Grudges
     (Matthew 6:14-15)

The book of love reflects
with wisdom, grace and truth
the ripples of His presence
in the waning days of youth.

Too soon decay our dreams
and we grow weary of the game,
cold hearts and loveless ruins
leave no one left to blame

but ourselves, into the mirror
staring at what we've become -
a frozen incarnation of
God's warm and living Son.

The images refuse to die
and so they, living dead,
reflect the darkness of the soul
where Christ is not the head.

Forgiven but unable to
forgive within God's grace,
loved but never loving
in the mirror that we face.
 
 
 

        Madness
   (Ecclesiastes 1:18)

I walk the edge of insanity,
I'm falling away from humanity,
I'm losing my sense of reality,
the madness of man's vanity . . .

In vain is learning, breath of life,
our days of mourning, torn with strife,
and purposeless, all things to know
gives us little joy to show.

Words push their way inside my head
and take control of me instead
of giving me the freedom
I thought knowledge might me gain,
sometimes knowledge is insane.
 
 

      Wiser Than a Serpent
        (Matthew 10:16)
        (Matthew 6:1-8)

To care is risk, not blindness
but to seek God's perfect love
one must be wiser than a serpent
yet as gentle as a dove.

Compassion is no weakness,
neither burning hate a strength,
reacting apathetically
to what all others think.

What heart grasping blatant truth
sees piercingly another,
yet still beats faithfully
remaining for its brother?

So perfect love begins
to slowly open up our eyes,
when the heart firmly knowing
still refuses to despise

someone who is bound by pride
or living willfully in sin,
someone full of pride or lust
or bitterness within.

When we can see our enemies
knowing fully what they are
yet judge ourselves more soberly
then perfect love's not far.

When at last we sense the vanity
of wisdom, fame and youth
yet refuse to put on airs as though
we've found some greater "truth",

when we can seem the fool with peace,
yet knowing something more,
though being rich can count it loss,
become poor to the poor,

when we can smile as silently
we pass each waning day
while others race so frantically,
back and forth they sway,

yet not to despise others,
think more highly than we ought
of our liberty in Christ
freely given, paid for, bought.

When we can give away our lives
a bleeding sacrifice,
keeping our gifts hidden from
pity, pride and vice -

if we will give unknowing
our left hand from our right,
to do what good we can do
out of human sight,

before God and not mankind,
then our reward will be from Him
and not the hands of men
or this tinsel world, so dim.

Giving honor to the meek,
taking mercy from the strong
and spending power on the meek
to which all kingdoms here belong:

then we have begun to seek
with fleeting patience perfect love,
we must be wiser than a serpent
yet as harmless as a dove.
 

          Sunset

The clouds are crimson orange,
the sun a burning flare
cast over the horizon,
the sky begins to tear . . .

the rip within the fabric of
this blue alacrity
becomes a gateway to the stars,
a door through which I see

the heavens in their blackness,
and brilliantly a star
illuminates the vast expanse
where the blazing comets are.

Overhead a sparrow cries
to interrupt my gaze,
the crimson glare now disappears,
the blue of twilight stays.

The clouds, tossed like driftwood
in a calm and placid sea,
billowing and drifting
wander aimlessly and free.

My heart begins to wonder
as I ponder His great love,
how fantastic is His mercy
reigning down from up above!

How magnificent his footstool,
this orb we call the earth,
how tender is His care for us
that by virgin birth

He should dwell among us
to die and set us free,
crucified between two thieves
on a black and bloody tree.

Yet if living on His footstool
can fill our hearts with awe,
how much our hearts will race
to stand before Him without flaw.

More joy than any soul could dream
is heaven where He reigns,
joy that far outshines the grief
of all our earthly pains.

This hope have we forever
that the Son will never set,
with Him, dying never,
every tear we shall forget

in the peace, love and warmth,
in the glory of His grace,
and the Son will never set
on His kind and shining face.
 

        Behind the Plow
          (Luke 9:62)

I've put my hand to this old plow,
sometimes it sinks down in the clay.
Sometimes I've looked over my shoulder,
back at what I thought had passed away,

but still there staring at me
with hatred and despair
is the countenance that tempts me
not to love, to give, to care.

Each time I think I've finally
ground his face into the dust,
my old man returns to me
with hatred, fear and lust.

If only i would not look back
to see his haggard face,
the one who haunts my soul
would be abolished in God's grace,

yet each time I set my heart
to do the task at hand,
each time I fix my eyes upon
the Son of God and man,

my focus is usurped by some
deplorable distraction,
enough to hold my gaze
but never offer satisfaction.

My attentions, if upon You
drift from left to right
in pursuit of earthly matters
lacking prudence, aim or sight.

