As He was pulled closer to the inevitable
He asked that it be taken away to avoid the pain
Yet it wasn’t to be, it was coming.
As it came closer to Her, she ran towards it;
She embraced it and asked for it to come.
He was wondering, what is going on?

Talking, praying, emotional outcries
All seemed to ebb and flow together,
Nothing make a lot of sense, no clear direction came.
He asked and asked but it did not come
She jumped in wholeheartedly, with both feet.

He sought and searched, fought and talked.
Sleep was hard, living was harder, the inevitable was coming.
What was the way to go?
Where was the clear direction?
He pleaded with God but it was not coming.

She hung out, stayed out, gave out
With those who would not look after her soul.
Some did say, you’re moving too fast
But She said, who are you to tell me that.
He was wondering, what is going on?

It was more than a few days and weeks in the making.
Seeking advice months in advance was his way.
The pressure on his soul was building and He knew.
The choices became few, He felt caught, but knew.
Which way to go? How do you make hard life choices?

She was hurt deeply and profoundly.
Determined that it would not happen again
She went in a different direction,
She went down a different path
Where she could live life like the rest.

It finally came to Him. It was clear.
The talking was over, the pressure was gone.
The hurt would heal because God was clear.
It would not be understood by many
Yet by those by whom He had sought council from
They were filled with love, grace, and mercy.

She committed to this new path and was proud.
Council was not sought or wanted but rather shunned.
Pursuit of herself was clear, the future seemed bright.
Pride swelled, devastation loomed,
The hunt of her was on.

She was outwardly confident and sure.
He agonized, prayed, talked and fought.
But she would not, could not listen.
It would mean giving up, turning over
Control, to which She fought for and sought for.

God was so clear before, yet his pain with her
Continued, prolonged, and was steadfast.
How long would it last? What would be the scars?

He sought and searched, fought and talked.
Sleep was hard, living was harder, his joy
Was in danger and needed pursuing.
God said “I am here, have joy in me.”

Love, grace and mercy he knew
She needed yet it was not always
What came first, second, or third,
Though he prayed and sought.

His love never waivers, his pursuit of her is strong.
His prayers are fervent and continuous;
Thoughts swarm around him at all times.
He will not give up or shut up
Until it is clear, that God is finished.
Until then, he pleads for favor for Her
Like favor was shown Him.

Matt Chandler continues to be one of my favorite guys to listen to.  I resonate with tons of his stuff and this short clip hits the nail on the head.  What to you think?

How often have you been tought morality without the Gospel? It does not help anyone.  Ever.  It’s like teaching the what without the why.

I love this song, what do you think of the video?

Lecrae ft. Dwayne Tryumf - Don’t Waste Your Life

Hook: (Cam)
Don’t wanna waste my life.

Verse 1: (Lecrae)
I know a lot of people that scared they gone die
couple of em thinking they’ll be livin in the sky
while Im here livin man I gotta ask why, what am here fo I gotta figure out
waste my life no I gotta make it count
if Christ is real then what am I gone do about
everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21
you really gotta go and check it out
Paul said if Christ aint resurrect then we wasted our lives
well that implies that our life’s built around Jesus being alive
everyday I’m living tryna show the world why
Christ is more than everything you’ll ever try
better than pretty women and sinning and living to get a minute of any women and men that you admire
it aint no lie
We created for Him
outta the dust he made us for Him
Elects us and he saves us for Him
Jesus comes and he raises for Him
Magnify the Father why bother with something lesser
he made us so we could bless Him and to the world we confess him
resurrects him
so I know I got life
matter fact better than I know I got Christ
if you don’t’ see His ways in my days and nights
you can hit my brakes you can stop my lights
man I lost my rights
lost my life
forget the money cars and toss that ice
the cost is Christ
and they could never offer me anything on the planet that’ll cost that price.

