The Providence of The Supernatural GOD
Our GOD is The Divine Power
sustaining and working in our world
to accomplish His Purpose.
Jesus taught us to call Him - FATHER.
"Our Father who art in heaven."
When I look back at my life,
I am amazed at the times God has helped me!
By a book sent to me by someone.
By an article read at the right time.
By a note from someone.
By a phone call from a long lost friend.
By a visit from a total stranger.
God is still today working in His world.
But as Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene
in the garden that resurrection morning,
we cannot always recognize Him
in the form in which He appears.
But He IS there! in each one of life’s details!
And the more faith grows, the more
I am able to see HIM in my life!
Praying for America
(by Dutch Sheets)
God Bless America!
America will never be the same.
In light of recent events,
more people are praying together
for protection, for guidance,
for God’s will to be done on Earth
as it is in heaven.
Our country was founded as
"One Nation Under God."
May America return to its roots
and become a country that trusts God
and fears no one but God Himself.
May we stand united, patriotic
and humble as a nation.
May we turn back to our faith in Jesus Christ,
may God Bless America once again!
GOD DOLES OUT HIS SPIRIT (Gal. 3:1-6)
You had the full works on why
Christ the Liberator died.
I gave you the full presentation
live and interactive!
Did you get pumped full of God’s Spirit
by keeping every rule in Moses’ book?
NO, you got it by taking God at His word!
Abraham had his slate wiped clean
by believing - taking God at His word.
Moses’ books are bad news for people
who can’t check "100 %" on keeping
every single rule in Moses’ book.
But Christ the Liberator bailed us out!
He had the Judge drop the charges!
How? By swapping places with us!
He bought us back to make God’s promise
to Abraham come true!
Check your history - God made His promise
more than 400 years before Moses
wrote his book of rules.
Did Christ die in vain - NO WAY!
God’s Kids - that’s the only label we need.
So if you’re one of the Liberator’s crew
you’re like a great-great-great...grandchild
of Abraham himself - you’re in on the promise
you’re in the will - joint heirs with Christ!
Question. Why did the liberator set you free?
Answer. TO MAKE YOU FREE!
Guilt free and in contact with GOD!
WHAT A GREAT PLACE TO BE!
Times of testing for the whole earth
(from Rev. 3:8-11)
To the faithful church in Philadelphia:
I have set an open door before you
and no one can slam it shut.
You didn't deny Me when times were rough.
Because you kept My Word, I'll keep you safe
in the time of testing that will be here soon.
Every man, woman, and child will be put to the test.
I the Lord am on My way; I'll be there soon.
Hold a tight grip on what you have
so no one distracts you and steals your crown.
EASTER MORNING - CHRIST IS RISEN!
Ah, but do we really believe it—
this crowning event in the historical life
of Jesus and God's ultimate seal
upon Him as the Christ of our faith?
For Easter is a lot to believe.
That Jesus lived, died and then
was raised up by God on our behalf (Rom 4:25);
that, bonded with Christ by Baptism,
we, too, are raised up and can
"live in newness of life" (Rom 6:4).
It's a lot to believe that
"the One who raised the Lord Jesus
will raise us also" (2 Cor 4:14),
that His resurrection has given us
"the victory" over sin,
that evil cannot finally triumph—
why, even death has "lost its sting" (1 Cor 15:55-57).
We know for sure that we will all die,
but can we also trust the truth that
"in Christ, shall all be brought to life!" (1 Cor 15:22.)
I TOUCHED HIM!
R. D. ICE
Hot dry dusty air, and
the numerous odors of the city
perspiring people, animal droppings
voices in the crowd
children whimpering
a few moans from the sick
all waiting for HIM.
HE came.
Jairus had been waiting.
His daughter
lay dying.
Jesus!
Holy Man of God.
Come to my house
Heal my daughter.
Crowds had gathered and
they swarmed around Jesus
as He turned to go to
Jairus’ house.
I stood there, a woman
with an issue of blood,
outcast,
unclean,
even from my husband
who could not touch me.
HE could heal!
All the money I spent and the doctors
could do nothing to help.
But HE is the Holy Man of God!
Surely HE would not notice me
as I slipped through the crowds
coming up to Him.
And I touched HIM!
I strained forward and my hand
touched the hem of His garment
and joy flooded my soul!
I had TOUCHED HIM!
HE KNEW ME!
HE said my faith
had healed me!
Go in peace.
As I think back, He
pressed me
to reveal myself
to the crowd.
Me, who had hidden
from the stigma of my
long time illness.
BUT I AM HEALED!
I can hold up my head!
No longer unclean!
I am whole again!
HE accepted
a relationship
with me!
Jesus the young Rabbi
called me "daughter!"
HE ACCEPTED ME!
Praise God the All-Powerful!
ON WHITE’S MOUNTAIN
R. D. ICE
There’s a church on White’s Mountain,
I went there yesterday;
To see the leaves with their vivid colors,
To visit memories, and to pray.
Sam Rettin, died 1794,
I found the stone which marks his grave,
Sidney Potter, and his wife, Becky Ann,
Killed in an Indian raid.
What was life like back then?
Was it free and easy,
Out here in the wilderness?
Surely they had their worries,
Wild weather, wild animals,
Wild people.
I thought of my friend, hurt by a falling tree.
What would they have done?
No helicopter, no trauma center,
Would they have found help?
Or hope?
I sat in the church on White’s Mountain.
I tried to feel the past and to remember.
What would they think of me,
Their descendant, my life so fast.
I sat in the church on Whie’s Mountain.
I tried to look into the future.
My great-great-grandchildren -
Would they find my headstone,
Will they think and feel the past?
There’s a church on White’s Mountain.
I drove up there yesterday;
To look at the leaves with all their colors,
To visit past memories,
And to pray.
ELECTROSHOCK
R.D.ICE
The world of TV is
Jerry Springer, disfunctional,
exciting, in a banal, anal
way, never serious.
But the real world is
a harsh reality
such as
Ward 81.
Strapped down to the bed,
mouth packed with gauze
to keep from biting
her tongue.
A patient in a mental facility
has one last chance to
live a "normal" life.
The technician administers
the anesthetic to put her
into a deep sleep
while the doctor
hooks up wires from the box.
The electroshock unit,
which will send a surge
of voltage
into her brain,
perhaps bringing relief
for a while.
Barbaric?
Yet the only way
this troubled person
may find
a degree of relief.
Bedlam! A name out of the past
when there was no treatment
to deal with the violently
disturbed.
Surely this is more humane
to permit her
to function
in some degree
of happiness.
Electroshock.
ANDERSON HATFIELD
R. D. ICE
An aged man, being led
out into the creek
near Logan, West Virginia.
"Upon your confession of faith
I baptize you in the name
of the Father, the Son, The Holy Spirit."
Preacher Anse Hatfield
was a different man, not this one.
Devil Anse, of feuding fame
was the man in the water.
Preacher Garrett, formerly
of Hatfield's band of soldiers
in the War Between The States,
did the baptizing.
A long and bloody era
had come to an end.
Devil Anse was a new man.
Lives can change and
the past can be forgotten.
A new day will dawn
when one turns to Christ.
Preacher Dyke Garrett
baptized a long succession
of Hatfield descendants
into Christ and the Lord's Church.
Many who trace back
to Devil Anse, proclaim the
"peace that passes understanding."
In 1976 Hatfields and McCoys
joined together in a picnic where
the old days were forgotten.
Recently two great-grandsons
came back to Logan to be
baptized into Christ
at the family church.
THE HANDMADE QUILT
R. D. Ice
At least a year of loving handwork
by the "Sew & Sews"
and others of the community
who sewed cross-stitches,
did the embroidery,
hours of sitting at the
quilting-frame
performing a work of love.
The Union Church of Christ
and the Union Community
are almost the same
group of people -
all family,
all joined together
in this special honor
which was being created
as a token of appreciation.
Special people, taken to
the heart of "Union,"
lives touched and
held close in bonds of
love and koinonia
(that's special fellowship)
a sharing of who we are.
Over the years many events
and happenings take place,
hours of sadness and sorrow,
hours of happiness and joy,
hours of just ordinary things,
but life lived together,
shared in friendship.
Thank You, Lord, for
sending us to Barbour County.
We thank You for the
help in times of sickness,
for the love and concern
we have found, for
lives touched in so many ways,
for men and women who care!
Inscription with the Quilt
This quilt presented to R. D. and Gwen Ice,
on September 14, 1999, in appreciation of
their dedication and service to the community
and brothers and sisters in Christ.
The community did the embroidery work,
and the Sew and Sews did the quilting.
The following is a list of names that have
come to know R. D. and Gwen over the years
they have lived in our community.
Each has been touched by them in some way.
Some are no longer with us and
if we have missed names, we beg forgiveness.
[appended is a list of eighty families in the Union Community,
plus the names of those who have passed on
from here in the past fourteen years or so.]
WE LIVE IN A HOUSE
R. D. Ice
We live in a house,
near the bend of the river,
just over from Kenny's pond,
amid trees and bushes,
flowers and birds.
Indians once lived among
these hills and rocks and trees
on a grassy plain
sloping gently from
the hilltop to the river.
Many-hued blankets
fluttering in the sun
curling columns of blue smoke,
children running
picking apples and cherries
and wild berries.
Indians built no houses,
lived in caves
and teepees,
always on the move.
We live in a house with all
the memories of many years
and Gertrude, age 94,
can still tell the tales
of the past.
Jed Jones used to live here.
Don't you remember him?
That was before
our time. But it is still
Jed Jones' house
to the very old people.
Grandfathers and grandmothers
have fond memories
of the "old days"
and the good times
remembered.
The Great Depression
raises haunting memories
of very hard times, but also
of resilient people and
their struggles.
But change comes, and
new houses and new families
have sprung up
rooted deep in the rocky soul
of mostly forgotten years.
People rented the "old store"
across from us,
to house their families,
then moved on.
We live with the memories
of fourteen years (now twenty two)
and the many lives
we have touched
by our presence.
These will be the good times
in years to come, and
future generations will look back
and say R.D. and Gwen lived
in that house
that is very old
but still standing.
I THINK I SHOULD BE HAPPY
R. D. ICE
Retirement homes are not
all they advertise.
I do not think so,
yet what can I do
when the years
have passed me by?
My car took me out
to be free,
to travel, to see,
to be part of life,
and I could live!
But now the traffic
terrifies me.
So many people.
Don't they have jobs?
Why are they all out driving?
They seem to do nothing else
but cruise the streets.
I do have an apartment
in this retirement home.
But it isn't the same
as the house I once had.
It doesn't feel the same.
I eat in the dining room,
restaurant style.
They try to please me,
but I would like to be
in my own home.
I have a tiny refrigerator
in my room.
I can make a sandwich,
but I'm still not
satisfied.
"Backward, turn backward,
O time in your flight."
Yet I wouldn't want to
do it all over again.
I want to leave the past
in the past.
Where's that brochure?
I want to read it again
to find out just how
happy I should be
to be here
in this
retirement home.
Written in honor of
Areta Hartman in
Apple Valley, CA.
ANOTHER DOCTOR!!!
R. D. Ice
"But Doctor, I'm only borderline.
My sugar level is not that high.
Why are you sending me to
yet another doctor? I don't
think I need all this."
"Borderline diabetic is like
being borderline pregnant.
You will live another
thirty years.
You must prepare now
to prevent the bad days
that could lie ahead."
Wednesday morning
I went to Morgantown.
I met the new doctor
who proceeded to give me
a complete physical.
She gave me a lecture
on diabetic complications,
changed my medication,
a new pill for sugar,
a new pill for blood pressure,
a new water pill.
Well, what can I do?
She sent me to a dietician.
"Think of it as a new
life style," she said.
"Not a diet, but a new
way of eating
for the rest of your life."
"Look at this booklet,
all the good things to eat,
fruits and lots of vegetables,
even ham and bacon -
sometimes."
I can live with that.
I suppose I will learn
to eat that way. It will
grow on me. I do
like variety, although
everything tastes better
fried!
I'm not ready to die yet.
I have too many
things to do!
To see grandchildren
grow up, to see
great-grandchildren.
I have sermons to preach
classes to teach
stories to write,
poems, and
who knows what else.
The good Lord
may have much more
for me to do.
Tomorrow is a new day
with new opportunities.
Thank You, Lord!
I'll do my best!
A DEDICATION Written to the Governor's wife.
To Hovah Underwood and the Stand For Children,
a token of our thanks for your good work
from the people of Barbour County.
We present this coverette of remembrance.
CELEBRATING THE PAST
R. D. ICE
Remembering the past -
nostalgia, good times,
what seem to us
the glory of the
days of old.
This coverette, produced
by the Union Senior Citizens
pictures what once was
and the Covered Bridge
which still is.
We present this coverette
as a token of appreciation
for the continuing progress
in meeting the challenges
of the future
which impact us daily.
We join in working for the future,
for grandchildren and the generations
yet to come in our beloved
State of West Virginia.
Thank you! Thank you!
Remember us as you
turn your eyes to these
pictures of the past.
The people of Barbour County.
TO THE DOCTOR, AGAIN
R. D. Ice
"Fried!" still tastes better,
but the microwave is OK.
I’m learning, and it is
a new way of life. Also
more fruits and vegetables.
Cholesterol good. Blood pressure
good. Sugar level 94! It must
be working! But weight
is still a problem.
I have been large most of
my life, certainly since 1950.
But my health was
good - exceptional I thought -
until the Big C struck
in 1997.
My crisis caused me to
touch and be touched by
many lives. Surely this is
part of the process which God
is working in and through us.
God brought me into contact
with a team of doctors who
used surgery, radiation,
chemotherapy - and prayer.
I am cancer free for three years now!
[eleven years as I write!]
I would hope never again
to need extreme measures.
But, life has no guarantees.
I must take whatever comes.
A VISIT TO ALDI's
R. D. Ice
"Service is what sells!" my son tells me.
I learned something about this when
I stopped at the ALDI store yesterday.
They have really good Salsa and so
I had to stop and buy a few jars of it.
"We stock only 700 different items,"
their web page said, "rather than the 25,000
a supermarket would carry.
But these are 70% of
the things you would buy
for your use at home."
I had to put a quarter in a lock to get
a shopping cart. "You get it back when
you bring the cart back," I was told.
I could see their wisdom.
Everything was on the floor in boxes.
I saw only three workers in the whole store,
who appeared to take turns checking out,
and restocking the boxes.
The store was filled with senior citizens.
I could see why when I saw the prices.
I saw no name brands at all, although
labels and boxes were printed
to mimic name brand items.
But I had to have some Salsa, and
some other things just jumped into my cart.
I have been happy with their house brands.
They seem to taste good
and the quality is OK.
I suppose their other items
are equally OK. I tried only a few.
I came for their Salsa.
At the checkout I found paper bags were
five cents each and you had to bag
your own groceries, which I did.
I proceeded to my car and loaded the
two bags into it. Then I returned
the cart to get my quarter back.
Their system is extremely efficient.
But, I missed the service which
I usually get and take for granted.
My son is right, "service sells."
THE FOOD POLICE
R. D. Ice
Our Government is getting ready
to do to the food industry
what they did to tobacco.
Very low fat vegetarianism!
Imagine Fast Food veggieburgers,
Broccoli and bean sprout salads
with delicious fat-free dressings
and fat-free mayonnaise.
Hold the olive oil and nuts.
Doctor Dean Ornish is billed
as SCIENTIFIC in large letters.
He has been successful in
reversing heart disease
in some patients.
Vegan - extreme vegetarianism
may be the way to go.
Will it work? Can we live with it?
Time will tell.
Here seems to be a chance to
unstop clogged arteries,
and improve the health
of many!
