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The Message remains the Same

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
2nd Timothy 4:1-5

Though loved ones I’ve had to renounce
And my friends be so far and few
Though the professing Christians I know have disowned me
And my heart has been torn in two

Though my beloved hath so betrayed me
And though I have suffered the loss of all
Though I’m rejected for my convictions
Which came with God’s Word and my Call

Though I’ve leaned through the things I have suffered
Though I have faced such humiliation and shame
And though I’ve even despaired of life more than once
The Message remains the same

Though they call me a narrow minded extremist
And though they falsely accuse me of being so proud
Though they reproach me by their insinuations and statements
And they voice their cruel hatred so angry and loud

Though they demand of me my submission
And though they try so hard to break me down
Though they write me off as a fanatical lunatic
And they seek to rob me of my robe and crown

Though they try to harness my zeal
Though they cast upon me their blame
And though they demand that preach in their false love
The Message remains the same

Though they seek to subvert all of my convictions
And though they try as hard as they will
Though they intrude upon my life with their suspicions
And under their hypocrisy they demand that I knell

Though I have none of their worldly friendship or favor
And though I be despised by the most despicable of men
Though they really do not misunderstand me
And it’s just that my soul they wish to condemn

Though it looks as if all are against me
Though my faith be tried by such flames
And though my mind and my heart have been battered
The Message remains the same

Though I’ve been despitefully exploited and used
And though I be defamed as the world’s offscouring and filth
Though no one seems to care in the least
And they cast upon me the shame of their guilt

Though I am a stranger and pilgrim in this strange land
And though my enemies on all sides abound
Though I can feel the tension of their intolerance
And at my presence every one frowns

Though so few seem to understand me
Though the reproach never seems to change
And though the stigma of this calling is sometimes so painful
The Message remains the same

Though so few have ever had to stand where I’ve stood
And though they can’t see the things that I see
Though they do not know the things that I know
And they do not comprehend God’s dealings with me

Though so few have ever paid the true price
And though they stand not in relation to true spiritual life
Though so many claim to be last day forerunners
They never suffered the true cost of the fight

Though only in part I have known this Jesus
And though the fellowship of His sufferings I’ve felt in pain
It has only been by the grace of His resurrection power toward me
That the Message remains the same

The Message remains the same
Despite false prophets and pastors of hell
The Message remains the same
Uncompromised and so strong to tell

The Message remains the same
God’s Word is etched on my heart’s inner wall
The Message remains the same
Because I’m still holding fast to my convictions and call
© 2006 Evangelist Raymond Bolton Pena

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and as long as you copy them in their entirety
and include the copyright notice at the end of each poem
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