Weatherman

"You don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan

No I'm not like these weathermen
Meteorology doesn't suit me...(anymore)
I'm a foreigner in my homeland
This is a Head-out-of-window,
Hand-on-the-glass forecast
I'm trusting in Providence
And not chance...

While the masses sit back and wait for signs
The sky opens and closes as designed
And I'm fine with that
I'll trust what's already been revealed and written
And for all that remains hidden
I'll just consider it none of my business
Because there's a profound sense of wisdom
In saying "I don't know that much"
But what I have come to learn
Wasn't discovered by dumb luck

We cover up so that we don't get wet
But the rain, the cold, and the pain...
They still come when we least expect it
Many consult the constellations
But it leaves them second guessing
And vexed by the outcome
Because you still haven't got the message

Winter's still coming...
The sky's still falling...
And Jesus still saves...
Even though the creditors keep calling
Signs from above are trumped by a love
That came down and laid down
To give peace like a dove

But we have these hovering suspicions
That manifest in the shift of tectonic plates
And lose faith in the notion of goodness
Every time another child is raped

Seems that the harder we pray
The longer the stay of Death's execution
Which gives us the excuse
That we're always looking for
To live a life of disillusionment

And yet still...
Seasons come and seasons go
Only God truly knows
So, I don't gotta be a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows

(cf. Matthew 16:1-4; Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Ezekiel 37:9 Mark 4:41; John 3:8, 20:22; Acts 2:1-4)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

A Hum

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” - John 3:8 ESV

Something; A sound of some kind

Spinning in my ears like a hurricane

Affecting and effecting …

From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet

Urging me, pushing me, conversing with me -

I...am...transformed.

Becoming alien to family and friends alike

A totally different being than yesterday

There is no turning back, for I now understand -

Transmission to transmission, it has no end

“Comprehend or Perish.”

When He speaks, I listen.

(cf. Psalm 143:10; John 14:26; Luke 12:12)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Zeros & Ones: The Spirit of God

This week, we continue our study on the Person of the Holy Spirit. Specifically, we look at the operation of the Holy Spirit in the life and ministry of our Lord to grasp a better understanding of how the Spirit operates in our own lives...

 

"Understanding how the Holy Spirit operates in the life of our Lord has more to do with our own lives than we could ever imagine."  - Sinclair Ferguson

 

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Zeros & Ones: Holy Spirit (The Face of God)

In our latest study, we delve into the scriptures to answer the question: "Who is the Holy Spirit?". With the help of Dr. Sinclair Ferguson, this week's discussion looks at how the Spirit reveals the Face of God to believers. Topics include:

Work of the Spirit in unveiling the Face of God (in Christ)
Work of the Spirit in the revelation of God's attributes
Work of the Spirit in revealing the Truth of God's Word
Work of the Spirit in our pointing us to rest in Christ

And more...

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Nobody

"Nobody's perfect, but he's a decent guy and he works hard." 

- Brian Humke

What if nobody ever told you that the sky was blue?
Or what if nobody ever told you that there was nothing else to choose?
Would you still believe in things like fact, faith, and fiction?
Would you still hold on to hope of beauty in a world that’s broken, ugly, and addicted?
Nobody doing right
Nobody condemning wrong -
Everything is permissible
Because there’s really “Nobody home”
Nobody’s out there
We’re just out here all alone
On a big blue marble
Waiting for a meteor or a headstone…

What if nobody ever told you that a lie exists?
And everything you’ve ever heard about “the myth” was the myth
If ignorance is bliss
Then we should all be elated
Because as the information ages
The further we get from the pavement
Nobody debates it
Nobody wants to know
What lies just beyond the pale
Or exactly how far the mystery goes…

Nobody made you
Nobody made me
You’re nobody ‘til somebody kills you
Or loves you for no reason
Good deeds never go unpunished
Because justice is never what we’ve really wanted

So, I’m just a nobody
Trying to tell everybody
About somebody who runs this...