Other methods that may also
open clogged arteries
are pushed aside
and labeled "unscientific."
200 years ago the idea of
draining blood out of patients
to cure them was "scientific,"
a proven time-tested therapy.
Now we are given blood transfusions,
a "scientific" way to save lives.
What will the future say about
Dr. Ornish and his vegetarian
very low fat diet?
Certainly food as medicine
has come of age, and perhaps
we will live longer
and healthier.
AMERICA MOURNS
R. D. Ice
The writers of Science Fiction ask
"What if?" And then they embark
on flights of fancy and imagination
to explore possible futures.
"1984" Big Brother is watching you!
"Animal Farm" One tyranny exchanged for another.
"Frankenstein" Medical marvels gone awry.
"Dracula" The "undead" stalking the world.
But the truth is sometimes stranger.
"We could afford to lose 23 million people."
So said an Indian politician
looking at possible nuclear war.
"We have the authority to kill millions
of Americans." Said by a terrorist leader.
"America is the Satan we must destroy."
America is the present day Roman Empire.
Not by huge armies, tanks, planes,
but a handful of intense anarchists,
who attack us with weapons
of our own society.
Not crazy, not irrational, not demented,
intensely clever and diabolically focused.
"God has commanded us to destroy
America the land of sinners."
America must respond! No choice!
Our world has changed and
we cannot get back our old one.
We must adapt to "now"!
Richard Hughes once wrote of
America as: "the Nation with
the soul of a church" - meaning
America has a sense of divine purpose.
Ezekiel of old spoke as God's prophet:
"Put a mark on the foreheads of all those
who weep and sigh because of the sins
they see around them."
"The entire land is filled with murder,
the city is filled with injustice."
"They think the Lord doesn't see it.
The Lord has forsaken the land."
But God Bless America!
We reach up to God in anguish,
mourning the incredible loss,
trying to understand what is happening.
"The Eagle sharpens its claws."
Government has a vengeance function.
Evil must be opposed.
All the world must do this.
God Bless President Bush!
The buck stops with him.
Give him wisdom and patience.
We hold each other in unity.
CLONE
R. D. ICE
Clone - a word in the news.
An individual grown from
a single body cell of its parent and
genetically identical to the parent.
Joe Doaks decides to have himself
cloned. But what do we have here?
A new individual, unique, discrete,
the same DNA, yet not Joe Doaks.
Born of a host mother, the clone
arrives as a helpless baby
needing to go through the usual
stages of growth and development.
Could the clone repeat the life of
Joe Doaks, be able to take Joe's place
in the world of business and industry,
make the choices and decisions?
Surprise! The clone does not have
the memories of Joe Doaks, nor
the personality nor the character.
We are products of our environment.
What legal rights does the clone have?
Is it disposable, a throwaway?
Would killing it and disposing of it
be murder? Lots of questions.
Could the clone be cut up and used
for body parts to repair Joe Doaks?
A heart, lungs, kidneys, whatever?
What about the ethics?
Could the cloning technique
be used to grow only those spare parts
needed to repair Joe Doaks?
This would be more ethical and
would not raise such perplexing questions.
Nothing is ever simple it seems.
New technology raises even more questions.
Someone is always willing to try forbidden things,
regardless of possible consequences.
Sci-Fi writers have been imagining
this scenario for many years.
But every possibility contains the seeds
of its own destruction. "What if"???
UNTITLED
R. D. Ice
I was waiting in the Mall.
My wife was searching for items of interest
and enjoying just seeing what was in the stores.
As I sat waiting, I observed the people
who were coming and going in a constant stream.
A man rode in an electric scooter,
his one leg stuck out straight ahead.
Perhaps his knee was immobilized from
an accident, or some medical problem.
A woman who seemed bored with it all
came to the checkout counter and
the harried clerk seemed to take too much
time in checking things through.
Which did not please the woman.
A mother pushing a double baby carriage,
with what must have been twins
not looking too happy with their
lot in life at this stage.
A woman pushing a cart in which
an oxygen bottle sat, hooked up to
the breathing apparatus which she wore.
Lots of young people bright eyed,
full of energy, looking for some special
shirt or jeans or perhaps even a dress.
WWW.TERRASERVER.MICROSOFT.COM
R. D. Ice
Surprise! Big Brother has been watching you
and taking pictures from Space.
Satellite photos were taken in the 1970s
to make a topographical map of the USA.
Satellite photos are still being taken.
Whitehouse, KY, where my Grandmother lived.
I logged on and zoomed in to see.
There it was in detail. Son Butcher cemetery.
I remember Son Butcher,
blind for the last part of his life.
I remember his daughter
who was about my age, Alice Jean,
and his granddaughters who were younger,
Margaret Jean and Melchorine.
My Ohio Grandmother took me to
visit Grandmother Webb during WWII.
I got to play with the other children
there in Whitehouse,
an old mining town that still survived.
Now there are only a few houses left.
I used the search function to find
Chardon, OH, where my daughter lives.
I zoomed in to see Brown Road,
Grennan’s Trailer Park,
but I couldn’t see the individual trailers.
Philippi, WV. I zoomed in to see
Union Road and all the twists and turns.
I saw my house (a little square) and
Kenny’s Pond behind it.
While I was online, I went to
TheBrits.com which is a web page for
transplanted Brits (which I am not).
I looked at the language translator.
The USA and Britain are two countries
divided by the same language.
I learned that digestive biscuits are
what we call Graham crackers.
Potato chips are French fries to us.
Our French fries are potato crisps.
But our world is shrinking and we
cannot stop what is taking place.
We must learn to adapt to changes
and accept that our old world is gone.
RACIAL PROFILING
R. D. ICE
Children grow up learning to fear
certain people just because they
look "different" in some way.
Just who the certain people are
depends upon the circumstances
of the children themselves.
The police look suspiciously
at certain people whom they think
are more likely to be up to something
that will bring them afoul of the law.
In the recent sniper killings the experts
thought it more likely that the sniper
was a white supremacist, a militiaman,
who had a grudge against the Government.
That was in fact racial profiling.
It seemed a good bet, yet the reality
was something else, something unexpected.
The shooter was an African-American,
who had been a soldier in the Gulf War,
a member of Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam.
Were his actions a sudden aberration?
a madness? still to be discovered?
In fact there were two shooters,
both African-American.
The most frightening thing is that
copycats could do it again.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Religious Poems #2
1 Corinthians 1:1-3; 3:1-7,21-23; 2 Cor. 4:5-7
Dear church of God at Corinth.
I send this letter to you Christians cleaned up by Jesus
and set apart for a God-filled life.
I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus.
He's their Master as well as ours!
I find myself speaking to you as to carnal and non-spiritual.
For there are envy, strife, and divisions among you.
Who do you think Paul is, anyway?
Or Apollos, for that matter?
Servants, both of us—servants
who waited on you as you gradually learned
to entrust your lives to our mutual Master - Jesus.
We each carried out our servant assignment.
I planted the seed of the gospel of the kingdom,
Apollos watered the plants (which you are),
but God Himself made you grow.
It's not the one who plants or the one who waters
who is at the center of this process but
God Himself, who makes things grow.
There is only one foundation, the one already laid:
Jesus Christ who is the Rock Foundation.
You realize, don't you, that you—
you yourselves—are the temple of God,
and that the Holy Spirit of God Himself is present in you?
I don't want to hear any of you bragging
about yourself or anyone else.
Everything is already yours as a gift—
Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world,
life, death, the present, the future—
all of it is yours, and you are privileged
to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.
Remember, our Gospel is not about ourselves;
we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
It started when God Himself said,
"Light up the darkness!"
and our lives filled up with light
as we saw and understood God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
the glory of God, shining
all bright and beautiful.
HE FIRST LOVED US!
John 8:1-12
Jesus returned to First Temple.
Some preachers and elders led in a lady.
"Rabbi, this lady was caught in the act."
"Our Bible says that she should be stoned to death."
"What do You say about it?"
[They were trying to frame Him.]
Jesus looked down and wrote in the sand.
When they kept pestering Him, He looked up.
"Okay. Let the man without sin
throw the first stone."
He looked down again and continued writing.
They got the point, and first the elders
and then the rest sneaked away.
"Where did they all go, ma'am?"
"Didn't anybody condemn you?"
"Not a soul, Sir," she said.
"Well, I surely don't condemn you."
"Run along now, and don't do it again."
Jesus said: "I am the light of the world.
He who lets Me lead him will never stumble,
but will have life's light."
Philippians 4:6-7 (Petersen's Version)
Don't fret or worry.
Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises
shape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of
God's wholeness, of everything
coming together for good,
will come and settle you down.
It's wonderful what happens
when Christ displaces worry
at the center of your life."
(compare Romans 8:28.)
Rev. 1:17-19
His right hand pulled me upright,
His voice reassured me:
Don't fear: I am First, I am Last, I am Alive.
I died, but I came to life,
and My life is now forever.
See these keys in my hand?
They open and lock Death's doors,
they open and lock Hell's gates.
Now write down everything you see:
both things that are now,
and things about to be.
Elijah the Prophet
"I've been working my heart out
for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The people of Israel have abandoned
Your covenant, destroyed the places of worship,
and murdered Your prophets.
I'm the only one left,
and now they're trying to kill me."
"Elijah! Go, stand on the mountain at attention.
and God will pass by."
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains
and shattered the rocks before God,
but God wasn't to be found in the wind;
then after the wind an earthquake shook the mountains,
but God wasn't in the earthquake;
and then after the earthquake - roaring fire,
but God wasn't in the fire;
and after the fire a still-small quiet whisper.
When Elijah heard the quiet voice,
he muffled his face with his great cloak,
went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there.
"So Elijah, now tell Me, what are you doing here?"
Elijah said it all over again.
"I've been working my heart out for God,
the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
because the people of Israel
have abandoned Your covenant,
destroyed Your places of worship,
and murdered Your prophets.
I'm the only one left,
and now they're trying to kill me."
Can we see ourselves in Elijah?
Didn't you just win a great victory, Elijah?
God sent FIRE down to burn up the sarifice.
The priests of Baal were defeated!
But we too need God's encouragement.
We too are weak and doubtful.
Thank You Lord! Don't give up on us!
Look to the Rainbow
God spoke to Noah:
"Leave the ark, you and your wife
and your sons and your sons' wives."
Then the LORD said in His heart:
"For as long as the Earth lasts,
planting and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night
will never stop." (Genesis 8:22)
"I God am setting up My covenant with you.
Never again will everything living
be destroyed by floodwaters;
no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth."
"I'm putting My rainbow in the clouds,
a sign of the Covenant
between Me and the Earth.
When the rainbow appears in the cloud,
I'll see it and remember the eternal Covenant
between Me - God - and everything living,
every last living creature on the Earth."
God's Open Door Policy - John 6:37
Jesus said: "I'll take all My Father gives Me,
and will by no means cast aside anyone
who comes running to Me!
He doesn't want any to slip through My fingers,
but that I should give them life
and make them new in the final hour.
The Father leaves the door open and the lights on,
waiting for the prodigal to come home.
"For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17
What is going on in our world?
Note Paul in Acts 17:26-28.
Starting from scratch, God
made the entire human race
and made the earth hospitable,
with plenty of time and space for living -
so we could seek after God,
and not just grope around in the dark
but to actually find Him.
He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us.
God is not unreachable, not far from us.
We live and move and exist in Him!
We're the God-created.
God has the future in His Hands!
Note the angel's message in Daniel 10:9-12.
"'Daniel,' the angel said, 'man of quality,
listen carefully to my message.
And get up on your feet. Stand at attention.
I've been sent to bring you news.
From the moment you decided to
humble yourself to receive understanding,
your prayer was heard,
and I set out to come to you.'"
God is present with us! Eph. 6:10-20
God is strong, and He wants you strong.
So take everything the Master has set out for you,
well-made weapons of the best materials.
And put them to use so you will be able to stand up
to everything the Devil throws your way.
This is no afternoon athletic contest that
we'll walk away from and forget about
in a couple of hours.
This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish
against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more
than you can handle on your own.
Take all the help you can get,
every weapon God has issued,
so that when it's all over but the shouting
you'll still be on your feet.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation
are more than words.
Learn how to apply them.
You'll need them throughout your life.
God's Word is an indispensable weapon.
The blessedness of trust in God. Psalm 73:23-26
I'm still in Your presence, O God,
but You've taken my hand.
You wisely and tenderly lead me,
and then You bless me.
You're all I want in heaven!
You're all I want on earth!
But I'm here in the very presence of God—
and oh, how refreshing it is!
I've made the Lord God my home.
God, I'm telling the world what You do!
Matthew 24 — Jesus said.
Watch out for doomsday deceivers.
When reports come in of wars and rumored wars,
keep your head and don't panic.
This is routine history;
this is no sign of the end.
Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler.
Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places.
And then, going from bad to worse,
it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other's throat,
everyone hating each other.
For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil
will do them in—nothing left of their love
but a mound of ashes.
Staying with it—faithful unto death—
that's what God requires.
Stay with it to the end!
You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.
All during this time, the good news—
the Gospel of the Kingdom—will be preached—
a witness to Jesus staked out in every country.
And then the end will come when HE Returns.
Keep a tight grip on what you have so that
no one distracts you and steals your crown.
Jesus says: "I'm on my way; I'll be there soon."
God is greater than our heart
"For if our heart condemn us,
God is greater than our heart
and knows all things." (1 John 3:20.)
There are many things in life
that work against the believer
to destroy hope and assurance.
Satan is surely behind all these things.
But keep on believing and hoping.
We are saved by hope. (Rom. 8:24.)
Abraham against hope believed in hope. (Rom. 4:17-18.)
Remember, if your heart condemns you
due to human failings,
God is greater than your heart.
But if we face up to it,
admit to God that we've messed up,
then He sticks by us and His rules,
He wipes our slate clean and
refines us all pure and clean again. (1 John 1:9)
Matthew 21:42-44; Phil. 2:9-11
You can read it in your Bibles:
The Stone the masons threw out
is now the Cornerstone.
This is God's work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered;
whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
So that all created beings in heaven and on earth
—even those long ago dead and buried—
will bow in worship before this Jesus the Christ,
and call out in praise that He Is
the Lord & Master of all,
to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Revelation 1:12-16
I saw a gold menorah candlestick
with seven branches,
And in the center, the Son of Man,
in the robe of a High Priest
and the gold breastplate of a King.
His hair was a blizzard of white,
symbolic of heavenly glory.
His Eyes pouring fire-blaze,
penetrating like torches,
both feet glistening like
polished furnace-fired bronze,
showing His power and authority.
His voice a cataract, deep and resonant,
that sounded like a huge choir of voices.
His right hand holding the Seven Stars,
which are the Angels of the seven churches;
His mouth a sharp-biting sword, the Word of God,
His face the brightness of the noonday sun.
Once - the Babe born in Bethlehem.
Once - the Christ nailed to the Cross.
Now - KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!!!
Coming Again!!! At the Right Time—absolutely—
for the Redeemed of all ages!!! (Hebrews 11:39-40)
A Curse that carries a Blessing Genesis 3:17-19
God told the Man:
"Because you listened to your wife
and ate from the tree
That I commanded you not to eat from,
'Don't eat from this tree,' I said.
The very ground is cursed because of you;
getting food from the ground
Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;
you'll be working in pain all your life long.
The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,
you'll get your food the hard way,
Planting and tilling and harvesting,
sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,
Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;
you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
Genesis 3:23-24 (MsgB)
So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden
and sent them to work the ground,
the same dirt out of which they'd been made.
He threw them out of the garden
and stationed angel-cherubim
and a revolving sword of fire east of it,
guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
John 7:37-39; 12:16
Jesus took His stand and He cried out:
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
Rivers of living water will brim and spill
out of the depths of anyone who believes in Me,
just as the Scripture says" (Isaiah 44:3; 55:1).
