Kind to the Ungrateful and Wicked

 Here's a poem for National Poetry Month! It is largely inspired by the account of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that is given in Luke 6. I am particularly moved by The Lord's radical command to not only love those who love us but to go beyond that and love our enemies and pray for them! Just as God our Father is kind and merciful to the ungrateful and wicked, so we must be too. And it's even easier to do that when we realize that so often we ourselves are the ungrateful and wicked. Yet God's rich mercy and grace still reaches to us despite this and brings us back to restoration when we return to Him in repentance. We who are forgiven so much must be willing to forgive others as well. Let us follow our Lord's example and command to show love to all, especially those we think deserve it least.


Kind To The Ungrateful and Wicked
(poem copyright by Nathan Ludwick 7/12/2022)
(Genesis 1:14-19, Genesis 1:26-31, Psalms 8, Psalms 139, Psalms 118:24, Matthew 5:38-48, Luke 6:27-38, James 1:17, Colossians 1:13-17, Job 38-42, Psalms 90, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 5:8, John 15:12-17, John 13:1-20, Matthew 5:13-16, James 1:19-20, Romans 2:1-4, Ephesians 4:29-32, Ephesians 5:1-2, Revelation 19:11-16, Luke 7:40-50, Psalms 103, Psalms 150, Matthew 7:12, Romans 13:8-14, Romans 12, 1 Peter 2:9-12, Malachi 4:2, Galatians 6:2, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 3:16-22, 2 Thessalonians 3:13, Jeremiah 31:3)

Welcome to My morning- welcome to My day
The blue sky and sunshine a backdrop to birds' refrain
The morning dew on each petal like a mint on your hotel pillow
Everything about today's been prepared for you in advance
Blink your eyes open in bed, roll down the window and stick out your head
Take in a big breath of fresh air- the same breathed since ages past
Go forth to face the day made for you and written before time
Filled with its share of toil mingling with peace and rest
Carefully arranged by The One Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
How many walk oblivious to the obvious blessings that surround them
Every breath that fills their lungs a fresh gesture of grace
Every heartbeat is one more that they weren't obligated to receive
And people go on their merry ways with nary an upward gaze
Choices are made in twenty four hour spans with after effects that still send shock waves for days or maybe years
Some even echo in eternity, bathed in blackness or light
The Eternal Time Keeper watches it all play out on Earth
As He holds everything together and intervenes with Divine authority and supreme knowledge both here and across the universe
The Giver of all good gifts makes every day like Christmas
The Gift given that day can still be unwrapped afresh each new day
Though sadly some stubbornly refuse but this never sways His mood
His eyes still look eternally with love on them through tears
He sends the sun each dawn to shine on the wicked and righteous alike
He sends the rain in its season on both the good and bad
Yet the ugly is in all of humanity and only The Beautiful One can transform it
The Beauty became the beast after Snow White bit the poison apple
The silver bullet crisscrossed His heart to render Him dead to pay for all misdeeds
Grace personified walked out of the grave with a real life fairy tale ending
All those who give themselves over to endless Love's entreaty
Can live each day with joy looking forward to living happily ever after in Love's kingdom
And in each staggering step of this race that inches ever closer to eternity's edge
Mercy's transformed miscreants must administer mercy to all just like The Father of Mercy
For even though the ungrateful and wicked spurn His open arms with sneers
He exudes kindness on them relentlessly throughout life and beyond
Even in eternity, His kindness won't force folks to be with Him who reject Him
And in the time allotted before the final breaths are lent to frames of dust and rib
Every moment is the time for lovingkindness to lavishly wash each other's feet
No matter the response, the seeds must still get water and sunshine that they might yet grow
Only God decides on the growth in accordance with the willingness of human beans
And as His kindness brought us to repentance who grow in His vine
May we continually extend olive branches of love that overwhelm all like a flood
Those who are forgiven much also love both God and man much
Man's anger accomplisheth not God's righteousness- and man can't control outcomes
Faithful obedience calls for trust in The Faithful and True one who is always good
Let Mercy lead us to never respond to hostility in kind- but in tireless kindness
That the world might know and give thanks to the embodiment of Good
Who still welcomes us each morning to the new day He has made that we 
Should rejoice and be glad in it and shine like the Sun of righteousness
That the world might see our good deeds, love and kindness and glorify the
Author of all Good and Love and Joy Whose heart is wonderfully kind.

