Together

New poem from worship in our international service at church this morning!

Together

Lord, it is so good to meet together!
Brothers, sisters here together
Sinners all come broke together
Old and young, we're here together
From all nations here together
Called into one call together
Walking the same path together
Daily messing up together
Daily knowing grace together
Calling on our God together
Holding onto faith together
Learning of our king together
Letting voices sing together
But never on our own, just no,
We're made to meet this God we know
Loneliness is not your way to go
Through you, community's what we're brought to know
Coming on our knees together
Coming honestly together
Hungry hearts come feast together
Cold and worn out hearts, come warm yourself with us, together
By the fireside of his love
Through the promise of that holy dove
That we are His alone forever
Destined for his side together
So, my friends let's come near together
Meeting with our God together,
Knowing him afresh together
Looking forward to the great forever
When we will all come together
As his children, for you, my friends, in Jesus, are his forever.

Feed your faith (with what he's done for you)

Here's the first of the 3 poems that came out of our recent weekend away at Heatree up in Dartmoor.  This poem came out of our first session together with John Groves and picks up the coldness of the barn and the coldness of our hearts when it comes to faith.

Feed your faith (with what he's done for you)

Today, you came into this coldish barn
Clad tight in jumpers, coats and scarves
Our faith, for some is like our toes, quite cold
And some of us come here only by half
But you, though cold in heart have come to him
In faith, you came for you know he provides
Like sunshine in a darkened place, he shines
With warmth to melt that stone heart deep inside
So, into waters warm and deep dive in
His love awaits the coldest, broken heart
Come, sweet, dear-loved child, come near
For he has loved you from the very start
In faith, we come today, to learn more of our Lord
to enjoy time together, friendships old and new
So, come and look upon your risen king
who, by his blood is making all things new - even you!
Feed your faith with truths about our God
that whispered lies would simply not hold sway
for he alone is out most glorious joy
He is the brightness in our day
So, stand under the waterfall of love,
torrential love that he would pour on you
Arms wide, receive all who he is once more
and feed your faith with what he's done for you

TheWeeScottie

New poem: You are beautiful to me

You are beautiful to me

When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
Are your face and your body what you want them to be?
Regardless of how the world says you look
You are beautiful to me.

Your past holds dark secrets you dare not share,
Things that you've done and had done to you.
But this is not who you are, my child
You are beautiful to me.

Your disease has stolen the strength you had,
Reduced you at times to a worn out husk,
But in my eyes that's not who you are
You are beautiful to me.

There are things which have happened which changed who you are,
Some things poisoning you deep inside.
But despite how this darkness is gripping your heart
You are beautiful to me.

Your beauty's not measured by the shape of your form
Nor the dark things that altered your life
Because I am your father, I see who you are,
And you are beautiful to me.

So, when looks are the thing that fills your mind
Or what's happening dominates your thoughts
Know beyond doubt that you are my child
And you are most beautiful to me.

We lift up one voice

New poem which came out of sung worship this morning at Westpoint. We all lift up one voice, each one from a different place and life, but we lift up one voice together; and God hears it. Every time.

We lift up one voice

To you we lift up one voice

One bold, strong and confident voice

One weak, cold and hesitant voice

One tear-racked, heart-felt voice

One hurting, dry and empty voice

One shuddering and faltering voice,

One joyful, light and airy voice

One deadened, mute and word-lost voice

One freshened, bright-eyed, wonderous voice

One calm, knowing and assured voice

One hardened, slow and doubting voice

One honest, sad, defeated voice

One fresh reminded, grace-touched voice

One world-forgetting, son-seeing voice

One dark-dispersed hope restored voice

One past-forgotten, adopted voice

One voice that shouts

One voice that whispers

One voice that cries

One voice that silently mouths

Together, we lift up one voice

Because he hears

Because he listens

Because he cares

Because we are His

A more beautiful sound

I don't know if you've ever read the Greek myths? When I was at school I loved reading them. The gods, heroes and monsters make fantastical reading. They lead you on stories of glory and wonder. As a kid, he goriness of lot of them caught my attention too!

