Archive for the ‘ Lifestyle ’ Category

Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 10/12/2014

Find the old wisdom with a new perspective at Proverbial Thought!

One of my favorite Michael W. Smith songs is Missing Person. That song was partly inspiration for this poem.

It occurred to me, though, that with just that song it can be easy to miss the point.

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:8b-16, ESV

For a Christian who has grown stale, who feels like the passion and the power of Christ is gone, trying to get back to who we once were as a new believer is not the right focus. Our focus must always be on the One who changes us through His power and resurrection: Jesus Christ. Only then can we find that passion and power we once felt.

 

   finding the old new self

most of us believe in power
then get comfortable and stale
we then begin to look for
that faith that now looks so pale
we start looking for that person
whom we were when we were younger
perhaps there is a reason
we are unable to get there
we are trying so hard to
get back to who we used to be
that we neglect the full truth
and our focus is on “me”
we had that power at first
because we gave up our lives
realized that it took rebirth
and giving control to Christ
let us stop trying to find ourselves
and return to what can save us
through faith a grace from God above
manifested in His Son Jesus

2014
10/12
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 09/14/2014

Impact your life with some wisdom and head over to Proverbial Thought!

Jesus would often go to a lonely place to pray. (Luke 5:16)

We are told to pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

What does that look like?

A constant conversation. A conversation between you and God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer is not just going to

a lonely place.

It is a moment by moment

conversation,

Seeking to get to see God

face to Face

To impact your life to impact

a generation.

2014
09/14
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 09/07/2014

Open your mind to wisdom, and find some at Proverbial Thought!

The poem today is based on a couple passages of Scripture, Joel 2:12-13 and Acts 4:24-30:

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
    “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
    and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
    and he relents over disaster.
Joel 2:12-13, ESV

 

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
    and the rulers were gathered together,
    against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants[f] to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
Acts 4:24-30

Therefore, this poem is a prayer for God to help us learn to rend our hearts and to heal our land.

 

rending

You tell us to rend our hearts

but how can we not with

injustice and pain rampant

are we sure this is not the pit

redeem this land from itself

heal these people so sick

reveal Your heart to all

about what rending is

giving over ourselves to You

and experiencing this

is breaking our spirits

to show others Jesus

2014
09/07
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 08/31/2014

You need wisdom. Find a taste over at Proverbial Thought!

The message is simple: God is all we need. Everyone. And to make sure we found and filled that need, He came to us.

What did He have to say?

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17, ESV)

“Come to me, all who burden and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

people need

 

do not be deceived

by what people need

whether a cup of coffee

or that bag of weed

or maybe to see

that we will speak

with people in need

or the guy on wall street

God is able to free

through a simple creed

“Repent. Come to Me.

Let me be what you need!”

2014
08/31
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 08/24/2014

Look past the surface level of worldly wisdom. Find some true wisdom through the thoughts at Proverbial Thought!

You may remember this past week when I shared “Some Final Thoughts About Momma Klem” some of the passages that my mom and I have tried to live by:

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7, ESV

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
James 4:11, ESV

Some of the best people in the world, by our standards, may in truth be the worst of humanity, by God’s standards.

Some of the seeming hard-as-nails people may in truth be those with a heart of gold.

In the deepest meaning of truth, only those who know Christ truly have a good heart, for He indwells us, and His grace and love shine through us.

by the surface

going through life judging
by what is on the surface
leads to misjudgments
and can be dangerous
the sweet and innocent
may be scandalous
the nasty looking biker
could be all gentleness
the humanitarian
may be murderous
the homeless guy
may not be homeless
discerning by the surface
is bad for all of us

2014
08/24
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 08/17/2014

Help wisdom remain strong in you and go to Proverbial Thought!

For too long there has been a common theme in all of Christendom. I liken to World War II in this way:

Winning converts to Christ without discipleship is like the Allies taking Normandy Beach and declaring the war won.

What we have effectively done is convince thousands, millions, or even billions over the decades and centuries that they are saved from their sins only to let them continue living in their sin and ignorance.

Have we given these people false hope?

Do you have false hope?

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
Luke 11:24-26, ESV

Church, let us not only win over but raise up new Christians in the power and knowledge of Christ!

Christian, commit your whole life, every little part, every big thing, your sins and your joys to Christ!

 

letting them back in

we cast out our demons
and invite Christ in
our lives become clean
and He reigns supreme

but why do we do it
why bring back the spirits
why give up on Christ
and re ruin our lives

why do we let them in
to fall back into sin
we can see through the lies
yet they multiply

letting them back in
undoing what Christ began
why do we let them in
Christ

my Lord

start again

2014
08/17
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 08/03/2014

Be at the forefront of wisdom by gaining some at Proverbial Thought!

How important is Christ in your life?

Would you rather ride in the back of the bus with all of your friends where the Bus Driver will not overhear your conversations or see what you are doing?

Or would you rather run to His sports car and cry out “SHOTGUN!” to be the person sitting in the front seat next to Him?

It may seem like a simple analogy, but seriously think about it.

Many of us probably are thinking, “Of course I want to be in the sports car!” The only issue is that most of us remain in our thinking as junior high students sitting in the back of the school bus. We long for the days of high school (or Secondary school) when we are old enough to drive or at least own a sports car. Some of us assume we can just go take the car, but in reality we have no idea how to operate it. Some of us remain convinced there is no way the owner of a sports car would have anything to do with us, so we never try for our shot at riding shotgun.

