Have You Seen Jesus My LORD?

I originally shared this post in April of 2012. Last night I found myself on another walk with Conner, once again humming this song. Seemed right to share it again (even though last night was hot & muggy rather than cool & breezy) on this fine Sunday morning! :)

Last night I was walking my dog. That is not at all unusual. I walk Conner every night, usually between 8:30 and 9:00. Lately I have filled this time with phone calls and texts, entertaining myself while I walk. But last night I didn't even take my phone. It was a beautiful night with a slight chill in the air (so rare in Tampa this time of year) and a sky full of stars. As I walked and looked at God's creation, I suddenly found myself singing. Again, that is not at all unusual- I sing to myself quite often. Then I realized what song I was singing. It's a song called Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?  This gorgeous praise song, written by John Fischer (and published by one of my heroes, the great Yohann "YO" Anderson for Songs & Creations) in 1970, was a song we sang at camp in the early 70s. The Quaker Lake Camp staff used to sing it when we led worship in local churches on Sunday mornings during the summer. It had a great harmony part on the chorus that I loved singing with Martha Ratledge Farlow. I had probably not tried to sing it in nearly 20 years. Yet there I was, walking under the stars, remembering every word and every note. And I was worshiping. Big time. Too often we think of worship as something that happens on Sunday morning. Worship is a lifestyle. These words reminded me of that as I offered praise to my God last night. I hope they will remind you today. God is everywhere, Look around you. See the evidence. 

CHORUS

 Have you seen Jesus my LORD?

He's here in plain view

Take a look. open your eyes

He'll show it to you

Have you ever looked at the sunset

with the sky mellowin' red

and the clouds suspended like feathers?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever stood at the ocean

with the white foam at your feet

felt the endless thundering motion?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever looked at the cross

with a man hangin' in pain

seen the look of love in His eyes?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever stood in the family

with the LORD there in your midst,

seen the face of Christ on each other?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

We don't have to search for Jesus. He is already where we are. The question is, are we too busy, too loud and too self-involved to see Him and to give him the praise He deserves? May I suggest a nice quiet walk to put things in perspective...  Be blessed, my friends!

Because of Jesus,

Bleeping Jesus (A Re-Post)

Because I felt God leading me to share this again, today's adventure in missing the point is a re-post of one of my earliest posts from 2009. It's an excerpt from John Fischer's brilliant book, Real Christians Don't Dance (Bethany House Publishers, 1988). John is a favorite of mine, having written such great songs as The All Day Song and Have You Seen Jesus My Lord. I have always loved this story, but it has taken on added significance to me as I have grown older and realized far too clearly how often I have "bleeped Jesus." You may feel like you, too, are a ragamuffin who has stumbled more often than not. Don't miss the big finish, as John reminds us that God does loves us despite our bleeps; indeed, he uses us in a world that understands sinners much better than saints. Enjoy, and feel the freedom! (NOTE: For my younger readers, a typewriter was what we used as a keyboard until computers were invented. See, history can be fun!)

I've been trying to ignore this for some time now, but I can't any longer; it just keeps coming up. Every time I type a chapter on this Smith Corona XE 5100 Spell-Right typewriter, I am faced with a dilemma: my typewriter bleeps. I remember George Harrison's lament, "My guitar gently weeps," on the Beatles' famous white album. Well, my typewriter gently bleeps, or more accurately, "sickly" bleeps. It's a very pathetic, injured sound, like a little tone sort of bent over another. It reminds me of an ailing little lamb with half a vocal chord — not that I've ever been around an ailing little lamb with half a vocal chord, but I somehow think if I ever was it would sound like the bleep on my Smith Corona. The bleep comes from a 50,000 word dictionary that has been programmed into the brains of this machine. Whenever I type a word that isn't on the list — "Bleebleep!" — it bleeps at me. This is actually a very useful feature. More often than not, the bleep signals a typing error rather than a spelling mistake. But the spelling of particular words is an issue over which I and the typewriter fight an ongoing controversy. Fifty thousand words is a lot, but not enough to get all the derivations of all the words I use, not to mention some words that have simply been programmed incorrectly or missed altogether. So my typewriter has a bleep I cannot wholly trust, often sending me scurrying to my Webster's to defend myself. Imagine carrying on a running argument with your typewriter over the spelling of certain words.

