Hidden Forces - Tim Knipp (Daniel in Exile series) Dan. 10:1-11:1

BE ENCOURAGED

Sadness shakes him,
stakes him to the ground.
His eyes yearn toward home,
when out of the mists
comes a vision
for eyes
and spirit.
A drapery lifts
and Daniel's knees collapse.
He is touched
and stands;
He stutters and a touch
gives him utterance;
weak knees tremble
and a touch makes 
him strong.

Beyond our eyes
is a realm 
we cannot comprehend.
Powers and principalities
play tug of war
above our heads,
pulling strings
and fomenting wars.

Though we can't see it,
it is there.

What you do and say
impacts this invisible
world.
Acts of faith
are stronger than you know:
disarming enemies
and empowering good.
Like touching Power
to give or take
strength.

Though you may never see
results,
it matters.
Though you feel cut off
and useless,
you matter.

Keep up the good fight.

In the Garden - Tim Knipp (John 19:41-20:18)

The garden abuts the cemetery
as spring shadows winter.

The tomb was in a garden
where Jesus was laid,
but only for a moment
did He rest there.
When despair came walking,
head down and heart dragging,
stunned and shattered
by the violence
of recent days,
the body was gone.
Mary saw angels
through swimming eyes
who questioned her,
then a Gardener flipped the switch
by speaking her name.

At the bottom of a stinking pit,
mired with disillusion
and fragmented hope
a light bloomed.

Early in the morning
when it was still dark,
in a garden graveyard
death imploded.
Creation energy
churned and stirred
atoms
bringing life to that
which had died.
Resurrection power.

"Why are you crying?"
the Gardener asks,
where have your hopes 
been buried?
What scars have lace-hardened
your heart?
"Who are you looking for?"
What do you long to believe?
What moments strike you
to the marrow
with aching Beauty?
What Truth do you yearn for?

Will you believe
the gaping maw of the tomb
is the strongest power?
Or will you heed the Gardener
whose Goodness
conquers death?

Will you recognize Him
when He speaks
your name?

"We" Prayers - Daniel, Life in Exile series (Tim Knipp)

*Next to You, God,
our filth is exposed
in blinding light.
Our wrongs
pile up 
in mountainous heaps.
No one
is clean before You.
Even our most righteous acts
are marred with self-interest.
As individuals
and as a whole,
we have failed You
again and again.

Can I, like Daniel
pray "we"
as I glimpse the fractures
in the world today?
Can I identify with the oppressed
and oppressor alike?
Are all wrongs 
my wrongs?

**Jesus - clean as a whistle -
dives into the cleansing water
before exiling Himself
to the burning sand
for forty days.
***Another time He prays
over Jerusalem,
likening His affection
to a hen protecting her chicks.
He prayed "we."
He prays "we" today.

How shall we live
in times 
of hostility?
In times of blame
and shame?
By emulating Christ
and identifying 
with a broken world.
By praying "we"
for all shivering souls.

*Daniel 9:1-19

**Matt. 3:13

***Matt. 2:3-37

Untying Knots - Tim Knipp (Daniel in Exile series)

Words of warning
ignored.
A king, debauched
and leading his followers
to degrade
holy vessels.

Hedonism.
Narcissism.
Mockery and insult.

Knees crash together,
the king pales and 
his insides knot
in the presence 
of a holy hand
writing on the wall.

Daniel is bribed
to read the warning
and boldly speaks:
"You have been warned
but dishonored
Almighty God.
God says, 
'Your kingship
is done.' "

Heaven holds its breath
to see if the warning
will turn the heart
of the king
but 
it does not.

Our Father's words
of warning
are lovingly meant.
He so desires
to untie
the knots we've
twisted into our souls
if we will only turn
and seek Him.
Loving warnings,
gentle cautions
to guide us back
to Him.
What hard words
do I need to hear
today?

God likewise calls us 
to speak
hard words
to a broken world.
To say,
"this is not right"
when God's priceless
image bearers
are mocked
and insulted.
Name the knot 
of injustice
and work
to untie it.
Channel Daniel's 
spirit
to boldly speak
and act
in our
Father's name.

Austin Hill - Living in Exile

What do I trust in my day to day?
Circumstance causing my faith to falter
Or to turn aside to things I can alter
Rather than walking daily the way 
That remembers the God whose love never fails
Whose work is not finished...
He lives among us even now.
Remember.
Remember.

Living in Exile (Daniel series) Tim Knipp

Where do you feel the pressure of exile?

Besieged -
seemingly abandoned 
by God -
the temple
desecrated,
the king and chosen
young
abducted.
Taken -
eating dust for days
then delivered
to foreign streets.
Exiled.
Cut off.
Seeing pagans prosper.
Does anger simmer
at the captors?
at God?
In a pressure cooker,
beliefs are tested,
burnt down to essences.
What remains?

How does one walk through mud
and keep one's soles clean?
When my instinct is to
blend in,
how can I keep 
from being pulled down?
Do I curb my words
to keep from being labeled
or mis-labeled?
Do I laugh at unfunny jokes?
How much of foreign culture
can I consume
before it consumes me?
Do I make a fuss?
Do I dare?
And do I dare?

Engagement without
relinquishment.

In the world I find myself in
I must leap in,
swim through
and keep my faith skin on
while I seek the good
for those
around me.

Exile 
may be a place of blessing
if I remain engaged
with my hands open
to receive.

Allelon - Tim Knipp - Belong Series

A pile of shoes
by the door,
coats tossed
on a bed,
dishes piled in the sink;
conversations,
unhurried and
punctuated by laughter
and sweet silences;
a picture of community,
of belonging,
of acceptance.

The church's heart
beats to the tune 
of allelon (one another).
Harmony 
is the song
our lives should sing.

We are to

• be at peace with,,
• love as I have loved,
• belong to,
• be devoted to,
• encourage,
• build up,
• accept,
• instruct,
• greet,
• wait for,
• serve,

          one another. 

We are not to

• provoke
• lie to
• judge
• or grumble about

            one another.

We are to be

• kind,
• compassionate,
• long-suffering with 

                 one another.

 And we are to

• spur on,
• pray for,
• offer hospitality to 
• and love,
• love,
• love,

         one another.

Allelon.

People in intimate,
sometimes messy,
interwoven threads
dipped in the blood
of Christ.

We are not snails,
carrying our homes
on our backs.
We are instead, 
only a plank or joist
that needs others
to complete 
the structure 
of relationship.
Not every
connection fits,
but we must keep trying
if we are to know
the life more abundant
that is our promise.
It is available
as we struggle together
ever closer
to one another
and Christ.