The Swiftness of the Days

 

 

I am so terribly confused

Regarding these days

That I am overcompensating

In so many ways.

Take for example

The swiftness of time:

I mix up these days

Like I am out of my mind.

Bank Holidays are Sundays

Thursdays begin weekends

And often I ask what day it is

Like I’m off the deep end.

In my mind I think

Yesterday is two days gone

When in actual fact

Today is only the second dawn.

Maybe for just for me

It would be wise

If the days could be reorganized

As a personal compromise.

Today would be yesterday

And yesterday the day before,

Tomorrow would be today

And I would struggle no more.

I would be better able

To keep up with the time

And I would no longer feel

Like I am out of my mind.

Today would be Tuesday

Yesterday would have been Monday

And that would put me on cue

Even though ahead by one day.

   

Yes, change the days

So that retirees can keep up

And we won’t mistake the days

And run out of luck.

Like when we seek a bargain

On a particular day

And we are told it was the day before

Meaning it was yesterday.

So, that yesterday, as I see it

Is the day before,

Day before is therefore two days earlier

Need I say more?

That works for the seller

Let it also work for me

And adjust all of the other days

Accordingly.

I did not plan to go there

But I discovered a precedent,

Since bargains are the day before

I’d be a day late in any event.

Stewart Russell © August 2020

Guilty of the Same Error

Have you ever noticed

How we often accuse others

For the same things we do

As though ours didn’t matter?

And often the facts will show

That we are just as guilty

But we only can see their fault

Since ours lack visibility.

We sit in our armchairs

And accuse other denominations,

We say they are guilty

Of promoting a works salvation.

They are like the Pharisees

And emphasize the letter of the law

And we sit in our judgment seat

And expose their every flaw.

And we are quick to propagate

A salvation by faith and grace

Yet, we work hard to get to heaven

And to see Jesus face to face.

 

We were ushered in not by works

But works must get us there,

We are just like those we accuse

Though we are not aware.

Keen to see another’s fault

We seldom see our own

And as far as we are concerned

It’s the other’s fault alone.

But the judgment that we use

Can be used against us also

Hence, it is time we look inward

And see what is there to know.

  

Like those we often censure

We too are without merit

And the filthy rags we call our works

Are to our own discredit.

Not one of us is righteous

Certainly not in our own selves

And it is only in Jesus

That we have spiritual health.

 

So be careful when you criticize

Begin with an inward look,

The Pharisees too were lost

Their works were all they took.

We can know them by their fruit

But that is not a call to judge

And if you feel you need to help

Just give a friendly nudge.

For, there go I

But for the grace of God,

The humble portion belongs to us

But God gets the applause.

Let not the problem at Galatia

Be your problem too:

“O foolish Galatians,

Who hath bewitched you?”

 

Truly, we are called to a standard

But that is not our salvation,

Our salvation is in Jesus Christ

In whom we have redemption.

It is only the born again

That is on his way to heaven

And that is only because

His sins have been forgiven.

Stewart Russell © July 2020

Not Even Me

Having said yes to God

He will in no way accept no,

I am dogmatic about this

Because the Bible says so.

Born into God’s kingdom

Speaks to permanence,

I became His precious child

Via genuine repentance.

According to Romans 8

Verses 35 to 39 to be exact,

I have that assurance

And God’s truth is fact.

Being born again

Is the premise I choose,

My child of the Father status

I can never lose.

Once a child of God

I am always a child of God

Hence, I will not be deceived

Or let Satan defraud.

From my natural birth

I was my father’s son

But now I am born again

New life has come.

To all that believe

God grants us the power

To be His sons and daughters

From that very hour.

Since I cannot not change

My earthly circumstance

Neither do I have the power

To alter what God has advanced.

  

What he has put in place

Is His sovereign will

And I know like you do

What he promises he fulfils.

I’ve heard the argument

That I can separate me,

Read Romans chapter 8

And that you won’t see.

It explicitly says nothing

And later implies no one,

Please read from verse 38

And please read on.

This is the word of God

I am sure you agree

So read verse 39

And tell me what you see.

“Nor any other creature”

Can separate us

From the Love of God

Which is in Christ Jesus.

Put my name right there

I hope you can see,

“Nor any other creature”

Can separate me.

From the love of God

Nothing or no one

Can separate me from God

Ever since I was reborn.

For having said yes to God

I was born again

Hence, being a cast off

Will never be my pain.

Stewart Russell © July 2020

My Response

 

A Parody of the Doxology

Blame God from whom all cyclones blow,

Blame him, all creatures here below,

Blame Him, who knocks down church and steeple,

Who sends the floods and drowns the people.

Anonymous

I ponder on this writer’s worldview

But not for long

For whatever his origins’ position is

This view is terribly wrong.

Let me write out the doxology

So that we all can compare

The truth about the Almighty God

And the nonsense that men often air.

 Praise God from whom all blessings flow,

Praise Him, all creatures here below,

Praise Him above the heavenly hosts,

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

What a departure this parody is!

What a severe distortion of truth!

Clearly this writer is making claims

For which he has no proof.

He could be a creationist

Or an evolutionist, he might be,

Be it one or the other,

There is much he cannot see.

He may have been joking

Like some of us tend to do,

But somethings you don’t joke about

Is my considered view.

People mocked the donkey

From time immemorial;

As a result, the following was written:

It is rather satirical.

