don’t wish you more or less without the mess of you

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

-Excerpt from "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus

 

You cannot listen to the radio without knowing that humanity is a place of suffering. I once heard that the best songs come from a broken heart, and I must admit, it is those songs that make my stomach hurt (in a good way) that rip to my core and make me hit "repeat". Our very country was founded on those battered souls of the human experience and the hope that comes with a glimpse of liberation. But where is our hope now? Freedom of speech has left us with citizens bearing automatic rifles. Free love has left us with unloved babies. Free will leaves us with broken hearts. Free economy has left us with starving children. And freedom of religion has left us with dead churches. These freedoms are indeed beautiful; are indeed worth the fight. But they are not where our hopes can rest. Obviously manmade autonomy is a system in want.

So what now? In a world where the tragic thrives and the hopeful quickly whither, where do we go? In a world where innocence is found only in the senile, where men and women die in the streets, where children are sold for pleasure and women are killed for beauty; how can we not cry out, scream with rage, and die in hopelessness? Statistics show we are not untouched by the darkness. We are an oppressed people, imprisoned by our own minds. Depression effects adults and children alike and leaves them isolated. Sex becomes a gimmick and love is raped by the manipulative. Our souls rest and fade away in the ebb and flow of our material desires and we lay down at night wondering what it's all about.

"Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in your rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness- only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleaned or bandaged or soothed with oil."
                                                                                                             Isaiah 1:5, 6

We have all of these wounds- not an inch of our beings are left untouched by the pain, by the rebellion, by the anger, jealousy, fear, selfishness, broken heartedness. Have we forgotten that these wounds can be healed?

"He sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve…the bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and garments of praise instead of the spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."
                                                                                                             Isaiah 61:1b-3

I cannot say with honesty that God does not use the things of this world for his healing purposes. In my own life He has used friends, music, books, pets, and medicines to bring me to a place where I can better know Him. But I can say that God never leaves Himself out of the equation. He is our hope and our bottom line. He is there at the highest peak and He is present at rock bottom. His kingdom HAS come! He HAS reconciled us to Himself! And one day we will throw off the burdens of this world for the splendor of his open pastures!

But for now, as we walk as aliens in this place, we can remember that He is our constant. I have not, as the apostles did, seen the blind restored and the dead raised. But I have seen hearts of marble broken and made soft. I have seen marriages that shouldn't make it, thrive. I have seen citizens of closed countries given truth through dreams and visions. I have seen the restoration of a mind ravaged beyond the grave. I have seen in my own soul the refracted effects of being welcomed into the presence of the Lord and I have known firsthand the sympathy of our Savior. He is a God who rebuilds that which has long been in ruins. He longs to restore that which has for generations been devastated. And He will, if we let Him.

all made for wilderness, called into pilgrimage

So I will step off of these walkways and head for the hills

trade my plastic jesus for a Lover more wild

life is more than four walls and bowls of fix-it pills

so hold my hand

and after everything: stand.

 

" God loves organic obedience as much as organized obedience."
                         -Christian George

To tithe new Testament style is so different from the Old Testament call to give a tenth of all you are given. The tithe laid out in Leviticus was to protect the Levites and to support this priestly tribe. So what does that mean for today? Is 10% enough? Is it required? Is it still a time to test God and see him tear open the flood gates of heaven into our homes and bank accounts? The early church was united in their giving. They sold their possessions and gave to anyone that had need (Acts 4:42-47). NO ONE WAS WITHOUT. Each had exactly what they needed. The old woman gave her last of everything while the young man flaunted his great gift, probably a small portion of what he had to give. So is 10% enough? What about late bills? What about trying to save? What about college, debt, and a car that runs? To honor God with your money do you give it freely or use it to pay down your own debts and live a more miserly life? What about a combination of the two? The question still remains: how? James talks about us not having because we do not ask, but when we ask we do not ask with correct motives-we ask because we want to spend what we receive on our pleasures (4:2b-3). Ask so that you can give.

"Oh sleeper, get up and be reminded that you are the child of a King. He wouldn't leave you with nothing to bring."
                                             -Miriam Jones "Earth and Sky"

 

~We spend so much time trying to buck tradition because we see the American church failing. True, the church is dying. But to try to build anew rather than recover is to forget what Jesus has been doing in the world for the last two thousand years~

This is a paraphrased thought from the book "Godology." It felt like a punch to the gut- the good kind. I have too long been angry at the church. I seethed as I sat through the hours of Baptist History, subconsciously rolling my eyes at what I perceived as the failings of generations of overly pious men and women. Now I think it's time to take another look. To really look at the fire in the bellies of our ancestors and to let the diesel of the Spirit rain down once more. It's time to set this thing on fire!

 

"You're the only thing I can't do without today"


- Miriam Jones "Anything"

T.W. Hunt said that each morning he spends a few minutes just praising God in order to orient himself to eternity. He then goes into his study where he has a list of all the names he uses to refer to God. He studies this list in order to remind himself who it is he is praying to. I understand what the Psalmist meant when he said "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"(42:2). In a world where we value immediate satisfaction I would like to offer this- come to love Jesus for the very fact that today will be better. Though suffering will come, and often comes daily, the precious time spent freely in the presence of the Ancient of Days, the Creator and Redeemer, THE KING---will make all things fade in comparison. This is not to say that relationship with the Almighty is something fleeting, but rather that even the smallest taste and you will indeed see that He is good and forever long for more. There is nothing in my life that does not mist into the distance the moment I choose to dance around my living room in the hands of my Savior. For those of you who know what I mean, be reminded that you are committed to the "message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). And for those of you who do not yet know, "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation."     

 

"I don't need company in the company of you. I don't need love, your love will do…I don't need air, no I don't need to breathe. I don't need rest, no I don't have time to sleep; cause I've got You and You've got me- and that's, that's all you need."
                                                            -Tegan and Sara "When I get up"