Out in the cold and darkening night

I see a flickering, dying light

Is this indeed the House of My Bride?

Why will no one allow Me inside?

 

Down below in the gathering gloom

Wanders a weary, forsaken Groom

They all forget I am coming soon

As they play bewitching religious tunes.

 

A chaste young virgin I should find within

But, lo, a sound of rollicking sin

The door is locked by the Pharaohs of men

Determined are they that they shall win.

 

They push their programs and lock Me out

The bar Me from heart of My spouse

She bows to her masters who suck like a leech

They say, Give me more to pay me to preach.

 

What rogue hath ravished the heart of My spouse?

What thieves have broken into My own House?

What devils have defiled My Beloved's crown?

What merchants of sin ascend to My couch?

 

What meaneth these sounds of bleating of sheep

Those merchants of flesh scrambling to keep

The carnal coins I have come to sweep

From the heart of My Bride so deep in sleep?

 

Seeking out heresy auctioneers

Backsliders bid with itching ears

Souls are bought by the cheapest bidder

Rejecting My Truth as a fetter most bitter.

 

Fattening on sugar for the day of slaughter

Some saints grow tired of the Living Water

They choose the Booze of Belial instead

And devil’s doughnuts, not the Living Bread.

 

Where is My Bride, in my heartache I cry?

Where is that Fair One for whom I died?

Why do I languish in the dew of the night

When I long to sup with you inside?

 

Through parted curtains I clearly see why

No one will come in response to My cry

A golden imposter disguised as Christ

Is wooing My Bride with soft-scented lies.

 

His hands are smooth, they bear no scars

He promises her money, mansions and cars

If only from My truth she'll depart

And fall submissively into his arms.

 

She kisses him as the music plays

Belched from organs, pipes and C.D.’s

Merrily spins a roulette table

Furiously gambling, their guests are devils.

 

Make me feel good, I’ve put my Lamp out

Sighs the bride who recklessly gambles

My modernized christ I gladly sample

And bite from his deadly serpent apple.

 

The christ she’s spun to please her so well

Will lead her to a devil’s hell

He assaults her soul with silken hands

Which chain her heart like brutal bands

 

He plies her with lies and fills her head

With deviant doctrines which leave her dead

Sweet love will save souls, forget Blood I shed

Though I wrote My love in letters of red

 

Perfume the air, forget sacrifice

Preaching of judgment is not nicey-nice

Scatter the opiate flowers so fair

Deaden your senses, the dying aren’t there.

 

A dapper christ in designer suit

He drives a Mercedes purchased with loot

Stolen from widows and children’s bread

Merriment reigns in the House of the Dead.

 

This slickest of men steals My lover’s heart

Her icy indifference bids Me depart

In mercy and love I have given her space

To repent with tears and receive My grace.

 

Her eyes are glued to a monitor screen

She looks with longing upon her new king

A fancy face with nary a care

His polished pleas persuade her to share.

 

She opens her heart and her checkbook

Enraptured is she and wonderstruck

By this conniving, carnal  crook

Destined for hell, he’s not in My Book.

 

His hands are heavy-laden with jewels

Purchased with funds from bamboozled fools

A carnival christ, He happily rules

Over souls who won't his advances refuse.

 

This lady’s in love with Idolatry

Her eyes are full of adultery

She says she’s grown more than a little bored

With serving a lowly Crucified Lord.

 

Besotted by sin they party within

My used-to-be bride with her flashy friend

Nibbling on favorite Bible bits

They can sell, distort, refine and twist.

 

Starry-eyed, she persists in sin

She plays a treacherous game she can’t win

Selling her soul to win fancy friends

Promoting a christ of hype and spin.

 

Religious merchants blaspheme My Name

They put Me to an open shame

My people think that the reason I came

Was to bring them riches, fortune and fame

 

Outside the church’s doors I’ve remained

Patiently knocking again and again

You'll never know My infinite pain

Just knowing that My tears are in vain.

 

Discarded in her garden I see

Costly garments provided by me

Her nakedness makes her feel oh, so free

To wed with worldly prosperity

 

Gaudy garments of fleshly pride

Conceal the corpse of a faith that’s died

Her haughty heart she’s opened wide

To all her lover’s lurid lies.

 

Again and again I lift up My Voice

Who shall be your eternal choice?

Will you drown out My pleas in party noise

And all your precious treasures destroy?

 

Why will you follow that devil to your doom

That polished imposter you love as your groom?

Don't you know I am coming soon?

Counterfeit christs are devouring you!

 

Repent of your sins, come away with Me

Or I’ll search for another whom I can set free

My Bride is destined to meet My need

For love and beauty through eternity.

 

She once turned to Me to meet all her needs

But now she mocks My very last plea

A brutal severing makes My heart bleed

Why won’t this House the Good Shepherd heed?

 

Where is My Fair One for whom I died?

Who will let My light come inside?

Who will share My Bread and My Wine?

Who will delight to forever be Mine?

 

A ragged sojourner, her hair soaked in dew

Her tear-streaked face aglow with the moon

Is led toward Me by the Holy Ghost

I need You! she cries. Please let me come close!

 

I wander in darkness, they’ve hidden the Light

They’ve shut me outside to die in the night

I’m blind but your beautiful Voice I can hear

Your Spirit of Love is drawing me near.

 

I've tried so hard to enter in

To the feasting which we hear from within

The home of the fairest girl in the land

But I and my outcast friends have been banned.

 

Time and again we've knocked at her door

But she has no time to waste on the poor

She laughs and she plays with her lover all day

By night she says to us: Go away!

 

How desolate, this lady bowed down with care

Her griefs are too burdensome for her to bear

I lift the Wayfarer's bag from her back

Her sack so empty is weighed down with lack!

 

She falls at My feet and says, Cover me

From the shame of an outcast please set me free

No trousseau I bring, only great needs

But my love I present as a wedding ring.

 

She says, I know I'm not the one You chose

But I see You’ve brought a bundle of clothes

Who are they for, those garments so white,

I wish I could wear them, though I have no right!

 

They're for My Beloved, I say with delight

That fairest of women to whom I give sight

I adorn her with heavenly jewels so bright

And shine upon her with grace and light.

 

I touch her eyes and now she can see

That the only Person Who matters is Me

I set her free from cruel memories

I bathe her in love so liberally.

 

She sees herself through My own eyes

That one whom all the proud Pharaohs despised

Her death has she exchanged for my Life

To become my lover, my spouse, my wife.

 

How glorious is the Sojourner now

Shining in white and adorned with a crown

On the wings of the wind wafts the glorious sound

Of sweet angel harps, hear their voices resound.

 

Let us depart, then, I say to her

Let us prepare a feast for the poor

No longer shall I knock at the door

Of one who forsook me to be a whore.

 

As I look into your loving eyes

I realize I’ve at last found My Bride

You've let Me inside, so now, let's arise

Let us now fly home to our Paradise.