Blog

  • Immanuel, our God is with us

    Immanuel, our God is with us

    The prince of peace, shalom

    The one who was

    The one who is

    The one who is to come again

    He is our light in the darkness

    The darkness shall never overcome Him

    The maker of heaven and earth

    The prince of peace, shalom

    For from the very beginning

    He has been there

    He has always been there, with us

    He was the word

    The word that was with God

    From the very beginning

    The word who was God

    The one who became flesh

    Who came to dwell among us

    The radiance of the Father

    The radiance of the Son

    Have you seen His glory?

    The glory of the Father

    The glory of His Son – Jesus!

    The Son of the Father

    The one who was

    The one who is

    The one who is to come

    Who will come again.

    So full of love

    So full of grace

    So full of joy

    He is the prince of peace

    A light that will always be there

    Shining through the darkness

    Breaking into the chaos

    Bringing hope

    Bringing joy

    Bringing salvation to a broken and fractured world

    Wherever you find yourself today

    Remember He loves you

    He cares about you

    Wait for Him

    Let His love flood your soul

    Wait for Him

    He is knocking at the door

    His light will shine in your darkness

    For His light has come into the world

    The everlasting Father

    Prince of peace, shalom

    Who has come to dwell among us

    Immanuel, our God is with us.

    He is the one, who will come again!

    We wait for Him.

  • God is love

    God is love

    All of creation sings

    With an anthem that resounds

    Can you hear its sound?

    It echoes throughout the land

    From every hilltop, ocean and ravine

    The spirits presence all around

    Weaving in an throughout every living being

    All of creation singing

    Holy Holy Holy

    To God be all the glory

    Who was and is and is to come

    His presence surrounds

    Fills every fibre of our being

    The very breathe of God

    Hovering, His spirit moving, brooding

    Creating new life

    Beauty from ashes, dust, the earth

    Creating all of humanity

    Every tribe, every nation, every tongue

    The breathe of God

    Spoken and it comes into being

    The voice of God

    His spirit and presence surrounds

    Making us fully human

    It’s profound, it’s insane – who we are

    Why Jesus came

    What we’ve been created for

    To love, know His love and bear His image

    To reflect the love of God throughout our lives

    This invitation from the very beginning

    To experience a God – who loves

    The Alpha and Omega

    The beginning and the end

    From everlasting to everlasting

    Who invites us to worship, to behold

    Reflect His love in a broken world

    This wonder of what makes us truly human

    It’s profound, it’s insane – who we are

    Why Jesus came

    What we’ve all been created for

    But what if we should reject His invitation ?

    To worship

    To become what we’ve been created for

    – to reflect His image in the world

    Could it be we reject His invitation to love?

    To be loved ?

    To reveal His love to the world around us?

    – to be fully human!

    Could it be through this we then choose a different path and a different way of being in the world ?

    We lose a part of our humanity ?

    For God is love and we are invited to love and reflect the image of God!

    -to be fully human

    God of love

  • Searching

    Searching

    What if this life is more about the journey of learning and discovering more about who we really are and knowing who God really is – so that we can become more fully known ?

    Could it be that this is our deepest desire and what our hearts are longing and searching for – intimacy – to know Him and to be more fully known?

    Could it be that this is what God has been desiring from the very beginning of creation? To know you and to be known. To have the intimacy of a relationship with all of humanity. To love and to be loved.

    This is our story.

    How much do we know about His love ? How do we know how to love – to love Him or receive this kind of love? Do we run toward His love or hide from it? Can we give His love away? Can we hear His voice as He searches for us – calling us, “Where are you”?

    Can you imagine what our world would look like – if we truly knew and believed in the heights and the depths of His love for us ? To transform us. If we truly understood the reason for His desire for us ?

    What is your desire?

    To know love and be loved ? Would we love anymore or any less? Could we truly be transformed by the power of His love?

    Oh yes!

    For His love is like a consuming fire. He pursues us with His love. He is jealous for us.

    What is it that your soul is searching for? What is it you are longing for ? If it is not to know and experience His love – to love and be loved? To be changed by this love – to become more like Him. What else is there in this life worth living or dying for ? If it is not to be able to know this love and share His love with one another.

    We all crave love – whether we like to admit it or not. We all long to know, be known and to be loved. It’s at the very core of our inner most being.

    Love has come into the world. Love has stooped down for us.

    Christ like love.

    But do we long to share His love with others? With one another? Would we climb to the highest mountain to obtain it or go searching to the farthest ends of the earth to find it? If we look in one another’s eyes – can we see it? His love.

