No One Can Join the Church

 

 

No one can join the Church:

This just occurred to me,

This is no more so

Than a baby joins a family.

 

What input has a baby

In a decision regarding such?

Similarly, the born-again:

Now you tell me, how much?

 

Jesus said to Nicodemus

He must be born again

And to even understand the term

Nicodemus was in pain.

 

He saw the birth canal

And he revisited the same

For this was his only concept

Of being born again.

 

 

When one is born again,

He has no input in the process,

The Holy Spirit is the agent

At what the Spirit does best.

 

There is the matter of faith

The responder may exercise

But as to being born again

He cannot the least decide.

 

In the same way, understand,

No one can join the Church,

This might now be news to you

And in a way it may hurt.

 

I have been a church member

For a very long time

But it is only early this morning

This matter came to mind.

 

  

We set store by our church:

A local assembly I mean

And while this may be important

There is more to be gleaned.

 

And particularly so today

Regarding some assemblies

Where church membership is all

Particularly regarding money.

 

One’s money is required

If he must remain in good faith

And should he lack in this regard

He could lose his place.

 

By now you should have seen

The critical difference:

It’s the Church I am talking about

In the born-again sense.

 

Not a church or an assembly

Which one can easily join,

But the blood bought Church of Jesus Christ

To which one has to be joined.

 

 

The Lord does the joining:

Not a pastor or apostle

And without the work of the Spirit

This joining is impossible.

 

It’s a Spirit to spirit witness

Like the sperm that met the egg

When presto! I was conceived

Before my earthly leg.

 

No one can join the Church:

It is the Lord that does this act

And what better place to find this

Than in the book of Acts!

 

Acts 2:47

 

And the Lord added to the church

Daily such as should be saved.

 

Stewart Russell © May 29, 2021

 

Two Ants Reminiscing

 

 

Two dead ants lay a talking

The topic was their demise,

Asked one of the other,

“Can you remember how you died?”

 

“What are you asking me?”

He replied quite surprised,

“No ant ever knew how,”

To which the other smiled.

 

“Neither do they get a chance

To talk about it after.”

And this very cheeky remark

Evoked a bit of laughter.

 

“I still need an answer

To the question that I posed,

Like me, you are dead,

But certainly not comatose.

 

 

There is a difference, you know,

Between dead and comatose,

One is temporarily unconscious

The other thinks he knows.

 

To give you an example

I remembered how I died,

I will tell you in a minute

Whether or not you decide.”

 

“I do know, I assure you,

I most definitely remember,

I was crawling across a countertop

And but up on finger.

 

That finger I will never forget

Even long after I am dead,

The fact that that counter was clean

Still fills me deathly dread.

 

 

I could have been alive today

Were it not for that finger,

It was huge and imposing

I most definitely remember.

 

What about your case?

You promised you would say

So, tell me now before I leave,

I don’t have all day.

 

Another countertop adventure?

But then again, you are dead,

So, before we part again

Please tell me as you said.”

 

“Yours was a monstrous finger

Mine was a gigantic toe,

That toe was unerringly accurate

Just like the finger you know.

 

I was in a bathroom

Aimlessly crawling across the floor

When I confronted a big toe

And like you, I was no more.

 

Like you, I got nothing

As that floor was also clean.

I have come to the conclusion

That humans are very mean.”

 

 

Asked ant 1 of ant 2.

“What did you learn from this?”

“That from now I’ll be living outdoors,

Indoors is a serious risk.”

 

“I agree,” said ant 1,

Stay away from bathroom floors

 And from clean countertops as well,

It’s better to be dead outdoors.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

 

Ant-ology

 

 

I am into ant-ology

It’s nothing I enjoy

But having come face-to-face with ants,

I was instantly employed.

 

And I mean face to face

Since that is where they often are,

As the saying goes, “in your face”

Like drunkards in a bar.

 

They must be wind borne

For suddenly they are on your face,

In truth you do not see them

But their smell is easy to trace.

 

It’s an interesting smell

Like no other that I know,

Their smell is big, my friend,

But there is little else to show.

 

They are so very tiny

That they can be difficult to spot

Except it’s a white background,

Then you will see a moving dot.

 

I wonder, do they have a heart?

Do they breathe like we do?

Do they have an alimentary canal

And chew like me and you?

If the adults are so small

What is the size of their young?

Do they come with all the parts

Or only as they become strong?

 

I have stepped upon an ant

And it actually survived,

I was so mad that I crushed it

Then I knew for a fact it died.

 

As small as they are,

They can deliver a painful bite,

You may argue it’s a sting

And perhaps, you may be right.

 

It really doesn’t matter

Whether It’s a sting or bite,

It’s the pain that I experience

Morning, noon and night.

 

Tell me, do ants ever sleep?

And how can one tell?

Could they also have broken a leg

At any of the times they fell?

 

Or, can they fall at all,

Considering they are so light?

I guess gravity only affects them

If they’re below a certain height.

 

Well, so much for my ant-ology

It’s late so I must be gone,

If you want to know a little more

Apply for Ant-ology 101.

It must be no later than…

 Before or after the last bite,

Please also come with the evidence

The ant also has a right.

 

During the time I was typing

I was bitten no less than thrice,

You would think that by now they would know

That to bite is total sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

But A Step Away

 

 

East and West are but a step away

So too are North and South,

Somewhat like those two on your face

Meaning your nose and mouth.

 

The easiest change that one can make

Requires one simple action,

Just an about turn is all it would take

To initially change one’s direction.

 

Yes, but a step away to vital change

As in going from death to life,

Somewhat like resolving a pending conflict

By mitigating its strife.

