Saturday, January 04, 2014

I have eternal life – v2

A hollow statement,
“I have eternal life”
for we are saved for a purpose
Christ’s glory in this life
a future in heaven
at the end of this walk
Raised from the earth
on wings like eagles
we will fly to heaven
to sing Christ’s praises
His glory echoed on high
with all of creation


------
Edited January 4, 2014
I have eternal life – v2
July 18, 2012
I have eternal life
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-have-eternal-life.html
further poems in this series:
“to glorify Christ – v2”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/to-glorify-christ-v2.html
“to glorify Christ”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/to-glorify-christ.html
“I have eternal life”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/i-have-eternal-life.html
“The victory of Jesus”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-victory-of-jesus.html
“For the praise of His glory”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/for-praise-of-his-glory.html
“Celebrate Jesus”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/celebrate-jesus.html

----- 
July 17, 2012
series of poems around the reading on July 14 (see below) on the idea that our salvation isn’t about us being saved, not really. It gives a strong indictment of the way we keep using I statements to talk about salvation – me, my, I. Our salvation is more about what we do with that joy, that healing, that spark of God that is now within us. How do we live differently? How do we tell others? We are saved for a purpose, to move from being seeds to fruit, to vessels that are emptied and poured. How do we witness authentically, without it just being about us? That too was something I was conscious of as I was drafting my sermon of 7/1/2012, “What Jesus Means to Me”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/sermon-what-jesus-means-to-me-suncook.html
----
“God Saved Me”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/god-saved-me.html
“Our salvation story”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/our-salvation-story.html
July 16, 2012
“the pungent air of self”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/pungent-air-of-self-in-our-language-our.html
July 16, 2012
“every I statement”
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2012/07/every-i-statement.html
&
Ephesians 1:11-14
Upper Room Disciplines for 2012
http://bookstore.upperroom.org/cart/upperroom/p-17131.htm
July 9, 2012 to July 15, 2012
“Responding to God’s Holiness”
by David Grebert
for July 14, 2012, 
read July 15, 2012
&
Ephesians 1:3-10
Upper Room Disciplines for 2012
http://bookstore.upperroom.org/cart/upperroom/p-17131.htm
July 9, 2012 to July 15, 2012
“Responding to God’s Holiness”
by David Grebert
for July 13, 2012, 
read July 15, 2012

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Welcoming Christ – v11

Not judging the Master
His church open
welcoming Jesus
into our presence

Open to all
fully inclusive
to all of God’s children
all over the earth

Reconciling, healing
open to blessing
all God’s people gifted
brought back to life

Open to all
fully inclusive
to all of God’s children
all over the earth


-----
editing January 4, 2014
“Welcoming Christ – v11”
(editing version 2)
&
Edited December 31, 2013
For Offering Love – v7
-         focused on the Council of Bishops
-         and those who will be on future juries
(editing original again)
June 22, 2011
For Offering Love
&
Edited December 28, 2013
Mending What is Broken – v9
(editing version 3)
Edited December 23, 2013
Mending what is Broken – v8
(editing original again)
after watching live stream of Frank Schaefer
preaching at Foundry United Methodist Church
December 22, 2013
&
Edited December 7, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v10
(editing original version again)
&
Edited December 7, 2013
A time to come together – v5
(editing original version again)
written after the conviction of Rev. Frank Schaefer
&
Edited November 15, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v9
(editing original again)
&
“Methodist Pastor Frank Schaefer Faces Trial for Son's Gay Wedding”
&
Edited October 19, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v8
Edited October 6, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v7
Edited
Welcoming Christ – v6
Edited September 28, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v5
(editing original again)
Edited September 19, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v4
(editing original again)
Edited September 16, 2013
Welcoming Christ – v3
Edited April 23, 2013
“Welcoming Christ – v2”
after Austin Masterson
included the original in a student assignment
Roswell, NM
June 13, 2011
“Welcoming Christ”
&
Edited September 7, 2013
“Making the secular Holy – v2”
new poem September 7, 2013
“Making the secular Holy”
----
This poem is about my wife and me when we got married
in a civil service on December 17, 2004 in Concord, NH in White Park
and then before our church family at
Wesley United Methodist Church in Concord, NH
on April 23, 2005.
----
We celebrate 2 anniversaries because they both mean a great
deal to us, in very different ways.
I grieve for those who are able to marry civilly in so many
states now, such as NH, but are unable to marry in their
United Methodists churches and for the clergy who are put on trial
for choosing to go against the Discipline to marry them.
&
trials of Rev. Frank Schaefer
and Rev. Thomas Ogletree
and  Rev. Steve Heiss
&
Edited September 7, 2013
For Offering Love – v2
June 22, 2011
For Offering Love
Love on Trial,
the case against the Reverend Amy DeLong,
which begins on June 20, 2011
&
John 8:1-11
&
Samuel Thompson’s
Inclusion Essay
shared at the New England United Methodist Church
Annual Conference
in response to call by Reconciling Ministries Network
for essays describing, “My vision for an inclusive church”,
June 10, 2011
&
in part inspired by conversations with
the Reverend John Makokha
Riruta UMC
Children of Africa Hope Mission Project in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. http://rirutaumc.homestead.com/children_of_africa.html
&
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
&
Matthew 28:18-20
Great Commission

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.


