THAT GLOWING MOSES

THAT GLOWING MOSES*

(2nd Corinthians 3:1-4:6)

Moses couldn’t show

The folks his facial glow…

Intimacy

With Divinity

Is not life’s normal flow.

–

He had to use a veil

Over face or people’d sail…

Away in fright

From the Light

And the introspection entailed.

–

Whenever Moses is read,

Oft-times understanding is dead…

Christians too

Have minds unglued

When God tries to move their heads!

–

Unlike Moses’ outward glow,

Our’s is inside, don’t you know…

When the Spirit prevails

We remove our veils

And go where God’s Spirit goes.

–Jonathan Caswell

* Glowing Moses is a phrase from the book, TRANSFORMING PRAYER…How Everything Changes When You Seek God’s Face…by Daniel Henderson, Chapter 5;  2001, Bethany House.

BANANA SNACK THEOLOGY

BANANA SNACK THEOLOGY

Jesus and His friends in the boat,

They yelled and He kept it afloat…

He took their fear

Away and skies cleared,

So the kids love the banana snack boat!

–

On the water–it is watered down–

No wonder no kids stay around…

The power of God

Ignored as odd,

The facts of the story–drowned.

–

Why not show that Jesus is King,

Creator, controls everything…

We think of ourselves

Putting faith on shelves,

And learning ’bout God not a thing!

–

One point of the story is trust,

Not how a banana is trussed…

Fear in your day,

Sometimes is okay…

Especially if with danger you’ve brushed.

–

These lessons oversimplified,

Are why many parents have cried…

As to why their kids

Put Christ on the skids

Preferring in hell to die!

–Jonathan Caswell

Developed from a broadcast of NO COMPROMISE RADIO…on WVNE, 760 AM, 3:30pm to 4:00 pm, today, 5/1/14…concerning an over-simplified lesson of Jesus calming the sea…Mark 4:35-41…and how to better approach the issue.

TWO GARDENS…by Jonathan Caswell

TWO GARDENS

Adam and Eve in Eden

Didn’t have to do any weeding…

Until the day

They decided to stray,

Then fought  for all they were needing.

–

A conscious decision just,

When eyes filled with lust…

For being like gods,

What were the odds

Of being then out-thrust?

–

Another garden comes to view

With another decision, too…

More conscious than the last

A die is cast,

Returning Eden for you.

–Jonathan Caswell

Bible references are:  Genesis Chapter 3, and (among those in the Gospels) Mark 14: 32-42.

LION OF JUDAH

LION OF JUDAH

The mane of a Lion

Appears on the wall…

Illumined by

A four-watt bulb.

–

A picture of Christ

In Gethsemane…

Owning His cross

And suff’ring for thee.

–

Gold-plated framing

Around Him expands…

Four-watt bulb lighting

Toward heavenly lands;

Holes in the framing

Like holes in His hands,

Open to the glory of God…!

–

A 3-D picture of Christ at prayer,

In a gold-plated frame is hanging there…

Upon the wall

Glory falls,

In the shape of a Lion’s hair.

–Jonathan Caswell

EPHESIANS 4: 1-13…PREPARING THE NETS!

EPHESIANS 4: 1-13…PREPARING THE NETS!

When into Hebrew we delve,

In Ephesians Four, verse twelve…

It says, “prepare,”

Another meaning there

Is leaders mend nets themselves.

–

When Jesus was intending

To call disciples who were mending

Nets and washing

After all night sloshing,

Their labors would seem unending.

–

His voice carried over the water,

Teaching God’s Bride as He bought her…

“Put out some from shore

“And I’ll show you more,”*

Following the Lamb past His slaughter.

–

Each  believer’s a knot

In the net of Christ’s body He’s got…

Connecting to each

Including the Preach,

Needing maintenance on the spot!

–

Like within the fish-catching seine,

Connections between us maintained…

Show His family in peace

From greatest to least

Proclaiming that God in us reigns.**

–

Connections a pastor maintains,

Despite personality strains…

That each member seeks

God’s Kingdom in speech,***

Strengthening the bonds that remain.

–

Prayer is the key to this goal

Of a worshipping community whole…

First for the Preacher

And then each teacher,

And onward through a region it goes!

— Jonathan Caswell

* Luke 5: 3-9

** John 17: 20-23

*** Matthew 6:33

I SEEK THY FACE

I SEEK THY FACE*

Thy face Lord I seek,

Even when I’m not up a creek…

To know your Name,

To be known the same

Is blessing whenever You speak!

–

How can I be closer to you

When held back by what I do…

No time in prayer

Or Your word I care

For, shows that I’m not really true.

–

Relationships must be two-way,

Not just what I want to say…

Allowing no time

For You is my crime,

Why the sense of Your Spirit won’t stay.

–

I meditate–that’s not enough–

If it is just worldly stuff…

Or gods profane

That steal Your fame,

While I sit on my spirit’s duff.

–

Reckoning all You have made,

I should be glad You paid…

Opening the door

Like with Adam before,

He and Eve were thrust from forest glade.

–

The Bread and the Wine,

Reminding of death Divine…

Your Word is bread

Made for the head,

Your cleansing Blood at the right time!

–

How may I thirst for Thee,

My flesh at enmity…

Take in the Word and Spirit as drink

Changing my heart and how I think,

I’ll crave You more frequently!

–Jonathan Caswell

* Idea from reading the 1st chapter of TRANSFORMING PRAYER, by Daniel Henderson, 2011, Bethany House Publishers.

PASTOR MIKE HITS IT AGAIN!

PASTOR MIKE HITS IT AGAIN!**

Pastor Mike, in knowing God’s will,

Points out that we oft change the drill…

From God’s will to ours

And gain a few scars,

‘Cause the ground we thought ours to till.

–

In Matthew 6:33,

The passage misread by many…

“Seek the kingdom  of God”

So many find odd,

They think it their devotion to be.

–

But what does this verse really mean,

What info we neglect to glean…

Exodus 9: 8-12,

The meaning we would shelve

Is God’s glory in which He is most keen.

–

Whatever course glorifies the Lord

The most…is the path to afford…

It’s not about you

Or what you might do,

He is the One to move toward!

–Jonathan Caswell

**From his sermon broadcast Monday, 4/21/14, 3:30-4:00 pm.

on Pastor Mike’s “NO COMPROMISE RADIO PROGRAM”, on WVNE, 760 AM.   See http://www.nocompromiseradio.com.

A MATTER OF TIMING

A MATTER OF TIMING

(Based on the best available Bible scholarship and the author’s educated opinion.)

Maundy Thursday–today–

Tradition says Christ was betrayed…

Good Friday, the cross,

When Jesus felt lost

Til risen on Easter Sunday.

–

Tradition, a gentile plot,

To cut off a Jewish knot…

Tassels off a shawl

Blinding us all

How far from the truth we’ve got.

–

Traditional time makes no sense,

But ammunition for skeptics immense…

Evening and a morn

How Jewish time formed

From Genesis One, and hence!

–

Western tradition is short,

Of ignorant comport…

Anti-Semitic

Christians steeped in it,

Are making Christ’s Kingdom contort.

–

Sinful fascist gentile pride

Would the real truth override…

God’s people, the Jews,

Have been misused

Power struggles for souls–woe betide!

–Jonathan Caswell

GOD’S LOVE HAIKU

GOD’S LOVE HAIKU

Prayer to Father,

Day-to-day walking with God…

Garden exercise!

–

Alive: Jesus Christ,

The perfect sacrifice Rose…

Of Sharon…He lives!

–

Broken bonds of slaves,

To the flesh allegiance gone…

Luke four: eighteen and nineteen!

–

Saul persecuted,

Jesus rerouted ardor…

Paul, His new servant!

–Jonathan Caswell

FORGETTING WHAT’S BEHIND US

FORGETTING WHAT’S BEHIND US

(Commentary on Philippians 3:13-14)

Forget the past and strive ahead,

The working Apostle Paul said…

But use past parts

To earn street smarts

Avoiding those things that are dead.

–

Certain things won’t let go,

So use them yourself to know…*

God loves you in fact

Through personal contact,

Even those things you wish weren’t so.

–

For you are more than a name,

Certainly with a blogger’s fame…

Knowing who you are

Is better by far

Than denying your place in the game.

–

Then strive with all of your might

To catch and share Light…

Follow life’s plan

However you can,

Sharing Love and burning Bright!

–Jonathan Caswell

* Concepts found in the book, THE GIFT OF BEING YOURSELF, by David Benner…See also my poem: “THE CHRISTIAN’S IDENTITY PARADOX”, posted on February 5th, this year!  🙂