Why These Poems?
"If love neglected its responsibilities, it too would stand condemned."
"Love warns, instructs, disciplines, and even denies, because love isn't just loving,
but caringly and thoughfully wise."
The poet, author
Okay, given
the many troubling issues in this world, and if we want to play our
constructive part, we need to choose our personal area or areas of
concern.
It’s
my belief, that of all the issues bedeviling Earth, the greatest is a
lack of love, thought and care, upon which every other issue is
intrinsically dependant in terms of lasting (and overall) success. And all why love,
thought and care should underpin every area of our concern and
consequent action.
And therefore, love also standing up, speaking out, thus doing something, because love is just as much involved in the serious side of life as it is in the joyous side of life.
And so, given my areas of concern, what's on my website has been penned in order to stimulate thought, generate
discussion and hopefully facilitate change (whilst meeting people where they are).
However,
in this age of cancel culture, opposite views (and indeed the
people expressing them) are often responded to very badly, sad to say.
All why the following should be borne in mind:
reveals our true character and/or state of development."
The poet, author
"I can understand the heat of an argument, but I find this age of accusation and the need to
condemn irrational. I find the level of hatred that people express about views that differ from
theirs, and the violence of language towards others, disturbing."
Ralph Fiennes
But moving on.
Though
my website contains many poems of a general nature, there are five
main reasons for my poetry, and those reasons being:
1)
My concern over inroads being made into freedom of expression, civil and religious liberty-cum-true
democracy.
2)
My concern over the state that our planet's in.
3)
My concern over the state of society today.
4)
My concern over the hopelessness, hurt and suffering that's out there.
5)
And though a Christian myself, my concern over the state of Christendom today (bearing in mind that Christendom and Christianity are two different things).
At the end of the day (and as is stated on my Home page), it's all about changing hearts and minds, being a good and loving example, living peaceably and lawfully, acting transparently, fairly and humanely, looking after our planet and its creatures, restoring lost values, principles and standards, freeing the oppressed, comforting the afflicted, helping the needy, upholding rights, giving people a chance, and looking beyond ourselves.
Yes, because we're living in a very different world now, one that has become dangerous, unstable, destructive, unwholesome and error bound.
no matter how bad things may appear — on Earth, that is — no matter who may be behind what, no matter where it all may end up, no matter what it may take or cost in personal terms, always act lovingly, caringly, thoughtfully, sensitively, understandingly, sympathetically, compassionately, selflessly, supportively, impartially, mercifully, transparently, honestly, sensibly and wisely, doing whatever you can to make a difference and bring about changes for the better, doing whatever you can to ease the plight of others, to halt war, violence, abuse, oppression, racism and bigotry, to halt the subtle or outright erosion of freedom, freedom of expression, and civil-religious liberty, for in time you may not be able to do much at all, may wish that you had, and may awaken to your own complicity via that silence that worked against both you and others, and given that you may find that there is a God, that there is a day of reckoning — and for you, perhaps an eternal loss far richer and greater than you might imagine, and all for a recklessly spent three score years and ten, or shorter.
one of the best kept secrets in psychiatry and medicine in general"
Professor Andrew Sims, former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
"A thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education."
President Theodore Roosevelt
But continuing on.
These poems, LIGHT-HEARTED, SECULAR-GENERIC and RELIGIOUS came as quite a surprise to me,
having never done poetry before. It wasn't until about
2002, when I was around the age of 52, that they began.
One day I was feeling particularly upset over the things that I had been witnessing and hearing of within the Christian community. You see, in recent years I had become more committed to my Christian walk, and as a consequence, had been applying myself to serious indepth biblical study (upon which my Christian poetry is largely built), and as another consequence, had become more aware of what Christians (which meant me too), should be upholding and practicing, but were not, thus bringing Christianity into disrepute, and representing God badly — many folk ignorantly so, though not necessarily excusably so — for after all, Christians are supposed to be God’s ambassadors, aware of His will and walking in His ways.
As a result of having become more committed to my Christian walk, I
had begun to see more clearly the tragic changes that have also been
occurring within society.
In other words, and in a nutshell, my poetry-cum-website has been driven by an informed and urgent desire to:
1)
Awaken people to any forces that are currently working against their best interests.
2)
Awaken humanity to how it's fouling and destroying its own nest, planet Earth.
3)
Awaken
society to how far it has strayed from that which once held it together,
and to the harm that has resulted and is continuing.
4)
To
provide hope for those who're feeling a sense of hopelessness, and to
stand up for, and show thought and feeling for, those who're hurting or suffering in
any way.
