Pirates pursue without pause Every sort that passes for lost cause Their future holds an appointment With the vagrancies of disappointment
Chasing their run by constellation They follow a black flag with consternation Each pirate dreaming of making his score And to become rich instead of remaining poor
The quartermaster seeks the plan That will entice the crew to fully manned But there's always some trouble in the way As the brigands sail toward the new day
An argument that is hard to defend Is that with enough time, scoundrels can be friends Consorting together as they thieve and plot How to find treasures others may have forgot
Twelve-pounders will mark their path As these fire broadsides to leave their scratch On the treasure ships, they seek to plunder It's either this or be sunk under
Chasing Spanish galleons over the sea Is every pirate child's fantasy On the Spanish Main, chasing for doubloons This is the draw of the Caribbean moon
They're all just thieves waiting on a noose These dogs of the sea, free and living loose If the resentment of misjudgment doesn't lead to mutiny These fallen souls might yet find their dignity
“It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage… If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.” – John Adams (1756)
Though His body was broken In His words that were spoken He revealed that we are forgiven Even in the times that we live in
As our living hope, He held out His hand Offering grace that we might understand The struggles we live through week to week Testifying in the words that we speak
There's a gentleness in our shown strength It gets us through the day's long length Justified in God's true glory We live each day within His story
Not in us, but in Him We shine through to remember when We found His truth as our light To rise up out of our darkest night
These are the ways of God and His son The Holy Spirit whispers as it's done Linked together, we struggle but do not tire To live His purposes that He inspires
“Nothing is so contagious as opinion, especially on questions which, being susceptible of very different glosses, beget in the mind a distrust of itself.” – James Madison (1790)
“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.” – Rabindranath Tagore, poet, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate (7 May 1861-1941)
From the beginning, we have the vision We might lack in our precision But we know what we're going for Faith is the kindness that opens the closed door
In all the paths we are shown We look back at how we've grown To see all that has been done In the name of the Father, the Spirit, and the Son
Even in the circumstances of poverty When we stretch, we find generosity We feed by faith and in rapid succession The baton forward is given in succession
All of this is done following Christ in service To live out intentionally our God-given purposes In God, all these things are created Before all, His supremacy has never deviated
It's through His blood shed on the cross We found our victory through His temporary loss After three days, Christ quietly arose To find His people waiting that He had chose
From Gnosticism to destructive post-modernism People have suffered from temptation and pessimism Just as the Serpent in Eden held out his temptation But it has not and will stop Christ's given redemption
Billy Graham taught the Christian path with purity Yet still, some slipped away from godly authority Still, if we have the eyes to see and ears to hear We will stay in our faith and keep Jesus near
The more that we know Christ, we choose to keep Him first As the earthly revealer of the Father for our thirst Teaching us the character of God's heavenly face And help us to know God's ways and truest embrace
Segments of time are traced and become interwoven Into all the details shared and urgently spoken Christ was born, making Palestine the center of the universe There is no mistake or accident in Biblical verse
Steadfast, we are delivered by God into life's seasons The architect of Heaven provides humanity's reasons That are revealed in wonder to the amazement of us all All we need to do is read the Bible, study, and recall
Jesus hold the world in His loving hands and sustains Us all, keeping poised as if in sweet refrain Loving us and protecting us in hour times of need It is under His yoke of faith that we are found
In following Christ's admonitions and good direction We find ourselves in community without correction In this position, our steps follow His leadership Through all joy and affliction, we live our worship
We are joined here in voice We are gathered here by choice Called together in His name Called together by the one without blame
We call out in the Holy Spirit With a mighty desire to hear it All the things needed to be said It fills our hearts as if spiritually fed
By the manna of Heaven pouring down Through Him, we wear victory's crown Reminded by He who is in control We find sweet joy in our souls
Oh God, my God, hear our sound As we rejoice in what we've found Oh God, my God, we cry in echo Showing and sharing God's love as we know
He is the cause of today as tomorrow The fulfillment of every joy and sorrow Bringing us our blessed eternity Our God, oh God, is the God of me and you
Heading out of Australia to escape this Aussie winter. First stop Japan, then UK/Ireland and if work doesn't call me back, onto Chicago. I will make it up as I go along
