THE WORLD AND ISLAM

                 

The world's beset by evil

All done in "Allah's" name--

With purpose clear, his name revere,

With the effort to kill and maim.

With world domination the goal

And children reared and trained,

The world by sword to conquer 

With rank in paradise gained.

Attempting to oppose with force   

Is destined utterly to fail,

Since losing their lives is gain

 Persuasion will be of no avail.

Only God's intervention will suffice

To do so, the Church must be readied;

Its worldly ties must be severed

And to the cross its future wedded.

Nominal Christianity has run its course

And is powerless Islam to defeat;

Therefore, it must be laid aside

And God's conditions for revival meet.

The Church must lose its life to save it,

Which means to take up the cross;

Resistance in the strength of self

I s destined to be but loss.

The warriors pray five times a day;

Into Allah's will they're locked.

Folding their prayer mats neatly,

They arise with their weapons cocked.

But God's hands are not tied,

And all is not to battle lost;

He conquered evil at the cross,

With our Savior's life the cost.

With Islam fighting to the death

And being rewarded so to do,

We must be fighting from the death (Gal. 2:20)

That resurrection life shows through!

But we're moving toward a showdown

To prove which weapons win;

Carnal weapons on either side

Will be empowered by sin.

Resurrection power will conquer, 

But to our Lord we must be yielded;

Only as He has transformed lives

Will soldiers of the cross be fielded.

The Church is God's chosen instrument

And must return to its birthright;

A revival through preaching the cross

Will rid the world of its blight.

In final analysis, the battle is His

With man's participation not needed;

He can move directly His purpose to fulfill

As His commands to man are heeded.

In the Old Testament battles were won

In which man lifted not a finger;

When His sovereign power triumphs,

The memories long will linger!

Our God created the universe

With Earth a very small part;

Though all seems to be chaos,

He maintained control from the start.

As history comes to a close,

God's Word will be fulfilled;

When all is said and done, 

It will take place as He willed.

So, let's submit our all to Him

That He might His will fulfill;

He has promised all knees will bow,

As He brings to pass His sovereign will.

 9-1-14 C. R. Solomon

[for sample documentation see, shoebat.com]

MEMORIAL TO GOD AND MAN

As we pause to remember

Those who are no more,

We must add to our list

Our country, not as before.

Lives were sacrificed in faith

That our country would continue,

But forsaking the God of our fathers

Has made it a different venue.

 

On the surface it appears the same,

But the discerning know it's not;

When we cut beneath the surface,

Secular humanism is our lot.

The Judeo-Christian principles,

On which it was founded,

Are decried by humanists and the press

With Christians being hounded.

 

With entitlements a way of life

And trillions to be met;

We happily add more and more,

Trying to borrow our way out of debt!

Responsible living is outmoded

By living beyond our means.

Borrowing to pay interest on our debts,

And the national debt wildly careens!

 

The borrower is slave to the lender,

So we are vassals to the East!

As we sacrifice our sovereignty

We'll be subservient to say the least!

We cannot serve two masters,

And the piper must be paid;

Refusing foundational principles,

The path to oblivion has been laid.

 

 Turning back to God is an option

For which few will volunteer;

But with our collective backs to the wall

We'll have reason to draw near!

The country's turning its back on God

Invites His judgment without question;

But His mercy is extended still,

With His grace beyond expression.

 

If we who are called by His name

Will humble ourselves, pray and repent,

He has promised to hear from Heaven

Forgive our sins, with revival Heaven sent. (2 Chron. 7:14)

-  C. R. Solomon    

May 27, 2013

COME WALK WITH ME

by Charles R. Solomon, Ed. D.