My selfishness, unsightly,
is the foe I'm fighting now,
as my weak and trembling body
tries to push this heavy plow.

I grow tired, dear Jesus,
of my mediocre strife,
I want to sacrifice to You
the best things of my life,

and if they are filthy rags
accept them by Your grace
as an offering made possible
when Jesus took my place

upon the cross of sorrow
paying in His flesh and soul
the price to make a worthless wretch
like me complete and whole.

What are these chains that keep me
from soaring on the wings
of a heart truly committed
to other human beings?

Break this black complacency
and set my spirit free
to love someone besides myself
as much as You love me.

In this world of pointing fingers
there is no place left to turn
but the mirror of Your Word
where my reflection seems to yearn,

groaning to put off that which
corrupt, must soon decay,
to put on that which lasting
is the love that lights my way.

Your burden light, Your yoke
not heavy, Jesus show me how
to walk in grace and by Your strength
to push this rusty plow.
 

           Boundless Love

While walking down life's path one day
I found to my remorsed dismay
that many times I'd turned away
from You my Lord.

How is it that in times like these
I often grieve and seldom please
that when I fall down on my knees
You can still forgive me?

Your love so long, so deep and strong
it totally astounds me,
that everywhere I go on earth
Your grace and peace surround me.

It is Your lasting faithfulness
that has kept and bound me,
in the deepest valleys dark
Your love and mercy found me.

Place in me a heart to love,
a soul which will obey,
help me, God, to love you more,
to worship and to pray.

With all my heart, my soul, my mind
I love You more than life you'll find
and still don't understand this holy love.
Thank you Jesus, my best friend above!
 

          The King's Clown
       (1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Last night I sought Your face
my Lord, I waited patiently
for You to kill the pride within
and gently humble me.

I cried anguished tears of
emptiness longing to be filled,
and in a peaceful silence
my troubled soul was stilled.

In the absence of the people
no one else can hear
the words of love You whispered
softly in my ear.

I feel alone and cold
even when I'm with then Lord,
some kind of stranger to humanity
that time could not afford.

So I wander aimlessly
toward a place in time
neither captain of the rhythm
nor keeper of the rhyme.

I feel so far from anyone
to touch and be made warm,
a nomad in this darkened age
before the final storm.

The thought of being here alone
fills my heart with fright,
but I know my Lord You will
be holding me tonight.

Still I often wonder Lord,
just why am I here?
Why did You ever choose to save
this wretch so full of fear?

I drift near and far from You
while clutching at Your hand,
to trust by faith through grace
in what I can not understand.

I know I can not question You
whose love transcended my ways,
to no one can I liken You
Most high, Ancient of Days.

I know Your wisdom is above
all that I'll ever know.
Your dying for me demonstrates
the way I too should go.

Why God, did You choose me,
I, created for this task?
In all my utter foolishness
I never seem to ask.

The ugliness of sin,
my untrue motivation.
make Your innocence my righteousness
and Christ my soul's salvation.

I'm just a jester in your court,
sometimes i make Your children laugh,
with all my silly antics as
I stumble down Your path;

someone who plays and instrument
and sings an empty song,
a poet full of nonsense
writing dirges all day long.

Behind the smile that's on my face,
behind the paint and mask pass
a raging storm of tears
that within my heart amass.

Why in me, with all this weakness
did You choose to build your house?
I'm a flea, a speck of dust,
against this world, a mouse.

So small, like a reed,
bent by breath of wind,
i am the straggliest wanderer
of all the sheep You tend.

Why me, my Lord? I wonder.
I can offer nothing but
this heart that You have given me
and that is not enough.

As I lay here now before You,
my soul begins to cry,
my request simply being,
"Teach me how to die."

Take from me what You must,
add to me what You will.
Teach me how I too, could love,
to wait and remain still.

and know that you are God
working in my life,
perfecting in my heart and soul
the mind of Jesus Christ.

Crucify my inward parts,
and though it cause great pain,
when at last my will submits
to Yours, my Lord, what gain!
 
No longer living for myself,
let those dreams sink in the mud,
these grains of sand so hard to hold
aren't worth one precious drop of blood

that trickled down Your cheek,
on your gentle face so meek,
it was for a king's clown jester,
no one noble but a beggar!

Yet scarcely for a good man
high in stature would one die,
yet You died for me? a fool?
I cheat, I steal, I lie.

As I look into Your eyes
I know it was for me You died,
this jester, less than no one
with so many sins to hide.

You died for me, an outcast,
all there is, was and will be,
the Beginning and the End
was crucified for me.

This is an unsolved mystery,
what love could there be
that would of its own free will
lay down its life for me?

