Quick to Hear

Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
James 1:19

“Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren begins with listening to them.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Do I hear you?
Or do I only hear your voice?
Not the words between the words
and emotion conveyed
not the words left out
for fear of their weight.
Do I hear your concern
and mix it with my own,
or do I rush to correct
with an errant tone?
Do my thoughts replace what I might learn
because I’m anxiously waiting my turn?

© Joel Tipple 11/13/2018

Service

Givers of life,
givers of time,
givers of all
when all is on the line.
not for a flag
or the land
where it’s planted,
nor political office
where votes are remanded.
But for all God’s children
bordered within
they indeed serve all,
so we thank God
and thank them.

© Joel Tipple 11/11/2018

Counterfeit

(Hold out for what’s real)

For now, we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
1Corinthians 13:12 ESV

Born to this world searching,
pushing up against the walls.
Crying for salvation,
the injustice of it all.
Searching for tomorrow,
not yet finished with today.
Hardly satisfied
with the part we have to play.
Then one day we find
what we think is it.
The only problem is,
it’s a counterfeit.

Jesus, you are
the genuine article.
No knockoffs
or fraudulent goods will do.
The Great I Am
will always triumph over
what isn’t,
and last
when everything pretend
has gone.

The world will say,
“if it feels good, do it”.
Relationships are disposable,
you can always find another.
They say, “trust your heart,”
but when it is deceitful,
families are left
on the side of the road.

Put away your childish things.
Find joy that lasts
in commitment to the maker.
Trade away a life sentence
for true joy everlasting.
God’s restoration
will replace what’s counterfeit.

© Joel Tipple 11/10/2018

Stay With Me

(Getting through long nights with the ones you love)

Stay with me,
through the night and not knowing,
when the dark is more than what we see.
Hold me close,
when familiar is chaos
and our headlights can’t cut through the smoke.
I’m afraid my faith might not be enough
and I haven’t walked this road before
so just say you’ll keep talking
and I’ll do my level best to stop shaking.

When we get there,
wherever there is,
and we can take a legitimate breath,
that terrible night
will become another square
in the patchwork quilt
of our lives.

We’ll remember,
and be stronger,
through the crying and the praying
and believing without knowing how.
Through the now and now and now
and now…
stay with me.

© Joel Tipple 11/9/2018

How Deep is the Well?

(Another shooting is in the news today, as well as another forest fire causing evacuations.)

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15

Father, how deep is the well
of compassion,
I wonder?
Praises, so much deeper than me.
For the volume of human suffering
we can view
at a glance
is overwhelming.
It’s mind-numbing.
Yet the depth of your caring
for us is limitless.
We can draw on that which we lack.
We can weep with the suffering,
for that which we draw on
is deeper than we.

© Joel Tipple 11/8/2018

Quiet Moments

(Jesus knew the value of time alone with God, and so should we)

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,  and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
Mark 1:35-37

Scripture clearly teaches that for God there is no time too momentous or trivial to seek Him. Besides time to speak with and hear from God, Christians need to unplug from the world (both literally and figuratively) on occasion. For Jesus, as His fame grew and crowds began to clamor for Him, He would go off by Himself. Though Jesus was fully divine, He was also fully human. When He spent time alone, He modeled a very human need for the maintenance of spiritual and mental health.

God, help us to take time to unplug from the world. The noise and various demands upon our time and attention can eat away at our energy stores throughout the day. By not taking the time to allow You to restore and renew us, we are cheating ourselves, and, by extension, those who depend on us.

Lord, I tolerate too much noise.
Could it be I’m so accustomed
to low-level bedlam?
Teach me to find the joy
and healing
away from the maelstrom.

© Joel Tipple 11/7/2018

Election Eve

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
Daniel 2:21 ESV

Though I’d like to believe
at the end of the day
I’ve risen above
the political fray.
Though to outward appearance
I remain composed,
it’s a sham.
I’m pretending.
I admit it.

Though I read I should pray
for those in charge,
I rail to God,
and my wife,
in gestures writ large.
How could he make a decision like that?
How could she speak with so little tact?

And so it goes,
from election cycle
to cycle.
The choices are mountainous,
with upsides on the upsides
and downsides on the down.

Back to the table, I go,
reconvening peace talks
with God.
The cease-fire holds.

© Joel Tipple 11/6/2018

Begin

(Anything worth finishing must first be started)

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Hebrews 3:4

Fear of beginning
envisions failure at every turn,
calamity
long before the finish line.
God has always chosen
imperfect people
who, though they stumble,
will go on
time after time.

© Joel Tipple 11/5/2018

Rest

(Sometimes you just need a break)

I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.
Psalm  3:5

Sometimes I need some rest,
I expect like all the rest.
Critters too, go ahead and ask my dog.
It’s the way we all were made
and if you don’t have enough shade,
it can shorten your running time even more.

Do yourself a favor,
favor folks like the Psalmist,
who saw the wisdom
in hittin’ the hay.
He’s got stuff for you to do,
so respect the time he’s giving you
instead of being in a hurry to your grave.

A third stanza was required
since we found ourselves mired
in such a gravely serious place.
So practical matters pressing,
when for the night you’re undressing,
remember to brush your teeth
and wash your face.

Peace, out.

© Joel Tipple 11/4/2018

Feeling Music

19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:19

Music drew me to the Lord when I was a child.
The rhythm, like my heartbeat, pushing melodies.
Well worn hymns or modern songs,
like David’s famous psalms,
tied me ever tighter
to the maker of the sounds
of winds and waters.

But no matter
where life takes me,
no great cacophony
or raucous clamor
can drown out
the ever-present ebullience
of my Saviour’s symphony.

So it is now as it was then,
that I’m drawn along with
seekers and believers,
to the places
that play Amazing Grace,
then to the oceans and forests
that fuel me for the race.
I’m always seeking
the joyous sounds of God’s music.

© Joel Tipple 11/3/2018