I do not want to be a Starbucks Christian any longer

Is this culture changing/or is it just adding more flavor/I can not taste/this thing called Christianity any more/so watered down/so many flavors/we try to add/we often tend to forget/what the truth is/

So many times/we try to manipulate/the situation to match what we think it should be.
I cannot taste what I know is true. I am starting to accept/the watered down Christian life/Starbucks is not the answer/the world is telling us/the truth is changing daily/but that is only a perception/the word is remains the same

There is no need/to try to flavor/the truth that will set you free/it will not be easy telling/the full blown truth/feeding the different crowds/sometimes I seem to get so caught up/in the flavor of the moment/the things this world’s focused on/I do not know where to begin/I do not what to bring/but this world is trying different things/I cannot see this world becoming saved/if they are drinking the things of this world/

I was once lost/but you have found me/I was once forsaken/by what this world offered. Then you have shown me what it means to be comforted. I was once so far away from you/but you have drawn my heart close/I was once so concerned/about the affairs of this world/now I can feel my desires my heart/beginning to change.

I was once living in sin/but I am asking for you to call me home again/I was once a leper/but the disease seemed to reach/much deeper within my heart. Then you healed me from within/I was once blind to everything of you/then I cried out for understanding/and now I am beginning to see.

I was once broken and bleeding/please heal my soul/I was once so on fire for you/I am asking you/to rekindle that same flame/I was once holding onto shattered dreams. Then I gave you my desires/I gave you my heart/I do not know where to begin. You have rescued me from sin again.

I was once seeking things not of you/but I can see you changing my heart/I can feel your hand of healing over my life/nothing of this world can even compare to you/I know that you are chasing after me/even when I am running the other direction/you have fixed my eyes on you/help me to seek.

I am trying to fly/high above on eagles wings/I feel weighted down at times/by bricks that I have created/things in my life/I find so hard to surrender. I have been holding on to things way too long/it is time to give you my burdens/it is time to give you my hidden sin/I am seeing that my sin/is keeping me from flying/because I refuse to give you the reigns. So I am laying down all my bricks/at the foot of the cross/I cast them off and confess them to you/I want to get wings/so I can soar above the world/look beyond what the human eye can see. When will I learn to fly/will it can it be before I die/because these bricks I weigh myself down with/are slowly killing me on the side/I don’t know how to live any more/because I have confessed it all before/but I know deep within my heart/you have taken my sin away from me You have reminded me/you have taken my bricks and freed me/when I confessed them/you threw them into the abyss. I am taken aback because I do not understand/how you could take my sin/give me a new heart/and create within me/wings to fly and not grow weary. I cannot describe the freedom/that you have given me/this is so different/I don’t know how to respond/a love that frees me/is a thought so foreign to me/ So I am asking/to trade these bricks I have held onto/for wings of love, grace, forgiveness and power. I will not go back to the bricks/that you have forgotten/continue to show me the things that weigh me down. I can fly high because you have come to free me. I can see because you have opened up my eyes/you have cleared my cloudy vision.

So many times/I try to form a sentence/to describe the creator of the universe/and so many times/I try to praise Him by forming a sentence/but I can not form a sentence that/fully states the magnitude/of the greatness of who he is/

Forming a sentence would not be enough/to describe the way that Jesus loves me/a sentence cannot contain Him/words cannot not begin explain Him/language cannot say enough/the love I am speechless when I try to describe him/

If I could write the perfect sentence/which would not even be close/to being enough/there are no words/there is no explanation/for this sacrifice/other than God loves me/that is all I can think of when I cry/I know I don’t know how to create a sentence/that truly magnifies your name/my life is different now/may it never be the same/

If I formed the longest sentence/it would stretch to infinity/and it would be more than a sentence/it would be countless words beyond/the measure of time/could never contain/or no mind could comprehend/a world time where has no end/It is so hard to grasp/the grip you have on me/because your love has taken over me/I don’t know how to see/the image of the invisible/

But I continue to look around/I begin to see, the healing taking place/within my shattered heart/and if I should begin to tell you/the way you loved me/I wouldn’t know where to start

