Stephen J. Vattimo - Steward of the Harvest

ISBN 978-1-64191-748-3 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-64191-749-0 (digital) Copyright 2019 by Stephen J. Vattimo All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below. Christian Faith Publishing, Inc. 832 Park Avenue Meadville, PA 16335 www.christianfaithpublishing.com Printed in the United States of America God Uncovered and Awakened Beautiful formed creation Natural and pure at its beginning Uncovered and awakened from sleeping under the blanket of darkness The warmth of the sun rises over the mountains and hilltops Caressing them to life with the gentle kiss of the wind The wind blows across the valley, through the bushes and grass Causing the motionless statue to sway to its soft music Warmth of the sun Gentle rain Gentle breeze Awaken the maple tree from its dark, cold sleep Nurture it to erect toward the sky in its strength In its prosperity, ooze the sweet maple sap that is craved Warmth of the sun Gentle rain Gentle breeze Cascading through the canyon Awaken the deep fountains of life from their dark, cold sleep Stimulate them to gush into living streams that the salmon swim up to spawn Beautiful formed creation Natural and pure at its beginning Uncovered and awakened from sleeping under the blanket of darkness (April 8, 2017) The Devil Two Spirits Watching the Ocean of Turmoil Life is like being a passenger on a luxury ocean liner That sails across a Sea of Turmoil.

Passengers feel safe by putting their faith in the sturdy construction of the ships steel hull. Their senses are enveloped by the beautiful gold, silver, brass, and wood that accent the interior of the ship. There is a specter whose heart is dark as black satin and as cold as an iceberg. Who is rarely seen by the human eye, for he stealthily moves under the cloak of night And dwells in the shadows by day. His nature is deception and violence His powers are death and decay He roams back and forth on the Sea of Turmoil, stalking luxury ocean liners. Sometimes he will play cat-and-mouse games by annoying the passengers, slowly picking their ship apart with rust and rot.

Other times he will crush a ship with a tidal wave Or blow a ship apart by an on-board fire. The specter evilly snickers when the survivors must abandon ship and try to tread water. The passenger tries to cling on to their strange theologies and philosophies to keep themselves afloat. The specter stirs the Sea of Turmoil with his crooked finger to create a great tempest to try and drown his victims to transport them to the Lake of Fire that lies beneath the Sea of Turmoil. The passengers desperate outcries for help reach the ears of the King of Light. He sends His Son by His swiftest ship To rescue anyone who will receive their help.

The Son will transport His passengers to the shores of His Fathers kingdom Where they will be made heirs with the Son. They will dwell in the eternal golden city of the King of Light. The King of Light will forever remove the specter of darkness and his domain: the Sea of Turmoil. (July 12, 2016) Hoodwinked by the Destroyer of Nations Modern Philosophy Pet Psychiatry High Technology These entities become the demigod We have placed our country under its authority Father Son Holy Spirit The God our nation crawled after For protection For provision For guidance Our nation grew up It was nurtured It was blessed It progressed Then at an opportune time The destroyer of nations whispered deceitful words in our ears That diluted our minds with the thoughts that all our blessing was from the works of our own hands That poisoned our heart against God We became unthankful We became disobedient We filed away God with all the methodological deities We erected new altars to worship our new demigod of Modern Philosophy Pet Psychiatry High Technology The blessing of our demigod on our nation are Destitution Depravity Regression Desperation Salvation for our country is only one step back Turn back to the God of this countrys youth (October 26, 2013) Dont Gamble with the Devil The devil gave you a call to invite you to a card game He said, If you win I will give you fortune and fame If you lose I will take all you have in your name You told your concerned friends You have mastered all card games So you accepted the devils invitation to his card game Dont gamble with the devil You have so much to lose Lady luck seemed to be on your side for the cards seemed to be dealt in your favor As the game played on It seemed like the devil was feeding His card right into your hand Dont gamble with the devil You have so much to lose The game was coming to a close A smile on your face arose For the whole game seemed to be played in your favor The strange thing you noticed The devil didnt show any remorse of losing the game in his behavior Dont gamble with the devil You have so much to lose When you both threw down your cards Your jaw dropped down to your knees For what did your eyes see? The devil had the winning hand A smile arose on his face As he said, You thought you were going to beat the devil at his own game? You poor fool You were only being deceived Now pay me what you owe me Give me your soul (December 23, 1992) Religion The Giant Supermarket Religion is like a giant supermarket Its shelves are stocked with every brand of god that the mind can think up You will hear most people say its foolish to put your faith in only one brand They will advise you not to waste your time studying the labels on the back of every god For there are too many of them to compare just choose the one that looks like it will satisfy your desires and relax your conscience For life is short We all must devote our time to more important things in life such as work and play Instead of getting lost at the giant supermarket In the maze of aisles that are a mile high and stretch for miles in length Today I saw an article in the Religious Consumers Report magazine It read, Shoppers who took the time to compare the labels and put their faith in the Jesus brand were rushed through the express checkout counter and entered Heaven Shoppers who did not spend time comparing labels and put their faith in other gods found themselves stunned as they waited in very long lines to go through the checkout counter and enter the Lake of Fire (June 17, 1996) Do We Know You? We tell everyone we know You Do our actions show we spend much time with You? We tell everyone we love you When you came to our door did we feed or clothe You? Have we pushed You out of our place? and slammed the door in Your face? We tell everyone we want to serve You Do we proclaim Your good news to the unsaved? Do we hide in shame? as a brother is persecuted for preaching in Your name? Do we really know you? or are we playing a foolish game? We tell everyone we are willing to lay our lives down for you When will we live our lives in obedience to You? Do we really know you? or are we playing a foolish game? Lord Help us to live for you (July 12, 1992) Mistaken Identity I was traveling along my life line, when mine line intersected with a peculiar guy, In a time and a place that was not unfamiliar to me. He stared at his reflection in a mirror and chanted, Me, my, and I. This was a peculiar sight, so I couldnt help but pry, Are you, all right? He replied, My life line has taken some severe curves and steep dives! I felt compassion for this peculiar guys plight and had to pry, Have you considered inviting God to help you straighten out the severe curves and steep dives in your life? He replied, Yes, every time I look into a mirror.