Don’t Ask God

 

 

With God all things are possible

Why, that’s in His Holy Word

But does that also mean

That God revels in the absurd?

 

Of course, it surely does not

For God is a God of purpose

And the entirety of His sovereign will

Is focused on His Son, Jesus.

 

Don’t ask God

To do the impossible

For God does not do the absurd

Or the unthinkable.

 

Don’t ask God

To reverse a process

For God is not subject to any creature

That puts Him to the test.

 

Don’t ask God

To turn back the time

For time that is passed is passed

And God is not so inclined.

 

 

Don’t ask God

To pander to your wishes

As though He can be indebted to anyone

And returns favours by kisses.

 

Don’t ask God

To grant to you a special favour

Citing, like some are wont to do,

Their faithfulness and labour.

 

Don’t ask God

To repair a perceived flaw

For God is not in the fixing business-

After all, He is God.

 

Don’t ask God

To undo a committed act

Because even the omnipotent God

Cannot do that.

 

Don’t Ask God

To alter a known or unknown fact

As though it is so disconcerting

That He has to take it back.

 

Don’t ask God

To effectively change His mind

Concerning some established truth

Because it has you in a bind.

 

 

Don’t ask God

To go against His nature

For then He would not be the Creator

But just another creature.

 

Don’t ask God

To violate His own word

For that is the greatest impossibility…

This goes beyond the absurd!

 

Don’t ask God

To change what He has set before time

Hoping to prove the point

That God can change His mind.

 

God’s purpose is set in train

His will can in no way be thwarted,

He has done whatever pleases Him

And He cannot be converted.

 

Fear Him and walk in wisdom

His word alone is truth,

Trust Him, praise Him and thank Him,

And as His living epistle, be proof.

 

Stewart Russell © December 14, 2020

 

A Mystery to Me

 

 

 

His head resisted my hand

Pretty nigh a dozen times,

How dare he be so impertinent

Kept nagging at my mind.

 

This made me more determined

To knock his head clean off

But his neck was so strong

It kept his head aloft.

 

I cannot at present recall

The reason for my obsession

But to obliterate his head

Was my consuming passion.

 

And so, time and time again

His head would but up on my hand

And every time it resisted

The more I revised my plan.

 

This was a mystery to me

For he was much smaller than I

And what made it even worse,

He would always cry.

 

They viewed him as the victim

But the victim was really me,

How they miss this obvious fact

Increased my mystery.

 

 

Every time I slapped his head

My hand would actually sting

And the harder that I struck him

The more pain it would bring.

 

My aim was to change all this

And solve my mystery

But to my more sore displeasure

I was labeled a bully.

 

However I viewed this matter,

I saw me as the victim

But those unaware of my discomfort

Viewed me as the villain.

 

How very unfortunate for me!

My mystery only grew

And my desire to de-mystify it

Was determinedly renewed.

 

 

Call me Russia, if you will,

It is Ukraine that stings my hand,

I want it to be a satellite

And I must get on with my plan.

 

 

Does it not know its benefactor?

And the mutual things we share?

And the more it resists my chastening

The more I will have to bear?

 

Please see my side of the fracas:

I am really the victim,

It is truly a mystery to me

That you see me as the villain.

 

Hence, the analogy I brought:

Ukraine’s head and my hand,

I should feel nothing when I slap her,

To de-mystify this is my plan.

 

Her resistance is my pain,

You’d have to experience it to know,

So, back, off all you ignorant allies!

On with my plan I go!

 

Stewart Russell © February 26, 2022

 

Sovereign

 

 

 

We know of this term

But there seems so much to learn

That our hearts within burn

When its principles are spurned.

 

“Of political bodies

Not controlled by outside forces”

Just one of the meanings

Taken from one of my sources.

 

“Greatest in status

Authority or power”

Is another definition I found

Taking it even higher.

 

“A nation’s ruler or head of state

Usually by hereditary right:

A crowned head or monarch”

With considerable might.

