The Ultimate Birthday Party

A beloved prodigal son is coming home. Broken and disillusioned, he's bowed down under the weight of the consequences of his choices in life. He thought he was strong, but now realizes physical strength is but a delusion. Humbly he throws himself at the feet of the Love he once scorned as weak. He no longer wants the life he once lived without Love. His yearning is to break the chains of the cycle of destruction so he can be free!

How will the Father receive the one who has been contemptuous? Who now regrets? "Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37) He turns no one away that comes to Him! What is God's emotional reaction to overseeing a new birth into His fellowship? What is His first reaction? "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:10) Can't you just picture how God dances and whoops it up in exuberant joy? Not only does He take all comers, but He goes out looking for His soon to be adopted children, in the most traveled and least traveled ways of the world. (Luke 14:23) He runs to meet them where they are when He knows that they are coming. (Luke 15:20) Then it's time for the celebration! The father calls for a party to rejoice over the newest child who "was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. " (Luke 15:32)

Suprised by Love

Expectations. A sense of impending failure. That sinking feeling of despair. Expectations can be imposed on us by others, or can be those we've internalized so that we become our own worst critic. Either way, there are rules. None can claim ignorance of the rules. We all know what's right.

There is good reason why God has left such a strong impression of His laws in the minds of men. He has left a testimony of Himself. Our spirits confess to us of His ultimate power and holiness.

He leaves the witness to be a confrontation to our conscience: A wakeup call to our wayward souls. None are exempt, and we are supposed to be afraid, initially. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." The demands of His law must be met. Justice must be served. A death sentence has been handed down. All of the race of man must die.

If it all seems pretty dreadful, it is meant to be. God's impending judgement, His dispensing of justice, is a warning call to repentance. When we change our minds and decide not to destroy ourselves, we have someone who advocates for us. This same advocate is our proxy in the serving of our sentence. When we decide we want out of our inevitable ending, we can adopt His instead. When we accept His Lordship, we identify with His death, so our death to sin and it's consequences is accomplished.

This whole drama is akin to the child who creates a large debt against the parent. When the child comes crying to the parent, in anguish and fear, he is told the "good news". IT"S ALREADY BEEN TAKEN CARE OF! (But please don't do it again).

From what circumstances does God choose to adopt His helpless children? From out of the bitterest slavery, the harshest bondage, He has paid the ransom price! Only these are truly cognizant of their overwhelming debt, and will turn to Him in desperation. Only these have no hope but Him.

He has gone out into the highways and alleys to search them out, these lost who wish for a better way. When we hear the "good news", we know He is right there with us and will be with us forever. He has traded our poverty for His own riches. Assured destruction has been exchanged for an inheritance of priestly authority.

Anyone who the Lord takes this far will be feeling a great deal of astonishment and wonder. To our surprise, He greatly values us! He has given everything of Himself just so we can be with Him forever! It's the greatest love story ever told.

Daybreak (A poem about death)

Fanciful brush strokes of pink
and purple trail across the dawn,
Looking flat against the backlit sky that they are painted on.
What faroff reality is
illuminated by that light?
And leaves but a suggestion
of what will be, to my sight?
What undiscovered country
exists just beyond my vision?
What bright future are we
gathered to, in His mission?
The night before black storm
clouds obscure the evening skys.
The heart's imprisioned in the
cold of Satan's whispered lies.
All is dark yet in the sky
a neon rainbow brightly glows.
A sign from God of His sure love,
so faith and courage grow.
But what bright day is this that
reveals joyous faces once full of tears?
When finally comes the Sonbreak
after times of doubt and fear?
Exuberance takes flight
on an azure crystal day.
Over pure white mountain peaks,
You lift up my heart to play!

It's Night

What wisdom have I gained from the long, dark night?
Have I turned from despair yet, to profound insight?
I must pay the price of soul desolation,
before I enter His courts, where there are no more questions.
All my distractions no longer comfort me,
Crushed by a sorrow so tangible I can see,
Commiseration in the rain that pours from the sky,
Evidence of sympathy from God on high.
Giving up my life expectations of enjoyment.
In humbleness praying to counter evil's deployment.
Open eyes see God's heartwork being done!
My passionate longing is to give one more to the Son!

