A fruitful individuality
Transforms both my self and community
I cannot just go with the flow
I must learn the power of “No!”
Yet contrary words won’t suffice
I must learn to judge myself twice
A fruitful individuality
Transforms both my self and community
I cannot just go with the flow
I must learn the power of “No!”
Yet contrary words won’t suffice
I must learn to judge myself twice
There’s a process to being forgiven
That changes the way we are livin’
But is it a skill we can learn
Or a reward we must earn?
When we feel a pain
That we did not earn
There’s part of our brain
That begins to burn
The secret to getting de-tired
Is letting our hearts be inspired
When we face our pain
Christ rewrites our brain
By giving us what is required
Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest — if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9
When wounds of the past leave us bound
Grace helps our hearts be un-wound
Old layers of sin
Are where we begin
Learning how crosses are crowned
Continue reading“For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14 NKJV
My story is a mystery
Where I don’t know the end
Or even the beginning
Of why He called me “friend”
The legalist earns our respect
For reasons we ought to inspect
He’s willing to hold up the wall
Without which our culture will fall
When Adam gave each thing its name
Back then he had no word for “shame”
It could not be taught
Til he had been caught
And felt what it feels like to blame
To deal with our sin that’s remaining
We must plug the holes that are draining
By facing our shame
Thru power of The Name
‘Til only His Grace is left reigning
When we obey Christ with whole hearts
That’s when deep redemption can start
As we see His face
We’re filled up with grace
And what divides us falls apart
In a world filled
with condemnation
Could His Bride become
a pro-them-nation?
We’d much rather they’d bought the farm
(those Others who do to us harm)
Or at least find a way
To do as we say
Lest they be led off by gendarme!
The gospel flywheel
Transforms what’s real
Frees the world from sin
As I’m changed within
In the conservative Christian circles I live in, we often talk about the war on marriage: how the laws of our culture must uphold the biblical pattern against those who would seek to redefine it.
While that may be true, we seem to be ignoring a painful reality. The church lost that same war decades ago: on the issue of divorce. Maybe we should take the time to understand why before we make the same mistakes all over again.
Continue readingChrist Kingdom becomes most effective
When each of us owns our Perspective
And yet our own Will
We’re willing to kill
To live His collective directive
Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding is truly one of God’s greatest gifts to the 21st century church. At a time when many (perhaps most) Christians unthinkingly accept the brokenness of this world as “just the way things are”, He has both preached and practiced the vital truth that Christ came to give us victorious life.
He has led Bethel for decades with humility, integrity, and compassion — including a perhaps unprecedented openness to raising up and blessing other leaders. I wish more leaders were like him.
But to be honest, sometimes he drives me crazy.
Continue readingGenesis 6:8 Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
We need a foundation that’s sounder
When taking the role of a founder
The problems are hairy
Competitors scary
And often we find ourselves flounder
There’s a grace that comes from being dissed
When our quest for truth makes the world p*ssed
Though it may lead to sin
It still makes God grin
By incarnating Christ in our midst
I know that I should
Strive to be good
And not just obsess
Over my own distress
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