“TAINTED” …a poem By Joe Phillips, MVP Guest Blogger

Out of the ashes of a devastated soul,
Through the smoke clearing vistas of sinful toll -
Steps the Preacher written off long ago.
Publicly disgraced for his prodigal show.
He landed on the heap of Preachers tainted;
His shame was broadcast and the faithful fainted.
No one gets a pass from this nebulous shadow.
How’s he even standing in this infamous meadow?
Settling in this sediment of black despair,
Barely could the Preacher gasp hope’s sweet air.
But a voice settled with him, though he could barely hear it.
The whisper of one dwelling with a contrite spirit.
And the voice said, “Stand, Grace has come for you…
Grace has brought life, the way, and the truth.”
By faith he took one step on broken reputations.
Each step that followed brought kind confirmation.
Like Samson at his end, a glory has returned.
Redemption is delivered to a man once spurned.
Walking back to a ministry, though not the same -
Chiseled to simplicity by despair and shame.
The Preacher, now humbled, walks out from the ashamed.
God’s mercy has re-clothed him and he has been renamed.
Outcast he is no longer for he has been rescued.
A minister once more – a man for God to use.