How Tedious And Tasteless

This poem/hymn is by John Newton. It always animates my spirit to know that those who have gone before shared the same longing that we know for the sweet Presence of Jesus. Jesus never changes - He's the same yesterday, today and forever. And, oh, I love Him.

How tedious and tasteless the hours
When Jesus no longer I see,
Sweet prospects, sweet birds and sweet flowers
Have all lost their sweetness to me.
The midsummer shine shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay -
But when I am happy in Him,
December's as pleasant as May.

His Name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music His voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice.
I should, were He always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal as happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.

Content with beholding His face,
My all to His pleasure resigned,
No changes of season or place
Would make any change in my mind:
While blessed with a sense of His love,
A palace a toy would appear;
All prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me there.

Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine,
If Thou art my sun and my song,
Say, why do I languish and pine?
And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from the sky,
Thy soul cheering presence restore;
Or take me to Thee up on high,
Where winter and clouds are no more.

Sacramentality

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee." (Isaiah 26:3)

I read last night that the word "sacrament" comes from the words "sacred" and "mental" - keeping the sacred in mind. That's something we need to do all the time, not just in some select ceremonies.

Maybe that comes from my Quaker upbringing (the horse and buggy guys are Amish, not Quaker).The Quakers have no sacraments; their founder, George Fox, said that communion and baptism are internal works and don't need external substitutes.

I wouldn't propose eliminating sacraments - but I am in favor of keeping our minds stayed upon Jesus.

Lots Of Rain

I've enjoyed the rain this week. We don't often get a steady, soaking rain; it usually pours down like a flood for five minutes and leaves the streets wet and steamy, but this rain is a slow and gentle watering.

I like this scripture from Psalm 72: "He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth."

We need Him continually, like this rain - not a 5 minute downpour, but a life-long soaking.

The Promises Of God

"For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." (2 Cor. 1:20)

The promises of God are in the Man, not just in the Book. We can't approach the Kingdom of God the way we'd approach an academic subject and try to cram a lot of stuff into our craniums. It's not up to us, it's up to Him. And He's in us. And all the promises will come true as we take our place in Him.

It's not a matter of learning all the promises and holding them up before God and waving them in His face and saying "But you said ...!!!!" as I've been taught in the past. It's a matter of taking my place in the young Prince of the Universe and letting Him outwork His wonderful purposes in my life.

Real Life and The Movies

Every once in a while I have to unstring my bow and do something just for the fun of it. This is it for May.

Why can't my life be more like the movies,
With a script and a plan and a plot,
And beautiful people who're glamorous and groovy
And drive fancy cars and big yachts?

They know the ending before the beginning,
While I'm mostly up in the air
As to what's going on, if I'm losing or winning,
Or if anyone else even cares.

I own a Dodge Neon, not a beemer or caddie,
And I've never had an affair.
For all of the money I've paid to my dentist
My teeth are nowhere pretty as theirs.

They walk through the picture to sweet background music
As they go on a jaunt or a cruise.
The only sound I ever hear when I'm walking
Is from gum that has stuck to my shoes.

Their waists are so thin you'd think they eat lettuce,
While I lose the battle of bulge.
They expertly shoot Uzi's and Colts and Berettas,
While I generally feel like a cludge.

If I shot a gun I'd just shoot off my toe,
Or my foot or something far worse;
And I'd probably have some ugly old so-and-so
Instead of Gwyneth or Renee for a nurse.

Every problem they have is resolved in a minute,
Or at least by the end of the show,
While I look at my problem and know I can't win it
Until hell is all covered with snow.

In the movies their computers always boot in a flash
And they know all the passwords they need.
I have so many passwords I can't remember them all,
Just the effort makes my brain start to bleed.

In the movies they shoot a scene over and over
Until they get it just so.
But I only get one chance, and moreover,
I have to do it with only nine toes!

Iraqi Pics

Go to John Upperman's blog to see some pictures of Iraqis you won't see on the news or in the papers:

http://uppermansblog.blogspot.com/

Comunidad

Last night at Comunidad ("Comunidad de las Naciones," or "Community of Nations," our latino church plant) there was a dinner and awards for the ESL graduates and the church. We had a terrific time of fellowship over burgers with all the works (grilled outside) and desserts. In our service we inaugurated our new congas and I was tapped to play them. I got rhythm, but not technique; my hands were red and sore half way through the first song. Come back, Micah, we need you!!!

The brand name on the congas was "Caliente;" very latino. Then some astute person noticed they were made in Thailand!

Some new folks came, drawn in by the ESL class.

We sang "I'm Trading My Sorrows;" the ESL staff sang in Spanish and the latinos sang it in English - at the same time!

It's a thrill to watch this little church grow, to see men and women becoming grounded in the Spirit and the Word, to see fellowship bonds forming and people finding something of real value. The latinos have all the same problems we do plus more, and they work more days and more hours. They have a refreshing honesty and down-to-earth manner about them and it's a pleasure to be among them. Even though I'm fluent in Spanish, I had many cultural stereotypes and I've watched them all get shattered as I've come to know these people.

If you're able to visit at 6:30 on Sunday evening or 7:30 on Wednesday evening, please drop by; there will be someone to translate.

The Burning Bush

How many bushes had Moses seen
On the back of the desert where he had been
For forty years? But then there'appeared
A bush that burned, and Moses feared.

This bush the BRANCH, that Moses saw
That fateful day; he stood in awe
And turned aside to behold the tree-
To listen, to look, to hear, to see.

For forty years he'd worked and toiled
In the dirt and dust and the sun that boiled.
Then in an instant God's hour had come;
Moses became God's chosen one.

Do you feel in a wilderness,
Forgotten by God and in distress,
Your vision gone, your dreams and plans
Scattered like the shifting sands?

You're not forgotten - God sees you there;
He's put you just exactly where
He can work your soul like clay.
He has a time - there'll come a day,

But of a sudden, and not far hence,
You'll hear His voice and turn to whence
Spake clear that voice, and see Him there
And He'll tell you what, how, when, and where.

Serve Him in the wilderness
In every trial, in every test;
And when comes heaven's chosen hour
He'll send you forth in faith and power.

You'll be tempered by the fire,
Gone the anger, gone the ire;
A gentle spirit, a heavenly frame,
And you'll go forth in Jesus' name.

One Thing

"Salvation is free - everything else costs" (Wade Taylor). Let us have a single eye unto the Lord, that the price may seem as nothing for the inestimable prize which is set before us.

"In the year that King Uzziah died
'Twas then I saw the Lord."
In Isaiah's time of loss
'Twas then he heard His word.

And thus it is that sorrow brings
The thing that seemed most lost,
And thus we reign through suffering
When we have paid the cost.

"I count all things as loss," said Paul
"That I may know this Christ."
The things that once were gain to him
He lost for risen life.

The goodly merchant seeking pearls
Sold all he had for one.
Oh, woulds't thou have a precious pearl?
Sell all for Christ, the Son.

For one thing only matters most,
One thing worth all the rest -
To know Him as we're known by Him -
This is the highest and best.

"One thing have I desired of God,
That one thing I pursue,
To behold the beauty of the Lord,"
Said David; what say you?

He is the treasure in the field,
He is the treasure rare,
For which we sell all that we have
And find that He is there.

Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates.

"If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Rom. 8:17)

"And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl." (Rev. 21: 21)

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." (Psalm 24:7)

I have long felt that we are the city of God, and the gates are for His entrance into that city. It is through suffering that we come into His purposes and reign together with Him. As the pearl is wrought from distressing circumstances, even so our suffering yields glory. This poem brings it all together.

The pearl - a treasure of great price;
But wrapped within it's hidden life
Is a tale that sorrow brings -
A treasure wrought through suffering.

In the darkened ocean deeps
The oyster there its vigil keeps,
Content until a grain of sand
Lodges in its chambers and

Beomes an irritating source
Of trouble and vexation sore,
Of bother and distress and pain
'Til it must alleviate the strain.

It then surrounds the grain of sand
With the white pearl substance and
Brings from pain a comfort there,
Creating thus a treasure rare.

And we, the children of the Lord,
Fnd that trouble oft' affords
A time to call upon His name
When in distress we are, or pain.

And glory, thus, from suffering,
Becomes our rallying cry and theme.
Our comfort is His Presence fair,
And, oh, 'tis pleasant to be there.

And thus the gates of pearl are made;
Oh, ye gates, lift up your heads!
The King of Glory shall come in,
And thus through suff'ring we shall reign.

God, You're Good

My daughter wrote this - it's worth sharing.

God you're good.
If you give me what I deserve, you're good,
If you withold it from me and instead, bless me with grace, you're good.
If you provide for me, and give me peace, you're good,
If you take it all away and leave me frustrated and humiliated, you're good, you're still good.
If you bless me with sleep and health, you're good,
If you sit with me through waking hours and sickness, you're good, you're still good.
If I see your promise in this lifetime, you're good,
If it greets me at heaven's gates and not a minute sooner, you're good, you're still good.
I trust your nature, your name, your promise,and your will,
Because you're good, you're still good

Press In

The story of the woman with the issue of blood can be found in Luke 8:43. I once had the privilege of hearing C.M. Ward, the great Pentecostal preacher, preach on this story. He surmised that the woman, who could not press through the crowd in her weakened condition, must have then crawled through the crowd on her hands and knees; why else would she have touched the hem of His garment, except she were down that low? I incorporated that thought in this poem.