  

The donkey does the talking,

Aware of how he is perceived,

These first two verses make the point

He hopes we human will receive.

When fishes walk and forests flew

And figs grew upon thorns,

Some moment when the moon was blood

Then surely, I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry

And ears like errant wings,

The devil’s walking parody

On all four-footed things.

G. K. Chesterton

Just two verses I have written

To define this parody,

It speaks of a time there never was

As the origin for the donkey.

Treated with utter contempt

In this some find their humour,

And though the matter be serious,

For these it evokes laughter.

You might recall the fable of old

Written by the Greek author, Aesop,

When the village boys engaged in fun

But for the frogs, it certainly was not.

The frogs were having a swim

One day in a village pool,

Along came some village boys

And each became a fool.

They began to stone the frogs

And one by one they died,

But a wise old frog opened up his mouth

And the boys’ actions he decried. 

“What’s fun for you Is death to us,”

That wise old frog remarked,

A valuable lesson for those young boys

And a very good place to start.

Some blame God for all that’s wrong

But for any good man gets the praise,

Hence, this parody of the doxology,

No need to repeat what it says.

I must confess I would be afraid

To refer to God in such a way

But there are some who wouldn’t care less

Even if He should some of them slay.

God takes responsibility, I believe,

For all that He has created,

Especially human beings like you and me

Whose brains often seem cremated.

Like the writer of this parody

That may seem to be very clever,

To him it might have been humorous

But to God it brings no pleasure.

I will take one thing from his parody,

That is, he recognizes God,

The fact he blames Him for cyclones

Says there is a God, after all.

There’s hope, I believe, for such;

It’s the first step to being rewarded,

For one must believe that God exists

If life to him should be accorded.

So, I would say to my fellow writer

Now, take it to the logical step,

Disabuse your mind from this parody of justice

And thank Jesus for paying your debt.

Yes, God did curse the world

But on account of man’s deliberate sin,

But he also gave His only Son

Through whom we can come to Him.

He is our refuge in the cyclone

And our protector in the floods,

And in any circumstance that comes our way

God always demonstrates He is good.

Stewart Russell © March 2020

Just Questions

 

 

How long is eternal life?

At what point does it end?

Does it have a beginning?

Answer these questions, my friend.

What really is salvation?

What is its nature?

How does one come by it?

Is there a full picture?

Can we lose our salvation?

What must we do to lose it?

What do we mean by born again?

Will a born again person quit?

And if a born again person quits

Can he be born again?

And if after trying he is lost,

Who is it to blame?

How much is salvation dependent on us?

How much is it dependent on Christ?

Can we take any credit for it at all?

Or, did Christ pay the total price?

Is Jesus able to keep his sheep?

Or, does he require their assistance?

What is the role of the Holy Spirit?

What is his real importance?

Can Jesus lose any of his sheep?

Can any pluck them away from him?

What is the role of the Father in all this?

Is a believer lost on account of sin?

How much of our sins are forgiven?

Is it the past sins only?

Is it the past and the present sins?

Or, is it our sins totally?

 

 

What proof is there that another is saved?

Do we know it for sure?

Can we tell other than by their fruit?

Or, is there something more?

What does it mean to be justified?

How are we justified?

What appeased the justice of God?

And, how is it described?

How is the atonement factored in?

And who atoned for our sins?

How effective is this atonement

And who is eligible to be brought in?

Are we saved by the works we do?

At what point did we become sinners?

And, if salvation is dependent on works

What is the fate of the beginner?

These are just important questions

What you do with them is up to you,

The answers can be found in God’s Word

But I have a strong feeling you knew.

If your faith is taking a beating

You can find solace in God’s Holy Word,

Where there is encouragement and assurance

If in your walk you have grown tired.

Finding the answers will take time

But God knows the repentant heart,

He will reward the diligent seeker

Once we take the time to start.

Stewart Russell © October 2019

Spare A Thought for the Child

Children shoot questions

Left, right and centre,

Today they enquire about matters

Into which we’d never have ventured.

We were to be seen

Only when that could not be helped

But keep our mouths shut

Regardless of how we felt.

Today it is different,

Children are encouraged to ask

Though how to answer them

Is becoming a monumental task.

I’ve long past childhood

But I have some questions of my own

And I am sure in this matter

I am not alone.

Think about a seven-year old

In a home with two daddies:

What should be the response

If he asks which is his mommy?

 

Or, perhaps a six-year old

Living with two mommies

In which case in years long gone by

One would likely be a granny?

Which of you is my mommy?

Which of you is my daddy?

How would we respond to that child?

Please, somebody, tell me.

And when he or she grows up

And goes to the registry

For a certificate of their birth,

Tell me if you will, what will they see?

 

  

Spare a thought for the child

Whose rights will be denied:

The right to a father and a mother

In whom they could confide.

Isn’t it already hard enough

Given single-parent situations?

Why make it more complex

By adding more complications?

Who will model Daddy?

Which one will model Mommy?

How will we explain

This overwhelming complexity?

Moving away from the natural

To the abnormally unnatural,

Two Mommies or two Daddies

Is so unprincipled.

 

Spare a thought for the child;

We didn’t have this growing up

So, why visit this on a child?

What a bitter cup!

When the question is asked

As no doubt it will be,

Which will be the real father

And which will be the mommy?

Stewart Russell © August 17, 2020