TIE A YELLOW RIBBON AROUND THE OLD OAK TREE
I'm coming home I've done my time
And I have to know what is or isn't mine
If you received my letter telling you I'd soon be free
Then you'd know just what to do if you still want me
If you still want me
Oh tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree
It's been three long years do you still want me
If I don't see a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree
I'll stay on the bus, forget about us
Put the blame on me
If I don't see a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Bus driver please look for me
'Cause I couldn't bare to see what I might see
I'm really still in prison and my love she holds the key
A simple yellow ribbon's all I need to set me free
I wrote and told her please
Now the whole damn bus is cheering
And I can't believe I see
A hundred yellow ribbons 'round the old, the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Tie a ribbon 'round the old oak tree
Russell Brown/Irwin LevineIrwin Levine Music/Larball Publishing Co. Inc. Plat.BMI
This song is about a man on his way home after serving a prison sentence. He was not sure whether he will be welcome by his wife. He made a suggestion that if he saw a yellow ribbon tied around the old oak tree at his home, it was a sign that he will be accepted. If not, he will go on to live his own life. He got more than what he asked for, a hundred yellow ribbons tied around the old oak tree.
How about Jesus telling the story of the Prodigal Son. No yellow ribbon, but a father waiting outside his home aways on a look-out whether the son would come back or not. No 100 hundred yellow ribbons to greet the son, but a running father with a compassion that cannot be quantified. The tangible acceptance was a new robe, his ring which the father kept with hope, a pair of sandals and a fattened calf for celebration. This song can be very touching, but cannot be as touching as the story told by Jesus. Man's ways of acceptance can never be superior than divine acceptance. Speechless? Take a mat, bow down and worship God.
INDISPENSABLE
"In a Christian community, everything depends upon whether each individual is an indispensable link in a chain." Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together.
The problem of church hopping is solved when Christians understand what is a local church.
GIVE THANKS
"O give thanks to the Lord for He is good….His love endures forever…He made the stars and the moon to govern the night….His love endures forever". Hope that this psalm will make sense to all Christians in Singapore when 1/3 of the island was black out. Did anyone notice that the moon was shining enough for people to walk on the street? In the midst of people asking "why" about the black out…..did anyone ask "why" the moon shines in the night? Where most of the time the moon was taken for granted….it was indeed a night of thanksgiving to the Creator God for His faithfulness to allow His moon to shine even in the midst of Man’s inability to get things permanently right. One of the minister said Singapore’s reputation has been tarnished because of the black out. Heartguider said that God’s reputation - His faithfulness - is still the same even the majority was ignorant of His moon that night. Didn’t Jesus said that God causes the sun to shine and the rain to rain on both the good and the evil?
