Nonsense Articulated Resoundingly

 

 

Nonsense articulated resoundingly

Which is NAR for short,

Is the “New Apostolic Reformation”

Which many like to exhort.

 

Reform and Reformation

Are on everybody’s lips

But what it means still puzzles me

Both in church and politics.

 

New Apostolic Reformation!

I have a problem with every word

And when the three are combined,

They are even more absurd.

 

Why New in the first place

For something that’s over 2000 years?

Is it something revealed just recently

That before had not appeared?

 

Like, these are the days of Elijah

When Elijah had left a while,

A whole lot of repackaged stuff

Has become a new fashion style.

 

The Bible is an ancient document

Thus, its revelation is not new

So be careful whom you chase after,

They may obscure your view.

 

From the New to Apostolic

In fact, New Apostolic is the term:

It’s neither Peter nor Paul nor John

And this makes me squirm.

 

If it were it couldn’t be new

The apostles are in the foundation:

The foundation of the church I say,

Meaning its early inauguration.

 

 

The apostles laid the foundation

With Jesus the chief cornerstone,

No other foundation can any man lay

In a foreign field or home.

 

You’d recalled Peter’s message

On that remarkable day of Pentecost:

A message calling all to repentance

And pointing them to the cross.

 

The central theme was Jesus

Whom the people had crucified,

This same Jesus was the risen Christ

By whom all are reconciled.

 

Reconciled to the Father-God,

Whose Son they had utterly despised,

That had come to bring them salvation

But by most he was denied.

 

Resoundingly speaks of loudness

Where there is no holding back,

No effort or cost is considered too much

In dispensing alternate facts.

 

Yes, we live in a post-modern age

In which truth is becoming recessive

And the pseudo gospel message

Is by no means abrasive.

 

A strange mixture, my friend,

Of the Word and designated pretexts

With a deletion of noted essentials

To allow for liberal flex.

 

 

A gospel that is directly opposed

To the one that's in God’s Word,

Another gospel, as Paul would say,

From the one on Pentecost heard.

 

Nonsense articulated

In the churches and without

And compared to the quiet believers

These charlatans convincingly shout.

 

Experience is their thing,

Biblical doctrine is second-class,

An obsession with the charismatic gifts

And fakery unsurpassed.

  

Why harp on Reformation?

Transformation is the dire need,

 The Holy Spirit is on offer to do this

As we sow the spiritual seed.

Transformation works from within

Reformation from without,

That the latter relies of the former

There can be no doubt.

 

Nonsense articulated resoundingly

Does not make it sense

And the “New Apostolic Reformation”

Is an inexcusable offense.

 

Stewart Russell © April 18, 2023

What a Mix Up!

 

 

I heard something recently

I believe was meant to confuse,

It was about the Gospel message

I was not at all amused.

 

Christ is the heart of the Gospel

That, I was made to understand,

Now, I am hearing something different

That’s not in accordance with this plan.

 

There seems to be some mix-up

Based on what I have been hearing,

This might not be clear to some

And that is what I am fearing.

 

 

“The Gospel is not about Jesus”

Yes, that came out just right,

Please do not ask me to repeat it

It is a colossal lost of sight.

 

But the preacher did not stop there

He had a little more to add

And, what he added, I must add

Was enough to make one sad.

 

“The Gospel is about the kingdom,” he said,

It is not about Jesus Christ,

It’s the Good News about the kingdom

Hence, why Jesus was sacrificed.

 

 

As a matter of fact, the preacher said

That Jesus did not really die,

The Greek meant something different

As if to dare anyone to defy.

 

I know very little Greek, I must admit

So on that basis I cannot argue

But, he said the word means to expire

And this was strike mix-up number two.

 

Die and expire mean the same

That is how it seems to me,

And particularly so in this context,

I have no doubt you can see.

  

  

Christ and the kingdom are the same

He is and represents the kingdom,

Salvation can be found in none other

Jesus was and is and is to come.

