Repentance

There is an inborn resistance to repentance

It says "I'm ok just as I am

I don't need anyone or anything

I can make it if I just

Actualize my potential

I don't need a God or a Jesus 

I'm ok just as I am

There's no such thing as sin

Just leave me alone

And let me live my life"

Really?

Well Jesus sure 

Wasted a whole lotta blood

On the cross

If that's the case

I do need you Lord

Every day

I'm not perfect

I have messed up

I have sinned

For the sake of Jesus Christ 

Forgive me 

Restore your image in me

For you are the only one 

Who can

Devoted to prayer

The early ones

Constantly  

Devoted 

Themselves

To prayer

And they received

Power

Power to witness

Power to heal

Power to teach

Power to make disciples

Help me to be devoted

To prayer

Devoted to you 

Great Lord

That I may receive 

That same power

To yield a huge crop 

In your kingdom

Seeds

You're always sowing seeds 

In my life

Seeds of redemption

Seeds of righteousness

Seeds of extravagant generosity

Seeds of wonder

Seeds of creativity

I pray that

The soil of my heart

Is tilled and ready to receive 

Those precious seeds

And that 

Your sun-grace will shine

And your rain-grace will 

Gently fall

Upon my field forevermore

Suffering

Lord,

I don't want to suffer 

In fact 

I don't know anyone who does

Even Jesus 

Didn't want to suffer

So 

What does it mean, this suffering

Is it just part of 

The fallen world we live in

Is it 

A teacher

If so, I will try

To learn the lessons

That are more plain

In the midst of suffering

As long as

You stay with me

But still Lord,

I don't want to suffer

Vows

"I will pay you my vows"

Because I owe you everything

Life, love, learning

Beginning, beauty, boldness

You are the source

You are the genesis, the now, and the revelation of eternity

May I spend the rest of my days

In complete devotion 

Because you are the one and only

"I will pay you my vows"

no one

brother david said, “who is like you, o God?”

no one, indeed!

everyone else i know

has their own hangups, including me

but you, you in your holiness and perfection

came to earth clean and faultless

you fused divinity and humanity

God and man

in an impossible merger

a merger that broke all the rules of biology, physics, and chemistry

how? how? how?

 . . . . it’s a mystery!

i can’t say that you are 

50% God and 50% man

no, that would be wrong

you are the perfect embodiment and spirit of both

as i ponder the mystery

all i can say, with david, is

no one is like you,

God!

A place

I'm looking for a place to call . . . home

I don't know how to get there

I don't know the turns

Or do I?

The way to get there 

Is not shown on a map

It can't be plotted 

By a gps

No, the way 

Is defined by a relationship

A relationship

With the God Man

He'll give me the turns

Step by step, mile by mile

That's the only way

To get home . . . through Him

I'm looking for a place to call . . . home

And Jesus is the way

Sheep

I hear that sheep

Are not very smart

They do things like walk off cliffs

But one thing about sheep

They listen to the shepherd's voice

They know it, they respond to it

Have I listened today

To the shepherd's voice

Or am I listening to other voices

Voices that promise power and prestige

Voices that promise status

Voices that use others

Voices that value possessions and popularity

Hearken my heart

To the shepherd's voice

Once again

For the shepherd speaks

If only I will listen

The voice

So many voices in the world

Each telling me something different

How can I hear your voice

How can I tune in to the one voice

I will quiet myself

Open your book

And listen

As I do, the other voices fade

And your still, small voice

Clearly speaks grace and truth

Word

Your word endures forever

What does that mean for my life

It means you are not silent

Across the vast expanse of the universe

From the dark recesses of infinity

You speak

I am not left to wonder

Who you are and what you are like

I am not left to wonder 

What you command

Or how you 

Designed life

I have your word

I can hide it in my heart

I can talk about it on the 

Highways and byways of life

I delight in it

Making it my highest joy 

You have made us

People of the word

You have made us literate

Given us the gift of language

The gift of the word

To make us human

With your word

You spoke light 

Into the dark chaos

With your word

You spoke from the cross

It is finished

Blessed be your word

That never changes

Your word that

Guides, directs, challenges, and corrects

Your word that gives life

Your word that endures forever

Devotion

Am I devoted to you

Like you're devoted to me

Do I think about you

Night and day

Do I speak to you

And share my deepest pain

Do I share my joys and celebrations

Do I listen to your heart

Do I delight in your law

Are you the first One I think of

When I awake

And the last One I think of

Before I fall asleep

Do you define my life

And who I'm called to be

And when I take my 

Last breath on earth

Will I commend my spirit into your hands

Am I devoted to you

Like you're devoted to me