Sign Posts

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A SIGN POST

TO LEAD ME ON MY WAY

ONE I'VE NE'ER FORGOTTEN

UNTO THIS VERY DAY

THIS ONE IS STILL SO VIVID

THOUGH I WAS ONLY TWELVE

THE WONDER OF A STEEPLE

AT 23RD AND SHELL

NEW IN TOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD

I SIMPLY HAD TO KNOW

THE MANY DIFFERENT WAYS TO HOME

FROM SCHOOL,  I TOOK IT SLOW

I DON'T KNOW WHY I QUESTIONED

WHAT COULD THIS STEEPLE BE

I RAN TO ASK MY GRANDMA

WHO SPOKE SO LOVINGLY

THE STEEPLE IS A SIGN POST

THE FIRST THAT YOU HAVE SEEN

TO POINT YOU TO GOD'S KINGDOM

BEHOLD A WONDROUS THING

THOSE THERE WILL TELL 

OF JESUS

BELIEVE,  FOR IT IS TRUE

IF YOU WILL ONLY LISTEN

HE'LL SPEAK HIS WORD TO YOU

OH LORD AND MY REDEEMER

I THANK YOU FOR THE DAY

A STEEPLE POINTING TO THE SKY

WAS SHOWING ME THE WAY

A SIGNPOST I'LL REMEMBER

THAT LED ME ON TO YOU

THROUGH VALLEYS DARK AND LONELY

THROUGH RICH GREEN PASTURES TOO

YOU TRULY ARE MY SHEPHERD

OF THIS MY HEART WILL SING

UNTIL THE FINAL SIGN POST READS

BEHOLD!  IMMORTAL THINGS

AND I SHALL SEE YOU FACE TO FACE

UPON THAT CRYSTAL SHORE

MY FINAL DESTINATION

MY HOME FOREVERMORE

~jOY~

In all my ways
through all my days
you've set my feet a dancing

No leather shoes
or shoes of glass
my feet have known your prancing

Through leaps of faith
and waiting
to feel each step and move

Your graceful lead has taught me
your righteous dance of groove.

Your princess bride, in waiting
to glide across life's shore
dancing to the music
my heart in, Spirit's soar

To dance I come to know you
that I might understand
Each step I take is your step
my hand within your hand

To guide me and to keep me
in sway and leap and toe
Until the dance is ended
And You my Lord I know.  jOy

1 John 2:24-3:3

King James Version (KJV)

 ²⁴Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
 ²⁵And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
 ²⁶These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
 ²⁷But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
 ²⁸And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
 ²⁹If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

1 John 3

 ¹Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
 ²Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
 ³And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

AS TIME GOES BY

LORD IT SEEMS MY DAYS ARE FILLED
WITH REMEMBERING CHILDHOOD WAYS
OF WIND AND RAIN AND SUMMER DAYS

ADVENTURES THAT LED ME FAR FROM HOME
DOWN HEATHER-ED PATHS OF FOREST LOAM

CROSS HILL AND DELL,  THAT TOUCHED THE SKY
MY HEART SO FILLED WITH QUESTIONS,  "WHY."

I ALWAYS SENSED THAT YOU WERE THERE
YOUR VOICE WITHIN ME, DREW ME WHERE

IN TANGENT THOUGHT THAT WAS NOT MINE
YOU SPOKE YOUR WORD OF TRUTH'S SWEET RHYME

I HUNGER STILL TO HEAR YOU SAY,
"COME WALK WITH ME, A LITTLE WAY
GIVE TO ME YOUR WORLDLY CARES
AND THINGS THAT FILL YOUR EYES WITH TEARS

