Sunday, August 31, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Lives of Love and Reverence

Help us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts. We humble ourselves before you. We know we cannot rely on our own strength, and we rejoice in your mercy. Thank you for your promise to forgive and purify us. Thank you for being the one who saves.

Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ.  As you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Remind us, O God, of your promises and help us to persevere in our lives with love and reverence for you. Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. Protect us from discouragement, and encourage us by your Spirit. Bring us safely through this day and all our days to come.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Friday Favorites - State Fair Grandstand

http://www.mnstatefair.org/entertainment/stages/?stage=grandstand

I'm looking forward to hearing The Cactus Blossoms at the State Fair Grandstand on Saturday, August 30, 4:00pm.

MN Music On-A-Stick, presented by 89.3 The Current, is a musical evening celebrating artists with roots in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. This one-of-a-kind event returns to the Grandstand for the third year in a row with a new group of Minnesota artists. The 2014 lineup includes Brother Ali, Doomtree, Bob Mould, Cloud Cult, Har Mar Superstar and The Cactus Blossoms.

Brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum grew up in northeast Minneapolis and have been crooning country tunes as The Cactus Blossoms since 2010. Their hypnotic, timeless and unforgettable songs have made them favorites in the Twin Cities music scene. Their latest album, Live At The Turf Club, blurs the line between old and new as they sneak a few originals into their repertoire of early country and Western swing.

Here's a great video of a recent performance at the Sioux River Folk Festival 2014...

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Affluenza and Immigration


Last month, Roger Olson posted a very compelling piece challenging Americans in general and Christian Americans in particular to think ethically, not politically, about the underlying causes of the current child immigration crisis. I encourage you to give it your thoughtful attention.

Illegal Immigration of Children: The Underlying Problem Nobody Seems to Talk About
July 24, 2014 by Roger E. Olson
"According to news reports, about sixty thousand unaccompanied children have arrived in the U.S. from Central America via Mexico in the last one to two years. Some have died in the desert attempting to cross the border alone. Many are being smuggled to the border by “mules” who charge their families large amounts of money. (Why this is not being labeled a form of human trafficking by anyone is curious.) Once the children arrive and are caught, they are warehoused in cramped, crowded facilities indefinitely.

These children have become the ping-pong balls in a partisan battle of words between Democrats and Republicans. Instead of banding together to find viable, compassionate, humane solutions, both sides are digging in and arguing ferociously..."

Click Here to Continue Reading...

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Wednesday Words - Blackberries for Amelia


Fringing the woods, the stone walls, and the lanes,Old thickets everywhere have come alive,
Their new leaves reaching out in fans of five
From tangles overarched by this year's canes.

They have their flowers too, it being June,
And here or there in brambled dark-and-light
Are small, five-petaled blooms of chalky white,
As random-clustered and as loosely strewn

As the far stars, of which we now are told
That ever faster do they bolt away,
And that a night may come in which, some say,
We shall have only blackness to behold.

I have no time for any change so great,
But I shall see the August weather spur
Berries to ripen where the flowers were—
Dark berries, savage-sweet and worth the wait—

And there will come the moment to be quick
And save some from the birds, and I shall need
Two pails, old clothes in which to stain and bleed,
And a grandchild to talk with while we pick.

"Blackberries for Amelia" by Richard Wilbur, from Collected Poems. © Harcourt, 2004.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Tuesday Tomes - Friendship is Learned Behavior

http://www.valleycc.org/sermon-series-info.html
Next Sunday, September 14, I'll be starting a new Sunday morning teaching series at Valley Christian Church. The series, You Belong Here, is aimed at giving people dozens of helpful and meaningful ways to connect with others in their church.

Though it's often assumed that making friends is something that comes naturally to people, my pastoral experience has shown me just how surprisingly difficult it is for many people––maybe even most––to make, keep, enjoy, and deepen friendships.  I've come to realize that being a good friend is a learned behavior.

If a church is going to experience true community, then the church must do all it can to cultivate and teach friendship skills. Learning to connect with others, to appreciate different kinds of friendship, and to guard and nurture relationships is a must for Christian maturity. So we're going to spend nine weeks talking about it and taking intentional steps.  Get complete sermon series info HERE.

