No New Thing

 

 

I am sure you have heard it

But did you ever take note?

Maybe you did or maybe you didn’t

But to you, it was no joke.

 

We shouldn’t joke about such

Just in case it is true,

Especially if we don’t understand:

Neither me nor you.

 

I have heard it too

And I have wondered about it

For it comes over to me

As though it’s a recent edict.

 

God is doing a new thing,

Something He had not done before

And it behooves us all to listen

Seeing it’s right at the door.

 

Yes, a new thing God is doing

In our world today,

Something He had not done before

And not in this kind of way.

And Scripture is also given

To convince all the naysayers

And I do not mean the unsaved

But Bible reading believers.

 

The following is one scripture

That is used quite often

And I must tell you I have seen

The idea greatly blossomed.

 

Perpetuated by modern day prophets

That quote the following text

And not to appear as gender bias,

But usually of the female sex.

 

 

 

In the book of the prophet Isaiah

Verse 19 of chapter 43,

God is doing a new thing in the earth

For all of the church to see.

 

Meaning the believers of today

If you are catching my drift,

These are the ones that will witnessed

This phenomenal spiritual shift.

 

Of course, when we go to the Word

We see it for what it really is

And so too, the little children,

Via a cleverly constructed quiz.

 

Who is speaking and to whom?

Where and when and why?

And the explicit comes off the page

In a way we can’t deny.

 

This new thing happened long ago

In a number of interesting ways

But most notable of all its unfolding

Is the church in its early days.

 

 

Remember that notable Pentecost

When Peter stood up and spoke?

That was the new thing prophesied

And of which the prophets wrote.

 

It is still unfolding today

But not as a new thing as some say,

But in the form of the Holy Spirit

As he indwells the believer today.

 

The revealer is the Holy Spirt

And he reveals the blessed Christ

To all that accept Christ as Saviour

And his atoning sacrifice.

 

It is no new thing I re-emphasize,

Not like some new fashion craze

But a work permeating hearts and lives

And giving to God all praise.

 

Stewart Russell © March 3, 2023

 

No Matter Before Big Bang

 

 

No matter before Big Bang

Only matter thereafter,

The fact of Big Bang being the first cause

Brings me peals of laughter.

 

I’ve met Big Bang a few times

Though I was not the cause,

The fact I was back ended 15 times

Still causes me to pause.

 

The matter was two vehicles

Involved in that Big Bang,

I can tell you that from inside of mine

It was quite a clang.

 

Thus, it puzzles me greatly

About the first Big Bang,

I’ve tried to wrap my mind around it

But just can’t get the hang.

 

World renown scientists

Push it all the day long

Suggesting it makes material sense

And all else is wrong.

 

 

 

No matter before Big Bang

But all matter thereafter,

First cause, therefore, is no cause

When time did not matter.

 

Thus, time, space and matter

Happened simultaneously

And Big Bang happened to create

Its initial energy.

 

By now you must be saying

I am talking foolishness

But bear in mind my erudite friend

This is not my mess.

 

It’s the mess of scientists

And especially physicists

Who, though it’s absolute nonsense,

Cannot resist to insist.

 

Bullheadedness, I conclude,

Are heads in a rut

And due to irrational obstinacy,

Obviously are stuck.

 

After I had fallen asleep

I could not sleep for my tossing,

Similarly, prior to the origin of matter,

No matter to do the causing.

 

 

 

Thus, Big Bang began time

And space and matter too,

And if scientists can believe this,

Tell me, why can’t you?

 

Ultimately therefore,

Big Bang created the mind,

Isn’t it any wonder we talk foolishness

Most of the time?

 

No time before Big Bang

For Big Bang to occur,

So, from whence did Big Bang start?

To whom do I defer?

 

No space before Big Bang

For Big Bang to operate,

So, from where did Big Bang originate?

Big Bang must be a fake.

 

No energy before Big Bang

To produce this explosion,

So, from what did Big Bang get its force?

Do you see my confusion?

 

 

 

No matter before Big Bang

For Big Bang to work with

Yet, Big Bang is evolution’s originator

And Creator God is a myth.

 

Perhaps you should now see

Why reality is not real

And why everyone’s individual reality

To another is a ‘Fail’. 

 

Perhaps you also see

Why no absolutes exist

And because everything is relative,

The truth we easily miss.

 

Opinion becomes fact

And one’s credentials rule

And the one who has no credentials

Is somebody’s fool.

 

No matter before Big Bang

But matter it did create

And to some nothing else matters,

Not even their fate.

