Category: Uncategorized

Posted in Different Books, Spoken Word, Uncategorized

I want to share a few poems with you…

Posted on by Wick

..well, over 1,000 poems actually. Let me explain.

It was around Advent 2019, and we had moved to Hungary early that year. New routines were being established as we settled into this season of serving as missionaries. Without the “church office” I’d grown used to having, most of my office work and even personal moments of study/prayer were happening in our apartment. I found some of the things I valued and wanted to be disciplined to include in my day became (as anything can) items to “check off the list”. One of those things was reading scripture on a daily basis, unrelated to “work”.

So as an experiment, I tried to write in response to the Lectionary passage from any given day. (The “Lectionary” is a set of daily scripture readings, spanning a 3-year cycle, used by many Christian churches globally. Each day’s readings usually include an Old Testament passage, a Psalm, and a New Testament passage. I love using this cycle, knowing that many of God’s children around the world are feasting on the same heart of God revealed in those same words on any particular day/week.) To write in response to all three passages, uniting them in a “theme” of some sort seemed a bit forced. I decided to choose one of the three passages each day and write a poem that invited my heart to consider a prayerful response. I enjoyed these first days of experimentation so much, I set a goal of doing this for 3 years which would take me through the entire “Revised Common Lectionary”.

I’ve always loved poetry, and the impact words can have on my heart and mind. I also love thinking and studying scriptures or theology, and have even thought about writing a book for public consumption. But more than once I’ve set out to write a book only to realize what I’m saying has already been said by someone who set it down in words quite well. But the playground of poetry has always been one I feel well-equipped to enjoy. I’m encouraged in this direction every time I find a poem I’d previously written, and feel moved by the words there. Sometimes it’s as if I’m a different person than the man who wrote the poem originally, and I suppose it is true. We are all constantly becoming the person we will be tomorrow while seeking to exist faithfully in the life we’re invited by today.

Not long into this endeavor, the global pandemic threw all kinds of ordered life into disorder, and I found the comfort and routine of writing these poems each day a familiar invitation. They (or rather, the God who met with me in these moments) became a source of stability and a reminder of God’s faithfulness during a time when so much of the world seemed to be asking “What can we still depend on?” As I look back on these three volumes, I’m thankful for the heart they continued to shape in me. I’m thankful for the ways God met with me in these moments. I don’t think many of them were individually life-altering. Rather, it’s the consistent presence and invitation to be Loved within His story that continues to shape my heart in response.

So here we are, having arrived at a point where all three years of poetry are available to the public. I’ve “self-published” them, not because I don’t believe in the power of publishing houses with built-in audiences and powerful stamps of approval, but because I know it takes work/marketing to pursue these roads. If anyone is interested in doing something with them – please let me know (while I continue pastoring full-time, of course). But this was the easiest path toward sharing them with whoever may be interested and preserving them for my kids to read their kids at family prayer times (no pressure, kids). Each book has slightly more than 365 poems included, which makes the total poetry available over 1,000 poems easily. I’ve given them the title “Poems for a Pray-er”, which may confuse some people. The hyphen indicates these are not just poems to be used as a “prayer”, but rather used by someone who wants to pray. Someone who wants to pray, I would refer to here as a “pray-er”. As I confess in each introduction – these are not all incredible poems. In fact, some of them should be re-written. None of them were labored over for long periods of time. But each are unique and written in that moment of response where I sought to hear from and respond to the heart of God revealed in scripture.

For me, there’s an obvious question of “What now?” For my personal times of prayer and scripture, I’ve begun to enjoy reading the Bible on its own again. I still use the lectionary to determine which passages to read most days. I love writing longer “Spoken Word” poetry, and will probably write some new words in this direction from time to time. I look forward to how God continues to use and redirect my passion for words and His Word.

If poems aren’t your thing, I want to encourage you – whatever your “thing” is, experiment with it. But in your experimenting and loving response to a mysteriously infinite God, examine where you might be “checking things off the list”, and ask God if He might delight in a new approach there. You may find that some methods actually retain their effectiveness (as a “Free Method-ist”, I definitely agree!), so don’t be afraid if some patterns stick for years, or even a lifetime. Whatever it looks like, may our lives continue to be shaped and reshaped daily in the Love God has revealed to us in Jesus Christ, empowered even today by His Spirit…

Posted in Spoken Word, Uncategorized

Hope-Filled

Posted on by Wick

A few words from the economy of Hope
A soap box not often stood on, but as we put on this New self
We find a wealth of words worth reminding, binding us to our Father
In ways we’ve needed for longer than we’ve confessed.
Because even though we’re blessed, it seems we’ve so long stressed the destination
While leaving behind the relation. The Love that has pursued,
We’ve misconstrued as judgment waiting, anticipating that moment sometime far off
When we’re invited into Heaven’s gates, or worse,
Meanwhile the curse of sin seems something we’re left to bear
And His Love finds us there, people trying so hard not to despair, but to declare, Hope.
And at the end of rope, we’re found, as children now being unbound as His Spirit arrives
We find our lives are not just a passing whim, because we’re actually known by Him