Two books I'm recommending to people as companion resources for my new series are: Everybody's Normal by John Ortberg, and To Be a Friend by Jerry and Mary White. We'll have a few copies available at the church resource center, and we may have some reading groups.

______________________________

Everybody's Normal
by John Ortberg

From the Publisher's Description...
...How do flawed, abnormal people such as ourselves master the forces that can drive us apart and come together in the life-changing relationships God designed us for?

In Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, John Ortberg zooms in on the things that make community tick. You’ll get a thought-provoking look at God’s heart, at others, and at yourself. Even better, you’ll gain wisdom and tools for drawing closer to others in powerful, impactful ways. With humor, insight, and a gift for storytelling, Ortberg shows how community pays tremendous dividends in happiness, health, support, and growth. It’s where all of us weird, unwieldy people encounter God’s love in tangible ways and discover the transforming power of being loved, accepted, and valued just the way we are.

______________________________

To Be a Friend
by Jerry and Mary White

From the Publisher's Description...
Friendship is not a rational process. While reasoning and discerning play a part in our choices of friends, feelings and emotions are strong elements as well. Much of the conscious development of our circle of friends rests on an understanding of the elements and foundations of friendship. There is no magic formula. Friendship choices rest on principles and concepts. Friendships take effort. They hold a bit of mystery. They can’t be manufactured. But they are priceless. Walk with Jerry and Mary White in To Be a Friend as they probe and discover together the great adventure of being and having friends.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Monday Music - One Body

This song has been running through my head as I'm preparing my next teaching series at Valley. The series is called You Belong Here and will be filled with practical ways to build meaningful relationships.


I need you, and you need me–
That’s the way it is in God’s family.
If you’re doing well, you’ll be my friend and guide;
If you need a hand, I’ll be at your side.
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

And when I fall, you pick me up.
When I’m thirsty, you can fill my cup.
If you win, then it’s my gain-
If you’re hurting, I will share your pain.
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

When you’re weighed down, I will share the load.
If you’re ever lost, I’ll help you find the road.
When I’m tempted, remind me what is right.
When I’m weary, please help me fight the fight.
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

Together we’ll carry the light--
Shining like the stars in the heavens.
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body
One Lord, One Body / One Lord, One Body

"One Lord, One Body" words & music by Dave Burkum from the album, Fireside.  © Copyright 2006 by Dave Burkum (burkum.com).

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Nourish Us with Goodness

O Lord God, we acknowledge your power and your holiness. You are the author and giver of all good things. Work in our hearts and teach us to truly love you. Nourish us with goodness. Help us to live out true devotion and to worship you in all we do. Help us, by faith, to do the good things you have in mind for us to do.

Thank you for the forgiveness and renewal you have given to us through Christ Jesus.  Help us as we extend that same forgiveness to others who have sinned against us. Help us become a community called grace. Help us to have a redemptive and healing impact on the world around us.

We thank you, O God, for life, and hope, and salvation. Lead us away from temptation. Deliver us from evil. Provide for our needs this day. Protect us from discouragement, and encourage us by your Spirit through your word, your people, your promises, and all that is beautiful and true.

Through Christ, we pray. Amen.    

Friday, August 22, 2014

Friday Favorites - Jax Cafe


Cheri and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary this week! We had a lovely evening on the town. We tried to get in on the Walker Art Center mini-golf, but there was a line with a 90-minute wait when we got there in the late afternoon. So, instead of mini-golf, we just used the time to enjoy the Walker sculpture garden.

Next, we made our way to Jax Cafe, one of the venerable and iconic restaurants in good old NE Minneapolis. We lived in NE Mpls for years (our kids pretty much grew up there) so we've driven by Jax thousands of times. Unbelievably, though, this was our first time to ever set foot in the place.  We finally got the chance to go and I must say we were not disappointed! Cheri had the squash ravioli and I had the half-rack of BBQ ribs with horseradish mashed potatoes. Delicious!

Jax has great food, a gorgeous old wood-paneled dining room, one of the prettiest and tasteful walled garden dining areas I've seen in Minneapolis, and the service was wonderful.  We'll be back!

