MySpace.com - Joshua Zambrano - 23 - Male - Illinois

http://www.myspace.com/jzyehoshua

Life-Lesson Quotes:

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failures, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory or defeat.
- Theodore Roosevelt

If a man does his best, what else is there?
- General George S. Patton

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
- Thomas Henry Huxley

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Devotion to what is wrong is complex and admits of infinite variations.
- Seneca

Our lives begin to end the day we start being silent about the things that matter.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know it for the first time.
- T.S. Eliot

Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.
- John Henry Newman

Every man dies, but not every man lives.
- William Wallace

The life which is unexamined is not worth living.
- Plato

When we serve, we rule; When we surrender ourselves, we are victors.
- John Henry Newman

Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
- Albert Einstein, origination of "K.I.S.S." (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven't lost the things that money can't buy.
- George Horace Lorimer

The road towards darkness is a journey, not a lightswitch.
- Lex Luthor, "Smallville"

Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by fighting back.
- Paul Erdos

If you are going through hell, keep going.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
- George Santayana

People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid.
- Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it…. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside its own without bias; the spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to earth unheeded; the spirit of liberty is the spirit of Him who, near two thousand years ago, taught mankind that lesson it has never learned, but has never quite forgotten; that there may be a kingdom where the least shall be heard and considered side by side with the greatest.
- Learned Hand

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Short Quotes :

Never has an individual been called upon to commit intellectual suicide in trusting Christ as Savior and Lord.
- Josh McDowell

Surely God would not have created a being such as man to exist for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.
- Abraham Lincoln

God's forgiveness is "big" enough to deal with any amount of human sin. Does that mean Christians have an insurance policy to go on as before? What an absurd idea! Becoming a Christian means identifying ourselves with Christ. . . . There is a complete break between the old life and new as if we had actually died and been reborn.
- Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible

The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator.
- Louis Pasteur

My great concern is not whether God is on our side, my great concern is to be on God's side.
- Abraham Lincoln

The gospel will persuade no one unless it has so convicted us that we are transformed by it.
- Brennan Manning

Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining "It's not fair" before you can say Jack Robinson...
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words.
- Francis of Assisi

Let him kneel like any other stinking sinner.
- Martin Luther, when told only the pope could take the Lord's Supper sitting down

We can find certain levels of peace in this world, and things to pacify our anxious souls. But there is a foundational anxiety that can never be quieted apart from our justification. A person cannot be fulfilled inwardly, no matter what he does, no matter what he has, if he is estranged from his Creator, if he is at war with God.
- R. C. Sproul, The Gospel of God: Romans

Truth is not relative to space and time, and... truth is not relative to persons.
- Josh McDowell, New Evidence That Demands a Verdict

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.
- G.K. Chesterton

God our Father has made all things depend on faith so that whoever has faith will have everything, and whoever does not have faith will have nothing.
- Martin Luther, "Freedom of a Christian"

The glory of Him who moves everything penetrates through the universe.
- Dante, Paradiso

A deserved punishment and a just punishment are the same thing. To say that one deserves such a punishment, and yet to say that he does not justly deserve it, is a contradiction; and if he justly deserves it, then it may be justly inflicted.
- Jonathan Edwards, "The Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners"

One leak will sink a ship; and one sin will destroy a sinner.
- John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress

Those who preached faith, or in other words a pure mind, have always produced more popular virtue than those who preached good acts, or the mere regulation of outward works.
- Sir James Mackintosh

There is but one good, that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.
- C.S. Lewis

Jesus promised His disciples three things,--that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and constantly in trouble.
- G.K. Chesterton

You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God.
- C.S. Lewis

Long Quotes:

Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is unaccountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.
- Napoleon Bonaparte as quoted in "Jesus Among Other Gods" by Ravi Zacharias

I, Patrick, a sinner, am the most ignorant of least account among the faithful, despised by many... It was not any grace in me, but God who is victorious in me and resisted them all, so that I came to the Irish people to preach the gospel and to bear insults from unbelievers, to hear the scandal of my travels, and to endure many persecutions even to the extent of prison; so that I might surrender my liberty as a man of free condition for the profit of others, and if I should be found worthy, I am ready to give even my life for His name's sake unfalteringly, gladly, and without hesitation; and there I desire to spend it until I die, if our Lord should grant it to me. I owe it to God's grace that so many people should through me born again in God.... But I implore those who believe in and fear God, whoever consents to examine or receive this document composed by the obviously unlearned sinner Patrick in Ireland, that no one shall ever credit to me even the smallest of things that I achieved or mya have told of that was pleasing to God, but accept and truly believe that it was the gift of God. And this is my confession before I die.
- Patrick

