The Valley of Vision - Praise and Thanksgiving - read by Bill Lawless

The Valley of Vision is a collection of Puritan prayers and Devotions. You can listen here.

O My God, Thou fairest, greatest, first of all objects, my heart admires, adores, loves thee, for my little vessel is as full as it can be, and I would pour out all that fullness before thee in ceaseless flow. When I think upon and converse with thee ten thousand delightful thoughts spring up, ten thousand sources of pleasure are unsealed, ten thousand refreshing joys spread over my heart, crowding into every moment of happiness. I bless thee for the soul thou hast created, for adorning it, sanctifying it, though it is fixed in barrens soil; for the body thou has given me, for preserving its strength and vigour, for providing sense to enjoy delights, for the ease and freedom of my limbs, for hands, eyes, ears that do thy bidding; for thy royal bounty providing my daily support, for a full table and overflowing cup, for appetite, taste, sweetness, for social joys of relatives and friends, for ability to serve others, for a heart that feels sorrows and necessities, for a mind to care for my fellow-men, for opportunities of spreading happiness around, for loved ones in the joys of heaven, for my own expectation of seeing thee clearly. I love thee above the powers of language to express, for what thou art to thy creatures. Increase my love, O my God, through time and eternity. Often I find the prayers of such a Puritan expressing my heart in a more suitable manner than I ever could. Meditating on such little prayers often cause one to find more "meat" for thought than most sermons today. O for ten thousand tongues to sing of the ten thousand pleasures He brings!!!

Il Divo - Amazing Grace

A great song sung by the amazing operatic quartet Il Divo. Awesome setting, awesome bag pipes, awesome voices, AMAZING GRACE!

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come;

'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far

and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.

From the album Il Divo Live at the Greek Theater

Strong Doctrine Guards Against Idolatry

The cross has become a very common image nowadays. You see it in the home displayed on walls as art, on tee-shirts, the back pocket of tattered jeans. It’s become a sort of fashion statement. It’s been trivialized to the point that the true meaning of the cross has become meaningless. The people who wear it give no thought at all to what happened on the cross, or that the cross was not a thing of beauty but an instrument of death. It was where Jesus Christ the Savior, my Savior, was killed.

It was my very own sin that made the cross necessary. For my sake God made Jesus, who knew no sin, a sacrifice, so that through Jesus I can know forgiveness of sin. What happened on the cross was horrifying. It’s not art and it certainly is not a fashion statement.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,

And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty

That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him. He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He did not open His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,

And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,

So He did not open His mouth.

By oppression and judgment He was taken away;

And as for His generation, who considered

That He was cut off out of the land of the living

For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

His grave was assigned with wicked men,

Yet He was with a rich man in His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

But the LORD was pleased

To crush Him, putting Him to grief;

If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,

He will see His offspring,

He will prolong His days,

And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.

As a result of the anguish of His soul,

He will see it and be satisfied;

By His knowledge the Righteous One,

My Servant, will justify the many,

As He will bear their iniquities.

Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,

And He will divide the booty with the strong;

Because He poured out Himself to death,

And was numbered with the transgressors;

Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,

And interceded for the transgressors.

I found the following on Tony Reinke’s blog Miscellanies:

For the first four centuries of the church as “religion was still flourishing, and a purer doctrine thriving, Christian churches were commonly empty of images”. As soon as images were installed in churches they led to idolatry, “For men’s folly cannot restrain itself from falling headlong into superstitious rites”. The doctrine of the Cross is our instruction. Sinners are driven towards images and idols only when the doctrines of the Gospel are not made clear. “But whence, I pray you, this stupidity if not because they are defrauded of that doctrine which alone was fit to instruct them?” Indeed it is a good reminder that when crowds gather around icons and symbols that they arrive only because the true gospel has been withheld. Calvin says it so well,
“What purpose did it serve for so many crosses – of wood, stone, silver, and gold – to be erected here and there in churches, if this fact had been duly and faithfully taught: that Christ died on the cross to bear our curse, to expiate our sins by the sacrifice of his body, to wash them by his blood, in short, to reconcile us to God the Father? From this one fact they could have learned more than from a thousand crosses of wood or stone”.

