Category: Faith Ponderings

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Yeah it’s that time of year again…shorts are kicking jeans and khakis to the curb, ankle socks are in need of antidepressants as they are carelessly flung into some silent and dark corner of a draw in the dresser. The whirring and groaning of a leaf blower echoes off of the walls in this room as a neighbor attempts to tame his lawn again with the remnants of yesterday’s littering his driveway and the corners his fence line. Today summer is in the air thick and rife with hope, green grass sproutings and the children ambling down the block on post hibernating bicycles and summer clothing lines. Taking this moment, in breathing it in washing it down with a ball game on tv and longing longingly in my summer gear.

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To my loving wife (A Poem)

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In the breaking of the morning light

when the sun shakes the cobwebs of the dew

in the faceted mornings bright

that’s where I fell in love with you.

Flaxen hair golden in the sun

treasured heart of my heart

and hand intertwined with mine

on a sandy beach we promised forever.

and in the waning hours of the sun set

with ring in hand and promises of tomorrows

on knee I bent and ask you there

with passion of this love inside.

And still, though many a sun has come and gone

since then, and time has carried on its way

this love of mine, oh heart of my heart

still beats in time to the promised forevers.

I’m not just content to grow old with you

but rather in wisdom of age and heart

to speak the languages of your love

and cherish each day as a preview of eternity.

I love you.

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At the finish line… (Poem)

From the gathering souls 

who long to cherish our days

the light parades upon

the fallen ones. 

While in the darkness

the blind, content to remain

not knowing there is so much more

settling for anything…losing identities 

given at the creation.  

I don’t wish to just make 

it through

skin of my teeth peeled off

my hair beating me to the finish line

a split second dividing us by.

I don’t want to settle for mediocrity 

for being just average 

for fitting into a mold 

that thousands have already 

passed through…

to do so cheapens it

makes who we were created to be

so much less…and limited.

We are not limited to the air we breathe

I will not be held back by the 

‘You can’ts’ and the ‘It’s can never be dones’ 

If I am held back, if I restrain  but for a moment

this whole meaning of existence 

loses its significance…this isn’t arrogance

this is faith in the One who sustains

and provides our proddings onward,

not our ploddings out into nowhere.  

we are on a journey, 

but there too is a destination…

So I’ll keep going…how about you?   

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“Anything to Declare?”

“You just have to get rid of so much baggage to be light enough to dance, to sing, to play. You don’t have time to carry grudges; you don’t have time to cling to the need to be right.”  – Anne Lamott

 “There’s a luggage limit to every passenger on a flight. The same rules apply to your life. You must eliminate some baggage before you can fly.”  – Rosalind Johnson  

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“Do you have anything to declare?”  This is commonly heard at international airports as a traveler, sometimes weary, enters their destination.  It’s a question that must be asked for safety and security purposes that I think begs answering in our lives as well.  I’ve never received a degree in counseling or psychology, but I’ve been around long enough to know that sometimes when we enter the present moment which is the doorway to the future we often are still carrying baggage from the past that prohibits us from entering and from moving on.  Baggage, which is anger, regret, hurts, fears, scars (emotional & physical) can seriously limit us and that of the potential for personal and spiritual growth if we continue to carry them with us. 

 

Jesus even alluded to these types of burdens when he said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV)

What is Jesus saying here?  He is telling us to let go of our baggage!  He is saying if you learn from me you will understand that you don’t have to carry this heavy burden any longer, my way is lighter and it will free you of your past, your baggage, your worries and fears.  Jesus says to us in this passage that we ought to let go of it all…it doesn’t matter anymore…we can be free!  Wouldn’t you like to forget some things about your past?  Wouldn’t you like to let go of burdens that you’ve carried around with you for far too long?   We were never meant to heap these worries, regrets and scars around with us for the rest of our lives!  That was not God’s plan for us.  Sure from time to time we have screwed up.  Sure from time to time others have hurt us so very deeply.  Sure from time to time we find it difficult to forgive that one person who broke our heart or betrayed us…yet that’s precisely what Jesus is asking us to do.  He wants us to leave our past behind.  He wants us to lay it down at His feet and for us to allow Him to help us. 

I don’t presume to understand how God’s grace works, but I do know that it does.  By faith, daily I must once again surrender my past to Him.  I know that from time to time that even Satan will try and remind me of those things from my past.  He will try to discourage me and persuade me that I really haven’t changed…and yet when I seek the Lord, when I read His word God shows me just how far I’ve come.  The same is true for you as well.  You can let go.  You will be free.  The answers to healing your past and restoring your future lies with the One that made you, not the ones that have hurt you, or the situations that you fiercely regret.   

The Lord is asking us today; “Do you have anything to declare?”  If we are wise we will declare everything to Him, and allow Him to restore our present and future by letting go of the baggage that weighs us down and holds us back.  Don’t let your past dictate where you go today or tomorrow!  You and I can be free…but first we must confront and let go of the baggage. 

