“The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts.” – John Jay
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First Principles: The Bible Is the Best of All Books, For It Is the Word of God and Teaches Us the Way To Be Happy In this World and the Next
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Best, Books, First Principles, Happy, John Jay, Life, Precepts, Read, Regulate, Teach, The Bible, The next, This World, Word of God
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Thought For the Day: The Objector and the Rebel Who Raises His Voice Against What He Believes To Be the Injustice of the Present and the Wrongs of the Past Is the One Who Hunches the World Along
“The objector and the rebel who raises his voice against what he believes to be the injustice of the present and the wrongs of the past is the one who hunches the world along.” – Clarence Darrow, lawyer and author (18 Apr 1857-1938)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Believe, Clarence Darrow, Hunch, Injustice, Objector, Past, Present, Raise, Rebel, Thought For the Day, Voice, World, Wrongs
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Have A Blessed Resurrection Day 2022!
The true message of Easter is not found in the Cross. It is revealed in the empty tomb. It is Christ’s victory over death not for Him but for humanity. It is a four part play of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Resurrection. Aloha Promises Forever prays that each and all find their redemption sooner than later and that each has a very blessed Resurrection Day 2022!
On the Third Day
On the Third Day
by Michael Doyle
The Holy Spirit brings us power
But we bring tenderness to this hour
Easter then is the pinnacle of glory
As we tell the tale of the resurrection story
God is the business of setting things right
He paid for us our penalty and restored our sight
Through Him we find our way to the good
In this exchanging death for Heaven as we should
I think on this, the Holy Resurrection Day
And my heart fills with joy in knowing His ways
Anchoring my secured hope in Heaven's way
As I journey in life with dragons yet to slay
We who over the truth of our daily pain
Show the promises kept with eternity to gain
Coming back from the grave changes everything
Restoring the ever-present melody we must sing
Each year God gathers us around to hear
That He loves us and keep us in good cheer
He calls us each from death to life
Bringing us more peace, relieving us from strife
We enter into this newness through immersion
Experienced after undergoing our conversion
A conscience choice made emerged in water
To become family joined together under the Father
We are delivered in love and not deceived
By our redemption that we have received
As Christ was raised on the third day
It is in accordance with this good news we say
Every day is an opportunity for reconciliation
Restoring us from the Fall to renew in creation
Each of us are given our much needed redemption
This four part play returns us to restoration
From Genesis Three onward is a tale of redemption
And the folly of man yielding to temptation
This is completed in the blood sacrifice of redemption
As the spotless lamb laid down his life for our restoration
Walking from the tomb into that third day sunrise
The truth we need to know unfolded before our eyes
The death of death has come in the payment made
In these patient promises of God that will not fade
Resurrection power comes into our lives this way
It is up to us to live obediently each passing day
Faith in this is to be most highly praised
The empty tomb is proof that Christ was raised
The point of this all is not so much the cross
For this was temporal and not a true loss
Our heart and eyes should be focused on resurrection
And then, of course, on Jesus's heavenly ascension
The disciples became martyrs for this holy story
Boldly holding to the blessed resurrection's glory
The world in its witness turned the world upside down
As these belonging to Christ shared a message most profound
First fruits in harvest are given in humble gratitude
As Jesus walked His walk teaching us a new attitude
All enemies have been set under heel in subjugation
This is a message given to us in utmost circumspection
In this age, knowledge of God will cover us all
It then must be that as the faithful will recall
Every knee will bow and the every tongue confess
That Jesus is Lord in this most sacred of contests
We know this story ends shining as if in the light
By promises made in the darkness of the world's night
All is finished and the fullness of debt is done
Paid in the full by God's sacrifice in His Son
This then is the truth and we must get it
And once its got, we must never forget it
The eyes of our hearts have been given this sight
By God's power to walk in this light
This precious message is one of final victory
And is the total sum of our perfected theology
The most significant yes given in affirmation
Is the bond between God and man in its confirmation
Let us then be steadfast in our ministry
Revealing this renewal without any mystery
It is our role to be like candles burning in the night
