Seven hundred years before the Christ was born Micah planted a clue deep in the Word: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, . . . out of thee shall he come . . . whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” What other life in human history preceded birth into the infinite past; what […]
O God, please bless our church today Take all our love of self away Help us to gather and to pray In Jesus’ name. Lord, fill us with Thy holy love Direct our thoughts to Thee above Come, with Thy Holy Spirit move Our hearts today. Be with our members far and near And may […]
In the soft June morn When life is born Fresh dews like rainbows glisten, With heads bowed down While matins sound: The world in reverence listens. In the soft June days There’s a lazy haze On distant hills and farmlands; And enchantment there, A mystery where The sky joins with the uplands. In the soft […]
When in the golden harbor of Thanksgiving Day The harvest season sinks, at rest; ‘Tis then I raise my song of humble gratitude For bounties richly given of nature’s best. In every fertile field, in every patch of grain, I see God’s loving hands; his substance there Bestowed to satisfy the hungry ones; For he […]
O shepherds of the Bethlehem hills, When earth in slumber lay, so dark and still; And in the solemn hush of night When quickly shone a dazzling light— While hovering in that golden aureole bright You saw an angel robed in purest white— Were you afraid? O humble watchmen of the sheep, Who fearlessly your […]
Poetry is words arranged in metrical—or rhythmical—patterns called. verses; these may be regular or irregular in number of syllables and stresses. Poetry is also succinct verbal expression of thought and feeling. Often metaphorical and symbolical, its imagery suggests universally meaningful concepts. Idea presented through poetry (not doggerel or the work of poetasters) is coherent and […]
Painted with virtue And apparelled in justice, From her haughty haven She would woo the world. She would woo the world to win, But dirty men detest clean hands Which serve them Care in capsule form And caress with cosmetic compassion. As pennies pour from her pious purse, She buys the courage to face herself; […]
How precious is Gethsemane to every Christian heart, A place to worship, to adore,…and weep. In thought I stand with three disciples there, And while the Savior prays he begs us vigil keep. How very close we stand, the distance of a stone’s throw, We hear ‘strong crying’ and the sound of tears; His suffering […]
Empowered to torment him short of death, The Adversary scourged on Arab prince: With ruptive hatred reft his herds and heirs. A leprous outcast caked with clots of filth, Job squats, ash-covered, in the refuse. And swollen blister-pouches burst with worms As suppurating ulcers belch decay. “The Lord, who gives and takes, be blessed,” he […]
Could I proclaim in tones of clearest language, And spread abroad the words, that all could hear; I would waft forth a song this blessed season Of glorious hope, to men both far and near. Describing, too, the vigil of the shepherds, Who, trembling, heard the clarion herald voice; They joined the ecstasy of holy […]