Quotes About the Bible: as found here

It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.
- George Washington

I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.
- Abraham Lincoln

The existence of the Bible is a book for the people. It's the greatest benefit the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.
- Immanuel Kant

Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people...so great is my veneration of the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read, the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens in their country and respectful members of society.
- John Adams

The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world.
- Charles Dickens

A nation of well-informed men who have been taught to know the price of rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved.
- Benjamin Franklin

There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history." .... "I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.
- Sir Isaac Newton

The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.
- Patrick Henry

If we will not be governed by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants.
- William Penn

That Book (the Bible) is the rock on which our Republic rests.
- Andrew Jackson

The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible.
- George Washington Carver

The Bible is no mere book, but it's a living creature with a power that conquers all who oppose it.
- Napoleon

My advice to Sunday Schools no matter what their denomination is: Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your heart, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for the progress made in true civilization and to this we must look as our guide in the future. 'Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people (Proverbs 14:34)'.
- Ulysses S. Grant

Bible reading is an education in itself.
- Lord Tennyson

It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.
- Horace Greeley

The Bible has been the Magna Carta of the poor and the oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it.
- Thomas Huxley

At this time I both read and studied all kinds of literature: cosmography, histories, chronicles, and philosophy and other arts , to which our Lord opened my mind unmistakably to the fact that it was possible to navigate from here to the Indies, and He evoked in me the will for the execution of it; and with this fire I came to Your Highnesses. All those who heard of my plan disregarded it mockingly and with laughter. All the sciences of which I spoke were of no profit to me nor the authorities in them; only in Your Highnesses my faith, and my stay. Who would doubt that this light did not come from the Holy Spirit, anyway as far as I am concerned, which comforted with rays of marvelous clarity and with its Holy and Sacred Scriptures.
- Columbus

The Bible is...as necessary to spiritual life as breath is to natural life. There is nothing more essential to our lives than the Word of God.
- Jack Hayford

The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible.
- W.H. Seward

The Bible was written in tears, and to tears it yields its best treasures.
- A.W. Tozer

It is clear that there must be difficulties for us in a revelation such as the Bible. If someone were to hand me a book that was as simple to me as the multiplication table, and say, 'This is the Word of God. In it He has revealed His whole will and wisdom,' I would shake my head and say, 'I cannot believe it; that is too easy to be a perfect revelation of infinite wisdom.' There must be, in any complete revelation of God's mind and will and character and being, things hard for the beginner to understand; and the wisest and best of us are but beginners.
- R.A. Torrey

All that we hear and read should be measured for accuracy by the standard of the Bible and the 'Holy Ghost filter'.
- Betty Miller

Baptist Quotes: as found here

The Baptists are the only body of known Christians that have never symbolized with Rome.
- Sir Isaac Newton

Were it not for the fact that the Baptists have been grievously tormented and cut off with the knife during the past 1200 years, they would swarm greater than all the reformers. If the truth of religion were to be judged by the readiness and boldness of which a man or any sect shows in suffering, then the opinions and persuasions of no sect can be truer and surer than those of the Anabaptist, since there have been none for the 1200 years past that have been more generally punished or that have been more cheerfully and steadfastly undergone, and have offered themselves to the most cruel sort of punishment than these people
- Catholic Cardinal Hosius, President of the Council of Trent from 1545 to 1564.

History has hitherto been written by our enemies, who never would have kept a single fact about us upon the record if they could have helped it, and yet it leaks out every now and then that certain poor people called Anabaptists (Anabaptist was the name given to Baptists before the 16th century. "Ana" means "again," but the entire name, Anabaptist, was applied to those who believed and practiced what Bible-believing, separatist Baptists do today) were brought up for condemnation. From the days of Henry VIII to those of Elizabeth, we hear of certain unhappy heretics who were hated of all men for the truth's sake that was in them. We read of poor men and women, with their garments cut short, turned out into the fields to perish in the cold, and anon of others who were burnt at Newington for the crime of Anabaptism. Long before your Protestants were known of, those horrible Anabaptists, as they were unjustly called, were protesting for the "one Lord, one faith, and one baptism." No sooner did the visible church begin to depart from the Gospel than these men arose to keep fast by the good old way. The priests and monks wished for peace and slumber, but there was always a Baptist or a Lollard tickling men's ears with Holy Scriptures, and calling their attention to the errors of the times. They were a poor persecuted tribe. The halter was thought to be too good for them. At times, ill-written history would have us think that they died out, so well had the wolf done his work on the sheep. Yet here we are, blessed and multiplied, and Newington sees other scenes from Sunday to Sunday. As I think of the multitudes of your numbers and efforts, I can only say in wonder, "What a growth!" As I think of the multitudes of our brethren in America, I can only say, "What hath God wrought!" Our history forbids discouragements.
- Spurgeon

