Joseph Hart

I began looking around for information on Joseph Hart, the guy who wrote "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy," and stumbled upon this prayerful hymn. Considering how often I am moved in my Spirit, I think it may be good for me to read this once (or more) a day. I nearly cried...yeah. I know.

O for a Glance of Heavenly Day

O for a glance of heavenly day,
To take this stubborn heart away,
And thaw, with beams of love divine,
This heart, this frozen heart of mine.

The rocks can rend; the earth can quake;
The seas can roar; the mountains shake:
Of feeling, all things show some sign,
But this unfeeling heart of mine.

To hear the sorrows Thou hast felt,
O Lord, an adamant would melt:
But I can read each moving line,
And nothing moves this heart of mine.

Thy judgments, too, which devils fear—
Amazing thought! unmoved I hear;
Goodness and wrath in vain combine
To stir this stupid heart of mine.

But something yet can do the deed;
And that dear something much I need:
Thy Spirit can from dross refine,
And move and melt this heart of mine.

His other hymns are equally good. You can check a few out here and a few more here.

-joe

conversion

From the pen of A.W. Pink:

Sometimes the wind blows so softly it scarcely rustles a leaf; at other times it blows so loudly that its roar can be heard for miles. So it is in the matter of the new birth; with some the Holy Spirit deals so gently that His work is imperceptible to human onlookers; with others His action is so powerful, radical, revolutionary, that His operations are patent to many.

He takes this statement by reading from John 3:8. It is true, isn't it? My salvation was a nearly imperceptible change (except for the radical shift in my theology). I acted much the same. Few of my outward actions differed (although, now...slowly...I am becoming more Christlike).

I have known others who are so radically lifted that it is impossible not to notice. My Bible study leader in college was one of them (I wasn't there for his conversion...but the stories I have heard are quite remarkable). Instantly he became ignited by the Spirit and desired to 'reap the harvest'.

It is good for me to think about the differences in conversions. I often think that all people should come to faith like I did...but, the Spirit is sovereign in how the non-believers is 'pricked'.

-joe