Poetry by Jordan Fraker
"The Burden of the Hour"
Salvation was brought to this earth by a cross and wordly rejection. (Luke 9:22, Isaiah 53:3)
Not a painless compromise of demonic genuflection (Matthew 4:9)
Christ was born to be hated, a stone of stumbling and man of strife (Isaiah 8:14, Jeremiah 15:10)
To show forth God's kingdom and reign by the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7:16)
To be the Light in a world of darkness and sin (John 9:5)
To testify that men's deeds were evil without and within (John 7:7)
To preach no easy-believism saying, (John 6:60-65)
No devilish repeat after me praying, (Matthew 6:7)
He called for a man to yield to condemnation (John 6:53, John 3:19-21)
And pass sentence upon himself with no amalgamation ( Luke 23:40-2)
Death to his flesh and all he ever willed (Romans 8:13, 1 Peter 4:2)
Embracing a cross by which all his lusts were killed (Galatians 5:24, 6:14, Luke 9:23)
A continual dying to all this worlds pleasure (1 john 2:15-7, 1 Peter 4:2)
To be the most miserable of men by all carnal measure (1 cor 15:19)
Paul's ways were in Christ, hated of all men for His sake (Matthew 10:22)
Entire churches, cities, and countries wide this narrow way could not take. (1 cor 4:13)
We can be "Christians," said they "and reign as kings," (1 cor 4:8-16)
Be wise in this world to win it, and have nice things. (1 cor 3:18, 1 cor 4:10)
Yes Jesus suffered scorn and was cast out as evil
Hated by the most popular pastors and said to have a devil (Matthew 9:34, Matthew 12:24)
But this is a different time and things have changed (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Society has evolved and men's hearts have rearranged
If we want to see souls saved and our Savior's kingdom advance
We have to avoid offensive topics and make the gospel attractive at a glance (1 cor 1:17-24)
We must not preach the cost of forsaking all or leaving this world to follow Him (Philippians 3:18-19)
We'll make that an option for those zealous few, and say the rest still make it in
"Of course we're saved! We believe in the death burial and resurrection,
Though it's power is a thing of the past we've moved on to "perfection" (2 Timothy 2:18)
Healing the sick, casting out devils and turning the world upside down (Mark 16:15-8, Acts 17:6)
Is a thing that happened then but it's certainly not for now (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Otherwise we'd be ashamed when we read the Gospels or the book of Acts
We'd be compelled to repent and seek God; no longer able to relax (Amos 6:1)
And since we don't have God's power we'll use worldly wisdom and carnal reason for proof (1 Corinthians 1:17-21, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
Which should do just fine; after all, isn't "all truth God's truth?" (John 17:17, Ephesians 4:21)
Yes Jesus, Paul, and Peter, yea, every true prophet of old
Was an offscouring to the whole earth and a wonder to behold (1 Corinthians 4:13-6)
But we are following Christ too, though we don't pray or love His word, and we haven't left our sin (Titus 1:16)
We are saved by grace, and our pastor told us "if heaven ain't a gift, I'm not makin' it in." (Jude 4)
Salvation was brought to this earth by a cross and wordly rejection. (Luke 9:22, Isaiah 53:3)
Not a painless compromise of demonic genuflection (Matthew 4:9)
Christ was born to be hated, a stone of stumbling and man of strife (Isaiah 8:14, Jeremiah 15:10)
To show forth God's kingdom and reign by the power of an endless life (Hebrews 7:16)
To be the Light in a world of darkness and sin (John 9:5)
To testify that men's deeds were evil without and within (John 7:7)
To preach no easy-believism saying, (John 6:60-65)
No devilish repeat after me praying, (Matthew 6:7)
He called for a man to yield to condemnation (John 6:53, John 3:19-21)
And pass sentence upon himself with no amalgamation ( Luke 23:40-2)
Death to his flesh and all he ever willed (Romans 8:13, 1 Peter 4:2)
Embracing a cross by which all his lusts were killed (Galatians 5:24, 6:14, Luke 9:23)
A continual dying to all this worlds pleasure (1 john 2:15-7, 1 Peter 4:2)
To be the most miserable of men by all carnal measure (1 cor 15:19)
Paul's ways were in Christ, hated of all men for His sake (Matthew 10:22)
Entire churches, cities, and countries wide this narrow way could not take. (1 cor 4:13)
We can be "Christians," said they "and reign as kings," (1 cor 4:8-16)
Be wise in this world to win it, and have nice things. (1 cor 3:18, 1 cor 4:10)
Yes Jesus suffered scorn and was cast out as evil
Hated by the most popular pastors and said to have a devil (Matthew 9:34, Matthew 12:24)
But this is a different time and things have changed (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Society has evolved and men's hearts have rearranged
If we want to see souls saved and our Savior's kingdom advance
We have to avoid offensive topics and make the gospel attractive at a glance (1 cor 1:17-24)
We must not preach the cost of forsaking all or leaving this world to follow Him (Philippians 3:18-19)
We'll make that an option for those zealous few, and say the rest still make it in
"Of course we're saved! We believe in the death burial and resurrection,
Though it's power is a thing of the past we've moved on to "perfection" (2 Timothy 2:18)
Healing the sick, casting out devils and turning the world upside down (Mark 16:15-8, Acts 17:6)
Is a thing that happened then but it's certainly not for now (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Otherwise we'd be ashamed when we read the Gospels or the book of Acts
We'd be compelled to repent and seek God; no longer able to relax (Amos 6:1)
And since we don't have God's power we'll use worldly wisdom and carnal reason for proof (1 Corinthians 1:17-21, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
Which should do just fine; after all, isn't "all truth God's truth?" (John 17:17, Ephesians 4:21)
Yes Jesus, Paul, and Peter, yea, every true prophet of old
Was an offscouring to the whole earth and a wonder to behold (1 Corinthians 4:13-6)
But we are following Christ too, though we don't pray or love His word, and we haven't left our sin (Titus 1:16)
We are saved by grace, and our pastor told us "if heaven ain't a gift, I'm not makin' it in." (Jude 4)
