Neither Do I Condemn Thee

Neither Do I Condemn Thee

People passing judgment
Not pausing to understand
Scorning truth and mercy
The Master writes in the sand

Don’t dwell on those emotions
Those songs are dragging you down
That music is from the devil
The Master writes on the ground

The church has rules against that
There in the discipline found
It says to put under censor
The Master writes on the ground

Finally the Master in patience
Looks up and says with a frown
“Let the one who is perfect condemn”
He stoops and writes on the ground

One by one the accusers convicted
Slip away, till none can be found
Still so endlessly patient
The Master writes on the ground

When all have left in silence
The Master stands with a smile
Neither do I condemn thee
Go in peace my child.

Bipolar

Bipolar

Outside so normal
War rages in
Torn by emotions
Square set his chin

High, low wild changes
Mere hours between
Racked with evil thoughts
Dressed neat and clean

On top of the world,
Mad skills in his bag
Dark outlook, defeated,
His spirit doth drag

Medications so futile
Swift change is his lot
From happy to dismal
Like fever cold to hot

Friends are his lifeline,
Yet little they know
The way that a pistol
His temple doth know

“This too shall pass”
Has failed him complete
A lifetime his sentence
With trials replete

Life is so dismal
Hopelessly drear
Wandering aimless
His sight never clear

Dead

Dead

Blinded to beauty
Love gone so cold
Doing my duty
Despairing of hope

No future in sight
Hopeless
Sick of this plight
Seeking escape

Only one way out
Suicide
No reason to doubt
Welcome relief

An “accident”
Hardly
Deadly intent
More nearly

Paramedics
Shaking there heads
He left no edict
Questions abound

Deliberate?
Clearly
Unfortunate?
Ha.

Submission

Submission

Thoughts, enemies, within my mind,
I find there nothing safe
Try as I might to put behind,
Yet desires, longings chafe

My weary soul, athirst may be,
But thirsting, am I sure,
My thirst always will ever be,
Things only, truly pure

I long for that which seemeth good
To human reason right
But am I foll’wing as I should
My Lord’s hand holding tight

Have I committed all to Him,
Who guides me with such skill?
And laid down every carnal whim,
Submitted, fully, all self-will

Those things which plague my waking hours,
Those things which haunt my sleep,
Those things which draw me from the power,
I give; Lord; please keep.

Keep them, plan my life for me,
Your strength to live and grow
Daily, minutarily,
Let me feel; and know.

My longing for another’s love,
Fulfilled alone can be,
When in surrender, and above,
To heaven entrusted be.

Of loneliness I feel so keen,
Of hopeless, lightless, void,
Lord, deeply, throughly clean,
My all, by grace employed.

In service, consecration, true,
To thee, and Thee alone,
All that I am, or will, or do,
Of Thee, my God, a clone.

In sacrifice I bring to Thee,
Nought but what Thou hast,
In tender love bestowed to me,
Lord, this is all I ask.

That Thou would take what I call mine,
And use it; for it’s Thine,
Twisted, bound, thoroughly entwined,
My will, inside of Thine.

Unrequited

Unrequited

So, true love even unrequited
A wonderful thing to have
Refilling its owner’s life with meaning
And healing emotions like a salve.

Helping to inspire and motivate
Ab initio, even ad finem
Bringing order to chaos
Ingraining with hope for the outcome

Growing steadily deeper
Adding depth to devotion
Ingraining trust and fidelity
Leaving for no revocation

Holding to hope everlasting
Eternal love never dies
Never betraying its object
Delighting in the joy of its prize

Rejoicing when it may impart
Its object with joy and with pleasure
Compassion from the depth of love’s heart
Keen to deliver in full measure
Satiation, if such may be love’s part…

Thoughts on a Shooting Star

Thoughts on a Shooting Star

I watched a star as it crashed and burned,
And the thought seared through my mind.
How like the stars our weary lives,
Run on for time undetermined.

A star is born! the headlines scream,
It’s such a rare event,
They toll the size, the heat-our memory-
Stamped-like cement

We vow to watch it; through it’s life,
To witness every change.
Our attention – keen – as a knife
We study, as it’s strange

Indelible we say, to witness this,
We’ll tell our children stories;
But days go by, the headlines change
New happenings-new worries

So like a star, a child’s birth
The family stands in awe;
Unfathomable, this miracle
Yet with our eyes we saw.

A child is born! our letters scream,
As to our friends we write
We toll it’s eyes, it’s hair, it’s skin,
We treasure every sight.

We vow to watch it; through it’s life,
To witness every change.
Our attention – keen – as a knife
We study, as it’s strange

Yet days go by, life’s patterns change,
Many children fill the stage
The one is lost, among the rest,
Soon, forgotten, e’en it’s age

But then the star falls from the sky;
It Died! the headlines scream;
A flash of glory, a blaze of light
Or was it just a dream?

So shortly there, so quickly gone,
So many others there;
No evidence,
Just a memory; to share

We note it’s birth,We note it’s death,
But what then of it’s life,
No memory, mundane we say
With ordinary, rife.

So like human’s is the tale
Of a star as herein told,
A big beginning, a mundane life,
A flash; an ending; bold

Then just as quickly in the past,
It’s violent demise.
And others fill the spot it held,
New children fill our eyes

In life, we paid no mind,
In death, we give small heed
But small is better than none at all
This attitude we feed

And wonder why, in time of stress
Our “friends” with careless haste
Will end their life, and blame all others;
For what is laid to waste.

Attention

Attention

As we sit here in church with our eyes fixed ahead,
Are our ears fully open to all that is said?
Are we list’ning for truths that apply to our life,
Are we looking for things that will help avoid strife?

Are we willing to here what the Spirit so true,
Will be telling and showing us that we should do?
Are we willing to change if in action we err?
Or do we point at others and say “That’s not fair!”?

When we know there are areas where we are wrong,
Do we strive to find vict’ry and keep the church strong?
Or do we try to hide all our sins down inside,
And will strongly deny it if others will chide?

We should always be open to truth from above,
Knowing God chastises all that He loves.
While reproofs for the moment seem grievious to us,
We remember that fin’ly they cleanse us from lusts.

So let us resist always the Prince of The Air,
As we list’n to the preacher and not simply stare,
With self-blinded eyes as our mind wanders far,
But with interest in cleansing from all that might mar.
-Robbie

Gethsemane

Gethsemane

When He is in the upper room
His friends are gathered ’round
But when He kneels in agony,
No friends are to be found.

He says to them, “Come pray with Me,
That ye be tempted not”,
But it is late, the night is dark,
And soon His friends forgot.

He wakes them up, and asks of them
“Come, pray with Me one hour”
Their spirit’s strong, and willing, too,
But yet their flesh lacks power.

And so He goes once more alone,
And bows in agony,
“O Father since this cup is mine,
Come now and strengthen Me!

He knows now that His time is nigh,
He calls His friends to come
He leads them to the entrance,
 They hear a rabble’s hum.

The rabble’s here arresting Him,
Now Peter draws his sword,
He strikes, a servant’s ear falls off,
 He WILL protect His Lord!

But Jesus turns, and softly says,
“Put up thy sword again,
If you defend us with your sword,
A sword shall be your end”

Then Jesus healed the servant’s ear,
He cast no magic spell
His is the power of a God,
Who doeth all things well.

He needs no wand, no latin chant,
To do any wondrous thing,
He’s God incarnate; God’s power is His;
His word would angels bring.

Then His disciples flee away,
They are o’er come with fear,
And when the mob has taken Him,
Truly, no friend is near!

They drag Him off with brutal force,
They take Him to be “tried”
His life so pure they find no fault,
The witnesses all lied.

They can’t agree, e’en though they lie,
God’s Son cannot be blamed;
They strive in vain, His perfect life,
Can never be defamed.

Through fierce abusing He is put,
The blood flows from His face,
And yet no sound comes from His mouth,
‘Tis only by God’s grace.

And while He’s being thus abused,
His friend sits just outside,
A damsel asks “Do you know Him?
This Man that’s being tried?”

He then began to curse and swear,
“I do not know the Man!”
But then remembered what Jesus said,
“E’en you won’t be able to stand.”

He weeps in grief, cries bitterly,
“My Lord, I’ve failed to be true!”
He asks forgiveness, Jesus freely gives,
His soul is washed and new!

But now day breaks, and the people talk,
Of what fate their pris’ner will land,
And so they bind Him and lead Him away,
Before the heathen to stand.

But even the heathen have no complaint,
To bring against this Man,
The jews all rage; “Kill! Kill this Man!
And scatter all His clan!”

But still the gov’nor says to them
“I find no fault in Him”,
But yet he yields and scourges Him
According to their whim.

They clothe Him in a purple robe,
And mocking bow the knee,
And caref’lly weave a crown for Him,
But it’s a crown of thorns.

They led Him out to Golgatha,
And hung Him on tree,
Yet His last words were words of peace,
Were words to set them free

He hung up there for three long hours,
In total agony,
And when He died ’twas not defeat,
But glorious victory!

He laid in a tomb for three short days,
Hidden from mortal eye
But then the guards were struck with fright
By an angel from the sky!

The angel rolled away the stone,
But the body was not inside
By His own great power He raised Himself
The power of death He defied!

There are many strong proofs, that these deeds took place,
But most importantly,
Of all the historical proofs we read,
There is one more important to me

The grace that He gives for every day,
Grace that allows me to know
In the midst of many perplexities
True peace, though through trouble I go

The power to feel life when I used to be dead,
My soul from it’s load set free,
By Jesus’ great power, my bands have been loosed
And He bore them to dark Calvary

Where He tied them for ever and I bear them no more
For He washed all my sins stains away.
I’m free from the bonds of the Devil’s strong might,
And I’m promised life through eternity’s day!
-Robbie

Thoughts of You

Thoughts of You

All day long,
And above the throng,
Of thoughts that flit through this head of mine;
I see your face,
So full of grace,
And wonder what thoughts are going through thine.

Do you think of me?
Will I ever see?
Any chance to tell you how much I care?
Will ever I find,
From heaven a sign
To tell me to tell you I want to share.

All my life,
With you my wife,
But I don’t know if I ever will get.
A sign so clear,
While you’re still near,
Shall I waste my life trying to forget?

Until then,
I sigh within,
And long for relief which I never shall get
‘Cause what you’ve been,
When you were my friend
Is something that I cannot ever forget.
-Robbie

Departed

Departed

Oh lonely one who’s partner left to join those throngs on high,
Do not despair, a loving Savior hears your every cry.
He’s always near through pain or fear, He never leaves your side,
When earthly comforters must leave He’s promised to abide.
He also promised us that we may meet in heaven fair,
And you can have the confidence your loved one’s waiting there.
But though you know, without a doubt that God is in control,
These dread events I’m sure are hard and try your inmost soul.
Just look to Him who never fails, and set your goals on high,
He’ll take you where your loved one is; a home beyond the sky.