Tag Archives: Calvinism refuted

Tulips for the Fire

TULIPfire

God arose and wrung His hands:
“Those Calvinists have got it wrong.
My will is shackled by human sin
and the chains are far too strong.

I gave them all free will—it’s true…
some choose to scorn my sacred Word.
I guess I don’t know what to do;
their human plans are undeterred

while my designs are all aborted;
no more need for intake lists.
My plans made void, my Truth distorted
by crypto-hyper-Calvinists . . .”

Distressed by celestial impotence
His angels wept and veiled their faces;
for there is nothing God can do
when man His perfect plan effaces.

The Lord continued, in His sorrow
acknowledging ineptitude:
“I’m guilty and my outlook’s narrow
in other words: I’m screwed . . .

Man is king—while I, poor servant,
exist to bless his mortal dreams.
Genie of the Bible bottle,
I facilitate their schemes.”

God sighed. “Oh that my wisdom could
redeem the lost, and punish sin
but I’m unable to get through.
(Besides, I’m semi-Pelagian.)

Humankind can vote me out,
fashion me anew from clay.
I will evolve to suit their fancy
growing with them day by day.

I want to help them— but it’s hard.
I just can’t do predestination.
Mortals twist my righteous plans
into abomination.

I’m no rigid righteous Sovereign—
don’t believe that Puritan hype.
I’m your life coach, here to offer
motivational tripe.

I’d love to finish what I started
but humankind won’t acquiesce.
First I need to ask permission
so our plans might coalesce.

Calvinism misinterprets
My essential need to please;
(sinful self-important twerplets—
ignorant of my unease…)

Tulip-breeding Dutch reformers
Sottish lairds and heretics
Presbyterian misnomers
reading the Bible for kicks

will never comprehend my purpose.
I am sworn to placate Man!
Offering my selfless service,
I’m doing the best that I can!

So burn a candle, say a prayer.
Let me prosper, help and bless you.
Intervene? I’d never dare.
I’m mainly here to confess to.”

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Drowning vs. Dead

Rescue

It’s not  being given a lifeline at last;
bobbing in the swell, latching onto hope,
grateful the well-meaning rescue ship passed,
half-dead, but floating when they threw the rope.
It’s a different scenario—more vast
more madly stupendous, worthy of awe.
It’s a cosmic miracle unsurpassed:
completely defying your grasp: love’s law.
You were dead on the seafloor, waterlogged.
Crabs had drawn near as you rolled in the weeds.
Your heart was long cold, every chamber clogged;
the scavengers tearing where darkness feeds.
The first metaphor can be misconstrued
when God hauls you up, alive and renewed.

 

 

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TULIP: a Floral Pentagram

TULIP
One thinks  on Calvin heav’n’s own spirit fell;
Another deems him instrument of hell;
If Calvin feel heav’n’s blessing, or its rod,
This cries there is, and that, there is no God.
Alexander Pope

A transcendental tulip
is blooming in my garden.
Before the petals wither,
before affections harden,
I pray it may diffuse its scent
so gloriously redolent.

Encouraging the faithful,
it blooms in any weather.
In sunshine or in shadow;
let us, elect, together,
enjoy its sanctifying smell
while warning careless souls of hell.

In Him we stroke the petal
That proves our own depravity:
the flower that declares our heart
apart from Christ, a cavity
where only evil may be found
by One who dares our depths to sound.

The second petal beckons
and sings of pure election;
where souls are freely chosen
by God’s divine selection.
(As yet not offered to the masses
Unto whom His wrath now passes).

Thirdly shines the Limit
of Christ in His atonement:
benefits are thus withheld
in God’s eternal moment.
So let the worldling rant and bluster;
Raging will not dim the luster . . .

Fourth: shall the fallen Adam
hold out against omnIscience?
Will puny human being
Prevail in disobedience?
The Lord on high will hound you down;
His grace to place a golden crown.

Point five unfurls its essence;
as saints arise, and striving
shake off the dust and onward march
though never quite arriving;
while God empowers to go the distance
Persevering with insistence.

Behold in full the blossom!
In Grace it shines, reflecting;
delighting in God’s wisdom,
the lead to gold perfecting;
Magnanimous floral alchemy
bestowing at last true liberty.

Get your FREE TULIP  HERE
Good TULIP poem HERE
Sucky TULIP poem HERE

presbyterian shirt

Veiled / Unveiled

[From: Reformation Lady]

In summary then, everything, absolutely everything, EVEN our own SIN serves a redemptive purpose in our lives, through Christ, that we may see Him more, and more, and more, until that final day, when we behold His glorious, astounding, creation-remaking beauty, unveiled in our sight.

THIS is simply astonishing — that Christ would turn the very outworking of our wicked hearts and rebellion into that which no longer condemns us but is part of the very process of our final redemption and salvation. In Christ when we repent, our sin no longer damns us before God because our debt has been propitiated (set aside) by the payment He made through His death. Instead, our sin is a useful tool in His hands for our own sanctification. Is there ANYTHING more ASTOUNDING than this? What a glorious Gospel, what a gracious God.
Dear believer, never, ever get over the work of Christ on your behalf and in you!

Read the full post HERE

Black veiled “When darkness veils His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.”

from: Streams in the Desert