What A Lie!

 

 

The Devil is a liar

I have heard believers say

Yet Satan has had much success

In getting us to go his way.

 

I have entitled this poem

“What A Lie”

And soon it will be clear to you

The reason why.

 

Two contrasting positions

And only one can be true:

The Genesis account must be

And not the Big Bang view.

 

Nothing travels like a lie

Especially one that is huge,

It starts with some scientist

Making science its groove.

 

Reason is clearly absent,

Common sense? Not even near!

Irrationality is the clutch

And folly is put in gear.

 

 

And there was nothing…

Then came a huge explosion,

Big Bang had arrived,

Thus, the grand delusion.

 

Started by you know who,

It was the Devil himself

And then follow science books,

Maybe one’s on your shelf.

 

If you must tell a lie,

I recall hearing someone say,

Tell a gigantic one

Then step out of the way.

 

Long after it’s proven wrong

It’ll still make the rounds

Just like the Big Bang theory

Moving by leaps and bounds.

 

Big Bang is the biggest lie

That ever was told

And to tell such a huge lie

One has to be bold.

 

Gaining more ground

Than the tried and proven facts,

Oh, what a lie!

Big Bang is just that! 

 

 

What a lie!

And here in second place

Is another colossal lie

Staring us in the face.

 

That one is not what one is

At the time of one’s birth

Would at a time not long ago

Generate much mirth.

 

Genitalia was the decider,

Whether girl or boy

And that sex and that gender

Would be for life deployed.

 

But along came the lie

And oh, what a lie!

I can be what gender I feel

And thus, the truth, deny.

 

What delusions of grandeur

Doth clog up one’s brain?

What feelings of the heart

Causing the mind to be lame?

 

 

Big Bang, however conceived,

Can never be a reality,

Neither can this colossal lie

We call gender fluidity.

 

Big bang is about confusion,

It is nothing organized,

So too is gender fluidity

And thus, should be despised.

 

It is really evil,

I know this sounds horrible

But it denies the Creator,

Get it straight, people!

 

Male and female

The Almighty created man

And chose to call that first union

By the name Adam.

 

Out of man came woman

But this was only at the first,

Ever since that first woman

This process was reversed.

 

A man cannot give birth,

Certainly, not naturally,

And a sperm generating woman

Would never be.

 

She may carry sperm

But she was not the source,

Quite naturally it required a man

And his ejaculative force.

 

 

These are two colossal lies

That have divided the world,

Both denying God as Creator

And His infallible Word.

 

Stewart Russell © January 28, 2023

 

In but Not Of

 

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

That’s what Jesus said,

But what did he really mean?

Was it something else instead?

 

He said his servants would fight

If this world were his kingdom,

He could not have meant the cosmos

But the Roman world system.

 

Remember that Pilate had asked

If he was a king

And he made it very clear

Not of this world, no such thing.

 

Pilate finally declared him

To be king of the Jews

But the chief priests rejected this

Implying this was Jesus’ view.

 

Write that’s what he said,

They wanted written on the cross

But Pilate refused their request-

Showing he was still the boss.

 

John 18:36

 

“My kingdom is not of this world”

Keep that in your mind

As we quote Jesus again…

What did he say this time?

 

 

John 17:16

 

“They are not of the world

Even as I am not of the world,”

Jesus is showing his consistency

As both statements concur.

 

Neither he nor his subjects

Are of this world,

If they were when he was not

Then that would be absurd.

 

A king and his domain

Go hand in hand,

It was of a heavenly realm he spoke

In accordance with the divine plan.

 

Not only Pilate had missed this

But also did the Jews,

“We have no king but Caesar,”

Was their expressed view.

 

As long as he is in the world

Jesus is the world’s light

But his kingdom is not of the world

Else his servants would fight.

 

The heavenly parishioner

Is called to be both salt and light

His thinking is not the worldly type

He has heavenly insight.

 

His view is a heavenly city

Not made by human hands,

Just like the holy temple he is,

Not in the Jewish land.

 

 

At present, in the world

But not of the same,

Respecting the civil authorities

But not under their reign.

 

He is a chosen ambassador

With a mission on the earth

But he belongs to another country

Ever since his rebirth.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

Without Merit

 

 

A gift is never dependent

On the recipient of the gift,

It is actually given in spite of

If you catch my drift.

 

It is surely not a reward

Since a reward is achieved

But one cannot achieve a gift

Whatever one believes.

