THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES

(Daniel 7)

ONE NIGHT WHILE DANIEL WAS ASLEEP
A TROUBLING VISION CAME IN VIEW
THE CHURNING SEAS LIKE NATIONS ROSE
FOUR BEASTS DISGUISED IN KINGDOM CLOTHES.

WHAT COULD THIS MEAN, THE PROPHET MUSED
WITH LIONS, BEARS AND LEOPARDS, TOO?
THE OUTWARD FORM THE KING ONCE DREAMT
SEEMED DIFFERENT THAN THIS VISION MEANT.

BUT SOON THE MYSTERY WAS REVEALED
EACH BEAST DESCRIBES A KINGDOM HERE
BEFORE ALL EARTHLY RULE IS DONE
AND CHRIST'S ETERNAL KINGDOM WON.

THE LION WITH FOUR EAGLE WINGS
IS EQUAL TO THE HEAD OF GOLD
WHERE BABYLON RULED WITH CRUEL STRENGTH
AND SWIFTLY TOOK THE WORLD AT LENGTH.

THEN FROM ITS HIBERNATING LAIR
A LUMBERING BEAR ROSE TO ITS FEET
AND WITH BRUTE FORCE IT CRUSHED ITS PREY
AS MEDES AND PERSIANS RULED THAT DAY.

A LEOPARD WITH FOUR HEADS APPEARED
LIKE LIGHTNING SPEED ON EAGLE WINGS
THIS GRECIAN KING SPREAD WIDE HIS REIGN
IN EIGHT SHORT YEARS GAINED WORLD-WIDE FAME.

BUT WHAT DISTURBED THE PROPHET MOST
WAS WHAT APPEARED ON EUROPE'S SHORE
A TERRIFYING BEAST WITH RAGE
FULFILLED ITS ROLE ON CENTER STAGE.

THIS BEAST FROM ROME WHO RULED THE WORLD
WAS NEVER CONQUERED BY A FOE
CORRUPTION TORE ITS HEART WITHIN
BECAUSE OF VILE AND TREACHEROUS SIN.

THE BEAST WITH TEN HORNS THAT APPEARED
WAS NEVER SEEN TO RISE AGAIN
BUT STIRRING SIGNS ARE FORMING NOW
UPON THE HEAD OF EUROPE'S BROW.

A LITTLE HORN WILL SOON ARISE
AND THROUGH DECEIT HIS CRAFTY PLAN
WILL CATCH ALL NATIONS IN ITS WEB
AS REVELATION THIRTEEN SAID.

THE WARNING THAT THIS VISION SHOWS
IS TO REMIND THE WORLD TODAY
THE POWER OF ANTICHRIST IS NEAR
FOR EVERY MAN ON EARTH TO FEAR.
--B. PENT

THE KING AND I

                             Daniel 2





















THE SANDS OF TIME BLOW IN THE WIND
AS HISTORY PAST TELLS OF ITS FLIGHT
THROUGH LIFE'S SHORT COURSE AROUND EACH BEND
WITH CONQUERED NATION'S TRAGIC END.

THE GARDEN SCENE WHERE LOVE WAS BORN
AND PEACE REVEALED ITS SPECIAL ROLE
BECAME THE PLACE WHERE SATAN'S CHARM
BROUGHT SIN WITH DEATH'S DEFYING HARM.

THE HIGHEST PEAK ON BABEL'S CREST
WHERE PRIDEFUL MAN SOUGHT TO BE GODS
BECAME THE PLACE WHERE SIN'S DREAD CURSE
WAS SPREAD TO EVERY MAN ON EARTH.

THE STORY LATER FILLED EARTH'S SCENE
AS BABYLON GREW TO RULE THE WORLD
AND SHINAR'S BEAUTY FILLED THE LAND
WHERE CONQUERED JUDAH MADE ITS STAND.

AMONG THOSE CAPTIVES THERE WERE FOUR
WHOSE LIVES REFLECTED YAHWEH'S PLAN
AS DANIEL TOOK THE PROPHET'S STAFF
REVEALING NATION'S DOWNWARD PATH.

ONE NIGHT ITS KING WOKE WITH A START
A DREAM DISTURBED HIS THOUGHTS THAT DAY
A ROBOT-LOOKING MAN STOOD NEAR
ITS METAL FRAME BROUGHT WORLD-WIDE FEAR.

THE PALACE WISEMEN WERE CALLED IN
TO GIVE A MEANING TO HIS DREAM
BUT ONLY DANIEL'S WORDS EXPLAINED
THE BOUNDARY LINES EACH PART CONTAINED.

FOUR BASIC METALS COULD BE SEEN
AS HISTORY MARCHED THROUGH TIME AND SPACE
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S HEAD OF GOLD
BECAME THE FIRST ONE, HE WAS TOLD.

THE ROBOT'S SILVER ARMS AND CHEST
DESCRIBED THE MEDO-PERSIAN'S STRENGTH
BUT LATER GREECE WITH THIGHS OF BRASS
WE'RE ALEXANDER'S VISION CAST.

THE MIGHTY IRON LEGS OF ROME
THAT RULED THE WORLD WITH BRUTAL FORCE
WERE SEEN AT LAST TO FALL APART
BECAUSE CORRUPTION RULED ITS HEART.

AS TIME MARCHED ON A MYSTERY GREW:
"WHO WERE THE IRON FEET WITH CLAY?"
THE MIX, THOUGH TRACED TO EUROPE'S HOME
WAS NEVER SEEN FULFILLED BY ROME.

THE FINAL ACT THE KING BEHELD
WAS OF A STONE ROLL DOWN A HILL
AND INTO DUST THIS METAL FRAME
WAS FINALLY CRUSHED AND BROUGHT TO SHAME.

THE ROCK THEN GREW TO FILL THE EARTH
HE IS THE KING OF ROYAL BIRTH
A THOUSAND YEARS HIS RULE WILL LAST
AS EVERY WORD FORETOLD WAS PASSED.--B.Pent

EDEN REVISITED

The decision to accept Christ's redemptive work on our behalf
is God's way of positionally placing us back before Adam sinned
(Eph.1:4),into the second Adam through the Spirit of Adoption
(Gal.4:5;Rom.8:15). With justice satisfied (Rom.3:24), the
Father now sees us through His Son: saved from the penalty of
sin and one day, from sin's presence. It is the only way a sinner
can enter heaven without his sin. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ
all will be made alive" (I Cor.15:22). Each of us must choose:
either pay the penalty for our sin or accept Christ's payment on
our behalf. One leads to eternal separation in hell; the other to
eternal life in heaven. There is no neutral ground.

CHRISTIAN CHARACTER

Salt is the combination of two basic chemicals: sodium and chlorine. When they are combined they form salt. Christian character is composed of two important ingredients: faith and works. As chlorine gas is a deadly poison by itself, so faith without works is dead. Metal sodium alone is likewise destitute of the saving quality of salt. So is works without faith. As the chemical union of these two elements forms salt, so faith and works, when united, give life and efficiency to Christian character.

Christian character is genuinely qualitative.When Jesus said to "have salt in yourselves" He was inviting us to link up to the authentic Source of Taste! The Psalmist put it this way: "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps.34:8). Later, Peter adds: "now that you have tasted that the Lord is good....grow up in your salvation" (I Pet.2:2-3). The most compelling evidence then is demonstrated through what Paul calls "the fruit of the Spirit"(Gal.5:22), which includes "love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

If the Church is to regain its influence in our present decadent society, perhaps we need to
take another serious look at what Scripture says about Christian character and start putting it into practice.