Having ministered the cross (the believer's crucifixion with Christ) for more than 40 years in many impossible situations, humanly speaking, I have a vantage point which is accorded to few people. My ministry has been primarily to individuals and family situations, but this could readily be extrapolated to society at large. This ministry is in response to God's calling on my life in 1967 (Isa. 58:10, 11) and was documented in Handbook to Happiness (Tyndale), my first book in 1971.
Most of those whose lives have been transformed were in desperate situations, where they had no other way out than to find God's answer for their lives. Many had tried all known answers, including the helping professions, with no permanent resolution to their dilemma. Indeed, quite a number were suicidal and ready for God as the only answer to their impossible situation, which required a miracle, God's specialty.

Having witnessed these miracles consistently over more than 4 decades, I can confidently assert that the Church should have, and could have, been seeing miraculous life transformations every day of the week! However, the cross for the believer (Rom. 6:6) is not central in most church ministry, which means that the flesh is in the ascendancy. Harnessing fleshly solutions within the church, or referring to fleshly solutions via the helping professions, results in symptomatic relief, on occasion, but glosses over the fleshly root. The result is to utilize carnal weapons in a vain attempt to pull down spiritual strongholds (2 Cor. 10:5). Or, the flesh is thereby strengthened for its inevitable conflict with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).

Since preaching the cross is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18), its lack causes a corresponding lack in power for ministry, or results in an all but powerless church. The situation inside and outside the church is becoming increasingly needy, with the church becoming increasingly impotent at the same time!

As the secular society becomes aware that its answers are futile, it will be forced to seek an answer beyond human intelligence and experience. When it is finally open to God's answer, it would logically turn to the Church which has historically been God's representative on Earth, only to find that answers given by an all but impotent church are little better than the wisdom of man and his collective answers.

Since the Church has been infiltrated by much wisdom of the world system, it is lacking the spiritual power to thunder, "Thus saith the Lord " and give answers that are diametrically opposed to that embraced by a secular society or such society as influenced by a church that has a "form of godliness but denies the power thereof" (2 Tim. 2:5).

Since judgment is to begin at the house of God, it is way past time for the cross to be applied in all aspects of church ministry, and witness corresponding life transformations inside and outside the Church. When this becomes the rule rather than the exception, even the world might dare venture into the Church!
The loss of power, and consequent apathy, has given the Church default responsibility in the godless functioning of society and its becoming marginalized by the world system. In other words, it is high time that the Church practices what it preaches and demonstrates the miraculous life changes and life styles which it has purported to engender!

Since it has allowed its message to be diluted, it follows that individual believers will be less than effective in their chosen fields of endeavor, from a spiritual perspective. A Christian may be very sincere and live and minister to the best of his/her ability and yet fall short of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. In other words, the effort may be the best possible in human strength and yet be of the flesh. Not only will ministry in the Church suffer, but its members will have less than God-given impact in his/her chosen profession, though the profession may be secular in nature.

For example, a Christian physician may do a creditable job in medicine and have a witness while doing so. However, the treatment of the body, even with prayer involved, may fall short of being Christ and cross-centered and, thus, not leave an impression that is life transforming as a side effect of dedicated medical treatment.
To go a step further, medical research may be done by dedicated believers and be restricted to the body and the soul with only a nod of the head toward the spirit, but not being led and empowered by the Holy Spirit in the direction and implementation of the research. Lacking this vital dimension, the results are not statistically superior to that done by secular researchers who are dedicated to their assigned task.

The deficiency is even more glaring when considering the behavioral sciences where the spirit should have primacy over the soul and body. And, the Holy Spirit should be the Agent of change with the Word of God of greater significance than a human therapist (however dedicated as a believer) utilizing psychological principles and methodologies in the process of therapy. The latter will strengthen the flesh, while the former will halt its reign.
It has been the usual pattern to give the spirit honorable mention in psychological research by noting how often a person prays, reads his Bible, attends church, etc. which are behaviors, not necessarily spiritual life. Thus, the psychological arena is taken to greater depth and given primacy in the research rather than trusting the Holy Spirit for life transformation through the spirit, while assessing the impact of such on soul and body.

The shallowness of spiritual experience is manifested also in professions or pursuits which are traditionally considered to be secular in nature, such as business, engineering, and the like. And, yet, these pursuits are likely places for the Spirit to manifest Himself, given the opportunity by yielded believers.

