Above All

"Cause the God I believe in never worked on a campaign trail."

                                                                                              ~Brand New 

~Above All~

People want to take away the truth from the world around us.

Words are being twisted and used for unholy acts. 

Words are being spliced together for attacks. 

They want to take the truth away from the world around us.

I want to be clear and concise.

I want the world to hear the news about the other side.

I want to believe more than doubt.

I want to be alive and fill the world with news of glory and joy.

Sadly, they want to shut down true love.

They want words to be equal and universal.

This book can get me to heaven and that book will do too.

They want everything and everyone to get them to glory.

They want to twist my words.

They want to take what I say and dismiss it with a turn of a cheek.

They want me to shut my mouth.

They want to belong to nothing or everything at once. 

But I am just a man.

I am not higher than you.

I am not above you, boasting that I am mighty.

I am just a man who wants you to know the truth.

I will fail

But at times I can succeed.

I need to tell you the truth.

So you can see that the reward is great.

Search and run.

Listen and be still.

Search and seek out the love that transcends time and space.

Listen, even when nothing seems to be going on.

They are taking away the truth from the world around us.

I am going down a path that does not apologize for its hardships.

They are taking away the truth from the world around us.

I am speaking even when they want me to stop.

I will die,

I will sacrifice this world for a love that rises above all.

I am not above all,

But I know one who is.

So, do you believe in miracles?

Do you believe God is the same God from long ago?

So, do you want the news that was spoken?

Do you believe the word given to us? 

It is the word that they want me to be quiet about.

I do not want the pleasures this world offers me. 

I want to rise up and do good for those who are unloved.

I do not want the worlds words growing inside my mind.

I want to take up my mat and walk, rejoicing, singing, and dancing.

I want to speak truths into lives that are unholy,and loveless.

To speak to those who think they deserve nothing.

Speak up, stand up, and pick up your mat and love.

For love is above this world. 

Love is what will save us all. 

To Hell

“There are moments when even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of Hell. ” 
                                                                                         ― Edgar Allan Poe

~To Hell~

As I watch and see him, I wonder what I can do.

I see him travel down a path that is so broad. 

I see him travel down a path I do not wish to follow. 

As I watch and see him, I wonder should I do something for him?

I am lazy.

I am not strong.

I see his need and smile as if the need is not there.

I see his final destination and it does not motivate me.

To Hell and never back again.

A highway with only one exit.

A place where even light does not stay.

To Hell, to Hell!

Why am I so calloused?

Why do I seem not to care?

To Hell!

Should I try and get to him before he goes?

We drink and are merry with our brothers.

But we see the men who will not see glory and we do nothing to help.

To Hell!

Why do we do nothing?

The man lives his life not knowing he is gone.

He has never heard what I know.

To Hell!

I never tell.

He is ready to hear.

He is ready to receive.

To glory!

He is ready, but speak no words.

My compassion is gone.

My empathy is dead.

My laziness becomes my life.

My mind is telling me to stand still.

He will die.

He will fall.

I did nothing.

I just lived.

To Hell!

To Glory!

There can be Hell on Earth 

My eyes blinded by my own contentment.

As I watch my eyes begin to look sway.

"He has plenty of time." I say

"Someone else will get to him." I convince myself.

As I watch, I decide to walk away.

I am the man that you saw, and I saw you walk away.

I am the man that you thought had time.

I died that day.

I died by a car that was out to play.

Why did you not help me?

Why did you turn away?

To Hell!

Where is the glory?

Where is the water I need for relief?

Where is the food I crave?

I thought death would be the most pain I have ever felt.

I thought the Earth was the last place would ever live.

I was wrong, and nobody told me I would end up this way. 

All I see is death and tainted fame.

All I feel is nothingness and pain.

Why did you not warn me?

Why did you not care?

Why did you keep the truth bottled inside your soul?

To Hell, to Hell I wish you will never go.

That car, that day.

Why did you not pray?

To Hell, to Hell I wish you will never go.

That car that day.

Why did you decide not to stay?

Why did you turn you head and walk away?

Death Works for Love

And so I arrive at the conclusion 
Love isn't made 
Love doesn't sell or pay 
But we buy and sell our love away.
                        ~Jon Foreman

~Death Works for Love~

Never underestimate true love.
Never deter your thoughts away from the death that encompasses true love.
Love takes over the soul when the individual lets go to the one who stops the storm.
Never fail to seek true compassion even when it all seems lost.

Saints turn a blind eye when everything is alright.
But they come crawling back when they are beat to the ground.
God is not a get out of jail free card.
He deserves love and honor no matter where you are in this life.

Use yourself for more than personal gain.
Use yourself to build up others.
Treat those around you with the respect love deserves.
Use trust as a means to encapsulate a heart to what true love is.

And what is this true love?
What is this word that we use to describe what food we think is the best?
What is this word that we throw around, making it slowly fade in its potency?
What is this true love?

We fight for love.
We sing about love.
Dying to love and hoping we get it right.
We write about this word that is gradually losing its meaning.

This life demands real love.
It demands that we turn our lives over to what was done for us.
There was a death that shows what true love is.
There was metal and wood that caused blood, death, and deliverance.

I want a world that lives in those scars.
I want a world driven by that loves example.
A world not dominated by entitlement.
I want a world led by example of this true love.

Love so pure that words cannot truly describe it.
A love that hurts and heals at the same time.
Love so pure that my heart turns to it in everything.
A love treated by blood to make my soul white and whole.

