A Father's Day Poem

A Father's Day Poem

On a day where we honour fathers both near and wide

Or wherever the spirit of 'father' resides

We see some are fortunate, with fathers held dear

And others less so, with fathers far less near

For some that's the man who we grew up respecting

For others, another, their own sadly neglecting

For some, we knew love from the earliest day

For others, we sought it in different ways

For some, we knew discipline, boundaries and more

For others, they left, while we cried at the door

For some, we knew stability, peace, that we mattered

For others, our fragile existence might any day shatter

For some, our father was our consistent teacher

For others, it fell to our friends, siblings or preachers

For some, growing up, we saw them every day

For others, occasionally, you see, they live far away

Fathers so varied in background and voice,

Whether ours or another's, it was never our choice

Yet, no matter the feelings that fill up your day

We're reminded of our greater good father's day

When our great father's character was displayed to the world

His greatest poured out, his full love unfurled

The ultimate sacrifice, the gift of his son,

To redeem and buy back every daughter and son

We're reminded that here is love boundless and pure

Vibrant and dazzling, not muddied, unsure

Patience enough for each and every failing

Stalwart and sure through the roughest of sailing

Determined to discipline, to steer and to guide

To shape and mould not to jeer and deride

Welcoming all home, no matter their past

With a love that burns brightly, that our whole lives outlasts

And here our great father's eternal commission

To end sin's unbreakable war of attrition

The worn down rebuilt, the broken, restored

The unloved now cherished, the wretched adored

The vagabond welcomed, the orphan now home

The restless now rested, now no more alone

The shamed raised to royalty, the burnt out, renewed

The runaways caught up, with great love pursued

Our father's love certain, our future made sure

His smile on us shining like silver made pure

Here our love stems from, our identity sound

This father's day, our Father's day, in Him we are found

No matter the father who you grew up knowing

In God we find father with no part of him owing

All we had wanted and more than we knew

His love all encompassing, depthless and true

His mercy and grace pardoning all our dissent

Forgiven in Jesus, no matter what we meant

His arms always open to hold and to shield

His ear always turned to our cries to be blessed or be healed

His hand both to guide us and also sustain

Lending us strength when our life hits the drain

Pouring out love in each moment we fail

Restoring us daily whatever our deeds entail

Some are still with us and some have moved on

Others remain in our hearts and live on

Yet, in these jewels, the true cut shines bright

Our heavenly father, the light in our life

The sun in our nighttime, the lamp to our path,

Our guide to his great home, who'll we'll see there at last

This father's day, our Father's day, our eyes fix on Him,

Our human fathers a reflection, some bright and some dim

But, knowing his love, as his children, we say

We remember our true Father's love on this Father's Day.

New poem: We come to this place today, my friend

New poem: We come to this place

A new poem out of the opening 15 minutes of Spring Harvest Week 1.  Why do we come to this place today? We come to meet with Jesus, be reminded who he is and be changed!

We come to this place today, my friends,To meet with the living God.And do we expect a change, my friend?Yes we do! For, he is no fraud.

We come to this place today, my friends,Expecting change to take placeBy looking on his beautyAnd freshly remembering his grace.

We come to this place today, my friends,For some, our faith feels worn and dull,Here we remember the God who saves usAnd restores us back up to full.

We come to this place today, my friends,By no right of our own.For we have a father who looks on us,And promises not to disown.

For we come together to this place, my friendsAs children of God's own line;Brothers and sisters with Jesus ChristBy his blood, we've joined his bloodline.

So, look on this week with expectant eyesNo matter how you might startYou father has plans for you, my friendAnd he starts here, today, with your heart.

New poem: His Kindness

Owen preached on 2 Samuel 9 today, when David shows Mephibosheth (the crippled relative of King Saul) kindness. This made me think about the how we describe who God is. I think it's his love and his kindness. After all, we're all Mephibosheth.

His Kindness

How would you define who he is?

By his kindness.

