Category: Blog

If you want to catch a monkey
There’s really nothing to it
Just follow these instructions
And you’ll know how to do it

You find a sparkly item
Or some sweet and tasty bite
Put it in a jar or bottle
That will suit his appetite

Make sure the bottle neck
Is big for an empty hand
So once it filled with contents
Of course it will expand

To withdraw the gift it now holds
Is impossible in such nooses
And to release the precious contents
Means the monkey looses

And so it is with habits
That bring both pleasure and pain
I’d like to let them go
But they feel so good again

But I, unlike the monkey
Can’t claim I don’t know better
I choose each time to return
To these chains and painful fetters

I must reclaim the image
Of Him who has called me to Himself
And leave that stupid jar or bottle
Untouched and on the shelf

Ro 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Ro 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Ro 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.

Ro 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Ro 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

Ro 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Ro 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Moment by moment He draws me
Time and again He does call
My hunger grows for His presence
His touch still excites and enthralls

For my true love is no stranger
To the things that my heart finds so dear
He listens close and intently
Takes his hand and dries each single tear

Yes moment by moment He caresses
Does not matter what time of the day
Even simple issues He addresses
He knows just the right thing to say

I encourage you to come know this lover
I implore you to come see His face
He will give you a thrill like no other
The sweet joy of full mercy and grace

It is really what we all truly seek
It is the hole that all our hearts feel
And this lover must just one word speak
For our souls to instantly heal

Go to Him moment by moment
Don’t let one minute pass without Him
You will know true peace in an instant
You can call Him your lover then

Song of Solomon 2:10 My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Eph 6:19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

On every topic I speak with ease
Whether news, or entertainment
But when it comes to faith I freeze
And this I can’t explain it

I am utterly confounded to speak
About the faith that makes me whole
I feel unable, yes even weak
To say Christ saved my soul

I believe it is I speak the best
On things clear and familiar
But when my faith is put to the test
I am so afraid of failure

I don’t know how to explain belief
I’m not sure where to begin
With other topics I find relief
How can I speak of sin

Holy Spirit please do give me
The boldness I require
To tell others you forgive me
Then I’ll do what you desire

Don’t let words escape my mind
Don’t let fear my faith control
Help me read you word and find
All I need to make me bold

Ps 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

Ps 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

You can only share as much of me
As you know about me yourself
And the reason you know so little
Is that your Bible stays on the shelf

It is not that you don’t love me
Or believe that I am good and wise
But you will share most easily with others
What you hold most before your eyes

Now if you follow your conversation
Pay attention to the things that you discuss
Most often they are of your own things
Because you invest so little in ‘US’

I want you to take time to know me
And you can’t do that in a minute or two
So before you pretend that we are close
There is something that you must do

Read your Bible, it tells about me
And the wonderful things I have planned
Separate yourself from this world
Is what I expect and command

Give me the time you give to others
Hours of television, time on the phone
You will be able to draw others to me
Only when WE have spent time alone

Come My child please draw closer
I know all there is about you
I’d like you to tell others about me
But first, you must know Me too

Jas 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

If you think they will love you
Because you come in my name
Then you’ve not read your Bible
They will treat you with shame

You’ll be hated and cursed
You’ll be accused and deceived
Not for some evil you’ve done
But because you’ve believed

You’ve believed on what’s holy
You’ve believed on what’s pure
You’ve believed on what’s perfect
And that judgment is sure

So go again, read your Bible
If you are surprised they resist
Yes the world will indeed hate you
I have promised you this

John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

1John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.

Since I am in control of the world right now
I think I’ll pull that lever
The one that makes people obey and bow
And tell me I’m bright and clever

I’ll push that button I’ll make them kneel
They will know how great I am
And if they don’t I’ll make them pay
For I have power to damn

I’ll move and change the timing gears
I’ll remake all the seasons
To those I like, I’ll add more years
I’m in charge, don’t ask for reasons

I’ll flick the switches the locks I’ll change
I’ll make all the wrong things right
I’m in control now, this is my reign
I’ll move the day to night

Oh what a terrible thing it is
To hold the world as it spins
To believe I have the mind like God
When I am so full of sin

Let God be God
Let Him control each button switch and lever
And move on the minds and hearts of men
As for my control…, please never

Job 4:17 Shall mortal man be more just than God?  Shall a man be more pure than his maker?