HERE CHILD,  COME TAKE MY HAND
RELEASE TO ME LIFE'S SHIFTING SAND

I SEE THE THINGS YOU LONG TO KNOW
THOSE THINGS THAT TURN NOT TO AND FRO

OR SMELLS OF WOODLAND FOREST MOSS
THAT THING THAT MAKES YOU THINK OF LOSS

YOU GRIEVE OF GOLDEN FIELDS GONE DRY
OF THOSE YOU'VE HAD TO SAY GOOD BYE

LET ME TELL YOU OF THE TRUTH I SEE
A HEATHER-ED PATH,  IN FRONT OF ME

THAT RUNS ALONG THE HILLS AND DELLS
WHERE BREEZES BLOW WITH PRAYERFUL SMELLS

THAT WAFT TO STARS BEYOND THE SKY
YOU CAN'T IMAGINE, IF YOU TRY

WHERE TIME STANDS STILL
AND ANGELS SING
WHERE LOVED ONES PAST
THEIR PRAISES BRING

I SEE THEM WAVING,  A DANCING THRONG
THEY KNOW THAT SOON WE'LL COME ALONG

BELOVED ONE,  IT'S TIME TO TURN
FROM VISIONS PAST,  THAT YOU MIGHT LEARN

THAT JOY AND GRACE AND PRAISE FOR ME
ARE EYES THAT SEE ETERNITY

THAT LEAVE THE GOLDEN WITHERED FIELDS
WITH HEART AND MIND THAT TRULY YIELDS
THE DREAMS OF WITHERING, TRANSIENT DAYS
 A VAPOR'S ETHEREAL, VANISHING WAY

TO LEAVE THE HEART IN SOUL'S REGRET
OF ALL THE GOALS THAT NE'ER WERE MET

COME NOW, TO FEEL MY GENTLE RAIN
LET GO OF SORROWS LEPROUS PAIN

THAT HEARS MY SPIRIT'S VOICE AGAIN
THAT SAYS,  THERE IS NO FINAL END

SURRENDERED NOW TO WHIM AND WHY
SOMEDAY YOU'LL FIND AS TIME GOES BY

THE HOPE THAT RISES IN YOUR SOUL
YOUR LONGING TO BE FREE AND WHOLE

IS BUT MY SEAL,  AND PROMISED BE
MY VERY LIFE, IN YOU,  YOU'LL SEE

JOY LACKEY

THE I AM__HE IS !

I CAN REMEMBER AS A SMALL GIRL,  LOOKING UP INTO THE SKY AND THINKING,  "WHAT ARE THOSE LIGHTS DOING UP THERE?"  TO THIS DAY,  THE SKY LOOKS FLAT TO ME.  NOT DEEP AND DIMENSIONAL.  I'VE NEVER SAW THE POINT OF EXPLORING TO THE EXTENT THAT SOME DO.  I'M MORE IN AWE OF THEIR DRIVE TO VENTURE INTO OUTER SPACE THAN I AM IN SPACE ITSELF.  MAYBE I SHOULD RE FRAZE WHAT I JUST SAID.   I AM COMPLETELY IN AWE OF GOD'S CREATION, IN ALL DOMAINS, THE HEAVENS INCLUDED.  BUT THE GREATER MYSTERY OF UNCHARTED SPACE THAT I FIND TO BE WORTHY OF EXPLORATION, IS THE HUMAN SOUL. 

THE ABOVE PICTURE IS VIEWING THE EARTH THROUGH THE EYES OF THOSE IN OUTER DARKNESS.  JUST GIVE IT SOME THOUGHT__WE ARE ABLE TO SEE THIS MIND BOGGLING SIGHT NOW FROM SPACE.  WHY DO WE LOOK FOR IT BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF PRECIOUS LIFE ON THIS PLANET?  WE'D ONLY INFECT ANOTHER LIKE OUR OWN WITH ALL THE DISREGARD WE HAVE FOR THIS ONE.

THE SKY,  HAS NEVER BEEN UP TO ME,   THE UNCONQUERED GALAXIES OF THE MIND AND HEART IS UP.  THOUGH THERE IS ORDER IN OUTER SPACE,  IT IS THE CONTROLLED CHAOS OF SOMETHING THAT WENT REALLY WRONG IN IONS PAST.  IT IS ALSO THE BIRTHING GROUND OF GOD THE CREATOR'S  DIVINE WORK OF CONCILIATION AND ORDER BEING RESTORED. 

EVEN SO,  THE FURTHER REACHES OF THE INNER SPACE OF MAN,  FAR SUPERSEDE THE EXPANDING SKIES ABOVE US.  THE OUTPOSTS OF SPACE ARE FILLED WITH PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS THAT WERE CAST OUT INTO WHAT I UNDERSTAND TO BE "OUTER DARKNESS".   AND ONE DAY,  KINGS AND PRIESTS OF THE LORD, ALONG WITH SAINTS MADE PERFECT WILL RULE THESE STRONGHOLDS NOW UNDER SIEGE BY THE CAST OUT god OF THE AIR. 

IN A BEGINNING,  THE ELOHIM GOD CAME TO SET HIS WORK IN THE MIDST OF THIS FORMLESS AND VOID PLANET THAT WAS A RESULT OF SOME CATASTROPHIC EVENT WHICH CAUSED THE EARTH TO BE CAST FROM IT'S ORIGINAL PLACE AND STATE,  INTO THE DARK REGIONS WHERE IT IS NOW.

