When I Say I love You

 

When I say I love you

I mean just as you are,

Promises are for the future

We never know that far.

 

When I say I love you

I can only speak for now,

Now is all I can give to you:

It’s in the now I vow.

 

Heaven knows I mean it

When I say I love you

But it’s only now I say it,

The future is always due.

 

I can make a promise

But what is a promise worth?

Many a promise is made

In merriment and mirth.

 

When times are good

And all is fair in sunshine,

Honey dew escapes the lips

And the mind is in a bind.

 

Yes, it’s in the present

When I say I love you,

So very certain in the now

What else can I do?

 

Age and illness matter not

When I say I love you,

The future I cannot factor in

I know not what is due.

 

I know I made a vow

As I was expected so to do,

I repeated the words I heard

And I said them all to you.

 

A moment like no other

And I meant it all the way

When we two became one

Right on our wedding day.

 

It’s not about the future

When I say I love you,

This moment now is all I know…

I know my love is true.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2022

My Eschatological Puzzle

 

 

 

Whether Idealist, Historicist,

Preterist or Futurist,

I am definitely positive

There is something they all miss.

 

With each of these four

There is an emphasis

And with their intended unique focus

Some information is dissed.

 

A focus on the past

As in the Preterist’s case

May very well overlook the future

In their eager haste.

 

Similarly, the Futurist,

Intent on their peculiar task

Could have inadvertently missed

The prophetic past.

 

Idealist and Historicist

Could be culpable too

Premising their summations

On a partial view.

 

 

Therein is my puzzle

Concerning any eschatology,

And thus, I refuse to be labelled

By any category.

 

I do believe, however,

Most prophecies are past

And I note that this is a position

Most have not grasped.

 

Prophecy fulfilled

Is a vindication of the Word

That God in his infinite knowledge

Has never deferred.

 

Not one has failed,

They all have come true

And the annals of history show

This to me and you.

 

 

Some have been distant

And some near at hand

But that some indication is given

Has always been God’s plan.

 

In Daniel he was told,

Shut up the words, seal the book,

Go now to Daniel 12 verse 4

And have a look.

 

The urgency was not then

But for a while after

And thus, the sealing of the vision

Until the time of the matter.

 

 

But not so in Revelation

In the vision given to John,

This was sent to seven churches,

Yes, to everyone.

 

It was a matter of urgency

Applicable to them

And that’s why with the Futurist

I have a problem.

 

I have a huge problem

With the Preterist as well,

Concerning the current believers,

What hope do they tell?

 

Hyper Preterist teach

Every prophecy is fulfilled,

There remains not a single one

Regarding God’s will.

 

No coming yet to come

And no physical resurrection,

What then, I am forced to ask,

Is my redemption?

 

Regarding life after death,

When does this life truly begin?

And, will there never ever be

Complete riddance of sin? 

 

I am still puzzled

But not unduly disturbed

For there is still much that I glean

From God’s Holy Word.

 

In the 1^st chapter of John

And in the third also,

A wonderful truth has been given

And this truth I know.

 

I am a child of God

Having received Him by faith,

Naught of any good I have done,

Only by God’s grace.

 

But as many as receive Him

Not one of them will perish,

For all will have everlasting life

And this I truly relish.

 

 

 

So though puzzled I may be

Concerning its working out,

That God will bring it all to pass

I have absolutely no doubt.

 

Stewart Russell © March 6, 2025

 

The Future

 

 

Anything left for the future

Is never ever done,

The reason is pretty simple

The future never ever comes.

 

I am sure you understand

For experience has taught us that,

Whenever we got around to it

It was a present act.

 

The future is procrastination

And procrastination is a trap,

How can we say tomorrow

When we don’t know about that?

 

There is a place for promises

Promises of a certain sort

But things that can be done today

In the future they will abort.

 

As it relates to routine

Some things we can expect,

However, even in such cases

We sometimes experience regret.

 

The promise of a child

When the evidence is clear

Is a future expectation

That grows as the time gets near.

 

The promise of a salary

At the end of the month

Even though we work towards it

Becomes a routine triumph.

 

A future promise is not guaranteed

Unless it’s a promise from God,

Satan offers alluring promises

But he is a shameless fraud.

 

The Bible gives a caution

Relating to the future,

The uncertainty of tomorrow

Being its principal feature.

 

 

Whereas ye know not what

Shall be on the morrow,

Even one’s life is not guaranteed

For life is like a vapour.

 

For a little more on this matter

Go to the 4^th chapter of James,

Do not be like the foolish farmer

Who stood on future claims.

 

“I will pull down my barns,” he said,

“And I will build them greater.

I will feed my soul on such bounty.”

Oh, he could not be happier!

 

He neither considered God

Nor the unpredictability of the future,

God required his soul that night

And he was bound for his sepulchre.

 

Any promise that God has made

Will certainly come to pass

As long as it is not conditional

On someone to perform a task.

 

The coming of the Lord:

That is a futuristic certainty,

We can bank on that as the saying goes

For in that lies our destiny.

 

Concerning the coming judgment

That too is a futuristic fact,

Remember the future is in God’s hand

And we can be sure of that.

 

 

“Trust no future, how e’er pleasant!”

Mr. Longfellow said,

“Act, act in the living present

Heart within, and God o’er head!

 

The future is not reality

I know that sounds quite funny

But it’s a fact we had better grasp

And reject the current folly.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018

 

Seemingly So

 

 

Seeming is apparent

It’s never definitely certain,

There is still some skepticism

Lurking behind the curtain.

