Take Up Thy Cross

                                                     

© Copyright 2013 PJ Stassen       
All Rights Reserved

Many would be cowards if they had courage enough.

-          Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734.

   I was introduced to this song as a 15 year old convert in Randgate, South Africa in 1963, as it was sung 

by the three Snyman brothers, i.e. Tollie, Pieter and Hannes,  at the time. The eldest brother, Tollie, was the pianist.  Our pastor at the time was Kalie Vermeulen, a dear old saint in the true traditional mould, the veritable salt of the earth, a genuine no hidden-agendas, no-nonsense type of a shepherd that everybody loved. What a thrill one day to hear the old man recall his dream of Heaven, where he saw the pristine Heavenly light shine through granite boulders and rendering it as translucent as pure glass. 

   Nevertheless, I do not cherish and recommend this song because I am proof of living up to the ideal espoused by the words, but rather because I do not or cannot necessarily always live up to the ideal espoused by the words.  My private shame and embarrassment for not measuring up to this standard will, however, not discourage me from calling upon Christ as my Saviour and as the One I look up to save me ... also from myself.  May His holy robe of righteousness prove to be the salvation of many desperate a soul still grappling daily with the complexities of life and the myriad of challenges associated with our deceitful and fallible human constitutions here on Earth.  

   So, contrary to what many people may believe or think, cowboys do cry after all … we just don’t do it in front of our horse.  Most of us would have been out-and-out cowards ... if, as Thomas Fuller says, we only had had the courage.  

  

YouTube

Take Up Thy Cross

(Rev. A.H. Ackley/Copyright 1950, Renewal. Rodeheaver Co., Owner).

I walked one day along a country road,

And there a stranger journeyed too,

Bent low beneath the burden of His load:

It was a cross, a cross I knew.

I cried, “Lord Jesus!” and He spoke my name;

I saw His hands all bruised and torn;

I stooped to kiss away the marks of shame,

The shame for me that He had borne.

“O let me bear Thy cross, dear Lord”, I cried,

And, lo, a cross for me appeared,

The one forgotten I had cast aside,

The one so long, that I had feared.

My cross I’ll carry till the crown appears,

The way I journey soon will end

Where God Himself shall wipe away all tears,

And friend hold fellowship with friend.

CHORUS

“Take up thy cross and follow Me.”

I hear the blessed Savior call;

How can I make a lesser sacrifice,

When Jesus gave His all.  

Piet Stassen

eLiterature/eLiteratuur:

1. Scribd Publishing Site:  www.scribd.com/PietStassen (ENGLISH & AFRIKAANS)
2. eBook: 'Evolution: The Science That Evolved Into A Fairy Tale' (ENGLISH)  
3. eBook:  'Bertrand Russell Revisited: Rebuttal Of Bertrand Russell's 'Why I Am Not A Christian''(ENGLISH)
4. eBook: 'Meditations & Contemplations: A Reader For Both Atheists And Creationists' (ENGLISH)
5. eBook: 'Conservation, Rhino Poaching And Hypocrisy' (ENGLISH)
6. eBook: 'Why Darwinism ('Evolution') Does Not Make Sense' (ENGLISH)
7. eBook: 'Names And Titles Of Jesus Of Nazareth (ENGLISH)'
8. eBoek:  'Darwin Of Christus: Suid-Afrikaners By 'n Kruispad!' [AFRIKAANS].
9. eBoek:  'Bevryding Van Die Anti-Evangelie Van Ateisme-Evolusionisme' [AFRIKAANS].
10. eBoek:  'Name & Titels Van Jesus Christus' [AFRIKAANS].
11. eTracts, Christian (Free, Downloadable):  Free, downloadable Christian eTracts for free distribution (ENGLISH)
12. eTraktate, Christelik (Gratis, Aflaaibaar): Gratis, aflaaibabre Christelike Traktate vir gratis verspreiding (AFRIKAANS)

Bibliography

1.  Andrews, Allen (1969) Quotations For Speakers And Writers. Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd. London.

2.  Hymtime.org. ‘Alfred H. Ackley’. Accessed At <http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/i/n/t/intservc.htm> [online] 2013.
3.  Smith, Alfred B. (1951) Favorites Number 3. A Collection of Gospel Songs. 'Take Up Thy Cross.' Singspiration Music. Grand Rapids, Michigan.