God in the City

“But the Lord is good, and he is there in that city…Every morning he governs the people fairly; every day he can be trusted…”  Zeph. 3: 5 (NCV)

He’s good, but what’s better is that He is in the city.  He’s not just slumming.  He’s not regulated to only exclusive and ritzy parts of town.  His domain is beyond the Ritz Carlton of every city.  His dominion is not limited based upon six-figure incomes.  He is the living and true God, the Creator.  He rules over all creation.

He “governs the people” from within the city, among the people.  In the New Living Translation(NLT), verse 17 speaks of God being alive among us.  That’s assurance for any urban evangelist or missionary.  He’s already in the city.  He is God of the city.

Chris Tomlin sings, in “God of this City”: “There is no one like our God.” You have to listen to lyrics.  There are greater things that are yet to come and greater things still to be done in this city, just as the song says.  God’s heart is still moved for the untouchables that live as the forgotten and forsaken of our urban streets.  May God continue to fuel those with hearts to reach and serve others for His sake on the streets of America.

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Lessons from the Streets

 

 A while back, maybe a year or two, I started working on some poems that told the story about life in the inner city and the urban streets.  I began to conjure up poems and vignettes about the streets in the fashion and style of an Iceberg Slim or Donald Goines.  I started crafting urban sorrow songs like those penned by Rick James and Marvin Gaye.  I wrote “Words from the Underground” which will be released tomorrow at www.lulu.com/lifepath/ .  Here is ‘Lessons from the Streets’ as a sample  of the works contained in this new publication.

The lessons on the street

Can leave you bruised for life.

They can leave some permanent scars.

I’ve seen folks take it like a joke

And then come up lame.

This ain’t no game for kids.

It’s the real thing out here.

Bullets tear flesh

And make holes in domes

It’s a war zone 24-7 out here

With the enemy at every turn

Even when they say they riding with you.

Can’t trust a soul when the game’s like this.

You got to choose your battles

Before someone sets sights on you.

Make a move

Even if it ain’t the first move

But God help you make one.

Whatever you do,

You better make it quick.

That’s all that’s to it

And it’s true.

I saw a man lose his life

Because he didn’t make a move.

He could be here today

But he didn’t make his move.

It’s just another lesson.

Another one to learn.

The lessons in the streets will mess with you

Then get in your head real bad

And leave you so sick

That life will lose its meaning

And even its value.

Learn it one way

Or learn it another,

But the streets will teach you

How to survive or die

Just by being out there.

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