We shall afterward show that the rise of the Anabaptists took place prior to the Reformation of the Church of England, and there are also reasons for believing that on the continent of Europe, small hidden Christian societies, who have held many of the opinions of the Anabaptists, have existed from the times of the apostles. In the sense of the direct transmission of divine truth, and the true nature of spiritual religion, it seems probable that these churches have a lineage or succession more ancient than that of the Roman Church.
- Robert Barclay (very famous historian)

I should not readily admit that there was a Baptist church as far back as 100 A.D., although without doubt there were Baptist churches then, as all Christians were then Baptists.
- John Clark Ridpath (very famous historian)

The institution of the Anabaptists is no novelty, but for 1300 years has caused great trouble in the church.
-Zwingli

Before the rise of Luther and Calvin, there lay secreted in almost all the countries of Europe, persons who adhered tenaciously to the principles of the modem Dutch Baptists... the origin of Baptists is lost in the remote depths of antiquity... the first century was a history of Baptists.
- Mosheim (famous historian)

Of the Baptists it may be said that they are not reformers. These people. comprising bodies of Christian believers known under various names in different countries, are entirely distinct and independent of the Roman and Greek churches, and have an unbroken continuity of existence from apostolic days down through the centuries. Throughout this long period they were bitterly persecuted for heresy, driven from country to country, disfranchised, deprived of their property, imprisoned, tortured and slain by the thousands; and yet they swerved not from their New Testament faith, doctrine, and adherence.
- "Crossing the Centuries", edited by William C. King

Poetry Quotes:

The other gods were strong;
But Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds but Thou alone.
- Edward Shillito

And thus we rust Life's iron chain
Degraded and alone:
And some men curse, and some men weep,
And some men make no moan:
But God's eternal Laws are kind
And break the heart of stone.

And every human heart that breaks,
In prison-cell or yard,
Is as that broken box that gave
Its treasure to the Lord,
And filled the unclean leper's house
With the scent of costliest nard.

Ah! happy they whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?

And he of the swollen purple throat.
And the stark and staring eyes,
Waits for the holy hands that took
The Thief to Paradise;
And a broken and a contrite heart
The Lord will not despise.
- Oscar Wildes, from the "Ballad of Reading Gaol"

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days,
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat-and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet-
"All things betray thee, who betrayest Me."
- Francis Thompson, from "The Hound of Heaven"

O sing a song of Bethlehem, of shepherds watching there,
And of the news that came to them from angels in the air.
The light that shone on Bethlehem fills all the world today;
Of Jesus' birth and peace on earth the angels sing alway.

O sing a song of Nazareth, of sunny days of joy;
O sing of fragrant flower's breath, and of the sinless Boy.
For now the flowers of Nazareth in every heart may grow;
Now spreads the fame of His dear Name on all the winds that blow

O sing a song of Galilee, of lake and woods and hill,
Of Him who walked upon the sea and bade the waves be still.
For though like waves on Galilee, dark seas of trouble roll,
When faith has heard the Master's Word, falls peace upon the soul.

O sing a song of Calvary, its glory and dismay,
Of Him who hung upon the tree, and took our sins away.
For He who died on Calvary is risen from the grave,
And Christ, our Lord, by heaven adored, is mighty now to save.
- Louis F. Benson, "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"

How great is the Messiah's joy
In the salvation of Thy hand!
Lord Thou hast raised His kingdom high,
And given the world to His command.

Thy goodness grants whatever He will,
Nor doth the least request withhold;
Blessings of love surround Him still,
And crowns of glory, not of gold.

Honour and majesty divine
Around His sacred temples shine;
Blest with the favour of Thy face,
And length of everlasting days.
- Isaac Watts, from "David Rejoiced in God His Strength"

Even such is Time, that takes in trust
Our youth, our joys, our all we have,
And pays us but with earth and dust;
Who in the dark and silent grave
When we have wandered all our ways,
Shuts up the story of our days;
But from this earth, this grave, this dust,
My God shall raise me up, I trust.
- Sir Walter Raleigh, Verses Written in His Bible

Good and great God! How should I fear
To come to Thee, if Christ not there!
Could I but think, He would not be
Present, to plead my cause for me;
To Hell, I'd rather run, than I
Would see Thy face, and He not by.
- Robert Herrick, "No Coming To God Without Christ"

More Like Jesus Would I be, let my Savior dwell with me;
Fill my soul with peace and love-make me gentle as a dove;
More like Jesus, while I go, pilgrim in this world below;
Poor in spirit would I be; let my Savior dwell in me.
- Fanny Crosby, "More Like Jesus Would I Be"

My Poetry: (most recent to earliest)

Victory

Earth is a testing ground between two planes,
Fallen world of people's pain
Hopeless world of darkened rain
Could this race of life be won?
Righteous here? They number none
Life a lie of liar's puns?
Life and victory comes

Conqueror ever undefeated
Thinks Death and Hell can yet be cheated
Love and justice meet unheeded
In Him we're all completed
He's everything we needed
Comes a'bringing life's new leases
Name of glory, name of Jesus

He who fashioned us in love
Is it He who's from above?
Can risen dead be proof enough
For He who's signaled by a dove?
Faultless love and guiltless life
Can we so full of sin and vice
Attain this wondrous sacrifice?

