Shine in the Darkness

I've got a feeling inside
I'm not willing to hide
I'm a city on a hill
But I won't sit still
Gotta burn, gotta shine
'Til this candle of mine's
Shining like the break of dawn
Come on

I'm afraid of no night
For the Word is my delight
What I'm longing for the most
Is the mighty Lord of Hosts
He's my flame, He's my fire
He's my heart's only desire
Shining like the break of dawn
Life Him up. Come on.

Chorus
I'm a shine
I'm a shine
I'm a shine in the darkness
Not gonna turn it down
Let everybody see
I'm a shine
I'm a shine
I'm a shine in the darkness
'Til the whole world knows
He's shining in me

Now it's dark dark dark
From here to Central Park
And the only light I know
Is this candle's little glow
So I raise my candle high
So the light can fill the sky
Lift it high, life it up
Light the whole world up

So life your light with mine
Maximize that holy shine
Burning brighter, burning higher
Through our unified desire
Reach through all the dark and black
Shining on, no turning back
You and I, raise them high
Put your candles in the sky

Lift Him high, lift Him up
Lift Him high, lift Him up
Lift Him high, lift Him up
Light the whole world up

For the Daughter of Zion: Rising from the Ashes

Lowly, dejected
You sit there in your sackcloth and ashes
You cry there
Weighed down by guilt
Stained by sin

Your errors make you unsightly to yourself'
You feel naked and ashamed
And your fear makes you crippled

The Master walked by and took pity on you
But that was not today
He did that long ago
He touched your heart
Mended it
Healed your sores
Healed your bones

He called you to rise up
Cast off your ashes
Cast off your rags
Rejoice with Him
Rejoice in His righteousness

He has given you sight where your eyes were blind
He has given you a song where your voice only cried
He has given you oil for your dirty hair
He has given you His righteousness for your sinful shame
He has given you forgiveness for your penitence
He has given you salvation for your broken soul

Healed, loved, forgiven
Rise up my sister
Rise up and follow
The sweet Lover of your soul
He will feed you with His body
His blood will be your win
He will make your soul rejoice

You need never hunger again
You need never weep again
You will never need old ashes
You will never need old rags
He has made you new
He has made you blessed
He has given you new life
A greater purpose
A deeper meaning
A second chance with a clean slate

He will give you a new name
He will give you a home with Him
You will stand before him perfect
You will shine in His light
You will be most blessed with all His children
You will be most beautiful of all His daughters

Stand

for Dana, my sword sister

Sometimes I feel I am Elijah
One good guy in a world of bad
Where every girl is Jezebel
Where every guy is that Ahab

Right now I feel I'm on the run
Pursued by her lusty knife
And not a soul to stand beside me
I am afraid for my life

God send me one of your angels
Feed me with that holy bread
Let me find myself a broom tree
Under which to rest my head

Lead me to the cave so
I can hear your mighty thunder
Be awed by your fiery quaking
Still small voice will make me wonder

Why are you here? I'm here for You
I'm zealous for the Lord of Hosts
For myself I've no intentions
See, You are my only boast

Excuse me there, I'm interrupting
Do not delight in solitude
Live like a true prophet of God
And lose that fearful attitude

See I've reserved to me yet thousands
On their feet and standing strong
While you whimper in your corner
Writing this pathetic song

Don't look for strength from my thunder
Or comfort from my still small voice
I did those things for Elijah
What I do for you will be my choice

Get on your feet and take this message
There are still men who stand by you
I've prepared a king to aid you
I've made a man who's just like you

So stop it with your tales of woe
Stop whining about how you are alone
I am still God, I rule forever
Earth is my stool, heaven my throne

Rebuked I leave my solemn cave
Take up the rod of holy truth
Restless on my holy mission
Letting no man despise my youth

He has reserved that seven thousand
Not bowing their knee to Baal
Not giving in to their fears either
The bold and fearless shall prevail

The An Geadh-Glas Trilogy

An Geadh-Glas

for Brandon, who taught me to chase

Impossible

Untamed and invisible

So moves the Spirit

Like a might rushing wind

That's how you hear it call

Sure the Voice of God may be still and small

At times

But the heavenly flame bursts through

All that man confines it to

See true wind and fire

Are wild, they require

Definition with recognition

That the subjects scope and passion

Exceed the depth my poor words fashion

Can you contain divine elements?

Can you circle them with a fence?

Can you describe God completely

In a way that makes sense?

Even as I write

Questions say more than answers

And as I seek a pattern of

Stressed and unstressed

The freest flow works the best

And while my rhyming keeps getting messed up

And while I am serious

About making this poem snap and pop

I must stop

How can I do God poetic justice?

