THE EMPTY THRONE

The trumpet alerted the angels to come

To gather together before the White Throne

The Father announced a miraculous plan

That Jesus would take on the flesh of a man.

Amazement and wonder were seen in their eyes

A virgin would birth heaven's infinite Prize

The ones who were chosen to break the Good News

Appeared to some shepherds, the lowliest of Jews.

“All Glory to God!” was the theme of their song

Lasting peace, was the Gift awaited so long

Emanuel’s coming to Bethlehem's stall

Was God's only Son with salvation for all.

The shepherds and magi who worshiped this King

Saw Him as Messiah; their freedom He'd bring

The path from the stable was marked by a cross

They did not see then, how much it would cost!

While angels rejoiced at the birth of God's Son

Redemption for man through His death would be won

Each sinner partaking the Savior's new birth

Brings praise from the angels in heaven and earth.

B. Pent

IN HIS PRESENCE

Holy Father, in your Presence

Where all pretense flees from sight

Free the guilt of sin that binds me

Bathe me in Shekinah Light.

Holy Jesus torn asunder

For my sin Your blood atone

Let the crimson Fountain wash me

Offering praise to You alone.

Holy Spirit fill this vessel

Let pure worship flood each part

So in joyful, glad surrender

All true praise flows from my heart.

Holy is the ground I stand on

Sweetest praise I offer now

Lifting heart-filled adoration

Jesus Lord before You bow.

B. Pent

HOME AT LAST!

The clock of time that filled my days

With gifts of pain combined with praise

Were heaven's thorns to lead my path

To where sweet flowers always last.

Paintings of birds and boats off shore

The home I've loved, I've traded for

The sounds and sights beyond compare

A place my Savior planned with care.

I heard the songs the angels sing

I felt the stirring of their wings

I wish you could have seen that sight

While heading Home; my upward flight!

I saw the lights within the Gate

The call to come! I could not wait!

For in the endless arms of grace

I felt a welcome to that Place.

The curse of death has been removed

All tears have ceased to flow today

Now in the presence of the King

I have no need for anything.

--B. Pent

COMMUNICATING GOD'S LOVE

(Through the lens of I Corinthians 13)

If I could speak with the tongues

   of impeccable elocution and oratorical perfection

   but fail to communicate

I'm a tool of confusion and a threat to dialogue.

Though I master the English language

   reflecting the eloquence of Cicero

   or capturing a breath of Shakespearean splendor

And though I have faith

   the mountains of verbal and non-verbal prejudice be removed 

   but don't lovingly communicate, I'll get nowhere!

If I share my knowledge with the ignorant

   and spend a lifetime delivering flowery speeches

   but don't communicate,

I haven't gained a thing.

Actually, communicating with people begins:

   with patience – learning the art of good listening

   with kindness – not rudely interrupting.

Never forcing your own ideas 

        or repelling the opinion of others.

Effective communication shows up:

   in accepting people for who they are

   in listening to what is said

        without making them feel stupid for bringing it up

And empathetically trying to understand their feelings.

Communication shows real concern:

   when someone else is talking

   is glad when a constructive idea is presented

And works toward a correct syllogism

     through a mutual exchange of ideas.

Communication involves:

   pooling all suggested ideas

   recognizing individual effort in the process

   being sensitive to the Spirit's timing in concluding the matter.

Real communication never ends:

   as for poor attitudes 

       they will hinder and break down communication

   as for catchy phrases or vague generalities 

       they will not hold up

   as for meaningless cliches – they will fade away.

My words, thoughts and actions since childhood

   are but faint memories now that I'm maturing

   even though I tend to see issues 

        through the mirrored reflections of selfishness

But with God's help change is possible!

Now I only piece the communication puzzle as I see it

   but in time I'll understand it better

   just as God perfectly understands

   and lovingly communicates to me.

So then:

   correct words may influence the mind

   and patiently sharing, can motivate the listener

   but only loving communication can change a life.

--B. Pent

CHRIST'S COMMAND TO LOVE

     In his book Why Am I Afraid To Love, John Powell tells about a Jew named Mike Gold who was the philosopher of American Communism in the 1920's.  After communism fell into general disrepute in this country, Mike Gold became a man of oblivion.  During that time he wrote a book about his life.  In describing his childhood in New York City, Mike tells of his mother's instructions never to wander beyond four certain streets.  She could not tell him that it was a Jewish ghetto, nor that he had the wrong kind of blood in his veins.  Children don't understand prejudice.  It is a poison that must gradually seep into a person's blood.