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
(Romans 1:19-20 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Zeros & Ones

Eventually, it all comes down to zeros and ones

Whether it’s the sum of your bank account

Or the last day to come

Credited with a federal deficit

From an act of confederate arrogance

Lord, grant leniency for our inconvenience

Because the ledger won’t ever find a balance

No power to the people –

Dying on empty bellies and wallets

But the no. 1 killer of the nations

Is that they perish for a lack of knowledge

Deprived and depraved

Because I don’t give a damn

About the rising poverty level

And the notion of goodness is a sham

The more zeros I need in my bank

To put one gallon in my tank

My daily bread goes missing

And so does my thanks

They say the love of money

Is the root of all kinds of evil

And these churches love stacking dough

To keep raising up steeples

Bake it but don’t break it

Pressed down and shaken, but not stirring

The collective conscience of the people

To feed the needy and to serve them

Salvation’s army shouldn’t ever come to harm me

Whatever happened to the Great Commission

Or showing faith, hope and charity?

Hilarious giving is no laughing matter

When you serve the Suffering Servant

It’s not an option – Follow after Him

To be born as an orphan

Doesn’t turn you into a bastard

To get the message crossed up

Leads to evangelical disaster

The first will be last

And the last will be first

The first death leaves you breathing

But the second lays down the worst

So stop selling headstones

And returning people to slavery

Strive to share the truth in love

With the utmost transparency

Christ bares the scars

As a reminder of the cost

So that we can openly display our weakness

To show the glory of the cross

A not-to-do list is always sealed with a hiss

And wreaks of self-righteous piety

That deserves to be dismissed

Spiritual amnesia

Leads to legalistic procedures

That spit in the face of grace

And gets it backwards for unbelievers

Because you can not have “gay sex”

And still be a wreck

You can not put lips to liquor

And still be a mess

Behavior modifications

Don’t necessarily mean you have the Savior

It just makes your public appearance acceptable

But leaves your private life unsavory

No, the task of salvation

Isn’t to make you a better person

Or for you to appear perfect and blameless

To a world that’s starving and hurting

We’re just the finger pointing at the moon

Which gives us light by reflecting the sun;

So in the end, it just goes back to the beginning

It all comes down to zeros and ones…

Posted via email from 0's & 1's

I AM

Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”  - Exodus 3:13-14 ESV

“I AM.”

No name given…

No need for an introduction

And “To be or not to be” is irrelevant to the discussion

Preexistence is preempted by His preeminence

So the possibility of extinction is nothing more than ridiculous

Absolute – Life in Him is unabbreviated

His grace and mercy are limitless and His wrath will go unmitigated

Almighty all over

Bruce and Evan, you’re fired

Trumped by the Invisible Infinite

So the myth of Father Time is retired

First person singular of being

Means that in Him we live and we move…

The very reason that we’re breathing

I AM what I AM

I AM, the Son of Man

I AM, the Spirit that gives life

And illuminates all understanding

Far beyond incredible

Forever indelible

His handiwork so legible

That even the rocks become intelligible

Thrice Holy means that every knee will be foldin’

And every mouth confesses His majesty

When our eyes finally behold Him

Sayin’ Holy, Holy, Holy is He

Who was, and is, and is to come

This self-revelation elicits my resignation:

I am a man of unclean lips…I am undone.

Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.  - John 18:4-6 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Evangel-Lies: Prophets of Profit

This is the sort of thing that makes me physically ill...the sort of thing that gets exported from America as "Gospel" (not all of the time, but unfortunately it is the majority report). Men like this turn the truth of God into a spectacle for their own gain, and never blink twice. Remember that Jesus saves FROM the "American Dream". In the words of Lecrae: "God is the Gospel, not a new Bentley..."
Nigerian Fake Pastors and Church Business Exposed from Maku Zikya on Vimeo.

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

"...How Sweet the Sound!"

"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." - Romans 10:17

Something...Someone...a voice of some kind that whispers in my ear and moves me like a hurricane. From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet-- urging...pushing...compelling...conversing with me...

I AM TRANSFORMED.

Becoming alien to friend and foe alike - a totally different creature than yesterday; I now understand. Transmission to transmission...there is no end.

Comprehend or perish. When He speaks, I listen.

(Genesis 3:8; 1 Kings 19:11-12; Matthew 7:24-27, 17:5; John 1:14; 3:8; 10:4-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 1:2)

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

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