There lies a desert void of life
There lies a desert void of water and void of food
There lies a desert void of all good things
In this desert lies death
In this desert lies air more dry than dead bones
And in this desert lies pain more than can be imagined

For I wander throughout said desert
Seemingly with my lonesome
With no one to turn
And with nowhere to go
So I sit on a rock and wait
Then a promise of water comes to me from Above

But when the driest of days come over the horizon
And the hottest of times comes to my face
I almost give up, leaving the promise
And then I feel like I have moved on from that promise
But I cannot leave what came from Above
Oh me of little faith!

So I wander seemingly alone in this desert
For days upon days, weeks upon weeks
For months upon months, even years upon years
Longing for even a drop of water to satisfy my thirsty soul
But here in the dry desert the water is unfound
For all of the water has evaporated into the dry desert air

But on the horizon I see what I’ve longed for
I see what looks to be a spring
Bringing water to the dry desert ground
To satisfy the thirst of this dead dry country
And as I approach this great gorge of water
I am killed with the realization that no water lies here

For I have been tricked
By the images in my head
And the physical needs of my body
I have been deceived
The green and lush never truly existed in this dead dry desert
Only this mysterious mirage in my misunderstood mind

So still I search across these dry dead lands
For the water that might bring life back to my tired soul
But time and time again
The mirages ****** my hope for satisfaction
But soon enough I know I will find the promise
And reach the flowing waters to satisfy my soul

One day, I find myself a well
A well that may be full of water
Water that may wet my thirsty tongue
But when I look into that deep well
I see a crack in its basic foundation
And no clean water lies in this broken cistern

So I drop my bucket into that deep broken well
Hoping for a mere drink of water
But in the bucket comes muddied, dirtied water  
And when I pour that water into my thirsty mouth
My thirst is not satisfied, it is only magnified
And I am more thirsty than I have been ever before

So I take another drink
But this broken cistern holds water that cannot satisfy
Water that may merely increase my thirst
That will only bring forth the day of my death
For my mouth is as dry as this desert sand
And I will die here in this dry desert of death

I am like dead dry bones in the valley of death
With no flesh or breath to give me life
But then when I find the water that gives life
Flesh will come about my bones
And He will breathe breath into my lungs
Then for the first time, I will have true life

I wander on never finding the water I require
But then I stand and look heavenward
And I hear my weary voice cry out “My bones are dried up!
All hope is lost, and I am cut off!”
So I stand in the dry dying desert
Alone with nothing and no one to hope in

Then His glorious voice responds; “I will raise you from your graves
I will put My Spirit in you, for I am the Lord your God
I am with you to the end of the ages
For My Son, your God reigns with me
And our Name is Immanuel
For I am with you."

And I fall to my knees
For there lies a cistern unbroken
I look deep into this well and see a promise unforsaken
For the well is filled with sweet satisfying water
And I drink never to thirst again
For He is the Living Water, and I am satisfied in Him

It was fourteen years ago now
A day cemented into our minds
One not easily forgotten
One that will be remembered as long as we live
But we will not forget that restoration is coming

A normal morning on a late summer day
The second day of a quiet work week
The cool crisp air of the morning
Quickly defeated with this violent terror
For the world was about to change

The cloudless blue sky was interrupted with gray and black smoke
The cool air was interrupted by ***** of fire
And the quiet morning was interrupted by the sound of shaking steel and crashing concrete
For the once-peaceful morning would be defeated
And the brightness of the day would be overcome by darkness

Never before had so many died outside the realm of battle
As if the thousands were merely pawns for warfare
The darkness of that day would not last
For countrymen stood and with one voice said;
"United We Stand!"

Darkness does not last, nor does it rule
For the night is defeated by the sun at dawn
And the dark is defeated by The Son at Resurrection
For God clears away the darkness
And through the dark, brings life

"The Lord giveth
And The Lord taketh away"
We learned all too well
But "The light shines through the darkness
And the darkness cannot overcome it"

Justice of men set its sights immediately
And years later, it came to fruition
But the Justice of God set its sights
And too it came to fruition
Now, the time of light sits upon the horizon

A tragedy unlike any other
A Tuesday morning turned to Hell
While the Hell on that day may still remain
We remember the light from a Sunday so many years ago
When God, who was dead, rose to life

The light from His empty tomb
Poured out into the darkness of the day
Marking the beginning of the remaking of all things
For He promised us long long ago;
"I am making all things new"

And new He is making all things
Taking from us the sting of Hell
And giving to us the joy of Heaven
While the pain of that Tuesday may still remain
The darkness of it does not

For He is making all sad things come untrue
As He makes all things new
And He's told us "Prepare the Way!"

