Meaningful Words (03/28/10)

As I reflect back on my journey with God, how He led me from obedience to faith to obedience, I am filled with gratefulness and awe. I am also aware that today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week and by the week’s end we will have remembered all the events that led up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Here are a few poems reflecting those themes:

Fire and Desire

In the beginning,

I remember fire,

Burning in my heart,

Filled with desire.

But now I stand.

It’s three years past.

My heart is cold.

Where’s my desire?

Where is the fire?

Holy Spirit fill me up,

With the lasting fire!

Fill my spirit once again,

Make my soul fly higher

Higher than the sky!

Higher than the moon!

Shoot me into eternity!

A-men!

Impostor

You go to church every Sunday

Don the suit, don the mask, don the act

You sing the songs and listen to the sermon

But deep down you know it’s all a lie

Life continues on, you play the game every day

Load the bullet in the gun, and pray the chamber’s empty

Every time it gets easier,

Every time you loose a bit of yourself

Hiding the truth from all those you love

But there’s One who always knows

You think you’re doing them a favor

But you’re hurting them beyond repair

Acting like a Christian when you don’t even care

You’ve got the M. Div.

You’ve got the preacher’s touch

You even have your own church

Everyone thinks you’re the best

But you’ll never pass the final test.

Why do you continue on this blessing filled path to hell?

Still you play the sheep, when you know you’re a wolf

Do you think you can hide forever?

I pray that one day you’ll see the truth

That all those things you fake can be yours in real life

‘Cause there’s a God out there who knows you for all you are

And He longs for you to come home to Him at last

This Cross

I wear this cross around my neck to remind me

To remind me that I am no longer my own

To remind me that I have been bought with a price

To remind me that 2,000 years ago He died in my place

He took the blame that should have been mine

He took the pain that should have been mine

Every bad thought that goes through my head

Every terrible deed that I take part in

Every sin that I commit

Was summed up in those six hours He spent dying on this cross.

This cross reminds me that I have a Savior

No longer must I go it alone

This cross reminds me that I have a Father

No longer must I be a prodigal son

This cross reminds me that I have a family

No longer am I the only one

This cross reminds me of a Man who cared.

He cared for the homeless

He cared for the lonely

He cared for the brokenhearted

He cared for those without a heart

He cared for those society tears apart

He cared for sinners like you and me

He cared for everyone that we do and do not see.

He cared and He still cares

This cross stands for grace

Of greater worth than any gold

This cross stands for mercy

Enough to cover the greatest of sinners a hundred times over

This cross stands for strength

His made perfect in our weakness

This cross stands for power

An immeasurable amount too awesome to even comprehend

This cross stands for love

Unlike any ever imagined or seen

This cross stands for compassion

To receive back a wayward soul that cost Him His own life.

This cross stands for Jesus, my Savior and my Lord!

            Thank you again to each of you, for continuing to stay with me on this journey. True, some of you are reading this only for the first time, yet you still managed to get this far.  ;-)  Your thoughts and prayers continue to give me strength and I am grateful for each and every one of you. If any of you have concerns, prayer requests or other needs, just let me know. It would be my honor to pray for you, as you pray for me, knowing that even now, Jesus prays for us all (Hebrews 7:25).

Sharing My Life (03/28/10): Work or Relationship?

            Throughout my walk with God, much of my reflection and prayer has been about determining God’s Will for my life. In the beginning, it felt like this was somewhat about a perfectionist need to get it right the first time. There was also a bit of the fear of God in there too. At times when I read the Old Testament, God seemed very concerned about His Will being obeyed and when it was not there were consequences. Back then it felt very much like my faith was a lot about works, about proving to God that I was worth the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Yet since then, I have some to see such is not really the case.

            Paul actually spent an entire epistle on making the distinction between being saved by the law (aka, works) or by faith (Galatians 3:11 and others). It is not our obedience to God that saves us. It is Christ’s! On the other hand, we are told a number of times, by Paul and others, that works are an integral part of our faith journey (much of James and others). So, is it works or faith or maybe even in some mysterious way, both?

            These days I am beginning to see more and more that the key to following God is not all about living by obedience or faith. It is about a relationship with God made possible by the obedience of His Son. This relationship is built on how we relate to God and living as He leads, yet there is much grace and wiggle room in this narrow way. As we walk with God, His Will becomes clear to us and as we grow in our faith, He empowers us to do all that He desires.

Life Update (03/28/10): Moving Forward

            Now that I am almost three months into my Doctoral program at Argosy, I can definitely say there is a significant learning curve from doing work for my Master’s program to doing work for my Doctoral one; even more so with my college program. There is a lot more reading and other work required, though at times less emphasis on due dates. One of my first classes only lasted a quarter, so I am now down to just two classes, which both end next month. Then I have a nice two-week break before diving into the next semester. I have also cut down on my work hours to give me more time to focus on my studies. I got an “A-“ in that first class, so things are going good at this point. ;-)

Are you Jesus

A friend sent me this cool story:

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in  Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.

ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.

He was glad he did.

The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down he r cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears.. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."

As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would. Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked up you and me on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

After reading it, I felt prompted to pray that my own life led people to see Jesus in what I do and say. What does it prompt in you?