Season 8, Episode 1, God's Inspiration

Poetry of Christian Faith

71, 8-1, SHOW NOTES & COPYRIGHTS (Scheduled August 26, 2022)

Today we will be reading and discussing poems that were influenced by a picture or object that inspired me.

THE CLOCK, THE TIME, OUR HOURS (God Still Rhymes, pg 7)

Time, is it ours or is it hours,

The hands that do not move?

As we move through time

Do we make life rhymes?

Whose face is on the clock?

Does it reflect

the number of years,

the number of fears,

the number of tears?

The rhymes that age us

As we look in the mirror,

Is it ours or the face of time?

Will the hands on the clock

Give us time to unlock

The secrets we keep,

Our sins so deep?

Do we have the hours,

At least to start,

To open our heart

And release what was ours?

Time will wait for no one.

Will we be standing still

At the end of time?

Time will not go on into infinity

As we wait for eternity.

We are free,

what ever

we want to be

for all to see

especially he

that is in

Heaven above.

Will we choose

his love

before the end?

Will we accept

the grace

he did send?

In the shining sun,

do we have time

to accept his son,

his sacrifice

to make us right?

The hands on the clock

sometimes move so odd.

At times they do mock

each and every minute of the day.

But if we make time to pray

we will see the hand of God,

feel his infinite love

his saving grace

his sacrifice

for our righteousness,

that we will be for eternity.

Discussion:

The clock that inspired this poem also inspired a full chapter in God Still Rhymes:

The Broken Clock, Still The Clock Is Still, Our Time Standing Still, and The Clock A Few Months Later. Grandfather Clock was written many years before. It seem like a good introduction to the other clock poems.

WINDOWS TO GOD (God Still Rhymes, pg. 65)

An ancient cathedral,

an old country church,

filled with worshipers

praying, singing, hearing

as his word is heard

as sun shining through

windows of stained glass.

The history of our faith,

of a journey through the ages,

reflecting sorrows and joys

ever present for us to see.

As it may seem

the lighted beam

seen through the glass

as time does pass

the hands of man

reflects his plan.

Then at church today,

walking through the door,

no windows reflecting

a journey that has passed,

now in muted hues

photographs black and white,

joy without sorrow,

husband, wife, a child,

give hope for tomorrow.

The journey unfinished,

they are looking forward.

We see the Son shine

through many smiles.

Now we can see

what we can be,

the simplicity

for you and me,

life he did save,

the gift he gave.

Whether by the sun shining through multicolored stained glass

or the Son shining through a photograph of white and black,

both are windows through which we can see the work of his hand.

Reflection:

The church I attend was having its 18th anniversary. The only windows are in the entrance atrium and the classrooms. To celebrate this occasion pictures of some of the members were taken and enlarged. These were put up on the walls around the church. They reminded me of the stained glass windows in the churches I had grown up in.

Discussion:

WHICHEVER WAY THE WIND WILL BLOW (Living In God’s Rhyme, pg. 207)

A storm, a boat, the disciples with Jesus . . .

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves,

“Quiet! Be Still!” Then the wind died down

And it was completely calm. (Mark 4:39. NIV)

When there is a gentle breeze

Then we find a life of ease,

But when the wind will blow

Does our spirit sink low?

It is at those times

When facing life’s storms,

With the wind at our face

As we run our life’s race,

We feel tattered and torn,

We lose track of His rhyme.

It in these times of trial

We must remember our faith.

When the acrid taste of bile

Rises we must remember our place.

God is on our side,

So we never need to hide.

We have His gentle breath

On which we can rest.

The Holy Spirit moves

As a gentle breeze,

Calming the winds,

Restoring our faith.

It is the breath of God,

It is His Word at creation

That calms the storms

Yesterday,

Today and

Tomorrow.

We just have to believe.

Ask, pray and we shall receive.

With God we can weather the storm.

Discussion:

CHURCH IN THE DESERT (God Still Rhymes, pg. 117)

Abandoned so many years ago,

Those who lived there are no more.

Whatever children they did bore

Left that place, what did they know?