What meaning is meaning what? (poem)

Note: This is a piece I have pulled out of the archives. I thought it might be fun to post this during this week as a way to celebrate both National Poetry Month (which is in April) and Holy Week. I will plan to do poetry readings videos for the rest of week, if anyone's interested (These are specifically available for my family and friends on Facebook.) (I'll still do them to amuse myself even if no one's interested- lol. :-)) 
The text of the poem and a little introduction is below. Enjoy! Happy Easter!
In honour of Holy Week and The Lord Jesus, I also wanted to read poems reflecting on the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us when He died and rose to pay for all sins for all time. We can have forgiveness of sins and salvation from the hell we deserve and entry into the Heaven we don't deserve all through our faith in the love God has for us and the salvation He has provided through Christ! (Romans 10:9-13)
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This poem employs the language of language itself to make a spiritual point. English major nerds should appreciate this. ;-) (Of which I would totally consider myself part of that number. I minored in English myself.) It's largely inspired by one of my favourite Bible books- Ecclesiastes- and the wisdom found there about The Lord Jesus who truly brings meaning to our life, both here and eternally.


What meaning is meaning what?

(original poem copyright Nathan Ludwick 2/27/2010) 

(Proverbs 25:11, John 10:10, Ecclesiastes 1:1, Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)

Every sentence has a verb for proper meaning.
It seems every sentience has a verb in the meaning of meaning.
Are the well to do the ones who have done well?
Well, to do is what we all seem to strive for.
We're not content to simply just be because
It's not enough of an action word.
The amazing paradox of the vernal equinox
Is having all the time in the world yet nothing to do.
We can mask the panic in our eyes with layers
Of activities and tasks for responsible adult lives.
But when we give ourselves a moment to breathe and not think
We realize we don't know how to do nothing and not sleep.
Boredom and laziness may be bosom buddies
But the problem Is in our bosom beneath that cushion.
We have plans, goals and dreams mapped out for life
But the list of things to do before kicking the bucket
When all accomplished is still just a drop in the bucket
And it's never enough to wash our car, much less our heart.
Love of self is the bacteria that lines the inside
And man's search for meaning makes but a poor bandage
Our verbs still serve only to propel our own renown
We need a modifier to change our life sentence
And the aptly spoken Word sets us back on the street
With a joyous adverb as we narrowly tread from dross to gold.

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The Power is Yours! (Forgetting What's Behind)

Don't ask, "Why were the old days better than today?" It's not good to ask such things.... (see Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 and chapter 12).... As Acts 17:24-28 tells us, God set men and women in history at exactly when and where He wanted them to be for His purposes.... (which doesn't mean that God won't move you at some point too though ;-))- But part of finding our identity in Jesus as His follower means being happy with who God made us to be- boy or girl, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, African descent, Indian descent, Caucasian, mixed, etc., Spanish, Trinidadian, American, German, Swiss, South African, Ukrainian, Canadian, Argentinan, Brazilian, Peruvian, Eritrean, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Australian, Indian, Senegalese, Antarctican, etc.- whatever the social class- whatever other label we put on each other....... God made us above all those things in His image (Genesis 1:26-31). And when we're in Christ, none of those things matter anyway! (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-4, John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:25-29) And as Colossians 3:11 says, "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
    We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
     No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!

And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)

A Response to Grace

(Note: This was written in reaction to reading an excerpt from "Vanishing Grace" by Philip Yancey, so consider it a book report of sorts. :-))

Beautiful post here! What a great reminder of how The Gospel of Jesus Christ has so radically transformed individual people's lives and entire nations for the better!

   This is a very helpful reminder for me because I often have discussions with a friend who most often seems to see the ugly side of Christianity and rarely acknowledges any of the good. In having apologetics discussions with people about the reputation of Christianity in the world, I prefer to redirect people to Christ. I am well aware that there are people who may have been genuinely Christians while also being genuinely mistaken about interpretation of The Bible's commands who brought about much evil in the world. (It's hard to forget the large number of Christian American settlers who helped wipe out so many Native Americans and kidnapped Africans and enslaved them....and the examples can go on.)

   And some might combine history like this with the difficult passages in The Bible regarding slavery and laws regarding sexual behaviour and so forth and conclude that slavery and rape are acceptable practices in Christianity.

    Of course, the Christian church today steadfastly condemns such actions. And part of the reason why is because we look to the person of Jesus Christ as the ultimate model for human behaviour. And as you mentioned, we can see how Jesus embraced and empowered racial minorities and women and truly lived out His mission to preach Good News to the poor. And He ultimately fulfilled this mission on the cross of Calvary and in the empty tomb. The Good News Jesus brought us is that we can have forgiveness of sins and be reinstated in His family. All are welcome! The rich and poor are on equal footing in His kingdom. There are no races in Him- no slave or free- no male or female- we are all one in Christ Jesus. This is the way His kingdom operates in opposition to the world that assigns value to some things and people and decides others to be worthless. In a paradox described in Psalms 8, we are both utterly worthless and infinitely important and valuable at the same time. "What is man that You should think of us, Lord?" writes the Psalmist. "Yet You made us a little lower than the angels."

