Family Battleground.

Why do we fall under new flags,

When human made ingenuity cracks,

As each new age burns like old rags,

Street saviours replace the one who took the scars from our back.

So today the powers of the fallen world,

Define the faithful orthodoxy.

We've fallen once again for Babylon,

And we mourn for unity long gone

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

Social gospel battles prosperity,

On the cultural battleground of the age,

While we give into the spirit of timidity,

Leaving the battle of the heavens to rage

So today the powers of the fallen world,

Define the faithful orthodoxy.

We've fallen once again for Babylon,

And we mourn for unity long gone

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

And so you tell me the Nazarene would vote for the ending of unborn life,

Or take a stand against refugees in strife,

Political rhetoric becoming our good news

We let the words of the saviour be drowned out by our incessant personal views,

And our family drifts apart,

Breaking his heart,

Oh, Lord take me to pieces and send me back to the start,

Where I realise the only banner I will ever need is love.

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

The End and The Beginning

And this is home, the end and the beginning,

The end of waiting, the start of living.

And love is the song our hearts are singing,

Failing but still finding the way of forgiving.

 

All the oceans that laid between us,

Disappear in one breath.

All the divides that separate us will vanish,

Until the last moment gives up to death.

And you are the river my rock lies in,

You are the flower to my sun,

The symphony to my rhapsody,

Until all this is finally done, all this is finally done.

I'll hold your hand in indian summer and nuclear winter

And maybe we'll live to see the apocalypse, or perhaps we'll rise from the grave,

To see eternity beginning together, beginning together, So darling be brave.

 

And we'll be home, alive in the end and the beginning,

The end of striving, the start of living,

And love is the song our spirits will be singing,

Here in the heart of the courts of forgiving.

All the oceans that laid between us,

Disappear in one breath,

And the greatest divide will vanish,

At the last moment of our death.

 

And you are the river my rock lies in,

You are the flower to my sun,

The symphony to my rhapsody,

Until all this is finally done, all this is finally done.

I'll hold your hand in indian summer and nuclear winter

And maybe we'll live to see the apocalypse, or perhaps we'll rise from the grave,

To see eternity beginning together, beginning together, So darling, dance with me.

And yesterday's day difficulties were worth it,

You know I wouldn't have had it any other way,

Being with you meant leaving it all behind,

But that's the way it has to be, faint heart never won fair lady.

And I hear those words in the life of the one who loved more than I

Greater love hath know man, than lay his life down,

And all for love. All for love. I will hold you, All for love.

The Innocence Exchange

From a cluttered room, into the world, I write these songs,

To cast before your feet, like tribute to a king, to right these wrongs.

Hopeless attempts to buy my way, when the fare’s been paid,

Now what can I say? When the punishment upon you was laid.

Now I’m caught in this glorious confusion,

Transformed with a holiness transfusion,

My salvation in the world’s eyes, a contradiction,

The man on the tree, deaths inescapable depiction.

In that last moment, the meaning of it all did change,

And we were made new, in this innocence exchange.

From an upperfloor room, into the world, they took these holy words,

To see the world remade, their tribute to a king, becoming shepherds.

Guileless attempts to show the way, across the bridge, home,

Now what can they say? As heaven’s fields now they roam.

Now I’m caught in this glorious confusion,

Transformed with a holiness transfusion,

My salvation in the world’s eyes, a contradiction,

The man on the tree, deaths inescapable depiction.

In that last moment, the meaning of it all did change,

And we were made new, in this innocence exchange.

Now we stand in this, our kings insurgency,

Born into a world at war, still we will make a stand,

Looking back I see my history,

Broken down, lost, you took my hand.

And I was made new, in this innocence exchange.

The Betrayal and The Promised Land.

So, please forgive my impertinent heart, but tell me why did you have the idea,

To leave me, struggling, fighting, aching, in this corrupted mess down here,

Assailed on all sides by the plans of enemy forces and the lies of my own lost nature

Frightened by my all too often willingness to give up this battle and give in.

To all these myriad vices and pathways of sin.




Because I hate failing so,

Although its your way I want to go,

Sometimes Grace seems so far away,

Like the sunlight on a rainy day.





Why do I act like I’m in love with this savage betrayal, in love with all of this,

That leaves me, struggling, fighting, aching, and my prayers are no catharsis,

From this guilt edged sword blade aimed at my heart’s seat, waiting for me to let go and slip away.