 

It cannot be an award

For such is given on merit

And an award as we all know

Is premised upon habit.

 

Not so a gift, my friend,

It’s definitely not an award

And since it is without merit

It cannot be a reward.

 

 

Without merit it must be,

Just like the grace of God,

It can’t be bought or worked for

Or delivered by a fraud.

 

No worth in the recipient

Other than the whosoever,

Whosoever believes in Christ

Will share in his treasure.

 

By the recipient’s faith

And through God’ grace,

Without merit I must emphasize

Or even the pride of place.

 

It is not the who we are

But rather, the “whose”,

Not even the prudish or the pious

Like a “goody two shoes”.

 

The prerequisite is love

As in “For God so loved”

That He gave the gift of His Son

Who came from above.

 

 

A commendation of love

When we were unlovable

And when we were vile and sinful,

To make us His people.

 

A people for Himself

With whom He now dwells,

No merit in any one of them

Thus, the Bible tells.

 

This we must not forget:

There is no merit in us

But all we tantamount to be

Is found in Christ Jesus.

 

Without merit I repeat,

And none can make a claim

Unless of course the claim we make

Is in Jesus’ name.

 

Without Merit

 

Stewart Russell © January 18, 2025 

 

Check Your English

  

 

 

Check your English

I implore you

For errors in the daily tabloids

Are quite a few.

 

English gone wrong

Is surely the case

And given the level of our education,

This is out of place.

 

I’ll give one example

From the recent past

And if the incident wasn’t serious

We could laugh.

 

 

 

From the Nation News

This one was hot

“When a dark-coloured car drove by

And fired several gunshots.”

 

Beware I dare say

Of dark cars firing gunshots,

It is not safe even at Karaoke shows;

It is definitely not.

 

Reporters and journalists

Check your English!

To be ridiculed internationally

Is not our wish.

 

Check your English

I implore you

For errors in the daily tabloids

Are quite a few.

 

 

 

Our standard is high,

Let’s maintain it

And please, all you proof readers,

Be careful to edit.

 

Be careful I warn

If standing in a group

For the shootists are not particular

When they shoot.

 

I’m no English expert

So, if you should see

That I have erred in my English,

Please pardon me.

 

Stewart Russell © April 7, 2026

 

Don’t You Dare!

  

 

Don’t you dare

Take me for a fool!

Treating me like I’m nobody

Is not cool.

 

I have value

And I am important

So, mistaking me for a fool,

I totally resent.

 

Don’t you dare

Tempt me young man!

Whenever you address me, boy,

You must say Mam.

 

We are no friends

Or even contemporaries,

Get it right from the beginning!

I am a lady.

 

 

 

Don’t you dare

Go out that door!

I have set you your boundaries

And I’ll say no more.

 

I brought you in

And would take you out!

Understand I am your mother;

Don’t you doubt.

 

Don’t you dare

Leave those shoes there!

The maid you are looking for,

You won’t find here.

 

Take them with you

And the filthy socks too

And try doing some of the chores

You expect me to do.

 

Like making your bed

And sweeping your room,

Your mother gets very tired too;

Here’s the broom.

 

 

 

Don’t you dare

Be talking back to me

Unless you want a mouth of teeth

To be suddenly empty.

 

I am your father

And don’t you forget it,

If you are too big for the belt,

I would use a stick.

 

Don’t you dare

Keep friends with them,

I can see they are up to no good

And will be a problem.

 

 

 

Don’t you dare

Not read this poem,

I have now dared you enough

And must be going.

 

Since you got this far

Just read on to the end

For all that’s left for me to say is,

Thanks, my friend.

 

Stewart Russell © February 14, 2026

 

What Is the Gospel?

 

 

A question that needs to be addressed

Especially in our time

Since in pulpit practice

We see aberrations of every kind.

 

Some minor, some major,

Some totally out of sync,

Some so grossly misrepresentative,

It’s difficult to think.

 

But where do we begin

To address such a critical issue?

I would think via the Holy Scriptures,

Wouldn’t you?

 

And in this poetic discourse

There is no place better to start

Than at Romans, the very first chapter

Which is at the very heart.

 

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,

Called to be an apostle,

Separated unto the Gospel of God,

Which he had promised afore by his prophets

In the holy scriptures.

 

In the holy scriptures

Therein is the full picture!

And now for the current feature.

 

 

 

In the Law or the Torah:

In the book of the beginning,

God dictated to his prophet, Moses,

What would be the ending.