(He said this in regard to The Spirit,
whom those who believed in Him
were about to receive.
The Spirit had not yet been given
because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
But like the brazen serpent Jesus
was lifted up from the earth on the cross.
And He came out of the tomb - ALIVE!
He has been GLORIFIED!
And Pentecost happened!
And Another Helper to be with us forever!
Isaiah 55:1-13
"Ho! Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless? Come anyway!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything's free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food?
Listen to Me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to My life-giving,
life-nourishing words.
I'm making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David:
sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I'm doing it to you:
You'll summon nations you've never heard of,
and nations who've never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of Me, your God,
because The Holy One of Israel has honored you."
Seek God while He's here to be found,
pray to Him while He's close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
He doesn't think the way you think.
The way you work isn't the way He works.
For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way GOD works surpasses the way you work,
and the way GOD thinks is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don't go back until they've watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So the words that come out of My - God's - mouth
will not come back to Me empty-handed.
I - God - SPOKE WORDS.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
So you'll go out in joy, and with peace,
you'll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant fir trees,
no more thornbushes, but stately myrtle trees—
Monuments to Me, to God,
living and lasting evidence of God.
Isaiah 55:6-9
Search for God while He's around.
Evil people: Quit your dark stuff!
Cancel your evil schemes!
Turn round and face God.
He won't treat you as you deserve.
He'll throw out every charge against you.
Because God makes you clean as glass.
Rain and snow don't drain and melt
without watering theground.
Neither does a word leave My lips
without it having the impact I want.
Nature will sing along with your song.
God's Providence
When I look back at my life,
I am amazed at the times God has helped me!
By a book sent to me by someone.
By an article read at the right time.
By a note from someone.
By a phone call from a long lost friend.
By a visit from a total stranger.
God is still - today - working in His world.
But as Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene
in the garden that resurrection morning,
we cannot always recognize Him
in the form in which He appears.
But He IS there! in each one of life's details!
And the more faith grows, the more
I am able to see HIM in my life!
David’s Song of Victory
Psalm 18 (2 Samuel 22:1-51)
In my trouble I called to the LORD;
I called to my God for help.
In His temple He heard my voice;
He listened to my cry for help.
Then the earth trembled and shook;
the foundations of the mountains
rocked and quivered
because God was angry.
Smoke poured out of His nostrils,
a consuming flame and burning coals
came from His mouth.
He tore the sky open and came down
with a dark cloud under His feet.
Thick clouds, full of water surrounded Him.
Hailstones and flashes of fire
came from the lightning before Him
and broke through the dark clouds.
The LORD lives! Praise my Defender!
Proclaim the greatness of the GOD
who saves me and gives me victory!
I praise Him among the nations;
I will sing praises to my LORD!
Dear church of God at Corinth.
I send this letter to you Christians cleaned up by Jesus
and set apart for a God-filled life.
I include in my greeting all who call out to Jesus.
He's their Master as well as ours!
I find myself speaking to you as to carnal and non-spiritual.
For there are envy, strife, and divisions among you.
Who do you think Paul is, anyway?
Or Apollos, for that matter?
Servants, both of us—servants
who waited on you as you gradually learned
to entrust your lives to our mutual Master - Jesus.
We each carried out our servant assignment.
I planted the seed of the gospel of the kingdom,
Apollos watered the plants (which you are),
but God Himself made you grow.
It's not the one who plants or the one who waters
who is at the center of this process but
God Himself, who makes things grow.
There is only one foundation, the one already laid:
Jesus Christ who is the Rock Foundation.
You realize, don't you, that you—
you yourselves—are the temple of God,
and that the Holy Spirit of God Himself is present in you?
I don't want to hear any of you bragging
about yourself or anyone else.
Everything is already yours as a gift—
Paul, Apollos, Peter, the world,
life, death, the present, the future—
all of it is yours, and you are privileged
to be in union with Christ, who is in union with God.
Remember, our Gospel is not about ourselves;
we're proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
It started when God Himself said,
"Light up the darkness!"
and our lives filled up with light
as we saw and understood God
in the face of Jesus Christ,
the glory of God, shining
all bright and beautiful.
HE FIRST LOVED US!
John 8:1-12
Jesus returned to First Temple.
Some preachers and elders led in a lady.
"Rabbi, this lady was caught in the act."
"Our Bible says that she should be stoned to death."
"What do You say about it?"
[They were trying to frame Him.]
Jesus looked down and wrote in the sand.
When they kept pestering Him, He looked up.
"Okay. Let the man without sin
throw the first stone."
He looked down again and continued writing.
They got the point, and first the elders
and then the rest sneaked away.
"Where did they all go, ma'am?"
"Didn't anybody condemn you?"
"Not a soul, Sir," she said.
"Well, I surely don't condemn you."
"Run along now, and don't do it again."
Jesus said: "I am the light of the world.
He who lets Me lead him will never stumble,
but will have life's light."
Philippians 4:6-7 (Petersen's Version)
Don't fret or worry.
Instead of worrying, pray.
Let petitions and praises
shape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.
Before you know it, a sense of
God's wholeness, of everything
coming together for good,
will come and settle you down.
It's wonderful what happens
when Christ displaces worry
at the center of your life."
(compare Romans 8:28.)
Rev. 1:17-19
His right hand pulled me upright,
His voice reassured me:
Don't fear: I am First, I am Last, I am Alive.
I died, but I came to life,
and My life is now forever.
See these keys in my hand?
They open and lock Death's doors,
they open and lock Hell's gates.
Now write down everything you see:
both things that are now,
and things about to be.
Elijah the Prophet
"I've been working my heart out
for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
The people of Israel have abandoned
Your covenant, destroyed the places of worship,
and murdered Your prophets.
I'm the only one left,
and now they're trying to kill me."
"Elijah! Go, stand on the mountain at attention.
and God will pass by."
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains
and shattered the rocks before God,
but God wasn't to be found in the wind;
then after the wind an earthquake shook the mountains,
but God wasn't in the earthquake;
and then after the earthquake - roaring fire,
but God wasn't in the fire;
and after the fire a still-small quiet whisper.
When Elijah heard the quiet voice,
he muffled his face with his great cloak,
went to the mouth of the cave, and stood there.
"So Elijah, now tell Me, what are you doing here?"
Elijah said it all over again.
"I've been working my heart out for God,
the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
because the people of Israel
have abandoned Your covenant,
destroyed Your places of worship,
and murdered Your prophets.
I'm the only one left,
and now they're trying to kill me."
Can we see ourselves in Elijah?
Didn't you just win a great victory, Elijah?
God sent FIRE down to burn up the sarifice.
The priests of Baal were defeated!
But we too need God's encouragement.
We too are weak and doubtful.
Thank You Lord! Don't give up on us!
Look to the Rainbow
God spoke to Noah:
"Leave the ark, you and your wife
and your sons and your sons' wives."
Then the LORD said in His heart:
"For as long as the Earth lasts,
planting and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night
will never stop." (Genesis 8:22)
"I God am setting up My covenant with you.
Never again will everything living
be destroyed by floodwaters;
no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth."
"I'm putting My rainbow in the clouds,
a sign of the Covenant
between Me and the Earth.
When the rainbow appears in the cloud,
I'll see it and remember the eternal Covenant
between Me - God - and everything living,
every last living creature on the Earth."
God's Open Door Policy - John 6:37
Jesus said: "I'll take all My Father gives Me,
and will by no means cast aside anyone
who comes running to Me!
He doesn't want any to slip through My fingers,
but that I should give them life
and make them new in the final hour.
The Father leaves the door open and the lights on,
waiting for the prodigal to come home.
"For God did not send His Son into the world
to condemn the world, but
that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17
What is going on in our world?
Note Paul in Acts 17:26-28.
Starting from scratch, God
made the entire human race
and made the earth hospitable,
with plenty of time and space for living -
so we could seek after God,
and not just grope around in the dark
but to actually find Him.
He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us.
God is not unreachable, not far from us.
We live and move and exist in Him!
We're the God-created.
God has the future in His Hands!
Note the angel's message in Daniel 10:9-12.
"'Daniel,' the angel said, 'man of quality,
listen carefully to my message.
And get up on your feet. Stand at attention.
I've been sent to bring you news.
From the moment you decided to
humble yourself to receive understanding,
your prayer was heard,
and I set out to come to you.'"
God is present with us! Eph. 6:10-20
God is strong, and He wants you strong.
So take everything the Master has set out for you,
well-made weapons of the best materials.
And put them to use so you will be able to stand up
to everything the Devil throws your way.
This is no afternoon athletic contest that
we'll walk away from and forget about
in a couple of hours.
This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish
against the Devil and all his angels.
Be prepared. You're up against far more
than you can handle on your own.
Take all the help you can get,
every weapon God has issued,
so that when it's all over but the shouting
you'll still be on your feet.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation
are more than words.
Learn how to apply them.
You'll need them throughout your life.
God's Word is an indispensable weapon.
The blessedness of trust in God. Psalm 73:23-26
I'm still in Your presence, O God,
but You've taken my hand.
You wisely and tenderly lead me,
and then You bless me.
You're all I want in heaven!
You're all I want on earth!
But I'm here in the very presence of God—
and oh, how refreshing it is!
I've made the Lord God my home.
God, I'm telling the world what You do!
Matthew 24 — Jesus said.
Watch out for doomsday deceivers.
When reports come in of wars and rumored wars,
keep your head and don't panic.
This is routine history;
this is no sign of the end.
Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler.
Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places.
And then, going from bad to worse,
it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other's throat,
everyone hating each other.
For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil
will do them in—nothing left of their love
but a mound of ashes.
Staying with it—faithful unto death—
that's what God requires.
Stay with it to the end!
You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.
All during this time, the good news—
the Gospel of the Kingdom—will be preached—
a witness to Jesus staked out in every country.
And then the end will come when HE Returns.
Keep a tight grip on what you have so that
no one distracts you and steals your crown.
Jesus says: "I'm on my way; I'll be there soon."
God is greater than our heart
"For if our heart condemn us,
God is greater than our heart
and knows all things." (1 John 3:20.)
There are many things in life
that work against the believer
to destroy hope and assurance.
Satan is surely behind all these things.
But keep on believing and hoping.
We are saved by hope. (Rom. 8:24.)
Abraham against hope believed in hope. (Rom. 4:17-18.)
Remember, if your heart condemns you
due to human failings,
God is greater than your heart.
But if we face up to it,
admit to God that we've messed up,
then He sticks by us and His rules,
He wipes our slate clean and
refines us all pure and clean again. (1 John 1:9)
Matthew 21:42-44; Phil. 2:9-11
You can read it in your Bibles:
The Stone the masons threw out
is now the Cornerstone.
This is God's work;
we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!
Whoever stumbles on this Stone gets shattered;
whoever the Stone falls on gets smashed."
So that all created beings in heaven and on earth
—even those long ago dead and buried—
will bow in worship before this Jesus the Christ,
and call out in praise that He Is
the Lord & Master of all,
to the glorious honor of God the Father.
Revelation 1:12-16
I saw a gold menorah candlestick
with seven branches,
And in the center, the Son of Man,
in the robe of a High Priest
and the gold breastplate of a King.
His hair was a blizzard of white,
symbolic of heavenly glory.
His Eyes pouring fire-blaze,
penetrating like torches,
both feet glistening like
polished furnace-fired bronze,
showing His power and authority.
His voice a cataract, deep and resonant,
that sounded like a huge choir of voices.
His right hand holding the Seven Stars,
which are the Angels of the seven churches;
His mouth a sharp-biting sword, the Word of God,
His face the brightness of the noonday sun.
Once - the Babe born in Bethlehem.
Once - the Christ nailed to the Cross.
Now - KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!!!
Coming Again!!! At the Right Time—absolutely—
for the Redeemed of all ages!!! (Hebrews 11:39-40)
A Curse that carries a Blessing Genesis 3:17-19
God told the Man:
"Because you listened to your wife
and ate from the tree
That I commanded you not to eat from,
'Don't eat from this tree,' I said.
The very ground is cursed because of you;
getting food from the ground
Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;
you'll be working in pain all your life long.
The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,
you'll get your food the hard way,
Planting and tilling and harvesting,
sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,
Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;
you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
Genesis 3:23-24 (MsgB)
So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden
and sent them to work the ground,
the same dirt out of which they'd been made.
He threw them out of the garden
and stationed angel-cherubim
and a revolving sword of fire east of it,
guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
John 7:37-39; 12:16
Jesus took His stand and He cried out:
"If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
Rivers of living water will brim and spill
out of the depths of anyone who believes in Me,
just as the Scripture says" (Isaiah 44:3; 55:1).
(He said this in regard to The Spirit,
whom those who believed in Him
were about to receive.
The Spirit had not yet been given
because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)
But like the brazen serpent Jesus
was lifted up from the earth on the cross.
And He came out of the tomb - ALIVE!
He has been GLORIFIED!
And Pentecost happened!
And Another Helper to be with us forever!
Isaiah 55:1-13
"Ho! Hey there! All who are thirsty,
come to the water!
Are you penniless? Come anyway!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything's free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food?
Listen to Me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to My life-giving,
life-nourishing words.
I'm making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
the same that I made with David:
sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I'm doing it to you:
You'll summon nations you've never heard of,
and nations who've never heard of you
will come running to you
Because of Me, your God,
because The Holy One of Israel has honored you."
Seek God while He's here to be found,
pray to Him while He's close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.
He doesn't think the way you think.
The way you work isn't the way He works.
For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way GOD works surpasses the way you work,
and the way GOD thinks is beyond the way you think.
Just as rain and snow descend from the skies
and don't go back until they've watered the earth,
Doing their work of making things grow and blossom,
producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry,
So the words that come out of My - God's - mouth
will not come back to Me empty-handed.
I - God - SPOKE WORDS.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
they'll complete the assignment I gave them.
So you'll go out in joy, and with peace,
you'll be led into a whole and complete life.
The mountains and hills will lead the parade,
bursting with song.
All the trees of the forest will join the procession,
exuberant with applause.
No more thistles, but giant fir trees,
no more thornbushes, but stately myrtle trees—
Monuments to Me, to God,
living and lasting evidence of God.
Isaiah 55:6-9
Search for God while He's around.
Evil people: Quit your dark stuff!
Cancel your evil schemes!
Turn round and face God.
He won't treat you as you deserve.
He'll throw out every charge against you.
Because God makes you clean as glass.
Rain and snow don't drain and melt
without watering theground.
Neither does a word leave My lips
without it having the impact I want.
Nature will sing along with your song.
God's Providence
When I look back at my life,
I am amazed at the times God has helped me!
By a book sent to me by someone.
By an article read at the right time.
By a note from someone.
By a phone call from a long lost friend.
By a visit from a total stranger.
God is still - today - working in His world.
But as Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene
in the garden that resurrection morning,
we cannot always recognize Him
in the form in which He appears.
But He IS there! in each one of life's details!
And the more faith grows, the more
I am able to see HIM in my life!
David’s Song of Victory
Psalm 18 (2 Samuel 22:1-51)
In my trouble I called to the LORD;
I called to my God for help.
In His temple He heard my voice;
He listened to my cry for help.
Then the earth trembled and shook;
the foundations of the mountains
rocked and quivered
because God was angry.
Smoke poured out of His nostrils,
a consuming flame and burning coals
came from His mouth.
He tore the sky open and came down
with a dark cloud under His feet.
Thick clouds, full of water surrounded Him.
Hailstones and flashes of fire
came from the lightning before Him
and broke through the dark clouds.
The LORD lives! Praise my Defender!
Proclaim the greatness of the GOD
who saves me and gives me victory!
I praise Him among the nations;
I will sing praises to my LORD!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
POEMS FROM THE WRITER'S GROUP #1
TO THE DOCTOR, AGAIN
R. D. Ice
"Fried!" still tastes better,
but the microwave is OK.
I’m learning, and it is
a new way of life. Also
more fruits and vegetables.
Cholesterol good. Blood pressure
good. Sugar level 94! It must
be working! But weight
is still a problem.
I have been large most of
my life, certainly since 1950.
But my health was
good - exceptional I thought -
until the Big C struck
in 1997.
My crisis caused me to
touch and be touched by
many lives. Surely this is
part of the process which God
is working in and through us.
God brought me into contact
with a team of doctors who
used surgery, radiation,
chemotherapy - and prayer.
I am cancer free for three years now!
I would hope never again
to need extreme measures.
But, life has no guarantees.
I must take whatever comes.
[it's ten years now.]
THE MYTH OF DOGPATCH
R. D. Ice
"We came to see a real mountaineer,
untouched by civilization, close
to nature, a noble example of
life unspoiled by the modern world."
"We expect to find sage wisdom
from a mind not contaminated
by commercialism and greed,
truly attuned to Mother Nature."
"Little Abner" and "Snuffy Smith"
exist in the minds of writers and
cartoonists, who take a reality
and distort it into a caricature.
Rural people have always come in
for more than their share of
ridicule. But the reality would be
much too commonplace
to be interesting.
See that "mountain man?"
He lived in Ohio and made tires.
He worked on the pipeline
in Alaska.
If he lives in isolation now,
it is his choice.
My father was teaching school
in a coal camp when I was born.
By age six I had lived in
four towns in two states.
My children have lived in
five states.
"The noble savage" has the same
foibles as his social counterpart
in our industrialized society;
struggles to keep body and soul
together, and to feed his family.
"Poor people have poor ways,"
Grandmother would say.
Trying to live within our means
when we have almost nothing
requires some imagination,
and may seem unique.
"Use it up, wear it out.
Make it do, or do without."
Grandmother was always
quoting this maxim of life.
She made over old clothes,
and cut them down to fit the
children. Nothing wasted.
Aunt Dora, age 84, was never
out of the county in her life.
Yet she was creative in her own way;
could read and write,
knew how to plug in the toaster,
and turn on the light.
She listened to the radio,
read the newspaper, and
heard from relatives who
roamed the world.
She adored her rural life,
living on the farm, sharing the
world around her, a vital
and living part of America.
We write out of our own experience,
whether real or imaginary.
There is little value in being
unsophisticated.
Life has never been
simple and uncomplicated
to the people who were living it.
www.marssociety.org
R. D. Ice
We stand at night peering into the sky,
seeing the stars the ancients saw.
With the naked eye they mapped
the heavens and were accurate
in many of their truths.
Will we reach the stars?
Will our descendants find homes
on distant worlds, in a future
we imagine yet cannot imagine?
Asimov, in the Foundation Stories
viewed many galaxies settled by
the unique human race. People
modified and changed by
their environment, but still
people from Old Earth.
If people are able to survive in the
frigid temperatures of Antarctica,
could they survive in the extreme cold
of Mars, the Red Planet?
Generate atmosphere and water
from Mars itself? Or must
they ship everything from Earth?
Could they construct greenhouses
to grow food for the colonists?
Could Mars or Venus, or some other
planet be terraformed as Asimov wrote?
Could massive space machines churn
the soil and rocks to produce
conditions hospitable to Earthlings?
marssociety.org is a group of believers
(believers in Mars colonization)
who are getting ready for the time
they expect to come when Mars
will be visited by Earthlings.
www.nmss.org
R. D. Ice
Many are the ills of the flesh
that strike into the lives
of those we love, of
sister and daughter, son and brother.
Multiple Sclerosis.
Autoimmune disease - the body
turning against itself, destroying
and being destroyed. A whole series
of diseases fall into this category.
MS symptoms are caused by
damage to myelin, a substance that
insulates nerve fibers
in the brain and spinal cord.
Imagine the insulation on your
extension cords worn through
in spots and shorting out.
MS creates spots of hardening
in the brain, shorting out nerves,
creating difficulty in walking;
abnormal sensations, numbness,
"pins and needles";
pain and loss of vision.
There is no magic bullet.
What to do??? There are
drugs and treatments, yet
we must play the hand that
is dealt us, and survive.
Look at www.nmss.org
Look at www.wemedia.com
Look at www.mayohealth.org
Look at www.acorda.com
Look at www.ms-cam.org
Look at www.narcoms.org
Look at www.mswatch.com
Information is just a click away.
The internet opens up the
resources of the world.
DR. ANWAR's EYE HOSPITAL
R. D. Ice
You will have cataracts - if
you live long enough,
Sooner or later the lens
in the eye becomes
yellow-green and darkens.
Stronger glasses will help
for a while, but
the day comes when you must
admit you really can't see
clearly anymore.
Dr. Anwar has many associates
who work to prepare
by testing and tests
to know exactly the health and
condition of the eyes.
All day, it seems, and finally,
you are wheeled into surgery.
Dr. Anwar works his magic and
expertise. Using an operating microscope
he moves his hand ever so slightly
to make a tiny incision. Family
watches on a TV monitor, seeing
just what he sees as he operates.
Wow! What brilliant colors!
Everything so bright!
I can see! I can see!
What a great gift of God
is eyesight! I can see!
SUNDAY MORNING ON THE PRAIRIE
R. D. Ice
A brisk wind swept across the prairie
Spreading the flakes of snow
Which spattered the riders coming
From distant ranches.
A Church stood on the prairie
Built by an Easterner
With high pitched roof and gables
A bell tower over the entrance.
A light still shines in the parson’s window
Breakfast over, ready for the worship hour
The congregation arriving, ready
To join voices in song and praise.
Wade Horton in his horse drawn buggy
Wife and child by his side
Earl Gray riding his chestnut mare
Others coming in the distance.
The people gather, ranchers, cowboys
Men, few women, boys and girls
Ben Blue builds up the fire
In the sheet-iron stove.
No organ, no choir, rude benches
But God’s Family, coming together, to
Spend an hour or two in fellowship
A time of praise and devotion.
The parson, Enoch Bell, calls order
Wade Horton gives the prayer
"Old Hundred," announces Earl Gray
And begins the tune, others following.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost."
The After-Christmas Sale
R. D. Ice
We were not poor growing up.
Money was just scarce in
those years of the Great Depression.
Mother had died young, and
little sister and I lived with
our grandparents
on a small farm - The Farm.
Granddad had been a country doctor.
Never making much money,
always dreaming of his childhood.
He bought this farm
with the help of an uncle.
We raised a huge garden,
had a cow and chickens,
lots and lots of chickens!
Plenty of eggs and milk
for growing children.
Grandmother made us clothes
from feedsacks and curtains
and anything that could be used.
We also got clothes from the store
for Christmas presents.
But we wanted toys! Toys!
"Wait for the after-Christmas sale"
Grandmother would say.
"It will all be marked down then."
So the day after Christmas we
headed for Columbus and
the after-Christmas sale.
AMERICA MOURNS
R. D. Ice
[remembering the destruction of the Towers]
Not by huge armies, tanks, planes,
but a handful of intense anarchists,
who attack us with weapons
of our own society.
Not crazy, not irrational,
intensely clever and diabolically focused.
"God has commanded us to destroy
America the land of sinners."
Richard Hughes once wrote of
America as: "the Nation with the
soul of a church" - meaning
America has a sense of divine purpose.
God Bless America! We
reach up to God in anguish,
mourning the incredible loss,
trying to understand.
"The Eagle sharpens its claws."
Government has a vengeance function.
Evil must be opposed.
The world must do this.
God Bless President Bush!
The buck stops with him.
Give him wisdom and patience.
We hold each other in unity.
R. D. Ice
"Fried!" still tastes better,
but the microwave is OK.
I’m learning, and it is
a new way of life. Also
more fruits and vegetables.
Cholesterol good. Blood pressure
good. Sugar level 94! It must
be working! But weight
is still a problem.
I have been large most of
my life, certainly since 1950.
But my health was
good - exceptional I thought -
until the Big C struck
in 1997.
My crisis caused me to
touch and be touched by
many lives. Surely this is
part of the process which God
is working in and through us.
God brought me into contact
with a team of doctors who
used surgery, radiation,
chemotherapy - and prayer.
I am cancer free for three years now!
I would hope never again
to need extreme measures.
But, life has no guarantees.
I must take whatever comes.
[it's ten years now.]
THE MYTH OF DOGPATCH
R. D. Ice
"We came to see a real mountaineer,
untouched by civilization, close
to nature, a noble example of
life unspoiled by the modern world."
"We expect to find sage wisdom
from a mind not contaminated
by commercialism and greed,
truly attuned to Mother Nature."
"Little Abner" and "Snuffy Smith"
exist in the minds of writers and
cartoonists, who take a reality
and distort it into a caricature.
Rural people have always come in
for more than their share of
ridicule. But the reality would be
much too commonplace
to be interesting.
See that "mountain man?"
He lived in Ohio and made tires.
He worked on the pipeline
in Alaska.
If he lives in isolation now,
it is his choice.
My father was teaching school
in a coal camp when I was born.
By age six I had lived in
four towns in two states.
My children have lived in
five states.
"The noble savage" has the same
foibles as his social counterpart
in our industrialized society;
struggles to keep body and soul
together, and to feed his family.
"Poor people have poor ways,"
Grandmother would say.
Trying to live within our means
when we have almost nothing
requires some imagination,
and may seem unique.
"Use it up, wear it out.
Make it do, or do without."
Grandmother was always
quoting this maxim of life.
She made over old clothes,
and cut them down to fit the
children. Nothing wasted.
Aunt Dora, age 84, was never
out of the county in her life.
Yet she was creative in her own way;
could read and write,
knew how to plug in the toaster,
and turn on the light.
She listened to the radio,
read the newspaper, and
heard from relatives who
roamed the world.
She adored her rural life,
living on the farm, sharing the
world around her, a vital
and living part of America.
We write out of our own experience,
whether real or imaginary.
There is little value in being
unsophisticated.
Life has never been
simple and uncomplicated
to the people who were living it.
www.marssociety.org
R. D. Ice
We stand at night peering into the sky,
seeing the stars the ancients saw.
With the naked eye they mapped
the heavens and were accurate
in many of their truths.
Will we reach the stars?
Will our descendants find homes
on distant worlds, in a future
we imagine yet cannot imagine?
Asimov, in the Foundation Stories
viewed many galaxies settled by
the unique human race. People
modified and changed by
their environment, but still
people from Old Earth.
If people are able to survive in the
frigid temperatures of Antarctica,
could they survive in the extreme cold
of Mars, the Red Planet?
Generate atmosphere and water
from Mars itself? Or must
they ship everything from Earth?
Could they construct greenhouses
to grow food for the colonists?
Could Mars or Venus, or some other
planet be terraformed as Asimov wrote?
Could massive space machines churn
the soil and rocks to produce
conditions hospitable to Earthlings?
marssociety.org is a group of believers
(believers in Mars colonization)
who are getting ready for the time
they expect to come when Mars
will be visited by Earthlings.
www.nmss.org
R. D. Ice
Many are the ills of the flesh
that strike into the lives
of those we love, of
sister and daughter, son and brother.
Multiple Sclerosis.
Autoimmune disease - the body
turning against itself, destroying
and being destroyed. A whole series
of diseases fall into this category.
MS symptoms are caused by
damage to myelin, a substance that
insulates nerve fibers
in the brain and spinal cord.
Imagine the insulation on your
extension cords worn through
in spots and shorting out.
MS creates spots of hardening
in the brain, shorting out nerves,
creating difficulty in walking;
abnormal sensations, numbness,
"pins and needles";
pain and loss of vision.
There is no magic bullet.
What to do??? There are
drugs and treatments, yet
we must play the hand that
is dealt us, and survive.
Look at www.nmss.org
Look at www.wemedia.com
Look at www.mayohealth.org
Look at www.acorda.com
Look at www.ms-cam.org
Look at www.narcoms.org
Look at www.mswatch.com
Information is just a click away.
The internet opens up the
resources of the world.
DR. ANWAR's EYE HOSPITAL
R. D. Ice
You will have cataracts - if
you live long enough,
Sooner or later the lens
in the eye becomes
yellow-green and darkens.
Stronger glasses will help
for a while, but
the day comes when you must
admit you really can't see
clearly anymore.
Dr. Anwar has many associates
who work to prepare
by testing and tests
to know exactly the health and
condition of the eyes.
All day, it seems, and finally,
you are wheeled into surgery.
Dr. Anwar works his magic and
expertise. Using an operating microscope
he moves his hand ever so slightly
to make a tiny incision. Family
watches on a TV monitor, seeing
just what he sees as he operates.
Wow! What brilliant colors!
Everything so bright!
I can see! I can see!
What a great gift of God
is eyesight! I can see!
SUNDAY MORNING ON THE PRAIRIE
R. D. Ice
A brisk wind swept across the prairie
Spreading the flakes of snow
Which spattered the riders coming
From distant ranches.
A Church stood on the prairie
Built by an Easterner
With high pitched roof and gables
A bell tower over the entrance.
A light still shines in the parson’s window
Breakfast over, ready for the worship hour
The congregation arriving, ready
To join voices in song and praise.
Wade Horton in his horse drawn buggy
Wife and child by his side
Earl Gray riding his chestnut mare
Others coming in the distance.
The people gather, ranchers, cowboys
Men, few women, boys and girls
Ben Blue builds up the fire
In the sheet-iron stove.
No organ, no choir, rude benches
But God’s Family, coming together, to
Spend an hour or two in fellowship
A time of praise and devotion.
The parson, Enoch Bell, calls order
Wade Horton gives the prayer
"Old Hundred," announces Earl Gray
And begins the tune, others following.
"Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost."
The After-Christmas Sale
R. D. Ice
We were not poor growing up.
Money was just scarce in
those years of the Great Depression.
Mother had died young, and
little sister and I lived with
our grandparents
on a small farm - The Farm.
Granddad had been a country doctor.
Never making much money,
always dreaming of his childhood.
He bought this farm
with the help of an uncle.
We raised a huge garden,
had a cow and chickens,
lots and lots of chickens!
Plenty of eggs and milk
for growing children.
Grandmother made us clothes
from feedsacks and curtains
and anything that could be used.
We also got clothes from the store
for Christmas presents.
But we wanted toys! Toys!
"Wait for the after-Christmas sale"
Grandmother would say.
"It will all be marked down then."
So the day after Christmas we
headed for Columbus and
the after-Christmas sale.
AMERICA MOURNS
R. D. Ice
[remembering the destruction of the Towers]
Not by huge armies, tanks, planes,
but a handful of intense anarchists,
who attack us with weapons
of our own society.
Not crazy, not irrational,
intensely clever and diabolically focused.
"God has commanded us to destroy
America the land of sinners."
Richard Hughes once wrote of
America as: "the Nation with the
soul of a church" - meaning
America has a sense of divine purpose.
God Bless America! We
reach up to God in anguish,
mourning the incredible loss,
trying to understand.
"The Eagle sharpens its claws."
Government has a vengeance function.
Evil must be opposed.
The world must do this.
God Bless President Bush!
The buck stops with him.
Give him wisdom and patience.
We hold each other in unity.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
VIRTUAL FARM
THE VIRTUAL FARM
R. D. Ice
In 1931 the house on Refugee Road
became the home of K. C. Ice
and Joseph Roberts,
brother of his mother.
This began what was to be
many years at the Ice Farm.
Years have rolled by.
K.C., Rosa, and now McGarvey,
for many years the patriarch
of the Family, have gone on
to their reward.
Change is part of this life,
and change has come to us.
The "Farm" is no more.
Someone else lives
in the house, things
are not the same.
The old house has been
refreshed
with a new roof,
a new foundation,
restored to its pristine glory,
a country farm
in the middle of
Columbus, Ohio,
but no longer ours.
We are the Family, tied
by many memories
of the past we shared together.
Online we keep in touch,
celebrating who we are.
The Farm is still our home,
and through virtual reality
we have our memories.
We have pictures from
the outside and the inside
of this Farm
as it once was when it
was alive with our presence.
Kodak and the CD-ROM
they are now producing,
can keep alive pictures
and thoughts of our past,
to be easily called up.
We click My Pictures
and select scenes we wish
to view to place ourselves
in never to be forgotten
times of old.
We try to pass on this
sense of Family to
children, grandchildren,
future generations who
are still to come.
We hope to provide a virtual Farm,
to create new memories,
to preserve this Tree of Life
which centers around us,
we - the Family.
Other families have
pages on the Internet
monuments to their own
personal Tree of Life.
As we are getting older, family
becomes more important to us.
Old days are treasured,
memories cherished,
even when they exist no more -
only in days long faded and gone.
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 2
R. D. ICE
We take the Brice Road exit
from the Interstate, and
turn toward the village of
Brice, which still exists.
We turn down Refugee Road,
just past the Electric Company,
and turn in the driveway
under spreading trees.
Mom stops our car in
the driveway, I step out
to take a good look,
drinking in the aroma
of familiar loved things.
The barn is straight ahead,
across the parking area.
A row of sheds
is along one side.
The house is behind us,
to our right.
This is country! - even though
the huge Metropolis
is surrounding us
on all sides.
Pull off your shoes and
run barefoot through
luxurious green grass!
To the left of the barn
are the remains of an orchard,
what is left of the chicken-house,
where White Leghorns once lived,
and a shed that housed
a family of ducks, bought to eat,
but kept as pets until
they grew old and died.
Behind the barn, what was
once a pasture is now
overgrown with spindly
trees and bushes.
Behind that is now a swamp,
since drainage tiles
were damaged
by the Electric Company
in some of their digging.
We walk toward the house
to the back porch,
go in the screen door
which bangs shut behind us.
We go down a hallway
with peeling linoleum
on the floor. Turn
the door knob and
step into the kitchen.
Ella May looks up.
She is chopping carrots.
She gives us a hug,
then goes back
to chopping again.
She is dressed in a
faded denim jacket
with her boots on.
Two kerosene heaters
provide the heat in
winter, and even though
summer seems to be here,
she still wears them.
McGarvey is sitting in
his chair, watching TV
with a book in his hand.
Behind the television
a dysfunctional door
leads onto a time-ravaged,
broken front porch.
The living room is dark,
but rich in tone.
The door-frames
are original wood,
dark, intricately carved,
crooked. In the place
of doors hang heavy,
musty curtains.
McGarvey puts the coffee on,
placing just one spoonful
in the pot and boiling it
until it looks black enough.
In the downstairs bedroom
Western paperbacks line
three of the walls.
The bed was removed
some time ago.
There still is a cot in
my old room, where
R.D. slept forty years ago.
When the doctor came to
examine McGarvey the
day before he died,
he placed him on that cot.
I enter the "family room,"
used for special occasions,
always chilly because of
broken, airy windows.
An old stove -
which I have never seen used -
stands tall and black,
a pipe issuing from its top
that leads into a wall
and away to some
unknown someplace.
Sheet-draped chairs
face each other across
the room.
A dusty green couch
stands guard over
fragile games from
my mother's childhood.
An elderly piano, out of tune,
with broken strings and
clunking pedals stands
before a water-stained wall.
Old Mad magazines
and paperback books
line two walls.
The window-glass is
held together with
duct tape.
As my sister picks out tunes
on the old piano, I pick up
a MAD magazine from
September '66, sit down
in a sheet-preserved chair,
and begin to read.
But this is the Farm!
It's character is given
by the people who
live here - lived here -
even though they
are now gone.
It is an oasis of "folk culture"
breathing the years of
four generations or more
of Ices and their families
and "in-laws" and "out-laws."
Ices have been many things:
doctors, teachers, preachers,
writers, workers,
often in a supporting role,
but people who have made
a difference in the world
in which they lived.
We are all human beings,
given talents of many kinds,
but talents that we must use
to be a blessing
to others in our world.
Thank God for memories,
for families and
good times and bad,
times we can hold
and cherish
and take out
and reexamine.
The Virtual Farm can
still be real to us
even though it
has become home to
another family
not known to us.
[adapted from The Farm 1991]
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 3
R. D. ICE
The country is a great place
for children to grow up.
Being close to nature
brings an appreciation
of life.
Animals smell, they
sometimes bite or scratch,
and they require
constant care.
Chores are
never done it seems.
Chickens need to be fed,
cows always require milking,
weeds grow in the garden,
but the rewards are great!
Money was in short supply,
food was not, and
the land was good to us
as we reaped its benefits.
I did a lot of cooking for
the other children. It was
natural to fry large skillets
of potatoes and onions,
all in bacon grease, of course,
as we had no concern for
cholesterol then.
Pinto beans were also
a favorite, with dumplings
made of white flour.
Lots of milk and cream,
provided by a Jersey cow.
But the most important
item was that we were
a church-family. This
was our "folk-way"
and was integral to
our normal way of life.
Our family were heirs of
The Restoration, although
we didn't think of it that
way then. For much of
the depression years we
attended the 5th Avenue
Church of Christ in
the edge of Columbus.
Mostly factory workers,
transplanted from rural
areas and keeping
the rural flavor.
We accepted each other
and helped each other
in spite of cultural
differences.
The Ices were education
oriented, with my mother
and father both schoolteachers,
granddad a medical doctor,
grandmother a teacher also.
I learned to read before
I went to school.
Books were cherished
and thoroughly read.
Church was our way of life,
and The Christian Standard
was a weekly visitor
in the mail.
Sunday mornings we
were up early
to drive into town
to worship God
with our loving church family.
In later years the people
of Project Italy made
the Farm a place to
visit frequently.
Twenty or thirty might
sleep on the floor in
the "family room."
Before TV, meals were
more formal, a time to be
together, yet not really a
time of communication.
We were not that talkative.
But, grab your plate
and run to the TV
became the way.
The radio ran on batteries
in depression years,
and electricity had not yet
come to the Farm.
Listening to the radio
was a treat, seldom done.
Batteries cost money!
But around WWII
wires were strung and
Rural Electrification
became the order of the day.
Now radios play on and on
with no one really listening.
TVs are turned on in
the morning and
off at night - but
is anyone watching?
Yet life is about people
and families. Relationships
exist. Old people said,
"Blood is thicker than water."
Each of us is woven into
the tapestry of life, each
relating to and touching
those who are part of us
as we are part of them.
Perhaps some of us are
halfway around the world
in a foreign country. Yet
we are still "family" and
our love and concern
will always exist.
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 4
R. D. ICE
We look to the future!
New days lie ahead
and our children and
their children and
new generations will
build new memories
as they seize the
opportunities which
come their way.
I grew up with Space,
which was fantastic
then, but what will be
the new reality?
New generations are
growing up, and
future doctors, teachers,
preachers, and others
will come from our roots.
We are part of what God
is doing here. He
created us and
gave us life!
When Jesus Comes,
the Church will be waiting
as we who are alive
are caught up together
with Him!
Until then life will go on
with much more of the same,
yet for those who live
it is all new and fresh.
Thank You Lord!
You give us so much!
How will You surprise us today!?
R. D. Ice
In 1931 the house on Refugee Road
became the home of K. C. Ice
and Joseph Roberts,
brother of his mother.
This began what was to be
many years at the Ice Farm.
Years have rolled by.
K.C., Rosa, and now McGarvey,
for many years the patriarch
of the Family, have gone on
to their reward.
Change is part of this life,
and change has come to us.
The "Farm" is no more.
Someone else lives
in the house, things
are not the same.
The old house has been
refreshed
with a new roof,
a new foundation,
restored to its pristine glory,
a country farm
in the middle of
Columbus, Ohio,
but no longer ours.
We are the Family, tied
by many memories
of the past we shared together.
Online we keep in touch,
celebrating who we are.
The Farm is still our home,
and through virtual reality
we have our memories.
We have pictures from
the outside and the inside
of this Farm
as it once was when it
was alive with our presence.
Kodak and the CD-ROM
they are now producing,
can keep alive pictures
and thoughts of our past,
to be easily called up.
We click My Pictures
and select scenes we wish
to view to place ourselves
in never to be forgotten
times of old.
We try to pass on this
sense of Family to
children, grandchildren,
future generations who
are still to come.
We hope to provide a virtual Farm,
to create new memories,
to preserve this Tree of Life
which centers around us,
we - the Family.
Other families have
pages on the Internet
monuments to their own
personal Tree of Life.
As we are getting older, family
becomes more important to us.
Old days are treasured,
memories cherished,
even when they exist no more -
only in days long faded and gone.
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 2
R. D. ICE
We take the Brice Road exit
from the Interstate, and
turn toward the village of
Brice, which still exists.
We turn down Refugee Road,
just past the Electric Company,
and turn in the driveway
under spreading trees.
Mom stops our car in
the driveway, I step out
to take a good look,
drinking in the aroma
of familiar loved things.
The barn is straight ahead,
across the parking area.
A row of sheds
is along one side.
The house is behind us,
to our right.
This is country! - even though
the huge Metropolis
is surrounding us
on all sides.
Pull off your shoes and
run barefoot through
luxurious green grass!
To the left of the barn
are the remains of an orchard,
what is left of the chicken-house,
where White Leghorns once lived,
and a shed that housed
a family of ducks, bought to eat,
but kept as pets until
they grew old and died.
Behind the barn, what was
once a pasture is now
overgrown with spindly
trees and bushes.
Behind that is now a swamp,
since drainage tiles
were damaged
by the Electric Company
in some of their digging.
We walk toward the house
to the back porch,
go in the screen door
which bangs shut behind us.
We go down a hallway
with peeling linoleum
on the floor. Turn
the door knob and
step into the kitchen.
Ella May looks up.
She is chopping carrots.
She gives us a hug,
then goes back
to chopping again.
She is dressed in a
faded denim jacket
with her boots on.
Two kerosene heaters
provide the heat in
winter, and even though
summer seems to be here,
she still wears them.
McGarvey is sitting in
his chair, watching TV
with a book in his hand.
Behind the television
a dysfunctional door
leads onto a time-ravaged,
broken front porch.
The living room is dark,
but rich in tone.
The door-frames
are original wood,
dark, intricately carved,
crooked. In the place
of doors hang heavy,
musty curtains.
McGarvey puts the coffee on,
placing just one spoonful
in the pot and boiling it
until it looks black enough.
In the downstairs bedroom
Western paperbacks line
three of the walls.
The bed was removed
some time ago.
There still is a cot in
my old room, where
R.D. slept forty years ago.
When the doctor came to
examine McGarvey the
day before he died,
he placed him on that cot.
I enter the "family room,"
used for special occasions,
always chilly because of
broken, airy windows.
An old stove -
which I have never seen used -
stands tall and black,
a pipe issuing from its top
that leads into a wall
and away to some
unknown someplace.
Sheet-draped chairs
face each other across
the room.
A dusty green couch
stands guard over
fragile games from
my mother's childhood.
An elderly piano, out of tune,
with broken strings and
clunking pedals stands
before a water-stained wall.
Old Mad magazines
and paperback books
line two walls.
The window-glass is
held together with
duct tape.
As my sister picks out tunes
on the old piano, I pick up
a MAD magazine from
September '66, sit down
in a sheet-preserved chair,
and begin to read.
But this is the Farm!
It's character is given
by the people who
live here - lived here -
even though they
are now gone.
It is an oasis of "folk culture"
breathing the years of
four generations or more
of Ices and their families
and "in-laws" and "out-laws."
Ices have been many things:
doctors, teachers, preachers,
writers, workers,
often in a supporting role,
but people who have made
a difference in the world
in which they lived.
We are all human beings,
given talents of many kinds,
but talents that we must use
to be a blessing
to others in our world.
Thank God for memories,
for families and
good times and bad,
times we can hold
and cherish
and take out
and reexamine.
The Virtual Farm can
still be real to us
even though it
has become home to
another family
not known to us.
[adapted from The Farm 1991]
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 3
R. D. ICE
The country is a great place
for children to grow up.
Being close to nature
brings an appreciation
of life.
Animals smell, they
sometimes bite or scratch,
and they require
constant care.
Chores are
never done it seems.
Chickens need to be fed,
cows always require milking,
weeds grow in the garden,
but the rewards are great!
Money was in short supply,
food was not, and
the land was good to us
as we reaped its benefits.
I did a lot of cooking for
the other children. It was
natural to fry large skillets
of potatoes and onions,
all in bacon grease, of course,
as we had no concern for
cholesterol then.
Pinto beans were also
a favorite, with dumplings
made of white flour.
Lots of milk and cream,
provided by a Jersey cow.
But the most important
item was that we were
a church-family. This
was our "folk-way"
and was integral to
our normal way of life.
Our family were heirs of
The Restoration, although
we didn't think of it that
way then. For much of
the depression years we
attended the 5th Avenue
Church of Christ in
the edge of Columbus.
Mostly factory workers,
transplanted from rural
areas and keeping
the rural flavor.
We accepted each other
and helped each other
in spite of cultural
differences.
The Ices were education
oriented, with my mother
and father both schoolteachers,
granddad a medical doctor,
grandmother a teacher also.
I learned to read before
I went to school.
Books were cherished
and thoroughly read.
Church was our way of life,
and The Christian Standard
was a weekly visitor
in the mail.
Sunday mornings we
were up early
to drive into town
to worship God
with our loving church family.
In later years the people
of Project Italy made
the Farm a place to
visit frequently.
Twenty or thirty might
sleep on the floor in
the "family room."
Before TV, meals were
more formal, a time to be
together, yet not really a
time of communication.
We were not that talkative.
But, grab your plate
and run to the TV
became the way.
The radio ran on batteries
in depression years,
and electricity had not yet
come to the Farm.
Listening to the radio
was a treat, seldom done.
Batteries cost money!
But around WWII
wires were strung and
Rural Electrification
became the order of the day.
Now radios play on and on
with no one really listening.
TVs are turned on in
the morning and
off at night - but
is anyone watching?
Yet life is about people
and families. Relationships
exist. Old people said,
"Blood is thicker than water."
Each of us is woven into
the tapestry of life, each
relating to and touching
those who are part of us
as we are part of them.
Perhaps some of us are
halfway around the world
in a foreign country. Yet
we are still "family" and
our love and concern
will always exist.
VIRTUAL FARM, PAGE 4
R. D. ICE
We look to the future!
New days lie ahead
and our children and
their children and
new generations will
build new memories
as they seize the
opportunities which
come their way.
I grew up with Space,
which was fantastic
then, but what will be
the new reality?
New generations are
growing up, and
future doctors, teachers,
preachers, and others
will come from our roots.
We are part of what God
is doing here. He
created us and
gave us life!
When Jesus Comes,
the Church will be waiting
as we who are alive
are caught up together
with Him!
Until then life will go on
with much more of the same,
yet for those who live
it is all new and fresh.
Thank You Lord!
You give us so much!
How will You surprise us today!?
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Religious Poems
HE IS ALIVE! R. D. Ice
We saw Him die.
We were women, and they ignored us.
Priests, Elders, Soldiers
Didn’t even know we were there.
But we watched it all.
He was a holy man.
And He respected us! I was that girl
From Magdala. He changed my life.