IT WAS THE FIRST ADAM RACE, WHICH WAS PLANTED IN THE GARDEN OF GOD UPON THE EARTH,  THAT WERE CHOSEN AS THE SEED TO RESTORE THE NUMBERLESS HOSTS OF BEINGS THAT WERE A PART OF THE CATASTROPHE. 

THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THE UNTOLD DAMAGE TO GOD'S ORDER,  WAS QUARANTINED ON EARTH,  AND IN THE LIVING GOD'S PLAN WAS THE CONCILIATION OF ALL THINGS IN THE END OF THE AGES.   CHRIST CAME TO SET UP THE BATTLE LINE, AND HIS BANNER OVER US IS LOVE.  SATAN WAS CAST OUT OF THE EARTH,  IN WAYS WE ARE NOT AWARE OF WHEN CHRIST WAS CRUCIFIED.   

I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW OR UNDERSTAND THE PATIENCE OF THE LIVING GOD.  FOR IN THE RESTORATION OF HIS CREATION,  HE IS ALWAYS WORKING TO CONCILIATE THE HEART OF MAN, WHICH WAS THE ONE DOMAIN THAT LUCIFER TRIED TO TAKE UNTO HIMSELF,  BUT THE ETERNAL CREATOR GOD,  IN THE ALPHA AND OMEGA OF HIS BEING  HAS FROM THE VERY BEGINNING MADE ALL THINGS SUBJECT TO FUTILITY, BY REASON OF HIS OWN FORE-KNOWLEDGE AND WILL.  IT WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY THE VICTORIOUS SETTING UP OF HIS KINGDOM IN THE DEEPEST REGIONS OF THE HEARTS OF MEN.  ONE SOUL AT A TIME,  HOW EVER LONG IT TAKES,  IT IS NO TIME AT ALL TO OUR GOD.  FOR HE HIMSELF IS THE LIGHT THAT SHINES IN US REVEALING THIS TRUTH.  WHEN THE HUMAN HEART AND MIND IS SET FREE THROUGH REDEMPTION OF THE BLOOD______

REDEMPTION OF THE BLOOD?  THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD.  I'VE HEARD SERMONS ON IT,  SANG SONGS ABOUT IT,  ASKED GOD QUESTIONS ABOUT IT___EXACTLY WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FIND SALVATION THROUGH THE POWER OF THE SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST.

WELL FIRST OF ALL WE ARE NOT PRIVY TO THE DETAILS OF THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE SPIRIT OF FATHER GOD AND THE WILLFUL VAIN AND MATTER FORMED CREATURE CALLED LUCIFER WHO WOULD, AND DOES WANT TO SET HIMSELF UP TO BE GOD.  YES,  GOD OF THE HEAVENS, GOD OF THE EARTH, AND GOD OF THE HUMAN HEART.

HE KNOWS THAT HE CAN NEVER RULE THE HEAVENS AS GOD  IF HE DOES NOT RULE THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF MAN FIRST.  AFTER ALL,  HE CANNOT RULE IN SPIRIT,  HE HAS NONE, IT IS DEAD.   AND WHEN HE SEES A HEART THAT IS SURRENDERED TO LOVE, AND GOD IS LOVE AND LIFE ETERNAL___  HE WILL DO ALL HE CAN TO SEEK OUT THAT SOUL TO KILL AND DESTROY IT__BECAUSE LOVE IS EVERYTHING THAT LUCIFER IS NOT. NOR IS IT IN HIM TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT HE IS.

IN A BEGINNING,  WHAT EVER HE DID TO CAUSE THE DISRUPTION OF THE HEAVENS,  WHAT EVER HE DID IN THE GARDEN OF GOD,  IT CONGEALED AND EFFECTED THE LIGHT OF SPIRIT IN THE ADAM RACE, WHO FELL INTO THE DARK REGIONS OF THE MIND AND SOUL.  THE TRIUNE OF GODS IMAGE OF HIM WAS  DISRUPTED THROUGH DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD'S WORD, AND THEIR OWN UNDERSTANDING AND INTERPRETATION OF IT, ___ THEY LISTENED TO A STRANGE VOICE AND WAS DECIEVED.  THEY COULD NO LONGER SEE AND HEAR SPIRIT,  THEY WERE SUDDENLY LOST TO THEMSELVES, AND TO GOD.  THEIR SHAME EXPOSED THEM, THEIR FEAR OF GOD EXPOSED THEM.  TRUTH NO LONGER REMAINED,  IT HAD GONE INTO CAPTIVITY.  THEY CAME INTO BONDAGE, SERVING A STRANGE GOD. 

