One more moving by the muse...

This was written from Michael Lington's "Memphis"

MEMPHIS

[0:18]
The clock says that work has wound down
so I'm headed towards downtown
to my favorite spot on Beale Street:
music, friends and something good to eat

[0:34]
Can't miss what I don’t have
But I’m feeling kinda sad
So I paste on a smile.
Don't know what I'm running from
but the setting of the sun
lets me stop for a while.

[0:50]
Then the lights of the town
make me stop and look around:
I’m in Memphis.
Something floats towards you
Smoky meat and Barbecue’s
in the air.

[1:08]
Be it Jazz or Blues
in the music you choose
it surrounds you.
You can move your feet
to that lazy southern beat;
dancing close

[1:24]
Then this girl walked right up to me
I could swear she saw right through me.
She looked deep down in my empty soul;
It was clear I'd just lost all control.

[1:40]
So she came up to me
said, "I don't think you see
what you're really looking for."
I swear I was spooked
and it wasn't a fluke;
I ran for the door.

[1:58]
"Run away little boy
but you'll never find joy
when you're hiding.
See the One who loves me
wants to set your heart free
from the pain.

[2:14]
When you give up control
Let him live in your soul
you’ll stop running.
And his joy will not cease
when you've truly found peace:
Let it go!"

[interlude]

[3:20]
So I turned and looked
Her smile had me hooked
and I asked her,
"Just what did you do
for this Joy that’s in you
Is it real?"

[3:38]
She smiled and said
"Free the thoughts in your head
He will lead you
Lay your burden down
when it falls on the ground
you will see.

And the road that once had you bound
will lead you to town...

Another song inspired by music I like...

Here is another song to sing along with. The numbers are the place in the song where the verse starts. This is for all of you who love to sing, or at least whose best work is in the shower <grin>:

You and I

(to the tune of Michael Lington’s song of the same name)

You Tube’s rendering

[0:20]

A solitary mind

The thoughts that twist and wind
to this path they have called us

[0:30]

A vision all its own

That can’t go home

The road is its solace

[0:40]

When life is yours
and yours alone,
where you go is all up to you

[0:48]

Another mind
much greater than yours is watching
hoping you’ll see things that are true

[0:58]

If we choose we walk through
life with our own vision.
What we see we choose to
love and become invested in

[1:08]

Is this really
all that’s waiting for me?

[1:18]

Walking down this lonely road
burdened by a heavy load;
if just of my making

[1:28]

Is there nothing I can give
from this place where my heart lives?

Only finding myself taking

That other one
whose heart by nature is giving
stands patiently waiting for me

[1:46]

To find my home
is in his presence forever

With your heart of love
please fill me

[01:56]

You and I are better:
more than I could be on my own
You are fullness

I give you my heart as your home

[2:06]

Quiet thunder

Roars in silence within

[2:14]

You and your son

Took away the burden I bear

Cut my chains and

Freed me from those burdensome snares

Honest freedom
when a lie held me bound

[Musical Interlude]

[2:52]

Someone wiser
gives advice to these humble ears

No more lies or

Ugly nothings whispering near

Joy consumes if

I let you lead the way…

[03:12]

Now my road ends;
From henceforth just your road begins

This survivor

Starting life that will never end

No more tears

No more reason to cry

You and I…

I like writing lyrics to music I like, especially jazz groups I like.

Well, this song particularly moved me (after I wrote it), so I thought I'd post it here. It's sad, but that was what I was trying to capture: the loneliness and despair of love gone wrong.

It's from the Rippington's instrumental piece (I Saw Her) Walk Away. If you listen to it on YouTube, ( YouTube Version ) the verses start at the times indicated:

(I watched her) Walk Away

[0:16]

In those times when our love felt sublime

We were both floating on air;

All our days shone so bright they amazed she
melted my cares.

[0:32]

Her smile covered all the
doubts that grew deep down in my trembling heart.

I knew I loved her, I took care of her;
something was falling apart

[0:49]

Days went by and the clouds in the sky

Took away more of the blue

And her smile had been dying a while it
faded from view

[1:05]

What’s wrong I can’t hear the song
we’ve sung since we first became me and you?

