The Meat of the Matter

 

 

I’d be amazed at a God

That would attempt to mislead

By giving a message to a prophet

To dispatch with great speed

 

Especially when that message

Was for a long time to come,

Playing with a person’s psyche

Is not God’s idea of fun.

 

Expressions like soon, at the door

And the time is near,

Cannot speak of far off events

As in thousands of years.

 

If so, why such great haste

To those seven churches?

Can anyone answer this question

Based on their Bible searches?

 

For years we have preached

Jesus is coming soon

And in our songs have indicated

It may be morning, night or noon.

 

There is absolutely no doubt

That Jesus will return

But a preoccupation with the time

Should not be our concern.

 

None of us knows for a fact

That he is coming soon,

But we speculate about world events

And as a result we assume.

 

Our assumptions become wrong

When they do not materialize

And the world scorns at our predictions

And call them all lies.

 

 

The Bible is God’s truth

And the words mean what they say,

And if it says today

Then it really means today.

 

Soon should not be calibrated

As in two thousand years

Certainly not to a people living then

Given their present fears.

 

The message was a source of comfort

To the present day Christians

In the midst of their persecutions

And their myriad problems.

 

When they saw certain things

Understand it was at the door!

No, that language could not have meant

Two thousand years or more

 

 

Do not seal up the prophecy

John the Revelator was told,

This was quite unlike the instruction

That was given to Daniel of old

 

 

It is clear that in Revelation

The events mentioned would soon occur

While regarding Daniel’s prophecy

Those events to a distant time referred.

 

Let us not look for events

Which have already happened

But do that which Jesus instructed

Regarding the great commission.

 

That is, to go into all the world

And tell of God’s great salvation

Known also as the glorious Gospel

Or our wonderful redemption.

 

Of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour

And heaven’s returning King,

The one to whom we offer worship

And of whom we joyfully sing.

 

Expressions like near and soon

Fitted in with that time

But spreading the Gospel of Christ

Should be foremost in our mind.

 

Stewart Russell © December 2019

 

Of Trees and Banks

  

 

In times of long ago

Pirates buried treasure

And later generations unearthed some

Much to their pleasure.

 

But what do trees and banks

Have to do with treasure?

Ah my dear Watson it is the branches

By which they are measured.

 

A youngster asked his mom

For a sum of money

And the response his mother gave him

He didn’t find funny.

 

Her instant reply was,

Money doesn’t grow on trees

Whereupon the child went his way

And clearly was not please.

 

Later he called his mother

After doing some thinking,

And when he shared his thoughts with her

He left her blinking.

 

 

 

Mummy, you said to me

Money doesn’t grow on trees

But banks have branches everywhere;

Aren’t they money trees?

 

Out of the mouths of babes

Do not sell them short,

If urged to speak without thinking,

Please quickly abort.

 

Money doesn’t grow on trees

But surely it does on branches,

Not to mention many sow “a money seed”

Hoping to boost their chances.

 

 

 

Convinced by preachers

They often take heed

And hoping for some needed cash

They usually sow a seed. 

 

Of trees and banks

Now you see what’s common,

There are branches of trees and of banks

But only one has mammon.

 

Stewart Russell © October 4, 2026

 

Jesus and His Honda

  

 

I found out only today

Jesus drove a Honda,

Now, I guess that is quite a chunk

For most of us to ponder.

 

Turn now I charge you

To the book of John,

There is a Honda in the 12^th chapter;

I’m not putting you on.

 

Check the 49^th verse

If you please

And note, with me if you will,

It was a car of ease.

 

Someone sang

“Jesus Take the Wheel”

But apparently, he didn’t have a license

O what a deal!

 

 

 

But he could drive

For he owned a Honda,

He said, “I do not speak of my own accord.”

Why do you yet wonder?

 

On the Day of Pentecost

The disciples were also in one,

We are told they were in one accord

The day the Church was born.

 

Acts 2:1

 

And when the day of Pentecost

Was fully come

They all were in one Accord

In one place.

