Altered Beast

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

- (Romans 8:13 ESV)

 

There’s a bad moon rising…

Satan’s enticing me –

Telling me to feel the fire in my lungs

Let go of my tongue

And shipwreck this relationship

Over which I’ve so graciously been given stewardship

Emotions are running high –

Strung so tight

That it’s like a thick cord

You could cut with a knife

So I fashion my words into a saber

And keep taking slice after slice

Until there is nothing left

But death…

 

Relationship thrown to the wayside

In a moment of rage

Setting the stage for a catastrophic crescendo –

A cacophony of swearing and not caring about the outcome

Don’t really care if the premise of the beef dumb

Because it doesn’t matter who’s right or left

The only thing that’s worth caring about

Is that I’ve won…HELL YES!

No. 1 with a bullet…

Let the world know that I’ve got a hair trigger

And that I ain’t afraid to pull it

Instead of going out like a sucker

I’ll show my teeth

And suck the life out of another

Dig in deep – getting all the flesh I need

But when the blood’s been drawn

And the bones picked dry

The only thing left to kill is me…

 

So I turn my aggressiveness inward

On the oppression that stifles my conscience

Go savage on my insecurities

And rest in the surety

Of the Almighty’s benevolent abundance

He is omnipotent –

So His grace is more than sufficient

To cover the inadequacy of my emotions

To deal with the feelings

That someone’s disrespecting me

 

I’m reminded that I’m a new creature –

An altered beast who desires to be meek

Overcome my desire to win

By changing my perception of defeat

So instead of assaulting a perceived adversary

I put salt in my speech

Walk in peace with grace and forgiveness

Speak softly and turn the other cheek

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

- (2 Corinthians 5:17 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)