Life flowing from my heart
Is cut down by rivers of doubt.
The rushing water wears down
My early oaths and affirmations,
Slowing my faith to a halt.
My simple plan to ditch the man of the gospels,
Runs into blockades along the way.
Nests of love, peace and grace
Call me away from my solitary journey.
I sometimes fight the current,
Or allow myself to rest,
But naturally I am carried away
By the fantasies and delusions
Of my silly imagination.
With a battering ram strapped to my forehead,
I push through the glistening walls of the great cathedral.
But for what?
Has this victory won me anything of value?
After all, the war has already been won by my adversary,
And this stub in the toe is no big loss to him.
My screams in the darkness win me no favors,
Gain me no pity, although he may shed a tear.
Shall I continue to throw stones through stained glass windows,
Knowing I am only hurting those I love and who love me?
Whom am I fighting, anyway, if not myself?
Reaching out.
Waves crashing,
At my feet.
Love crushing
The air
Out of my lungs.
What is to be
Expected
From my great God
Next?
Joy is pulling out
My fingernails.
Peace is knocking me
Unconscious.
What can I give
To board the train
Going up the hill?
What can I say
To bring mercy
To my body
And soul?
Grace
Is beating me
To a pulp.
Jesus,
Save me
From your church!
Save me
From society!
The powerful
And the rich
Hover above
My bleeding body,
Like vultures.
How can I escape?
Our Father, the best father imaginable, and if not imaginable, the best Mother, or Brother, or Sister, or Friend;
Who art in Heaven, that place that isn’t a place, the perfect state of being, of existing, of living; that paradise of another dimension;
Hallowed be thy name, holy, righteous, special, divine, separate, perfect, lovely, beautiful, worthy of worship by all, Daddy, Momma, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, Aunt, Friend, Confidante;
Thy Kingdom come, a world where God’s love and holiness is the guiding principle for all, an experience of grace that exists right now, anytime, is accessible to all, no matter where they live or what state their life is in;
Thy Will be done, a state of purpose that comes only from God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit; A goal that has already been achieved on the Cross, by paying the sacrificial debt for the sins of the world, from the beginning to the end of time; The perfect obedience and righteous existence that comes from God’s gift to humanity;
On earth, as it is in heaven, can you imagine everyone on the earth following God’s will? Can you imagine anyone obeying 100% of the time? Well, it happens sometimes, which is a miracle in itself;
Give us this day our daily bread, give us physical, emotional and spiritual sustenance , whatever is necessary to do God’s will, God provides it, and all we have to do is ask;
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, grace that only God can give to pardon us from our shortcomings, provided we are as charitable with those who hurt us, loving our neighbor as well as even our enemy;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, God protects us from so much temptation that we could not handle. And when we need deliverance, he’s right there to save us;
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, all goodness and great things belong to God. They are only possible with his grace and power;
Forever and ever, from the beginning of time to the end end of time, god with his grace, power and love exist and are provided to those who ask.
Amen, all this is true.
I closed my eyes to the world,
For I could not bear another
Moment of its peril,
Persecution and sword.
All the fighting was too much
To take in each day,
The cruelty and carnage,
The swearing and insulting,
Turning heads to wrongs abounding.
So, my hope was hanging
In a precious balance.
Whether I could go on,
Was in doubt, for sure.
I decided to appeal
To my higher power,
The merciful God of Spirit,
Who had rescued my life from ruin.
Somehow, there must be possibility
For my present earth to reconcile
All this shambles of civilization,
A carcass of the creation
That existed so many years ago.
I prayed a solemn petition,
Asking Jesus for His grace,
A gentle dose of mercy
For this time and place.
And so I placed my trust
In the heaven above,
Shedding no more tears for the future.
I know it is in God’s hands,
And I believe that is enough.
I never thought we’d come to this place—
You and me on opposing sides, in a race
Against time, against each other, against freedom.
Never thought I’d be fighting a brother in the kingdom.
Sometimes, I get confused about all the issues.
Hold it now, I need a box of tissues.
Life has taught me to be true to those
Close to me, who’d give me the clothes off their back.
Maybe if we try to make this moment count,
Dig in, and give it all we’ve got.
Can you see the light coming at you now?
Don’t leave me here to just fester and rot!
You mean a lot to me, I wish you could
Accept that simple truth as a fact.
Let’s do the right thing, like eating your favorite food.
It feels good, even to be caught in the act.
Everything we learned yesterday doesn’t come
To mean a thing without love.
Every heart we’ve broke just feels like some
Kind of putting our head in a stove.
But you and me, we’ve been around the block.
We know the rules, and the pain, there’s no going back.
It’s not too late to correct yourself.
Just put those lies on the back shelf.
Hear me say, it’s not the same thing
As going on the first date.
Going steady makes me irate.
Take off like a big spring
That’s all I got, so take it or leave it!
Sacrifice justice mercy love tribal watch out for
Those who are like you but even more for those
Who are different pluralism diversity freedom
Encouragement communion fellowship blood
And body bread and wine do this as you will
The central belief that all of Christianity hinges on, that of the resurrection from death of Jesus of Nazareth, is a slippery slope, at least. If one chooses to believe that miracle happened, it isn’t too far a stretch to believe in the feeding of the five thousand, or in the healing of the sight of the blind man, or the other miracles that Jesus was supposed to have performed in the Gospels. If you can believe in the resurrection, everything else is on the table.
And there is no shortage of miracles in the Old Testament either. The production of the stone tablets on the mountain after witnessing a burning bush that is not consumed by the fire, the plagues of Egypt before Pharaoh sets free the Israelites, the parting of the sea for the Israelites as they flee Egypt, the production of mammon in the desert to feed the Israelites, and so many more.
So if one believes in all the wonders of the Old Testament, is it such a stretch to believe in the resurrection? Not really. Or if one believes in the resurrection, why not believe in all the miracles of the Old Testament? It is a leap of faith on both counts, no matter how you look at it.
Can one be a Christian without believing in miracles? Well, if you don’t believe in the resurrection, it’s hard to claim that label. But if you do believe in the resurrection, you have no case against the miracles in the rest of the Bible. One can believe in Jesus’ moral teachings, and so be a follower of Jesus in a way, but some of the things Jesus is quoted saying, and the wonders he is recorded as performing, would have to be overlooked.
Leave your heart
At the door,
Slammed shut,
With a thud.
Cover your eyes.
I don’t want you to see
How thin I’ve become,
Wasting away,
In loneliness.
And how I’ve hurt
On this special day.
How I wanted to say
Something cute,
Something caring,
Something happy;
But all that came out was,
“That’s nice.”
All I cared about
Was hiding my fear,
Not starting a fight again,
Over something stupid.
I want to start over.
I want to be closer.
I want to embrace your
Wilting body.
Let’s go down
To the river,
To drown our sin,
And come up again,
And bask in the sun.
Let’s hold each other again,
Like we once did,
When God smiled on us,
And we had not
A care in the world!
I’ll be fine.
Just give me a chance
To fill my prescriptions,
Snack on those potato chips,
Make a Walmart run,
Fill up the tank
Of my gas-guzzling SUV,
Smoke my cigarette,
Drink a couple of beers,
Go hunting with my pals,
Take my dog to the park,
Take a ride in my boat,
Zoom around on my motorcycle,
Take a hit of acid,
Chew a bite of snuff,
Go to worship at my church,
Feed the homeless in my community,
Read a book,
Lay out on the beach,
Jog for a couple miles,
Sleep in a few extra hours,
Have a cup of coffee,
Get laid,
Collect my paycheck,
Say a prayer.
Yeah, I’ll be fine.
Stumbling along the sidewalk 