The Selfless Love that Binds

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Roger E. Bruner

When we met and fell in love,
We married such very different points of view,
And we promised from the very start
Because we’d agreed to be a Family.

We’ve been growing our Family,
And it’s prospered from our special give and take
Till we reached the point where each of us wants his way;
Can love that like sustain a Family?

What will happen to the Family
As it suffers anguish from our tug of wills?
Is there not some way we can show them yet
That selfless love will bind a Family?

Is there not some way we can show them yet
The Selfless Love that will bind this Family?

About This Song:
“The Selfless Love that Binds” is a song I didn’t want to write. But I felt compelled to.

The last quarter of the twentieth century was a turbulent time among Southern Baptists. Conservatives believed that the liberals had gone too far, and they set out to restore the denomination to a more conservative path. Unfortunately, their methods were often less than ethical and loving, and the denomination appeared to be headed for a split.

As it turned out, many of the liberal churches formed the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship without necessarily leaving the Southern Baptist Convention totally–a number of churches align themselves with both groups–while the conservatives took over the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention and its schools and agencies.

The political shenanigans were especially upsetting to those of us who have deep Southern Baptist roots.

I wrote this song as an appeal to both sides to be united in love, using marriage and family as a symbol of the relationship of Baptists having variant ideologies.

Conservatism and liberalism aren’t new. So I pointed out that the two sides came from “very different points of view” and “compromised from the very start.”

Then I noted that “our special give and take” had resulted in growth and prosperity within the denomination.

Finally, I emphasized the damage the “tug of wills” does to the “Family.”

But I couldn’t leave this song on a negative note. So I appealed to liberals and conservatives alike to do the Christlike thing: to let God’s perfect, selfless love bind them together once again.

I don’t hear much about those problems anymore, although they still exist. My wife and I belong to a very conservative church. So conservative that I feel slightly uncomfortable at times.

But I don’t mind compromising. At least to the extent that I’m able to accept the fact that I can’t claim to be the ultimate source of truth.

What about you? Have you seen the damage that can be done when people having polar-opposite viewpoints can’t or won’t compromise? Perhaps the political situation in the United States is a good example. If you have thoughts on this subject, please leave a comment.

~*~

Links you might be interested in:

I’ll be back again next Wednesday.

Best regards,
Roger

 

Posted in Compromise, Conservatives, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Family, Liberals, Marriage, Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do Not Worry

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Roger E. Bruner

Do not worry about anything;
Pray instead about everything.
Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank Him,
Thank Him for His answers.

God is your shelter and your strength,
A very present help in trouble.
There’s no need to fear, though the world fall about you.
Calm down and know that He is still the Lord,
Still the Lord.

About This Song:
This song is the original version of an extended version I’ll share next week (“Call Upon His Name”). It’s based on two Scriptures, Philippians 4:6:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
(NIV)

and Psalm 46:1-2:
1 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.
(NIV)

I used to be responsible for the opening exercise in an adult Bible Study class, and sometimes I’d make up a song to use. This is one of them.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a worrier. I know worry is silly and unnecessary, though. After all, everything in the world–including the most minute parts of my life–are in God’s hands.

Could it be that my faith isn’t strong enough? Do I doubt God’s abilities regardless of how much I claim to trust Him? Or am I afraid He won’t provide the solution I want?

Whoops. I’ll bet I’m so set on getting my answer that I don’t trust Him to see things my way. Hmm. Not good. If, for example, God chooses death to heal someone who’s suffering from cancer, isn’t that really the best possible answer–even though I would prefer that God miraculously heal the patient?

You know the old saying “Father knows best”? Well, God is my heavenly Father, and sometimes I have to remind myself that He knows best. Why can’t I just be happy accepting that?

So I often sing this song or “Call Upon His Name” to remind myself Who’s really in control. And that line about thanking Him? So important. Remembering God’s kept promises is a real boost to our wavering faith.

Are you worried about something today? Let these lyrics and the Scriptures they’re based on help lift you to God’s throne of grace and give you the peace you need.