 

Thus, God is a delusion,

Of mythical proportions

And Big Bang is the truth they hold

With its attendant evolution.

 

 

 

No time before Big Bang,

No matter and no space,

Suddenly, Big Bang made a great explosion

And disappeared without trace.

 

But God created time,

Space and matter too

And being the relational God He is,

He created me and you.

 

No matter before God

Is the better clause,

He created matter and all there is

As a matter of first cause.

 

Stewart Russell © October 17, 2025

 

The Parables

 

Not one of the parables

Is about the things there viewed,

Their meanings go far deeper

And implicated the Jews.

 

In every one of the parables

Jesus points at the Jews

And I dare say that for many of us

This might just be news.

 

Not only the parables

But in most of what he taught,

And when the Jews were aware

They were sorely distraught.

 

From the old Testament stories

To the New Testament parables,

The Jews are the main reference

Yes, God’s chosen people.

 

In Sunday school we heard them

And we remember them well

But they are more than just stories

And of Israel’s history tell.

 

Pick out any Bible story

Or any parable for that matter

And you will be utterly amazed

If you go beyond the chatter.

 

I learnt in Sunday schools I attended

Sunday morning and evening,

That a parable is an earthly story

With a heavenly meaning.

 

We enjoyed them as stories,

Back then they got our attention

But we need to dig a little deeper

For a fuller comprehension.

 

Permit me to take one parable

And illustrate what I mean,

Storing new wine in old wineskins

Was not about the liqueur scene.

 

 

 

Instead it was an admonition

That was given regarding the Jews

That the old Jewish covenant

Cannot contain the Good News.

 

The Good News that was Jesus

Whom they ridiculed and abused

Continuing with their old wineskins

And the new wineskin refused.

 

Jesus had come unto to his own

But his own had received him not,

Therefore, upon them fell God’s judgment

And desolation was their lot.

 

Not one of the parables

Is about the things there viewed

But their meanings went far deeper

And implicated the Jews.

 

Stewart Russell © April 25, 2021

 

The Mystery of Idyllic Gardens 6

  

 

Chapter 6

 

Proceeding with the Trip

 

The meeting that had begun around the dining table had now been moved to the sitting room of the Marshall’s home.  Dirk and Ralph had arrived and they all awaited the arrival of the police who had promised to be there within the hour.  They all engaged in some small talk while they waited.

 

So Ralph, how is your health these days?” Mr. Marshall asked.  Ralph and Dirk were like their own sons.  There was scarcely anything happening with these boys that Carson’s parents were not aware of.  They all attended the same church so that weekly the parents got a chance to meet one another.  The after-church conversations were usually about the children and any new developments in the area.  Dirk’s father was on the church board.  As a matter of fact, he was a member of the board for at least seven years.  He served as the church’s public relations officer.  There wasn’t much going on that he did not know.

 

“This is about four months now that I have not had an attack.  Daddy and Mummy believes it might be because of my modified diet.  They have cut back on my sugars and starches and I am now into vegetables, fruits and herbs.  Occasionally I am allowed a little splurge but that is a rare exception.  I have become so accustomed to it now that I do not have any yearning for the foods which boys my age like.  Oh, I forgot fish.  Fish is a staple of my diet.”

 

“And Dirk, how are the girls treating you?” Mrs. Marshall enquired mischievously. 

“Well, the girls are still a staple in my diet.  After all, Auntie Carol, where would the men be without the ladies?”  The twinkle in Dirk’s eyes was not lost on Mrs. Marshall.

 

Ralph took the remaining time to bring the Marshalls up to speed on all that the boys had discovered so far.  They did not show them the video clips but they told them in essence all that they contained.  Carson’s parents could not help but be proud of these boys.  Particularly at a time when many youngsters were being derailed, their children were displaying the benefits of good parenting and an upbringing in the church.  Mr. and Mrs. Marshall beamed as they listened to these boys explain how they reached certain conclusions they were acting upon and the plans that they had made.

 

The noise of a vehicle in the drive way alerted them that perhaps the police had arrived.  Carson looked out the window and confirmed their thoughts.  There were two officers.  One of them exited the driver’s side of the vehicle.  This was a police constable.  The other was a sergeant.  The sergeant introduced his colleague as PC Clarke and himself as Sergeant Dowling.  They were invited into the house and sat in the chairs that Carson indicated for them.  Upon sitting, PC Clarke removed a notebook from his left shirt pocket along with a short slim pencil and held his hand in a position that indicated that he was ready to take notes.  Carson followed his lead and also drew out his note pad and pen.

