Update 3-Dec-2009: Misty has recorded “Take My Heart,” along with her chorus “All I Know” on her live album “Fling Wide.”  As of right now, eMusic has an advance release of Fling Wide available.  It will probably only be available for the next two weeks or so, and then the album will be officially released on Dec 28 (at Onething ‘09).

I've been thinking a lot recently about a beautiful song that Misty Edwards sings.  I've never heard anyone else sing it, but it wasn't on any of her albums.  I finally decided to look it up, and it turns out that it was written by a Vineyard worship leader from Canada named John Janzen.  Here are the lyrics:

“For a long time, I’ve been waiting for You
You have won my heart, and I am following
For a long time, I’ve been crying out for You
Tears make my heart soft
And I am ready for the return of the Lover

Fashioned from the very fabric of God
At the start of time, set free to decide
I will love You, ’cause You’re the One who loved me first
Just one look from Your eyes
I’m captivated by the eyes of the Lover

Take my heart, my mind and strength too
I was made for loving You
I will wait, and I’ll be faithful
I was made for loving You

Bowing low in the presence of the One
At the end of time, I’ll hear the bells chime for our wedding
It will wait no longer now
Oh how I love You
I’ll finally fall into the arms of the Lover”

The album, "Think Again" is apparently out of print, but you can download this song (and a few others) for free at music.download.com.

(Lyrics and download link found at http://queeniesky.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/waiting-for-you-only/)

David Pawson is a remarkable Bible teacher who has held the line on Biblical inerrancy and a grammatical-historical interpretation of scripture (that is, literal, within the context of the author's intent).  One of the subjects about which he speaks most strongly is God's continuing plan for Israel.  The Church has not replaced Israel in the promises of the Old Testament; God would be a liar (and therefore not God) if He did not do for Abraham's descendents what He promised He would do.  However, Israel does not get those blessings apart from their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

In this talk, Pawson lays some of the groundwork for his theology of Israel and shows how Greek philosophy (which is fundamentally alien to the Bible) has been imported into the core of the Church in Western Civilization.

David Pawson De-Greecing the Church
David Pawson is a British Bible teacher who has been teaching the Bible as the inerrant and infallible Word of God for decades. In this talk, he surveys how the Church in Western Civilization has been heavily influenced by Greek philosophy, resulting in significant differences in our attitudes and doctrinal emphases from what the Apostles (who were all Jewish) taught.

As Pawson himself says, this two hour seminar is an inadequate and even simplistic overview of a vast topic, but he raises crucial topics that Christians cannot afford to ignore. As the Apostle Paul wrote, we must not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds! (Romans 12:2)

Part 2 of the seminar is also posted.

When Jesus dictated His letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, He pulled no punches.  There is a stinging rebuke for churches that have a reputation for spiritual life but are dead on the inside (Sardis, Rev 3:1-6), and a fiery warning to lukewarm churches operating by human programs and human resources without the power that comes from God alone (Laodicea, Rev 3:14-21). 

But for earnest believers, honestly attempting to be steady in prayer, Bible study and obedience to Jesus, the most unsettling letter of the seven is the letter to Ephesus. (Rev 2:1-7)

Because it's not enough to be right and to work hard.  Jesus is looking for love.

Take a look at what the church in Ephesus had going for them:

• They worked hard. (Rev 2:2)
• They could not bear those who were evil. (Rev 2:2)
• They had right doctrine, and they had discerned false teachers and rejected them. (Rev 2:2)
• They had endurance and had stood up under testing. (Rev 2:3)
• They were still going strong; they weren't getting burned out. (Rev 2:3)
• They had a holy hatred of sin and the actions of those who approved of immorality through a false message of "grace." (Rev 2:6, cf. Rev 2:14-15 and Prov 8:13)

But Jesus had something against them.