When I was asked to start publishing a daily blog, I wasn't entirely sure what the end result would be.

I couldn't imagine a year later there would be over 28,000 people taking some part out of their day to log on and read my post each day.

For those who have lost hope that a single voice can still be heard, take note, with God, all things remain possible.

I hope I will continue to find ways to encourage and share a positive message that causes us to stop and give thanks for what God is doing in each of our lives.

But most of all, that we Stay in God's grip!

Todd

Helen Keller wrote, "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

At the end of the year, it is easy to once again find yourself reflecting upon disappointments, or considered failures from the past twelve months. This is often what prompts New Year's resolutions. To try to change something, or make something new, because you feel that if you make this change, somehow, your life will change and things will become better.

Striking out, to try to make things better, or perhaps, to change a current trend in your life, is often difficult. Not just because it may be something completely foreign to you, but because the powers which bring about doubt or worry can be overwhelmingly strong. Often in these times the presence of God seems to be barely noticeable.

I wish that I could say that I was always strong in my convictions, or that my belief that I can actually do something be an overwhelming push to make me do what I do. However, on the contrary. It's often the realization that God is present, and that God will never lead me where I cannot find the means, the gifts, or be surrounded by people who are willing to share in the conviction so that when I do begin to fall away, or loose sight of who I am, or what God would require of me, only then can I truly move beyond, and, and Gandhi would reflect, "Be the change that you wish to see."

If we are faithful to what God is calling us to do, a new hunger will make itself known. This new hunger is the first sign of God's presence. When we remain attentive to this divine presence, we will discover that all things are being made new, and that will make a difference....

Happy New Year!

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them."
~ Hosea 14: 4

I wish that I could say I have no regrets, but that would not be true. I think we all have things, choices, events, words... the list goes on into infinity, that we have experienced, that we have hesitation about "after the fact."

The hindsight syndrome can leave us with many feelings and may cause us to "should" on ourselves. For example, "I should have done this or that instead."

The wonderful thing about forgiveness is that it is real. The value of knowing that poor choices can be opportunities for God's grace to take action, can be a powerful tool for moving forward with your life.

The issue is when we don't embrace the forgiveness, change the way we see something, and then most importantly, forgive ourselves.

It's a challenge at times to forgive others when they have made choices that personally harm us, but it's even more important that when it is our own doing, that's when we must truly allow forgiveness to take place personally.

The Scottish poet Robert Burns in the late 18th century wrote the poem many will sing parts of on New Years. Auld Lang Syne is about remembering friendships and that taking one another's hands and drinking to each other's health will be the theme. One thing that should be part of this, is in that remembrance, seeking forgiveness if there has been wrong, but also, letting God's grace take hold of yourself.

Everyone's New Year's resolution should include learning to forgive yourself.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

"We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. As a fair exchange -- I speak as to my children -- open wide your hearts also."
~ 2 Corinthians 6:11,13

One thing I hear more people talking about is the need for transparency. I have tried to become an open book. It has been both a blessing and a curse at times, but overall what I have noticed is that by becoming transparent, it makes for a place where open communication can occur. Something that I would hope we all might embrace.

When we become vulnerable with ourselves, we can then become safe places for others.

When we offer ourselves as vessels of God's love, we cannot help but invite people to love one another. When people realize that we have no hidden agendas or unspoken intentions, then we hopefully can be seen as instruments of reconciliation and hopefully peace.

If we live our lives being judgemental and opinionated, we soon discover that people will not share what they truly feel for fear of being a victim of judgement. If you are a place of refuge, then you must be open to the experience of the refugees.

Only then can others truly feel welcome to share of their experiences, as well as, be a place where real conversations can happen.

So much of the time this happens without any thought or planning. The act of reconciliation most often takes place when we ourselves are least aware of it. Our simple, nonjudgmental presence does it.

May we all learn to be agents of hospitality and places where others feel safe.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited."
~ 2 Corinthians 6:3
​
Describe someone in your life who loves you unconditionally.