Remember Calvin in this part of the Institutes is telling us how we can know God. Time and time again Calvin points us back to Scripture as the only sure guide to know Him. When the message of the Cross is gone, the vacuum it creates fills in with images and superstitions. Resorting to visual images in worship is a sure sign that the message of the Cross is no longer central. This is the big danger.

In all of this, it’s clear that Calvin sees venerated religious images as the fruit of idolatrous minds and the adoration and veneration of the icons, statues, and special crosses as nothing other than “fornications with wood and stone”. Beware of the “image fighters” who think Christian devotion rests upon paintings, crucifixes, statues and special crosses. Seek the display of God’s glory in his Word alone. Life comes by the faith in the Cross not the sight of crosses.

Icons are most necessary when the preaching of the gospel has been made unnecessary. We will not bow and adore images if the preaching of the gospel is strong. When preachers move away from the content of Scripture in sermons they move towards their own mentally carved image of God.

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong, a perfect plea:
A great High Priest, whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heaven he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because a sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God, the Just, is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me
To look on Him and pardon me

Behold him there, the risen Lamb
My perfect, spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I am,
The King of glory and of grace!
One in himself, I cannot die
My soul is purchased by his blood
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Savior and my God
With Christ, my Savior and my God

Music by Vikki Cook
Lyrics by Charitie Bancroft
As recorded on Depth of Mercy

Guitar Chords
MP3 Purchase

The Sword of the Spirit - Ephesians 6:10-20

Today's program is a sermon, part 2, delivered by Bill Lawless at Grace Covenant Church of Midland, Texas. The focus of this message is ver 17b.

We live in a time when bible study has been reduced to the reading of a book written by someone other than God. Nowadays in times of crisis we run to the self help books, Oprah or Dr. Phil. We live in a time when people who call themselves Christian find themselves defeated at every turn. Why? Because we are not using the most powerful weapon there is, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. We don’t use it because we do not know it.

Application:

Back to the beginning, where we started. We don’t use the sword because we don’t know our sword. Beloved, there are no excuses for not knowing how to use your bible. None! 5 Things:

1. Read your bible – This should be obvious and certainly the least that you should be doing. Do you read your bible? God speaks to us through His Word, we should regard every occasion of reading or studying that Word as an encounter with God Himself. This needs to land on us and impact us. We have the words of God right here. The creator of all that exist gave us a book so that we can know who He is. So we can know who we are and so we can know His Son Jesus Christ is. Knowing God’s word starts here.

2. Study your bible – Reading your bible is not enough. To know it requires study. Its important that we know what God’s word means. Don’t ask “What does it mean to me”. That’s point 4. Taking into consideration the 5 Ws. Who, What, Whan, Where and Why. Seek to understand what the bible means. Beloved we are so fortunate to have a pastor that wants us to understand what the bible means and takes us book by book and chapter by chapter and verse by verse.

3. Meditate on God’s word – This is not setting on the floor with your legs crossed contmplating you navel. Far from it.

J. I. Packer writes in his book Knowing God: “Meditation is a lost art today, and Christian people suffer grievously from their ignorance of the practice. Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God. It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God. Its purpose is to clear one’s mental and spiritual vision of God, and to let His truth make its full and proper impact on one’s mind and heart. It is a matter of talking to oneself about God and oneself; it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s power and grace. Its effect is ever to humble us, as we contemplate God’s greatness and glory, and our own littleness and sinfulness, and to encourage and reassure us—‘comfort’ us in the old, strong Bible sense of the word—as we contemplate the unsearchable riches of divine mercy displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Psalms 1:2-4, Psalms 4:3-5, Psalms 63:5-7, Psalms 19:24

4. Apply God’s word – Now you can ask the question “What does it mean to me” Think about it, it makes sence. You have to know what it means before you can apply God’s word properly. If we don’t apply God’s word to our lives then we may as well be reading People Magizine instead.James 1:22-25 - 19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

5. Give God’s word to someone else – This may be anything from sharing your faith to providing comfort to someone in need.

Its only when we read God’s word, study God;s word, meditate on God’s word, apply God’s word and give God’s word that we will be able to use “The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God effectively and experience victory over tempation and comfort in times of trials.