JAX DINNER MENU

JAX PHOTO GALLERY


Thursday, August 21, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Churches in Ferguson

As the sad story of Ferguson, MO continues to unfold, it's worth considering what Christians and churches in Ferguson are doing. That angle may not be a story that gets front page coverage, but it's certainly worthy of our thoughtful and prayerful attention.

The Christ and Pop Culture blog has a good post that may broaden your perspective and motivate you to pray for those Christians who are striving to live out the gospel in the midst of this challenging crisis. It may also give insight into some ways and whys you and your church can be working for social justice in your own community.

The Other Side of Ferguson: Local Churches Fighting Injustice
Thousands of Americans in over 90 cities have marched in outrage over the seemingly unjust killing of rising college freshman Michael Brown. Many demand justice for a young man who was apparently killed, defenseless, in broad daylight, his body left for hours uncovered on the street. But demonstrators most desire a more far-reaching change.

Meanwhile, similar to most wars—both global and civil—the church has quietly worked from dawn until dusk without much notice from the press. Many of Ferguson’s citizens recognize a narrative missed by the press.
Continue Reading...

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wednesday Words - The Sun


Have you ever seen
anything
in your life
more wonderful

than the way the sun,
every evening,
relaxed and easy,
floats toward the horizon

and into the clouds or the hills,
or the rumpled sea,
and is gone--
and how it slides again

out of the blackness,
every morning,
on the other side of the world,
like a red flower

streaming upward on its heavenly oils,
say, on a morning in early summer,
at its perfect imperial distance--
and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love--
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you,
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed--
or have you too
turned from this world--

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?


“The Sun” by Mary Oliver from New and Selected Poems, Volume One, © Copyright 1992 by Mary Oliver.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Tuesday Tome - A Poetry Handbook

After years of reading poetry and growing in my appreciation for it, I am now collecting books by poets on the art and craft of writing poetry. I'm starting with those written by poets I especially enjoy.

On a beautiful summer day last week, while sitting beside Flour Lake on the Gunflint Trail, I began reading A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver. Her reflection and instruction are both thoughtful and practical. And though the subtitle for the book is A Prose Guide to Understanding and Writing Poetry, her prose is so lovely to read aloud that often (much to my delight)  it approaches the quality and grace of her poetry.

"Poetry is a river; many voices travel in it; poem after poem moves along in the exciting crests and falls of the river waves. None is timeless; each arrives in an historical context; almost everything, in the end, passes. But the desire to make a poem, and the world's willingness to receive it––indeed the world's need of it––these never pass."  [A Poetry Handbook, Chapter 1, p.9]

Monday, August 18, 2014

Monday Music - The River



Rolling river-
Your arms around a loved one who lies sleeping.
Living water-
The sound of baby's laughter, and a promise you've been keeping.
Currents moving through your being;
Flooding you with reasons to be.

It's flowing down from the hand of my Father.
And its streams abound in all that's beautiful and true.
And it's time you found the pure and crystalline headwaters
Of the river that runs in you;
The river that runs in you.

Rolling river-
A selfless act of kindness toward your neighbor.
Living water-
The joy of loyal friendship, and the fruit of honest labor.
A silver ribbon in the moonlight;
A golden strand that shimmers through your days.

It's flowing down from the hand of my Father.
And its streams abound in all that's beautiful and true.
And it's time you found the pure and crystalline headwaters
Of the river that runs in you;
The river that runs in you.

Rolling river-
The tears you shed when someone else is aching.
Living water-
The time you take to listen, and a sacrifice you're making.
Through the depths of your fulfillment,
Dancing down the rapids of your dreams.

It's flowing down from the hand of my Father.
And its streams abound in all that's beautiful and true.
And it's time you found the pure and crystalline headwaters
Of the river that runs in you;
The river that runs in you.

"The River," words and music by Dave Burkum, from, So Far to Go.
© Copyright 1994 by Dave Burkum (burkum.com).

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Reaching Across Barriers

O God, we are so thankful for your mercy and love. We thank you for your Son, Jesus, and for the life and salvation he has made possible for us. Help us, as part of your Church, to be a living demonstration of your power to save and transform and renew. Make us a true community of grace.

