Nov 24
Andrew J. NicewanderPhotographic Poetry Beauty, Creation, Glendalough, God's Glory, Memories, Worship
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The swirling mists rise slowly up from fields of ancient age sublime
The water ‘round a constant flow across the rolling land, a gentle source of life and sound
The mountains stand as stoic witnesses of life in all its fair and bittersweet expressions as the silence whispers memories of those who’ve come before
I watch the scenes that play throughout the eons long of trees that live and die, of waters fresh that come and flow and go, of men who live and build and worship He who made the glen in which I am and tell…
It is this God that now I softly praise.
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Sep 05
Andrew J. NicewanderPoetry Contentment, God's Glory, God's Grace, God's Sovereignty, Jesus
The eyes I’m born with are no good, I need corrective lens
I need the lens of Jesus Christ, the grace which saves from sin
Lord give me grace to see through Christ the ways in which I’m blessed
And keep me from my selfish greed, to always see Your grace
I get so needy, and so wanting, contentment is not mine
It’s always something somewhere else for which my wanting pines
Lord help me see Your wondrous ways, Your grace in Christ Your Son
Though life is hard, it is not lost, our battle Christ has won
I look on Jesus, and I see, that He is all I need
He’s mighty, powerful to save, He’s greater than my greed
My All in all, He owns my life, I’ve never been my own
My life is for the glory of my God who’s on His Throne
Jul 23
Andrew J. NicewanderArt and Culture, My Writings, Poetry Bible, Faith, God, God's Glory, God's Grace, God's Sovereignty, Jesus, Suffering
When waves come crashing, smashing down onto the sandy shore
When winds come ripping, slashing in and blow a little more
When homes are thrown and torn in two and some are left to stand
When lives are changed for good or ill, we know we’re in God’s Hands
When little boys get very sick, so that they might soon die
When parents see their children ill, and watch their young ones cry
When tests are done, and bad news comes, with surgeries galore
When hope seems lost, and death seems near, we know we serve our Lord
When dearest friends go through life’s throws and find it hard to stand
When Christian sons and daughters true are weak in God’s strong Hand
When our good God does see it fit to give and take away
The solemn cry “Blessed be His Name” is what our hearts must say
When life goes up and then comes down, when side by side it flies
When all the future once so sure just seems to up and die
When we don’t know what life next holds, when nothing is real sure
When we despair and question God, we see the One Who’s Pure
When God’s Good Will just seems so vague, and it is hard to trust
When we lose faith and hope seems lost, into His arms we’re thrust
For God protects and holds His own, the Children of the Lamb
The Unknown has now been made Known, because God is I AM
We do not need to know what comes today or in the morn
We trust in Christ who loves His sheep, He has His Grace well shown
We do not need to fret the things that in this life seem hard
For all are in our God’s Strong Hands, His Grace He does impart
So when we want to doubt and fret about all things unknown
We must remember that we serve the God Who’s on His Throne
He Rules and Reigns, and knows all things, for He’s our Sovereign Lord
We know the Unknown is made Known, His Grace is on us poured
Jul 16
Andrew J. NicewanderHymns, Poetry Beauty, Christ, Christianity, Faith, God, God's Glory, God's Grace, God's Sovereignty, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Love
(set to the tune of “There is a Fountain”)
Lord when it’s hard to live for Christ
And when it’s hard to stand
Help us to fix our Gaze above
To our Eternal Land
To our Eternal Land, to our Eternal Land
Help us to fix our Gaze above
To our Eternal Land
Lord God it’s by Your grace alone
That we are justified
Please give us comfort in Your Blood
The Love in which You died
The Love in which You died, the Love in which You died
Please give us comfort in Your Blood
The Love in which You died
Lord give us grace to know Your Truth
You’ve given us Your Word
By it we know of Jesus Christ
By it we call You Lord!
By it we call You Lord, by it we call You Lord
By it we know of Jesus Christ
By it we call You Lord
Lord give us hope in Who You are
Our Maker and our Friend
Our Sovereign King, and Savior Sweet
Whose Mercy has no end
Whose Mercy has no end, whose mercy has no end
Our Sovereign King, and Savior Sweet
Whose Mercy has no end!
