23/09/04

They creak, but bear me,
My knees, and if all else fails
I can pray on them.

22/09/04

Apples are as crisp,
As refreshing, and sharp, as
Fitly spoken words.



Cf. Proverbs 25: 11

21/09/04

As we walked the woods
Rain rained, sun sunned, wind winded
And nature natured.

20/09/04

I praise the Lord for
His skill in making the worlds:
And my Rosie’s face.

19/09/04

Such a great wonder
- The light of God in my soul -
Leads me to worship.

18/09/04

Time for my breakfast -
Time to give thanks to God for
Growing these cereals.

SWEETNESS

Among computers or washing,
Pens, basins, or branches
There is a Man who will
Bring sweetness.

Among catheters and scalpels,
Even graves and coffins,
There is a Man who will
Bring sweetness.

Among saints and angels,
And the splendours of heaven,
There is a Man who will
Bring sweetness.

LUKE 15

What the shepherd looked for
Was one who would recognise
His voice, one who would follow
His feet, one to enjoy
His pastures, one who was suitable
To be brought to the house.

What the woman sought
Was one who would shimmer to
Her lamp, one who would show
The Master’s face, one to enhance
Value within the house.

And what the father looked out for
Was one who could wear
The best robe with dignity, act
According to the gold ring, dance
Like a son in the sandals. One
With whom, in his house, he could share.

WONDERFUL...

We know He has done wondrously
And has acquired the right to rule
In righteousness and equity ‑
We know that He is Wonderful.

He gives us wisdom from above
And all the help we ask Him for
Because of His abundant love
Through which He is our Counsellor.

All things He made in mighty power ‑
From craggy peak to grassy clod,
From lofty tree to tiny flower:
We bow to Him as Mighty God.

Millennially His fatherhood
Will warm earth tenderly to assuage
Sin's legacy, and bring in good
As He is Father of the Age.

He makes sin's turmoil in the soul
Of every one who trusts Him cease,
And all the nations, as made whole,
Will own Him soon as Prince of Peace.

ABIDING

God has not been seen;
God has always been:
As I see my brother
And we love each other
God abides in us.

He who owns the Son,
And admires that One,
Loving and confiding,
In God's love abiding
He abides in God.

THANKS

When I was thanking
The Father for food He gave
He was listening.

FORMED

Every believer
Has what the Spirit has formed
According to Christ.

GATHERING

We are gathered, Lord,
To listen to Thy teaching:
And to hear Thy word.

DELIGHTED

Christ was delighted
At Pentecost
When first the assembly shone
In beauty and unity.

As persecuted saints
Faithfully owned His name
Christ was delighted
To recognise them as "Me".

Through a dispensation
Christ was delighted
To see His stars shining
In the world's darkness.

And today when lovers
Gathered to His name
And responded to His love
Christ was delighted.

(16/08/09)

THOUGHT ABOUT JOHN (vii)

A man who follows
Jesus
Will continue till He comes.

A man who rests in
The bosom of Jesus
Will be maintained.

A man who leans on
His breast, Jesus
Will sustain.

And He will keep
Till His coming a man
Who enquires from Him.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (vi)

When there was a select few
You were among them.

With James your brother,
And Peter, the first, you observed
Christ, the resurrection and the life,
Awake Jairus's daughter.

You observed also
The Son of God glorified
On the mountain top.

And the sorrows of
The Son of the man at the press,
Gethsemane.

Andrew joined you three on the mount
Opposite Jerusalem
As the Prophet prophesied.

And with Peter, adjusted
By the man with the pitcher of water,
You went to prepare for what became
The Lord's supper.

With Peter you ran
To find a bare tomb
And you saw and believed.

And in that partnership
You stood by Peter's acclamation,
"In the name of Jesus Christ
The Nazareaen".

You barely mention
Any of these things.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (v)

You usually think of John
As a contemplator: one whose mind
Had been moulded by dwelling on
The Word.

Why then was this the man
Who craved a high place
In the Lord's kingdom?

Why was this the man
Whose human zeal thought
To call fire from heaven?

Yet it was a mark
Of the Lord's approval
To call him and his brother
Boanerges.

And Christ accepts
No fleshly zeal.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (iv)

Though the Saviour went to die,
First He gave His loved ones rest:
At the supper see John lie
In His bosom, on His breast.

