A Poem to Dad

Dad you've been gone these many years
long enough there are no tears

For time has eased the pain of death
-over twenty years since your last breath

But I remember you so well
you were full of life and a little hell

The things you had the things you did
I watched you since I was a kid

Tractors, rototillers, pumps,
logging chains, and pulling stumps

Chainsaws, mowers, felling trees
mighty oaks brought to their knees

A buzz saw cutting cords of wood
by power lines where trees once stood

Saturday morning coffee sipped
next door at Joe's rarely skipped

You too had cars on your mind
Caddy's, Buick's and Lincolns fine

You had a fleet of camping vans
one after another until none ran

Attending church you loved your God
the sermon brought a sleepy nod

Talking shop with Uncle Floyd
He could make you quite annoyed

For Continental was the place
where you were boss- it was your space

Generous almost to a fault
your money wasn't in your vault

It often payed someone else's bill
for saying no was not your skill

A jolly grandpa you could be
with little ones upon your knee

Silly songs you would sing
to even big kids a smile it'd bring

But you wore down your body tired
your healthy days had expired

In time sickness had it's way
and off to heaven you went one day

So we are left with memories
of one strong trunk in our family tree

And now we walk the very road
where years ago your footsteps strode

So thank you Dad for all you were
you left your mark on us for sure

A Memorial Day Poem

I went to Fruitland Township to a cemetery there
they had the Memorial service, I sat on a cold folding chair

A prayer was prayed, a speech was spoken, and the Boy Scouts raised the flag
old men in uniforms marched up and fired guns with quite a bang

This was the same place and service my mother brought me to
when I was just a boy and all the world seemed new

Years later I would take my mom here on Memorial day
because she was getting old and it was just better that way

Now I sit- a gray haired man not far from the graves
of mom and dad and other relatives of bye gone days

Although we never know the time we have left here on earth
the countdown of the seconds, minutes, hours, and days begins at our birth

So when the time is up and we leave everything we know
I want to be sure there is a place for my soul to go

That's why I trust a loving God to lead me every day
because someday when this body dies he will take my soul away

To a place where wars will be no more for peace will be the norm
pain and death will not be there- I even doubt that it will storm

The light will come from God himself, no need for sun or moon
the measurement of time will stop, nothing will be late or soon

Then we will thank our Great God for giving us new life
for rescuing our battered souls from all this earthly strife

So while you think of life and death on this Memorial Day
think also of the God above who can show your soul the way

He sent his Son to die for us, he paid the penalty
for in that darkest hour all our sins hung on that tree

God's anger at our sin was once and forever satisfied
but that's not all that happened, it didn't end when Jesus died

It really was just the beginning for he rose again we know
eternal life for all believers is what the resurrection shows

So my prayer for everyone today that reads these simple lines
is to think of life and death and God and be sure eternal life you find

    Whispers of Creation

Living in a world of awe

seeing, hearing, feeling God

all creation helps me draw

closer, closer to You God.

Looking up at starry skies

dazzling lights in darkest night

looking God into Your eyes

heaven's almost within sight.

Swimming in the water deep

warm sun beaming from above

strolling on the sandy beach

I can feel Your endless love.

Walking in the fallen leaves

autumn colors carpet ground

gentle breezes blow in trees

seeing, hearing you abound.

Snowflakes drifting down, down slow

frozen jewels of winter time

though it's cold I can not go

can not leave this white Divine.

A baby born, oh the pain!

then counting fingers counting toes

from pain to joy like drought to rain

babies are Your miracles.

The world is You God on display

drowning out the sound of me

creation whispers, hear it say

"I AM in all you see"

The Preacher Man

The preacher man he takes a stand he has a Bible in his hand

He chases after God above and teaches people how to love

But sometimes God is hard to find and people make him lose his mind

Still he must keep that Holy link to God above or he will sink

Beneath the care of all the folk who put on him  a heavy yoke

The people used to say "he's great" but lately say he's made mistakes

"The Church is cold" "The Church is hot"  "Someone's sitting in my spot"

"He preaches short"  "He preaches long"  "He got that passage totally wrong"

But let a tragedy befall and he's the first one people call

He'll hold a hand, say a pray, and quote God's word to lift despair

And then they'll say he's good again because he came when they needed him

But the preacher man he takes a stand, he has a Bible in his hand

He chases after God above and teaches people how to love

And sometimes God is shining bright and all the world seems filled with light

The preacher knows his work has worth when sinners come for second birth

So preacher man keep that Holy link to God above or we will sink

For we are fragile pots of clay, we need God's mercies every day

You will teach us how to love and how to chase the God above

And teach us how to take a stand and hold a Bible in our hand

So thank you weary preacher man for doing everything you can

And if we don't show our gratitude forgive us for our attitude

Your real reward in Heaven waits soon after entering those gates

The voice of God whom you have chased will find you in that blessed place

A "good and faithful servant true" is what your God will say to you

You will know you passed your test then enter in to His sweet rest.

