Firebrand

"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." - Isaiah

48:10

I was a hard-wired screw up
Given righteousness in lieu of
The punishment that was due
I got a one way ticket to true love

Redeemed and blood-bought
From the stain of my offenses
Imputed with Christ’s perfection -
Propitiation for the defenseless

I was shown relentless grace
In the pursuit of my own glory
Went from being a vessel of wrath
To an instrument of his mercy

Trying to live out my dash
Was only coming up ashes
I was a masterpiece in the making
The magnum opus of a disaster

By the design of the Refiner
That was the day the fire started
Ignited in my bones
‘Til all impurity has departed

Old ways aborted
And old habits tend to die hard
But what’s left amidst the flame
Will be incorruptible and unharmed


"...so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 1:7


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Zeros and Ones: Why Did Jesus Come?

In this discussion, we take a look at the reason that Jesus Christ had to come to us...
To bring us to God.

We discuss the radical nature of sin and how it effects all of us. Putting us in dire need of a savior from the wrath of God for our inherent evilness, Jesus comes not only to call us to repentance, but to satisfy the wrath of God by becoming sin for us.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." - Mark 2:17

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Welcome To Midnight

For many, this year will not end on a high note…

 

Right now, somewhere,

Someone is about to lose hope

Right now, somewhere,

Someone is just trying to cope

Making it to midnight’s been a struggle

And they’re at the end of the rope

Barely afloat –

Helplessly failing as the water gets higher

And the last 24 hours

Sets the soul on fire…

The losses, crosses, addictions, divorces;

Hearts heavy from the waiting

And the ominous voices

Telling you to “force quit”

Because a promising future

Does not compute

Just more of the same

Of what you won’t get

‘Cause obviously you were born to lose

Two thousand and thirteen:

Year of the Serpent –

And he’s hissing in your ears

Convincing you that you’re worthless

 

Take heart and know

That the enemy’s already been defeated

No matter what tomorrow brings

The blood of Christ has already succeeded

Don’t be afraid –

Say welcome to midnight with open arms

Because the Son was crushed

Rest assured that joy

Is gonna come in the morning

 

 

“For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

- Psalm 30:5 ESV

 

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

(And a Happy New Year!!)

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Saved

Truly the hills are a delusion, the orgies on the mountains. Truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
 - (Jeremiah 3:23 ESV)

 We’re a nation in search of salvation…

We all wanna be saved from somethin’
Some wanna be saved from guns and violence
Others, from the silence…
The absence of a voice that let’s them know
That there’s someone there… 

Hello...Does anybody care?
 No?
Okay. Cool…didn’t think so.
Then I’ll just keep lookin’
Puttin’ my hope
In anything but hope
‘Cause why buy into the lies
When I can buy dope?
It’s the only thing I know
That’ll never let me down
Get it?! That was a joke…
But seriously, who’s with me?

There’s a lot that I need to be saved from
And I know I’m not the only one
I could exorcise my demons and my waistline
And still be no closer to fine
My problem is divine
And I’m on a shifty diet
So, no matter how hard I work
The most I’ll get out of this is to die tryin’
Lyin’ to myself through all the infomercial banter…

Where do you go for the answers
When your pockets produce envy
But your body’s full of cancer?
Or your mom starts trippin’
Because your pops let out
And greenbacks got weak shoulders
So now you’re strapped for clout
Trapped on the track now
‘Cause your cheese won’t stick
Givin’ your body for bread
‘Cause you heard him say that “Love don’t fit”
It leaves you all kinds of pissed
When you can’t find your muse
‘Cause you ain’t really livin’
Until you’ve got nothin’ to lose

Come to grips with the facts:
This life ain’t yours – you don’t own it
And if you had any cards left to play
Well, your hand just folded
Creator trumps creation
That’s that biblical math
And hearts made of stone
Get turned into gravel
So you can go ahead and get mad

But know this…
There’s no anger that burns hotter than His
So if you’re buckin’, there’s no discussion
You’re just a goner – So what then?

Love God, hate sin
That’s the only solution
To get you dyin’ to live
Instead of livin’ the illusion
That all that flossin’ and big bossin’
Is gonna get you respect
The bill is too high, homie
And we’re forever in debt
Unless we accept it
And embrace the amazing grace of His son
Who was crushed to save us
Because He and the Father are one
It’s done! He’s won!

So go run and tell ‘em
That the block’s been secured
There’s no need for the sellin’
 And if they post up hard
Reachin’ for glocks and berettas
I’ll reach a finger to the sky
And spray ‘em with somethin’ better…

UN-Dead ‘em.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Still

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

- (Psalm 37:7 ESV)

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

- (Mark 4:39 ESV)

Still…

As the words pour from His mouth

Bring eternal life to the dead

And surety of death to the lifeless

Still…

Seated on His throne from on high

Righteous in judgment;

“King of Kings and Lord of Lords” on His thigh

Still…

Let the killers kill

Let the dealers deal

If you’re filthy, stay filthy

And if you’re righteous, be certain

Still…

Let the world be shocked and stunned

When the Kingdom comes

Put an end to sin and death

By the power of His tongue

Every knee bow at the return of the Son

The Righteousness of God –

The Holy risen One!

