More than the union of bread & wine,

It is the joining of God’s spirit & mine,

A divine connection between self destruction & perfection,

A reminder of the direction to which you have called me,

That we might all see the power of the cross,

Forgiven of my sins, because you paid the cost,

Yet somehow these memories can easily be lost,

Overshadowed by the needs of today,

Needless to say, supplication is all that we pray,

All the while memories of the past decay,

Nailed to a tree, body broken for me,

Whipped till you bled, this wine of red,

How I’ve said so many times, a prayer that reminds me,

For a moment rewinds me, back to place,

Where I remember your grace, and almost can envision your face,

As this bread of life I taste, and as I sip this living water,

Blood shed for all your sons and daughters, nothing else to barter,

But your life for mine, more than bread & wine,

The joining of God’s spirit & mine, a moment in time,

For me to remember…

                                      Nick Foulks

Hush, don’t cry,

May the swiftness of the Lord’s grace dry your eyes.

May you realize that you are all he ever intended you to be;

And that it does not matter what others think they see.

Hush, don’t cry,

For He is with you always and so am I.

I know your insides twist and tie;

With thought of late night cries,

And what words of others will be carried on the winds,

But hush, don’t cry,

For who are they to judge their master’s work.

None but he who is called I Am knows what is in life’s great plan,

What wonders you’ll see; glories you will do…

So hush, and don’t cry,

He will put no more on you than you can bare,

And when you see the eyes of that, which is of your own,

You will know, and you will cry,

But I will not tell you then…to hush.

                                                                        Nick Foulks

I’ve been a Christian for a while now, and I’ve been thinking about my faith,

I’ve been thinking about what Paul said, standing firm & finishing the race,

Now maybe it’s the pace at which I started the race, but when it comes to me I just don’t think that’s the case,

You can look me in the face and call me a disgrace, but truth is you’ve never had to stand in my place,

I’ve been a Christian for a while now, and I’ve been thinking about my faith,

I’ve been thinking the joy I had at first, when a revelation of life was unearthed,

How in my desperation, without hesitation I saw the need for Christ manifestation in my life,

In every conversation, in every proclamation, and even in exaggerations I saw a glimpse of Him,

I was so amazed by who He was, I could feel Him in my blood,

On the tip of my tongue, whenever I would speak,

Looking, waiting, anticipating for the moment I could share the gospel,

To invite a friend service, to enlighten someone who had never heard this…good news.

But something happened over time, I became hostel to the gospel,

To programs and campaigns, obnoxious Christian sayings,

They were driving me insane, and so I chose to walk away,

I’ve been a Christian for a while now, and I’ve been thinking about my faith,

I’ve been thinking about the God I serve, and His abundant grace,

How He’s answered so many times, when I thought that I would break,

How I felt His warm embrace in the wind across my face,

How I’ve seen Him in my dreams, and visions,

But now I’m trapped in indecision headed for a collision between spiritual life & death,

But wait!

In me there is life, Christ,

The hope of glory, whose wondrous story is being drawn out in my days,

And the true praise is in me revealing that, whether by song or poem,

A Bible study in my home or prayer when I’m alone, 

I’ve been a Christian for a while now, and I’ve been thinking about my faith,

Today it begins again, In coffee with friend, where I remain on the listening end,

Comfort in a hurting time, in darkness I will choose to shine,

But how I do it, is up to me,

Now I see the hypocrisy, was not the church, but actually we,

We who are content with standing by, letting the church try and complete the good works for which we are intended, Heed this warning, there is something far beyond the Sunday morning,

There is a glory, that lies within you, But must continue to be unleashed…

I’ve been a Christian for a while now, and I’m ready for my faith,

This past weekend I took our youth group Verve to “The Nightmare”, an outreach in Marshfield, Wisconsin.

After the different death scenes the demon led them through Hell. There they saw people trapped and tortured. Demons were all around and the devil explained his plan for their eternity. It is a wake up call to those who see this life as all there is. Directly after Hell, they were led through the stages of the cross with live actors whipping Jesus, nailing him to a cross, and then Jesus dying on the cross. As the youth looked upon this bloodied man who had been whipped and hung to die for them, I could see the emotion on their faces. It was the first time that they had been able to see the physical price that Jesus paid to save them.

As I reflected with the youth after going through “The Nightmare”, there was an array of emotions; some were scared, some were sad, and others could not yet comprehend what they just experienced. For many of them life has not been easy, but as a teenager it is easy to believe that what we do does not matter when we are older. In today’s society high school and college are years of freedom. They are seen as a time to live life to the full without the fear of consequences as though consequences only happen when you are an “adult”. How unfortunate it is when the youth buy into this lie. They sacrifice years of their life to pain and suffering due to the choices of their teenage and young adult years. I pray that this past weekend has opened the eyes of the youth in my ministry and that their walk in life can be different from so many.