One vital area that the Spirit should rule without fail is that of theology; but that is frequently not the case, since an educated and gifted theologian may not have experienced the cross (Gal. 2:20) and can hold a contrary theological position. Obviously, a shortcoming here at the outset will result in further deviation as his/her propositions are developed. Only as theology is Christ and cross centered will it be a tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit and be the precursor of miraculously transformed lives through the word of God by the man of God.

Of course, all of this feeds together to have a major impact on government—either positively or negatively. The true Church will have influence in government, if it is widely known, where it can speak for God; or its lack will, at least by default, pave the way for secular humanism and/or alien religions. Since this is the current situation in our country, it will require a completed Reformation to revive the Church and cause it to be a major player in today's society.

A weakened Church has given rise to a concerted effort by the secular humanists and the liberal press to undermine the influence of the Church and pressure it into a 'politically correct' stance. Only a Reformation fueled by the preaching of the cross in sanctification or discipleship, which impacts the Church nationally, will serve to return the Church to a stance that is both respected and formidable, since it will be typified by transformed lives and Spirit-empowered ministry.

An individual or an entity at an extremity is a candidate for Holy Spirit transformation. When the only way out is up, there is fertile ground to be lifted by 'the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" from the grip of 'the law of sin and death' (Rom. 8:2)!

The situation in our country is rapidly moving in a negative fashion so that it will likely be the rule, rather than the exception, for desperation to provide fertile soil for spiritual transformation. However, our country will, in all likelihood, be too far down the slippery slope of humanism and socialism to be retrieved from its clutches unless major revival rescues it from oblivion.

The near bankruptcy concerning wisdom and common sense (to say nothing of our near financial bankruptcy), and the near absence of adherence to absolutes, combine to reduce our country to a level of mediocrity heretofore unknown.

SUMMARY

Since our churches tend to be more perfunctory than Holy Spirit empowered, and believers in their daily lives and occupations do not function in the Holy Spirit (with some happy exceptions); and God and the Lord Jesus have been disinvited from public life, we are reaping what we have sown in immorality, corruption, violence, mass murders, and near anarchy.

Our people are being taught to look to the government rather than God when, in truth, God is our source, despite the government's interposing itself between us and Him in destructive ways. In today's sociopolitical milieu, militant secular humanism, aided and abetted by the liberal press, equates the Christian Church with the conservative right. While much of the two might be coincidental, such representation of the Church is a caricature.

With the preponderance of the Church omitting the cross for the believer as its marching orders, it has been severed from its Power Source and Authority! As such, it is little more effective than its sworn enemy, secular humanism and its allies, which causes undue confidence to be placed in conservative leadership's espousing values consistent with Christianity. The result is conservative flesh fighting secular flesh with neither led and empowered by the Holy Spirit; both are askew from God's will, with secular flesh having the majority in its camp.

Nothing less than a new Reformation, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will empower the Church to stem the tide of secular humanism, along with all of the destructive agendas in its wake! The motive force behind such a Reformation can only be the individual believer's experiencing his death and resurrection with Christ (Rom. 6:3-11), and consequent filling of the Holy Spirit for life and service. This has been the truth undergirding the life transformations mentioned earlier and past major awakenings that the Church has known—scriptural discipleship!

COME WALK WITH ME

Come walk with me—
A journey well worth taking,
With many peaks and valleys
For a servant in the making.
We must first get to know God (John 3:3)
To know what He expects,
And then we learn His ways (Ps. 103:7)
As our living He directs.

-C.R.S.