What have I done you’re not the same one that
I once thought I clearly knew.

[1:22]

[Chorus 1]

Please don’t take your heart from me

My world will crumble to ashes and dust

Don’t you know if you become free
I will die but I’ll breathe ‘cause I must
stumble on

[Interlude]

[2:56]

Words turn to frowns smiling upside down

I’m numb: pain freezes the warmth of the sun

The day has become a dark night

[3:08]

Don’t you see you are distancing me;
I’m falling further behind

I cry she will not listen to me
her eyes have turned blind

[3:24]

Ice cold took our love and holds me

Frozen in time she’ll no longer stay

She took the warmth “I am leaving” she told me

Then I watched her walk away

[3:41]

Now I’m alone remem’bring

Beautiful love that we shared every day

Sadness is all each new day brings

I must rise up and find another way

[3:56]

Trapped in my thoughts my heart breaks

It felt so right but our love wasn’t real

I tried to give; you could just take

I’ll go on but I’ll take time to heal

And you’re gone…

Freedom from those hidden hurts

A friend of mine and I were talking the other day. As I ruminated upon our convo, the Lord showed me this:

He reveals the deep things of darkness
    and brings utter darkness into the light. He makes nations great, and destroys them;
    he enlarges nations, and disperses them.
He deprives the leaders of the earth of their reason;
    he makes them wander in a trackless waste.
They grope in darkness with no light;
    he makes them stagger like drunkards (Job 12:22-25)

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter  (Isaiah 5:20)

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him. Daniel 2:20, 21b,22

All of the above point to the fact that sin (whether committed by us, or visited upon us as a result of the disobedience of our forefathers), will cause us to rot away, like having a cancer. All those things in you and I: shame, rejection, non-ability to self-advocate or seek the desires of our heart, will destroy us – albeit insidiously. We must fall on our face before our Father in Heaven and ask Him to clean out the effects of sin from our heart, bring them into the light, and set us free, for

[…] a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:35-36

God wants, no commands us to be free in Him, because until we are, we are robbing ourselves of what He wants for us, and disobeying Him, in not confessing our sins to him. And those things in us that I have mentioned before are sin, plain and simple.

So be free, brothers and sisters, and walk in the freedom God intended for us to walk in.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

And,

I will walk about in freedom,
    for I have sought out your precepts. Psalms 119:45

Therefore, be no longer held captive and enslaved by those sins that were visited upon you, and hold you in darkness: walk in obedience, so that the Lord may bless you “above and beyond all that you could hope or ask…”

Faith or Trust?

I remember reading in "Nightlights" by James and Shirley Dobson a devotional which gave an example of faith: it compared faith to a tightrope walker crossing Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He had the usual pole, and he had a cart tied to his waist, which he pushed in front of him.

He asked a bystander, "Do you have faith that I will make it across?"

The bystander replied, "Yes, I do."

“Do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Then get in the cart and go with me."

This is where the rubber meets the road. It is easy to say we have faith in what God says, but do we really trust Him? Will we 'put the rubber to the road' and go where we cannot see the outcome? In Hebrews, it says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." What we have here, is a situation where we have to believe that God will move on our behalf, when

a)      We can't see either Him or the outcome; and

b)      We don't know what it will cost us to do so

Then there is the account of Jesus walking on the water:

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:28-31)

I am finding, like Peter, as I get older that faith requires trust, i.e. acting on your statements of belief, even when you don’t know where you’re going, or what the outcome will be. And yes, there may even be situations where you have to something that scares you to death, like riding in a cart on a tightrope across Niagara Falls.

Now before you say that this is a far-fetched example, just remember: you never know what the Lord may require of you. Many Christians have died for their faith. Most of us have trouble believing God for the mortgage or the rent: and I don’t count myself out of this group.