The question is easy, or is it? So often in our lives we have people who love us no matter what. My sister, Laura, is that person for me.

Oh granted, there were times when we fought like cats and dogs, ultimately, we shared a bond that few children have.

Being brother and sister is one thing, but as young children we became a real support system for one another, especially when our parents divorced.

We lived in a small apartment literally inside the exit loop off 465 in Speedway, Indiana for the first few years when our parents separated and divorced. Our mom was often up and catching the bus before we were even up. Being 9 and 6, it was alot for two kids after having had a "stay at home mom" who was always around.

The first month's were the worst, especially once winter had set in. Getting up, eating, piling on clothes, and crossing several lanes of highway traffic each day, was a real challenge. Especially if we had decided to argue with one another about something.

Those years have become a blur. So much of what we encountered and had known, changed. We both changed, but in many ways, it probably brought us closer together.

Our love for music and singing brought us closer together as we created our own sound, as we worked on harmonies together, and kept our grandparents entertained, singing songs like, "I'll never fall in love again," and our grandmother's favorite, "Delta Dawn."

As the years went on, we would be supportive to one another through our own relationships, the deaths of relatives, and in sharing about our own experiences as parents and now, grandparents.

Now don't get me wrong here, as alike as we seem to be, we are also very polarized when it comes to some things in our lives as well. We are our own selves.

The truths we tell one another, the secrets we have carried, and frankly, just some of our own life experiences that no one knows but in our own sharing, have created an element of trust that I will never have with another living person. Moments that have brought some embarrassment. Some things that would shock others. Moments that you simply just would look at us and go, "What did you say?"

In a world that constantly asks us to make up our mind about other people, a nonjudgmental presence seems nearly impossible.

I'm so glad to know for each of us, one of the most beautiful gifts is having someone who exhibits and fulfills that need for unconditionality.

In a world that is in need of reconciliation and grace, relationships like ours serve as a litmus test and building block.

It's not always easy, but it remains possible. While in my faith journey, I see my relationship with my sister as a living illustration of God in Christ reconciling within me, especially when I know that our opinions differ and we must work through something, seeking common ground, the end result is powerful and sustaining. It is both life-affirming and significant in knowing that even tho she may say, "That's absolutely insane," in her heart I also know she is saying, "I hear you and love you anyway."

Non-judgmental practices and places where we find common conversations must be a goal for each of us. As we approach a new year, and a time where we begin to think about forming new habits, traditions, or developing deeper relationships, the idea of unconditional relationships is something I think we all must investigate.

The "eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth" has left us blind and toothless.

Jesus says it clearly: "Be compassionate just as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge; ... do not condemn; ... forgive" ~ Luke 6

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Before Jesus called his Disciples to "follow him," he first had to learn to walk and follow Joseph and Mary.

Scripture doesn't include much about the early years of Jesus' life. We know that he is born in a stable surrounded by animals, travels with his parents to Egypt where they assume daily life. Then he appears in the Temple, teaching those present, as a youngster, when he runs off from his family.

It's not that I want to know what he was like as a child. Did he struggle to learn how to walk? Was he afraid of the dark? Did he fall and hurt himself, run to his mother, and did she kiss away the pain?

The stories of parents and their children in scripture are varied. Abraham invites his son Isaac to go for a walk and nearly sacrifices him. A young Joseph is the eyes of his father, reporting all the things his brothers are doing, and ends up being in trouble with his brothers. Moses gets placed in a basket and set adrift in the Nile. Mary, a young girl is told she will give birth to the Savior, and delivers him in a barn.

Let's face it, early childhood stories in the Bible would lead to years of therapy for those involved!

The early years of the Messiah and the earthly lessons Joseph surely taught have more than likely influenced each of us and our faith. The very prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, may very well begun with Joseph turning to his son and saying, "Now Jesus, when you pray, begin by saying, 'Our father, which abides in heaven.'"

