Praise His Precious Name

O' Praise Your name for all the ways
Which we unworthy feel.
To bring us to the Cross again
And bow before the hill.

Mount Calvary, our only hope,
On which our Saviour died;
And shed His blood, redeeming us,
As from that hill He cried.

Forgive them Father for all the things,
Of which they know not, do.
Into Your hands. my worthy Spirit
Commend I unto You.

Gethsemane prepared the way
And to the full He drank;
The Wrath of God poured out on Him--
Raised from the pit we sank.

His resurrection now secured;
His finished work declare,
And we by grace, through faith alone,
Will in His glory share.

Forever and forever,
We will praise His precious name.
Jesus Christ, yesterday, today,
And forever--the same.

Michael E. Wood 08/16/2009 9:38 am

Teach Us Your Way

Teach us Your way O’ LORD
We will walk in Your truth
Unit our heart to fear Your Name
We will praise You LORD
With all our heart
And glorify Your Name for evermore
And glorify Your Name for evermore
Teach us Your way
Teach us Your way
O’ LORD our God

We are made new in Christ...
The old is passed away...
All things are now become new.
We will live unto Him...
And not to ourselves,
And glorify Your Name forevermore.
And glorify Your Name forevermore.
All things are new.
All things are new,
O, LORD our God.

We are ambassadors
For our Mighty King
The King of Kings and LORD of Lords
We will walk in Your Light
In Your righteousness
And glorify Your Name for evermore
And glorify Your Name for evermore
Your Salt and Light
Your Salt and Light
O’ LORD our God

You made Him sin for us,
Who knew no sin,
And we come to You in Him.
The righteousness of God...
In Christ our LORD,
To glorify Your Name forevermore.
To glorify Your Name forevermore.
Now reconciled,
Now reconciled,
O LORD our God.

Teach us Your way O’ LORD
We will walk in Your truth
Unit our heart to fear Your Name
We will praise You LORD
With all our heart
And Glorify Your Name for evermore
And Glorify Your Name for evermore
Teach us Your way
Teach us Your way
O’ LORD our God

Michael E. Wood 08/09/2009

We Look to You

While casting all my care upon
The One who died for me,
I cannot be discouraged
For His light illumines me.
Though vile with sin and so much more
Than I can comprehend,
His love has lifted me to see
His glory is my end.

(CHORUS)
Precious Jesus, Saviour, Friend,
We look to You to make us strong.
In Your glory we shall stand,
Embraced by You for Whom we long.

Each day I struggle with the thoughts
That press upon my mind,
And He in solemn stillness speaks--
My soul He doth refine.
Through mercy and the blood of Christ,
He gave to me His word.
Through which He comes delighting in
His voice of which I've heard.

(Chorus)

Oh, like a Shepherd lead me now
To call upon Your name.
And cause me not to trust at all
In riches or in fame.
Oh, magnify Yourself today,
That all before You fall,
And give to them the grace they need,
That on Your name they call.

(Chorus)

While life and breath remain in us,
We ask you to direct,
Each step we take before Your throne
To purge out every speck,
Of all that does not honor You,
Your glory only seek,
And trust You more in every way,
The One Who saves the meek.

Precious Jesus, Saviour, Friend,
We look to You to make us strong.
In Your glory we shall stand,
Embraced by You for Whom we long.

In Your glory we shall stand,
Embraced by You for Whom we long.

Michael E. Wood – August 6, 2009

Rejoicing with You in Jesus!

Rejoicing with you; my dear precious love—
Through the gift we are given from Heaven above.
His tender compassion's we're made to behold,
In the midst of His glory, His story is told.

CHORUS
"Rejoicing in Jesus, our Lord and our God,
We walk by His mercy, upholding His rod.
His Word ever clearer, His voice ever near;
We call on His Spirit, to guide and to cheer.

Our faith never failing, His faithfulness sure,
His grace so sufficient, His love ever pure.
The seal of His Spirit doth teach us to trust,
His bold intercession shows forth His lust.

(Chorus)

To bring us to Jesus, made perfect in Him,
We'll praise Him forever in psalm and in hymn.
Oh, be now encouraged—we’re held in His hand,
In certain assurance, made able to stand.

(Chorus)

So now to the task in this day we are giv’n,
And give Him the glory in the land of the liv’n.
Seeking His sheep who have strayed from the fold.
Filled with His Spirit, we are made bold.

"Rejoicing in Jesus, our Lord and our God,
We walk by His mercy, upholding His rod.
His Word ever clearer, His voice ever near;
We call on His Spirit, to guide and to cheer."

Michael E. Wood

In the Face of Christ

[2nd Cor.4:4-(5)-14;Gen.1:3,4;]

Let there be light,
And there was the light.
The voice of God spake it to be.
And God saw the light,
The light that was good.
The Light of the world has spoken to me.

(Chorus 1)
The Light of the gospel of Christ,
Has shown in my heart,
And the darkness can do nothing but flee.
Let there be light!

We preach not ourselves,
But Christ Jesus the Lord,
And you we serve for Jesus sake.
The image of God shall shine unto you,
That you might be made to partake.

(Chorus)

This Treasure we have, and not of ourselves.
The excellence of power of our God.
In our mortal flesh, this body he gave,
With peace our feet He now hath shod.

