Face Push

Have you ever seen a little kid launch an attack against an adult? It is a most often a poorly planed attack fueled by emotional fire and ends with and embarrassing defeat. We have all seen some version if this happen. The stronger and much larger opponent mockingly stands with is hand on the forehead of the underdog who swings violently at the wind inches away from his foe. This is where I seem to be in life at the moment. It seems as if every attempt at progress is met with a stiff-armed palm to my face. Despite my best efforts to juke and spin, forward motion is jolted to a halt at the expense of my forehead and strained neck. Accepting the ever present opposition, I recalibrate for improved results. Anything but a hand on my forehead! Ready. Set. Go! I grit my teeth and succeed in knocking the hand away a few times. Hey I might actually...BAP!...another failed attempt. I walk away with a redder head than what I started with.

It is a sure thing that being a follower of Jesus will get you beat up sometimes. It is part of the gig. The incredible part is...that you get to be with Jesus the whole time. Black eyes bloody noses will heal. Take heart. You are traveling with one who can scrape out the poison and stitch the gash. We carry scars, but with each one comes a story of healing. So I say to you rise up! Wipe the blood from your cheek and run hard with your limp! This fight is but for a time and we will be home! Keep your eyes on our Savior and if you are met with a stiff-armed palm to the face... PUSH!

I have not forgotten you blog...

For whatever reason I feel like writing again after several years of blog atrophy. I think it has a lot to do with a severe discontentment with the church in America, and not really knowing what to do about it. Well, I suppose that I do know what to do about it, but get blindsided with a gut shot every time I attempt to make a move. Even trying to navigate back to this blog was dizzying. So with all of that said... here is to this new post and a continued conversation.

The Outsider

We are all in a process of growing. Whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual we are all growing, like it or not. Changes and challenges are thrust upon without warning. It has been my experience that if the waters are familiar, then I am much more capable of navigating them with out capsizing. However, there is one area that is always especially difficult. For lack of a better word I will call it "special hungry" (Special Hungry - When a person has a great desire to be special to all people or to a specific group of people ). The odd thing about this is that it comes and goes. One day I will sail through with the utmost of confidence and the next I will do something completely ridiculous like punch holes in the hull to lower the rising water level. I have a feeling that this will always be an area of tension with in me, but I know that in those times when I feel the most "special" are when I sit and dine at the table of Christ.

Perhaps you do not struggle with this specifically, but I am confident that there are areas where you do struggle. I would encourage you to spend some time thinking and praying about those things. Sit down at the table with Christ and partake of what is Good, and what is Holy...

"Quotes"

You may have noticed that I have posted a lot of quites on here. Well, the truth is I think the people I have quoted are way better with words than I could ever hope to be. Most of the quotes are from much older wiser men. Who knows how long they rolled these thoughts around in their minds before releasing them into the world for any and all to enjoy. These men spent their time in silence, in prayer, and listening to the Spirit. Perhaps we would do well to follow their example...

Symphony

Compose this life
Be the musician and conductor
The deaf dance at it
Blind eyes weep for color

Compose this life
Be the rhythm and rhyme
A table for traitors
Arms for orphans

Compose this life
Be the heartbeat and love
Death is irony
Life is composed

The Kingdom is Coming

This morning I am overwhelmed with the presence of God. My heart sores into worship and my soul is home for one quiet moment. Here I rest in these eternal arms and I can hardly contain myself. A taste of the glory to come... the cool waters of the Spirit hit the back of my dry throat. It is in this moment that I realize that there is more than this chaotic world in which I find myself. I have forgotten the joy of my salvation and the Kingdom that is coming. And it is coming...

This is not all there is and it is only by the grace of my Lord that I can taste more than the elements of communion. I consume the blood of Christ and His broken body.

To any one who may find themselves reading this: Please know what this life is not all there is to be had. Your struggles and pain are only temporary, for Christ will return in Glory. There will come a time when the burns of sin are slowly wiped away in the cool peace of the Garden. There will be no distance, no obstructions form God. We will find ourselves suspended in the middle of the presence of God and all of character.

Stay encouraged my love lavished brothers and sisters.

No Time for My Soul

It occurs to me that I have no time for the things that give me life. I spend most of my time preparing for what the future holds and become weary in preparation of the life that is to come. This is ironic since this life for which I prepare is what is happening at the very moment that I prepare for it (chew on that one for a bit). There is no time left for my soul to rest and be nourished. Time is borrowed, sacrificed, carved out, interrupted, wasted, and ill spent. Even now I borrow this time from my desk at work. I have come to the realization that if I am to find time for God, time that would allow us to commune, that I have to wage war for it. We have an Enemy and he is very real and does not want me to spend time with the Most High. In this moment I feel the weight of the curse and my own sin. I feel that separation from God and a Kingdom for which my heart aches. You Kingdom come oh, Lord...