THE LORD IS SHEPHERD OF HIS FLOCK

 

The Lord is Shepherd of his flock

As well as being a fisher of men

And he does his Fathers bidding

On the fields and copse and fen

HEAVENLY BODIES

 

The sun gifts us

With warmth and light

Endowing and sustaining

The green earth with life

Then when day is done

After the setting of the sun

The Moons silvery disk appears

Boldly bright through its phases

And stars are liberally sprinkled

Across the curtain of night

These gifts from God

Make our days complete

COME WITH ME NOW

 

At his bedside

The gentle angel stood

Watching as he slept

Listening to his quiet shallow breath

Then the angel softly spoke

And reached out a hand

“Your time has come to see the lord”

“Come with me now”

Then he slept no more

And he left his empty body

Taking the offered hand

The angel smiled and they began to ascend

To a better place and time

Traveling upward through a tunnel

Toward a light becoming ever brighter

Its brightness became almost blinding

Until with the angel he emerged

Into the land of light and love

The angel left him with a smile

With those who had passed before

Familiar faces greeted him

Loved ones from years past

Who showed him round heavens paradise

Where milk and honey flowed

Scenes of unimagined beauty met his eye

And the sweetest perfumes filled the air

Music was everywhere invading every pore

From simple refrains to grand symphonies

Musicians played on instruments of gold

While choirs of angels sang

But the most overpowering feeling

That assailed his senses

Was of everlasting love

I THANK THE LORD ABOVE

 

I thank the lord above

As I stand in the quiet of the morn

And when spring lambs are born

For the fields so full of flowers

And the peace of the twilight hours

I thank the lord above

For the blueness of the sky

And for a new born babies cry

For the smell of summer rainfall

And the joy of a songbirds call

 

I thank the lord above

When winters shroud is on the land

And when I take my beloved’s hand

When my lovers face is all aglow

And when we make angels in the snow

 

I thank the lord above

As I stand at the alter with my bride

And when I look at her with pride

When I stand together with my wife

I thank the lord for my life

HEAVENS GATE

 

Teardrops stain my cheeks

Now my love you’ve gone

Gone to join the angel’s throng

As sad and lonely I live on

 

I am comforted to know

In my sadness and despair

I’m alone but you are with me

As I feel you everywhere

 

With my faith for strength

I wipe my teary eyes

Safe in the knowledge

That no one really dies

 

We will be together again

If my beloved you will wait

Beyond the golden portal

Just through heavens gate

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES – PAUL AND THE CAT

 

At nursery school

Little Paul told his teacher that

On his way to school

He had found a dead cat

 

“How do you know?”

The nursery teacher said

To little Paul

“That the cat was dead?”

 

“Because it didn’t move when

I pissed in its ear” he replied

“You did WHAT?”

She exclaimed in surprise

“You know what miss,”

Explained little Paul,

“I leaned over and went 'Pssst'

And it didn't move at all”

THE HOLY INFANT

 

In the presence of the lowly beasts

The prince of peace was born

And to his earthy joyous cries

They bowed low head and horn

The Shepherds stood in wonder

As the child they stood before

The child the angel told of

Lay before them in the straw

Countless miles the Magi came

Having traveled from the east

In lavish robes they knelt before him

And bowed lowly like the beasts

Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

Were lain reverently before his stall

Precious gifts brought from afar

For the holy infant born for us all

JAMES THE GREATER

 

The legend of James

Apostle of the lord

And Christ’s appointed

Son of Thunder

Has it that

Upon his Martyrs death

In Jerusalem

St James body

Was taken by angels

And placed in a boat

Which sailed, unmanned

And rudderless

To the Spanish coast

Where it was enveloped

By a massive rock

ONE OF THE TWELVE - JAMES THE GREATER

 

One of the twelve

James the greater

Son of Zebedee

Son of Salome

Named by Christ

With his brother John

Sons of thunder

A simple fisherman

Turned to a fisher of men

By Jesus of Galilee

Witness of the ascension

Who spread the Gospels

Far and wide

Martyred in Jerusalem

By King Herod Agrippa I

 

Feast Day 25^th July

ST JAMES THE MOOR SLAYER

 

On a battlefield in Galicia

Upon the cry of Santiago

The saint appeared

Upon a steed of brilliant white

St James the greater

Was then transformed

From a fisher of men

To Santiago Matamoros,

St. James the Moor slayer

THE WORSHIPFUL MORN

 

The bells of Christmas ring out clear

On the special day across the land

Family and friends come together

With warm embrace or shake of hand

Then together answer the call to enter

The happy faces of young and old

Of those occupying every seat or pew

In the church bedecked in green and gold

Lifted the heart and warmed the soul

The glad ragged and dapper dressed

The cheerfully demeanoured little girls

And little boys with hair unmessed

All come together on Christmas day

To share the celebration and rejoice

To mark the birth of the baby lord

Love and peace heard in every voice

As in harmony the congregation sing

Heartily in praise of Christ the King

A WOMAN’S PRAYER

 