She said in her heart "Oh, if only
I could touch just the hem of His robe,
I'd be well, I'd be whole, and completely
Would stop all the blood that has flowed."

She'd spent all her money on doctors;
No better was she, but indeed,
She was worse for they never could help her;
And so she continued to bleed.

Then one day she heard Jesus was passing
And went out to where He would be.
But she found that the great throng was pressing
The Master; she hardly could see

The One who she knew that could heal her,
The One whose sweet touch she so craved.
The crowd was all thronging about Him,
And she knew that if He were to save

On that day that she'd have to be bolder
Than ever before she had been;
And so, in her weakened condition
She took hold and began to press in.

She struggled past women and children
And folks who were stronger than she,
Past seekers and beggars lepers,
And then she fell down to her knees

And struggled past people who kicked her
And spat on her as she crawled by;
She had to, just had to, see Jesus,
To see Him or else she would die.

At last she finally had reached Him
And stretched forth her hand to His robe,
Immediately sensing His virtue
And receiving His power as it flowed.

"Who touched me?" cried Jesus, "'tis someone
With faith and with such a great need;"
"Everyone," said His disciples,
"Everyone's near You, indeed."

"Woman," He said as He saw her,
"Such faith has gained your reward."
That day she knew that she always
Would remember His kind, gracious words.

And oh, let us press into Jesus,
Past all that would hinder and hold,
Past religion and habit and custom,
And tradition and doctrine so cold;

'Til we touch Him! Oh, let us touch Jesus,
For we'll find in Him all that we need;
He only, He ever, can help us,
And we'll find that His grace will exceed

All of our prior expectations
And all that we've ever been told.
Just one touch will change us forever -
Let us press in and be bold.

The Good Shepherd

Perhaps some day we'll know how very much He loves us. Maybe this little poem will help in that realization.

I am the lost, lonely, poor little lamb
Jesus came looking to save;
So far away had I wandered that day,
I am sure I'd be now in my grave

If the Shepherd had not left the others alone
To come and to look for me there.
So frightened was I, I could do naught but cry,
And he heard my sad cry as a prayer.

Oh, why had I wandered so far away?
Why had I gone on my own?
The grass looked so green and the meadow so fair,
But I ended up there so alone.

A delight to the eye were the things I had seen,
They were such an attraction to me;
They called out to me and they beckoned me on
And I blindly went where they did lead.

But the beautiful sights that seemed such a delight
Turned to thorns and to thistles so sharp;
Then the rain and the cold and the fog took a hold
And imprisoned me there in the dark.

My flesh had been torn by the briars and thorns,
I was lonely and hungry and cold;
I wanted no more than be found and returned
To where I had strayed from the fold.

O'er the wind as it howled came a sound to my ears
I'll remember for eternity;
Through the rain that was falling my shepherd was calling
My name, he was searching for me.

"Here am I, here am I," was my faint, feeble cry,
"Over here in the thicket so sharp;
Here I am, here I am, your lost, little lamb -"
He was coming to me in the dark.

Then at last I was found as o'er the rough ground
He came up the mountain so steep.
I looked and I saw with wonder and awe
The wounds in his hands and his feet.

Then I saw in the rain all the blood and the pain,
All the anguish he suffered for me;
For me who was lost he had paid such a cost
For my freedom and my liberty.

I scarcely could stand so he reached out his hands
And lifted me up to him there.
Wrapped in his embrace, I looked on his face,
And saw there not raindrops, but tears.

"I have found you at last, through the storm and the blast,
I have looked for you both low and high.
Come, let's go home, my dear, precious one,
And we'll never more part, you and I."

Then he carried me along on his shoulders so strong
And he sang me a song on the way -
"Thou art mine, I am thine, and in me you'll find
All you'll need for now and always."

Oh, he loves me, I know, but how is it so,
That one so unworthy as I
Could merit like this the joy and the bliss
Of being thus with him so nigh?

Why should he care to look for me there
In the terrible place I had strayed?
To leave all behind and seek me to find?
Why pay the great price that he paid?

Oh, 'tis love I've heard of, that comes from above,
That sent him out looking for me;
'Twas love on a cross that paid all my loss
And set me eternally free.

Now the Shepherd and I dwell together for 'aye,
I'll nevermore, ne'er go astray.
I am His, He is mine, forever entwined,
Together for now and always.

The Passion

As I began this poem, it became clear that the Lord wanted something with the intensity of the movie "The Passion." Although lacking the visual element, words evoke images, so it is all there. Take time with this, and let it seep into your spirit - take time to hear the sounds and see His Passion.

The angels must have cried out when they looked upon the scene,
To see the One they loved so much so beaten and demeaned.
The banisters of Glory could not hold them all
As they struggled there to watch Him as He’d stumble and He’d fall.

They’d seen Him mocked and beaten with the scourge and with the lash,
The crown of thorns put on Him by the men so rude and rash.
They’d seen Him torn and battered, they’d seen the crimson flood,
White bone exposed to daylight in a scarlet sea of blood.

They’d seen Him fall and stagger as He struggled there alone,
They’d seen the skin and sinew as they ripped it from the bone.
They’d heard the raging crowd as they cried out “Crucify!”
And they watched their darling Jesus as they led Him forth to die.

Now He stumbles and He staggers walking up the stony path,
He’s mocked and jeered and spat on by the people in their wrath.
(Not so very long ago He in the manger lay,
But now that’s all forgotten on this, His dying day.)

Oh, my! He falls and stumbles! Th’excruciating pain
Has bested Him, He can’t go on, He falls and falls again.
The lash snakes out and gouges Him along His quivering back,
He cries out but remains where He has fallen in His track.

Simon now is carrying the cross on up the hill;
And Jesus follows after, but He sways and stumbles still.
He staggers and He stumbles, He stumbles and He sways;
He leaves a trail of blood in the dust along the way.

And now up on the mountain top they lay Him on the wood,
Stretch forth His hands, impale them there, the epitome of good.
They nail His feet, then lift Him high, then they let Him drop;
His body quakes and trembles as He feels the jarring shock.

He hangs ‘twixt heaven and earth there, bleeding out His last;
The angels watch Him suffer and all heaven is aghast.
Their tears fall down like raindrops just to watch Him suffer so,
To see Him in such pain, to see His blood so freely flow.

A raging thirst inflicts Him, and He cannot draw a breath,
All His bones are out of joint as He fast approaches death.
The angels gasp to hear the Savior cry out from the tree -
“Oh, my God, oh why, my God, hast Thou forsaken me.”

The earth begins to tremble and the thunder rumbles loud,
The sun goes dark, the sky turns black, an enveloping, funereal shroud.
The Son cries “It is finished!” and then gives up the Ghost;
The angels weep to see the death of Him they loved the most.

With a sword they pierce His side, and blood and water flowed;
The soldier with the sword said “Surely, this must be the Son of God.”
His friends aghast, to see the last, of all their hope and trust;
The angels cast their downward glance at the death of all that’s just.

They took His body down and laid Him in a borrowed tomb;
They rolled a stone before the door to keep Him in the gloom.
The angels hide their faces underneath their folded wings;
Their sad grief knows no limits at the sorrow that it brings.

Three days, and then one morn an angel rolled the stone away;
The disciples came and looked and saw He was not where He lay.
For love is stronger far than death, and death its limits knows;
The Christ that suffered so for us is the Christ that for us rose.

Oh, friends, we know the story, how the Savior suffered thus,
He took the weight of all our sin and bore it there for us.
Are we as moved as angels as we contemplate this scene?
Or do we pass by glibly, and thus God’s grace demean?

Oh, let His Passion move us, let it be our rallying cry;
He suffered for He loved us, and that enough to die.
Let this be our passion – the Grace of God so free,
And let us in this love find all our life and liberty.

Exodus

The God of all power, the God of all might,
Dwelt with His people by day and by night.
Not with th'Egyptians or Syrians dwelt He,
But out in the desert, where no one could see.

A cloud of smoke was He in the day,
A pillar of fire by night in the way.
Frail people and small, this people of God,
But, oh, He was with them, on plain, common sod.

He'd freed them from Egypt, from slavery's grasp,
And brought them all out to freedom at last.
Ten plagues He had wrought, then saved by the blood,
Then on dry land through the Red Sea's strong flood.

Then on Mount Sinai He gave them the law;
The mount shook and trembled, the people in awe.
All along He provided, with rivers from rock,
Manna from heaven; He cared for His flock.

For forty long years He led them across
Sinai's vast desert; not once were they lost,
For 'twas all by His leading, all by His hand,
The wilderness wanderings across the vast land.

Then on to Canaan, He'd promised it so,
With milk and with honey the Promised Land flowed.
And each had a portion in the land that He gave,
Not one was lost, all His people were saved.

And we who have trusted in Jesus, our God,
Have been saved from our sin and been washed in the blood.
Perhaps we have wandered, and not known the way,
But Jesus was leading by night and by day.

He's fed us and kept us, we never have lacked,
And though we have wondered, we've never turned back.
For who would not follow a King such as this,
One who Has never once led us amiss?