~*~

Links you might be interested in:

I’ll be back again next Wednesday.

Best regards,
Roger

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The Money Song

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Roger E. Bruner

Wealth is the rich man’s great advantage.
Poverty is the poor man’s great curse.
Righteous men spend money to help others.
Wicked men spend money on themselves.

About this Song:
Maybe you’ve noticed that some of my songs are shorter than others. Although this one is probably THE shortest, that doesn’t diminish the importance of its message.

The words are adapted from Proverbs 10:15-16. I’m including six translations here. . .

15 The wealth of the rich is their fortified city,
    but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
 16 The wages of the righteous is life,
    but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.
(New International Version)

15 Great wealth can be a fortress,
    but poverty  is no protection at all.
 16 If you live right, the reward is a good life;
    if you are evil, all you have is sin.
(Contemporary English Bible)

15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city;
The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
 16 The labor of the righteous leads to life,
The wages of the wicked to sin.
(New King James)

15 The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
    the poverty of the poor is their destruction.
 16 The earnings of the godly enhance their lives,
    but evil people squander their money on sin.
(New Living Translation)

15 The wealth of the rich is their bastion;
   the poverty of the indigent is their ruin.
 16 The wage of a good person is exuberant life;
   an evil person ends up with nothing but sin.
(The Message)

15 Wealth protects the rich; poverty destroys the poor.
 16 The reward for doing good is life, but sin leads only to more sin.
(GNT)

If I’m reading these Scriptures correctly, they agree that the rich depend upon their wealth. They hide in it. They take refuge in it. In my mind, that gives them a “great advantage.” The second part of verse fifteen seems to agree that “Poverty is the poor man’s great curse.”

Although these versions agree that money enables the rich to have “life,” “exuberant life,” and “a good life,” I chose to put a different spin on the first part of my parallel to verse sixteen. My wording goes along best with “The reward for doing good is life.” The rest of Scripture supports that. The rich–all of us, for that matter–ought to help those in need to whatever extent they can.

I chose not to deviate from the second half of verse sixteen, however. When wicked people squander their money on sin rather than using it to accomplish good, they end up getting exactly what they deserve.

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Please leave a comment if something in this post has spoken to you. I’ll be back again next Wednesday. If you’d like to receive my posts by email, just go to “Follow Blog via Email” at the bottom right.

I have free lead sheets (chords, notes, & words) for many of my songs. To see which ones and print or download any of them (including today’s), GO HERE.

“As I Come Singing” isn’t my only blog. If you’d like to see “On Aging Gracelessly,” CHECK IT OUT HERE.

My new novel, The Devil and Pastor Gus, is out now. If you’re interested, please check it out at Amazon.

Best regards,
Roger

 

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Night Sounds

Posted on July 30, 2014 by Roger E. Bruner

I listen to the night winds sigh
Because they know you’re not with me.
I listen to the night winds sigh
Because they know you’re not with me.
And I reach out for you,
But you’re not there.

I listen to the crickets chirpin’
As they wonder where you are.
I listen to the crickets chirpin’
As they wonder where you are.
And I reach out for you,
But you’re not there.

I listen to the night birds singing
As they call out your name.
I listen to the night birds singing
As they call out your name.
And I reach out for you,
But you’re not there.

I listen to the running footsteps
As the moon lights up the path.
I listen to the running footsteps
As the moon lights up the path.
And I reach out for you,
And you take my hand,
And the night’s like the day.

About this Song:
This is the only purely secular song I’ve ever written, and it dates back to the mid-seventies, when my first wife and I were still relatively newly-weds. Her family was visiting, and I had gone to bed while she stayed up talking with them. As I lay in bed, not altogether happy at her not being there, the idea came to mind.

Professional singers Mike and Sally Hendon (they performed together for years as Two’s Company–you may have seen them at the Trappe Family Lodge in Stowe, VT–but are no longer together) later sent me a recording they had made of this song. One thing they had added to the “as they call out your name” line was a plaintive echo of “Debbie, Debbie, Debbie.”

