MetroMonk

Though my world may be in pieces, my morning coffee hour is my anchor. Everything and everyone changes. People come and go. Money comes and goes. Situations change for better or for worse, but my coffee is always warm and his spirit is with me. 

My morning coffee time is more than just the coffee.  It's about talking with The Lord. Listening. Being still. It's about a conversation. It's a conversation that we've been having for years. It's where The Lord reveals stuff to me. Not always, but quite a lot though.  The seasons in my life have changed, they always change. The pages in my life's story have turned. I'm in a different chapter. The adventure is different. My struggles have changed, but so have my joys. My life is in a different place than it was 2 years ago. But... I still wake up each morning, coffee is always warm and The Lord is still with me. He's there, he's always there. He never changes. He is always there, and that is why I continue to come.  I come to coffee to talk with God. The brews change (some I like more than others), but God is always there. He never changes.  I think about why sharing this is important to me. I guess because I want to share that the most valuable dis...

I come in for coffee,  and like usual, the morning was going smooth. I got a great seat with not a lot of people nearby at a local Starbucks in downtown Raleigh. It just so happened I sat down next to the "wrong" guy.  He was a nice and unalarming fellow. The moment I sat down he asks what I ordered. I told him, "The same thing I get every morning- just a cup of their bold drip coffee." He asks what a drip coffee is. I'm like "What!?!" So I tell him and he then asks what the difference is between that and Folgers. I almost slapped him in the face, but I withheld. So I responded to the gentleman's inquiry and told him that all coffees taste different because of different brewing methods, different roasters and different regions. He asks what the difference is between that and a latte. Alongside of that he asked me what a latte was.  For real dude!!! Like, you're sitting in a Starbucks asking me what a latte is. Are you alive? At tha...

Scripture this week includes: Acts 9:36-43 Ps. 23 Rev. 7:9-17 Jn. 10:22-30 May the peace our Lord be with you.

May the peace of The Lord be with you.

Father help me,   I'm torn,     So torn, The beauty of this world   & You. Hopeless wanderer,   I'm a hopeless wanderer, But you know this,   You know,     You know me. You know all of me,   Father of lights     you know me. I love that,   It's freeing. I don't want anyone to see,   but with you it's different. I feel you,   you fill me.     Fill me more.     Fill me again.     Fill me.     Fill me up. Turn my loneliness to solitude,   My hostility to hospitality, Set my ever wandering eyes   to a gaze, Turn my curiosity to contentment, Turn my usefulness to useful. I have gifts too, I have value too, I have worth, Lord help me,   Use me,     Help. You are the Lord, You are the Lord- Amen! Tweet

Sometimes, just sometimes we are still enough to hear, to listen. What has the Lord spoken to you about lately? I encourage you next time that you are praying and spending devoted time to God, listen and stop in your petitions/requests. The Lord will speak. Listening prayer changes everything. May the peace of the Lord be with you.

My son started kindergarten today. He is my oldest, and today, like most kids, he started school. He was so excited today (what a blessing for me), but there is also some apprehension within me. I believe it's natural for that fear to be there. Will he be ok? Will other kids be nice? Will he be bullied? Will he be scared? Will he get embarrassed? There are so many things that could happen, BUUUTTT , I can't really let that fear control me. I must breathe. Inhale. Exhale.  Today my son starts a new school in a new place that we just moved to 3 weeks ago. Getting here (to NC) has been quite the faith journey and story. The Lord has been with us the whole way- in big ways and little. I believe he's with my son as well as the rest of the children in school. He's with all of us. He's near, so very near. I was thinking, shortly after I dropped him off, about some of the great ironies of parenting. For instance, the first 0-6 years of life for a child are...

Almighty God, on this day (the day of Pentecost) you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit; Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen Tweet

{I don't know where my wife read this, but she sent it to me soon after I confessed to her the spiritual warfare I felt going on within me} In the secret of His presence How my soul delights to hide! Oh, how precious are the lessons Which I learn at Jesus’ side! Earthly cares forever vex me, all my trials lay me low; But when Satan comes to tempt me, To the secret place I go.When my soul is faint and thirsty, ‘Neath the shadow of His wing There is cool and pleasant shelter, And a fresh and crystal spring; And my Savior rests beside me, As we hold communion sweet; If I tried, I could not utter What He says when thus we meet. Only this I know: I tell Him All my doubts and griefs and fears; Oh, how patiently He listens! And my drooping soul He cheers; Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false friend He would be, If He never, never told me Of the sins which He must see. Would you like to know that sweetness Of the se...

Mark 14:12-26 This is my meal, the time when I sit share with my Lord. This meal is profound and intimate. It is a time that often transcends me to higher heights. At this meal the Lord is always there. It is truly one of the only constants in my life. This is my morning Eucharist, my morning (holy and sacred) meal. This is my peace.

