Thursday, January 10, 2008

Family of God

In the good old days, we used to sing a song by Bill Gaither.

Family of God
Words and Music by William J. Gaither © 1970

Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here,
It's because we're a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.

Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here, but PRAISE GOD! I belong!

Chorus
I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

A 95 year old friend of mine went to be with the Lord at the end of 2007. His wife of 65 years passed away a little over a week later. Their funeral was well attended except for his church family.

I guess he was just an old guy that will be deeply “missed”.

Oddly enough if the pastor of his church had died, many from the church would have been there. The church family wouldn't consider this for a moment to be a sign of favoritism.

Jame 2:1 (NIV) My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

What is so remarkably ironic is that these same people would say it’s really important to be part of a church “family”.

WHY???????

2 comments:

Hanan Merrill said...

I love that simple song! Oh, if we remembered it more and recognized where the family really presents itself both in and out of our "boxes". You've probably heard the back story to this song, but if not, here's the link to some of it. It's kinda touching to me!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH783EfujsM

David Grant said...

nice link to a great story