Seventy Times Seven

Judgment and forgiveness in weeks of years contained...

Love combined with justice...rejection and pursuit...

God's prophetic pages with godly tears are stained,

Wept to wet a garden full of immortal fruit.

Seventy times seven, since Ephraim returned

To a land now rested from stolen Sabbaths all...

Seventy times seven, save one, since Christ was spurned,

One dread final "seven" awaits the Master's call.

At His joyful entry the nation could have knelt:

Childlike folk acclaimed Him while fathers turned aside...

Vast angelic wonder: His prayer when death was dealt!

"Father, please forgive them. They're blinded by their pride."

Seventy times seven, a pattern Jesus set

For a true disciple by world or brother hurt...

Seventy times seven: we have not suffered yet

As our Savior suffered; His way we can't desert.

Likely hailed and hated through our three-score and ten.

Our supreme Forgiver, His strength cut off halfway,

Grants renewal, redemption, raised up with Him again...

Present both in sufferings and in the debts we pay.

Seventy times seven, to thankful, godly hearts,

Seems no cost for patience, no pain for perfect love.

Seventy times seven. Among all human arts,

Glad forgiveness pictures the grace of life above.

MNA

1993(?)

O Light of Men

Into Adam's race You crept,

Secret many ages kept--

You, the fount, the living spout

Man could never figure out.

On the scene of souls' despair--

Cursed creation, lurker's lair--

Here You lived, and lived again,

Spirit-sired, O Light of Men!

Sirens silent, beacons black,

Loathing to admit our lack,

Parents of pathetic choice, 

Lost in spite of Sinai's voice,

Molding, with no straw supplied,

Bricks to build a hopeless pride,

Broken by the broken Ten,

Lived by You, O Light of Men!

Reason dark, emotions bland,

Wills enslaved by duties damned,

Ev'ry impulse aimed within,

No alternative but sin,

Self-deceived and running blind,

Never could we frame or find

Homes to house our crippled ken

'Til You shone, O Light of Men

Those who should have loved You most

Trifled with creation's Host.

Only those with naught to lose

Clearly heard Your simple truths.

Paltry few would break away

From the "wisdom" of their day.

So we rarely love You when

Others mock, O Light of Men.

Not in worthy words alone,

Nor in signs You glory shone,

But especially Your life,

Calmly lived amid our strife,

Ev'ry thought and action planned

By Your Father's kind command,

Signed Your scroll with sacred pen,

Spotless Lamb, O Light of Men!

Anger, hatred, dread and doubt

All conspired to snuff You out.

Lifeless Lantern on a cross,

Stifled signal... O what loss!

Had Your glory proved untrue,

No god would have rescued You...

But our Sun blazed forth again!

You arose, O Light of Men!

To our souls now, evermore,

You present an open door.

In our hearts You now create

Lamps Your love to radiate.

From our wild, benighted minds,

You at last remove the blinds.

Useless eyes now see again,

Touched by You, O Light of Men!

Eyes of faith now clearly see,

As I trust Your will for me.

All I seek, my spirit knows,

Hid, in You, from fleshly woes,

Trained for each ascending stage

By Your Spirit's holy page,

Joining soon, with glad "Amen!"

Your bright host, O Light of Men!

MNA

October, 1994

Life as God’s Gift…or Being a Pawn

Our culture has largely rejected the concept of Absolute Truth. Many, if not most, of the people we rub shoulders with adhere to a value system that excludes a belief in any divine standard of right and wrong. The Ten Commandments are considered outmoded at best, or else openly ridiculed as ancient naivete.

There is a value system that does prevail in our culture, however. Without a consensus of absolute standards, which characterized our society up to the 1960s, say, the system that took hold of the minds of people was largely Hedonistic. What mattered to people wasn’t so much right vs. wrong, or the question of doing one’s duty, as it was achieving personal pleasure and avoiding personal pain.

This shift away from God’s word, the Bible, as our life’s blueprint, produced incredibly rapid changes in our society. Changes in areas of sexual conduct, protection of the unborn, respect for parents and the elderly, traditional work ethics, politics and statesmanship, honesty and fair dealing, simple patriotic love, parental responsibility, etc.: all these areas morphed into mere shadows of what they were formerly. Hedonistic ME-ism insisted that each person had the liberty to self-determine each and every facet of life.

Life used to be considered a Gift from a benevolent, all-wise Creator, a gift that brought with it both privileges and responsibilities. Each person has a conscience, for example. A still, small voice that regulates our desires and our choices, telling us what is right and what is wrong. The Gift of Life is telling us to be responsible and do the right, not the wrong. But the hedonist has learned to ignore his or her conscience if it promises pleasure or avoids discomfort in the short term.

