Great holiness song

It’s been awhile since I’ve heard this song on the radio but for some reason it’s come to mind a couple of times lately.  It comes from David Baroni’s “Promised Land” project and it’s called “Took me out of Egypt.”  The message of the song is powerful.  The singer thanks God for freedom from the old way of life – “Egypt” yet finds another level of slavery, this on the inside. I love the words of this song and these are, I think at the heart of the matter:

Lord You took me out of Egypt
Now take Egypt out of me
You delivered me from Pharaoh now set me free from me
Let my heart become a promised land
Where the desert used to be
Lord You took me out of Egypt
Now take Egypt out of me

Thank God for his deliverance from the old way of life, it’s a transformation that makes all things new.  However, in that delivered life, over time, the believer is dismayed to find that something of the old way remains.  There’s competition for the Lordship of one’s life.  Will it be God’s way or mine?  This song describes the believer coming to a decision.  Self must bow to the Lordship of Christ.  The prayer then, is “Lord, you took me out of the old life but something of that old life remains in me.  Now, I ask that you will do a deeper work in my heart that I might be not only free from the consequences of my sin, but from the nature of sin and self.  Take the throne of my heart.”

I love the message of this song and even more, I love what the Lord does in the lives of those who come to that place of full surrender.

Here’s a short sample of the song, “Took me out of Egypt.”

A pastor appreciating fine lay people

A major project at our church has been the replacing of old, inadequate concrete sidewalks with brick paving. It is actually a bigger project than just sidewalks, as we have a very nice patio type covering in the front of the church, and the brick paving has been put down underneath that awning, creating some very usable space for outdoor activities: everything from overflow space at church dinners to VBS activities to church BBQ’s. We’re even thinking of having some outdoor Sunday evening services.

Actually, this blog entry isn’t as much about that as it is about the wonderful folks I pastor. We have had a number of people who gave up their Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving and then the following Friday and Saturday again this week to labor on this project. As a pastor, I must say that this is about as encouraging a thing as can be imagined. There’s a lot of grumbling these days about “lack of commitment” by church people. I’m seeing none of it. These good folks financially support the church and go above and beyond the call of duty in doing it. Then, they give up their days off and vacation days to come and work sun up to sun down to make the church building into a nicer place to worship. I am pleased with and humbled by such generosity.

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