Young Man

When I was a young child I was inspired to write a War of the Worlds Sci Fi script. I think the only deviation from the rather well known plot is that the aliens were giant killer crabs. So I dug out my little black and white composition book .... the one you buy at the Acme, and scribbled out my story. I was, however, somewhat stymied for an ending. How would good triumph over evil and how do you kill a giant killer crab? My auntie happened to be in the seat next to me so I asked her ..... "How do you kill crabs?" ... "Well I guess you drop them in boiling water." she replied. The wind quickly went out of my sales .... it seemed a rather lame ending for my story. Giant killer crabs are obviously too big for stock pots and running around dousing them with boiling water somehow fell short of a dramatic conclusion. I laid my story aside.

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Another dream bites the dust. We start out really inspired and then end on a note of disappointment. We lay the dream aside. But it doesn't have to be that way. I don't know about you but I pray a lot. I figure that I need all the help I can get. But I don't always win .... I don't always succeed .... and I sometimes fail. When I fail or fall short of genius I tend to quibble a bit with God ..... "Did I not ask you to help me with this?" .... "Why did you put me in this situation when you knew it was over my head!?!" .... "Why did you make me like this?" .... "Why did you let this happen to me?"

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I quibble because my initial response is to feel that God .... who claims to be my friend .... has somehow betrayed me. I feel stung .... "thought me and God were partners!" It is a response I am learning to check. Because I can ask him, "Why?" ..... and if I listen he gives me the most beautiful reasons and in the end all I can do is fall down in gratitude and praise. Dear reader, I do not know your situation ..... but could it be that "if I never had a problem I would not know that God could solve them".... or that my sins and disapointments have brought me to my knees in humility and with a renewed compassion for the struggles of others ... or that it was necessary for me to know that I am a very great sinner so that I may know that Christ is a very great Savior?

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And what of our griefs? I tell you the truth, there is nothing that God has taken away from one of his children or asked them to give up that he will not replace with the better or give back to them many times over. This I know. It is a promise. It is scripture. Be comforted.

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So, dear reader, like all the rest you have failed. You may be at the place where you believe some kind of change is in order. Here I can repeat the gospel message to you of the sacrifice of Christ and the forgiveness of sins, and this is our foundation. But we still have a problem in our flesh .... our soul is willing .... our flesh is weak and compromised. We have a dream but we do not see how it can be realized. Our body is not evil but it can be in bondage .... keeping us from doing the things we want to do. All solutions seem rather lame and we fall short of glory. We are ready to drop out of the race. The Apostle Paul owned this very problem .... we are in good company. But only because Paul recognized this problem as something he did not want .... he wanted a cure and he persevered in God's grace and never laid his dream aside.

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We all want a cure. When people start recognizing that we have a problem because our actions reflect more of the drunkard then of a man getting the job done (Pro. 31: 1-9) ... we want a cure. God is the answer to our flesh as well as to our soul, mind, and emotions. "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple." (1 Cor. 3:16) .... in other Scriptures we are told that this temple was not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord. Sexual immorality is idolatry like any addiction. The abomination that causes desolation has entered the temple. Lust sits on the throne of God which is our heart.... this is why we cannot walk the line. Yet we may repent and ask for the Spirit and an undivided heart. Yes it hurts. But for the joy set before us we can endure. Freedom waits. Let God do his work in us. Our perfection will consumate in glory. The alternative is destruction.

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Mihereta Yesus I*

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When your feet in wayward walking

pleasure seeker, boastful talking.

Did God's face seem cold and stern,

an angry fire, judgment burn?

Causing love lost thirsty search,

drain the cup but never quench.

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When you turn in desperation

listen for the voice that calls

for the sinner, celebration,

when he on the mercy falls.

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You are chosen as a son.

Swiftly in obedience run,

For the wind is at your back

Power pulls you down the track.

Losing self, gainful action,

You have found your satisfaction.

~Melanie Bird

''

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, --

When the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,

"The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!" ...

And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink for there is the sound of a

heavy rain." ... Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel,

bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees ...

Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain

came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the Lord came

upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab

all the way to Jezreel. (I Kings 18: 16-45)

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I will bless you O Lord!.. I will bless you O Lord! For you have made man. In your own image you have made man. A little lower then the angels you have made man. When we look at his brow we see that you have crowned him with glory .... his shoulders with strength .... he has the arms for protection and hands meant to work, provide and love.God crown him with your love and mercy. Uphold him when he is weak and tired. Lead him in the way he is to go. Let him love your law. Forgive him when he falls. Comfort him when he feels ashamed. Establish the work of his hands, yes establish the work of his hands.

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Construction Zone

(Written during the Construction of the New High School)

Spring 2005

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The columns and beams bolted together, the ironwork for the new school,

Formed three grey crosses as you looked at it from

The window of the old school dispensation.

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At the top of one column, an iron worker perched,

Lining up the beams to support

The weight of white in coming winters.

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Suddenly, a rusted bulldozer belching smoke

Hit a footer, and with an angry growl

Knocked the sturdy column.

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The worker felt the jolt

Grabbed the rugged column at the cross

While the whole structure shuddered.

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He froze in fear.

Envisioning falling free,

His fardels following.

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Then he laughed,

Yelled an imprecation

At the beast below.

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12 o'clock.

Hanging his bag of bolts

On a spike in arms reach,

He came down

singing to his rest.

~David Bird

*Mihereta Yesus is Ethiopian for The Compassion of Jesus. It was the name of the mission hospital where my mother and father-in-law Herbert & Mary Bird served as missionaries.