Your Own Back Yard

Sometimes to find God you have to take a walk in your own back yard

You have to quiet yourself, and open your eyes to hear and your ears to see

And you have to listen and let yourself be

And allow Him to make all of the difference

Sometimes He will begin to dig to the roots

And always your heart He will woo and pursue

Whatever He says, whatever He does

You will never leave that place the same

He simply whispers His name

And shows it to you in the colors of fall

He gives you His all

In the picture of the leaves at fall

Yet one has to take that walk in his own back yard

To hear this, to see this at all

K. Duane Carter 10-12-09

Let God Loose

WOW!!! Two months since I've posted anything at all and the world is still moving along!!! Ha! Shows how earthshaking my opinions are, huh?? I will just get to the point. I haven't posted in that time because God has been doing some major overhauling in my heart and soul. I mean MAJOR overhauling. And it is difficult to write when that is going on. Not to mention another thing that has been a major change: we now have our 3 new children from Uganda, and THAT has really been a challenge. Even though the number of children we have increased by 50%, the noise and energy level has gone up about 3000%. Mix all of this in with God revealing to Melissa and I new ways to raise our children, and God really pulling out all of the garbage out of my heart, and you have the perfect recipe for, well, not blogging. I am sensing it is time, though, to start sharing. I think the most incredible thing I have learned over the last 2 months has been that I was living my life completely out of a mindset of fear. Everything I did was fear-based. Everything I was doing to raise my children was fear-based. My relationship with God was fear-based. But God doesn't just show us the garbage and then leave us stinking. He is showing me how to live from love. Now this isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, when one has been living out of fear for years, there are times when living out of love just seems impossible. But of course, God likes impossible. God shows up in impossible. And that is just what He is doing.

That brings me to something else I am seeing. My relationships with God and my family and my friends are more important to me now than I would have ever imagined. One cannot love in a vacuum. There must be others present there. And here is where I feel like our whole society is coming apart, and where I think the church (the people of God, not a building) MUST rise up and fill in the gap. If you look at our world, relationships are just getting RIPPED. The modern-day church (the organization, not the people) doesn't even come CLOSE to allowing relationships to form and build and bear fruit. We have got to realize that coming together and faking smiles and singing some songs that make us feel good and hearing a sermon isn't changing the world. It is NOT CHANGING THE WORLD. I hope everyone heard that. It isn't. The only thing that is going to change this world is the love of God. God has established the earth for mankind to co-labor with Him. The only way for mankind to get the love of God is to get it through God's mankind. And the only way that happens is through relationships. Relationships cannot be fake. You can't build them in an afternoon handing out tracts. You can't build them with a weak pat on the back and a meaningless response of "I'll pray for ya." They take time, and they take effort, and they take courage, and they take patience, and most of all they take love. I feel like God is really calling His people to begin to really connect. It is time for those who have the love of God burning in their hearts to open up their homes and get together with a small group of others. You don't have to have everything in common. In fact, it's best if you don't. You don't have to "learn" anything except each other's stories. The only "agenda" has to be allowing God's love in to do what it does: Change the world. You don't have to have a Bible degree. Jesus' most significant witness in the New Testament was a demon-possessed maniac who had been born again and delivered all of about one hour, and Jesus sent him out to tell about what Jesus had done for him. The next time Jesus went through that town EVERYONE wanted to see Him, even though the time prior the whole town asked Him to get out. What happened? One man told his story. He changed the world by releasing the love of God. And that is what it is time for us to do. I wonder what would happen in our churches if there were a thriving collection of small groups who all came together and simply released the stories of God's love that were occurring in their groups. I bet we wouldn't be checking our watches wondering if we should eat Mexican or Chinese. I bet we would actually see what happens when we listen to Jesus and simply do what He shows us to do. I bet we would actually begin to EXPERIENCE the love of God instead of just talking about it. That sounds like heaven on earth to me. Let's get together. Let's get real. Let's let God loose. Let's let His love change the world.

Pierced

I see the shafts of light
Piercing the darkness through
The dragon’s head is severed
And light keeps shining through
I see the ocean coming
In a never ending wave
I see the blue skies see it all
And it’s beauty I start to crave
These shafts of light are piercing
Even into me
But darkness now has been destroyed
And I have been set free
The cloud of glory is coming
To rest on this hardened earth
The light, the wind, the water
Will bring it into a glorious birth

And we will know Him in all His glory and wonder

K. Duane Carter 6-22-09

Mystery in the Mist

Mystery in the Mist
I am in the midst of this
A mystery of mysteries in the mist
A mystery of mysteries in the midst
No source of sun, no sign, no direction
No feelings of goodness, no answers to the questions
Only the sense that I am about to be soaked
One atom by one atom at a time
The Mystery will restore my rhyme
Literally saturating my DNA
And as I enter into life’s fray
I won’t understand, but I will know
Gladly into the Mystery I go
I won’t understand, but at least I will know
That gladly into the Mystery I go

K. Duane Carter 6-13-09

Waves and White

Waves and White
I see in this picture a truth from life
Where the sea is the depths of God
And the depths of His glory and love
And when they come so close to this earth
Where they come and join with dirt
A glistening white comes forth
A purity and wonder that is beyond comprehension
Meets in the rocks and the shoals
And the water and the wind
And the picture sends me on my way again
With a heart that knows that in the midst of the turbulence
There is purity and beauty being created
My being, my spirit is satiated
Knowing the depths on my skin
I look and look and look again
And see Him there every time


K. Duane Carter 6-7-09

The Lion Roars
The Ruler of the universe is near

He treads on paws larger than the sun
He is the King and the Glorious One
It is His heart, His heart I seek
He opens up His mouth to speak
And there is just this glorious light
This light that puts my fears to fright
This light that penetrates my soul
This light that says that I am known

By the One who releases it

The Ruler of the universe does roar
His calling makes our spirits soar
He is the King and the Glorious One
His word is brighter than the sun
It is His heart, His heart I seek
And some say He’s lowly, some say He’s meek
But I have seen and heard His roar

And I know that He is God

K. Duane Carter 6-6-09

Arise

Arise
I am treading in very unfamiliar waters
No sign or sun or wonder to follow
Only quiet darkened mists and silence that is hollow
To point and show me the way
I stand still, very still
Because I hear the noises calling
Yet I listen for the voice, the voice
The One that makes my heart rejoice
But I only hear the rumblings
Of the deeper tempests tossed
He led me here, He led me here
I said that I would not, I would not fear
Yet I may have spoken quite prematurely
Yet He led me here, He led me here and surely
He will see me through this place
So I may enter into His embrace
And gaze upon His awesome face
And peer into those deep green eyes
The eyes of my Love and my Friend
Within them the joy it never does end
At least so I am told
I have come on this pilgrimage to be so bold
As to find out for myself
I want to know just for myself
If He is all He is said to be
If He is the One Who can set me free
From all of this fear and all of this indifference
And here I stand face to face
With those very things
Surrounding me, speaking to me,
Drawing nearer and nearer
The surroundings are dark and could never be clearer
This is the place for the Springs to arise
This is the place to look into His eyes
I sit and I wait for Him to arrive
And enjoy the sounds of the water beginning to rise

K. Duane Carter 6-4-09