Despised and rejected in my youth
As irritable and distasteful,
Just a crutch of the old.
Engaged in my time of need
A helpful friend, oft' embraced,
That empowered me to be bold.
Now dearly loved as I creak and gray,
This old, reliable friend,
A steaming mug of black gold.
Ah, coffee, you ol' cup of joe.
When this temporary assignment ends, despite my dreams and hopes,
I'll not cry, blame the world, or wail.
Nor will I beat my chest in agony
As if I've somehow failed.
No, when this assignment ends,
I'll turn to my Master with my thanks
For all the opportunities that He's brought me through
And begin the next journey along the planks,
Seeking after the Lord's direction
To see where He next might send.
I will follow after where He'd have me go
Until I've breathed my last- and the final assignment ends.
Dancing in the Sunshine
Little flame dancing 'neath the clothesline,
Her carefree smile brighter than the sun.
She sways and spins and grins so wide
As daddy watches while she runs.
Little beauty, dancing in the sunshine
Until the day is done.
Such a joy, my little girl,
To watch you dance and glide.
So full of happiness as you twirl,
And peace, and love, and life.
Never lose that fire, dear;
Keep dancing in the sunshine.
Hope in the Darkness
So many dark clouds have fallen,
Drenched in the despair of mankind.
Everything around me grows sullen,
Where is there hope I might find?
My strength indeed has been stolen,
My humanity lost in confusion, now blind.
What is this weakness now showing?
Where is there hope I might find?
Can I step away from the edge of this cavernous despair?
Can I look away from the depths of the blight?
Can I find a path away from the forlorn
To walk along the spires of new light?
Be swept up into the bosom of love
And forget the weight of dark night;
Choose to look away from the darkness,
And put aside the hopelessness of the fight.
I'll never look into your eyes, little one,
Or hold your little hand;
I'll never hold you as you cry,
But I love you more than anything.
I'll never watch you skip and play
Or climb up in a tree;
Or get to help when you skin your knee,
But you already had my heart.
I'll never see you take a step,
Or walk beside you on your wedding day;
I'll never hear your little voice,
But you'll live with me till I die.
I may have never known you, my little one,
But your daddy I'll always be.
Wait for me in heaven, little one,
I'll come running for a hug.
(To E.N. or S.T.)
I've found myself lately to be wanting... something more. Encouragement, guidance, direction- for truth to be poured into me.
Longing, for true worship, for true fellowship, for REAL maturity to push me, to shape me, to challenge me.
What I long for is a group of mature Believers that want to authentically worship, who want to be taught and challenged, and who want to partner in ministering to the world, reaching out to the world...
Wasn't that the point of the Restoration movement? Restoring the church to the model of the Early Church?
I long for it, but I find very little of it in the Western Church. Maybe its why I had such a hard time coming back to the church after living on the mission field.
Venting to my little corner of the blogisphere will have to suffice for now.
(This is an except from the sermon I am preparing for this Sunday. The purpose statement that I have put before the church that I pastor is Teach, Disciple, Send- based on Matthew 28:19-20. This sermon is part 1 of the final pillar of that purpose: Send.)
Your faith is not dependent on the works that you accomplish. God is not watching everything you do with a clipboard, waiting for the balance on your account to become negative so that He can cut you loose. Our salvation is justified by our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf; it is justified by works, just not ours- it is justified by Jesus’ work on our behalf. In the grand scheme of salvation, ours is but a very small part to play.
We were drowning in an ocean of our own sins when Jesus came along in a ship called HMS Salvation and extended to us an invitation to rescue us and bring us to His Father’s house. Now, our part in the process: we must accept His invitation of rescue! We must accept salvation. We can neither brag nor complain about our place; we were drowning in sin because of our own choices and sins. If we are saved, it is because of the grace that Jesus extended to us; if we remain unsaved, we cannot complain that we end up in hell- eternal separation from God will have happened because we refused Christ’s offer of salvation.
The works of faith that James is referring to, that we are looking at in this first part of our Send pillar, come later. They have nothing to do with us accepting salvation. We didn’t strike some bargain with God- salvation in exchange for some future works of service. God extended grace to us when He had no use for us- He loved us and wanted to save us. That’s it.Now anything that we do in service of the Kingdom is an outward expression of our thanks! It is the outward proof of our faith in Jesus and His gift of salvation to save us from our own sins. James is not saying that we are saved by faith plus our works- He is stating to us that to have an authentic faith is to do active, authentic work in service of the one that justifies and saves us.
Our works are the fruit of an authentic faith. A faith that is fruitless is dead and, as Jesus says in Matthew 7:19, at risk of being cut down and cast into the fire. In other words, not the root of salvation, but the fruit that grows out of it!
