that sifted me like wheat. And I was chaff.
And the last sight of me He had before he died was of a miserable sinner, caught by his pride and his fear and his mouth. Telling a lie to conceal the Truth; that everyone knew in their heart.
For outside the Walls of Testing, is a dark alley of Failure and Regret. Filled with the tears of one sinner who was tested and found wanting. Who was warned but fell asleep. Who was called but failed to answer. In the cold of night when the flickering flames of promise where blown out -- by a rooster's crow.
And while I cried. He died. Beside him -- women. Women with more courage than I had shown. The courage to stand beside the man who was everything. In tears. But for their Lord, not for their failure. In tears. For the pain He suffered and the injustice rendered and the hope snuffed out. In tears -- of grief and pain and love.
* * * * *
The nights passed. The tears flowed. Until there seemed to be no more.
And another rooster crowed; as the dawn of Sunday morning broke over the horizon.
And the women went. And Mary heard her name. And cried more tears.
Tears that couldn't be stopped. Tears of hope and wonder and love.
And I heard the news that changed the world and changed my life and changed everything.
For He arose. And He broke the curse and split the veil and moved the stone and crushed the serpent. Saved from sin. And the pain of the venom that bites at my heal is overcome by the blood of the lamb.
For He arose. And I saw the tomb
and heard Him proclaim "peace" in a locked room.
For He arose. And He called me. Again. Beside a seashore at Galilee.
He called me to cast the net of my life
into the deeper waters of sacrifice.
Onto the other side -- into the living waters of His Will and His Direction.
Called again. Beside a fire. Where the flickering flames lit up the scars on His hand and over His brow and the smile on his face. That proclaimed the promise all over again.
Called again. To be a Fisher of Men. Called again. To care for the sheep. Called again. To teach and to preach the Good News.
That death is undone
through the gift of God's Son.
And I am a failure and I am a sinner and I have denied my Lord; but I will still proclaim the Truth that He arose. To fulfill the promise and change our lives and change the world and change everything.
And while there is sin and there is failure and there are men who once were called whose actions deny that they know their Lord; that doesn't change the truth
that He arose and there is love
and salvation freely offered by our God above.
To all who believe and proclaim
that they have failed and they were wrong
and He was right
and the flickering flames of conscience bring to light
that he forgives . . . and offers hope.
Hope over the tomb of our failures and over the bite of the serpent whose venom of sin and hatred and deceit has entered our veins and cursed our lives and brought death and pain and separation from each other and from our God.
Because he rolls away the failure and he rolls away the sin
and he rolls away a million tears that will never have to be shed again.
And there is no other name in whom men can proclaim
then the one whom God called and who now reigns.
And I saw the stone and heard His voice and felt His forgiveness.
And I will proclaim in the light of day and the dead of night that I KNOW THE MAN.
And He is the Way. And He is the Truth. And He is the Life.
And He is God's son.
And He forgives my sin -- which is now undone.
And I don't know what else to do
than to proclaim it anew to you.
So, I will follow the path that leads to the cross,
that offers hope to all the lost.
And I will cast my net on the other side,
where He leads and where He guides.
For after the failure and after the tears
and after sin's pain was felt for years and years;
God sent his son in the fullness of time,
to offer hope and love and forgiveness which are now mine.
And with my dying breath I will proclaim --
Jesus is the Risen Christ, Salvation is offered in no other Name.
what they may be like in – or near – our modern world.