Crazy and Back

By James T Edwards

I have had the privilege of being Jim's pastor for nine years, and his friend for over thirty years.

Jim is one of those guys that you are drawn to. You don't have to be around him long to know he loves Jesus and people.

Jesus made the statement, "The greatest among you must be a servant" (Matthew 23:11 NLT). This makes Jim one of th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647733070

Book preview

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all who have prayed for, are praying for, have helped me, or are helping me to complete the destiny God has for me. I especially would like to thank my wife, Donna, for her help on our computer. Also, I thank Lynn, Janet, Heidi, Sarah, and pastor Bob for their free contributions.

Introduction

In this book of outreach poetry, I’ve attempted to give samples from my life’s journey, from teenager to old-timer, from a person resisting the salvation message, to one receiving it and wanting to share how the Truth (Jesus) can change and redirect a life on earth, and forever.

By my poetry, I’ve also tried to show that truth speaks to us in many ways. We find the value of friendships and trust in enjoying time with one another, as in the poem, Best Teenage Memory, and we long for good friendships to last forever, an eternal reality God has put in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We find truth in the freedom of exploring different ideas, comparing them to one another, like in the poem, A Model of Love.

We find our personal testimonies cherished, sharing them because we believe they illustrate how Our God has used them to reveal His Fatherly care for us (see the poem Vanity). We experience a closeness with creation when we identify with our environment and oneness in nature’s surroundings, as in poem, Beautiful Day.

The device of foreshadowing we find in novels, but I try to show it in the grand story of history The Author of Life did some foreshadowing of His Own, leading us to connect His Hand in The Grand Plan (see the poem, Foreshadowed).

Prayer poems came unintentionally as poetry when I started praying. Under His shaping, we someday will be His finished work (indicated in the poem, The Potter). I suppose in the AD poem section, I include more commentaries on today’s happenings and my personal peeves and longings, as in the poem What’s Not to Laugh.

I’ve attempted to be transparent, though encouraging to others. I hope you can relate and find you are loved and worthy of being sought after.

Chapter 1

*BC Poems

*(BC refers to before I became born-again)

Best Teenage Memory

It was the best Friday-Saturday combo of my youth.

I knew my friend since sixth-grade elementary school.

To celebrate his upcoming high school graduation,

a complimentary gift his dad did access,

from a friend he knew, who went on vacation.

His dad dropped us off at his friend’s,

closed to the public driving range location.

There we met another youth who worked there.

We three drove out buckets of golf balls,

each preferred driver to hold,

the only bad we had, a field of balls to shag.

Then till late night,

in the concession stand,

munchin’ chips and drinking from soda bottles,

cards of poker in hand, we played.

Our new friend’s goin’ places in this world’s favorite phrase— darned straight.

Saturday there’d be fishin’ behind the green in the adjacent stream.

Graduation boy’s folks came to see us.

The dad laughed to see our fish on a line in the cooler

floatin’ in water with the watermelon;

it lookin’ not so clean.

But at that age, what’d we know of hygiene?

In later years I’d here the beer commercial line,

It don’t get any better than this,

and I’d remember my best teenage memory with bliss.

Team Play

Though I have fallen short in most team sports,

Oh, the victories when games were