There’s an old prayer chorus our church used to sing and it goes like this:

“Burdens are lifted at Calvary, Calvary, Calvary, Burdens are lifted at Calvary…Jesus is very near!”       Jesus wants to be near to you today, He wants to lift your burdens, your baggage from you…will you let Him?

Prayer:

Lord I have been carrying around this baggage from my past for far too long and it is weighing me down.  This baggage is holding me back from growing in your grace.  Help me to surrender it all to you today!  I know that it may not happen all at once, but grant me your strength to surrender it all to you!  I want to learn from you, I want that freedom that only you can offer.  Thank you Lord for guiding me and for being here with me each step of the way.  –Amen.

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On the journey

Like the sorrows of the sea

drifting back and forth,

froth with foam

deep as the midnight sky

a firmament of wonder 

that stretches out far beyond

our eyes can see…

there we find our humble 

existence. 

There we recognize 

just how finite we are

within an infinite realm. 

As the ebb and flow 

the undertow 

and the currents of time

cast us about messages in bottles

and washed up wreckages 

we tell our tale, a story to share

existential clarity 

never charity but love

centered and fine. 

This pure hope resounds

keeps stillness at bay, 

at arms length the death knell

is silenced. 

Thankful

I close my eyes…

and enjoy this journey.  

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At the Construction Site:

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Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 

When I was a child I used to enjoy watching construction workers build things.  I could sit for hours watching them work away at mixing concrete, hoisting support beams, laying rebar…it all fascinated me.  I longed to see the finished product, a completed project that took hours, even days to complete.  I would go by the construction site day after day on my way to school just to see how much progress they had made in the hours that I had been away.  I was invested in witnessing the completed project, though it wasn’t my house, I still wanted, I longed to see it finished.  

 

By the time the construction of the remodeled home was completed, the workers there knew me by name.  Why?  Because I wasn’t content in just watching, I wanted to know why and how they were doing any and every task.  I was insanely curious…and so I asked a lot of questions.  Luckily, the foreman (who must have had children of his own) was a patient man who didn’t mind giving me an answer from time to time.  He was competent and considerate of my age and so explained it as a parent would to a child; in simple terms.   He explained why they put wire mesh in with the concrete or why rebar was there at all…it would make the structure stronger and would last longer.  He also explained why the bubble on the level had to be in the middle so that the work they did would stand and not fall down because it was uneven.  I asked many questions and thankfully that foreman answered most of them with the patience of a saint. 

 

Why talk about this experience?  Why mention it? Am I just trying to relive my childhood?  Perhaps…but it’s more than that.  It makes me think of what kind of foundation I am laying in my own spiritual with God.  Many times in my life I have thought about those conversations with that foreman in the context of my spiritual journey with Christ.  Am I living a balanced life?  Have I continued to be firmly rooted in His word?  Is the foundation of my life what it should be?  Introspectively I have asked myself these questions many, many times.  I don’t say this in boasting, by any means, but a right relationship with God is that important to me.  Is it to you? 

 

Years later I tried my hand at building stuff…turns out I’m just not that gifted at construction with my hands.  But I will never forget those lessons that I learned as a child by simply passing by a construction site day after day on my way to and from school. 

 

How is your foundation?   Has it been reinforced with the rebar of fellowship with other Christians?  Are there cracks forming along the walls of your faith because of wear and tear and pressures of life?   At our conversion we align ourselves with Christ.  We accept His sacrifice on the cross for our sins and we essentially say God rebuild me.  Tear down the old, remove the dirty and broken, and start again.  In that process we gain new life, a new construction takes place and there is life on our spiritual property.  But here’s a big issue:  Many remain at the altars of their lives professing Christ and declaring “I’m a Christian”, but they never grow from there.  God expects us to mature in our faith.  He has provided us the best foundation in His son Jesus Christ, but we have to allow the Holy Spirit to begin the transformation within us.  We can’t remain baby Christians…or essentially just a foundation without a structure built on top.  God’s presence within us, which is the Holy Spirit, wants to develop in us a deeper, stable structure of maturity and faith. 

 

If your life needs some renovation, some rebuilding…will you allow God to begin that in you today?  He’s the best foreman for the job and He can be trusted to finish that construction of holiness in you!  The foundation is already firmly laid.  But without a strong, stable structure on top, which is holiness and spiritual maturity, we are still vulnerable and unstable in the temptations and elements of our old lives. 

 

Prayer:

Father in Heaven, thank you for your Son who made it possible for me to be redeemed, I ask now that you would continue in me Your work.  Transform me through the work of Your Holy Spirit, grant me the strength to address issues that still exist within my life that are yet remnants of my old ways.  Allow me wisdom and discernment to study your word and to apply it in my living day by day.   I want to be the creation you have intended for me.   Deliver me from sin and from temptation, as I know I must avoid their trappings in order to mature and to grow in Your grace.  May it be so in my life today.  Amen. 