And, oh, He is with us as He was in those days,
The fire is His acts, the smoke is His ways.
The light of His Spirit illumines our hearts
And we'll follow that light as we have from the start.

Come weather that's fair, or foul it may be,
We'll follow Him still for we care only that He
Is our constant companion, our guide and our friend,
And we'll walk with Him closely, on to the end.

The Lord's Prayer

"Our Father," 'tis a wond'rous thing
That we would call You such a name;
Father God, Life-Giver, Thou,
Strangers once, we're children now.

"Who art in heaven," so far, yet near,
You dwell among your people here.
Oh, rend the veil that we might see
How very near we are to Thee.

"Hallowed be Thy Name;" we'll praise
Your wond'rous name for all our days.
At your feet we lowly bow
And give you all our worship now.

"Thy Kingdom come," for this we cry,
To see your Kingdom reign draw nigh.
Our one and only Monarch, Thou,
Take up Thy crown and scepter now.

"Thy will be done," we cry, not ours,
As we approach the final hours.
Bring your Kindgom reign to birth
And redeem this fallen earth.

"On earth as heaven," you have planned,
Not in some far-off, distant land;
But here and now, and now and here,
This earth be in Thy Kingdom's sphere.

"Give us this day our daily bread,"
Daily would we thus be fed;
Thy flesh our bread, our drink Thy blood,
Thyself our necessary food.

"Forgive our debts," the things we've done
That caused the death of Christ, the Son.
Mercy sweet flows from the cross,
Forgiveness springs from Jesus' loss.

"As we forgive," Lord, may it be
That we in this might be like Thee,
That we may freely all forgive
And learn that thus we truly live.

"Into temptation lead us not,"
It leads us to sin's fires so hot.
We are weak and vile and small,
Keep us from temptation's thrall.

"From evil, Lord, deliver us,"
Keep us ever near the Cross -
Our place of safety, fount of grace,
Our shelter strong, our hiding place.

"Thine the Kingdom," Thou the King,
Thine the crown, throne, sceptre, ring;
Thine the power by Royal design,
Thine the power, the weakness mine.

I would not pray by rote alone,
But come humbly to Thy throne,
Cast all my crowns down at Your feet,
Know You in communion sweet.

My Poetry

I haven't written poetry for years. At one time there was a steady flow, but it stopped. But recently it has begun again. I have no explanation for this - it's just the creative work of God. I like to say that I don't write the poems, I just write them down. I have a place in my heart where the words come.

I am writing a new poem almost every day. This is the cruze of oil that never fails. This is the manna that's new every morning. This is daily bread.

These poems are life to me - I pray that they're life to you as well.

One question that always arises is "Why don't you sell these?" I did try at one time to market my songs; believe me, you have to know somebody or be more persistent than I am to make a go of it. This is my alabaster box - I'd just rather break the box and pour the ointment forth on our wonderful Jesus than to try to sell them.

Please check back every now and then. Although I can't guarantee that this will continue like Old Faithful and erupt every so often, I have found that God is faithful. I can't even begin to write a poem until I have posted the last one. I'd like to have one or two in reserve, but He won't let me. I just trust that He will continue to bless me with this unfolding of His word and His plan and that you will continue to be blessed. Please share the poems as you wish - I think God has His own distribution channel.

Thank you for reading.


Nick

You Shall Live

I hung on the cross next to Jesus,
On the cross next to His on the hill;
I was paying for crimes I committed,
For things I had done of free will.

I deserved what I got so completely,
I was guilty just as they said.
So they beat me and whipped me and hung me
On the cross there to hang until dead.

Oh, the pain was so great, I remember;
I knew then that all hope was gone.
My body was racked with the torture,
The day seemed an eternity long,

When there to my left I saw Jesus
Upon an old cross just like mine.
But I knew that He had done nothing,
I knew that He was Divine.

But why was He bleeding and suff'ring
Like me, just a liar and thief;
Why was He hanging and dying
On a cross; why take on this grief?

In a flash, then, I knew in an instant
When I heard Him pray "Father, forgive,"
That He came down to earth for this moment -
To die so that others might live.

The sinless One, Jesus, was dying
On a cross next to mine on the hill;
He'd taken the sin and the sorrow
Of the whole human race as God's will.

Such love, oh, I never had known it,
Such love as was shown by Him there;
All my grief and my sorrow forgotten,
As I managed to cry out my prayer -

"Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, remember
When into your Kingdom you come,
Remember this thief and this sinner,
Remember this Adam's lost son."

Then the words that He spoke I shall never
Forget, when He answered my prayer -
"Today, friend, today you'll be with me.
In Paradise - you shall be there."

There is pardon for all who will cry out
To Jesus, who's taken our place;
He's there! He's so close, right next to you,
Just turn now and look on His face.

You'll see there such grace and such mercy,
As only a Savior could give;
Cry out to Him just like I did -
You shall live, you'll not die, you shall live!

Adam, Where Are You?

Oh Adam, my Adam, oh where have you gone?
Why have you stayed away for so long?
I've come to the garden in the cool of the day
For fellowship sweet that we've shared in the way.

I made you this garden with all its good things,
And the great Tree of Life to give your heart wings.
Another tree, too, in the midst did I place,
And gave you the choice of that tree to taste,

The Tree of the Knowledge of Evil and Good.
I fear you've partaken, I feared that you would;
You were created from dust of the ground,
And some of the earth realm within you is found.

Has the serpent beguiled you to eat of that tree?
Have you listened to him instead of to me?
Did he take what I said and twist it around
And thus give to sin a beautiful sound?

What's that? You're naked? Who told you you were?
Eve spoke to the serpent and you've listened to her?
I fear I must send you out from the midst,
To suffer and toil and labor like this.

But I'll make a way for you to return
To me in the garden, to the God that you've spurned.
I'll take on your sin, I'll take it as mine;
On a hill on a cross on Calv'ry you'll find

That the God of all love has taken your place,
My Son will have taken your sin and disgrace
And nailed it all there to the cross on the hill
And paid all the cost, if only you will

Come to me there, for I'll make a way
To restore you to Eden and win back the day.
His name is Jesus, and in Him you'll be
All that I ever had destined for thee.

In my death you'll die and in my life you'll live
And receive all I ever have wanted to give.
'Twill no longer be you, created from earth,
But all in the Son, of infinite worth.

Oh Adam, my Adam, find life in the Son,
For in Him both you and I can be one.
Forever my Son shall be the new way
And we'll walk in the garden in the cool of the day.

Behold, I Do A New Thing

"Oh, God, what shall I do?"
Cried Moses to the Lord;
"There's water on three sides,
To the the rear th'Egyptian horde."

"They followed us from Egypt
To the Red Sea shore;
They'll surely overtake us
And we shall be no more."

Then the pillar of the cloud
Went from before their face
And stood behind the Israelites,
God's protecting grace.

Light it was to them
But darkness to the foe;
All night it blocked their path,
They could not onward go.

A strong east wind did blow
When Moses stretched his hand,
And the Israelites went across
The sea upon dry land!

The enemy followed hard
Upon the Israelites' heels,
But then the Lord looked out
And removed their chariot wheels!

The Red Sea closed upon them,
And drowned them one and all;
God saved His chosen people
From th'Egyptian thrall.

Much later on we read
Of the disciples in the boat
Out on the stormy sea;
They had lost all hope.

Then Jesus came to them,
Walking on the waves;
When things were at their worst,
Jesus came to save.

Sometimes God parts the waters,
Sometimes He walks on them;
Mysterious are His ways
To the seeking hearts of men.

Look not for God to do
What He has done before;
He's always on the move,
Something new He has in store.

So when the water's high
And the clouds have all turned gray,
Ask not what He shall do -
He'll do it His own way.

Yours but to trust in Him
All for you to do;
He'll move heav'n and earth
And bring you safely through.

Lazarus

“Lazarus, our brother, has taken sick,
The one you love so very much,”
Said Mary and Martha. “Please come quick,
And heal him with your loving touch.”

"This sickness is not unto death,
But for my glory," spake the Son.
(The things that seem to us the worst
Bring greater vict'ries to be won.)

Jesus did not hurry there,
But, because He loved them so,
(O, the mysterious ways of God)
Stayed where He was; He did not go.

The one beloved had passed away
(Jesus said he was asleep).
At last He went; they met Him there,
With sorrow now so very deep.

"If you'd been sooner, he'd not have died,"
Both wept sorrowfully to the Lord.
But Jesus did not once despair,
Remaining faithful to His word.

"I am the Resurrection and the Life;
Your brother shall arise again.
Believe in me and you shall see
Things not seen before by men."

Then they took Him to the place
Where His stricken friend was kept.
He saw their sorrow, deeply moved;
'Tis recorded that He wept.

("Jesus wept," O wond'rous thought,
That He sees the plight of men;
That He sees and cares so much
For us who had offended Him.)

"Remove the stone," He told them then.
"But Lord, he has been dead so long."
"Only believe and thou shalt see
An end to death, and sin and wrong."

Then in a voice the dead could hear
He cried out "Lazarus, come forth!"
And Lazarus stepped forth from the grave,
And proved the Great Redeemer's worth.

Wrapped hand and foot and head with cloths,
He could not walk nor could he see.
Then rang Jesus' voice again -
"Unloose this man, and set him free."