Our precious earth attacked and raided
Heaven's majesty's invaded
Man's redemption oh so fated
Creation's King for whom it's waited
Creator stands with His created
Such mercy flowing unabated
Why, oh men, is He so hated?

So vile as is, oh cruel mankind
Impossible to be so blind
You can't imagine such a crime!
Do you know you're crossing such a line?
Who is dying? Who you're crucifying?
Of whom your wicked lips are lying?
For who His loving eyes are crying?

Satan, now you've had your way
How you've waited for this day
Almighty God, who all so dread
Precious drops for mankind shed
Purest mercy's teardrops bled
In your power, at this hour
Counted here among your dead

Have you waited for so long
Just to let your enemy escape?
Surely He can't be so strong
That even death could break
But of course you can't be wrong
Death and earth to you belong
Oh vain prince, thy great mistake

Prince of Peace, the King of Heaven
Ascending back where He belongs
From the trials of death and men
Bearing records of His wrongs
Oh such victory in His voice!
Bow the knee, and hear Him tell
"I Have The Keys Of Death, And Hell"

Risen King, oh Risen Lord
Thou eternal saving Word
Thou our Master and our God
Dare we tread as thou hast trod?
Send us forth to tell the story
Of your love and of your glory
And faith in you means "do not worry"

Hallelujah, sins so cleansed!
Empty hearts He fully mends!
Full forgiveness fully paid
Trust just in Him, this saving faith
Full atonement, what a trade!
Life before is just a wraith
New and whole the me He's made

Life so full and bought by Him
Now I can't lose, but only win
Sorrows turned to joys
Losses turned to gains
To ever lift my voice
Freed from all my chains
Complete within, He'll come again

Time of Writing: December 8, 2005.

Poem Details: I felt so deeply that God was leading me in writing this poem that I made it a bulletin on MySpace for anyone to repost, i.e. I chose not to take credit for this one.

Poem Reflections: This is one of my all-time favorite poems, it's a structured story-type one similar to Rabboni that focuses heavily on Jesus.

Poem Notes: In the bulletin, I posted Revelation 19:11-16 at the end of the poem.

Always There

When I'm lonely, when I'm vain
You heal my pain
You're always here for me!
Just as I am, is who You've loved
The Comforter, the comforted
You knew my pain, to see me free
You're always there, for me!
The darkness surges 'round again
The battle I could never win
Escape this pit, oh can it be?
You're all the Light I need to see!
At last, I'm FREE!
And it's all thanks, my God, to Thee

Time of Writing: October 15, 2005.

Poem Details: These were basically distinct thoughts jotted down gradually as I was praying, like God was leading me to write this, or like it was part of my prayer and worship of God.

Poem Reflections: I only showed this to one person so far I believe and almost forgot I'd written it until looking for poems to post.

Poem Notes:

Old Friend

To the one I love so dearly, and these things I long to tell
Please know that I miss you very much, and wish you only well
Fear not for my commitment, I have waited 7 years
Though Ive seen much joy and peace since then, its tempered with my tears
And I've wandered many pathways that I've wish I'd shared with you
But God's grace has kept me walking, and His grace has kept me true
I have known the scorching heat of day, and dark loneliness of night
And in all my constant wanderings, I'll trust God to make things right
I believe in you I found the best, memories keep me going on
So I'll pass on all the rest, til we meet again a'non
And despite life's separations, it may be our preparations
So let's make our reparations, as we wander, wander on

Time of Writing: September 12, 2005.

Poem Details: Well, these last few years I've been going through a time of poem writing much like I had around when I first got saved when I was writing a lot. More melodic then my other poems, it actually started as a song in my mind as I was driving home and I expanded on it when I got home. Most of my poems start as simple rhyming, and it surprised me to be writing a poem that was almost more of a ... song. The rhyming scheme is slightly more dissonant then it normally would be due to the effect of that more melodic influence.

