Wednesday, 20 October 2021

There's A Wobble In My walk


There's a wobble in my walk 
A stumble in my stride
A shyness in my speech 
And a humble in my pride

There's a feeling in my thought 
A flying in my fall
A stooping as I climb 
The loss of gaining all

There's a dying in my life
A living in my death
There's a taking and a taking hold 
In letting go and taking my last breath 







Saturday, 28 August 2021

We Will All Be Changed

 'Who wants change?', the speaker said,

And solemnly everyone in the room nods their head,

'Who wants to change?', the speaker enquired

Suddenly all the nods have expired...

Still as statues with eyes looking down,

I don't know what they expect, to see on the ground,

Looking thoughtful, they squint and they frown,

But things will change now,

Now that HE is in town,


 Simon, Andrew, James and John,

Fishing for a living, but they couldn't carry on,

Once they met him, stopped their fishing there and then,

Changed from fishy folk to fishers of men,

They liked what he said, they wanted to get on board,

Still whiffing of fish, they set off with the Lord,


A little down the road, they started to forget,

Fish-guts and boats and the holes in their nets,

Jesus seemed to change everyone that he met,

And, for the record, he had barely started yet,

Healings, deliverance, resurrections,

Teachings, parables and corrections,

Arms grow, demons flee, the blind are given sight,

The religious leaders, getting angrier and uptight,

The dead rise, the lame walk, the poor hear good news,

It's impossible to know Jesus, without changing your views,

Sinners are forgiven, God's kingdom come,

The party's getting started if you're starting to succumb,


It was all going well, it was all awesome and amazing,

Took away your breath to see, just like star-gazing,

But just like the clouds appeared, good friday,

Blotting out the sun,

Jesus had to die,

So the real change could come,

So The Father could forgive you,

Of all the wrong you've done,

Your punishment on Jesus,

He paid for every one,

Every one who believes gets a new heart,

Every new heart gets a fresh, new start,


You see Jesus doesn't just change bodies, when healing your disease,

He changes hearts and lives, just as much as these,

And changing what these disciples did, was as much about changing who they are,

Allow me to demonstrate, that they really did come far,

And to show that this change was made complete,

I'll point again to those fishermen, come with me down the street,

Come with me to the place in Jerusalem where they were all shacked up,

Hiding for their lives, 'cos they all lacked the guts,


When Jesus was killed, they all ran away and hid,

Terrified of the authorities, who knew 'who they were' and 'what they did',

Afraid to be caught, locked up, or hurt,

Would someone betray them, blab or blurt?

But when they had met The risen Jesus, all that had to go

I'm alive, he said, and so, and so...

Go into all the world, preaching to everyone out there,

And that is what they did, went out speaking everywhere,

No longer cowards, afraid and scared,

Speaking out with courage the good news they shared,


And some who heard them speaking, knowing them to be unschooled fishermen,

Took note that these men had been with Jesus, that he had transformed them,


And what's more, as much as they all changed,

The transformation will be perfected, when Jesus comes again,

Some may fall asleep, but not everyone will die,

At the shofar sound, in the twinkling of an eye,

We will all be changed,

We will never be the same,

So start the transformation,

In the power of Jesus' name,









Sunday, 22 August 2021

I Never Loved A Woman

 You know I never loved a woman,

Though I think I thought I did,

Never a woman, or her real feelings,

Whatever she revealed, or she hid.


Oh, you know, I was romantic,

Or at least romantically inclined,

I'd spend sequential hours of a day,

Imagining us romantically entwined,


I'd imagine my fingers,

Running through her auburn/blonde/black hair, 

And gaze into her blue/green/brown eyes,

Romantically loosing myself there,


I imagined her skin smelt of freedom,

And her lips tasted of yesterdays wine,

And her voice would only seductively whisper,

In my ears, then my fears would begin to decline,


Oh and secretly we longed for each other,

Saw in each other, what nobody else did,

But you know, I've never loved a woman,

Whatever was revealed or was hid,


You know a woman was for me a far away country,

Somewhere I could never go,

So I dreamed of those women in safety,

Golden dreams with unlosable glow,


In my dreams those women were promise,

A promise of love yet unsung,

A promise of love, that could not disappoint,

Because it would never come,


And a promise is better than the purchase,

Because unattained it wont fail the test,

And it offers much more,

When it stays before,

And is never the aftermath of the mess,


Oh I have loved a few women, 

I have loved their warmth and their care,

But to the ideal of the idolatry

They could never compare,


Maybe I loved the idea of them,

And loved them a little less than enough,

But pedestals are for putting on,

And then for pushing off,


 You know I never loved a woman

Though I think I thought I did,

Never a woman, or her real feelings,

Whatever she revealed, or she hid,


You know I never loved a woman,

Whatever she would reveal,

I'm sorry for my snake like retreat,

It all got a little too real,





Monday, 9 August 2021

In Heaven

 In heaven I wonder, what will I be?