There are many things I say today that didn't begin with me, or for that matter, didn't begin with my dad. We build upon the lessons of our fathers and mothers.

Jesus, like all of us, discovered the hands that would touch the hearts of humanity. He discovered feet, that he would stand on, and walk dusty roads, calling to others to "follow him." He would cry, laugh, and learn parables that would cause a tax collector to change, not just his name, but his life.

He would make friends, and when one, very close to him would die, he would call him by name, and from a dark tomb, wrapped in clothes for the dead, would walk into the sunlight.

The infant who brought the light of the world into existence would learn the lessons we all would have to learn.

I wonder what Jesus' first words were?

When the young Hebrew girl learned of her favor with the Lord, she sang. What lullabies did she sing, as she rocked her baby when storms raged?

Before the man walked with others, he walked as a child with his earthly father.

As a child, I marched behind a high school band as my dad lead as a band director. I sat in choir rehearsals where my dad directed singers in church. I remember times that his hands held mine, and times when a hard lesson involved those hands spanking me.

I've heard it said that children by the time they are three have lived through the most formative years. The most formative years of the life of Christ are left to us for discernment.

Like many families with newborns, a time of change was encountered. How difficult it must have been to be illegal immigrants in a foreign land while nurturing the son of God?

These are the unknown moments, the lessons, and the times when parents turn to God for answers.

As an adult I have walked with my dad. This photo is from a day my father walked beside me on the beach of Galveston.

I can imagine the two pairs of feet, walking beside one another, along the shore of Galilee. A father or mother with a child.

I wonder what it must have been like the first time this family returned to home after their exile? Jesus meeting his Aunt Elizabeth the first time. Did he and his cousin John make mud pies, or play hide and seek in the market?

I've often wondered how the boy Jesus responded the day his earthly father, Joseph could no longer walk beside him? Did he struggle to take care of his mother in a society where women required the presence of a man to survive.

The experiences we must leave to our imaginations.

As a person of faith, I'm left with the stories of the man Jesus. All of which have shaped, not just me, but my life and how I live in this world.

And as that person of faith, those missing years are the years when families become families. They are the struggles that all have encountered. Perhaps they were the human years that would invite us to see ourselves in a clearer light?

We all were infants, born to learn the same lessons that Christ himself learned.

Our challenge is to find ways to take those lessons and live as his example has shown.

​For unto US has been born a Savior, who learned to walk with a father and a mother. Who came to save us, so that our lives, no matter if walking, crawling, or paralyzed, would know a better way of life. Where peace, love, forgiveness, grace, and the virtues learned from Joseph and Mary years ago shared with a small child, Jesus, can be lived out each day.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Years ago one of the men that we would see on the streets of Houston, invited me to come and spend time with he and his girlfriend under a bridge where they were temporarily living.

As I made my way, I noticed a small tree branch, loaded with tinsel. Just tinsel! And then I noticed next to a candle, leaning to one side, and pitted by small pebbles, shining in the darkness, they had made a makeshift nativity scene. It's probably one of the most meaningful "cradles" I had ever seen.

Three small figures made of popsicle sticks, gum, and various items found on the street. A bus token served as the base for the cradle.

The figures wouldn't even be something of interest, but to them, they were the tiny mother, a father, and the vulnerable infant king.

Then I noticed the shadow of the figures on the concrete embankment thrown by the candle. The light danced as cars stirred the air above, but it was clearly the Nativity.

​Their shadows were signs of hope. Hopeful shadows against the walls of life and world.
Without the flicker of the candle, there was not much to see. Without the light of Christ, we continue to be simple figures walking in darkness, but everything changes with the light.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

While we rush around on this day before Christmas, after several Christmas programs, parties, and the non-stop commercials packed with gift ideas, we are reminded on this day that there was a young girl about to give birth with no where to rest.

So often we get wrapped up in the angel announcing that Mary is to give birth, and that we think about all the noise the heavens are making about the time that Jesus is born, but we forget these words shared, "With God nothing is impossible."