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

- (Revelation 19:15-16 ESV)

And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”

“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

 - (Revelation 22:10-13 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Dust To Glory: A Ghetto Love Story

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.   -  (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)

A king without a castle born to an unwed mother

All the while, rumors circulate that he was fathered by another

Homeless for a while, then raised in the ghetto

Along side the hoodlums, riff-raff, rebels and winos

But He went to synagogue

Because that’s how his mom and his step-dad raised him

He’d grow up to be famous

But who really knew that then?

Coming up poor ain’t a means to an end

It’s hated, it’s shameful and often equated with sin

But not Him…

He left the block for the wilderness to fulfill the call in His life:

“Hey, why don’t you slow down? Take it easy…maybe even get you a wife.

Word is your real father, man, is crazy rich.

You’d never have to work a day in your life if he broke you off a pinch.

But if not him, come with me…I got a grip you can hold.

You can have anything you want. I got it under control.”

“Hell, No.”

Home is where the heart is

So the hood was His home

And used His life to let the hood know

That they were never alone

He became the people’s champion

So they gathered around Him

Politicians start to panic

While His family starts to clown Him

Pharisees start hatin’

And they call Him a “Birther” :

“This dude is sayin’ he’s from heaven

But he ain’t nothin’ but an earthling.

Everybody here knows him from that Nazerene block

No good can come of that place, they’re some real bad stock.”

But He didn’t stop

So now they wanna stop Him

His friends start to worry

That somebody’s gonna pop Him

Cool by Him

Because He already knew the risk

His death was the outcome

For which he sought to exist:

“Don’t be scared, homies…

They’re comin’ to get me

But I’m takin’ all the heat

Because that’s why the Father has sent me

Dying for the lost

So that they could be found

So that the end of your life won’t be the end

But a crown of life eternal

Given because you’ve be down since the beginning

And you’ll carry on ‘til the finish

Because my Father gives you permission

And don’t begin to think you chose this life for a second

I chose you first so now we’re forever connected

Blessed be the one who hears the words that I speak

And doesn’t shrink away from danger in the face of the Beast

Because the Devil is a lion

He desires to eat you

He can feast all he wants

But He can never defeat you.”

So whatever happens below

Just remember He’s above it

So when you see the storms coming

Don’t worry…

Just love it

It was death by love

Love in humiliation

Stepped out of eternity

To become the promised seed of the nations

Subjecting Himself to the same perils and temptations as “we”

Because He cares for little men in really tall trees

And for prostitutes on the track who believe the lie that they’re stuck

And for the addicts who think they’ve had and they’re about to give up

Listen to what comes after…

He is still speaking

So put one ear to the floor and the other to the rafters

Feel the earth move and know for certain

If He ceased to speak, it won’t happen

In His hands, it is stable

No one can ever knock Him off course

Even when the kingdom of Heaven suffers violence

 And the violent take it by force

Solus Christus,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

The Independence Mirage

photo by Paul Gallo

I was speaking to a group of high school kids. Several of them had been to our house. Petey was a gamer. He had been over at our house when I broke out a couple of paint ball guns and paired everyone off in duels with a single paintball each. It was awesome.

Anyway, I wanted to make a point about how dependant a human being is. I called Petey to the front. I told him I was going to put him in a chair and get him in a rear naked choke. I had been watching a lot of MMA (mixed martial arts). I realize it is not very pastoral. A rear naked choke is a hold that cuts off the air supply until your opponent must “tap out” or black out. I told Petey just to tap out when he needed to. I put a towel over his head so the class couldn’t see his face and got him in the hold.

He lasted longer than I thought and then tapped. I didn’t let go. My idea was to have him panic and struggle and show that a human being when deprived of something he is dependent on will do almost anything to get it. It was going to be a brilliant point. Petey tapped, waited and tapped again with a little more urgency. I held fast waiting for the struggle I knew Petey was capable of. Instead Petey put his arms at his side and stopped struggling. I released him and took the towel off. I asked, “Petey, why didn’t you struggle?” He said, “ I figured you weren’t letting me go for a reason so I just decided to wait to black out.” I told you Petey was a gamer. The school hasn’t asked me back.

My real point is this. It is comical that human beings even talk about independence. God made us so we need to eat every few hours. We need to drink almost hourly. We can only live minutes without air (unless you are Petey and you are willing to take it to the mat). God made us so that every 5 seconds we would be reminded we are dependent beings. Who gives us air and water and food? Where does it all come from?

I don’t know what we are going to do in heaven but sometimes I dream of God setting me loose to create my own little world. I know I would make some fundamental error. I would create a world where all the creatures would eat the same kind of food. All my creatures would live approximately 4 days before all the food on the planet would be gone and my poor little guys would begin to drop over one by one. God would come by and look at me, smile the smile you smile when you like someone a lot but they are just not that bright. He would then fold up my world into a lump of clay and hand it to me to start over.