    Isaiah 53 says that Christ had nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him, yet our fallen state had nothing in it that He should desire us! But The Desire of nations desires all nations to come to repentance and into His kingdom! Of course, there is only one reason that explains the reason for this paradoxical pursuit- Love! Love all excelling- Love Divine! Love of course makes absolutely no sense and I think sometimes that may be the surest way to know we are truly acting in Love when our actions make absolutely no sense in the world's eyes. This is the power of The Gospel and truly the power of Love. Love pours abundant grace on us by absorbing our guilt and enduring our punishment. And of course, as Song of Songs 8:6-7 tells us, Love is stronger than death. So of course, Love conquered the final enemy and opened the way for us to enter His presence as we triumphantly ascend from death's sting into the presence of The One who took away death's power.

    Jesus Christ, Lover of my soul and body- the embodiment of Love (1 John 4:8-10), provides for both my soul and body. In John 10:10 He said He came to give us life and life abundant. I think it is His example exactly that moves us as His followers to bring comfort to the needy and afflicted and poor and poor in spirit in the world. We must freely give as we have freely received. Matthew 25 gives a practical way of soothing the hurts of this world with The Balm of Gilead. Give the hungry food. Give the thirsty water. Shelter the stranger. Clothe the naked. Visit and aid the sick. Go and comfort the prisoner.

    These are all ways we love our neighbour as ourselves and in so doing we demonstrate our love for God, Whom we love with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength. And we always speak The Truth (John 14:6) in Love. (Ephesians 4:15) May I ever do these three in tandem, reaching a hand out in Love to all and especially the least of these.

    Of course, the aid and Love is given despite the response. Jesus healed all 10 lepers who came to Him though only one returned to thank Him. We must do no less in offering help to all regardless of the response. The response is always the responsibility of The Holy Spirit in any case.

     That is the vision I want to see my life continuing to grow in every day I walk with Jesus. I trust that He is continuing to shape the saint out of the sinner. I trust that He is helping me to have the faithfulness of the elder brother without the judgment and bitterness as well as the penitance of the younger prodigal brother. I recognize that I am nothing more than a ragamuffin beggar at the door of God's grace. Praise God that He gives generously to those who don't deserve it, can never earn it or repay it and can only appropriately bow in gratitude and humbly share Grace with others.

I know I am far from perfect in doing that and I seek to be better by His power every day.

I believe God has been doing that work in me over the years of my walk with Him ultimately through the working of His Spirit in Scripture reading, prayer, church service and encouragement and rebuke of the brethren and sisters. I believe He has also used a variety of Christian people and the artistic gifts He's given them to help me in that process. I could name numerous writers and musicians and missionaries and pastors and other laymen and laywomen. Of course, I think it's most often the lowly of this world (by worldly standards) that have been some of my dearest friends who continue to remind me of God's heart for the vain things of this world. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) They continue to soften my heart and make glad my heart.

Of my favourite artists though, I must say that among others like Brennan Manning, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, A.W. Tozer, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Corrie Ten Boom, Jim Elliott (the anniversary of his martyrdom and entry through Gates of Splendor is today, January 9, by the way), Joni Eareckson Tada, Watchman Nee, Voddie Baucham, Mister Rogers, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley, Keith Green, Larry Norman, Chris Rice, Carolyn Arends, Andrew Peterson, Rich Mullins and many others still- including many personal friends whose names are not known by the world at large (but of course God knows all these names quite well), Philip Yancey has quickly entered that pantheon and I am very grateful indeed for his writing. I appreciate the writing that acknowledges the reality of God's wrath and judgment without minimizing the incredible extent of His amazing grace! Fellow Christ followers like these and more have helped me realize more and more this truth. God is way more intolerant and punishing of our sin than we often realize and He's way more gracious and loving than we can fathom. It is both truths at once that we must embrace. And praise God that through Christ, mercy triumphs over judgment!

   Books like "Disappointment with God" and "The Question That Never Goes Away" and "What's So Amazing by Grace?" continue to remind me so often of these truths and bring me to my knees weeping in both grief for sin and in tears of joy for God's grace that is greater than all my sins! I feel sure "Vanishing Grace" will do the same when I read that next. So thank you again for letting God use you to bless, convict and encourage so many hard hearts and heads. (While I believe my head went soft ages ago ;-), I pray my heart will ever grow softer before The Lord as He keeps working.)

