Your mercies are ...

You alone dear God are merciful, and I know fully well,
you have not treated me according to my sins, and I will tell
of your mercies that are true and everlasting in spite of my mess,
and I'll sing of your mercies that cast my sins into the sea of forgetfulness.
Why should I not suffer for my sins?
Why should I not be charged and made to pay?
Why should my sins be placed on your shoulders?
Why should your blood be shed to wash them all away?
It's me who chooses to sin.
It's me who gives in when tempted.
It's me who do the immoral, unrighteous, and ungodly things.
It's me who in spite of your mercies continues to do it my way.
So I join with all of your people and express my gratitude,
and pray that doing so will be ingrained in my attitude.
Thank you, because your mercies I could never deserve.
Thank you, because your mercies I could never earn.
Thank you, because your mercies I could never buy.
Thank you, because your mercies are new every morn.
With uplifted hands I further express
in humility, amazement, and truthfulness.
Thank you Dear Father for your infinite mercies.
Thank you Dear Jesus for your shedding your blood for me.
Thank you Dear Holy Spirit for your indwelling and power.
Thank you Dear Trinity because your mercies endure forever.

A Hope

The jeers, the tears, the fears
and all the pain you hide
the love, the desires, the cares
all bundled up inside.
To do, to live, to be
so many times you hear
to know, to feel, to see
will make everything clear.
To shout, to speak, to whisper
your voice longs to do
a word, a phrase, a gesture
seems to be escaping you.
A call, a hand, a friend,
is seeking to find you out
a prayer, a song, an amen
is always with you no doubt.
A hope, a peace, a blessing
bestowed with love and richly
a lord, a life, a healing
will transform you with his beauty.

More Important To ...

It is good to teach but more important to learn
It is good to be served but more important to serve
It is good to be heard but more important to listen
It is good to know but more important to apply
It is good to observe but more important to impact
It is good to read but more important to assess
It is good to be strong but more important to help
It is good to tell but more important to demonstrate
It is good to believe but more important to live it
It is good to be appreciated but more important to appreciate
It is good to be present but more important to participate
It is good to be loved but more important to give love
It is good to be respected but more important to give respect
It is good to ask but more important to give thanks
It is good to be proud but more important to be humble
It is good to have but more important to share
It is good to have self-interest but more important to have interest in others.
The conclusion is: Those things that are good ought to be channeled into more important things.

Amazing Love

A wretched man, and foul as I,
you freely came for me to die.
Hung on a cross, treated shamefully,
mocked, spat on, insulted by people like me.

Myself, could I never really save,
by respecting others and ensuring I do behave?
I try to be and do good, but from you I'm apart,
unable to rid myself of a deceitfully wicked heart.

Mistakes and sins are ever in front of me,
my tries have not been able to set me free.
Can I in you salvation find,
and will you really give me a peace of mind?

Your life was perfect and mine is not,
yet you want to give me what you've got.
But, won't my sins contaminate you?
See, I am polluted and corrupt but you are true.

I hear your blood has all power,
to cleanse from sin no matter the hour.
But, how can I ever remain free,
when I am prone to calamity?

Won't your sacrifice be all in vain,
or won't my failures tarnish your name?
You see that I still struggle with sinful thoughts,
sometimes falling victim to their daily onslaughts.

My words at times aren't healthy,
and my foolish actions are a-plenty.
Knowing all of this, will you still say,
"I died for you, I love you anyway?!"

Well, if that's true, then help me to be sure,
that I will always be yours now and ever more.
Help me to trust that it's all because of you,
and it's nothing that I bring or could ever do.

Oh, such a wretched man, but now I cry,
"thank you Lord for choosing to die.
Thank you for have hanging on the cross for me,
So I could be brought into your family!"

Yours

A heart that beats in tempo with yours
A breath that's breathed along with yours
A hand that does work that's totally yours
A feet that goes wherever with yours
A life that serves in all that's yours
A mouth that speaks words of life and truth that's wholly yours
For we live not by our own strength but yours
Yet we desire praise that's really yours
But grace comes from and is fully yours
Offered freely and fully to make us yours
Our identity is found and secured in yours
Salvation, eternal life, faithfulness, definitely yours
Experienced and lavished on us because we are yours
Justice, mercy, sovereignty, Holiness, none other but yours

An Open Eye

Sometimes we can be so engaged in ourselves that we miss opportunities. Or, we may be busy working or doing important things or talking with others. Those times are necessary, but there are also times when we need to have an open eye. This may be at church, work, shopping, school, where and whenever. The importance of an open eye will help us to see opportunities to bless others and be blessed. An open eye takes us out of ourselves. It removes the blinds and broadens our scope of vision and lives. We will come to important realizations about ourselves and others. We will realize how we can be of service to others. Also, we will realize how much we need others. An experience last evening at church brought a realization to me.

Last evening, I got to church late (not a practice) and decided to sit in the back row. As I walked into the church I had two options. One, to sit next to a girl in the second to last row or in the back row next to a guy. The decision was easy, mainly because I like sitting in the back row wherever I go. Sitting in the back row helps my observational skills. More importantly, it helps me to have a bit of obscurity, which I do find cool.

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. As the service went on I began to notice that girl. Her mannerisms conveyed to me that she was a visitor. Her immediate departure just before church ended confirmed my thought and brought a realization. I used to do the same thing, and not only when I was a visitor.

On one hand, I am happy I sat next to the guy. We introduced ourselves and had a good conversation. On the other hand, I am sad the girl left early. She left before we spoke the blessing over each other. However, it hammered home to the importance of having an open eye. The experience brought to me an area of prayer as well. That is, prayer that we would have open eyes to opportunities around us. Prayer that we would trust God to help us serve in those opportunities. And, ask and trust God to provide others to serve when we are unable or did not get the chance to or missed the opportunities.