Significance is given me,
that I a common street rat
with nobility engrafted
by the Savior's blood at

Golgotha, am a child of God,
a brother of the Prince,
His servant and His friend
beyond mortal pretense.

Not forgetting what I was,
occupied with what will be;
I am still a jester, but one
pardoned, saved, set free.

Redeemed, I bow before You,
a silly, sappy, clown,
searching for Your wisdom
in every smile and frown.

The children's laughter fails me
and faintly fades each song,
yet I rejoice in being
that to you I now belong.
 

    In the Shadow of Hope
      (Romans 7:15-25)

I know not where I go,
nor neither when I came,
ceaselessly I change
somehow remaining just the same.

I do not understand the many
things I think I know,
and emptiness transcends this
mortal shell of flesh I show.

The things I long to do,
I strangely do them not.
Within life's ghastly stew
I simmer, cold and hot.

The things that I despise
I most often do commit,
and hope eludes my eyes
in this dark and lifeless pit.

Who can save me now?
Oh, so completely lost
to my accuser I must bow.
I can not pay his cost.

Enchained by will and circumstance
I cry to You, "My Lord!,"
as You save me from myself
to live forevermore.
 

         I Know

My Lord I know I love You,
nothing else I know,
but that You love me too,
for this to me You show.

I don't know who I am,
I don't know why I'm here,
or why I feel so far from You
when in truth You're near.

But Lord I know I love You
in this darkness all around.
I know You love me too
as my heart begins to pound.

I don't know why You chose me,
where I go or why I've gone,
or why I feel so lonely
as for my friends I long.
 

I don't know why I'm crying,
why I can not laugh,
or why my heart is dying
in the wake of sorrow's wrath.

Will the bright sun rise
or shall the pale moon wane?
Tomorrow will I be bereaved
of someone else again?

I miss her, I know she's with You.
Can You tell her I am sorry there?
That she's my sister and my friend,
that for her I deeply care?

God I don't know if years from now
my life will be the same,
how long I'll bare the loneliness
of all my hard-earned shame.

But God I know I love You,
that You're with me all the time.
God I know You love me,
I am Yours and you are mine.

So many friends I miss today
I wish I'd learned to treasure,
but when I see them at the end
I'll have joy beyond measure.

I don't know how I'll face tonight
as darkness falls again,
I just can't say goodbye
to my sister, my friend.

Her body, cold and lifeless,
I know she is not there,
but dancing in the heavens,
laughing with You in the air.

Will I face tomorrow if
I make it through this night?
Hanging on today has drained me
of my strength and sight.

All the things I thought I knew,
they crumbled into dust
falling from my fingertips,
corroded, worn with rust.

I don't know anything at all,
I stand a frightened child,
a naive, simple minded fool,
a mad beast running wild.

Nor can I understand, My Lord,
this world so grand and vast.
I, a mouse, blink in wonder
as each moment thunders past.

I don't know a single thing,
nor can I understand
the thoughts that are inside myself
and every single man -

feelings, how the seasons change,
the hearts of men grow cold,
how precious love so warm and new
can cool to lukewarm, stale and old.

Can those who love each other do
unselfish things of love so great,
then in a momentary trial
wound each other with their hate?

I don't know how life goes on
as so often, here, I fall;
I'm baffled with each breath I take,
I know nothing at all . . .

But God I know I love You,
that's how my heart survives,
and God I know you love me,
that's the only reason I'm alive.
I'll see her again, I'll see
them all, I have Your promise,
we'll be reunited underneath
Your wings of solace.
 

          Dark Journey

Despair, sadness, darkness, sorrow
trickling from eyes mourning tomorrow.
Iceland and desert, parched earth and rain,
feelingless death, throbbing pain . . .

Pointless emptiness, meaningless void,
hopelessness longing, dreams destroyed.
Nothingness seething, devouring rage,
chaotic beginning, the end of the age.

Confusion blaring, doubts inward tearing,
insanity whirlwinds distorting and blaring,
lamenting grief weakly to fight
death and the dark of the coming night.

Suffering, broken, so incomplete.
War of destruction, blood of defeat.
Meaningless, raw vanity in
blind and senseless humanity.

Twisted passions, wishful death,
fearful loss of life and breath.
Helplessly drifting, searching, alone.
Hiding a heart as cold as stone.

There's some hope I have in Christ,
that I'll live my own life twice,
once down here upon the earth,
and once again, the second birth.

The shadowlands behind are past,
fading like the withering grass.
Death no end, but just the start
of journeys into heaven's heart.

