When I Became A Man

BY Phil Allen

"...Before I became a man

I was much shorter
Not just in height but in spiritual insight
Because I never had a picture
Nor did Pixar ever have a film
Showing me what God’s man really looked like

But when I became man
Oh, When I became a man
I learned how to love Father God right back
Even though I’m good at falling short of the glory
I reflect on my story
Through my praise I’ll self publish a testimony..."

Want to know more about Phil? Click here!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won't stay there.  ~Clarence W. Hall





Image Source: http://resurrection-brentwood.org/

The Psalms

The Psalms
BY Thomas Merton

When psalms surprise me with their music
And antiphons turn to rum
The Spirit sings: the bottom drops out of my soul.

And from the center of my cellar, Love, louder than thunder
Opens a heaven of naked air.

New eyes awaken.
I send Love's name into the world with wings
And songs grow up around me like a jungle.
Choirs of all creatures sing the tunes
Your Spirit played in Eden.
Zebras and antelopes and birds of paradise
Shine on the face of the abyss
And I am drunk with the great wilderness
Of the sixth day in Genesis.

But sound is never half so fair
As when that music turns to air
And the universe dies of excellence.

Sun, moon and stars
Fall from their heavenly towers.
Joys walk no longer down the blue world's shore.

Though fires loiter, lights still fly on the air of the gulf,
All fear another wind, another thunder:
Then one more voice
Snuffs all their flares in one gust.

And I go forth with no more wine and no more stars
And no more buds and no more Eden
And no more animals and no more sea:

While God sings by himself in acres of night
And walls fall down, that guarded Paradise.

Hymns are Poetry Too!

So many songs have the smooth and beautiful quality of a poem. This is for sure one of those. The lovely piece "Come thy Fount" was written in 1757 by Robert Robinson, when he was only 22 years old!

Whether read or sung, the words have an undeniable quality that always makes me feel God's presence.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

With Love and Tears

Check out this wonderful piece from my friend Cindy. With all of the madness going on in this world right now, this piece reminds me how much we need a Savior. Peeps, if you don't know my Jesus, please get acquainted today:-)

Enjoy!

BY Cindy Whitaker

Poor and parched, the land cries out for rain
Even so does my spirit thirst for you
Draw me Lord that in your presence
will flow tears of shame, relief and joy
To water the land

Weak and cold, a marriage cries out for refuge
Draw us Lord that we may look in your eyes
and know love unearned, unmatched, unyielding
To bind our souls

Too strong, too weak
Too hot, too cold
Lord teach us your compassion
To serve, to love, to lead, to listen
With love and tears