The feet that go up and down.......................

If life is one big symphony filled with movements of dissonance and consonance, repose and unrest, incongruity or under resolution; then for the individual or community to find the waves and ride them out in a way that flows and empowers consistency through whichever movement is being represented would be a supreme goal.

How can a life whose sounds are only begging to find resolution be at the same state as a life whose melodies are harmonious and at rest?

One of my favorite memories is watching a child of mine during a band concert. Actually watching the whole young band play was what is stamped upon my memory. But it was their feet that drew and captivated my attentions. It was their feet. All of them were keeping the rhythm with their feet. The instruments played, breaths were taken, the teacher directed, sounds were made and those feet kept going up and down, up and down.

Regardless of whether it was fast or slow, loud or soft; whichever wave of dissonance or consonance the different pieces entered into, there were the feet... up and down, up and down... keeping track of the movement of the piece.

Keeping track of the movement of the piece, finding the answer to the question I asked. How can a life whose sounds are only begging to find resolution be at the same state as a life whose melodies are harmonious and at rest?

There are no religious, cookie-cutter answers... and for the one looking for those; well, you have never liked me much.. you will only cease to approve of me even more. I have an edge upon me still. I am not at rest. If I were I could come and woo you towards a place of peace. If I was in resolution I could speak of only that which I want and not at times rail against the places I find so hideous. But I endeavor towards the moments and I hunger to keep my foot going up and down, up and down.. For now I have found peace in the many faces of Christ and that has helped me...

He is the Christ that pulls the child upon His lap.

He is the Christ that entered His Father's house, our Father's house, and toppled every table.

He is the Christ that should have sat at the tables of all the nobles of the era, all the “important” people and yet He is the Christ that sat among the poor, the hungry, the desolate....

He is the Christ that challenged the religious and political order of the time and yet He is the Christ that remained silent upon examination.

He is the Christ that could have called a legion of angels to rescue Him and yet He is the Christ that died.

In all the movements of His life; in all the moments of laughter at the wedding or weeping at the tomb of a friend, in all the moments of healing, miracles and life and in all the moments of agony in a garden.... in all these movements and more... He lived a life of utter congruency.

The Western, modern day culture of Christian industry will not .. WILL NOT.. prepare wise virgins. It won't. It can't. It isn't set up that way. It is a wealthy, impotent, 15 second sound bite entity; with it's representatives of the moment being the new offering for whosoever's consumption. 10,000s of teachers... so few mothers and fathers, more words then that which could be counted and so little power and authentic demonstration (without the help of smoke machines, light shows, publishing houses, twitter audiences, facebook marketing, blog building etc... modern day tables awaiting their times of toppling).

I hadn't played the game for a long time now... and still I only see it as the helpless army of Israelites facing a giant that only a boy who knew His God could defeat.

The modern day Christian culture does not and will not prepare a people to know the Lord. It can't. It doesn't even want to; buy it's product, get addicted to the new and improved model of the hour, regurgitate the slogan of the day and wait for the next 15 second sound bite and/or experience.

The religious activity of the temple in the days of the Christ baby was enormous. So much activity. So very many people. Yet one man and one woman beheld the baby. One man... One woman... What were their lives? What was the life Christ walked? What was the pace of those feet going up and down, up and down.. what music did their heart's hear.. what music did their heart's know?

The slogan of the day should be that which John the Baptist spoke.. I must decrease so that He can increase... The hunger for the word and authority of the Lord is so palpable.. Starved souls silently scream towards the pulpit for true manna. We've been trained that way.... look forward instead of upward... depend upon the offerings of another instead of going into the deep darkness yourself, digest already digested and regurgitated morsels.. CRUMBS....

Each one of us can empower the Lord's increase of our lives... Each one of us CAN step into a life that rides the waves of whatever terrains in faithfulness... Peace is welcoming children upon the lap of the king, peace is also cleansing the temple of the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Peace is weeping at the tomb of a friend, peace is also laughing at a wedding where the wine is flowing; peace is calling a man out of a tree and peace is protecting a harlot; peace is chastising the religious order of the day and peace is meeting one of them in the dark of night and speaking words that would forever be remembered.... Peace is not clean cut, easy or easily won... But it is worth fighting for.. deep in the depths of our souls, deep in the depths of our spirits...

A lifestyle that cultivates places of peace for the Lover of our souls to come and reside, that is a battle worth fighting... and there are weapons of our warfare that are not of this earth, not of a Westernized religion that doesn't resemble one iota the original intent. These weapons fly in the face of noise, power and large crowds.... In silence and solitude, in rest and repentance we will be saved. May we trust more in the ways of our God then in the ways of man... and may we so truly decrease that only He is found within us.... May our feet learn to keep the true movement of time and measurement and flow...

Simeon's Secrets will Pave the Way...

There comes a time when all cards must be laid upon the table, face up upon the table. I am not a poker player at all, but when the time comes and the call goes and all final bids are made it becomes the time to show up or fold.

I've watched both happen in the two decades I have been in and around ministry. I watched people show up and when all is laid flat out they choose to shine and I have watched those that only bluffed high tail it out of the arena with the proverbial tail between their legs.

For weeks now, I have paused... I have paused and waited and thought. (A dear friend, who knows me well, expresses that my thoughts are loud and will often text and ask if I am ok.) I am ok! But even while I am ok, I find myself within a paradigm shift of a lifetime.

Saved at 19 and brought in the Charismatic circles almost immediately. I have never ventured out that far...

Except in this season I have had my horizons expand. But in this expansion, I realized I was missing the mark. Not sin per se... but not gravitating to the right questions.

That is until Simeon wouldn't leave me alone. The question, what did Simeon know, haunted me. The journey still continues as does the shifting. Simeon and Anna..... Interesting people, but before we get to them.. may I place them in the context of the religious activity of their day.

The air was full with buzz and religious activity was everywhere. Yet out of all those coming and going, out of all the “religious” activity taking place, we read of only two who noticed the Christ child. ALL that religious activity and God as an infant before them all and only two beheld Him! But what is even more grievous and should bring each of us to a stand still and times of reflection, is that just as many would miss the Man 30 years later.

Religious paradigms... Religious activity... Selfish ambition and the agenda's of men keep one from always seeing and hearing and knowing the ways of the Lord, whether in the form of an infant or of a man!

And so the question I have been sitting with.. The question I have been allowing to purge my very being and stir up more questions then I would even have answers... IS … What secrets did Simeon know? And well, within the second chapter of Luke we read the description and that is all I leave you with.. None of my commentary. Not yet.... But I leave you with my questions.. What secrets did Simeon know? And I leave you with Scripture:

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man wasrighteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

“Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation,
Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
A Light of revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”

And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.