Sinclair Ferguson wrote, “It is only as Christ’s words remain in us and we remain in Him that we will be delivered from the rootless Christianity so characteristic of our times. As His word influences us, we begin to bear fruit and prove to be His disciples. (John 15:5-8) Only as God’s Word makes its impact on the way we think, live, and feel will we develop hearts that are characterized by obedience to God and filled with love for Him.”

The Josiah Grauman Story (John MacArthur)

If I can’t trust the Bible fully then I cant trust what the Bible says about God...God is absolutely sovereign, He does His will, everything fits into His purpose, it can never be thwarted, it can never be altered.

My Daughter's Baptism

I don’t remember the moment that I was saved, I was unaware, at the time of my salvation, that God was working in me. It was something that I later realized had happened.

I grew up in a Christian home. My parents raised us to know the word of God and the gospel. I learned to read through scriptures my dad would have my brother and I read, write, and recite. The image of the easel with the large notebook in the living room will always resonate in my mind. Although, I knew and could remember scripture, I never GOT it. As a small child I did not understand the fact that I was not a good person, but in fact a sinner. I remember telling my parents as a 5 or 6 year old that I was ready to be baptized. Was I?

In junior high, I attended Disciple Now. I went mostly for the social aspect. At the end of the weekend they ask who wants to be baptized. I barely remember this, but know that because my friends were raising their hands, that I better. I went through the motions, but honestly barely remember it and know that I had no clue what was going on, it was not genuine.

Fast forward many years to age 24. I was a teacher in Odessa. That year, Brandon, a precious little boy in my class, whom I loved, was hit by a car. Brandon was in the hospital in a coma for one week before he passed away. That week, for the most part, was a blur. I was traveling every day, helping his parents to understand medically what was going on with him, loving his family, encouraging and being there for the other kids in my class, and thinking. The thinking is what I remember most.

I realized that I was responsible and held accountable for my choices, my decisions, my faith. I had lost faith in God. I was lost. I believe that God is all sovereign and that we are also held accountable for our actions. It was during this time of going through losing Brandon, that I was saved. I accepted Jesus as The Christ, the son of God. Jesus Christ walked this earth, sinless, and his life was sacrificed for me. I am thankful for his blood, his mercy, and his grace.

I now live my life striving to more like Christ, in my marriage, my mothering, my teaching, my friendships, and also would like to show Christ to other people, who don’t necessarily know me, but see Him through Me. Today I would like to publicly confess my faith in God and announce my salvation. I am a child of God! “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” 1 John 3:1

Minimal Morality? Just go back to the world! - Tim Conway

Quit playing this idiotic game...you are in the world or you are in Christ Jesus. Stop playing the game, how close can I get to the edge and still be a Christian.

A Great Day - Pressing On Blog - Morris Brooks

What a great day we had today, Sunday, August 16th, 2009. We had our first baptismal service today. We baptized three young ladies, young mothers, young wives; all of whom gave great testimonies to the grace of God in their lives. What a joy, both as their pastor and as a fellow believer, to share in their joy on this occasion. Read on

A Call to Wonder - Paul Washer

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11 ESV

Persecution: A price to pay for being a Christian?

Two years ago at the Shepherd's Conference Dr. Daniel Wong gave his testimony of Dr Daniel Wong. Dr. Wong is a professor at The Master's College, who faced persecutions as a Christian first hand from Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution in China.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God - Ephesians 6:10-20

New audio blog entry over at Impact Midland.

Today's program is a sermon delivered by Bill Lawless at Grace Covenant Church of Midland, Texas.

To be sure the Christian that lives chapters Ephesians 4 through 6, a faithful life, will encounter spiritual warfare. There will be battles. The reality presented in Paul’s letter is that as believers, we are in Christ and one with Him. His life is our life, His power is our power, His truth is our truth, His way is our way and here we will see that His strength is our strength.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;

Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:

Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;

Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,

And He must win the battle.

