An amazing story of faith, courage, solidarity and the Power of God which changed the outlook of the most powerful man in the ancient Middle Eastern world.

Read this:
Daniel Chap 3 v 1-27.

Rap this, out loud:
Neb built a golden statue—that’s expensive!
It musta’ made the people apprehensive.
Lovin’ it or cursin’ it,
They gotta fall an’ worship it.
Or burn inside a furnace—that’s intensive!

His PR man gave the great an’ good a statement.
“When you get the theme tune, don’t you be too late, gents.
When you hear the deadly jingle
Cain’t you feel the red flame tingle?
Now I’ll let the hit men tell you the arrangements.”

“Ev’rybody bow the knee to the statue.
‘Cuz we are gonna be all lookin’ at you.
Better get yer face down,
Better let it stay down.
‘Cuz we are hangin’ ready here to snatch you!”

Neb’kanezza needed feedin’ of his ego.
‘Cuz he didn’t have too many real amigos.
He‘s some control freak;
Freedom is oldspeak;
Too bad for Shadrak, Mishak, Abednego!

In the civil service they’re the three best fellas.
It’s human nature. All the rest are jealous.
Said, “Now we’re gonna get ‘em,
‘Cuz their faith’ll never let ‘em
Ever bow to other gods—they’re over-zealous.

They told Neb, “Your laws are bein’ flouted.
Shad, Mitch an’ Nego, they ‘bin outed.
Dear leader don’t get uptight,
But we hear the three stayed upright.”
“Then bring ‘em all to me!” Is what he shouted.

“I’m givin’ you a last chance.
Bow or do the fire dance.”
“I’m givin’ you a last chance.
You bow or do the fire dance.”

“Be it death or glory
The Lord he owns our story.
“Be it death or glory
The Lord he owns our story.
That is our final answer—that is our stance.”
That is our final answer—that is our stance.”

The King, it drove him, yellin’ to the wi-yer.
Said, “Bring the stove up seven times high-yer!”
Too hot to turn a roast by it,
The guards are turned to toast by it
While slingin’ them into the fi-yer.

Neb thought “ I’ll eat my hat an’ shed some ego;
‘Cuz who is that with Shadrak, Mishak, Abednego?
For sure they’re safe an’ sound in there.
What’s more, now walkin’ round in there,
There’s four where there was only three amigos!”

The three come out without a whinge from the thick of it;
Yer see without a semi-singe or a sniff of it.
The rescue was a miracle;
The rescuer, angelical.
Yer see, God’s in the ring an’ he is fit for it.

Now Neb is biggin’ up the God of the threesome.
Said, “He’s livin’ He’s a bod who is fearsome.”
Anybody who is dissin’ Him,
You gonna soon be missin’ him.
‘Cuz Neb, he gives the nod an’ disappears ‘em!

Ask this:
Have I got a few brothers, or even one who would stand with me through my fiery trials?

Pray this:
Please Lord, find me some men who will stand with me, for You, whatever.

Tweet

Recite this out loud:
Seagulls flying, crying, crying
To the wind, to its sighing,
Eagle-eyed, (seagull-eyed),
Watching, spying
On a man cooking fish.

Seagulls calling, never falling
From their flight, never stalling
On the wind, till from the wind
Landing, standing
By the man cooking fish.

But unless
There is a screaming,
Stormy day or worse
I guess
A gull has lesser meaning,
Yet its glory seems a curse

What used to be
Reduced to be
A hopping, perching, lurching,
Flopping, scrapping, flapping
Bunch of feathers
In still weather
By the sea.

Yet from weight
By the wind set free,
Careless now of gravity,
Its fate
Will always be
Slave to the wind’s depravity.

Without fail
Forced to sale
Upwind hauling, mauling,
Downwind sliding, gliding,
Ever soaring
On the roaring
Of the gale.

Stranger still,
The human story
Seems to me to be perverse.
Our free will,
That seems a glory
Which we’ve turned into a curse.

Free to choose
Or to abuse
That freedom in dissenting
From the best and so preventing
What we could be
And the good we
Now must lose.

As part of all
We hold most dearly,
Freedom cannot be divorced.
At heart of love
Lies freedom, clearly
Love’s not love if love be forced.

But what fate
Befalls those left
When selfish freedom’s had its way?
By our great
Self-love, bereft
Of life, they never had their say.

All that’s lost,
All the cost
Of freedom needs repaying
Or a human life I’m saying,
Is so cheap,
On fish-head heaps
We’re tossed.

