SALVATION

From Obscurity To ProminenceBy Christopher Smith

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Christopher Smith
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-9206-5

Contents

Chapter One

    Why I Write

    We are born leaders —
    We are born leaders —
    The things we have been through — was just for you — Jesus — to teach
    us —
    How to survive the storm and in the middle of the sea we know you will
    reach us —
    We are believers — that are born leaders —
    We walk by faith and not by sight — see — this is why we write —

    I write because of the blessings I was given —
    I write because I feel His presence residing in the realm of my living —
    Each decision — is not mine but His to determine —
    His protection is discerning —
    Always adjourning —
    The many evils that I face —
    Therefore for His grace alone I am thankful —
    Could His reason be? —
    The life I have lived or the things I have seen —
    The price I have paid for my mind to be free —
    The countless tears of my mother's agony —
    The game that caused angry thugs to jump me —
    The casualties of my three cousins from one auntie —
    Or His Son's life, sacrificed on Calvary —
    I was spared to be —
    More than the common —
    And as such, my mind is a cannon —
    Firing verbal sparks to a nation still recovering from 9/11 —
    So I am thankful for every situation I am placed in —
    Because the race ends —
    Only when I stop believing in the reason for my breathing —
    So I am thinking this ... could be because of the nights I was hungry —
    Yet I stayed up writing poetry —
    Maybe this could be because of my ancestry —
    Being stolen from a country —
    Being brutalized yet justified biblically —
    So maybe this could be the many voices of stories never heard just
    being reverberated through me —
    So I willingly allow the Spirit to take hold of my soul because each time
    He does, I remember —
    I remember to be thankful for the times the Spirit whispered to my
    subconscious a way out of danger —
    And though the Metaphysical was a stranger at the time —
    All powerful yet benign —
    Patiently waited for me to pick up on His signs of guidance through
    wonder —
    And I remember the times I slumbered yet crime never took me under —
    See, I remember the faithful day in November - when they released the
    cuffs from my wrists and took prints of my fingers —
    I remember sleeping so many nights in the shelter —
    Yet I could not give in because of the love of my mother —
    So whether wrong or right —
    The Light -
    Took me from the clutches of peer pressure and isolated me only to
    make me stronger —
    So I am thankful for His delivery —
    And for whatever reason He delivered me I am grateful —
    So I try to be an example to the younger as He is faithful —
    And again I say I am thankful in this verse —
    Because I have slept in His bosom and fictitiously eaten from trash cans
    and I know it could have been much worse —
    So in all this I confess —
    So that peacefully my soul can rest —
    And I have the compulsive need to profess —
    That each day I breathe the breath of life —
    I'm truly blessed —
    This is why I write —

    Why do you write?


    Wondering

    I slouch back in this chair —
    With my head bent forward, picking at my hair —
    With the fingers God gave me —
    My stare turns to a gaze, wondering why he saved me —
    Saying to myself — in my life I can see His love unfurling clearly —
    But what about the third world — it's just crazy —
    We've got babies dying daily —
    It just amazes me —
    To see —
    So many lives in a state of emergency —
    And billions of dollars filtered into economies for artillery —
    And there seems to be —
    A lack of chivalry —
    From leaders to lives —
    Husbands to wives —
    Where is the unity? —
    This bellows in my mind much louder than the calm —
    Yet the most peaceful part of destruction is in the eye of the storm —
    My cup isn't empty —
    It says plenty —
    To be among the top 10% of the worlds wealthy —
    Which is how I explain poverty? —
    Power is a seed —
    Governed by misguided minds that breed greed — and envy —
    Fuels another power's jealousy —
    Turning innocent to evil —
    Forgetting the reason they are there is to take care of the people —
    And bloody hands clasp hypocritically at the steeple —
    While land mines buried for decades takes lives —
    Like AIDS takes lives —
    Like frustration drives — violence into deprived people —
    Self gratification —
    Hidden within speeches labeled with good intentions —
    They seem to bring out the demons within you —
    I can't see through —
    The smoke screens of bombing nations —
    For their possessions —
    Crippling a society spitefully with the natural man's idea of Godly
    lessons —
    Using fear to grip an abused mind into depression —
    In one hand is curse — in the other a blessing —
    Yet our conscience questions God's decisions —
    And the love He tells us to believe in —
    And although the life of a mother with a crippled child becomes
    crippled herself seems grim -
    God says in all things believe Him —
    Receive Him —
    Seek Him —
    And in heavenly places rewards will be given —


