Sunday's Hymn

This month is the ten year anniversary of this hymn.

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

Keith Getty tells some of the story of this hymn.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Jesus Paid It All at threegirldad
• Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah at Theology for Girls
• Lamb of God, We Fall Before Thee at Rosemary at Home
• ‘Tis My Happiness Below at Tried With Fire
• When Peace, Like a River at Field Stone Cottage
• Thee We Adore, Eternal Lord! at Hiraeth
• Before the Lord We Bow at The Happy Wonderer
• Lord’s Day 4, 2010 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Praying What Jesus Asked Us to Pray at Daily On My Way to Heaven
• Voices of the Past - January 23, 2011 at The Upward Call
• Your Weekly Dose of Spurgeon at Pyromaniacs: The Folly of Doctoring the Gospel
• Sabbath Keeping at Thistle Grove Farms

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

What NPR Can't Handle

Nancy Pearcey in Saving Leonardo: A Call to Resist the Secular Assault on Mind, Morals, and Meaning:

I was once invited to be a guest on a National Public Radio program in San Francisco. But before going on the air, the producer first wanted to know my stance on abortion. The accepted view, he commented, is that abortion is acceptable “until the fetus becomes a person.”

“That phrase carries enormous philosophical baggage,” I explained. “personhood theory assumes a fragmented view of human nature, which treats the body as expendable.” By contrast, “those who oppose abortion hold a holistic view of human nature as an integrated unity. They insist that the body has intrinsic, value and worth.”

The producer seemed surprised by this argument. I went on: “The pro-choice position is exclusive. It says that some people don’t measure up, don’t make the cut. They don’t qualify for the rights of personhood.” By contrast, “the pro-life position is inclusive. If you are a member of the human race, you’re ‘in.’ You have the dignity and status of a full member of the moral community.”

A few days later the producer contacted me to say the program had been canceled. It can be difficult for liberals to accept the dehumanizing implications of their views. I had used some of the most venerated liberal buzzwords (inclusive, holistic) to demonstrate that a biblical worldview actually fulfills the highest ideals of liberalism far better than any secular worldview.

Related recent posts found elsewhere:

• Jesus Loves the Little Children (Kevin DeYoung)

  Christians have always opposed killing children, whether infants outside the womb or infants inside the womb. The two were one and the same crime. “You shall not abort a child or commit infanticide,” commanded The Didache, a late first century church constitution of sorts. Despite the muddled arguments of denominational study groups (whose obfuscation with language is positively Orwellian), opposition to abortion and infanticide is not simply one position for Christians, it is the Christian position.

• What About the Twins? The Deadly Logic of Abortion (Albert Mohler)

  The Christian revulsion over abortion and the destruction of human life is based in the knowledge that God is the Author of all life and of every life, without exception. Abortion is the business of death, and it is the great wound that runs through the nation’s conscience. These shocking accounts [the Australian couple who aborted twin boys just because they wanted a baby girl, and the Pennsylvania doctor charged with murdering seven babies who were born alive] may sear their way into the nation’s collective conscience, but unless the basic logic of abortion rights is overturned, such accounts will erupt again and again.

• Update: Clarity Not Gadgetry: Pro-Life Apologetics for the Next Generation (Scott Klusendorf at The Gospel Coalition Blog)

  Pro-life advocates contend that elective abortion unjustly takes the life of a defenseless human being. This simplifies the abortion controversy by focusing public attention on just one question: Is the unborn one of us? If so, killing him or her to benefit others is a serious moral wrong. Conversely, if the unborn are not human, elective abortion requires no more justification than having a tooth pulled.

• The $5 Friday specials from Ligonier Ministries include an eBook download of R. C. Sproul’s Abortion, and an audio and video download of his teaching series on abortion.

Round the Sphere Again: Church History

Early Theology
Turretinfan shows that Cyril of Alexander used the “Sola Scriptura approach” in his arguments. Cyril did, it seems, equate apostolic teaching and scripture, and affirmed the perspicuity of scripture and the sufficiency of scripture.

Reformation Poetry
Four humourous poems from The Thirsty Theologian.