THERE IS NO VICTORY,  THERE IS NO RULE,  THERE IS NO POWER GREATER THAN THAT OF THE SURRENDERED HEART,  CLEANSED BY THE SHED BLOOD OF CHRIST.  

FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.  WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

THIS IS NOT "THUS SAITH THE LORD."  BUT TO ME,  THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE THAT LUCIFER PRESENTED TO GOD,  WAS,  "YOU TAKE ON MY IMAGE,  AND WE'LL SEE JUST HOW LONG YOU REMAIN GOD,  OR WHO REALLY HAS THE POWER TO RULE THE WILL.  FOR I HAVE WILLED AGAINST YOU,  AND YOU HAVE LOST THE WILL OF MANY TO MY ALLEGIANCE.

IT'S NOT A KNEW STORY__THE BIBLE IS FULL OF STORIES WHERE THE HUMAN HEART WAS CHALLENGED TO FORSAKE LOVE FOR VANITIES WILL.   BUT LUCIFER'S GREATEST MISTAKE ((( UNDOING__FOR FROM THE VERY BEGINNING GOD HAD PURPOSE IN THE USING OF LUCIFER )))  WAS IN TEMPTING THE LORD GOD IN HIS HUMAN VULNERABLE-NESS.  THINKING CHRIST TO BE WEAK.  AND PRESUMING THAT CHRIST WAS JUST ANOTHER CREATURE TO BE BROUGHT UNDER HIS POWER AND INFLUENCE.  HE DID NOT COMPREHEND THAT THE FULLNESS OF THE GOD-HEAD DWELT IN GOD'S SON,  HIS ONLY PRE-EXISTING GOD BEGOTTEN SON,  BIRTHED OUT OF HIS SPIRIT INTO HUMAN FLESH.

GOD HAD COME TO MEET HIS ARCH ENEMY ON HIS OWN SOIL, AND LUCIFER THINKING ON HIS TERMS. 

GOD CAME IN THE PERSON OF HIS SON,  TO CHANGE THE CONGEALED LIGHT OF HIS SPIRIT IN THE HEART AND MIND OF THE FALLEN ADAM RACE TO LIVING SPRINGS OF WATER, THAT WOULD WELL UP FROM WITHIN TO THE RESTORED LIFE OF GOD'S SPIRIT, THROUGH THE RESURRECTED NEW LIFE OF HIS FIRST BORN OF MANY BRETHREN, THE LAST ADAM. 

THE RESTORATION OF HEARING AND SEEING___THOSE SEEDS THAT HAD LAID DORMANT IN MAN BECAUSE OF THE BONDAGE OF SIN UNTO DEATH.___NOW  THROUGH CHRIST JESUS, THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE  (( OF WHICH WE HAVE NO CLUE ))  HAD AND HAS SUDDENLY COME TO SET MEN FREE FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.

IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT GIVES LIFE, THE FLESH COUNTS AS NOTHING,  IT BEGINS TO DIE THE DAY IT'S BORN.  IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT IS ETERNAL. 

IF THE SPIRIT OF GOD THE FATHER, WHO RAISED UP HIS SON JESUS FROM THE DEAD, IS LIVING IN YOU,  AS HE HAS RAISED HIM UP FROM THE DEAD,  HE WILL ALSO RAISE YOU UP, AND GIVE LIFE TO YOUR MORTAL BODIES THROUGH HIS SPIRIT,  WHO LIVES IN YOU. 

SO HERE I AM FACING THE FACT THAT IT IS NOT ME BECOMING A SPIRIT BEING WITH ETERNAL LIFE___BUT THE SCRIPTURE SAYS THAT THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION LIFE, WILL BE GIVEN TO MY MORTAL BODY THROUGH HIS SPIRIT LIVING IN ME.  CHRIST COME IN FLESH.  SOMETHING WONDERFULLY BEYOND MY COMPREHENTION HAS TO CHANGE IN ME, TO CHANGE MY MORTAL BODY.

WELLLLLLLLLLL___THAT'S A HOWDY DO TO ME___AND KINDA A HAIR IN MY BISCUIT.  HERE I AM IN MY MORTAL BODY,  HAVE ALL THESE INFIRMITIES,  FIGHTING DEMONS OF GUILT, DOUBT, UNBELIEF, AND DESPAIR,  IN THIS BODY THAT I SAY I HAVE GIVEN OVER TO THE RESURRECTED CHRIST___

LEAN NOT TO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING! ?