 

As the drama unfolds

So many things can occur

To question the apparent

And make one more unsure.

 

Seeming is never certain

It is more of a hope,

More like a mechanism we use

To help us to cope.

 

A friend once said to me

Ninety-nine percent is still unsure,

There is some reservation

That looms more and more.

 

It is always the uncertainty

That worries us the most,

And it’s only a hundred percent

In which we can boast.

 

 

There is certainty with God

I can think of no one else,

Not even in the greatest human

And surely not in self.

 

You see, God knows everything

And we do not,

Nothing is apparent to Him

But appearance is our lot.

 

It is all we have to go on

That is, outside of God,

It is somewhat like the lotto

Until the numbers are called.

 

The present is our best bet,

The future is a no-show

And if indeed it comes around,

There is only today to show.

 

How it seems is exactly that

No matter our insistence,

Appearance is an approximation;

It’s not an exact science.

 

Take Longfellow’s timely advice:

Trust no future however pleasant,

However bright it may seem,

Seemingly so is just apparent.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

 

No True Gauge

 

 

 

Four quarters in a year

And three are pretty much gone,

The past has been fairly daunting

And many are afraid to go on.

 

Gauging the future by the past

Is something most of us do

Especially if trended towards the bad

We expect the future to be too.

 

Hence, September remember:

Remember that 1955 storm!

And so, whenever September comes,

The sign goes up, “Be Warned!”

 

Thus October, it’s all over!

Gauging the future by the Past

But the past reminded us again

Such projections do not last.

 

So now our hurricane season

Lasts from June to November,

It’s not all over in October

And this we must remember.

 

And now wisely reflecting

On the months that have flown

We still can’t know the future

For the future is unknown.

 

Our experts can project

Based on calculated probability

But never mind how astute the math,

The past is never destiny.

 

 

“There will be” is no guarantee:

Of the future none is sure,

There is definitely no tomorrow

And the past is no more.

 

No true gauge of the future

The past can ever be,

The most that we can be sure of

Is the present we now see.

 

And even this is limited

For our sight is severely flawed,

All the more reason, my friend,

Why we need to trust in God.

 

Stewart Russell © September 30, 2022

 

Trust no future, howe’er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act, act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o’erhead!

 

From A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Except the Days be Shortened

 

 

What does this really mean?

I am not even sure I know,

I know what I have been taught

But that was long ago.

 

A time to come in the future

That is the belief of some:

That this refers to a time to come

Before the return of God’s Son.

 

Others believe it has passed

Way back in New Testament times

And I dare say many today

Are with this view inclined.

 

Whether the former or latter

I am not here concerned

But rather, the fleeting of time

My attention to this is turned.

 

Is 24 hours still a day?

Or has one or two been removed?

The days are flying so fast

It’s difficult to stay in groove.

 

Like a train being derailed

And skidding off the track

And carrying with it its many cars

For yards and yards going back.

 

We just celebrated Christmas

No, not this one, the one before,

And before we could settle down

We have celebrated one more.

 

Christmas comes but once a year

Use to be a popular rhyme

But maybe, it is has become twice

Given the passage of time.

 

 

Another year is almost ended

With just five hours to go,

And no doubt last year this time

Many were saying so.

 

Whether the days are shortened

I cannot really tell

But what I know for a certain fact

Things are happening pell-mell.

 

With undue hurry and confusion

I can scarcely keep apace

But this one thing I intend to do

Is to focus on the Saviour’s face.

 

To trust him in spite of outcomes

Or however precarious the times

And to know with full assurance

I am his and he is mine.

 

 

Join me as we traverse 2022

Keeping our trust in God

While standing firm and resolute

Regardless of who may fall.

 

A Blessed New Year to all!

 

Stewart Russell © December 31, 2021

 

More than A Little Unsighted

 

Interpreting Bible prophecy

By modern day events

Is a current pastime

I have come to resent.

 

I have seen too many errors

More than I care to recall,

It is like setting up people

For the inevitable fall.

 

All through the ages

Ever since Christ’s ascension,

There have been many predictions

And zero manifestations.

 

Similarly the anti-Christ

Many have been selected

But era after era

They all have been rejected.

 

We’ve been searching the sky

Not the harvest field

And as a result,

We are overlooking its yield.

Yet the great commission

Is ever before us,

Go and make disciples

Is the instruction of Jesus.

 

We are about filling churches

And building church membership

But we are falling well short

Of discipleship.

 

We prefer the guessing game

Regarding Jesus’ return

And we use world events

To have our views confirmed.

 

We are terribly unsighted

By the books we read

While the authors make millions

To satisfy their greed.

 

Some are so off the mark

They should be recalled

But they still push their agenda,

O what gall!

 

They change swords and horses

Into scud missiles and tanks

And we buy their books

And then offer our thanks.

 

They blind our eyes

To the truth of the Word

And anyone who opposes them

Is considered absurd.

 

If you are unsighted

Read the Word for yourself,

Start reading the Bible

Put the others on the shelf.

Make sense of other books

Only in the light of the Word,

Not the other way around

As I am sure you have heard.

 

Let God’s Word expose

The fallacy of these books,

Re-examine your theology

Yes! Take another look.

 

What Almighty God has promised

He has already achieved,

History has shown us this fact

It is high time we believe.

 

We walk into a future

That in God has already passed

So if we walk with Him

We will stay on task.

One thing is certain

Jesus will come again

But of that day or hour

No man can name.

 

It behooves us therefore

To occupy till he comes,

That’s another instruction

We’ve been given by God’s Son.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019