(Chorus)

Know of His Light, the glory of God,
In the face of Jesus Christ.
Dying with Him, we'll rise from the grave,
And face to face our faith will be sight.

(Final Chorus)
The glorious gospel of Christ,
Has shown in my heart,
And the darkness can do nothing but flee.
Let there be light! Let there be light!
Let there be light!

Michael E. Wood
July 20, 2009

"The Memory of the Just is Blessed"

"The memory of the just is blessed ..." Proverbs 10:7a

Jack Hedgecock was 80 years old. Pastor Barkman read from 1 Corinthians 4, versus 1 and 2: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

The entire message was on the faithfulness of this man and yet the faithfulness of Christ and the grace of God working in this man and through this man throughout his life; and he spoke of different areas in which he was faithful—and one thing that really touched my heart was when he turned to Jack’s wife and said, “He loved you”.

He spoke of having found a note in the back pew where they sit (that had been left there) where Jack had written a note to his wife talking about how much he had enjoyed a particular outing that they had shared and Pastor Barkman spoke of how Jack had continued to romance her throughout his life.

One statement that he made was that Jack was a warrior for the Lord Jesus Christ and then there was a letter to be read that one of Jack’s daughters wrote:

For my Dad
(The precious words of his Daughter, Bonnie Price),

“The only thing we know for certain; is that life is uncertain and death is inevitable. It is said that we preach our funerals with the lives we live—my father’s life can be summed up in one word “faithful”.

He was Faithful to his God; his wife; his family; and, his friends. To know Jack Hedgecock was to respect him. He was small in stature; but, he was a great man. He wasn’t always right; he wasn’t perfect; but, he was genuine; he was modest; he had no pretense and he made an impact on all who met him.

My father’s life verse was 2 Timothy 2:15 and anyone who ever received a card, letter, or any form of correspondence; always saw this reference. It reads: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

To my knowledge, unless he was too sick to do so, there was not a day that went by that my father was not reading and studying the Bible. He was a prayer warrior. I cannot count the times that I saw him kneeling to pray.

Daddy did not let opportunities to witness pass him by. While in the hospital, he could hardly breathe with an oxygen mask on his face, he motioned for his doctor to come closer—with ragged breath he asked, “Are you my doctor?” The doctor replied, “Yes”, and Daddy asked, “Are you a Christian?” His doctor answered, “No, I am not.” Daddy smiled at him and said, “Well, you should be—it’s the greatest thing on earth.”

My Daddy’s gone from this earth; but, not from our hearts. His testimony will live on forever in those whose lives he touched. He was my cheerleader; my encourager; my mentor; helper and friend. He was my Daddy; and, I love him with all my heart.

Daddy would not want us to stand by his grave and weep. He is not there. He knew that the secret to death is found in the heart of life—the life of Christ. For the Christian there is no end in death. Death is but a gateway to eternity before which we stand with trembling apprehension of leaving our loved ones and anticipation of meeting our Savior; our God. Like a river that flows to the sea and empties into something more powerful, more vast and wonderful than itself; so is death for the Christian. We cease to breath here; but, come into the presence of God unencumbered with the toils, struggles and trials of this flesh. A soul has gone to Heaven. Is Heaven sad? Shout the good news, “He has gone home!” Wave the banners and the checkered flag, “Jack Hedgecock has run his course. He has finished the race—Well Done Dad!”

Jack Hedgecock went to be with the LORD May 8, 2009; but, to this day, you can call the house in which he lived and hear his voice saying, "Isn't Christ a Wonderful Saviour." He being dead yet speaketh.

Building Up by Breaking Down

“He delivereth the poor in his affliction , and openeth their ears in oppression” Job 36:15

How oft we seek to glory in
The things that we would do,
When God, in mercy, doth afflict
To give a heart that's true

In moments when we fail to see
In things He sends our way
The face of Him Who lovingly sends
Fire to save the day.

CHORUS
He buildeth up by breaking down,
Both pride and sin within.
Our faith refined to make Him known,
It's Christ we are to win.
And worship Him in holiness;
Give glory to His Name--
His voice will speak majestically,
In Christ we are to win .
(Ps. 29:1,2,4)

Sore troubled minds, Oh look to Him
Whose faithfulness is sure
And glory in the cross you bare,
His gift to make you pure.

Rejoice with Him Oh, righteous one,
Declared before the throne,
By blood and Spirit come to Him,
Who took you for His own.

(Chorus)

In grateful praise and thankfulness
Exalt His Name on high,
Restore to Him His rightful place,
In humbleness draw nigh.

Within, without, His chastening hand
Doth bring us to our knees,
And give to us the grace we need,
That pleasing we shall be.

(Chorus)

How beautiful His precious smile,
To us He doth bestow;
To fix our hope in Him alone,
As homeward we will go

That we may apprehend from Him,
Who apprehended us;
The Prize of Jesus Christ Himself,
All else we count but dust.

Conform us to Thy image,
For Thy own Name sake alone;
That all may come to know
That you are God, and God alone.

He buildeth up by breaking down,
Both pride and sin within.
Our faith refined to make Him known,
It's Christ we are to win.
And worship Him in holiness;
Give glory to His Name--
His voice will speak majestically,
In Christ we are to win .

(1st Pet. 1:3-9; Phil. 3:7-14)

Michael E. Wood
(6-10-09 8:43a.m.)