    Tomorrow Is Death

    The Spirit within me says —
    Go forth and create —
    Let your thoughts be made manifest —
    Be made flesh —
    Be made substance —
    Let it not be inchoate —
    But greater than the original thought itself —

    Then I heard tomorrow called —
    And I answered —
    Let the music inside you play itself out into greater numbers —
    More ravishing tunes —
    Tighter lyrics —
    And the embodiment of experience —

    Let it flow like the stream that goes forth and meets the open seas —
    Blends in —
    And becomes one with a greater more self containing flow —

    Then I heard tomorrow called —
    And I answered —

    Let the seed holding the dream of being the first to accomplish that
    which is greater than any family member has ever accomplished —
    Past or present —
    Be planted in fertile soil —
    And watered by diligent hands —
    Knowing that —
    That which you were called to do is blessed already and waiting for you
    to receive —

    Then I heard tomorrow called —
    And I answered —

    What is it you want with me? —

    -The reply-

    I want to meet with you secretly so we can discuss your future —
    I will give you much to do and keep you busy today —
    Together we can discuss why you are alive —
    I must be honest —
    I will be exactly what I am —
    After considering tomorrow —
    I realize she is not my friend —
    Adorned beautifully —
    Claiming to carry peace offerings with her —
    She is strange to me —
    Lips as sweet as a honeycomb —
    And her mouth smoother than oil —
    But her end is bitter as wormwood —
    Sharp as a two edged sword —
    Her feet go down to death —
    And her steps take hold on hell —

    I will no longer ignore tomorrow —
    I will change my number —
    I don't want tomorrow calling me anymore —


    BALM IN
    GILEAD


    Make Change Happen

    I look around a once fertile land complete with springs —
    Natural lakes —
    A beautifully created thing —
    With water streams bringing forth life —
    What I see now are broken down buildings and grave yard plots —
    Real estate being eaten away, crumbling cement blocks —
    Now building for fortune makes existence gritty —
    I look upon the situation with pity —
    As I see the youth growing up hardened by the cement walls of the
    inner city —
    Life's greenery being taken away —
    No nurturing soil of soft surfaces to play —
    Every available square inch of land being converted for construction or
    decay —
    Substance being taken away by treason —
    No amount of money going into the governing hands will please them —
    Whatever happened to fighting for freedom? —
    And taking a stand as free men? —
    In one year, 25% of the support staff for teachers was eliminated out of
    the school system —
    70 of 100 plus pools across the city were shut down due to a lack of
    funding —
    I feel surrounded by pick pockets looking attractive —
    Searching for a day when my soul just relaxes —
    I look at my pay stub and see what is being taken out for taxes —
    And because this applies to every working person, I wonder —
    Where does it all go? —
    Don't get me wrong —
    I understand suburbia —
    But like Rihanna —
    Something has me living in disturbia —
    Until I see the fulfillment of the promise —
    Even though the answer was sent —
    For 21 days Daniel spent —
    His face on the ground in sackcloth and ashes —
    Where do you go to develop your mind in ventures? —
    When each year you hear of the systematic shut down of recreational
    centres —
    And the ones that remain open, you now have to pay for —
    And the signature on the application for the 5 factory job openings is
    what you sign your name for —
    Because you have a family, food is what you slave for —
    What will enable you to change tour? —
    So that you can change more —
    You affect the next generation —
    Who will you pave the way for? —
    Establish a right for? —
    Stand as a light for? —
    In Christ, allow Him to teach you what to fight for —
    And in motion, set it —
    And don't take on the "stinking" thinking of even the closest person
    next to you, hindering your destiny —
    Just go get it —
    Pray and obey —
    Then leave the rest to God, His hands are steady —
    Don't yield up your strength to that hindering thing because life in itself
    is hard already —
    What you will find —
    In time —
    Everything naturally falls in line —
    What positive thing are you building? —
    What future do you see when you look into the eyes of young adults
    down to baby children? —
    There will come a time —
    When we will all stand before the divine —
    A question might be —
    What did you do with your time? —
    (Make it happen)


