Fragile Gift (a poem)

Life is candy glass
In the hands of children
Imperfecta to a dreamer.
Why is it bestowed upon
we, the undeserved,
The frivolous, the vain?
It is un-recycled, unrepentant
Far more than we can preserve.

These tears are not my own
I am but a poor reflection
A shadow of the genuine
Only less refined, impure.
Why waste His time on this
If not for pure love?
A creature as I am – dirt and mud…
Yes, granted the greatest gift,
This inhalation, this pulse,
This and every other new beginning…
I am candy glass
Yet built to endure eternity.

December 30, 2013 0

A Note from God (A poem)

When the light is sucked from your eyes

and terror is masked as hope disguised

I will hold your hand and bring the day

I will hope when your earth gives way.

When dreams become hollowed and cold

and you are left with nothing to hold

I will hold you within my loving arms

I will keep you from fear and harm.

And if you falter and lose all sight

I will be there to shine my light

and ignite your faith with my grace

so that my love you will embrace.

I have never left you, I am here

I will help and dry your tears

These nail scarred hands will guide you there

I am Your Savior I will always care!

December 29, 2013 1

New Things, New Year’s Brings!

Many people want a clean slate. Some are hoping to just get through this year and with breaths of relief cruise into a new year, hopefully less bruised and battered. It is almost 2014, can you believe it? For some this year flew by (I would be in that crowd), while for others it slowly, geriatrically creeped by.

Perhaps some look forward to that big New Year’s day bash, while others will happily avoid the festivities and regale themselves with a cup of tea and a good book before falling asleep well before the clock strikes midnight. 3-2-1…Happy New Year!!

I, for one, have a tough time when getting to the new year and writing that “2014” on the checks from my check book…I’m sure I’m not the only one…anyway I digress.

What will 2014 have in store for you? Do you have dreams and hopes to plunge into? Have you already filled your calendar with them? I’m not much of a long range planner, but I do have some aspirations for the new year.

ASPIRATIONS:

as·pi·ra·tion

noun \ˌas-pə-ˈrā-shən\

Definition of ASPIRATION

~~a : audible breath that accompanies or comprises a speech sound~~

~~b : the pronunciation or addition of an aspiration; also : the symbol of an aspiration~~

~~: a drawing of something in, out, up, or through by or as if by suction: as~~

~~a : the act of breathing and especially of breathing in~~

~~b : the withdrawal of fluid or tissue from the body~~

~~c : the taking of foreign matter into the lungs with the respiratory current~~

a : a strong desire to achieve something high or great

There we go, #3 in the dictionary…something to achieve…this is the kind of aspiration I’m talking about.

Here is my bucket list for 2014…(AKA my bucket of aspiration)

1) I want to write better and increase this audience:

I know, perhaps it sounds ambitious, but we need things to aspire to and I want to become a better writer as well as help others along the way within the content of what I write…so here goes!

2) I want to improve my preaching and my application of the Word!

It goes without saying that ministry is tough and there will be times when I won’t have all the time I would like to write my sermons but my desire is to dedicate more time the application of method of my sermon writing.

3) To stop and take in God’s beauty more.

I love the outdoors, I enjoy photography as well as poetry and this year I would like to stop and just relish the beauty of God’s creation around me. In the process of taking time for 1 & 2 I want to be able to look up from my computer or my books and spend time in the nature around me, to truly appreciate it more and say “thank you” more often to the Lord of these provisions.

4) Be all I can be as a good parent.

I have four kids who need good parental role models and I can (and should) strive to be that to them as their father. God blessed me with these four wonderful humans and it is both my responsibility as well as my Wife’s responsibility to bring them up properly. I aspire to be a better parent in 2014.

5) Be all I can be as a Husband.

My Wife deserves it, and I can and should show the love of my life how a husband can cherish and love his wife! She deserves my best effort and love as well as attention to her every needs. I aspire in 2014 to win “Husband of the year”…okay maybe that’s pushing it, but hey the sky’s the limit! 🙂

Anyway, new things, new year’s brings…it’s simple…take time, appreciate life, and contribute positively to it in ways that God has blessed you through gifts, insight, and abilities. Remember life isn’t only about what you’ll get out of it, life is far more rewarding if we all include others first into the grand scheme of our perspectives.

God Bless you, and Happy (Pre) New Years! Now get aspiring!

December 29, 2013 0

Jesus = Clean Slate

Luke 4:18-21 (NIV)
¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, ²¹and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Well this year is cruising to an end. We are just over a week from 2014, and many (post Christmas) will be making lists of resolutions and promises. Most will probably break them within the month of January, while others might actually fulfill their promised new year’s resolutions. Regardless of where you stand on the whole “resolution” thing I imagine all of us would like a “do over” from time to time. We all, most likely, live with some regrets in life. We’ve erred and made poor decisions and we wish we could find a way to clean slate and start over.

Jesus came to earth. He was born within lowly means and He even slept in a feeding trough to begin His humble journey. Jesus didn’t enter this world with much, but He left a lasting impact on this place. Yet when he went back to His hometown in Nazareth (post wilderness temptation) he discovered his “old stomping grounds” were less than friendly to him. He was invited to read from the very Word of God in the temple, yet what he read set the city folk’s teeth on edge. Some thought perhaps, if he was Messiah (a big grasp for some), perhaps he would give them preferential treatment. Yet he wasn’t what any expected the Messiah to be. Instead of vanquishing enemies and re-conquering Israel for his people, he came for a much more important conquest – the souls of all people! His mighty purpose wasn’t strictly for the Jews but for the entire world – those who would seek after him would find eternal life!

