Here are three Easter poems by George Herbert, one of my favorite poets. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poems if you take them slowly and read them through several times, out loud if possible.
 

“EASTER (1)” – by George Herbert

Rise heart;  thy Lord is risen.  Sing his praise
                                Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
                                With him mayst rise:
That, as his death calcined¹ thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and much more just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
                                With all thy art.
The cross taught all wood to resound his name,
                                Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught all strings, what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort both heart and lute, and twist² a song
                                Pleasant and long:
Or since all music is but three parts vied³
                                And multiplied;
Oh let thy blessed Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

_____
1. calcined. Burnt to ashes.
2. twist. Weave together, as in polyphonic music.
3. vied. Increased in number by addition or repetition.

“EASTER (2)” – by George Herbert (This is the speaker’s response to his own call in Easter 1.)

I got me flowers to straw thy way;
I got me boughs off many a tree:
But thou wast up by break of day,
And brought’st thy sweets along with thee.

The Sun arising in the East,
Though he give light, and th’ East perfume;
If they should offer to contest
With thy arising, they presume.

Can there be any day but this,
Though many suns to shine endeavour?
We count three hundred, but we miss:
There is but one, and that one ever.

“EASTER WINGS” – by George Herbert (Notice how the shape of the words in each stanza resembles a pair of wings.)

    Lord, who createdst man in wealth and store,
            Though foolishly he lost the same,
                  Decaying more and more,
                        Till  he  became
                            Most poor:
                            With  thee
                        Oh  let  me  rise¹
                  As larks, harmoniously,
            And sing this day thy victories:
    Then  shall  the  fall  further  the  flight  in  me.

    My   tender   age   in   sorrow   did   begin:
            And still with sicknesses and shame
                  Thou didst so punish sin,
                        That  I  became
                            Most thin.
                            With  thee
                        Let me combine,
                  And feel this day thy victory:
            For,  if  I  imp²  my  wing  on  thine,
    Affliction   shall   advance   the   flight   in   me.

_____
1. rise. See Isaiah 40:31 and Malachi 4:2.
2. imp. To imp, in falconry, is to engraft feathers in a damaged wing, so as to improve or restore damaged powers of flight.

Source (for poems and footnotes): George Herbert: The Country Parson, The Temple (The Classics of Western Spirituality; 1981)

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for more Easter posts.
Click here for an Easter poem by Ray Fowler.

Here is a poem for Holy Saturday by George Herbert, one of my favorite poets. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poem if you take it slowly and read it through several times, out loud if possible.
 

“SEPULCHER” – by George Herbert

Oh blessed body!  Whither art thou thrown?
No lodging for thee, but a cold hard stone?
So many hearts on earth, and yet not one
                                      Receive thee?

Sure there is room within our hearts good store;
For they can lodge transgressions by the score:
Thousands of toys¹ dwell there, yet out of door
                                      They leave thee.

But that which shows them large, shows them unfit.
Whatever sin did this pure rock commit,
Which holds thee now?   Who hath indicted it
                                      Of murder?

Where our hard hearts have took up stones² to brain thee,
And missing this, most falsely did arraign thee;
Only these stones in quiet entertain thee,
                                      And order.

And as of old, the law by heav’nly art,
Was writ in stone;  so thou, which also art
The letter of the word,³ find’st no fit heart
                                      To hold thee.

Yet do we still persist as we began,
And so should perish, but that nothing can,
Though it be cold, hard, foul, from loving man
                                      Withhold thee.

_____
1. toys. Trifling things.
2. took up stones. See John 10:13.
3. The letter of the word. See Hebrews 8:10 and Proverbs 3:3, 7:3.

Source (for poem and footnotes): George Herbert: The Country Parson, The Temple (The Classics of Western Spirituality; 1981)

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for more Easter posts.
Click here for poems by Ray Fowler.

Here are two Good Friday poems by George Herbert, one of my favorite poets. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poems if you take them slowly and read them through several times, out loud if possible.
 

“GOOD FRIDAY” – by George Herbert (Notice how each stanza roughly resembles the shape of a cross.)

                Oh my chief good,
How shall I measure out thy blood?
How shall I count what thee befell,
                And each grief tell?

                Shall I thy woes
Number according to thy foes?
Or, since one star show’d thy first breath,
                Shall all thy death?

                Or shall each leaf,
Which falls in Autumn, score¹ a grief?
Or cannot leaves, but fruit, be sign,
                Of the true vine?

                Then let each hour
Of my whole life one grief devour;
That thy distress through all may run,
                And be my sun.

                  Or rather let
My several sins their sorrows get;
That, as each beast his cure doth know,
                  Each sin may so.