May The Lord continue to bless you and your family and use you for His glory richly. :-)

New Heaven and Remade Earth (song)

As a Halloween and Reformation Day treat, I thought these next two songs would be appropriate. This is sort of my Hell and Heaven suite. The first one has the devil in the details, detailing his origins, his workings now and his assured eternal destruction. This second one is about the happiest place not on Earth- and that's Heaven! The world also paints a lot of images and ideas about this that place that do not be lending any light on on the subject. Heaven's only entered One Way- through faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection to pay for our sins. This world is in a horrible mess because of sin- it's like a broken car pile in a junkyard. We will never fix it in human strength and make a Heaven on Earth. However, Jesus promises to take us to Heaven if we trust Him to fix us and everything else- and He will one day make a new Heaven and new Earth. And He uses us now to point people to the rebirth that only comes from Him who makes all things new! That's the day we long for! Behold, the One who promises this says He is coming soon. Even so, come Lord Jesus!


"New Heaven and Remade Earth"
(Parody of "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" by Belinda Carlisle; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/30/2018)
(Genesis 1-3, Philippians 1:21-27, Genesis 11, John 6:44, Romans 5, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 2:1-18, Psalms 2, Psalms 16, Psalms 137, Isaiah 66, John 14, Matthew 5:16, Revelation 19:16, Revelation 20-22)

Ooh, hating seems to only get worse
Ooh, Heaven- come invade the Earth
The day when Heaven's Son returns
He'll remake Heaven (and) remake the Earth
New Heaven and a remade Earth

When The Christ calls now
The wait is through and He's come back down
All the world lays eyes on Him now
Babylon finally dies!
And our talk to self-improve
It's all a joke- falls apart- Psalms 2
Adam's sinning cursed the world and us
And You lifted it off by way of the cross

You saved me and each soul- what's our worth?
Ooh, Heaven is a grace undeserved
The Way to Heaven- God draws first
We make Heaven by faith not works
2 Ephesians- we're saved for good works

This world's not my home- I'm just passing through
Psalms 16:11- Home!
Then in John 14- our hearts rejoice
You prepare for me!
In His world, we get new beginning
And now with man again our Lord is living
66 Isaiah- saith The Lord
All flesh come to praise- praise The Lord!

Ooh, praise Him! Make Him Lord while on Earth
2 Philippians says all praise- 10th. verse
Don't waste a second- Love or Curse?
Get saved while living- too late in hearse
Choose Heaven! Put your faith in Christ's work

In His world we'll have no sinning
No hunger and thirst- we're all filled by King of Kings
Babel tower's our way and Hell's door
But Lord God's The Way and only Door

Ooh, Satan- do your gloats for now, jerk
Revelation says your doom's assured
You see 'cause Heaven's Love beat curse!
No wrongs Heaven's embrace can't cure
Ooh! Heaven cures all plagues of earth
Ooh! Heaven leaves no trace of curse
Ooh! Heaven's agents of change on earth
Winds of Heaven and stuff of Earth
Like (in) Heaven, do God's will on earth

The "Good Ol' Days" and The Glorious Day

       Don't ask, "Why were the old days better than today?" It's not good to ask such things.... (see Ecclesiastes 7:10-18 and chapter 12).... As Acts 17:24-28 tells us, God set men and women in history at exactly when and where He wanted them to be for His purposes.... (which doesn't mean that God won't move you at some point too though ;-))- But part of finding our identity in Jesus as His follower means being happy with who God made us to be- boy or girl, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, Pacific Islander, African descent, Indian descent, Caucasian, mixed, etc., Spanish, Trinidadian, American, German, Swiss, South African, Ukrainian, Argentinan, Brazilian, Eritrean, Japanese, Chinese, Australian, Indian, Senegalese, Antarctican, etc.- whatever the social class- whatever other label we put on each other....... God made us above all those things in His image (Genesis 1:26-31). And when we're in Christ, none of those things matter anyway! (Galatians 2:20, Colossians 3:1-4, John 13:34-35, Galatians 3:25-29) And as Colossians 3:11 says, "Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all."
    We are all infinitely important and infinitely loved by God. (Jeremiah 31:3) And we are all valuable in His kingdom, where the elder learns to serve the younger and the younger cares for the elder- where each thinks of others as better than themselves and each seeks to love each other truly and forgive from the heart...
     No, these aren't the "good ol' days"- but as I like to say, the only good ol' days this planet has ever seen were Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly good ol' days until Revelation 21-22 come to pass. But Jesus makes the in-between time more abundant when we follow Him, as John 10:10 says. :-) And during our faith journey with Him, He shapes us to be more and more like Him in character and empowers us with spiritual gifts to bring a touch of The Divine to a fallen world so badly needing of redemption. To be sure, the final Redemption culminates with the coming of The Lord- but until then, we're like the Planeteers with our power rings, sent forth to bring God's restoration to the world through our love and good deeds and sharing of the Greatest Love of all shown to us on the cross and in the empty tomb (Romans 5:8). And way better than Captain Planet, and the Avengers who "have a Hulk"- we have Someone Real Who can do something about our situation (Hebrews 11:1-6)- we have a Savior- Jesus Christ- Whom we eagerly await to come back from Heaven! We have The One Who alone bears the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords! We have The One God Who holds all things together and by Him all things exist!
    Like DC Talk said, "God is doing a nu thang"- through His followers- His agents of change upon the earth. (Habakkuk 1:5) And as Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (in essence)- The Power is yours! :-) (So use His gifts and be His witness in all the world.)