Inspired by Ben Glover’s Song 26 Letters

God you have shown me how/when I look up at the world around me/You get bigger as I get smaller/the smaller I see myself the more I can see you/but help me keep the right perspective/help me remember to worship the creator not the created. This world is trying to get me to sell you out/but when I separate myself from the world/I have enough time to think/about what the world is asking me to do/then I really see. How much you really did for me/and I can’t help but want to serve you/with my entire life/and I will never give up on you/because I know you will never/give up on me/thank you Lord/for freeing me from so much bondage/for taking a broken sin filled life/covering me with your blood/transforming me into a vessel fit your kingdom.
As Christians we are called/to live in an upside down kingdom/a new set of ethics/a different set of morals/a higher set of standards/putting others first before ourselves/turning the other cheek. Pray for those who persecute you/I know that this is so radical but I choose to live/this way because I love you with my entire being/this way I cannot go wrong/the world sees these standards are different/but they will not accept them/as a way of living/Every time I look up/I see a new aspect of your love/I don’t know how to explain it/but this heart cannot contain it/I cannot hold it in/as I see a dying world/that is turning away/from their first love. So Lord give me strength/give me wisdom/give me courage/give me the words/please help me share with others/the love you have shown me.
I am asking for you to use me/asking you to free me/as I need to let go/of the things that bring you hurt/when I feel like I am dying/I come to you crying/as I see the ways of this world killing me/I need you to show me/because I cannot make it on my own. I can see how much you have to offer/this world tries to tell me/that I have nothing to offer/but as I look to the cross/I see all that you offered me/I am so thankful/I need your forgiveness/a love so beautiful/I cannot keep it inside/in a world so broken/fallen to sin again and again/a world that is looking for something/anything to take away the pain/a world fallen to the evil one/I am begging pleading/crying out to you as you were bleeding. I cry out for this generation/because I know that you can capture a nation/with your power/your forgiveness/grace and your mercy.

Jesus spoke in parables to help the people understand/stories that taught a moral truth/the gospel is not that complicated to comprehend. God is in control/may I convey the lessons that he taught/there are many things that the disciples could not grasp/Jesus spoke to them in parables to help them understand/the meaning behind the mysteries. Within the Bible, there are many things/that seem impossible to apprehend/I try so hard to imagine/myself inserted into the story. You have already made me/a part of the story/a part of the big picture/by picking me as your child/I long to bring the gospel to this dying world/I long to share the message with the urgency/that you spoke with/may every word I speak/bring the glory back to you/

And I am asking to help me speak/in such a way people understand/every word I speak please make it drip with your love. Every word I pray may it linger with your hope/I know I can’t do it on my own/the love so deep/oh Lord I pray for your heart/as I look to the Word to find my worth/my fulfillment in you alone/I cannot say this enough/I need you/I see you working in my life/this life I live is not my own/the place on this earth is not my home/my citizenship is heaven/that is where I am going when this life is over/my eyes are set upon your love/my heart is set upon your promises to me/my mind is set on what is true/my feet are planted within your word/my hands wield the sword with precision.

I look at your hands/and I see how much you care/I call out to you are you there/your wounds have brought me healing from all this pain I feel. This world is falling away like the snow melts in the spring/but I pray that you would melt my heart again/mold my life and I ask that you refine me/I give you every part of me/because you gave your all for me. May I look at you and remember/the price you paid to purchase my life from sin.

Using words of today/I cannot praise you enough/for the words of today/are often overused/but when I look and remember/the love you have for me/using the words of today/it does not reach deep enough/nor venture far enough into/the love you have for me/using words of today/you are too marvelous for the words of today/as I passionately chase after your heart/I cannot describe this love/there wouldn’t be enough words/or enough ideas/in this world using the words of today.

I long to find the right words/to describe the things I love about you/the words are too small to even begin to encompass/the realm of nature I may enter into/when I worship you with an upright heart/a clean conscience that you give me/when I confess my sins unto you/

I feel so fulfilled/I feel so mystified/I feel so close/ I feel so loved by my creator/so intimate/sometimes I feel as if I am not as close as I can get/as I learn to love my creator/as I sing this song of worship. I cannot say enough/to praise you the amount that you deserve/Your beauty is so vast/that I can explain/beyond all comprehension.