Originally written in October, 2019, this re-edited poem brings forth a message from Sunday worship at New Life Church in Gahanna, Ohio.  The free-verse style enhances my sermon notes.

From Hebrews 12:1-3

Let us throw off everything

Hindering sin, which easily entangles

Running life’s race with perseverance

Fixing faith’s eyes on Christ

He endures Calvary’s Cross

Defeating sin’s darkness and shame

Now sitting at God’s side

Bringing hope to lost hearts

The Message

Life’s treadmill defines our race

Running with God’s steady faith

Life’s marathon, hard and long

Facing emotional ups and downs

God sends His encouraging words

Overcoming defeat, distress, and despair

Trusting in Jesus, keep running

With perseverance, to the end

Jesus endures His own journey

Running to “our” bloody Cross

Following always Jesus’ faithful example

Showing us perseverance and trust

Young David ignores Goliath’s size

Focusing on faith in God

Christ faces the impossible

Yet, His journey will succeed

Jesus surrenders to God’s plan

Faithfully carrying our burdens

We all suffer sin’s consequences

Christ comes, guarding our hearts

Withstanding life’s harsh body blows

In this fallen, broken world

Take Action

Trusting God, eyes on Jesus

Focusing on Christ, remain obedient

Replacing life’s empty, negative notions

Knowing Jesus as our Savior!

Believers must remember that God’s love is of a much higher caliber–it is the starting point of our salvation.

From 1 John 4:9-10:  “God’s love was revealed among us in this way:  God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Written and published in June, 2019, this poem witnesses acts of courage through Scripture and history.   Each and every day, people from all walks of life exhibit unwavering courage in the face of overwhelming odds . . . and they succeed through the convictions found in their hearts.

Appreciate the substance and strength of courage

Witnessing acts of bravery that always encourage

History and the Bible endorse many courageous acts

Honoring men and women from these truthful facts

A lost and sinful world moves without direction

God offers a living sacrifice with His only Son

Witnessing mockery, death, and Resurrection

Dutch people step out from safe location

During a horrible world war’s persecution

Hiding people from arrest and deportation

God listens to His people in Egypt under bondage

Choosing Moses, He dispatches this man to deliver

Bravely leading Israel to freedom and a new age

In America, runaway slaves flee to seek new lives

A network of collaborators facilitate their escape

Following the Underground Railroad, they survive

The Philistines prepare Israel’s army for defeat

A young boy’s valor and faith astonishes everyone

With God, David brings down Goliath, at his feet

A young boy faces serious and critical circumstances

Cancer ravages and impairs his brain and small body

Facing pain-filled treatments, he accepts his chances

Saul persecutes Christians, constant and persistent

Jesus transforms him on the lonely road to Damascus

Apostle Paul moves forward as God’s faithful assistant

American soldiers confront an overwhelming fate

Fighting their way out at Korea’s Chosin Reservoir

Legendary deeds of bravery, they no longer wait

Jesus models the Spirit of God in humble, human form

He faithfully obeys His Father, toward a bloody Cross

Bringing Salvation to a world filled with endless storms