     In his narration, Mike Gold tells of the day curiosity lured him beyond the four streets, outside of his ghetto, and how he was accosted by a group of older boys who asked him a puzzling question: "Hey kid, are you a kike?"  "I don't know" was his reply.  He had never heard the word before.  The older boys came back with a paraphrase of their questions.  "Are you a Christ-killer?"  Again, the small boy responded, "I don't know."  He had never heard that word before.  So the older boys asked him where he lived, and trained like most small boys to recite their address in the case of being lost, Mike Gold told them where he lived.  "So you are a kike, you are a Christ-killer.  We're going to teach you to stay where you belong!"  And so they beat the little boy, blooded his face and tore his clothes and sent him home to the jeering litany: :We are Christians and you killed Christ!  Stay where you belong!  We are Christians, and you killed Christ..."

     John Powell then tells what happened after he got home, and years later.  When his frightened mother saw Mike Gold, she asked him: "What happened to you, Mike?"  He could only answer: "I don't know."  "Who did this to you, Mike?"  Again he answered: "I don't know."  And so the mother washed the blood from the face of her little boy and put him into fresh clothes and took him into her lap as she sat in a rocker trying to soothe him.  Mike Gold recalled so much later in life that he raised his small battered lips to the ear of his mother and asked: "Mama, who is Christ?"

     Mike Gold died in 1967.  His last meals were taken at a Catholic Charity house in New York City, run by Dorothy Day.  She once said of him: "Mike Gold eats every day at the table of Christ, but he will probably never accept Him because of the day he first heard His name."  And so Mike Gold died!

LIGHTED TO SHINE

 There is a strange substance in chemistry known as selenium.  When placed in the dark, it serves as an insulator and electricity cannot pass through it.  But as soon as light is flashed upon it, it becomes a conductor and an electric current can flow through it. Jesus stated in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."Then He commanded us to: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt.5:16).  In God's world, you and I are just like a piece of selenium.  If we stay in the dark and do not allow the Light of Christ to shine upon us, we become insulators.  No current of love will be able to flow through us and the world will not see the Christ!  But as soon as we subject ourselves to His Light, we become conductors of God's love in a dark world.  I fear the Christian today has become more of an insulator than a conductor of Light.  We seem to be more concerned about our buildings or our man-made creeds than about bringing others to a saving faith in Christ.

     Canon Weded tells a parable of a lifesaving station.  It was established on a dangerous seacoast where many ships had been wrecked.  Again and again its brave volunteers went into dangerous waves to rescue many from drowning.  Often those who were saved joined the corps and, as it grew, it put up sheds for its boats and a shelter for those pulled from the sea.  Later, it erected a building where the victims of shipwreck could be made more comfortable.  The members took great pride in their building. So they added eating facilities, game rooms and a lounge.  As the station grew in prestige, others wanted to join.

     In time, the members hired workers to do the lifesaving while they kept up the facilities.  One day the members met and decided to discontinue the station's lifesaving feature altogether.  They wanted it to become more of a club-like atmosphere.  But a number of them protested, arguing that they had abandoned their primary objective of saving lives.  So they resigned and started a real lifesaving station down the coast. But as the years passed, the new station went through the same development until another group pulled out and started over. 

     If you visit that seacoast today, you will find a whole series of exclusive clubs, up and down the shore.  None of these clubs have much interest in lifesaving any more, although there are still many shipwrecks in those waters needing lifesavers.

     Philip Bliss penned these words: "Trim your feeble lamp, my brother; some poor sailor tempest tossed, trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost."  The world has lost the faith because the Church has lost its fire. We have been Lighted to Shine by the Light of Life.

      Let us seek once again to be re- ignited by the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) so we might bring the Light of Life to this sin-dark world.   

      

THEN FREEDOM CAME!

Once I stood in grave clothes

Bound by sin and shame

Then the voice of Jesus echoed

“Loose those chains!” then freedom came!

All at once its grip was broken

Satan’s power no longer ruled

Sin had lost its claim upon me

On redemption’s Rock I stood.

Heaven’s Light burst all around me

Sin’s dark shadow hid its face

All the past was now forgiven

In the fullness of His grace.

Then the shouts of victory sounded

Songs of praise were lifted high

As the cross of Jesus conquered

Hallelujah’s filled the sky!

---B. Pent