And can we
Be truly free
At heart of our humanity?
Or will we
Forever be
Slaves to the heart’s true vanity?

Once, a man
Said, ‘I AM;
I am the problem’s answer.’
Surely madman, bad man, chancer?
Then he died,
Crucified.
Sad man!

All one night his friends went fishing
Close inshore, perhaps were wishing
He were there. Ashore, they stare;
With seagulls, spying
On the frying.
It is him! Cooking fish.

Read this: John 21, v 1-9.
Happy Easter.

Tweet

We can be slaves to the tyranny of time, or we can be free.

Read this: Ecclesiastes ch. 3 v. 1-11.

The first part of it must be amongst the most famous pieces of writing in Western Culture, though most people probably don’t know where it comes from. Verse 11 speaks into every restless searcher’s life.

Now read this: 1 Corinthians ch.3 v 21-23.

Recite this out loud:
There is a time.
There’s not just time.
There is a time.
There comes a time;

Appointed time,
Anointed time,
Anticipated, hated time;
Much wanted and unwanted time.

They hide in time.
They bide their time
Until their time;
Until it’s time
For every purpose under heaven.

No sooner born than waiting
For the time to die;
The timing’s right, they’re laughing,
When it’s not the time to cry.

Holes in socks and time warps
Both need a stitch in time.
Harvest’s itching to arrive
Before we’ve tended any vine.

A time for building up
What else but some construction;
To stand fast–until the time,
That is, for its destruction.

A time to throw away
At the end of time to keep;
A time reluctantly to zip it
At the end of time to speak.

Hoping the embrace survives
The time to turn away;
Searching till, despairingly
‘It’ is called a day.

A time to spend romancing
Right up until the break
Of dawn, or of the  romance, dancing
Turning to a wake.

Earnestly we gather stones
Just as if it mattered;
Time will come when time’s long gone
Since every stone was scattered.

A trooper screams out ‘Medic!’
As another opens fire.
The time for peace has ended,
With mercenaries on hire.

Etcetera etcetera
And so and so and so;
Etcetera etcetera
And round and round we go.

Craving satisfaction
When time gives us a chance is
To be driven to distraction
By time’s agent—circumstances.

‘My time’s my own.’ It’s not.
Own up. Sign this confession:
‘Time-driven and time’s prisoner,
I am time’s possession.’

Your heart, it has the heart’s disease.
It’s restless, as is mine.
Its rhythm’s from eternity
But it must beat in time.

In Him whose heart was broken,
For whom ages are as hours,
Time present and time future
And the World, it can be ours.

Tweet

Read this: Daniel Chap 1.

Rap this:
Jerusalem is on its knees
An’ power is with God’s enemies
An’ people groan in poverty
An’ Dan is in captivity.
But ‘cause of his high pedigree
He’s earmarked for celebrity;
.
Fed up on local grub an’ booze,
Read up on local culture, views;
If Dan makes the grade-good news!
-A job for life at the Royal Mews

But Dan decides to make a stand.
This meat n’booze of a foreign land’s
Against his faith-the time’s at hand
To draw a line down in the sand.

Dan, he just eats vegetables.
Even though could cause him trouble.
They said, “This could burst yo’ bubble!”
He said, “Cool, I’m comfortable.”

Dan goes on the Cabbage Diet.
They say, “This goin’ cause a riot!”
“OK. Ten days—let me try it.
Then decide if you’re goin’ buy it.”

Dudes who stuff on steak and chips
Are lookin’ rough; ain’t no snake hips.
Dan an’ friends got their own huddle
Lookin’ like some male model.

The Palace takes fit-lookin’ guys;
Not just looks; they’re s’posed be wise.
Dan trusts that God who made the skies
Gives brains and looks– without no pies.

They beat all the opposition.
God won them the competition.
Prizes were some Royal Positions,
Better than the Royal Magicians.

Though Dan’s the man, God had it sussed.
So if you think that you bin’ cussed,
An’ hey! God’s plans seem blown to dust.
An’ if you feel you’re goin’ for bust,
Above all else, one thing’s a must:
The World’s a mess but God is Just.
He’s still in charge, you gotta trust.
Yeah, he’s in charge, you gotta trust.

Ask this:
How do I react when, like for Daniel, taken into captivity, God’s plans seem to be falling to pieces?

Pray this:
Please Lord, when all seems lost, help me to just hang on in there and stay true to You and your rescue plan for me.

Tweet

Read Hebrews ch 2 v 16-18.

