A note from the poet

Dear Reader,
I wrote these lines because the beauty of Christ within a soul cannot be burned, erased, or slaughtered out of existence. The world may destroy landmarks and silence voices, yet the true culture of the follower of Jesus is Christ Himself living unashamed in the heart. That is what no power can take. In the end He remains Victor, and every knee will bow.

— the poet

Philippians 2:10-11
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Revelation 19:16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

They set the ancient churches to the flame,
The marble altars blackened, stained-glass broken,
Beautiful landmarks turned to smoke and name
Erased from stone that once had simply spoken.

They slaughter Christians in the open street,
In fields at dusk, in rooms where children sleep,
While cameras turn and voices still repeat
That every cry is somehow incomplete.

Wherever lying multiplies, and blood
Is spilled to silence what the heart still knows,
Satan himself is author of the flood—
The murderer who never kept his oath.

Yet deeper than the hand that strikes or steals,
Deeper than every doctrine that would claim
The right to own the breath a person feels,
There stands a beauty fire cannot name.

They think they can erase the culture whole,
Yet for the true disciple culture is
Christ living, unashamed, within the soul—
The life no outer power can erase.

Christ living in the heart is not a flag,
Not stone, not vote, not argument to win.
It is the light that does not need a stage,
The masterpiece the world cannot begin.

No edict burns it. No campaign unmakes
The quiet work already finished there.
The kingdom is not built of what it takes;
It is the gift that cannot be unmade.

So let the outer city fall or stand;
Let every earthly throne be raised or razed.
The soul that holds the Maker in its hand
Keeps what no power on earth has ever raised.

Rejoice, for Christ is Victor over all;
At last every knee will bow before His feet
And every tongue confess He reigns alone—
King of kings and Lord of lords forever.

**To God be the glory always and only.