1. |
Greater Things
05:41
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We must all be blind men,
Lost in lesser passions,
No one saw the sunrise,
No one saw the sunset.
Beauty—it surrounds me,
Joy—it fascinates me,
Echoes of your goodness,
Promises of glory.
May there always be a
Limit to our gladness,
Lest we cease to hope for more,
May we never settle for less,
Keep us all yearning for home.
Our hearts are restless
Until they find their rest in you.
I am just a child, a
Fool in need of wisdom,
Open up my eyes to
See you in your beauty.
I have often wandered,
Chasing worthless treasures,
My dissatisfaction
Leads me to remember:
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2. |
Lonely One
04:31
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There I was, locked out of my own house,
Sitting on the driveway,
Feeling stuck, wondering why I couldn't get
Anywhere without pain.
Is nothing going right for me?
Is misery my destiny?
Catastrophizing circumstance,
But I can see just at a glance,
That everyone is suffering,
And I have means of comforting.
I hear them saying:
Lonely one,
You aren't the only one
To say, "No fair!"
Lonely one,
It's time to take a glance/chance
At/On the world out there.
All my plans for the day up in smoke,
My temperature's rising.
Always played by the book, still no luck,
Why am I still losing?
It's hard to love your settlement
When you imbibe entitlement.
I'm drowning in my bitterness,
Lord don't let me get used to this.
I realize I'm not the boss,
And when I see you on the cross,
I hear you saying:
I open up my Facebook feed,
An alternate reality.
Everyone lives happily,
I wish that they'd invited me,
Where birthdays and babies
Get all the attention,
While death and divorce
We're embarrassed to mention.
Look up and see my neighbor's home,
An old man dying all alone.
If he saw the things we post,
He'd question who's more like a ghost.
Maybe I should go to him,
Clean his yard and talk to him,
But I'm too tired and low today,
I think he'd say no anyway.
What if we could break these bonds
That keep us in our separate ponds?
I hear the ocean teems with life,
And love is worth the risk and fight.
We try to speak, no words come out,
But in the soul we hear the shout:
The world is waiting.
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3. |
Man of Galilee
04:45
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I want to know where you’re going,
I want to know where you’re from.
Why are you standing here right beside me?
I want to know why you are the way you are.
Yesterday you were a stranger to me,
O man of Galilee.
Well excuse me, I must be going,
I have so much on my heart and mind.
No time to spill my beans and watch my walls fall,
No time to tell you just how wrong I was.
Is confession the only way out?
Can’t we compromise and part as friends?
How dare you tell me I’m a wretch and slave to
The darkest corners of my mind and heart?
I want to know what you’re doing.
Why are you sticking up for me?
Why are you hanging up there bleeding for me?
I gain life as yours ebbs away.
Yesterday you were a stranger,
Now you’re my savior,
O what a savior to me,
O man of Galilee.
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4. |
Just Stand
05:30
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What if I could run and hide
And not be found until the end of the age?
When they told me life was hard,
I didn't know that today was implied.
Sometimes charging into battle,
Somedays I'm admitting defeat,
But I remember my dad told me,
"If you can't fight, then just stand,"
So I'll stand.
Circumstances haven't changed,
Not since that day when it was all stripped away,
All of my illusions, hopes, and dreams,
But the fears still remain.
But instead of, "Woe is me,"
I should be falling down on my knees,
Crying out, "Father, help me,
I can't fight this, help me stand,"
So I'll kneel.
It is all in His hand,
He will help me stand.
When I don't understand,
He will help me stand.
So I won't be afraid,
He is able to make me stand.
I'm not nearly as impressive
As I would have you all believe,
Seems that all my time is spent
Trying to make you think so well of me.
So here is my confession and
An earnest petition for help,
Calling out, "Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers,
Help me,
And help me help you,
Together we can make it through this,
Help each other stand,"
So we'll stand.
So we'll walk hand in hand,
We will help each other stand.
When we don't understand,
We will help each other stand.
So we won't be afraid,
He is able to make us stand.
And one day we'll finally see
What all the pain and all the longing was for,
We thought that life was here and now,
But it was waiting just outside the door.
Sometimes charging into battle,
Somedays we are calling retreat,
But He fights for us
And He'll lead us safely to the other shore,
Where He stands.
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5. |
Glorious Savior
05:09
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O what a glorious savior,
His ways so much higher than ours,
Dying the death we deserved,
To give us the life we did not.
O how He shows himself holy
In all of His judgments and deeds,
Dealing in kindness and severity,
The Just and the Justifier.
And so we sing to Him,
This glorious savior.
Who else could forgive sin,
And still be called holy and just?
And so we live for Him,
This glorious savior.
Who else would punish sin,
Yet justify sinners like us?
O what good news this is,
And what a glorious savior.