 

This preacher made light of the cross

And also the shed blood of Jesus Christ,

Treat to the problem the person has, he said,

And then born again would suffice.

 

These spiritual idiosyncrasies

Are like the foxes that spoil the grapes,

Depending on who the preacher is

They can be seen as the devil’s bait.

 

Be aware there are other gospels

That are not the Gospel at all

But if the preacher has a lot of clout,

Because of his influence, many will fall.

 

 

His name shall be called Jesus

For he shall save his people from their sin,

Anything short of this Gospel fact

Relates to a light that is misguidedly dim.

 

Stewart Russell © December 2019

 

A Sermon in Shoes

A sermon is better lived

Than talked any day,

Yes, talking is good

But living is the best way.

Life is more critical than lip

We must understand,

And one’s witness by life

Is the Master’s demand.

I’d rather see a sermon

Than hear one any time,

I’d rather a living example

Than instruction of any kind.

A sermon in shoes

Bespeaks a believer’s walk:

One’s feet shod with the Gospel

In support of one’s talk.

People hear what they see

More than what they hear,

And a genuine witness

Is shown through love and care.

Jesus demonstrated this

In all that he preached

And our example in living

Must sync with what we teach.

“What you do speaks so loudly

I can’t hear what you say,”

Is pertinent to any believer

Whose talk contradicts the way.

Somewhat like the Pharisees

In Jesus’ day

That were good at talking

But walking? No way!

Hypocrisy was synonymous

With their way of life

And what they said and did

Were really at strife.

A sermon in shoes

Is what Jesus requires

To ferry the Gospel message

Wherever he desires.

Stewart Russell © October 2019

Going with the Flow

 

Have you noticed these days

It is ‘going with the flow’?

Especially with fashion and design

We must be in the know.

It’s horrible if you please

To stick out like a sore thumb

So with the flow we must go

That is the race we must run.

Be it clothes or cellphones

We must be up to date

For even a year behind

Is something that we hate.

Be it Samsung or Apple

We must have the newest cellphone,

We daily surf the Internet

For the latest we must own.

It is not only about cellphones

But also the way we dress,

Not to be in the latest fashion

Is to fail a most important test.

Even minors who don’t work

Must always be up to scratch,

It’s more important than their meals

Can you believe that?

Even with their school uniform

It will be the minimum requirement

But thereafter do understand

The latest fashion is their intent.

The adults too are in the mix

Even those in their senior years,

Not ‘going with the flow’

Is numbered among their fears.

It’s not only about dress and phones

But also the way we talk

And it has crept into the church

Even in the way believers walk.

I am not talking about our gait

But our conversation and conduct

And many complain in the workplace

Christians can be quite abrupt.

Terse in their responses and replies

Always appear to be rushed,

And those who come into their contact

Will leave feeling particularly crushed.

Heard this one the other day

 A man’s cellphone rang in church,

From the pastor to his wife had a go

He was pretty much in the lurch.

He never stepped in church again

But found comfort in a bar,

There he found the support he needed

There he was treated like a star.

He was given a complementary drink

When he spilt his on the floor,

Unlike the people in the church

They did not point him to the door.

I am not trying to knock the church

To do that I would be the last

But we appear to be headed back

To things that characterized our past.

We feel that we must fit in

If we are to ever win the lost

And so with their flow we are bent,

They must be won at any cost.

The only flow there must be

Is the undiluted Gospel message

That if a sinner will turn to God

Then Jesus is the only bridge.

While the flow may be fashionable

And may be the easy way too

If a man will come to God

He will have to change his view.

  

A change of heart is imperative

A transformation must take place,

No longer going with the flow

But there must be an about face.

The only flow that matters

Is the flow of the blood of Christ,

That blood that flowed on Calvary

Is the only flow that will suffice.

Not the blood we sprinkle

For we cannot sprinkle the blood of Christ,

His was the crimson tide that flowed

There is no other sacrifice.

Sin sick souls are still washed

In the Lamb’s life giving flow,

To this fountain of life I entreat you

And now is the time to go.

Stewart Russell (c) April 2019