Category: Hope

Desperate for Change

The next several weeks of blogs will be based on our most recent animated reading. To see the full text of the poem or watch the video, click here.

Change me O Lord, every part …

Just as in the voting booth so too in our personal faith … the greatest force for change begins not at the highest levels of leadership but in the hearts of ordinary people. When national change is needed we tend to look to heroes and leaders while often failing to take serious the incredible potential for change we already carry within us. The kind of change our country needs will not occur until—as Christ followers—we first become desperate for God to change us. Continue reading “Desperate for Change”

Instruments of Hope

His music gave life and hope to the world.

Few things are more fulfilling than being an instrument of hope in the life of another. God is the master musician and when we allow him to play his music through us we release songs of hope to a broken world. However, just like the flute, we too can stifle God’s song when we refuse to deal with our brokenness within. For we cannot give out what we do not have. Nor can we attain what we need if we’re not first honest about what we lack. How exactly do we begin? Continue reading “Instruments of Hope”

Gratitude Changes Everything

This is our privilege – through us blows his sound.

Gratitude is a quality we often assume we’ll have when we finally get what we want. Yet, time and again, rather than grateful, we find ourselves frustrated and disillusioned after the gaining of our goods. Like any other virtue, gratitude requires the intentional investment of time, energy, and resource. The grateful heart has learned to slow down and resist the restless urge of more in order to cultivate the necessary space needed to appreciate what has already been given. Yes, the change we need begins with gratitude. Continue reading “Gratitude Changes Everything”

Called to Indulge?

The next several weeks of blogs will be based on the animated reading posted last week. To see the full text of the poem or watch the video again, click here.

In seeking to possess what it never could own the flute lost the life that once it had known.

The grass is greener on the other side … so we tell ourselves. Why do we struggle so much to be satisfied with what we have? I’m not talking about resigning ourselves to abusive or dead-end circumstances nor denying the importance of hard work to better our lives. I’m addressing the sin—the sickness—of selfishness. Like the flute, we not only love the song … we want to own it. Continue reading “Called to Indulge?”

Gritty Faith

Many desire the Rose … but the way of the Rose is the way of the thorn.

January is usually the busiest month of the year for gyms and fitness centers. New Year’s resolutions have a way of jump-starting motivation for change. As humans we do not usually lack for good intention; rather it is determination and perseverance that are often in short supply. Continue reading “Gritty Faith”

Redemption in Disguise

The next several weeks of blogs will be based on the animated reading posted last week. To read the full text of the poem or see the video again, click here.

We all love roses, we all hate pain but for every thorn there is a rose.

It was during a summer morning walk when I saw the rose bush and suddenly I had words for the strange reality I had been experiencing … a dichotomy of sorts—thorns and roses … pain and joy. It was on this morning I first understood the redemptive power of “thorns.” Continue reading “Redemption in Disguise”

Fear Wisely

These are the ones who rightly fear, not the truth of their position or circumstance thereof, but the One who is Sovereign and Ruler of all.

As a child, I had nightmares. I’d wake up in a cold sweat, paralyzed with fright. I eventually outgrew those terrors only to have them replaced by others. Such is the human condition, learning to deal with the reality of fear.  Continue reading “Fear Wisely”

A Necessary Deconstruction

On this ground the masquerade of our condition is revealed for the farce it is, While our broken reality is finally exposed… fully laid bare.

 The place of brokenness is the ultimate equalizer. Whether rich or poor, strong or weak, loved or hated each one has come to the end of their road… such is the naked truth of brokenness. Until then we fight tooth and nail to keep up our pretenses that all is well… that this world is enough.  Continue reading “A Necessary Deconstruction”

Animated Reading of The Place of the Broken Beggar

This week we launch a series of animated readings of various devotional poems I have written. The poem will be followed by several weeks of blog posts related to the poem. A new animated poem will be launched about once a month. We hope you enjoy this new venture! If you like what we have done, please share with others through your social media outlets.

Continue reading “Animated Reading of The Place of the Broken Beggar”