Mum

 

One year has passed

And another year has begun,

There is not a single day

We do not think of Mum.

 

On the last day of March

In the early watch of that day

Sweet adorable Mama Russell

Was whisked away.

 

None of us could be there

To see her breathe her last,

COVID-19 made sure of that

As alone she passed.

 

Her graduation ceremony

Was less than she deserved,

Just a little gaveside service

Before she was interred.

 

Over ninety-two years

She had been given to us

And just like she had lived,

She left without a fuss.

 

Our hearts still ache

Though not like before

As we give thanks for the memories

Of her life more and more.

 

God must be praised

To have given us such a mum,

Whose life was a sterling example

In a race well run.

 

 

We still celebrate her!

It is like we have no choice-

Every last one of us will do so

As long as we have a voice.

 

Stewart Russell © March 31, 2021

 

Remembered by many including her children, grandchildren, relatives, in-laws and numerous friends.

 

 

He Declares It

 

 

“…Declaring the end from the beginning,

and from ancient times

the things that are not yet done…”

And just as He declares it

That’s exactly how it runs.

 

Isaiah 46:10

 

God not only knows it:

The end from the beginning, I mean,

But He also declares it:

That is the prophetic screen.

 

His counsel shall stand

And his promises are facts,

On no occurrences whatsoever

Has He ever had to retract.

 

He has done of His good pleasure

And will continue to do so,

As the pages of Holy Writ

In numerous cases show.

 

Satan has done his worst,

And men continually follow suit

But the voice of God in declaring,

They can never mute.

 

 

Sometimes we know a thing

And may even try to declare it

But a gag-order from a certain source

Will soon make us quit.

 

There are those that have dared

To prophesied outside of God

And with the failure of the prophecy

They were declared as frauds.

 

No such occurrences with God

He knows and declares it

And throughout the Bible you will see,

His has been an unerring habit.

 

 

In all of our declarations

The Word is the best place to start,

Just stick like glue to what it says

And from it never depart.

 

Stewart Russell © September 20, 2020

 

 

 

Redefining and Reinventing

 

 

No need to redefine the Church

That God has already defined

And no need to reinvent God’s Word

As some people opine.

 

It is impossible to reinvent

Something that already exists

Just like it is impossible to comply

And at the same time resist.

 

Redefine and reinvent:

What really comes to mind?

Perhaps to bring something ancient

Up-to-date with modern times.

The Bible defines the church

But if the Bible is out-of-date,

It is only good enough for old people

Or, too slow at any rate.

 

The Bible is already invented

But some would like to reinvent it

To make it relevant to the youth,

Many of whom have taken exit.

 

If the church is out of step

And the Bible is not in sync

How will reinventing or redefining help

Impossible!  Don’t you think?

 

One can redefine a concept

Or redefine a strategic approach

But when it comes to the Church

Be careful how you encroach!

 

Church doctrine is biblically set;

In the epistles, this is clear,

It needs no redefining, hence,

From its statutes we should not veer. 

 

The Bible is our moral compass

To keep us walking aright,

Let us not attempt the impossible

But operate within its light.

 

We don’t need to reinvent

We have the Spirit and the Word:

These same two were in the beginning

Along with Almighty God.

They created everything

And everything was very good,

How dare we reinvent and redefine

As though we actually could.

 

No redefining or reinventing

Re neither the Church nor the Word

But allow the Holy Spirit in both

To change this wretched world.

 

In whatever way he chooses

With us as the conduits,

Yielded to his total management

And under no circumstances quit.

 

 

 

To redefine or reinvent the Church

Is not a required task,

But share the Gospel by word and walk!

That’s all the Master asks.

 

Stewart Russell © August 17, 2020

 

Worry

 

 

A very thin line

Between worry and concern:

Just something new

That I have just learned.

 

We say we are concerned

When in fact we worry

And that concern is so bad

It causes anxiety.

 

The mix-up is in the head

Or better still, the mind

And we confuse the two

Most of the time.

 

So does the dictionary

I actually checked

And if you go there now

You would see I am correct.

 

 

The dictionary records them

As being synonyms

But unbelief brings on worry

And that is a sin.

 

To be concerned is all right

Actually, you should be

But to be overly concerned

Is to encourage worry.

 

Be careful for nothing

But be concerned and pray,

Worry should not be encouraged

As the believer’s way.

 

Jesus showed concerned

But he was never worried,

His focus on his mission

Was fixed and steady.

 

Worry magnifies the problem

And obscures our view

And we become so stressed

We don’t know what to do.

 

It shorts out the connection

Between us and God,

And we do not hear clearly

When on Him we call.

 

Worry is noise in the line

That originates from our end

And we often miss the response

That the Master sends.

 

Hence, we write it down

As unanswered prayer

And this increases our worry

And brings despair.

 

Whenever we call on God

The answer is always clear,

It is always synced to His Word

You can find it there.

 

Have faith in God

Even if you do not understand,

Once you are his child

He will hold your hand.

 

 

Don’t let worry cause you

To hang down your head

But look towards the Saviour

And remember what he said.

