Hey friends and family! This is the poem I wrote and read for REZweek. It was a work of the Spirit, not of me, but some people said they wanted to see it, so here it is.
Do you remember Me?
I know you in the dark places,
in the secret places hidden from time.
I form you from the dust of the earth
fold and knit you from fabric of My making
so that you may know Me.
don't you remember?
do you remember Me?
I nourish you with Manna,
Bread of Heaven, Words of Life
I give you Living Water from the Rock
and teach you to drink deeply
to quench your thirst from My bounty.
do you even remember?
do you remember Me?
My voice rumbles from the mountaintop
prophets declare my thoughts
you are struck through with fear and rightly
for I am holy and you are lowly
but I am wholly yours.
don't you remember?
do you remember Me?
I give to you the Good and Promised Land
I choose you to be My People,
you stubborn, unmoving children!
not because of your merit
but because I choose to love you
do you even remember?
do you remember Me?
I am the Lord who loves you,
the God of gods and Lord of lords
the great God, mighty and awesome
The Lord who is among you
The One who hears your cry.
don't you remember?
do you remember Me?
I hang upon a cross
drink the boiling cup of God's hatred
I drink it to the burning dregs
agony upon agony
All for you, My cherished People
do you even remember?
do you remember Me?
I remember you.
there's a place for you in eternity
you'll share with Me in Victory
all pain forgotten, all foes vanquished
I long for you to join me here
don't you remember?
do you remember Me?
do you remember your First Love?
do you remember Light?
do you remember answered prayers
do you remember the joy of faith
the joy of restored sight?
do you even remember?
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Breached
I was Jericho
with walls high and wide
But love higher and wider
Swept over the side
Now I've been captured
With love so divine
The wall has been breached
This wall that was mine.
I thought I was covered,
I posted the guard.
Who knew that you'd soften
A heart that was hard?
I locked all the doors
And melted the key
But I never counted
On Your love for me.
Inside the walls
I cowered and cried
No one would rescue me -
No body tried.
And You came along
And softly you said
I'll give You a life
if you give up your death.
The dam's broken loose
We'll let the tide flow
as over and under
Your love quickly goes
Knee deep in water
That washed away fears
And anger and hatred
And traded with tears.
The walls have begun
To crumble in me
And now I'm beginning
To finally see
A wall built on nothing
Round a hole six feet down
Where a little girl hiding
All alone was found.
Who celebrates surrender
when everything's lost?
Only when you see
what Victory cost.
A life lived in love
And a heart filled with grace
Hung on a tree
To die cursed in my place.
The wall was breached
The wall that was high
And now without it
I can see sky!
I'm free to live life
Unbounded by chains
Of sin and of sorrow
And of suffering and pain.
with walls high and wide
But love higher and wider
Swept over the side
Now I've been captured
With love so divine
The wall has been breached
This wall that was mine.
I thought I was covered,
I posted the guard.
Who knew that you'd soften
A heart that was hard?
I locked all the doors
And melted the key
But I never counted
On Your love for me.
Inside the walls
I cowered and cried
No one would rescue me -
No body tried.
And You came along
And softly you said
I'll give You a life
if you give up your death.
The dam's broken loose
We'll let the tide flow
as over and under
Your love quickly goes
Knee deep in water
That washed away fears
And anger and hatred
And traded with tears.
The walls have begun
To crumble in me
And now I'm beginning
To finally see
A wall built on nothing
Round a hole six feet down
Where a little girl hiding
All alone was found.
Who celebrates surrender
when everything's lost?
Only when you see
what Victory cost.
A life lived in love
And a heart filled with grace
Hung on a tree
To die cursed in my place.
The wall was breached
The wall that was high
And now without it
I can see sky!
I'm free to live life
Unbounded by chains
Of sin and of sorrow
And of suffering and pain.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Breaking Holy
Recently, there's been a phrase that has been going around that I despise. I'm not going to tell you the phrase, because I don't want to seem as if I'm judging anyone, cause I'm not (my sister brought this to my attention when I was ranting at her). But I'll tell you why - because it glosses over the significance of who God is.
What do I mean by that? I mean that the significance of everything that is most important about our God - His Holiness.
And as I was thinking about this, I realized. We have no cultural concept of "holy." What does it mean in Revelation 4 when the creatures around God's throne cry out that He is "Holy, Holy, Holy!"? Our culture has no idea.
Holiness is an idea of being set apart. Being special. Being special because of being touched by the divine. In a culture that denies holiness, we deny the Divine. We deny that He touches us, that He uses us, and that He - is.
Everything that was once holy is no longer. Take sex as the classic example. Sex was something so pure, so special, so celebrated in the context God designed for - its holy context. It is a holy metaphor: The longing for one another, the connection, the feeling of joy and being love no matter what, the feeling of being enough and of being essential and of being whole - it all points to how God wants to be with us, how He wants us to be with Him. It was holy in its context of being set apart. And then it stopped being set apart for two people. With the assault of porn, it became something other people could take part in. With orgies and multiple partners, sex lost its mystery and its "set apartness". Then it started being included i movies, in tv, in commercials, in music, on billboards. And now, sex is for everyone. it means nothing except physical pleasure. Sex has ceased to be holy. And this is just the easiest example. I could show you so many things that used to be holy - the cross, music, the Bible - that no longer are holy.
The consequence of breaking down barriers setting things apart is that we no longer see barriers at all.
Back to my point - the phrase that I am objecting to. I object to it because it glosses over something so holy, so special, so integral to our understanding of who God is:
HIS NAME.
What do I mean by that? I mean that the significance of everything that is most important about our God - His Holiness.
And as I was thinking about this, I realized. We have no cultural concept of "holy." What does it mean in Revelation 4 when the creatures around God's throne cry out that He is "Holy, Holy, Holy!"? Our culture has no idea.
Holiness is an idea of being set apart. Being special. Being special because of being touched by the divine. In a culture that denies holiness, we deny the Divine. We deny that He touches us, that He uses us, and that He - is.
Everything that was once holy is no longer. Take sex as the classic example. Sex was something so pure, so special, so celebrated in the context God designed for - its holy context. It is a holy metaphor: The longing for one another, the connection, the feeling of joy and being love no matter what, the feeling of being enough and of being essential and of being whole - it all points to how God wants to be with us, how He wants us to be with Him. It was holy in its context of being set apart. And then it stopped being set apart for two people. With the assault of porn, it became something other people could take part in. With orgies and multiple partners, sex lost its mystery and its "set apartness". Then it started being included i movies, in tv, in commercials, in music, on billboards. And now, sex is for everyone. it means nothing except physical pleasure. Sex has ceased to be holy. And this is just the easiest example. I could show you so many things that used to be holy - the cross, music, the Bible - that no longer are holy.
The consequence of breaking down barriers setting things apart is that we no longer see barriers at all.
Back to my point - the phrase that I am objecting to. I object to it because it glosses over something so holy, so special, so integral to our understanding of who God is:
HIS NAME.
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