POEMS OF A PILGRIM – Major
Mervyn Holland
EMBRYONIC SAINTS
Only half-saved!
Why do some settle for bud
Instead of bloom.
Beneath instead of above the earth;
Warmth of the womb,
Loving labour
More than birth.
Pew sitting,
Sermon soaking,
Soul souring,
Saints in embryonic form.
Sinward side for them is norm.
Is there some easy way
To make them sway
From incubation
To propagation?
General John Gowans, Officers Councils
13/12/99, spoke on 2 Corinthians 5:18:
We have within us as much of God as we
can contain, but that is not all of God. We
dip our bucket into the ocean, take our
fill of ocean. It is not all the ocean, but it
is as much ocean as we can contain.
GOD WAS IN CHRIST
Infinite born as finite,
Almighty God crushed in Christ,
Transcendence squeezed
Into immanence,
Eternity intensified in Christ as man.
Microchip of cosmos,
Remote revealed in human frame.
Touching Him,
We touch the Maker;
We are restored, renewed,
Returned to Adam family state.
Into this mystic ocean
I dip my bucket
And capture essence of eternity.
This minuscule amount
Is elemental.
I cannot hold more
Than my fill
From this immense, eternal store.
It’s OK to say “I don’t know” when
sharing someone’s painful journey of
trauma and grief.
When life’s going well
I really can’t tell
If you’re near or far.
It seems there’s no issue
When no torment of tissue.
I rejoice in loud voice,
Your goodness acclaim,
No reason to blame.
But when life is chaos –
Never fair,
Dumping foul rubbish
And heaping despair;
Unfriendly, rejecting,
Trauma and pain,
Gnawing and nagging,
Stress and strain.
Where are you God,
Why don’t you speak,
Lost your tongue
Or are you weak?
Silence seems is all you give
While we’re grappling
With how to live.
We hear no answers
When we’re numb
From wounds of life,
Invasive, deep.
O please Great God,
How will you speak?
Be still my soul and realise,
God is good,
God is
I AM.
AMAZING GRACE
CREATIVE GraceHow neat!
From six of action
To Sabbath rest
Recurring cycle
Withstands the test
On earth, in space
At God’s behest.
Take heart; overcome this short-lived
deception.
The last chapter’s written – the enemy’s
smitten!
Don’t give him a chance but hold your
ground,
Help mop up the mess he’s strewn all
around.
Amazing GraceHow sweet!
The rhythmic pulse,
Relentless beat,
Above, beyond,
Outside of time.
Eternal, constant,
So sublime
There’s no need for saints to live in defeat,
The Spirit inspires us to never retreat.
The armour of God is there for the taking,
Redemptive grace –
Now complete
By Jesus dying,
God satisfying.
Wretch saving
From sin enslaving.
Freely flowing
Never slowing. Amazing Grace
Based on a paragraph from Max Lacado’s
book “When Christ Comes”. He quotes
Revelation 12:12 NIV
God’s beat the beast –he’s doomed to the
pit,
The trouble is he’s loose for a bit,
Dumping devilish deception and doubt,
Trying saints to wreck and rout.
But don’t be alarmed by the beast’s use of
power,
Fore he’s fast approaching his final hour.
The battle’s been won, Christ has
overcome!
The hosts of Jesus his children defend.
Blessed is he who endures to the end.
These last days of evil bring open warfare,
The wiles of the devil our Master makes
bare.
Men’s Bible Convention – August 3-5
2001, led by Major Chick Yuill, a
Scotsmen, communicator extraordinaire,
comedian, motivator and most of all, man
of God. A few lines in response to his
stirring about Aussies.
When God made the Pommy
And fashioned the Scot,
They thought they knew something
That God had forgot.
The Pom said: “I’m perfect”!
The Scot said: “You’re not”!
They fought and they squabbled
Thus set in the rot.
Now God knew he needed
To teach them a lesson.
Each thought he existed
For heaven to bless him.
So he gathered some Irish,
Pom thieves and Bravehearts,
And shackled in sailboats
He set them apart.
Proud Poms, stubborn Scotties
Without crims thought they’d won,
Rid Britain of darkness
Thought there’d be more sun.
But God had the last word Left them dampness and thunder
And shifted his blessings
On those sent down under.
Men’s Bible Convention August 2001 was
on the life of Joseph. A summary of his
experiences in a few words:
Biased father,
Deceased mother,
Siblings spiteful
To young brother –
Spoiled son
Has all the fun.
Joseph gets linen coat
Brothers left with sheep and goat,
Tending flocks
Raising crops.
His life of ease
Promotes disease
Called hate –
He’s not their mate!
Joseph dreams,
Brothers scheme,
Want him dead –
The pit instead.
Take coat,
Kill goat.
“He’s dead dear dad”,
Jacob’s sad,
Depression & mourning,
Brothers scorning.
For 20 quid
Of him they’re rid.
Sold as slave
Becomes a knave,
Works quite hard
For Pharaoh’s guard.
Good job noted –
Gets promoted.
“O come to bed”,
Says Mrs P,
But Joseph chooses slavery.
He knows
A one-night stand
Gets out of hand.
Prison bars
Are not confining.
Release from hate
Brings God’s refining.
Baker’s. butler’s
Dreams he reads.
But he’s forgotten!
Left there rottin”
Pharaoh dreams
Of cows and wheat.
Occult magic
Can’t compete
With Joseph’s God –
He gets the nod,
Solves the riddle
Now plays first fiddle.
Famine comes,
Food runs low.
Jacob’s response
Is kind of slow.
To Egypt at last
As food runs out fast.
Brothers face
The Egypt master.
Don’t know the plan –
Feel all’s disaster.
Sovereign story is
Working out
God knows what
He’s on about.
Tricked and tested
By unknown brother
They each confess
To self and others.
They’d been badReal sad.
God’s glad.
The final revelation
Ends not in death
But jubilation.
Jacob’s family relocate,
Reunited – celebrate.
It seems that dreams
Show sovereign plan.
Our challenge –
Trust God, obey.
It all works out –
It ends OK.
A FISHING LINE
Based on Matt 4: 19
Hey boys, no fish eh!
All night you’ve toiled
It seems you’re foiled in catching even
one!
No fun!!
Trust me- try the other side.
- Jesus
BRENGLE CREATE - 21 September
2009
MOTIVE FOR SEEKING GOD
What motive drives divine communication
Are we seeking Him for restoration?
To fix, to mend. or to repair
Or is it that we cannot bear
To live a day without him
Do we seek him as handyman or lover?
AM I A MIRROR?
When people look at me –
One called of God to dedicate my days to
strive to replicate
A life of love, and liberty from sin;
That gift to me – from Him.
The mirror image I reflect –
Does it show, clearly depict
Who Jesus is in human flesh?
Do you see grace
Etched in this weathered face?
Lips that affirm, build up, encourage,
Or expressions that discourage?
My eyes – do they show love –
Do they radiate delight
When others journey life aright?
Clean me Lord and keep me clean
So that in viewing me
You might be seen.