Verse 2: (Dwayne Tryumph) (Audio version only)
Armed and dangerous
So the devil jus can’t hang wid us
Christian youth them a stand wid us
Livin’ n driven/ given a vision/ fullfillin the commission he handed us
London to Los Angeles
Da rap evangelist
Ma daddy wouldn’t abandon us
“I gotta back pack fulla tracts plus I keep a Johnny Mac”
So are you ready to jam with us
So lets go, gimme the word an lets go
Persecution lets go
Tribulation lets go
Across the nation lets go
Procrastination lets go
Hung on the cross in the cold
Died for da young and the old
Can’t say you never know
Heaven knows
How many souls are going to hell or to heaven so we gotta go in and get em
Whaaaaat!

Verse 3: (Lecrae)
Suffer
Yeah do it for Christ if you trying to figure what to do with your life
if you make a lot of money hope you doing it right because the money is Gods you better steward it right
stay focused if you aint got no ride
your life aint wrapped up in what you drive
the clothes you wear the job you work
the color your skin naw you Christian first
people living life for a job/ make a lil money start living for a car
get em a house a wife kids and a dog
when they retire they living high on the hog
but guess what they didn’t ever really live at all
to live is Christ yeah and that’s Paul I recall
to die is gain so for Christ we give it all
he’s the treasure you’ll never find in the mall
See your money your singleness marriage talent yo time
they were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
that’s why it’s Christ in my rhymes
That’s why it’s Christ all the time/
see my whole world is built around him He’s the life in our lives
I refused to waste my life
he’s too true ta chase that ice
heres my gifts and time cause I’m constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he’s truly raised to life
then this news should change your life
and by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules the days and nights.

I previously did a blog post on this song here.

I have been bothered a lot lately about the lack of grace in my own life and in people I come in contact with. Lack of grace leads to being dogmatic about issues that many times are preferences.  It also also leads people to being judgmental towards others instead of showing them love.  Lack of grace produces pride and self-righteousness and results in being a cancer to people and churches.

So read the below and see how many you either identify with or maybe that you once would.  These are some of the ones I have found myself in over the years.  Some of these are church related and others are more individual.

Where is grace…

if you cringe or have any condescending thoughts about certain “types” of songs being sung in church.

if you have condescending thoughts towards people who don’t go to a certain number of church services each week (or at all).

if you think people can’t come to church in jeans…or in a suit or a dress.

if you look down on people that go to movies or rent movies.

Where is grace…

if you think condemning thoughts towards people who smoke or drink.

if you eagerly speak out against homosexuality but never on gluttony or pride.

if you cringe or have condescending thoughts at the NIV being read from the pulpit.

if you think that every church should have drums…or an organ.

if would not want to associate yourself with anyone from a different denomination.

Where is grace…

when you think SINNER! when you see someone mowing the grass on Sunday.

when your first reaction to people is to think negatively about what they are doing or how they look.

when you think poorly of people who work on Sundays.

when you think more highly of yourself because you don’t do things that others might do.

when you think you are never wrong and everyone else is.

when you are more concerned about the words that come out of someone’s mouth instead of the hurt coming out of their heart.

I really don’t think God is impressed with how good I think I can be. I mean, let’s be real.  There are not good people and bad people in this world but rather all of us sinners and then Jesus.  Is God impressed that I only go 5 miles over the speed limit compared to you who does 8?  Ridiculous.  Instead, let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Outdo each other?  Really?  Seriously?

I honestly fear many are conformed to a pattern of religion but are never transformed.  Let’s be filled with amazing grace and not self-righteousness.

So I totally ripped this off from DeadlyViper but I really dig it.  Let me know if you like it too.

I was listening to a guy speak recently and he stated that in a very short period of time knowledge known to one generation is lost and can quickly turn into denial in the next generations.

You see, in the business world, employees are trained and then expected to follow the training. As time passes, it is easy to assume that everyone knows what you are talking about and business goes about as normal. Very quickly though, people forget and new people come aboard who do not know. Pretty soon there are whole groups of people who have no idea what the definition of anything is and some will completely deny that certain truths do in fact exist.

The same holds true in churches. In as little as 2-3 generations, whole lines of families can deny foundational truths to faith. In just a few short years, large pockets of people attending churches can forget and deny doctrinal truths and then the work is hampered and hindered.

