Forge O

I see you, your smile and your panache
You’re the package deal, that’s you,
Anyone who goes by can’t see through

You’re getting by, you know you are,
You’ve got your hang outs, you’ve got your friends
Thrown in is a nice dose of Christian odds and ends.

When you started out, you couldn’t stop talkin’ about Him,
People knew where you were coming from, identification was a breeze.
And the shortest distance you knew was between the ground and your knees.

Over time, you built a painting around yourself; the colors were vivid and intense.
The paint crust seemed to get thicker, you could tell
But the arrangement wasn’t too bad; in fact it looked pretty darn well.

Your ballet around the Church, around music and Christian talk,
Was well appreciated by everybody and their neighbor
The veneer had been polished to make you look so sure.

He called out your name, but you had your back turned.
You’d come pretty far out to sea and storms were right around the corner.
Why did you feign ignorance my friend? What for?

Don’t you realize there is a simplicity to this love?
Your veneer you need to abandon, your painting you need to wash.
Let go of the cover up, leave it be, let it rot.

Don’t fill your life with mere activity, it won’t cut it
Come clean, be yourself, it’s perfect that way.
He knows you way better than you know yourself, sees you plain as day.

My eyes fill up with tears for you my brother.
I pray you never settle for second best, that’s no good.
I only wish you make the choice when you know you could.

So farewell, our journey together has now come to an end.
Will we meet, perhaps someday, I don’t know when.

I hope the distance from your knees to the ground becomes shorter
That you hold on to Jesus’ words, believing in simplicity and love
I pray that you truly fit into His family, you, me and all of us.

The Lord Jesus guide you. Always.

Wretched Man!

…but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.

But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:14 – 24

I feel the smirks like arrows cutting into me,
The fingers pointed, ridicule dripping like perspiration off them.
“So” they say, “You think you’re all that, don’t you?”
I look up, into their eyes glazing over with revulsion
People I loved, people I thought loved me,
They were all there.

“Bastard”, I heard one of ‘em say,
Still others chose the worst from their expletive directory
“You’re nothing! You never were and you’ll never be!”
The saliva on my face feels moist,
As one without words, takes a potshot at me.

Then one kicks my back, as if I am a worthless beast
I sprawl onto the ground,
Their laughter ringing synchronously akin to the comedy shows with the cheap jokes
I don’t say a word, as I try to get back to my feet
The pats on the back are now stinging my face as slaps
Their loathing is tangible

And then He touches my shoulder,
He says to me “Friend, I’ve already been there for you.”
“There’s nothing left for you now, nothing.”
And my eyes well over with crystalline drops
As I clutch His arm, I clutch His arm
“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus” I tell Him,
“I love you for wearing the thorns on your brow…
Tis Thou who art worthy, Lord Jesus tis Thou.”

PS:
Mark 6:1-6 (The Message Bible)
On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?" But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "He's just a carpenter - Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?" They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.

For all who were a little offended at the word “Bastard” in the write-up: It was obvious that stories got around about Mary being pregnant while she was merely engaged to Joseph. No wonder they called Him, “Mary’s boy”. Jesus went through an entire life of ridicule and shame for us, you and me (Isaiah 53:3). However, He never wavered from the course He was on.

Not only did He die for us, He lived for us. Oh! Isn’t that humbling?

Where were you?

Where were you, when I called your name?
You were lost, trying the ways of the world, on for size
Where were you when I reached out to hold your hand?
You were salivating over perversity, drunk up to your eyes.

Where were you, when I asked if I could see you?
You had no time; you couldn’t take your eyes off your pay check
Where were you, when I wanted to comfort you in your grief?
You sat with your pals, drank in the smoke, spat out the verbiage, said “Hey! What the heck?”

Where were you, when I asked you to make a choice?
You said “There’s always time for that”
Where were you when I pleaded with you, to your face?
You were not convinced, as you half smiled looking back.

Where were you, when I said “I’ll wait”?
You took a look at your watch and said “Wish could, but got things to do today”
Where were you when, someone told you that I took your punishment?
You looked aside and thought “Shucks! There’s got to be an easier way”.

Where were you, when I sweat those drops of blood thinking ‘bout you?
Where were you, when without any guarantee I gave it all up?
Where were you when those nails went through, those whippings blood drew, the mockings and insults too, I gave my life, my all for you, for you
Where were you?

This is dedicated to ‘You’, my young brother, my young sister.
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.”
Isaiah 1:18