Dear Lord please bless me with the wisdom

To understand my husband

Dear Lord please give me love in my heart

To forgive my man

Dear Lord please grant me the patience

To tolerate his funny ways

But Lord don’t give me the strength

Or I’ll kill him one day

 

YESHUA (JESUS)

 

Yeshua, you are

Our hope of salvation

Dying for us

Our hope of glory

Living in us

 

Yeshua, you are

Our hope for the future

Living for you

Our hope for redemption

Alive in you

A GOOD CHRISTIAN

 

Dorothy spinster of this parish

With her sister taught Sunday school

For over fifty years

Both good Methodists and good Christians

Their lives dedicated to the church

To ensure the future of their church

Dorothy left a large bequest to the church

The church sought to honor a good woman

And dedicated in her name

A room within the church

For ever to be named after her

LUNCH TIME IN THE CAFETERIA

 

At a catholic school at lunch time one day

As The children queued up in an orderly way

The first thing that confronted the pupils

On the end of the counter was a large pile of apples

By the apples a nun had written a note saying

“Take only ONE because God is watching.” 

As they made their way along the counter

The canteen rang out with childish laughter

Chocolate chip cookies stood in a large pile

With a label which made them all smile

A child had written a note for the pupils,

“Take all you want. God is watching the apples.”

THE YOUNG MONK AND THE ABBOTT

One day many years in the past

A young monk arrived at a monastery.

To assist other monks with the canon and laws

By making hand written copies

But he notices very quickly

That all of us are copying from copies,

And not from the original texts

So he goes to the Abbott with a query

 

He tells the Abbott of his concern

That any error in the first copy

No matter how small it may be

Would be duplicated in each subsequent copy

The abbot says to the boy

“We have been doing it for centuries

Copying from the copies

But you have a good point, sonny.”

 
The abbot goes down to the dark caves

To the archives beneath the monastery

where the original manuscripts are held

Kept locked in a vault for safety

 

Hours go by and nobody sees the abbot 

he misses his meals and prayers

The young monk gets worried

And goes to look for him downstairs

 

He finds him banging his head on a wall

Wailing, “We missed the “R”

His forehead is bloody and bruised

And the boy thinks that will leave a scar

 

The young monk asks the abbot,

“What's wrong?” why do you create 

Crying the Abbott replies,

“The word was Celebrate!!!”

AN UNDERSTANDING GOD

 

God didn’t say

You must circumcise your children

 God didn’t say

You can have ten wives

 God didn’t say

You mustn’t use a condom

 God didn’t say

You must pray five times a day

 God didn’t say

My priests can’t marry

 God didn’t say

Woman must be covered at all times

 God didn’t say

You cannot divorce

 God didn’t say

Divorcees cannot remarry in church

 God didn’t say

You must remove your shoes in my house

 God didn’t say

You must kill the infidel

 God didn’t say

There is only one church

 God didn’t say

You must ritually wash your feet

 Man said these things

These rules were made by men

OH GOD IN HEAVEN LORD ABOVE ALL

 

To the tune of “The gypsy girls dream” (I Dreamt That I Dwelt in Marble Halls)

From an opera The Bohemian Girl composed by Michael William Balfe.

Oh God in heaven Lord above all

Looks upon us with grace

He is with us when we triumph

He is with us when we fail

And when the time comes and I join him on high

I will touch his loving face

Oh God in heaven Lord above all

Watch and protect us until that day

 

Please watch us, protect us, until that day

God save us, Lord save us until that day

 

Oh god in heaven always loves us

Even when we may stray

He will support us and guide us
as through life we navigate

And when the time comes and I join him on high

I will take His loving hand

Oh God in heaven Lord above all

Watch and protect us until that day

 

Please watch us, protect us, until that day

God save us, Lord save us until that day

WHERE WAS GOD?

 

When Haiti shook

And the old colonial

Structures fell

Who was to blame?

 

When the rains fell on Madeira

Making rivers of mud

Where once were roads

Who was to blame?

 

When earthquake and tsunami

Wreaked their havoc

On Chile’s coast

Who was to blame?

 

The zealots speak of God’s wrath,

Divine retribution

Against the wicked of the world

Smiting the transgressors

But it’s not the wicked who suffer

It’s the most humble and devout

The poor and the needy

Who suffer the most

Why would God do such a thing?

What would be gained?

It’s not a Godly act

But rather that of a tyrant

That’s not what my God would do

My God is a loving God

Not a wrathful being

 

The secular blame God

For not stopping natural disasters

They don’t believe in him

But blame him anyway

Where was God?

What was God doing when he was needed?

When something wonderful happens

They praise nature’s ingenuity

Yet when tragedy strikes

It’s “where was God?”

