Author and poet Kealoha Wells presents...
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From Kealoha...
Why not take a little time
To read the gospel as a rhyme?
Thank you to all who purchased THE GOSPEL AS POETRY and encouraged me to keep writing!
You can read Chapters 1-3 of THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AS POETRY below. I've grown a lot since THE GOSPEL AS POETRY and hope you enjoy the new book even more than the last one!
Putting the Gospel of John into poetry has been such an awesome experience with the Lord! I hope you feel that this work glorifies God, accurately conveys His Word, and that it blesses believers and unbelievers alike.
If you live on Oahu, you will be able to find both books {and me} at Logos Bookstore. (Call 596-8890 for directions.) Please enjoy!
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by! May His joy be your strength now and forever!
Lovin' Jesus,
Kealoha Wells :)
kealovesjesus@yahoo.com
The Gospel of John as Poetry - First 3 Chapters
Chapter 1
In the beginning was the Word
And the Word was with God
And the Word was God
Although that sounds odd
Through Him all things came into being
He was the life--the Light of men
The Light shines in the darkness
The darkness cannot comprehend
There came a man whose name was John
From God this man was sent
To testify about the Light
Until his life was spent
He himself was not the Light
He came to testify
To bear witness to eternal truth
About the One on high
The true Light came into the world
That man might be enlightened
Creator God in human flesh
So man would not be frightened
He was in the world that He had made
He entered time and space
He came to His own, but Him they disowned
They expressed their disgust and distaste
But those who received Him to themselves
Were granted a glorious right
The right to be called the Children of God
Now they are born of the Light
The Word became flesh
Came among us to dwell
Grace and truth we beheld
Salvation from hell
John testified and cried out:
Of His fullness we've received
Grace and truth through Jesus Christ
To all who have believed
No eye has seen God at any time
But the only begotten Son
Who resides in the Father's bosom
Has explained the Holy One
The Jews sent men from Jerusalem
To ask John: Who are you?
He confessed: I am not the Christ
His testimony true
They asked: Are you Elijah?
And he answered: I am not
Well then are you the Prophet?
The same answer is what they got
Tell us who you are, they said
That we might make report
Back to those who sent us here
For you're a man of a different sort
Let them chew on this, he replied
With this they won't be bored
I'm a voice crying in the wilderness:
Make straight the path of the Lord
Why then do you baptize
If you're not Elijah nor the Prophet?
If as you say, you're not the Christ
It doesn't make sense now does it?
Among you stands One you don't know
It is He who comes after me
I am not fit to touch His foot
(This happened in Bethany)
The next day Jesus walked towards him
Through John God's plan unfurled
Behold this is the Lamb of God
Who removes the sin of the world!
This is He of whom I said
A Man after me is higher than I
For He existed before me
This truth I did not deny
The Spirit made Him manifest
For Him I did not recognize
But now in truth I tell to you
What I witnessed with my eyes
I have seen the Spirit descending
Out of heaven up above
He remained upon this Holy Man
In the likeness of a dove
No, I did not recognize Him
But the One who sent me said:
He upon whom the Spirit rests
Is the One to whom you're led
He who baptizes in the Spirit
Yes, this is the very One
I have seen and now I testify
That this Man is God's Son
John stood with two disciples
It was indeed the very next day
Behold the Lamb of God! He said
As Jesus went His way
The disciples went after Jesus
Because they heard John speak
Jesus saw them following
He asked: What do you seek?
Teacher, where are You staying
With You we'd like to be
Jesus smiled and said to them:
Come, and you will see
One of them was Andrew
He was quick to find his brother
Simon, we have found the Christ
John says there is no other
To Simon's credit he believed him
Andrew took him to meet Jesus
Jesus looked at him and said:
Your name will now be Cephas
The next day Jesus set out
To go into Galilee
There He found a man named Philip
And said: Philip, follow me
Philip found Nathanael
And with great delight exclaimed:
We have the One written about in the Law
The One whom the Prophets proclaimed
What good can come from Nazareth?
Was Nathanael's dry reply
Philip said: Well, come and see
With a twinkle in his eye
As Nathanael came toward Jesus
Jesus didn't miss a beat:
Behold an Israelite indeed
In whom there's no deceit!
Nathanael boldly questioned Him:
How is it You know me?
Jesus laughed as He replied:
I saw you 'neath the tree
Nathanael's jaw dropped to the ground
The revelation changed everything
Rabbi, You are the Son of God!
You truly are Israel's King!
