We Crown You With Praise

"Don't be alarmed," he told them. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has been resurrected! He is not here! See the place where they put Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there just as He told you.' "
(Mark 16:6-7) (HCSB)


Happy Easter! Or better yet, Happy Resurrection Day! JESUS IS ALIVE forevermore! As a Christian, this is probably the most exciting Sunday of the year as we celebrate our living Savior. We know through Christ's resurrection that we have victory over death and the grave, and a hope for the future. And as the Bill Gaither song goes, "and life is worth the living just because He lives!"

Back in 1998 I wrote a simple praise chorus called "We Crown You With Praise" which we sung in corporate worship services at church. A few years later, God gave me some more lyrics which expanded the chorus into a full-length song which briefly tells the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Worship the One who was, and is, and is to come (Rev. 1:8) as you read these lyrics:

(verse 1)Lord when I think of all the pain that You went through

the glory that You left behind and what You chose to do

to be born on earth in human form

so that You could save the lost

I realize how much I have and O, how great the cost

'cause You bore the stripes upon Your back,

the crown of thorns upon Your head

Oh the nails pierced both Your hands and feet

Still, You prayed to God and said,

"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

And they laughed at You, the King of the Jews

(chorus) King Jesus, we crown You with praise,
the Lord of lords and the Ancient of Days.
You wore a crown of thorns when the cross was raised,
But now we're gonna crown You with praise.

(verse 2)You could have called ten thousand angels on that day
But You surrendered to the Father's will

'cause it was the only way

to redeem us from our sinful path so that we could be restored

Lord You gave Your all on Calvary, how can that be ignored?

Though You carried my cross upon Your back

It was my sin that weighed You down

You were pierced for my transgressions

as Your love flowed to the ground

Father, forgive me for I know that I'm to blame

for Your broken heart as You suffered in shame

(repeat chorus)

'cause You bore the stripes upon Your back

the crown of thorns upon Your head

Oh, the nails pierced both Your hands and feet

But You rose up from the dead, Risen forevermore

Through eternity You'll reign

And I'll be with You still praising Your name
(repeat chorus)

Jesus is risen forevermore, and He will reign through all eternity! Because of His ultimate sacrifice and the fact that He rose from the dead, we have hope for a glorious future with Him in paradise if we have a real, personal relationship with Him. He is the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22:13), the risen Lamb of God Who is worthy of our praise (Rev. 5:12-14). Praise His holy name!


Joey C.

Don't Be A Fool!

Psalm 14:1 & 53:1
The fool says in his heart, "God does not exist." (HCSB)
Proverbs 1:22
How long, foolish ones, will you love ignorance? How long will you mockers enjoy mocking and you fools hate knowledge? (HCSB)

Since it's April the 1st, let me say---Happy April Fool's Day! But beware of the devil's April fool prank, and don't be a fool like those mentioned in the above scripture. You see the devil has tricked many people into believing that there is no God. That's right, many folks don't believe that God exists. They think that He's just some fictional character or fairy tale made up by the weak-minded. These non-believers of God are called atheists in our society, but the Bible only refers to them as fools. That's not to say that they're stupid. In fact some of the smartest people in the world, geniuses by academic standards, are atheists. The problem is that they're too smart for their own good, literally. They're so highly intellectual that they don't have a lick of common sense, and because of their pride and their superiority complex they're missing the abundant kind of life that God longs to give them. (Jn. 10:10) That doesn't mean that I think all atheists are the smart, intellectual type. Some are just plain ignorant. That doesn't mean that they're bad people, only that they're blinded to the spiritual truth. I'm sure many atheists are nice, caring, good people, but they're unfortunately heading down that wide path to destruction (Matt. 7:13), and they don't even realize it. Satan has them tricked with a lie (that God doesn't exist) and therefore has them right where he wants them. You know Satan believes that God exists and so do the demons (Job 1:7/Jms. 2:19), but he likes to trick men into not believing in God, because if a man doesn't believe that God exists, then he won't believe that God loves him. (Jn. 3:16)

So what's my point? Why all this rambling?
You can never worship God unless you first believe in Him. I know, that sounds like one of those DUH! statements, doesn't it? But the first step to worshiping God is to believe that He exists. But that's not enough. After all, even the demons believe in Him, and they shudder. (Jms. 2:19) It's not good enough to just believe that God exists, and to have a head-knowledge of Him. You have to know Him, not just know about Him. The only way to do that, the only way to the Father, the one and only means by which we can have a true relationship with God and an eternity with Him in heaven, is through His Son, Jesus Christ. (Jn. 14:6) (email me and I will gladly explain to you how you can be reconciled with God--it's as easy as ABC)

Now if you've made up your mind that there is no God, and you're sure because of all the atrocities and injustices in the world, I'd like to refer you to a debate I saw recently between Frank Turek (co-author of "I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist") and Christopher Hitchens about the existence of God, in which Turek summarizes at the end: "Hitchens doesn't believe in God, and he hates Him. But God does believe in Christopher and He loves him."

I hope and pray that you won't fall for the devil's April Fool joke. Don't be a fool! Believe in God and accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior today! As for me, when I look at the complexity and order of the creation all around me, I just know there is a living, loving Creator. And try as I might, I just don't have enough faith to be an atheist!
Joey C.