But I will stand my ground, though battered and torn, hurt and world worn, I’ll not fall.

Because in the midst of all this, you always hear my call.




Because I hate failing so,

Although its your way I want to go,

Sometimes Grace seems so far away,

Like the sunlight on a rainy day.




And I would give it all to be now safe on Jordan’s other side,

But I know on this shore with you I still must abide.

Because I’m still not ready for eternity’s embrace,

And its not yet the end of my humble race,

So keep me going till its time for my entrance to Canaan,

And I dwell in the promised land, that no corruption can reach,

That promised land that no pain can reach,

That promised land that no tears can reach.

In the Company of Saints.

In the Company of Saints, at the feet of the King,

I will sing praise.

In the Garden of your love, I will lift my voice and sing,

My arms I raise.

Unto the Father’s Son, crucified to set this wayward heart free.






And I will adore, for there is no beauty outside of you,

And I will glorify, for all the glory in the world was made by you,

And I will surrender my whole life to you, as the humblest offering,

And before all the angels, in the Company of Saints, I will sing.

Of the Glory of the King.








Be glorified in my life, my Lord and King.

As I sing your praise,

Be magnified in this place, as I lift my voice and sing,

And my arms I will raise,

Unto the Father’s Son, crucified to make a way through for me.








And I will adore, for there is no beauty outside of you,

And I will glorify, for all the glory in the world was made by you,

And I will surrender my whole life to you, as the humblest offering,

And before all the angels, in the Company of Saints, I will sing.

Of the Glory of the King.





All creation will sing, to you the Risen King,

All our hearts will sing, to you the Risen King,

And in our lives your name will be lifted high,

From the mountains to the valleys in one cry

We will lift your name high.

Lamentations on a Riot

And tonight on the streets, its war,
Is this how it felt when Rome fell.
Pictures before my eyes of fires that scar,
Tearing through, like some ugly reflection of hell.
I can’t watch but can’t take my eyes away.


A protest breeding only pain,
That great city, envy of the world.
Torn asunder by delirious pursuit of gain,
Nobility, honour and respect, onto the bonfire hurled,
Please, oh God, Let peace rise again with the new day.



Feels like I sit at the end of the days,
And my heart lies broken now.
Before this onslaught of lost and destructive ways,
And these eyes fill with tears as before you I bow.
Please, oh Lord, let your light spirit shine a brand new way.



And in the dark of the night the light shines brightest,
And where sin does abound, so does grace abound more.
And on the battleground, your hand still moves,
And in the morning, you will heal every sore.



I feel like Jeremiah, my words becoming lamentations of this present age,
But still your mercies are new each day and your love does cool even murderous rage.

Just Lately...

Lately, I’ve been dreaming once again,

Of the end of this season and the start of the next,

Because you know, its not true what say, that time takes away the pain,

Still this hearts caught in these desires, myriad and complex,






And my hearts caught in a sunlight past where this dream was still pure,

And everything I did seemed to succeed and my faith in you was so sure.




Lately, I’ve been thinking about the promise,

My mind clouded do I truly remember it right,

Or have I added words you never gave to me, dreaming more of the kiss,

Than all the wonderful things that come after the fight.




That my heart wishes was won, this waiting that I wish I was through,

I’m holding on to the last memories of a broken heart, dreaming of who.




You had in store, forgetting it was you I was living this life for,

Closed is the door, waiting takes so much out of me now,

Open is my heart, come clean it up and make me so sure,

That its not for me to know the timings when it’ll come true, or how.

Just trusting you’ll come through for me, in a way uniquely thee,

And one day I’ll be amazed at how you weave together this story.





Lately I’ve been thinking about the future,

When I’ll dwell in the dream and this simple desire,

Will have been fulfilled beyond the wildest longings of long before,

Where I’ll sit down and write down new dreams before an open fire.






Oh and my heart wishes this game was won, this waiting that I wish I was through,

I’m holding on to the last memories of a broken heart, dreaming of who.





You had in store, forgetting it was you I was living this life for,

Closed is the door, waiting takes so much out of me now,

Open is my heart, come clean it up and make me so sure,

That its not for me to know the timings when it’ll come true, or how.

Just trusting you’ll come through for me, in a way uniquely thee,

And one day I’ll be amazed at how you weave together this story.