So how do you prevent this pattern from happening? To some degree, I think it is human nature and inevitable. But honestly, that is just a cop-out for doing nothing. Instead, have a laser like focus and keep pounding things into people. If you are a business, keep the vision in the forefront of people at all times. Have consistent training and always link it to the vision. Make sure that the employees always know how what they do impacts the business. Never assume people are on board, make sure they are.

For churches, it’s much the same way. At some point most people knew many, many things. If certain biblical terms were used, most people knew exactly what was being said. Doctrine could be articulated and defended. But time never stand stills and over time the tendency to assume that people know things creates complacency. If the leaders assume that everyone knows doctrine, there is a real danger of de-emphasizing doctrine. Once it is assumed that people know many things, those things may no longer be taught.

The fact is that many people may not know the definition of anything any more and are possibly very ignorant. The decline starts when people forget foundational truths and consequently they begin to deny those truths because they never owned them in the first place. And just so we are clear, just because people don’t know the truth doesn’t mean there is a void. Voids don’t exist.

The take home here is to NEVER assume that people know what you want them to know. About anything. In fact, churches need to teach and preach knowing that most people DON’T know and that some DO deny. Teach people knowing that there are large groups of people that cannot articulate the Gospel clearly. Know that there are many people that do not serve Jesus but rather serve themselves.

I know I have been guilty of assuming way too much.  How much do you assume?

They delayed the switch to DTV again. Do they really have nothing else to work on these days?

I really hate ice dams. Why are there no good solutions? 

What is up with the price of soft drinks at restaurants these days? Have you noticed how much pop costs these days? I know we live in hard enconmic times but $2.50 for a pop?  That’s just wacked.

Reduce the size of government.  That is the best thing I have heard a politician say in a long time. The devil as they say, is in the details.

Canine flatulence. I’m sorry but my dog needs beno or something. It’s the worst. I think my obituary will read: Husband and father; death by gaseous canine fumes.

I saw a guy at work yesterday not wash his hands after going the bathroom .  What do you do with that?

Almost every winter I stop working out and get fat and happy.  Well now I’m not happy, I’m just fat.  I started losing a few pounds…like 3.  You have to start somewhere.  How about you?

No matter how you feel about the election, this letter from the Bush twins to the Obama girls is classy. Give it a look see and decide for yourself.

So I was cleaning my frog’s tank the other day and I found out a few things about Cyl the frog.  You see, Cyl (yes that’s the frog’s name) seemed liked he was dying before I cleaned his water.  He was acting very lethargic, never ate, and honestly I thought he was about ready to go belly up.  Then I cleaned the tank.

The tank (really just a very small cylinder, hence the name) was completely covered with algae.  The walls were almost totally blocked with algae which had taken over pretty much everything in his humble abode.

But after I scrubbed the tank and put fresh water in, it was like he was a new ma…frog.  The water didn’t have floaties any longer, the walls weren’t green and the fake plant is the right color green.  In a word, Cyl came ALIVE again.

Okay, so I’m not one to get some moral or spiritual inspiration out of every little thing in life.  But this seemed different.  Cyl’s water was full of alage, uneaten food, and his uh, excrement.  I’m just wondering, what’s in our lives that that makes us lethargic and lifeless?

Every once in a while, we really need to take stock in what is happening around us and clean the water.  If we wait too long, it sucks the life out of us.

How clean is your water?

I snail mailed this to a bunch of people last year during the Christmas season but this year I thought I would put it to video.  What is it you say?  It is a story of Jesus visiting the innkeeper of the stable where he was born.  While the story is completely fictional, it is very plausible and paints a vivid picture of what could have happened during that time.  Take a few minutes and give it a listen.  It’s the kind of thing that touches your soul.

You can also purchase an illistrated version of it here.  Click here for a transcript.

From the website:

In this poem, John Piper imagines Jesus, two weeks before his death, returning to Bethlehem and visiting the inn where he was born. He meets Jacob, the old innkeeper, who years before had made a place for Joseph and Mary to stay. As they converse, Jesus hears what it cost Jacob to house the Son of God.

The Innkeeper is a moving story that has us look into the face of tragedy, as experienced in Herod’s brutal slaughter of little boys. Then it turns us toward the shining face of hope. If we have the eyes of faith to see it, the sting of futility will be forever removed from death.

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org