...

Before the Throne of God Above -Shane & Shane Version [Amazon Music Link] Some worship music needs to be sung to be appreciated.  The emotion of the music informs the words and the spirit within.  However, there are gems in the hymnal that can stir your soul without a single note being played.  These songs were usually written as poetry first then adapted and set to music later.  Today's song is a beautiful example of Christian poetry coming out of Ireland in the mid-1800s.  See the original poem below: Background Originally written as poetry by Charitie Lees Smith, this song had no accompanying music and has been set to many different tunes over the years.  The current rendition seen in the videos below has stood as the most recent and most popular version of the melody. When Ms. Smith published her own set of hymns she included this one with the note: "May these verses find an echo in other hearts, and be of help, especially in hours of trial, by remi...

I've done it again.  I made the mistake of reading the comment section on a site talking about  worship song, This is Amazing Grace, by Phil Whickam .  As you hopefully have seen in my other writings, I really strive to have grace for people, that's why the name of this site is Bucket Full of Grace.  For this reason, an overly critical spirit in people really rubs me the wrong way and I need to just stay out of comment sections where people seem to congregate just to argue.  However, this was a group of people arguing over the song that I was about to share about in my post, so I fell into the trap of reading the back-and-forth.  After I got over the disappointment in myself for getting sucked into the argument I realized the issues they were discussing might be ones you have with this or other songs, so these would be good for me to address.  The Argument Went Like This: Critic 1: "The line that you would bear my cross is not biblical.  The bibl...

  The Hairbrush Song [Amazon Music Link] My last fourteen posts have been specifically about worship songs and the deeper meaning within them.  The goal has been to encourage you and help you focus on what the words mean and where they come from in order to connect with worship in a more significant way.   Today we are going to look at a silly VeggieTales song in a similar way.  There is meaning behind this "silly song." The Hairbrush Song Has Deep Meaning First, let's look at the lyrics in case you haven't sung along with Silly Songs with Larry lately: [NARRATOR, spoken] And now it's time for Silly Songs with Larry, the part of the show where Larry comes out and sings a silly song. Our curtain opens as Larry, having just finished his morning bath, is searching for his hairbrush. Having no success, Larry cries out... [LARRY] Oh, where is my hairbrush? Oh, where is my hairbrush? Oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, where, oh, wher...

Amazing Grace [Amazon Music Link] Can You Have Amazing Grace? Two weeks before his seventh birthday, young John lost his mother.  His father was a rough and tough sea captain and John took up the sailor's life at that impressionable age.  He was led into a life of drinking, anger and unimaginable cruelty.  His father left him in Africa at one point where he was enslaved by a princess and treated horribly.  Upon returning to a navy ship he tried to desert but ended up becoming a captain in the slave-trade.  He transported slaves on his ship for multiple years treating them abhorrently. Imagine meeting this tragic figure on the street.  Would you have grace for him?  It's easy to think that you would initially, but really imagine the meeting…  a racist, cruel, murdering, drunken sailor with apparently no redeeming qualities. This man had an experience that changed his life.  During a storm at sea, with a gaping hole in his ship, about to die, h...

Sweet Hour of Prayer [Amazon Music Link] Christians nowadays tend to use words like "devotions" or "quiet-time" to describe their daily time spent in prayer and bible study.  It doesn't matter what you call it but I prefer the phrase "sweet hour of prayer."  I don't mean that it is necessarily 60 minutes long, maybe you schedule 30 minutes or 10 minutes to dedicate the day to your Lord.  However, at that early morning hour, it is certainly sweet to start off your day with the right perspective and to start off with prayer.  When I write these little thoughts, I know that most people skim over the words.  I understand.  But, the words of this song are really worth giving a think.  Jump down to the lyrics and meditate on what your "sweet hour of prayer" really is. Psalms 6:9 The Lord has heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer. Historical Background William Walford, a blind lay preacher in the small hamlet of Coleshill, Warwi...

Center by Charlie Hall [on Amazon Music] Since the beginning, people have lifted their eyes to the heavens and thought that they were at the center of the Universe.  It turns out that only God can be at the center.  Above is a picture of the microwave background radiation left after the Big Bang.  Although the phrase, "Big Bang" sounds like an explosion that takes place at a single point, what it really describes is an everywhere expansion much like inflating a balloon.  Imagine that the entire Universe was a small deflated bag of rubber and breath was breathed in.  This Universe would expand and the rubber molecules would pull apart from each other everywhere at the same time.  This is similar to the expansion of what we see in the Universe as we look out at the night sky with powerful telescopes.  Measurements show that the galaxies are pulling away from each other like they are all on the surface of a balloon.  So, each person's view of things ...

  Background Elvina Hall [link to Amazon Music] was in the choir loft in church one Sunday morning in 1865 feeling the pastor's prayer was going a bit too long.  She began to have the words of the first verse and refrain of this song form in her mind and heart for the first time and searched, during the prayer, for paper to write them down.  There was no paper nearby so she wrote the words in her hymnbook, not realizing that this would become a classic printed in almost every hymbook in every denomination for the next century.  After the service, she showed her pastor what she had done and he realized that the organist had also written a new song that day and they fit together perfectly.  He worked with them to finish the hymn and the rest is history.  One of the most beloved hymns in history. A Typo: Leopard not Leper A well-known typo in the lyrics happens in verse 4.  The original manuscripts and many early hymnals would read "Can change the leper'...

A great storm comes in.  Jesus walks on the water.  Peter walks on the water.  Peter starts to sink.  Jesus rescues Peter.  Following Jesus isn't meant to be easy, it's meant to challenge you to the point where you continually realize how much you need Him.  Pastor Dan wrote this song years ago and it always blesses me to hear it.  We are all on a journey, stepping out in faith, failing, and being rescued by Jesus.   Background Prov 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. NKJV Eph 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding b...

  Matthew 19:26  Jesus looked at them and said,  “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Background The song Every Giant Will Fall by Rend Collective references Jericho.  Many scholars believe that Jericho is one of the oldest cities in the world.  As with most properties, the significance of Jericho was "location, location, location."  The Promised Land was promised to the Israelites by God... and Jericho... the formidable walled border city stood in the way of this.  Jericho was the first city that needed to be overcome to really enter into the promises of God.  For the full story read Joshua 5:13-6:23 . This is a picture for us of God doing the impossible when we rely on Him and not on our own strength.  Reading the biblical account and meditating on how this applies to your life, the giants (like Goliath 1 Samuel 17 ) that need to be overcome and the promises of God for your future, brings deep meaning to the...