December 18th, 2011

It was a beautiful day.

Not                                                             

due to a war sunny Texas seventy degrees,

Or                                                        

resulting from a gentle, caressing, heavenly breeze,

Instead                                                                           

because souls hopped land and skipped seas

To

witness a miracle: the sacred bonding of these.

The guests were quite delighted

(Even though I wasn't invited),

We were entertained and excited,

To see love so requited,

A duo cheerfully united.

 Seconds.Suns.Seasons.                                                  
                                   time has alarmingly quickly flown,
Yet it warms the soul to remember                                        
                                                           that we are never truly alone,

For time spent with loved ones                                    
                                                     is really time spent at home.

We anticipate the day                                                            
                                    when we meet again near Heaven's throne,

But today I caught a preview:                                                       
                                                 radiant light from your presence shone.

A joy transcending all words;                                               
                                            a peace by God's hand sown.

From this blessed soil, something...green I saw break through:

(As your lips claimed 'I do', reflecting hearts pure and true)

God's Spirit descended to bind a 'me' to a 'you',
Adhesive for two souls as the world threatens to unglue.
So to unholy desires bid 'So long!' and 'Adieu!'

And in regard to love, be certain to always outdo.

 For one formed from the two; life...

begins anew.

-G

Jammin'

I read Leviticus 24 today, but i'm too lazy to make my usual heading thing.  No formality today, i'm feeling too loosey-goosey.  Christmas is almost here, the kids are actually starting to learn a little bit (i think), and God is just too good.  I love praying with people, love pouring over scripture, love basketball practice, love life.  i'm sure satan will try to knock me out with one of those tremendous crashes that often follow a monumentous high, but for now i am secure in the Lord's hand.  (i'm sure getting out of bed in the morning will be a mountain to climb!)

But God is good.

i was, for possibly the first time in my life, spiritually uplifted by watching espn.  As a fan of Texas A&M sports, Rangers baseball, Spurs basketball, and both Texas NFL teams, these broadcasts typically tend to depress me.  However, today the conversation was about Tim Tebow.

Now i have to be honest, i really never was much of a Tebow fan.  i just didn't know if he was trustworthy.  But their conversation today only served to bolster my faith.  The debators mentioned a unique moment in the 3rd quarter of the Bears-Broncos game.  Tebow was miked up for the game, and they caught him in a moment of prayer.  He said "Win or lose, to You be the glory" (not exact...something to that effect).

They went on to mention pastors they knew, who saw God's purpose in Tebow's victories.  In each of Tim's games, he played terrible for 50 minutes.  But those ten minutes in the 4th quarter or overtime he was untouchable.  His completion percentage is under 50%.  Point: there is no possible way he could win this on his own.  There has to be supernatural intervention.  Wish i could delve into this further, but i gotta run!

-G

Preparing a Sermon

Romans 3:10

If you see light in me

It's no goodness of my own

My life is worthless if I

Don't place Jesus on the throne.

I do that by surrendering

My heart made of stone.

This means seeking out

The orphan whose family and friends have flown.

It's compassion plus loving action

To the man without a home,

It means loving the adulterers,

The murderers, they need to be shown

What it's like to be forgiven and loved

Instead of spoken to in a condescending tone.

Because surely we are like all of these,

Living in the world, yet also unknown

It means speaking the Gospel

In every place we roam

Our life and our breath,

Our food and our home,

They truly aren't ours,

They are merely on loan

They're all gifts to share

So his kingdom can be grown

A sense of urgency we need,

We can't afford to postpone

This moment is right

For his light to be shone,

So let's speak with authority

Through love---our microphone.

Our foolish sense of righteousness

Let us no longer condone.

We surely deserve to die

Around our neck a millstone.

So teach us Father, please

To see things as you do,

Let us not limit the Gospel

To our exclusive crew.

We convince ourselves we're right,

Yes we try to play you.

Blacks, Asians, Hispanics,

Homosexuals, the Jew,

Drug attics and child molesters,

You died to save them, too.

So break us, dear Lord

Tumble walls in our mind

Let us no longer condemn,

But like your Son: humble and kind,

Remind us that our lives

In Christ are redefined

Our sight colorblind

Pure love for all mankind

Our own will declined

Our programming redesigned

To give up everything and say

"Not my will but thine!"

So before we fall again,

Please heal our eyes blind

Teach us to ask WWJD?

Then follow unwavering behind.

Preaching tomorrow at Sandy Creek CoC.  Here is the subject matter.  

I Know It's Late

I have been quite slack on my daily posts lately.  I don't know why i put things in front of time with my GOD, as if it wasn't important if i spent time in his Word or not.

Father, forgive  me and fill me with a sense of passion for you.

Bless me with a hunger for you.

Give us a deep yearning for your Will, so much that we can't help but act on it.

Leviticus 19

I don't know where to begin.  I wish i would have kept up with this thing, but i guess it's a reminder of how much we miss when we spend time chasing things other than him.  Especially in Leviticus.  19:23 reads:

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

23:22 also mentions this.  He mentions the poor again.
The aliens.

I have to get some sleep, but i heard something on the radio about spiritual exercise, and thought i could use some today.

So many things happened today that i won't remember tomorrow.  So many different ways that you carried me through.  Thank you, Father.  Remind me.

-G

The Follow Up

I stayed up late last night writing and reading.  And I woke up this mornin' feeling like doing the same thing again.  So after a few e-mails, bathroom cleaning, and bowl of oatmeal (extra brown sugar), here I am.