His voice has pierced the stifling dark
Of the tomb that sealed me in,
Spoke His life into my death,
Raised me up to live again.

Like Lazarus I have come forth,
Released from death's cold, icy grasp,
Called to walk in risen life
And free to be with Christ at last.

And if He seems to have delayed
In things that I've asked Him to do,
It is because He is the King
And knoweth just what He shall do.

His timing's best, much better far,
Than all my little plans and schemes;
He has for me a risen life
Far beyond my fondest dreams.

The Return

I saw you from the doorway –
I’d been watching there for you,
Hoping you’d return
As wand’rers sometimes do.

You’d wandered such a long way,
So very far from home,
A stranger in a strange land,
Lost and all alone.

A far country took you from me.
When famine came in time,
All spent, poor as could be,
You fell to feeding swine.

Swine’s husks you fain would eat
But deep within said “No;
In father's house is meat;
To father’s house I’ll go.”

"The servants there fare better;
Perhaps I can be one.
I'll take a lower place,
Unworthy as a son."

And then one day I saw you,
Far, far down the path.
I leaped and I ran to you;
I had no thought of wrath.

I threw my arms around you,
So glad that you’d come home.
Hot tears ran down my cheeks,
My precious, long-lost son.

You said “I’ll be a servant.”
I said “You are a son.”
A robe, a ring, and new shoes,
For life, from death, was won.

Oh, reader, have you wandered?
Are you close as you should be?
The Father waits and watches
To catch a glimpse of thee.

Take one step! He sees you!
He’s coming, drawing nigh.
He’ll wrap His arms around you,
You shall live, you shall not die.

The robe is His salvation,
The ring, authority,
The shoes, a walk in God –
He giveth all to thee.

Psalm 8

David saw the Kingdom in his day, a people that would rule and reign over the earthly realm with heavenly authority - not to make fish and fowl go here and go there, but to vanquish sin in all its aspects, to conquer self, turn the world upside down.

David, as you sat out on the hill,
Beneath the stars so quiet and still,
Contemplated God's great will,

You saw the heavens so great and vast,
Our life a vapor soon to pass,
But grasped the plan of God at last

Of a people who would rule and reign,
Have dominion in His name,
Leave this sad world not the same.

Fully rescued from the fall,
They'd have dominion over all -
Fish, and fowl, and beasts that crawl.

Fish that swim in oceans deep
Are passions strong that try to keep
Us locked up in sin's depths so steep.

Fowls that fly across the sky
Are thoughts that crowd our minds and try
To make us our great God deny.

Sheep and oxen, beasts of the field,
Are our emotions which can yield
A heart against the Spirit sealed.

Those that live for Christ alone
Will receive from Him a stone
Of white, a name but to them known.

They shall prove Messiah's worth,
Bring His Kingdom reign to birth,
As in heaven, so on earth.

Miracle At Zarephath

The story of the widow woman at Zarephath can be found in 1 Kings 17. Zarephath means "workshop for refining metals."

The widow woman of Zarephath
Was preparing for her death;
A scant supply was all she had,
And then things went to worse from bad.

She and her son would eat their last
And then their lives would soon be past.
Then on that day the prophet came
And things would never be the same.

The prophet asked her for a drink
And just as she was on the brink
Of fetching that, the prophet said
"Oh, and please bring me some bread."

"I've only for my son and me;
Why can't you just let us be?"
But God had come with His demands
Which can't be met by human hands.

And just when things were at their worst
The prophet told her "Feed me first."
For he had heard a word from God
And even though it seemed now odd,

And told her if she'd meet his need,
She would never lack indeed.
She did just that and found it true -
God met his needs and her needs, too.

God has a bountiful supply -
The well is deep, it won't run dry.
So if you hunger, if you thirst,
Don't look to self - put Jesus first.

If your soul is on the brink
Give Him to eat, give Him to drink.
In serving Christ you're sure to find
Enough for thee and all mankind.

Then Came Jesus

The wind was so high and it made a sad cry
On the lake on that cold, fateful night.
The waves were so tall and our boat was so small;
So frightened were we in our plight.

'Twas all shrouded in mist, we'd not seen it like this,
In the years that we'd worked under sail.
As the storm reached it's peak the wind made a shriek
As a demon would make when it wailed.

It seemed like our boat no longer would float
And we'd plunge to the depths in the storm.
The night seemed so long and all hope was gone;
We were ragged and wet and forlorn.

And then there appeared, and by all greatly feared,
A man, one who walked on the deep;
There was nowhere to hide, "'tis a spirit," we cried,
It seemed like a dream from our sleep.

His robe was so white, it shone through the night;
"'Tis I," he said, "Don't be afraid."
In single accord we all knew 'twas the Lord,
And our fear, like the night, soon did fade.

On the sea He was borne, in the height of the storm,
He walked out to us on the waves;
When our frail boat was tossed and when all hope was lost
Then came Jesus, so mighty to save.

And Peter, brash lad, (such bravado he had),
Said "Lord, it it be really Thou,
Bid me come unto Thee; I'll walk on the sea,"
And Jesus said "Come to me now."

Oh, how I wish I had courage like this;
I, too, wished to run to my Lord.
Peter put his heart to it, he really did do it;
We gasped as he stepped overboard.

And he walked on the sea! (How I wish it were me!)
He walked toward the Lord on the waves!
Then he started to sink and slip into the drink
When the Lord stretched His hand forth to save.

And, friend, what of thee, art thou out on the sea
In a raging, tempestous storm?
Look for Jesus to come when the storm's work is done,
Look for Jesus and look for the morn.

He's coming just now - look over the bow,
He's walking to thee on the waves;
He's coming to thee and soon thou shalt see
That Jesus is mighty to save.

The Secret Of The Stairs

("The Secret Of The Stairs" is the title of a book by my spiritual father, Wade Taylor. The words are taken from the Song of Solomon. In the book he talks about our life experiences being as the risers on a set of stairs that bring us up higher in the things of God; as we ascend on the riser we then step onto the horizontal piece and walk out - and work out - the new thing that God is doing in our lives.)

I want to touch your hands, my Lord, and see
The marks of what you did that day for me.
I want to touch your side and really know
The pain and suffering you did undergo.

In things of Thee too casual I am;
My faith at times seems like a cheapened sham.
Too comfortable am I in things of God -
I want to walk the road that You have trod.

If I am suff'ring, let it be with You,
If I'm rejoicing, Jesus, be there, too.
And if I'm only passing time away
Then intervene and rescue back the day.

I want more purpose in this life of mine;
All lesser interests are just wastes of time.
I want to love you with the kind of love
That sent you here from realms of light above.

Oh, catch me up to higher realms with Thee
Where I can be who I was meant to be,
To stand on Zion, breath the upper airs,
To'ascend and know the secret of the stairs.

Let There Be Light

In the dark and dim recesses of eternity past,
In the high, vaulted chambers of the heavens so vast,
'Twas all inky blackness for ever and 'aye,
No light would ever be seen by the eye.

As ages rolled on 'twas always the same,
No light from a star, from a lamp or a flame.
For there was never a source of light ever born
To pierce the great darkness and bring on the morn.

For eons and eons the darkness prevailed
As a dark, conq'ring demon that had all impaled.
The darkness, victorious, ruled in its might,
One long, never-ending, unquenchable night.

And then, of a sudden, in the midst of the night,
There thundered from God the words "Let there be light!"
And the darkness rolled back as the light issued forth
To the East and the West and the South and the North.

Now darkness will never again have full sway -
Moon and stars rule the night and the sun rules the day.
Darkness eternal has had its great fall,
And God, who is light, rules high over all.

E'en so was my life once ruled by the night;
For, oh, far too long, was the darkness my plight.
Nor reason nor wisdom could pierce the dark cloud
And my life was enveloped by a dark, smoth'ring shroud.

'Twas darkness without and darkness within;
Darkness held sway, accomp'nied by sin.
And never a thought came to mind of the light,
And I relished the darkness and reveled in night.

And then, oh the day, I remember it well
When the light issued forth and pierced my dark shell.
It flooded my being, it flooded my soul,
I could see, I could feel, I could hear, I was whole!

Then Jesus came in and my chains fell away
And I rose up to walk in an endless new day.
Though darkness may come, 'twill ne'er rule again
For His blood has now covered my guilt and my sin.

And I walk in the light as a child of the King
Who has saved me from shame and from guilt and all things
That once were as darkness to my dark, troubled soul;
I'm a child of the light, I'm cleansed and I'm whole.

A Root Out Of Dry Ground

He hath no form nor comeliness
That he should be desired,
No beauty in his countenance
That he might be admired.

No natural beauty rests on him,
Not thus will he be found.
He is a rod from Jesse's stem,
A root out of dry ground.

When he stood on Jordan's shore,
There soon to be baptized,
No one knew him as he was,
He was not recognized.

He knew hunger, he knew thirst,
When Laz'rus died, he wept.
Fully God, yet wholly man,
All in him is kept.

He is a man as we are men,
He draws our human breath;
He walks our dusty streets with us,
He shares our Nazareth.

He who knows me as I am,
Who walks where I have trod,
Identifies himself with me
To bring me close to God.