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Please leave a comment if something in this post has spoken to you. I’ll be back again next Wednesday. If you’d like to receive my posts by email, just go to “Follow Blog via Email” at the bottom right.

I have free lead sheets (music, lyrics, & chords) for many of these songs. “Night Sounds” is one of them. Look for it in this drop-down box.

“As I Come Singing” isn’t my only blog. If you’d like to see “On Aging Gracelessly,” check it out here.

Best regards,
Roger

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As I Come Singing

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Roger E. Bruner

As I come singing, I sing to praise the Lord;
With a song in my heart, I come to proclaim God’s Word,
To proclaim God’s Word. La, la la la la.
The melody may seem compelling as the rhythm moves right along,
But if my life’s not full of God’s love, then the message will come out wrong,
Will come out wrong. La, la la la la.

As I come singing, I sing to preach God’s Word
To each believer and to those who have never heard,
Who’ve never heard.
The song itself is simple, and the words used are quite plain,
But if my life’s not in tune with my song, then the message will come out vain,
Will come out vain. La, la la la la.

As I come singing, I sing to praise the Lord;
May the song that my life sings be the one that He wants heard,
That God wants heard.
La, la la la la. La, la la la la. La la.

About this song:
During the days when I was presenting musical programs more frequently than now, I used this song as my theme song. I wanted to emphasize my role as a preacher of sorts–a conveyor of God’s Good News–and to help people realize that I wasn’t singing to entertain them.

I believe that so strongly that–to this day–I have trouble using the word “perform” in regard to doing a Christian song in public. “Present” works a little better, but “perform” definitely doesn’t preach!

You can tell that this is one of my older songs because it rhymes. Although a few of my most recent songs rhyme, most of them don’t.

You can find a free lead sheet for this song (tune, chords, & lyrics) on my website. Check here for all of my free lead sheets.

Stay tuned. I’ll post another song lyric next Sunday.

Best regards,
Roger

Posted in Good News, Preaching, Singing, Songs, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Take This Piece of Bread

Posted on August 11, 2013 by Roger E. Bruner

Take this piece of bread
As a symbol of my body.
When you eat it,
Think of me,
And remember who I am,
Who I am.

Take this cup of wine
As a symbol of my life’s blood.
When you drink it,
Think of me,
And remember who I am,
Who I am.

What we shared last night was close to perfect,
But where have they gone?
Don’t they know Who I Am?

About This Song:
The year was 1972. Jesus Christ Superstar was at the height of its popularity, and I loved the music as much as anyone. I just disagreed with some of its theology. Uh, a lot of it, actually.

So I wrote a one-hour Christian rock opera I called The Identity of Divinity–or ID for short. I used it to “straighten out” the bad theology of Superstar.

I was still teaching 9th grade English, and I arranged to use the gym/auditorium at my school one evening to present a single performance of The Identity of Divinity, using students, folks from church, and even people from the community at large.

I have fond memories of the multitude of rehearsals involved. Getting the nearly fifty people involved together at one time was a major accomplishment. Thankfully, most of the practices involved much smaller groups.

Although this song obviously refers to Jesus’ words when He served his disciples the commemorative meal we refer to as “The Lord’s Supper” or “Communion,” I use that one last bit of the song to indicate that Jesus was remembering that last meal with His disciples while dying on the cross. And that He was very conscious of how most of His disciples had deserted Him.

I’ve noticed on Facebook that a number of my former students are Christians. I would like to believe that The Identity of Divinity played a role in their spiritual growth. And that the songs I post on this blog are contributing to your spiritual growth as well.

You can find a free PDF lead sheet (chords, melody, & lyrics) for this song on my website. Check here for all available lead sheets. And don’t forget to check the archives for other songs that might be similar in theme to this one.

Please come back again on Wednesday for another song. Better yet, subscribe to receive each week’s two posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

Posted in Bread, Lord's Supper, The Identity of Divinity, Wine | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment