Life and Treasure
Let there be... And it was so.
Our history begins.
God formed and breathed. Man came alive
this glory out of dust
One good command-- Don't eat that fruit.
If you do, you die
Adam, Eve, one Snake, one bite
creation's fabric rips...
grief on pain and sin on sin
we live in agony
God interjects and speaks again
Promise. Future. Hope.
Deliverance for groaning slaves
through the blood and Sea
Abundance in the wilderness
though we're feeling lean
The law comes down-- more good commands
sweet, but weighty too
A long parade of broken saints
who trusted in the Lord
Census, geneologies
bizarre prophetic clips
Ceremonies, sacrifices
random things unclean
All these in a bigger story
pointing to the Lamb
Good. Bad. Ugly. Rules and lists
whisper gospel truth
Breath and blood and bread and water
photo negatives
See the truth behind the symbols
when you peer in close
These choicest words all in a Book--
is it collecting dust?
Jesus called it Life and Treasure
Will you spurn His gift?
Monday, January 15, 2018
Friday, November 17, 2017
Broken Vessel
Broken Vessel
"There's a hole in the bucket" the song says
verses circle, trying to mend
but we finally reach the conclusion
and have ended back where we began.
Well crap! My car's got an oil leak!
you exclaim as you look at the ground
but try as you might to repair it
the leak simply cannot be found
My coin purse jingles and jangles
as I stroll before windows downtown
purse and pockets get lighter so quickly
misfit toys in my wake are bestrown
I bake cakes and cookies and pastries
and pile the frosting mile high
but all of the honey indulgence
takes a seat in my butt and my thighs
Surely life was not meant to feel empty!
Surely we were created for more!
Holes and cracks in the heart can be mended
Fullness -- truly full-- can be restored
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:11-13
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
"There's a hole in the bucket" the song says
verses circle, trying to mend
but we finally reach the conclusion
and have ended back where we began.
Well crap! My car's got an oil leak!
you exclaim as you look at the ground
but try as you might to repair it
the leak simply cannot be found
My coin purse jingles and jangles
as I stroll before windows downtown
purse and pockets get lighter so quickly
misfit toys in my wake are bestrown
I bake cakes and cookies and pastries
and pile the frosting mile high
but all of the honey indulgence
takes a seat in my butt and my thighs
Surely life was not meant to feel empty!
Surely we were created for more!
Holes and cracks in the heart can be mended
Fullness -- truly full-- can be restored
Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Jeremiah 2:11-13
You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
Friday, November 3, 2017
A Lament
A Lament
I will bring my complaint before the LORD--
This is all your fault!
You put that crazy ant in my ear
something about holiness
You compelled me to pray dangerous prayers
things like patience and purity
You said it would be hard--
I didn't realize HOW hard!
You said it would be worth it!
You didn't say I'd have to wait SO LONG!
So I sit in the pigsty
and add my own slime to the party...
as I wait for the day
when my King, my Love
brings heaven to earth.
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you!
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
Psalm 102:1-2
I will bring my complaint before the LORD--
This is all your fault!
You put that crazy ant in my ear
something about holiness
You compelled me to pray dangerous prayers
things like patience and purity
You said it would be hard--
I didn't realize HOW hard!
You said it would be worth it!
You didn't say I'd have to wait SO LONG!
So I sit in the pigsty
and add my own slime to the party...
as I wait for the day
when my King, my Love
brings heaven to earth.
A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
Hear my prayer, O LORD;
let my cry come to you!
Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress!
Incline your ear to me;
answer me speedily in the day when I call!
Psalm 102:1-2
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
High Places
High Places
I trudge up the hill
hoping for relief
the cares of this day
are too heavy
I bow before the shrine
with my incense
and raisin cakes
and I feel lighter--
for a minute
I walk into Walmart
on aching legs
it's been Monday
all day long
I grab the chocolate
scan it, bag it
swipe my card
stress melts away--
for a minute
I bow my heart
before the Lord of glory
I am weak
He is my strength.
He makes my feet sure
as the ground quakes
and my idols crumble...
I stand on the rubble.
Great is the Lord!
*Inspired by Habakkuk 3:19
GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3:19
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Psalms 62:5-7
I trudge up the hill
hoping for relief
the cares of this day
are too heavy
I bow before the shrine
with my incense
and raisin cakes
and I feel lighter--
for a minute
I walk into Walmart
on aching legs
it's been Monday
all day long
I grab the chocolate
scan it, bag it
swipe my card
stress melts away--
for a minute
I bow my heart
before the Lord of glory
I am weak
He is my strength.
He makes my feet sure
as the ground quakes
and my idols crumble...
I stand on the rubble.
Great is the Lord!
*Inspired by Habakkuk 3:19
GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.