People with power over others have learned how to use this Hedonistic bent to manipulate us. Media owners and producers can subtly control us by the ads they broadcast, the narratives they spin, the stories they tell and those they ignore. They’ve learned that people no longer engage in deep thinking but, instead, let their feelings of the moment determine their course. Sound bites and 3-second images are imprinted on our minds with no time to truly engage our brains before it’s on to the next surface impression. This technique can convince millions of people that a narrative is true when it’s not.

Instant technologies such as smart phones have intensified this problem, placing the power of endless images and data-bits in our hands, convincing us that we are informed enough about our world to be “experts” about what’s happening. We forget that true expert knowledge requires long, arduous thinking about a wide range of subject matter. True experts have learned to say “no” to gratification long and often enough to become aware of all the various viewpoints involved, and how they interact.

It’s unfortunate that manipulated populations are mostly unaware of being pawns in the hands of someone’s political grab for power, or the algorithm of a distant, wealthy tech wizard, or even some billionaire in another country who finances protests and riots in our own land; and that those who are aware of it are happy to be so used, or at least apathetic about it.

The only way to stop the ungodly fallout of this state of affairs, in my opinion, is Spiritual Renewal. In short, a penitential U-turn back to Absolute Truth, the wisdom and order given in God’s revealed Word. His is an eternal truth that not only governs the physical universe, but sees human life as the Gift it truly is, with all its privileges and responsibilities. Letting this eternal truth govern our desires and our choices can guide our culture back onto the path of deeper thought, truer devotion to Him, and taking our duty to each other in society more seriously.

MNA

1/29/26

His Christmas Call

 

Snap of December wind,

blindness from drifting flake,

redness of skin exposed

to scant degrees that make

seasonal shoppers long

for respite in the glow

of heated hearths at home

after their to-and-fro

journeys in car or van,

seeking for treasures rare—

wreaths, jewelry, video games,

socks, thermal underwear—

in shops and urban malls,

cozy or warehouse-bleak,

finding the right surprise

under their trees to sneak,

twinkling of backup lights

in slushy parking lots,

jangling of Salv-o bells,

barrels from Toys for Tots,

reindeer and stocking stuff,

lists from siblings and kids

naming each fad desire,

antifreeze, icy skids

out on the dreamy streets

decked since Thanksgiving day

with holly, lights and elves,

crèches along the way

between vanity faire

and that celestial towne

never more pie-in-sky

than when Noel rolls ‘round:

these scenes and millions more

crowd in to draw our gaze

away from plans divine,

from God’s redemptive maze

followed by saints in ways

miraculous and mild

till angels sang to hail

Mary’s thrice-holy child.

Still, I suppose it’s fit

that Jesus’ birth must fight

through weather, bother, greed,

to greet us in the night;

His coming wasn’t meant

to outdo pleasure’s blast,

but Mary’s little Lamb,

to solve our sinful past,

had to sneak into town

past Satan’s watchful eye

and live a life un-lost,

then lay it down to die.

He had to sacrifice,

for no man could restore

righteousness to our race—

depraved right to the core;

God’s character demands

guilt bearers must be cursed,

but—praise Him!—grace allows

the last to enter first.

While man ignored his God

and wandered long in sin,

the Shepherd-Lamb prepared

to call transgressors in

where thieves will never steal

His precious sheep away;

and so the call went out

as still it does today.

Christ Jesus, God in flesh,

sends out this gracious call

to trust Him and obey

this Child who gave His all;

He offers as a gift

forgiveness fair and free;

On Him the curse was cast,

first meant for you and me.

He offers life anew

for any who will bow

his heart and mind and will

and love this Savior now.

This Babe of Bethlehem

became Golgotha’s Lamb;

His blood has paid the price

for sinners’ guilt and shame.

But, risen, as He said,

His Christmas call goes out:

“Don’t miss Me, or you’ll miss

what Yuletide’s all about!”

MNA (Have a blessed Christmas!)

Jesus, the Child of Christmas

(a new Christmas song to a familiar tune)

Caesar Augustus ordered

All the world to be enrolled,

For God the Father planned it

His redemption to unfold.

Mary and Joseph traveled

To the town of Bethlehem

And had to use a stable,

For no room was at the inn.

Lo! Some shepherds heard that night

Herald angels say:

Good news! For in David’s town,

Christ the Lord is born this day!

They hurried to the manger,

And they shouted out with glee:

“We have beheld the Savior,

Witnessed His nativity!”

(2nd verse)

Later, there came some wise men,

Following His star on high,

For they had heard the prophets

Say a Ruler’s birth was nigh.

