Growing up without much luck
On what I thought I deserved
Who it was that dealt my deck
Well, they had quite the nerve

I always envied others
And the fact of what I lacked
Thinking they were better off
With everything they had

Until I came to realize
Life is not all that it seems
If the outward appearance causes interference
Then all I need to be is me

Being younger doesn't make you dumber
You're just dazzled by bright lights
And the foolish pull they have on you
Is stronger in their might

You find that the older you get
The less you are impressed
With all the hooey and hubbub
Leaving little left

It's then you come to realize
Life is not what you pursue
If the outward appearance causes interference
Then all you need to be is you

Have we become apathetic
In the way we handle life
Sit back, relax, try our hand without a catch
And watch it all pass by

Comfortable in our daily walk
Where we tend to walk away
Giving up on the eagerness
That we once proudly displayed

Lost out on our Godly zeal
In a constant loop of hide and seek
Trading in a life that's real
For this one of make believe

White-washed tombs that look beautiful
With dead bones on the inside
Attitudes of leave me alone
In how we now handle this life

Running round in circles
Giving the devil his due and credit
There I went and said it
Have we become apathetic

I remember my sweet mother
Crying as my brother went off to war
As the train pulled out of the station
She whispered, have mercy on him Lord

If memory serves best it's been 10 years past
If not less or more
Time means nothing when you’re just a kid
And there's no one there keeping score

Moms been crying since she heard the news
Guess she can't wait to have him home
I've been reading up on what brothers do
Since he left when I was young

Mom she had me dress up real nice
Wouldn't want him to think any less of me
Hope he has stories of his daily fights
And that he shares them all with me

I tell my mother I think I see the train
As tears well up in her eyes
I hold her hand as best I can
At 14, don't need no reason why

As the train pulls up in front of us
There's soldiers there to salute
Guess my brother is a hero
But that's something this kid already knew

The war that day replaced my brothers smiling face
With that of a Flag draped box
One of the soldiers said something to mother
As she whispered, Lord have mercy on us

I never did get to hear all the stories
Though I talk with him all the time
As I try and make it daily
To his grave up on the hillside

While my mother sits home and cries…

I have come to realize
That most of what we buy
From those supposedly in the know
Isn't always worth the price

We buy their lame excuses
On why the world is bad
Instead of what the truth is
They've made this mess the way it is

Plan it, can it, in a frantic
The need to go green
Pompous piggies in a panic
We buy the mud tossed in mid-scream

We buy their fiction over fact
Like it's the gospel truth
When what we're left with once again
Is as I say not as I do

We buy they know what's good for us
Like we can't tell ourselves
Rust or bust, dust to dust
Anything they can sell

We'll buy it all, above all else…

In my walk with God
I've both stayed and strayed
Up and down, left and right
Walked by faith and still lost sight

Been on the straight and narrow
And path that's ten lanes wide
Holding hands with my fellow man
Blurry lines have filled my time

But God in his faithful mercy, grace,
and unconditional love
Has been my constant companion
When I stumble, there to lift me up

He's been my two steps forward
When I am one step back
Waiting for a better tomorrow
He stands firm where I am at

I've climbed to the mountain tops
And crawled in valley's low
All the while knowing full well
God through it all has held me close

Sitting around the charcoal fire
The Savior calls us in
Three long days in the grave
Forgiveness for our sins

A fresh start for humbled hearts
Escape from the past
Throughout the generations
A promise God has kept

Asking, do you love me
Then please feed my sheep
Give a hand to those you can
In doing so, you do for me

This turning of the tables
Turning of the tide
Fill the warmth that gives us hope
When in the Spirit we reside

As the sins of our transgressions
Are removed from our lives
Forgiveness we are left with
Sitting around the charcoal fire

Around the charcoal fire
We deny that we know Christ
Warming up to this world
Finding it's all steeped in lies

We do it out of fear
A faith that's laid to waste
Grinding of the sinful gears
Where would we be without God's grace

The chill that's in the air
A bitter cold that crushes bones
Before the rooster crows
We'll deny we even know

The one who gives true life
Who took on himself our shame
This battle fought, a gift from God
Sacrificed in our place

All whilst we warm ourselves
On this our funeral pyre
Hands held out to the heat of guilt
Around the charcoal fire