               Three Years Ago

I can't believe it's been
three years since you left.
I'll never understand
the fleeting mystery of death.
Except that now you live
deeper - fuller in my heart
than I knew you then,
there's something of you
that is part

of the way that I think
and the way that I feel,
you compel me to search
for truth that is real,
I know that in heaven
you are joyful and whole,
and somehow down here
you're a part of my soul.

I wish I'd known before
you ended your stay,
that there were so many things
I wanted to say.
I'm sorry for every
deed and hasty word,
I guess, being in heaven,
by now you've heard

that I love you, I care,
friend I deeply regret
the love I didn't show you,
I'll never forget
the times that we shared,
they are moments of joy
that no time or distance
could ever destroy.

And if they haven't told you
I'll tell you myself,
shaking my dusty old pride
off the shelf,
my closest sister,
my dearest friend,
I'll see you soon
in heaven again,

and I'm sorry,
no misunderstanding is worth
the price of our friendship
of heavenly birth,
forgive me, my life
is so rich by you,
full of all that you say
and all that you do.

When we meet again,
delivered from sin,
I will make you laugh
with my silly words,
my foolish pranks,
my own little way of
telling you "thanks"

for all that you've given me,
all you have shown
about living for God,
and not on my own,
and together we'll dance
and we'll laugh and we'll cry,
in the kingdom of God
where there is no "good bye".
 

El Ontoño de la Vida

En el ontoño cambia el mundo,
vientos cariñosos me traen sueños
de la tierra y colores fenomenos.

Todas las horas estoy pensando en salir,
Siento triste, quiero irse, ¿Puedo me reir?

No, lloro. El ontoño de mi vida se acabó.
Siento que estoy corriendo de mi sombra,
y la muerte cruza la espalda como una culebra.

El corazón duerme como si no tuviera la sangre.
¡La vida! ¡La vida! ¿Porque vivimos?
La no puedo saber. Solamente las lagrímas
cayendo en la hierva a morir, y nunca, nunca
no veré alegría hasta que veo tu cara.

¡Miro! Miro en las estrellas por tu.
En la luna, en el sol, en el mar azúl.
Pero lo parece que perdí la hora en 
palabras vanas sin fin.

¿Porque? me repuesto. En las ojas amarillas
y anaranjados mis ojos estan nublados.
En rojo tan linda como el verde,
siento que tengo un hambre pero 
no lo puedo satisfacer.

En esto ontoño, 
viene el invierno de la muerte.
¿A donde buscaré la esperanza? 
La luz está escondido,
olcultado en la oscuridad de la alma,
de la natura de la muerte,
de los sueños de un hombre.

¿Quién puede salvarme? Veo mi amor,
la luz de mi alma, Jesús da me la vida.
Ahora aunque empieza la primavera. En los
abrazos Cristo se toma mis heridos, el
agarra me cerca de su corazón. 

Me aupa en los manos, el se quita mi
vergÜenza cuando era niño.

Viviré en la sombra, abajo de sus alas.
El es para mi la razón que vivir,
de esto mundo, un camino a salir

las cosas triste de la tierra.
Me ha traido la esperanza, la verdad.
En el los miedos los desaperecen.
Hay un gozo imenso ahora, y viene el verano
de al vida para quedar y durar para siempre.
Viviré con el, mi Padre, 
y la familia que tengo
en Cristo en la ciudad de 
la Nueva Jerusalém cuando moriré.
Jesús es la primavera dentro 
todas las estaciones de la vida.

A Mi Amigo Jesú-cristo

Mi amigo, ¡como te amo!
Cristo, el gran eternidad.
Eres mi esperanza sola,
mis sueños y realidad.

Para siempre estaré contigo
en la tierra y los cielos sobre,
en todas momentos estoy contento,
cualquiera estoy rico o pobre.

Eres mi hermano cariñoso
quien es mi mejor amigo también.
Eres la vida de mi alma,
mi aliento, agua, y pan.

Hablará en palabras sin fin,
pero no lo parece que no puedo
decir bastante de tu cuidado perfecto,
que conmigo siempre quedaré lo.

Estoy soprendido que eres mi Señor,
en todos tiempos estas conmigo.
Eres el esposo de mi alma,
mi ayuda sola, ¡te digo!

¿Como puedo regalar tu amor?
Amor a un pecador como mí,
¿Como puedes olvider y perdonar
que soy tan mal aqui?

Un hombre horrible, del mundo,
pero tu sangre que cayó bajo la cruz
me lava puro y fundo.
¡Cambiaste la obscuridad a la luz!

Que para mis pecados te muriste,
y los dolores que te sufriste,
fueron para una persona como migo,
¡Para siempre vivir‚ contigo!

La estrella de mis ojos
que esta brillando en mi corazón,
te adoro, te bendigo, te amo,
eres en migo una cancion.

