Prophet Poet Preacher
Friday, March 29, 2024
A Very Good Friday
Friday, March 31, 2023
Please Forgive Me
Please Forgive Me
For every time my response was a harsh word
rather than showing Christ-like kindness
please forgive me
For when I acted with self-centeredness
rather than displaying Christ-like sacrifice
please forgive me
For all the answers coming from frustration
rather than having Christ-like patience
please forgive me
For every moment of insensitivity
rather than seeking Christ-like
understanding
please forgive me
For whenever I wanted my needs met
rather than offering
Christ-like compassion
please forgive
me
For when I met your brokenness with anger
rather than giving Christ-like
grace
please forgive
me
For every time your heartache hardened me
rather than having
Christ-like mercy
please forgive
me
For all the times I failed to be who you needed
rather than being a
Christ-like companion
please forgive
me
For when disappointment closed my heart
rather than opening
to Christ-like love
please forgive
me
“There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”
mark d. cooke, 3-31-23
Saturday, March 25, 2023
I Choose Forgiveness
I Choose
Forgiveness
Because of Your undeserved mercy
i choose forgiveness
Because I hear You from the tree
“Father forgive them,
for they know not what they do.”
i choose forgiveness
Amid feelings of abandonment
i choose forgiveness
When trust is replaced with betrayal
i choose forgiveness
In the face of accusations
by the enemy of my soul
i choose forgiveness
When the spirit of condemnation
overwhelms me
i choose forgiveness
Because unforgiveness is a poison
i choose forgiveness
When the hurt rises back up
i choose forgiveness
When surrounded by confusion
misunderstanding and injustice
i choose forgiveness
Since without it I’m held captive
i choose forgiveness
Because I desire healing and
wholeness
i choose forgiveness
Because it is Your will for me
i choose forgiveness
mark d. cooke, 3-25-23
Monday, January 10, 2022
The View
The View
I have gazed upon snow covered Rockies
I have been awed by Ecuadorian volcanoes and Inca highways
Peered out over African plains and the running waters of the
Nile
Looked up in wonder at Persian Gulf skyscrapers
Pondered from a plane window the Manhattan skyline below
And from a New Jersey dock, taken back by Lady Liberty
Captured the summer haze of a Canadian horizon from a peak in
Maine
Looked out a Toronto hotel window at a Winter Wonderland
Watched fish swimming beneath a canoe in a crystal pond
Watched fish swimming while beneath the blue waters of the
Caribbean
Passed miles and miles of sugar cane plantations on an island
nation
Passed miles and miles of farmland in too many states to
count
Stood amazed midst ancient ruins of Roman Spain and Mayan
Mexico
Reflected on my Celtic roots while traipsing the Scottish
Highlands
Stood by the ancient, stone altar in Columba's cave
Paused in contemplative stillness by a California
sunset
Seen great works of art in world renown galleries and museums
Walked gravelly paths in majestic, urban parks
Walked gravelly paths down in the coal mines of Wales
Gazed out over the waves back towards Charleston from
Portugal
Ran along the coastal cliffs of Peru with the Pacific far
below
Prayerfully meandered through countless magnificent
cathedrals
Photographed grand palaces from London to The Hague to
Calcutta
Been mesmerized by multicolored fields of tulips from a Dutch
train
Had a 360-degree glimpse of five states high in the
Appalachians
Felt childhood wonder walking Green Gables on Prince Edward
Island
Been overwhelmed by millions in the streets during Ethiopia's
Epiphany
Left breathless by the Chilean Andes, French Pyrenees &
Brazilian beaches
Knelt at an empty tomb in Jerusalem and stood in the desert
of Judea
Viewed
the Dead Sea and Roman ruins from the heights of Masada
Pondered
our Lord’s ministry standing on the shores of Galilee
Descended
into the muddy waters of the Jordan near Jericho
Had the colors of Fall foliage leave me in tears
And everywhere the people of God of every language, color,
and class
But Jane, the view that I love and cherish most of all is
you.
-
mark d. cooke, 11-30-16,
updated, 5-5-19, 1-10-22
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
The Prophet Had No Name (1st Kings 13)
The Prophet Had No Name (1st Kings 13)
he was called a man of God
sent with God’s Word
to rulers and kings
calling leaders and nations to repentance
faithfully,
courageously declaring
the whole counsel of God with no regard or fear
he had no name for history or scripture to record
or did his mother name him at birth
only to never be
recalled by family, clan, or tribe?
God called him – he obeyed
leaving all, going,
and announcing
but then…
the lure of this world, contrary spirits,
the misleading words
of “religious” prophets
and his own divided
heart
shipwrecked his “ministry”
took him down a wrong
path
losing his way, he
lost his life, lost his name
his ministry over, his name erased, his destiny shattered
why would God record this story?
how often did he record even the names of His enemies
or the enemies of
His people?
maybe, just maybe,
it was God’s grace that we do not know
we do not know his
name, but we know his mission
and we know his
Redeemer and King
he heard and heeded the call
he went, gave the Word
then took a wrong
turn
slain by a lion, finally buried,
no tombstone, no marker,
no name
i believe one day we will see this nameless brother
and a great
multitude of souls forgotten by men
but whose names are ever revered by our Lord
in that place where
sorrow and mourning are no more
where all of us are given a new name
old names discarded, all forgiven, all made
new
where corrective, prophetic words will be unneeded
where the guidance
and communion
of the Holy Spirit
will be complete and clear
where no religious spirit will mislead or distract
until that day i will
remember
the nameless man of God
who made a name for
himself – No Name
and guard my heart
and my path
but i have already taken many wrong turns
trying to make a
name or numbing my fear of man
cognizant that history, highway interchanges
or even street signs,
probably will not record my name
the prophet had no name, but he had a calling
he had a purpose and
a destiny
today, as i gaze through the lens of Scripture
that nameless man of
God looks like me.
mark d. cooke, All Soul’s Day, 11/02/2020
Friday, February 1, 2019
Black Bear Dream
After prayerful reflection the water was a swamp or a delta, and the bear was a mama bear.