 

Stewart Russell © October 4, 2026

 

Denise the Icon

 

Don’t box her in

You won’t succeed

She is as liberated as they come

Liberated indeed

 

A goal setter and achiever

You all know this

Hence two reasons we are here

That you shouldn’t miss

 

She is one of those persons

That has an annual birthday

January born she is

What more can I say?

 

That’s one of the reasons

We are here tonight

And to direct these proceedings

Is certainly my delight

 

Reason number two

Has to do with verse two

A goal setter and achiever

But you knew this.  Didn’t you?

 

A PhD was one of them

And that too she has achieved

No doubt after all the hassle

She is considerably relieved

 

 

Congrats to Denise

Say Congrats everyone!

We’re happy to celebrate you

You’re definitely an icon

 

An icon for family

An icon for Christianity

An icon for transparency

And an icon for unity

 

An icon in scholarship

An icon in leadership

An icon in mentorship

A devoted captain of her ship

 

Tonight, we celebrate you

Right here at Tapas

You are balanced and focused

You are absolutely fabulous!

 

 

We give God thanks for you

You are as natural as they come

Tonight we are elated

To declare you an icon

 

This night of celebration

Is now officially opened

A huge round of applause, ladies and gentlemen

For Denise, the icon

 

Stewart Russell © January 2019

 

 

Now Is the Best Time

 

 

Whatever it is you need to do

Now is the best time,

There is no time better than now

To do what is on your mind.

 

Of course, that is, I may add,

If it is something positive

For no time is ever the best time

To do anything negative.

 

Now is the best time

To meet that outstanding need,

No more I need to do this or that

Get to it with speed!

 

Those New Year resolutions

Though often with sincerity made

Most often fall by the wayside

And once again, we fail.

 

 

 

So, now is the best time

And, I tell this to myself too

For like you, I am way behind

In what I need to do.

 

Resolutions mean nothing

If they are not carried out

And when this happens every year

There is increasing doubt.

 

Doubt as to whether

That task will ever be done

Especially given the hectic speed

At which time seems to run.

 

Now is the best time

For tomorrow is not ours,

We had better start this minute

Rather than the next hour.

 

 

Of course, one may argue,

Now is whenever it is done

But if you are the disadvantaged one

That now will not be fun.

 

So, if you have a task to do

Now is definitely the best time

Especially if that important matter

Is pressing on your mind.

 

Make your now

The soonest now

Now that you have the time

For the now you anticipate

May be the now

You can’t define.

 

In such an event

It would matter no more

For your now to do that thing

Would definitely be o’er.

 

So, now is the best time

To do what you have to do,

Procrastination often spells FAIL

And with that I am through.

 

Stewart Russell © May 24, 2024

 

What Does It Matter?

  

 

What does it matter

Knowing the Word of God

But not the God of the Word?

What does it matter?

 

Some quote the Word

And do it accurately too

But the God of the same Word

Is not in their view.

 

It is very pharisaical

And not at all beneficial,

For to know the God of the Word

Is absolutely critical.

 

World leaders use it

To keep people in check

But the God whose Word it is,

They generally reject.

 

Slave masters used it

To corral their slaves

And to administer harsh punishment

When they misbehave.

 

The Word supported it

They were wont to believe,

Thus, feeling they were justified,

The slaves aggrieved.

 

 

 

But knowing the Word

And not the God of the Word

Is actually like a rotting corpse

Waiting to be interred.

 

Whitened sepulchers

Clean and pure looking

But in reality, only fit for the dead

And not the living.

 

What does it matter

Knowing the Word of God

But not the God of the Word?

What does it matter?

 

It is of no benefit to us

To know the Word of God

However thorough, I might add,

And not know God.

 

Stewart Russell © February 18, 2026

 

The Mother Was Not There

 

When the baby was born, I said,

The mother wasn’t there.

How was that even possible

Was the question that appeared.

 

“You talk a lot of foolishness,”

Said the accused to me,

She, herself, not thinking it through,

Considered me a dummy.

 

“Not my fault if you’re that dumb,”

I quickly upbraided her

Whereupon she underscored

She’d be a fool to concur.

 

“You’d be a fool if you don’t,”

Was my immediate reply

And with that I repeated what I said

Though not without a sigh.

