A Good Place to Begin

Welcome!

May 13, 2024

Hello! I am Greg M. Cole, author and creator of the Christ Formed newsletter. I am a Christian Formation Poet and Author who is dedicated to living as an apprentice of Jesus Christ and becoming more like Him. Here, you will find poetry focusing on faith in Christ and articles that help you lean into being formed in His image. Thank you for being here.

I consider myself a poet first. Although I enjoy writing prose, I am in ”my happy place,” as they say, when working out the exact wording of a poem. Poem ideas and words just seem to come to me. I can’t explain it. It just happens. That doesn’t mean that finding the exact word or phrase isn’t difficult. It is, but at the same time, it is invigorating. Although I love writing poems, I know I am not a great poet. So, I struggle with, “Is it worth the effort to publish poems for others to read?” As I reflected on this, the following poem emerged.

Other Poets

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Other poets pen more magnificently,
With rhyme and rhythm on angel wings;
Words in perfect harmony,
Stanzas speaking beyond the page,
Saying more than mere letters
Strung together in proper order;
Beyond brain’s comprehension,
Into the heart, 
Into the soul,
Painting pictures of beauty and truth.

Other poets pen more magnificently,
But God has given me
This gift of creativity;
No matter how small,
No matter how insignificant.
To neglect, to ignore,
This gift would be sin.
So, I sit in the shade of giants,
writing my little lines,
Leaning against their greatness,
Learning from their genius,
And scrawl my simple etchings
On the walls of eternity.

In addition to poetry you will find articles here that focusing on becoming more like Jesus. The primary reason we follow Jesus is to become more like Him. What does that look like, and how do we do it? The writings here will help you along that journey. My prayer is that even if you do not subscribe to my newsletter, you will commit to being an apprentice of Jesus and allow Holy Spirit to form you into His image.

A Little About Me (if you are interested)

I am an old guy with a young heart and attitude. I have been in ministry for our Lord for over forty years. For the last nineteen years, I have taught ministry students as a seminary professor. I am currently semi-retired, teaching part-time in a Doctor of Ministry Program. One of the DMin seminars that I teach is “Spiritual Formation.” I teach it because I am passionate about people deepening their relationship with Jesus and being formed into His image. That passion is why I have started this newsletter - to help people become Christ Formed.

I have been writing poetry since my college days. I merely “dabbled” in writing poems for many years because life got in the way. Before I became a seminary professor, I pastored local churches for over twenty years. In my final year of college, I married my high school sweetheart. We have raised two sons and have been in ministry together for over forty years. Now that I am semi-retired, I feel led to lean into writing more poetry, articles, and books that help people become more like Jesus.

Christ calls us to a life of transformation—a life continuously being formed into His image. This is the basic “why” we are called to make a faith commitment to Jesus—not so that we will go to heaven when we die, not to live a life of trying not to sin, not to live a good life. These are all important, but the primary reason for being a follower of Jesus is to become like Him — to be formed in His image!

My prayer for you is that you become more like Jesus today than you were yesterday!

By the way, I love coffee, so feel free to buy me a cup at any time.

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