What's in a Name?

There is a verse that I have always considered a harsh enigma where Jesus says, "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in heaven." (Matt 10:33) This statement is right next to the pronouncement of the "unforgivable sin", and ranks right up there with it in provoking uneasy self questioning and uncertainty. What christian of fervent hope does not fear, that in weakness or persecution, they will not become like Peter and deny any knowledge or acquaintance with their Lord? That fear, when caught in physical extremity, they might succumb to cowardice?


Commendable though it may be to always be alert for opportunities to be a witness for the gospel, I don't believe that Christ is saying we need be legalistic about every word that comes out of our mouths. After all, oppostion is only an excuse to let the light shine in the dark, and we don't lose our relationship with our Lord when in uncertainty or doubt. Instead, an idea of what this denial is, is hinted at where Jesus tells of the sheep and the goats. Do you remember how some who say "We did it all in Your name!" are rebuffed? "I never knew you!" Christ responds.


They did it in His name? A name is the truth of who someone is. Titles are a part of this. "God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." (Phil 2:9,10) "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Christ is "Mighty God" in Isaiah and "my Lord and my God" to Thomas the formerly doubting disciple. If you get the picture that Jesus is God in the flesh, with no others who could even hope to approach that position, then you understand the main part of my thinking.



Anyone who defines the identity of Christ Jesus differently is unacquainted with the genuine Lord. Attaching His name to whatever we happen to worship does not give the idol His identity, even if we call it by the same name. This is what denial of Christ means. Creating a christ in our own image with characteristics that fill our own desires is preaching another gospel. Paul said that anyone who did this is cursed, (Gal 1:8,9) because our salvation is dependent on who Christ is. "The essence of sin is substituting man for God, while the essence of salvation is subsituting God for man."

Salamander Grace

A signal sentinal of stone guards the center of the house, it's heart of fire reaching out to all the inhabitants with a living warmth.It freely bestows its glowing light on house residents. This closeknit communty of family is astonished and amazed by a flash of color emerging from the flames. A salamander, elemental of fire, is a reflection of the red and orange jewel tones of the flames. Merely human eyes observe and wonder at the mystery of a creature which lives in flame and is of flame. The creature represents the incomprehensable. The captive audience would love to emmulate the beauty and aquire the wisdom that dwells in the heart of the flame.

Just so is the christian that emerges from his fellowship with the Savior, our Rock with a heart of molten passion. Our souls reflect the jewel-like clarity of His character. We are bound, in mute wonder, to the unrelenting joy which is the immutable radiance of His being. Do others glimpse through us the unceasing glory of He through whom we "live and move and have our being?"

Or have we left ourselves out in the cold, without the knowing of the warmth of His acceptance? Do we squabble in the dark because our eyes refuse to see the light shining in front of us? Can we tell when our own passions, that we lay claim to as the most important virtues of our lives, are nothing more than "sentimental rot", and unruled by the eternal flame who is our Savior?

More Than This!

Here comes the question. It's the one capping off all of the most intermidable of sermons. You can recite the words before you hear them. You've already tuned them out because you've made your decision and you feel that the question no longer applies to you. "If you died tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?" That's it. There it is, the end of the story.

"But wait, there's more!" What if the gospel is more than just a "get out of jail free card"? What if it is more than just the pass to get you through those pearly gates? What if it is the chance to change what you can only see as an ending, to a beginning that stretches into eternity on a cosmic scale? The book's ending can be changed. You can "rewrite an ending that fits", so that He is the start of the best part of the story.

If, without Jesus, man is no more than a project sabotaged, to be thrown on the scrap heap, how much more is a life in Him a new beginning that will see no end? Each and every weakness, surrendered to His keeping, every painful circumstance we decide to face with His praises, each conscious sacrifice done to glorify Him, becomes a permanent part of our destiny with Him. Because of what He has done, and in His name, we can choose to bring new life to wherever we are at right now. In Jesus, we can opt out of the ending of our story.