Shake, Rattle ‘n Rule (Poem)

See the series here

Shake, Rattle ‘n Roll…

A very popular blues-rock song,

Back when Rock ‘n Roll was idolized,

About a fellow who realized,

His lover had been doing him wrong. ¹

‘You wouldn’t do nothin’ to save your doggone soul!’

Spurned by his lover, he takes no blame,

Casting upon her all of the shame.

That is the blues, to the swing of rock ‘n roll.

Shake, Rattle ‘n Roll…

Hey, does this sound like the news headlines of today?

All across our world, folk’s lives are being upended,

Previously rejected norms, are now defended,

Things once unimaginable are now …OK.

Such was the case for Israel in days-of-old.

So far had they strayed from what God required,

That His Grace to them finally expired.

Most folk 'wouldn’t do nothin’ to save their doggone souls!

Shake, Rattle ‘n Roll…

That’s exactly what God promised, then prepared,

Lives and systems, shaken!

Hopes for escapes, darkened!

By two invading nations, folk were ensnared.

But get this. Even in the midst of their destruction,

Folk doubled-down on their God-insurrection.

Other lovers had captured their affection.

Worshiping their idol gods, they would not abandon.

Shake, Rattle ‘n Roll…

That is what’s happening to our lives today.

Israel’s past, serves as a microcosm for us,

Portending today when, toward God, folk are callous.

We’re on slippery slopes to our own doomsday!

The Lord twice promised once more to shake,

ALL things in, on and those pertaining to Earth.

To a brand-new age, His shaking will give birth. ²

At this time, there’ll be great heartache!

Shake, Rattle ‘n Roll…??

The rattling that will follow His great earthquake,

May echo all across our solar system.

Never before will a time be so gruesome,

As lands, nations and all systems are reshaped.

Yep, God has promised all Earth to shake and rattle,

But rather than ‘roll’, He’s decided to ‘rule’,

Over survivors who will have played the fool. ³

This is the rock ‘n rule I see in The Bible.

Shake, Rattle ‘n Rule…

Friend, are you prepared and ready for it,

In your body, soul and spirit?

Your reply God will elicit,
Your eternal life to gain ...or forefit.

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¹ A song, written in 1954 by Jesse Stone under his assumed songwriting name Charles E. Calhoun. It was originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, and subsequently by a host of popular artists.

² “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land…’” (Haggai 2:6) “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” (Hebrews 12:26 and Revelation 16:17-21)

³ See: Zechariah 14 and Revelation 20

Unprecedented (Poem)

Unprecedented! This never happened before!

That’s the first time ever! Nothing’s normal anymore!

Long established records broken!

Everything normal, now questioned!

I speak not of happenings in our day,

But when Noah’s ark would be swept away!

Imagine the panic when down from the sky,

Water would fall on everything that was …dry!

According to the ole story in The Bible,

It hadn't flooded before; perhaps rained and drizzled.

But folk were sinful, so God sent rain, suddenly!

In His Sovereignty, people were judged, stridently!

To them He gave Grace for quite a long time,

But into the ark, they refused to climb.

Without further warning, Grace was called home,

After folk had rejected …His Shalom.

Unprecedented!!! This never happened before!!!

That’s the first time ever!!! Nothing’s normal anymore!!!

Long established records broken!!!

Everything normal, now questioned!!!

I speak not of happenings in Noah’s day,

But now, when most things ‘normal’ are swept away!

Socio-cultural norms no longer ingrained,

Politics rooted in lies, contempt and disdain.

Climate, soil, air and oceans …acidified.

Insects, fish, animals and plants …damnified.

Disasters at rates …inconceivable,

With their mounting costs …incalculable.

But this time, there’s a big difference,

In God’s promised destruction sequence.

While in the flood, the rain came suddenly.

This time, judgments arrive …progressively!!!

To progressive judgments, one benefit,

Is time to repent, our gross sins to quit,

And to righteous living to recommit.

But…

We rarely hear of ‘sins’, I must admit.

Thus, for us, God’s progressive judgments may only serve,

To catalyze responses for what’s around the curve.

If we don’t do a collective lifestyle about-face,

Then at least, let’s agree to …appreciate His Grace.