5)
Awaken Christendom to how far it has strayed from the apostolic
teachings-cum-blueprint-cum-path for Christianity; to the woes and
perils that have engulfed Christianity as a result; and to the faulty
witness that it’s now presenting to the world.
Added to all the above, was the pain that I had experienced over the years, and
was still experiencing, which was the result of:
a) My
own foolishness.
b) Emotional struggles.
c)
A greater
appreciation of the wrong and hurt that I myself had inflicted
on others throughout my life (all of which I deeply regret and am
truly sorry for; and some of it I struggle to understand).
d) The insensitivity, indifference, unkindness and bigotry that I had personally experienced from others, and that I was still experiencing.
In other words, and in a nutshell, my poetry-cum-website has also been driven by an urgent desire to:
Spare others from the same mistakes that I have made.
Help people see how they may be hurting others, and harming themselves while at it.
Encourage a greater respect for life, others, the environment and its creatures.
Now getting back to where I came in (and with all this going on inside me).
I, for some unknown reason, took a
pen, sat down, and tried putting something together in poetical form,
starting with a Christian poem.
Let me reiterate and elaborate on
my comment, “For some unknown reason” --
Prior
to this occurrence, I had no interest in poetry whatsoever, and to the
best of
my knowledge had never done or learnt to do poetry, and even today
after
having penned over 2000 poems, still have no real
interest in
poetry, no desire to read poetry. Yes, I have immersed myself in such
now, and have formed a deeper
appreciation of this art, but it has simply become an accidental
vehicle, one that I
can only attribute to a divine source (confirmed more so over time) that has taken me down this track
knowing
that I would be prepared to oblige given the strong feelings I had (and
have) about
certain things, and my unconcern about being popular.
What I will
mention here, is that just prior to my poetry beginnings, I had been
asking God if He would give me some creative way of
reaching people given previous unsuccessful attempts and
frustration.
To continue.
My first attempts resulted in a number of poorly
constructed
poems, often with ill chosen words and poorly rendered verses
which reflected my lack of poetical and even grammatical skill, and my
lack
of Christian growth. As time went by, my skill in the realm of poetry
improved, but not before a number of my earlier attempts had
circulated. The poems represented here, are the ones I would
rather be
judged by, as it were, though many of them are still in fact early
poems that I've been trying to go back over and improve as best I can.
However, poetry is
simply the vehicle being used here, and therefore is not my
primary
focus.
Regarding
my first attempts (particularly the first 40 poems, say, since
discarded), I guess there's always a learning period, not that it ended there.
The point of writing these poems is to express my
own viewpoints, concerns, thoughts and even beliefs, and that
should always be borne in
mind when reading them. They are a reflection of my ongoing
journey. I do not consider myself as being better or wiser
than anyone else and am very aware that I still have a long way to go
and am happy to receive all the help I can get. It’s just simply that a
fountain of poetry has been springing forth from within me, as appears
here, which I have often had people (both Christian and non–Christian),
tell me I should publish. It is my hope that this poetical collage will
stimulate thought, benefit others, and bring glory to my God, who I
believe has used me (though an unworthy vessel) to express what’s in these
poems, and to whom I give any credit and all the glory.
Thus I hope that your response to these poems will take into account the
fact that God is still working on me, He hasn’t finished yet, so I may
not have put things together as well as He might have liked. If so, I ask your forgiveness, and His forgiveness too.
I would like to point out that certain things expressed in these
poems are not necessarily my experience, but what I have seen
experienced in the lives of others.
I believe that we should consider very carefully, thoughtfully, and thus fairly what another person is saying. Though we may ultimately disagree with what they are saying, and still hold to our own views or beliefs, this should not preclude us from keeping an open mind. Many have found with time that what they thought was right, was actually wrong, or that what they thought was wrong, was actually right. May I suggest to you that it is not differing views or beliefs that cause the problem, nor the expressing of them, but those bad responses or attitudes that many display towards another who expresses (or practices) different views or beliefs to them.
And further to.
I
was raised a Christian; wandered away from my faith and my Lord; slowly
returned; later became seriously committed to the Christian walk and my
faith; and have since applied myself to in-depth biblical study,
something that I believe is a necessity for every Christian.
My
Christian beliefs are built firmly upon the Bible and the Bible alone,
not the church that I and my wife attend, all why I haven't mentioned
my denomination (though quite prepared to). At the end of the day,
what I'm conveying via my website is either correct, biblical, logical,
factual or not, and such you must decide for yourself. But to be
honest, too many people judge people by their denomination rather than
seeing them as an individual.