Jesus answered the request
Of the one who drew so near
Where His love had cast out fear
In His bosom, on His breast.

One make then could take that place
But in times of faith and grace
You can be divinely blest
In His bosom, on His breast.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (iii)

By the cross of Jesus
Stood one who lay in
The bosom of Jesus.

In the tomb of Jesus
He who stood by the cross
Believed Christ was risen.

The man who had believed
That Jesus was risen
Could proclaim, "It is the Lord".

The one who has recognised
Jesus the Lord was seen
As following Jesus.

He who followed Jesus
Became in the Spirit,
Alone, on the Lord's day.

The one who became
In the Spirit could see
God's work in perfection.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (ii)

I think that there are few mountains
In John's gospel; after the feeding
Jesus departed again to the mountain
Himself alone; and after contending
For the truth He went to the Mount of Olives.
Yet John was present on the mountain of blessing,
The mountain of transfiguration, of education,
And of assurance. But for him one man
Alone deserved elevation. The words
From the mountain weave through his teaching.
"I write a new commandment to you";
"We have contemplated his glory"; "every one
That has this hope in him purifies himself";
"We will come to him and make our abode
With him." And when God's work is perfected
At last John portrays himself, in the Spirit,
Set on a great high mountain, admiring,
The substantiality of the product of God's doings.

THOUGHTS ON JOHN (i)

The sea breaks its acolytes
To two kinds; those hardened
To cynicism, and those
Softened to piety.

John drew from it
Resources; until the call
Drew him to Another,
A source of infinite supply.

With others he saw
One supreme over the sea -
On it, walking or sleeping
Or commanding.

John rushed as a partner
To help when the haul broke the net;
He saw
Great fish in a whole net.

And saw too that crowd
On a sea of glass -
He knew the calm
Of love's unfathomable depths.

And he saw a domain
Without sea
Beyond cynicism's corrosion;
Beyond division.

UNTIL HE COMES

Until He comes
Be faithful to His Name;
The Spirit's guiding as your sword,
Do battle for your absent Lord
Until He comes.

Until He comes
Announce the Master's death;
In deep affection break the bread
And drink the cup, as He has said
Until He comes.

Until He comes
Pursue the path of faith;
Pursue the way of righteousness
Faith, love, and peace that Christ may bless
Until He comes.

GARMENT

Day by day His actions
Wove one seamless garment -
You could not unpick
One shade from another.

Perhaps you could distinguish
Colours of grace, shades of love,
Textures of righteousness - yet never
Unseam mercy from judgment.

But who was weaving?
Each movement in manhood
Consonant with who He is
Was under the Father’s direction -
Woven from the top.

THE LAMB

Revelation 5 verse 12

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Power, since in weakness He was here,
Upon a cross of shame;
There what no other could achieve
He did,extinguishing death's fear
For those who own His Name.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Riches, because He came to dwell
Among the meek and poor;
Those whom He came to serve believe
That Jesus has done all things well
To save, and bless, and cure.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Wisdom because in foolishness
He bore the cross in love;
Thus He is able to retrieve
Lost ones, and finally, to bless
With wisdom from above.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Strength since, as Samson tore the beast,
He rent death's power away;
That which bereft He has bereaved
And gives us honey as a feast
Out of His victory.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Honour, when He shall come again
To where He was despised;
No more to bear our sins, or grieve,
He will take up His right to reign
And be adored and prized.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Glory, and have the highest place
Among the justified;
His sanctified companions cleave
To Him alone since, through His grace,
They too are glorified.

The Lamb is worthy to receive
Blessing because He came to bless
Through ways of grief and shame;
Bless then the One who chose to leave
The heights of heaven, and confess
The glory of His Name!

17/09/04

The Lord Jesus Christ
Will succour me with a word
When I am weary.

16/09/04

A tramp will saunter,
A shepherd stride, a scout dart -
I can be all of these.

15/09/04

In a disturbed world
I am grateful to live in
An orderly state.

12/09/04

The kindness of God
Has appeared - and has placed me
At the King’s table.


Sorry, got my dates muddled.

14/09/04

No frostbite, sunstroke
Or hurricanes - I’m blessed with
Moderate climate.