CHRISTIAN LITERATURE TODAY

Was blind, but now I see.

1 : 5 March 2002

Pastor Harold Brokke

Pastor Harold Brokke and his wife Cathy Brokke have served the Lord Jesus as counselors to countless missionaries all over the world. Harold is a former President of Bethany Fellowship International, the community that established and runs the renowned Bethany House Publishers. Presently Pastor Brokke serves the Bethany Missionary Church as Senior Pastor Emeritus. Cathy was the Director of Bethany Fellowship Missions for many years. Both live in Minneapolis. God has called Harold to minister to people and communities around the world on Bible Prophecy and sanctification through the Message of the Cross.


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Copyright © 2001
M. S. Thirumalai

SOMETHING IS GREATER THAN WONDERS...
A Book Of Poems & Free Verses

by

Pastor Harold Brokke


God's Light

CONTENTS

Dedication
God Keeps His Covenants
O Wondrous Cross
God is Working
The Glorious Image
God Unlimited
Man Unlimited
God's Wondrous Plan
O Father, Blessed Origin
Threefold Confidence
Calvari
He Rose Again, He's God
If Your Eyes Could See It
East of Jerusalem
Lead Me, O Captain
Fill Me O Spirit
The Senses of Faith
The Primacy of Trust
Peter's Little Faith
Treasures Of Life
The Glory of the Walk of Faith
A Simple Secret
Something Is Greater Than Wonders
Don't Turn Aside
Everybody, Listen
O Evolutionist
I Speak to Young Men and Women
Listen, O Man Who Sins
Abraham, the Goyim
Listen, Children of Ishmael
Listen, Israelis
The Day of the Lord is Near
Where is Our Place?
The Place of Prayer
Newness of Life
The Resting Place
The Lord of My World
When God Withdraws His Hand
Whispered Word?
To Men Who Still Persist In Sin
A Mother's Song
Eros and Agape
The Thrill That Seduces
Neutrality
"Paul"
Breavement
As a Child, Not a Dog
Mercy's Light

*** *** ***


DEDICATION

The Lord is our Shepherd.

Dedicated to my wife
Cathy
who is to me a favor from the Lord.
So also is my Son Dan
and his wife Dona
and our grandchildren
Danielle
Drew
Derek
and Dustin

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God Keeps His Covenants

God's Covenant

God could sweep
from earth today
all traces of man's sin,
but yet He can't do such an act
because He made His rainbow-pact
with Noah and his kin.
But if you doubt the truth of this,
don't trust these poems of mine,
but look it up in Genesis.
Read all of Chapter nine!
Genesis 9:13-17

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O Wondrous Cross

Wondrous Cross and creation

O wondrous cross,
where Jesus died to save!
O wondrous God,
who for His sake forgave me.

O wondrous cross!
The place of restoration,
where, dead to sin,
I rise a new cretion!

O wondrous cross!
O soul-releasing story!
I'll spread the Word abroad,
the cross, my glory!

*** *** ***

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God is Working

God is working.

God the Father is performing
works in wonder and in love.
He is answering petitions
in the ways we know not of

Though prayer seems little heeded,
though hearts grow harder still,
I am sure that He is listening
in the Savior's name and will.

Things visible seem stubborn
and satanic powers press
to discourage my petitions,
but I thank my God no less.

I am gladdened by His promise
and convinced by His pure word.
O my heart, though answers linger,
God is working, be assured!
Philippians 2:13

*** *** ***

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The Glorious Image

The Glorious Image

O infinite and holy God,
by time and temple never bound,
no vastness can be vast enough
to hold you in or gird you 'round

Unlimited in height and depth,
beyond the scope of eye and brain,
no starry galaxy on high
can ever, ever you contain.

Yet from your universal Self,
like streams of fire, awesome white,
converges to one central sphere,
one holy orb of burning light.

And in that glorious majesty,
amid that ultimate applause,
appears the glowing form divine,
that image that is only God's.

Who is this image glorious
who came in time and space to be
the Word made flesh, the heavenly Man?
Who else but Jesus? None, but He!
1 Corinthians 15:47

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God Unlimited

God Unlimited

Our God cannot be small.
No, He could never be,
for in each narrow providence
flows love's intensity.