O thou giving God - The Valley of Vision

O thou giving God

My heart is drawn out in thankfulness to thee,
for thy amazing grace and condescension to me
in influences and assistances of thy Spirit,
for special help in prayer,
for the sweetness of Christian service,
for the thoughts of arriving in heaven,
for always sending me needful supplies,
for raising me to new life when I am
like one dead.
I want not the favour of man to lean upon
for thy favour is infinitely better.
Thou art eternal wisdom in dispensations
towards me;
and it matters not when, nor where, nor how
I serve thee,
nor what trials I am exercised with,
if I might but be prepared for thy work and will.
No poor creature stands in need of divine grace
more than I do,
And yet none abuses it more than I have done,
and still do.
How heartless and dull I am!
Humble me in the dust for not loving thee more.
Every time I exercise any grace renewedly
I am renewedly indebted to thee,
the God of all grace, for special assistance.
I cannot boast when I think how dependent
I am upon thee for the being and every act
of grace;
I never do anything else but depart from thee,
and if ever I get to heaven it will be because
thou willest it, and for no reason beside.
I love, as a feeble, afflicted, despised creature,
to cast myself on thy infinite grace and goodness,
hoping for no happiness but from thee;
Give me special grace to fit me for special services,
and keep me calm and resigned at all times,
humble, solemn, mortified,
and conformed to thy will.

The Few - Piper/Washer/Ravenhill/Conway/Leiter

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The Few from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

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Hell is Necessary - Tim Conway

Jjohn 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Hell is Necessary - Tim Conway - Sermon Jam from I'll Be Honest on Vimeo.

Sustained by Sovereign Grace—Forever! by John Piper

Not grace to bar what is not bliss,

Nor flight from all distress, but this:

The grace that orders our trouble and pain,

And then, in the darkness, is there to sustain.

Jeremiah 32:36-41
Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, "It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence," 37 "Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety. 38 And they shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. 41 And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." 42 For thus says the Lord, "Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to bring on them all the good that I am promising them."

Four Promises of Sovereign, Sustaining Grace

1. God Will Be Our God
God promises to be our God. Verse 38: "They will be my people and I will be their God." All the promises to his people are summed up in this: "I will be your God." That is, I will use all that I am as God—all my wisdom, all my power, and all my love—to see to it that you remain my people. All that I am as God, I exert for your good.

2. God Promises to Change Our Hearts
God promises to change our hearts and cause us to love and fear him. Verse 39: "I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me always . . . (v. 40b) I will put the fear of me in their hearts." In other words, God will not simply stand by to see if we, by our own powers, will fear him; he will sovereignly, supremely, mercifully give us the heart that we need to have, and give us the faith and the fear of God that will lead us home to heaven. This is sovereign, sustaining grace. (See Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 11:19-20; 36:27.)

3. God Promises We Will Not Turn Away from Him
God promises that he will not turn away from us and we will not turn away from him. Verse 40: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me." In other words, his heart work is so powerful that he guarantees we will not turn from him. This is what's new about the new covenant: God promises to fulfill by his power the conditions that we have to meet. We must fear him and love him and trust him. And he says, I will see to that. I will "put the fear of me in their hearts"—not to see what they will do with it, but in such a way that "they will not turn from me." This is sovereign, sustaining grace.

4. God Promises to Do This with Infinite Intensity
Finally, God promises to do this with the greatest intensity imaginable. He expresses this in two ways, one at the beginning and one at the end of verse 41: "And I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul." First he says that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace with joy: "I will rejoice over them to do them good." Then he says (at the end of verse 41) that he will exert this sovereign, sustaining grace "with all [his] heart and with all [his] soul."

Matt Chandler - Jesus Wants the Rose

The gospel matters. Getting the gospel right matters. If you get the gospel wrong and you don’t distinguish between what the gospel is and what morality is, then what you’ve done at best is restrain the hearts of people, but you won’t see their hearts transformed. If you don’t get the gospel right, you will inoculate your people to Jesus.

Death is not dying - Rachael Barkey

On March 4, 2009, Rachel had an opportunity to share about her hope in the midst of terminal cancer. What began as a small talk to her church women’s group became an event attended by over 600 women and was an experience that left many with a desire to discover more about Rachel’s journey and faith.Watch Rachel share her story of trusting God in the face of death. "Cancer does not define me," she says. "Neither does being a wife or a mother. All these things are part of who I am but they do not define me. What defines me is my relationship with Jesus."

