Holy God,
You are Lord almighty.
You are my Shepherd and Guide.
You are my Rock and Refuge.
You are by my side.
You have redeemed me.
I am alive.
You have saved me.
Your love You don’t deprive
You’re worthy of all praise.
You’re worthy of all worship.
My soul has been renewed.
Your Spirit in me, please stir up.
You give Life.
You give peace.
You give hope.
Your love will never cease.
So You sent Jesus,
My Lord and King.
He is my Savior.
What a beautiful ring.
I am Yours.
And You are mine.
Fill my heart,
For with You I want to be aligned.
Poetry
Jesus Is Worth It
I am in Omaha, NE at the LCMC (Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ) Annual Gathering. I look forward to this event every year to connect with friends and colleagues in fellowship, worship and networking. It is also a time when I am encouraged in my faith. Case in point, at our opening worship on Sunday, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart through the sermon on Romans 10:14 and thus the following poem flowed out. Praise be to God!
I am a sinner that is true.
God’s wrath is most certainly due.
I fall short through every action.
My deeds have no satisfaction.
But Jesus died that I may live.
And thus to God all glory give.
He is worthy of all my praise.
To Him I will direct my gaze.
But Satan wants me to just quit;
Saying Jesus is not worth it.
But Jesus holds me ever close,
So thus to Satan, “adios”.
And so I’ll live my life for Him.
And not let my light ever dim.
So may I keep on standing strong.
That I may ever sing Your song.
Life
Life is fragile and delicate.
Life is valuable and precious.
Only You, Lord, can be entrusted with it.
Only Your mighty and gentle hands can handle it.
But even though these fragile shells – shells that we call a body – will eventually crack, it doesn’t mean that You are careless.
These bodies are precious, from the moment we are conceived, but there is something even more precious, that which Jesus died to save –
my soul.
That’s what’s in Your hands forever.
I hate to see shells
crack,
die
and decay
but I praise You that which is inside is perfectly safe and sound in Your mighty and gentle hands.
My life is precious.
My life is saved.
All praise be to You through Christ Jesus my Lord.
Amen.
God Help Us
The political climate in the United States is embarrassing, scary, bang-my-head-on-a-wall frustrating, and a whole host of other metaphors. But I am not going to venture into the political arena here and offer my 2 cents, as there are many who would bury me. Instead, I plead with God to help us – here and now. We live in a messed up, sin-fallen, corrupt world. Our leaders need help. We need help.
So with all of this in mind, I wrote the following poem.
God help us here and now.
Your blessing please avow.
Their actions disallow.
Before You may they bow.
God help us here and now.
Your wisdom please endow.
Without You they know not how,
To please You here and now.
God help us here and now.
Unity where art thou?
So many broken vows
Oh God, save us anyhow
Blowing
You wave and sway.
You bend and bow.
Your movement is not choreographed by you.
Nothing planned.
Nothing thought out.
You just move.
You don’t resist.
You don’t try to prevent.
You don’t complain.
You just move.
Sometimes you’re still.
Sometimes you’re active.
Sometimes you’re shaped anew.
But not of your own doing.
You simply submit.
And you put me to shame.
The wind blows as it wills and you respond in kind.
The Holy Spirit does the same, but I often resist.
You don’t think because you can’t think, yet it is almost as if you really do know.
For as the wind blows you become stronger and stronger; able to grow larger and larger.
Reaching higher
Higher
Higher
And it’s not you reaching but God reaching for you.
It’s as if you know.
You do know, don’t you?
Oh to be a tree and submit to the wind of the Spirit.
Becoming stronger and reaching higher
Higher
Higher
Oh to be a tree
Morning Glory
I wrote the last stanza of this poem yesterday morning as a short prayer as I prepared for worship. This morning, I share it with you – with a couple more stanzas. To God be the glory!
Hold me with Your grace.
Bring me from disgrace.
My sins please erase.
For Your glory!
For Your glory!
Hear me when I pray.
Each and every day.
With You I want to stay.
In Your glory!
In Your glory!
Jesus is my King.
What an awesome ring.
My heart will loudly sing.
Your great glory!
Your great glory!
Bless me as I preach.
Guide me as I teach.
Many souls may I reach.
To Your glory!
To Your glory!