I’m not conservative by
nature, but conservative by belief and choice regarding my Christian
walk, the result of what I believe is the restraining and transforming
influence of the Holy Spirit upon my earthly, worldly nature and behaviour,
and also the result of my greater understanding of the Holy, righteous
nature of my God and His desire that I emulate His nature and abide by
His will in all areas of my life. Due to such necessary pruning, one's
tastes, desires, and actions naturally become more conservative and
temperate.
My desire is to always put God first in my life;
to be a better Christian, husband and father; to have a greater love
for, and be a greater blessing to, my fellow man; and that love
motivate all I do. My thrust here, can be somewhat summed up in the
following quote:
people, particularly its minorities, and those who are misunderstood, struggling, hurting,
suffering, needy, disadvantaged, impaired, disabled, or vulnerable.”
The poet, author
Do
I consider myself as being better than others? No! I'm simply someone
who is endeavouring to be a better person, someone who is endeavouring
to walk more in accordance with God's will (and thus less
hypocritically, though still stumbling, still messing up, and even
losing it at times), and I am happy to receive all the help that I can
get on that journey. Meantime, I'm trying to help others too, trying to
play my part in making this world a better place, and am doing what I
can to ease the lot of others — one's first port of call being,
speaking out, making a stand, and sometimes that is all that we're able
to do regarding certain things.
little chance you have in trying to change others."
Jacob M. Braude
I
do not believe in church unity but the unity of all believers. In other
words, I believe Christians of all faiths should be treated as brothers
and sisters in Christ, shown unconditional love, acceptance and
respect, despite their differing beliefs. I believe the same love and
respect should be shown to every human.
Adrian Rodgers (1931-2005)
UNITY IS NOT UNIFORMITY
“The enemy offers, in clever disguise, false unity. It’s manmade bricks. It is a unity built on uniformity,
born of control and oblivious to the truth. Ecumenicalism has offered diluted doctrine and created false
unity. The ecumenical movement is a coming together based on finding and maintaining our lowest
common denominator — not our highest calling and purpose.”
Chasing God Serving Man, by Tommy Tenney, p23
I
also believe in the complete separation of Church and State (Mark 12:17;
John 18:36). And one reason I don't believe in church unity is because
I believe the ecumenical movement is aiding the following, and
that is (based on very extensive research), that a
political-religious system (aided by a Reformation reversal, those calls for reunification) will
soon dominate the world scene just prior to Christ's soon return, and
with ultimately dire consequences (focus being America). In other words, a New World Order (one world
government); such effectively but a wolf in sheep's clothing, and no doubt preaching love, peace and
harmony, aided by some orchestrated events, terrorism, calamities, lawlessness, etc. Hence those calls for
this and that. And sadly, this global
power that demands worship (according to the Christian Bible), will fool most of Earth's
inhabitants (Rev 13:11-18).
Well, there you have it.
Kind regards,
Lance Landall, poet and author.
Regarding any biblical texts that appear on my website:
Where not indicated otherwise, they're from the New Revised Standard Version Bible,
copyright, 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All
rights reserved.
Other versions used include the RSV, NIV, KJV, NKJV, ESV, NASB; and I've also used the NLT a number of times.
Any bracketed comments within a text or texts have been inserted by me.
My Prayer For You
May the true God — whom all glory is due — fill your heart with His tender love,
And thereby, the Spirit working within you with empowering from above,
And may God also place charity, grace and compassion within your heart,
Along with an inner joy-cum-peace and contentment; and courage impart.
May the loving God above ensure that wisdom and truth encompass you,
And may He guide your footsteps thus helping you to know what to say and do,
And may His presence fill your every day and expressions of His great love,
And may He constantly send tireless angels with protection from above.
May the great God — whom those angels praise — restrain any who would cause you ill,
And may He also take into account all your right desires with His will,
And may strength for every trial (when such strength is required) be granted to you,
And wherever His moulding's needed, may His loving gentleness show through.
May the gracious God above give a far greater understanding to you,
And may He send you much encouragement and friends that are caring and true,
And may all suffering that's encountered be softened and comfort given,
And any evil powers of darkness from your home and life be driven.
To God the Father, this I thus pen, and in Jesus' Holy name, Amen.
By Lance Landall
Don't Believe in God? Not interested in Christianity?
Have you considered the following?
