The Tongues Afire movement takes on a new form: The Tongues Afire Newsletter.
Go to tonguesafire.substack.com to get your weekly injection of inspiration as we explore the intersection between artistry and worship.
Monday
Recommended: Who Gives a Black Man Permission to Feel (Preston Perry)
I handpicked this poetry performance to showcase on this site. It moved me, and I hope it does the same for you. One of my favorite poems by a poet that I really respect.
Sunday
Chains (Adam Peek)
We are not our past
We are not our present
We are not the sins of our Fam
We are identified by the great I AM
Oh dear believer
Have you bought the lies from the great deceiver?
Who whispers to you constantly
You are your sins
But that's where Christ steps in
And rights the wrongs, propitiation
And we now sing
Through words and songs, proclamation
The written truth about you and me
We have been redeemed
We have been set free
We have been bought
By the blood of Calvary
So we cast off the chains
Which so easily entangle
The nooses which seek to strangle
The lasso's which try to wrangle
And we fix our eyes on Jesus!
Those chains are gone!
I've been set free
Let those chains fall
I was once blind
But now I see
Lift your head weary sinners
Come back to your homes prodigals
His yoke is easy so we
Let the chains fall
His burden is light so we
Let the chains fall
We are not our present
We are not the sins of our Fam
We are identified by the great I AM
Oh dear believer
Have you bought the lies from the great deceiver?
Who whispers to you constantly
You are your sins
But that's where Christ steps in
And rights the wrongs, propitiation
And we now sing
Through words and songs, proclamation
The written truth about you and me
We have been redeemed
We have been set free
We have been bought
By the blood of Calvary
So we cast off the chains
Which so easily entangle
The nooses which seek to strangle
The lasso's which try to wrangle
And we fix our eyes on Jesus!
Those chains are gone!
I've been set free
Let those chains fall
I was once blind
But now I see
Lift your head weary sinners
Come back to your homes prodigals
His yoke is easy so we
Let the chains fall
His burden is light so we
Let the chains fall
The Beautiful Distance (Johnny Levy, Site Moderator)
What is Weakness?
I know him well.
Weakness.
The distance between
What I want to do,
And what I do.
Tuesday
The Greatness of Your Name (Johnny Levy, Site Moderator)
Lord, you are my song, You are my joy,
You are my defense, my quiet place.
The chaos of the world pounds ears and heart.
My soul gets twisted up in knots with fear.
Thursday
Sunday
Saturday
"Father's Touch" (Johnny Levy)
I was an asthmatic kid
And when I got sick
It was like breathing through
A wet afro in my windpipe.
The panic, the agony,
My own lungs
Waterboarding me.
And when I got sick
It was like breathing through
A wet afro in my windpipe.
The panic, the agony,
My own lungs
Waterboarding me.
Thursday
"Exhale" (Johnny Levy)
Understand this:
There will be a day
When I rise above the clouds,
When my head breaks
The sky, and savage clouds
Gray and white, will enfold me,
As I am lifted by wind, and
I am roar, and breeze, and
Sun dawning glory, and I
Will rise like the sun, breaking
The plane of horizon,
Obliterating gravity,
Obliterating reality.
Obliterating down.
There will be a day
When I rise above the clouds,
When my head breaks
The sky, and savage clouds
Gray and white, will enfold me,
As I am lifted by wind, and
I am roar, and breeze, and
Sun dawning glory, and I
Will rise like the sun, breaking
The plane of horizon,
Obliterating gravity,
Obliterating reality.
Obliterating down.
Sunday
"Rent's Due" (Johnny Levy)
I sometimes feel
Like an empty container
With nothing to pour.
And when this happens
My life feels like pants
That are ten sizes too big
And I am awkward and
Stumbling
Like if a child dressed up
In Daddy’s clothes
At a real life
Job interview.
Job interview.
Saturday
Friday
"Aperture" (Johnny Levy)
One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. [Psalm 27:4]
[ONE]
Open the aperture of my heart
Wide, and wide,
I will open wide,
To be filled with light
To bring all things into
Penetrating focus
Swollen with light
Fire in my belly
Open the aperture
Of my heart, Father
[ONE]
Open the aperture of my heart
Wide, and wide,
I will open wide,
To be filled with light
To bring all things into
Penetrating focus
Swollen with light
Fire in my belly
Open the aperture
Of my heart, Father
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