the launch (from fast forward)

The pneuma the breath the Spirit

a holy hurricane howling through every soul

behold my Church I’m sending you

now GO!

founded on the promise of the Cross

set on the shoulders of a man called the rock

spread like a good disease

through the Holy City of Jerusalem

all possessions held in common

no one called their property their own

bread broken together in homes

awe and wonder

God’s new thunder

FAST FORWARD

The gods are offended

the Empire incensed

who are these who

   will not bow the knee

   will not pay the fee

   will not play the game

   will not compromise the Name

and so it begins

the stoning of Stephen

exiles and crucifixions

victims in the coliseum

as Jesus’ flock

becomes food for lions

in the extreme sport

of persecution

until

one Roman king

sees things differently

and blesses the community

with immunity

an end to persecution

and the organism of Jesus’ body becomes...

...an institution

invisible ones (from fast forward)

I want to ask you my Church

how have you survived?

what mighty engine keeps your cells alive

what great heartbeat has sustained you

when pain contorts you

and sin stains you

through the trough of human sorrow

who has lifted you

to tomorrow

there are

and always have been

the invisible ones

who never made a name

rejected fame

the brick and pillars

the crossbeams of the church

they have stood up for justice

stooped down to serve

reached out to heal

sheltered the defenseless

mothered the motherless

lifted the depressed

and loved the despised

it matters that they lived

it matters how they died

it matters that they answered the call

without them

the foundations would groan and crack

and finally fall

woodworker (from fast forward: a history of the church)

A woodworker from the hill country

name of  Yeshua

Joshua

aka Jesus

  broke history in two

  reframed the law

  reinvigorated the prophets

  rewrote the DNA of the sick

evil spirits submitted to Him

fish jumped into nets for Him

loaves of bread multiplied for Him

He formed a coalition

He challenged authority

He purged the Temple

He riled the establishment

His own body

cracked open like bread

shattered like a wine glass

the pounding of the spikes heard round the world

the temple of the Holy Place torn from top to bottom

worn out traditions ripped to shreds

they could not contain

the One who sprang up from the dead

His body

reconfigured

reassembled

into

something new

   the Ecclesia--

   aka the Church

south asia: Amol's story

Amol, his wife and three young children,
became the personal possession

of the owner of a rice factory,

locked in to a new dark world

of spine bending labor;

eighteen hours a day,

seven days a week,

healthy or sick they worked.

when the food ran short

the family was grudgingly given rice to eat

(infested with worms),

but even though hope was denied them

hunger could not be denied,

so they ate.

the factory owner said

you are mine,

and if you ever escape,

I will hunt you down.

I will bring you back.

I will make you work.

you will never

leave

these walls.

the Justice Mission

explored and prayed,

worked and walked undercover,

researched and wrote,

asked quiet inquiring questions in the streets,

and wove themselves

into the seams of the system,

eroded the power base,

disturbed the web,

and subverted the way things are.

and one day at the rice factory

the doors broke off,

and the factory owner was led off,

looking more like a slave than an oppressor.

his rice factory shut down hard,

and Amol and his family walked out into open air

with no one at their heels.

no one to capture them.

no one to haul them back.

no one to force them inside

that kiln of despair ever again.

Amol, a Hindu,

knows he and his family were considered

worth saving,

worth praying for,

worth fighting for,

and he says he knows a multitude of prayers delivered him...

his oldest son aspires to be

a brain surgeon.

--

 www.ijm.org

song lyric: from Center of my Life

wish that i could wave a wand
and undo every careless word
every friend that i let down
and cries for help i never heard
every chance i never took
and every little lie i tried to hide

and i need You in the center
of my life

for all that i am
and all that i'm not
and all i forgot
and all i've lost
and all that i dream
and all that i do
is calling to You
to be the center
of my life
--

a christmas riff (part 3)

He and Mary walked together

(now having so much to say to each other)

Arriving in the town of Bethlehem

she having reached full term

they found: no accomodations

no vacancy, no lodging

no place to lay down and give birth

except a dark stinking barn

with a filthy feeding trough

They were revolted at the thought--

this didn’t fit the lofty script

that the angel had spelled out

The High Prince that Mary carried

could not be delivered in a dark corner

of a smelly shed where the livestock lay

They stopped, took it in, and then they breathed

and in their shaky way, believed

Since there be no other way

Here we are for God, said they

Let it be 

Let it be

That same evening

(though they were hard to see)

there were sheepkeepers out there in the field

night watchmen for the flocks

Their hearts were nearly stopped

by a visit from the angel messenger

brighter than noon in the darkest of night

blinded were they by the brilliance of God

Don’t.. be.. afraid--

No fear, said the envoy to the sheepkeepers

Drop everything

go into town

search the stables

and you will find the sign--

a baby

in a feeding trough

Then there rose up

splitting open the night

angel upon angel upon angel

in waves across the sky

like the Northern Lights

only infinitely brighter

a song far deeper than any human choir

ascending into heaven

and leaving them behind

They fell over themselves

running hard into the town

pounding pavement

throwing open barn doors

heaving open wooden gates

until they found

the man Joseph

his fiancé Mary

  

and then

they saw

wrapped up in rags

the One

who was given His name

long, long before any of them were born:

Immanuel:

God

With

Us

--

a christmas riff (part 2)

Joseph

on the other hand

when she told him,

was stunned and shaken

devastated

that his promised young woman

had already been

...taken

He made up his mind

to be civil about the thing

and to quietly break the engagement

putting her away without staining her name

The two walked in silence

He had nothing to say to her

she had so much to say to him

but he couldn’t hear it

he couldn’t bear it

until...

