I got him tied

He once showed me a lot of stuff,
The cavorting, the dancing, the smutty guffaws

I didn't know better then, I didn't know Jesus' love

The stranger was always around in the corner

When I was sad he helped me cry

When I was happy, then came the funnies

I never knew how time would fly by

That was then, this is now

The stranger and I aren't as close as we were

He doesn't talk so often now

His eminent position, as it was, is no longer so sure

He tells me about what's happening in the world

He tells me about sharks, spiders, penguins and kangaroos

The elections, the politics, the hurricanes and the wars

I recently watched The Ten Commandments via him too

Though he be a terrible master,He now squeaks silently as a slave

The No. 1 spot has been taken a short while back

By Jesus who his time, days, nights and life for me freely gave

This be my humble opinion,

A slave, the stranger, better makes

For those who don't know him like that

Let a wrenching from him take place

And if he dares to rear his ugly head

And you feel, he is staging a coup

I would suggest you go ahead

"Throw him out" like a brother before me has rightly said.

The Stranger: The T.V.

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

The Euphemist

Ever noticed how this one individual gets so much attention?
This one individual is popular and why not!
He does the ballet and the toes all around are safe.
He laughs at it all, saying there’s no harm. After all it’s only comic.
His arm can go round anyone’s shoulder, for the euphemist has no problemo!
His view is liberal, considerate, open-minded, all inclusive and loving. Ah!
You can put him in the confessional and kneel and it’ll feel just O.K.
He can wink at the gals, he can swear with the men. Oh! Come on now!
The night is dusk and the dawn hasn’t changed into day.
Why break someone’s heart, for everyone has feelings?
He’ll rally for the killer’s amnesty,
And when not granted, he’ll light a candle at his grave.
He’ll make his voice heard, just hand him a ‘cause’.
‘Nothings right and nothings wrong’.
Euphemist, euphemist the ever loving tactician,
Your time will run out, and time won’t don your title!
What then, as life ebbs away, will you euphemize away?
Get down on your knees and call it like it is!
Give it the name, smash the façade!
Come clean! While it is today,
And then see the assurance He offers,
For He says “All things are possible to him who believes."
Shed the skin, be the euphemist no more.
No more.

Copyright © 2006 Keith Browne.

I walked on, or rather strutted. My slate had been wiped and blow dried clean. My chin was making contact with a higher level of the atmosphere. Really! It felt good to be me. And then we met.
“I didn’t deserve to be treated that way,” I thought to myself. And then I heard a request for forgiveness slip past those lips. But how could I be treated that way! My rage consumed me. Words, sights, all blurring; I could only see what I wanted to. I turned my face away in loathing. And then I heard…

"The king summoned the man and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn't you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?'
The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt.
And that's exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn't forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy." Matthew 18:32 – 35 (The Message)
Thank you, Scott Hutchison for the picture

Zac Poonen

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?
and how shall they hear without a preacher?
and how shall they preach, except they be sent?
even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!
Romans 10:14 - 15

In that day, when we all stand before Him, I shall recall the day when I was acquainted with a man. A man whose words extended beyond the comfortable hum of many a preacher. Among the rows of golden vessels empty, a lone earthen vessel brimming over. All things in love done, the point sometimes blurred to my eyes; but a gift is he. Close, yet distant. Simple, yet sharp. Valued, yet humble. For I have seen in him, the striving for perfection. "Follow me, as I follow Christ," he says. Not many akin to him, alas. Will what I witness, stir me on? Or shall I deny what I beheld on that day, when the things hidden shall be seen, the purposes of the heart disclosed? I shall not, and not be able to.
For I am among the several, who breathed in this sweet aroma of Christ to God. And as he walks, his life I thank God for, and he I call 'The Man With Beautiful Feet'.

This write is dedicated to my dear, brother Zac Poonen . Thank you for the example you are.

Poem of Love for Anna Robson

Saturday, August 13, 2005, 09:30 am
Poem of Love

Free as the pirouette of the little girl on Christmas Eve,
Deeper than the lines on my grandfather’s face,
Higher than the tip of the eagle’s wing in flight,
Faster than the blink of a stranger’s eye,
Louder than the realization of rejection,
Darker than the corner of a lunar crater,
Stranger than the most awesome coincidence,
Quieter than the drop of a feather from above,
Hotter than a walk through the burning of the desert,
Gentler than the touch of a little baby’s hand,
Mistier than the look in a forlorn lover’s eyes,
Harder than the heart that will not yield,
Bolder than the fool who does not know,
Farther than the faintest star,
Simpler than the straightest line,
Is the love we will share…

Copyright © 2005 Keith Browne.

This was written on a Saturday morning in 2005, and it was written for my wife-to-be, even though I did not know her! (thereby explains the last line). Praise Jesus for answering my prayer, when I asked Him for her.
"What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him." - 1Corinthians 2:9

The New Suit

Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy.

Unable to stand, down for the count, being sucked in to the mire I cried out to Him. He saw me, sinking, my mouth filling up with the crud, the stench overpowering like a drug. There I feel His grasp and its warm and He yanks me out. Now I stand and He has this spotlessly clean suit and here I am, how do I even hug Him to thank Him, I’ll get Him all dirty!

But… but… why is He embracing me? Can’t He see that I have become one with the grease and filth and there’s vermin crawling out my ears? But He doesn’t make me feel rotten.

He says, “Come now, and let us reason together”. I say to myself “’Reason together?’ I’m filthy! I know this suit of mine can never be as clean”.

And He washes me of my muck, great globs of dirt dropping off and here I am now, spotless! And then He fits me in with His own suit!

He tells me “There! That looks better, than what you had on earlier.” And He smiles and turns to walk away. I reach out and He turns around. Did He know I was going to say “thank you”? And I say it.

And He tells me "Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed."

Nope. I’m going to keep this suit on. I’ll be ready.