A Hymn for Easter Monday

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Happy Easter Monday!  I wrote this hymn-ish thing over the past couple days, and I wanted to share it with you — because Christ is risen!  ❤

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In the dark and still, a woman,

Laden down with myrrh and grief,

Turns her back to hints of sunrise

And stares ahead in disbelief.

Oh, where is He by evil slain?

Come and see where He has lain!

That, the stone that barred His graveside,

Hedged around with guards and seal —

That which no man dared to move is

Rolled away to there reveal

The haunt of death that fought in vain.

Come and see where He has lain!

–

Why do you seek for His body?

Conq’ring kings are not in graves!

In this tomb is left, defeated,

Only rags that bound His face.

Hail the Christ Who is Death’s bane!

Come and see where He has lain!

You who stand in wonder, awestruck

At this cave that could not win,

Know your Lord is but the firstfruits

Of those who rise to life again —

He leads His ransomed in His train.

Come and see where He has lain!

–

Here I stand, His ransomed captive,

Bound to Him, bought by His blood,

Freed from Sin, my former master,

Freed to follow where Christ led.

Here, I glory in His reign —

Come and see where He has lain!

NaPoWriMo// holy week

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This week, I’ve gotten to theme some of my poetry around that week 2,000 years ago that rocked the entire cosmos — the week Jesus died.

//day 9// triumphal entry

The day the king arrived,
The crowds burst forth in cheers —
Here was he who’d save them from
Their iron-fisted fears!

Hearts stirred thick with hope;
Lips broke forth with song;
Nothing could restrain the cries
As the rider came along.

Astride the beast, a man
Who brought the dead to life —
Could he be the promised one
Who’d crush the Roman might?

Hosanna, king who comes!
Oh save us, you who ride!
Conquer the black foe who has
Our heartland occupied!

//day 10// clearing the temple

The still before the storm
Came the night before.
Now tables hit the floor
Beneath His mighty arm.

The coins and creatures sprawl,
The temple-market closed,
The den of thieves exposed
By the fearsome God of all.

//day 13// the last supper
— a sonnet

{It Was Night.}

Around the table, thirteen men gathered
To celebrate a feast of life and death.
The lamb had died that men might draw their breath
A thousand years ago, but now it matter’d
More than escaping Death’s dark blade that once.
Unlike all other nights, unlike that blood
That dried, this blood is life, this flesh is food;
This is no wool-curled sheep, but Heaven’s Prince;

He rescues not a nation, but a race;
The sacrifice is not for once, but all;
If those twelve men had known their master’s face
Would bear the death and curse of Adam’s fall,
They would have trembled at the hope fulfilled,
For yet redemption’s path was steeped in red.

//day 14// the crucifixion

A ball is spinning blue and black,
a globe shrouded
in darkness,
as the Lord
Who made it
is rent —
body from soul —
and shrouded
in the heart
of the earth.

In a World

I hate myself
because I can’t fix the
world.

and yet I live in a pile of pieces

a thousand thousand shattered things–

–hopes
–dreams
–facts
–lies
–promises
–lives
a million crushed worlds.

–

Oh, God, my God,
Creation is groaning!
and You are the only one
Who can heal it.

–

But You know this all.

You’ve walked these mountains
of splinters.  You’ve felt them
fill Your bloodied back.

You took the shattering I deserved–

and You shattered it.

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picture from here

Christ is Born Today!

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Below, I adapted the beautiful and joy-filled lyrics of an old Christmas carol, Good Christian Men, Rejoice! into a slightly more updated exclamation of praise.  You can find the original lyrics here.

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Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Listen!  I’ve got something to tell you!

Jesus Christ is born today!

Oxen and donkeys bow before Him as He lies in the manger now.

Christ is born today! Christ is born today!

Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Now you hear of endless bliss:  Joy! Joy!

Jesus Christ was born for this reason.  

He has made the presence of God accessible by removing the barricade of our sin, and we are blessed forevermore.

Christ was born for this! Christ was born for this!

Christians everywhere — rejoice!  With all your heart, your soul, your voice!

Now we don’t have to dread Death.  We have peace!  Peace!

Jesus Christ was born to save!

He calls you each; He calls us all to come into His everlasting life.

Christ was born to save! Christ was born to save!

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Christmas isn’t just about the manger.  It’s the beginning of the cross.  

Christ was born to save!