La fusión que tenemos
es un calidad que me calla,
que para siempre pertenezco a tigo,
rodeando de tu amor que nunca falla.

Tu hermano, eres mios,
mi Dios, esperanza, y calor.
Nunca no podría vivir sin tigo,
sin tu presencia y favor.

Eres mi sol y mi luna,
mi mar azúl y montaña alto,
eres la fuerza en mi debilidad,
mi compañero, Espiritú Santo.

Eres un fuego grande
que hace mi cuerpo frio calor.
En tus abrazos seguros
olvido mi peor horror.
(El dolor sin fin de seado un hombre.)

Tu fueras un hombre, has sido humano pero
sin pecado. Una día pronta me entregarás.
Por eternidad soy solo tuyos,
espero hasta que me cambiarás.
(Te amo, mi amigo . . .)

      Passing Time
      (Luke 21:28)
  (Revelation 22:20-21)

I walk the earth at night
nearer to the shore of dawn
where time becomes a wakeless calm
and I its changeless pawn.

At the edge this vacant city
stretches on in empty streets
where the echo of desertion
and the sound of silence meets.

My heart turned inward on itself
implores my soul to weep,
so I walk these streets at night
because I can not sleep.
 

My eyes in focus on the sky
wait for His return,
I search the starlit fields of black,
the spheres that brightly burn.

The ecstasy of hoping mingles
with the dark of sorrow,
while yet I mourn today
I shall be comforted tomorrow.

Do not rejoice my enemy
because you see me weep,
for the hands of God are strong
and He, my soul, shall keep.

And though I have no strength
I will boast that I am weak,
the Lord is my salvation and
the strength I daily seek.

The loneliness I feel without You,
Lord it sears my soul,
each day I wait to be with You
exacts a heavy toll,

yet I lift my head in hope
with each progressing sign,
waiting for Your coming, here
I stand, just passing time.

 You Stopped Looking in The Mirror

Once I stopped to look into
the mirror of the Word,
far too long it had been
since any news I'd heard

of how my journey fared
toward the kingdom of the light;
what I saw reflecting in
the mirror was a sight . . .

My reflection, staring at me,
keeping time with every pace
began to do things by itself
contrary to my face!

And opening its mouth,
(I'm so amazed that I could shriek)
the image in the glass began
to move its lips and speak:

"You stopped looking in the mirror,
you stopped caring how you look.
no longer bothered with comparing
hearts and motives to the book.

Arriving at the end of life,
weary eyed, full of age,
feeling cheated, robbed, deprived
of all your moments on the stage.

Acting someone else's part,
forgotten, that wondrous place
the songs that filled your heart
as you would look into God's face.

Always living the hereafter,
hoping in tomorrow's dreams,
the present slips into the past
collapsing on time's wayward beams.

Of the "should be/could be",
I've seen you cry in desperation
of it from what is,
blinded by the separation.

Cheated out of happiness,
robbed of simple pleasure,
stripped of joy and love
by the very things you treasure.

The color gone, the music stops,
your life way past its prime,
you realize what you got was less
than what you traded - time.

Precious sweet potential,
the "could be" narrows down
to a single changeless "what is"
rooted firmly in the ground;

a tree of tall consistency
whose rubber limbs erase
the call, the love, the peace that
comes from looking in God's face.

Like a forest petrified,
as living wood becomes cold stone,
you have made the treasures of
this world your very own.

Why did you stop? When did it seem
unimportant for your stare?
To look into the mirror,
to love, to cry, to care?

Was it just the cares of
this life that led away
your heart and mind and soul
from the God to which you pray?

When will you return
to the mirror of your soul
and welcome change with grace
from the hand that makes you whole?"

The phantom faded into mist,
back to an image, dark and dead
leaving me to think about
all the things it said.

I pondered them a while
in the depths of my heart,
resolving in their light
to make another start.

God straightened out my spirit,
combed the cobwebs from my mind,
wiped the scales from my eyes
and the sin that made me blind;

and looking in the mirror,
grieved at the consciousness I saw,
the lust within my eyes
and the hatred in my jaw

a greater hope within me
fringed this moment, painful, true;
You're changing and will change my soul
from this to be like You.
 
 
 

        The Witness
     (Matthew 24:12-13)

To stay wise I play the fool
so that you may not suspect
my true intent and purpose,
the secrets I protect.

For men will trust a fool
when from the wise they run in fear.
Two thousand years ago was my
descent to bring them near

to a knowledge of the truth
and a hope for their escape,
that Jesus Christ can free them
from their loneliness and hate.

I see but seem so blind,
I hear appearing deaf,
insane, though in my mind,
I call you with each breath.