Jul 12
Andrew J. NicewanderSermon Poems Christ, God's Glory, God's Grace, Jesus, Missions, The Church, The Gospel
12 July 2009
Preacher: Jarret Downs
Sermon: “The Lampstand”
Text: Revelation 2:1-7
Jesus loves me and He died for me
And He lives that I might live
I was lost and dead, for I loved my sin
I was set against my God
But now I’m saved
Now I live for Him
Now I’m one with Jesus Christ
I shine the light of Jesus’ love for me
I shine the light of Jesus’ Truth
For with my mouth and with my frame Christ’s glory I proclaim
God give me strength to live for You, to glorify Your Name
Yet I am not saved in a blackened void
I’m saved into a body
A family with Christ as Head
All, sinners, justified
In Christ we’re saved
For the Father’s Name
By the Spirit sanctified
We shine the light of Jesus’ love for us
We shine the light of Jesus’ Truth
For with our mouths and with our frames Christ’s glory we proclaim
God give us strength to live for You, to glorify Your Name
With tears we come before You, God
We’ve lost our Former Love
Forgive us when we Your Name impugn
We’ve Truth, but haven’t love
Teach us to obey
To each other love
Please forgive your sinners own!
We shine the light of Jesus’ love for us
We shine the light of Jesus’ Truth
For with our mouths and with our frames Christ’s glory we proclaim
God, give us strength to live for You, to glorify Your Name
Lord we beg to tell Your Name
To a lost and deadened world
With Your Love we long to preach Your Truth
And to love the Lost and Low
Help us shine Your Truth
To proclaim Your Word
So that sinners might be saved!
We shine the light of Jesus’ gracious love
We shine the light of Jesus’ Truth
For with our mouths and frames Christ’s love we must proclaim
God give us strength to live with You, to glorify Your Name
Jesus come preserve Your Sons
And Your daughters weak and frail
If it’s left to us we’ll surely fail
We need your grace and steadfast love
With Your love we love
To Your Name proclaim
So Your greatness will be known
We shine the light of Jesus’ lasting love
We shine the light of Jesus’ Word
For with our hands and tongues, God’s greatness we proclaim
Christ, give us strength to live for you
To magnify
To amplify
To glorify Your Name
Apr 24
Andrew J. NicewanderSome Thoughts Christianity, Evangelism, Family, God's Glory, Sanctification, Tension
In many ways, the Christian life is full of tension. This is seen most acutely in the internal war between the flesh and the spirit. When presented with sin, sometimes parts of us want to sin and we don’t, but sometimes we do. Most of the time we don’t want to sin, we want to do good, but we still sin anyways (
Romans 7:7-25 ). We live in this world, but we’re not of this world (
John 15:18-19 ). We fight against multi-cultural pluralism, but we must also ward off arrogant ethno-centrism(
1 John 2:15-17 ). We’re not fatalists, but neither are we emotionalists. God’s in control, but we’re still held responsible for our lives. We must communicate the Gospel well, yet we must never ever lost the message of the Truth of Jesus Christ (
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 ). We plead with men to turn to Jesus and be saved, yet we know that we ultimately have not the ability to save them; we must leave the saving up to God (
Ephesians 1-2 ). We love our spouses, but we don’t love them the most. We care for our families, yet we understand that eternity will be spent with a much bigger, global family (
Luke 20:34-36 ). We love our unbelieving friends, but we know that we can never have real, brotherly communion so long as they are apart from Christ (
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 ). We strive to be sanctified, but we know we do not ultimately have the power (
John 17:18-23 ). We preach to the lost and trust God to do His work, but we don’t really know what that might look like; some might believe, but some might also be hardened even further (we thus become God’s tool for a worse condemnation) (
Isaiah 6). We live on this planet, in nations, societies, clans, cultures and families, yet we know in our heart, in our core, that this world is not our home (
1 Peter 2:11-12 ).
Why the tension? Why is the Christian pulled into so many different directions? Is it a perspective thing? Some might say that the Christian life could be thought of as an attempt to balance on that wire of tension between any number of extremes. Yet, is this the reality? Is life in Christ about balancing between vastly different (and wrong) ideas, or should it be about standing on the Standard? Is the balance dictated by the extremes, or are the extremes defined by the balance? Is right defined by all the wrong in the world, or is the wrong understood to be wrong by what is right? Is holiness defined by sin or is sin defined by holiness? Is Truth defined as being non-false, or is False thought of as being non-True? Are such distinctions even appropriate?
Dec 30
Andrew J. NicewanderMy Writings, Poetry Death, God, God's Glory, God's Grace, Heaven, Jesus Christ
I’m saved by grace through faith in Christ
The Son of God our Lord
It’s not be works I’m justified
But by the love of God
He loves me with a deepest love
I’ve never been alone
My Sovereign King does rule my life
I never am my own
I’m sanctified by grace alone
I grow in Jesus’ Truth
For my small heart which once was dead
Has now been made anew
God give me grace to live for You
And do as You command
Please use me as a useful tool
In Your great Master Plan
When my short life comes to an end
And to my death I come
I know I have a place to dwell
I know I have a home
A place where I will dwell with Christ
Forever and anon
A place of warmth, a place of joy
I’ll dwell e’er in the Son
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