{"id":4316,"date":"2014-07-16T05:06:30","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T09:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=4316"},"modified":"2014-07-16T07:48:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-16T11:48:21","slug":"4316","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/?p=4316","title":{"rendered":"Reality of Christian Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from John Thornbury, who is currently Pastor of Worship at Bellepoint Baptist Church<\/a> in Frankfort, KY. Previously, Bro. John served over 40 years as pastor of Winfield Baptist Church in PA. And, yes, he is the father of Greg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I appreciated this meditation, and Bro. John was kind enough to let me share it with you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE HYMN WRITERS<\/p>\n

We live in a day when it is increasingly become the vogue to say that the Christian message is a fake and that there is no such thing as a real relationship with God. It has occurred to me that it is very difficult to dispute the reality of a deep love for Jesus — when we read the the testimonies of hymn writers.<\/p>\n

I take my stand with the saints (of many different denominations) who experienced rapturous love to Jesus.\u00a0 Here are some.<\/p>\n

Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676 , (Lutheran) \u201cWhat language can I borrow, to thank Thee, dearest Friend, For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end.\u00a0 O Make me thine forever, And should I fainting be, Lord, let me never, never, outlive my love for Thee\u201d.<\/p>\n

Isaac Watts 1674-1748, (Congregationalist), \u201cBut drops of grief can ne\u2019er repay the debt of love I owe; Here, Lord, I give myself away, \u2018Tis all that I can do\u201d.<\/p>\n

John Newton , 1725-1807, (Anglican) \u201cAmazing grace, how sweet the sound, that\u00a0 saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I\u2019m found, was blind but now I see\u201d,<\/p>\n

Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 (Methodist), \u201cO for a thousand tongues to sin, my great Redeemer\u2019s praise, The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace!\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nicolaus Zinzendorf, 1700-1760, (Moravian) \u201cJesus Thy blood and righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in these arrayed, with joy will I lift up my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frances Havergal 1836-1879 (Anglican) \u201cTake my life and let it be, Consecrated Lord, to thee.\u00a0 Take my hands and let them move, At the impulse of Thy love.\u201d<\/p>\n

William Featherson (1846-1873) (Methodist) \u201cMy Jesus, I love Thee, I know thou art mine, for Thee all the follies of sin, I resign; My gracious redeemer, my savior art Thou. If ever I loved thee, Lord Jesus, \u2018tis now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Samuel Stennett, 1727-1795 (Baptist). \u201cMajestic sweetness sits enthroned. upon the Savior\u2019s brow. His head with radiant glories crowned, his lips with grace o\u2019erflow. No mortal can with him compare among the sons of men, Fairer is he than all the fair who fill the heavenly train.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phillip Bliss, 1838-1876 (Presbyterian) \u201cMan of sorrows, what a name, for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, Hallelujah what\u00a0 a Savior.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Peterson, 1921-2006 (non-denominational) \u201cO what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget, After I\u2019d wandered in darkness away, Jesus my Savior I met, O what a tender compassionate friend, He met the need of my heart; Shadows dispelling, with joy I am telling, He make all the darkness depart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jack Hayford, 1934- (Pentecostal)\u00a0 \u201cMajesty, worship His majesty unto Jesus be all glory honor and praise; Majesty, kingdom authority, flow from His throne unto His own, His anthem raise. So exalt, lift upon high the name of Jesus, Magnify, come glorify Christ Jesus the king\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bill Gaither, 1936- (Church of God). \u201cShackled by a heavy burden, Neath a load of guilt and shame; Then the hand of Jesus touched me, and now I am no longer the same.\u00a0 He touched me, O he touched me and O the joy that filled my soul.\u00a0 Something happened and now I know.\u00a0 He touched me and made me whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

How can anyone read such lines and doubt the reality of the Christian experience?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a guest post from John Thornbury, who is currently Pastor of Worship at Bellepoint Baptist Church in Frankfort, KY. Previously, Bro. John served over 40 years as pastor of Winfield Baptist Church in PA. And, yes, he is the father of Greg. I appreciated this meditation, and Bro. John was kind enough to …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Reality of Christian Experience’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17,93],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4316"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4320,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4316\/revisions\/4320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rayvanneste.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}