It's no secret, I love to write. At times my mind overflows with so many thoughts that at night I will lay awake and think of how to put some thoughts into words, and then struggle to decide whether it is relevant or makes sense.

At times it overwhelms me, and I wish that I could just tell it to stop. I know that when one is passionate about something, then that "something" can consume the person.

I can only imagine the centuries that God must have thought over and over what God could do to bring the creation closer again to the Creator.

So many things had been attempted already. When you consider the initial garden all that has followed, everything has been created in order to develop and nurture that relationship.

I find it absolutely amazing to think that the Creator then decides to enter the creation through Jesus in order to make the greatest effort to bring the creation closer.

While we know that when the birth occurs, all of heaven rejoices, but on this day, all those years ago, I have to believe that heaven was watching and holding it's breath.

My father tells the story of my birth like that of a seasoned narrator. He watched over a dozen fathers come and go before the doctor brought him news of my birth. Complications made my birth a process that lasted for more than a day. To this day I carry the scars of that day, and that process.

While we don't know what Mary's birth was like, we do know that finding the place for Jesus to be born was filled with so many unknowns. Knocking on doors, being turned away time and time again, and then, being given a small space among the animals that served those that owned them.

Heaven must have stopped, watched, and waited.

"Nothing is impossible with God," get's overtaken by the words, "Fear not!"

While we are surrounded by the events of Christmas Eve, and the story of the birth, we must remember that none of this would have been possible without first acknowledging that without God, none of this would have been possible.

Stay in God's grip, as we watch, and as we wait...

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

I must admit, I have been on several journeys this week.

I spent the early morning hours one day this week with teenage parents who's seventeen day old child died. Surrounded by various family members, I watched as the young mother handed her baby over to a stranger, who placed it into a small black case, returning the receiving blanket the baby had been in, then turned and walked away into the darkness just before dawn.

They looked at me and struggled to ask God, "Why?"

A day later I met with the children of a colleague of mine as we planned a funeral service after an illness overtook the person's brain, and life. As we shared and talked of all the people this person had touched, the children prayed, "Help us to understand."

And then Thursday I woke up with a terrible respiratory infection and by evening was in the Urgent Care because I was unable to breathe, praying, "This can't be happening now, I have so much to do."

Following Jesus means that our journey is never necessarily our own. While we may discover our vocation, or calling, even that is never truly our own. It is still the act of taking up a cross and following a man who was born to a young girl, who gave birth to this Savior, while in a dark and obscure barn.

Sometimes I have to wonder how this journey that leads to eternal life, filled with unknowns, glorifies God?

While I seemed to have cried at some point during all three of the situations I found myself encountering this week, I seemed to hear a still, small voice reminding me to, "Fear not."

The unexpected encounters while taking up the cross brings us to the reality of a God who remains faithful to us, even when we struggle to understand "Why?" or "How?" something happens, even when we know that we are being held in the hands of God.

Our encounter with the cross makes us better understand the necessity of the birth. Even before the cross, there was a star that others followed. Our journey must always be about seeking the Savior, no matter what we encounter in this life.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
~ 1 Corinthians 13:12


The winter branches of trees are the visible reminder that we experience times in our life when we find that we are naked or bare.

In our seasons of life we encounter moments of vulnerability. These are times when we reveal to others who we really are inside.

As a child I would often look at the bare trees of winter and discover ways I could climb them in the summer to reach greater heights.

The same could be said if in my own transparency, looking into a mirror, I could see the things that only in the vulnerability God can and does reveal what I have yet to be.

Do not look with human eyes; viewing it as a "stripping away" or "loss." Even the tree must surrender to the seasons in order to know the blooms of spring, the shade of summer, and the crimson of fall. We are no different, moving through the seasons of life.

Although I don't care for the cold. The older I get, the harder it is becoming for my hands to work and for my own woundedness to be hidden. These are the reminders that like the tree of the forest, I too, am aging.

The empty tree reminds me of my own mortality. It is as if they are reminding me to remain faithful. To be strong, and to embrace the warmth of others.