Pursuit of God - A. W. Tozer

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.

I am ashamed of my lack of desire.O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing,I thirst to be made more thirsty still.

Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me.Say to my soul, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away."

Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Lord, I would trust Thee completely; I would be altogether Thine;I would exalt Thee above all.
I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of Thee.

I want constantly to be aware of Thy overshadowing presence and to hear Thy speaking voice.
I long to live in restful sincerity of heart.

I want to live so fully in the Spirit that all my thoughts may be as sweet incense ascending to Thee and every act of my life may be an act of worship.

Therefore, I pray in the words of Thy great servant of old, "I beseech Thee so for to cleanse the intent of mine heart with the unspeakable gift of Thy grace, that I may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee."

And all this I confidently believe Thou wilt grant me through the merits of Jesus Christ Thy Son. Amen.

Picture from the Grace Community Church web site

My Daddy's Hands - Jim Lawless Nov 1928 / May 2003

I want to share a poem my sister wrote shortly after my Daddy died. What was captured in words is a precious moment between a Son and his Daddy. The warmth of his hand gave a sense of security... eventhough he would soon draw his last breath. I was the one holding his hand as he slipped from the arms of his loving family into the arms of our Heavenly Father. My Daddy's hands were important...not just to me and my sisters and Mom but to those he spent tireless hours ministering to. Oh how I miss him ! My heart has such peace in knowing that I will one day see him again...What a sweet day that will be ! Gayle , thank you for writing this poem and capturing this precious time...I will cherish it forever !

My Daddy's Hands

Psalm 90:17 says, by God's mercy we can have value and meaning in life,
Our hands can produce work for God or bring forth worry and strife
Our hands, as it says in scripture, can raise to the heavens in adoration and praise
Or can take the life of another and condemn you for the rest of days
Our right hand can be a symbol of strength, of power and also one of a friend
Together they can clap with joy and hold a loved one in the end...

My Daddy's hands were used of God to work, praise, to sustain,
These same hands could defend us and protect us from the rain
His hands could build and clean a chimney and even play a game
These hands are now forever stilled and life will never be the same.

His hands were strong and helped us when we fell or needed a lift
His hands taught us of life and love of the Father..Oh.. what a wonderful gift !
Our Lord and Savior , Jesus Christ called Dad to preach and teach
To be an example of who Christ is ,in his action, life and speech...

Dad's hands could play the guitar and lead the church in praise
Music would be a part of his life every single day
Dad loved to praise his Father and lift his hands on high
I saw how music could give him joy as well as make him cry...

When Dad was young he used his hands to fight as a Golden Glove,
And yet could hold my Mother and show her of his love
When Dad grew older and matured in what he knew to be right
He used his hands to show more love and never again used them to fight

Dad preached in jail, and on the streets and used his hand to show
How much it meant to follow Christ, to know His word and grow
Dads hands would grip his Bible as he read of love and pain
That Jesus bore upon the cross so we could one day gain
And entrance to the Fathers house to praise his name and sing
Of God's grace throughout the ages and of peace only Christ can bring..

Dads hands held close his Grandchildren and played 'round, round" countless times
He would sing them silly songs and tell them silly rhymes
Though those were special to the kids, they were special as well to him
And forever the kids will remember thier times with PaPa Jm

Those strong and sure hands would baptize his children and lead them as they wed
And these were the hands I held as I crawled into his bed
To tell him, Thank you , Dad ,for all you've done, to hug and kiss his head
My Daddy's hands held my Mother's face as she wept at his feet
The time was so very hard but more than that...so very sweet !

My Daddy's hands lay very still as my brother held on tight
My sister and brother and I watched as Daddy died that night
Were so thankful to the Lord for a Dad who loved us so !
And a Dad who loved our Mother, more than we'll ever know ...

My Daddy's hands did many things from discipline to showing love
But most of all his hands were used to serve his Lord above
I'm thankful to the Lord for this Daddy HE gave to me
That he's with the Lord right now and from pain he's finally free
Now that he's in heaven, I miss that hand to hold
But I know someday I'll hold his hand and walk on streets of gold !

By Gayle Lang

James William Lawless, Jr
November 13, 1928 to May 13, 2003

Minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus