10-21-15 Partiality

¹ My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

² For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;

³ And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:

⁴ Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?

James 2:1-4 KJV

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In church we always want to look our best;

We’ve got our Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes,

But there’s a fellow that’s so poorly dressed

His only suit’s so worn his elbows shows.

I promise you someone in church will gasp,

Will roll their eyes, then whisper to a friend.

Don’t be the one to shun the poor man’s grasp;

Please don’t compare him to the latest trend.

The Savior doesn’t see a rag from gloss;

A tattered shirt’s the same as Vera Wang.

It all is level at the bloody cross;

He only wore our sins when He did hang.

A judging heart is evil at its best;

See all alike and you’ll be surely blessed.

8-4-15 Gone

¹ To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth;

for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

2 They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: 

with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.

Psalm 12:1-2 KJV

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The days of righteous men are all but gone,

For evil spreads the earth just like a plague.

It’s not that saints are hiding and withdrawn,

There’s just so few they seem both hushed and vague.

The faithful few are buried by the mob:

The carnel, unregenerate and vile,

Who smile at you in passing at your job,

Then stab you in the back with that same smile.

These are the days the wicked strut about;

They’re killing unborn babies just to sell.

They stand upon a rainbow box and shout,

And roam the streets like racist mobs from hell.

O Help us, Lord! The faithful fall away!

There’s very little hope for us today!

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sonnet #426

5-7-15 He Hears

But verily God hath heard me;

he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

Psalm 66:19 KJV

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My enemies have painted me as vile;

An evil man, a phony hypocrite.

If this is true, could I then God beguile?

Would He then heed my prayers and thus commit?

Yet God has heard me, I who am His slave.

The love He has for me has changed my ways,

For He sent Christ His Son whose life He gave;

He died for all my sins. It’s He I praise!

If I were still the man I used to be,

I would not waste my time to spread the Word.

But my old self is dead on Calvary,

And now I follow Christ, His Spirit’s heard.

            My Father hears my prayers; I am His child.

            He answers every one so clear and mild.

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sonnet #353

4-11-15 On Defilement

If you put something vile into your mouth

It travels to the stomach then the gut,

And you will then feel sick as it heads south

To soon be shot out through the you-know-what.

The things the mouth spews out is worse than that:

The lie, the filthy jest, the words that hate,

The gossip and the smears, the idle chat,

For from the heart most evil would create.

The dung that leaves the heart defiles a man,

As it’s the fountain which defilement flows.

Then hateful words and deeds the streams that span

Throughout the speaker’s world to decompose.

From out the mouth will spout two noxious things:

Some stomach rot or evil the heart brings.

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But those things which proceed out of the mouth

come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

Matthew 15:18 KJV