Cast Up A Highway

The voice of one crying - hark, do you hear;
Does his voice in the wilderness fall on your ear?
"Prepare ye the way of the Lord, do not wait;
Cast up a highway, make it smooth, make it straight."

There cometh a king, will we hearken to this,
And prepare Him a way in the rough wilderness?
Cast up a highway and cast out the stones,
A highway that He may come unto His own.

Not to the temple or court was John sent,
But into the wilderness where it was meant
That he should awaken the people of God
To cast up a highway on plain common sod.

So quick! To the work! Are there stones in the midst?
Do we want Him to find such a welcome as this?
Habits or lusts, or any such thing?
Cast up a highway for Jesus our King!

And He will come gloriously in splendor astride
A white, armored horse He only can ride,
On this highway of holiness, soon you will see,
He'll call out your name and say "Come ride with me!"

Then He'll catch us all up in His arms there to ride
With our great King of kings, we'll be right by His side
As He travels the earth on this holy highway
On His conquering steed and we'll walk in His ways

And we'll rule and we'll reign with our great King of love,
This One who has come from heaven above.
And the way that we labored so hard to prepare
Will be the great highway that with Him we'll share.

Song of Love

Away, my love, come be with me,
The time of loves has come;
The winter time is past and gone,
The dove begins her song.

My heart is ravished with thy love,
'Tis far surpassing sweet;
I eagerly await to hear
The approaching of thy feet.

The cool of day has come again,
To the garden let us go;
Leave other loves behind to share
The love that we both know.

The @ Sign

The funny little a with its tail circling back around it is probably one of the most commonly used symbols today. So it is truly amazing to learn that there is no official, universal name for it. The most accepted term, even in many other languages, is to call it the at sign. But there are dozens of different words used to describe it. A lot of languages use words that associate the shape of the symbol with some type of animal.

Here are a few examples of the many exotic terms associated with the @ symbol:

apestaart - Dutch for "monkey's tail"
snabel - Danish for "elephant's trunk"
kissanhnta - Finnish for "cat's tail"
klammeraffe - German for "hanging monkey"
kukac - Hungarian for "worm"
dalphaengi - Korean for "snail"
grisehale - Norwegian for "pig's tail"
sobachka - Russian for "little dog"

Before it became the standard symbol for e-mail, the @ symbol was typically used to indicate the cost or weight of something. For example, if you bought five oranges for $1.25 each, you might write it as 5 oranges @ $1.25 ea. It is still used in this manner on a variety of forms and invoices around the world.
The actual origin of the symbol is uncertain. It was used by monks making copies of books before the invention of the printing press. Since every word had to be painstakingly transcribed by hand for each copy of a book, the monks that performed the copying duties looked for ways to reduce the number of individual strokes per word for common words. So, the word at became a single stroke of the pen as @ instead of three strokes. While it doesn't seem like much today, it made a huge difference to the men who spent their lives copying manuscripts!

Another origin tale states that the @ symbol was used as an abbreviation for the word amphora, which was the unit of measurement used to determine the amount held by the large terra cotta jars that were used to ship grain, spices and wine. Giorgio Stabile, an Italian scholar, discovered this use of the @ symbol in a letter written in 1536 by a Florentine trader named Francesco Lapi. It seems likely that some industrious trader saw the @ symbol in a book transcribed by monks using the symbol and appropriated it for use as the amphora abbreviation. This would also explain why it became common to use the symbol in relation to quantities of something.

Job's Reply

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42: 5, 6)

After all that went before, all the conjecturing and all the reasoning, all the self-examination and Job-examination, God spoke. "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him? Deck thyself now with majesty and exellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty."

And Job was reduced to one simple answer: "I abhor myself." At that point he saw God.

I want to see God. Is this what it will take?

Isn't that what Paul said: "I count all things as loss that I may know him."

Isn't that what John the Baptist said: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Isaiah, too: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord."

It all comes down to that - more of Him and less of me. In that order. My self-reduction cannot be done in my own strength - then it would still be me.

Lord Jesus, give me such a vision of You that I no longer want to stand out or be noticed, but only for your glory. Shine, Jesus, shine.

The Light Of The World

Go and sin no more, my son,
I thee do not condemn.
I came to save not only thee
But all the race of men.

I am water for the thirsty,
I am sight unto the blind,
I am healing in the body
For thee and all mankind.

If I may come and heal thee
I will make of thee a light,
And shine through thee to illumine
This sad world's darkest night

That men may see my glory,
And, seeing, shall be healed,
When I may come in power
As Christ in thee revealed.

Ain't No Blue In Bluegrass

I've been out of town and haven't posted for a while.

I went to a bluegrass festival with my daughter. Mary started going to bluegrass concerts with me to have an activity to share with me and ended up liking the music. This thrills me no end since no one else in the family likes it. Mary says that bluegrass is the perfect cure for sadness and depression - you can't be blue listening to a 5-string banjo.

I never cease to be amazed at the skill of the musicians in picking this hard-as-nails, lightning-fast music and singing the high mountain-tenor harmonies. Most of it is home-grown, done out of pure love for the music.

The concerts are always alcohol- and smoke-free in a good family environment and there is never anything off-color. Bluegrass groups always include gospel songs in their performances and have at least one gospel CD; they talk openly about their love for the Lord Jesus.

Mary and I have a favorite group that we follow around. The group is called Phoenix and they are based in Charlottesville, VA. The 4 members of this band have all played professionally with full-time travelling bands (a secret desire of mine) but stopped that and now play bluegrass just for enjoyment. It really comes through in their performances, not that the other groups lack anything, but Phoenix really spreads joy and excitement in a concert.

One thing that grabs me about bluegrass is that 4 or 5 people can create that hard-driving music with little acoustic wooden instruments using no electronics (other than a PA system so they can be heard). The bass (almost always an upright, hardly ever electric) provides a rock-steady 1-2 beat, while the banjo, mandolin and fiddle weave intricate patterns around it.

I grew up with bluegrass and country music in the '40's and '50's. Bluegrass was raw and had an edge to it in those seminal years. Much-improved recording technology and the need to reach a wider audience have resulted in a more refined sound while retaining the essential form and feel of the music.

They don't play bluegrass on the radio like they used to, so the festival has emerged as the venue for playing and hearing the music. These are 1-to 3-day events with a variety of artists each doing two 45-minute sets during the day. There are also some concert halls around. And my wife never has any shortage of bluegrass music in our house (not that she wants it).

It Pleased The Lord

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. (Isaiah 53:10)

We will never be able to plumb the depths or scale the heights of the meaning of this verse. This was pleasing to God, so great was His love for the lost and fallen human race. So great was His love that it cost Him the life of His only begotten Son, and that at great expense of suffering, all that we saw in "The Passion" and more.

This one event stands far and above all others in history. All eternity stopped and took notice that day as the precious, beloved Son of God offered Himself on the cross to work out God's plan to win us back to Himself. Angels cried and hid their faces, and the sun went behind a cloud. The earth shook violently, thunder rolled across the skies, and lightning flashed in jagged streaks. And it rained blood that day, soaking the ground a crimson red, as Jesus Christ the cross ascended. Grace and glory God extended as the Lamb our race defended.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

It pleased the Lord. Never let a day go by without thanking Him for what He did that day. Never treat it as something we don't need anymore now that we're saved. Hold it always before your spirit and your soul. May we see the full outworking of His salvation in our lives so that "the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand."

"Upon a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die; another’s life, another’s death, I stake my whole eternity."

~Horatius Bonar

The Way

I realized this morning that the word "Christianity" is not in the Bible. That is an invention of man that turns what the Bible calls "The Way" into a set of beliefs. Christianity becomes a series of doctrines and teachings, and we have blindly followed and accepted the premise that if we believe in these things then our lives will somehow be affected.

It's possible to believe in the resurrection but not be touched by it's power. Oh, I might try a little harder to be good, or have some passing hope for a moment. But Paul prayed "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." He said "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God..." That's more than having faith "in" - it's the "faith of" the Son of God. (Gal. 2:20 - KJV)

We have a new and living way, a Man who went to the cross, who was crucified, dead and buried, who descended into Hell, who rose pure and holy and led captivity captive, who lives now and forevermore.

Jesus didn't die so we could have a statement of beliefs, and He didn't walk out of that tomb so we could have ten steps to follow for a happy life. He has come as the great Lover of mankind. Let's fall in love with Him all over again!

The Carpenter

His fathers' shop was rude and bare
But Jesus labored daily there,
Making from the rough-hewn wood
Pieces that were true and good.

With gentle patience he would take
The crooked piece and make it straight,
And shape it with his laborer's hands
According to his father's plans.

In Father's house He labors still
According to His Father's will;
Every rough and knotty place
He smooths with His amazing grace.

The fruits of all His labors tell
A house where He and God might dwell;
And plank to board He fastens them
To build the New Jerusalem.

God's Original Intent

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23)

We don't read the Bible for what it says - we read it for what we think it says. When we look at this verse we interpret it as "For all have sinned and are going to hell," or "For all have sinned and need to repent."

What it really says is not that we're bound for the worst (which certainly may be true, but it's not what this verse says) but that we're missing the best. God's original intent was for man to live in His Glory, in His manifest Presence, in Him. But sin got in the way, and the original intent was lost.