Be A Preacher
“Grant me, Lord, to know and understand which is first, to call on Thee or to praise Thee? and, again, to know Thee or to call on Thee? for who can call on Thee, not knowing Thee? for he that knoweth Thee not, may call on Thee as other than Thou art. Or, is it rather, that we call on Thee that we may know Thee? but how shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? or how shall they believe without a preacher? and they that seek the Lord shall praise Him: for they that seek shall find Him, and they that find shall praise Him. I will seek Thee, Lord, by calling on Thee; and will call on Thee, believing in Thee; for to us hast Thou been preached. My faith, Lord, shall call on Thee, which Thou hast given me, wherewith Thou hast inspired me, through the Incarnation of Thy Son, through the ministry of the Preacher.“
[Augustine, S., Bishop of Hippo. (1996). The Confessions of St. Augustine. (E. B. Pusey, Trans.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.]
I read this in The Confessions of St. Augustine and was inspired to write the following poem. May God lead me to be a preacher for someone who does not know Him so that they, too, may call on Him who saves – praising His name through Christ Jesus my Lord.
Why do people not call on You?
Why are they so silent?
Why do people call on other gods?
Why is Your praise so absent?
You are higher than the gods.
Your power is by far greater.
Your love is infinitely more awesome.
Through Jesus You are my vindicator.
Why do people not call on You?
Why are they so silent?
Why do people call on other gods?
They seem to be so ambivalent.
People just coast through life.
With nothing but their own power.
They just have no idea, Lord.
How close is their final hour.
And so I sit and wonder, “why is this so?”
“Why are people such lost creatures?”
But God convicted me and said,
“But I have made you to be their preacher.”
Never Alone
Have you ever felt discouraged, attacked, beaten down, driven away like chaff or defeated? Have you ever felt like running away, hiding or curling up into a ball to wait out what’s afflicting you? Have you ever felt alone, lost or hopeless? Have you ever wondered if God actually cares? Have you ever wondered if God really knows what is going on or is doing what He said He would do? Well, you are not alone – and in more ways than one. First of all, you are not the only one to feel this way and second, you are never alone. God, your Shepherd, is always watching His sheep – He is always watching over you. Satan may get his punches in, but Satan will never remove and devour the sheep of the Shepherd, our God through Jesus Christ. And so, raise your voice to the Shepherd, but know – you are never alone, and Satan will never win.
Satan is on the prowl,
Looking to devour,
And I feel so defenseless.
He bites and scratches,
Wounds are appearing,
Injuries sustained,
Energy is draining.
And there is nothing I can do to stop him.
Hopelessness is his goal.
Lostness is his desire.
Oh God, come and rescue me.
Smash out his teeth,
Destroy his goals,
Slay the lion,
Leave him defeated.
Oh my Shepherd,
Keep me close to You,
May Your rod and staff comfort me,
Lead me through this dark valley,
May I once again see green pastures and still waters,
As You lead me in Your path of righteousness;
Healing and restoring my soul.
Satan is on the prowl, but YOU, oh God, are my Shepherd.
And thus, I am yours,
In Your house dwelling,
Forever and ever to worship You.
Amen.
Trials
This is a poem based on James 1:1-18 – the sermon text for Sunday, Sept 15 as I being preaching through the book of James. To God be the glory.
Lead me by the hand,
when trials come my way.
Hold me close to You,
So I’ll not go astray.
For You have a plan,
in all that I will face.
Trials have a goal,
Please help me to embrace.
I want to grow strong
For Satan tries to stop,
May I lean into You,
So I’ll come out on top.
Jesus is my Lord.
I know I’ll see some strife.
But, through my trials,
there lays the crown of life.
Peace in Chaos
In the midst of chaos peace appears to be a mirage.
Fleeting
Unreal
Unreachable
The closer I seem to get, the farther away it retreats.
Teasing me.
Luring me away from reality.
Giving me false hope.
But then I find something – an oasis.
Peace – ahhh…
But this isn’t right.
This is not real peace.
And I’m not meant to stay in this oasis.
But I don’t want to leave.
Chaos
Is there any real peace?
[Enter Jesus]
Jesus is not a mirage.
Jesus is not an oasis shielding me from reality.
Jesus is peace IN the chaos.
Never fleeting
Very real
Reaching me
Peace – ahhh…
The Heart of a Pastor 