How could His saving arm
be moved with aimless thought?
How could His eye look out
and cast His gaze for naught?

How could His tongue once speak
a trivial, useless word?
For when he speaks to any man,
though deaf, His voice is heard.

So if He seems remote,
like Jacob's midnight lot,
I'll wake to say, "My God is here
although I knew it not!"

I learn from Calavry's tree
no more to murmur "Why?"
His power to save, it reigned supreme,
when Christ, my King, did die."
Genesis 28:17

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Man Unlimited

Man Unlimited

Who is fettered not
by sense or sight?
Mastered not
by wealth or might?
Weakened not
by curse or blight?
The man of faith!

Who is conquered not
by bombs that fall?
Captured not
by prison wall?
Shackled not
by hell at all?
The love of Christ!

What is prisoned not
by time or space?
Hindered not
by language, race?
banished not
from any place?
The praying heart!
Mark 9:23

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God's Wondrous Plan

God's Wondrous Plan

The earth revolves,
the sun shines bright,
The moon continues
to rule the night
for God has a plan.

How vain the world
to work and sweat
to feed a body
worms will get,
if God has no plan.

The seasons change,
the cold and the heat;
races comingle
and nations compete,
but God has a plan.

The sinner still sins
and yet he lives,
and God in glory
forbears and forgives,
for He has a plan.

And evil seems
to rise like a flood,
and streams are flowing
with innocent blood,
but God has a plan!

At His appointed
Judgment Day,
no one will hide
or steal away
from God's set plan.

How sad the man,
now vain his breath
whose choice must end
in second death
outside God's plan!

To cleanse the hearts
of men undone,
and make them holy
in His Son!
O wondrous plan!

And then through ages
vast unknown,
to show His children
things unshown,
His hidden plans!
Ephesians 1:10

*** *** ***

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O Father, Blessed Origin

O Father

O Father, blessed origin
of every form and force,
of all the vast diversity,
precision in immensity,
You are the faithful Source!

Of You, through You, and unto You
Is ultimate control.
The universe, both now and then,
the world of spirits and of men,
even the rebel soul!

Though all this world is fallen now,
Your wise and loving will
determined and designed that Tree,
the cosmic power of Calvary,
to sanctify us still.

O Father, blessed origin
of glory and of grace!
Your hand alone can purge deceit
and cleanse our hearts and make us meet
to see the Savior's face.
It is a joyful faith that feels
that all begins with Thee,
that gracious things are all divine,
and not of men, but bear this sign:
Originality!

Thus came the living Seed of God
from heaven unto earth,
implanted in a virgin's womb
impaled in death, and then the tomb;
raised up to give new birth!

This is the principle of God:
our day must know it too.
he seeks, as if, a virgin womb
and hearts taht shun no cross or tomb,
then life will spring anew.

All that is good, my Lord, is Yours,
It must descend from Thee.
Descend, O glorious Judge and Son,
the six redemptive days are done;
the seventh soon shall be!
Romans 11:33-36

*** *** ***

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Threefold Confidence

O Father

I am resting in the nature
of my Father, true and pure.
He, whose heart is ever faithful
makes my heart, like His endure!

And the mighty, full redemption
wrought by Christ, the Father's Son,
is my constant source of living,
and the Rock I rest upon

And the instant, deep, persuasive
moving of the Spirit now,
brings to light the Savior's fullness.
And, in awe, to Him I bow!
Matthew 16:17-19

*** *** ***

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Calvary

Calvary

Christ bore the curse to Calavry
the fullness of the fall.
Oh tragic death, if Jesus bore,
a little, but not all.

If there are citadels of sin
where Christ set not His claim,
let angels wear confusion
and God be robed in shame.

If with this heart renewed by Christ,
perversity must dwell.
then what a caustic compromise
has heaven made with hell?

No, God envisioned Calvary
all love in its design.
It gladdens His eternal heart
because it purges mine.

