I Don't Belong |

Today, I Write (New Poem)

Phil — May 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

Today, I write for me and not for money
Today, I write to be free and not funny
But if you laugh, that’s ok
And if want, you can still pay
I don’t mind if you find these lines behind
Lacking in some way or in some wit
This is what I’ve written
Sorry if you can’t handle it

White boy in the ghetto
Losing a game he never played
White boy on State Street
Pretending he’s not afraid
White boy in the suburbs
Cries over what he saw
White boy on Second Street
With a heart rubbed raw

Today, I write for the city and not for me
Today, I write for children who are not free
And if they were free, they wouldn’t know
What to do, who to be, where to go
You would find that behind the anger
In their collective mind
A soul lacking in many ways but not wit
Humor was all they had
To help them handle it

White boy in the suburbs
A year since he quit the game
White boy on Prairie Street
Worried that when they fail
He will receive all the blame
White boy left the ghetto
Moved on from the pain and fear
White boy on Second Street
Has anxiety even after a year

If you liked this, you might like (but probably not) my book, My Evil Rhyme Schemes. You can buy it for Kindle at Amazon for a dollar!

In Media, Poem

I’m a (Digitally) Published Author!

Phil — April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

Here’s some super-duper awesome news: I’ve published my first book in the Kindle store!

My Evil Rhyme Schemes is a collection of poems and essays from the past few years. Currently, it’s selling in the Amazon Kindle store for $.99—so get your copy while supplies last!

I plan on having my second book, I Don’t Belong Here, published by the end of the summer/beginning of the fall.

In Media, Misc.

“At the root of the Christian life lies belief in the invisible. The object of the Christian’s faith is unseen reality.”
AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Tozer, on the Invisible Kingdom (2)

Posted by Phil on March 29, 2013 In Essay, Eternal Living, Heaven, On Earth

Tozer, on the Invisible Kingdom

Posted by Phil on March 25, 2013 In Eternal Living, Heaven, On Earth

For the Glory!

Phil — March 9, 2013 — Leave a comment

One of my favorite bands from high school/college, the OC Supertones just released a new album after having been broken up for seven years. Entitled For the Glory, this is an incredible album that has been speaking to me for months.

In Eternal Living, Media

Jonah and the Vine

Phil — March 1, 2013 — Leave a comment

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” (Jonah 4:10, 11 NIV)

Sometimes, I feel like Christians in the US have more concern for the “vines” in their lives than for the people living and dying in spiritual darkness. This applies to me, especially. I get wrapped up in side projects or ancillary details all the time, neglecting much of what is really important in life.
Continue Reading…

In Eternal Living, Heaven, On Earth

The Myth of “Christian Love”

Phil — February 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

I was doing my devotions the other day, and I saw a verse—sorry, I can’t remember where it was, and I didn’t write it down—that used the term “Christian love.”

Instantly, I was struck with a thought that startled me: “‘Christian love’ sounds kind of weak.” Woah! Where did that come from?

I don’t like to admit that I felt this way, but I bet that you, like me, have that same line of thinking bouncing around in your head somewhere. No? So, it’s just me? Dang. Well, please allow me a chance to at least explain myself.

I Love You…But Only Cause I Have To!

We all have people we don’t like; people that we would do anything to avoid. It’s not that we hate these people per se. It’s just that if God gave us a choice between years spent living them on a deserted island or a marathon swim through shark-infested waters…we’d be putting on our swim fins before He finished talking. These are the kinds of people that we feel forced to love by God. So, we don’t love them like we love our family or even our friends. We love them with “Christian love.”

In Eternal Living, Heaven, On Earth

No Temple, No Problem

Phil — January 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

There will be a day when we will no longer need a temple or even the son. We’ll have God, and He will be our all in all.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:22-27 NIV)

In Eternal Living