Joy From Sorrow
As we work our way through Lent may the following poem help us reflect on our daily need for repentance as well as the confidence we have in Christ. The opening reminds us of the joy in heaven over a sinner who repents. See Luke 15:7,10. The world is not awed No crowds applaud People barely notice or care Most are totally unaware A few might pass head shaking But behind the scene all of heaven is quaking Echoing with roaring peals Thundering joy as one sinner kneels Unseen miracle changes the heart And a dead slave of the Deceiver Awakes a repentant believer. This scene we long to see Is part of our own history! A little water and the Word In our lives a miracle occurred Ripped us free from living death Gave us life by Spirit’s breath Now no longer Satan’s slaves Confident we’ll burst our graves See our Savior come again The one who died for every sin. And yet the struggle day to day Our future feels so far away The sinful nature roars within We often feed it, fall in sin Seek our glory here on earth Ache for things that have no worth. On our trust may grow a crust, A feeling that life’s up to us, And if it were, we’d sure be lost We cannot hope to pay the cost Despair is where we must arrive When humans human hope contrive. And favorite sins we don’t call “sin” Because they’re so ingrained within And hard we try to justify But in the end cannot deny The truth that stands in Holy Law That bares our every hidden flaw. And if God’s law truth might sink in If we felt in full our state of sin We’d go insane and die right then Unable to handle what we’ve been So day by day we walk through life The new and old in constant strife Our best works still stained in sin How deep the problem deep within! And so we daily truth confess That we are hopeless, helpless mess Sinners lost if left alone Trembling at God’s judgment throne But greater is God’s awesome grace He lifts each down-turned shame-filled face With words of promise, life and love We have a Savior from above! God’s Son came here to live on earth He fought our fight and gave us worth He lived each moment flawlessly Yet received each sinner’s penalty Felt in full hell’s endless pain For every single sinful stain Died and killed the death we owe Washed us whiter than the snow And burst the grave, alive with might So we stand perfect in God’s sight We fix our eyes on mercy great We live his grace to celebrate So struggle on and fight the fight God’s promises in constant sight And ever may our hearts confess The truth of all our sinful mess Yet cling in faith to hope that’s real That nothing in this life can steal The truth of all our Savior’s done The life we have from God’s own...
Read MoreA Writer’s Journey: Book 2
It has been a while since I posted an update on my book progress…so here goes! I have been continuing to write and do research for my next book in the “I Was There…” series: I Was There When Jonah Was Lost. My goal is to have a completed and published book by the end of 2016. The research has been considerably more involved than I first expected. I have been busy studying ancient sailing and Phoenician and Assyrian culture around the time period of Jonah. The main character of the book is a Phoenician sailor from the coastal village of Sarepta who will be an eye witness to the famous account of Jonah in the Bible (see Jonah 1). Other characters in Assyria will witness the rest of the story (Jonah 3, 4). Just as my last book, I Was There When the Giant Fell, the story is all told from several 1st person points of view. I usually get up at 4:30 or 5 am and get in some writing time before the day begins. Recently I have started sending my book chapter by chapter to my editor, Rachel, and I am very excited to start the editing process again! I tend to be somewhat scattered in my approach to writing a novel, which means that I have many chapters of the story started and roughed in at this point while others are simply an idea on the page waiting to be fleshed out better. As I slowly work my way through the entire book getting chapters ready for editing the story is starting to take better shape. It is also amazing how many plot ideas and descriptions change and develop as I rework earlier rough sections. As always, I ask for you to continue praying for me and this writing...
Read MoreThe Gift of Peace
Our world desperately needs peace, but looks for it in all the wrong places. In all the rush and stress and distractions of this season of the year, may God keep us focused on the reason we celebrate and the true peace that we have in Christ this Christmas. And may our lives and words point others to that same never-failing source of everlasting peace! Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. No peace. If it weren’t for Him There’d be no peace. Imagine, if you only dare: All fear and doubt and terror everywhere. All well-earned shame and never-ending pain And this…This is why He came! To give us peace. Peace that heals us whole. Peace with the only Might that matters. Peace undeserved for each guilty soul. Peace we cannot understand. Peace beyond what we comprehend. Yet peace we have. Peace is ours. Peace here at hand. This babe. This tiny fragile infant God, Almighty Master of all, great and small Laid here in this desperate earth, such a strange unearthly birth So normal and abnormal, so lowly and incredibly holy, Our Peace appears so small, so unlikely, so naked and weak A baby wrapped in cloths and laid near beasts that reek This our King of kings? This the Prince who our peace brings? Yes! Yes and more! This little child, this tender lamb Is the mighty, perfect, great I AM Come to bear his creatures’ guilt His holy blood soon hellishly spilt For me! For me! For sinner me! For every sinner I might see. This my God, my holy God Come…come here, to be for me My ransom price to set me free. Peace that far surpasses all we might imagine All we know or feel or fashion Peace in which we rest, untouched, completely safe, God’s promises clutched… Reality in which we move and live, go forth in confidence, receive and give. In the midst of whatever earthly pain, all confusion that seems to reign God’s peace, so undeserved, is ours guarding us safe with perfect powers. In Christ we’re ever secure and whole, at peace with God and heaven our goal. So now we kneel at His manger bed, Heart in hand, bowing mind and head And celebrate the peace He brings Our long-promised virgin-born King of...