An Immoral Choice – v2

The mirror before us
the filter of Christ
His life before us
in this season of Lent

The choices He made
to become the sacrifice
to give His life
that we may have life

How do we compare
in the choices we are making
in what we choose to fund
who we lift up
and who are left behind

An immoral choice
to be greedy, stingy
to leave our neighbors
out in the cold


edited January 4, 2014
An Immoral Choice – v2
March 11, 2011 and March 12, 2011
An Immoral Choice
written at House of Purpose Coffeehouse
Hillsboro, NH
March 11, 2011
and finished
at Pembroke Town Meeting,
Pembroke, NH
3/12/11
&
calling on the NH Legislature
and the Governor
to spare those without a voice
those who need us
from the severe budget cuts
that are currently planned
in HB1 and HB2, etc.
&
in part based on the testimony
of The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson,
Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
March 10, 2011


Raymond A. Foss, Esq.
Law Offices of Raymond A. Foss, PLLC
Poetry Where You Live
160 Main Street
Suncook, NH 03275-1206

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A secret thing – v7

something undefinable
invisible, in private
in our innermost being
the essence of God, the Spirit,
igniting another
a secret thing placed there
by the Potter, Creator
a spark, a kernel
a bit of our God
placed within us
to quicken, enliven
to set us aflame
to be shared with others
their spark afire
a secret thing placed
planted within us
like wind chimes singing
together in life

------------------------
edited January 16, 2016
a crystal of God – v3
(editing version 2)
edited January 6, 2016
a crystal of God – v2
edited February 11, 2014
A Secret thing – v8
(editing version 6)
edited January 4, 2014
“A secret thing – v7”
(editing original again)
Edited November 30, 2013
A secret thing – v6
(editing version 3)
Edited August 14, 2013
“A secret thing – v5”
Edited August 14, 2013
“a particle of wonder – v2”
Edited August 14, 2013
“A secret thing – v4”
new poem August 14, 2013
“a particle of wonder”
Edited August 14, 2013
“The Artisan – v3”
Edited August 13, 2013
“a crystal of God”
Edited August 13, 2013
“A secret thing – v3”
August 12, 2013
“A secret thing – v2”
“A secret thing”
“The Artisan”
Service in the Park – 8/11/2013
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NIV)
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Habakkuk+3%3A17-19&version=NIV
17 
Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.”
&
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (rewritten by me)
17 Though the mills may be shuttered
and the forests are empty,
though the fields do not provide
their bounty, their harvest,
though the young are departing
for greener pastures,
18 yet I rejoice in my God
I will be joyful in Christ my Savior.
19 The Creator of the universe is my rock
I am like the deer, its hooves
steady on the Mountain.
and sermon “There Is Hope In Community”
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
August 11, 2013
&
Jeremiah’s Corner
Jeremiah 29:11
led by Ellen Alward Dickinson
presentation:
“The Power of Making Good Choices”
by Lois Flewelling
from Empowering Life Ministries
&
opening prayer by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
August 5, 2013


All of my poems and photographs are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 40,680+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

God in this struggle – v3

God is right with us
as a nation, as a people
despite our problems
shifting sands of time
the hurt in the fabric

God in this struggle
to help and to comfort
together we must bow and pray
for His holy purpose

Lift them up Lord,
our neighbors who are hurting,
send healing rain
power to sooth them

Send life-giving water
send them Jesus,
the Spirit, the Word;
May we hold fast to Your path
our way through this world


------
Edited January 4, 2014
God in this struggle – v3
Edited April 18, 2013
God in this struggle – v2
April 18, 2013
God in this struggle
pain of those in Boston after the Boston Marathon bombings
and those in West, TX after the giant explosion
&
Psalm 23 (The Message)
Psalm 23 (NIV)
Upper Room Disciplines for 2013
April 15, 2013 to April 21, 2013
“Goodness and Mercy”
by Cheryl Somers-Ingersol
for April 16, 2013
read April 16, 2013
&
Psalm 23:6 (The Message)
Psalm 23
Upper Room Disciplines for 2013
April 15, 2013 to April 21, 2013
“Goodness and Mercy”
by Cheryl Somers-Ingersol
for April 15, 2013
read April 15, 2013

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Savior A Shepherd – v2

Starting with the disciples
Christ walking as a man
the fire starting
by the Sea of Galilee

The fire burning
rising with the tide
as He walked the land
these fishermen by his side

Going through the land
preaching, healing in God’s name
offering hope to them all
sharing the love of God