The body of Christ is the living resurrection of the One who came, experienced the seasons as we do, and suffered; not just the injustices that this world seems to endure. Christ came and knew the process of birth, maturation, and ultimately what it meant to be completely vulnerable before crying out, "It is finished" before a crowd who waited and watched.

The winter tree is not the Christmas tree that adorns our homes. No, it is the reminder that in the starkness of a barn, a child was born so that we may know the fulfillment of all the seasons of our lives. There is beauty in vulnerability.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
​~ 1 Chronicles 16:11
​

I will never forget the day I was sitting in Hebrew class at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the focus was on the two most common words found in the Hebrew scriptures. One was for the "act of turning away from God." The other, "the act of returning to God."

I think for most of us that day we suddenly realized that these two words still are commonly found in our own actions today. I suddenly began to recall the times when I turned away, and a few times, ran away, from God. It would be in those times I would realize the impact of my decisions and I would find myself asking for God to forgive me, while returning to the place where God wanted me.

Like the experience of the early Hebrew writers, there is really nothing new about how we live today. As I've often shared, there truly is nothing new about the human race.

While we all must live with the choices we have made, the litmus test for those choices should reflect whether God was present, or were we busy turning away from, or returning to God?

Christmas is the time of year that I often think of those who made the journey to visit the Christ child. Angels in their glory, shepherds in their keeping, and wise men in their seeking made their way.

For us today we can find that child within one another. In the way we glorify God, keeping God present in our daily life, and seeking out ways for others to see that child within us.

I am reminded that while we are busy turning away and returning, God is always pursuing. The Psalmist declares, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life!" (Psalm 23)

While we may struggle to remain faithful, God is with us always. It is simply up to us to seek the Lord always!

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

So often we forget that one of the most powerful things we are to do with the birth of the Savior is to rejoice!

With all the running around and attempts to make everything just right, we some how lose the meaning between aisle six and seven at the store!

We forget that the gift of Christ is for ALL of humanity! This gift has already been given and remains the "reason for the season."

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!

In God's unfailing love for each if us, Jesus was born. Our sharing with one another a gift is simply secondary. Remembering the true gift of Christmas should help to reduce the stress of the holiday, not add to it!

"Behold, a child is born!"

​"Rejoice!"


​

Rejoice, America, in God our Savior!
Celebrate today the real gift of Christmas.
From Juneau, Miami, Ann Arbor and Capistrano,
Let carols be sung and the story told.
In the dunes of Indiana, sing His glad song;
On Galveston’s delta beaches, remember His birth.
Our Messiah has appeared among us forever;
His birth offers a new hope on earth.

Let mountain aspen, Midwestern sassafras, and
Western sequoias salute him,
Banana, cedar, fern and red maple tree.
Let dry places blossom with lilacs,
And plains turn blue with Texas bonnets.
Sing, all mountains, plains, and forests;
Wetlands and high plains proclaim jubilee!

Move as swift as the wind, prairie pronghorn,
To the smallest of barn creatures, spread the word!
Shine your joy, oh you beautiful chameleon,
Dance, elegant pink flamingos!
Chatter the story, mocking birds and city starlings,
Give all creatures of the air the news you have heard!

Join the celebration, all those who live in our nation’s land;
Even those who are dreaming of her shores!
All people, come and worship in suburbs and the deepest hollows,
On the crowded city corners, or at desert water holes!
Latinos, make him your best amigo!
Descendants of American revolutionists, sing your praise!
New Americans from Asia, Europe and Africa,
Bring to us the heritage of His ways!

Rejoice America, in God our Savior;
Sing, land of old and one of the youngest of nations!
In the arms of Mary,
we see salvation,
that has answered the need
of so many generations who waited.
Arise, laugh, dance and sing,
For behold, we have a glorious King!

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope.
~ Jeremiah 29:11


If there was ever a scripture so filled with hope and love, it may very well be this one.