For every visitor or regular at church, coworker, classmate, teammate, etc, I pray for us to see and make use of those opportunities.

A Reality

The world is full of sin but it is also full of salvation.
The world is full of despair but it is also full of hope.
The world is full of destruction but it is also full of restoration.
The world is full of separation but it is also full of reconciliation.
The world is full of hatred but it is also full of love.
The world is full of mistakes but it is also full of corrections.
The world is full of brokenness but it is also full of healing.
The world is full of deception but it is also full of honesty.
The world is full of darkness but it is also full of light.
The world is full of wrong but it is also full of right.
The world is full of sadness but it is also full of joy.
The world is full of fear but it is also full of courage.
The world is full of bondage but it is also full of freedom.
The world is full of greed but it is also full of contentment.
The world is full of failure but it is also full of success.
And, we are all in it together.
The question is: What are you praying to be full of?

More BS-ing

Adam and Eve should have given the apple to a pig. They would have had and enjoyed bacon. That would have been something to take credit for. Imagine all through the ages, Adam & Eve's bacon: Straight from the garden". (p.s. I know the Bible said fruit, not an apple).

Three "days" have withstood the test of time. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I think tomorrow's real name is the-next-day. But they refused to hyphenate it in order for it to never be literal. Tomorrow never comes.

Who voted on how many days each month should have? What grievance did they have with February? April, June, September, and November have 30th days, just one day less. But February fell short by 3 days, and then 2 days once every four years. Talk about disrespect, discrimination, dismember.

The enemy of my enemy is his mother-in-law.

I am so much out of luck that the message in my fortune cookie said, "you have to pay for this cookie". It turned out to be true.

The children will always be the future. Just not the same children.

The children are the future, but the future needs adults.

I used to pretend I was a boy scout until one day a coworker give me a pretend knot to untie, but I could not untie it.

My imaginary girlfriends all leave me for real guys.

I would like to turn down the volume in my dreams. So my subconscious hired a few mimes.

There was once a girl so beautiful that she not only "took my breath away" but everything I owned too. Turns out I was too far behind on all my payments.

I sometimes like to believe the fish that swallowed Jonah was bulimic.

"Philosophizing"

If dreams only come when we are asleep. Shouldn't some dreams be considered an enemy, or an annoyance at least?

Am I not cheating on my awake self and thus living two lives if dreams only come to me when I am asleep?

Was the swamp originally a clean body of water that just got lazy?

Is a pig-in-a-blanket more dignified than a pig in a sty?

If it is good to dream, should we not sleep longer?

If cowards die a thousand times before they actually die, should we not send them to war?

If there is such a thing as a bookworm, why aren't libraries and bookstores filled with them?

If someone has "bags" over their eyes, are they paper or plastic?

Is rain a bathroom break for the clouds?

If you are to pray continually, should prayers not include, "to be continued or ttyl", before "amen"?

What is the real reason we put words in parenthesis? Are we afraid they would run away? Are they too hyper or unruly? Or in need of support or alone time?

Is February 29th like a drunk who just happens to stumble its way on the calendar once every four years?

BS-ing

Things I'd like to do:

Regularly drive through a drive-thru without ordering food just to fulfill the meaning of the term.
Go on a blind date with myself.
Kick myself out of my own house for failure to pay rent.
Try to hide from myself.
Paint my shadow.
Put different clothes on my shadow.
Do my house chores from work.
Force my shadow to drink something I hate or take a medication on my behalf.
Practice voodoo on myself to make sure it works.

A girl said to me, "I will only date you when September has 31 days." I said to her, "I'll see you on April 1st."

I have never felt this way before. I must have expired.

I have found life's will only to discover that I am not included.

I have never lost a fight, and that's because I only fight cowards.

If you live in a glass house, make sure it's tinted.

I have decided not to marry. Turns out it wasn't my choice.

I have never gone overboard, but has gone overseas.

I tried to follow my dreams but it is easier to follow directions.

I fell off the wagon so I have decided to ride the horse instead.

The mission to find myself has been called off due to a reduced budget.

I am unable to date the girl of my dreams. My plan is to dream about the girl I am currently dating. That should fix my dilemma.

The girl of my dreams never got out. She is still trapped in them.

If life gives you lemons, give them to Mike.

Fading

A man of no country, a man running out of hope,
A man without a shadow, a man with no rights to vote.
A man in the gutter, a man filled with pain,
A man whose life is sour, a man without a name.
A man overwhelmed by sorrow, a man haunted by mistakes,
A man with no hope for tomorrow, a man full of heart-aches.
A man whose tears have dried, a man whom opportunity denies,
A man without a place to hide, a man whom life despise.
A man whose faith is weak, a man who walks bare-feet,
A man losing the ability to speak, a man with a slowing heartbeat.
A man left in the fire, a man down in the dump,
A man about to expire, a man who has become a stump.
A man without a job, a man whom nothing's got,
A man good things do snob, a man whom love's forgot.
A man whose prayers go unanswered, a man losing his belief,
A man whose goals are hampered, a man who cannot find relief.
A man who is being destroyed, a man exposed and overthrown,
A man whose life seems void, a man destined to be alone.
A man who fights but loses, a man who tries but fails,
A man whom no one excuses, a man cast behind the veil.
A man without much strength left to stand, a man struggling for air,
A man whose life is bland, a man floundering in despair.
A man who tries to improve, a man told life will get better,
A man with nothing to prove, a man who questions, will life ever?