The Door That Leads To God - And Why I'll Never Go in.

The Door

Kevin McNeil 

Original Idea from Sam Shoemaker 

There is a door 

That leads to God’s dwelling

A wonderful castle 

Fully compelling 

A place in which 

Man is set free 

Reunited with God 

As intended to be.

There you will find answers 

To mysteries and more 

Yet I rarely go in - 

But I stand at the door. 

No use going inside 

When many are out

Craving to know 

the door's whereabouts 

Lost in the fog 

and roaming around 

Hoping to see 

where the door might be found 

But with great disappointment 

and to their fall 

They reach out their hands 

and find only a wall

A wall where they know 

a door must be 

So I stand at the door -

and I help them see

Finding the door 

is the most important thing 

For this is the door 

That leads to the king

Men feel along the wall

and forever they trod 

Looking for this door 

that leads them to God

Men die outside the door, 

as beggars in the cold 

Looking for the door 

until they grow old

Dying for wanting 

what is right in their grasp 

If only someone reached out 

and put their hand on the latch 

If someone stayed outside 

and helped all these men 

Open this door, 

Walk in, and find Him

To help a man find God - 

and not roam anymore 

To me, nothing else matters - 

so I stand at the door. 

Go in great saints - 

go all the way in! 

Explore the spacious house 

where God’s always been

Dive into the rooms 

with awe and amazement 

Search the attics, the kitchen, 

the porch and the basement 

Ask questions of wonder 

and search all things greater 

Spend nothing but time 

with your wonderful Creator 

I long to be with you 

And the joy of it all 

But it seems my place 

Is closer to the wall 

Yes, as much as I’d love

to go in and explore 

God has called me here -

to help men find the door. 

Not only do I stand here 

to serve as I guide

I stand here also 

for those halfway inside 

For those who make it 

and finally, find the door 

But suddenly decide 

they don’t want it anymore 

Those who become 

overwhelmed by His awe

Who suddenly change their mind 

and don’t want it at all 

Someone must remind them 

of where they have been 

When they searched for years 

but couldn’t get in 

Someone must remind them 

of the life they had before 

And encourage them to keep going 

- so I stand at the door. 

I admire the people 

who find their way through

But I wish they wouldn’t forget

they were once outside too 

Before they got in - 

then they might lend a hand 

And reach those men 

who don’t understand 

Those who haven’t found God

Those who are far astray

Those who maybe found God 

But who want to run away 

Yes you can go in too deep 

and you can stay too long 

So here at this door 

is where I believe I belong 

Close enough to God to hear Him 

And always wanting more

But close enough to men to be here

And help them find the door. 

I’ll stand here at the door 

and help them who scale the wall 

Hundreds. Thousands. Millions. 

There’s no way I’ll reach them all. 

Yes - even If I can only 

help a few to God’s castle 

I’ll stand here forever, 

it’ll be worth the hassle 

Consider standing with me 

and maybe we'll reach double 

But fully expect nothing 

but hardships and trouble. 

The door is uncomfortable 

Not a popular place to be 

And no one will thank you

Your work will not be seen

It's dangerous and scary 

The hardest thing you'll ever do 

Taking someone's hand

And helping them through 

But there is joy in staying

And being a guide 

In fact, there's more joy

Watching others go inside 

Yes, do stay here with me 

and together we’ll reach more 

But even if you can't

- I’ll stay here at the door. 

The idea for this poem is from Sam Shoemaker's, "I Stand at the door." This was shared with me a few years ago and I read it almost monhtly. It bothered me so much that it didn't rhyme, so I rewrote it and figured I would share it with you. Hope you enjoy it! 

http://www.thejaywalker.com/pages/shoemaker.html

 

Grateful & Unworthy

This was a morning prayer of mine, and I felt like I should share. The words came easily from my mind - and I think it's a helpful reminder to remember that He is the center of everything - not us (and certainly not me). 

Father, thank you for Jesus. 

Thank you for second chances.

Thank you for your mercy and grace and for completely changing my life.

I am a blessed man with everything I need and want. 

God, you are truly good. And you allow the weak to rise up and lead the strong. 

You allow those who are foolish to outsmart the ones with knowledge. 

Only You can do things like that. 

The glory doesn’t go to the weak or the foolish - 

But it goes to you. 

God help that to be said about my life. 

At the end of my days - help all the credit and glory and honor go to you. 

Not to me - lest it all be wasted in vain - 

Because I wouldn’t be here without you. 

