Father God,
I lay my life in Your hands this night.
Give me peace that I will be alright.
Shine on me that I’ll dwell in Your light.
Keep me close and always hold me tight.
You are my God – my complete delight
Father, I am wholly Yours – Good night.
Faith
The Hill
Holy God,
On Your Word I will stand.
On no other place will I plant my flag.
For Jesus is the Word made flesh thus,
To no one but Jesus will I tie my identity;
To no one but Jesus will I cling.
When push comes to shove,
My stand on Your Word will be the hill that I will die upon.
And if I die on that hill,
So be it –
I know my life rests in You.
You are my God and it’s You I will proclaim.
You are my hope in Jesus Christ my Lord.
Many cling to that which does not matter.
May I live in such a way that proclaims that which I stand upon.
Holy God, Father and Creator,
My identity is wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus.
And thus it is Your Word on which I will stand.
It is the hill I will die upon.
To You be all glory, honor, thanks and praise.
In the beautiful name of Jesus I pray,
Amen!
Evening Trust
I entrust my body and soul to Your tender, gentle and mighty hands this night. For the darkness is not darkness to You. No evil dares confront You. You are Lord and sovereign King. You are my loving Father. You are all of this and more – and I am Yours and thus i have no fear. So i entrust my body and soul to You this night and forevermore.
A Reformation Poem
The 5 Solas of the Reformation are highlighted in bold in this poem. They are important statements in understanding the Good News of Jesus Christ as proclaimed in Scripture. The Gospel is from God alone, and praise be to God for that, otherwise we would surely mess it up and condemn ourselves.
Salvation from God was needed by me.
A sinner i am, i can’t disagree.
A Savior i needed, that’s my decree.
Listen right now and i’ll share how i’m free.
God’s grace alone is where it starts,
His love is free straight from His heart.
Through faith alone He will never depart.
For in Christ alone i have a new start.
So where’s this news? Well, it’s God’s Word alone.
It is there it says your sins He atones.
Jesus died and rose, he now sits enthroned.
Through faith alone you will ever be known.
Confess your sins and admit you need Him.
And forgiveness is yours way to the brim.
His light will shine and never grow dim.
And in His great love you will always swim.
Written to the glory of God alone.
My Mighty Fortress
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
[Psalms 46:1 ESV]
Oh my Mighty Fortress,
I wake this morning in peace,
For You are my Refuge and Strength.
You are my very present help in trouble.
No matter the size,
You are my Defender.
My skin may be thus destroyed but so be it –
You hold my life.
My name my be sullied and dragged through the mud but so be it –
You have given me Your family name through Jesus.
My body may be weak and in pain but so be it –
For Your grace is sufficient for me.
The powers that be may roar and show their teeth but so be it –
You are my Shepherd.
The very earth may crumble and fall a way but so be it –
I am secure in You.
My Mighty Fortress, my God,
I praise You that You are my Refuge and Strength for it gives me courage to go forth into this day.
Affliction may torment me but You are my Life, Fortress and God.
And thus I shall live forever, in peace, with You.
Thank you, God, for being my Mighty Fortress.
Amen.
My Reason to Rhyme
You have probably noticed that I like writing poetry. I’m nothing special and definitely not the best thing since sliced bread, but I like trying to write it. Sometimes my poems are pretty strict in structure and beats per line. Sometimes I mix things up. Sometimes I write poetry that seems to break all the conventional rules. But no matter the poem, I have found a peace in writing them. As the following poem says, in my writing I am forced to think deeply about words I choose and in doing so I am thinking more deeply about my relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And so there you have it – my reason to rhyme…
Morning has broken, this day is new.
And my coffee is ready to brew.
Jesus my Lord, to him i will pray.
Doing no other to start my day.
It’s Your grace i think on and review.
Yet i’m writing a poem about You.
It seems i’m lost and going astray.
But in this style Your love i convey.
For as i write i think on You more.
And that is great for You i adore.
I’ll keep on going with You my God,
What i’m doing is not a facade.
And so i sit with coffee in hand,
thinking on You as my love is fanned.
I think about each and every rhyme.
knowing it’s never a waste of time .
To God be the glory. Amen 🙂
The Evil Monster
Satan,
you are an evil monster,
deceiving and leading away,
the father of lies,
hiding in the shadows,
a lurking lion waiting to pounce,
a wolf wearing sheep clothing.
To hell with you.
Away.
Your dominion has been conquered by my Lord Jesus Christ.
He has shattered your hold through his resurrection.
And that is no lie for Jesus is the Truth.
You try to sell despair, but Jesus is the giver of Life.
You try to blind hearts, but Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to reside therein.
You try to reign but Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
You are nothing.
Defeated,
Crushed,
Condemned.
I will not listen to your whispers – no, I will not listen.
I will not buy what you are selling – throw it on the dung heap.
Silence and to hell with you –
forever.
My Lord Jesus reigns.
He is my Truth.
He is my Hope.
He is my Life.
Silence and away with you.
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.
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.”
The Heart of a Pastor 