God so knows each of us. When I consider all the things that happens in the world, God still has a plan for each of us.

While we seem to get caught up in the trappings of the world, God still has a plan full of hope and peace.

Even when there doesn't seem to be an answer for the "why's," God still has a future.

May this knowledge bring comfort to each of us.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

"Is this thing on?"

A common saying we have come to know over the years of what is said when someone walks up to a microphone.

Scripture tells us that there will be someone who cries out in the wilderness to "Prepare the way of the Lord."

Today the wilderness looks very different. It's not always about geography. It is about people. Today we all know something about the wilderness found in the hearts of humanity.

Years ago I was working on a peoject called "Shadows." I asked the folks that I was working with on the street if I could ask them to lie down on a roll of paper, and I would take a marker and trace their image onto the paper. In return I gave them a free bus token. On the paper, I would then have their image, and I would record their street name, birth name (if they would share it), their age and how long they had been on the street and what brought them to this situation.

The stories were often heartbreaking. An illness or job loss in the home, or for some, mostly the younger homeless I met, it was a "coming out" that they shared, and the story of being kicked out of their home by family who would not accept them.

On the street, pseudo families were created, and often the roles would take that of "mother" or "father."

I managed to gather 167 "Shadows" prior to an invitation to attend the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Portland, Oregon. A city that has worked very hard to help it's homeless population.

On the General Assembly floor I rolled out the "Shadows" and then sat back and watched.

I soon learned that the people treated these images just as most people did the homeless on the street. Some would stop, and read what was written. Some would notice, but turn or walk the other way. Some never bothered to stop, and actually walked right over the image.

"This is what the world has come to," I thought.

We are asked to prepare a way for the Lord, still today!

It's no longer about a curious character named John, wandering in the dessert. It's about you and I and our need to be that pathway so that God can exist in this world, where people who might be living in the shadow of darkness may be able to walk in the light.

We are not only that voice today, we are also the pathway!

​Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2017

God’s 21st Century John

Dear Lord, today I thought I heard a voice
crying in the wilderness.
A prophet’s word, demanding change:
“Prepare the way of the Lord;
watch for pitfalls, level the ridges,
straighten crooked paths and remove the mountains.
God’s glory can now be seen,
And every eye shall see it!”
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

In the wilderness of the world community
joined by electronic roads and overshadowed
by architectural monuments;
Where greed fills sold out leaders,
and is lost in great waste.
Where a numbered society hides within a work-force,
and broken spirits converge through social programs
for a moment of respite:
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

In the wilderness of third world nations,
where the destitute scrape out their existence
while great powers amass grand riches;
The strong play with the weak,
where once-proud cultures conform,
Their daughters and sons are robbed of tradition,
And placed in sweatshops that provide pennies for their handwork:
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

In the wilderness of educational institutions,
reading, writing and arithmetic have
been traded for survival training,
Where young minds absorb everything
except how to be children of God,
Fertile expansions of their minds, but their souls remain barren;
Diplomas proclaim success, not wisdom,
Honors, not love;
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

In the wilderness of politics
a field of wheat and tares is bordered by momentary fame,
Where large interest groups freely support campaigns,
And candidates have the nerve to shout reform,
While even those with the best of intentions are devoured
by dark forces and are compelled to take a back seat
until cynicism builds within, like a horrible virus:
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

In the wilderness of our faith traditions,
where theological trends come and go,
Buildings and people are fashionable,
and pomp and circumstance are priority.
Where evangelism is silenced,
prayer and sacrifice are optional
and even Jesus is labeled a “fundamentalist.”
“Prepare the way of the Lord.”

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

We cry out to the voice in the wilderness,
“What shall we do?”
“Run! Turn to the Lord.
You who have two suits, give to the naked;
You with a feast upon your table, feed my hungry.
In the markets and governments, work through compassion –
And be ready for the One who comes with fire!”

​Holy, Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and glory!
The Heavens and earth rejoice!
God of all come near!

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
~ Hebrews 10: 23
​