Poem Reflections: While definitely more personal then my old poems, having made "Time" public it's that much more easy for me to release one like this. I suppose this shows a recent change in attitude, as after all these years I'm finally beginning to open up even the deepest parts of my heart for inspection. Once I wrote only about universal topics to stick to matters of the mind and not heart, but in these last few years it's hard to overlook the fact that my writing is becoming distinctively more personal and self-revealing.

Poem Notes: Though slightly tempted to make this poem longer, I think I'll keep it short like this since I love the songlike quality to it and don't want to risk interfering with it. And speaking of which, I'm halfway curious about just how easily it could be put to music.

Love

What all think they've got
And so many do not
It's life's biggest must
Don't confuse it with lust
Any heart it can thaw
Fulfils God's moral Law
You can give to the poor
Let your body be burned
Work incredible miracles
Speak in tongues never heard
And if you're missing out
On this which you most need
Then let there be no doubt
You have nothing indeed
Many claim to serve God
But escape this command
And they find it so odd
This is His great demand
And for all of your knowledge
And wisdom, and power
Which makes others to tremble
And still others to cower
If you're lacking in this
Then all you have is moot
For you're missing the point
This, God's great attribute
It never harms others
Is patient and kind
Meekly it suffers
With no evil in mind
Bearing all, believing all
Hoping all, enduring all
Never failing, over all travailing
This, God's gift from above-
This Is Love

Time of Writing: August 11, 2005.

Poem Details: Apparently I just wrote this down one day and forgot about it until now when looking for poems to put on here.

Poem Reflections: It seems to echo 1 Corinthians 13 a lot. It's about time I wrote a poem on love :D This makes for a pretty good one for such an important topic I think. I tend to only write on a broad, important topic once in my life and then never again.

Poem Notes:

Rabboni

Prophets of old long since foretold
Of the grace to come through the eternal One
Who'd die so all from death go free, and give them life eternally

For our sins He paid the price, that the just Law did demand
And it demanded sacrifice, the sacrifice-a sinless man
He wondered that there was none else, yet mankind couldn't save themselves

And come He did as so it seems, proved by great miracles and teachings
The likes of which no one had seen, yet they still were unbelieving
And as foretold by prophecy, they crucified and killed Him

Condemned for nought in pain He stood, our sins paid for with our God's blood
The path of pain was His to trod; both Son of man, and Son of God
Gave us the best He had to give, God died alone so we could live

But death could not contain Him. And so He rose again.
That all who trust in Him go free; from death, and sin, and misery
God broke our chains from death and Hell, they finally from the devil fell

Free-given gift all can receive, accept the gift, their sins to leave
But the world never thinks on this, few want it on their mind
The way of life that's straight and narrow few will ever find

Many claim His friendship, never making His acquaintance
They trust in their own righteousness, never showing Him obeisance
But saying one's His follower doesn't mean they are; anymore than going in garages makes someone a car

We need only confess our sins, and then turn solely unto Him
Believe He did what He has done, and finally to ask the Son
For that great gift He died to give, and we're no longer dead, but live

But faith there's one God's not enough, the devils too believe
Repentance-Confession-Acceptance-are also what we need
Tis' the Gospel of Salvation, which shall be told to every nation

The way to life remains the same, we needn't know another name
Then of our God who died, to have the gifts He died to give-forgiveness, peace, and life
Eternal life with Him is given for which many are so driven; yet they will not trust alone the Saviour-God upon the throne

Head of the church, above all things; who angels serve, above all beings
Raised on high for what He's done, the Father glorifies His Son
And all at last shall bow the knee when at the last the Word they see

And those which know Him we will know, for these are they which do do so
As He commanded, dwell in love, for others and our God above
So for evil good we give, same love with which He made us live

And if we do He dwells in us, for which we have His own promise
His Father and the Spirit too, who teach us all we ought to do
Straight from His Word which ever lives, God's Word-the Bible, that He gives

And so we are complete, in our God who died to save, who rose again and we in Him, have all we'll ever need
He gave the gift that can't be priced; all by Him to life enticed
He pulled on death the master heist: My only Master, Jesus Christ

Time of Writing: Around April 22, 2005.

Poem Details: I wrote this poem for my Survey of Humanities class. We needed to write a 2 page story on anything and the teacher said I could do it in poetic form so I set it up so there'd be 7 sections a page and 14 in total (I'm liking 7 more and more). Shockingly the teacher gave me only a C or so for it, I wasn't too happy about that but didn't say anything about it.

Poem Reflections: I'd been a bit reluctant actually to write a poem on my Master before this since I wanted it to be as good as possible. I'm very pleased with how the poem turned out although the poetic quality is actually a little shaky in some places, more so then usual in my poetry. I started out worrying about making it poetically sound but tried fitting in a salvation message as I went along so that I started sacrificing poetic finesse for the message. That's why the beginning and ending of the poem are better poetically but not the middle so much, since I was so focused on making the message good. Usually I just try to make the words flow first and foremost.