In one story there is a group of creatures called the sirens who lived on an island. Women that sang so beautifully that every man who heard their voices would steer their ship towards them. They'd wreck thrir ships on the rocks of the island and the sirens would feast. Grizzly stuff I know. But one hero had a plan. His name was Odysseus and he decided that when he and his crew were drawing near the island, they would put wax in their ears but tie him to the mast. As they passed the island, he would hear their singing but would be safe. So as they passed the island the sailors kept rowing and Odysseus heard the rapturous singing. He strained against the ropes and screamed at his crew to untie him, but they kept rowing. As they rowed away and returned home though, Odysseus realised he had survived the Sirens but had lost his heart. He was burned out inside, hollow.

This is me. I've been captured and enthralled by all sorts of things which may have entertained or satisfied me for a while, but have left me hollow. Burnt out and empty. These things are not enough. They don't fully satisfy me. What's more, I can't run from them. I can't ignore them as they pass me by. I give in and let my mind think about things which aren't helpful, use my time in unhelpful ways.

I am drawn to hese things because they capture me.Yet all I end up doing, if I'm being honest, is dash myself on the rocks of these things. I allow these things to feast on me. I end up broken and empty. Consumed.

But there was another Greek hero, whose name was Aeneas. Like Odysseus, he had to pass the island of thr Sirens, but he didn't try to restrain himself, hold back & stop his ears. Instead, he brought with him a group of musicians. As they drew near the island of the Sirens, he ordered them to play the most beautiful music they could until they had passed the island. The result was that Aeneas and his crew were so transfixed by his far more beautiful music that they weren't interested in the Sirens' calls. In light of this new music, their calls turned to screeches and cries for the men to come back. They survived the island of the Sirens with their hearts intact.

This is also me. I've got another choice when the noise of things around me threatens to devour and empty me. I can tune in to a more beautiful music which doesn't just drown out the other noise, it captures me. It fills me and warms me. This new music moves me to be satisfied in nothing less. It becomes as if the volume on this old noise has been turned down so it becomes nothing more than white noise. In engineering terms, the frequency in the soundwave has been filtered out. It has been far surpassed by this new, rich and enrapturing music.

This music keeps me whole.

This music guards my heart and enables me to become the person I was meant to be. Jesus enables this in me. His good news is this more beautiful music. When he world tells me I'm not good enough, his more beautiful truth reminds me that I am perfect in Him. When I'm tempted to watch or look or listen to things I know will be unhelpful, will empty or devour me, He reminds me that he is refining my mind to be something So much more beautiful. When people make me feel wretched, betrayed or useless, Jesus' more beautiful song reminds me He will 'never leave me, nor forsake me', and that His strength is enough for me, and that my hope is entirely in Him.

Like Aeneas, who chose to listen to more beautiful music in the midst of the sickly sweet song of the Sirens, I can choose to listen to the more beautiful song of my loving Father, the one who chose me first (not the other way round) and chooses to call me His son. A song which reminds me that I am His, that he loves me deeply, that he went to the ultimate length in giving His son up for me.

This song of His drowns out the noise around me. It drowns out temptation, it drowns out the lies of my worthlessness and low self-image. It roots me in the one thing that does not change - Jesus' love for me. It fills my ears, tunes out the noise and satisfies me fully, while preserving and even warming my heart.

Some days I choose to listen, and let the more beautiful music fill my ears. If I'm being honest, more often I listen to the noise. It is familiar to me because it's what my sinful nature knows best. But I also know now, through God's goodness and mercy, that His more beautiful music satisfies me like this other noise never can.

He wants my heart, but not to feast on it. He wants me to hear this more beautiful music 'that drowns all music but its own', and feast on Him.