It's going to be an Obama Christmas

The policies of the federal government have trickled down to the lowest levels and now they have reached me.  I am looking at an Obama Christmas this year.  We now have trickle down poverty brought to us from the highest office of the land.  Hang up your stockings with visions of food stamp cards dancing in your heads.  Instead of snow piles we have deficit spending piling up around us.  And this year Santa looks a lot like Obama, he laughs and says "Blame George Bush" instead of "Ho Ho Ho".  The sleigh has been replaced by the Chevy Volt built by Government Motors.  But it has been catching on fire so make sure you don't leave any toys in it.  Well, if there were any toys that is- seems all the money went to subsidize solar energy companies that went bankrupt shortly after getting the money.  But that's OK because we have plenty of gasoline, at 4 bucks a gallon I guess it isn't selling as fast as it used to.  At least we still have public transit on the East coast so people don't have to buy that expensive gas.  Well we did until Hurricane Sandy.  But that was good because it gives Obama another quick chance to show how much he cares by promising a few hundred billion or so dollars for reconstruction right before the election.  Not too sure where this money is coming from, but certainly the 1%'ers can afford it.  So before I head on down to the unemployment office to see if I can get an extension, let me wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! --Rick Momney.

PS don't forget to vote for my good friend Mitt Romney on election day!

God's story not our story

When we took Daniel back to Wheaton College in early August for the football kick off meeting and dinner Coach Swider gave his inspirational start of the season talk.  He talked about the difference in "our story" and "God's story".

He said one year when the football team took its annual missions trip to Senegal, a young Senegalese boy was so impressed with the team that he decided to get enrolled and accepted at Wheaton so he could be on the team too.  Coach said he didn't know how his family did it, they were not well off, but he got accepted, came to Wheaton and joined the team.  He wasn't a good football player so he never played in a single game, but he was on the team for four years  and while he was here he became engaged to be married.

The day before the wedding, the young man was running on the sports track at Wheaton and he fell down and died immediately.  I'm guessing he had a bad heart.  The father was in route from Senegal at the time to attend the wedding and when he arrived he found that instead of attending his son's wedding the next day he would be attending his son's funeral.

The Coach was just heartbroken and could not imagine the sorrow the father would feel when he arrived and was told what had happened.  At the memorial service for the young man, the Coach talked to the father and this is what the father said.

We have a story for our lives, we make plans and carry them out to live our our story.  God also has a story for our lives, and in the end it is God's story that prevails.  And this was God's story for my son's life.

These sad events in the life of this family from Senegal impresses me first of the faith and trust that the father of the boy displayed in accepting God's will in his son's death.  Secondly it made me think of the story of Calvary Church.  I remember how we moved into the new location with high hopes and great expectations 12 years ago.  How we collectively had "our story" for Calvary Church.  We anticipated great growth in the size of our congregation. There were plans for future additions of a worship center, church offices, nurseries, adding more classrooms, even the hope someday of senior and missionary housing.  The hopes were high and well meaning.  But this was not to be "God's story" for Calvary Church.  God's story has us leaving the new location with all of the hopes and plans it had entailed and sharing a building with a gracious group of believers on the other side of town.

So we leave "our story" behind but like the father of the Senegalese boy, we go with faith and trust that this is "God's story" for our Church.  We go knowing that God's has changed us to be more of a servant Church to the world than a Church to serve ourselves,  We are more aware of our need to love the world we are called to minister to rather than to love the pleasures this world has to offer.  We have learned that we must love our fellow members and not let division separate us again.

We are saddened by the loss of "our story", but we know that in the end it is "God's story" that prevails and we want to be as much a part of His story as we can be.  May His story and our story blend together into a beautiful story.

A dying man's request

Please take me to the window though my eyes are getting dim
I want to look for Jesus 'cause I've got some faith in Him

I want to see His blazing eyes inset in radiant skin
with flowing hair that shimmers from the fire He has within

I want to see His brilliant horse as it gallops through the sky
with Jesus riding on it's back together do they fly!

I want to see His robe of white as it dazzles in the sun
see it flowing out behind him as the horse begins to run

I want to see the secret name Jesus has across His thigh
my poor old eyes will strain to read it in the moment that I die

Put me by that window for my hearing's not so well
When I see my Jesus coming I want to hear what He will tell

Though His visage is like lightning His voice will sound so sweet
He will call my name softly and I'll stand up on my feet

Then my body will go weightless as I leave this world of care
He will swoop me up upon his horse, no saddle- we ride it bare!

I will wrap my arms around him and embrace his warm strong chest
we'll fly through countless galaxies not till Heaven do we rest

So doctor stop the morphine I want my mind to clear
when my Jesus comes to get me I want to know when he is near

I heard the doctor talking to the nurses in the hall
how the old man in this room isn't doing well at all

Then my family came to see me for one final tearful look
and it's got me thinking strongly of the things in God's good book

Please move me to the window cause this earth is getting dim
I want to see my Jesus I just want to be with Him