Recite this out loud:

An always all-wise God- who knows?
Who knows the stigma of a fool,
Who’s called a fool by fools but throws
No insult back.
A ruler making every rule?
Who wants to rule with one;
With love, gone on and on, one tool,
My heart to crack.

A light outshining all bar none?
Which shines into the dark
So there from darkness I can run
And overtake.
A sunbeam shaft, a laser’s spark
Which pierces keenly, arrow thin,
Through eyelids, in and pins its mark,
My dawn to break.

One who could every victory win?
But tells his armies, ‘Stay’
And meets hell’s vaunted malice grim,
Weak and alone.
And counts the countless cost to pay,
No other man could share,
And dares to face that fearful day,
My fears to own.

One who is tempted with the snares
Of comfort, wealth and fame?
But never bows and so he bears
Them more than all.
So when I’m bowed beneath the same,
He knows the weight I take.
And on his strength I make my claim
And stop my fall.

One whom power and heaven forsake?
Sick joke to decent men;
Left writhing, nailed up, on a stake?
I ask Him, ‘Why?
And why d’You take the scorn from them?’
He answers, ‘It’s your scorn.
I’m torn, your chains to break, for then,
Your death I die.’

Who would run with me? For we
Would best not run alone.
Of all the runners there might be,
Just give me Him.
The lonely, tortured nailed one,
The man run through for me;
Now running with me, life re-won.
We’ll run and win.

Tweet

Read this: Luke ch 2 v 1-16.

Recite this, out loud.

The Outsiders.

At dead of midnight,
In the dark stillness, deep silence,
Save the odd bleating
Of a sheep,
We, the outsiders,
Distrusted, discounted;
We snatched a fleeting
Hour of sleep.

I was the one awake.
I was the watchman, the first man
Won by the glory
Of that light,
Cutting through darkness
Cross class and society.
Scum tell the story
Of that night;

Perfumed by sheep muck,
Persons unpleasant, us shepherds.
Up pops Joe Angel,
(Like they do!)
We’re all up, terrified;
First thing he says to us,
“ You’re in no danger;
Like, stay cool!”

Says he’s got good news;
Him who’s expected, who’s earmarked;
Rescues the nation,
Born today,
Master of everyone,
Down in the village.
We of low station
Get first say.

After the soloist,
Then comes the chorus; it floors us.
Millions, whole armies
Pack the sky.
‘Singing’s’ too small a word—
Mind blowing, heart wrending.
You’ll think we’re barmy
But we cried.

One giant air-show
Done just for us few, us shepherds,
Lefty and Skin’ead,
Me and Zeke.
While I’m still puzzling,
They say “Let’s suss it and
‘Stead of being tin’eads,
Take a peek.”

Down in the village
In the dark stillness, deep silence,
Save the odd bleating
Of a sheep,
Perfumed by sheep muck,
In with the cattle stuck,
He snatched a fleeting
Hour of sleep.

Down in the village,
In the dark stillness, deep silence,
My eyes grow wider
As I see,
Stuffed in a feeding trough,
Wrapped in old strips of cloth,
Him—an outsider?
Can it be?

Tweet

Read Daniel ch.6.

Rap this:
Dan’s in with the lions
An’ he’s not a supergiant.
An’ he’s not supercool,
Not super self-reliant.
This is what yer get
For bein’ so defiant.

Would he choose it for a job‘n
Could he lose it without sob’n?
C’mon it’s a no-brainer,
He is not a lion tamer.
Guess what he forgot?—
His lion-type restrainer!

He’s already feelin’ chicken
When he starts to feel ‘em lickin’!
His stomach starts to sicken.
His bones they’ll soon be pickin’.
Then they go to sleep,
An’ he’s still alive ‘n kickin’!

He’s not feelin’ puzzled
How the lions they bin muzzled.
‘Cause The Lord, He shut ‘em down,
Or they’d ‘ve had ‘im guzzled.
Them pussy cats ‘n Dan—
They’re so together nuzzled!

He caused so much het up
We could guess this would be set up
On some charge they had to get up,
So the lions an’ Dan, they met up!
He prays to Who he prays,
An’ for him there is no let up.

Dan serves kings but One who’s greater
Who’s the Master and Creator.
All through life he’s bin his Saviour.
Dan accepts no imitator.
The Lord an’ Dan done stuff!
So he prayed an’ worried later.

The ruler of the nation,
Beaten by manipulation
Of his fear and pride,
Had his foundation shaken —
Bin’ forced to put his hope
In the God of Dan’s salvation.

