New Man

(Click here to listen)
Mike Charko and Keith Shields
(SOCAN 2012)

(Rom. 8:19, 22;  2 Peter 2:19)

I’m a new man
a neon sign
fleeting footsteps
mark my time
Pooling money
worn out shoes
a trusting spirit
nothing to lose

Waiting for the sons of God
to be revealed
Waiting for the Son to shine
One day I’ll be free

Slaves of corruption
creation groans
they might break my
mortal bones
Fractured rhythms
I hear the shots
search and rescue
eclipse my thoughts

Waiting for the sons of God
to be revealed
Waiting for the Son to shine
One day I’ll be free

Head for the station
before it’s too late    
I need a thousand hands
to carry this weight

Waiting for the sons of God
to be revealed
Waiting for the Son to shine
One day I’ll be free

Waiting for the sons of God
to be revealed
Waiting for the Son to shine
One day I’ll be free

"We still need - according to my old formulation - the Bible and the Newspaper." - Karl Barth

Frail

Listen here.

Read about how the song came to be here.

Words and Music by Dan Haseltine, Steve Mason, Mark Odmark, Charlie Lowell
©1994Bridge Building Music/Pogostick Music (BMI)

Convinced of my deception
I've always been a fool
I fear this love reaction
Just like you said I would
A rose could never lie
About the love it brings
And I could never promise
To be any of those things

If I was not so weak
If I was not so cold
If I was not so scared of being broken
Growing old
I would be...
I would be...
I would be...

Blessed are the shallow
Depth they'll never find
Seemed to be some comfort
In rooms I try to hide
Exposed beyond the shadows
You take the cup from me
Your dirt removes my blindness
Your pain becomes my peace

If I was not so weak
If I was not so cold
If I was not so scared of being broken
Growing old
I would be...
I would be...
I would be...
...frail

I wonder, do we ever feel frail?

Incarnation

The incarnation of God is a concept that is difficult for many to understand and believe. The word simply means to take on flesh. One who is incarnate is embodied in flesh. Thus we speak of Jesus as being "God embodied in flesh" or taking on human form. It is a mysterious and difficult concept to grasp. This poem/song by Wayne Watson expresses why it was necessary for God to put on flesh and walk among us.

One Christmas Eve
(Words and music by Wayne Watson; 1994 Material Music/Word Music)

He was a loving father
Gentle master of his home
But all alone against their love for God
No Savior of his own
Unmoved and softly cynical
Of those he thought naive
God come to earth? A virgin birth?
No, how could anybody believe?

His Christmas evening solitaire
Beside the fire’s glow.
Out of the window tiny sparrows
In the spell of a chilling snow.
And moved with deep compassion
With a redeeming plan, he rose
He tried in vain to gather them
To a shelter from the killing winter cold.

Oh, but simple creatures seldom
Comprehend the ways of man.
Sometimes love expressed is met with doubt and fear.
He thought, “If I could only fly among you,
I know I could make you understand. Just for a moment walk beside you
I know it would all be clear.
It would all be clear.”

And even before the thought had left his mind
Christmas bells from far away
Reminded him of simple truth
He’d denied until that very day,
How Jesus born the Savior
Walked this earth with mortal man.
Another soul brought safely home
And Christmas would never be the same again.
It would never be the same.

Meditations on Clothing

Galatians 3:26-28 (NIV)
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

TWO COATS
(Traditional, Arranged By: Emory Gordy, Jr. and Patty Loveless)
Two coats were before me, the old and the new
I asked my sweet Master, what must I do
The first coat was ugly, so tattered and torn
The other a new coat, had never been worn

(Chorus)
I tell you the best thing I ever did do
I took off the old coat and put on the new
I tell you the best thing I ever did do
I took off the old coat and put on the new
[ Gospel Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]

The first man was earthly, and raised from the ground
We bore on his image, the whole world around
The next was my Savior from Heaven so fair
He gave me this new coat you now see me wear

Now this coat, it suits me, it keeps me so warm
It's good in the winter and it's good in the storm
My Savior has blessed me with a garment so rare
He gave me this new coat you now see me wear

(Chorus)

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (NIV)
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.