A JEWEL OF A FRIEND

Good friends are like rubies, precious and rare -
They are there when you need them, with comfort and care,
Ready to help with whatever you need,
To give of themselves with a kind word or deed.

Good friends are like sapphires, both rare and true blue,
Compassionate, helpful, faithful and true,
Always there for the other, whatever the cost,
Sharing in sorrow, in pain or in loss.

Good friends are like emeralds, the rarest of stones -
They never forsake you or leave you alone,
But unlike the emerald, with its sparkling green hue,
They aren’t green with envy, or jealous of you.

Good friends are like diamonds, enduring through time,
They never forget you, have you ever in mind,
And, though miles separate you, they still keep in touch
Through nice cards and letters and phone calls and such.

But there is no friend like Jesus, God’s own dear Son -
He’s like all of the PRECIOUS STONES compressed into one;
Forgiving, compassionate, He gives life without end.
He’s completely trustworthy, a Jewel of a Friend.

He’s a Jewel like no other, the Pearl of Great Price
Who reconciled us through suffering, and, by giving His life,
That we might be perfect and have life without end -
There’s no friend like Jesus; He’s the Jewel of all friends.

a. franklin staples
March 19, 1994

Copyright © 1994 by Allison F. Staples

YOU ARE ON YOUR WAY TO HELL...

You are on your way to hell
Though you may think that all is well,
If you’re living just for pleasure and for gain.
‘Tis a road that’s paved with sorrow,
You who think there’s no tomorrow,
A road that ends in eternal loss and pain.

‘Tis the road of sin and death
To a place where there’s no rest,
Where tormented souls forever will abide;
There’ll be gnashing of the teeth,
Fear and pain will never cease,
And the great gulf fixed will keep you from the Other Side.

‘Tis a road you need not tread!
Hell’s fire you need not dread
If you’ll but come to Jesus Christ just as you are;
Lay your burdens at His feet,
Experience victory, not defeat;
Come while Heaven’s Gates are still ajar.

Worldly gain and earthly pleasures
Cannot compete with Heaven’s treasures;
This life, at best, is but a fleeting thing
That will quickly pass away.
Won’t you come to Christ today,
And own Him as your Sovereign Lord and King?

You are on your way to hell
If you think that all is well
In this life of sin you’re living here below,
For to hell you’re surely bound
If King Jesus you’ve not found,
If the precious Son of God you do not know!

a. franklin staples
May 11, 1994
Copyright © 1994 by Allison F. Staples

THIS LIFE IS VERY SHORT

There’s one thing of which I have no doubt
About this earthly life,
And that is that it’s very short
And filled with pain and strife.

The span of life from birth to death
Does not amount to much;
The time we’re given to spend down here
Is but a fleeting touch.

We’ve just touched down for this brief time,
In a world that’s not our home,
To prepare to live or choose to die -
Just a moment and this life is gone.

A moment is all it seems to take
To go from birth to death,
From the first intake - a new baby’s cry -
To an old person’s final breath.

And yet each short life is valued by God
For He purposed to put us here
To live a life of service to Him -
He patiently draws us near.

He offers us Life through His own Son,
Eternal Life with Him
Who died to redeem us, on Calvary’s cross,
And paid the price for our sin.

And though this life is short - so very brief -
Like a mist that the sun burns away,
The new life God gives through Jesus Christ
Is ETERNAL! IT WILL NOT PASS AWAY!

a. franklin staples

March 3-4, 1991
Copyright © 1991 by Allison F. Staples

IF I COULD...

If I could write ten million words

Or music rich in perfect chords

In praise of Christ, who died for me,

I could not better state in human words

Nor in that music’s  most perfect chords

Why the King of kings and Lord of lords

Would die to set me free

Than this one small word -

L - O - V - E  !

a. franklin staples

August 10, 1990                                                 Copyright © 1990 by Allison F. Staples

TO WRITE A POEM

To write a poem of any kind
Is an exercise of the mind.
Sometimes the right words are hard to find,
Especially those that will make it rhyme.

The poems I like to write the best,
Far ahead of all the rest,
Are those that tell of Christ, the Blessed,
He who mastered life’s every test.

To give to Him both glory and praise
And mighty anthems to Him raise;
He Who is perfect in all His ways,
Outshining the sun’s most brilliant rays.

To thank Him for dying on the cross;
For suffering such great pain and loss
That He might pay sin’s awful cost
And redeem the souls of those who were lost.

To watch until He comes again;
To win the lost to Him ‘til then,
For none down here knows just when
He’ll come to take us home with Him.

Until that time I’ll write and pray
And try to follow in His Way,
To live for Him throughout each day
In all I think and do and say.

a. franklin staples
August 10, 1990
Copyright © 1990 by Allison F. Staples

DON’T SPEAK OF “THE MAGIC” OF CHRISTMAS

Don’t speak of the “magic” of Christmas
 For magic had no part to play
In the miraculous birth of the Saviour
 On that night long ago, far away,

For magic is fake and deception,
 The tool of the “father of lies”,
While Jesus is Truth and Perfection,
 The Master of earth and the skies.

Don’t speak of the “magic” of Christmas
 For magic had nothing to do
With the birth of God’s Son to a virgin,
 In Bethlehem, to Mary, a Jew.

The miraculous birth of that Baby
 Was wrought by the power of God;
No magical spell could perform it
 For magic and spells are a fraud.

No, there’s nothing of magic in Christmas
 Except what the world has brought in.
The day marks the birth of the Saviour
 Who would die to save us from sin.

The Bible makes no mention of Christmas
 For what the observation is worth;
In fact, but very few people
 Were informed of the miraculous birth.

So don’t speak of the “magic” of Christmas
 For magic could never have done
What God’s supreme power has accomplished
 Through the marvellous gift of His Son.

a. franklin staples                                      


Copyright © 1994 by A. Franklin Staples

CALVARY!

Calvary! Not a mountain,
Not even a hill,
Just a mound of earth
On which to kill
My Saviour.

Calvary! Outside the north wall
Of the Temple great
Where a mocking crowd
Was so filled with hate
For my Saviour.

Calvary! Where the jeering mob,
As they push and shove
Toward the foot of the cross,
Receive nothing but love
From my Saviour.

Calvary! The nail-pierced hands,
The thorn-crowned head,
The spite of the priests
Who wished Him dead -
My Saviour.

Calvary! Where ONCE FOR ALL
Sin’s price was paid,
For all mankind’s sins
That day were laid
On my Saviour.

Calvary! “Father, forgive them”
“I thirst”, “Woman, behold thy son”
Why hast thou forsaken?”
“IT IS FINISHED!” The work was done
By my Saviour.

Calvary! ‘Twas done for me -
For you as well!
Praise be to God!
He conquered hell!
He’s my Saviour.

a. franklin staples

Copyright © 1986 by A. Franklin Staples