Will You Believe and Ask Him? (song)

Note: Another favourite from the archives. One of my magic references in the song- "The Magician", a short-lived action/adventure show that utilized magic as a means of stopping the bad guys and starred Bill Bixby, recently finally got a DVD release! :-) And that deeper magic of Aslan is finally set to come back to theaters in the near future with things moving along nicely with "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair" movie! We must believe in (deeper) magic! Of course, it's always timely to consider Christ and His claims and what we will do with His offer of salvation. As 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, now is the day of salvation!
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This recounts a specific incident in The Bible. It’s about a certain magician who came face to face with the most powerful magic he’d ever seen. And when he got a lovin’ spoonful of that magic, he just had to have it at any price. But what he didn’t realize was that if you just believe and ask, this magic is totally free! (And yes- bonus points for catching the various magic references I just had to make- especially the one at the end! For Narnia- and The Lion of Judah!) 

“Will You Believe and Ask Him?” 
(parody of “Do You Believe in Magic?” by The Lovin’ Spoonful) 
(copyright by Nathan Ludwick 4/24/2010) 
(Acts 2:38, Acts 8:4-25) 

“Will you believe and ask Him right into your heart?” 
Now then Simon believed that sorcerer upstart 
And his magic- well, it used to be groovy 
Acts 8 reveals Simon’s like an old time news reel 
Philip tells him ‘bout The Master- how He’ll free your soul 
But it’s like Simon now felt a learner in a brave new world 

Yeah, Houdini’s magic- don’t bother to choose 
Earvin Johnson’s Lakers; Orlando and crew 
Bibxy’s “Magician”- or then Merlin beguiles 
They can’t buy off the faith no matter how hard they try 
The peeps start talking- Simon’s not The Divine 
Now they got Christ, so they get baptized 

Then they receive The Spirit- Pete and John laying 
Their hands on them wowing Simon- “Are you selling?” 
“And maybe, if the money is right” 
Well, Pete cuts him off now, stating, “You ain’t right” 
“Your sins- renounce them, baby, then you’ll see” 
“How the magic’s in The Spirit and The Spirit’s in me” 

Yeah, Will you believe and ask Him? 
Yeah, believe in the passion of God’s own Son 
Believe in the power of Resurrection 
Believe deeper magic that can set you free 
Ohh, talking ‘bout Aslan 

Do you believe in Aslan? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you receive Redeemer? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
Will you believe and ask Him? (Do you believe like I believe?)[background vocal] 
(Fade) 
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 

In That Day (story)

[Note: This is a story I wrote a few years back as a sort of writing experiment, trying to do a progressive story with different time periods represented and certain comparisons made. I could summarize some of the main point with a classic Larry Norman song- "Nothing Really Changes". Ever since Genesis 3, we as humanity have been in the same spot- we are diseased with sin and the only cure is the salvation Jesus offers through faith in His death and Resurrection. One day, in Revelation 21-22, Jesus will bring all things to newness and full restoration. However, Ephesians 2:10 makes it clear that the process starts in us now. This story is an attempt to illustrate a lot of these points. In order to do that, there are a number of caricatures in the story. For the purposes of conservation, there are some characters that embody multiple vices. This is not meant in any way to imply that this is true of all such individuals in similar situations, of course, but it also doesn't preclude that it couldn't be true of any one individual. When it comes down to it, we are all sinners with none righteous (Romans 3:23) and breaking The Law at one point leaves us guilty of breaking all of it. (James 2:10) Thus, no sin is any worse than any other. And one day, God will judge all of us. And The Bible clearly warns that eternal torment in Hell awaits all those who reject God's offer of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus. Thankfully, Jesus' amazing grace paid for all of our sins and is greater than them all. Praise God for His love! Heaven awaits all who will put their faith in Him and follow Him.]