Filling the world's darkness with our holy light
(c) April 17, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Accordance, Affirmation, Anchor, Ascension, Attitude, Blood Sacrifice, Bond, Bow, Burn, Candles, Changes Everything, Christ, Circumspection, Confess, Confirmation, Conscience Choice, Contest, Conversion, Creation, Cross, Daily Pain, Death, Death of Death, Death to Life, Debt, Deceived, Deliver, Disciples, Done, Dragons to Slay, Easter, Emerge, Empty Tomb, Eternity, Every Day, Every Knee, Experience, Eyes, Eyes of Our Hearts, Fade Away, Faith, Faithful, Fall, Family, Father, Fill, Final Victory, Finished, First Fruits, Focus, Folly of Man, Forget It, Four Part Play, Gather, Genesis Three, Get It, Glory, God, God and Man, God's Power, Good, Good Cheer, Good News, Gratitude, Grave, Harvest, Heart, Heaven, His Ways, Holy Light, Holy Resurrection Day, Holy Spirit, Holy Story, Immersioin, Journey, Joy, Knowledge of God, Light, Martyrs, Melody, Message, Ministry, Mystery, Newness, Night, Obedient, On the Third Day, Opportunity, Paid, Paid In Full, Patient Promises, Payment Made, Peace, Penalty, Pinnacle of Glory, Poetry and Poems, Power, Praised, Precious Message, Promises, Raised, Recall, Received, Reconciliation, Redemption, Renewal, Restore, Resurrection Story, Role, Setting Things Right, Sight, Significant Yes, Sing, Son, Spotless Lamb, Steadfast, Strife, Subjugation, Sunrise, Temporal, Temptation, Tenderness, The World, Theology, Third Day, Tomb, Tongue, Total Sum, True Loss, Truth, Water, Witness, World's Darkness
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First Principles: The Hand of Providence Has Been So Conspicuous In All This, That He Must Be Worse Than An Infidel That Lacks Faith…Enough To Acknowledge His Obligations
“The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations.” – George Washington
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Ackowledge, Conspicuous, Enough, First Principles, George Washington, Gratitude, Hand of Providence, In All This, Infidel, Lacks Faith, Obligations, Wicked, Worse
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Thought For the Day: And the Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us, and We Have Seen His Glory, Glory As of the Only Son From the Father, Full of Grace and Truth
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – (John 1:14)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Among Us, Dwelt, Father, Flesh, Full, Grace, His Glory, John 1:14, Seen, Son, Thought For the Day, Truth, Word
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Seder For This Human’s Grace
Seder For This Human's Grace
by Michael Doyle
In fulfillment of the command that God Gave
We honor the Lamb who came with intent to save
In humble response to our redemption from sin
On this 15th day of Spring's coming once again
On this altar of courage bringing deliverance
In this sacred story of a chosen people's obedience
Gathering the dearest and the lonely within and without
Bringing our hunger from fasting; removing our doubt
Marking room for even the very quietest of places
Knowing of the last supper and all that it embraces
Sipping the Kiddush blessing from first cup of wine
We wash our hands in preparation of the divine
Yearning for justice and for the sweetness of freedom
In righteous expression for the redemption of God's kingdom
Christ was sacrificed on Passover to save us all
Its in His remembrance that we do this and humbly recall
But even as we recall this past, let's think on Ukraine
And how our hearts ache, hoping their lives are not in vain
An evil tyrant's actions are taken with selfish intention
That a Human Declaration of Rights cannot give protection
Wailing at the Wall for the sake of all of mankind
That they might see and stop being busy or too blind
In a recital of four questions, we pause on why
These fifteen steps ascend across a bridge of sighs
Why is this night different than all other nights
The paschal sacrifice is an atonement to make life right
These things that we do in collective sacred memory
Of how God's chosen people rose from their slavery
In the Messiah's sacrifice, we all find passage to be free
Restored as it were from sin to our fullest dignity
The best answers are always found in questions asked
These serve as reminders of the laws of which we are tasked
To honor God by fullness of body, soul and our minds
Loving one another and never forgetting bondage left behind
In the next year, may we know Jerusalem's celebration
When humanity lives up to and honors our sanctification
(c) April 17, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged 15th Day of Spring, Altar of Courage, Answers, Ascend, Atonement, Blind, Body, Bondage, Bridge of Sighs, Celebration, Christ, Deliverance, Different, Dignity, Divine, Doubt, Embrace, Evil Tyrant, Fifteen Steps, Four Questions, Free, Freedom, Fulfillment, Gather, God's Chosen People, Grace, Honor God, Honors, Human, Human Declaration of Rights, Humanity, Hunger, Jerusalem, Justice, Kuddush Blessing, Lamb, Last Supper, Laws, Left Behind, Lives, Lives Up, Loving One Another, Mankind, Messiah, Mind, Next Year, Night, Not In Vain, Obedience, Paschal Sacrifice, Passover, Poetry and Poems, Protection, Recall, Redemption, Remembrance, Response, Right, Righteous Expression, Room, Sacred Memory, Sacrifice, Sanctification, Save Us All, Seder, Selfish Intention, Sin, Slavery, Soul, Tasked, Ukraine, Wail, Wall, Wash, Why, Wine