 

“Well folks, we are as ready as we ever will be.  Who will shoot first?  You know the jargon I suppose, said Sergeant Dowling.  All around the table laughed.  This relaxed the atmosphere for before this, everyone appeared somewhat uptight.

 

Carson was the one to start the ball rolling.  He recounted all he remembered from the afternoon he had received the mystery call.  He moved on next to the missing notes and then proceeded to report concerning the note scrawled on the trunk lid.  At this point the sergeant switched his attention from Carson to Mr. Marshall.  “Tell us about the note, Sir.  When did you first notice it?”

 

Mr. Marshall, like his son, was very detailed in recounting all that transpired on the day up to the time he spotted the note scrawled on his trunk lid.  He spoke of the number of worksites he visited, what he did there, whom he spoke to and approximately how long he was away from the car.  He spoke of the flat tyre and of his calling the family together in the afternoon to view the scrawled note.

 

Meanwhile, Carson was wondering if he should tell the policemen exactly when he noticed the scrawled note on the trunk lid.  Up until this time he had not revealed the time of the call or the time he actually noticed the scrawled note on the car.  Had this information been given, Sergeant Dowling would not have requested Mr. Marshall to recount in such detail regarding his visits to the various worksites.  He thought that in as much as that level of questioning had already been done it might not be any longer necessary to reveal these two bits of information.  What Carson did not know is that Ralph had already come to that conclusion as he thought the matter through and so had Dirk.  In many ways the three youngsters thought along the same lines as one another.

 

After the Sergeant had finished questioning Carson and his dad, he turned to the others sitting around the table including Ralph and Dirk.  Well, Carlisle and Carolyn could add nothing to the information, even though he tried to get them to think about any strange goings on that they had seen around the house over the last three or four days.  Ralph and Dirk communicated with their eyes that they would keep the information connected with the video clips under lock and key.  They were not prepared to jeopardise the character of the student in the clips just in case it was nothing more than just ‘having his hands in his pockets’.  In any case they would pursue this line discreetly on their own.  How they would go about it, they were not sure, since this was holiday time.

 

As the police officers concluded their investigations, they gave instructions to the general household and then more specifically, they dealt with the boys.  One request was that the general household should pay close attention to all that was happening around them.  They were to report on any strangers they saw in the area or any unusual sightings of anything, however insignificant it might appear.  In relation to the trio, the police sergeant required them to continue with the expedition to Idyllic Gardens.  Yes, the police wanted to use them in part as a decoy.  They too felt that something strange and negative was going on in these woods even though, up to this time, they were unable to get a handle on it.  Certainly they were aware of the fact that a number of dubious persons used it as a familiar haunt or perhaps even hunting ground.  However, they were not sure how it was used or for what it was used.

 

Mrs. Marshall could not believe her ears when she heard this request from the sergeant, but other than showing surprise, she remained silent.  To himself Carson said, “Great going Mummy!” even though he knew she was going to raise the matter after the policemen had gone.

 

The police sergeant praised all of them for the way they had presented themselves.  He was really impressed with the boys especially how they worked as a team.  He jokingly said, “And anytime you three are looking for a job, we would be glad to take you on at any of our precincts.”

 

This was followed by Mrs. Marshall’s, “Oh no you won’t!” to which the worthy sergeant quickly replied, “Just kidding!”  The look beyond the twinkle in his eyes suggested that he might have been more serious about his invitation than he was willing to show.

 

“By the way,” Sergeant Dowling continued as though this was an afterthought, “I am going to post an undressed police officer to watch your environs and also to keep tabs on Carson.  We would have like to do it with all of three of the boys but currently we have a shortage of manpower.  A number of the fellows are out on sick leave.  This virus that is going around seems bent on touching everybody.  Thank God, the medical minds believe that one can only contract it once.  I would hate for even my worst enemy to get even a first dose of that thing.  Don’t worry about the undress cop.  Not one of you will even notice that he is around.  He is the best in what he does.”

