In the midst of my Felix Culpa, I am finding again that it is by Grace Alone that I continue to see the King's Kaleidescope of Beauty
This week I stepped into a new phase of church planting. I left my awesome job of the past 5+ years as director of marketing communications at Clark University in Worcester to venture into God's unseen providence in the form of contributions and fundraising to provide for my family and Emmaus City. It's another step in trusting that God desires to build His Church in Worcester and that He will provide all we need regardless of what we can foresee or predict. As Paul told the church in Corinth, "we walk by faith, not by sight."
But for someone like me who is detail-oriented, loves to plan for the best and the worst, and aims for excellence, this is a weakness exposing exercise. I do believe that God is a good Father who will provide for His children like Jesus tells us in His Sermon on the Mount. But I'm still tripping up over my own doubts and anxieties of what this will look like. So as I have these fortunate falls from faith, God in His grace continues to pick me back and remind me that He is all I need. He is the Creator and the Provider. He is the Savior and Rescuer. He is the Redeemer and King. Not me.
Grace upon grace, I'm thankful that He is patient with me and my concerns. And in the midst of this time of transition, He has provided the album, "Becoming Who We Are," by Kings Kaleidescope to sear powerful lyrics saturated with His Scriptures alongside artistic melodies to help me remember again and again what I so easily forget.
See the twisted trophies of a dead man.
Countless stories, tell of sin and pain
But they sing the sweetness of my Savior’s grace.
I’m a torn man, Spirit fighting flesh,
There’s a battle raging deep in my chest;
But all that haunts me, all that leaves a stain
Only sings the sweetness of my Savior’s grace.
A fortunate fall, my sins are stories of grace to recall!
A fortunate fall, I glory in my sins forgiven!
Jesus bought me, and now I am His!
Dying with Him, in His death I now live.
All my vices, to which I’ve been chained
Only speak the sweetness of my Savior’s grace.
And still I’m a wicked, wretched man,
I do everything I hate.
I am fighting to be god,
I seethe and claw and thrash and shake.
I have killed and stacked the dead,
on a throne from which I reign.
In the end I just want blood,
And with His blood my hands are stained!
See the God who reigns on high,
He has opened His own veins,
From His wounds a rushing torrent
That can wash it all away!
Grace upon grace upon grace upon grace!
Grace!
The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. – Romans 7:14-15, 21 – 8:2, 5-6
Even when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate His righteousness, for He Himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 2:5; Romans 3:23-26; Ephesians 1:6-7; John 1:16; Ephesians 6:24
Kings Kaleidoscope "Grace Alone" lyrics and video
I was an orphan, lost at the fall,
Running away when I’d hear You call.
But Father, You worked Your will.
I had no righteousness of my own,
I had no right to draw near Your throne,
But Father, You loved me still.
And in love before You laid the world’s foundation,
You predestined to adopt me as Your own.
You have raised me so high above my station.
I’m a child of God by grace and grace alone.
You left Your home to seek out the lost,
You knew the great and terrible cost,
But Jesus, Your face was set.
I worked my fingers down to the bone,
But nothing I did could ever atone.
But Jesus, You paid my debt.
By Your blood I have redemption and salvation.
Lord, You died that I might reap what You have sown.
And You rose that I might be a new creation.
I am born again by grace, and grace alone.
I was in darkness all of my life,
I never knew the day from the night,
But Spirit, You made me see.
And I swore I knew the way on my own,
A head full of rocks, a heart made of stone,
But Spirit, You moved in me.
And at Your touch my sleeping spirit was awakened,
On my darkened heart the light of Christ has shone.
Called into a Kingdom that cannot be shaken,
Heaven’s citizen by grace, and grace alone.
So I’ll stand in faith by grace, and grace alone.
I will run the race by grace, and grace alone.
I will slay my sins by grace, and grace alone.
I will reach the end by grace, and grace alone.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight. God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. – Ephesians 1:3-8, 2:4-8
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. – Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 416, 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 2:10; Ephesians 1:13-14
Next post: Church Planter Anthems Phase 3 | Part 2 of 3: Kings Kaleidoscope "Defender" and "Fix My Eyes" Lyrics
For previous church planter anthems, check these out:
For previous church planter anthems, check these out:
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