How would you describe who he is?

By his kindness.

His strength is so great that it's tempting to choose

And with him by your side you can never lose

But here is the trait that I describe and use,

His kindness.

When he looks on you, it's not with disappointment and hate

But with kindness.

When he sees you mess up, he's saddened

But still sees you with kindness.

When we deserve judgement for sins we commit

Compare to his standard and fall short of it

Yet, he sees us as His and daily he shows us

His kindness.

Though we come to him as an outcast,

He shows us his kindness.

Though lame in our hearts, he sits us there at his table

With kindness.

And counted as one of his family, we

Though broken and worthless are counted with He

Who spoke the world into being, as his brother, you see

For he looks on you

With his kindness.

When this Jesus who chose you looked there on your sin,

He chose kindness.

Love that broke all convention, far too great to mention,

This kindness.

He loved you so much that he poured out his life

You were totally unable to save your own life

So he chose to restore you to the fullness of life

Can you fathom the depth of

His kindness?

So, when you feel worthless and low friend,

Remember his kindness.

When all falls apart, and the dark closes in,

Know his kindness

He's restored you to life, let that light break on through

Because of Jesus, nothing you need to do,

Because of your Lord and your God and your King

Live friends, bound tight to the Spirit's wedding ring,

Reminding of the promise with which all heaven sings,

You are forever wrapped up

Found and bound in his love

And held for all time in the grace of our Lord

In his kindness.

New poem: You are not your sin

If you are a christian,

my friend, this is true,

no matter the place you are in.

Whatever your feelings,

whatever you've done,

my friend, you are not your sin.

Sometimes, there are big things

you do and you feel

they become what defines you within.

Yet, though they may hurt,

and you feel covered with dirt,

my friend, you are not your sin.

Other times, it might be

the frequent but small

where bad habits are gradually worn in.

But, although you keep making

the same old mistakes,

my friend, you are still not your sin.

The big and the small,

when he died on cross,

your slate was wiped clean from then in

and though you still stumble

and still let him down,

my friend, you are not your sin.

You see, you are not now

your original self,

That old person's no longer your kin.

His is the image

the father now sees

For, my friend, you are not your sin.

And, my friend, what an image

the Father now sees

when he looks at you deeply within.

For, in place of your stain

and your darkness and shame

Jesus' sacrifice covers your sin!

Like the brightest of stars,

far outshining our sun

His beauty shines hot, pure and clean

and its light burns the shadow

that darkened your heart

for, my friend, you're no longer your sin.

And yes, we must live with consequences in life

Due to that choice that we made when we sinned

But he's brought you out fron that and he's made a way through

And my friend, you're longer that sin.

He looks on you now

as his family, his child,

fully loved and forgiven in him.

So, when next the devil accuses you, friend,

Remember and tell him

That he does not own you,

The chains what once bound you

They no longer hold you

And though you may falter

His grace holds on to you.

So, no matter the place you are in,

My friend, you are not your sin!

He loves you

He loves you

My friend, I wonder how you see God

Do you think above all and everything you've done

That you are loved and cherished dear

That you are someone's beloved one

Well let me tell you pure and simple

And let this plan truth blow you away

The God who made the universe

Calls you his most beloved child today.

Do you feel like Ruth, my friend,

A gentile waif, displaced, lost and bereaved 

Waiting on the threshing floor in faith

Because a simple promise she believed

But remember the ending to the story

Her father looked down on her with love

We may have once not known him

But he redeemed her through his love.

Maybe you feel you're like the woman

Who drew water at midday from Samaria's well

Shunned by so many around her, you see

As her life choices had made we despised and ashamed

Nobody looked on her with love, fondly

Yet in steps our Jesus who moves to the heart

And as she admits all the sin and her shame

He calls her his own, says her history's behind her

And names her his beloved, the most precious of names.

Maybe you're like Peter who, in the heat of the moment

Chose to disown Jesus and just run away

And with shame he looked on as his saviour died

In all things, I'd imagine he felt he'd lost his way.