Jesus grinned and said to him:
You believe because I saw you 'neath the tree?
You will see the heavens opened
And angels descending and rising on Me
Chapter 2
And then it was the third day
A wedding on day three
A rockin', raging party
In Cana of Galilee
Jesus and His disciples
All received an invitation
Friends and family rejoicing
In an awesome celebration
Suddenly it happened
(It was still an early hour)
When Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Chose to reveal His power
Son, she said
They have no wine
Woman, He said
It is not My time
But He must have been joking
'Cause next thing you know
He turns water to wine
Without lifting a toe
Now six waterpots were sitting there
For Jewish purification
Twenty to thirty gallons each
Jesus used them for glorification
Fill those vessels up with water
The servants filled them to the brim
Give some to the steward now
So they scooped a cup for him
He did not know from where it came
But the other servants knew
The steward called out to the bridegroom
Sir, I must say to you
To serve the good before the poorer wine
Is this now in the past?
For tasting I can clearly tell
You've saved the best for last
Over one hundred twenty gallons
So it seems it can be said
That Jesus likes to celebrate
In Him life is not dead
The Passover of the Jews was near
Jesus went to Jerusalem
In the temple He found greedy men
And had harsh words for them
They were selling oxen, doves and sheep
That they might make a profit
Desecrating the Holy Place
That's how Jesus saw it
He turned over all their tables
Made a whip and drove them out
And as He kicked them to the curb
In anger gave a shout:
Get out of here and don't come back
Take all your livestock away
This is not a marketplace
It is a place to pray!
And then His disciples remembered
A word written in prophecy
About the One who was to come
Zeal for Your house will consume Me
Then the Jews became indignant
They demanded to see a sign
As proof of His authority
To upset their bottom line
Destroy this temple, He said to them
I will raise it in three days
They thought He meant the building
For they did not know His ways
He was speaking of His body
The true temple of the Spirit
His disciples later remembered His words
When He was killed and then He did it
Many came to believe in His name
At the feast in Jerusalem
But Jesus Christ for His part
Would not entrust Himself to them
For He already knew all men
Their testimony He rejected
He knows better than any man
How the heart of man is infected
Chapter 3
Now came a man of the Pharisees
A man called Nicodemus
He came by night to share his thoughts
With the One who would redeem us
Rabbi, You are a teacher from God
We know this much is true
For certainly there is no other way
You could do the signs You do
Truly, truly, Jesus replied
You must be born again
If you wish to see the Kingdom of God
It is veiled from sinful men
Nicodemus did not understand
He asked Jesus to clarify
And if you have the ears to hear
Listen closely to His reply
Truly, truly, I say to you
Unless you are born of water and spirit
You cannot enter the Kingdom of God
In fact, you will never get near it
The wind blows in mysterious ways
So it is with those born of the Spirit
And you, yes you, are Israel's teacher
How is it that you do not know it?
Truly, truly, I say unto you
We know of what we speak
Yet you reject our witness
And I am the the One you seek
If you do not believe Me
When I speak of things of earth
How will you ever understand
The mystery of rebirth?
No one has ascended
Up the heavenly stair
Except the very Son of Man
The One who came from there
As Moses lifted up the serpent
In the desert wilderness
Those who look to the Son of Man
Receive eternal bliss
For God so loved the world
He gave His own Beloved Son
That all who would believe in Him
With Him would become one
He did not send the Son to judge
He sent to bring salvation
For the law already judged each man
As worthy of damnation
This then is the judgment:
Into the world has come the Light
But because men love their evil deeds
They prefer the darkness of night
After these things Jesus went to Judea
His disciples also went with Him
John the Baptist was still baptizing
He'd not yet gone to prison
Some of the men who followed John
Were having a deep conversation
We don't ave any details, but
They spoke of purification
At some point they decided
They had better speak to John
About the people going to Jesus
John knew what was going on
So John he answered and said the them:
A man receives nothing unless
It's handed down from heaven and
You yourselves are witness
That I said--I am not the Christ
I have simply been sent ahead
The bride belongs to the bridegroom
I rejoice that they will wedf
This joy of mine has been made full
But now I must decrease
The Christ has come into the world
And now He will increase
He who comes from heaven above
It is He who is above all
He speaks of what He's seen and heard
But no one hears Him call
He who accepts His testimony
Attests that God is true
For Jesus speaks the words of God
It's what He came to do
The Father loves the Son
He's given all things to His hand
But only those who trust in Him
Will enter the Promised Land
Copyright 2010 Kealoha Wells