He lay down and dreamed

an uneasy dream

and the messenger came

and at first took his breath clean away--

The angel calmed him down

(which was no easy task)

and then explained:

Don’t.. be.. afraid--

No fear, Joseph

Nothing has been stolen from you

This is instead a perfect gift from the Most High

that in time you will come to understand:

Within Mary is conceived a man

who will save this limping planet from its own sorry self

Joseph breathed, long and deep

This is more than my heart can handle, said he

but..

I will find a way 

and I am...

at the service

of my God

--

a christmas riff (part 1)

In those days

half the planet was on the road

everyone traveling to the town of their birth

to sign on the dotted line

at the command of Augustus Caesar

king of the world. 

The man Joseph,

and Mary his fiancé,

were well on their way

to his own home town, Bethlehem.

Long before their wedding vows

would ever be taken

Mary had been awakened

her eyes were opened

and her spirit shaken

by a heaven sent messenger.

You are favored, the angel said

Lifted skyward by the Most High God

Among every woman on this messed up planet

You are most--- blessed--- of all

She was flabbergasted--

(It was quite a hello)

Don’t be afraid--

No fear

said the envoy

Out of all the possibles 

He has chosen You--

You are going to be pregnant

by the breath of God,

the Holy One

It will be a boy child

and He already has a name—

God

With

Us.

I don’t understand, said Mary.

You seem to know all things--

You must know I’ve never been with a man

Peace... said the emissary,

the Wind, the Spirit, will shadow you

and within yourself you will know it’s true

the inconceivable conceived in you

from the heart of the Holy One

and this is the hope

that the earth has been crying for

Mary listened,

took it in,

breathed

and somehow... she believed.

Here I am for God, said she

Let it be

Let it be

---

Bowie

This weekend Rinne and I had to say goodbye to our angel dog, Bowie, who was very ill. This was harder than words can say.  He was as close as a child would be to us--we have no children.  It was and is a spiritual bond.  God taught us a graduate level course in His own love through this amazing creature.  I keep reminding myself that the great love is worth the pain of the loss.  And in my head I know it's true.  But right now it just plain hurts in our souls.

choir planet manifesto

ask me where my help comes from

ask me how I stay strong

how I ascend the heights

and don’t turn my ankle

on the jagged stones

we lean our weight into the dynamo of the almighty God

our eyes and our hope are firmly fixed

on the reach and the scope

of the love and the power

of the Infinite One

our food is to do the will of the One who sent us

our drink is the Wellspring of living water

He is our peace

who has broken down every dividing wall

He is our confidence,

our firm place to stand

our everpresent hope

everwatchful eyes searching to and fro

evershielding arms reaching out to hold

lifting and rescuing

the consolation of the nations

the release

the relief

he is our joy our light

the delight of our hearts

the lifter of our heads

securer of our souls

the air that fills our lungs

the Spirit who guides us

and  propels us forward

He is our sustenance, our tenacity

He is before all things
and in Him all things hold together

He is our everlasting to everlasting

the very blood in my veins

is redeemed and claimed

by the blood of Another

so here I stand 
I can do no other

  --

give us this day

Our Father in heaven

Our Father in heaven

Holy be your name

Fill the profane

With the sacred the numinous

The mysterious

That which the seers and seekers

Have sought for centuries

And find now just within their reach

Just beyond the power of speech

to explain to describe this pearl of great price

That monks and kings alike

have sold everything to obtain

Letting go of the world for the ultimate prize

They gladly gave it all to gain.

Your Kingdom come

Into the dark alleys and the gray slums and the green suburbs

The gleaming cities and centers of power

The concrete streets where the gunshots ring in the dead of night

Flood us all with your clarity

Your brilliant light

Would you set us right

O Father set us right

Your will be done

When hope bleeds out

And dubious trust gives way to doubt

And character slides down into darker greed

And self-absorption drowns out the aching need

Injustice rears its ugly head

And feeds upon the helpless and the innocent

And conscience is numb and remorse is next to dead

O God lift the bowed heads and breathe out hope

Into the parched lungs that need it most

Bring us safely back into the fold
Restore to us the joy of old we used to hold

Bring every last one safely home

Your will be done

Your will be done

Give us this day

To make the most of

To work to help to love to learn

To lead to meet the need

To give our all to give our utmost

The best hours of every day

The best dreams the highest aspirations

The great expectations

Of a world made brand new

Of a kingdom built and forged by You

The city with foundations

Of redemption reconstruction of every beating heart

Lives given the chance to restart

Be reborn reclaimed renewed

Unfolding ever growing ever learning

To be yours to reach for you

With body mind heart and soul

This our highest goal

This our fondest thought

Capturing our imagination

Overcoming our hesitation

The vision we can almost see

Around every corner

The power the glory

Forever and ever

No matter what we face

Between the now and what is to be

Come what may

Give us this day

Give us this day

--

worship under the microscope

is there any worship in me really

is there a heart that searches up to You

(yes daily I instinctively  give you that)

is there a lifting up of you in my Spirit

You- the one that is true

You- the one that takes it  all willingly in

and finds ways to sneak comfort into my insides hourly

even when I can only stand to have my heart broken once a day

and the quota is exceeded



even when I am so weak I brittle up to You

and bleed out my requests daily and paltry up my thanks

throwing you offhanded perfunctories

as if they were somehow significant



this is worship?

how often do I dimple my knees with actual floor friction

how often do I still my overcooked heart

and serve you up something real

how often do I even enter into the anatomy of thanks

deeper than surface

deeper than skin

deeper than the shallow end of the pool

deeper than tossed off words

scrawled onto paper and forgotten

deeper than the paper they’re casually scribbled onto


without a surgery of thanks how does it become real

I should at least ruffle it up

and not let it be so clean and buttoned down



and what do You see in me.

why do you accept my raw and selfish scrawlings

as any worship at all?

--