 

I mean like adding water to the fire

And not fighting fire with fire,

A resolute decision just to turn away

To make that situation less dire.

 

But a step between right and wrong

Just a change in one’s direction,

The initial resoluteness in a sinner’s life

In accepting the offer of salvation.

But a step away is that vital change

That the Holy Spirit empowers,

Life and death are indeed two opposites

But life can be yours this hour.

 

A change in direction is but a single step

But one must first turn around,

Somewhat like bus stops on opposite sides

That indicate into or out of town.

 

The “come unto me” that Jesus says

Suggests one is walking away

And any direction other than towards Christ

Means that one has gone astray.

 

But a step away betwixt life and death

A step between heaven and hell,

The moment that Eve had eaten of the fruit

Is the same moment she fell.

 

One might say she could have spat it out

But she fell in love with its taste,

And no doubt Adam was completely taken

By the delightful look on her face.

One step and they were out of Eden

And so too the human race

But one colossal step made by Jesus Christ

Made us beneficiaries of God’s grace.

 

The grace of God that brought salvation

On Calvary, Christ paid our debt,

But a step away is the life everlasting

To all who would take that step.

 

Stewart Russell © November 17, 2020

 

It’s A Matter of Mind

 

 

Mind before matter

Or matter before mind,

What does it really matter?

Asked a distorted mind.

 

After all, we are here

And that’s all that matters,

Down with the rhetoric

And the empty chatter!

 

If the matter on the mind

Were as simple as that,

We would be like the flies

Or the mosquitoes we zap.

 

But clearly, we are not

Since we are able to think,

Though like mosquitoes and flies

Some dare to sink.

 

 

There is an oft made expression

“It’s mind over matter”

Yet when we think of our origin

It is unscientific chatter.

 

We mindlessly declare

A Big Bang as first cause,

That is matter over mind

And matter gets the applause.

 

Matter begot matter

Through a Big Bang!

And upon this lack of science

Most of the world hangs.

 

Let’s examine this

And see where it leads,

Don’t use your mind first

Start with matter, please!

 

Here we have matter

Without any mind

But it is difficult to push on

No mind to incline.

 

No progressive thought

In fact, no thought at all,

Hence, mind first, I applaud

And matter first, I appall

 

What is interesting is…

That the mind thinks

And if it doesn’t act on matter

Then matter stinks.

 

No, it’s not an expletive

I simply mean decay,

That’s what happens to matter

If the mind has no say.

 

 

The laws of thermodynamics:

The law of entropy:

Without the mind

There is just depravity.

 

Any matter left on its own

Will deteriorate over time,

However, that deterioration slows

When acted on by the mind.

 

God is the preserver

Of all we see and know,

His is the supreme mind

That the entire universe shows.

 

This may be difficult

To conceptualize in the mind

But it is all that makes sense

Re the origin of matter, space and time.

 

Mind first then matter

Not matter then mind,

God is the creator of matter

And even space and time.

 

Science supports this

God is the first cause,

It’s mind before matter

God gets my applause!

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

Learning and Living

 

 

 

“Learn as if to live forever

Live as if to die today.”

Living and learning go hand in glove

Make life count in every way.

 

Lines 1&2 are not my own

And so, I take no credit

But I am sure you will agree

In them there is much merit.

 

I am indebted to a friend

For this impactful quote

And however long I have to live

I will forever take note.

 

Life’s lessons are essential

For a meaningful and productive life,

Not only when all is going well

But also amidst life’s strife.

 

Learn as long as you live

And live by what you learn,

Learning will change your behavior

Once the lessons are not spurned.

 

Live as if today’s your last

Do all the good you can,

And as you work concerning yourself

Include another in your plan.

 

Learn as if to live forever

This certainly needs repeating,

Be steadfast in this endeavour

To you I am appealing.

 

If life is the hand that is given

Then learning is the glove,

Fit that glove to the hand that’s given

And above all, learn to love.

 

Stewart Russell © October 25, 2020

 

Undeniable Evidence

 

 

We hear the argument, over and repeatedly

Jesus is not God,

Please tell me, if he is not

Then, is he a fraud?

 

“I am the resurrection and life,” he says,

Tell me, was he deluded?

Who else but God could make such a claim?

None else, I have long concluded.

 

He healed a paralytic on the Sabbath day

And forgave people of their sin,

He alluded to the fact that he was God

And the Jews wanted to stone him.

 

Was he a lunatic? 

Was he a liar?

Was he simply out of his mind?

Or, just a misguided conspirator?

 

Be careful how you speak up

For if your answer is “Yes”,

You are the one misguided

To that God’s Word will attest.

 

God, Himself, bore witness

That Jesus was His Son,

Surely at Jesus’ baptism

And at his transfiguration.

 

 

“I and my Father are one”

You can interpret that how you feel,

But it makes sense as Jesus declared it

And to me, that’s how it appeals.

 

On this remarkable day

When we celebrate his resurrection,

Let us take note again

That his rising seals our redemption.

 

What if Jesus had died

And he had not also arisen,

Tell me, what would have been the chance

Of our sin being forgiven?

 

He would have been no different

From the great men of the past

Who, after all that they had accomplished,

Still passed away at last.

But Jesus, who declared

That he would rise from the dead,

Demonstrated the same

When he left his grave clothes all neatly spread.

 

Risen indeed!  As only God could have done,

Risen indeed!  After earth’s course he had run,

Risen indeed!  Is God’s beloved Son,

Risen indeed!  In this heart he has won.

 

Undeniable evidence!

That Jesus is God,

Undeniable evidence!

That Jesus is no fraud,

Undeniable evidence!

That will never fall,

Undeniable evidence!

Go!  Spread it abroad.

 

Stewart Russell © April 2020