Cast off the dark delusion,
the bondage of the lie
that says to those involved in sin,
"You shall not surely die."

Put on, my soul, the truth of God,
sin owns no part in thee.
Your freedom from the "all" of sin
is all in Calvary!
Galatians 3:13-14

*** *** ***

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He Rose Again! He's God!!

He rose again! He's God!!

I've found the man among all men
whose every word is true.
With questions none, it is my joy
His every word to do.

His eyes of fire, His word-like words,
His feet of brass and fire
His kingly, priestly robe of white
fulfills my heart's desire

I gaze on Jesus Christ and see
the purest and the best,
and as I worship at His feet
I am divinely blest.

The Spirit of the Lord has made
my heart to trust this Friend,
to mark His steps and watch his ways
and follow to the end.

For that one Man among all men,
whose steps with love were shod;
He bled, He died on Calvary.
He rose again! He's God!
1 Corinthians 15:47

*** *** ***

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If Your Eyes Could See It

Remember Romans 6-11

Oh, if your eye could see it,
2,000 years ago
when Jesus died because of sin
oh could you only know
and see it with the eye of faith,
get God the Father's view:
the one who died on Calvary
judicially was... you!

Oh, if your eye could see it,
2,ooo years ago
when Jesus by the Spirit rose,
oh could you only know
and see it with the eye of faith,
get God the Father's view:
the One who rose again and lives,
redemptively is... you!

Oh, if your eye could see it,
see it today.
Embrace the message of His cross;
know what the Scriptures say,
and, by the Spirit, lift your eyes
and gaze on Calvary,
and say, "When Jesus died and rose,
he represented me."

Romans 6:1-14

*** *** ***

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East of Jerusalem

O Father

East of Jerusalem
there stands a mount I know -
once trodden by Messiah's feet
two thousand years ago.

Then upon that mountain
with arms and hands held high,
He blessed the ones who saw Him rise,
ascending through the sky.

Now for two millennia
He shares His Father's throne,
doing all His Father's will
and praying for His own.

But soon the Day is coming,
He'll leave that Holy Place;
descend in all His kingdom power,
as judgment follows grace!

His feet shall stand on Olivet
and split it north and south;
He'll smite his foes and start His reign
as spoken by His mouth!

Acts 1:9-11

*** *** ***

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Lead me, O Captain

Lead me, O Captain

My Captain lived not by His power:
He chose God's place and plan and hour.
He sought not His own self to please;
His Father's will he sought, not ease!
Lead me, O Captain!

He did not seek the crowd's applause,
His passion was His Father's cause.
To fascinate was vain success.
He did not come to curse, but bless.
Lead me, O Captain!

He came to dwell with human scum,
to come where others would not come.
To loose men bound with demons mad;
to heal the sick and cheer the sad.
Lead me, O Captain!

He came to conquer, not by sword,
the demon's rage and hell's discord;
and while he bore the thorns, the whips,
He spoke forgiveness with His lips!
Lead me, O Captain!
He chose to be the curse, the gloom,
the pangs of Calvary and the tomb.
He rose again, and He alone
can share His universal Throne!
Lead me, O Captain!
Hebrews 2:10

*** *** ***

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Fill me, O Spirit

O Father

Fill me, O Spirit
of wisdom and power
that I might choose
from the depths of my soul,
not only heavenly rest
for my spirit,
but may the great joy of Your heart
be my goal!

Cleanse me, Lord Jesus;
command my affections,
'till they are focused
entirely on Thee,
for out of the deep sleep
of Calvary's travail,
God has begotten a great mystery!

He calls forth His church
from all kindreds and ages
from all of the nations
for whom Jesus died.
But now, by His Spirit,
He groans with a passion
that out from His church
He might fashion His bride!
Revelation 22:17

*** *** ***

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The Senses of Faith

O Father

Faith looks beyond
the visible
to see the Lamb of God above.
Faith hears beyond
the audible
and listens to the voice of love.

Faith feels beyond
the tangible
to touch realities divine.
Faith tastes beyond
the edible
where only sols immortal dine.

