God is my protector! He is my shield and my defence! Woe betide anyone who does not understand this and tries to come against me as I am serving Him. They will not come against me at all… but all the forces and powers of heaven!

And exactly the same is true for you my friends!

The weapons we fight with are not carnal, but spiritual. They are not transitory but eternal. Praise God!!

When I was a teenager, my brother discovered an amazing track of a vagrant guy singing the old hymn “Jesus’ blood never failed me yet.” Someone (Gavin Bryars) had taken the song, just recorded out in the open by a guy with no apparent hope, and put a very moving set of strings to it. It was one of the most poignant tracks of my late teenage years. The memory of it makes me gulp with emotion. You can listen to it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnYA0w4cWiE (There are some weirder video postings out there, so take care!!)

Jesus’ blood never failed me and never will.
I will not be quiet about that.
I will not be intimidated about that.
I will sing and I will praise!
That is my choice and my passion, my delight and my joy.

Today I am praying for a friend of my own. A friend who is battling his own inner poisons; a friend who on the surface of things has little hope. But the thing is, I don’t buy that “no hope’ rubbish for a second. I don’t believe it, of anyone. I think there is a plan for each of us and I’m there and you are there to remind people of that plan.

I am praying hard that Tom has the courage to ring the Betel rehab where he has a place ready and get himself there today! I have the faith to believe it. Why? Because Jesus’ blood never failed me yet! And it’s not about to.

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More info about the song below by the composer Gavin Bryars:

“In 1971, when I lived in London, I was working with a friend, Alan Power, on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song – sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads – and one, who in fact did not drink, sang a religious song “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet”. This was not ultimately used in the film and I was given all the unused sections of tape, including this one.
When I played it at home, I found that his singing was in tune with my piano, and I improvised a simple accompaniment. I noticed, too, that the first section of the song – 13 bars in length – formed an effective loop which repeated in a slightly unpredictable way. I took the tape loop to Leicester, where I was working in the Fine Art Department, and copied the loop onto a continuous reel of tape, thinking about perhaps adding an orchestrated accompaniment to this. The door of the recording room opened on to one of the large painting studios and I left the tape copying, with the door open, while I went to have a cup of coffee. When I came back I found the normally lively room unnaturally subdued. People were moving about much more slowly than usual and a few were sitting alone, quietly weeping.
I was puzzled until I realised that the tape was still playing and that they had been overcome by the old man’s singing. This convinced me of the emotional power of the music and of the possibilities offered by adding a simple, though gradually evolving, orchestral accompaniment that respected the tramp’s nobility and simple faith. Although he died before he could hear what I had done with his singing, the piece remains as an eloquent, but understated testimony to his spirit and optimism.”