Those who died for freedom
May 28, 2012
Thank you God
May 4, 2012
Unexplainable Gift
April 18, 2012
I have learned to hide
In the shadow of your wings
You’ve lifted my heart to joy
I cannot explain
I’m an ordinary man
A broken human being
When I look back my heart’s sick
I see my failure and pride
Lust for affirmations
Longing for power
I repent again today
I am new every morning
Each morning I rise
Praise God for his massive love
One who lives by his Spirit
In those who repent
Those who accept forgiveness
Who accept undying love
A gift I cannot explain
It defies logic of men
But I know one thing
I was shattered in pieces
And now I am whole again
I will seek the truth
That is a choice I can make
It is the one thing
That I have done and will do
It has brought light to my eyes
I’ve lived close to death
I have watched my love ones die
I’m angry at death
I hate it with all my heart
Only truth has brought me hope
Men’s religion has failed
A cloud, a veil hides the truth
You must look deeper
Search for yourself the answers
You will find if you will seek
Reflections written after meditating on Psalm 31; Proverbs 7; Jesus Calling; My Utmost for His Highest – 4-7-12.
When I rise in the morning, I can now visualize the places I have read about for over 50 years. I am in Jerusalem. I have been to the Sea of Galilee. I have stood on Mount Carmel. I have been to the synagogue Jesus taught in Capernaum. I have stood on the mountain where he explained who the really happy people are (Sermon on the Mount). I have looked up at the stars over the Sea of Galilee where he knelt before dawn broke. I have seen these places and marveled. What is happening inside me is a feeling of having brought the one in me (Jesus) to a most familiar place. It has made my heart glad.
Understanding is the Doorway
April 16, 2012
The fruit of the tree brings life
Deceitful words crush
The lips of the wise
Spread knowledge and bring real hope
Pursue righteousness
You will find how loved you are
What delight in you God has
A cheerful heart celebrates
Sees the beauty, finds the hope
She cannot be defeated
Love’s at the center
A man of understanding
Listens with great compassion
Seeks counsel for direction
Then obeys the Lord
His path will be straight
Find joy in giving true words
A timely reply
Her path leads upward
He’ll climb every mountain
Joy will lead the way
Courage, wisdom and compassion
Death itself will be destroyed
The Lord listens to prayers
Those who seek with all their heart
Revere the Lord above all
Joy will fill your heart
Jerusalem on Easter Morning
April 8, 2012
Look Ahead with Wonder
April 6, 2012
Surprised by Joy
March 29, 2012
Listen Like Ty
March 15, 2012
He drew near to the God he loved
Was still and silent
God spoke to him of the joy
Gave him a passion to share
Ty Osman II – A Legacy of Faith
March 14, 2012
Ty skydiving
To observe Ty’s life was like watching a beautiful, brilliant shooting star. He was in perpetual unfettered motion. Even when standing still, his eyes sparkled. His smile was so infectious that it drew you into his orbit. At Coker Creek, it was such great fun to watch him connect with Adair or to play with Keller and Paden. I loved how Ty worshiped with abandon. He lived and worshiped full-out!
I think you brought God glory, Ty. Just know that you leave us wanting more – just like a beautiful, brilliant shooting star …
~
From Ty’s Dad:
Ty keeps comforting me from heaven with memories and even his words. “God is here. His presence is evident. Take a look around you: what do you see?” Reading these words makes heaven seem a little closer.
~
From Ty:
It is hard for me to imagine trying to sincerely believe that this world and everything in it is all that there is … There is no way that this just happened by chance. A greater power, obvious to me, definitely had a hand in creating all of this. One of the things I do not understand is how someone could believe differently. To think that something as fragile yet as powerful and complicated as the brain was not crafted carefully by a higher power is crazy. It does not make sense to me. God is here. His presence is evident. Take a look around you: what do you see? All the way from the intricateness of a cell all the way to the expansiveness of the universe, He is obviously involved.
Ty Osman II – Legacy of Joy
March 13, 2012
Ty Osman II – A Treasure
March 7, 2012
Bill Frey – A Gift
March 4, 2012
A Love Without End
February 18, 2012
Valentine’s Day Revolution
February 14, 2012
My daughters Margaret and Sara wrote this blog post. It challenged and inspired me, so I wanted to share it with you. Happy Valentine’s Day.
On Valentine’s Day, we naturally focus our attention on those that we know and love well. TV commercials show rapturous men declaring their love with diamond-encrusted necklaces; grocery stores showcase tight bunches of frozen-smelling roses. Probably most of us forgo these tired symbols of love and go out to eat with our beloved, or write a thoughtful note to our spouse. My brother-in-law holds that Valentine’s Day is a consumer culture-manufactured event calculated to get us to spend more money; for a while he refused to participate. (My sister finally got him to compromise and purchase her a book to celebrate the day.) While finding a way to celebrate romantic love is fine, there are other kinds of love to celebrate and mark as significant.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world.
James 1:27
Let’s have a Valentine’s Day Revolution!
I challenge us to be just as aware of those who desperately need love, but are not represented in Valentine’s Day commercials or Hallmark cards. (I’ve never seen a Hallmark card section marked “Orphans”). It is easier ignore the pain that Valentine’s Day evokes for some people than to enter into the distress of the heartbroken, isolated, and lonely. Let’s deliberately and intently search for people that we can show God’s gracious compassion and unrelenting love. We can look for practical ways to demonstrate this love and “look after” those living with a relationship void.
1) The New Hope Foundation cares for precious Chinese orphans with disabilities. Click here for more information and to donate.
2) Volunteer at a homeless shelter, particularly one that has women and children. Often, these children, while not actual orphans, are starved for attention and time.
3) I know of a young widow who needs our help. This December, my friend Angela’s thirty-four-year-old brother Joshua died suddenly from a heart problem. His wife Jennie is devastated. She needs encouragement and financial provision. Jennie was left without life insurance and with large medical debt. Any help would be appreciated.
We are not alone
January 20, 2012
You can watch Jesus’ movements in the recording of His behavior in the fourth and fifth chapters of Mark. This poem is written from the perspective of Jairus a synagogue ruler.
We felt all alone
Our daughter was dying
Helpless and despairing
I went looking for Christ
Believing Jesus could heal
~
I felt hope when Jesus said
“I will go with you and help.”
The crowds pressed as we traveled
Suddenly he stopped
He looked all around
We were running out of time
He healed a woman
The words came like a dagger
“Your daughter is dead.”
He turned and looked straight at me
“Don’t be afraid, just believe.”
When we reached our home, I saw
Weeping and wailing
Jesus said, “She is sleeping.
She is not dead.” They all laughed
He made everyone leave
Except us, the parents
Three of his disciples stayed
Peter, James, and John watched him
Jesus touched her and spoke this
“Little girl, get up!”
She opened her eyes
Arose and began to walk
Marvelous astonishment
“Don’t tell anyone.”
He told us to give her food
Because he knew she was hungry
Who is this that calms the storms
Who cast out wicked demons
Who heals all the diseases
And raises the dead
The twelve year old girl was raised from the dead. You will be raised from death. I will be raised from death. Jesus spoke to life and death. Your love ones will be raised. No one else I know speaks to real life issues like Jesus.
He rules nature
He rules the demons
He heals all our diseases
He rules over death
You are not alone. God sees you. He hears you. He listens to your cry. Nothing is greater than God demonstrating his love by giving his only Son to live in you. You are his joy. My job is to hear him; receive his love; meditate on His teaching and act on the things he teaches me. In doing this I have discovered inexpressible joy.
