Whiter Than Snow (poem)

(Note: This is another entry from the archives. For the purposes of historicity, I will leave in my original introduction and closing remarks from January 2011. It seems timely to post this poem since I again recently saw some snowfall that got me some time off from work. And the clean feeling snow leaves after it washes the world in white is always a great metaphor for the washing clean God does of every dirty heart that anyone proffers to Him in faith. :-))


Here's one last poem to wrap things up. This one was inspired by the wonderful snow storm God sent us that got me 2 1/2 days off from work and allowed me time to stay home and work on further writing and other pursuits. This poem was written as a reflection on waking up to a snow day and the picture that God gives us with the invitation to reason it out- and it is the best, most reasonable deal out there- how He can make our vile, filthy, blood-red hearts as clean and pure and white as snow- and cleaner and whiter.

Whiter Than Snow
(poem by Nathan Ludwick 1/10/ 2011)
(Isaiah 1:18)

What amazing transformation transpires in the night
As we slumber and then awaken to a world of white
The joy and wonderment light our faces with a warm glow
For the ground's fresh carpet of clean soft snow
Everything somehow seems free, new and alive
The world feels at peace and love spreads far and wide
As I traverse the diamonds beset with beads of pearl
I look to the Heavens and think "What a Wonderful World!"
And I make a snow angel and hear a song in the air
The song all creation's been singing that I love to hear
A song of hope and courage, of light and good cheer
Which makes me think of the prophets' and sages' contemplation
Of a love that bears all and offers us all this invitation
Mired in rags stained with filth and dirt though we be
Our misdeeds red as our faces, like blood running down a tree
As we embrace The Lamb, He clothes us with His wool and though
Our sins a study in scarlet, He transforms us whiter than snow.
.......................................................................................
(and yes, I have a couple of references to things within the poem too- like a famous Louis Armstrong song of course, a Sherlock Holmes story and "There's A Song in the Air" and "Angels from the Realms of Glory". :-))
And I should credit Rebekah Sewell for inspiring the "diamonds" line- brilliant. :-)

And this is really all for now. Hope everyone has a great week and I just love everyone today. And I really mean that- God loves me and because of His love, I love everyone. Because He loves everyone. And as Tiny Tim observed, God bless us, everyone! :-))

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.)

In The Year of Our Lord (Alpha and Omega) (song)

As we wind down another year and get ready to start another one, it seems a good time to review things and remember some history as we consider the present and how to make a better future. For some, 2016 seems to have felt like a zig zag roller coaster ride that's left some sick with all the twists and turns. Of course, I think it all evens out when we consider the course of human history- where we've been, where we are and where we're going. I'm not a doomsayer. However, I do say we're doomed from the start for Hell because of the sin nature of our hearts. We've all been living under the curse of sin that's infected the entire world since the fall of man when Adam and Eve got kicked out of Eden. When people talk about the "good ol' days" of their earlier years, I like to say that the only "good ol' days" this Earth has ever had was back in Genesis 1-2. We won't have any more truly "good ol' days" until Revelation 21-22. And that's the Hope that I continue to hold to through it all. Because of the one God who came into the world, became one of us, died for us and rose again- I know that I have an eternal Hope. My faith is in Jesus Christ, who has promised to forgive me of all my sins and make me into the man He wants me to be and to give me an eternal Home with Him in Heaven. When my life is terminated, I make my exodus from this world into His eternal world of light and love and peace. (Read Romans 10:9 to see how you can do this too! :-)) He's the Alpha and Omega and the Beginning and the End. He's the only One Who makes existence worthwhile. He makes life and life abundant! Though our world has become horribly broken, Jesus still makes beautiful things out of broken things. He still gives us beauty for ashes. He makes all things new! As it's been said before, history is His story! And one day He will come back to make everything right. Until such time comes, may He help us all to live out the redemption He has brought by shining like stars in a dark world and showing others what His kingdom of love looks like to all.

"In The Year of Our Lord (Alpha and Omega)"
(parody of "In The Year 2525 (Exordium and Terminus)" by Zager and Evans;
copyright by Nathan Ludwick 7/8/2016)
(Genesis 1-3, Jude 1:20-25, John 13:31-35, Hebrews 10:19-25, 1 John 4:18-21, Philippians 2:13-16, Matthew 5:16, Romans 10:9-13, Esther 4:14, Acts 17:26, 1 John 2:15-17, 1 Peter 5:4-11, 2 Peter 3:1-14, Revelation 1:4-8, Revelation 21-22)

In the year of 1925,
Did man from apes arrive?
Evolution or design?
Monkey trial
And the year of 1939's
When Germany started World War II- took Poland
All bad things- they think Jews to blame
So them they kill- they're dogs, they say

In the year of 1942
Interning Japanese- might be spies, dude
Lot more nice than Nazis did to Jews
Almost Reservations II!