 

Special forces police officer, Ken Briggs, was with the force only three years but he had shown a particular aptitude for working under cover.  He had helped the police nail down quite a few mysterious cases during the short time he was with the force.  He was quite good at changing disguises and could be a doctor, a lawyer, a porter or even a sanitation worker if the occasion demanded it.  He was just twenty-one years old but had a very mature head on his shoulders.  He had already acquired his Bachelor of Science degree in forensics science and so played a double role with the force in the field of forensics as well as an undercover agent.  He was a definite asset to the police force.  Because of his operations with the police, he was not even known as a police.  Those in the police force, who knew him, knew him only as the forensics officer who had an office annexed to the police laboratory.  In that office he worked with three other persons who were the minds behind the myriad ways the very clever criminal is discovered.  These were persons who strongly believed that there was no perfect crime and that the one who committed the crime always leaves a clue, however imperceptible.  They were experts in their field and possessed very trained eyes.  They knew what to look for and they always found it.  Ken was the youngest of these and the one with the least on the job experience but he was learning fast.

 

The boys knew ‘special forces’ officer Ken only as a forensics expert who worked with the police.  He had once come to Blades Academy to speak at one of the school’s career showcase events.  Even now they would be absolutely knocked back if they knew that he was the special agent that would be having them under his radar.

 

God’s Sovereignty

  

 

God cannot abdicate

His sovereignty

Like putting on and taking off a coat

Intermittently.

 

One attribute of God

Is His sovereignty

And thus, he cannot dispose of it

Like you and me.

 

We oft dispose of things

Whenever it suits us

And we may do so at a whim

Without much fuss.

 

 

 

Yes, we have free will

Or, human choice,

And we use it indiscriminately

Enticed by voice.

 

“He sounds impressive!

Oh, she can talk!”

And more often we do not look

At how they walk.

 

Quite unlike God

Whose word is Himself

And who is not hampered by death

Or even ill-health.

 

 

 

He alone is Sovereign,

The only wise God

And to determine how He decides

Is not our call.

 

For oft in our prayers

We are wont to do thus

Feeling we can sway God Almighty

By invoking Jesus.

 

 

 

“In Jesus’ name!”

And, “For Jesus’ sake!”

And some actually believe that God

Must take their bait.

 

God cannot refuse

His only begotten Son

So, ask anything in the name of Jesus,

And it is done.

 

Go does not force us

To do what he wants done

For the Almighty God is no bully;

Neither is His Son.

 

God achieves His purpose

In spite of what we do

Simply because ultimate control

Is not our purview.

 

Thus, free will is limited

By God’s Sovereignty

And so, man’s freewill choosing,

Is limited autonomy.

 

God is Sovereign,

He’s the only potentate,

Not like Adolf Hitler and the like

Limited by human trait.

 

 

 

Some do it for evil

But God extracts the good,

Check out Joseph and his brothers

In the Holy Bible.

 

We are not excusable

Because of God’s control,

To suggest such is not only absurd

But foolishly bold.

 

 

 

God cannot abdicate

His sovereignty

Like putting on and taking off a coat

Intermittently.

 

Stewart Russell © March 10, 2026

 

Freewill Is Limited

  

 

Freewill is limited

But God’s sovereignty is not,

And this to me makes more sense

For man is but a dot.

 

A dot he relatively is

In the scheme of things

And in relation to all that exists,

Nothing he brings.

 

O yes, he builds roads

And he erects skyscrapers

But he uses materials he discovers;

He is no creator.

 

O yes, he can choose

But his choices are limited

When compared to the eternal God;

The one who created.

 

 

 

Freewill is limited

But a Sovereign God is not

And the God who created the heavens

Owns the whole lot.

 

Do not be misguided

By the indefinite article ‘a’

For there is only One Sovereign God

And He holds full sway.

 

Unlike man He created,

He is the omnipotent one

And he existed before the universe

Or even the first dawn.

 

There is the argument

That one hinders the other,

That God’s sovereignty and freewill

Violate one another.

 

There is no violation

Surely on the part of God

For He the Almighty and All Knowing

Gave freewill to all.

 

 

 

But understand this:

While there is no violation

The unmistakable fact of the matter is,

There is limitation.

 

Man is himself, limited,

For God created him thus

And this is quite unlike the Holy Spirit

And the Word, Jesus.

 

No limitation imposed

On the blessed Trinity

Who, though three persons are yet one,

Co-existing eternally. 

 

 

 

Freewill is limited

And essentially must be

For there is only one Supreme God

And man is not He.

 

It is God that created

By the facility of His voice

Demonstrating to all and sundry

His sovereign choice.

 

Though many may argue

The two cannot co-exist,

That God does violate human choice,

I stoutly resist.

 

 

 

Freewill is limited

But God’s sovereignty is not,

Concerning the options for eternity

Only two we have got.

 

We either accept the offer

Of eternal salvation

Or contrary to this, default to the choice

Of eternal damnation.

 

Stewart Russell © March 8, 2026