how he loves

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Allan

Great song from John Mark McMillan

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us.

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us.

Audio

Check out the David Crowder Band version – early release from their upcoming album.

How To Play

Grab the chords and lyrics here.

I’ve been playing it capo 5 in “G” to give it that nice ringing, pedal tone sound. Ends up sounding more like DC*B’s version of it than the original. Capo 5 also makes it easy to transition into a couple others I do capo 5 (Everything Glorious, Everlasting God, and All Because of Jesus.

The original uses “sloppy wet kiss” in verse 2, and from what I can tell, Crowder changed it to “unforeseen kiss.” I’ll change it up and use “lover’s sweet kiss.” (We ended up reverting to Crowder’s choice for the lyrics.) Sloppy wet kisses in congregation singing just sounds a little odd but is definitely some powerful imagery for God’s love. Kudos to John Mark for writing such a moving song.

Update: Check out John Mark’s blog post about changing the lyrics to How He Loves

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magic drawers

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Allan

Every 2 weeks there is an event that never ceases to astound me. I fear the day that it ends. Hopefully, it never will because it always gives me great joy, surprise, and satisfaction. You may be thinking, “What could it be? What on earth could happen so regularly and always bring so much elation to Allan’s life?” Two words: magic drawers.

What!? You don’t know about magic drawers? I can’t believe it! Everyone should have the pleasure of experiencing this phenomenon! Let me explain with a story…

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new creation

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Allan

Michelle and I got the chance to make a quick trip to Wilmington, NC a couple weeks ago. We slipped down for a Saturday to see a friend and her new baby, Finley. Even though it was short trip, it was a great day.

I am always amazed when I think about babies and the fact that God brings new life into this world in such an incredibly beautiful way. Seeing a baby often reminds me of a powerful truth from scripture.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17

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need for sabbath

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Allan

It has become painfully obvious to me (and my wife) that I am in need of regular Sabbath. A lot of times we view commands from the Old Testament being outdated and unnecessary, but there is a definite need for us to have regular and intentional rest.

Sometimes the pace of my life far outweighs the pace of what my body and spirit can handle and the past couple of days have brought that to light. I’m typically a patient and calm person, but that hasn’t been the case as of late. The consensus after a late-night discussion is that I have to commit myself to rest.

I realized this morning that I often relegate Sabbath to being a one day a week thing, but I am realizing that to truly appreciate rest, I must not only find it during each day but create time for it each day. I usually race around from one thing to the next and miss out on the small moments of rest that God has waiting for me. If I am intentional about getting out of bed a few minutes earlier or arriving somewhere with a few moments to spare I will undoubtedly see more of God’s presence and be more aware of how He is moving. On top of that, I can only imagine how much more meaning a true day of rest would bring with it. I usually get more hung up on the fact that our “lazy day” is over and that I have to return to my responsibilities rather than being whole-heartedly grateful for the peace and rejuvenation that God has provided for us.

Check out this link on the Jewish perspective of the Sabbath (or more appropriately Shabbat).

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an explanation

Posted on February 10, 2009 by Allan

So to kick off this whole blogging thing, I figured I’d offer up a few explanations. I have no idea why I decided to create a blog. Do I think I have any new or inventive or ideas that no one before me has ever considered? Nope. Do I have grand ideas of what I’ll do/write here? Nope. Am I amazed that someone is actually reading this post? Absolutely!

I guess the biggest reason I started this blog is because I was tired of my site being an old and outdated portfolio from when I was fresh out of college and trying to get a job. My hope is that this blog might bring a bit of inspiration to me and hopefully even more to others. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll bring a little bit more of heaven to earth. Not trying to say my words are heavenly (far from it), but one of my lifelong goals is to bring more of God’s Kingdom to this earth.

Feel free to drop me a line and let me know if you want me to write about anything. Any help/advice would be much appreciated!

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