 

The ending of the arch enemy

We’ve come to know as Satan,

Once regarded as Lucifer, son of the morning,

In the heavenly kingdom.

 

Cast down from heaven

Headlong into to the earth,

Disrupted communion and communication

Bringing about sin’s birth.

 

And with sin came death

Which in the first instance was spiritual

But not along after the Fall

Became physical.

 

The soul that sins shall die

Was the sentence given

Unless of course, a plan could be put in place

For that soul to be forgiven.

 

And thus came the first pointer

Of the lifesaving Gospel

Which having been fulfilled in Christ

Is available to all people.

 

Turn in the holy scriptures

To Genesis chapter 3

And there at verse number 15

You will clearly see.

 

The first verse of promise

Concerning the Gospel of God,

Yes, it is right there and then declared

Immediately after the Fall.

 

 

 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,

And between thy seed and her seed;

And it shall bruise thy head,

And thou shall bruise his heel.

 

Bruise is better rendered as crush

Signifying a fatal blow

And this would materialize at Golgotha

Which the scriptures show.

 

In this first ever court case

Sentences were given to three:

First to the serpent then the woman

Then to the man finally.

 

The serpent was the cause

Of the woman being deceived

And the man being an accessory after the fact,

A just sentence received. 

 

Thus, sin originated

And by way of sin entered death

And for both the man and the woman

Ended that Sabbath day rest.

 

For in it while God had rested

Man’s rest was disrupted

And on account of man’s disobedience

All else was corrupted.

 

 

 

Fast forward through millennia

To welcome a new born babe

Which was born of a virgin peasant

In a virtual cave.

 

She had known no man

Yet this maiden had conceived,

It was the incarnation of the Christ child

Though many did not believe.

 

He shall save his people from their sin

His very name had meant

And straight from the heavenly throne room

This divine babe was sent.

 

Sent by the Heavenly Father

To be the Gospel of God

For unto you is born, the angel did say

That night when they called.

 

They announced to shepherds

The arrival of the Saviour

That prophets had foretold of long ago

To fulfil God’s pleasure.

 

For it pleased God

To bruise his own begotten Son

That through his death and resurrection

Our salvation would be won.

 

 

 

So, what is the Gospel

If I may ask you again?

It is the power of God unto salvation

Paul stated unashamed.

 

Quite unlike the Galatians

Who had quickly turned away

From the path in which he had pointed

Back in that day.

 

Perhaps they were confused

Or maybe were ashamed

Of the power of God unto salvation

Paul preached in Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

For salvation is in no one

Other than Jesus the Christ

Who crushed the head of the serpent

In his once-for-all sacrifice.

 

Herein is the Gospel of God

Aka the Gospel of Christ

Who in his own body on a cruel cross

Paid sin’s ultimate price.

 

In the words of a sacred hymn

And worthy of review,

I now share its Gospel message

In a verse with you.

 

There was no other good enough

To pay the price of sin;

He only could unlock the gate

Of heav’n, and let us in.

 

“I am the door,” said Jesus,

“By me if any man enter in,

He shall be saved and shall go in and out,

And find pasture.”

 

So, what is the Gospel?

It is, God’s kingdom has come

And is made manifest in the work

And person of the Son.

 

In those days came John the Baptist,

Preaching in the wilderness of Judea,

And saying, Repent ye:

For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

 

Spoken of by Isaiah the prophet:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness,

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his paths straight.”

 

 

 

Thus, John seeing Jesus coming to him

Said, “Behold the Lamb of God,

Which taketh away

The sin of the world.”

 

From that time

Jesus began to preach and to say,

“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven

Is at hand.”

 

For some, at hand means

In another two thousand years

But for that 1^st Century audience it meant

Virtually here.

 

The king had arrived

And with him the kingdom had come

In the person and work

Of Jesus, God’s Son.

 

And thus, we have the Gospel

In a proverbial nutshell,

‘Tis the person and work of Jesus Christ

Which the prophets did foretell.

 

This is what the Gospel is,

How oft do you hear it?

I have some disheartening news for you,

Not in many a pulpit.

 

What the Gospel is not

Is mostly what is spoken

And there is a dire need to present

More than just a token.

 

 

 

The Gospel of God

Is the Gospel of Christ,

Is the Gospel of the kingdom of heaven

And eternal life.

 

How beautiful are the feet of them

That preach the gospel of peace,

And bring glad tidings

Of good things!

 

Stewart Russell © October 15, 2025