Omnia Vincit Amor

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” - (Song of Solomon 4:7 ESV)

She thinks I’m on one
And that my intentions are dumb
Always calling me stupid
And telling me I should know better
Sometimes she even says that I could do better…
Than her?!
No sir.
Omnia vincit amor
She’s everything I could ever want or ask for 

But she sees herself as gangly and unkempt
And when I call her beautiful
She holds me in contempt
Tells me that I put her on a pedestal
To which I reply, “Guilty as charged”
She is a lily among the thorns
And the captor of my heart
Every time I see her face
I’m reminded that it’s her lips alone
That I want to taste…
A glimpse of God’s grace
Omnia vincit amor
She’s the only one that I adore 

She rejects my neglect of her imperfections
Dissects herself through harsh introspection
And tries to convince me to see them
But she doesn’t understand
Since Jesus had to bleed for us
I have no need to make a fuss
She’s altogether lovely
Perfect from head to toe
She’s better than wine
So I have to take her in slow
Omnia vincit amor
So intoxicated by this love
That it brings me to the floor 

Fearfully and wonderfully made
So what is there possibly to hate?
I’m a zealot for her affections
It’s only her hand that I’m willing to take
Others may disregard her value
But she’s worth more than I dare to say
The statuesque features
Of such a heavenly creature
Speak to the truth…
Something the Lord’s made 

She’s not just a “dime” or a “cutie”
She carries within her a deeper beauty
A courageous heart and sense of justice
A faithful daughter; a mother on duty
So when it’s been one of those days
And it’s like the world is on her case
I find nothing but pleasure in doing all I can
To show how much I lover her
And bring a smile to her face 

Omnia vincit amor
Forevermore.


“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…”
- (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ESV)



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)

As Far As the Curse Is Found

Eternity shut in a span
God becomes a man
And introduces Himself
In the form of a child
To execute His wondrous plan;
Redemption so close at hand
That you could literally touch it
And He too would touch us...
As far as the curse is found
He would detoxify the dust

With the government on his shoulders
And boulders of debt around our necks
He traded His glory for a yoke
And descended willingly into death;
Born into scorn
Living to die
To show that the Strongman
Just ain't strong enough
And to snatch us from the fire
The light shines through the darkness
And the darkness can't overcome it
So, when the shepherds heard the good news
You know they had to come runnin'
To behold the One foretold
The Axis of the world
With a love so bold
That He'd come as the Prodigal Son
To bring wayward siblings back home

He who knew no sin
Was born so that we
Could be born again -
Immanuel has come!
Peace on earth
And goodwill towards men

(Luke 2:8-14)

Merry Christmas,
SDG
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Thanks a Lot

I remember a time when a homeless guy cleaned my windshield and I gave him what I had on me…
a couple of quarters and a dime.

He looked at me and said, “Is that it?”
‘Is that it’?! I was livid
Because first of all
He could’ve cleaned my window
Better with spit
I gave him all I had
(Minus my debit card)
But it didn’t matter –
He had no regard for it
Here I am trying to do the Lord’s work
And he’s looking at me like
“Thanks for the change, jerk.”

As far as he was concerned
I might as well have given him nothing…

But his reaction was pushing the button
On a deeper subject
That touches us all
The fact that we’ve been given
The world and everything in it
But we treat it like a mall
We consume until we’re full
With no consideration
Of the considerate nature
Of how it got here
We’re allergic to the concept
That we’re dust…
I too often have a hard time
With the fact that
I’m a sand castle with a pulse;
The same stuff they’ll use to bury me
Is the essential ingredient
To my physical make up

I’m nothing more spit and clay
In it’s heyday …

We think that we’re made men
But we can be done in
By the slightest headwind
We confirm our ignorance
To our disposition
With an oversight
To this revelation:
The air we breathe can’t be seen
And that speaks to the attribute
Of our Creator
We constantly demand
That He show His face
When His DNA is in everything
That we taste, see, and touch
Our senses are drenched in Him
Without so much as a mention
And we could give a…

You know what?
I’m just gonna go ahead and say it–
We’re going nuts
Looking for a payday
When Yaweh has already paid for us
The check ain’t in the mail
Because your debt
Was nailed to the Cross
That’s the equivalent
Of getting 100% gratuity
Only to treat it
Like a stop-loss

So the slightest inconvenience
Sends us flying off the handle
One little prick of the needle
And the damage is done -
We start accusing God
Of giving us way more
Than we can manage
And start calling for His job

No graciousness filling our hearts these days
Instead, we’d rather waste our time
Like disappointed kids on Christmas
Throwing temper tantrums
Because we think that
Santa must’ve missed us

We’re nothing more than straight up beggars
Who always think we deserve better
Than what we’ve been given
Always trying to hit the lottery
When we ain’t even
Got a pot to piss in

The sin committed by our first parents
Was rooted in a lack of gratitude–
Having everything wasn’t good enough
So they forgot to say, “Thank You.”
So greedy that they couldn’t even leave God
That one tree…
A blatant disregard for the Law
Mixed with an eagerness to take His place
(And that, kids, is how we came
To celebrate Black Friday)

Man, we’d all be turkeys on a plate
If it wasn’t for His grace
He became a sacrifice
Given for ignorant creatures
Who weren’t even trying to relate…

So while you’re thankful for your food
Remember that He’s the one
Who bought the farm
And if you thank Him for the calm
You gotta thank him for the storms
Be grateful for the good and the bad times
If you’re a have or a have not
He gives us abundant life through everything
And for that we gotta say,
“Thanks”...a lot