Like a child explaining the universe

The less I understand the more beauty I see

And that is how it needs to be

You see

God is infinity

I can never say it just right

Transcendent words are still finite

Try as I might

There is no way I can put all the truth of God into a poem

That does not rhyme and it never will

So from now on let’s just let the thoughts spill

Out

-----

Wild

The Spirit is wild

He is the breeze that

Laughs in the tall trees

The spring that burst through the rock

And gurgled where it pleased

The Ancients called Him the Wild Goose

Untamed, always loosed

Unhushable

Unquenchable

Unpredictable

But always chasable

And like all things made by God

As well as God

Indescribably beautiful

Why a goose and not a dove?

Why something so loud?

Is God domestic?

Do you scorn the Goose because He’s rustic?

Because He cannot be cowed

Into a cage so He can coo His love to you?

Life is a pilgrimage and not a pleasure cruise

You cannot have God take the form you choose

No matter your doctrinal views

It is best not to confuse

Your role and God’s

Who is to follow?

Who is to lead?

Life of godly devotion should be evidenced by constant motion

Not like saying prayers in a pew

It’s not about what you do

But where you go

If the Wild Goose calls, will you follow?

Or will you reside in the cage

You made for the dove

And nurse your pride

With self-love?

The Good is free

You should be too

Who can say they understand

All the things that God has planned?

Who can even say

“I know why God made this this way?”

You do?

And how do you know this to be true?

Not on your own, someone had to show you

Now who?

Many things are revelation

Not the least of which is God’s creation

But man must admit to his station

We know no truth without inspiration

And we know to be inspired

Means to be moved by something higher

You say you know it all

Why do you choose

To act so big when you are so small

And take glory from the Wild Goose?

If we know something

It is that we know nothing

The Bible says we cannot even pray

Without the Spirit

We don’t even have to words to say

But He interprets

So if we cannot even ask rightly

How do we act rightly?

Simple

Follow the Goose

“But, man, that doesn’t make sense!”

Easy there, who’s world is this?

Who’s wisdom did you just dismiss?

I’m sure you meant no offense

But your words smell of hubris

No one knows the mind of God

Except God and God’s Spirit

So without the Goose to guide us

God’s will, we won’t come near it

God’s deepest truth is mystery

God’s messenger is uncontained

Yet can be followed faithfully

Without needing to be explained

Who does God answer to?

Who tells Him what to do?

Which trials and journeys to use?

Questions say more than answers

The universe is without borders

No matter what we choose to believe

It is impossible to conceive

The God Who exists beyond the finite

But Who found it His delight

To lead us as the Wild Goose

-----

Chase

The Wild Goose calls

The decision is yours to make

Do you follow Him into the wilderness?

Do you let Him be your guiding Voice?

Are His straight paths your choice?

Or will you refuse to take

His paths? I do confess

That “straight” here seems relative

There is a structure to how he live

When we live in the Spirit

Obedience is required to live a life inspired

It is absurd to ignore the Word

When it says “if you love me you will obey me”

Set in stone by God Himself

So you cannot live for yourself without consequence

Following makes more sense

That part is clear

Black

White

Wrong

Right

But the path continues from here

Into the grey unknown

And the Goose has flown

On ahead

Will you follow or will you instead

Try to find a path of logic?

Is the good life too intense?

You have to find something that makes more sense?

Life is simple

Life is complex

Life is knowing

Life is unknown

Life is order

Life is adventure

It is simple to follow the flow of what we know

But when we do not know

Ready or  not we must follow

The Goose is ready to show us

The lofty wisdom that though seen as foolish proves the seeming wisdom of men to be foolish

So when the clear path fades

And the wilderness of life begins to overwhelm

Remember the Wild Goose

And let the Spirit take the helm

It may be crazy

It may be insane

There will be trials

There will be pain

But God works for our gain

If our aim is His fame

It may seem pointless to chase

Something impossible to embrace

Because it is so wild and free

Human nature does despise

The hunt that’s empty and without prize

But this chase is the reward

Following moves us forward

Helps us grow

Teaches us what we need to know

Indeed this insane adventure

Uncertain as it seems is sure

To take us where we need to go

And if we stand in the wood

Looking for a path when we should

Be looking upward to the Lord

We will reap more worry than we can afford

Life of devotion is a life of motion

The stagnant, the stubborn

Are barren and fruitless

The conflicted, the torn

Render themselves useless

The decisive, the chasers

To them belongs victory

Even though they surrender

To what they cannot see

They follow the Spirit

Whenever they hear it

Their questions are answered

When God so chooses

The lives they abandon

Are the lives that God uses