You created me. 

You blessed me. 

You provided me mentors.

You provided me daily bread. 

You provided me wisdom.

You provided me grit.

You pulled me out of the pit, gave me a fresh start, and instilled a fire in my bones to tell others about you. 

You’ve given me an incredible wife and now, a son. 

You've given me a team of people who are incredibly talented. 

God, I am who I am - and I am where I am because of who YOU are. 

Help me to lead a life that you want me to lead. 

Help me to plant this church and help people discover you the way that I have. 

Help me to be the best dad ever to my son.

Help me to be the best husband ever to my wife.

Help me to love people the way you loved me. 

Help me to be the most committed follower to you. 

But at the end of it all - don’t give me any credit. 

Take it all for yourself. 

Because it all belongs to you. 

“When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Luke 17:7-10 - NLT 

Why I'm not deleting anyone after DC Riots.

I have 3,000 friends on Facebook. 3,000! That's nuts. (I'm basically a small celebrity)

However, over the past 24 hours, there has seemed to be this trend where my friends have posted their opinions and, as a result, have been deleted or deleted anyone who might oppose that opinion. In fact, most people have ended their posts with "feel free to delete me if you disagree." 

I, however, will absolutely not. In fact... 

I won’t ever delete you. 

• You, the one who is posting constantly about how this election has been corrupt and voter fraud is being covered up. 

• You, the one who is outraged at the riot yesterday, claiming more arrests should have been made and comparing it to the George Floyd riots. 

• You, the one who hates Democrats and thinks they are all delusional and lazy. 

• You, the one who hates Republicans and thinks they are rich snobs that control everything. 

• You, the one who shouts, “Donald Trump!” and, “Blue Lives Matter!” 

• You, the one who shouts, “Joe Biden!” and, “Black Lives Matter!” 

Why? 

Why won’t I delete you? 

A few reasons: 

1. You have a good point.

There is a reason that you believe what you do. You have come to this conclusion and you can probably make some strong arguments for why you believe that. I want to hear those arguments, and I want to learn from you - not delete you lol. I want to ask you more questions. I want to see through the world through your eyes. Proverbs 27 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” I want to discuss this further with you because it means that we will both become sharper at the end of that conversation! 

    At the core of it, isn’t that what learning and wisdom is all about? 

2) It’s too easy. 

When I was a kid, I used to see those commercials of starving kids in Africa - and I would always turn the channel because it made me feel bad. However - just because I turned the channel - it didn’t mean that these kids weren’t there anymore. They were still there, they were still hungry - but I just couldn’t see it anymore. If I can’t see it - it’s not a problem, right? 

Me deleting you is like changing the channel - pretending like you aren’t here. It’s me pretending that your opinion doesn’t matter because I can’t see it. I refuse to act like my viewpoint is the only viewpoint on any issue. I refuse to not see the holes in my own arguments and neglect the other side of the issue. You bring that to the table. It’s too easy to delete you and pretend. I want to keep you and be challenged. 

3) I care more about you than your politics. 

Your beliefs and your politics can change. In fact, I’d dare say that your beliefs and your politics should change. But YOU? You are way bigger than politics. 

You are awesome. You are funny. You have a kind heart. You are smart. You are skilled. You have a ton of wisdom in a certain field. You are talented. You have a purpose. You matter to other people in this world. You were created by God and made in His image - and He sent His son to die for you. You matter to God - and you absolutely matter to me. I care way more about Jesus and His kingdom than I do about politics that cause way more division than anything else. 

I get it. We disagree. That’s a good thing. Let’s continue to disagree and iron out what we believe and why we believe it. Some of the greatest friends in my life are the ones who had the guts to call me out on stuff and challenged me when I was in the wrong. It would have been so much easier for them to cut me out and drop me - but they stayed - and they helped me get where I am today. 

I refuse to end the relationship/friendship I have with you over two old men named Joe and Don who will never even know my name. Honestly, I’d rather hang out with you over those guys any day (let’s be real). 

Friends, don’t buy into the hype of us versus them. Don’t let Satan get in between us and separate us more than what we already are. Let us love each other even when times are difficult and tensions are high. At the end of the day, let us be known not by our politics or stance - but our compassion and our love. 

And if, for some reason, you were offended by this blog/post…

You can just delete me ;) 

³² “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! ³³ And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! ³⁴ And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. 

³⁵ “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. ³⁶ You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.  - Luke 6:32-36