Broken and Beautiful

This song has held my attention from the 1st time i heard it. It's by Mark Schultz. Here are the lyrics:

There’s a businessman, there’s a widowed wife
A smiling face with a shattered life
A teenage girl with a choice to make
It’s crowded here in church today
And the preacher says as the sermon ends
“Please close your eyes, bow your heads
Is there anyone in need of prayer,Oh Jesus wants to meet you here”
Cause we all fall short, and we all have sinned
But when you let, God’s grace break in
(Chorus)It’s Beautiful, Beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Well he’d never been to church before
But he came today as a last resort
His world was crashing in
And he was suffocating in his sin
But tears rolled down as hope rushed in
He closed his eyes, raised his hands
Worshipping the God who can
bring him back to life again
(Chorus)And it’s beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heartBroken and beautiful
Cause there’s nothing more beautiful at all
Than when His sons and daughters call, broken
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are
Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Come as you are
(Chorus)Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heartBroken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Come as you are
Broken and beautiful, beautiful
Come as you are
Surrender your heart
Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Broken and beautiful
Beautiful

I think what I like most about this song is that it reminds us that church isnt just for believers, and that we do make mistakes, but that is what God's grace is there for. The reason I believe that the church building is so important to some is that it is a place where people can go and surrender themselves, it is in a sense a safe haven to them...for those of us more mature in our walks the building is not as important, but i think that the building is imprtant for some.

I am reading this book called God in the Alley...it's a freaking awesome book, I can't remember the author's name...but I actually think i may have met him, im not positive though, when i was in middle school i went on a missions trip to toronto, canada (where this pastor calls home and has his ministry) and worked with homeless people and i am fairly certain we worked with this guy, or at least his colleagues. but it ties in with this song because it is also a reminder that we have to be Jesus to people and sometimes all they want is someone to listen, sometimes all they need is a smile, but we need to get on their level, and we need to be fully present, not just walking up and down the streets mindlessly handin gout food and saying "Jesus loves you" they are looking for a connection, maybe not with God but just another connection, and if you show them Jesus, you have not only connected them to you, but connected them to Jesus, and in doing so I believe that draws us closer to God. Once I finish the book i will blog more about it, most likely that will be this weekend. i have to say my new post-it highlighter is coming in handy :-)

anyways i guess thats all for now :)