Habakkuk 3:19
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
Psalms 62:5-7
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Walk Worthy
Walk Worthy
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Ephesians 4:1
It is not fitting for a king
to race like a clown in a circus ring
Always, every Marine son
must not walk and chew bubble gum
The dignity that graces a bride
is not matched on a water slide
When you stand before a judge in court
you shouldn't dress for your favorite sport
Likewise, if you're playing tag
a suit and tie would be a drag
And now the reason for my rhyme
the theme of grace-- beyond sublime
When you're in Christ you run a race
dig in the Word to keep the pace
The Judge is holy, righteous, true
and He demands the same from you
Your Groom has paid with His own life
to cleanse your heart from black to white
Your Captain gives a call to war
to fight the sin within your core
The Faithful Shepherd of His flock
Christ leads us in a worthy walk
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
Ephesians 4:1
It is not fitting for a king
to race like a clown in a circus ring
Always, every Marine son
must not walk and chew bubble gum
The dignity that graces a bride
is not matched on a water slide
When you stand before a judge in court
you shouldn't dress for your favorite sport
Likewise, if you're playing tag
a suit and tie would be a drag
And now the reason for my rhyme
the theme of grace-- beyond sublime
When you're in Christ you run a race
dig in the Word to keep the pace
The Judge is holy, righteous, true
and He demands the same from you
Your Groom has paid with His own life
to cleanse your heart from black to white
Your Captain gives a call to war
to fight the sin within your core
The Faithful Shepherd of His flock
Christ leads us in a worthy walk
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:1-6
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!-- assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:17-24
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Vastly Loved
Vastly Loved
Have you met the King?
His kingdom gleams with the Midas touch
His very presence produces gold
the riches of His glory.
Have you seen his power?
Life springs forth from His word, His breath
from nothing what was not, now is
what once was dead now lives.
This is your Father!
His hand is open to lavish you with love
not comfortable, gooey, fluff and stuff
but strong, stable, sure
You will be like a tree
thick sinews digging deep in the truth
drawing up life-giving water
the fullness of God in Christ
You'll be a jewel
built on the diamond foundation of Christ
righteous perfection, beauty, holy
and holiness worked into you
Do you know this love?
broader than the edges of the universe
longer than the east is from the west
Everest, Marianas Trench
Is your mind blown?
vision swims, reason reels before this vastness
and yet...
This rich and mighty King
can give you keener vision, expand your reason
grow your heart far more than three sizes
so that you may know
You are
abundantly, exceedingly, profusely, remarkably
inexhaustibly, surpassingly, vastly
LOVED.
*Inspired by Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Have you met the King?
His kingdom gleams with the Midas touch
His very presence produces gold
the riches of His glory.
Have you seen his power?
Life springs forth from His word, His breath
from nothing what was not, now is
what once was dead now lives.
This is your Father!
His hand is open to lavish you with love
not comfortable, gooey, fluff and stuff
but strong, stable, sure
You will be like a tree
thick sinews digging deep in the truth
drawing up life-giving water
the fullness of God in Christ
You'll be a jewel
built on the diamond foundation of Christ
righteous perfection, beauty, holy
and holiness worked into you
Do you know this love?
broader than the edges of the universe
longer than the east is from the west
Everest, Marianas Trench
Is your mind blown?
vision swims, reason reels before this vastness
and yet...
This rich and mighty King
can give you keener vision, expand your reason
grow your heart far more than three sizes
so that you may know
You are
abundantly, exceedingly, profusely, remarkably
inexhaustibly, surpassingly, vastly
LOVED.
*Inspired by Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
My Glory
My Glory
Moses, my son
turn your eyes back to me.
Remember the bush?
What did I say?
Pharaoh will not listen to you
His heart is stone and his ears are clay
He believes himself a god...
But he will know-- I am.
I will unleash
the strength of my outstretched arm
creatures and elements
obey my voice
Pharaoh will not listen to them
His ears are clay and his heart is stone
until I take his treasure-- his son
Then he will know-- I am.
When you were in Egypt
you thought yourself a star.
People knew you.
People liked you.
But I didn't need a star
I chose a shepherd's mouth, his tender heart
to speak my glory
So you will know-- I am.
Moses, my son
keep your eyes on me
Behold my glory
Let it seep in
My glory will change you
give you ears that hear and heart of flesh
You will shine like a star
The nations will know-- I am.
But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'"
Exodus 6:1-8
Moses, my son
turn your eyes back to me.
Remember the bush?
What did I say?
Pharaoh will not listen to you
His heart is stone and his ears are clay
He believes himself a god...
But he will know-- I am.
I will unleash
the strength of my outstretched arm
creatures and elements
obey my voice
Pharaoh will not listen to them
His ears are clay and his heart is stone
until I take his treasure-- his son
Then he will know-- I am.
When you were in Egypt
you thought yourself a star.
People knew you.
People liked you.
But I didn't need a star
I chose a shepherd's mouth, his tender heart
to speak my glory
So you will know-- I am.
Moses, my son
keep your eyes on me
Behold my glory
Let it seep in
My glory will change you
give you ears that hear and heart of flesh
You will shine like a star
The nations will know-- I am.
But the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land." God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'"
Exodus 6:1-8
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