Poem Notes: Rabboni is Hebrew for "Master" and is one of the few Hebrew words left untranslated in the New Testament, and the Bible even gives its definition with it in John 20:16.

The Pitcher

Mixing power, speed, and grace
Controlling time, affecting space
A bat continually to chase
For every pitch a perfect place

Sidearm, over, submarine
High kick, low kick, none at all
None the same save one main thing
Make the batter miss the ball

Sink it, float it, make it swerve
Stay far from the hanging curve
Bring what heat is in reserve
Then throw it slow if you've got nerve

Make the batter throw a fit
He thought you'd do the opposite
Hitting's all about the timing
Pitching is disrupting it

Another battle every start
Takes all you have to do your part
You know it's gotta' be an art
It's not just skill, but also heart

Throw the last thing they'd expect
To the last place they'd suspect
Leave the batter in a trance
Learn to make a baseball dance

All you have in every throw
Using everything you know
Called upon one must deliver
This is what we call a pitcher

Time of Writing: January 19, 2005.

Poem Details: This is my most lighthearted poem and my most fun one. Unlike with my others I didn't deal with universal concepts or deep messages, and may represent the change from cynicism to a more lighthearted attitude in me the last few years. I wrote this for a friend to help them with an art assignment. This is a fun poem with plenty of humour and irony that's written with good structure. Also, it's about time I wrote a poem about baseball pitching.

Poem Reflections: No deep message about life here but this is a fun poem about a hobby I really am passionate about and enjoy. I feel I made a good representation of what pitching is here and am satisfied with how the poem turned out.

Poem Notes: While structurally and poetically it's pretty good it doesn't exactly have one of my more awe-inspiring messages. Also, observe the line about "you know it's gotta' be an art" which I intentionally put in since it was for a friend's art assignment and I was writing the poem around the idea that pitching is an art.

Time

Everything changes, but I stay the same
Nothing remains to which I may lay claim
Sorrowing, stumbling, crying alone
All for mistakes for which I can't atone
Gone, she is gone, and I'm walking in pain
Oddly amazed that God's still kept me sane
Loves me, He carries me; another day gone
Faithful and true as each day is long
Wandering, wondering, where she is now?
This will all work for good, I just can't see how
Walking, still walking, I'm still on my feet
Never missing a trial, never missing a beat
I stumble, I falter, HE's there to support me
My Lord, and my friend, my God, the ALMIGHTY
Looking behind at these 7 long years
All filled with their hopes, and their dreams, and their cares
And pausing at last at this last abrupt end
As my dizzying course finally comes to a halt
What lines in this tale have yet to be penned?
What race to be finished I have yet to start?
The questions elude, and the years yet intrude
It's time vs. me, in an unending feud
Once I said...
"Master all, yet be no master
Turn the tide, the world turns faster."
But now...
"And all I can say, is I'm glad every day
With the Lord by my side, I can yet turn the tide."
And I'm walking.
And I'm singing.
I was falling.
I was cringing.
And now I'm here. Now where am I?
Now where is fear? What if I die?
Some think... it all contradictory.
I know... I have the victory.
And I know I would never have made it this far
Through all of the trials that were, and still are
If my LORD didn't love, and if GOD didn't care
And if next to my side, HE was not always here.

Time of Writing: October of 2004.

Poem Details: The most personal, intimate, and self-revealing of my poems, this poem gives the best look into the person I have become. This poem is like a window into my soul, so much so that I had trouble deciding whether I wanted to make all the lines public or not (I did).

Poem Reflections: This poem lets others see better then any of my others I believe not only something of my pain and struggles but also my utter dependence on Christ. Though I struggle I also trust in God to bring an ultimate resolve to the issues and to take care of me no matter what happens. Because this poem shows so much of my faith it's very valuable and one I want others to see, but certain lines of it reveal enough of me that I'm a little uncomfortable about them...

Poem Notes: All in all this is without a doubt my favorite poem even if it might not have the structure or flow like some of the others simply because it has such an awesome message and conveys "me" so well.

I Am Saved

I am found, who once was lost
I am alive, who once was dead
Before I knelt before the cross
Of death I held naught save dread
I found the problem, it was me
And found that death was the decree
So I found the one who healed the sick,
The one who made the blind to see
Our God who died up on that cross
That all who trust in Him go free
And so I trusted, hoped, believed
And found the promise faith decreed
I placed my hopes of soul salvation
In Jesus Christ, Lord of Creation
I once knew hate, I now know love
My hopes below, but now above
I now know life is what's in store
Was once alone, but nevermore
I once was dead, but now am risen
I am alive forever with Him

Time of Writing: Early spring of 2004

Poem Details: This is the 2nd poem I ever wrote for a class, this one for my Communications class. The poem assignment was called an "I am" poem and had to be about what we are like, including lines with the words "I am". I misunderstood the assignment thinking it had to be exactly 20 lines when it only had to be at least 20 lines.

