Nevermore

“Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!”

- Luke 12:24 ESV

Swagged out, lookin’ clean

Sayin’ that life is perfect

You’re the picture of peace

But there’s nothin’ but beefin’

Beneath the surface

Your heart is lacking purpose

And broken from the searching

For a means to put an end

To those feelings of worthlessness

The caged bird don’t sing no more

‘Cause ravens are gettin’ locked up in cages

Never to be seen again – NEVERMORE.

It’s a battle for the ages

Between ten to twenty-seven

Because the Devil’s got ‘em believin’

That G’s can really go to Heaven

So as they rattle and hum

Hypnotized by the chirp of the sirens

Unaware of the wrath to come

And that sin will only beget violence

I pray, Lord, please

Give ‘em eyes to see

And give us the strength that we need

Because the workers are few

But the need for rescue is plenty…

(cf. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43; Luke 10:2; John 4:35; Mark 4:26-29)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Heaven Underground

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." - 1 Peter 3:18-20 ESV

"For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does." - 1 Peter 4:6 ESV

 

Heaven didn’t just come down… 

It went underground 

We couldn’t go and get it 

It had to come and get us 

Because we were held hostage 

In the darkness…slaves to the dust 

A bunch of guilty as charged 

Criminals at large 

Conspiring since the beginning 

To assassinate God 

And if you find that statement offensive 

It’s understandable 

But you still have no defense against it  

And you know it –  

Your fingerprints are showin’ 

And herein lies the biggest problem 

Because even if you’re Robin Hood
You’re still a thief –
Because you’re robbin’
No sob story is good enough
To regain that trust
Our red-handed antics
Have left us stone cold busted

And in case you couldn’t tell
We’re disgusted with the outcome
But too prideful and bitter to ask for help
So we put our roots down firm
And build ziggurats wherever we dwell

But how we gonna reach the Kingdom
When we don’t even speak the same language amongst ourselves?
And when our stairway to Heaven was vanquished
It all came crashing down in an epic fail…

The most frightening attribute of God’s character
Is that He is good and a Just Judge
So He will always rule in favor of righteousness
Not based on what I think I am
Or who I thought I was

Truth is…
I’m a lying, cheating
Backsliding heathen
Full of murderous intent
And I’m stealing by just breathing
With no plan to give up the lifestyle
Anytime soon
So the mercy of the Court
Will have to be way more than prevenient
Because I’m already doomed…

Therefore grace has to intrude
As the Kingdom manifests the expanse
Of its territorial boundary
To dig us up out of our whitewashed tombs
And shut down all of the foundries
‘Cause the Devil’s melting down the metal
Turning plows and pruning hooks into swords

But the Kingdom of Heaven came among us
To suffer the violence
So Death can never have the Final Word


"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force."  - Matthew 11:12 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Zeros & Ones: Gospel in Life [Week 3] - Idolatry (The Sin Beneath the Sin)

This week, we discuss the issue of idolatry. We take an in-depth look at how idolatry is the driving factor behind all of our sins, and how understanding the gospel and seeing Christ as our ultimate prize and satisfaction shuts down the idol factory and brings our passions and pleasures under new management...

Also: We use the recent film, Prometheus, as a tie-in to our discussion.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

"Piece" Sells...

as it is written:
  “None is righteous, no, not one;
  no one understands;
  no one seeks for God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
  no one does good,
  not even one.”
 “Their throat is an open grave;
  they use their tongues to deceive.”
 “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
  “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
  in their paths are ruin and misery,
 and the way of peace they have not known.”
  “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
  Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
  
(Romans 3:10-20 ESV)

 We taste death every time that we draw a breath

And it don’t any get better

No matter how many years we have left

On this planet, we inhabit to wreak havoc for generations to come

We live by the sword, and we die by the gun

The type to shoot first, no asking

I just reload when I’m finished

Watch the light leave your eyes, then turn and ask your wife,

“Hey babe, what’s for dinner?”

Because if I’m not carvin’, I’m starvin’;

You bet your life that I can eat for days

For me, Valhalla is always rising

And my left eye’s looking crazy

Just like bulls on parade

We rally with a pocket full of shells

Doing what’s right in our own eyes

And you know we love to give ‘em hell

So, I’m not buying in to what you’re saying

Because in the end, “piece” sells

Profit margins increasing every year

While filling up school lockers like prison cells

Click goes the hammer, clank goes the slammer

But that homeboy had new Jordans

And Gilbert Arenas was the answer

Because I’m a pro when it comes to this

Catch him slippin’ in the lunch line

Bullet wizardry, a masterpiece

My own private Columbine

So now I stand before the Judge

No period to my sentence

A life of run-on pain

Like I was Prefontaine (minus the finish)

Lines drawn in the sand

Crossed every time without repentance

Treated darkness like a friend

Only to find it to be the very bane of my existence

Pushed life to the limits

Until death started pushing me back

Now it’s too late for a plea…

Verdict:

Sin is still whack.

 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
  
(James 4:1-3 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)