In the year of 1955
Black bodies hanging- lynched by "white pride"
We're segregated in two
Rosa Parks just sparked off a coup

In the year of 1969
Free love don't need 1 husband with just 1 wife
You pick your love, pick your gender too
We're sex objects on a stone walled moon- UFO!

In a year God only knows when
Well, God's a-coming- He's going to make things right then
Baby, you're booked Hellbound if self-sustained
Say yes to Christ- you're from judgment saved!

In the verse 9 in Romans 10
God is gonna save us if we ask Him
We'll either say, "Thy will be done" to Him
Or flip it 'round and hear it from Him
(Whoah!)

Revelation in 21:5
Now God is dwelling with man- New Jerusalem bride
He's making everything that's spoiled new again
And He's made new earth and Heaven
(Whoah!)

When we've been there 10,000 years
No more dying and no more tears
Former things are gone through
Our God reigns always too
And through eternal light
Redeemed kin praise Lord Christ
So, Lord please haste the day
Make me Your instrument today!

In the year right this time, right here then
In Matthew 5:16
Good works done- Light's shining
God's glory sheen!
Like the verse Esther 4:14, guys
Acts 17:26 too- for such a time
Everything we think, do or say
May it be filled with Christ's love and grace

............................................................................

"You and You Alone" (poem)

Note:  This is the second of three blog posts that are entries that I submitted for my church's Art Exhibit earlier this year and they were first originally published August 5, 2015 in the commemorative booklet detailing all the artists' work. :-) The theme was God's creation.

This last one is just simply a hymn of praise to The Lord Jesus Christ for being my All and truly my One Thing I need.
“Purity of heart is to will one thing”- Soren Kierkegaard  
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”- Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:8)
Thank You, Lord Jesus- You are my Everything. I praise You for You are worthy to be praised- You reign above all others!

 
“You and You Alone”

(original poem by Nathan Ludwick; copyright 7/14/2013)

(John 15:5, Psalms 50, Romans 11:35, Job 41:11, 1 Chronicles 29:10-20, Job 42:2, John 3:16-17, Psalms 68:35, Psalms 84:10, Psalms 85:9-13, Psalms 63, Psalms 96, Psalms 98, Psalms 40, Psalms 150, Psalms 45:1, Matthew 5:8, Psalms 100, Psalms 42:1-2, Psalms 139, Psalms 73:24-26, Philippians 1:21 and 3:8, the book of Ecclesiastes)

There’s nothing new under the sun… it’s all been said and done
What can I do that is ever truly original?
Even in asking this, I know I’m not the only one.
All these musings were recorded ages ago by Solomon.
Yet as Thy Spirit moved his quill to pen, Your Spirit moves my pen to do the same.
You are The Inspiration and The Meaning- The Only One that makes Life anything.
You are The Newness we all crave.
Your Word commands us to sing a new song unto The Lord.
Strive as we may there’s nothing really new we can say.
It’s only You who puts a new song in our heart- a song born of gratitude for the legs quickened from the quicksand of miry clay now standing firm on The Rock.
From the New Heart and Spirit You transplant into our edifices,
a new song of praise will flow to The Holy Christ.
There’s nothing I can give You that’s not already Yours.
You who own the cattle on a thousand hills seek the one thing we can give that You gave
but will not reclaim at force- our free wills.
Your will will come through anyway- no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
I am nothing and can do nothing without You.
I give my life and will back to The One who gave it first.
Thy love is enough for me, Lord- You are good enough for me.
As I pray to You, clutching my Bible close like I’m holding a love letter to my heart
Take and make me all Yours- to You alone do I lift up my soul- all praise to You alone!