And will I still be recognizably me,

Maybe my tummy will still be round,

But I'm sure my trousers won't keep falling down,

Like they do down here on earth,

Because of and not in spite of my bulk and my girth,


When I was a child, all skinny and such,

My trousers fell down, to my knees from my crotch

Because they had nothing on which to grip,

No waist to speak of

So they'd slip past my hip...

And the belt had never been found

That would keep my trousers from finding the ground.

My worst foe, yes my hated enemy,

Was the evil force they call gravity,


And then I got old and fat,

And the trousers slid down, whether I stood or I sat,

In Church one day my niece and son laughed a lot, 

When I stood up to pray, but my trousers did not,

It's hard to bring supplication,

With your pants on display to the whole congregation,

And though I'm sure the saviour won't mind,

Some of the saved may not be so kind


So I have special reason to long now for heaven,

Where trousers stay up, however you're dressin',

And I shan't mind if I'm fat or I'm slim,

As long as I can give glory to him,

And if my tummy is still round,

At least my trousers will no longer fall down








Thursday, 22 April 2021

As Foreigners Here

 Looking for a country of my own,

Looking for a place I can finally call home.

A place I can call home finally,

A place where I'll belong, a place where we'll be free,


But it's not here,

And it's never now,

Until the river is crossed,

Until the son comes down,


As foreigners here,

In this strange, strange land,

Live in reverent fear,

As only an alien can,


Looking for a city that will last,

Looking for a city that will forget about my past,

Forget about my transient reputation,

Whose maker is the maker and is made on his foundations,


But it's not here,

And I'll show you how to hold on for now,

Until the river's crossed,

Or the Son comes down,


As foreigners here,

In this promised land,

Live in reverent fear,

As only an alien can,


For it was not with perishable things,

Gold or silver or trinkets or rings,

But with the precious blood of Christ you were redeemed,

A lamb without defect, spotless pure and clean,

As aliens here,

In this alien land,

Live in reverent fear,

As only an alien can,


Looking for a city that's above, 

A city that will stand when push succumbs to shove,

Looking for the heavenly Jerusalem,

The city of The Living God, where our names are written in Heaven,

But it's some how now,

And somehow not yet,

But my eyes are on Christ,

And I'll get there I bet,







" By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."




Monday, 19 April 2021

Someone

 When you're grateful in life, but don't know to who,

When you're angry with your lot, but have no one to blame,

When you feel you deserve more, but there is no one to reward you,

When you feel you're being punished, 

When you can't believe you got away with it,

When you call out for help and bargain with a God who isn't there,

When you blaspheme a name, like you just don't care,

Tell me why is that name on your lips?

Tell me who is it that see's all your slips?

When you're logic is that he is not there,

And that you hate him,

And that if he exists then he doesn't care,

Tell me from where did that sense of entitlement come?

And is this injustice that has been done? 

Did he not give you every breath,

Did he not, at your birth deliver you over from death?

Did the sun not shine every day, whether you saw it, or it was hidden away?

And shall we accept only good from his hand?

Blame him for the bad, with no thought for his plan?

Without honoring every wealth, 

Without praising for a single ounce of your health,

That has never been guaranteed to you,

Yet you take it for granted in all that you do,

And where is that someone hate,

And hold in contempt,

And judge and complain and continually berate,

Like your ways are better than his,

Like your thoughts are higher,

That if you were in charge you'd do better than this?


And where is your fear of him,

And where is your reverence

How big is your chin?

That you stand there and pout,

And huff and puff,

And scream and shout?

As if your love were superior,

As if your patience were not far, far inferior,


And this someone 

stepped down out of heaven,

Became one of us,

He has a face,

And a name,

Jesus,

Thursday, 1 April 2021

Zoom-room Communion


Pizza crust,
The body broke for us,
No wine is mine,
But coffee dust,
Made this cup
From which I sup,
No hands held but the mute is on,
In silence we all sing the song,
The modern Covid lock-down twist
The zoomunion of the Eucharist,
But really I'm ok With this,

Still one,
And our Christ Jesus died for this.
Hold hands across the great abys,
Internet intent,
One in Spirit's what he meant

I Was Made For The Mountains

My Soul was made for the Mountains My Body for the Swamp My Heart shall live in the Highlands And my flesh do what it wants  I was not made ...