Could not believing in God be one of the reasons for the many rapes, murders, assaults, abuses, etc, that our world is so full of today — in other words, no God, no accountability? Let me clarify that a little more. If one doesn’t believe in God, then one most likely doesn’t believe in a day of reckoning. And I guess one might order their life on that basis. What I mean is, why would someone necessarily concern themselves with what they might do, if at the end of their life, there was no punishment for the unrepentant wrongdoer, and no paradise for those who choose to live rightly and lovingly. If one wasn’t caught by the authorities, what they could get away with would only be limited by the degree of their creativeness. After all, if life didn’t exist beyond the grave for us, if there wasn’t a bigger picture, what on earth would be the point or purpose in morality, human rights, etc, one could ask.
Even worse would be happening today if it weren’t for the fact that some are simply motivated to do the correct thing because they don’t want to take a chance on risking prison, punishment of some other kind, or some sort of self inflicted repercussion. The motives of others for refraining from lawlessness, might, for example, simply be upbringing, social pressure, or simply a lack of opportunity. So where would a sincere distaste of evil, a true genuine sense of right and wrong, and a truly unselfish desire to do good come from. It’s certainly not something you can legislate or force, though there are some who might like to try. How does love for our fellowman get into one's heart to start with? Where does one's conscience come from?
Doesn’t having a hope beyond the grave, a belief in a God, and a day of reckoning, help to hold society in check? Otherwise, what’s the alternative? Survival of the fittest, dog eat dog, the law of the jungle? Sounds evolutionary doesn’t it? Incidentally, Darwin didn’t think his evolutionary theory — yes it is only a theory — would take off like it did.
When one looks at the miracle of new birth, the wonder of the animal kingdom, and the beauty and complexity of nature itself, not to mention the human body, its hard not to believe in an incredible, intelligent, powerful, Divine source. Likewise, love, mercy, compassion, kindness, tender human expressions, etc, must emanate from somewhere, and that somewhere could surely only fit with a Someone, that is, an amazing, loving, and caring God. On the other hand, any opposition to a God like that, and His Word, would surely have to come from a negative source, one that would really only fit with a devil, hence why the devil mentioned in the Christian Bible [God’s Word] neatly fits that picture. Only that sort of scenario makes some sense out of it all. A beautiful newly made creation [planet earth], humans given free choice and control of their habitation, rebellion, planet earth and mankind corrupted, death and decay, a perpetrator behind it all [Satan, a malcontent angel], and a concerned savior [the creator God, king of all the worlds] watching and awaiting the eventual climax of the perpetrators plan. A great universal controversy between good and evil. Wouldn’t allowing such a thing, instead of instantly snuffing it out, help humanity to clearly see forever more the result of rejecting what was right and best in the first place, therefore preventing another disaster, and showing how merciful and longsuffering this God is? That He is not a dictator. After all, a God who creates beings with freedom of choice instead of making them robots, (after all, voluntary love is the only love worth having), would hardly in a renewed environment [a renewed earth], change them into robots the second time around. That would be the ultimate contradiction!
Today we seemingly live in a never ending world of change and instability. Surely what we need today is something that never changes, something that gives us reassurance. With all the theories doing the rounds today, a master blueprint to refer back to is surely needed more than ever. The Bible? Could it be that Christians have been forsaking what they once upheld? The Bible not for you? Once again, what’s the alternative? Communism, fascism, mysticism, New Age [actually old age wrapped in new clothing]? Mankind has never been able to find an answer within itself. It just chases its tail. One only has to look at history. Mankind is like a ship in a bottle — clearly only something from outside can save it. Look at where mankind is now. To think that we can cure this mess we’re in is to act like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand.
Our seas are polluted beyond redemption, our land masses likewise. The ecological system is in tatters, the very air we breathe contaminated, even food we eat. Calamities are increasing rapidly, (funny how the Bible predicts all that), lawlessness is rampant, and the list goes on. Its like everything is going wrong. It’s clear that it's all going to end somewhere, sometime. Where would you like it to end? Wouldn’t a new and better life beyond this present one be the answer? Hope for the future? Life beyond the grave?
Personally, my hope and trust is in God and His Word. Each day His Word is validated by what we see happening around us, along with the disturbing world events. All predicted and all on track.
Tell me, what are you putting your trust and hope in, or aren’t you? It’s food for thought, isn’t it?
A Wise Man’s Synopsis Of Pascal’s Wager
God
either exists or He doesn’t. Based on the testimony of both general
revelation, (that is Nature), and special revelation, (that is the
Bible), it is abundantly fair to concede that there is at least a 50%
chance that the Christian Creator God exists. Therefore, since we stand
to gain eternity and thus infinity, the wise or safe choice is to live
as though God does exist. If we are right, we gain everything and lose
nothing. If we are wrong, we lose everything and gain nothing. Therefore
based on simple mathematics, Pascal reasoned that only the fool would
choose to live the godless life.