He speaks through His Son (Heb. 1:2)
In this age of grace;
First, we seek His hand,
And then we seek His face.
Our sin becomes more vivid
As we experience conviction,
And confess our sin we must
If we're to know redemption. (1 Jn. 1:9)

Many come to know Him
As personal Savior and Lord;
But few go beyond to Life (Phil. 1:21)
As admonished in His Word.
The Church must have disciples (Luke 14:27)
To complete His work on Earth;
Losing their lives to save them,
They come to know their worth. (Matt. 16:24, 25)\

As they learn to disciple others,
Transformation can be expected; (Rom. 12:2)
Believers who aren't disciples
Will find themselves dejected.
As they endeavor to help others
With the best of man's inventions,
They find their goals frustrated
While having noble intentions.

When we are yoked with God, (Matt. 11:28-30)
He moves with consummate ease,
But attempting help in our own strength
Is not our God to please.
Ardent employment of world's wisdom
Leaves much to be desired,
And absent ministering the cross
Means hard work will be required.

We must work for the night is coming, (Jn. 9:4)
And it is now all but upon us!
As we're faithful to His Lordship,
We can shed the flesh's onus!
The Spirit waits to honor
A people yielded to Him;
As the Light of the World dawns, (Jn. 8:12)
The world's lights grow dim!

THE CURSE OF RELIGION

Christianity Today reported that Jefferson Bethke's YouTube Christian rap video has had a phenomenal number of plays-–over 10 million. It's titled, "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus." His intention is to contrast the Gospel with formalism and self-righteous attempts at justification.

Here is a poem I penned a while back on this subject :

THE CURSE OF RELIGION

The Pilgrims came to our shores
On a quest to worship God;
The government that was established
Freed them from the path they'd trod.

They looked to Providence for their needs
And were thankful for His supply—
With government to protect their freedom,
And not their rights to deny.

With the nation founded on God,
He allowed their works to flourish;
As He was honored in their pursuits,
The new republic He did nourish.

As generations have come and gone,
Almighty God has been neglected;
Taking credit for God's protection,
Monuments to self have been erected.

Getting away from scriptural principles,
Politics has taken center stage;
Self has come into prominence,
Now that it has come of age.

Politics is now an end, not a means,
With power and corruption a given;
A government for the common good
Is lost, as the parties have striven.

Each does what's right in his own eyes,
With no absolutes for a guide;
God's protection has been withdrawn,
With gates for the Enemy opened wide.

With freedom of religion aborted,
We have abandoned our first love;
With self in the ascendancy,
There's no reference to God above.

Sinful behaviors are accepted,
With toleration mandated by all;
Political correctness is the watchword,
With irresponsibility to be our downfall.

Alien religions are given preference,
With traditional values subverted;
One who would point out error
Finds his goals are to be averted.

While the Church has the only answer,
Self has come to the fore there, too;
Unless it returns to its first love,
The loss of freedom it will rue.

With the goal of alien religions
To destroy our way of life,
The government is giving protection
To a religion based on strife.

It is opposed to the common good
With the intent of world domination;
Unless we curb its relentless march,
Religion will be our ruination.

God's Church is the only answer,
But it must get back to the Cross; (Gal. 2:20, Rom. 6)
A works-based Church is powerless
To reverse its decades of loss.

Preaching the Cross is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18)
To which the Church must return;
Refusing to forsake our substitutes, (Gal. 3:3)
We the power of God do spurn.

Preaching the Cross will transform lives
As we lose our lives to save them; (Luke 9:24)
The watching world will gain respect
As love counteracts its mayhem.

- C. R. Solomon

Preaching The Cross

The preaching of the cross
Is not just done in teaching;
When scripturally done,
It stops not with preaching.
In all gospel proclamation
The cross must central be,
Beginning with the evangel
And throughout eternity!

Yes, the cross deals with sins
That we may have new birth;
But it must also deal with sin
If we're to know our worth.
It not only deals with deeds;
It must change our inner being.
Our being crucified with Him, (Gal. 2:20)
Not only sins but self we're seeing.

Absent this vital dimension,
Ministry is without power;
Transformed lives are lacking
And from the world we cower.
Our Lord promised to be with us
If we disciple in His name, (Matt. 28:19,20)
With both the Blood and the Cross
Being emphasized the same.