Mercy is not ignorance,
forgiveness is not waste,
gentleness is not in vain,
to lose, no bitter taste.

I cry tears you can not see,
they tear my soul in two,
I weep and mourn silently
for everyone of you.

Oh that judgment would not come
on any who I cherish,
for all I ask God day and night
"Please don't let them perish."

But I, His Son, can not persuade
God who is so just
to withhold what is deserved
for in His grace he must

render what is due to those
who mock His only Son,
having outside forms of godliness
but inside truly none.

With his mouth man says he loves me,
with hearts as cold as sod,
they trample on my grace and love
whereby they curse the name of God.

Yet this scripture in my Word
is with blood engraved:
he who endures to the end -
the same shall thus be saved.
 
 
 
 
 

         Clouds

White clouds in a crystal sky
sail slowly across a sea
of acrid green and gray,
they drift inside of me.

Memories unstratified of
events yet to come,
visions from the past
of shady things I've done.

Hopes extended in the passage
of each dream fulfilled.
the preciousness of present tenses
deeply, here revealed.

Building concrete monuments
to moments lost in time,
dreading gold and riches
though I haven't got a dime.

I realize how unreachable
is each day that has passed,
how pointlessly we treasure
all the trinkets we amass,

all that I can reason,
all there is of truth and worth,
is found in the living
of the glorious second birth.

How final is the outcome
whether gain or loss.
to be found in bearing
that despised and hated cross.
 

      A Day in the Park

When I in awe consider
all the things you have created;
the magnificence of Your glory
in the splendor of its fashion;
that all the earth Your footstool
is such a lovely place,

crafted in Your kindness
with Your intimate compassion,

I without words remain
silent in Your arms,
astounded by Your love,
amazed by Your gentle touch.
you are a God of justice,
a God of recompense,
yet You are the one who died,
who loves this wretch so much.

That You in all Your wonder
can withhold Your wrath
from the race that crucified You
and in endless grace
demonstrate to us your mercy,
so terrible and great,
to those who seek with thirst
the satisfaction of Your face.
 

           The Fool
    (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

Somehow God has chosen me,
the weak to shame the strong,
in saving me eternally,
forgiving all my wrong.

I know I am a fool and yet
I could shame the wise
by humbling myself, not giving
heed unto their lies.

I dread of being human,
how I long to change my form,
inside my heart I laugh though
I am outside, old and worn.

To be alive is misery,
in emptiness alone,
save the hope that Jesus Christ
can flesh my heart of stone.

Being with this Love of mine
has made life worth its strain,
and I know, could surely show
my life is not the same

sorrow that it used to be
for this I know in truth,
I now regret the one I am
and was deep in my youth.

The sins I left seem long ago
and yet my mind they haunt.
When shall I leave these horrid
sins of greed and fear and want?

Still a joy within my heart
shines bright and keeps me here,
it is the love and presence of
my Lord who dwells so near.

So you see He's chosen me
though I am but a worm,
and as is fit within this pit,
this fallen earth, I squirm.

I'll laugh and cry myself to sleep
till ends my earthly days,
until I go to be with God
in happiness always.

The bride of Christ, I love her so,
and how I long to give
myself to her in all I do,
this foolish life I live.

             Time

Tick-tock around the hands of time
will pass each day on earth called "mine",
not knowing as I dance this dance
when i will end life's trite romance

someday to leave these visions black,
the empty, vain motif I lack
to stake my claim upon this shore,
no there must be something more!

I'll travel few and far between
the many lands both gray and green
till I attain this solemn goal,
to find my Lord and be His foal.
 

          Destiny

Predestined is my chosen fate
and yet each choice I choose
provides for me a life I make
my own, to win or lose.

It's always up to me to pick
the way of death or life,
to turn the other cheek
or take the vengeful path of strife.

Although God sees the future
and the past with Him is one,
He only judges every man
upon the things he's done.

God is just and never would
destroy without a cause
those who act in wickedness
defying all His laws.

Nor does he look to outward guise
but judges by the heart.
He knows the fleeting thoughts of men,
their every working part.

Our motives then are futile,
no matter how they are disguised
in philosophy and reasoning,
they are vain before God's eyes.

For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness before the Lord
and His uncompromising truth
divides asunder as a sword

the knowledge of the learned,
He blinds the eyes of prudent men,
yet reveals to child-like hearts
His living truth within.
 
 
 

        Different Friends

So far away and long ago
Christ came down to earth to show
that we our hearts could reconcile
to God, in every test and trial.