FAITH, TRUST, SURRENDER! ?

YES AND AMEN!  JUST LIKE THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD DID.  RELEASING THE WILL,  LEARNING BY CHOICE TO SURRENDER TO THE WILL OF HIS FATHER IN THE FACE OF THAT LIER WHO PERPETUALLY CHALLENGED CHRIST CONCERNING WHO HE WAS.  IT WAS AND IS THE INNER RECESSES OF THE ETERNAL HEART OF GOD,  THE ETERNAL WORD,  THE ETERNAL SPIRIT, THAT COULD NOT BE DESTROYED.  THAT PART OF THE SON WHICH HAD NO BEGINNING OR END___THAT PART WHICH WAS STEADFAST IN THE FAITH, KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE OF SPIRIT.  THE I AM___HE IS!

LOOK TO YOUR HEART,  LOOK UP,  FOR WHOM THE SON SETS FREE, IS FREE INDEED.  CHRIST IN YOU,  YOUR HOPE OF GLORY!

HEAVEN'S LITTLE GLOW BIRD

SO MANY TIMES,  DURING A WALK,  OR ON A PARTICULAR OUTING,  THERE WILL BE THE SONG OF A BIRD,  ALL BY ITSELF,  AND I HAVE THE DISTINCT FEELING IT IS JUST FOR ME. 

I FIND MYSELF CARRYING ON A CONVERSATION WITH THE BIRD,  MOSTLY ME JUST THANKING IT FOR THE JOY IT BRINGS TO MY HEART. 

NOT TO LONG AGO, WHEN I WAS HAVING ONE OF THOSE MELANCHOLY TIMES.  JUST OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, THIS BEAUTIFUL, ONE OF A KIND BIRD, I HAVE NEVER SEEN, OR SEEN SENSE, LANDED RIGHT NEAR THE LEDGE AND BEGAN SINGING A SONG THAT FILLED MY SOUL WITH SUCH PRAISE AND GRATITUDE, 

I KNEW IT WAS A GIFT OF LOVE TO ME.  I TURNED JUST FOR A MOMENT, AND IT WAS GONE.

IT WAS MY LITTLE GLOW BIRD,  IT BROUGHT SUCH LIGHT TO MY SOUL THAT DAY.  ISN'T IT JUST LIKE THE LORD, TO LAVISH UPON US HIS GREAT LOVE.  I HADN'T EVEN THOUGHT TO GO TO HIM TO HELP ME OVERCOME MY SADNESS,   YET HE WAS TOUCHED WITH MY SORROWS__AS ONLY THE MAN OF SORROWS KNEW__AND COMFORTED ME IN A WAY THAT WAS UNMISTAKABLE__A BIRD'S SWEET SONG.

AMAZING GRACE

WHAT WAS IT THAT DROVE ME TO WONDER AND SWERVE
WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE ME TO SHUN MORTAL CURVE
THE WAY ALWAYS SEEMED STRAIGHT AND NARROW TO ME
ALWAYS LED WHERE "THE VOICE",
I HEARD CALLING TO ME
JUST OUT OF SIGHT,  YET I SAW JUST THE SAME
WITH MY HEART,  I KNEW SOMETHING_
THIS VOICE HAD A NAME

I DO NOT REMEMBER A MOTHER'S EMBRACE
I ONLY REMEMBER HER SORROWED FACE
FROM YEAR TO YEAR, FROM DAY TO DAY
IT PRESSED ME TO SEARCH FOR A BETTER WAY
A WAY TO LOVE MOTHER, A WAY TO LOVE DAD
A WAY THAT WOULD HELP THEM TO NOT BE SO SAD
 
IN THE BEGINNING, THROUGH SERMON AND SONG
I HEARD OF A NAME,  THAT I KNEW ALL ALONG
NOT JUST FAMILIAR,  BUT KNOWING, I KNEW
THIS MAN THEY CALLED JESUS,  IT HAD TO BE TRUE
WHEN I CALLED HIS NAME,  HE REPLIED,  "HERE I AM"
IN THAT SAME STILL SMALL VOICE SAYING, 
"I HAVE A PLAN"

"FROM THE BEGINNING,  BEFORE YOU WERE BORN
I KNEW OF THE WAY YOUR FLESH WOULD BE TORN
FLESH AND BLOOD WOULD SEEM TO BE CRUEL
BUT THERE WERE DARK FORCES
YOU MUST LEARN TO RULE

NOT BY YOUR MIGHT, NOR BY YOUR POWER
I SENT MY SPIRIT TO SAVE IN THE HOUR
THAT YOU WERE FOUND SEARCHING
FOR TRUTH IN THE WAY
AND OBEYED MY VOICE, IN ALL I DID SAY.