    WHERE YOU'RE AT

    See I understand where you are at —
    Standing beneath street lights past midnight —
    Hovering above sidewalk vents steaming —
    Believing the meaning for life is appealing to a friend —
    Lining your pockets — with a dream of profit —
    Through triple beam and coke dealing —
    Neglecting your seed —
    The very reason in which God gave you a reason to live —
    And in a moment of honesty —
    Your three year old says "daddy promise me, I'll see you soon" —
    Yeah son, after this bid —
    Five years and no calls —
    Stone walls — up in an eight year old mind roaming the school halls —
    Mommy working two jobs —
    And at night, no babysitter —
    She is trying hard to impress upon your young mind —
    That you are from her blood line —
    And she ain't a quitter —
    But by the second you are getting older — even colder —
    Seems like the very blood your heart is pumping only makes your body
    shiver —
    And it seems like every other month you have a new uncle —
    And you're constantly wondering — "why would my uncle hit her? —
    My mother?" —
    Well, mommy has a hustler's mentality —
    And at times the savage within you see —
    Sweetening a sugar daddy — by appealing to his loins usually —
    Produces a salary —
    She has got to eat but she has got a seed —
    This means another mouth to feed —
    And you take priority —
    A number of years later —
    Now you are a teenager —
    Looking to the streets as savior —
    Mommy trying to control you and not her own behavior —
    Now out — daddy only comes around when he is drunk —
    Trying to degrade her — berate her — blame her —
    For his position —
    All the while telling you "don't worry `youngon', everything will be
    just fine" —
    Now at fourteen —
    With your own team —
    Fully engulfed on the scenery —
    Handling everything from dime bags to grand larceny —
    Doing everything you can, not to go home —
    But when you are home — you just zone out — sink into your dome —
    And get to thinking about the rules mommy taught you about the hustle
    —
    And the few things daddy taught you on how to manipulate the game to
    strengthen your street muscle —
    And in some ways they are right —
    But in most ways they are wrong —
    And you have got to somehow find the strength within to stand strong —
    Even worse - than the demons fighting this verse —
    Is you are beginning — to realize it's in a curse you're living —
    See, you're fourteen with a seed on the way —
    And you keep remembering when mommy used to say —
    Son, I had you at fifteen and don't want you to turn out that way —
    But now she is about to be — a grandmother at thirty -
    but the cycle, the cycle must be broken —
    And it seems to play itself out in a strange but familiar way and using
    you as the token —
    That's why I'm able to say —
    I understand where you're at —
    Standing beneath street lights past midnight —
    Hovering above sidewalk vents steaming —
    But there is something I want to share — that I read somewhere about
    reason —
    "We had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in
    ourselves, but in God who raises the dead —
    Who delivered us from such great a death and do deliver, in whom we
    trust —
    That He will yet deliver us". —
    Understanding your authority in Christ if you believe Him —
    You are victorious over all things seeing salvation in due season —
    We're here because of treason —
    But only if you believe Him —
    Then His life you will gain if only you receive Him —
    There will be added to it no sorrow — meaning, no fear, doubt, sickness
    or shame —
    When you call on the Lord Jesus Christ's name —
    The enemy is detained —
    Defeated and shamed —
    The cycle is broken and what you have left is eternal life beginning now
    for you to gain —
    Choose life —


    Victory by the Blood

    I stand still knowing that God is at work —
    Within the murk —
    And mire —
    Standing alone, my heart gets lit by the Holy Ghost fire —
    And I can't help but dance —
    Knowing I've got the win —
    I recognize the desire of the strong man on the outside looking in —
    Hoping for a chance —
    For a foothold to try to break down what God is building —
    In the walk of God's children —
    There are spirits established for generations —
    In places I never thought to look —
    As I stand still —
    Read and pray —
    I'm blessed by the revelation of the Holy Spirit —
    In His book —
    Therefore —
    Everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God —
    Must be torn down —
    Stronghold no longer fit the mould —
    They must be pulled down —
    To the ground —
    And stomped out —
    By the authority —
    Invested in me —
    I shout —
    Satan, the BLOOD of JESUS is against you —

(Continues...)

Excerpted from SALVATIONby Christopher Smith Copyright © 2010 by Christopher Smith. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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