Read MoreGiving Thanks Through the Darkness
Philippians 4:6 is a beautiful passage for us to consider and hold on to during these challenging, stressful, and frightening times. The passage also has such a beautiful reminder that is so appropriate as we celebrate Thanksgiving and express our gratitude to God who is the giver of every good gift! “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6 Weighed down and worried we watch wide eyed News that intensifies stresses inside Terror and tragedy, death, war and woe Where can we turn to? To whom shall we go? When our own sin and problems nag and annoy When daily we struggle to find any joy When health and wealth and relationships fail Who hears our worried whisper or wail? Anxious? Afraid? Feeling broken and small? Hear the firm love in your Savior’s call: “Do not be anxious about anything at all, But take all your issues great and small And thankfully, thoughtfully pray them all through Give them to your God who knows well what to do.” And what marvelous truth! How free we would be If we stopped clinging to our problems so selfishly Stopped believing the lie that it’s all about “me” And drowning in useless anxiety And instead we released them to our mighty God Who knows all our sin and how deeply we’re flawed But loved us with a love so intensely expressed In dying our death to give us eternal rest. Let’s pray with thanksgiving as He wants us to Not just at Thanksgiving, but at all times too. God loves to listen to each thankful prayer It guards us from imagining God’s unfair Reminds us the Father always gives good gifts. With grateful thoughts our perspective shifts From whatever we want, to what God has given First and above all, Christ crucified and risen And life now and forever with all sins forgiven And mountains of blessings we never could number Food, family, fortune, fine work and sweet slumber And endless good gifts for this life and beyond Even hard times and troubles that strengthen the bond Between us and his truth as we lean on His love And store up our treasures, not here, but above. So let us rest in His rest as we work hard through life And give Him our troubles, our stresses, our strife And present each request, with thanksgiving in prayer To the One who is always completely aware Of all that we need, every want, every care And is mighty and gracious with blessings to...
Read MoreFind Gentleness In Our Harsh World
This poem is a continuation of the last post going with themes found in Philippians 4. Here are some thoughts on Philippians 4:5, a passage that gives us good wisdom for the way we live in these last days. We rejoice in the Lord and in Him we trust, As we live in a world opposed to Him and to us, And we listen to His words that we each need to hear: Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. When sinners scream, “Sinner!” and fingers point hard, When inside and out some are hated and scarred, When cowards post online what lips dare not say, Let us be shockingly gentle in every possible way. Remember our mission: Speak His truth in love Not sinfully self-righteously speaking down from above. Yet truth we must speak, calmly calling sin—sin Being firm in our gentleness again and again Knowing only the Spirit can woo and win A heart that is proud and content in its sin As our hearts have all at one time been. So let gentleness speak and that voice be loud. Let us follow the Lamb and not follow the crowd Giving love that gladly lays life and self down So one more lost sinner might inherit the crown. And the Lord is near! Right here! Right here now! Hidden from sight and from touch somehow But here nonetheless so incredibly near With his changeless love and his attentive ear With his nail-scarred hands that rule all things With each promise true that comfort brings With his victorious, triumphant, eternal might With his calm clear truth that soothes our fright With help and healing that gives us peace With sweet forgiveness and eternal release With Him so near, we need not fear We can work and give and live each year For the One who gave each perfect breath And sacrificed himself to death. He paid full-debt for every sin That every sinner could live with Him! The time is short so we work while it’s day And live, love and speak in His gentle true way We pass on his Word of love and power Knowing we live in the final hour And soon enough, when the time is right Like a sudden flash of lightning light Our near Lord will be seen by all We’ll lift our heads and heed his call And all who scoffed and turned away Will tremble on that dreadful day When the Mighty Risen Christ appears And forever ends his people’s...
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