Leviticus 14

So this stuff is interesting.  This chapter completes the previous chapter; all the methods for cleansing people with skin sores or houses with mildew are here.  I said interesting...curious might be a better word.  I want to know the symbolism behind a few things:

During the ceremony used to cleanse a person's infectious skin disease, the blood of a lamb is wiped on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot.  Soon after, a touch of oil is placed in the same place.  What is significant about these places?

Second, the process to atone for a house infested with mildew (atone for a house?) requires the use of two birds, some cedar, scarlet yarn, and hyssop.  Why scarlet yarn? Also, once the objects are all dipped in the blood of one of the birds and used to cleanse the house, the priest must release the remaining live bird into the open fields outside the town.  What's the deal with the bird?

Anyways, I'll try to write later, this was a good beginning to the day.

Lots of Thoughts

What is wrong with this world?

Leviticus 13

This was quite a long chapter, mostly pertaining to infectious skin diseases.  Verses 45-46 relate back to the story of the ten lepers.  A leper must live alone, outside the camp, with torn clothes and unkempt hair.  In addition to this, afflicted persons were required to cover their mouths and holler 'Unclean!' everywhere they went.

Sound familiar?

Grungy hair...ragged clothes...alone outside...

Sounds like someone is homeless.

Think about it for a second.  Doesn't every homeless person you see look like this?  And doesn't everything about them scream "UNCLEAN?!"

Yet these are the very people Christ sought out.

I did not intend to talk about this chapter this much.  But I like it!

I continue tonight from Proverbs 31.  I don't know who Lemuel was, but I assume his life was blessed if he listened to his mom at all.

O my son, O son of my womb,

O son of my vows,

do not spend you strength on women,

your vigor on those who ruin kings.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel-

not for kings to drink wine,

not for rulers to crave beer,

lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,

and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.

Give beer to those who are perishing,

wine to those who are in anguish;

let them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

-Proverbs 31:2-9



Dear Lord,

Please come to the aid of those who are so desperately calling out.  Often, unbeknownst to us, our souls cry out for you to save us from ourselves.

Fancy words do not work with you.  You see behind any facade we put on in front of people.  You know our hearts, our very souls.  You know all of my insecurities and fears, my hopes and dreams.  Please Father, awaken these dreams within me once again.

Teach us to dream once again.

Show us how to shatter our feeble, limited perceptions of who you are, and instead decide to seek your face earnestly.  We want to see your glory, to enter the Holy of Holies.  We long to be free from the constraints of our feeble flesh.  Open our eyes, Father, to the WAR that rages around us.  Show us the souls that are thirsty for living water and hungry for the bread of heaven.  Reveal to us things that are ETERNAL, that we may fix our eyes on you.

You know, Father, that my thoughts are cluttered and burdensome.  I long to call out to you day and night.  Save us according to your unfailing love.  Without you we are certainly lost.

Thank you for Jesus.

-G

Transcribin'

The Only Thing

by Chris Webb

I look down at my shoes and see they're getting older every day.

I make new friends but it feels like my old ones keep going away.

And nothing really stays the same-

Folks move

Grow up

Leave out

Work jobs

It seems like the only thing that never really changes here is God.

My city's building streets and tearing down the place I went to school.

Folks keep on movin'

Some go forward,

Some go backward, but they move.

From Ronald Regan to Obama,

From the Jerk to Lean and Rock,

Time keeps on turnin' like the world,

The only peace out here is God.

I check the clock

And chaos happens everyday.

People keep fallin',

This corruption in our churches and in our streets

The devil's callin'.

News gets more and more insane,

People keep gettin' stabbed and robbed,

And it seems like the only stable name to call on here is God.

My friends are busy all the time

My family's out

I'm all alone

It's late at night

I don't got nobody

I'm searching through my phone.

The folks I thought were down for me left me like a broken ipod,

And now there's no doubt in my mind that I can only trust in God.

There's nothing else,

There's no one there,

His words are what I will believe in!

When it's cold I gotta trust that he will wake me when I'm dreamin'!

When it's hot then I believe he'll send the wind and bring the rain,

And when nobody's down for me I'll lean on him to take the pain!

God take my brain and take the strain!

I need his voice to calm my screams

I need his touch to take my stress

I need his peace to never leave

I need his hands to hold my heart

I need his word to guide my life

So when i see these news reports

I'll hear him saying

"It's alright."

I've come to this conclusion:

Earth ain't earth without words from his lips.

Folks say God might not be real,

But he's the only thing that is!

This present time

These friends

This church

This poem

Will soon all be the past,

But i just realized that that only what you do for Christ will last.

My shoes are fake now,

My swag will lose it's touch in like two years,

But God's the only thing that was there, is here now, and will be there.

That means that movies money sex respect and weed are meaningless!

The songs we listen to

The conversations

All of it is HIS!

But like MJ man this is it!

If you don't live for Christ your dead!

I'm sorry!

How else could i say this?

Let's all get it through our heads that if it's not his Will we NEED NOT BE CONCERNED!

Money will go

Cars will break down

Friends will fall out

Couples will break up

Folks get old

The thing that sticks is your soul!

And that's the only thing worth keepin'!

And man Jesus died so that our souls could fly

And not be bleedin'!

So stop bleedin'!

And accept him!

Know that all you need is faith,

And if you just focus on following him then things will fall in place!

And things will change,

But turn away,

And know he's there through cold and hot,

And as this world keeps going mad

The only thing we need

is God.

So today's Chapter is Leviticus 12.  I read it...Purification After Childbirth.

I thought my time would be better spent transcribing this poem from the P4CM (Passion For Christ Movement).  Check it out on youtube to get the real effect.