 

Reserved also for countries

Independent and or Republic

But in some cases

Such sovereignty does not fit.

 

Lastly and most importantly

The Sovereign, Omnipotent God:

The I AM That I AM

The One that is All in All.

 

Identified are different levels

Of sovereignty

But of infinite greatness

Is the Lord God Almighty!

 

 

All power is His

To raise up and pull down

And there is none greater than He

That can be found.

 

He is the Sovereign God

An there is none other besides

And in the heaven of heavens

Is where He resides.

 

Sovereign Leaders rule

But the Almighty God overrules,

He is Sovereign above all

And this He daily proves.

 

None can overrule His will

Even though they may try,

The haughty and high He humbles

And the humble He makes high.

 

Nothing happens

That He does not see

And whithersoever anyone goes

There He will be.

 

All other sovereignties

Are hopelessly suspect

And however powerful they appear

Their fall we can expect.

 

Sovereignties are only as strong

As their military might

And if one mightier comes along

They lose that right.

 

 

 A current case in point

Is Russia and the Ukraine:

Both of these are sovereign nations

But Ukraine is being claimed.

 

 

Its sovereignty means little

To the Russian might

And at present it seems incapable

Of asserting its sovereign right.

 

Russia’s sovereign head

Is demonstrating to all

That he has the military might

To make this call.

 

It is under the guise

That Ukraine must be De-Nazified

Which I cannot understand

However hard I’ve tried.

  

Therefore, my conclusion is:

God is the only Sovereign,

All else carrying the appellation

Is with a tenuous claim.

 

A very thin line

Based on one’s military might

But it is working for the big ones

Where might is right!

 

Stewart Russell © February 25, 2022

 

Hope or Hoax?

 

 

How confusing it is

To hear a God-believing cleric

Publicly denounce the Bible

And be a vociferous critic!

 

Proclaimed as delusional:

That is, the Word of God,

On the airwaves and television

This was spread abroad.

 

If Christianity is a hoax

Then what does he believe?

What does he really teach

Or coax people to receive?

 

If the first 11 chapters

Of the Holy Bible are mythical

Then please tell me my dear cleric

What in there is believable?

 

If creation falls down,

On what can we rely?

Surely the whole Bible becomes

A colossal lie!

 

 

No Adam and Eve,

No Noah or Abraham,

No Moses and no Exodus

And no redemptive plan.

 

No Christ and no Gospel

No dying or resurrection,

No ascension or coming again

And definitely no salvation!

 

No creation and no Creator

It is all a huge scam!

All this preaching about eternity

And a salvation plan.

 

 

Hope or Hoax?

The latter it must be

When even leading church clerics

Preach such heresy.

 

No wonder the world

Appears “going to the dogs”
For the church the world sees

Denies its very God.

 

This is an indictment

On leaders like the noted cleric

That propagate so-called sermons

That are without merit.

 

 

If the Bible’s first 11 chapters

Are to be considered as mythical,

There’s no hope beyond death

For all of earth’s people.

 

Then nothing is absolute

And a man’s truth is only his own

And this augurs well

Once he stays in his zone.

 

However, such is impossible

For social beings,

They must of necessity interact

As their survival deems.

 

So that all who believe the lie

As propagated by this cleric

Are on their way to hell

For heaven they will forfeit.

 

Anyone who comes to God

Must believe that He exists

And without faith in God’s Word

Eternal life he will miss.

 

For if creation is a tale

Then the whole Bible is a myth

And Christ must be denounced

As being the Father’s Gift.

 

There is no Word of God

And there is no Holy Spirit

And ultimately no eternal hope

As implied by this cleric.

  

What is he really doing then

As he stands in the pulpit

When much of what he preaches

He doesn’t even believe it.

 

Stewart Russell © February 24, 2022

 

Plain and Simple

 

 

What’s wrong with plain and simple?

Why is it so difficult to see?

I must confess especially these days

It is still working for me.