Forgive us our sins. Help us to turn away from darkness and to love the light. Make us willing and able to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Help us to think, speak, and act in ways that restore lives, nurture relationships, create peace, and bring honor to you.

Thank you, Lord God, for Jesus, who did not regard equality with You a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and became a servant. Help us, like him, to reach across barriers, to welcome the weak, to serve, and to look to the interests of others.

It’s in His name that we pray all these things. Amen.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Friday Favorites - Gunflint Trail


If all is going according to plan, this is where I will be when the Friday Favorite post publishes on August 15. I've scheduled a few enjoyable days of fishing and friendship building with a couple guys from church. Prayers for safety and good weather are appreciated!

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Golden Eagle Lodge is a family oriented, year round resort. Located on Flour Lake in Northeastern Minnesota on the historic Gunflint Trail, they are surrounded by the beautiful Superior National Forest. As the only residents on the lake, you can look forward to quiet and solitude. They offer modern, housekeeping cabins that feature a fully equipped kitchen, microwave, modern bathroom, and more. This four season resort offers incredible activities, including cross country skiing, canoeing, and fishing! An unforgettable time awaits!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Russell Brand on Robin Williams


Russell Brand's posted a thoughtful reflection on Robin Williams' suicide in The Guardian. Insightful, provoking, and meaningful!

Below is the linked title and subtitle with a few excerpts. I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Russell Brand: Robin Williams’ divine madness will no longer disrupt the sadness of the world
The manic energy of Williams could turn to destruction as easily as creativity. Is it melancholy to think that a world that he can’t live in must be broken?
Is it melancholy to think that a world that Robin Williams can’t live in must be broken? To tie this sad event to the overarching misery of our times? No academic would co-sign a theory in which the tumult of our fractured and unhappy planet is causing the inherently hilarious to end their lives, though I did read that suicide among the middle-aged increased inexplicably in 1999 and has been rising ever since. Is it a condition of our era?

...millions of strangers the world over held him in their hearts, a hilarious stranger that we could rely on to anarchically interrupt, the all-encompassing sadness of the world. Today Robin Williams is part of the sad narrative that we used to turn to him to disrupt.

...how fragile we all are, how delicate we are, even when fizzing with divine madness that seems like it will never expire.
CLICK HERE to read the entire article.

Similar reflections from Mr. Brand are posted in this video...

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Wednesday Words - Therefore Will I Trust You


My Lord God
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean
that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that my desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear,
for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

– Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Tuesday Tome - O, What a Luxury

I'm enjoying this volume of light verse from Garrison Keillor. O, What  Luxury is Keillor's first collection of original poetry.  Many of the poems, I suspect, were originally song parodies written for the Prairie Home Companion radio show. I'll admit to preferring earlier drafts of some of the poems which previously appeared on Keillor's The Writer's Almanac radio show and blog under the pseudonym, Ramon Montaigne.

Here's a short exerpt from "Doxology"...

O Lord, please bless our old state fair
The riders whirling in the air,
The ladies who have baked the pies,
Competing for the First Grand Prize.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
The rodeo and talent show.
Praise Him for sugar and for grease,
And may He grant our stomachs peace.

From Booklist
Half the “Masters of the House” (of light verse) to whom Keillor dedicates this collection—Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Roger Miller—are great song lyricists, and Ogden Nash wrote, albeit as a sideline, rhymes for Kurt Weill, among others. Keillor has sung plenty of those bards’ works on A Prairie Home Companion; his guests on the show, more. Unsurprisingly, then, music permeates his comic verse, contributing the melody the words sometimes lack (Ira or Cole he ain’t quite, as he might admit). It’s full of out-and-out song parodies, such as “Home on the Plains (instead of ‘Range’),” “Nikolina” (same title as, wryer story than the Swedish American vaudeville standard of the same name), “Dark (not ‘Blue’) Skies,” and cleverest, perhaps, “Episcopalian,” to be sung to “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” Besides tunefulness, formal variety abounds. Keillor writes excellent limericks, most not dirty, and while he wisely never essays Nash’s trademark, wildly irregular couplets, he often loosens meter to the point of blowsiness. As in his best-selling fiction, the subject matter is the (very funny) stuff of the lumpen-bourgeois blues. --Ray Olson

Monday, August 11, 2014

Monday Music - Superior Horizon





Old 61 I can feel your North Shore callin' I can feel you callin'
I feel you callin'.
I can smell the pines;
I can hear the Cascade fallin'.
Can’t you hear it fallin'?
The Cascade is fallin’—
Superior Horizon.
The Morning Star is risin'
On Superior Horizon.