With the cross for Jesus only,
The flesh escapes detection;
Unless it is exposed
There'll be need for correction.
Fleshly ministry has been the rule
Since preaching the cross is rare;
Only as it's front and central
Will the Spirit witness bear.


Revival is our great need,
As is a completed Reformation;
Only as we preach the cross
Will lives know transformation.
Church growth had great numbers,
But spiritual growth was lacking;
Church leaders must plumb the depths,
If we're to have their backing.

Preaching of the cross. . . the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18)
Is the message most needed;
Revival will again be known
When His word we've heeded.
It is not 'Will revival come?'
But, 'Will we begin to preach it?'
Once preaching crucified with Christ,
We will begin to reach it!

Our God is not capricious
In withholding blessing from us;
When we become obedient,
He will fulfill His promise.
Preaching the cross. . . the power of God
Maintains the centrality of the cross.
Losing our lives to save them, (Matt. 16:24,25)
We will cease to suffer loss.


PREACHING THE CROSS
C. R. Solomon
6-16-12

THE GOD OF ALL GRACE (l Peter 5:10)

"The God of all grace" is sufficient (2 Cor. 12:9)
To meet us at our point of need;
But it takes time and maturity
To sort our needs from our greed.

When we are reduced to our extremity,
Our priorities make a great shift;
Those to which we gave importance
Give way to those which our spirits lift.

His purpose is to "perfect" or mature us,
To "stablish" us in Christ our Lord;
Then, He can "strengthen" our walk in him
As we abide in Him and His word. (John 15:7)

All is meant by God to "settle" us
In a consistent walk in Him; (Col. 2:6)
As our affections are "set. . . on things above", (Col. 3:2)
The things of this world begin to dim.

"Perfect, stablish, strengthening, settle" us, (1 Pet. 5:10)
Is done by "the God of all grace";
And we will give Him all the glory
When, at last, we see Him face to face!

C. R. Solomon 5-1-12

THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM (Prov. 9:10a)

The fear of God is missing
In the affairs of men today;
Being captain of their own fate,
They refuse to allow Him sway.

Being moved by their own passions,
They refuse to allow Him room;
As they're ruled by earthly wisdom,
They have thereby sealed their doom.

All the while, God bides His time
And lets them run their course;
When their wisdom comes to naught,
There'll be ample time for remorse.

We, as Christians, must pave the way,
With the fear of God our guide--
Exposing the fallacy of their unbelief,
On which they have relied.

When instead we live by faith
Lives they cannot explain,
We will have forsaken our wisdom
And in the Life of our Lord remain. (Jn. 15:5)

When they follow the life we live,
They should be drawn to our Lord;
We have been crucified with Christ,
As it is written in His Word. (Gal. 2:20)

- C. R. Solomon 10-12-11

COMPLETING THE REFORMATION

The Reformation served its purpose,
While needed much in Luther's day.
Again, the Church needs reforming
With fleshly teaching holding sway.

When measured by earthly standards,
The numbers indicate success;
But when assessed by the Spirit,
There are signs of much distress.

With the world in great confusion,
Will the Dark Ages be repeated?
Though we are satiated with knowledge,
Spiritual life has been depleted.

The printing press was Luther's ally,
With the way of salvation needed;
A similar need exists today,
With the way of the cross unheeded.

The internet can be our ally,
With sanctification by faith the cry;
Preaching the cross the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18)
On which the Church must rely.

The Reformation stopped short
Of teaching the believer's cross, (Gal. 2:20)
Thus subverting true discipleship, (Lk. 14:27)
With the Church suffering great loss.

The Reformation must be completed
With sanctification the missing piece;
The bands of flesh must be broken
If the Church is to know release.

The world will soon be clamoring
For the Church to be the Church;
When it fulfills its destiny,
The hungry can cease to search.

Only a completed Reformation will suffice
To make the mid-course correction;
Sanctification must have twin billing
With the foundation of justification.

When we return to preaching the cross,
The power of God will be displayed;
And the world will know once again
That full atonement has been made!