But I take heart. Many things that have been “thorns in my flesh,” i.e. habits or learned behaviors that now affect my relationships with others, including my wife, take time and a lot of ‘renewing your mind” to un-learn, and be replaced by a more fruitful habit, like “[letting] no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” (Ephesians 4:29) “Let the words you speak always be full of grace. Season them with salt. Then you will know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6)

This life isn’t easy. Even Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (1 John 16:33) And if Jesus can overcome this world, in Him, so also, can we.

I think it would be fitting to end with a challenge. I would challenge all of us to truly trust God for the outcome of those trials and challenges that face us, so that even by blind faith and nothing else, we will trust him for the outcome.

Our Cultural Mindset

In light of the recent shooting of 27 people, including 20 children, we are now collectively taking a class on "acts of insanity..."

I cannot tell you what was in the tortured mind of this young man as he murdered his mother, 20 children, and 7 adults in the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. We’ll never know. And even if he were still around, he might not be able to tell us himself.

What I do know is that in the last 30 or so years, this is the stuff of your typical newscast. When I was younger (less that 20) most of this would have only been briefly told on the national newscast, and then, most of it, like now, would be conjecture. Now, on the popular news channels, we see new anchors, psychologists, law enforcement officials, and all variety of ‘talking heads’ analyzing the situation for days and weeks to come. We are now all involved in the class on 'acts of insanity.'

I do know that most of the media, including movies, television shows, and video games promote violence that is a quantum leap from 40 or 50 years ago. There were war movies when I was young, but even then, they weren’t as violent and as bloody as they are now. But, not only is violence perpetrated upon us on a regular basis, but illicit sex as though it was commonplace. Nudity and sexual content are a regular staple in “R” rated movies – in my opinion, these shows/films come very close to being pornography. My wife and I have tried to watch suspense thrillers on BBC, HBO and the like, during which I basically have to interrupt my train of thought and look away (I don't need to see that stuff) because the writers/directors thought it best to put some gratuitous sex in the story, with naked bodies galore. I and my wife have had to stop watching some of these shows, because of a sex scene or nudity being thrown in every 5 to 10 minutes, for titillation purposes, I would think.

I’m not claiming to be a prude or a puritan, but when we see senseless acts of violence – and some could argue that meaningless sex is an act of consensual rape – we hardly need wonder why our society (and that means the whole planet, which is being brought together by technology) is decaying. I believe Paul said, quoting Isaiah:

Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed Isaiah 6:9-10

“…in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts…” 2 Peter 3:3

“In fact, their minds [have] grown hard and calloused [they [have] become dull and [have] lost the power of understanding…. That same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted…”
2 Corinthians 3:14

He was talking to the residents of the city-state of Corinth, the ancient city on the Island Of Corinth. Jesus, in a discourse with his disciples, said,

You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains…” Matthew 24: 6-8

V10: “At that time many will turn away from the [truth] and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…”

I’m proposing that the real solution to the problem is not gun control, or gated entry to schools, or guards at the schools. These things are necessary, but they don’t bring back lost lives. As has been said frequently since the Presidential elections, “Our culture has changed.” And the change is more than just the increase in single mothers, or disenfranchised minorities: it is in the hearts and minds of the people in our society.

AS Mike Huckabee said, when he was growing up, the rifles you carried (typically on your rifle rack in your truck) were for hunting…animals. These days, when we disagree with someone, we feel we must hunt them down, like the animals of times past. I have often said that when aggressive people are confronted with a difficult problem, it is easier to a) ignore the problem, and pretend it doesn’t exist; or b) Try to kill the problem, in some cases, literally. My term for this is “non-confrontational confrontation.”

I don’t know what troubled the mind of Adam Lanza; I’m sure his motive will be pieced together eventually by all those involved. I hope God has mercy upon his soul. I pray that the Lord would have mercy on our nation and this world. Men’s hearts prefer self-gratification and fulfilled desires, rather than equity and truth. May God have mercy on us all.

A Christmas Prophet

The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.” (Deut 18:17-20)


In this Christmas season, many of us say, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” And I agree with that. In Deuteronomy, God told the nation of Israel that He would raise up a prophet from among them. In other words, this was to be God among us in the form of a man. The Israelites were still smarting from the last time God had appeared to them as a great fire: they feared they would die. God went on to say that He would, "… call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.”

