Be Bold

1) Standing by a purpose true,
Heeding God's command,
Honor them, the faithful few!
All hail to Daniel's Band!

Chorus: Dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!

2) Many mighty men are lost,
Darling not to stand,
Who for God had been a host, 
By joining Daniel's Band!

Chorus

3) Many giants, great and tall, 
Stalking thro' the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall,
If met by Daniel's Band!

Chorus

4) Hold the gospel banner high!
On to vict'ry grand!
Satan and his host defy,
And shout for Daniel's Band!

In The Complete Book of Hymns, Bill Peterson tells the story of two British missionaries in China seeing how much missionary work had been done there.  In one city, they find a boy singing this Philip Paul Bliss' hymn.  They see this boy sing the hymn at the top of his lungs when the kid stops next to a peanut vendor and says, "Did you know there is only one God and one Lord Jesus Christ?" "No" replied the vendor.  "It's true," returned the boy.  Then the child just kept walking down the street singing this song.

When I started with RUF, the RUF committee (I'm Presbyterian, everything has a committee, sometimes two) charged me to be bolder with the Gospel.  It was something I needed to hear.  One of my (many) problems is my confidence comes and goes.  There are days in which I'm down right cocky.  I think I'm right and no one else could possibly come close.  If Everest was next to me, I would go climb it ... I would boast about how I would climb it.  There are other days in which I'm very self conscious and am keenly aware of my failings.  If ministry and evangelism were based solely on self-confidence, I'm sure it would be a terribly inconsistent endeavor. Fortunately, Christians are asked to have faith, confidence in the Gospel, not themselves.  It is the Rock that allows preachers give sermons that shake their congregation.  The Gospel let's me tell people that they need Jesus because the Gospel showed me how much I need Jesus.  To know that I have the same Savior that allowed Daniel to stand in fire emboldens and encourages my soul so that I can proclaim the one true Savior.  No matter what happens to me, the Lord will never let me or any of His children go.  How can we not boldly proclaim such love?  It is as Jesus told His disciples, "And when they bring you before synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say" (Luke 12:11-12).  So, today I pray that Holy Spirit continues to teach me boldness and the right things to say.