He changed all our lives and
Led us from sin to holy joy!
We went that Sunday morning
To the tomb, with spices and things,
To give Him a proper burial.
Who’ll roll that stone away? How will
We get in there, to do for Him?
But the stone was already rolled away!
Angels standing in the tomb.
"He is alive!" they said.
"Go back and tell the others."
"Meet Him in Galilee."
They would not believe me.
They came, looked in, went away.
But I had seen Him, touched Him, I knew!
I knew when He spoke: "Mary!"
"Rabboni! It’s really You!"
MARY AT THE TOMB R. D. Ice
They nailed Him to a cross!
He is dead and buried now.
No threat to them any longer.
But I wanted Him to live!
What’s that? An earthquake?
Who rolled that stone away?
Where have they taken Him?
I must tell Peter and the others.
"Woman, why are you weeping?"
"Sir, tell me where you have laid Him?"
"Mary. "Rabboni!"
"It’s You, Master, alive!"
"I am here, I have not yet ascended."
"Go and tell the brothers."
"I am going to My Father and yours,"
"To My God and your God."
"I saw Him, Peter, I put my hand
on His shoulder, I touched Him!"
"He is alive! He is alive!"
"My Lord and my God is alive!"
PENTECOST R. D. Ice
Feast of Pentecost - Sunday morning.
About one-hundred twenty of us
were all waiting, as Jesus said to do.
Suddenly a loud noise filled the house
Like a strong wind blowing! What is this?
We began shouting and singing!
Praising God, in different languages.
The sound echoed through the city streets.
People came running to see and to hear.
God’s Power! The Holy Spirit!
It was only nine o’clock in the morning.
Peter said that Joel spoke about this.
I, God, will give My Spirit
when the last days come,
to sons and daughters, everyone!
Visions, dreams, miracles, wonders,
Blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
In the sky above, on the earth below.
Salvation has been brought down!
Jesus came! God the Son!
"I give you an open door," Jesus said.
"No one can close it, not the gates of hell."
"I send you with power to the world."
"Lift Me up for all to see."
"I will call everyone unto Me."
"You will do greater works," Jesus said.
We, His disciples, went everywhere
and preached everywhere!
From the east to the west
We proclaimed the sacred
and everlasting Gospel
of how God saves people forever!
THE SHIP OF ZION R. D. Ice
Tall sailing ships still reflect
the glory of man against nature.
"Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
over life’s wild boisterous sea."
We strive with all our might
to conquer everything that life
can throw at us. We look
to Jesus - who will guide us.
We picture the Lord’s church as
as ship sailing toward Heaven.
This world and the next are
intertwined, since we shall
answer for deeds done in the flesh.
But as Noah was safe in the Ark
when the rains poured down, so
we are safe in our new life -
Safe - in Jesus Christ.
In the Spiritual Church
we sail the seas of life,
being helped by Him,
helping one another.
CHRIST IS COMING R. D. Ice
The End is near! But,
not yet. Many things
must first take place.
Jesus spoke of terrible things:
Nations and Kingdoms will
go to war against each other;
Some will starve to death;
Earthquakes and floods;
Disease, terrorism;
But God will crush Satan
again and again, beneath
the feet of God's People.
God makes us strong by
the Faith which is Christ Jesus.
The Gospel is good news that
HE has overcome the world!
Jesus is the world's Savior!
He Came as flesh & blood,
one of us, tempted on
our human level, yet
never sinning.
The blood of His Sacrifice
washes away our sins;
we can stand before God
accepted in God's Son.
Whatever may come
we need not struggle in
fear and anguish.
Christ is Coming Again!
To receive His People,
to be with Him forever!
HOW SOON, OH LORD R. D. Ice
John saw the souls of martyrs
under the Altar in heaven,
men and women who had been killed
for their testimony to the Gospel of
Christ's Doing & Dying & Rising again.
How soon, O Lord, how soon?
How long can this world last?
You will come in flaming fire
taking vengeance!
What a Mighty God You are!
oh Holy and True, may Your
will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
How long, Oh Lord, until You
step in and avenge our murders?
for in killing us,
they have rejected You!
Take this white robe of victory.
Sit back and wait. It is not yet time,
because thousands and millions
of martyrs will share with you
before I Come Again.
We share with the martyrs.
Our faith and their faith
in Christ Jesus the Lord.
The purpose and will of
God All Powerful must
come to completeness.
PRAISE HIM R. D. Ice
Worthy, Oh Lord! Yes! Our God!
Take the glory! the honor!
the power! You created it all
because You wanted it so!
Holy, Holy, Holy is God our Lord!
Our Father! We, Your child.
Bought back to You from all over
the Earth! Bought back by the
Blood of The Lamb!
We worship You The Living One!
You, Oh God, are sheer beauty!
All generous in Your love!
Loyal always and ever!
We thank You and praise You!
WHY DO YOU HOPE R.D.Ice
Stand up and praise the Lord your God!
Praise Him forever and ever!
Let everyone praise His glorious name,
although no human praise
is great enough.
Today is holy to our Lord,
so don't be sad.
The joy that the Lord gives you
will make you strong.
Do as the Lord says,
and you will be safe from sin.
The long history of the church is filled
with the wonders of The Spirit.
Who would dare to say that the love
and imagination
of God were exhausted?
I believe in the surprises
of The Holy Spirit.
The ways of Providence
are by nature surprising.
We are not prisoners of "fate,"
nor of the gloomy predictions
of sociologists.
I believe that God
is "born anew"
each morning.
I believe that He is re-creating the world
at this very minute.
He did not create it only at a distant
and long-forgotten
moment in time.
It is happening now!
We must therefore be ready
to expect
the unexpected
from God!
To hope is a duty, not a luxury.
To hope is not to dream,
but to turn dreams into reality.
Blessed are those who dream dreams
and are ready
to pay the price
to make them come true.
Think of the prophets and
the great men and women
of old.
Who, in times of darkness,
discovered a spring of grace
and shed beams of light on our path.
I am a man of hope - not
from human reasons
nor from a natural optimism.
God is here, near us,
unforeseeable and loving,
working in the world
at this very minute.
To those who welcome Him
He gives each day fresh liberty and
renewed joy and trust!!!
HE CARETH [writer unknown]
What can it mean? Is it aught to Him
That the nights are long and the days are dim?
Can He be touched by the griefs I bear,
Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair?
Around His throne are eternal calms,
And strong, glad music of happy psalms,
And bliss unruffled by any strife;
How can He care for my little life?
And yet I want Him to care for me
While I live in this world where the sorrows be;
When the lights die down from the path I take,
When strength is feeble and friends forsake;
When love and music, that once did bless,
Have left me to silence and loneliness.
And my life song changes to sobbing prayers,
Then my heart cries out for a God who cares.
When shadows hang o'er me the whole day long,
And my spirit is bowed with shame and wrong,
When I am not good, and the deeper shade,
Of conscious sin makes my heart afraid,
And the busy world has too much to do
To stay in its course to help me through,
And I long for a Savior - can it be
That the God of the universe cares for me?
Oh, wonderful story of deathless love!
Each child is dear to that Heart above;
He fights for me when I can not fight,
He comforts me in the gloom of night;
He lifts the burden, for He is strong,
He stills the sigh and awakens the song;
The sorrow that bowed me down He bears,
And loves and pardons because He cares.
Let all who are sad take heart again;
We are not alone in our hours of pain;
Our Father stoops from His throne above
To soothe and quiet us with His love.
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR ME R. D. Ice
God has a Plan for me.
As the oak is hidden
within the bud, so this Plan
is hidden within me.
I am put here to find God
through Jesus Christ.
I find Him through people
whom He has chosen me to know.
I find Him in the Bible as He speaks
to me. Knowing these
things frees my mind and heart
from all fear, greed, jealousy.
Anger and resentment are overcome
by faith in His Plan and His love.
When God closes a door to me,
it is to open another, which I
often must search to find.
God uses this searching to
help me face myself and to see
the new opportunity before me.
I thank my Father for each
experience, which draws me to His will.
For only as I lose myself in
consciousness of His Great Presence
can His Plan for my life then
be fulfilled.
FLESH & BLOOD R.D.Ice
Jesus The Son came in human form;
flesh & blood, in order to defeat
the devil and the forces of evil.
Why is our world the way it is???
A wise man said: "How can you
have a top without a bottom?
or a front without a back?"
The contradictions of our world
are part of God’s Plan. He gave
us freewill and we are allowed
to choose Him.
And yet He chooses us in Christ.
Because He loves us, He wants us
to love Him and draw near to Him
with clean hands and a pure heart.
To make this possible, He sent Jesus
to be The Lamb Who Takes Away
Sin - by the sacrifice of Himself.
We love Him because He first loved us!
THE LIVING GOD R.D.Ice
What a mighty God He is!
The Old Testament shows us God.
The Living God - always and forever!
The strict Judge - demanding our obedience,
Utterly ethical and moral, holy and pure.
The Righteous One - springing out of
the pages of the Bible to meet us.
God is truly righteous. And so He
reveals Himself in a world of tragedy
and moral failure. His Purpose
is being fulfilled in all who believe
because He has suffered, the righteous
for the unrighteous, suffering more
than any man, in total innocence.
Jesus raised from death!
This gives us hope and assurance!
When Jesus Comes Again, we will rise
to meet Him and to be with Him
f o r e v e r !
The overriding theme of the Old Testament portion of the Bible is the living God, the strict Judge, punishing the sinner, loving the penitent and guiltless and evoking fear and awe, utterly ethical and moral, the Righteous One leaping out of those pages and demanding our obedient response. If God is truly righteous, and if we are truly to let God be God and to let His righteousness be revealed in a world of tragedy and suffering and moral failure, there is only one way in which this can happen. There is only one way in which a fully personal and truly just God can realize His purpose in such a world as this. That is, by Himself bearing the suffering of the world and the consequences of our transgression. How can He be the just God of the Bible unless He suffers more than any man in total innocence.
LAMENTATIONS R.D.Ice
I, the LORD, am your GOD;
you shall make and keep yourselves
holy, because I am holy.
Every July, in Synagogues, the Book
of Lamentations is read out loud,
remembering the devastation of
the Captivity to Babylon
that came in 587 BC.
Jerusalem’s streets, once bustling
with people, stand silent.
Like a widow, alone, tears streaming,
Jerusalem sits in grief.
Betrayed by friends and allies,
her princes like starving deer,
too weak to run from enemies.
Jerusalem has sinned greatly,
now tossed away like a filthy rag.
All she can do is groan and hide her face.
She has been plundered of everything,
even the sacred Temple, the holy place
where the LORD came in glory.
Seventy years she must spend.
Seventy years in slavery.
"Make the best of it," Jeremiah wrote.
You will be there seventy years.
But God’s love never fails!
Even in slavery, He takes care of
His people Israel.
The unfailing love of the LORD
never ends! By His mercies we have been
kept from complete destruction.
Great is His faithfulness! His mercies
begin afresh every day!
LORD, You are my lawyer!
Plead my case!
For You have redeemed my life.
AND ON EARTH, PEACE AND GOODWILL R.D.Ice
God, the All-powerful, has been speaking
to our fathers in different ways,
through the prophets in ancient days,
keeping in touch with men and women.
At the right time, God spoke directly
through Jesus The Son.
The Son perfectly mirrors God,
and is stamped with God’s nature.
The Son holds everything together
by the word of His power.
Of Christ Jesus, God said,
"All angels must worship Him."
For a Child is born to us, Isaiah wrote.
His royal titles will be:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
God brought God The Son into our world
through Mary the virgin, conceived
by God The Holy Spirit, born in
Bethlehem of Judea, in a ox’s stall.
The angels sang and praised Jesus -
the Savior who is Messiah and Master!
Peace to all men and women on earth!
To all who love and please Him!
Since you and I are flesh & blood,
it makes great sense that He - The Son -
took on flesh & blood to rescue us
from sin and death.
He embraced death, taking it
to Himself, to destroy the Devil’s hold
on us who are scared to death
of death.
God loved us so much that He
became the Sacrifice - to put us right
with Himself by means of
the once-for-all death & resurrection.
Thank You, God, Thank You!
I take my ordinary life, sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, walking around,
and place it before You as an offering.
Everything comes from Christ Jesus!
Everything happens through Him!
Everything ends up in Him!
Always glory! Always praise!
Peace with God! That’s what Jesus
accomplished for us. Peace
with laughter and singing, peace
because we keep on believing!
How fortunate and blessed we are!
Angels would have given anything
to be in on this great blessing
that God has poured out on us!
O Lamb of God! By Your
sacrificial death You bought us
for God - people from every tribe,
nation, language, and race.
Lamb of God, You are our future!
You will Come Again, when
all things are to be made new.
Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
[references: Hebrews 1:1-4; 9:27-28; 10:4-7; 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:10-12; Rev. 12.]
SHAKING THE EARTH R.D. Ice
God will rock the heavens!
One last shaking, from top to bottom,
from stem to stern, thoroughly
cleaning house, getting rid of
historical and religious junk, so that
the unshakable essentials will stand
clear and uncluttered.
Do you see what we have!
A kingdom which cannot be shaken!
How thankful we must be, and
not only thankful but filled with
love and praise and worship.
Our God is a cleansing fire who
purifies us because He loves us!
We stay on good terms with each other,
held together by bonds of love.
We are not carried away by
material things, by casual sex,
by lust and envy and pride, by
wanting to have our own way, or
by wanting to appear important.
WHEN ALL OF GOD'S SINGERS GET HOME [Old Hymn]
What a song of delight in that city so bright,
Will be wafted ‘neath heaven’s fair dome,
How the ransomed will raise happy songs in His praise,
When all of God’s singers get home.
As we sing here on earth, songs of sadness or mirth,
‘Tis a foretaste of rapture to come;
But our joys can’t compare with the glory up there,
When all of God’s singers get home.
Having overcome sin, hallelujah amen
Will be heard in that land o’er the foam,
Every heart will be light and each face will be bright,
When all of God’s singers get home.
When all of God’s singers get home,
Where never a sorrow will come;
There’ll be no place like heaven my home,
When all of God’s singers get home.
[Stamps-Baxter Music Co.]
HE IS ALIVE!!!
The body of Jesus lay dead in the tomb.
Death had worked its thing on Him.
Perhaps the devil thought he had won?
But God had other plans.
God The Holy Spirit, silent and unseen,
entered the cold rock tomb of Jesus,
perhaps hovered over the body of Jesus
as He had hovered over the earth at Creation.
In a flash the spirit of Jesus returned!
His body, once locked in death,
was changed, loosed, set free, made alive!
The mortal body had put on immortality!
He who once had died, could never die again!
Not a reanimated corpse, no zombie.
His whole flesh & blood body is set free!
Homo in excellsius - transformed -
into what we shall become!
He reached up and removed the cloth,
swung to His feet, carefully folded
the linen cloth and laid it neatly
on the rock shelf, like you would make
your bed upon leaving the home of a friend.
And then He was gone! Just walked out,
walked out through the stone
which sealed and guarded the opening.
With nail-pierced hands, He is alive!
Death has no more dominion over Him!
Jesus is alive forevermore!
Death is destroyed by Christ Jesus!
And we will rise in the Resurrection!
God The Holy Spirit will transform us!
A Song of Praise and Thanksgiving
R. D. Ice (adapted from Psalms)
Praise God with shouts of joy!
Sing to the glory of His Name!
How wonderful are the things You do,
O God our Redeemer and our Savior!
Your power is so great, and
everyone on earth will praise You!
They sing praises to Your Name!
Our God, it is right for us to praise You,
and keep our promises to You.
Because You answer prayer,
everyone will come to You, to
Your Throne of Grace and Mercy.
Our sins and faults defeat us.
We confess our sins and weaknesses
to You, O God who forgives sin.