The king,we hear him rockin’
Right up to this stinkin’ lock in.
This is really tellin’,
‘Cause now he’s started yellin’
Outside the lions’door.
That is awesome that is shockin’.

Now he’s out there, hov’rin’
For an answer. He is grov’lin’.
Now he should understand
He’s got nothin’ that’s worth off’rin’.
God of lions, God of all,
You are Sov’reign over sov’reigns.

Amen.

Tweet

Read this: Daniel, Ch 5.

Rap this:
The king was called Belshazzar
But we’re gonna call ‘im Shazz-ar.
He said, “I am a dazzler,
Am go’n dazzle all the Kasbah.
We’ll be drinkin’ good wine;
Be a stinkin’ good time.
Am go’n take it further
When they say, ‘Don’t take it that far!’ “

He invites a thousand,
They’se all A-list glitterati.
Includes his wives and girlfriends,
‘Cause no way they’ll miss the party!
His dad was Neb’ kanezz-ar
It’s bad for poor old Shazz-ar
Livin’ in the shadow of
Ol’ Neb, who was a smarty.

“Am Shazz the man, an’ am so baad!”
He looks to push the boat out.
“Not like ol’ dad ‘cause he went mad
And looked a fool with no clout.”
Ol’ Neb, he had a showdown
With God who brought him low down.
If Neb was wondrin’ who was boss,
Then he found out with no doubt!

But Shazz was like, “What’s with this thing?
C’mon, must be a phony!
A ‘God’ who’s bigger than the King-
So how’d I face my homies?
This ‘God’, needs to be shut down,
A bod who needs a put down.”
He did it and he flashed the bling
In front of all his cronies.

Now Judah, it bin’ treated rough,
Neb pillaged all its treasure.
He carted off the sacred stuff
To Babylon at leisure.
Bling’s no real valuation-
The thing’s God’s reputation.
And Shazz he dissed that right enough,
All through his night of pleasure.

So when the wine was flowin’
An’ they sorta got a swing on,
He set the party goin’,
Said, “Got somethin’ else to bring on.”
Shazz used all Judah’s treasures
As boozers’ drinkin’ measures.
They toasted local idols
‘Cause they’s somethin’ safe to cling on.

His pride got over heated,
Needin’ somethin’ doin’ drastic.
An’ arrogance, deep seated –
That’s a call for the fantastic.
Then where a lamp is standin,’
A hand appears, just hangin’.
The body bin deleted,
And it’s real, it isn’t plastic.

All eerie in that dim light,
Seems that somethin’creepy’s startin’;
A myst’ry note, is filled in by
The hand, before departin’.
And, dude, that spooky scrawl
Would prove the writin’ on the wall.
Four words in some weird lingo:
‘Mene mene tekel parsin’.

Graffiti quite outlandish,
Was too much for Shazz to take in.
He couldn’t understand it,
So, like Elvis, started shakin’.
No menu he could drop down
So wha’d he do, but flop down.
He found no-one to crack the code
No matter who he raked in.

Nobody was of any use
Except, that is, The Queen Mum.
Said, “Hail Oh King! Stay cool, hang loose.
We’ll find out what it means, son.
With riddles needin’ solvin’
There’s a man who needs involvin’.
His name is Dan; he’s all good news,
He even sees your dreams, hun.”

“He was the brains for your ol’ dad–
Your dad, the king, I’m sayin.”
(Did she say that to make him mad?
The obvious, she’s statin’.)
“He’s got more intel inside.
The gods sure yell for his side.”
So Dan gets called to Shazz’s pad
And Shazz thinks, “Wha’ do I pay him?”

Shazz says if Dan’s the real thing-
Achieves a resolution,
He’ll get the Gucci an’ the bling,
Be made an institution:
For word trace and translation
Offers third place in the nation.
But Dan says, “Thanks, no thanks Oh king,
No fee for the solution.”

“Ol’ Neb as king of thee known world
Was up himself, and big time.
But God made him look so absurd
It flipped him like a trip line.
He got the thing, the lesson
That God’s the King, no mess’n.
King Shazz, you know all this occurred
But you don’t give a fig, mind.”

“The Lord of Life, you dissed Him good;
The One who holds your future.
That’s why He spoke into the hood
And loud as any hooter.”
That fist, it’s got a punchline-
It’s, ‘he’ll be gone by lunchtime.’”
The Lord, Dan made it understood,
Is judge and prosecutor.