But the real problem came when I began to suspect my typewriter was not a Christian. I first started to notice it on certain theological words like sanctification, glorification, Christology, and soteriology (which got bleeped twice). Soon I discovered a very interesting thing when I typed the word Christian. It gets by unscathed, but Christians gets bleeped. Apparently my typewriter can handle one Christian at a time, but the idea of two or more of these things at once sends it squealing off like a sick lamb. This I-can-handle-one-but-don't-give-me-two phenomenon also applies to Baptists, Presbyterians, and Fundamentalists. Unfortunately for Methodists, they get bleeped before I can get to the final "t". I'm not even sure I want to mention what happens to Pente(bleep)costal(bleep)s(bleep).

But by far the biggest problem is the fact that my typewriter bleeps Jesus. Now it's true that many other common names get bleeped as well, but it's hard to understand how a typewriter that knows John, Dick, Harry, and Sally would not even know a name as important as Jesus. The final proof came when I found out Buddha got by without a sound! I can't deny it any longer; I'm going to have to face the hard facts: I'm dealing with a pagan typewriter. What shall I do? I'm trying to type out sanctified stuff and I'm getting bleeped all over the place! Well, as you can imagine, I've given this much thought and I've come up with three possible solutions:

1. Smash it. The thought that anything sanctified could ever come through a typewriter that gives Jesus the bleep is unthinkable. This typewriter shouldn't be allowed to live! Even if I sold it, I would be sending another pagan influence out into the world to corrupt someone else's mind. A typewriter that accepts Buddha and bleeps Jesus is certainly going to lend support to an already acceptable secularized world view. (Would you believe I just got bleeped on secularized?)

2. Surely someone out there in Christian World USA, some Christian electronic whiz-kid, has come up with a new mind for this thing. Perhaps I don't have to get rid of the whole typewriter, after all; I can just get it saved, take it to an electronic revival meeting. Someone must have thought of this by now.

3. I suppose I could find a way to use it as it is. I could use it as a reminder that I live in a world that is constantly bleeping Jesus. Every time I type that final s in His name and hear that sick squeal, I could feel the pain and reality of rejection. After all, "He came to his own and his own did not receive Him" (John 1:11).


I think I'm going to keep this typewriter just as it is. After all, God has not smashed me or traded me in for another model. The fact that I can sanctify this typewriter through the truth of the words that pass through it, in spite of its bleeps, reminds me that God can do the same thing through my bleeping life in this bleeping world.  - John Fischer

Dance of the Prepositions

In John 17,  Jesus explains to the disciples that while they are going to be left in this world after he is gone, they belong to him.  This call to be "in the world, but not of it" is a challenge to us all.  As Caedmon's Call once sang, "This world has nothing for me and this world has everything.  All that I could want and nothing that I need."  Christians struggle with this at every turn. We cannot follow Jesus in a vacuum. Following him means impacting the people and the world around us in his name. Some of us seek to hide from the world, because being faithful would be much easier than facing the temptations and struggles of living in it.  Some of us want the church to be more like the world, seeking to create a "Christian Ghetto"  full of all the things we love, but twisted in a way that allows us to feel pious about them.  And some of us simply let the things of this world take the place of God. We allow them to become our "false idols."

Today's "words to soak in" come from John Fischer's 1988 book Real Christians Don't Dance (Bethany House Publishers).  John has written a number of great books and a number of great songs including The All Day Song, one of the all-time Quaker Lake Camp and youth group favorites!  I have shared this prose with many groups over the years as well as once before on this blog.  Now I'll just shut up and let John talk.  Have a blessed weekend!

The Ins And Outs Of "It"
"In it, not of it," the statement was made
As Christian One faced the world, much afraid.
"In it, not of it," the call was made clear,
But Christian One got something stuck in his ear.
"Not in it, or of it" was the thing that he heard.
And knowing the world was painfully absurd,
He welcomed the safety of pious retreat,
And went to the potluck for something to eat.

Now Christian Two, he knew what to do,
He'd show those fundies a thing or two!
How will the world ever give Christ a try
If we don't get in there and identify?
So "In it, and of it," he said in his car,
As he pulled in and stopped at a popular bar.
"I'll tell them the truth as soon as I'm able
To get myself out from under this table."