Sin has its consequences, to be sure, and the worst of all is separation from God. But He has paid the price so we may now come - even come boldly - and be restored to the original intent.

We need to get on with the business of restoring - and being restored to - the glory of God, our true dwelling place. There are those who will have an eye for the highest and best and will press into that which God has for them. Let us be done with lesser things and rise to the challenge and the call - the Glory of God!

A Few Laughs

A guide was showing Niagara Falls to a man from Texas.
Guide: I'll bet you don't have anything like this in Texas.
Texan: Nope, but in Texas we have a plumber who can fix it.


Policeman: Tell me, why did you park your car here?
Motorist: Well, the sign says FINE FOR PARKING.


Old man (to his wife): What on earth are you doing?
Wife: Knitting up some barbed wire.
Old man: How can you do that?
Wife: Easy! I'm using steel wool

"We may note in passing that He was never regarded as a mere moral teacher. He did not produce that effect on any of the people who actually met Him. He produced mainly three results---Hatred---Terror---Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild admiration."

~C. S. Lewis

Enoch

"And Enoch walked with God and he was not, for God took him." (Gen. 5:6)

I have alway felt that this little verse about Enoch has to do with something more than God simply catching him away. Enoch walked with God - his life was in step with God, he lived to please God, he was sold out to God. In the process of living such a life Enoch was transformed into the man God wants, he was a vessel filled with the Presence of God. This is borne out in the New Testament by Paul's statement that "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live, but not I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. 2:20).

(This is a song I wrote - maybe it'll work as a poem.)

Enoch, you were the seventh man;
You showed forth the fullness of God's plan
For a man who walked so close with God,
Even here on common sod,
That he wasn't any longer just a man.

Enoch, the Lord had taken you
From all that you could say and you could do
Up into a higher realm
Where all you were was overwhelmed
By all that God could ever be for you.

I am crucified with Christ and yet I live,
Yet not I but just what Christ can give;
It's not by power, not by might,
Not by strength and not by sight,
For all I ever have or do are His.

Now I no longer live for self alone,
But just to be consumed by Christ the Son -
A burning bush on holy fire,
Caught up with an intense desire
To be with Him and be forever one.

Forever And Forever

"And of the increase of His government there shall be no end."

Lord, will there be no end to the growing sense of your Presence, no end to delighting in you more and more every day?

"No, there will be no end."

Lord, will you forever continue to reveal your Glory in ever-increasing measure?

"Yes, forever."

Lord, will I never cease to be amazed at Your power and might?

"No, never."

Lord, will you always lavish your love on me, cover my sins with your blood, and make Yourself more real to me every day?

"Yes, always."

Lord, will there never be any end to our love relationship that is the delight of my life and the joy of my heart?

"No, no end. I am yours always and forever and always have been. You are the delight of my heart and the apple of my eye. I gave everything for you and I will never let anyone take you away. I am jealous over you with a white-hot, fiery love that burns hotter than a thousand suns. Settle it in your heart then, child, that I will be your God and your Friend forever and forever and forever. There will be no end to our love. Long after the last star in the sky ceases to glimmer and shine, long after the last ray of the sun has made it's long journey across the endless reaches of space to the farthest corner of the universe, you will be in my heart. Eternity will prove the depth of my love for you."

Here For The Duration

I have just been asked by my company to stay on past my termination date due to my knowledge of the application system and the business. This is very good news because it means I won't have to go looking for another job, which is something I really don't want to have to do at my age. Unfortunately, one of my co-workers had to switch with me so he'll be out on the street in December.

Unlike my contractor friends, who like living on the edge, I have always enjoyed the security of a full-time position. And now I'll be able to continue saving for retirement and putting into Social Security (it ain't broke yet), as well as having the benefits.

I don't know how long "the duration" is because this company is winding down; we have to make good on our obligations (claims payouts) while not taking in any premium income, since we have ceased our marketing operations. At some point in time it will be more feasible to sell our liabilities and/or outsource our claims handling and IT work.

But right now it looks like I will be able to retire at retirement age. And then ... and then ...

"As long as I see any thing to be done for God, life is worth having; but O how vain and unworthy it is to live for any lower end!"

~David Brainerd

New Guitar

Yesterday I bought a new electric guitar and amp. I picked it out (no pun intended) on Friday at noon and mulled (prayed) it over for 24 hours. (The last time I bought an electric guitar the Lord told me very distinctly - in the middle of the night - to take it back. But this time I checked with Him before I bought anything.)

I'm really happy with the guitar and the amp both. The guitar is a Washburn Idol model, solid body, blue, with a beautfiful tone. The amp has all kinds of effects so I can sound like anything I want to and some things I don't want to. Amps are different these days than the last one I had many, many years ago - used to be the only effect they had was reverb, but now they're packed with stuff.

Luckily for my wife, there's a jack for headphones so she doesn't have to suffer through my heavy metal phase.

Yesterday we also got our immunizations for our Paraguay trip - 3 shots and a pill. I had already had the 2 other shots I needed. We might have to get one more.

Two of the neighbor's three pit bulls got into a death fight yesterday and we called Animal Control, who came and took them away; the dogs will have to be put to sleep. I'm going to tell the landlord that the remaining dog and the cage have got to go - can't have that in a residential neighborhood.

So - yesterday (Friday) was a flurry of activity from sunup to well past sundown. Luckily, I took the day off. Today - I'll play that guitar until my fingers get so sore I can't play anymore. I'm looking forward to jamming in church and Harp & Bowl.

Members One Of Another

Alejandro has been preaching in our latino church about what it means to be in a church, and it's something far different than what we experience in churces today. Paul says that we are "members one of another," not members of a church. What he's saying is that we are actually a part of each other.

I don't believe we have seen this worked out - at least not in any church I've been in. We put a premium on joining the organization, transferring our "letter of membership" when we go to another church, etc., but little emphasis is placed on relationships.

In our disconnected society, our lives rarely intersect; we live in different areas, work in different enterprises, and only come together briefly a couple of times a week, and even then we're like a family watching television - we're "alone together" as we listen to the one-man-show and only see the back of each other's head. I haven't touched you and you haven't touched me.

I've been sitting next to people in church for years and I know next to nothing about them. Even in my neighborhood we hardly interact - we all sit inside our own houses watching the same television shows. It takes something like a giant snowstorm to get us outside and working together, and when we do it's a wonderful thing as we help each other clear our walks and shovel out our cars. The last time it snowed, it felt so good helping each other that we tromped off down the street with our shovels to clear other driveways.

My friend Sean is pursuing this kind of relationship with other believers - actually working at it. I've found that it takes time and commitment, but it's infinitely valuable. Our fellowship is in Christ, not in our jobs or in talking about the weather or in working in the same industry - all that stuff is just small talk; Christ is the glue that binds us together.

The world isn't saying "see how they love one another" because we're not loving one another. But there is a way made clear for us, a highway of holiness where we can become what is in God's heart - a new society, wholly transformed and renewed in their minds, that can turn the world upside down. It happened once - it can happen again.

Sunday, Monday

There's such a difference between Sunday night and Monday morning. On Sunday night I'm in the Spirit and in the Glory. On Monday morning - oh, well, how many songs have been written about that?

I make a disconnect between the two - I equate Monday with real life, and Sunday with some desirable but unattainable state. Could I really ever achieve the levels of joy and peace on Monday that I experience on Sunday?

Well, shoot, dang, yeah! That's what's supposed to happen! It's supposed to work out in the nitty-gritty. That's why He came - not to concede defeat to an enemy more powerful than He by whisking me out of here, but by renewing my mind and transforming my character in the rough and tumble of life, to make me an overcomer, to make me like Jesus, who overcame every obstacle and temptation, who walked in unbroken fellowship with His Father.

In order to be an overcomer, I've got to have something to overcome (thanks, Wade Taylor). And there are plenty of those around. They're not obstacles, they're stepping stones to that higher life to which we have been called - stepping stones to higher ground.

God is good, and all His works are perfect. He outshines the sun. I need to be as convinced of that on Monday morning as I am on Sunday night. Shoot, dang, yeah!

Last night we had our first meeting for the team that will be going from St. Giles to Paraguay in July. We met at The Well in Pineville (this is in NC, near Charlotte, for those from other parts), a church/coffee shop. It was the perfect place to meet - roomy and comfy, big sofas, good beans. We just wanted to hang out together so we could begin to get to know each other. We could pray and worship together there at The Well and it didn't bother anybody - other people just kept doing whatever they were doing!

The high point for me was the worship. I felt a strong drawing of the Lord like when you're at the beach and a wave has come in and is on its way back out, and you can feel the pull of the water on your legs. To me it was as if the Lord is drawing us onwards in Him to great things in His Spirit.

Inside of church in Paraguay where we'll be on our missions trip in July 

This is the church where we're going on our mission trip to Paraguay in July 

Altogether Lovely

After the battle of Antietam, when a general rode along the lines, although the soldiers were lying down exhausted, they rose with great enthusiasm and huzzaed. As Napoleon returned from his captivity, his first step on the wharf shook all the kingdoms, and two hundred and fifty thousand men joined his standard. It took three thousand troops to watch him in his exile. So there have been men of wonderful magnetism of person. But hear me while I tell you of a poor young man that came up from Nazareth to produce a thrill such as has never been excited by any other. Napoleon had around him the memories of Austerlitz, and Jena, and Badajos; but here was a man who had fought no battles; who wore no epaulettes; who brandished no sword. He is no titled man of the schools, for he never went to school. He had probably never seen a prince, or shaken hands with a nobleman. The only extraordinary person we know of as being in his company was his own mother and she was so poor that in the most delicate and solemn hour that ever comes to a woman's soul she was obliged to lie down amid camel-drivers grooming the beasts of burden.