A holy blast from the past: "A Godly Meditation" by Thomas More (1478-1535) I fell in love with this poem. I resonated so much with what he writes here. I find myself writing the same types of things. There's something really encouraging about sharing something with someone who lived centuries before me. Give me thy grace, good Lord, To set the world at nought, To set my mind fast upon thee. And not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths. To be content to be solitary, Not to long for worldly company, Little and little utterly to cast off the world, And rid my mind all the worldly things, But that the hearing of worldly phantasies may be to me displeasant. Gladly to be thinking of God, Busily to labour to love him. To know mine own vilety and wretchedness, To humble and meeken myself under the mighty hand of God, To bewail my sins passed, For the purging of them, patiently to suffer adversity. Gladly to bear me purgatory here, To be joyful of tribul...

This old worship tune brings me back to center every time I hear it. It has become like a "life tune" for me.

Father, Without you I have nothing; Life, breath, love, Friends, success, health, Honor, peace, safety. Without you I have no Direction, leading, insight, Energy, vision, plans. Without you I have nothing;  Money, shelter, heat,  Food, no going out, no home, Not even my great kids or my wife. I have nothing; No salvation or hope,  No pulse in my body, No sense of transcendence,  Nothing. Without you I have nothing, You are my all in all. Forgive me in forgetting that. Who am I? All I have is from you,   But without you I really have nothing. All I need is you! Tweet

From 1st Sunday after Epiphany

Why do... I have anxiety? What is... Troubling me? My coffee is Warm, You are to Be found, Awaiting, But here Still cloaked, But felt. Lord Jesus I cry to you For I know that You hear every cry You are listening. Tweet

I'm a morning person. 7-2pm is the most productive part of my day. So, to me, I try to to put first things first, first thing is the morning. Get it? First things first for me is about prayer and time spent with the Lord. My vocation is ministry and I consider spending time with God part of my job. Part of my morning routine is about giving to best part of my day, the most productive, first thing in the morning, to God. Long story short, my morning routine has taken up a different priority-the gym. Working out for me isn't easy, because there is always something else that could be done. So there's always some tension about getting something else done instead of working out. I know that there are plenty of hours in a day to do what needs to done, but sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it. However working out has to be a priority for me or else, as I realize, all else all go down the tubes along with my personal and mental health. Lately my prayer-life has taken a ...

Tired I am, Unsure I feel, Focused I am not. "Come here" You say, "Sit and you may find" I am reluctant, But what good is there? What will I gain? I have other things to do, Stuff I must attend to. "What stuff is there?" "What is so important?" I do not know really, I ask myself, What is it? What is this stirring within me? "Come." I have things to do. "Stop and come, Come and receive a word." Feel my breathe, Aware of my surroundings Pause, Read in, Be still, Think, Focus. To sit here... This is my delight. To receive your words. I want and desire to spend the rest of my life  chasing after you. In your midst, In your presence I am lifted up And others are too, Sean,  Caleb, [Will, Charlie, David, Martha, Jay, Harold, Cindy,  Jonathan, Sophia, Elizabeth, Brady, Annara, Rob, Keith, Julie, Evan, Matt, Nicki, Beth, Jaime, Jeanette, Meg, Joel, Erin, Gabby, Dan, Kyle] . ...

This coffee stops me, Gives me Time, Silence, Listening, Energy, Space, Focus, Time with you. My Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven, Give us our daily bread, Forgive us and keep us forgiving others, May wisdom (the fear of the Lord) lead me And keep me strong to temptation, For thine is the kingdom, The power, And the glory now and forever. Amen, Amen. Hear O' Isreal, The LORD our God, The LORD is one, You shall love him With all your heart, With all your soul, With al your heart, With your whole being. And these words that I command you today Shall be on your heart. You shall... Teach them Talk of them Bind them Write them... Remember them. Tweet

I take time to breathe, I listen, I feel my heart, My breathing is irregular, Fast, I stop to feel it and feel it more, It slows,  I am creating space for me to feel, to hear, to listen, I'm transcended into a different place, Invisible yet real, very real. I'm confronted with my own thoughts, what's eating at me, What's been keeping me away from this place, I'm guilty. What better love can ever be found? How sweet a place as this can one ever enter into by their own means? Why would I desire another place? So quickly I am to be succumbed by the great whore of the world  and I let myself to be swept up in her arms.  There is no comfort there, There is comfort here, I feel my pulse, my lungs, All my anxieties are leaving me, My eyes well up, And I am reminded yet again. My life is not my own, I want to give the light and life that you have given to me to others, I am guilty before you. In your presence I feel shame yet light,...