Life With Louise

O precious sight, my Saviour stands,
Dying for me with outstretched hands.
O precious sight, I love to gaze,
Remembering salvation’s day,
Remembering salvation’s day.
Though my eyes linger on this scene,
May passing time and years not steal
The power with which it impacts me,
The freshness of its mystery,
The freshness of its mystery.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

Behold the God-man crucified,
The perfect sinless sacrifice.
As blood ran down those nails and wood,
History was split in two,
History was split in two.
Behold the empty wooden tree,
His body gone, alive and free.
We sing with everlasting joy,
For sin and death have been destroyed,
Sin and death have been destroyed.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

... how differently you get treated in airports when you're wearing a suit! I walk through Bristol Airport all the time, looking like a tramp and no-one pays one blind bit of attention, but the minute you look respectable, everyone is very nice... you should try it sometime.

As you may or may not know, I was in Milan for a couple of days this week. While I was there, I went to all of the tourist sights, and in particular spent quite a lot of time in The Duomo - one of the world's largest churches. I was able to walk around this massive building, as well as climb stairs leading to the roof, where I was able to see over all of Milan. It really was quite impressive, and significant to think that in 313AD, it was the Edict of Milan that Emperor Constantine signed, allowing Christianity to be legalised and removed any barriers to Christian worship in the Roman Empire.

The Edict of Milan transformed the status of Christianity, as it initiated the period known by Christian historians as the Peace of the Church. Constantine became the first emperor to actually promote and grant favors to the Church and its members.


Despite the fact that the Roman world was now free to worship Jesus openly, without fear of persecution, I couldn't help but notice the confessional boxes as a I wandered through the church. I understand the Biblical Motivation for confessing sin to each other, in order that we may be healed, but often when I am extremely important religious buildings I get a sense of how easy it is to get caught up in religion, that is binding, restricting and sometimes suffocating rather than celebrate the freedom that we have in Christ... for it is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1)

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need". - Hebrews 4:15-16

I met a friend for a very early breakfast on Saturday morning, who inspired me to blog once again. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, but I hope to start writing a little more this year. Recently, I have found myself being exceptionally thankful for the people in my life, and I feel that it is only right to invest time in these relationships and enjoy them while the opportunity exists. I’m not suggesting that I’ll stop being friends with people, but circumstances may change, and I may not live with them or be near them, I may not be able to pop on a plane and see them or I may not always be able to identify with their current situations or environments. I guess I want to really spend this year investing in the people that I love, and pursuing a depth of relationship that doesn’t care about keeping up appearances or looking all sorted. So often, I think we miss the blessing of being really close to people, because we take so long to warm up to it. There are lots of awesome people out there, and I don’t want to miss out on the chance of really getting to know their heart. We’re made for relationship and community, and I realise that I’m saying a Christian cliche, but it just so happens that it’s true.

Another current musing...

2 Corinthians:16,21“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! … We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

I really recommend that you all listen to this cracking sermon about how we are dead to sin, and alive in Christ. We longer have to to live as slaves of the law, but instead, we are new. We died with Christ, and now we’ve been born again. I hope that this year, I will be able to keep this at the front of my mind, as I remember my status before God. We have been given the righteouness of Christ, and that’s quite the gift!

God in my living,
There in my breathing,
God in my waking,
God in my sleeping,
God in my resting,
There in my working,
God in my thinking,
God in my speaking,

Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything.

God in my hoping,
There in my dreaming,
God in my watching,
God in my waiting,
God in my laughing,
There in my weeping,
God in my hurting,
God in my healing.

Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything,
Be my everything.

Christ in me, Christ in me, Christ in me,
The hope of glory,

You are everything.

This love I feel,
Runs over my skin,
Through my veins,
In my dreams.
Causes me to sing.
Releases the passion,
Longing and excitment
That get so deeply
Stored in my soul,
Like I've never known before,
Giving sensations of real height,
So high I start to glide.
The breeze in my face,
The wind in my hair,
Birth a longing
To never be away
From this creation
I've met here,
In this place.
Now all I need in this life,
Is to make my home
Right here,
In your
Embrace