Now along comes Christian Three jogging for Jesus,
In witnessing sweats made of four matching pieces.
His earphones are playing a hot Christian tune
About how the Lord is coming back soon.
"Not in it, but of it," he turns down the hill
And stops in for a bite at the Agape Grill.
Like the gold on the chain of his "God Loves You" bracelet,
He can have the world without having to face it.

While way up in heaven they lament these conditions
That come from changing a few prepositions.
"Not in it, or of it," Christian One thought.
But who is the world will know that he's not?
"In it, and of it," thought Christian Two.
But who in the world will know that he knew?
"Not in it, but of it," thought Christian Three.
But who in the world watches Christian TV?
And Jesus turns to Gabriel, shaking His head.
" 'In it, not of it...' wasn't that what I said?"

Because of Jesus,

The All Day Song

John Fischer

When you are a guitar player and were in youth ministry as long as I was, there are certain songs that just become a part of your life.  I was at a Young Life club meeting during high school the first time I ever sang John Fischer's The All Day Song.  It was a short, peppy little praise song, and I liked it.  The lyrics were simple, but carried great meaning.  If I had known at the time that I would be playing and singing it literally hundreds of times over the course of my life, I might have run screaming from the building.  But I didn't.  And The All Day Song became a huge part of my ministry.  If you were at Quaker Lake Camp in the 70s and 80s, or around any of my youth groups, then you know this song.  We sang it so often (usually at the request of the campers) during summers at camp that it became known at The EVERY Day Song.  Even after all of that, I still taught it to youth groups, and they loved it too.  When I would go back to QLC as a camp pastor, I would have to teach that song to the current music leaders.  The song became legend; and I had still never actually heard John Fischer sing it!  Here are the lyrics:

The All Day Song

Verse

When you think you've got to worry

Because it seems the thing to do

Remember He ain't in a hurry

He's always got the time for you, so . . .

Chorus

Love Him in the morning when you see the sun arisin’

Love Him in the evening ‘cuz He took you through the day

And in the in between time when you feel the pressure comin’

Remember that He loves you and He promises to stay

© 1973 Bud John Songs, Inc.

The song was (and still is for me) a great reminder that Jesus is with me from sun-up until sundown.  He is with me when things are tough. He is with me today, yesterday and forever.  And as many times as we sang it over the years, I cannot help but believe that it has been an assurance to many of the campers and youth I sang it with as well.  But there is one singing on this sweet little song that will always stand out above all others in my mind.  Several of the male counselors at QLC were returning to our cabins one afternoon and we passed by the bath house and rest rooms.  As we walked by the toilets, we heard the unmistakable voice of Lindley Osborne, one of our favorite campers, coming from the toilet side of the little concrete block building.  As we passed, we heard very clearly that he was singing The All Day Song.  And the line we heard was, "And in the in-between time when you feel the pressure coming..."  I think we laughed for an hour!


Songs can conjur up memories of specific places and times like nothing else.  The All Day Song always takes me back to QLC and the youth rooms at Springfield Friends Meeting and FUMC-Kissimmee.  Thank you, John Fischer, for giving us a song that we can sing every day- and remember the love of God as we do.  If you do not know the song, I have posted a version of John singing it below.  It's a strangely long version, and for those who learned it from Martha Ratledge Farlow or myself it will seem very different.  But the idea is still the same.  Remember Jesus loves you and will never forsake you.  And that deserves an AMEN!

"Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?"

Last night I was walking my dog.  That is not at all unusual.  I walk Conner every night, usually between 8:30 and 9:00.  Lately I have filled this time with phone calls and texts, entertaining myself while I walk.  But last night I didn't even take my phone.  It was a beautiful night with a slight chill in the air (so rare in Tampa this time of year) and a sky full of stars.  As I walked and looked at God's creation, I suddenly found myself singing. Again, that is not at all unusual- I sing to myself quite often.  Then I realized what song I was singing. It's a song called Have You Seen Jesus My Lord?  This gorgeous praise song, written by John Fischer (and published by one of my heroes, the great Yohann "YO" Anderson for Songs & Creations) in 1970, was a song we sang at camp in the early 70s.  The Quaker Lake Camp staff used to sing it when we led worship in local churches on Sunday mornings during the summer.  It had a great harmony part on the chorus that I loved singing with Martha Ratledge Farlow.  I had probably not tried to sing it in well over 20 years.  Yet there I was, walking under the stars, remembering every word and every note.  And I was worshiping.  Big time.  Too often we think of worship as something that happens on Sunday morning.  Worship is a lifestyle.  These words reminded me of that as I offered praise to my God last night.  I hope they will remind you today.  God is everywhere,  Look around you.  See the evidence. 