    Where fore-art thy love?

    Where is this love that my soul is searching for ? Is it as vast as the ocean or in the deepest part of the sea? Where can I go to find this love or where can I flee to be with thee?

    Can I find this love if it’s searching for me? Where are you love? Can I earn this love by all that I see ?

    Where for-art thy love that you would beacon me?

    Your love whispers to me. Your love calling me. Why will you not come back to me? Why have you forsaken me?

    If I search for you – I cannot find you. If I run from you – I cannot hide – for even there your love finds me. Even there your love abides.

    Where fore-art thy love?

    I’m surrounded by your love – you are here. You are there. You are everywhere. Love is all around. This love so compelling – so divine. I cannot hide. His love is always near.

    I can see it in your eyes. When you dance and hold a child. There it is – His love – with every smile. Yet somehow it feels like this love has faded in our world and needs awakened. His love – divine love – oh come awaken my soul. This love that makes me whole.

    Where fore-art thy love?

    There is no greater love for mankind than this love – His love. A love so patient, so kind. It does not boast. It does not envy – it is not proud. Nowhere else can I search or find such a perfect love. So why would I not desire to embrace a love that’s wholly devoted. A love so compelling, so divine. It’s captivating. Captivating me – captivating you. A love that completes every fibre of my being.

    This love is His love.

    It sustains.

    It heals.

    It holds.

    It restores.

    There is no greater love than this – than to lay down one’s life for His friends. This sacrificial love knows no bounds. It cannot be contained. This love freely given – a love worth searching for. Worth fighting for.

    I wonder what our hurting and broken world would look like- feel like- if we could all truly taste and fully embrace the depths of His love for us and embrace this love for one another. Maybe His love could melt us if we let it, weave us, change us, consume us and compel us to love as He first loves us.

    Maybe it would melt us if we let it and weave us together as one – as He is one with the father. Maybe it would lead us if we let it into a deeper desire to love one another – the other – as He loves us.

    What could we do with this kind of love moving in our hearts and in and through our lives ?

    Maybe – just maybe – we could change the world and see all that is hurting and broken in our hearts healed and restored.

    With one embrace of His love.

    Surely the beauty of this kind of gift – His love and desire for intimacy with God – is enough – is worth it – if we let this love melts us, change us and lead us to help bring healing to a hurting and broken world – searching for love.

