Right in the centre - Sing a new song!
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- Published on Friday, May 31, 2019
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
I heard a great new song last weekend, new to me and it鈥檚 a relatively new song, written by Chris Tomlin. It speaks of hope and promise for any people in any location. I can鈥檛 think of a more appropriate message for us today, in Canada, in 水果视频 and in this area particularly. We have great potential, but in spite of all the potential we are faced with, there is a condition and it is expressed clearly in this song. It鈥檚 written in modern words, by a present writer.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e the God of this city
You鈥檙e the King of these people
You鈥檙e the Lord of this nation
You are
You鈥檙e the light in this darkness
You鈥檙e the hope to the hopeless
You鈥檙e the peace to the restless
You are
There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city.鈥�
So no matter if you live in a city, a town, village or on a farm, the words apply to you and yours, your family and your assets.
We can all tell stories of our forefathers who turned to God. We have all heard many more. The old songs, or hymns, of the Christian church were full of similar admonitions of the need to turn to God. Hymns such as 鈥淭urn your eyes upon Jesus鈥� and 鈥淔aith of our Fathers鈥� or 鈥淕od our help in ages past鈥� may or may not be familiar to people of today.
The fascinating message about God in this modern city song is that it is not old, not from centuries past, but from today. And it was sung by two young people at a Neepawa evening of music, worship and teaching. Young people who have the skill and the courage to get up and sing and teach in a way that is fresh and wonderful.
I am willing to bet that every community has some young people who are willing to sing out and teach in a fresh, new way. Be sure to encourage them when you find them.
I fervently believe that our communities will move into the future with the assets we have at hand. Some will succeed, to a certain extent, by means of human effort alone. However, if we follow the advice of the song above, our efforts will be hugely multiplied under the blessing of God.
We are completely at liberty to deny that God exists or perhaps give the odd nodding ascent to God. We are much better off, and will be much better off, as individuals and communities when we recognize that greater things are yet to come when we acknowledge that God is the the light in this darkness, the hope to the hopeless, the peace to the restless.
So how do we fit into this picture? Millions have followed this advice from Paul, a man who wrote a big chunk of the Bible. He said in the Book of Acts 20:24. 鈥淗owever, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me鈥攖he task of testifying to the good news of God鈥檚 grace.鈥�
The song and this quote place us in a good place to face an unknown future.
Disclaimer: The writer serves as a volunteer president of the 水果视频 Community Newspaper Association. The views expressed in this column are the writer鈥檚 personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the MCNA board or Banner & Press staff.