Yet, when Jesus appeared on a beach near his friends

And they gathered to eat as family once more

He treated this man as his brother and friend

Forgiving love was the language Jesus used to restore.

Maybe you feel like Eve or Adam,

One great mistake, it's all over

One bite and you're kicked out

No hope of return

That angel stands guard with a flaming sword

And apology you make you feel would simply be spurned.

Yet here is the God who held true to his promise

That the sin in the garden would one day be broken

And, in the greatest of love, stepped down into the world

And took our stain on Him, that we'd be forever forgiven.

So if you are wondering or unsure today

Whether this Jesus looks on you with a slither of love

Know fully in each day this bright, burning truth

Of our Father who stands both with you and above.

That his choice to die for you that day 

Was a choice that holds for you in all that you've done and you'll do

This Jesus, our saviour, in each and every thing

Looks upon you, looks to you, looks in you then at you and says with a voice that spoke life to the world

That rose Lazarus to life

And caused a rainbow to unfurl

With a voice that speaks life and truth in every word, whether many or few,

He would say three words you're to always remember:

I love you.

New poem: Choices

A response to people's responses to the referendum result.

Choices made and choices not
Some would call my choice a foulsome blot
Some call my choice a courageous step
Some trace the shadow of my every step
Disparaging glances cast by some or all
Yet while the world is held enthralled
The simplest choice is easily made
An underwritten game is played
So simple that I think it's missed
Amongst the praise thrown out and threats loud hissed
A choice to brand the many and the few
Abhorrant or as heroes, me and you,
Overlooking what has been held for so long
By closest friends and the wider throng,
A simple love and shared respect
A candle which can flicker out...
...if that stale breath is not checked
A choice, that we all choose to make
So here, my friend, is the one I choose to take.
Although, sometime we disagree
On little things
On the big and great
And though your thoughts might fascinate your mind
I'll treat you kind.
For I've thought much where one who loved me
Disagreed yet held to me
So I will hold to you, my friend,
Our choices, though they they may differ, shall not end
A friendship built upon love's roots
I choose to hold to you, an absolute.
For he is greater far than choices made
His will shall not by man's choice be dismayed
I hold to him in all for he holds firm
And as choices are made and wheels turn
His resolute and steadfast way leads through
And our friendship I shall hold 'tween me and you.

Poem: You are not your sin

A new poem that's come out of struggling with a few things this week and God reminding me that when I sin, that isn't what defines me.  It's grace that reminds me that Jesus has forgiven me and that I'm God's son.  That's what defines me.

You are not your sin

If you are a christian,
my friend, this is true,
no matter the place you are in.
Whatever your feelings,
whatever you've done,
my friend, you are not your sin.

Sometimes, there are big things
you do and your feel
they become what defines you within.
Yet, though they may hurt,
and you feel covered with dirt,
my friend, you are not your sin.

Other times, it might be
the frequent but small
where bad habits are gradually worn in.
But, although you keep making
the same old mistakes,
my friend, you are not your sin.

The big and the small,
when he died on cross,
your slate was wiped clean from then in
and though you still stumble
and still let him down,
my friend, you are not your sin.

You see, you are not now
your original self,
That old character's no longer your kin.
His is the image
the father now sees
For, my friend, you are not your sin.

And, my friend, what an image
the Father now sees
when he looks at you deeply within.
For, in place of your stain
and your darkness and shame
Jesus' sacrifice covers your sin!

Like the brightest of stars,
far outshining our sun
His beauty shines hot, pure and clean
and its light burns the shadow
that darkened your heart
for, my friend, you're no longer your sin.

He looks on you now
as his family, his child,
fully loved and forgiven in him.
So, when next the devil accuses you, friend,
Remember and tell him
That he does not own you,
The chains what once bound you
They no longer hold you
And though you may falter
His grace holds on to you
So, no matter the place you are in,
My friend, you are not your sin!