Christ rose again triumphantly
to give us life eternally.
We try to fill the emptiness,
this deep and hungry loneliness

that rips our heart in half
and fills our souls with wrath;
yet we who know Him walks above
the limit of our human love,

the strife and fighting of our race,
because in Him there is a place
where we can meet as one,
bound in Christ the Son;

and though we fall from unity
He called us all a family,
let's stick together, thick or thin,
because you are my special friend.
 

       One and Single Rose
          (To my wife)

Unnoticed by her passing glance
I stopped to recognize
the beauty of a flower - such
it stung my roving eyes!

For there beside the heather
in a patch of floral prose
was the apple of my eye,
my one and single rose!

I sat down beside her
scarlet petals laced with dew
and pricked my finger on a thorn!
(The longing that I felt for you!)

Then became I frail like
trembling reeds in violent wind,
no other flower could I look upon,
to no rose my heart would bend

but to you, enchanted flower,
belonged my love complete,
to the petals of my rose
whose nectar drips with love so sweet!

Standing there unable to
my unkempt form compose,
I held in shaking hands
my One and Single Rose.
 
No other nectar is as sweet,
no other flower glows
with the kindness, love and beauty
of my One and Single Rose.
 

       The Other Side

If I could see beyond this veil
beyond these bones so dry and frail,
into the coming age of Light
the dawning of the end of night;

if I could shed this mortal shell
of flesh that holds me in its spell
and break free of these prison bars
I could soar among the stars.

If I could only live my years,
base all my hopes and dreams and fears
on this unseen other side,
then in the Vine I would abide.

But distracted by these things
that with mortal eyes I see,
I forget that nothing here
will last for eternity

I build a work of leaves and straw
built on sand, this house will fall,
tried by fire, it will not last,
when all these temporal things have passed.

and though my body wastes away
I am renewed day by day
inside, my immortal soul
is racing toward a higher goal.

I know beyond the joy and pain
of earthly loss and earthly gain
there is a place that shines so bright
it trifles everything in sight;

love an endless surging sea,
light - supreme reality,
peace and justice fill this place,
here they gaze upon God's face.

Blessed city coming down,
where she stands is holy ground,
God lights her streets with righteousness
her people dwell in happiness,

life, a river, floods her shores,
pearls and sapphires line her doors,
singing songs of love never cease
stars and angels, man and beast

bow down to their chosen King,
the ruler over everything,
laughing, dancing, sister, brother,
express their love for one another.

Shining from His mercy seat,
the Lamb of God now comes to meet
with His bride and they embrace
in the power of God's grace.

He wipes the tears from all our eyes
and there we finally realize
that all the sorrows of our life,
all the loneliness and strife

have passed and now forever we
with our Lord shall always be
and with each other, in that place
where we shall look upon God's face.
 

         The Commitment

God's faithfulness endures to you
as the days go by,
He's with you when you're laughing
and He sees the tears you cry.
He watches you, observing you,
He cares for everything you do,
watching, waiting, acting
to perfect His love in you.

When times are good and prospering
we lose humility,
He lovingly looks past the pride
and gently brings us to our knees.
When times are bad and in despair
we can not lift our head,
He cares, He weeps, He bleeds,
for us His precious blood was shed.

Because He loves you, you are His,
He will not let you go.
Close your eyes, feel your heart beat,
in each breath you know
He will never now forsake you,
you are His and His alone,

and when this world grows dim
remember heaven is you home.
 

          Goodbye

I feel as though I knew you
so long before we met,
I spent both days of happiness
and agony and fret
with you my precious brother
sharing in your joy and pain.
In the sorrow of our parting
poignant memories will remain.

It seems when I was younger
that I dreamed some day we'd meet,
then I would hunger for our
greeting with anticipation sweet

until fulfilled I stood with you
my brother in the Lord,
brought together on the cross
by love the binding cord.

The time we've passed together
does not now amount to much,
but in each ticking second
I have felt the tender touch
of God's hand upon our hearts,
the gift of unity,
binding, freeing, shaping us
into His family.

For comfort in our loneliness,
this fellowship we part,
it is a solace to remember that
we still are one at heart.
The Spirit that indwells me
is the same that indwells you,
the Father that you walk with
has become my Father too.

We are one bound forever
with a crimson, lasting seal,
separate, we shall meet again
when heaven is revealed.
His blood can not be washed away
no matter where we go,
in Him we share a fellowship
no one else can know.

I will deeply miss you
as the days go by and yet
this hope that reassures me
will not let my soul forget
that soon will come a day
when we shall throw away "goodbye",
and God will wipe the tears
from every longing, weeping eye.
 
 
 

        Anticipation
      (Romans 8:21-24)

My heart is Yours, completely Yours,
it's beating in Your hands,
every moment of my life
subject to Your demands;

a holy God whose holy Word
illuminates my life,
an alleyway of sin torn
by struggle, strain and strife.