_____
1. score. Mark, as in counting.

“THE PASSION” – by George Herbert

Since blood is fittest, Lord, to write
Thy sorrows in, and bloody fight;
My heart hath store; write there, where in
One box doth lie both ink and sin:

That when sin spies so many foes,
Thy whips, thy nails, thy wounds, thy woes,
All come to lodge there, sin may say,
No room for me, and fly away.

Sin being gone, oh fill the place,
And keep possession with thy grace;
Lest sin take courage and return,
And all the writings blot or burn.

 
Source (for poems and footnotes): George Herbert: The Country Parson, The Temple (The Classics of Western Spirituality; 1981)

Related posts:
    • What’s So Good about Friday?
    • What is Good Friday?
    • Good Friday Poem by Christina Rossetti.

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for more posts relating to the Cross.
Click here for more Easter posts.
Click here for poems by Ray Fowler.

Here are three of my favorite poems by George Herbert. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poems if you take them slowly and read them through several times, out loud if possible.
 

“THE ALTAR” – by George Herbert (Notice how the shape of the poem resembles an altar.)

A broken ALTAR, Lord thy servant rears,
Made of a heart, and cemented with tears:¹
Whose parts are as thy hand did frame;
No workman’s tool hath touch’d the same.
A HEART alone
Is such a stone,²
As nothing but
Thy pow’r doth cut.³
Wherefore each part
Of my hard heart
Meets in this frame,
To praise thy name.
That if I chance to hold my peace,
These stones to praise thee may not cease.⁴
O let thy blessed SACRIFICE be mine,
And sanctify this ALTAR to be thine.

_____
1. See Psalm 51:17.
2. See Deuteronomy 27:2-6 and 2 Corinthians 3:2-3.
3. See Ezekiel 37:25-27 and Zechariah 7:12.
4. See Luke 19:40.

“REDEMPTION” – by George Herbert

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,
    Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,
    And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancel th’ old.¹

In heaven at his manor I him sought:
    They told me there, that he was lately gone
    About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.

I straight return’d, and knowing his great birth,
    Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
    In cities, theaters, gardens, parks, and courts:
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth

    Of thieves and murderers:  there I him espied,
    Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.

_____
1. th’ old. The Old Covenant, as opposed to the New Covenant of grace.

LOVE (III) – by George Herbert

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
        Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
        From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
        If I lack’d anything.

A guest, I answer’d, worthy to be here:
        Love said, You shall be he.
I the unkind, the ungrateful? Ah my dear,
        I cannot look on thee.
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
        Who made the eyes but I?

Truth, Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
        Go where it doth deserve.
And know you not, says Love, who bore the blame?
        My dear, then I will serve.
You must sit down, says Love, and taste my meat:
        So I did sit and eat.

 
Source (for poems and footnotes): George Herbert: The Country Parson, The Temple (The Classics of Western Spirituality; 1981)

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for poems by Ray Fowler.

“A verse may find him who a sermon flies.”
    – George Herbert (The Church Porch, line 5)

George Herbert is one of my favorite poets. He was born on April 3, 1593 into a privileged Welsh family. He earned two degrees at Trinity College in Cambridge. In 1620 he was elected public orator of Cambridge and was elected to Parliament in 1624. However, in 1627 he resigned from public office and soon after began to prepare for ministry instead.

When challenged by friends who felt that the ministry was beneath his station in life, Herbert responded:

It hath been formerly judged that the domestic servants of the King of Heaven should be the noblest families on earth. And though the iniquity of the late times have made clergymen meanly valued … I will labor to make it honorable, by consecrating all my learning, and all my poor abilities, to advance the glory of that God that gave them; knowing that I can never do too much for him that hath done so much for me, as to make me a Christian. And I will labour to be like my Saviour, by making humility lovely in the eyes of all men and by following the merciful and meek example of my dear Jesus. (from Isaac Walton’s “Life of Herbert,” in George Herbert: The Complete English Poems; Penguin Classics, 1991, p. 282)

In 1630 Herbert took a small church in Bremerton which he helped rebuild with his own funds. He spent the final three years of his life preaching, caring for the people in his parish and completing the two major works for which he is best known today: The Country Parson, a work of prose which explores the personal life and ministry of the pastor, and The Temple, a collection and sequence of poems on Christian themes.

Herbert died from tuberculosis in 1633. He was only forty years old. On his deathbed he sent a collection of his poems to a friend with the following instructions:

If he can think it may turn to the advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public; if not, let him burn it, for I and it are the least of God’s mercies. (from Isaac Walton’s “Life of Herbert,” in George Herbert: The Complete English Poems; Penguin Classics, 1991, p. 311)

This collection of poems was The Temple, published later the same year Herbert died. It is a beautiful book of poems, filled with startling imagery, ingenious wordplay, and rich devotional thought. You may be familiar with some of Herbert’s poems in hymn form, such as “Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life,” “The God of Love My Shepherd Is,” “Let All the World in Every Corner Sing,” and “Teach Me, My God and King.”