God is not to blame

It is not within his power to prevent disasters

So he does what he can

He comforts and supports

Eases suffering and ends pain

But my God is not to blame

 

Mother Nature is the culprit

The planet is angry with mankind

And unleashes these acts of spite

To punish us for our indifference

Mother Nature roars

And defines our insignificance

When the earth moves

And mountains split

When winds tear up all before them

And the seas rise up

We are powerless

But we are not alone

When we are at our most vulnerable

Who do we call upon? God

Whoever that God might be

Mine is an understanding God

A compassionate God

GODS GRACE

 

Little Grace sat hugging her granddad

“Did God make you granddad”? She said

As she stroked his old wrinkled face

Then ran her fingers across his balding head

“Yes sweetheart God did make me”

Then she touched her own face 

“And did God make me too”?

“Yes God made you too my little Grace”

She thought for a moment then said

“Well in that case then I guess

God must have fixed the problems

In the manufacturing process”

 

WHO IS THERE

 

Who is there?

In my darkest hours

When pain wracks my body

When dark thoughts plague me

Who is it who sustains me?

 

Who is there?

At times of anguish

When I feel so alone

When I feel all hope is gone

Who lifts me and guides me

 

Who is there?

In the depths of my despair

When I see no end

When I seek release

Who is it?

Who will take my pain

 

He is there

When the pain ends

When darkness is banished

In the light of love

My lord god will keep me

GOD ONLY

 

Yes I believe in God

I believe in God the father of all

I believe in the Ten Commandments

God handed to Moses

A better set of rules to live your life by

Does not exist

I’m not comfortable calling myself a Christian however

I was baptized a Christian

And raised as one

And I attend a Christian church

But I'm not a true Christian

I don’t turn the other cheek

OUT OF THE MOUTH’S OF BABES – DOWN ON THE BEACH

 

A Dad was on the beach with his children

When his four-year-old son ran up to him,

Took his hand and dragged to the shore

Where a seagull lay dead in the sand before him

“Daddy, what happened to it?” the boy asked 

Dad replied, “He died and went to Heaven son,” 

The boy thought a moment and then said,

“Did God throw him back down here then?”

CHILDISH PRAYER

 

When I was a boy I prayed to god

For a new bike for me

Then I realized that God

Doesn’t work like that you see

So, I stole one instead

And asked him to forgive me

GOD HELP ME

 

In my latter years I only ask

That God grant me in my senility

To forget people, I never liked at any rate

And the good fortune

To run into the people that I do like

And the eyesight to differentiate

OUT OF THE MOUTH’S OF BABES – THE WEDDING

 

Six-year-old Ellie was in church

With four-year-old Luke her brother

They were sitting in the church

Attending a family wedding together

Luke laughed, sang, and talked out loud. 

Pulled faces and generally messed about

Finally, his big sister had had enough

Luke was spoiling her special day out

“You're not supposed to talk out loud in church.” 

“Why?” Luke asked “Who's going to stop me?”. 

Ellie pointed to the back of the church and said,

“Those two men by the door are hushers see”

WE STILL BELIEVE IN YOU

 

Master of the universe

Great architect of nature

Builder of the galaxies

Every facet and feature

Don’t listen to our silence

Most benevolent creator

And think us unworthy

Don’t condemn us like a traitor

We are misguided only

That is just our nature

We will turn to you again

For man is a fickle creature

GOD AND SCIENCE

 

I believe in God

I believe him to be the creator

The creator of heaven and earth

Of the stars and the planets

I believe him to be the creator of the universe

The scientific community

Talk of the big bang

Which sparked off the creation of the universe

They call God a myth

And his creation a myth

Science of course call it the big bang theory

Theory being science speak for a guess

Or put another way a belief

They can no more prove their belief

Than I can prove the existence of God

For all their contempt for belief systems

They are locked in one of their own making

I have faith in the creation

But if there was a big bang

Then God pressed the button

OUT OF THE MOUTH’S OF BABES – THE LORDS PRAYER

 

Three-year-old Katie had been learning

The Lord’s prayer with her mother each night

She would repeat each line after her mother

Practicing and practicing to get it right

Katie’s mum carefully enunciated each word

Going over and over each line in detail

Finally, Katie went solo “Lead us not into temptation”

She carefully recited “but deliver us some E-mail”

THANK YOU

 

Thank you for the morning

For the new day dawning

Thank you for the dawn chorus

Refreshing and delighting us

Thank you Lord for another day

And for tomorrow if I may

FORGIVENESS

 

I find it hard to forgive

But we are taught we must

To be a good Christian

We must first forgive others

Before God can forgive us

But I find it hard to forgive

I cannot let go the bitterness

Or it’s associated baggage

The betrayal of those I thought friends

The deceit of family

The put downs and the knocks

The adversities and animosities

I cannot make that commitment to forgive

All I can do is promise to try

Try to climb that ladder of forgiveness

One painful rung at a time

And if I do succeed

In becoming a better person

A more forgiving person

If I manage to slowly climb the ladder

And earn Gods forgiveness

I will only do so with His grace

And not by some sweaty effort on my part

OUT OF THE MOUTH’S OF BABES – THE CHRISTENING

 

After the christening of his baby brother in church,        

All the way home Jamie sat in the car and cries

His father asked him over and over what the matter was

And then still sobbing the boy finally replies

"The Vicar said he wanted us to be brought up

In a Christian home, and I want to stay with you guys."