Job 4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:

Job 4:19 How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

I left God in charge and He blew it
He let all the wrong people free
He showed mercy on the undeserving
Not on others as righteous as me

He granted full pardon to sinners
Whom if He’d asked, I’d have told Him they’d fail
I could have picked the real winners
I advised God to no avail

I peeked at the list God used earlier
I saw hookers, pimps and drug lords
I saw tyrants, abusers and killers
People whom mercy should not afford

But I noticed one person in the whole mix
Someone who matched my whole name
My face and even my persona
I thought, why did God remove blame

God stepped in and caught me while peeking
He found me as I read the list
He told me, yes that is you Michael
To forgive you I could not resist

Yes I loved you when you were unworthy
I embraced you, though I hated your sin
And I want you to do thusly to others
I send you out to others to win

I know you have discernment and judgment
I know you have logic and sense
But I give my mercy and grace
Wherever I chose to dispense

I am the first and last judge
The world’s only hope for salvation
I send you to declare my redemption
To proclaim this last revelation

Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Mt 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mt 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

I told my Father I had given enough
I told Him that at least I had tried
He noted indeed that I’d done lots of stuff
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

I frequented church, and offerings I gave
When I did wrong I quickly apologized
He told me that all that could not my soul save
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

I am faithful to my family, I’m honest at work
My wife knows I do my best to provide
When it comes to responsibility I never do shirk
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

He reminded me that even though His own Son
Healed the sick, raised the dead, had not implied
That such works were sufficient to get the job done
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

I knelt down in prayer, again the usual kind
Listing things I should not be denied
The Holy Spirit spoke clear and straight to my mind
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

Oh dear sinner, dear child, dear wandering saint
Captured as the world to you lied
God saw your good works full of sin’s darkest taint
Then He said, not enough till you’ve died

Die to your wishes, your desires for pleasure
To your arrogant nature and pride
Die to look good by your own measure
Then hear God say “live with me now that you’ve died”

Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

John 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.

It really is best
When I’m hardest pressed
That when it really feels good
My soul feels great joy
When I’m mournful depressed
To think on it, and so it should

For God works His kindness
Not through the finest
Where there is neither pain nor real grief
God recognizes
That suffering defines us
And bring us to greater belief

So friend, sister, brother
By the way, any other
Who faces failure, fatigue and great fear
My God is there
More faithful than father or mother
There’s sweetness in each salty tear

Jas 1:2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;

Jas 1:3 Knowing that the proving of your faith worketh patience.

Jas 1:4 And let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.

Ps 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.

The moment we could not speak
Was a frightful one indeed
We found it happened slowly
Because before we had no need

When we were persecuting people
Those we also knew as savage
Those deemed not our equal
We kept quiet on the ravage

When we decided to import
Human cargo as mere chattel
We ignored their plight and pain
After all they were only cattle

While we treated women as objects
Tools of pleasure and for labor
We preached good news about Jesus
Love your enemy, but kill your neighbor

When we noticed exploitation
Of the pornographic kind
We insisted, it hurts no one
In fact sometimes we are so inclined

Then the issue of abortion
Hit front page, pro-life, pro choice
It was then we came to life
But by then we’d lost our voice

Now we have the sexuality
Gay rights, free love and such
And what can we say now
Not too loud and not too much

For we compromised our standards
We felt it best for the status quo
And though we raise our voice in crying
No one hears, or cares to know

Stand by God’s standard of good conduct
Yield to His holy will always
Let your life and voice resound
That is Jesus Christ who saves

Eze 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand

Eze 3:19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.