 

In That Day

[Copyright Nathan Ludwick 4/21/2015; originally written circa 2002-2003]


Part One: Twenty Minutes Into the Future

 “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator- who is forever praised. Amen.” (Romans 1:25)

                The boy awakens to the insistent ringing of a telephone. Catching the call on the fourth ring, the boy rubs his eyes with one hand in an attempt to make himself fully alert. He listens intently as a cavalcade of emotions are poured out on the other end. As the caller breaks into cries of sorrow, the boy assures the caller that everything will work out somehow. Amid constant tears, the caller finally hangs up after promises from the boy to meet her later, after work. The boy hurriedly prepares himself for his job and rushes off to his business place, ready to work eight hours that evening for minimum wage. As the boy speeds his car down the road, the words of his telephone call resound in his head. He wonders what exactly will be done for the future and how he can prepare himself for it. As he pulls into a parking space at work, he wonders how he will tell his parents the news that his girlfriend will soon end the life of his unborn child.
                In another part of the city, an elderly man prepares himself for bed. He sees about attending to dental hygiene and then goes from room to room, turning out all the lights in the house. He eases himself into a comfortable bed at an hour fairly early in the evening, as he has grown accustomed to doing over the passing years. He holds a pillow, emblazoned with a picture, close to him and thinks about what will happen to her in the future. He speaks not a word, as he gets lost in his own thoughts. He gives a little start at a sudden noise, and relaxes again when it turns out to be only the dog and cat settling down for the night. He lapses back into his train of thinking, and grieves because there is no hope left for his wife and soon she will be taken off of life support at the hospital.
                The college student hastily changes his clothing as he prepares himself for his night out on the town. The weekend has finally come and the student is ready to throw off the scholastic pressures of yesterday and step forward into the carefree future. As he leaves his apartment, he thinks about where he wants to go first. He goes to the nearest singles bar and heads out to the dance floor. After finding a companion for the night, they both order drinks from the bartender. After regaling each other with numerous stories, each story is followed up by a round of drinks. After a while, the two leave the bar and slip into a dark alley to light up a few joints. Finally, after a few hours, the two go off to enjoy the rest of the evening together, after picking up some cigarettes and cigars at a local gas station. At a house far away in another state, the student’s parents hold each other close as they sit on the couch and wonder how their son could abandon his longtime girlfriend because of his desire for an alternate lifestyle.
                A proud father and his expectant wife leave the doctor’s office and discuss their options for their child. Both wonder at the marvel of modern medicine and technology that moves along ever so quickly. They think about all the packages the doctor presented to them and the offers that were made. They consider all the possibilities for their child and dream of how wonderful it will all be in the future. They think of all the chances and opportunities their child will have that many others would not have. The parents look forward to giving their child the very best that their sizable income can buy. They imagine about what it will be like for their child to grow up with absolutely no diseases and blond hair and blue eyes, just like his dad, all thanks to the wonder of biological engineering. They ponder with wonder what it will be like living in this brave new world of advancements.

Part Two: Back to the Beginning

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 21:25)

 
                A man called Ammon makes a terrible wrong choice that he has to accept the consequences for. In order to “extend his borders” he “rips open the pregnant women of Gilead.” The wrath of God is not held back from him. (Amos 1:13)
                A king named Saul runs in the midst of a losing battle. He gets wounded by the arrows of the opponent and may not survive. He does not want to be captured by the enemy’s hand and so he asks his armor bearer to end his life for him. The armor bearer refuses and so the king takes his own life. A man retells this story to the new king and claims to be the one who killed Saul when asked by him to do so. The new king has him executed for “destroying The Lord’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 31:4, 2 Samuel 1)
                All the men of a city come out to greet three visitors. The three men who come to visit stay with a man by the name of Lot. The men desire to have sexual relations with the visitors. Lot refuses and the visitors blind the eyes of the men outside. The visitors reveal themselves to be angels who have come to get Lot and his family out of the city because God has determined to destroy it. Lot’s sons-in-law don’t believe and don’t come and Lot’s wife disobeys the angels and looks back at the city. Lot and his two daughters escape and then “The Lord rains down burning sulfur” on the city and its neighbor. (Genesis 19)
                A man and a woman walk through a peaceful garden and enjoy the beauty of creation around them. Birds and butterflies fly high in the sky, singing their pretty songs. Fish swim along in the river and deer run through the woods. A serpent entices the woman with forbidden fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent promises the woman the chance to be like God, knowing good and evil. The woman eats of the fruit and gives some to her husband, who eats of it as well. “God banishes both of them from the Garden of Eden.” (Genesis 1-3)

Part Three: Back to the Future

“As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37)
“…Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