CHORUS

 Have you seen Jesus my LORD?

He's here in plain view

Take a look. open your eyes

He'll show it to you

Have you ever looked at the sunset

with the sky mellowin' red

and the clouds suspended like feathers?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever stood at the ocean

with the white foam at your feet

felt the endless thundering motion?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever looked at the cross

with a man hangin' in pain

seen the look of love in His eyes?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

CHORUS

Have you ever stood in the family

with the LORD there in your midst,

seen the face of Christ on each other?

Then I say...you've seen Jesus my LORD

We don't have to search for Jesus.  He is already where we are.  The question is, are we too busy, too loud and too self-involved to see Him and to give him the praise He deserves?  May I suggest a nice quiet walk to put things in perspective...  Be blessed, my friends!

Because of Jesus,

The Dance of the Prepositions

In John 17 Jesus explains to the disciples that while they are going to be left in this world after He is gone, they belong to Him.  This call to be "in the world, but not of it" is a challenge to us all.  As Caedmon's Call once sang, "This world has nothing for me and this world has everything.  All that I could want and nothing that I need."  Christians struggle with this at every turn.  Some of us seek to hide from the world.  Some of us want the church to be more like the world.  Some of us let the things of this world take the place of God.

Today's "words to soak in" come from John Fischer's 1988 book Real Christians Don't Dance (Bethany House Publishers).  John has written a number of great books and a number of great songs including The All Day Song, one of the all-time Quaker Lake Camp favorites!  I have shared this prose with many groups over the years and as part of my Lenten devotional series online last year.  Now I'll just shut up and let John talk.  Have a blessed Sabbath!

The Ins And Outs Of "It"
"In it, not of it," the statement was made
As Christian One faced the world, much afraid.
"In it, not of it," the call was made clear,
But Christian One got something stuck in his ear.
"Not in it, or of it" was the thing that he heard.
And knowing the world was painfully absurd,
He welcomed the safety of pious retreat,
And went to the potluck for something to eat.

Now Christian Two, he knew what to do,
He'd show those fundies a thing or two!
How will the world ever give Christ a try
If we don't get in there and identify?
So "In it, and of it," he said in his car,
As he pulled in and stopped at a popular bar.
"I'll tell them the truth as soon as I'm able
To get myself out from under this table."

Now along comes Christian Three jogging for Jesus,
In witnessing sweats made of four matching pieces.
His earphones are playing a hot Christian tune
About how the Lord is coming back soon.
"Not in it, but of it," he turns down the hill
And stops in for a bite at the Agape Grill.
Like the gold on the chain of his "God Loves You" bracelet,
He can have the world without having to face it.

While way up in heaven they lament these conditions
That come from changing a few prepositions.
"Not in it, or of it," Christian One thought.
But who is the world will know that he's not?
"In it, and of it," thought Christian Two.
But who in the world will know that he knew?
"Not in it, but of it," thought Christian Three.
But who in the world watches Christian TV?
And Jesus turns to Gabriel, shaking His head.
" 'In it, not of it...' wasn't that what I said?"

Because of Jesus,

Bleeping Jesus

Today's adventure in missing the point is an excerpt from John Fischer's brilliant book Real Christians Don't Dance. (Bethany House Publishers, 1988) John is a favorite of mine, having written such great songs as The All Day Song and Have You Seen Jesus My Lord. I have always loved this story, but it has taken on added significance to me as I have grown older and realized far too clearly how often I have "bleeped Jesus." You may feel like you, too, are a ragamuffin who has stumbled more often than not. Don't miss the big finish, as John reminds us that God does loves us despite our bleeps; indeed, he uses us in a world that understands sinners much better than saints. Enjoy, and feel the freedom! (NOTE: For my younger readers, a typewriter was what we used as a keyboard until computers were invented. See, history can be fun!)