If progressive judgments could somehow be,

‘Grace practice runs’ for what He said we’ll see,

Then we really need to ramp up our game.

‘Cause to date, our responses are …quite lame.

Two Prayer Challenges (Poem)

See the Prayer and Praying Series here

A popular author and pastor has extended,

A new challenge, weak prayer lives to reboot:

‘Pray four minutes a day, till four weeks are expended’.

For such a need, can anyone dispute?

‘Four minutes, four topics, for four weeks’, don’t quit. ¹

An innovative notion, prayer lives to rekindle,

And a new habit in your mind and spirit.

Imagine the impact on sons who are prodigal.

Like a modem with limited connectivity,

This challenge could not serve fast-growing needs!

Yikes! Imagine the frustrating receptivity!

From your provider, you’d demand …more speed!

Mindful of this fact I have now become:

Earth bears fruits from seeds’ ambitions. ²

Seeds are at the start of every problem.

Seeds birth the final solutions.

Jesus once said we ought always to pray, ³

And in Him to always abide, ⁴

Lest we risk becoming a devil’s prey,

Or trapped in a ...lukewarmness tide. ⁵

‘Always?’, I asked. ‘How is that humanly possible??’

He answered, ‘A constant prayer life is how

in Me you abide.

Since I know your thoughts well before, in your mind, they settle,

Across the table of your mind, My seat is always occupied!’

So…

If that prayer challenge is but a small seed,

What good fruits, pray tell, might it one day yield?

The answer’s clear when on God’s Word we feed:

Your thought life becomes …your seeding prayer field.

‘Do all things as unto The Lord’, to us is written. ⁶

Since all day long, thinking is the biggest thing we all do,

Don’t imagine that, from Him, all our thoughts ...are hidden.

So, turn thoughts into prayers, since there’s

no escape from His view.

While small beginnings should never be despised, ⁷

Neither with smallness, should we remain satisfied.

When on the path of abundant life, we stride,

Our thoughts are ‘before and unto Him’, bona fide.

Like a modem with un-limited connectivity,

God’s challenge will serve your maturing need.

wOw! Imagine the satisfying receptivity,

When, to His prayer challenge, you accede.

I leave you with a tip that worth pon'dring.

Sinner or saint, this tip should be humbling.

Whenever you think you are ‘just thinking’,

It’s to Him you are …always up-linking!

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¹ See: Max Lucado 4-week Prayer Challenge, with the following prayer topics: (a) Father, You are good, (b) I need help, (c) They need help, (d) Thank You.

² All things develop from spiritual and physical seeds. Recall, words are seeds.

³ See: Luke 18:1, Ephesians 6:18, and Jude 20

⁴ See: John 10.

⁵ See: Revelation 3:14-22 and also Laodicean Lackadaisicalness (Series).

⁶ See: And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to The Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve The Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)

⁷ See: Zechariah 4:10

Laodicean Lackadaisicalness - Part 7 (Poem)

See the series here

Have you ever noticed or possibly heard,

That faith is strong in those initially stirred,

Compared to us who’ve long been ‘in The Way’,

We in whom strong faith has begun to sway?

So concerned with the extent of its lukewarmness,

And its drift into spiritual lifelessness,

Jesus warned the Church called Laodicean,

Of critical things folk wouldn't be perceiving.

In situations where lukewarmness is found,

The urgent need is that more heat would abound!

‘Lord send Your fire!’, calls once heard across our land,

By saints who, in the revival gap, would stand.

He is faithful to supply the ‘heart heat’ we need,

As we faithfully do what in His Word we read.

But if we refuse to pass tests He has appointed,

Then out of His mouth, we deserve to be vomited.

Many Christians believers across our land so vast,

Think as a Christian nation, America is classed,

Because of a few Bible words in our Constitution,

Though to Bible themes, our lives remain ...a contradiction.

If we’re diagnosed with lukewarmness, spiritual,

We need to know that, to Christ, this is detestable.

Thus, we need Holy Ghost power that’s unquenchable.

Not the power of social fire that’s political.

God, DIE!

"God, I wish you would hurry up and DIE, so we could get our inheritance and get on with living our lives -- out from under Your shadow, Your system of rules, laws and their supposed consequences!"  

