Poetic Praises is a collection of praise poems glorifying God through the experiences of some 66 Biblical characters (39 from the Old Testament, 27 from the New Testament). There are 75 praise poems total, however, because of the two-part selections from five characters (Judah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, the Virgin Mary, and the sisters Mary and Martha) and the two poems from the apostle John: one about the Gospel and two about Revelation. All poems consist of 28 lines; two have additional refrains. Some of the poems (from John's Gospel, the Wise Men, the Virgin Mary, and John in Revelation, Part 1) contain acrostics (of "love," "gift," "babe," and "Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End," respectively). The poems titled "The Word" and "The Opening of the Lamb's Book of Life" also contain acrostics. One poem, from John the Baptist, is used as a transition piece (called the "Intermission") between the Old and New Testaments. Each "Poetic Praise" is centered on "Verses from the Well"-drawn from the rivers of living water provided to the overflow that God gives believers in the inner man (John 7:38). The Word is God's Well springing forth. The author's praise poems are "well-versed" not because of the (sometimes ueven) rhymes and rhythms, but because of the neverending constant of the rivers from which the praises are drawn. A verse from the Well (i.e., Bible) introduces each poem.All of the "Poetic Praises" are followed by "Prose Interludes" to illustrate how believers may benefit from some aspect of a Biblical character's experiences by reinforcing brief life lessons in faith. The author has addressed human foibles and faults against the backdrop of God's flawlessness and infallibility. The author has written a "Selah" moment for each of the 75 poems. "Selah" appears in several Biblical Psalms and may have been used originally as a rest symbol (as in music). The word Selah is not intended to be read aloud but is a signal to "pause and reflect." With these points in mind, each Selah in Poetic Praises is a tidbit of wisdom that could be used, in conjunction with the accompanying Poetic Praise, Well Verse, and Prose Interlude, during daily devotion.
About the Author: Victoria Jackson Gray is a licensed evangelist. She also earned a certificate for completing a nine month course at Downline Institute in 2016. She is an active member of Sweet Communion Ministries, where she works with the intercessory prayer team and serves as one of the teachers for adult Sunday school classes. She taught Vacation Bible School (adult class) in 2015 and 2016. Victoria Gray and her husband Randy reside in Memphis, Tennessee. They are the proud parents of two daughters, who both attend college at Howard University and plan to attend law school; the older daughter is also the current Miss Howard University 2016-2017 and was recently accepted to Georgetown University Law Center. Victoria Gray teaches history full time at Southwest Tennessee Community College, where she has been employed for nearly 18 years. She is a native of Mississippi and graduate of the University of Mississippi, where she earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in history. She is a doctoral candidate at the University of Memphis and plans to defend her dissertation in 2017. Victoria Gray is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Physically active and a lover of the outdoors, she was part of the track team in high school and still enjoys running 5K races. The author has written several other books, all heretofore unpublished, along with a series of more than 100 detailed outlines for the history classes that she teaches. With this "Victorious Praise" book, she is continuing to make her written works available online at Amazon through VICTORY IN PRAISE Publications. Her first book, PRAYER POWER: OUR TURN TO AVAIL MUCH, is also available on Amazon.