The Light is the Answer to darkness
And only Jesus can it quell;
When the believer's cross is central, (Rom. 6:6-11)
The full story the Church will tell!

C. R. Solomon, 9-30-11

THE WORLD IN TURMOIL

When your world falls apart
And for answers you are gleaning,
You must forsake the usual haunts
And look to the cross for meaning.

Losing our lives to save them (Matt. 16:24,25)
Is not known by the masses.
We're forced to learn by default;
It's usually not taught in classes.

Discipleship has long been neglected (Luke 14:27)
Such that the Church has suffered loss;
It can only regain its power
By the preaching of the cross. (1 Cor. 1:18)

Defeated and desperate believers (Rom. 7:24)
Cannot settle for justification; (John 3:3, Rom.5:10a)
Spiritual growth is an absolute must,
Which is the object of sanctification. (Rom. 5:10b)

I will settle you after your old estates,
And will do better unto you than at your beginnings;
And ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezek. 36:11)
As your battles, within and without, I am winning.

- C. R. Solomon 9-24-11

GALATIANS 5:25

          

      

"If we live in the Spirit", (Gal. 5:25a)

And God's Word says we do, (Rom. 8:29)

"Let us also walk in the Spirit" (Gal. 5:25b)

As He lives His life in you.

"As ye have. . . received Christ Jesus the Lord"

In Him you are to walk; (Col. 2:6)

Only so is our faith demonstrated,

If abiding in Him is our talk. (1 John 2:6a)

-    C. R. Solomon 10-6-10

THEN AND NOW

  

"And as it was in the days of Noah," 

They married, ate, and drank; (Luke 17:26)

Ignoring the warnings given,

Into the waters they sank.

"Likewise" . . . in "the days of Lot,"

They drank, farmed and built; (Luke 17:28a)

Though warned of godless living,

They were destroyed by their guilt.

"Even thus it shall be in the day

When the Son of man is revealed"; (Luke 17:30)

With such graphic admonitions,

Should we allow our doom be sealed?

"Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; (Luke 17:33)

Whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it". 

-C. R. Solomon Sept. 25, 2010

LABOR TO REST!

   

          

Laboring to enter rest— (Heb. 4:9, 10)

A contradiction in terms,

The natural mind cannot receive (1 Cor. 2:14)

That which the Word affirms.

Losing our lives to save them (Matt. 16:25)

Is another mind-bender;

Trying to 'figure it out'

Can only the Spirit hinder!

Dying in order to live, (2 Cor. 4:11, 12)

In the spiritual life a must—

Only His direct revelation

Allows us our Lord to trust.

When we're reduced to nothing,

He can be all things; 

As He becomes our life, (Col. 3:4)

All that's within us sings! (Ps. 71:22, 23)

-  C. R. Solomon 9-6-10

Fwd: Registration for conf. RSBC

Praise the Lord & thanks for the prayers...

Begin forwarded message:

From: Mary Aman <maryaman@hotmail.com>

Date: May 16, 2010 11:20:48 PM EDT

To: John Woodward <jbwoodward@mac.com>

Subject: Registration for conf. RSBC

Hi Bro. John,

What a sweet spirit we have enjoyed all day!!!  It is just SO exciting to see these people of all ages finally "get it"!!!

