Sunday, October 3, 2010

Packing Up My Coffin

So...First thing you are probably wondering is what in the world does the title mean. I am very glad you asked. A couple a months ago, I started thinking about this group of people I had heard about called the Moravians. This group of people became famous for their work in Christian missions overseas. They are most often cited in the context of missions as the ones who would pack their belongings in a coffin symbolizing that they were committing to staying on the field and realizing that they would probably die there. That is where the title of this post came from. Now the fun part.

This whole movement was started by a guy named Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in the 1720s I believe. Zinzendorf is known for starting a 24/7 prayer meeting that lasted continuously for over 100 years! Two men were sent out as part of this movement, John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman. These guys were ordinary men with families living in Copenhagen who felt God calling them to be missionaries in the West Indies in 1732. So committed were they to their goal of reaching the slaves there, that they sold themselves into slavery in order to reach the slaves. Their mission statement was "Our Lamb has conquered, let us follow Him." These guys were willing to give everything to follow Jesus and his call on their lives by recognizing all that He had already done for them. Pulling away from the docks, the men cried out, "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering," which became the cry of the Moravians that would later come.

So in thinking about the life these men led, I wrote a song named "Packing Up My Coffin" in tribute to the work they and the ones that followed did. As a challenge, everyone who is a Christian is called to be a missionary. That could be where you are now or somewhere else. I leave you with this quote from singer Keith Green's song Jesus Commands Us to Go, "Jesus commands us to go, It should be the exception if we stay."

So here are the lyrics to my song. I hope you enjoy.

Packing Up My Coffin

Our Lamb has conquered
Let us follow Him
Into the world to spread His name
Our Lamb has conquered
and we have been saved
Why should we not follow Him?

I'll give You everything
I'll go where You say go
I'll serve you forever more
I'll lay down all my pride
And have the faith of a child
A child forever yours

Our Lamb has conquered
Let us follow Him
Regardless of where we are told
Our Lamb is for us
Who could be against us?
Our Lamb has conquered
Why should we fear?

I'll give You everything
I'll go where You say go
I'll serve you forever more
I'll lay down all my pride
And have the faith of a child
A child forever yours

May the Lamb that was slain
Receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb that was slain
Receive the reward of His suffering

I'll give You everything
I'll go where You say go
I'll serve you forever more
I'll lay down all my pride
And have the faith of a child
A child forever yours

May the Lamb that was slain
Receive the reward of His suffering
May the Lamb that was slain
Receive the reward of His suffering

So I'll pack up my coffin and go.

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