Faith breathes beyond
the physical
the Spirit's pure celestial air.
Faith lives beyond
the temporal
with Christ in constant, fervent prayer.
Hebrews 11:27

*** *** ***

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The Primacy of Trust

The Primacy of Trust

We may confess and pray and yield
from now until we die,
and never know the liberty
for which we seek or cry.

Confession of the sin alone
may not release the soul,
and probing deep surrenders
may fail to make us whole.

To open both our hearts and hands,
are things we do, we must!
But there's no final rest in Christ
without a reckless trust!
Matthew 17:20

*** *** ***

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Peter's Little Faith

Peter's Little Faith

"O you of little faith" -O strange reproof
to one who walked on waves as if on land
A foolish or a mighty faith to us
who are so slow of heart to understand.

"O you of little faith" -when will we know
all faith is little that will compromise
and turn from Christ to mind the winds that blow?
this is our weakness... in this the reason lies
for our insipid faith. For Jesus' sake
let the world's glitter now grow dim.
Rise up, O faith, rise up, and be awake
to the intense reality of Him!

If we would walk with Christ, nor lag behind,
faith must break loose, no more by sight confined.
Matthew 14:28-30

*** *** ***

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Treasures of Life

Treasures of Life

The wintery fields, lifeless, bleak
are frozen by the cold,
but oh, what treasuries of life
these barren fields hold!

For men count always on the sun,
their confidence is bold;
they know these fields, soon, will bloom
with beauties manifold!

So with mankind, both cold and bleak,
like frozen, stubborn sod,
the pure in heart have faith to prove
the fruitfulness of God!
John 11:40

*** *** ***

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The Glory of the Walk of Faith

O Father

The glory of the walk of faith
is not determined by the stir
of many miracles outpoured,
Or visitations from the Lord,
but what the words of God declare.

It rises strongest in the heart
that praises God when sight annoys,
not when the circumstance is sweet
nor when fulfillment is complete
but in temptation keeps its poise.

Its tenor is as sure as truth,
nor does it trust a transient thrill,
nor entertain anxiety,
nor stop to heed the serpent's plea,
but heeds the Spirit's mind and will.

This is the walk of solid joy
which draws from God's persistent grace, and sees in every circumstance
a plan, (that faithless men call chance)
God's harmony in time and space.
Romans 4:19-20

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A Simple Secret

A Simple Secret

I live by those assurances
deep rooted in His Word,
not in the fogs of wanderings
where every path is blurred.
I claim the brightest promises;
embracing what is clear, obeying with a glad response
the Shepherd's voice I hear.
Psalm 119:105

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Something Is Greater Than Wonders

Something is greater

Something is greater
than wonders,
greater than water made wine,
greater than honor or power,
greater than faces that shine.

What is this greater dimension?
My spirit, blood-washed by the Lamb,
made clean from self-will and dissention,
So that love governs all that I am!

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Don't Turn Aside From Faith and Love

Don't Turn Aside from Faith

Don't turn away faith and love,
no matter what the stress;
believe the Lord, digest His Word
grow strong in holiness.

All earthly honors we receive
from many -- esteem or praise
will never satisfy our hearts,
for God has better ways.

God's way is always in the seed
that's planted in the earth,
and there it dies, and germinates
and multiplies its worth.
John 12:24

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Listen Everybody

Listen Everybody

Listen, everybody!
You can keep on seeking for the person
who has the answers
or the one you can count on,
but I've found the One I wanted to find.

Listen, everybody!
Listen to Jesus of Nazareth!
He conquered sin by His death,
and death by His resurrection!
His words will prove their worth forever.
No one else has the answers
for the sins of the soul
or the sickness of mind and body.

Saving words, the words of eternal life
did not originate by the lips or spirits
of Moses or Elijah
or Peter or Paul.
These were His faithful servants,
and carriers of His everlasting gospel.

God's saving words
cannot come from the lips
of Karl Marx or Signmund Freud
or Charles Darwin or William James
or any of the psychologists of humanism.