Dark clouds gather on the horizon
As thunder rattles in the distance
A storm is coming
And it will destroy all things

The sky above
Once blue and bright,
Is now gray and dark
For a storm is coming

The rains will come
As lights streak across the sky in the distance
It seems like the world is ending
For a storm is coming

The dark moves forward
Coming to surround all we know
Until soon it is here
And with it come flooding rains

The rains flood and destroy
Gone is everything we once knew
All peace and good things
Flowing away with the flooding rains

Then the darkness passes
Like the winter comes to an end
And the flowers sprout from the ground
The Son has come to make light in the dark

And all life returns
For from the cloud came rains of death
But now from the sun come rays of light
For the sun has defeated the dark clouds
And God has defeated the dark of this earth

Moment by moment, sign by sign
The highway passes us by
High speeds, high risks
The highway passes us by
As we look upon the world coming before us
Waiting to get to the places we are going
And see the world passing by us
Places that we will never attain
But we have a mission
For the places we leave behind
Are nothing compared to the places we go

We travel along these long roads
And see the dashes fly next to our spinning tires
Discovering all that lies before us
Not regretting anything that lies behind
As we move forward in the lives we live
Looking for the next step of this life
We travel down these roads
Searching for the next adventure
To find that the one we have now
Is one that will never leave us
For forever we venture
Down these roads to eternity

Exiled out into an unknown world
The action of one man cursing a race
Leaving the presence of God
Into a cold unknown world
Hiding from the presence of God they fled

Exiled the hearts of men
Creating the pagan god in hearts
Not knowing the trueness of The Father
Not knowing the reality of The Spirit
Just waiting in Exile for The Son

Exiled into royalty
A king of his own heart
A king with a love for himself
Then came David, King of Israel
The seed to bring the Messiah

Exiled from the royal line
Kings of Israel and Judah
Became corrupted

Exiled into an unknown land
Away from all we had known
Judgment of God made suit
A line of Royalty forgotten
But we know a savior awaits

Exiled by kings of old
Leaving a desolate city
Brought on by our Nation
The sins of our people linger
As we lose sight of the savior

Exiled we were in Babylon
Then came a man who would have been king
Led us back to our home land
To build the walls of the desolate city
Building the temple in this holy place

Exiled still from the Father
Even in this holy land
Waiting for David's seed
Yet still no savior to say
In King David's city they wait

Exiled his city lay
In Rome's hand it will stay
Bethlehem where the savior lay
Not a bed, not a home
He would make us His own

Exiled to the cross He go
Love for us more than His own
Our sins on His shoulders lay
His grace on us lavished
And we die in Him we'll live

I lay here dying
Breathing my final breaths
On the bed in which I will die
For I am a dying man

I am sick and broken
Lost and strayed
I had no one to turn
No one could heal my dying self

For there I lay dying
And later, I would lay there dead
For my life was over
That is, until the doctor came to my side

He took my hand showing me two worlds
One where I might live
And one where I might die
Then to rise again

He gave me wine to drink
He gifted me bread to eat
And told me I would thirst no more
That I would long for food no more

And I was healed
For this Doctor was not merely a man
But God on High
Who came to give life

He came to heal the sick
He came to mend the broken
He came to love the broken hearted
And to give life to the lifeless

He brought me to my feet and I danced
He led me out of my darkness
And He brought me into the Light
For He Himself was Light

Yet in the other world
He took my hand
And my pain remained
But my fear fled my weary heart

He gave me wine and I drank
He gave me bread and I ate
And I would never thirst again
Never again would I need the delight of food

Then I died on that bed of death
But soon after I died
I rose again in a whole new world
A world I had never before known

In this world came great delight
There were flowers sprouting in the fields
There were wild animals tame like a pet
And there were rivers flowing of honey and milk

This new world was the beginning of all things
For all things of the past had passed
And it had all been made new
This New Earth was the new makings of all things

Then I awoke from this glorious dream
Confused I looked around for an answer
The Doctor took my hand once more
And He said to me;

"Arise my son
See the sun is coming up
And the day has come
You've been healed from the dark of night
Arise!"

Disappointed, my eyes became a well of water
Longing for this New Earth I had seen
But The Doctor looked at me once more
And with a wonderful voice He said;

"Arise my son
That New Earth awaits you
You have been healed from the dark of night
And more work is to be done
It is your time not yet
But soon, you will come to this New Earth
For I will call you home."

Like waking from a glorious dream
But not from a dream one would want to wake
From a dream of warmth and Summertime
To the reality of Autumn and its chilling winds
And it hurt to wake from the dream
But it will be okay, for reality is setting in

In the early of the morning, it may seem dim
And the times may seem sad
As you can feel the hope slipping away
But in the Autumn, the sun is slow to rise
And when it does, the true morning comes
For the dark of night has passed away

In the morning, a great lesson is learned
For His mercy is new
And His mercy renews itself each and every morning
For His mercy is never ending
And His renewal is everlasting
His love too, lasts all time

I am a broken man
Unable to heal himself
But by God above, I will be healed
Waking from that wonderful dream may hurt
It may not be fun, but it’s best
And I am being healed

How can one understand this great mercy
If one is never broken to be mended?
Life may pound down on even the best of us
But God lifts us up and heals us
By mending our wounds, even in painful ways
In the end, we are healed and perfected

He came to make all things new
And to make all sad things come untrue
I am ready to see these new restored things
And also, to see what the future might bring
For I am a victim of His great mercy
And call myself a victim, I will no more