In decades past in New Zealand, as in many countries I guess, it has not been the right thing for a ‘real man’ to be seen to be writing poetry, (except perhaps when trying to woo a lady!) so most of us haven’t. I can’t say that over the years I ever really had the inclination either, except for a couple of ‘moments of weakness’ when I was really feeling down and rhyming lines came into my mind.

All changed however at the dawn of the new millennium. I remember well, sitting at my computer, when the radical rhymes just flowing from my mind, through the keyboard and, almost magically it seemed, appearing on the screen. God was releasing a whole new dimension in my life. He never ceases to amaze me! It was the last thing I would have thought of doing myself!

Since then I have had lots of fun doing them, from time to time as the inspiration hits. Most take about a day to complete – 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration, as is the rule in most things of life. I trust you may also derive a little pleasure from reading them too!

WIIIIIIIINTER
The weather has changed.....

THE CROOK CHOOK!
A meal gone wrong

INSPIRATION ZERO!
The title says it all! Deadline approaches!

LIFE IS FUN
Depression and loneliness are big problems today.

BLANK
My mind.

EASTER
The meaning?

DAY COMES, DAYS GO.....
Time speeding up?

THE MISSION
What is your lifes mission?

'Q'
Two major earthquakes in 17 days.

WORDPLAY
Words are both fun and meaningful.

WE CHOOSE
All too often we don't consider the long term consequences of our choices in life.

MY MUM IS 90!
The celebration of a monumental milestone in our family took place this weekend!

LOST AND FOUND
In God

ROGER
The big '0'

non(SENSE)
Mind abuzz!

U 2?
Not the band!

BUSY, BUSY
What is our priority?

CAN YOU WAIT?
Patience is a virtue

CHOICE
Today's choices affect our eternal destiny.

TO GO OR TO STAY?
Know not to outstay our welcome.

I WILL
A declaration.

CREATIVE!
Well, maybe!

NON-SENSE
Nothing to write!

LIFE
What to write?

CHOICES
Life's choices have consequences.

2009
A look ahead.

TICK TOCK
The clock stops for no man - or woman!

'USING'
Playing with words.

WHAT 2 WRITE?
Sometimes writing is not easy!

THE BUILDING
A story of waiting patiently for the Lord to act.

THIS WEEK
Not a good one!

DAVID'S RAMBLINGS
Brain getting rusty!

WAITING
We are not too keen on this in today's world!

GONE!
Death and grieving are part of life.

PLANNING AHEAD
What lies ahead in your life?

YES IT'S TRUE, GOD LOVES YOU!
An ode to those in ministry. (That's all of us!)

A PSALM
Of David (Tait) A cry of despair, trust and victory, during a time of difficulty in life.

MR BUMBLE
How can the bumble bee fly?

LIFE'S ROSES AND THORNS
Life is a challenge.

THE QUANDRY!
Have run out of ideas!

IN A HURRY!
In too much of a hurry?

LORD - HELP ME!
In difficult times we need to let the Lord have his way in our life!

NOT SURE I WANT TO GO TO HEAVEN ANY MORE!
... if it's going to be like the church on earth!

TOMORROW
... inspiration will come.

CHRISTMAS TIME
... comes but once a year

LIFE!
It's funny how!

MUSING ABOUT MUSING
Musing can be hard work!

...EPT
Words ending in...

A DAVID MUSING
Very short

A MATTER OF TIME
A valuable commodity

A MINUTE IS A LONG TIME IN GOD
If we are listening.

ON THE WAY - NEARLY!
So much to do at the last minute.

FAITH
Learning to trust the Lord.

WHEN BAD THINGS ARE GOOD
Something to remember when things go wrong.

BASIL
A friend dies of cancer.

FAITH
A challenge to us all!

VICTORY!
In the journey of life.

DAYS OF ‘CHUNDER’!
36 long hours sailing upon the ocean.

BESIDE ME
A tribute to Kathy – my first poem ever!

BODY ‘Not So’ BEAUTIFUL?
The ravages of time strike us all.

LIFE WITH THE WIFE
Could fill the book! Abridged version.

YOU’RE STILL THERE
Even when the going’s tough!

DRIPS AND DROPS
A lesson from nature.

‘GRUTS’
A very private matter – all is revealed!

THE PATH
Slowed to a walk to learn this lesson.

GOD IS GOOD!
A tribute to my Dad.

ON THE RUN
Knew runners were mad? This proves it!

THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT!
All in the day’s work of a writer.

LIFE’S A LAWNMOWER, MATE!
The story of our family – warts and all!

SEVEN TIMES SHED FOR ME
What my Jesus did for me.

TO BEARD OR NOT TO BEARD?
The saga of the whiskers.

A GOOD MAN GOES TO HEAVEN?
Doesn’t he?

A FRIEND IS THERE
In a time of need.

'TIS ME'
A little about the unique mind of David.

Celebrating the most important event in history – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
To some it may seem like a tragedy but the reality is that it was the final victory for Jesus over sin and death, and through Him, for us too. The ultimate example of the saying, ‘No gain without pain!’ For the pain Jesus suffered that day was indescribable. He was beaten to a pulp, unrecognisable, not at all like the sanitised pictures we have
of this gentle looking man sadly looking down on his followers from the cross. He suffered the most agonising and extreme torture and death that it was possible for the Romans to inflict, and they were real experts at it.

This poem attempts, inevitably inadequately, to describe some of the events of that day, a day that had amazingly, been specifically predicted hundreds of years before it came. Indeed it was foreshadowed from the very time that it became necessary, the moment that Adam and Eve were separated from God through sin.


SEVEN TIMES SHED FOR ME

(Matthew 27:46)"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabaacthani" He cried,
My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
On the stroke of the ninth hour he died
Rejected, cruelly nailed to the God deserted tree.
My Jesus, shedding his blood for me.

To Gethsemane he came, the holy one
(Luke 22:42) Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me;
Yet not my will, but yours be done.
For I’ll ever be obedient, until you set me free.

(Luke 22:44) Being in anguish he prayed more earnestly,
His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
The disciples exhausted, slept on peacefully.
Returning from his prayers, by Jesus they were found.
My Jesus, he shed his blood for me.

(Luke 22:47) While he was still speaking a crowd came up,
Included traitor Judas, with whom he did sup.
The chief priests, officers, soldiers and all,
They arrested him, for that was their call.

At the chief priests house they questioned him,
(Matthew 26:67) Spit in his face and struck him with their fists.
The cup of his blood now overflowing its rim,
Grieving eyes closing, seeing through mists.
My Jesus, again he shed his blood for me.

So Jesus, my Saviour, to Pilate was now taken,
His determination to do God’s will, never shaken.
(Matthew 27:11) "Are you the king of the Jews?" Pilate demanded,
(27:11) "Yes it is as you say". My Saviour then remanded.

(Matthew 27:23) "What crime has he committed?" The people, they were consulted.
(27:22-3) "Crucify him! Crucify him!" The rabble cried out loud.
(27:26) Then he released Barabbas to them, Pilate’s feelings most insulted,
(27:26) While he had Jesus flogged, simply to please the crowd.
A third time, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

Seven hundred years before that terrible day,
Through the prophet Isaiah my Jesus did say,
(Isaiah 50:6) "I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting",
To happen to Jesus, God’s son, was not befitting.

(Isaiah 50:6)"I offered my back to those who beat me,
My cheeks to those who pulled out my beard."
With beard gone, Oh God, how could it be,
So intense the pain, more than he had feared.
Four times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

(Matthew (Matthew 27:27) Then the Governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium.
No peace for him there, no place to rest, was no sanatorium,
(27:28) They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
Preparing my Jesus to die, out on that awful limb.

(Matthew 27:29) They twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head,
(27:29) They put a staff in his right hand, for truly he was the righteous king.
They used the staff to beat the thorns in deeper and deeper instead,
(27:30) Struck him on the head again and again, making worse his suffering.
Five times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

Under the weight of the cross, voice slurred,
(Psalm 22:15) "My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth",
Step by step weakening, as he headed south.

(Psalm 22:16) Hung on to the cross, "they pierced my hands and my feet."
(Matthew 27:33-4) At The Place of the Skull. There they offered Jesus wine to drink.
The time was coming near, with his Father again to meet.
His blood poured out, his body near death, it began to shrink.
Six times, my Jesus shed his blood for me.

(Mark 15:33) Darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour,
An ‘awe-full’, fearsome display of God’s fury and power!
(Mark 15:37) With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last,
His worldly pain, now a thing of the past.

(John 9:33) The soldiers came to Jesus and found that he was already dead,
So now there was no need to break his legs.
A lunging spear into his side, spewing forth blood so red,
All poured out, right down to the dregs.
This final time, Jesus shed all his blood for me.

Yes, seven times my Jesus shed his blood for me,
Receiving from the Father, forgiveness of all my sin.
He came to earth; he died, forever to set me free,
He opened the heavenly gates, now to welcome me in.
All because, seven times, Jesus shed his blood for me.


My thanks to Dr Derek Prince for his insights in discovering and teaching this truth.