  • Shipwreck

    Shipwreck

    How did we end up here

    Washed up on the seashore

    Swept in by the waves

    Beaten and bewildered

    By these stormy seas

    Like a shipwreck sinking

    That’s how it feels

    When everything within

    Is trying to stay true

    To the compass directing

    Trying to hold to the way things use to be

    Rather than breaking free

    Feeling the fresh wind blow

    Refreshing my soul

    It longs to carry me

    To where the sun is shining

    Where the warmth of a smile

    And fresh flowers are blooming

    Sweet fragrance, full of delight

    Love is all around

    But somewhere along the way

    The blue skies have faded

    Those days of dancing, parading

    Were joy is to be found

    Were the burden is lighter

    Flowing free, like a river

    Where there is grace

    No longer a fight

    Peace – is like a river

    But isn’t this what life, is all about

    The journey of becoming, of growing

    Knowing and beholding

    Every moment

    With our Creator

    There will be highs, there will be lows

    Where the sea billows roll

    Even through the valleys, we will go

    Facing heart ache and disappointment

    Dreams may come, or even fade away

    Disappearing for a moment into the shade

    Over time covered by the dust we’ve made

    Until a fresh wind blows, a fresh fire kindles

    And we remember that the sea billows roll

    Stirring my heart, awakening my soul

    With the wonder, of our Creator

    Why does the wind blow

    Someday those forgotten dreams lying in the dust

    Get sprinkled with hope and faith

    Courage comes and the seed begins to grow

    Everything finds its rightful place with time

    With our Creator

    And the seed grows in the soil of a barren land

    The meandering river refreshes

    Restoring my soul

    And the crossroads come

    The mountain top, even the valley unfolds

    Reminds us once again, that the sea billows roll

    And with our Creator

    He lights the way

    Even when things go astray

    The blue skies may fade for a season

    Some will laugh and some will say

    But isn’t this – always the way

    Where the sea billows roll

    Reminds me of the light that shines brighter

    Even through darker and stormy days

    Hope will come

    Where we will dream once again

    With our Creator

    As the pain fades, the comforter heals

    The grass will grow and the flowers will bloom

    The barren wasteland once more becoming a spring

    He will light the way

    Darker days can feel like those stormy seas

    The voyage only ever for a season

    But sometimes the shipwreck

    Comes for an unknown reason

    The way ahead uncertain

    When everything around, is shaken

    Maybe the trumpet will sound in this season

    And in the barren land, we will hear a new sound

    Heavens all around

    Will your anchor hold

    In the stormy seas

    When the darker clouds come

    And the rain falls down

    When you cannot see the road ahead

    Who is the anchor, of my soul

    Who is the steadfast rock

    Who is the one who makes me whole

    Yet you wonder

    Will your anchor hold

    In the stormy seas

    When all else is gone

    And Heavens all around

    When the sea billows roll

    And I hear the sound

    My hope is built

    On Christ alone

    He is – our Creator

  • To know and be known

    To know and be known

    This journey of life with you

    Is mysterious in every way

    Through the highs and through the lows

    Into the valley, along meandering roads

    Sometimes hidden – sometimes dark

    This is the way that leads to courage

    No place I’d rather be

    Than here in your love

    Trusting you through the unknown

    For you will light the way

    Each and every day

    To stop – to pray, to seek your face

    Father help me to find the way

    To make sense of the call to walk this way

    Where there are no well worn paths

    The rugged road with stoney ground

    Your footsteps by my side

    This is the way – walk in it

    Holding your hand to help and guide

    For I will lead you and never forsake you

    I will be your light in the dark

    There is a way that leads to life

    Sometimes through stormy seas

    Sometimes through the wilderness

    Trust me – for I Am who I say I Am

    The Alpha and Omega

    The beginning and the end

    There are no other gods before me

    I am the one who was – and is – and is to come

    Through the ancient ways I will teach you

    Where tapestry displays the glory of God

    The beauty of God and Christ’s humanity

    Let me teach you more about the sacred way

    How to care for the soul

    How to follow me where others fear to go

    There is an ancient way

    That leads to life

    There is a narrow gate

    A way through to follow me

    Many have lost there way

    And I’ve come that you may know

    The way that leads to life

    I have come that you may know about

    The kingdom of God

    On earth as it is in heaven

    Let me know you

    That you may know me

    For it is in knowing yourself

    That I am known

    And it is in knowing God

    That you are known

    This beautiful dance between us

    This longing to know God

    To be known by God

    Reveals more about who I am

    And more about – who is God?

  • The in-between place

    The in-between place

    He’s dead and the tomb is sealed.

    So many questions.

    What would happen next?

    Why did He have to die this way?

    The cross – the crown of thorns

    His blood pierced side.

    No simple answers.

    A moment of complete chaos

    Yet the most significant moment in history

    The world feels darker

    It’s a dark night for the soul

    A world more desperate than ever before.

    And now we wait.

    This day – the sabbath!

    This day – a day of rest.

    The in-between place of wonder and disillusionment

    God rested from all of the work of creation.

    Maybe, He was resting in the grave?

    Resting from all the work of recreation.

    Can you imagine this moment in history?

    The shock – the horror!

    This moment when every conversation He had with His disciples about the Kingdom of God was preparing them for this day.

    His death. His burial.

    But wait.

    His resurrection?

    Can you imagine the smell of all of those spices, the balm, the perfumes prepared for Him. The tears, the anguish, the pain, the sorrow and the heart felt lose of the one who had shown them so much. Who had loved them like no other. His grace for them and compassion that won their hearts and following devotion.

    The one who fathered them and talked for endless hours about His Kingdom around the table. The one who broke bread, poured wine and ate with them. Can you imagine those times together, those conversations?

    On this day every conversation must have felt hushed. Words brought no comfort. The smell of those spices seemed to fill the entire earth. The smell of death, the grave and even despair. It was everywhere. Every word you wished you had shared. But now it’s too late. Even to say “I love you”.

    But wait. The resurrection? What about that?

    It’s not over – it’s not finished. He said He would rise again.

    Weeping only comes for a moment.

    Then – there comes a miracle.

    The stone is rolled away! He’s no longer there. The shock and the wonder about what has happened.

    This moment of the in-between becomes the greatest test of their lives.

    The moment of waiting in- between. The time between the cross and the resurrection. Filled with so many questions, doubts, fears and a sense of abandonment.

    Yet the most significant moment of their lives.

    Resurrection is coming! A new day is dawning!

    Up from the grave He rose- from His place of rest.

    Death could not hold Him. He conquered death. His death – our death. His resurrection – now our resurrection and the story continues from generation to generation.

    He is making all things new and one day soon everything will be made new.

    One day soon He will return.

    One day soon we will see Him again.

    #HolySaturday

    .