So, they inquired of Herod

Where the Baby would be born;

“In Bethlehem,” they answered.

“Search for Him,” the king implored.

At the Savior’s house they gave

Homage to the King:

Gold and frankincense and myrrh

Were their reverent offerings.

Then they went home but never

Aided Herod’s evil plan,

For they were warned he wanted

To destroy the Son of Man!

(3rd verse)

Joseph, the Child and Mary

Fled away to Egypt-land,

Told in an angel vision

Of old Herod’s wicked plan.

So Jesus came from Egypt 

Like the Hebrews did before,

Fulfilling sacred Scripture:

“Out of there, My Son’s called forth!”

He became a Nazarene,

Up in Galilee,

Grew up as a Carpenter,

Obeyed the Father perfectly.

Teaching the truth and healing

All who looked to Him in faith,

He gave His life to save us,

And He lives–our King of Grace!

Jesus, the Child of Christmas:

Now He reigns as King of Grace!

(May be sung to the “Rudolph Reindeer” tune)

Tragedy and God's Will

Many, many people in this world sincerely believe they know God, or at least, know what God is like. I’m talking about the biblical God. The God and Father of Jesus Christ revealed by the Old and New Testaments. Sadly, a great number of them are inaccurate, or are simply ignorant, or are unwilling to accept the true nature of the true God. I realize that many of my own friends would react with shock and horror at what I have to say about Him, but here goes...

Right at the very beginning of God’s revelation, that is, in Genesis chapters one through three, He makes several very basic factors about Himself, and us humans, extremely plain and simple.

First of all is the fact that He is our Creator and our Lawgiver, the Source of all that is good and right and true and beautiful. While He has given people the ability of choice, He has given Himself the preroggative of limiting those choices and holding people accountable, requiring us to perfectly obey his moral law, preferably out of love and gratitude for His creating us in the first place. Of all the creatures, we were made in His image and expected to reflect His nature.

Second, the overarching TRAGEDY that befell humanity is what is known as “the Fall.” People used their freedom of choice to disobey His law. This tragic act of rebellion, made by those created to reflect His perfect character, plunged the human race into a cursed, broken world and a wayward, sin-filled history. And yes, even though God COULD have prevented this tragedy from happening, He did, in fact, ALLOW it to happen. Why? We don’t know the answer to that question. But if we are willing to accept God’s nature as absolutely and eternally GOOD, then we must accept that allowing sin into the world was somehow God’s WILL. Like it or not.

Third, God responded to this Fall of mankind in several ways. Genesis 3 tells of three curses He pronounced as one response: a curse on the man, a curse on the woman, and a curse on the serpent. But along with His curse came a promise of GRACE. In a rather cryptic prediction, the Creator declared that a “Seed of the woman” would eventually bring destruction upon the one who tempted Adam and Eve, in effect, reversing the results of the curse and restoring our right standing with God. This prediction was His first promise of SALVATION. And a further hint of what that promise entailed was given in the way God clothed our first sinful parents: He clothed them with the skins of a dead sacrifice, an animal. In a very clear way, God was telling us that SIN leads to DEATH. Tragedy upon tragedy. Since then, the death of an innocent substitute has been the only way sinners can approach their HOLY Creator.

So, we find that in the opening chapters of God’s word, TRAGEDY in general came into God’s perfect world as the direct result of human disobedience. And the fact that our Creator allowed this to happen shows us that He is not just a passive “bystander” in this arena of tragedy. While He certainly didn’t CAUSE mankind’s Fall, it was His preroggative and right as our Sovereign to use the Fall and its consequences for His own good purpose. He actually used the occasion of our sinful rebellion to set his PLAN OF REDEMPTION into motion.

God’s curse on the man and the woman resulted in His good world being marred and broken: producing natural disasters, diseases, accidents, etc. And man’s Fall changed our natures to be twisted and bent in on themselves, no longer willing to fully obey our Maker, but selfishly insisting on our own way, even to the point of denying the reality of our true Lawgiver and the validity of His LAW. We routinely resist His right to rule us, refuse to believe His revelation, and reimagine the nature of our Holy God. We create new “gods” more to our own individual tastes, gods who wink at our sins like a tolerant grandparent, gods who would NEVER use tragedy in our lives for an eternal purpose. We don’t want to let the TRUE God be our God. In effect, we think we deserve better: a more acceptable, more manageable deity.

I’ve actually heard people trying to make excuses for God when it comes to facing tragedy. I’ve heard them say---even SHOUT--- “My God would never allow such and such a sorrowful loss to occur! I believe in a God who is out of the picture when tragedy happens! It would never be His will to cause someone pain!” And, here’s where it becomes an anger-eliciting reality:

There is NO ONE who is more involved in tragedies when they happen...than God is.