The amazing thing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that He has made the offer to every single person to come along on the ride of a lifetime (and beyond). We are all poor junior high students riding the public school bus wishing for better things, and Jesus is just waiting for us to run over calling “SHOTGUN!”

They other amazing thing is that we can all ride shotgun … everyday. If we just trust in Him.

 

i call SHOTGUN                            

 

when it comes to life

i want to call shotgun

i want to be right up front

while moving for the Son

when it comes to riding shotgun

with the Lord Jesus Christ

any person can call it

                                      in fact

it should be called in every life

2014
08/03
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What Kind of Follower Are You?

Follow the call of wisdom and head to Proverbial Thought!

Jesus said to many people, “Follow me.”

When He said it to Matthew (Matthew 9:9), we read that Matthew pulled out his smart phone, opened his Facebook app, found “Jesus of Nazareth”, and clicked “Add Friend”. Then he switched to the Twitter app, found @JesusofNazarethMessiah, and clicked “Follow”.

And the world was changed forever! @MatthewLevi and his 11 closest friends re-tweeted and shared everything @JesusofNazarethMessiah tweeted and posted, and lives were changed as all of their followers re-tweeted and shared everything again and again.

Then they all went out for a cup of over-priced coffee to talk about it.

. . .

Or maybe it happened differently? Maybe Jesus expects more from those who follow Him?

Is it enough to follow @JesusofNazareth on Twitter? Is it enough to “Like” or “Friend” Jesus Christ on Facebook? (For the record, I do these!)

Perhaps Jesus expects more of us. Perhaps being a Christian calls for a greater commitment than clicking “Like” or “Follow”.

Perhaps Jesus expects us to change our entire lifestyle and literally follow Him: become like Him, think like Him, walk in His footsteps.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Matthew 16:24-28, ESV

2014
07/29
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Weekend Words & Sunday Stanzas – 07/27/2014

Stop questioning wisdom and find some at Proverbial Thought!

I recently heard a quote that “You know you are preaching grace right if people think they have license to sin.” (See Romans 6)

The thing is, I think most people either take this idea to heart or completely forget about God’s grace.

In either sense, they forget what God has said, and then they question what God has really said. In one direction it is sinful, and in the other direction it is misleading.

We must remember that He has said, “Go and sin no more.” (such as in John 8:11)

We must also remember that He has said, “You are forgiven.” (such as in Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5; Luke 5:20, 7:48; and 1 John 2:12)

Also, it seems that it does not matter who you are, but a message similar to the poem today can hit you in the face, knock you down, and help you appreciate God and His grace in a new way.

That is the power of His grace!

 
___   ________   ___
Who are you to question Me?
You came before Me stricken,
I tell you you are healed,
Yet you go right back to your sin.
Still, I have said you are free.
You come back to be forgiven.
JUST STOP! Listen, please.
When you go that way again,
Turn to me, and you will see
You were forgiven for ever when
I sent my Son to that tree!
Stop sinning, my loved children.
You were made whole … complete,
When you said “I repent. Amen.”
Who are you to question Me?
Remember, I have called you friend!

 

2014
07/27
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Rediscovering “Rediscovering God with Downhere”

Rediscover wisdom at Proverbial Thought!

Three years and nine days ago I heard a song for the first time that I greatly enjoyed, so I shared it on my blog.

As I have been finishing my first summer as a Seminarian, I am officially beginning my teaching career (in Special Education with children with Autism), and I have had a jam-packed summer of travels, work prep, and simply getting things done.

It has been a little exhausting!

Therefore, I think it is a great time to bring back this song as a good reminder to myself, other seminarians, and all those who tend to work too hard and sometimes forget or neglect time with God (like pastors and other ministry leaders, teachers, and just about anyone else in Western culture). This is “Let Me Rediscover You” by the band Downhere (no longer together, but the lead singer of this song is now “Freddie Mercury” for the Queen cover band Queen Extravaganza).

Just listen to the lyrics and focus on God for about four minutes!

Let Me Rediscover You

Your spirit hovers over my waters
Your love burns longer than the sun
The skies of thunder echo your wonder
Your praises can’t be over-sung

The whole Universe is witness
To only a part of what you’ve done

So let me rediscover you
And breathe in me your life anew
Tell me of the God I never knew
Oh, let me rediscover you

You see my weakness, my pride, my blindness
You wield your power through them all
Of all the mysteries, still, the greatest to me
Is that you’re faithful when I fall

How can I say I know you
When what I know is still so small?

Let me rediscover you
And breathe in me your life anew
Tell me of the God I never knew
And let me rediscover you

Let me cry “holy, holy, holy”
(holy, holy, holy)
Let me awaken to your majesty
(waken to your majesty)
And see a glimmer of your glory
Let me abide in you

Let me rediscover you
And by your grace I’ll follow through
Reveal to me the God I thought I knew

Let me rediscover you
And breathe in me your life anew
Tell me of the God I never knew
And let me rediscover you

Oh, let me rediscover you
Tell me of the God I never knew
Jesus, let me rediscover you.

2014
07/22
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