For while we were dead in our evil,
By nature the objects of wrath,
He condescended to serve
By taking on our mortal flesh.
He lived the life that we could not,
Obedient even to death,
On the cross bearing all our sinfulness
To give us His righteousness.
How now shall we live for this savior,
Who pardoned us, bearing our guilt,
Purified us with His blood,
And purchased us to be His own?
We must be holy as He is,
And live in the fear of His name,
All while abounding in thanksgiving for
The grace He has given us.
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6. |
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I spend a lot of time in my head,
Wandering the halls of my memories.
Some of the rooms I like to show off,
And some of the rooms
I've never shown anyone but you.
Do you remember this one?
I was only just a child,
Like the one who, meek and mild,
Grew to be a boy who stumped the Temple scribes.
They said I was wise beyond my years,
But I was swallowed up in fears,
That they would see I'm really not that strong.
I was not that strong,
And still I'm not,
I'm not that boy,
And I'm still not like that man,
But still he takes/holds my hand,
And he says we're moving on.
I spend a lot of time making sense
Of my story, or at least trying to.
I wish I could see how all these blotches
Could form a painting
That would be beautiful to you.
Explain this to me.
I was not even a teen,
Trying hard not to be seen
As weak, but vultures set their sights on me.
When recess rang they’d circle round,
I’d burrow deeper in the ground,
It took me years to find out just how deep.
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7. |
Waiting in the Wings
03:54
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I can’t fight your battles for you, my friend,
But I can try to keep your wounds from bleeding,
And even as these tears run down,
Washing the street,
Just know that I’m standing by,
Waiting in the wings.
This is your scene, this is your stage, my friend,
The curtain won’t rise until you take your place,
The orchestra plays, the audience waits,
Expectantly,
And know that I’m standing by,
Waiting in the wings.
I hope you know this is what friends are for,
Helping each other be who we were meant to be.
I want to be your friend,
Please let me be your friend,
Till then I'll be
Waiting in the wings.
It was a good day I found you going my way,
The same destination, same declaration:
We're heaven-bound,
–And when I was lonely, deep in the valley,
When I was weak,
You were there standing by,
Waiting in the wings.
I started your fan club,
Chaired every meeting,
I bought the jersey,
I joined the cheer team.
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8. |
After All
04:51
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I fell into a conversation I didn’t plan to have,
Went from talking about the weather outside
To the pain buried deep inside.
It didn’t take too long before the tears began to fall,
There I said it, there you said it,
We’re broken and we can’t hide.
Maybe I’m losing my mind,
Maybe I was bored, trying to pass the time.
They tell me to put the past behind,
Put the future on hold
‘Cause now is the only time
That really matters.
After all this time,
We’re finally honest/real,
After all this time,
We finally realize the truth,
After all.
This wasn’t the talk that I’d been planning out for years,
I’d written out a script for us to use,
And I memorized the cues.
It didn’t take too long before I completely lost control,
I lost the script, forgot the cues,
I’m broken, I had to lose.
Is honesty the antidote to everything that ails?
Then why’s it have to hurt so much,
Despite the good intent?
I hope it won't take long before the wounds begin to heal,
Is surgery a life-saver?
They say that the truth sets free.
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9. |
Time Is Against Us
01:56
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Time is against us.
(Wasn't it always?)
Please hold on to me.
(Haven't I always?)
My fear finds foes in every shadow,
My doubt unravels every battle plan,
And time is against us,
Please hold on to me.
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10. |
Adam's Song
04:14
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Abel's blood was crying from the ground,
Cain had run away, could not be found,
Seth was born months later to the sound
Of Adam singing over Eve
While she labored:
I cannot heal you,
I cannot save you,
I cannot fulfill the prophecy,
But I’ll trust Him who gave you to me.
One/He will come and crush the serpent’s head,
One/He will come and raise us from the dead.
Man and wife held high hopes for this son,
Day and night they prayed he'd be the one,
To end the curse their folly had begun,
But Eve fell ill and wouldn't rise.
Adam cried out:
Son, can't you heal her?
Son, can't you save her?
Can you not fulfill the prophecy?
Still I'll trust Him who gave you to me.
Son and father buried Eve at dawn,
Adam knew soon he too would be gone.
Seth consoled his father with the song,
The promise God had given them
Was not broken.
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11. |
No Way Out
05:53
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Dear God Above,
How I love You so,
And how grieved I am
That I don’t love You enough.
You’re my highest joy,
My inheritance,
The treasure I seek,
All else I’ll count as loss,
For now I see there’s
No way out except through you,
No more games,
Only you can see me through,
My peace, my strength, my joy all found in you.
Dear God Above,
The day is Yours,
And every breath I take
Is a gift of grace.
May my life today,
Be to your praise,
And if I fall,
May I fall on you.
I am safe,
I am known,
I am loved,
And affectionately I remain Yours.
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