Jesus declared within this prophetic passage that it was fulfilled “in their hearing” (vv21). He wasn’t only implying that He was the One they were waiting for but that a clean slate was possible – new life could take place! How many of us have experienced this clean slate with Christ? It’s interesting that Jesus uses this passage in Isaiah. Do you know that there were specific years in the Hebrew custom that was a cause for celebration by the burdened, the taxed and the debtor? It was called the “year of jubilee”,this was the year at the end of seven cycles of “shmita” which means Sabbatical years. What that meant that after 49 or 50 years there was a year where all debts and financial burdens could be forgiven. It was the year of clean slates! This was certainly a cause for celebration for many many people. Some probably hadn’t even caused their financial issue(s) but was passed onto them by their parents or relatives.

A clean slate – Jesus declared himself to be Messiah and one in whom all could find a “do over” in life…to make better decisions, to start afresh and live selfless holy lives.

Do you need a “do over” today? Are you praying for a “restart” button? Is there a slate that needs to be wiped clean? Perhaps it’s time to make the leap and trust that Jesus was and is the ONLY ONE who can cancel your debts and set you free!

-Just a thought for you today!

December 23, 2013 4

Santa is on Fire

I would be lying if I said

that Christmas isn’t busy.

There are meetings to attend

people to direct

and nights

far too vacant of slumber.

Yet when I do sleep,

I am reluctant to admit

that I have dreamt

that Santa is on fire.

I stand there

with arms crossed

satisfaction on my face

as Santa, jolly and red

is smoldering, and ablaze.

Tiny bits of plastic bubble and gurgle

the colors on his crimson suit bleed

and drip…and I with arms crossed

and smile on my face

step back and almost trip…

upon my can of gasoline.

Don’t think me strange

or even a Scrooge for it’s just

a dream that

I have dreamt

I haven’t actually torched Santa,

children there’s no need to cry…

but there are days

when I have considered,

with malicious intent,

what the jolly fat man would

look like all consumed

and a-glowing in a red ball of flame.

There would be no more

“Ho-ho-ho-ing” for that

Jolly man,

If simply just poured

out the contents

of my gasoline can…

then, I would throw my stocking

which is filled with

coal

happily upon the

Santa pyre.

December 21, 2013 0

A Cerulean Bike and a Christmas tree.

I remember a shimmering cerulean bicycle with a crimson bow on the handle sitting under the Christmas tree. The Christmas lights were blinking and twinkling casting reflections on the brand new shiny chrome frame. My eyes tried yet failed to take in the whole spectacle before me. They were as wide as saucers, yet still my brain couldn’t process the scene.

I remember my parents, both younger than they are now, with smiles of satisfaction on their faces. This had been no easy feat. A bicycle, let alone a new bicycle had taken months to arrive. We lived on a small island with no airport or major shopping centers. This Christmas gift had been planned well in advance.

I remember attempting to hold both handles within my child-hands clutching them tightly, white knuckled as I tried to ride with my Father at my side as he held on, as he was my balance. He wasn’t going to let me fall. “All you have to do is pump your legs and keep the front wheel straight” He would say; “You can do this!” I knew I could…and I did. But not without help.

Yet standing in front of that Christmas tree, cerulean bike shimmering in the twinkling Christmas lights, I caught a glimpse. It was a glimpse not of a bike, or presents under some tree, but rather as a young child, the love that parents have (or should have) for their children. It wasn’t about spending money, or giving gifts, but rather it was about being together. It was about soaking in the presence of each other and caring for one another. I caught a glimpse of the future too. It is a future that is before me now, and on Wednesday will join a slew of other Christmas’ soon to be filed away into the ever increasing recesses of my memory, and that of the memories of my children. I am blessed. Do my children see this love in me? Am I beside them? Am I their balance in a world so often out of it?

This Christmas, there won’t be a cerulean bicycle beneath our tree…but I will be watching the faces of my children. I will be soaking up their presence – Ah yes, this is the best gift that money could never buy…which reminds me of another more everlasting gift that we have all been given.

December 21, 2013 0

Of the falling snow (a poem)

Snow is hovering in the air today

weightless, space like, without gravity

it glimmers and glistens

as it floats between my vision

they dance

I am unaware of the tune

but I have seen its evidence here.

Does beauty have a tune?

I tell you it does.

How can it not when all around

evidence of the Creator’s touch

speaks into the fragile balance?

My feet crunch under its softness

as I venture out into creation

once more…this time my eyes

are open.

December 21, 2013 0

“GPS Jesus”

I read today that a church was having problems with Jesus. Okay, their problem wasn’t so much Jesus, as much as someone stealing Him from their nativity display on the front lawn of their church building.

People have been stealing Jesus? Say what? I find this kind of theft interesting. It’s as interesting as getting reports from church parishioners that someone has stolen a pew bible. If they’re stealing bibles or even Jesus, I say steal away! There’s no better way of sharing the good news than to have Jesus staring at you as you run from a church parking lot.

But this church didn’t just leave the good news in the hands in the robbers and vandalizers, oh no, they are allowing others to share in the joy should they so choose to “borrow” Jesus from the nativity set. They have placed a GPS tracker in Jesus…now they know where Jesus is at all times!

I think the disciples felt like doing this from time to time if they had possessed GPS technology. I’m sure they would have wanted to have dropped a tracker in His robe pocket so they would know where He was.

Do you know where Jesus is? If you have seen Him, or if you know where He can be located…Keep Him! That’s right, keep Jesus.

I don’t want to make light of Jesus and our relationship with Him. Keep Christ in your heart always and never leave Him! He will always be with you, He even promised that to us! We don’t need a GPS tracker to find Him, because He is right beside us each step of the way in our lives. Let Him love you, and if you haven’t already love Him in return, this makes life truly worth living!

-Just a thought.

News Source: http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/24277120/churches-using-gps-to-keep-track-of-baby-jesus#axzz2o4PIuUzG

December 21, 2013 1