Moving

Hope For Healing.Org, based in Strawberry Plains, TN, needs a new home. We have recently moved out of our office and have put our stuff in storage until we find a new location. We could not have done this without the help of Windmill Way, a men's homeless shelter in New Market.

The guys at Windmill Way were great. They helped us load, clean, and haul for nearly 11 hours, stopping only for a brief lunch break. Our thoughts and prayers are with one of their guys who was suffering from some ongoing health problems that prevented his helping us with the move.

We are excited to see what God will provide for us!

smiling pain

Beat the ground, curse the sky
maintain appearances
calm
WAIL CRY
sobs wrack my spirit
dry eyes gaze upon the world
smiling pain
what have i done?
nobody asks
heart cries, wails, laments
dry eyes maintain appearances
politics
a life on display in a glass house
broken hearts still bleed
while dry eyes maintain appearances for the world

My Jesus

Tolerance is not the same as being accepting. Tolerance is not saying anything when somebody has a different view than yours. Jesus wasn't tolerant. He was accepting. My Jesus made a whip of cords and cleansed the disobedient temple. My Jesus went directly against the views of the Pharisees when they were wrong. My Jesus was not tolerant.

My Jesus was accepting. He loved unconditionally everyone who crossed his path, even those who didn't call Him Lord. My Jesus never hated anyone. My Jesus came to bring true life to this world and every sorry soul that inhabits it. My Jesus DIED because he loved the people in this world.

This is not a message of hate.

My Jesus came to free you from guilt and pain. My Jesus came to be the one you can turn to when all else has abandoned you. My Jesus came to love, and love radically. My Jesus came to love the unlovable. My Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless, strength to the weak, light in the darkness and healing to the broken.

That is my Jesus. My Jesus came to be a light in this world. He did not come for hate.

When the music fades

Music speaks when words fail, but what happens when the music stops? What happens to those who made the music? Do they wash away and become nothing? Or do they find another line of work?

Can a musician find another line of work and still be true to herself? Or will forgotten melodies still flit through dreams and thoughts like summer breezes? Will a musician's fingers long for the touch of an instrument or can they adjust themselves to other labors?

When the music fades, what happens to the soul?

Deserving

You have no right to make me inferior to you. I am you, except that I look and act differently. All you have to do is talk to me to find that out, but you don't want to do that, do you? Or you don't want to listen to me. Listening is more important than talking, you know. Sometimes a person talks without saying a word.

You don't know anything about that, now do you?

I deserve better than this. I don't deserve to be beaten, worn out, discouraged by your mere presence. I do not deserve to have to walk the fine edge of diplomacy every time I'm around you. And you deserve better too. You are a human being, after all.

You deserve to treat yourself with more respect. You are not slime. You deserve to be optimistic, and hope for a brighter tomorrow than today. You deserve to have a good conversation without feeling the need to play for pity. You deserve humanity.

Fare well, and peace be with you. I hope you get what you deserve.

L'amore

Love is an emotion, not an action. On the other hand, it is a choice to love. Why can't you choose who to love, then, if love is a choice? But how can you choose to hate if love is not a choice?
Is it wrong to want to love and be romanced if you are Christian? God is your provider, we are taught. Yet, Adam had Eve in the Garden, didn't he? God Himself said that it was not good for man to be alone.

Love is pure. Society has confused pure, holy love with lust. Many waters cannot quench love, but the next breath of fresh air drives lust away. Love is a bond that cannot be broken and society forgets that. Love is not something you can experience in a night. It takes time to grow, like the oak tree.

Unfortunately, the church has not given us the tools for discerning between love and lust. We are ill-prepared for the world and all the glitter it offers. God help us, and forgive us for not teaching our children.

What is love? Love is both emotion and choice. It is an unbreakable bond. It is not what society claims it is. Of everything that is on and in this world, only three things will remain when all is said and done: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.

Broken Friend

Death is final. Irrevocable. A last-ditch effort to end pain and unimaginable suffering. But every day you live, there is new hope that it will be better than the one before.

The future, by its very nature, is unknown. We never know what's going to happen when we wake up. Will it be a good day or a bad day? Will it rain or will the sun shine? It takes more courage to stand and face that unknown than to die and never have to be uncertain again.

But there is an end of pain. There is healing for the broken, hope in the darkness, and a happy ending for every story. If only you could see it. There is love unimaginable and true life waiting for you, if you'll accept it. The Messiah is holding out his hand to you. He will give you life, everything you need. He loves you more than anything possible.

Will you accept his gift for you?