What is true love?
It is fire burning away my calloused soul.
It is water washing me clean.
It is snow falling as a blanket keeping me warm at night.
It is blood, sweat, and death that rises up and creates true understanding.
It is an understanding that saves a life.

Never underestimate true love.
The love that this world can never provide.
Never underestimate true love.
Embrace it and embrace the rest of your life.

My Personal Psalm

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is,“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

                                                                     ~Matthew 26:46b 

~My Personal Psalm~

What does it look like when you love and the world hates?

What does it look like when the change is a change for the suffering?

The world tears down the loving because it hates the one who shows true love.

This world is not my own.

This world is only temporary.

This world will hurt you just because we know the truth.

Not everyone will like you.

Not everyone will want to know you.

But stay strong, walk the path and love.

Those around want to avoid the truth. 

They want the easy and the fast.

They want the quick fix for this world and this world alone.

This world is not my home, my home begins when I die.  

My treasure is on the other side.

My treasure begins on the rocky and narrow.

I do not want a cookie cutter life.

I do not want the easy way out.

I want the love of a Savior even when I think He is gone.

God I cry out to you.

Give me life in this world where I live.

God I cry out to you.

My knees are on the ground.

My eyes are to the sky.

But my heart is cold.

God I cry out to you.

I wish I knew more.

God I cry out to you.

My head tells me you forsake me.

My ears do not hear.

God why do I feel nothing all the time?

I weep as I sit alone.

I weep as I try to serve.

I am wounded because I do not feel you.

This war is made up of many battles.

This war, thank God, is already won.

But this war takes a toll on my soul.

This world does not belong to me.

I am just living in it with others. 

We do not belong here.

Break me and let me know you.

Hurt me so I understand compassion.

God please let me see you again.

This world is built on vanity.

It is built on meaningless pleasure.

This world is what my sin wants.

I give in to many times.

I give in when I know it is wrong.

I give in, God help me fix my eyes on you.

What does it look like to love what the world hates? 

It hurts,

It stings,

It destroys my understandings.

What does it look like to love what the world hates?

It brings hope it.

It brings love.

It brings understanding.

What does it look like to love God?

It looks like the end of an age.

An end of humanity.

A beginning that will last forever.

An end to this world and a focus on what is to come.

This world is not my own

Even when I feel alone.

God I weep,

God I try,

God take me, let me know you are here.

This world is not my home

This world is broken.

I am broken.

I am a faith based lover

Known to my soul as a believer in more than myself.

Not everyone will like you.

Not everyone will like me.

But I will love them not matter the circumstances.

Even when my world has fallen apart.

Serve

What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:26

~Serve~

Pride will kill us all.

It can consume and twist until you are unrecognizable. 

Pride will kill us all.

It can take us, bind us, and turn you away from what you believe in.

We grasp onto our failures and let them define who we are.

We take hold to our success and we let it define who we are.

But who are we really?

What is the big thing that drives us to be who we are?

What do you believe in?

What makes you tick?

What causes you to wake up in the morning?

What defines you?

Sex will not fulfill your soul.

Drugs will not poison enough to make you feel whole. 

Money will not make you charitable.

And a lover will only show you so much true love.

There is a book that holds my sins.

There is a book that shows my good deeds.

One of these books is bigger than the other.

But there is another book with another story that saves my soul and makes one of the books disappear.

There is a life that I must use to define me.

There is a man who died but did not leave.

There is a place that I strive to enter.

There is a book that prepares me for battle against the idols in my life.

Why would we follow anyone else?

Who else takes away the shackles and the chains?

Why would you go for pride over the maker?

When the maker is the one who saves.

What can I do for my creator?

What can I give to show him my love?

Truthfully not much.

But I do anyways because I want to be more like him.

Do not grasp onto what others have.

For those things will not let you inherit the kingdom. 

Do not use our maker as a crutch. 

For he is the one that needs to be served when the sun is up and when the sun sets.

Serve and let the good news be north on your radar.

Serve and want to.

Serve and fight for your brothers soul.

Serve and love others.

For God does not fail, even when we do.

Do We Live for the Proper Reason?

"So choose your last words, this is the last timeCause you and I, we were born to die." ~Lana Del Rey

Do We Live for the Proper Reason?

Born to live does not seem correct to me.

Being born to live seems like a poor way to live. 

Born to suffer, born to work, born to find love sounds like a better option to me.

We go through life wanting to live.

We want the materials to keep us filled.

Happiness is not connected to this life.

It is connected to the eternal death.

Born to love.

Born to die.

Being born to live does not sound good to me.

A child is alive and they live to die. 

A child shows us what joy is all about.

A child's light is brighter than any cynic we call an adult.

A child knows no bounds and dives in with trust and love.

This life is not our life.

This world is not our home.

Our home is on the other side, so live to die.

Children laugh and children cry.

Children are gifts that show us how we once were.

Dedicate your children with truth.

Dedicate your children, so they may grow and tell the truth as they live for the other side.

I believe in love.

I believe in birth and resurrection. 

I believe in lost causes being shown the way through children's eyes.

We are all born, we all will die.

We do not all live. 

We go through life sitting down and not running forward. 

Get up be a child and lose your life in truth, in love, in a child's eye.

We need to live to learn to die. 

But traditional living will not do.

My living will be one that is focused on my death. 

Focused on love, on lost souls, on living by doubting doubts.

Pray and be still.

Pray for your soul.

And look at life with child's eyes.

Go out to battle and die in the proper fashion. 

With hope in your eyes and love in your heart.

Doubt your doubts and live with the other side in mind.