timeforINRI

They please me not-- these solemn songs That hint of sermons covered up. 'T is true the world should heed its wrongs, But in a poem let me sup, Not simples brewed to cure or ease Humanity's confessed disease, But the spirit-wine of a singing line, Or a dew-drop in a honey cup! Paul Laurence Dunbar Christian Creed  

Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me. Teach me to do thy will; fo...

 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into an empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared - in white robes! They said, " You Galileans! - why do you just stand there staring  into an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly - and mysteriously - as he left." Eugene H. Peterson Nothing But The Cross

 1Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 3Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. 4For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. 6In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. 7For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. 8Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 9For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; ...

 1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him,Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered,Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9Nicodemus answere...

 You have searched me, Lord,     and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;     you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down;     you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue     you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before,     and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,     too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit?     Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;     if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,     if I settle on the far side of the sea,  even there your hand will guide me,     your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me     and the light become night around me,”  even the darkness will not be dark to you;   ...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Nothing But The Cross

 16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that  they which enter in may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given: and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. Isaiah 53  

"If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people's sins. If you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I will give you full life in the emptiest of places- firm muscles  strong bones. You'll be like a well watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You'll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again. "If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God's holy day as a celebration. If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money running here and there- The you will b...

 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day is out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived. Eugene H. Peterson Isaiah 53

 " Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from  moth, rust, and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you most want to be, and end up being. "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and  belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squint-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. If you pull the blinds on your window, what a dark life  you will have! " You can't worship two Gods at once. Loving one God, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.  If you decide for God, living a life of God- worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your...

 O year, grow slowly. Exquisite, holy, The days go on. With almonds showing the pink stars blowing And birds in the dawn. Grow slowly year, like a child that is dear, Or a lamb that is mild, By little steps, and by little skips, Like a lamb or a child. Katherine Tynan Isaiah 53

  I fled Him down the nights and down the days I fled Him down the arches of the years I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears I hid from him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot precipitated Adown titanic glooms of chasme d hears From those strong feet that followed, followed after But with unhurrying chase and unperturbe d pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They beat, and a Voice beat, More instant than the feet: All things betray thee who betrayest me. I pleaded, outlaw--wise by many a hearted casement, curtained red, trellised with inter-twining charities, For though I knew His love who followe d, Yet was I sore adread, lest having Him, I should have nought beside. But if one little casement parted wide, The gust of his approach would clash it to. Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue. Across the margent of the world I fled, And troubled the gold gateways of the stars, Smiting for shelter on their ...

"I have told you these things,  so that in me you may  have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"   

 Put out to sea, my broken comrades Let the old seaweek crack, the surge Burgeon, oblivious of the last Embarkation of feckless men Let every adverse force converge Here we must needs embark again. Run up the sail, my heartsick comrades, Let each horizon tilt and lurch. You know the worst, your wills are fickle Your values blurred, your hearts impure And your past lives a ruined church But let your poison be your cure. Put out to sea, ignoble comrades, Whose records shall be noble yet Butting through scarps of moving marble The narwhal dares us to be free By a high star our course is set Our end is life. Put out to sea. Louis MacNeice Turn Up The Volume PSALM 46 (THE MESSAGE)

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; He descended to hell. The third day, he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there, he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, The communion of saints, The forgiveness of sins, The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen                                                                   Changed by what we see?  

 The focal point of Jesus' work of salvation was sacrifice.  The four verbs he used at the Last Supper put salvation into action every time we sit down for a meal. The words are words of sacrifice. We deliberately set ourselves in God's presence at the Lord's Supper so that we might become like Jesus.Our lives, like his, are to be  sacrificially lived- taken, blessed, broken, and given to others. Eugene H. Peterson Isaiah 53

 The fulfilment of God's promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way and simply embracing what he does. God's promise arrives as a pure gift. That's the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is the father of us all. He is not our racial father - that is reading the story backwards. He is our faith father. We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living  like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham " I set you up as a father of many peoples"? Abraham was  first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do only what God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding not to live...

 Everything’s looted, betrayed and traded, black death’s wing’s overhead. Everything’s eaten by hunger, unsated, so why does a light shine ahead? By day, a mysterious wood, near the town, breathes out cherry, a cherry perfume. By night, on July’s sky, deep, and transparent, new constellations are thrown. And something miraculous will come close to the darkness and ruin, something no-one, no-one, has known, though we’ve longed for it since we were children. Anna Akhmatova Here I am to Worship

 “Blessed be the name of God, forever and ever, He knows all, does all: He changes seasons and guides history, He raises up Kings and also brings them down, He provides both intelligence and discernment, He opens up the depths, tells secrets, sees in the dark- light spills out of him. God of all my ancestors, all thanks! all praise! You made me wise and strong. And now you have shown us what we asked for. You’ve solved the king’s mystery “” Eugene H. Peterson   PSALM 46