One man w/ a pentecostal background--65 years old--is one of the hardest workers we have.  He went in the cafeteria & met you while you were setting up after you first got there Thursday--Allen Gill.  He has always pushed himself beyond what he should at times to do things around the church b/c that is what he believed God expected of him.  There was just no getting through to him.  I honestly wondered if he would ever be open to believing the truth.  I told Tommy earlier last week that I surely wished he would go to the conference.  Tommy just said, "Yes, but you know Bro. Allen."
Well, Thursday he had been at the church cutting grass most of the day b/c he wanted it to look nice for the visitors Thursday night. (Yes, we appreciate this attitude!)  Well, while you were setting up & I was back in the kitchen baking cookies, Bro. Allen came in to the kitchen to get water & cool down.  I told him that he should just stay for the conference that night since his wife was out of town & he'd just be at home alone.  Then, I told him that you & Tommy were in the cafeteria if he wanted to go in and meet you.  So, he did & he liked you so much right off that he decided to go home & get cleaned up & come back to the conference.  He shared an awesome testimony about the conference this morning.  Then, this REALLY shocked me...his wife told me after church that he got so much out of the conference that he wants to sit down with her and go through his whole conference notebook with her and explain everything!  Wow!!!  That is really exciting!!!  Here was 1 man that I thought was a case of  "this is one too set in his ways to ever see him change!!!"  Man, did I ever underestimate the poser of God!!!  HOW thrilling!!!

Resting in HIM!

         

REORDERING SOCIETY

Our country faces chaos
With wars on many fronts,
With those in foreign countries
Tending to take the brunt.
The turmoil within our borders
Human wisdom has engendered,
With the exporting of countless jobs
The unemployment scene has rendered.

Many adjustments must be made
To cope with politician's decisions,
With multiple families in a residence
Suffering deprivation from faulty vision.
Exporting industry, from textiles to steel,
Combine to reduce the work force,
With all our country being victim
Of the 'one world' agenda's source.

Since the creation of new jobs is
Dependent upon possible sales,
Competition with foreign markets
Reduced salaries and perks it entails.
The combined effects of world trade
Tends to 'dumb down' and income shrink;
With God missing from the equation,
It is much later than we think!

Like the feathers in a pillow
Released to be borne by the winds,
Recovery to the source is impossible,
Just as jobs that open trade rends.
Our indebtedness to foreign nations,
With borrower to lender enslaved,
We are sacrificing our sovereignty
As a direct result of free trade!

With the foundation of the Bible removed
And absolutes a thing of the past,
The behaviors of people and country
To the winds of fate are cast.
Only a return to our roots in God
Will suffice to reverse our heading;
But the Church must take the helm
And recant from the world its wedding.

For the Church to posit, "Thus saith the Lord",
It must return to preaching the Cross;
Continuation of fleshly programmitis
Will ensure that all suffer loss.
When we lose our collective lives
And live in resurrection power,
Our Church and country can once again
Glorify God is this dark hour.
C. R. Solomon 3-4-10

WE WERE THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED OUR LORD

Saved or lost
We're at the Cross –
In Him victorious
Or suffering loss.
We're there by faith
In Him crucified,
Or in Adam's life
Piercing Jesus' side.

The choice is ours
As Adam's kin –
Receive the Savior
Or die in our sin.
Our debt He paid –
From the Cross forgave;
We receive His life
Or remain Sin's slave.


- C. R. Solomon

GOD’S CHILDREN: THEN AND NOW

      

The Children of Israel

And believers of today,

Have much in common

In our learning The Way.

Faced with great odds

They were led to the Sea,

Having no backup plan

If the Sea did not flee!

With Pharoah thundering down

And escape routes blocked,

Unto God's timely action

They were obviously locked!

God's miraculous deliverance 

Was a pattern for us today;

Foiling our backup plans,

His Spirit must hold sway.

Being brought to the Jordan

With Canaan the destination,

No possible human resources

Causes much consternation!

We have the precedent

Of His opening Sea and River;

With our step of faith, (Rom. 6:6, 11)

 He will surely us deliver!

When the only way out is up,

We're locked into His grace.

We have known His hand;
Now, we must see His face!

Having crossed the Red Sea

With salvation from our sin, 

At the Jordan He sets us free

From the reign of flesh within. (Gal. 5:24)

Having been faithful to us then

He will meet us in our trouble,

With works in our strength

Being wood, hay and stubble.

Being "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20)

In His Cross we glory, (Gal. 6:14a)

Being seated at His right hand--(Eph. 2:6)

A fitting end to the story! 

