Jesus must have been a bird watcher, because we see Him refer to birds many times in scripture. Listen to the show for the story of how this encouraging hymn was inspired.
His Eye Is On The Sparrow
Lyrics: Civilla D. Martin
Music: Charles H. Gabriel
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heav’n and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Written during the darkest hour of the American Civil War, this hymn is based on the twenty-third Psalm. Listen to the show for the author’s own account of its writing.
I love baseball. I can remember sitting on my grandfather’s lap, watching the new team in town on the black and white television set, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and listening to to the great Vin Scully as he masterfully called every play.
Back then hall of famer Walter Alston was the manager of the Dodgers. Alston won seven National League pennants and four World Series Championships in his 23 years as Dodgers manager.
Today, Joe Torre is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Joe has managed the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals, but his greatest success was with the New York Yankees, where from 1996 to 2007, the Yankees went to the post-season each year and won ten American League East Division titles, six American League pennants, and four World Series titles, in addition to compiling a .605 winning percentage with them.
Before moving to the Yankees, Torre had been a broadcast announcer for another of my favorite teams, the Angels, seeing the games from the broadcasting booth, high above the field of play.
Not long after he was named manager for the Yankees, the Yankee’s announcer Phil Rizzuto suggested that managing could be done better from that vantage point, where he could easily take in the entire ballpark.
Torre replied, “Upstairs, you can’t look in their eyes.”
My friend, in Jesus, God also chose to come down on the field and look into our eyes.
Listen to these verses from the NT book of Romans, chapter 15:
“5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
The God who gives endurance and encouragement. Just as a baseball manager trains and encourages his players most effectively from the same level as his players, our God came to us as the God/man Jesus, to look us in the eyes, help us, encourage, and yes, even to save us. Jesus knows you. He understands you. He loves you.
He is the God who gives endurance and encouragement.
I love baseball. I can remember sitting on my grandfather’s lap, watching the new team in town on the black and white television set, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and listening to to the great Vin Scully as he masterfully called every play.
Back then hall of famer Walter Alston was the manager of the Dodgers. Alston won seven National League pennants and four World Series Championships in his 23 years as Dodgers manager.
Today, Joe Torre is the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Joe has managed the Mets, Braves, and Cardinals, but his greatest success was with the New York Yankees, where from 1996 to 2007, the Yankees went to the post-season each year and won ten American League East Division titles, six American League pennants, and four World Series titles, in addition to compiling a .605 winning percentage with them.
Before moving to the Yankees, Torre had been a broadcast announcer for another of my favorite teams, the Angels, seeing the games from the broadcasting booth, high above the field of play.
Not long after he was named manager for the Yankees, the Yankee’s announcer Phil Rizzuto suggested that managing could be done better from that vantage point, where he could easily take in the entire ballpark.
Torre replied, “Upstairs, you can’t look in their eyes.”
My friend, in Jesus, God also chose to come down on the field and look into our eyes.
Listen to these verses from the NT book of Romans, chapter 15:
“5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”
The God who gives endurance and encouragement. Just as a baseball manager trains and encourages his players most effectively from the same level as his players, our God came to us as the God/man Jesus, to look us in the eyes, help us, encourage, and yes, even to save us. Jesus knows you. He understands you. He loves you.
He is the God who gives endurance and encouragement.
The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.
She is from every nation,
Yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.
The Church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord to defend,
To guide, sustain, and cherish,
Is with her to the end:
Though there be those who hate her,
And false sons in her pale,
Against both foe or traitor
She ever shall prevail.
Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed:
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
Their cry goes up, “How long?”
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song!
‘Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
Till, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blest,
And the great Church victorious
Shall be the Church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won,
With all her sons and daughters
Who, by the Master’s hand
Led through the deathly waters,
Repose in Eden land.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee:
There, past the border mountains,
Where in sweet vales the Bride
With Thee by living fountains
Forever shall abide!
“Welcome to Lifespring, 007. Today, we’re reviewing the successful extrication from South Korea, of a kidnapped child, whose own mother participated in the stealth operation. It’s a story of unknown informants, web 2.0 social networks, computer hacking, government conflicts…even dreams from God. Yes, 007, if you listen closely, you’ll learn of a mother’s despair, her tenacity, and a man with a mission.”
Kobe Lee
Thus begins this very exciting episode of Lifespring! Listen as Mark Miller, founder of the American Association For Lost Children, tells the story of how he, with the help of Bazzel Baz, from the Association For The Recovery Of Children, along with Tiffany Rubin, mother of kidnapped Kobe Lee, rescued Kobe from South Korea, where his estranged father had taken him.
It’s an amazing story, and you’ll not hear it anywhere like you hear it here on the Lifespring! show.
Set your TiVo or other DVR device for Monday, March 31, 2008! ABC’s Good Morning America will be interviewing Mark Miller, founder of the AAFLC, and guest on Lifespring! 156. He’s helped to recover an abducted boy in South Korea. He’ll be interviewed sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., according to the schedule they’ve been given.
We’re blowing it, friends. “Outsiders” don’t think very highly of us. According to the book “unChristian”, we are looked upon with skepticism and suspicion. Ouch.
Listen to the show for what I think might just be the first thing we need to do to change this sad state of affairs. It’s an uplifting and positive message, despite the seriousness of the problem.
I’ve got a great show for you today, if I do say so myself. My Nigerian friend has sent a passel of questions for me to answer, and I’m going to answer a few of them today. We’ll talk about women in the church, whether they should teach or even be pastors, and we’ll talk about the fate of babies who die. I think you might find some interesting stuff there, and I’m going to encourage your participation, too.
We’re going to touch on some new stories that deal with believers, and I’m going to talk about the newest show in the Lifespring! Media family. Yep, just a couple of weeks after telling you that there were going to be no new shows in the Lifespring! Media family, many of you already know about a new show in the Lifespring! family. And I need YOUR help with it. Your involvement. I’ll tell you about at the end of the show.