God's Kingdom and righteousness cannot
come by the revelations or the personal claims
of Mohammed or the Imams,
of Buddha or the Mietityra,
or by gurus, by sorcerers, by witches,
by warlocks, by idols, by fetishes,
by seances, by familiar spirits,
or by any of the unclean birds or Babylon.

So Listen, everybody,
Listen to Jesus of Nazareth!
Acts 4:12

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O Evolutionist

O Evolutionist

How deceptive is your faith!
How ludicrous is your belief
in natural selection,
in the origin of the species.
You are fantastic believers!

I've met these fantastic believers
who believe so fantastic a thing.
Who believe that the flesh
and the tendons,
and the bone,
and the scent,
and the wing,
and the fins,
and the gills,
and the gizzard,
and the paw and the claw,
and the sting,
all came from the ooze
of the ocean
and I say they're deluded believers
who believe
so deceptive a thing!

I've met these fantastic Believers
who believe so deceptive a thing.
who believe that the man
and his conscience,
and the thought,
and the laugh,
and the sigh,
and the sex,
and the psyche,
and the heartbeat, and the breath,
and the speech,
and the eye,
all came from the ooze
of the ocean.
and
I say they're deceptive believers
who believe
so fantastic a lie.

Evolutionist

I've met these deluded believers
who believe so fantastic a thing.
Who believe that the Phlox
and the Lilacs,
the Cosmos,
the Mum,
and the Rose,
the Hibiscus,
and Pansy,
and Zinnia,
and every
quaint flower that grows,
emerged from the flow of oceans
from the sun,
and the winds,
and the sod,
but they spurn
and deny the vast wisdom,
the magnificent finger of God!

Please think of His seeds without number,
yes, look at the flaming rose,
or look at a single flower
that down by the brook-side grows!
Genesis 1:31

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I Speak to Young Men and Women, Boys and Girls!

O I Speak to Young Men

I speak to young men and women, boys and girls
who tend to 'boil over' and say
to parents and guardians,
"It's my life and I'm going live it."
If that's your sworn pledge,
the world-spirit will plunder you,
the devil will seek to claim you,
you will be his pawn.
You'll join the other teens
that drink the spurious cup of freedom,
overflowing with regret and jeopardy.

Aren't you sick
with depression and immorality,
drenched with sloppy sex,
battered by abortions...
thinking about the baby you carry
and what you will do next?

What will I do
with this unborn babe
who never did an evil act.
You must ask "Why?"

You must ask "Why?"

Why should this living child in my womb
in total innocence,
be judged by human counselors and courts,
to legalize the doctor's right
to kill it? Why?

Why should this helpless child
be so severely judged
with no defendant
pleading for its life?
Why? I must ask, Why?
Why is it doomed to die?

Young man, young woman, come.
Come, bow down at the feet of Jesus
and share your sin and pain.
He longs to hear your desperate cry.
He will speak to your conscience
and to your hopelessness.
He will say,
"Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more."
John 8:11

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Listen, O Man Who Sins Against God's Order and Nature!

O Man Who Sins

Yes, you O man who lies with a man
as you would with a woman,
You pervert the meaning of God's created gift,
You not only debauch your own life
with your fornications
but you damage the "psyche" of your lover.

God abhors your sin,
but even at such a time,
He does not visit you with the judgment
that demands perdition
but rather with the judgment that calls you
to repent of your sin and call on the Lord
with godly sorrow.

How does He judge you?
By the foment and the feelings
of contention, self pity and fear,
by the alienation that comes like a thief
and robs you of the happy days you had,
And since you jeopardize your morals
so you spoil the powers of your soul and body
and so do you, O woman,
who lies with another woman.

Hear the word of the Lord in Romans 1 : 27,
"they received in themselves
the penalty of their error which was due."
"Repent, therefore, and be converted
that your sins may be blotted out
so that seasons of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord."
Acts 3:12

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Abraham, the Goyim

Abraham

Oh, living God, my question is,
"Why did you choose the Jew-man?
Wasn't there another race
more sensitive and hu-man?

This friend of mine, he let's me know,
the Jews, they just annoy him.
But God replied, "When will he know
the Jews came from the Goyim?"