And I’m so glad He is!

If you read the biblical stories of Job...of Abraham...of David...of Jesus, of scores of others, you will see that the worst tragedies imaginable befall people to achieve a divine purpose. Sometimes to TEST his choicest servants. Sometimes to cause repentance. Sometimes to judge our sins. Sometimes to punish entire nations. And, in the case of God’s Son, to obtain eternal salvation and relief from any and all tragedies whatever.

If we attempt to let God “off the hook” when bad things happen, we are failing to believe several biblical truths about our good Creator. The fact of His sovereignty over his creation, means that there’s nothing that happens that is outside His control. His divine will is perfect and comprehensive. He sees and knows all that goes on down to the tiniest particle of this universe. “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). His absolute power has the ability and the right to ordain and permit everything that takes place.

One of the chief ways that denying this truth does God a disservice, is that we are denying those who experience tragedy the opportunity to turn to God as a source of comfort and strength during those times of grief and pain. We’re telling the suffering person, “God’s not even involved in your pain, you needn’t bother Him about it. It was just a purposeless accident, a chance occurence.” We’re intimating that God only loves us when we are NOT suffering, and that when we are, He wasn’t around loving us at that moment, He was off someplace else.

To trust the God of the Bible entails the belief that His will is involved in ALL that befalls His creatures. Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without His knowing and permitting it. Along with this trust, we must accept that His purposes are, very often, HIDDEN from us. In the story of Job, for example, God never explains to His servant Job the WHY behind all He put him through: the loss of his family, the loss of his wealth and his health. His only answer to Job’s challenge was to just show up and reveal HIMSELF. And rather than insist on a clearer explanation, Job said, “I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke without understanding. I repent in dust and ashes.” 

God IS involved when you and I suffer. Tragedy is to be expected in a sinful world that will one day be totally redeemed. Our broken world makes us LONG for that final restoration that began when Jesus Christ arose from the dead after paying the price for our sin that broke God’s world. Untold thousands of men, women, boys and girls have actually turned to God and believed on Christ as the RESULT of tragedy in their lives. God often uses it for that purpose. If God allowed a sinful race to continue without facing brokenness and pain, would ANY of us seek Him?

Gently reminding a suffering person that God’s purpose might be hidden for now, but He is with us in the midst of our suffering to comfort and reassure us, far from being cruel and heartless, is a loving and truthful thing to do. We can also reassure the victim of tragedy that their fear that God is punishing them is very likely NOT the case. Christ answered his disciples when they questioned whether the man born blind had sinned, or his parents had... “No, but so that God’s glory could be revealed” when Christ came and healed him.

When we tell a suffering person that God is involved in their situation, even though His purpose remains unknown, it very well could point them in a positive direction, leading them to a deeper relationship with their sovereign Creator. It might make their bitter cup sweeter if they take their pain and anguish to the Healer of broken hearts. The compassionate Shepherd of our souls.

November 11, 2025

M.N.A.

You Are the Way

Savior, Your words in the Upper Room

Warned Your disciples about Your doom.

Yet you still promised both us, and they,

That to Your Father You are the Way.

You are the Way & the Truth & the Life

For all who follow You.

To all the world You brought gladness and light

Through a cross and an empty tomb

That You faced in that Upper Room.

Jesus, You wept in Gethsemane

As Your disciples fell fast asleep.

Yet You committed Yourself to do

All that the Father had planned for You.

You are the Way & the Truth & the Life

For all who trust in You.

To all Your people Your words gave the light:

To sinners a lot like me,

After You left Gethsemane.

Master, You let the mob lead You away,

All to fulfill what the Scriptures say,

Kissed by a traitor and bound like a thief,

Though You did nothing but bring relief!

You are the Way & the Truth & the Life

For all who call Your name:

Those who in darkness had seen a great light.

It will shine in us on that Day,

Though it hid as they led you away.

Jesus, You silently heard their lies;

You were rejected, abused, despised.

They treated You as OUR sins deserved---

Bearing the guilt that WE had incurred!

You are the Way & the Truth & the Life

For all who humbly bow.

Through evil’s darkness we see divine light

Though Your death may forbid it to rise;

Your own truth will defeat their lies.

Savior, they led You to Calvary,

There to experience hell’s agony;

Lord, Your obedience led to the Cross,

For none but You could redeem the lost!

You are the Way & the Truth & the Life

For all who turn to You,

Forsake the darkness and live in Your light:

Those You’ve given the eyes to see

What you did there on Calvary.

MNA

9/14/2025