Across Church Street
Approaching Greatness
A short poem about approaching God.
I journey His Greatness
to trembling’s door.
There
meet His Goodness greeting:
"Do not fear, my child.
Approach
my throne with confidence.”
My Father is fear extinguished;
Perfect Peace is my reward.
Pinned
A conversation I had with God about grace.
I had a conversation with God this morning.
ME: Father, give me the grace to follow you more fully.
GOD: My grace is sufficient for you.
ME: Well, then give me the grace to better appropriate that grace.
GOD: My grace is sufficient for you.
ME: But I need more of your grace.
GOD: My grace is sufficient for you. Desire me, not my grace. Seek first my kingdom. Love me with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and the rest will take care of itself.
At this point I wanted to ask for the grace to seek first his kingdom and to love him this way. But I saw that I was pinned.
Born poor, reborn rich
Thanks to the Cross, I've been reborn into 'old money'—family wealth and security, connection, acceptance, and power, going way back.
At our church, we practice a discipline called My One Word. Each year we ask God for a word by which we will look for his work in us for twelve months. This year my lens-word is possess. 'Possess' is about taking hold of everything God gives me in Christ Jesus.
Four months into the year, I make three observations:
1. I think the word is too big. It's like Christmas morning when you receive too many gifts—when you want to stop opening and fixate on the gift you just unwrapped. But everyone else in the room is prodding you to move on.
2. I've seen again that I was born poor and reborn rich. Apart from these 'gifts' I could only feel disconnected, ashamed, fearful, insecure, unstable, rejected, vulnerable, insignificant, hopeless, victimized, defensive, and unsettled—that is, if I couldn't find something to distract me. But now I have moments—more and more moments—when I get that I've been reborn into 'old money'—family wealth and security, connection, acceptance, and power, going way back.
3. There's an ever-present danger of focusing too much on the 'gifts' and too little on the Giver.
Eight months to go with this word. And a lifetime to possess these gifts.
- love
- friendship
- beauty
- thankful
- attunement
- communion
- discipline
- video
- hope
- hania rani
- holiness
- serving
- seth godin
- dean sherman
- across
- covenant
- music
- eternal life
- justice
- embodiment
- wonder
- gracious
- hesed
- welcome
- poetry
- rest
- image
- brokenness
- disruption
- invitation
- companion mode
- resonance
- steadfast
- observer mode
- framework
- pastoral
- oneness
- caritas
- difference
- shalom
- john stott
- worship
- status
- care
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.