With Sword in hand we run…
Not as competitors, but as victors…
Like champions who have already achieved the prize…
Like conquerors who are convinced of their own invincibility…
We raise our banner high for all passers-by to see…
And on it is written the name above all names…
The name of Jesus… The Messiah… The Savior… The King…
Confident of this one thing…
That we will emerge…
That we will arrive…
That we will overcome…
Not by the strength of our own hands…
But by the almighty omnipotence…
Of the One who gave us this great commission…
And what a GREAT commission it truly is…
What an undeserved priviliged to carry this message…
Of salvation and hope and deliverance and restoration…
To hold in our hands the cure for human imperfection…
We dare not keep it to ourselves…
Rather, we run hard to deliver it to all who will hear…
“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…”
There is no greater joy than to know Him…
And no greater responsibility than to make Him known…
Let the nations rejoice and be glad…
For salvation has come…
Because one day every knee will bow…
And every tongue confess…
That Jesus Christ is Lord…

For the glory of His name…
And for the sake of the gospel…
We will go…

Dude… I’m telling you…

NO…NO…NO…NO…

All I have is this old collection of tattered notes…
A book of quotes to know You by…
I read them everyday and night hoping to understand
Everything You meant for me…
And I cherish the thought that You left something…
Something that helps me know You better…
Fnding reason and purpose behind Your coming and going…
It helps knowing that You cared enough to write…
But still I would give anything just to be with You…
So I’ll read Your words again and again…
Like a story that never ends…
Because everytime I find something new…
And I learn another piece of You…
If this is the closest I’ll ever get to hearing Your voice
Then I’ll read until I have this memorized…
So I can close my eyes
And imagine what talking with You would be like…

Ink… Paper… Words… Letters…

I can’t help it… I just like this girl… A LOT!!!

Another familiar voice rings in my head…
This silent whisper is deafening…
I’ve heard you before…
I’ve tried to ignore…
But you’re so loud…
This screaming…
is killing me…
because…
I can’t scream back at you…
and even if I could, you wouldn’t listen…

Spitting up… spitting out the things you hate on the inside…
Throwing up… Throwing out your hands in a desperate cry for help…
Your insides poured out in this altar that washes waste away…
But it’s you that’s wasting away…
Trying to pass the shame, but you can’t purge a lie…
Your slowly suicidal sacrifice will never pay for what they said…
or did…
or didn’t…
You’re more beautiful than you know…
More beautiful than you’ve been told…
And I wish you had My eyes…
So the mirror would tell you…
The things your heart needs to hear…
And you would know My words are true…
That I don’t expect you to be perfect…
I just want to be with you…
As you are…

The following thoughts were initiated by Erwin McManus - lead pastor and cultural architect of Mosaic (www.mosaic.org), a uniquely creative, international congregation in Los Angeles, CA…

For those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ, we have but one calling - to become like Christ no matter how great the cost because that’s what the world so desperately needs!!! Therefore, there is no such thing as “missions,” there is only one mission…

We tend to give the term “missionary” to those Believers who are actually serious about obeying the call… and we use the term “Christian” to describe everyone else who’s not that serious… We tend to categorize missionaries into some type of higher calling… but the reality is that we all have the same calling… We justify our laziness and fear by giving money to those with the courage to the work… we should never pay people to do a job that we ourselves are not willing to do… That would only make us mercenaries….

You will never be persucuted by choosing a life of mediocrity… but were we not called to suffer??? When you choose to truly follow Christ, you will be pushing against the very momentum of humanity…

We must get past our American consumer mentality when it comes to the church… The church isn’t here to serve us or to provide programming that meets our entertainment criteria… WE ARE THE CHURCH… and we are here to serve the rest of the world!!!

This bitter taste in my mouth
The result of my own self-indulgence
No one to blame but me…
Pointing fingers is to no avail
Unless looking in mirrors
What I’ve sown, I alone will reap…
And although this buck would be nice to pass
It only fits within these hands
So instead of passing it on
I’m laying it down…
Leaving behind
the very thing that is killing me
Because I want to live…
And in this turning
I’m hearing my heart begin to beat again
and I feel my Spirit come alive…