Wedding Reception

We really do live in a wonderful world full of so much life and beauty everywhere. The masterful Creator God has dressed the daffodils with dainty skirts and poured a vividly bright array of colors over the birds of the air. The planets, stars, moons, comets, meteors- even black holes- and all the other inhabitants of the cosmos shimmer with the incandescent light of His glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (as Psalms 19:1 tells us.)
               And out of all of God’s wondrous creations- the majestic mountains, the sandy shining shores on the beaches, the tremendous trees of the forests, the truly amazing animals of the world- who does God make “a little lower than the angels”? (Psalms 8). The clay Playdough figurine and Lego lady were given the breath of life and the flesh combined to make living, human beings, male and female- both made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27) And while God pronounces all His creations good, on the sixth day, He surveys His creative output and declares it very good. (Genesis 1:31)
               What is man that You should care for him, Lord? Though we’ve done nothing to make ourselves worthy of such extravagant love, You choose to bestow it upon us anyway- and You give it, not in spades, but in hearts. (Psalms 8; Ezekiel 36:26) And were one to compile the number of the grains of sand on those beautiful Caribbean ports in a pile with the Pacific islands’ stores of sands and all the other beaches of the world- the number would still fall far, far, far less than the number of Your thoughts for me- and for every individual individual who has ever or will ever exist. This is a thought too wonderful for me to comprehend- but then, Your thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than mine. (Psalms 139; Isaiah 55:8-9). Yet, You have given me the mind of Christ- which is available to all believers in and followers of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16).
               And You have made all things beautiful in Your time. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) And though You made us to be upright, we have gone off in search of many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Poison pervaded Your Paradise on Earth, back when our founding father and mother were eating us out of house and home. The lowdown snake in the grass recoiled from his long fall to earth and struck in vengeance with a forked tongue that only gave half the story, if that. But of course, half-truths are still whole lies. Yet even before You had put forth Your words and commanded the nothingness to transform itself into something- You had all these things planned and You already had the Sacrifice for our salvation said and done before anyone else had said and done anything. (Genesis 1-3; Revelation 13:8)
               Then, in the fullness of time, The Divine took on our image and face; Your Greatest Gift encased in flesh- and we beheld His glory. The paradoxical mystery of Grace and humility that ever confounds the wise and learned- The King of Kings became the Suffering Servant. Love marked Your path down a straight and narrow road- the Via Dolorosa- the way of suffering that ended in a crossroads at the side of the highway. You created the off-ramp from the broad way of destruction so that we might cross from death to life by crossing the bridge You made. Though You submitted to its ghastly reign for three days and our punishment You took as Your own for our peace, The Love stronger than death arose again victorious forever. The curse is reversed, the poison cured, and death itself and its minions all eternally defeated. (John 1:1-14, Galatians 4:4, Philippians 2:1-11, Song of Solomon 8:6-7)
                 Though beset with trial, troubles and tribulations, the tried, tested and true path of righteousness is available to all the poor, beleaguered pilgrims- the rotten, ragged ragamuffins who dare to admit their own poverty and meekly accept Your gift that comes through faith. The path may vary in its length for each traveler, but never varies in its route- a Spirit-led journey assured of its celestial end. Though we are hapless fools who doubt, question, berate and betray You before You gently return us to our senses, You remain forever faithful and remind us that You are the One who has always been moving our legs forward e’er since we first stepped on Your path with a willing heart of trust. And even that is Your gift- we boast of nothing but a Love that wilt not let us go. (John 15:5, Romans 11:29, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Jude 1:24-25)
               And when at last the faith becomes sight when Your clarion call carries us to Your lovely dwelling place, whether at the last of days or the last of our days, we will bow in Your holy presence, amazed at Your beauty and stunned speechless at Your welcome arms that would even deign to allow us in the midst of Your perfection. But then we recognize the Everlasting Arms that have always held us and even now envelop us all at once, with each having an equal amount of Love embodied and personified, rocking us gently as a baby in a cradle. As we join with the living creatures and angels- cherubim and seraphim; all of ‘em- singing praise to our God who sits on the throne forever, Who alone holds salvation and is forever praised- the brilliance of colors we have never seen bedazzle but pale in comparison to the purest white all of eternity has ever witnessed. And a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language of which we are delighted to be in that number, in robes made white from the blood of The Lamb, wave palm branches before The Lord God- The Only King and forever sing Your praises. You alone are worthy, Lord. Mere feeble words fail miserably to describe the indescribable majesty of Your glory. Lord Jesus, You alone are God. You are King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will forever sing Your praise.  (Psalms 16:11, Psalms 84:10, Psalms 87, Colossians 1:10-23, Revelation 7:9-17, Revelation 21-22)
                  Help us to ever live it out now. (Matthew 5:14-16, Philippians 2:12-13, 1 Peter 2:9-12).       

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am The Alpha and The Omega, The Beginning and The End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. “ (Revelation 21:1-9)

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Revelation 22:17)

“He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of The Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.” (Revelation 22:20-21)