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Nihilistic Stumble Grumble
Nihilistic Stumble Grumble
by Michael Doyle
Life in all its histories
Is filled with a million mysteries
Things that might have gone better
Written and unwritten, letter by letter
We find ourselves filling up the holes
Trying to bring comfort to our souls
Stepping in an avalanche pulling us down
We try to find our smiles to turn around our frowns
Conquering the pain that life reveals
Refusing to be lost in the details
Life plays out just as it will
Be it dull surprises or living thrill by thrill
Figuring out the puzzle, finding peace in the pieces
Keeping our inner demons on sturdy leashes
And then we pass this world onto the next generation
Knowing that they have lost all sense of veneration
We hope they'll do better at passing the test
Having given them what we knew to be our best
It seems to be part of God's secret plan
Maybe it is just part of being mortal man
Trying our best, we make our mistakes
Finding love as we can while embracing heartbreaks
Troubled that nothing tells us what to do
We wish the best to whose next in the rear view
(c) April 16, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Avalanche, Best, Better, Comfort, Conquer, Detail, Dull Surprises, Frowns, God, Heartbreaks, History, Holes, Inner Demons, Letter, Life, Lost, Mistakes, Mortal Man, Mystery, Nihilistic, Pain, Passing the Test, Peace, Puzzle, Rear View, Reveal, Secret Plan, Smiles, Souls, Stumble Grumble, Thrill By Thrill, Troubled, Veneration, Will, Wish the Best, World
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First Principles: The Only Foundation For A Useful Education In A Republic Is To Be Laid In Religion. Without This There Can Be No Virtue
“[T]he only foundation for a useful education in a republic is to be laid in religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” – Benjamin Rush
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Benjamin Rush, First Principles, Foundation, Liberty, Life, Object, Religion, Republic, Republican Governments, Useful Education, Virtue
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In the Depth of God’s Love
In the Depth of God's Love
(Thoughts on Good Friday 2022)
by Michael Doyle
In the depth of God's love
We're wondered after life's disasters
As we raise our prayers above
And think on the outcome of forever after
True love is held in meditation
Its meaning causes some hesitation
The come and go of so many feelings
Do not touch the meaning of true love's revealing
True love is consistent in its voice
No matter the sin, true love remains His choice
It is an adjective shown in action
As God forgives us all to our gratification
The deeper we love, the greater we sacrifice
This thought lingers on Good Friday and does suffice
To illustrate how God's love is beyond comprehension
And we are undeserving in its mercy and realization
Christ died for the ungodly; we who are sinners
Demonstrating His love for us redemptive beginners
That God as Christ sacrificed His loving divinity
This is the whole of our sacred theology
Powerless and ungodly, God's grace bought our salvation
Shaming the strong, Christ's mercy gave us our station
At the foot of the cross, His enemies became family
Offering the purest love instead of wrath for the unholy
Through the pains He would endure, He chose to forgive
Giving His earthly life that His enemies might live
Through this, humanity gained its blessed reconciliation
As Jesus' sacrifice removed our cursed alienation
Loving the Lord with all of our heart, soul, and mind
The first and greatest commandment that humanity will find
We learned of true love because He loved us first
Only His living waters can quench our thirst
The more we realize God's love, the more we love others
As we approach Good Friday with our sisters and brothers
And as Christ has given us his living sacrifice
What will we answer as like Roman soldiers we roll our dice?
(c) April 15, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Action, Adjective, Answer, Choice, Christ, Come and Go, Comprehension, Consistent, Deep, Depth, Dice, Divnity, Enemies, Family, Find, First and Greatest Commandment, Foot of the Cross, Forever After, Forgive, God's Love, Good Friday, Good Friday 2022, Grace, Gratification, Greater, He Loved Us First, Heart, Hesitation, Humanity, Illustrate, Learn, Life's Disasters, Linger, Living Sacrifice, Living Waters, Love Others, Loving the Lord, Many Feelings, Meaning, Meditation, Mercy, Mind, Outcome, Poetry and Poems, Powerless, Prayers, Purest Love, Quench, Realization, Realize, Redemptive, Revealing, Roll, Roman Soldiers, Sacred Theology, Sacrifice, Salvation, Shame, Sin, Sinners, Sisters and Brothers, Soul, Station, Strong, Suffice, Thirst, Touch, True Love, Ungodly, Unholy, Voice, Whole, Wrath
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