Now there is something to give one pause: He would send us a prophet, and that prophet, being a representative of God and His words, would basically be their indictment, and condemnation. God was not playing around, or being glib: He meant exactly what he said. He himself would come down as man, and walk among us, and talk among us, and tell us what was on God’s heart. But be not deceived: when God speaks, his words will not only comfort, but judge. The severity of God’s announcement is made very clear when he said, But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.” This in, fact, is a good thing, because the best one for the job of representing God is God himself. Jesus fit that bill precisely.

Another thing to consider is, that if God holds prophets -- or those who represent him --directly accountable, even to the point of being put to death for misrepresenting him, how much more should we listen to the Prophet he sent us for 33 years, born in a manger in an animal barn in Bethlehem, and nailed to a cross in Jerusalem that fateful Good Friday thirty-three years later. Jesus was born as one of us: a human being, yet Jesus is the one who gave us God’s word: himself, so that we could know the Father via a personal relationship. But ironically, this prophet was put to death anyway. However, his death was his Father’s wish, so that we fellow human beings could be reconciled to the father, not by anything we could do, including devising a religion, which only points out how far we are from the Father. Jesus died willingly, and was raised from death three days later, to give us access to Heaven and to eternal life. John 13:37 says, “…Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” He was telling Peter that He had to ascend to Heaven from this earth, so that we could do the same.

The prophet Jesus, came to earth from Heaven, to be among us as one of us, to proclaim what was on the heart of the Father, so that we would know eternal life through him. He never sinned, nor misrepresented God, yet died willingly at the hand of those who he called his own because of the ‘joy set before him.’

Our challenge is to maintain the words of the Prophet, knowing that people will not want to hear them. Just as Christmas has evolved into the Winder Holidays, I am reminded of 2 Timothy 4:3,4: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." The world cannot stand he who challenges their evil hearts to turn away from the sin that entices them to follow their own selfish desires. But then, as Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Or in our case, ‘…his own society,’ which in the global neighborhood is this world.

Merry Christmas, and may the joy of the prophet from God fill your hearts with the truth as we celebrate his birth, and his upcoming death and resurrection in three or four months.

The 'Fiscal Cliff'

Okay. I’ve gotta speak up or I’m gonna blow.Is it just me, or is the President clueless, per usual? I won’t even go into the fact that the POTUS, hereinafter referred to as “Prez” is a glamor-puss, who likes to be seen with all the pretty people, and disappear to exotic getaways when very important matters with fallout negative to Prez seem to happen. He has been chatting with Oprah, the gals on “The View” and other high-profile stars and celebrities, but what about running our country?

I’m happy that we killed Osama Bin Laden, but the sad truth is, another despot will rise to take his place, and the war on terrorism will prove, in the long run, to be a very protracted one. Zealots are bred to hate for no particular reason other than most of the cultures in this world are different from theirs. To think that getting rid of this man is a real solution is naive, at the very least. I won’t take away the fact that he got rid of a leader of terrorism, but there are more where he came from.

Moreover, the ‘fiscal cliff’ smacks more of a ploy than a sincere issue. Prez knows that we need to cut spending more than we need to raise taxes. I have no problem with raising taxes, but I think basic arithmetic will tell you that if you spend more money than you bring in, budgets will never be balanced, and Entitlements will continue to choke the life out of this country if they are not reigned in. I think it’s a sad state of affairs when single moms do better being on welfare (and other entitlements) than just trying to better themselves, and work a regular jobs. See the video report by Lou Dobbs.

My advice to Prez: learn to be a real leader: lead responsibly and with fiscal integrity. Also, lead by example. Don’t just ‘…[put] a fire under the feet of the political leadership here in Washington.’ ( NYT June 28, 2006.) Doctor, heal thyself. All the taxes in the world won’t compensate for the constantly increasing spending. The spending must stop.

‘Nuf said…for now.