The Fathers eye hold us in His steady gaze, as Jesus prays on our behalf, we hear the heart
Of Love that will never depart. And as we start to believe, we receive a New Name
Only scratching the surface of why He came
But as we struggle to remain we hear already the whispers of doubt
Accusations of the rubble strewn about like so many collapsed walls
These halls that are no longer, we wish we’d been stronger, as we examine the pieces
Each stone a word of what we thought would be, we see with our own eyes
The debris of a temple demolished before it could be filled
And it has instilled in us a sense of foreboding, as if floating just over a sea of chaos
Threatening to swallow, and in these hollow ruins we receive the hallowing grace
As the Spirit lifts our face to meet His own, the Father on the throne
Yet also with us, here. Drying every tear, and releasing us from the fear
That these pieces of what could have been can be, should be, will be renamed
Reclaimed as foundation for tomorrow, borrowing Hope where there’s plenty to be found
A solid ground, soil rich for planting, His Kingdom granting our roots
Access to Life of the age to come
Love revealed in the Son, shining with such Love and glory, that we find our story
Has become a reflection of His own, that we are not alone, as the Narrator places one more
Stone upon another, we discover redemption so full that there is no exemption
No place where shadows may remain, no corner that we can’t explain,
for the Light of Love has flooded the whole, and our Soul, Body and Spirit
Are transformed, re-formed by the pulse of resurrections heart
We start to believe in what our Father speaks
That He is not waiting, but seeks our embrace
Time spent face to face, attuning to His ways, that here is Love that stays in the room
Here is grace we can always presume will be, whether on bended knee
Or meeting us on the run, inviting us to come ever nearer, making clearer
The Newness of the Kingdom that is coming, in which all running can cease
For peace can now abound. We who have found ourselves re-storied with a purpose
Making the darkness nervous, as Light gains new ground, all ground,
With rebuilt walls that surround and loudly resound with His praise
Spending our days now, together, united as we read,

Words rebuilt as walls of how we’ve been freed, and how the seeds of His Love
Bear fruit for the healing of the nations, those whose relationships have shattered,
Those scattered into exilic wandering, still pondering whether their story has been written
Those snake-bitten, invited now to see, Love revealed in His suffering on a tree
And You and me? Transformed together to be, outposts of His reign
Unable to contain what has occurred, but by His Living Word
These healed wounds from which blood once spilled
Now proclamations of a world becoming Hope-filled.

Posted in Different Scriptures, Uncategorized

I hope I irritate you.

Posted on by Wick

Recently I was able to preach on the word “covenant”, specifically connected to how the author of Hebrews addresses God transforming everything in Jesus Christ. As we begin a new year, it’s a time when most of us examine our lives, and re-affirm those things that matter deeply to us. Many who want to live in response to the Love of God revealed in Jesus use these early days in the year as a natural time to renew our commitments, especially in response to the covenant Love God offers to us. I was encouraged once again by God’s desire that we would be able to “know Him” in ways we couldn’t previously. (Hebrews 8:11)

In following the threads woven by the author of Hebrews, there was one text that stood out to me in a new way this time. In Hebrews 10:24 we’re encouraged, “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds,” I’ve read this before, and haven’t spent much time considering it because the meaning seems pretty obvious. But just beneath the surface, there’s an invitation to pause and consider the author’s choice of words.

Most of our best translations easily help us understand by saying something like “spur one another on”, “provoke each other”, or even “stimulate each other”. Some others say things like “motivate one another” or “encourage one another” toward Love. If the author had just wanted us to be “encouraging one another” to be more loving, he could have easily used words similar to the ones he uses in Hebrews 10:25 or 13:19. But here in 10:24 he purposefully uses a particular action (to irritate sharply/provoke) as a noun (something to be considered). The noun itself is only seen one other time in this form, over in Acts 15:39 to describe the “sharp disagreement” between Paul & Barnabas that caused them to part ways. The verb form is found in Acts 17:16 (the spirit of Paul was being provoked by the idols he saw in Athens) and 1 Corinthians 13:5 (Love is not easily provoked). This is an irritating provocation that we are unable to ignore.

In this play of words, we’re invited by the author to consider how we can be the kind of active presence in our world that provokes/stirs up/compels Love (agape) and good deeds. Much attention is given in our era to how businesses or even influencers can post content that “gets a response”. It also makes sense that we would desire responses that are measurable/quantifiable. But are we being purposeful as to the kind of responses we are attempting to draw out from those around us, or those who consume what we’re sharing? As enjoyable as it might be to complain about something we have the right to complain about – is it provoking others toward Love? As desirable/easy as it may be to comment or share or join in a conversation with others – is our involvement giving others permission to continue in a direction other than Love?

Into all of this, what would it look like for us to be those who “provoke/irritate/disturb” one another toward Love? There may be as many responses as there are people – which is why we need so many beautifully different and complex members/parts of one Body in Christ. But as the author urges, we get a sense that this isn’t something that will happen accidentally or inadvertently. This is something we must be purposeful about.

Several years ago, I was serving on a mission trip to Joplin, Missouri. We had a great time, and I believe we were a small part of blessing the community as they recovered from seriously damaging tornados. We cleared debris, demolished unsafe homes, and prayed together over the area. When we came home, and the dust settled, I realized I’d brought home a souvenir from all our work outdoors – scabies. I’ll let you google how horrible these little bugs can be on your own (it’s disgusting), but I’ll sum it up by saying: It was an itch I could not leave unscratched. Those little bugs burrow and irritate in ways I’d never experienced before. I have pretty strong will-power when it comes to mosquitos, but the irritation level of these things had me near tears, desperate for relief.

This is what came to mind as I prayed over Hebrews 10:24. How irritating are we being in the direction of Love? Does our presence, and do our words have such an impact on those around us, others cannot help but respond in a Loving way?

Special Note: This does not mean we go around like flower children, always smiling and handing out dandelions (although I love smiles and dandelions). Sometimes to Love someone (in the way of Christ, who is the living revealing of Love) means to invite uncomfortable examine in the gracious presence of the Holy Spirit that provokes actual Love, instead of the fluffy stuff our world sometimes misinterprets as Love.

So there you go. Where/how can you be more irritating this week? Would you pause for a moment even now, inviting the Holy Spirit to think with you over the past 24 hours – and how you may have provoked others in thought or emotion?