Thank You God...

Two quick observations:

First - though I've been a Christian for almost 30 years now, a pastor for a dozen years, in active public ministry for almost 20 years...though I KNOW all the stuff I'm supposed to know and BELIEVE all the stuff I'm supposed to believe... I'm still capable of saying the most unbelievably stupid things... No wonder James said that if we could just tame the tongue we'd be in a whole lot less trouble (WRBPV***). At least forgiveness is also in most peoples' vocabulary...

Second - God breaks through in unexpected yet very welcome moments. I hadn't really thought about the band Petra for a loooooooong time - but today I decided to cruise through some of their albums (especially the "trilogy" of Never Say Die, More Power To Ya & Not of this World) but at some point I pulled up Beat the System - not a great album by any means. Yet, I had it floating along in the background and I hear:

You may see me stumble, you may see me fall
You may see me cornered with my back against the wall
Maybe incognito, maybe out to lunch
Maybe caught redhanded or maybe just a hunch

I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
Like a spotless lamb I'm blameless in His sight
With no trace of wrong left to right
I'm clean, clean, clean

Kneeling in the closet begging daily bread
There may be a skeleton hanging overhead
Where are my accusers, nowhere to be found
They all dropped their stones when the master came around

I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
Like a spotless lamb I'm blameless in His sight
With no trace of wrong left to right
I'm clean, clean, clean

I've missed the mark, I can't deny it
I can't condone or justify it
But I've done nothing that His blood can't wash away
When I take it to the cross and start to pray

I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
I'm clean, clean clean before my Lord
Like a spotless lamb I'm blameless in His sight
With no trace of wrong left to right
I'm clean, clean, clean

Thank you God (via Bob Hartman and company)

UPDATE: I just scrolled down my own blog and saw this post and realized why I was thinking about Petra today...

***WRBPV - that would be the William R Beatty Paraphrased Version - James actually said,

¹Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.