This Abraham (with all his seed),
Lord, why did you employ him?
God said, "There were no Jews to pick,
I picked him from the Goyim."

The Hebrew stock were Goyim too,
through Eber and through Shem.
And Abraham was Terah's son...
the Jews came out of them.

There is a voice, O Lord, that says,
"The Jews, why not destroy him?"
God says, "I won't, I made a pact
with Abraham, the Goyim."

Listen, son, I blessed the Jews,
and sent them tribulations.
And then I sent my Son, (a Jew)
to save and bless the nations!
Deuteronomy 26:5

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Listen, Children of Ishmael and Esau

Children of Ishmael

There is hope for you,
but not by possessing Jerusalem,
not by plundering
the people of Isaac,
but in your repentance
from the pride of your heart,
honor the Lord, the Savior, Jesus Christ,
not as the son of Mary only,
but as He surely is the Son of God.
If you do not have Jesus Christ
you do not have God!

Without Him, do you know
what your faith is like?
It is like the skin-bottle of Hagar
emptied of its water,
unable to quench her thirst.

Listen! Children of Ishmael and Esau!
Cry! yes, cry like Hagar cried,
'til the God of Abraham
shows you the fountain of living waters.
Jesus Christ is that fountain.
Why have you traded Him
for a cistern that holds no water?
He is more than a Moses
or a Joshua or a David, or an Elijah,
He is the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Matthew 16:16-17

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Listen, Israelis

Listen Israelis

Listen Israelis
Since the forty eighth year of the 20th century
you have been a nation.
You have possessed a portion of your land,
not because of your own righteousness, but
because the God of your fathers
has an enduring covenant with the land.
He gave it to the children of Jacob
for an everlasting possession.

But listen, Israel to Obadiah the prophet,
The hills of Zion and Jerusalem
shall be taken from you again,
You shall run from the streets of Tel Aviv,
and flee from the shores of Galilee,
and scatter from the desert of the Negev.
You shall be driven from the lands you possess.
Many Arabs around you
shall wallow in their haughtiness and plunder you.
You shall be scattered again.
Many of you will be taken to Egypt by ships.

But after all this the God of your fathers
will show His hand and gather you from all nations
and bring you once again into your land.

Listen carefully, O Israel, to Zechariah, your prophet
You have the land, but you will lose it again,
then by God's word all Israel will possess all the land.
You will possess Lebanon to the north
and Gilead, east of Jordan
and still there will not be room for you.

This will begin that Day
when the Lord will judge the nations.
God will critically deal with you
until you praise Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth!
Zechariah 10:9-10

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The Day of the Lord is near

Day of the Lord

Our Lord Jesus, two thousand years ago,
told us of the days that lie shortly ahead,
marked by two things that will begin
and define the generation of His return.
They are these:
Worldwide deceit in religion, and the upsurge
of wars and commotions everywhere,
beyond the control of the strongest nations.
The world will be filled with terror and contention,
but the end of the age is not yet.

Then a man shall rise
from among the ten horns
that come from the fallen Roman empire.
He will subdue three nations.
He will speak in arrogance against the Lord.

Listen! The Trump of the Lord calls you!
Gather around the Throne of the Lamb,
you who are ready and righteous
by the power of His blood.

After this, for a time, and times and half a time,
the wicked Wolf of Satan will devour the Lord's sheep,
even the slain saints of Jesus-Messiah

After these days, the Holy One
will send His burning judgments over all the earth.

Then, north-west of Israel
this vile person will travel, with rage, south and east
and enter the Holy City,
He will defile Israel's holy temple.
By his diplomacy and power
he shall be an enchanter;
the world will give him their worship.

Then the trumpet will sound and Messiah will come
and consume this lawless one
"with the breath of His mouth
and destroy him with the brightness of His coming."
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And the seventh angel sounded
and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
"The kingdoms of this world have become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He shall reign for ever and ever."
Revelation 11:15

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Where Is Our Place?

Where Is Our Place?

We have no Rome,
O children, born of God!
No purple and no scarlet priests and rite,
no ornate altar with its candlelight...
We have no Rome!