 

Then again, you know what they say,

As one gets older that’s all he knows,

With a mind that is becoming unreliable

That is the only way to go.

 

What is the purpose of the complex

That we cannot unravel,

That we spend wasted hours upon

As opposed to the plain and simple?

 

I am enamored with the plain and simple

Though it may appear unscholarly,

It helps to understand the complex

And helps us to see more clearly.

 

That ancient adage comes to my mind:

“We move from the known to the unknown”,

It’s the foundation for building knowledge

Like reaping where we have sown.

 

Some treat to it as though outdated

And demand a more complex approach,

No wonder we are struggling as we are

And becoming the butt of jokes.

 

Biting off more than we can chew

To impress with our scholarship,

We must at least appear to be ahead

That seems to be the current trick.

 

By the way, plain and simple is not costly

Certainly not as costly as the complex

For after trying and trying and trying again

Everybody just ends up vexed.

 

There’s one way of solving the complex

That is via the plain and simple,

For, unless the complex is broken down,

It will still present as unsolvable.

 

A whole is the sum of its parts

From Mathematics we have learned

So, how are we going to grasp that concept

If the plain and simple we spurn?

 

So plain and simple it is

And that is plain and simple for me,

The complex will always boggle my mind

Until plain and simple it comes to be.

 

What’s wrong with plain and simple?

Why is it so difficult to see?

I must confess especially these days

It is still working for me.

 

Stewart Russell © November 26, 2020

 

Lincoln Harris My Friend

 

 

Saved by grace, saved by grace,

Lincoln Harris was saved by grace,

Thus, he has gone to be with his Saviour

Having completed his earthly race.

 

Lincoln, Stephen and Beverley,

What’s common about these three?

They are friends of mine only recently deceased

And have had a huge influence on me.

 

  

Another trio comes to my mind

That includes Lincoln Harris again:

Lincoln, Mark and Daniel:

In electronics they made their name.

 

It is here I single out Lincoln

It is here Lincoln became my friend

And it is only after he migrated to Cayman

That our constant meeting would end.

 

 

In the vicinity where I taught

I frequented two repair shops:

One was Olliver Webster’s motor mechanics

And Lincoln et al operated at this spot.

 

They all became my friends

And catered to all my repair needs

But Lincoln and Olliver went beyond

And both became friends indeed.

 

There were many and long conversations

From politics to sports and of life,

And at those times we disagreed

It was always without strife.

 

Lincoln’s main area was football

And about this game he knew a lot,

He had even played for a local team

Which was not far from the top.

 

How many goals he scored I do not know

Or even if he scored at all,

What I do know is he gave it his best

And seldom below this would he fall.

 

Lincoln was committed to what he did

He did so by lip and walk

And I can categorically state,

His walk had matched his talk.

 

He was by no means a hypocrite

But he was who he appeared to be,

This to my mind was Lincoln’s hallmark

And it was never difficult to see.

 

 

One of the things that thrilled me

Was when he became a “born-again”,

Of course, we know that when Jesus comes in

There is an obvious change.

 

Such was the case with Lincoln

From all the reports I had received,

It appears he grew by leaps and bounds

And these reports I believe.

 

He even reached out more to people

And no doubt especially to the young,

And he did this with the backing of church

And this helped to make him strong.

 

I am still very grieved at his passing

As I am for my other two friends

But I am assured by our blessed Saviour

That death is not the end.

 

This for me is a great consolation,

It brings comfort to my soul

To know that my friend, Lincoln Harris,

Is forever within Christ’s fold.

 

For having said yes to the Saviour

He is now and forever secure

And I believe we have that assurance

That we will meet on the golden shore.

 

Thanks to the blessed Trinity

For having given to us Lincoln

And praise and glory to Almighty God

For our eventual heavenly welcome!

 

I thank God for the wife He gave him

She too has become my friend,

I convey to her and the family deepest sympathy

From my wife and family at this end.

 

Stewart Russell © January 22, 2022