The idea that everyone on this planet is breathing and drinking and eating is just astounding. And we have the audacity to think there is such a thing as being independent. It makes God smile that smile again.

-->

via redlikeblood.com

Being a submission grappler, I had to re-post this...great stuff!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Broken Bone Hymns by Paul David Tripp

It’s a bit of a strange word picture, the kind that causes you to wonder and to feel just a bit uncomfortable. But it says volumes about what you need and about what it is that God is doing. If you’re confused about what God’s agenda is in your life, or if it doesn’t always seem like his promises are being fulfilled, then this strange little prayer from Psalm 51 is helpful and clarifying. In his psalm of repentance after his sin against God, Bathsheba, and Uriah, David writes this provocative little prayer, “Let the bones that you have broken rejoice.” What in the world is he talking about and how in the world can it give perspective and hope to you and me?

Let me begin to answer with a personal confession. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but I have a low tolerance for difficulty. I confess that I am a project-oriented person. I tend to have a specific agenda for each day. I awake knowing exactly what I want to accomplish and what a successful day will look like. I don’t want to have to deal with interruptions or obstacles. I want the people, circumstances and locations to willingly submit to my sovereignty and participate in my plan. All of this means that it’s counterintuitive for me to view difficulty as something beneficial. I have little time or tolerance for “broken bones.”

But I have a problem. My Redeemer is the redeemer of broken bones. Now, maybe you're thinking, “Paul, what in the world are you talking about?” Well, here it is. “Broken bones” is a physical word picture for the pain of redemption.

In case you failed to notice, God’s work of delivering you and me from our addiction to self and sin and transforming us into his image isn’t always a comfortable process. There are times, in order to make our crooked and fickle hearts straight and loyal, God has to break some bones. I will again confess, I don’t like broken bones!

Now, you have to ask, “Why would a God of love ever bring pain into the lives of the people he says he loves?” The difficult things that you experience as God’s child that may seem like the result of God’s unfaithfulness and inattention or anger are actually acts of redemptive love. You see, in bringing these things into our lives God is actually fulfilling his covenantal commitment to satisfy the deepest needs of his people. And what is it that we need the most? The answer is simple and clear throughout all of Scripture: more than anything else we need him.

Yet this is exactly where the rub comes in. Although our greatest personal need is to live in a life-shaping relationship with the Lord, as sinners we have hearts that have a propensity to wander. We very quickly forget God and begin to put ourselves or some aspect of the creation in his place. We soon forget that he’s to be the center of everything we think, desire, say and do. We easily lose sight of the fact that our hearts were designed for him and that the deep sense of well-being which all of us seek can only be found in him.

We very rapidly forget or ignore the powerfully addicting dangers of sin and think we can step over God’s boundaries without personal and moral cost. We think we are stronger than we really are and wiser than we actually prove to be. We assess that we have character, discipline and strength that we don’t really have. So God, in the beauty of his redeeming love, will “break our bones.” He will bring us through difficulty, suffering, want, sadness, loss and grief in order to ensure that we are living in pursuit of the one thing that each of us desperately needs—him.

It’s time for each of us to embrace, teach, and encourage others with the broken-bone theology of uncomfortable grace. Because as long as each of us still has sin living in us, producing a propensity to forget and wander, God’s grace will come to us in uncomfortable forms. Perhaps you’ve been wondering where the grace of God is in your life at the very moment when you have been getting it. But it has not been the grace of comfortable relief or release; no, you have been receiving the uncomfortable grace of rescue, restoration, transformation and refinement.

So, if you are God’s child, if you’ve ever prayed that God would be near you and would do what he has promised in and for you, then resist the temptation to doubt his goodness in the middle of your moment of stress. It’s time for you and me to stop thinking that we are going through difficulty because Satan is winning or God is punishing us. If you are God’s child and you humbly recognize and admit that the battle with sin still rages in your heart, then tell yourself that those difficulties are the sure sign of his rescuing and redemptive love.

God hasn’t forgotten you. He hasn’t turned his back on you. He isn’t punishing you in anger. He surely isn’t withholding the grace that he has promised from you. No, you’re receiving grace, but it’s grace that is willing to break bones in order to capture and transform your heart. This grace is unrelenting. This grace has no intention of giving up. This grace will not be satisfied with the status quo. This grace does not get discouraged. It will never compromise. It will never become bitter or cynical. This is loving, patient, perseverant, powerful grace.

In those moments when you are tempted to wonder if God has forgotten you, may you preach to yourself of this relentless, transforming grace. May you remind yourself that you are being loved with real love and showered with real grace. And as you limp to his throne once more to thank him for his unyielding grace, may the bones that he has lovingly broken sing a hymn of praise to this One who alone blesses you with his amazing grace.

via desiringgod.org

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)