I imagine Christ one day standing in the streets of Jerusalem. A man descended from high lineage is standing beside him, and says, "My father was a merchant prince; he had a castle on the beach at Galilee. Who was your father?" Christ answers, "Joseph, the carpenter." A man from Athens is standing there unrolling his parchment of graduation, and says to Christ, "Where did you go to school?" Christ answers, "I never graduated." Aha! the idea of such an unheralded young man attempting to command the attention of the world! As well might some little fishing village on Long Island shore attempt to arraign New York. Yet no sooner does he set his foot in the towns or cities of Judea than every thing is in commotion. The people go out on a picnic, taking only food enough for a day, yet are so fascinated with Christ that, at the risk of starving, they follow him out into the wilderness. A nobleman falls down flat before him, and says, "My daughter is dead." A beggar tries to rub the dimness from his eyes, and says, "Lord, that my eyes may be opened." A poor, sick, panting Roman presses through the crowd, and says, "I must touch the hem of his garment." Children, who love their mother better than any one else, struggle to get into his arms, and to kiss his cheek, and to run their fingers through his hair, and for all time putting Jesus so in love with the little ones that there is hardly a nursery in Christendom from which he does not take one, saying, "I must have them; I will fill heaven with these; for every cedar that I plant in heaven I will have fifty white lilies. In the hour when I was a poor man in Judea they were not ashamed of me, and now that I have come to a throne I do not despise them. Hold it not back, oh weeping mother; lay it on my warm heart. Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

What is this coming down the road? A triumphal procession. He is seated, not in a chariot, but on an ass; and yet the people take off their coats and throw them in the way. Oh, what a time Jesus made among the children, among the beggars, among the fishermen, among the philosophers! You may boast of self-control, but if you had seen him you would have put your arms around his neck and said, "Thou art altogether lovely."

~T. DeWitt Talmage

The Fullness of Jesus

He filled heaven's vastness with His All-Present Being,
From the first to the last, All-Knowing, All-Seeing;
All eternity knew of His Personhood there -
No space was unfilled, no corner left bare.

But His fullness He took far below on a day
When He left heaven empty in a manger to lay.
His brightness and glory, His radiance and light
Filled the Bethlehem stable on that long ago night.

But the manger in darkness and emptiness lay
When barren He left it ... long ago ... far away,
And filled up a cross on Calvary's hill
And emptied Himself to do God's perfect will.

He left empty the manger and the heavens above
But the cross bore the fullness of His fullness of love.
He filled it with all of the sin of our race
And bore it Himself at the Skull's awful place.

And when He had died they removed Him from thence,
When all of His blood and His life had been spent.
But the fullness of sin He took to the grave
And left it all there so that we could be saved.

They came to the tomb in the chill morning air
And were told "He is risen!" He was no longer there!
They looked in and saw the grave empty and bare
With naught but the grave clothes He left lying there!

The heavens, the manger, the cross and the tomb
Were all filled with His Presence, but emptied, for soon
He would come in His fullness, not portion nor part,
To fill up the void of my poor, empty heart.

Once empty, once barren, once longing for peace,
My heart knows a fullness that never will cease.
The fullness of Jesus, God's fullness of love,
Has come to my heart from heaven above!

Q:How many charismatics does it take to change a lightbulb?
A:Three, one to cast it out and two to catch it when it falls!


A confirmation student was asked to list the Ten Commandments in any order. He wrote, "3, 6, 1, 8, 4, 5, 9, 2, 10, 7."


Abraham bought himself a fancy new computer. He was showing it to Isaac one day. "Look at all the wonderful programs it has on it. And look at all the neat things it can do..."
Isaac was impressed, but a little concerned..."But dad, I don't think your computer has enough memory."
Abraham said "Don't worry son; the Lord will provide the RAM."

The New Covenant

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah ... this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

God uses very few words. He said "Let there be light," and look what happened (thanks to Charles Haun). Like Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, God here expresses Himself succinctly and perfectly with a modicum of words.

Under the New Covenant, foreseen hundreds of years in the future by Jeremiah, the law will be written on fleshy tables of the heart, no longer on tablets of stone. God is writing in our hearts in these days to establish His laws within us that we might be the people He desires.

Adherence to this law will not be conformity to an external standard as in Old Testament legalism (and much of modern day legalism, for that matter), not a list of "to do's" and "don't do's," but "I delight to do Thy will, O Lord."

Lord, here's my heart. Write your law there with the pen of your Holy Spirit, even with the finger of God, that I might be pleasing unto Thee.

The Deity of the Holy Ghost

I think this concept has been largely lost in modern-day Christianity. We talk about receiving a "blessing," or think this is our emotions. No - this is God! The creeds have it right (not that I'm in favor of reciting creeds in every service) because this was an issue in those days and it was clarified and solidified in the creeds. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost were termed "co-equal," "co-substantial," and "co-eternal." Let's not lose ground gained in earlier times.

The Holy Spirit is of the same substance as God, and in fact is as much God as the Father and the Son. He (and we do well to keep in mind that Jesus referred to the Spirit as a person, never as an "it") always takes a low place because His ministry is to glorify the Son and not Himself, as the Son's ministry is to glorify the Father. Because He is lowly and does not exalt Himself, we have perhaps lost sight of who He really is. Because we cannot glorify the Holy Ghost solely for His own sake (because He does not do that Himself) we perhaps have lowered our estimation of His exalted position in the Godhead.

This is God working in us, bless His Holy Name forever! I never want to lose sight of the fact that I have a vital and vibrant connection with Jesus and with the Father because the Holy Ghost is alive in me. I want to walk in the victory obtained by those who went before and fought great battles in the faith. I don't want to let His banner ever waver or fall to the ground.

O, Holy Ghost, rise up in your people and proclaim the glory of our God!

Prayer

"Prayer is not monologue, but dialogue. God’s voice in response to mine is its most essential part."

~Andrew Murray

Typoglycemia

This is amazing. Go ahead and read this - the amazing thing is that you can do it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

His Dwellingplace

"All His glory and beauty come from within,
and there He delights to dwell.
His visits there are frequent,
His conversation sweet,
His comforts refreshing,
and His peace passing all understanding."

~Thomas A Kempis

The Wonders of The Well-Beloved Son

All the books that have been written,
All the songs that have been sung,
Never could contain the wonders
Of the well-beloved Son.

Love exceeding mere description,
Grace beyond a man's decree,
Power and might past human knowing,
Beauty that no eye can see.

Wisdom past all understanding,
Music that will ne'er be sung,
Knowledge higher than the heavens,
Eloquence beyond the tongue.

How then could my tongue desribe it,
All the glories of His worth?
How could all the scribes and poets
Who ever lived upon the earth?

Come, then, He Himself will tell us
Of His glory and His fame;
Open wide your heart and listen -
He'll tell the honor of His Name!

Follow The Directions

I sent off a fax today, but made a big mistake the first time around and had to re-send it properly. My mistake came about because all the copiers at work accept the paper face-up, but the fax machines require you to put the paper in face-down. There's even a big sign over the fax machine: "Put papers in face down." I went by force of habit and faxed two blank pages. I don't know what caused me to realize my error and send my fax again the right way, but I'm glad I caught my mistake.

God gave Moses instructions to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, and He explicitly told Moses to build it according to the pattern shown him in the mount. In other words, Moses was to follow the directions.

I sometimes wonder how off we are in our interpretation of God's desire for us in our churches. Are we doing things the way He wants us to? And if we're not, do we have a way of knowing that and of changing our course? Do we have that spark of life in everything we do? Are we going by habit or walking in the light? Are we just doing what we've always done?

I think we pride ourselves on our own ways, and can even strengthen our resolves to carry on our traditions. Church engenders a kind of self-righteousness: "Well, we're serving God so we must be okay." How often do we relax and take a look back at what we're doing to see if there's anything we should change? And, if we did that, would we have the guts to change?

Maybe we're afraid of being pessimistic and negative, and that's probably something good to be afraid of. But we should be just as afraid of being complacent, luke-warm, and out of the way.

One of my favorite organizations is Toastmasters, where you practice public speaking in front of your peers. After speaking, everyone gets evaluated. The benefit in that is in being able to see yourself as others see you. There's a right way to evaluate somebody in this setting: mention one strong point, then something that could be improved on, and close with another strong point. That goes down pretty easy.

Would that we could evaluate ourselves that way. Would that we had enough openness and honesty to say "Golly, we're not emphasizing what we should," or "we're just keeping the machinery going," or whatever the case may be. The blood is there to forgive and the light of God is there to lead us into His paths.

The Psalms speak of individual relationship with God and personal repentance, but the prophets speak of corporate repentance. That's something we don't hear about often enough in church. Joel says "Let the priests and ministers weep between the porch and the altars." That's heart-felt repentance coming from the top; that kind of change will flow down over the whole body.