Happy and blessed are all those
who You call and bring into
Your sanctuary. Your House
will be our home as long as we live.
REMEMBER
R. E. Winsett
I remember how my Savior died for me,
On the rugged Cross of dark Mt. Calvary,
I remember how He cried,
how He bowed his head and died,
I remember dark Calvary.
cho: I remember how He paid the debt for me,
How His blood was shed on dark Calvary
O the blood of Calvary’s brow
I can see it flowing now,
I remember dark Calvary.
THE UNFOLDING OF THE ROSE
A young man was walking with his wise and loving Grandfather in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about life and what he should do as he grew up, he was asking his Grandfather for some advice.
His Grandpa walked up to a rosebush and handed the young man a rosebud and told him to open itwithout tearing off any petals.
The young man looked in disbelief at the elder and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know what he should do with his life and future.
However, having great respect for his Grandfather, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.
Noticing the youngsters inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the Grandfather began to recite the following poem...
It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,But then in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design.
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?So I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day
I will look to Him for His guidance
While walking each step of life's way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll ask Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
MY LIFE via Present Truth
When I contemplate this Life of mine-
This one faultless Life, the Man divine
Who lived in my stead-by faith I see
This Life has fulfilled the law for me.
This history-pure, without a spot-
Was wrought out for me, oh blessed thought!
And when on the cross my Saviour died,
In Him sinful flesh was crucified.
In Him guilt was buried, put away.
In Him I was raised one glorious day.
In Him I sat down at God's right hand.
Now perfect and pure in Christ I stand.
Now all things are ready-"It is done."
I come to the marriage through the Son-
Come boldly without the fear of shame,
For I may draw near in Jesus' name.
His righteousness meets the law's demands.
My Saviour holds out His wounded hands.
Though I may be wretched, poor, and blind,
In Christ not a stain the law can find;
So I need not fear how God views me,
For Christ's life is all that He can see.
Christ's birth, life, and death stand in my place.
I witness in awe such boundless grace.
Above human thought, my Father's plan
That He should accept me in this Man.
My Substitute, Surety, Lord is He;
Amazing His love beyond degree!
I praise You Oh Lord in Jesus' Name!
THE THREE BOOKS OF GOD R. D. Ice
[adapted from Peterson’s language]
God - the Creator - is not far
from any of us. In Him we
live and move and exist.
He speaks to us in Three Books.
First - The Book of Nature
The heavens declare the glory of God.
How plainly they show what He has done.
His glory is on tour in the skies.
How plainly God’s work is on exhibit across the horizon.
Madam Day holds classes every morning.
Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words are not heard, but
their silence fills the earth; and
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
Secondly - The Book of human nature
Reverence for the Lord is good, and
reverence is written on my heart.
The judgments of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
Clean the slate, O God, give me a fresh start today.
Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking
that I can take over Your work.
Deliver me from hidden faults.
Accept my words of praise and thanks
when I place them on the morning altar.
Third - The Book of Holy Scripture
The revealed word of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
Then I shall be perfect and
free from the evil of sin.
The signposts of God are clear and readable.
The life-maps of God are right and point to joy.
God's word warns us of danger, and
directs us to hidden treasure of The Spirit.
May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable to You, O God.
O Lord, my refuge and my Redeemer.
C A T
J. R. R. Tolkien
The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream,
but he free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.
The giant lion with iron
claw in paw,
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard* dark-starred,
fleet upon feet,
that oft soft from aloft
leaps on his meat
where woods loom in gloom -
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet,
he does not forget.
[* leopard]
REMEMBERING THE ASTRONAUGHTS
R. D. Ice
God teaches us to number our days,
to prepare for the unexpected.
Redeem the time - make the most
of every opportunity that comes along.
God has put in us an unquenchable spirit.
We hunger and thirst for knowledge
People look to the stars
and try to reach up and climb higher.
God has ordained that we strive and struggle
to pass our days in this world of time.
Citizens of heaven - citizens of earth.
We live in two different worlds in our thinking.
Disaster and death are common things,
yet this destruction of the Challenger
touches hearts in a very special way -
this was "us" hit by tragedy.
Perhaps God will allow mankind to spread out
to the stars and distant planets. Perhaps
billions and trillions of humans
will live in Space to the glory of God.
But again, Earth may be the only home
of mankind, because the difficulties
may be impossible to overcome, and
may prevent any outward migration.
Jesus is Lord of the Universe!
All things that exist are upheld by
the Word of His Power.
The heavens declare the glory of God!
We thank You, Jesus, for Your love.
While we were yet sinners You came
into our world to be our Savior!
Bless us and save us Lord Jesus!
The greatest knowledge is to know God.
HE is Father, we are child.
Jesus is Savior, The Holy Spirit is
Living Water pouring out from our heart.
(John 7:37-39).
REMEMBERING
R.D.Ice
Thirty years ago, April 4, 1973
the newly completed Twin Towers
called the World Trade Center
were dedicated as a "living symbol
of man's dedication to world peace."
On September 11, 2001, these symbols
were reinterpreted in their destruction
by the act of terrorists.
Today our world has changed forever
and a New World Order is in place.
Our Nation is at war for better or for worse.
Ideologies are fiercely competing.
Loyalties are being tested, new alliances formed,
political lines redrawn, boundaries changed.
The future is uncertain.
"One Nation Under God" applies to all nations.
God the All Powerful is on His Throne.
The Old Testament shows us God -
The Living God - always and forever!
The strict Judge - demanding our obedience,
Utterly ethical and moral, holy and pure.
The Righteous One - springing out of
the pages of the Bible to meet us.
Two thousand years ago, one Man
was nailed to a cross near Jerusalem.
Crucified with Him were two thieves -
terrorists, rebels, who had committed murder
in the riot and rebellion against the
Roman Occupation Forces.
But Jesus was The Innocent Man.
Two thousand years ago, Easter happened!
The One Man was raised up from death!
Jesus is alive forevermore!
He became the symbol of true peace,
the amazing peace with God.
Because of Easter it is possible
to forgive and be forgiven, to be at peace
with others and with ourselves.
"GOD GAVE HIS OWN SON
as a ransom for us,
the holy One for transgressors,
the blameless One for the wicked,
the righteous One for the unrighteous,
the incorruptible One for the corruptible,
the immortal One for them that are mortal.
For what other thing was capable of covering
our sins than His righteousness?
By what other one was it possible that we,
the wicked and ungodly, could be justified,
than by the only Son of God?
O sweet exchange!
O unsearchable operation!
O benefits surpassing all expectation!
that the wickedness of many
should be hid in a single righteous One,
and that the righteousness of One
should justify many transgressors!"
(Epistle to Diognetus, about A.D. 130.)
PEACE
R.D.Ice
Isaiah speaks to a time when Peace becomes real.
Come, let's climb God's Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He'll show us the way He works
so we can live the way we're made to live.
Zion's the source of the revelation.
God's Message comes from Jerusalem.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won't play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
let's live in the light of God.
The world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
a world rolling in wealth, stuffed with things,
no end to its machines and gadgets.
People with a big head are headed for a fall,
proud and arrogant brought down a peg.
It's God alone at front-and-center
on the Day we're talking about,
The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
is matched against all big-talking rivals,
against all swaggering big names;
Against every soaring skyscraper,
against all proud monuments and statues.
Clamber into caves in the cliffs,
duck into any hole you can find.
Hide from the terror of God,
from His dazzling presence,
When He assumes His full stature on earth,
Towering and Terrifying!
We saw Him die.
We were women, and they ignored us.
Priests, Elders, Soldiers
Didn’t even know we were there.
But we watched it all.
He was a holy man.
And He respected us! I was that girl
From Magdala. He changed my life.
He changed all our lives and
Led us from sin to holy joy!
We went that Sunday morning
To the tomb, with spices and things,
To give Him a proper burial.
Who’ll roll that stone away? How will
We get in there, to do for Him?
But the stone was already rolled away!
Angels standing in the tomb.
"He is alive!" they said.
"Go back and tell the others."
"Meet Him in Galilee."
They would not believe me.
They came, looked in, went away.
But I had seen Him, touched Him, I knew!
I knew when He spoke: "Mary!"
"Rabboni! It’s really You!"
MARY AT THE TOMB R. D. Ice
They nailed Him to a cross!
He is dead and buried now.
No threat to them any longer.
But I wanted Him to live!
What’s that? An earthquake?
Who rolled that stone away?
Where have they taken Him?
I must tell Peter and the others.
"Woman, why are you weeping?"
"Sir, tell me where you have laid Him?"
"Mary. "Rabboni!"
"It’s You, Master, alive!"
"I am here, I have not yet ascended."
"Go and tell the brothers."
"I am going to My Father and yours,"
"To My God and your God."
"I saw Him, Peter, I put my hand
on His shoulder, I touched Him!"
"He is alive! He is alive!"
"My Lord and my God is alive!"
PENTECOST R. D. Ice
Feast of Pentecost - Sunday morning.
About one-hundred twenty of us
were all waiting, as Jesus said to do.
Suddenly a loud noise filled the house
Like a strong wind blowing! What is this?
We began shouting and singing!
Praising God, in different languages.
The sound echoed through the city streets.
People came running to see and to hear.
God’s Power! The Holy Spirit!
It was only nine o’clock in the morning.
Peter said that Joel spoke about this.
I, God, will give My Spirit
when the last days come,
to sons and daughters, everyone!
Visions, dreams, miracles, wonders,
Blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
In the sky above, on the earth below.
Salvation has been brought down!
Jesus came! God the Son!
"I give you an open door," Jesus said.
"No one can close it, not the gates of hell."
"I send you with power to the world."
"Lift Me up for all to see."
"I will call everyone unto Me."
"You will do greater works," Jesus said.
We, His disciples, went everywhere
and preached everywhere!
From the east to the west
We proclaimed the sacred
and everlasting Gospel
of how God saves people forever!
THE SHIP OF ZION R. D. Ice
Tall sailing ships still reflect
the glory of man against nature.
"Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
over life’s wild boisterous sea."
We strive with all our might
to conquer everything that life
can throw at us. We look
to Jesus - who will guide us.
We picture the Lord’s church as
as ship sailing toward Heaven.
This world and the next are
intertwined, since we shall
answer for deeds done in the flesh.
But as Noah was safe in the Ark
when the rains poured down, so
we are safe in our new life -
Safe - in Jesus Christ.
In the Spiritual Church
we sail the seas of life,
being helped by Him,
helping one another.
CHRIST IS COMING R. D. Ice
The End is near! But,
not yet. Many things
must first take place.
Jesus spoke of terrible things:
Nations and Kingdoms will
go to war against each other;
Some will starve to death;
Earthquakes and floods;
Disease, terrorism;
But God will crush Satan
again and again, beneath
the feet of God's People.
God makes us strong by
the Faith which is Christ Jesus.
The Gospel is good news that
HE has overcome the world!
Jesus is the world's Savior!
He Came as flesh & blood,
one of us, tempted on
our human level, yet
never sinning.
The blood of His Sacrifice
washes away our sins;
we can stand before God
accepted in God's Son.
Whatever may come
we need not struggle in
fear and anguish.
Christ is Coming Again!
To receive His People,
to be with Him forever!
HOW SOON, OH LORD R. D. Ice
John saw the souls of martyrs
under the Altar in heaven,
men and women who had been killed
for their testimony to the Gospel of
Christ's Doing & Dying & Rising again.
How soon, O Lord, how soon?
How long can this world last?
You will come in flaming fire
taking vengeance!
What a Mighty God You are!
oh Holy and True, may Your
will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
How long, Oh Lord, until You
step in and avenge our murders?
for in killing us,
they have rejected You!
Take this white robe of victory.
Sit back and wait. It is not yet time,
because thousands and millions
of martyrs will share with you
before I Come Again.
We share with the martyrs.
Our faith and their faith
in Christ Jesus the Lord.
The purpose and will of
God All Powerful must
come to completeness.
PRAISE HIM R. D. Ice
Worthy, Oh Lord! Yes! Our God!
Take the glory! the honor!
the power! You created it all
because You wanted it so!
Holy, Holy, Holy is God our Lord!
Our Father! We, Your child.
Bought back to You from all over
the Earth! Bought back by the
Blood of The Lamb!
We worship You The Living One!
You, Oh God, are sheer beauty!
All generous in Your love!
Loyal always and ever!
We thank You and praise You!
WHY DO YOU HOPE R.D.Ice
Stand up and praise the Lord your God!
Praise Him forever and ever!
Let everyone praise His glorious name,
although no human praise
is great enough.
Today is holy to our Lord,
so don't be sad.
The joy that the Lord gives you
will make you strong.
Do as the Lord says,
and you will be safe from sin.
The long history of the church is filled
with the wonders of The Spirit.
Who would dare to say that the love
and imagination
of God were exhausted?
I believe in the surprises
of The Holy Spirit.
The ways of Providence
are by nature surprising.
We are not prisoners of "fate,"
nor of the gloomy predictions
of sociologists.
I believe that God
is "born anew"
each morning.
I believe that He is re-creating the world
at this very minute.
He did not create it only at a distant
and long-forgotten
moment in time.
It is happening now!
We must therefore be ready
to expect
the unexpected
from God!
To hope is a duty, not a luxury.
To hope is not to dream,
but to turn dreams into reality.
Blessed are those who dream dreams
and are ready
to pay the price
to make them come true.
Think of the prophets and
the great men and women
of old.
Who, in times of darkness,
discovered a spring of grace
and shed beams of light on our path.
I am a man of hope - not
from human reasons
nor from a natural optimism.
God is here, near us,
unforeseeable and loving,
working in the world
at this very minute.
To those who welcome Him
He gives each day fresh liberty and
renewed joy and trust!!!
HE CARETH [writer unknown]
What can it mean? Is it aught to Him
That the nights are long and the days are dim?
Can He be touched by the griefs I bear,
Which sadden the heart and whiten the hair?
Around His throne are eternal calms,
And strong, glad music of happy psalms,
And bliss unruffled by any strife;
How can He care for my little life?
And yet I want Him to care for me
While I live in this world where the sorrows be;
When the lights die down from the path I take,
When strength is feeble and friends forsake;
When love and music, that once did bless,
Have left me to silence and loneliness.
And my life song changes to sobbing prayers,
Then my heart cries out for a God who cares.
When shadows hang o'er me the whole day long,
And my spirit is bowed with shame and wrong,
When I am not good, and the deeper shade,
Of conscious sin makes my heart afraid,
And the busy world has too much to do
To stay in its course to help me through,
And I long for a Savior - can it be
That the God of the universe cares for me?
Oh, wonderful story of deathless love!
Each child is dear to that Heart above;
He fights for me when I can not fight,
He comforts me in the gloom of night;
He lifts the burden, for He is strong,
He stills the sigh and awakens the song;
The sorrow that bowed me down He bears,
And loves and pardons because He cares.
Let all who are sad take heart again;
We are not alone in our hours of pain;
Our Father stoops from His throne above
To soothe and quiet us with His love.
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR ME R. D. Ice
God has a Plan for me.
As the oak is hidden
within the bud, so this Plan
is hidden within me.
I am put here to find God
through Jesus Christ.
I find Him through people
whom He has chosen me to know.
I find Him in the Bible as He speaks
to me. Knowing these
things frees my mind and heart
from all fear, greed, jealousy.
Anger and resentment are overcome
by faith in His Plan and His love.
When God closes a door to me,
it is to open another, which I
often must search to find.
God uses this searching to
help me face myself and to see
the new opportunity before me.
I thank my Father for each
experience, which draws me to His will.
For only as I lose myself in
consciousness of His Great Presence
can His Plan for my life then
be fulfilled.