 

Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20

 

I will never leave thee

Nor forsake thee.

Lo, I am with you always,

Even unto the end of the world.

 

Stewart Russell © August 23, 2020

 

 

Artificial Intelligence

 

It appears our intelligence is waning

Hence, the need for a reliable backup

Not like the God-given type we have

That one is running out of luck.

 

For given the way we operate

We are desperately in need of luck,

For that is the only facility

That can get us out of this muck.

 

Let me go back to the beginning

When God created man,

From the ground He fashioned him

With His almighty hand.

 

What a lovely piece of sculpture

But he was merely dirt and cold,

Then God added His very own breath

And man became a loving soul.

 

 

In His own image and likeness

God created man,

Created for His own pleasure

For His purpose and His plan.

 

With the ability to think and implement

And given dominion over the earth,

To produce of his kind and likeness

And to do so through natural birth.

 

This soon was not enough

For man made a mess of everything

And contravening the Creator’s command

Introduce all life to suffering.

 

A long ride from then till now

And man has made himself a god,

Just like in Eden, Eve was promised

By Satan, the greatest ever Fraud.

 

 

His aim is to create a human

And give to him artificial intelligence

And nothing short of God’s intervention

With curb man’s persistence.

 

Artificial intelligence, however,

Is a contradiction of sorts

For without a conscience and emotion

It will naturally abort.

 

A machine is all it will be

However comprehensive man’s plan,

Even with the technology at his disposal

It will be a product of finite man.

 

Deep Blue is a chess computer

But possesses no spirit to devotion

And whether it wins or loses

It is entirely without fuss or emotion.

 

 

So artificial, I will give machines that

But intelligence is a straight up zero percent,

When machines can reach that level

Then they also will be able to repent.

 

You see, when God breathe into man

Man became a total package,

That is why when he dies

There is nothing we can salvage.

 

From the spirit the physical emerged

Not the other way around,

Man is attempting the impossible

That’s why he is failure bound.

 

 

Machines and robots are all right

Once they improve the quality of life

But could they ever become like man

We would be headed for more strife.

 

They too would want to take over

Just like how man disregards his Creator,

And the outcome could very well be

That man would be his own eliminator.

 

Such cannot happen with God

He is not like finite man,

He is omnipotent and omniscient

And he will accomplish His every plan.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

Text out of Context Is Pretext

 

 

I am becoming increasingly amazed

How we treat to the word of God:

Some preachers, totally out of context

Yet to appreciable applause.

 

Aligning the word with their agenda

And wooing the audience support,

Such are many televangelists

When delivering their reports.

 

I caution that we should be careful

When interpreting the word of God,

That we listen to the voice of the Spirit

And not the enticement of the Fraud.

 

 

Any text that is used out of context

Tends to support someone’s agenda,

Hence, such must be seen as a pretext

That supports their propaganda.

 

Agendas must be shaped by the Word

And not the other way around,

But pretext is the dominant mood

And towards error we are bound.

 

To support the point of the theme

I must cite three relevant scriptures

And trust that by the end of the poem

We are seeing the full picture.

 

 

Let me start with the Word, himself

He is the first we ought to see,

“And ye shall know the truth

And the truth shall make you free”.

 

Jesus is speaking to his disciples

Found in John chapter 8 verse 32

And note that in the preceding verse

His word is the same as the truth.

 

We take it out of its context

When applying it to any other truths

Like getting to the bottom of a matter

In which we are requiring proof.

 

“Tell me the truth,” a parent says,

When addressing a delinquent child,

“And the truth will set you free.”

And spare him from the cowhide.

 

That’s not the truth that Jesus meant

He didn’t mean the opposite to a lie,

But he meant the truth that is himself

On which all of life rely.

 

 

Next there is the overworked text

The “go-to” when we want something fixed

“Without faith it’s impossible to please God”

How we like to quote Hebrews 11 verse 6!

 

This verse is universally used

When there is a specific agenda in mind,

From the individual to the group

To entertain aspirations of all kinds.

 

What pleases God most is our walk

A daily walk of faith in the Spirit

And, not fulfilling the deeds of the flesh

But depending on faith to accomplish it.

 

Take note of the Old Testament saints

Faith was the characteristic of their walk,

Their walk was evidence of their faith

The faith that requires more than talk.

 

 

Another text we loosely noise around

Is Proverbs chapter 29 verse 18:

“Where there is no vision the people perish”

Usually as a pretext for a different scene.

 

The scene here treats to relations

In fact, relations both good and bad,

But it also speaks of the consequences:

Some of them pleasant and some sad.

 

Where there is no law of righteousness

People’s behavior is unrestrained,

It shouldn’t be a wonder to you and me

Why our world seems so insane.

 

Blindness and disaster go hand in hand

It’s like people that have no vision,

Jesus himself is the light of the world

And his light should determine our decisions.

 

A text out of context is a pretext

It is like exchanging the truth for a lie,

At times, it may appear very trivial and light

But remember that when we perish, we die.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019