Song of this morning

Song of the morning.  

A chorus I learned in Sunday School.  

Christ in me, yes it's Christ in me.  

He's my Savior, my Lord and King, 

I'm so happy I shout and sing.  

Christ in me.  Yes it's Christ in me. 

 Every Day as I go my way, It is Christ In  Me!   

This song fits into the theology taught in the book I just finished on Kindle.  As I ponder the rightness of what was taught about letting the Spirit of Christ dwell in us richly, I keep finding more from my past knowledge of Scripture flooding in to confirm the message.

Link to Audio You Tube of the first chapter of David Gregory's A Night with a Perfect Stranger


Link to Christianbook review of A Night with a Perfect Stranger

The book is reminiscent of The Shack, an earlier book by William P. Young of Windblown Media, that became a best seller, despite some controversy about its theology, and Scriptural authenticity.  The Shack leaves one with a profound feeling of having encountered something of the character of God the Father and how He views our lives.  But it raises some questions since one who knows Scripture tends to wonder if the character displayed is entirely Scriptural, although it bears out the concept of a loving Father portrayed by a kindly African American woman, who reminded me of the character portrayed by Della Reese in the TV series, Touched by an Angel.

So back to the song of the morning.   The book by David Gregory, A Night with a Perfect Stranger, talks about how we can live the Christian life by letting the Spirit of Christ live through us.  After the concept is presented to Nick, the main character, he ponders whether it is correct or not.  As he goes along after his second encounter with Christ in human form, he picks up a friend of his wife who is in trouble on the road.  This woman further demonstrates what this concept means, and many Scriptures, verses I have known for most of my own Christian life are quoted and applied to the concept.

This morning when the simple Sunday School chorus came to mind, I realized how this concept from Scripture has been taught to generations through the hymns and choruses of the American, and perhaps through churches throughout the rest of the world.  Being a person driven by music, these memorized songs have been with me as I read Scripture.

With the abandonment of the hymnbook, and the confusion that many newer translations of the Bible has brought, I do not find myself exploring these truths as I once did.  I wonder if anyone is doing so.  As a person who has lived through many forms of the expression of Christianity over the past fifty years, I find the last twenty years to have been progressively barren of what has brought me joy and growth.  As I look to other churches in my area, I find nothing better than my own for me, for the church is after all a gathering of believers in community, and I have much invested in my own community.

The dilemma still persists, yet as I find books like this one by David Gregory, I can be drawn back.  I don't know where this journey is going, but as the not so old hymn goes...  I don't know about tomorrow, but I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow
I just live from day to day
And I don't borrow from its sunshine
For its skies may turn to gray.

I don't worry o'er the future
For I know what Jesus said
And today He walks beside me
For He knows what lies ahead

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand