Words to Warm Your Heart

By Roger L. Stevens

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781469117256

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Copyright © 2011 by Roger L. Stevens.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2010914561

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4535-8807-9

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4535-8806-2

ISBN:      Ebook      978-1-4691-1725-6

All scriptures are taken from the King James Version Of the Bible.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

61311

This book is dedicated to the Living Word, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave me not only eternal life, but also inspiration, encouragement, a gift for words, and most of all my reason for writing.

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1

My Testimony

Chapter 2

God’s Wonderful Salvation Plan

Chapter 3

No Greater Love

Just Because He Loves Me

My Favorite Gift

True Love

Slave Labor

The Long Road Home

Chapter 4

A True Story

Just a Heartbeat

The Angel of Death

John’s New Suit

Tired of Sayin’ Good-bye

The Far Side of Jordan

Chapter 5

Why Me, Lord?

Child Custody

The Crucible

Black and White

Thanks!

Chapter 6

Time

Time Is Money

My Book of Life

Peekin’ Through the Pearly Gates

It’s the Little Things

One More Time Around

Closing Time

Left Behind

Chapter 7

Christmas Is . . .

Reason for the Season

What Christmas Means to Me

When Jesus Left Home

The Night Before Christmas

The First Christmas Tree

Christmas Time in Heaven

Chapter 8

Easter Is . . .

Captain of the Guard

The Thief on the Cross

An Inconvenient Truth

Does It Really Matter?

The Stone Was Rolled Away

The Carpenter

The Family Tree

God’s Broken Promise

Then Came Grace

One Red Rose

Crimson Love

Like a Thief

He Wears My Scars

The Question

Peter

Chapter 9

This Is My Country

Independence Day

Freedom’s Price

The Red, White, and Blue

Chapter 10

What Is a family

Father’s Day

The Perfect Dad

The Favor

Things I Learned from Dad

Things I Learned from Mom

Call Her Mother

Riches

Welcome

Mama’s Amazing Grace

Granny’s Home

Chapter 11

Look Both Ways

A Great Day

All I Need

Stuck in the Middle

Move It on Over

Gospel Music Lover

Duh!

Immortal Me

Fair Warning

Not So Lucky

Touched

Genealogy

The Hardest Part

Not All There

Chapter 12

Questions

It’s in the Book

Jesus Christ, MD

Empty Religion

Real Religion?

God’s House

Another Way

Long Ago and Far Away

Paper Castles

Angel Unaware

Faith Is  . . .

A Ghost Story

Chapter 13

Imagine That

McChurch

Back to the Drawing Board

The Antique Shop

Running on Empty

Under Construction

The Deacon and the Hobo

The Epic of Jonah

Chapter 14

Frank Lee Knaughtwel

Steeple Jack

Highways Are Happy Ways

Powered by Pasta

Poor Santa

The Tortoise and the Snail

A Letter to Bill

Listing of poem titles

Listing of first lines

About the Author

Acknowledgments

Any piece of written material requires two things, inspiration and encouragement. I have received both from every minister of God’s messages I have had the pleasure of serving with over the years, and so many others too numerous to list.

Reverend Norman Wesley Zents, my uncle, who showed me the power and pleasure of poetry with his own writings.

Dr. Norman Mitchell of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who first encouraged me to write for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Daniel Klutz of Akron, Ohio, who inspired many of the poems contained within these pages.

Pastor Ron Mohlmaster of Akron, Ohio, who has been a constant friend and supporter since we first met.

Pastor Brian Picard of Youngstown, Ohio, who prompted me to publish this collection and aided greatly in its compilation with proof reading, spell checking, and so much more.

My family & friends who have encouraged me more than they will ever know have always been a source of inspiration and support.

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In Memory of Dr. Norman E. Mitchell

1932-2011

Who went home to be with Jesus

during the compilation of this book.

Foreword

Poetry is a window into the heart, mind, and soul of the writer. In reading a collection of poems you will come to know the poet. One comprehends the poet’s feelings, emotions, hardships, pains, and spiritual depth.

Roger has experienced most of the things he writes about. He knows how it is to wander in spiritual darkness and feel the marvel of redemption. He has experienced the death of the one he loved and the journey of loneliness. He has held a newborn baby and felt the love only a father can experience. He has worried long hours about his children as they became teenagers and grew into adults. He has also experienced the love and devotion of a wife. Roger is a man anyone would be blessed to have as a friend. He is dependable, compassionate, loving, and loyal. Roger is a man of God and active in his local church. I am so blessed by having introduced Roger and his family to Jesus and baptized each of them.

You will be blessed by reading the poems and getting to know the real Roger who has penned many of his life’s experiences. Settle back, relax, and enjoy what you are about to read.

Dr. Norman E. Mitchell

Chaplain of the Sheriff’s Association

Of the State of North Carolina

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Introduction

Poetry can do a hundred and one things, delight, sadden, disturb, amuse, instruct—it may express every possible shade of emotion, but there is only one thing that all poetry must do; it must praise all it can for being and for happening.

Those words, penned by English poet W. H. Auden nearly a hundred years ago, explained very well the general purpose of any given collection of verse. It is my hope that, while the lines within this volume will do just that, they will above all else praise the living God, Jehovah, who gave us the gift of poetry and His Son Jesus, who freely gave us the gift of salvation.

The words within this book are mile-markers along the road of my life. They have highlighted the hills, the valleys, the curves, the detours, the potholes, and yes, even the smooth well-paved stretches of my life. Some are observations of others as I stopped by the wayside on my journey just to smell the roses. Some are reflections on the generosity and blessings that God has poured out on mankind in general and on me in particular. Others mark the pitfalls I have faced.

I hope you enjoy reading these markers in my life as much as I did erecting them.

Roger L. Stevens

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Chapter 1

Words Of

Wonder and Praise

I do not work to be saved,

I work because I am saved.

—RLS

My Testimony

Those who know me today might think that I was born in the pulpit, raised in the choir loft, and educated in the sanctuary. And up to my teenage years, they would be pretty close to right. Those who knew me after I left home must have thought I was born in a bar, raised in a pool hall, and educated in a county jail. I might have been the fellow that evangelist Vance Havner referred to as "sowing his wild oats for the first half of his life and praying for crop failure for the rest of