Poem Reflections: Because I had to write this poem to a structure it's not as good as if I'd written it freestyle. However, I didn't make the mistake with it that I did with Legacy and this one turned out to contain a pretty good message about what GOD has done for me and about salvation. Considering the structure I wrote it to, this poem turned out pretty good and overall I'm pretty pleased with it. I just wish I'd made it longer since I'd made it very concise thinking it could be only 20 lines.

Poem Notes:

Legacy

Never seen, ever heard; hear the chirping of a bird
Polute the waters, chop the trees; shoot the birds and squash the bees
For always have we the last word; yes, these will be our legacies

Regal eagle, soaring high; sees the deer as they pass by
Snipe the eagle, shoot the deer; spread the carnage, spread the fear
They were our last legacies; death will come from loss of these

Factories grow, mankind grows greater; species die, we'll save them later
Smog and people now abound; there's pollution all around
What we need's more factories; there's no room for legacies

Fur coats, wallets, paper mills; surely it should give you chills
Sapping up our planet's life, we would never e'er think twice; wow that suitcase sure looks nice!
We could have a legacy; all we'd need is eyes to see

Many people, little food; nothing left to do but brood
What will now become of us, is this life all there ever was?
Now we have no legacy, death will come eventually

Busy cities, now ghost towns; is there life left to be found?
The howling winds, the only sounds; to mourn the passing of what's gone
What once was done must always be; these last words?: Our Legacy

Time of Writing: Sometime in 9th or 10th grade I believe, so 2000-2001.

Poem Details: I wrote this for an Environmental Science class early in highschool just to get a grade, all my other poems have been written because I actually was representing what I felt, this poem is the only deviation from that, I simply wrote it to get a grade and have never made that mistake again.

Poem Reflections: Ironically, although this may be the best poem I've ever written both structurally and poetically it is also my least favorite and one I rarely show to anyone simply because I despise the subject material. I wrote about an inconsequential subject about things that aren't problems and have despised the poem ever since. I made a mistake writing it and every time I show someone it I have to explain the mistake that I made. For all the smooth flowing poetic style, clever ending, and fantastic structure, I despise it and don't plan on entering it in any contests for the plain reason that I don't want people reading it without knowing what I think of it. This is the only one of my recorded poems which I truly regret writing...

Poem Notes: It took me an unusually short time to write this poem (probably since I was just doing it for a grade without thinking about the material) and while most of my poems are written in a very short time, this one was unusually so. I wrote it during a detention I believe in high school and I recall it taking me only 15 minutes or so to compose. And I didn't write it in this order, I wrote different sections first and would come up with endings and experiment with which one I wanted with which section, basically mixed and matched. Then I threw them together in the order that made the most sense to me.

Freedom

The eternal fight, the fight to be free
Striving to gain more liberty
Yet the aftereffect is a tale of woe
Empires fall by a single fell blow
God watches above, His face filled with pain
As men once thought noble now prove they're quite vain
Wars are soon fought, cruel deeds are done
Freedom looks hopeless, clouds shadow the sun
Brother fights brother, they die on the plain
Weapons of war show their faces again
Devils and demons fly through the air
Showering misery, death, and despair
Yet suddenly light shines through again
And all shrink away made of evil and sin
GOD in His glory stands there revealed
Devils shrink away but their fates are sealed
Judgement is done to everyone there
All fall on their knees, evil filled with despair
Then evil is gone, peace fills the skies
God in His mercy bids all left arise
A home made for us and we will live there
But do you rejoice or do you live in fear?

Time of Writing: April 30, 1999.

Poem Details: I actually wrote this one for a poetry contest that I won 1st place for the state in. I had to leave the school before finding out I won however and because of changing schools didn't get to enter the national contest.

Poem Reflections: I was saved less than a year before writing this poem so it provides an interesting insight into how God was already changing me and working in both my life and my heart.

Poem Notes: In one very early version I had the name as "One Fight", why I'm not entirely sure. Also, I have wished before I'd worded the line "Devils shrink away but their fates are sealed" differently, to "shrink 'way" or "give way" but since I did win first for the state with it I've decided to just leave it as it is.