Just as the prodigal son essentially hurled a similar insult to his father, so the insult reverberates across the ages, to our world today -- "God, DIE!" This is or has been the heart's cry of each of us, including me -- judging from our prideful life styles that say, "Let me live MY life on MY own terms, not Yours!"  

Well, my friend, God DID die, in the person of His Son, Jesus, for our lives, and He DID leave us the earth as a (temporary) inheritance. And, man, have we ever messed them both up -- our lives and the earth. Thank God, as with the story of the prodigal son (you know it well), that's not the end of the story.  May we be prompted to ponder ...'the REST of the story', the story of God's loving offer of another chance to each of us individually (that's you) to find His rest and peace through the forgiveness of our sin. This incredible forgiveness is only made possible by Jesus' sacrificial death that paid the immutable penalty for our sinful disobedience when we essentially said, "God, DIE!"  

Ok, He died once.  No more. Now it's your turn, not to die, but to seize your time to live, and I mean REALLY LIVE!

"...For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  (John 3:16)

The 12 Him’s of Christmas (Poem)

What is Christmas as in The Bible entrenched?

Is it like the Christmas ‘stolen by the Grinch?’

Is it about gifts, colored lights, and merriment,

Decorations, and year-end money management??

In Earth, Holy seed was deposited-to-develop

Into Mary’s Babe, God’s Genesis 3:15 set-up.

From Mary’s womb, He was delivered-to-deliver

Us who were struck by arrows from satan’s sin quiver.

For 40 days on a mountain, He declined-to-dine,

So to Father He could say, ‘Thy will be done, not Mine.’

From town-to-town He traveled, the destitute-to-deliver,

With twelve disciples, one of whom would become His betrayer.

A cruel death on a cross He was destined-to-die,

So to Father God we could once again draw nigh.

When whipped, then crucified, He declined-to-decry

His tormentors who said His Truth was just a lie.

When He died, a Roman soldier dared-to-declare,

‘This is God’s Son!’ Voila! He became ‘God-aware.’

From the cross, His spirit descended-to-upend,

the kingdom of satan on the Earth to transcend.

Yep…

From Heaven He had come, God’s desire-to-do,

To show us He’s God’s Son, and we can be, too!

On God’s Throne, He’s now dedicated-to-defend

All who repent of their sins, and become His friend.

Now to us all, He offers a decision-to-decide:

Be horrified in hell, or with Him, saved and justified.

He is willing your judgment dregs-to-drink,

Before into your grave, then hell …you sink.

Friend, He is knocking on your heart’s door, not-to-unnerve,

But from judgment, to offer an escape, undeserved.

I pray you’ll repent, amazing grace-to-embrace,

And into God’s Kingdom be swept, all sins erased.

Devils will prompt you this decision-to-delay.

‘There’s no rush,’ they’ll say, ‘Just decide another day!’

If by their promptings, you are deceived-to-delay,

Don’t think you’ll know when, from this life you’ll pass away!

So what is Christmas as in The Bible entrenched??

It’s nothing like the Christmas ‘stolen by the Grinch!’

In our world that remains full of sinful darkness,

It’s about Jesus, and God’s 12 Him’s of Christmas:

1.     Him, Seed deposited-to-develop…

2.     Him, delivered-to-deliver…

3.     Him, 40 days declining-to-dine…

4.     Him travelling, the destitute-to-deliver…

5.     Him, destined-to-die…

6.     Him, declining-to-decry…

7.     Him, a soldier daring-to-declare…

8.     Him, descending-to-upend…

9.     Him, God’s desire-to-do…

10.  Him, dedicated-to-defend…

11.  Him, knocking not-to-unnerve…

12.  Him, willing, your judgment dregs-to-drink…

About ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’, you have-to-have-heard,

But Christmas is much longer, according to God’s Word.

From what I‘ve read, we’re all forewarned, I now testify:

Christmas lasts from the day we’re born ‘til the day we die.

Christmas is about your decision-to-decide,

‘Who is this Jesus whom folk say for me did die?’

Beware as you ponder, and avoid the derision,

Because not deciding …is clearly a decision.

For more on Christmas, please see:
Christmas Reflections