No Mecca ours,
O lovers of God's Son!
No pilgrimages to some holy place,
No holy sight to which we turn our face...
No Mecca ours!

Benares? No!
O people of the Name!
No mountain, river, image great or small.
In knowing Christ we hate these each and all.
Benares? No!

No, nor Jerusalem,
O people Spirit-led.
Though in time past and in the time to come
it will contain the glory of God's Son.
Now, no Jerusalem!

Where is our place
O men gathered in Christ?
We have no temples, priests, or Omen-star.
At God's right hand our purest pleasures are,
This is our place!

This is the place!
Where else but here is joy?
Here we find power to love and persevere.
Here is our Christ in splendor, pure and clear.
This is our place!!
Hebrews 1:3

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The Place of Prayer

The Place of Prayer

The place of prayer,
O holy place;
for in that secret hour
we draw from God's omnipotence
His sweet, refreshing power.

The place of prayer,
O mighty place,
though weak in man's esteem.
Here faith, as first, a little spring
begets a mighty stream.

The place of prayer,
O thrilling place,
released from carnal sense.
The soul begins to see and know
God's love in evidence.

The place of prayer,
O fruitful place,
the Spirit hovers there;
for all embodiments of grace
are from the womb of prayer.

The place of prayer,
O precious place,
the pearl of Calvary,
where Christ was destitute of God
that I might never be!
Matthew 6:6

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The Newness of Life

The Newness of Life

Rejoice in life's inconstancies,
the unforcasted thing!
When comes the unexpected wind,
let your praises ring! Or when the wind may lag behind,
Sing, child, sing!

Contain God in a recipe?
Never child, No!
Contain Him in a group or creed?
No! No! No!
Vast as Heaven, small as seed,
you will find Him so!

Try to freeze a flame of fire
or embrace the air,
when the glowing thrill you find
in some moment rare,
that you wish to grasp or bind,
God confounds you there!

So come and walk in Heaven's Wind.
Jesus leads you on,
consecrated, pure and free,
by His grace to run,
loosed from all lanquidity,
Wasted hours? None!
Romans 8:14-15

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The Resting Place

The Resting Place

We cannot rest on character
for that would be self-praise.
And deep are the deceptions
the errant heart portrays.

We cannot rest on blessings
or graces we have known,
for even during victories
may seeds of sin be sown.

We cannot count on fervency
or exploits we have done,
for we may find our idols there
and grieve the Holy One.

We cannot build on cunning thoughts;
man's reasonings are vain,
for all the genius of flesh
still bears the mark of Cain.

We cannot count on feelings sweet
that thrill us or condole,
for even men and demons
can stimulate the soul.

My heart finds only resting-place,
and knows itself assured,
by utter, deep, and full embrace
of Christ's transforming Word!
Matthew 7:24

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The Lord of My World

The Lord of My World

I choose, by faith, to gaze upon
the blood on heaven's Mercy Seat.
I choose to claim God's victory
though feelings rise and cry, "Defeat."
Since God is God and truth is truth
and Jesus is what men declare,
His justice shall uphold what's right
though things seem utterly unfair!

Lord, let me learn this lesson well
until my joy is all unfurled,
because I doubt not, but believe
that Jesus overcame my world!
John 16:33

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When God Withdraws His Hand

When God Withdraws

God can! God does! In His wise way,
(for purposes divinely known)
stand by the side, withdraws His hand
And let His servants act alone.

It's then they feel no firm constraint,
no special urge that's strong or faint.
It's then God proves their soulish parts.
He sees, they see, what's in their hearts.
2 Chronicles 32:31

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Whispered Word?

Whispered Word

Secret acts? Whispered words?
Intimate relations?
No. All the private things we do
Have public implications!

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To Men Who Still Persist In Sin, Remember Genesis 3:4

To Men Who Still Persist in Sin

To men who still persist in sin,
who steal, cheat or lie,
who curse and swear,
and drink strong drink,
or drugs to get them high.
who disregard the Sabbath day.
Or courts another's wife;
To these we dare not, must not say,
"You'll have eternal life."