Passion

“If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!”

~Keith Greene

All For One

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life." (Psalm 27:4)

"I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." (Phil. 3:8)

I would lose all things for this one thing. This is the pearl of great price for which the merchant sold all the others. This is the treasure in the field for which a man sold all that he had.

"Salvation is free. Everything else costs." (Wade Taylor)

"Important as it is that we recognize God working in us, I would yet warn against an over preoccupation with the thought. It is a sure road to sterile passivity. God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election, predestination and the divine sovereignty. The best and safest way to deal with these truths is to raise our eyes to God and in deepest reverence say, ‘Oh Lord Thou knowest.’ Those things belong to the deep and mysterious Profound of God's omniscience. Prying into them may make theologians, but it will never make saints."

~A. W. Tozer

"A system of doctrine has risen up during the last three centuries, in which faith or spiritual-mindedness is contemplated and rested on as the end of religion, instead of Christ ... stress is laid on the believing rather than on the object of belief, on the comfort and persuasiveness of the doctrine than on the doctrine iteself. And in this way religion is made to consist of contemplating ourselves, instead of Christ ... not in His divinity and atonement, but in our conversion and faith in Him."


~John Henry Newman

Jacob

Jacob, did you lay your head upon a stone,
Sleeping in the desert all alone?
Were the heavens opened there,
Did a ladder God prepare,
Angels going up and down to the throne?
Jacob, did you lay your head upon a stone?

I, too, have laid my head upon this stone
When I'm feeling weary and alone.
Jesus is the One
I lay my head upon,
He gives me rest and strength to carry on.
I, too, have laid my head upon this stone.

Jacob, did you wrestle with a man
All night long upon the desert sand?
Was He the Son of Man,
Wasn't He the great I Am?
Jacob, did he touch you with His hand?
Jacob, did you wrestle with a man?

I, too, have sometimes wrestled with this Man,
Just to know His will, to know His plan,
But I have overcome
When conquered by the Son,
When I let Jesus touch me with His hand.
I, too, have sometimes wrestled with this Man.

Jacob, did somebody change your name,
Changed your life and left you not the same?
Israel thou art now,
Power with God hast thou,
He touched you there and left you limp and lame.
O, Jacob did somebody change your name?

One day I met a Man who changed my name,
Changed my life and left me not the same.
From heaven to earth He came
In the power of the Name,
Now I sing His honour and His fame.
One day I met a Man who changed my name.

"Do not look back on past failure and shortcoming, nor stand in dread of recurring sin; but look up and away to the face of Jesus. Do not, I pray you, live life on the dying, but on the living side. Dwell in the secret place of the Most High. Abide in the house of the Lord all the days of your life. Enter with boldness the Holiest, to remain there. Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to realize the constant Presence of God. Say to yourself many a time each day, even when you do not feel it, "Thou art nigh, Thou art here." Make your home in the sense of God's nearness. Oh, taste and see the sweetness of such a life!"

~ F. B. Meyer

Learn Of Me

We have thought that we come to know the Lord through teaching and learning, that the intellect can be developed to apprehend the Lord. We put a premium on a literal belief in what the Bible says (every group says that, and every group believes something slightly different, so I wonder how that works) and rest in our understanding of that, without going on to apprehend what we know to be true with our mind.This may be a product of our particular culture,which glorifies the intellectual over the spiritual, or an inherent tendency of the Adamic nature to do things on its own.

Whatever the cause, it has brought us up short in the things of God. Jesus said "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." He said "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life." (John 6:39, 40). Jesus is the main attraction in the Kingdom of God.

The Bible is a road sign. Indeed, we can get hopelessly lost if we don't read the sign or if we misinterpret it. It's good to be able to read the sign and understand what it says, but we should then go to where the sign is pointing instead of exulting in our knowledge about the sign itself. The whole Bible points to a Man, Jesus.

In all our learning, let us learn Jesus. Luke wrote his letter to Theophilus, which in Greeks means "student of God." Let's be students of God, of God Himself and not just His teachings.

We are ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Jesus is Truth. We need to educate the heart, to send the heart to the school of the Holy Spirit.

I was in a Bible study once where the teacher said that the Bible is infallible whereas human experience is fallible, therefore we should focus on the letter of the Word and avoid experience in the realms of the Spirit. I thought "That's not what Paul said when he wrote 'That I may know Him." Paul had experienced a revelation of Jesus on the Damascus road, and that experience is what we need to firmly establish us in the truth that God is a person in His own right who deserves to be known and to express His heart in the lives of those who will allow Him to.

Closeness To God

"A lot of folks think closeness to God means knowing all the right answers. But I don't agree. I think closeness to God begins the night we toss nd turn in bed, realizing we don't know it all. Look at the Bible. Some of its finest saints were long on questions: Job on his ash heap, the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray, Nicodemus grilling Jesus late into the night, even Jesus on the cross.

Having spent much of my life showing off my smarts, I nearly choke on the words "I don't know." Still, I suspect those words might be the kingdom keys. What it boils down to is that God doesn't care whether or not we have right answers. Just right hearts."

~Philip Gulley in "Front Porch Tales"

Community Of Nations

Our church started a Latino church plant called "Comunidad de Las Naciones" (Community of the Nations). The church is situated in the middle of the Latino population explosion in Charlotte (Charlotte and Kansas City have the fastest-growing Latino populations in the country).

Alejandro Ruz came from Chile with his family to begin the church. He had previously planted a church in Paraguay. Ale is a Vina (pronounced "Vinya" and which means "Vineyard," and the word Vina should have a tilde - that squiggly character that looks like a little worm - over the "n," but I don't know how to make that on my keyboard) pastor and came in April of last year.

Ale is building the church on the basis of relationship - relationship with the Lord and with each other. Worship is reaching new levels in the Spirit as the people learn how to enter in. There is a flow of people from Latin America as they come to visit their friends and relatives. Lives are being touched and Jesus is lifted high.

I studied Spanish for 6 years and majored in it in college. I had been a very average student in high school until I took my first Spanish course in 10th grade; that lit a fire in me and I excelled in an academic subject for the first time in my life. It must be related to my facility with music and poetry. Although I never used the language professionally, I kept it alive within myself by thinking in Spanish and translating different things to myself.

Three years ago, Pat felt led to begin studying Spanish and to get a passport. She urged me to get a passport but I couldn't see any reason why. (Which must indicate that she's more spiritual and prophetic than I am.)

Then came the Latino church plant, which we are both deeply involved in, and an upcoming mission trip to the church in Paraguay in July which we're both going on. (I got a passport.)

We've been waiting and waiting for God to use us. I felt like Moses must have felt on the backside of the desert tending sheep for his uncle. Suddenly one day there was a bush burning, which he turned aside to see, and which changed everything.

The world is changing. The mission field is at our doorstep. The bush is still burning. And so am I.

Abide In Me

I touched Him once, then ran away;
I thought "That's all I need to do.
I'll tell the world of who I've seen,
And then they all can know Him, too."

I spoke to many people then
Of One I'd touched and seen back then.
One asked a question: "Where is He now?"
I could not answer; I knew not how.

So back again to Christ I ran
For one more touch; this was my plan -
To know His touch, to find His place,
Then run to tell the human race.

But when I came He held my hand
And would not let me go.
"Abide in my, my little one,
And then the world shall know."

Waiting On God

"That is waiting on God: having our eyes always on Him with a secret satisfaction, as men have on that which is their glory, and which they glory in."

~Matthew Henry

The Shadow of the Almighty

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." (Psalm 91:1)

Well, the groundhog saw his shadow yesterday, so we're going to have some more winter. That may or may not be true, but I've seen a shadow that promises a lot more than that.

I want to abide under the shadow of the Almighty, so close to Him that I go where He goes. His shadow is going to go where He goes, and by His grace I'll be there too.

My dog is like my shadow - she is right at my feet all the time. She is totally devoted to me and wants only to be in my presence. That's the heart I want to have for God.

The promise of abiding under His shadow is made to those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. "Dwelling" is different from "visiting," more than just church on Sunday, more than a yabba-dabba-doo prayer, more than our quick, hurried Christian life style. We've got everything just so right, could it be we got something wrong in the process?

Let us see through all our Christian clap-trap to the One who loves us so much that He gave everything He had just to be with us. Let us dwell in His Presence by continually looking away to Jesus.

The Groundhog

My father founded his company on February 2, so ever since, Groundhog Day has been a big deal in our family for exchanging cards and letters. One year I found this poem somewhere.

The groundhog is, at best, a simple soul
Without pretension, happy in his hole,
Twinkle-eyed, shy, earthy, coarse-goated grey,
No use at all (except on Groundhog Day).
At Christmas time, a rather doubtful fable
Gives the beast standing room inside the stable
With other simple things, shepherds and sheep,
Cows, and small winter birds, and on the heap
Of sun-sweetened hay, the simplest thing
Of all - a Baby. Can a groundhog sing,
Or only grunt his wonder? Could he know
This new-born Child had planned him, long ago,
For groundhog-hood? Whether true tale or fable,
I like to think that he was in the stable,
Part of the plan, and that He who designed
All simple wonderers, may have had me in mind.

~Luci Shaw