Down along Split Rock the big waves are poundin'.
The big waves are poundin'—
They just keep on poundin'.
Back in the Boundaries the magic loon is soundin'.
Can’t you hear it sounding?
The magic loon is soundin'—
Superior Horizon.
The golden sun is shinin'
On Superior Horizon.

Let my eyes rest easy in your northern light;
Let me fill my lungs with misty morning;
Let me find my spirit in the sea bird's flight
Soaring over the horizon—
Superior Horizon.

Give a j-stroke push out across the glassy Gunflint—
Glidin’ on the Gunflint, the glassy Gunflint.
Walk a woodland mile where the Devil Track is runnin’.
Can’t you hear it runnin’?
The Devil Track is runnin’.
Superior Horizon—
The silver moon is smilin’
On Superior Horizon.

Let my eyes rest easy in your northern light;
Let me fill my lungs with misty morning;
Let me find my spirit in the sea bird's flight
Soaring over the horizon—
Superior Horizon.

Words and Music by Dave Burkum. From BREATH A LITTLE DEEPER, © Copyright 1994 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Merciful Savior

Almighty God, you have sent your only Son into the world to save us from sin and death. We thank you for his sinless life, his selfless sacrifice, and his example of godly life. Give us the wisdom to take hold of all Jesus has so freely given. Thank you for his redeeming work in our lives and in our world. Help us to follow daily in his steps.

Forgive us and help us to turn away from wrong.  Transform us and give us the faith to press toward life, healing, restoration, holiness, and good deeds.  You are so gracious to us, and we ask you to make us able and quick to be gracious and forgiving toward others.

You have shown mercy to us, O God. Give us the attitude of Christ Jesus that we might be a testimony of your grace and instruments of your mercy to everyone around us. 

We pray in the name of Jesus, our merciful Savior. Amen.

Friday, August 08, 2014

Friday Favorites - Music on a Stick

Looking forward to this show on the State Fair Grandstand.

http://www.mnstatefair.org/entertainment/stages/details_grandstand.html?id_location=115&datetime_start=2014-08-30%2016%3A00%3A00

MN Music On-A-Stick, presented by 89.3 The Current, is a musical evening celebrating artists with roots in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. This one-of-a-kind event returns to the Grandstand for the third year in a row with a new group of Minnesota artists. The 2014 lineup includes Brother Ali, Doomtree, Bob Mould, Cloud Cult, Har Mar Superstar and The Cactus Blossoms.
Sat., Aug. 30: 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

Thursday Thinking - Who Will the "Us" Be

Michele Norris, former co-host of the NPR All Things Considered program, has a new memoir (The Grace of Silence) and spoke recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival on the subject of changing demographics and what it means to be an American. Norris was born in Minnesota and attended Washburn High School, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Minnesota.



Aspen Ideas Festival: Who Will the "Us" Be
How successful is our experiment to create the first mass multicultural democratic republic? The Aspen Ideas Festival brought together a panel including NPR's Michele Norris to talk about the profound demographic change in America, and they try to answer the question: is it possible to define a coherent idea of "Us" as Americans? CLICK HERE for the Audio. Scroll down for the video.

Wednesday, August 06, 2014

Wednesday Words - Questionnaire


How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.

For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.

What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy

In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.

State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security;
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.

"Questionnaire" by Wendell Berry from Leavings. © Counterpoint, 2010.

Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Tuesday Tomes - Short Stories

http://www.amazon.com/All-Stories-Muriel-Spark/dp/081121494X/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407162719&sr=1-5&keywords=Muriel+Spark+books
Reading short story collections is a great way to get to know an author. You get some idea of their range of interest and writing style, and you aren't committed to three hundred pages of a novel.  Two collections I've just added to my library are Life Times: Stories 1952-2007 by Nadine Gordimer (which I covered in a recent post), and All the Stories of Muriel Spark by Muriel Spark.