Herbert was also well-known for his Proverbs, some of which we still use today:

• “When a friend asks, there is no tomorrow.”
• “His bark is worse than his bite.”
• “Whose house is of glass must not throw stones at another.”
• “Good words are worth much and cost little.”
• “The eye is bigger than the belly.”
• “Half the world knows not how the other half lives.”
• “He that lives well is learned enough.”
• “He loseth nothing that loseth not God.”

I hope I have whetted your appetite to learn more about George Herbert. This is Holy Week, and over the next couple days I will be posting some of Herbert’s poems to assist you in your reflection on the events of Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. As with all poetry, you will get the most out of the poems if you take them slowly and read them through several times, out loud if possible.

I invite you to come back later today and throughout the weekend to enjoy these poems by George Herbert. May God bless you this Easter season as you meditate on what He has done for you in Christ our Savior.

Click here for more poems by George Herbert.
Click here for poems by Ray Fowler.

George Herbert Poems and Posts Roundup:

• Pastor and Poet George Herbert (1593-1633)
• Favorite Poems by George Herbert
• Good Friday Poems by George Herbert
• Holy Saturday Poem by George Herbert
• Easter Sunday Poems by George Herbert

Winter is almost over. Spring is coming soon. Hang on!

Link: Grow-a-Brain

The Christianity Today 2008 Book Awards are in. Here are the top books arranged by category.

• Apologetics/Evangelism - There Is A God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind; Antony Flew with Roy Abraham Varghese (HarperOne)
• Biblical Studies - The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition; Paul Rhodes Eddy and Gregory A. Boyd (Baker Academic)
• Christianity and Culture - Faith in the Halls of Power: How Evangelicals Joined the American Elite; D. Michael Lindsay (Oxford)
• Christian Living - Caring for Mother: A Daughter’s Long Goodbye; Virginia Stem Owens (Westminster John Knox)
• The Church/ Pastoral Leadership - The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry; Ajith Fernando (Crossway)
• Fiction - Quaker Summer; Lisa Samson (Thomas Nelson)
• History/Biography - A Secular Age; Charles Taylor (Belknap)
• Missions/Global Affairs - Disciples of All Nations: Pillars of World Christianity; Lamin O. Sanneh (Oxford)
• Spirituality - The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways That Jesus Is the Way; Eugene H. Peterson (Eerdmans)
• Theology/Ethics - Resounding Truth: Christian Wisdom in the World of Music; Jeremy S. Begbie (Baker Academic)

Awards of Merit

• Apologetics/Evangelism - Questions to All Your Answers: A Journey from Folk Religion to Examined Faith; Roger E. Olson (Zondervan)
• Biblical Studies - Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament; G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson (Baker Academic)
• Christianity and Culture - Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy; Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L Weaverzercher (Jossey-Bass)
• Christian Living (tie) -
  • Ain’t Too Proud to Beg: Living Through the Lord’s Prayer; Telford Work (Eerdmans)
  • Gracism: The Art of Inclusion; David A. Anderson (Intervarsity)
• The Church/Pastoral Leadership - The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice; Mark Labberton (Intervarsity)
• Fiction - Home to Holly Springs; Jan Karon (Viking)
• History/Biography - The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America; Thomas S. Kidd (Yale)
• Missions/Global Affairs - Theology in the Context of World Christianity: How the Global Church Is Influencing the Way We Think About and Discuss Theology; Timothy C. Tennent (Zondervan)
• Spirituality - Kingdom Triangle: Recover the Christian Mind, Renovate the Soul, Restore the Spirit’s Power; J. P. Moreland (Zondervan)
• Theology/Ethics - Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief; Rodney Stark (HarperOne)

Did you have a favorite Christian book that you read this past year? Tell us about it in the comments section.

HT: Between Two Worlds

Related posts:

• The Christianity Today 2009 Book Awards
• The Christianity Today 2008 Book Awards
• The Christianity Today 2007 Book Awards

Do pastors prepare their own sermons? I believe that most do, but looking at my stats from last week gave me pause.

I received over a thousand hits last week from people searching for such things as “Palm Sunday sermon,” “sermon for Palm Sunday,” “sermon about the donkey,” etc. The hits started coming first thing Monday morning and continued throughout the week. The greatest number of hits actually came on Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. The hits continued late into Saturday night, and I even got a hit from someone searching with this phrase: “If I had to preach a sermon on Palm Sunday tomorrow, which Scripture would I use?”

Now I am sure many of these people were looking for devotional material to read or perhaps for illustrations or supplementary material for their own sermons. I often read other people’s sermons for personal benefit or to help in my own sermon preparation. But the pattern of searching would suggest that there are some people scooping the internet for sermons to preach the next day rather than actually preparing a message during the week.