I've been trying to ignore this for some time now, but I can't any longer; it just keeps coming up. Every time I type a chapter on this Smith Corona XE 5100 Spell-Right typewriter, I am faced with a dilemma: my typewriter bleeps.I remember George Harrison's lament, "My guitar gently weeps," on the Beatles' famous white album. Well, my typewriter gently bleeps, or more accurately, "sickly" bleeps. It's a very pathetic, injured sound, like a little tone sort of bent over another. It reminds me of an ailing little lamb with half a vocal chord — not that I've ever been around an ailing little lamb with half a vocal chord, but I somehow think if I ever was it would sound like the bleep on my Smith Corona. The bleep comes from a 50,000 word dictionary that has been programmed into the brains of this machine. Whenever I type a word that isn't on the list — "Bleebleep!" — it bleeps at me. This is actually a very useful feature. More often than not, the bleep signals a typing error rather than a spelling mistake. But the spelling of particular words is an issue over which I and the typewriter fight an ongoing controversy. Fifty thousand words is a lot, but not enough to get all the derivations of all the words I use, not to mention some words that have simply been programmed incorrectly or missed altogether. So my typewriter has a bleep I cannot wholly trust, often sending me scurrying to my Webster's to defend myself. Imagine carrying on a running argument with your typewriter over the spelling of certain words.

But the real problem came when I began to suspect my typewriter was not a Christian. I first started to notice it on certain theological words like sanctification, glorification, Christology, and soteriology (which got bleeped twice). Soon I discovered a very interesting thing when I typed the word Christian. It gets by unscathed, but Christians gets bleeped. Apparently my typewriter can handle one Christian at a time, but the idea of two or more of these things at once sends it squealing off like a sick lamb. This I-can-handle-one-but-don't-give-me-two phenomenon also applies to Baptists, Presbyterians, and Fundamentalists. Unfortunately for Methodists, they get bleeped before I can get to the final "t". I'm not even sure I want to mention what happens to Pente(bleep)costal(bleep)s(bleep).

But by far the biggest problem is the fact that my typewriter bleeps Jesus. Now it's true that many other common names get bleeped as well, but it's hard to understand how a typewriter that knows John, Dick, Harry, and Sally would not even know a name as important as Jesus. The final proof came when I found out Buddha got by without a sound! I can't deny it any longer; I'm going to have to face the hard facts: I'm dealing with a pagan typewriter.What shall I do? I'm trying to type out sanctified stuff and I'm getting bleeped all over the place! Well, as you can imagine, I've given this much thought and I've come up with three possible solutions:

1. Smash it. The thought that anything sanctified could ever come through a typewriter that gives Jesus the bleep is unthinkable. This typewriter shouldn't be allowed to live! Even if I sold it, I would be sending another pagan influence out into the world to corrupt someone else's mind. A typewriter that accepts Buddha and bleeps Jesus is certainly going to lend support to an already acceptable secularized world view. (Would you believe I just got bleeped on secularized?)

2. Surely someone out there in Christian World USA, some Christian electronic whiz-kid, has come up with a new mind for this thing. Perhaps I don't have to get rid of the whole typewriter, after all; I can just get it saved, take it to an electronic revival meeting. Someone must have thought of this by now.

3. I suppose I could find a way to use it as it is. I could use it as a reminder that I live in a world that is constantly bleeping Jesus. Every time I type that final s in His name and hear that sick squeal, I could feel the pain and reality of rejection. After all, "He came to his own and his own did not receive Him" (John 1:11).

Ah, but I cannot let myself off that easily. I cannot think myself more noble than the rest of this world for enduring a pagan Smith Corona; I am part of this bleeping world, too. The real truth I must face about all this bleeping is that I too bleep Jesus. I bleep Him whenever I compromise my faith. I bleep Him when I'm lazy and refuse to do what He wants in a given situation, when I'm so caught up in myself I can't care for someone else, when I fail to see His hand moving in all that goes on around me, and when I go through life forgetting that He is the most important thing in my memory bank. But realizing this doesn't merely leave me lamenting my bleeping self; it fills me with wonder to realize that He still uses my life. He goes on typing His truth right through all my bleeps into the reality of my life and the people I touch. I have to believe this or I will close my lid and be silent forever because I know that I am not a perfect instrument.

I think I'm going to keep this typewriter just as it is. After all, God has not smashed me or traded me in for another model. The fact that I can sanctify this typewriter through the truth of the words that pass through it, in spite of its bleeps, reminds me that God can do the same thing through my bleeping life in this bleeping world. - John Fischer