THOSE WEARING ROBES OF VANITIES PRIDE
DID STRIKE THE HEART BLOW ON EVERY SIDE
I KNOW HOW YOU'VE SUFFERED
YOU MUST NOT REGRET
FOR IN LIFE'S SURE ENDING
YOUR FATE IS NOT SET
EXCEPT IN MY WORKINGS
MY WILL AND MY WAY
IN THIS YOU ARE SEALED
BY MY SPIRIT THIS DAY

YOUR JOURNEY'S NOT OVER
NOR ER SHALL IT BE
FOR ON THROUGH THE IONS
YOU'LL WALK CLOSE TO ME

THERE SURELY ARE THOSE
YOU WILL OFFER YOUR HAND
SOUL'S SEARCHING LIKE YOU DID
THROUGH SIFTING SAND

BUT THEY SHALL FIND MERCY
AND THEY SHALL FIND GRACE
THE KIND YOUR MOTHER FOUND
CHANGED HER DEAR FACE

THERE WAS NO MORE SORROW
THERE WAS NO MORE PAIN
SHE TOO, HEARD MY VOICE
AND WAS NEVER THE SAME

YOU'VE SEEN THE WORK
AND YOU'VE TASTED THE TEARS
YOU'VE WAITED LONG
OVER LONG WEARY YEARS

AMAZING GRACE HAS SET YOU FREE
AMAZING GRACE,  YOUR WALK WITH ME
AMAZING GRACE,  HAS BID YOU COME
TILL ALL MY WILL AND WAY IS DONE.

"Now"

Precious Marvin passed away Feb. 2011

I just learned today, my friend, that you passed peacefully into the eternities, to live where time requires no waiting,  where faith is in the Knowing, where eyes see, and ears hear, with no distortion or subtle misleading into the darkness of the imagination, or the humanistic doctrines of men that may comfort the soul, that may supply a moral peace and prosperity, but will never make a way into the arms of the Living Christ.

Dear Marvin, made it clear, that to walk in the "Now" of faith, was to walk in the Spirit of the "Now".  It was a walk by faith, not sight, that was a moment by moment reality of the Christ within, and his Spirit who, in each moment was revealing Christ in our thought life, our prayer life, our simple and every day life. 

I never met Marvin.  I was introduced to him years ago on the old Yahoo Beta 360 blogs sight.  When the site dissolved into it's now impersonal site, and many left blogging there__I lost contact with Marvin.

Enough said;  except that he's been on my heart since the first of this year, and i didn't know how to contact him.  I feel that I could have been there for him.  I missed that chance.  I'm more sorry than anyone could know.  I pray that you will forgive me Marvin.  I know you have.  But it stills hurts. 

Lord,  I ask that all that Marvin shared of your Spirit, come to fruition in the lives of those who partook of his ministry.  That his family and friends benefit from what his heart yearned to share of the Christ whom he loved.
That the works of his labor come to fruition, in the redeeming of souls, and the deliverance of those who had ears to hear.

You'll be missed my friend,  but many look angiously to meet you once again in the fellowship and presence of the Christ we love and serve.  

LOVE BEARS, BELIEVES, HOPES, AND ENDURES ALL THINGS

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.

Love suffers long and is  kind, love does not envy: love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth:  bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.  But whether there are prophecies, they will fail;  whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

for we know in part and we prophesy in part.  But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.  for now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;  but the greatest of these is love.      I Corinthians 13

THE LOVE OF THE AGES

GOD OF HEAVEN AND OF EARTH
GOD WHO BROUGHT MY LIFE TO BIRTH
YOU TURNED MY DARKNESS INTO LIGHT
YOU BLESSED ME WITH
YOUR SPIRIT'S SIGHT
THAT I MIGHT JOURNEY AND TO KNOW
THE LOVE OF AGES, GRACE AND FLOW
FROM AGE TO AGE, YOUR RHAPSODY
YOUR TRUTH AND SPIRIT 
COME TO ME
THOUGH GALAXIES RING
WITH HEAVEN'S SONG
DEEP IN MY HEART I SING ALONG
WITH HEAVENLY HOSTS
AND ANGELS BE
I'LL PRAISE YOU LORD ETERNALLY