FLESH & BLOOD R.D.Ice
Jesus The Son came in human form;
flesh & blood, in order to defeat
the devil and the forces of evil.
Why is our world the way it is???
A wise man said: "How can you
have a top without a bottom?
or a front without a back?"
The contradictions of our world
are part of God’s Plan. He gave
us freewill and we are allowed
to choose Him.
And yet He chooses us in Christ.
Because He loves us, He wants us
to love Him and draw near to Him
with clean hands and a pure heart.
To make this possible, He sent Jesus
to be The Lamb Who Takes Away
Sin - by the sacrifice of Himself.
We love Him because He first loved us!
THE LIVING GOD R.D.Ice
What a mighty God He is!
The Old Testament shows us God.
The Living God - always and forever!
The strict Judge - demanding our obedience,
Utterly ethical and moral, holy and pure.
The Righteous One - springing out of
the pages of the Bible to meet us.
God is truly righteous. And so He
reveals Himself in a world of tragedy
and moral failure. His Purpose
is being fulfilled in all who believe
because He has suffered, the righteous
for the unrighteous, suffering more
than any man, in total innocence.
Jesus raised from death!
This gives us hope and assurance!
When Jesus Comes Again, we will rise
to meet Him and to be with Him
f o r e v e r !
The overriding theme of the Old Testament portion of the Bible is the living God, the strict Judge, punishing the sinner, loving the penitent and guiltless and evoking fear and awe, utterly ethical and moral, the Righteous One leaping out of those pages and demanding our obedient response. If God is truly righteous, and if we are truly to let God be God and to let His righteousness be revealed in a world of tragedy and suffering and moral failure, there is only one way in which this can happen. There is only one way in which a fully personal and truly just God can realize His purpose in such a world as this. That is, by Himself bearing the suffering of the world and the consequences of our transgression. How can He be the just God of the Bible unless He suffers more than any man in total innocence.
LAMENTATIONS R.D.Ice
I, the LORD, am your GOD;
you shall make and keep yourselves
holy, because I am holy.
Every July, in Synagogues, the Book
of Lamentations is read out loud,
remembering the devastation of
the Captivity to Babylon
that came in 587 BC.
Jerusalem’s streets, once bustling
with people, stand silent.
Like a widow, alone, tears streaming,
Jerusalem sits in grief.
Betrayed by friends and allies,
her princes like starving deer,
too weak to run from enemies.
Jerusalem has sinned greatly,
now tossed away like a filthy rag.
All she can do is groan and hide her face.
She has been plundered of everything,
even the sacred Temple, the holy place
where the LORD came in glory.
Seventy years she must spend.
Seventy years in slavery.
"Make the best of it," Jeremiah wrote.
You will be there seventy years.
But God’s love never fails!
Even in slavery, He takes care of
His people Israel.
The unfailing love of the LORD
never ends! By His mercies we have been
kept from complete destruction.
Great is His faithfulness! His mercies
begin afresh every day!
LORD, You are my lawyer!
Plead my case!
For You have redeemed my life.
AND ON EARTH, PEACE AND GOODWILL R.D.Ice
God, the All-powerful, has been speaking
to our fathers in different ways,
through the prophets in ancient days,
keeping in touch with men and women.
At the right time, God spoke directly
through Jesus The Son.
The Son perfectly mirrors God,
and is stamped with God’s nature.
The Son holds everything together
by the word of His power.
Of Christ Jesus, God said,
"All angels must worship Him."
For a Child is born to us, Isaiah wrote.
His royal titles will be:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
God brought God The Son into our world
through Mary the virgin, conceived
by God The Holy Spirit, born in
Bethlehem of Judea, in a ox’s stall.
The angels sang and praised Jesus -
the Savior who is Messiah and Master!
Peace to all men and women on earth!
To all who love and please Him!
Since you and I are flesh & blood,
it makes great sense that He - The Son -
took on flesh & blood to rescue us
from sin and death.
He embraced death, taking it
to Himself, to destroy the Devil’s hold
on us who are scared to death
of death.
God loved us so much that He
became the Sacrifice - to put us right
with Himself by means of
the once-for-all death & resurrection.
Thank You, God, Thank You!
I take my ordinary life, sleeping,
eating, going-to-work, walking around,
and place it before You as an offering.
Everything comes from Christ Jesus!
Everything happens through Him!
Everything ends up in Him!
Always glory! Always praise!
Peace with God! That’s what Jesus
accomplished for us. Peace
with laughter and singing, peace
because we keep on believing!
How fortunate and blessed we are!
Angels would have given anything
to be in on this great blessing
that God has poured out on us!
O Lamb of God! By Your
sacrificial death You bought us
for God - people from every tribe,
nation, language, and race.
Lamb of God, You are our future!
You will Come Again, when
all things are to be made new.
Come, Lord Jesus, Come.
[references: Hebrews 1:1-4; 9:27-28; 10:4-7; 12:1-2; 1 Peter 1:10-12; Rev. 12.]
SHAKING THE EARTH R.D. Ice
God will rock the heavens!
One last shaking, from top to bottom,
from stem to stern, thoroughly
cleaning house, getting rid of
historical and religious junk, so that
the unshakable essentials will stand
clear and uncluttered.
Do you see what we have!
A kingdom which cannot be shaken!
How thankful we must be, and
not only thankful but filled with
love and praise and worship.
Our God is a cleansing fire who
purifies us because He loves us!
We stay on good terms with each other,
held together by bonds of love.
We are not carried away by
material things, by casual sex,
by lust and envy and pride, by
wanting to have our own way, or
by wanting to appear important.
WHEN ALL OF GOD'S SINGERS GET HOME [Old Hymn]
What a song of delight in that city so bright,
Will be wafted ‘neath heaven’s fair dome,
How the ransomed will raise happy songs in His praise,
When all of God’s singers get home.
As we sing here on earth, songs of sadness or mirth,
‘Tis a foretaste of rapture to come;
But our joys can’t compare with the glory up there,
When all of God’s singers get home.
Having overcome sin, hallelujah amen
Will be heard in that land o’er the foam,
Every heart will be light and each face will be bright,
When all of God’s singers get home.
When all of God’s singers get home,
Where never a sorrow will come;
There’ll be no place like heaven my home,
When all of God’s singers get home.
[Stamps-Baxter Music Co.]
HE IS ALIVE!!!
The body of Jesus lay dead in the tomb.
Death had worked its thing on Him.
Perhaps the devil thought he had won?
But God had other plans.
God The Holy Spirit, silent and unseen,
entered the cold rock tomb of Jesus,
perhaps hovered over the body of Jesus
as He had hovered over the earth at Creation.
In a flash the spirit of Jesus returned!
His body, once locked in death,
was changed, loosed, set free, made alive!
The mortal body had put on immortality!
He who once had died, could never die again!
Not a reanimated corpse, no zombie.
His whole flesh & blood body is set free!
Homo in excellsius - transformed -
into what we shall become!
He reached up and removed the cloth,
swung to His feet, carefully folded
the linen cloth and laid it neatly
on the rock shelf, like you would make
your bed upon leaving the home of a friend.
And then He was gone! Just walked out,
walked out through the stone
which sealed and guarded the opening.
With nail-pierced hands, He is alive!
Death has no more dominion over Him!
Jesus is alive forevermore!
Death is destroyed by Christ Jesus!
And we will rise in the Resurrection!
God The Holy Spirit will transform us!
A Song of Praise and Thanksgiving
R. D. Ice (adapted from Psalms)
Praise God with shouts of joy!
Sing to the glory of His Name!
How wonderful are the things You do,
O God our Redeemer and our Savior!
Your power is so great, and
everyone on earth will praise You!
They sing praises to Your Name!
Our God, it is right for us to praise You,
and keep our promises to You.
Because You answer prayer,
everyone will come to You, to
Your Throne of Grace and Mercy.
Our sins and faults defeat us.
We confess our sins and weaknesses
to You, O God who forgives sin.
Happy and blessed are all those
who You call and bring into
Your sanctuary. Your House
will be our home as long as we live.
REMEMBER
R. E. Winsett
I remember how my Savior died for me,
On the rugged Cross of dark Mt. Calvary,
I remember how He cried,
how He bowed his head and died,
I remember dark Calvary.
cho: I remember how He paid the debt for me,
How His blood was shed on dark Calvary
O the blood of Calvary’s brow
I can see it flowing now,
I remember dark Calvary.
THE UNFOLDING OF THE ROSE
A young man was walking with his wise and loving Grandfather in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about life and what he should do as he grew up, he was asking his Grandfather for some advice.
His Grandpa walked up to a rosebush and handed the young man a rosebud and told him to open itwithout tearing off any petals.
The young man looked in disbelief at the elder and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know what he should do with his life and future.
However, having great respect for his Grandfather, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do.
Noticing the youngsters inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the Grandfather began to recite the following poem...
It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,But then in my hands they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design.
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?So I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day
I will look to Him for His guidance
While walking each step of life's way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll ask Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
MY LIFE via Present Truth
When I contemplate this Life of mine-
This one faultless Life, the Man divine
Who lived in my stead-by faith I see
This Life has fulfilled the law for me.
This history-pure, without a spot-
Was wrought out for me, oh blessed thought!
And when on the cross my Saviour died,
In Him sinful flesh was crucified.
In Him guilt was buried, put away.
In Him I was raised one glorious day.
In Him I sat down at God's right hand.
Now perfect and pure in Christ I stand.
Now all things are ready-"It is done."
I come to the marriage through the Son-
Come boldly without the fear of shame,
For I may draw near in Jesus' name.
His righteousness meets the law's demands.
My Saviour holds out His wounded hands.
Though I may be wretched, poor, and blind,
In Christ not a stain the law can find;
So I need not fear how God views me,
For Christ's life is all that He can see.
Christ's birth, life, and death stand in my place.
I witness in awe such boundless grace.
Above human thought, my Father's plan
That He should accept me in this Man.
My Substitute, Surety, Lord is He;
Amazing His love beyond degree!
I praise You Oh Lord in Jesus' Name!
THE THREE BOOKS OF GOD R. D. Ice
[adapted from Peterson’s language]
God - the Creator - is not far
from any of us. In Him we
live and move and exist.
He speaks to us in Three Books.
First - The Book of Nature
The heavens declare the glory of God.
How plainly they show what He has done.
His glory is on tour in the skies.
How plainly God’s work is on exhibit across the horizon.
Madam Day holds classes every morning.
Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words are not heard, but
their silence fills the earth; and
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
Secondly - The Book of human nature
Reverence for the Lord is good, and
reverence is written on my heart.
The judgments of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.
Clean the slate, O God, give me a fresh start today.
Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking
that I can take over Your work.
Deliver me from hidden faults.
Accept my words of praise and thanks
when I place them on the morning altar.
Third - The Book of Holy Scripture
The revealed word of God is whole
and pulls our lives together.
Then I shall be perfect and
free from the evil of sin.
The signposts of God are clear and readable.
The life-maps of God are right and point to joy.
God's word warns us of danger, and
directs us to hidden treasure of The Spirit.
May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable to You, O God.
O Lord, my refuge and my Redeemer.
C A T
J. R. R. Tolkien
The fat cat on the mat
may seem to dream
of nice mice that suffice
for him, or cream,
but he free, maybe,
walks in thought
unbowed, proud, where loud
roared and fought
his kin, lean and slim,
or deep in den
in the East feasted on beasts
and tender men.
The giant lion with iron
claw in paw,
and huge ruthless tooth
in gory jaw;
the pard* dark-starred,
fleet upon feet,
that oft soft from aloft
leaps on his meat
where woods loom in gloom -
far now they be,
fierce and free,
and tamed is he;
but fat cat on the mat
kept as a pet,
he does not forget.
[* leopard]
REMEMBERING THE ASTRONAUGHTS
R. D. Ice
God teaches us to number our days,
to prepare for the unexpected.
Redeem the time - make the most
of every opportunity that comes along.
God has put in us an unquenchable spirit.
We hunger and thirst for knowledge
People look to the stars
and try to reach up and climb higher.
God has ordained that we strive and struggle
to pass our days in this world of time.
Citizens of heaven - citizens of earth.
We live in two different worlds in our thinking.
Disaster and death are common things,
yet this destruction of the Challenger
touches hearts in a very special way -
this was "us" hit by tragedy.
Perhaps God will allow mankind to spread out
to the stars and distant planets. Perhaps
billions and trillions of humans
will live in Space to the glory of God.
But again, Earth may be the only home
of mankind, because the difficulties
may be impossible to overcome, and
may prevent any outward migration.
Jesus is Lord of the Universe!
All things that exist are upheld by
the Word of His Power.
The heavens declare the glory of God!
We thank You, Jesus, for Your love.
While we were yet sinners You came
into our world to be our Savior!
Bless us and save us Lord Jesus!
The greatest knowledge is to know God.
HE is Father, we are child.
Jesus is Savior, The Holy Spirit is
Living Water pouring out from our heart.
(John 7:37-39).
REMEMBERING
R.D.Ice
Thirty years ago, April 4, 1973
the newly completed Twin Towers
called the World Trade Center
were dedicated as a "living symbol
of man's dedication to world peace."
On September 11, 2001, these symbols
were reinterpreted in their destruction
by the act of terrorists.
Today our world has changed forever
and a New World Order is in place.
Our Nation is at war for better or for worse.
Ideologies are fiercely competing.
Loyalties are being tested, new alliances formed,
political lines redrawn, boundaries changed.
The future is uncertain.
"One Nation Under God" applies to all nations.
God the All Powerful is on His Throne.
The Old Testament shows us God -
The Living God - always and forever!
The strict Judge - demanding our obedience,
Utterly ethical and moral, holy and pure.
The Righteous One - springing out of
the pages of the Bible to meet us.
Two thousand years ago, one Man
was nailed to a cross near Jerusalem.
Crucified with Him were two thieves -
terrorists, rebels, who had committed murder
in the riot and rebellion against the
Roman Occupation Forces.
But Jesus was The Innocent Man.
Two thousand years ago, Easter happened!
The One Man was raised up from death!
Jesus is alive forevermore!
He became the symbol of true peace,
the amazing peace with God.
Because of Easter it is possible
to forgive and be forgiven, to be at peace
with others and with ourselves.
"GOD GAVE HIS OWN SON
as a ransom for us,
the holy One for transgressors,
the blameless One for the wicked,
the righteous One for the unrighteous,
the incorruptible One for the corruptible,
the immortal One for them that are mortal.
For what other thing was capable of covering
our sins than His righteousness?
By what other one was it possible that we,
the wicked and ungodly, could be justified,
than by the only Son of God?
O sweet exchange!
O unsearchable operation!
O benefits surpassing all expectation!
that the wickedness of many
should be hid in a single righteous One,
and that the righteousness of One
should justify many transgressors!"
(Epistle to Diognetus, about A.D. 130.)
PEACE
R.D.Ice
Isaiah speaks to a time when Peace becomes real.
Come, let's climb God's Mountain,
go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He'll show us the way He works
so we can live the way we're made to live.
Zion's the source of the revelation.
God's Message comes from Jerusalem.
No more will nation fight nation;
they won't play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
let's live in the light of God.
The world is full of hokey religion,
Philistine witchcraft, and pagan hocus-pocus,
a world rolling in wealth, stuffed with things,
no end to its machines and gadgets.
People with a big head are headed for a fall,
proud and arrogant brought down a peg.
It's God alone at front-and-center
on the Day we're talking about,
The Day that God-of-the-Angel-Armies
is matched against all big-talking rivals,
against all swaggering big names;
Against every soaring skyscraper,
against all proud monuments and statues.
Clamber into caves in the cliffs,
duck into any hole you can find.
Hide from the terror of God,
from His dazzling presence,
When He assumes His full stature on earth,
Towering and Terrifying!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