-     C. R. Solomon 12-12-09

“I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE “ (John 14:6)

"I am the way"

You are to walk; (I John 2:6)

I'm to be the theme

Of your daily talk.

"I am the truth"

You are to believe;

New birth is yours (John 3:3)

When Me you receive. (John 1:12)

"I am the life"

You are to live; (Phil. 1:21)

As yours you lose, (Luke 9:24)

My life I give.

    C. R. Solomon  10-23-09

“THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE” - John 17

Our Savior’s parting words
Were that we might be one, (v. 21)
But He had to mount the Cross
Ere His work was done.

Whilst He was among us,
He could not be within;
His work was not complete
Until He had dealt with sin.

For our sake, He sanctified Himself (v. 19a)
That, through truth, we might be sanctified; (v. 19b)
But His Church today has settled
For being barely justified!

That we might all be one (v. 21)
With the Father and the Son— (v. 21a)
Only so will the world know (v. 23)
God’s life in their midst begun.

That the world may believe, was His prime concern, (v. 21)
By our oneness, Him to make known—
With the proof of our union manifest (v. 23)
By His love within and to others shown. (v. 26)

He wills that we be with Him (v.24)
Which must be in heavenly places; (Eph. 2:6)
Going to, and through, the Cross— (v. 12:26, Gal. 2:20)
Beholding His glory, with love He graces. (vss. 24,26)


C. R. Solomon
September 4, 2009

HIS IMAGE RESTORED

“God created man in his own image”; (Gen. 1:27)
“And, behold, it was very good”. (Gen. 1:31)
Adam and Eve in the Garden
Could eat what they would. (Gen. 2:16)
But they chose their own way, (Gen. 3:6)
And God’s image was marred;
Sin passed to their descendants, (Rom. 5:12)
And the human race was scarred.

God, in grace, re-created man (John 3:16)
In “the image of his son”; (Rom. 8:29b)
Predestined to be like him,
With victory on the Cross won.
God’s image was restored,
As to his image we’re conformed; (Rom. 8:29)
With the old man crucified, (Rom. 6:6)
Our lives can be transformed. (Rom. 12:2)

Beholding his “face in righteousness”, (Ps. 17:15)
With his likeness we’re satisfied;
We awake to our inheritance, (Ps. 17:15b)
As, with him, we are crucified. (Gal. 2:20)
“We know that, when he shall appear”, (1 John 3:2)
We’ll realize, what a salvation this!
Then, “We shall be like him”; (1 John 3:2)
“For we shall see him as he is”. (1 John 3:2)

C. R. Solomon
May 25, 2009

GOD'S FAITHFULNESS TO THE END

Lord God, You’ve been “my trust”
From the days of “my youth”, (Ps. 71:5b)
From the time that You called me (Isa. 58:10,11)
To make simple a blessed truth. (Gal. 2:20)
You are “my strong habitation” (Ps. 71:3a)
To Whom “I may continually resort”; (Ps. 71:3a, John 15:5)
“Thou art my rock and my fortress” (Ps. 71:3b)
That Your children I may exhort.

“My mouth shall” speak “thy righteousness” (Ps. 71:15a)
“And thy salvation all the day”;
“I will go in” thy “strength”, (Ps. 71:16a)
Since mine will not hold sway. (Ps. 71:15b)
You have “taught me from my youth”; (Ps. 71:17a)
And I have “thy wondrous works declared”, (Ps. 71:17b)
That Your Church might be set free
From worldly wisdom which has ensnared. (Col. 2:8)

Now that “I am old and grayheaded, (Ps. 71:18a)
O God”, please do not “forsake me”;
“Until I have shown thy strength” (Ps. 71:18b)
And this generation’s guide You make me. (Ps. 71:18b)
“Thy righteousness, O God, is very high,” (Ps. 71:19a)
And You have “done great things”; (Ps. 71:19a)
“My soul, which Thou hast redeemed,” (Ps. 71:23b)
And all that is within me, sings! (Ps. 71:22, 23)

C. R. Solomon
May 23, 2009