Same family

Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

Hebrews 2:11

The son of God and the daughter of ground, the same family

The seed of flesh and the one who's crowned, the same family

The resident of heaven and the resident of earth, the same family

The eternal midwife and those of new birth, the same family 

The one creator and the ones he created, the same family

The judge of all and the one indicted, the same family

The family head and his sisters and brothers, the same family

The source of all life and all fathers and mothers, the same family

The one on the throne and those on their knees, the same family

Those yearning for truth and the Word who decrees, the same family

The King of kings and the unnamed hoards, the same family

The dead and the buried and the Lord of lords, the same family

The everlasting saviour and the young and the old, the same family

Those looking for something and the one to behold, the same family

Maybe

Maybe we prefer rules because of the scandal of grace

Maybe we love law because we cannot cope with the freedom of God's love 

Maybe our own effort is easier to trust than Christ's finished work

Maybe we look to ourselves because it is difficult to focus on others

Maybe it is more straight forward to lose hope than to keep faith

Maybe staying the same might seem preferable to being transformed 

Maybe it is simpler to believe the lie than to acknowledge the truth

Maybe we prefer our own way in death than God's way in life

Good is good

God is good, all the time

Even when you've done the crime

Lying still within your cell

Feeling like you're stuck in hell

God is good, all the time

Even when you fail to climb

Future hopes and future dreams

The world is just not as it seems

Good is good, come what may

Body ageing, hair turns grey

No guarantee how long you've got

Mind slows down, loved ones forgot

God is good, through every hour

Expectations turning sour

Hope defers makes heart grow sick

Mist comes down, fog turning thick

God is good, for years to come 

The pain of loss to overcome

Beloved one for all these years

The end has come, the start of tears

God is good, I knew not why

With hatred deep within my eye

Deserving nothing I turned my back

My self-sufficiency would crack

For all that time my God was good

My depth of sin he understood

He welcomed me with smile of grace 

The son of God my soul embrace

 

God's still good whatever comes

If I fear what life becomes

Nothing ever changes this

The father stoops, bestows a kiss

Jesus Supreme

Jesus is the supreme apostle, the one from whom all apostolic calling and mission flows

Jesus is the ultimate prophet, the source of all prophetic gifting and utterance

Jesus is the chief evangelist, the reason that there is a gospel to proclaim 

Jesus is the foremost pastor, the fountain of all love and care

Jesus is the preeminent teacher, the embodiment of God's word

I am learning

I am not drowning, I am learning how to swim

I am not failing, I am learning how to suceed

I am not sleeping, I am learning how to rest

I am not falling, I am learning how to land

I am not missing, I am learning how to be alone

I am not flapping, I am learning how to fly

I am not screaming, I am learning how to sing

I am not tripping, I am learning how to jump

I am not mumbling, I am learning how to speak

I am not stalling, I am learning how to wait

I am not dying, I am learning how to live

I do not know

I do not know what this hour will bring

Will I groan a dirge or lift my heart to sing?

Will my spirit rise as a truth I hear?

Or the dark descend as I face my fear 

I do not know what this day will be

Will the clouds pull back and the light I see?

Will the air turn chill and the rain fall down?

Or the sky be blue with a sunshine crown

I do not know how I will face this week

Will I be at rest or the peace I seek

Will I get wound up or need to be wound down

Will my face light up or will reveal a frown?

I do not know how this year will fare

Will the months roll by and tears be there?

Will a change take place and my gaze to rise?

Or will hope now fade as it slows and dies

Can I be certain of anyone or thing?

As I seek to follow the eternal King 

His promises firm and all his word are true

I may not know but will still pursue 

Christ this minute, Christ this day

Christ this hour, come what may

Christ this moment, Christ every year

I will trust in him as I know him near

Muddy Messiah

Muddy Messiah, dribbler divine

Junior Jesus, clothes on the line

Sniffling saviour, story time hears

Hope of all nations, laughter and tears

A babe in arms leading the army of heaven

Growing through childhood at five, six and seven

Puberty beckons neither early nor late

The whole of creation awaiting its' fate

Out with his mates and friend of the sinner

Running to get home in time for his dinner

Brother to sisters and brother to brothers

Precocious child of his father and mother

Champion of heaven, Lord of all time

Falling asleep, the creator sublime

A teenage incarnate with spots and with stubble 

The redeemer who leads mankind from its trouble

Leaving his childhood his glory obscured

Leaving his father, their oneness assured

A carpenter's life with nail and with wood

A visitor in his own neighbourhood 

How could God come and live inside skin?

Made in his image his kith and his kin

No other way to fulfil God's great plan

Jesus the Christ had to become man

The genius of wire

We get so excited about wireless connectivity, how we can connect to the 'tinterweb' without plugging in our devices. I can have a egg McMuffin in McDonalds and whilst eating my breakfast can connect 'wirelessly' to the Washington Post's website to find out the details of President Trump's latest tweet. However, the truth is that this 'wireless' connection was in fact less than five meters of wireless connection followed by 2,700 miles of wire! Even with satellites and routers and mobile devices we still need wire

This is the genius of wire. Fibre optic cables can transmit data at an extraordinary pace, around 99.7% the speed of light. And the amount of data that can be transmitted is 2 terabytes per second (one million, million bytes - one trillion bytes). 

There is brilliance to wired as well as wireless connection, both can deliver unbelievable amounts of information in tiny amounts of time. However, there is something of significantly greater importance than how information is being sent or received, or what data is being transferred, whether wired or wireless. What really counts is what you are connected to, with whom you are joined

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

It is in Christ that God's people are joined together, the most meaningful of relationship in connection with the Saviour of the world. We are his building, his body, his temple, his kingdom, his dwelling. Our relationships are not so much for us but for him!