I'm only about a hundred pages into the Nadine Gordimer book and finding her writing to be as terrific as I had been led to believe I would by reviews and news stories. I haven't begun the Muriel Spark collection yet, but here are a couple links that will help you see why I'm looking forward to getting to know her work. It's probably not a reading direction I would have gone without a little push from John Wilson at Books and Culture Magazine, but a recommendation from him goes a long way with me.

Books & Culture Podcast: Celebrating Muriel Spark
A volume of her essays and a collection in her honor.

Those who know Spark mainly from her novels, however (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; Loitering with Intent), will be pleased to snap up this treasure trove, markedly best for the many of her earlier stories that combine elements that other writers wouldn't dare bring together. Chance encounters between strangers spiral into unexpected plots (as when a young woman meets a soldier on a train in "The House of the Famous Poet"), and Spark's narrators (including the wry, level-headed ghost of "The Portobello Road") serve as astute observers of race, class and society, particularly in the stories set in colonial South Africa. There are times when the whimsy goes screwball, and briefer pieces stemming from a word or phrase peter out, but overall Spark's marvelous control of ambiguities and language continues to dazzle. Following so soon on the heels of Open to the Public, this volume may not receive much review coverage, but as the first paperback collected edition since 1985, it should sell well, particularly to students and first-time Spark readers.

Monday, August 04, 2014

Monday Music - Words of Life


What else can I do?
Why would I follow the blind?
Who else would I listen to?
How else could I find the way and the truth?
Where else can I turn?
What other place would I go?
How else will I ever learn?
Who else do I know with the words of life?

Sometimes your words are not easy
To understand or to hear;
Sometimes even harder when they're crystal clear.
And some turn away from your message,
Closing their hearts and their minds;
But I don't want to leave you, Lord,
I want to stay close by your side.

So what else can I do?
Why would I follow the blind?
Who else would I listen to?
How else could I find the way and the truth?
Where else can I turn?
What other place would I go?
How else will I ever learn?
Who else do I know with the words of life?

So many voices are calling;
So many hands point the way;
But only one hand can raise me on the final day.
I'm looking to you and believing
All you have said is true.
I know you were sent from the Father;
I know he has drawn me to you.

So what else can I do?
Why would I follow the blind?
Who else would I listen to?
How else could I find the way and the truth?
Where else can I turn?
What other place would I go?
How else will I ever learn?
Who else do I know with the words of life?
With the words of life?

Where can I go for the words of life?
Who do I know with the words of life?
Whose words alone are Spirit and life?
Where can I go for the words of life?
For the words of life?

"Words of Life" by Dave Burkum from the CD So Far to Go,
© Copyright 1992 by Dave Burkum.

Sunday, August 03, 2014

Sunday Supplication - Courage and Grace

O Lord, we praise you and ask that by your Holy Spirit you would shape our hearts and minds to think and do what is right. Provide for our needs and preserve our lives. Make us able to delight in your will and walk in your ways.

Forgive us our sins. Renew us by your Spirit. Show us how to act, think, and live as Christ.  As you have forgiven us, make us merciful and ready to forgive those who have sinned against us.

Give us the courage and the grace we need to restore relationships, heal brokenness, sacrifice our rights, and humbly consider the needs of others.

Save and protect us, O Lord, from the things that threaten to consume and destroy us. Help us to look faithfully to you in all circumstances. Thank you for Jesus, our Lord, who for our sake and our salvation came down from heaven. Help us to love you with heart, soul, mind and strength.

Through Christ, we pray, Amen.

Friday, August 01, 2014

Friday Favorites - Good Choice, Paul!


Paul McCartney will be at Target Field in Minneapolis tomorrow night.  The legendary performer and songwriter has said that "Maybe I'm Amazed" is the song for which he would most like to be remembered. It's love song written for his first wife Linda.

Good choice, Paul! There are so many songs to choose from, but I think that may also be my favorite of your songs. I know it's one of the songs you have consistenly performed with the great intensity and integrity over the years. That's likely more about the heart and message of the song than the song itself.
"Words make you think thoughts, music makes you feel a feeling, but a songs make you feel a thought." –Yip Harburg