Hands High

Just when you think we're getting past it...
We're going right back at it 
Like a nightmare that you thought was gone
It reappears like it was magic
Is this travesty an act of a miscarriage of justice
Or just a knee-jerk reaction to distrust
A system never meant to protect us?

It's us against them...
But is it "us" or is it "them"?!
'Cause sometimes I'm Trayvon...
Sometimes I'm Mike...
Sometimes I'm Zimmerman...
Sometimes I'm Wilson...

At times I'm Malvo
Ducked low in a blue Chevy Caprice
Manipulated by my own kind
To go a pick up a piece

Our peace of mind is assailed
In a hail of bullets 
Another young one in ground
Never knowing life to the fullest
And foolspeak that follows
In the aftermath of a disaster -

How exactly should a native son 
Get over the fact
That he's being treated 
Like a bastard?

They tell me that my views
Are from another time and place
Yet I'm the same color...
In the same country...
And it's still all about race

And unless the Lord's grace intervenes
We'll never make it to the finish
Of a long-running history
That never seems to diminish

Remember: the anger of men 
Will never produce godly righteousness
But the righteousness of Christ 
Is the only reason I fight for this -
Liberty and justice 
From a corruptness
That has plagued us 
In his absence;
From rulers that wield the sword in vain
To the masses that give way to the malice

He drank from wrath's chalice
And took on the sins of Adam
So those who bear the mark of Cain
Can one day enter the heavenly palace

A King's dream finally realized
"One Nation Under God" reimagined
Guns down and hands high
As the final enemy is moving backwards

"Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:5-7 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Marvel

I, alone…
I’m not enough to handle this on my own
My metropolis is in trouble
And all of the supermen are gone
Fade to black – everything is whack
And these dark nights keep risin’ –
These jokers say that I’m tokin’
To believe that there’s anyone who can stop it

No secret identity
Or hideout with slick amenities
Are needed to win this war
‘Cause we're battlin’ a different enemy –
Long ago defeated
Still severely pissed and heated
And he and his minions will stop at nothing
Until everyone else can feel it

So we need a hero
Who’s far beyond the discussions –
No hiding behind a mask
To deal with the repercussions
Not just an alien that got stuck
Not just some vigilante we trust
But someone who can justify the guilty
And at the same time dispense justice

From the punishment due
To wholeheartedly renewed –
Avenging us from the impenitent
And putting an end to the feud
With web-sight, he catches predators
His strength is so incredible
Takes the shame and turns it to gain
So it wouldn’t eventually fetter us

Even though death still remains
It’s now no longer in vain
And the suffering serves a purpose
Since he auto-tuned it with “T-Pain”
Does it all through a Ghost Protocol –
Impossible for evildoers to shake him
Marvel at this Man on a mission…
Who can stop him?! Any takers?

 Cf. Revelation 6:2, 19:11-21, 21:5, 22:12

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Zeros & Ones: Gospel In Life [Week 7] - Justice (A people for others)

Many people get the Gospel wrong when they believe that their salvation is based on their repentance. Your repentance will never make up for your sins. In actuality, true repentance unto life is the acknowledgment of our utter guilt of sin and the justice that was served on Another in our stead...Repentance is the first fruit of good works.

(cf. Proverbs 28:5, 29:26; Isaiah 1:17; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Dog Days

 

Like a dog that returns to his vomit
 is a fool who repeats his folly.
 - (Proverbs 26:11 ESV)

 

Every dog has its day…

But that doesn’t mean

That every dog gets its own way

Or has the last say

The last word doesn’t belong

To the one who barks loudest or longest

No – the Final Word lives on

And is heard on its own accord

 

So while we woof and wail

And feign to bite

The Word sinks in deep - 

Takes the fight

And draws it out of us

Incapacitates -

Regenerates and devastates at will…

While we’re asking, “What would Jesus Do?”

Wrong question…

Ever wonder who would Jesus kill?

Even better still

Am I willing to die for his cause?

(You need to take pause with the query

Or the meaning gets lost)

 

As we chase every passing car

That comes along

Getting too brave for our own good

And fail to identify

What’s too big to handle

Until a blaring symphony of horns

Becomes our swan song…

 

My friends, we aren’t made

For howling at the moon

We were made to seek justice

And warn of the wrath to come

In a long, dog day afternoon

 

 

 

 

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
- (Hebrews 4:12-13 ESV)

 

 

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”  - (2 Peter 2:19-22 ESV)

 

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Walking While Black (Death In a Florida Suburb)

This is 2012, not 1962
But you’d be hard pressed to believe that
After hearin’ what it’s come to;
Walking while black
Meets unwarranted frustrations
Masquerading as vigilance
And shaking us to the roots as a nation

Old wounds run deep
Hatred ain’t sacred – it sees no color
Having Obama in office,
You may think would make it calmer
But unless you’ve been asleep
You know that it’s still very possible
To die for being a “brotha”
Skittles in tote, talking to your girl
In the cool of a Florida day
Then an SUV pulls up hot
‘Cause you ain’t gettin’ away with it…no doubt
One to the chest
Young life, snuffed out…

Now, you don’t have to be in the ‘hood
To have your peace disturbed
This ain’t Compton or Dade County
This is straight outta the suburbs
You heard me?!
Justice system failin’ ‘em
Freed the guy for nailin’ ‘em
Showed a blatant disregard to protect and serve
And label the victim as the assailant
It feels like a long time since
The days of civil rights and Jim Crow
It seems a million miles away
But we still have a long way to go

By that, I mean it’s too easy to point to the past
And make “White America” hold the ledger
Hey, the first time I was called a “nigga”
It rolled off the tongue of a six year old Latina –
So I know better

This ain’t about black and white
This thing is life on life
Good v. Evil, and death stealin’ youth
Like a thief in the night
So if you feel like I do
And you’re lookin’ for a fight
Then turn your anger inward
And rage against the dying of the light
Fight the good fight
Don’t let your hearts grow dimmer
“Street Justice” accomplishes nothin’
(Just another coward pullin’ the trigger)
Believe me, there will come a day
When recompense is made
And God don’t sleep
So I rest assured in justice
Never holding on to hate
Love has gotta be stronger than our fear
That there’s no end in sight
So, even amidst the travesty
That we all now bemoan
I know that this too shall be made right


For Trayvon Martin.


"And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place..."  

- (Acts 17:26 ESV)

"Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body."  - 

(Hebrews 13:3 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)