 

When the baby was born

The mother was not there.

“That’s what I heard the first time,

My hearing is pretty clear.”

 

 

Your hearing might be clear

But your reasoning is not

And if you were that baby’s mother

You would still be in shock.

 

“Can you explain?” she asked,

Admitting her difficulty,

To which I replied, “Sure.”

And commenced immediately.

 

The baby’s mother, you see,

Was on the way to the clinic

When the baby was born

And caused everyone to panic.

 

The traffic was extremely heavy

And she was in a taxi,

And whether it was true or not

I saw it in a movie.

 

She was not at the clinic

When the baby was born,

Quite obviously, to be born in a taxi

Is not an everyday norm.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020

 

And They also which Pierced Him

 

 

Let the Bible speak!

The explicit before the implicit,

Inductive before deductive

The facts before we interpret.

 

The dominant thing in the church

Is that of the denomination,

That’s where most believers began:

Within their congregation.

 

For the most part, top-down

Rather than bottom-up,

And for the rest of their converted life

They sip the denomination cup.

 

Nothing's wrong with denomination

Unless it becomes a bar:

A bar that sets one’s limitation

And becomes that believer’s star.

 

Our North star is the Bible:

The infallible Word of God

And all else that obfuscate God’s Word

Is a companion to the king fraud.

 

Our adversary, the deceiver,

Is more fraudulent than any

And by his alluring and deceptive ways

He imprisons many.

 

Let us therefore contextualized

The title of this poetic piece,

Bearing in mind as we examine it

Denomination must decrease.

 

Revelation 1:7

 

Behold, he cometh with clouds;

and every eye shall see him,

and they also which pierced him:

and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.

Even so, Amen.

 

  

“John to the seven churches”

It says this in verse 4,

And in verse 7, “he cometh with clouds”

But stay with me, there is more.

 

This is not the first reference

Re a coming involving clouds,

There is another in the Old Testament

Let’s go there and browse.

 

Daniel 7:13-14

 

I saw in the night visions,

and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven,

and came to the Ancient of days,

and they brought him near before him.

 

And there was given him dominion,

and glory, and a kingdom,

that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him:

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

 

This is not the old Jewish covenant

But the fulfilment of the same

For it was in that same 1^st Century

God sent the Spirit in Jesus’ name.

 

Jesus, in Matthew chapter 24,

Prophesied to his coming in the clouds

And the indicators that he meant that generation

Were particularly loud.

The word generation as used in Matthew

Bears this out supremely,

Yes, in reference to the Pharisees and Sadducees

And all that followed them blindly.

 

All that abused the old covenant law

And appealed to their own agenda,

And them that crucified the Lord Christ

Referring to him as a blasphemer.

 

All in their pseudo love for Caesar

Since any was better than the Christ,

Ignorant that they were fulfilling prophecy

For he was God’s determinate sacrifice.

 

 

And hence, the reason for this title:

And they also which pierced him:

A reference to that present generation

And not to one to which it is dim.

 

A factual and historic fulfilment

Of a prophecy that came to pass

During the lifetime of some of those enquirers

That stood in Jesus’ prophetic class.

 

Some argue it was the Romans

That pierced the Lord Jesus Christ

But the Jews had demanded his crucifixion;

Any executioner would suffice.

 

It was the harlot astride the beast

As identified in the Revelation:

Jerusalem riding on Rome’s authority

To effect their Messiah’s crucifixion.

 

 

And no doubt, in AD 70,

As God’s judgment rained on Jerusalem,

Much of what was prophesied

Would have been clear to them.

 

And they also which pierced him,

Not who will witness his second advent

But of that generation that were still alive

That experienced God’s judgement.

 

“Crucify him!  Crucify him!”

“We have no king but Caesar!”

“His blood be upon us and our children!”

The Jews were Christ’s executioners.

 

“And they also which pierced him”

Not the Romans, but the Jews,

They, along with the 1^st Century Christians,

Had that experiential view.

  

Thus, showing that this prophecy

Came to pass exactly as prophesied,

And that Bible prophecy forms history

And the future must comply.

 

Stewart Russell © June 21, 2022