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The Sentinel (Poem)

His mother,

Like a sentinel

Watches over him

Catching each breath

With her eyes

Never growing weary

of seeing him sleep…

each inflation of the lungs

and exhaling only to repeat again-

a gift, a treasured hope!

With wings unfurled,

alabaster gleaming

In the soft moonlit room,

So that while the darkness

creeps and leans in

with its shadows

she knows how to pull

him in and hold him close

again.

There will be no rest

this night as the sentinel

watches, waits, anticipates

never closing her eyes

for but a second,

lending all of her strength

to the dreaming toddler

at her side.

Such love.

An example, a reflected

beauty from the heavens…

As if God himself were there

Holding fast to the night,

holding shadows and its

Darkness away…

A sentinel, a rock

a safe harbor for those

seeking refuge in the darkness. 

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In the Arms of God (Poem)

In the arms of God

I am complete again.

In the arms of God

This soul latches onto peace.

His arms, of might and glory

Redeeming me at such a cost

I was lost but enfolded now

Beneath His sacred saving hand.

 

In the grace of God

I will make my stand

In the grace of God

All things of heaven and man

Become focused through his love

In the grace of God

I am made right again

Unmerited, undeserved

Yet here I stand

In the grace of God.

 

The very heart of God

Is my forward focus

I am not whole but for Him

The very heart of God

Compels me onward

And through the

blood of Christ I win.

Standing boldly

Love surrounds me

I am but His and his alone. 

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Lost Sheep & The Search Party of One

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Jesus told a parable.  For those disciples who had been following Him, they had grown accustomed to his teaching style.  Yet they were always challenged with the content of what He had to say, often times asking Him to clarify or for the meaning.   It would be fair to say that His parables brought consternation to some while confusion to others.  His teachings were also difficult to accept at times, because it meant turning from some traditional customs that the Jewish culture had adopted along the way. 

 On this particular day, Jesus began to tell another series of parables.  His audience, the disciples of course, but there were also tax collectors and others that some identified as ‘sinners’.  Jesus began his parable with a relatable statement; “suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them…”  Immediately Jesus begins by drawing these tax collectors and ‘sinners’ into His tale.  Immediately He is helping them identify with the content of His story.  Immediately the implications are that this parable is for them.  Not a ‘for them’ which implies a tale of condemnation, but rather a ‘for them’ which implies compassion and love and a deep longing to restore a right relationship with them to the Father.   

In a moment, as Jesus begins to speak, they are held spell-bound, eyes locked on the Teacher…ready to hear His tale.  “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.  Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”  Imagine if you will, Jesus speaks this phrase and He gazes intently into each face of those who had gathered around Him.  They were the lost sheep that Jesus was talking about.  They were pariahs of society, and by choice and some by vocation had lost their way.   

Jesus wanted them to know the extent in which the Father would go to find His lost ones in this world!  Every soul, every lost child was that important to God the Father.  Jesus was sent on this mission.  He even said it in His own words; “For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10)  The lost were right in front of the One doing the saving…they didn’t realize how lost they were but Jesus did.  This wasn’t some guilt trip or a brow beating by Jesus, but a message of love and compassion and care.  Jesus looked into the very eyes of the lost sheep and hoped that they would let Him rescue them. 

 

He finishes His parable with these words; “And when he finds it (the lost sheep) he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.  Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do no need to repent.” (Luke 15:1-7)

Think of it, He places the lost sheep on His shoulders and carries them home.   Isn’t that what He has done for us too?  Those who had gathered there to listen were lost.  They needed someone to pick them up and carry them home.  Who would go to them, the outcasts…the sinners?  Jesus sought them out when all other religious leaders of the day sought out nothing but selfishness, power and condemnation.   Jesus brought salvation to them, and all they had to do was repent. 

Are you lost?  Can you recall when Jesus came to you?   All of heaven rejoices in the salvation of the lost.  And when they are found again, there is peace and there is hope in the arms of the One who seek us.   Our response to being found is repentance and allowing the Good Shepherd to carry us home. 

 

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On God’s Grandeur (Poem)

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In the silent whispers of the morning kiss

Beneath still breezes laying heavy on the barren field

The cattle are all huddled together lowing softly

taking comfort in the cold autumn morning

beyond the field and dancing waves of grain

empting themselves again and again

in harvest moons, now since past

The farm house sits, buffeted by

thick firs a family, a copse of trees.

On the cusp of this morning

The sun is lazily taking its time to rise

While the duties of the farmer is long over due.

Now rife with cup, steaming in pre-dawn briskness

Hand grasping the responsibilities passed down

From father to son to son again

He walks into the day

His office with a view

John Deere for a desk

Overhauls for his three piece suit

With more at stake than corporate interests

And stock portfolios. 

In the silent whispers of the morning kiss

His feet, crunching sun burnt grains

Will begin again, taking each stride

One moment at a time

Ready to stretch God’s grandeur

Further and grander than his yesterdays. 

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