Following the Master’s plan
taking on our sin
dying in our place
that we may truly live

A Savior, a Shepherd
those who were fisherman
following our Master
doing all we can

Spreading the Good News
of God’s endless grace
to the whole world
for the whole human race


edited January 4, 2014
A Savior A Shepherd – v2
June 11, 2010
A Savior A Shepherd
on reading the start of the following poem
as I posted it to www.christianpoetry.org today
-------------------
A Fisherman

A fisherman,
a carpenter
on these we built a church
ordinary men, like all the rest
called to serve the Lord
Out of their comfort zone
into the desert, the wilderness
out on the water
wherever they were called
No education, no standing or station
doing the work of the savior
standing in his place
Speaking truth to the powerful
going in his holy name
Spreading the love,
the word of God
down to our present age


October 25, 2009
Matthew 16:13-19
Isaiah 40:28-31 (Call to Worship)
Ephesians 3:14-20
Worship Theme: “This is not a spectator sport!”
& sermon by Reverend Huntley Halvorson
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
10/25/09
&
Psalm 27:4
Psalm 24:7-27:6
Heartlight’s Straight Through Bible Study
for June 10, 2010, read June 11, 2010
& church
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
&
Psalm 20:4
Psalm 18:37-21:13
Heartlight’s Straight Through Bible Study
for June 8, 2010, read June 10, 2010

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Joyful Ever – v2

Rejoicing in Christ
ever joyful
from the beginning
to the end of our days

Singing ever
happy in our Savior
even in times
of pain and strife

Rejoicing in Christ
ever joyful
from the beginning
to the end of our days


edited January 4, 2014
Joyful Ever – v2
June 18, 2010
Joyful Ever
Philippians 4:4
Philippians 4:1-9
Philippians 4:4-7
Philippians 4:4-9
&
Day 270, “Rejoice Always”, in
 “Daily Mediations: On Golden Texts of the Bible”,
by Henry Gariepy
read June 19, 2010

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,220+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

the vine of everlasting life – v2

Christ, our Savior,
our Shepherd, our guide
the vine of everlasting life
in him we abide
we have our being, our essence
the source of living waters
Lead us, guide us,
show us your love
the message richly,
to share in our time
within our circle
out in the world


Edited January 4, 2014
the vine of everlasting life – v2
May 19, 2012
the vine of everlasting life
John 15:1-8 (Common English Bible)
Acts 8:26-40 (NRSV)
1 John 4:7-12 (NRSV)
Worship Theme: “Life in Christ”
Call to Worship
Unison Prayer
Prayer of Dedication  (Acts 8:26-40)
hymn, “Lord, I Want To Be A Christian” (UMH #402)
and sermon, “Piety and Production?”
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH
May 6, 2012
Fifth Sunday of Eastertide

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,210+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Dona Nobis Pacem – v5

The words like water, flowing outward
Dona Nobis Pacem, these words
slowly washing over us, waves
like water etching stone, polished
peace flowing into each one of us

These were the words they chanted,
prayed together, the six voices joined in a round
following the metronome of his direction
the movement of his hand

I felt the words, murmuring through the sanctuary
far down the center aisle I stood, offering basket in hand
joining their song in humming, not wanting to break the spell
of their singing, but sharing the ancient words of Latin

A capella voices, chasing each other in round,
wrapping us in the joy of the words
the chant of the monks in memory
ancient words of grace

The words mean Give us Peace,
Dona Nobis Pacem, these words
and they do, each time the choir begins
softly, emphatically, spiritually,
those words of grace


edited January 4, 2014
Dona Nobis Pacem – v5
(editing version 3)
Edited November 27, 2013
Dona Nobis Pacem – v4
(editing version 2)
Edited August 24, 2013
Dona Nobis Pacem – v3
(from original)
Edited August 23, 2013
Dona Nobis Pacem – v2
November 19, 2006 21:32
Dona Nobis Pacem
Rejuvenation service
Wesley United Methodist Church
Concord, NH


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 34,390+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

tearless days – v5

God’s promise,
in the future
tearless days
no more crying
upon this earth

God abiding,
living with us
offering hope
eternal love

Tearless days
no more crying
in our future
on the streets
paved with gold

God abiding,
living with us
God’s promise
will be fulfilled


------
edited January 4, 2014
tearless days – v5
(editing version 2)
Edited December 11, 2013
tearless days – v4
(editing original again)
Edited November 2, 2013
tearless days – v3
(editing original again)
Edited August 30, 2013
tearless days – v2
April 26, 2013
tearless days
Revelations 21:1-6
“The New Jerusalem” (NIV)
“Everything New” (The Message)
see also Acts 10:1-48
Upper Room Disciplines for 2013
April 22, 2013 to April 28, 2013
“All Things New”
by Derrek Belase
for April 26, 2013
read April 26, 2013

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 27,210+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.