(cf. Psalm 100:1-5; Jonah 2:9; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 Timothy 4:4; Revelation 7:12)

Happy Thanksgiving,
Shon 

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

The Greatest of These (That Hideous Strength)

  Set me as a seal upon your heart,
  as a seal upon your arm,
 for love is strong as death,
  jealousy is fierce as the grave.
 Its flashes are flashes of fire,
  the very flame of the LORD.
(Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV)

 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38-39 ESV)

Some mismanage it

Manhandle and then abandon it

Left for dead under the overpass

After it’s been bruised up and damaged

Highly disregarded and discarded with ease

Unknown to the world, yet still, it’s the greatest of these

Still looking for answers while we put a band-aid on our cancer

It patiently waits in the dark; on the ready with the brightest of lanterns

Ready to guide us through the blinding mire of hostility

With the smoldering flame of an uncommon humility

Men say that they’d give up the world just to possess it

Only to rent it out for a meager profit, then strip it down and redress it

Even refusing to call it by its name –

Because it only responds to the truth

And they just want to defame it…

Punched, kicked, held in contempt and battered

But in spite of swollen eyes, its gaze is fixed

As if none of it matters

Never raises its voice to try to plead its case…

It carries on ‘til the end

Even if forever is however long that it takes

Pain is not the pleasure, but services as the vessel

Takes it to the final destination

Delivering the greater message

Delivered without measure – digging up the buried treasure

Hidden under the weight humanity’s mess

A task that no other could dare endeavor

To hell and back -

When we refused to bleed, it bled for us

Got stabbed in the robbery and still took on the death sentence

Parted the head of the warden and beat a path back up from the bottom

Set the captives free when it flooded their prison cells with that living water

Instead of coveting lust, it holds a covenant up in front of us

Reflects the beauty of its purity and shows us truly wonderful

Faith unwavering and a hope assured that never expires

Its power never ceases even after the world that we know is retired

Not to be confused with seductive bedroom eyes

Pursuit of the one night stand or catching a glimpse of her thighs

A strong back to hold onto while you’re lying in bed

Or lies that he’ll wanna tell so that you’ll open your legs

Sex out of context is only there for a moment

And involves giving up your ghost to someone who doesn’t own it

Less than and three may put a heart on your screen

But it’ll never give you a love that’s greater than these

When I’m worse it makes me better

When I wanna quit, it tells me, “never”

When I can’t stand, it keeps me movin’

When I fall apart, it holds me together

It reminds me that I’m cherished

And that I’ll never ever be severed

Forgives all of my inadequacy

And never lets me for get it

When I start to believe that redemption is completely impossible

It lifts up my heavy head through the grace of the Gospel

The same that gave sight to blind men and dead men life

Is the same that can take a whore and turn her into a wife

No matter how promiscuous, this thing is so relentless

It pursues to the end and will have your beggin’ for forgiveness

Yes, there’s only one thing that can remove our stain and our stench…

Love is stronger than death; such a hideous strength.

 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:13 ESV)

 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:18-19 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Night of the Meek

A night of the meek where the weak find wings
A night where the unlikely so mightily brings
True peace on and goodwill towards men
By turning the world upside down -
God covered in skin

Through blood and water
Comes the only consolation
For all of our shortcomings, sin and frustrations
Freedom for the nations
Which at once would be lost
If the Son of Man had not come
And leveled the cost

Meek and mild He came
Born of a virgin mother
Chosen to the task because the Father saw fit
That she had known no other
So that a lowly carpenter
Who could barely meet ends
Would become caretaker
Of the One in whom all ends meet
And would hold him in his hands

For the shepherds who were barely trusted
To care for a flock
Are now the first to hear the news
Of how redemption is sought
As kings from the east now make it their work
To lay gifts at the feet of a Prince
Who will never clamor for worth

For He is worthy...

I AM in a manger means we're no longer estranged
As far as the curse is found
Christ has engaged us

Lift every voice to sing
"Merry Christmas, everyone
The Meek has inherited the earth
YOUR KING HAS COME!"

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

What I "Know" About Love

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

The "know" here is not speaking of mere head-knowledge or intellectual ascent ; in fact, it is a different word in the greek ('epignosimai' rather than 'ginosko') - here, Paul is speaking of "know" in the most intimate of context (much like Adam "knew" Eve - Genesis 4:1). So the literal translation would actually read more, "...we will love intimately as we have fully been loved intimately". When understood in context, it sheds much needed light on this passage; everything that we do now, including love, is done "in part" (incomplete). It is this way until the maturation process is completed in the return of Christ. At that point, all other things, save love (1 Corinthians 13:8), will cease because the culmination of God's love for his creation will be fully comprehended. The reason for the ceasing of things like prophecy and tongues is because their purpose will be terminated by the presence of the One in whom they point to...all that will be left is Love unsurpassed and unhindered in the ultimate of intimacy: face to face fellowship everlasting with the Godhead.

Talk about a Valentine's Day...


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

True Blood, New Life

If I would've been there, I would've done the same; open him to ridicule and put him to shame.
I definitely would've been the one who hated him the most. So he did what he had to do...
He Killed us both.
And when he rose up, he brought me along; to drink of his cup and sing a new song.
Truest blood shed from his wounds now covers my deepest stains - I'll never be the same.
Now I'm alive in Christ; his death my gain!!  - S.W.

(Isaiah 53:1-12; Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 2:12, 3:1)


And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
- Luke 24:5

He is risen!!!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via web from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)