“‘Mene’; that means ‘numbered’ and
The days you got are zero.
‘Tekel’ means that you bin’ weighed.
You lightweight, you’re no hero.”
Four words have bin’ hand written.
Your world y’see is splittn’.
‘Parsin’ means ‘divided’ and
Two into one, you’ll see, go.”

That same night king Shazz got whacked,
(Or ‘killed’ in other versions).
And, as we said, his Empire cracked;
Half each to Medes and Persians.
It’s right, right on, not ‘off the wall’,
That pride might come before the fall.
That plastered wall was lightly scratched
With sober, deep assertions.
A plastered wall, but lightly scratched
With sober, deep assertions.

Amen.

 
You can find more Code Odes featuring Dan and Neb, in The Manual, vol 3, out now …

Tweet

Code Ode 1: What’s a Code Ode?

Just a rhyme
That’s for our time.
Hate to use such words,
So much used by nerds,
But it’s a poem,
With somethin’ goin’
For it, for a change.
That seems strange.
I’m amazed–
Nowadays
They’re a joke
To your ordinary bloke.
Still don’t throw
Them in the can
Out of hand.
‘Cause we’ll show
They’re ones a man
Can understand.
They’re somethin’ noo,
But it’s old.
So what d’yer do
When you’re sold
Or download
A Code Ode?
D’yer need it?
Just read it.
If yer like it.
Recite it.
Take a look at it;
Face book a bit.
That’s neat, that bit.
Then tweet that bit.
Nice to go viral
In a slow,
Upward spiral.
Better than bacterial
But no,
That’s immaterial.
Rap it
Or zap it.
Use it
Or lose it.
Spread it,
Shed it
Or shred it.
Just don’t edit—
Geddit?

Code Ode 2: The Fool

Read Luke ch 12 v 13-21.

Time’s nearly gone
Since it spoke,
And since it broke
Through the spell,
And through my well
Trusted rules.
A busted fool,
I’ve bin’ caught.
It stopped me short.
In my eyes
I’m so the wise,
The cool one.

I lately said,
“Man of wealth,
You’re in good health.
Now’s your time,
You’re in your prime.”
Aimed with pride
To set aside
Treasure, stored
Up safe, secured,
Future proofed,
A bomb-proof roof
Overhead.

“Just get it done,
Lay it down
By pound for pound-
‘Earn n’grow
Portfolio’.
Fatly sat,
Be like the cat,
With the cream,
With one big beam
On your face.
Go, get your place
In the sun.”

That’s when It spoke-
Voice of God,
It gave the nod-
No warning-
That by morning,
So It said,
I’ll then be dead.
Won’t be here,
But, full of fear,
I’ll be there.
And that is where
I’ll be broke!

Look out for more Code Odes on the Wednesday Blog. If you see one coming early enough, maybe you can duck and avoid it.

Tweet

Matthew Ch. 2 v 16-18.

Narrator.

A  rival to the throne
Somewhere unseen,
Unknown.
This would mean
All little boys must die
Who had been
That same night
Of visitation,
Under the flame-bright
Night sky
Of that star’s illumination;
Strange light

To identify
The World’s light
And those who’s plight
Became a dark abomination.

What’s a score
Of babes, or more?
Small thing
For a king

From hell to face,
A simple case
Of damage limitation.
It was just a few
And rather little
Boys that died,
A mere mini-genocide.

But guided by another dream,
It would seem,
The star King
Had by then gone,
With father Joe
And mother Mary
Already become one
More refugee
Family.

So in fact
The killing proved unnecessary.

But, fooled and ignored!
As king
From hell.
No lesser thing
Could so bring
Fear-blown pride
From its hide
And make it ring

The death knell
From a sword.
Yet a diff’rent sound
Was really made
As the blades
Cut each round
Angelic head
From trunk and limbs.
Just sounds of dripping
As they bled.

No note from steel was rung,
The only note heard sung’s
A mother’s scream
As over roofs it skims.

In this history
This mystery
This partly gory story,
Of joy and dreams,
Of lies and schemes,
Of fools and wise
And starry skies,

There’s one thing more,
Deep and terrible
That even wise men
Back then
Never saw.

Before this Truth,
Despite all schools
Of all wisdom’s worldly rules,
All wise become as fools.

That by this birth
The king of life
He came to Earth
To hell on Earth,
To bring a life
That’s otherwise unknown to you and I.

But to bring this life,
An innocent must die.

Tweet