Fifty-five

I once saw a cross so big
It was as high as the church
In front of which it stood,
It was made of railroad steel
And it was very dramatic,
And I was moved
And I was impressed
As I walked by and away from it.

I once saw a cross so lovely,
It was a work of art,
Carved and polished
It was made to look
Both strong and delicate,
And I was moved
And I was impressed
As I walked by and away from it.

There once was a cross
Not so high; not so lovely
It was not a work of art.
Rough, full of splinters
Uneven, unsymmetrical
Its simple mystery
Unfathomable.
And I cannot walk by it
And I cannot walk away from it.

Forty-seven

Today,
For what I am tht I ought not to be,
Forgive me.
For what I am not that I ought to be,
Forgive me.

Be with my mouth in what is speaks.
Be with my hands in what they do.
Be with my mind in what it thinks.
Be with my heart in what it feels.

Work in me
through me
for me
in spite of me.

Sixty-six

Suppose,
That every day,
the Christ, the living, breathing Jesus
Walked through every town
Every single town

And no one ever saw him
Because they were
In church, or
In bed, or
At work, or
At breakfast, or
In school, or

Going some place,
Or standing still,
Or coming from somewhere,
Or running to catch something,
Or lagging to avoid something

Or in their cars,
Or at their hairdressers,
Or at the store,
Or at the cleaners,
Or at the gas station,
Or doing dishes,
Or mopping the floor,
Or reading a book,
Or listening to a lecture,
Or taking a nap,

While Christ just
walked through every town
Every single town.

I'll bet he chuckled
when he did that
several thousand years ago,
But I'll bet
the joke's gone stale
And I'll be he doesn't
chuckle about it anymore;
As he goes through every town,
Every single town.

Seventy-four

Moses said, "Oh come on now! Be sensible! Not Me! I'm a terrible speaker. They'd never listen to me." And God said, "Oh, for crying out loud! O.K., I'll use your brother to help with the speaking." And Moses led God's people out of disintegration.

Jonah said, "Oh come on now! Be sensible! Not Me! I'm not the type." And after a rather unexpected vacation in a fish, just thinking things over, he talked to God's people, and led them God's way.

And Zacharias said, "Oh come on now! Be sensible! Not Me! My wife and I are too old to have kids." And God said, "Oh shut up!" And he did shut up-for nine months. And John was born, and the way for the Christ was opened up.

And I heard a child say,
"I can't serve God, I'm too young."

And I heard a boy say,
"I can't serve God, I'm not good enough."

And I heard a woman say,
"I can't serve God, I'm not skilled enough."

I wonder if God ever gets any new problems.

Twenty-one

The ancient Hebrews were so tied by tradition they couldn't recognize the Messiah when he was right there in front of them,
and he was crucified.

The disciples, who walked and worked with the Christ were very afraid of him; they hoped, but they also doubted,
and he was crucified.

The common people mobbed him, showed him their sicknesses and sores, and they threw down an aisle of palms for him and sang to him,
and he was crucified.

His family was embarrased, and stood outside, and wished he'd come home,
and he was crucified.

Would we crucify Jesus today? It's not a rhetorical question for the mind to play with.

I believe,
We are each born with a body, a mind, a soul and a handful of nails.

I believe,
When a man dies, no one has ever found any nails left,
clutched in his hands,
or stuffed in his pockets.

God Is No Fool

Who Do You Think You're Kidding?
God Is No Fool
by Lois A. Cheney
Ninety-nine no-nonsense communications with an all-knowing God.

When I went to College, I was introduced to a simple devotional book that had an enormous influence on my personal relationship with God. It made me think about him in a completely different way.

God wants a personal relationship with his children...that's why he made us!

Not only that, but a relationship with God requires us to completely open our hearts to him and be totally honest with him. He is not like our best friend, our parents or our spouse...there are thoughts that we don't even share with them. Moments that shake us to the core that we vow never to reveal to anyone. God is not like that, HE ALREADY KNOWS what we are thinking even before we think it, so what is the point in trying to hide it? When we do, we just take a step away from him.

However, when we give ourselves completely to him...warts and all...we get to feel his warm embrace and we are blessed by his smile. He doesn't expect perfection, he doesn't need us, but he desires our complete commitment to him.

This blog is a document of the book that has inspired me over and over again. It holds no revelation it is just a book that brought me closer to God and made me want to read his word more than ever.

I'm putting it out here because you won't find this book at your local Barnes and Noble or even at your local Christian book store. It's old and it's out of print. I had a copy when I was in college and I lost it somewhere in a move after I was married. Once I realized it was gone it took me a few years to find a copy on EBay. I'm sure that there is some copyrite infringement going on here, but I don't want these words to vanish.

I am posting them in whatever order they come to me.

Enjoy.