                The boy, the girl, the grandchildren, the college student and his friend, and the expectant parents all continue in their lives. Their choices are made. Time marches on and moves forward. They eat, drink, and are merry. They have fun now and do not worry about the consequences of their actions. An appointment looms over them all and on one day, they will all have to keep it. The appointment with death is one that cannot be avoided. And “in that day” (Obadiah 1:8), God will surely judge everyone for all the sins they’ve done. However, there is still time to change things before that day comes. God offers salvation for the asking through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. “Anyone who calls on the name of The Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32) The people make their choices and live their lives. They don’t listen to the Word of God and ignore the “knocking at the door of their hearts.” (Revelation 3:20) And “how shall they escape if they ignore such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3) God is both righteous and fair. He does deal out judgment and He loves everyone. He still offers salvation to those who will listen and turn to Him.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says…” (Revelation 2:29)

 

Reborn This Way (song)

Ladies and gentlemen, I have yet another parody to share with you that hopefully you'll go ga-ga for in this post. :-) This is another one I completed fairly recently but have held off on sharing for a while. And as I noted on the last post, this parody song flows well with the nature of my last two devotional posts regarding the difference between shoving beliefs and a holier-than-thou attitude down someone's throat and just plain showing them real love as Jesus showed us. My aim is always the latter.
       The point of this parody song to address a subject that has become a controversial issue today of which many have strong opinions and beliefs regarding it. The goal of this song (along with anything else I write) is to show love for God above all else- with all my heart, soul, mind and strength- and to show love for my neighbors as I love myself- and to speak the Truth in Love. I ask that people keep in mind again that one can only say so much in a song (especially in the confines of a parody song that is attempting to maintain the same rhyme structure) and it's easy for things to be misconstrued. In an effort to avoid that, I want to clarify here- I am not trying to call anyone names and try to condemn anyone, but rather to state what The Bible says regarding sexual matters.
         (On this note, I want to clarify the meaning of a phrase used within the song. As you may notice, the tone of the song shifts from the world's point of view regarding sexuality and life in general after the first verse and chorus to my point of view as a Christian. The term "let your freak flag fly" is referenced in the first chorus. This phrase is not intended to be derogatory in any way. It is a phrase that may well have its origins in the 1960s as a rallying call for hippies, but it's become adopted into the common vernacular as an exhortation to allow all one's true colors to show- to embrace the person you are, no matter how "freaky" the rest of the world may view it, and flaunt it, revel in it and enjoy it. Here are some references for further reading. This is the Urban Dictionary's listing for the term. [Please note that this site contains some vulgar references.)
Also worth noting, within the song I referenced a wonderful book that offers a Christian perspective on the topic this song addresses and I highly recommend giving it a read.
        And most of all, I want to remind people that no matter what sin you've done (and we're all in the same boat in that area)- Jesus can forgive you of all of them. He loves us all like crazy and wants to have a relationship with us all. He forgives all of us when we ask Him and He gives us a spiritual rebirth. As He said to Nicodemus in John 3:3, we all must be born again. And when we're in Christ, we're no longer slaves to sin, but instead we're slaves of Christ! (as Romans 6 talks about.) 2 Corinthians 5:17 says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation! The old has gone and the new has come. And as 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, today is the day of salvation! Jesus has died to pay for all our sins and He rose again to give us all salvation if we will trust Him in faith and follow Him. And when we do that, we truly are reborn His way. :-)

*[Yes, I realize I went even more than usual on the heavy side on the Bible verse references. ;-) The main reason for this is that, though this list is of course far from comprehensive, there are a number of Bible verses, commands, principles, teachings and examples that I think should be considered in how we navigate this and other controversial issues that are complex and simple at the same time. Many times, I may have directly referenced some verses or drew some inspiration from them in writing some lines- and others I simply researched and read in the course of putting the song together as The Lord guided. And others are just for further reading reference. :-) That is generally true for most all of my songs and poems and writings in general. As Rich Mullins was known for saying, I'd rather you get to know the Scriptures more so than these song lyrics- and ultimately, the Lord God Christ who provided them all. :-)]