The walls of earthen mud,

Built with toil and blood

Supported the tiles of clay

Protecting what it may.

And upon those walls, reaching above

Was placed a cross, a symbol of God’s love.

On Sunday

And every other day

There was worship

And friendship

As God was praised

And voices raised

In song

And prayer

For as long

As there

Was someone,

Anyone,

To say amen

At day’s end.

A fountain in the desert,

A spring of living water,

In the midst of heat and sand

Quenched the thirst of those saved.

Then,

The walls collapsed, the tiles lost,

Abandoned, except for the cross.

A people removed, but at what cost?

A church abandoned, what is the loss?

As earthen vessels made of clay

Our souls saved,

Our ransom paid,

We are the church, so we do pray.

Our lives built on Jesus, the cornerstone,

That we might weather the storms,

Survive the droughts and pains that groan,

To live the life for which we were born.

By his living water our lives are restored

So that as we live the church stands tall.

It is in the church that he is adored,

Prayers answered that we not fall.

We pray that we not fall

So others will hear the call,

That through his grace

They will continue the race.

For it is through the race

That the church will stand.

It is Jesus we embrace

So that we not build on sand.

As one generation moves on into eternity

Another will be left behind

So that another generation will have certainty

That salvation they will find.

The walls

Will not fall.

Hearing his call

We must

Wipe off the dust

Spread the good news

To more than a few.

The church abandoned, except the cross

A sign that God is everywhere

Even if we have abandoned Him.

Reflection:

On one of my wife’s, Mary Lou, trips to New Mexico to help care for her mother, she came back with a drawing by a local artist and friend, Cynthia Gonzales, of an abandoned church in an abandoned coal mining town in the mountains of New Mexico. The front wall, doors and steeple with the cross were intact. The other walls, were only partially there. There were tree branches, bare at the tops, growing. My first thought was abandonment, then abandonment in the desert because of the vast open sky in the background. It made me think about what could happen to the Christian faith if the last believers went to Heaven without leaving any believers behind to keep the church alive.

(the church is actually in the mountains, the desolation I saw reminded me of the desert)

Discussion:

This next one was also inspired by Cynthia Gonzales. It is a recent painting by her. The poem is short. It is also one of my favorite poems.

WIND RIVER

The wind blows water into the waves

That now reflect the colors of the sky.

A once raging storm now tattered and torn

Has created a picture of the river reborn,

Calm residing in the heavens above

Showing chaos can lead to God’s love.

Need we ask why

The ways He saves?

The storm revives

Our shattered lives.

tcarter, 7/6/2022, 9:33 pm

Discussion:

AS WE CLOSE IN PRAYER, MAY WE CONTINUE IN PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father we come to you in prayer as we end today’s podcast. Dave and I thank You for Your leading us through the day and into tomorrow. We pray that today has been pleasing to You and honors Your glory.

We pray for our listeners and viewers; for their needs, healing and the salvation of those who have not yet accepted the gift of Your grace by faith.

We pray, Lord, for this world in which we live. Father, as Christians lead us to proclaiming the gospel where ever we are. May we do so in a loving way. Lead us to the truth of the days we are living in. We pray for the nation of Ukraine and its people; its leaders, those who have fled the country to find safety, those who are still trying to leave the country and those who are staying to fight the invading army of their enemy. May their faith and determination be an example to the entire world.

Dear Lord, prepare us and our listeners and viewers for the coming week. We pray that it is You we live for and You who leads us. As we walk with you this week, may it be Your hand clasped around our hand so we may feel the grasp of Your love.

We pray in the name of Jesus, our Savior and Redeemer.

Amen

4/3/2022

If you give

Him the times

As you live

His word rhymes

And don’t forget, “We are the Kings kids and you will never get rid of us for we are His with Jesus.”

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Tim and Dave

"If you give Him the times As you live His word rhymes "

"We are the King’s kids and you’ll never get rid of us because we are His with Jesus."

Living In God’s Rhyme ©2018 by Tim Carter

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God’s Rhyme ©2019 by Tim Carter