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A Mother's Song

A Mother's Song

The closest neighbor that I know of
from conception to the tomb
is this baby that I carry
as it's forming in my womb.

It's much closer than my parents,
or my sister or my friend.
So can I love this fetus
if I bring it to an end?

So I ask myself these questions:
"Did I let this neighbor in?
"Can I say I'm not responsibile
for passion's choice or whim?"

If I spurn the Law of Moses,
throw my Bible on the shelf;
still I know my conscience tells me,
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
James 2:8-12

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Eros and Agape

Eros and Agape

Eros and Agape
should never be at odds,
both are meant to live as one,
both are truly God's!

Eros can be wayward
and leave the Father's home;
dissipate its powers
and in the darkness roam.

But Eros can repent and turn
and leave its sullied past
and find the Father's pure embrace
and know true love at last!
2 Corinthians 7:1

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The Thrill That Seduces, Remember Mark 8:36

The Thrill that Seduces

Don't let me sacrifice the good
For present thrills I feel.
But rather sacrifice the thrill
In the presence for the real.

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Neutrality

Neutrality

I met a wayward child
who wanders through the earth.
I asked this wayward child,
"What parents gave you birth?"

He said, "Their names were many,
but two of them were dear.
My father's was 'Rebellion.'
My mother's name was 'Fear.'

I asked this wayward child
just what his name might be,
And then, with reticence, he said,
"My name's Neutrality."

I asked him, "What has proved to be
your saddest day of all?"
He said, "Two thousand years ago,
in Pilate's Judgment hall!"
John 19:15-17

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"Paul"

Paul

I no more walk beside him,
this son of mine, who now is gone.
His body's planted low beneath
the white of snow,
the green of lawn.

I no more sit beside him
upon the hill with windy skies.
His spirit has gone higher,
where Jesus is
in Paradise.

I no more stand beside him.
Someday, I shall, I know not when.
But He who ever lives
will raise us up.
We'll stand together then!
Written after our son, Paul,
was killed in a tornado in 1969.

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Bereavement

Bereavement

Often I have felt alone
since my loved one passed away.
Sorrow turns my joy to stone.
Sadness seems to hedge my way.
None the less, our Lord above
stirs in me a hopeful chord,
As I know and as I say,
"The one I love is with the Lord."

Tears have daily filled my eyes
as I think of former things.
Even pleasant memories
stir no happy songs to sing.
At such times, I lift my heart
to the One no longer dead.
Forward is His word to me.
Look to Jesus, look ahead!
2 Corinthians 5:8

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As Child, Not a Dog

As a child

If even dogs may eat
the fallen crumbs of grace
that fall from off the table,
do I lose face
to eat those crumbs
to meet my desperate needs?

O Lord, your call is sweet.
Your grace is deep and strong,
I need not live,
as dogs must live, for long.

My desperate soul
the Lord knows very well.
My fears He too has felt,
and in His tender mercy
He kindly lifts me up,
not as a dog, but as a child, fed,
to sit among his children,
and eat the children's bread!
Matthew 15:26

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Mercy's Light

Mecy's Light

As dawn grows stronger in the east,
it chases night away,
but mercy, when it rises up,
pervades both night and day!

God's mercy touches all around,
closer than breath and breeze.
It comes to bless men everywhere,
in pain as well as peace.

It is by mercy that we learn
God owes not but He gives.
And we as debtors come to Him
Who heals and forgives.

In mercy's light we yield to Him
our "sarx," our souls, this hour,
and from His nail-scarred hands we feel
the currents of His power!
Romans 12:1-2

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THE RIGHT ROAD: AM I ON IT? | LOVE COMES SOFTLY, JANETTE OKE'S MESSAGE OF HOPE AND EXPECTATION | TAMAR: SALVATION FOR ALL, Francine Rivers' Canaanite Woman | TAMMY AND TOMMY: THE ENEMY IS AN IDEA | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


Harold Brokke
Emeritus Professor of Missions and Biblical Studies
Bethany College of Missions
6820 Auto Club Road Suite C
Bloomington, MN 55438, USA
E-mail: harold.brokke@bethfel.org.