Reborn This Way
(parody of "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 5/7/2014)
(1 Corinthians 13 [especially verse 6], Proverbs 8:12-13, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 8:1-11 and 32-36, Proverbs 9:13-18, James 4 [particularly verses 11-12], Galatians 3:26-29, Psalms 19:7-11, Ephesians 4:20-24, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Colossians 3:1-4 and 5-17, Romans 6:1-14, Galatians 6:14, Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 8, John 12:25, John 3:1-21, 2 Corinthians 4:16, Galatians 5:16, Isaiah 64:6, Hebrews 9:14, Ephesians 1:1-14, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 Peter 2:24, John 15, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 2:1-18, 1 John 2:1-17, Romans 1-3, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2 [especially verse 24], Genesis 3, Exodus 22:19, Leviticus 19:20-22, Exodus 20:1-17, Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20-21, Leviticus 11:45, Deuteronomy 5, Deuteronomy 6:4-19 and 8:19-20, Deuteronomy 21-22, Deuteronomy 23:1-14 and 17-18, Deuteronomy 24:1-5, Deuteronomy 25, Deuteronomy 28-31, Judges 19, 1 Corinthians 7, Mark 7:20-23, Matthew 15:18-20, Galatians 5:19-21, Philippians 4:13, Romans 3:23-24, 1 John 1:8-9, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Genesis 1:31, Psalms 145:8-9, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, Matthew 18:15-20, 1 Timothy 5:17-25, Matthew 25:31-46, James 2:10-13, John 8, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, John 1:16-17, Galatians 2:20, Matthew 16:24-28, Luke 9:23-27, Mark 10, Matthew 19, Romans 14, Matthew 22:23-40, Matthew 7:1-5, Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 7:36-48, Luke 18:9-14 and 18-30, Hebrews 10:30-31, 1 Corinthians 4:5, Romans 7, 1 Peter 1, 2 Corinthians 4:7-18, 2 Corinthians 6:1-2, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Ephesians 6:5-8, Colossians 3:18-25,1 Peter 2:13-25, John 10:10, John 14:6, Acts 4:12, John 6:68)

 (Intro: [spoken]) It doesn't matter how you love, kid- for capital I, you live ["live" echoed x3]
Forget the laws- yup
'Cause you were born to be free, baby- yeah

Verse 1
The Bible told us when we were formed
We were all born sinners, ya'll
We rolled our eyes- it's just religion
We're long past all those myths- so there!
"There's nothing wrong with loving who you want,"
They said, " 'Cause He made you perfect, babe"
"So go your heart's route, girl and you'll go far"
"Listen- your dreams lead the way"

Chorus 1
You're beautiful just that way
'Cause God makes no mistakes
You've got the right to, baby
Do what your truth says
Don't hide yourself- just flaunt it
Just love yourself and you're set
So fly your freak flag, baby
You were born this way [echo: "born this way"]

Verse 2
Ooh, how quaint- The only Way
Hear me- you were born sin's slave
Baby, Jesus bore our shame [echo: "bore our shame"]
Ooh, there ain't another Way
Save me, Jesus Lord
Come on, invite Him to save ya
Be reborn today!

Bridge
Dump filthy rags- that's our "good deeds"
Isaiah writes- 64:6 - see?
No room to brag- just Jesus cleans
Trust Him!

Verse 3
If you have prudence, see Proverbs 9:10
Seek wisdom- rejoice with Truth
In the keeping of God's Word is great reward
I have died to self- instead Christ rules!

Verse 4
A same sex lover- that is a sin
Believe capital H-I-M (Hey, hey, hey)
Husband and wife is God's marriage plan
Jesus told us- Matthew 19 (Trust and obey)

Chorus 2
It's beautiful what He's made
'Cause God makes no mistakes
But Adam jumped tracks, baby
Now we're born sin's slaves
But Christ just died in our stead
He loves us all and beat death
Get brand new life, stat- baby
Be reborn His Way

(Repeat Verse 2 with first line changed as follows:)
Ooh- hear what I've got to say
Hear me- you were born sin's slave
Baby, Jesus bore our shame [echo: "bore our shame"]
Ooh, there ain't another Way
Save me, Jesus Lord
Come on, invite Him to save ya
Be reborn today!

Verse 5
Kind of a drag just bein' me
Whatever your lot, not easy bein' green
These black/white/grey labels- let's end
We're sexual beings- we orient
If your same sex tendencies
Left you outcast, bullied or teased
Rejoice- God loves you! Me too, babe
In Jesus, we are washed and waiting!

Verse 6
No matter gay, straight or bi
Lesbian, transgendered life
All bow to Christ on Last Day, so
Make Him Lord while there's time
All that come after Christ are changed
2nd. Cor. 5:17
Strap on my cross and deny me
I'm reborn and Christ's slave

(Repeat Chorus 2)

(Repeat Verse 2 with first line changed as follows:)
Ooh- hear what I've got to say
Hear me- you were born sin's slave
Baby, Jesus bore our shame [echo: "bore our shame"]
Ooh, there ain't another Way
Save me, Jesus Lord
Come on, invite Him to save ya
Be reborn today!

We were born in sin, babe!
But Jesus bore our shame
I asked Lord Christ to save me
I'm reborn His Way!
Now's the time to get saved
Jesus Lord- He is waiting
Go ask Lord Christ to save ya
And be reborn today!

[whispered echo: "I'm reborn His Way! Be reborn His Way! Be reborn today!"]
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