The passions in my soul torment,
burning deep in fury,
cinders burning just to touch You
make my life a frozen flurry

of flakes of frozen tears
falling from the bloated clouds
of loneliness without You
that everything enshrouds.

If my heart could see You once,
this heart out of control,
this heart You hold the strings to
with the reigns that lead my soul,

I think that I would die
and doubt that I had ever lived,
such power, grace and feeling
would that single moment give.

If I set eyes upon You whom
my soul most longs to see,
could I withstand the flames
of Your steadfast love for me?

If I see You as You are
I think that I will die,
if I can't forgive me Lord,
I'll never cease to try.
 

    Where Do I Fit In?
       (John 3:8)

God where do I fit in this
master plan of Your's divine?
Where is the niche I occupy,
my place in space and time?

I feel like such an oddity
here living on my own,
the only place I feel at peace
is in your arms alone.

Some sense of belonging here
invades my privacy;
but for all my failed attempts
I just can't find the key

of fitting in a world
that's alien to all I know,
I feel like such a stranger
everywhere on earth I go.

Where do I fit in God,
in this vague perplexity?
This body of believers
calls so coaxingly to me;

for me to join their ranks
reaching countries near and far,
do they have purpose and reason,
do I know just who they are?

I want to be like others,
just an ordinary part
of the way in which you do things
but these passions in my heart

won't let me go, they hold me
captivated in Your grace,
lost in adoration of
Your bright and shining face.

Helpless in Your gaze
I drift powerless and slow,
not controlling my direction
or the paths down which I go.
 

         Reflection

I am a shiny mirror washed
within the blood of Christ,
reflecting back on those who look
the darkness of my life.

I'd rather just absorb them
and conceal their imagery,
but they don't recognize themselves,
they turn and point at me . . .

Yet I am nothing! Poor and empty,
just a simple, plain reflection
of the Master's perfect love
that works the sinner to perfection.

I reflect like shiny windows,
water, silver, gold and glass,
a reproduction of their thoughts
as they scoffing, walk on past.

Blunt reflections in my eyes,
a blur inside my spirit
of each human heart I touch
that hides each time I near it.

Do they recognize themselves
when they coldly stare at me?
To catch a fleeting glimpse
of their own humanity . . .

Everywhere, in everyone I look
all that I see -
a faint reflection of myself,
let me judge it soberly.
 

        Moment of Unity
       (Ephesians 4:1-16)

Time forever passes on,
so swiftly we, its yielding pawns,
alone, afraid, lost, unsure,
wondering what will endure.

Through many trials and tests has come
the love of God through Christ, His Son,
and now a greater, growing power
fills us in this very hour.
 

Friendship looms above our heads,
some sweet serenity,
we both discover in our hearts
a wondrous certainty!

So much alike, yet so apart,
oh can we cross this bridge?
We can be one, our fears undone
by love's redemptive pledge.
 

          Le Berger Bête

Une jour j'ai fait une promenade
quand j'ai encontr‚ un BERGER.
Il a dit a moi que il a ‚t‚ tr‚s triste.
J'ai demand‚ quand j'ai il REGARDER
"Porquoi vous etez triste MONSIEUR?"
Il dit que il a dit a la vie ADIEU!
Il a met les mans sur la tˆte y dit:
"Je suis un berger. Je garde les moutons.
Por tout la vie j'ai ‚t‚ contente a
garde les MOUTONS.
Mais hier matin j'ai vu une vache
que ais les yeaux joli.
Nous la SOUVENONS.
Maintenant je veux garde les vaches,
mais si je garde les vaches je vais rompre
des mon moutons les COUERS,
parce que ils sont tr‚s jaloux
et je suis a ils un PERE.
Que est-ce que je peux FAIRE?"
J'ai repond‚ que il y a quelquechose
que je SAIS:
"Deux des moutons dans les mans sont meilleur que trois
des vaches dans l'arbuste."
Il a dit a moi, "Merci beacoup Monsieur,
vous avez donn‚ l'avis PARFAIT!"
 

Seulment les Chats Peuvent Savior les Chats

Avez vous une chat?
Saivez vous le chat?
Tout les temps ils pensent
que ils sont tr‚s BEAUX.
Ou les chats habitent est
sans importance
a les le CHATEAUX.
Porquoi les chats aiment l'HOMME?
Ils sont dans noir yeux le POMME
mais ils ne pensent pas que
nous somes plus GRANDE
dans touts les choses que ils
veulent DEMANDer.
 

Aber Ich Nicht Kann Verstehen Sie

Meine freunde ist mich,
Ich volle gehen mit dich.
Ich lerne fleigen,
woher ich kann ausgehen?