Men of Fire

Men of fire, men who kill, the very Earth their brothers till
They take the guise of those quite wise
Of misery they eat their fill
They lead us to our very graves
With promises of peace
We die because we listened to the wolves who wear the fleece of sheep
Their glory lies in wars which kill
A glory made of fire
Lucifer, Abomination, is the one whom they call sire
Their castle made in lands of evil
Where they plot to take men's souls
They scheme of many devious ways
And capture each and every fool
We help them, join them in their wicked ways
They capture them and then enslave them
While numbering their days
One day they will receive justice,
From the hand of a mighty king
They'll be banished to a pit, that no man has ever seen
And when that day comes, we'll be safe
From Satan's wicked ways
But will you follow that great king
Or is Satan numbering your days?

Time of Writing: About April 28th or 29th, 1999.

Poem Details: Perhaps the first poem I wrote after becoming saved, this was written in preparation for the poetry contest. We were told of a broad topic we had to write on a few days before the contest and given those days to prepare. However, we couldn't bring in any papers to the contest and while I used this as the base for the next poem, Freedom, which won 1st for the state, they ended up being 2 different poems because of the way the contest was structured.

Poem Reflections: I don't like this poem as much as the Freedom one which ends up being the end result in a way of this one, however, the message is still decent and it has a somewhat clever ending (my trademark) but not as much as Freedom does. The rhyming isn't of the same quality as what is found in Freedom either, in my opinion, and the poem doesn't flow as well. However, it does provide additional insight into who I was immediately after becoming saved.

Poem Notes:

War

War, strife, and misery, of which the world's quite full
Despite the words and promises each day we grow more cruel
A war that's fought, one we can't win
Only God can cleanse us of our sin
We fight to live, and yet we die
And many people never try
Of winning and of losing, each day is but a game
Each move we make decides our fate and no life is the same
The Bible's here and many read but few will ever learn
Though knowledge is remembered, the wisdom we do burn
The sun will rise, the sun will set
Each day we grow more in God's debt
A fire rages, wars are fought
Time spent on fighting, not on thought
We fight to win, we know the cost
And fight we do, as lives are lost
A time to think, a time to die
Countries steal, leaders lie
A fatal war, peace oh too short
A ship of death, a fiery port
Mist arising from a grave
A million souls, each one unsaved
A chariot with golden wheels
A cry of death, and thunder peals
A war of death, a war to kill
Bombs and bullets, blood to spill
Eternal peace, eternal pain; the dragon and the dragon's bane
A myriad of countless stars; each shining in the heavens far
Never thinking, never caring; never giving, never sharing
Death will knock but once, and woe
To you who've never known your soul

Time of Writing: Sometime during 8th grade, so 1997-1998.

Poem Details: This is the second recorded poem I have and yet is likely one of the best poetically I've ever written. It too was written before I got saved, but only a year or so before.

Poem Reflections: This poem being the last before I became saved it provides a valuable insight into what I was realizing about God before I knew enough to take the step of faith into His kingdom. Recently I've been beginning to appreciate just how good a conviction message this may be for the unsaved. I suppose when I wrote this I was just beginning to be convicted myself and piece it all together, and that it was written down and is one of my best written poems is very convenient, and I think God may have had a hand in it. I was very aware of coincidence back then and one thing I think convicted me was that there was simply an overwhelming amount of coincidences for it to NOT be God trying to lead me to repentance. Combining both my typical cold cynicism before salvation with what I was beginning to realize was the path to life, this poem certainly stands out in many ways my other poems do not.

Poem Notes: In some versions I'd included the line "We kill yet never stop to think of what we've wrought" after the line "Time spent on fighting, not on thought", I chose not to include it here. Although I don't think I intended it as such when I wrote the poem (maybe I did, can't recall) the dragon spoken of in the 5th to last line could easily mean Satan which would be tied to the eternal pain part of that line and the dragon's bane tied to eternal peace, meaning Christ.

Earth

Earth is a testing ground between two planes
A planet long since gone insane
Wars were fought, and men have died
And the world was set askew
They failed but they truly tried to create a world new
Silence is power and no power's ever new
One God is all that separates what's false from what is true
The world is full of bloodshed
It seems to stay that way
Perhaps it never may be changed
But then I'm saying may

Time of Writing: Approximately 7th grade for me, so 1996-1997.

Poem Details: This was the first poem I ever wrote and so isn't as long as most of the others. It was also written about 2 years before I got saved so may be a good indicator of what I understood of salvation before becoming saved and my search for truth.

Poem Reflections: I find it somewhat interesting that I could see that Earth was a testing ground and not a true reality even back then and that GOD was the seperator of truth and lies, but was yet so overly confident in my own abilities (those last 4 lines). As it says in James 2:19, it is not enough to believe in one GOD.

Poem Notes: In some versions I have a line after "They failed but they truly tried to create a world new" that reads "They looked from different angles, and found a different view"

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