How do you define success? Continue reading
Faith
Grief
Broken with no hope of being mended;
Focused on a chapter that has ended;
Feeling as if time has been suspended;
Captivated by the sudden stillness-
Life appears infected with an illness.
Pain, oh how much longer will you tarry?
Fear: oppressive fog around the ferry.
How much farther, Father, must I carry
Weakness, like a cancer in my being
Which corrupts the sights that I am seeing?
Deeply does the curse cause me to suffer.
With each passing day, the road feels rougher.
God, be my deliverance, my buffer.
I can not in my own strength endure this.
Must I suffer so much in your service?
Yet your promise holds, for you are working
All things for the good – even the hurting.
Keep me then, in test and trial, from cursing
You in your unfathomable wisdom.
Keep me focused on your holy kingdom.
A Prayer
Lead on, lead on, O sacred flame.
Bring light into the darkness.
Let me live wholly for your name
In movement as in stillness
That you might use my feeble frame
To show the world your greatness.
Fear of the Lord, part 1
My eyes behold a sight so terrible
And lovely I cannot but stand in awe
And dread at knowing now what others saw,
The truth perceived in part through parable.
The Lord of all that is, in love and wrath,
Has ev’ry right to rid his world of me.
And I, now seeing him, do suddenly
Abandon all excuses for my path,
This road which led me to my own demise.
I am a sinful man deserving naught
But righteous condemnation without end.
Yet now I hear a spotless lamb’s last cries,
And now I learn my worthless life is bought,
And now I know that Christ has called me friend.
Searching for God’s Will
Maybe you’re like me. When I see an article (or a sermon, book, pamphlet, smoke signal, etc.) on the topic of finding God’s will, I feel a sudden tinge of hope that the message might be “the one.” And, though you may have never defined it that way, you may very well have been searching for “the one” message as well. This one message, of course, is the message that will specifically answer your particular questions about what the future holds. No vagueness or generalities, this article would surely give you clear instructions to determine which decisions to make. Continue reading
Faith’s Effect
Success is measured not in thought alone,
Nor victory in mind’s imagining.
Accomplishment is not emotion shown.
Fulfillment ne’er forsakes the offering.
But faith is evidenced by faithful deeds,
By empty pockets and by calloused hands.
It proves itself in prayer, in meeting needs,
In bringing light and love to darkened lands.
It stands against this present apathy
And challenges the heart of selfishness.
If Christ was crushed for sin instead of me,
Then let me never speak but to confess.
True faith compels me to apply the Word
And testify to Christ till all have heard.
Purpose (Extended Version)
Let my life be more than just existence.
Let me look beyond the day to day.
Teach me the importance of persistence
Till inner resistance falls away.
I am prone to wander, apt to tarry
When the time has come to carry on.
Be for me, therefore, a holy ferry
Through the night until the light of dawn.
Make me know the measure of my being.
Let me look beyond forgiven crimes.
With each passing moment, keep me seeing
Your eternity within our times.
May the purpose of this present moment
Far outweigh all former faults and fears.
Focus me in view of the atonement.
Fetter me to thee for all my years.
A Prayer for Rescue
Cleanse me lest I perish, Lord.
Purify my lep’rous skin.
Break these hands that hurt and horde.
Save me from the curse of sin.
Tame this tongue that tears apart.
Wreck this will that seeks its own.
Now ignite my lifeless heart.
[Present death, be overthrown.]
Turn your sword upon my soul.
Sever the deceiver’s hold.
Have in me the full control.
Shatter visions of fool’s gold
Till I learn to follow Thee,
Walking in your righteous way.
Grant me, Lord, the eyes to see.
I surrender all today.
Faith When Obedience Looks Like Foolishness
Allow me to set the scene for you.
Moses, the legendary leader of Israel, is dead. The wanderers have returned once more after forty long years to the edge of the promised land. Only the Jordan river lies between them and their inheritance. As Moses’ life drew to a close, a younger, God-fearing man named Joshua stepped up to claim the mantle as the leader of the people of God. Israel now stands on the cusp of a new journey, a journey full of war and grace. Continue reading
The Tricks of Idolatry
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that a person’s relationship status can easily become an idol. Individuals sacrifice time, money, and emotional well being to serve this ever hungry god, finding again and again that the idol can never truly be appeased. No matter how much you give, you will find this false god always demanding more. Continue reading
as i learn to walk 