Words of worship

                                                             Words of worship

Memorizing, deciphering,

 Full meaning just out of reach.

Often bereft,

 Left unable to share or speak.

Pleas to the one above

 For divine interface.

 Promises spoken,

The words to be pressed into place.

As Annie Sullivan spelling into Helen’s hand

Your Holy Spirit planting your words allowing to understand.

Words then formed, taking shape

Written out on a paper landscape.

Splayed out for all to see

And yet the message so personal to me.

Words that will work their way in to the depth of my core

Words that open wide many a spiritual door.

This then my worship returned to the giver

Bravely sharing my words with my fellow sinner.

Who is my enemy?

Who is my enemy?

 So disheartening,

 When the world still sings
"You are the bad guy", its they verses we.

 But really Who is our enemy?

We need to cease our theorizing

And stop our constant compartmentalizing.

Color, creed, religion, sexuality not our Foe.

We say yes we understand but our actions say we're slow.

 When we get right to it we often make a wedge

Using Democrat, Republican, Libertarian as a hedge,

Or even more division using religion

To designate wanted and unwanted based on type of sin.

All fall short of the created intent.

All have need to turn and repent.

Entering in as partners against hate,

Stop using each other as an escape.

 Our call as Gods children to reach out and love,

The many, lost, lonely, addicted and unloved.

Partner with those who we call nemesis,

Come together and stop the arrogance.

With new vision see all who in desperation and destitution cry.

We are in truth each an ally.

The enemy is that which separates and divides.

Equal but not the same.

Men and women,

One yet distinctly two.

Equal but not the same.

Individual yet united.

Diverse but unified.

We who are one in Him

Are one and yet singularly accountable for our sin.

One not above the other,

The others’ worth neither to smother.

Male and female not to be an adversary,

But instead to be for each a sanctuary.

Needed the Validation of Voices,

Eyes opening to begin to make new choices.

Proclamations being made

 To stop the hurtful charade.

The time for the church in confession

To own up to the devaluation and oppression.

Women in Christ fully chosen

And In the garden perfectly woven.

Yet men too created from the same essence,

Fabricated and given life from the very heavens.

Together a unity that cannot be explained

Divided a place that creates shame.

Why do we let earthly pride

And religious tradition divide?

Our witness then in unity,

Bringing Christ to our community.

Christ in you and me

And us in Him.

All Sinners invited

  All Sinners invited

 Hey come on out the party is on

Calling all who flunked and got it wrong

Some of ya’ll be liars, murderers and immoral in your hearts,

Some be so messed up, thick headed, think you all that, and so smart.

Well, all be welcome to this shin dig,

The Main Man he welcomes all his kids.

His motto the more the merrier,

Nothing you done should deter.

The invites been sent to all

This festivity is sure to enthrall.

 Only one requirement,

 To get to know the one who was sent.

He the dude that footed the bill

And all he wants from us is to accept his will

To love each other and receive his gift.

His body broken, a down payment, to take us off the waiting list.

We be invited in

Despite our nasty, stinking, miss the mark, sin.

Them’s that thinks they got it right

 Outside this party, they’ll be spending many a night!

So grab that invitation while you can,

Come and meet this Jesus, son of man.

IF 2016: the Call to assemble

IF 2016

The call to assemble has been made.

From the far corners of the earth preparations are being made.

Lists written, invites sent, cleaning of spaces and food to be gotten.

Women busy, unsure, excited, exhausted and exhilarated by all the activity.

Human endeavor of gathering in hopes of meeting God.

From ancient times was this call to regularly assemble.

To gather to commemorate what God had done (the Passover), to come together in community and for recognizing Gods provision(First fruits) and to learn about sin, judgement and forgiveness and the pouring out of the spirit (the feast of Weeks).

The IF Gathering is just such a time. We are being called to gather in a great assembly

Not for some badge or rite of passage. This call has been sounding and summoning woman across the globe to assemble and bring glory to God. It is God who has trumpeted the trumpet and who is doing the gathering. We are to simply gather.

Joel 2:15-17

“Blow the horn in Zion!
Announce a sacred fast;
proclaim an assembly.
¹⁶ Gather the people;
sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;^[b]
gather the children,
even those nursing at the breast.
Let the groom leave his bedroom,
and the bride her honeymoon chamber.
¹⁷ Let the priests, the Lord’s ministers,
weep between the portico and the altar.

Joel 2:28-32

After this
I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will have dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
²⁹ I will even pour out My Spirit
on the male and female slaves in those days.
³⁰ I will display wonders
in the heavens and on the earth:
blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.
³² Then everyone who calls
on the name of Yahweh will be saved,
for there will be an escape
for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
as the Lord promised,
among the survivors the Lord calls.

Footnotes:

Loving to Realness

Loving to Realness

The velveteen Rabbit so prettily stuffed

Lonely and saddened to be overlooked.

Stiffened by his outer trappings, wanting to impress

 Difficult to receive the girls’ attention and caress.

 Clueless how to get close,come alive and to feel,

But eventually her friendship to him did appeal.

The rubbing off of Velvet and bows,

Leaving poor bunny vulnerable and exposed.

Time shared together, laughter and meals,

 Soon His own heart the little girl did steal.

Tragedy struck separating the two,

Lost and bedraggled Rabbit at a loss as to what to do.

Left wanting more, wanting to become real,

The sprinkling of fairy dust and loving the source to heal.

Our own facade needing to be stripped

A process not hurried or to be skipped

Allowing love to seep and expose,

Being vulnerable, present and unclothed.

Our own exchanging with Jesus and others this love.

The Holy Spirit endowing from above

 The agony and ecstasy of a love so surreal

Loving us until we become real.