Some of these hits came from foreign lands where perhaps not all pastors have the same benefit of training and financial support that many pastors enjoy here in the United States. But most of the hits came from cities right here in the U.S. It just makes you wonder.

Click here for related post: So When Do You Start Preparing for Sunday?

James Howell, senior minister at Myers Park UMC in Charlotte, responds to Bart Erhman’s new book, God’s Problem (subtitled: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question — Why We Suffer).

I was shocked by this book, but not because Ehrman rejects God. Ehrman is a very fine scholar, and a task incumbent upon a scholar is to engage the best scholarship written on a subject. Christians have known for 2,000 years that suffering happens, and theologians have grappled with many wise, meaningful approaches to how we believe in a good God in a world where bad things happen. Ehrman seems not to have made himself aware of any of them, or he ridiculously misrepresents various ways we understand the intersection of God and suffering. None of the great theologians who have deftly explored these matters is ever mentioned.

HT: Ben Witherington

Yesterday’s message in the The Road to Jerusalem series was called The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, taken from Luke 19:28-40. The main idea of the message was that the triumphal entry is all about Jesus as the Messiah. Here is the outline of the message:

I. Jesus presents himself as Messiah (verses 28-34)
    A. The Mount of Olives
    B. The tethered colt
    C. The name “Lord”

II. The people proclaim Jesus as Messiah (verses 35-38)
    A. The entry on the donkey
    B. The spreading of the cloaks
    C. The praises of the people

III. Jesus accepts their praise of him as Messiah (39-40)
    A. The objection of the Pharisees
    B. Jesus’ affirmation of the people’s praise

Application:
    1) Believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
    2) Serve him as King.
    3) Proclaim his praises.

Click on the Sermons tab at the top of the blog for this and other messages.

Nicole at 168 Hours ran a nice series on hospitality last month. You can find a roundup of the links to her series here: Hospitality Posts

Abraham Piper shares 22 words about believing you’re right. “Everyone always thinks they’re right. The moment we discover we’re wrong, we’ve already changed our mind, and we think we’re right again.”

Tony Kummer at Ministry-to-Children.com provides a great Children’s Easter Crafts Resource Page. “Easter is a Christian holiday that almost demands special treatment in your children’s church and Sunday school. Here are some craft ideas online that can help you get started.”

Maeve at Daily Writing Tips examines the roots of the words Good Friday and Easter. “Among the many meanings of ‘good’ are virtuous, moral, and wise. One of the meanings of the word holy is ‘infinitely good.’ From such meanings come the expressions ‘the Good Book’ and ‘Good Friday.’”

Justin Childers at CROSS-eyed quotes Bryan Chapell on the Christ-focus of every passage of Scripture: “In its context, every passage possesses one or more of four redemptive foci. The text may be:
    1) predictive of the work of Christ,
    2) preparatory for the work of Christ,
    3) reflective of the work of Christ, and/or
    4) resultant of the work of Christ.”
(Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Preaching, p. 282)

Bob Krumm raises four questions that must be answered before taking actions to negate global warming and its effects:

1. Is the climate warming outside of the range of normal variation?
2. If so, is the climate change due to man’s influence?
3. Is the net effect of the climate change more negative than positive?
4. Is there a reasonable expectation that the recommended changes will reverse the negative effects without introducing more negative effects?

“We need a ‘yes’ answer to all four questions before taking any actions or we risk either wasting money or making the situation worse.”

Stephen Altrogge asks the question: Does God care about Exercise?

“Nowhere in the Bible will you find a scripture that says, ‘You must exercise three times a week ( and make sure one of those days is a good cardio work out).’ But we do read in 1 Corinthians 10:31, ‘So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.’ Every minute of our lives is to be lived for the glory of God, and exercise is a wonderful means of helping us live for the glory of God. How? By extending our years of service to God, and by making us more effective in serving the Lord.” (HT: Semper Reformanda)

Steven D. Greydanus offers up a fun rhyming review of the new Dr. Seuss movie: Horton Hears a Who.

But the last time Who-ville came to the screen
Seuss-ian magic was not to be seen.
Jim Carrey’s Grinch was nothing to relish
And Mike Myer’s Hat Cat was no more Geisel-ish.

Could La-La Land ever give Horton his due?
A pro-life pachyderm who’s trusty and true?
And with Jim Carrey back! As Horton’s own voice!
The Grinch! Could there be a peculiarer choice?

But… what’s this? From Blue Sky? Creators of Manny
The Mammoth, Ice Age’s pachyderm nanny?
The makers of Robots? Could they get it right?
Could they pull off Horton? You know, they just might…

And they have! Their Horton’s playful and kind
Responsible, long-suffering, stout in a bind.
And, as if atoning, even Jim Carrey…
He’s not at all grinchy! He’s Horton-y! Very!