These Times

 

 

 

No need to understand the times

As the children of Issachar did

But to propagate the glorious Gospel

That was from them hid.

 

For the Gospel as we know it

Was not revealed to them

Even though they were a part of it

From way back then.

 

They were aware, however,

Regarding the changing of the guard

That David would replace Saul

And Saul would take this hard.

 

It should not surprise us

How this matter was processed

But rather, come to the conclusion

That God’s way is always best.

 

Out of the tribe of Judah

Shiloh the Messiah would come,

Judah was neither Jacob’s oldest

Nor his favourite son.

 

He wasn’t even the greatest

Given the huge missteps he made

But God does not choose anyone

Based on his passing grade.

 

I know that Messiah is coming

Said the lady at the well,

Jesus confirmed that indeed he was

As later she was heard to tell.

 

No need to understand the times

As the children of Issachar did

But to propagate the glorious Gospel

Across this global grid.

 

To every nook and cranny

From every mountain to every vale

Until every human being alive

Gets to hear that God is real.

 

It is not for us to know

When Messiah will come again

But to make known to all peoples

The Gospel simple and plain.

 

For his return is more certain

That any historic fact

And he is coming for the born-again,

It’s time we all know that.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2, 2022

 

Worried and Anxious?

 

Do you ever get worried?

Or, are you “too blessed to be stressed”?

Do you have anxious moments?

Or, nothing ever disturbs your rest?

 

“Nothing ever bothers me,” you say

But how about when something comes along?

We need not worry about nothing

But something is another song.

 

Some Christians never worry

Or, so they often say,

They put everything in God’s hand

And allow Him to have His way.

 

If you are one of these

Then you must be highly favoured,

Do share your strategy with me

So that I can ease my labour.

 

I have been working assiduously

To reach the stage that you are at

But no matter how hard I try

I get caught in the anxiety trap.

 

I am aware of the admonition

That is given in God’s Holy Word

But I still sometimes worry

As though I have never heard.

 

Does anyone ever reach that stage

Where from worry he’s completely free

Or, is anxiety a part of our nature

Innately built in to you and me?

I recall the Psalmist David

Speaking to this particular care

When in Psalm 56 and verse 3

He says at what time I have fear.

 

Of course he didn’t just stop there

But added, “I will trust in Thee.”

So the point I am trying to make

Is at least he had some worry.

 

It didn’t get the better of him

For he knew to whom he could turn

And did exactly that in his time of fear

Having from his experiences learned.

 

So it would appear to me

There are times when we do feel stressed,

We don’t have to pretend about it

But remember that God knows best.

 

It is not that He is the cause

Why we cannot rest as we should

But what men may mean to us for evil

God is able to work for our good.

 

As believers we are not stressed free

Or completely immune to worry

But like the Psalmist, trusting in God

Is how we manage our anxiety.

 

So be straight up with all who ask

Concerning our your troubled mind,

When you are bothered in your spirit

The more towards God incline.

 

Treat your worry like temptation

And put it in God’s dear hand,

Do not yield to its embrace

But like the faithful take a stand.

 

Too blessed to be stressed? Not really

But too fortified to stay under,

For God will raise me up

And upon that fact I shall ponder.

 

 

Greater is He that is in us

Than all the armies of the world,

And though worry and stress may attack us

We are fortified by God’s word.

 

So take heart when these foes assail you,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

Lay hold on His amazing grace

And on His promise never to depart.

 

Stewart Russell © 2017

 

Madame Sat-her-day

 

 

Let me introduce you

To Madame Sat-her-day,

Just like you say the day in the week

Say it the very same way.

 

A very simple lady was she

In a straightforward way,

Five days she laboured and work

Did Madame Sat-her-day.

 

This was her Sabbath

Though she was not SDA

But she made it her covenant

Did Madame Sat-her-day.

 

She was Adventist, you see,

She believed in the Advents:

The first in a Bethlehem manger

And the second, a future event.

 

Her family and her neighbours

Knew her quite well

And if they forgot her chosen day

Soon they’d be able to tell.

 

For once by her window she sat

All knew it was Saturday

All others could work, but not she,

Was what you’d hear her say.

 

So, for all you housewives

Who’ve been working all week

Do like Madame Sat-her-day

And give yourselves a treat.

 

Get your husband’s permission

To take off the apron

And operate like Madame Sat-her-day

In a similar fashion.

 

Five days to labour

And to do everybody’s work

But on the sixth day, your Sabbath,

It’s time to become inert.

 

Like Madame Sat-her-day

Just one day a week

And you should start from today

Even as I speak.

 

 

Here’s a little footnote

That I really should not miss,

Though Saturday is her rest day

Sunday is still on her list.

 

That is for God especially

As in the traditional way

But make no mistake about day #6:

That’s for Madame Sat-her-day.

 

Wifey, don’t take me seriously,

Your name is Every-day,

That’s unlike Madame Sat-her-day;

She can stick to her way.

 

Stewart Russell © June 25, 2022

 

Apostate Judaism

 

 

The first enemy of the Church

Was not the power at Rome

But the first enemy of the Church

Were the apostate Jews at home.

 

They were no less prodigals

Than the children that roamed

For Jesus noted he was rejected

When he came to his own.

 

Remember Herod was a Jew

But tried to kill the Christ child,

That Jesus he did not recognized

Cannot not be denied.

 

Even his biological family

Who regarded him as being insane

Had little to do with him

And from his teaching refrain.

 

Except for that in Bethany

There was nowhere to call home

Thanks to Mary, Martha and Lazarus

Who did their best to atone.

 

 

The Christ of the Church

Was hated by apostate Jews

And even to this very day

His Church, they still abuse.

 

From early in the Old Testament

They asked Samuel for a king,

They had rejected God

And with Christ, the same thing.

 

Jesus came to his own

And his own received him not,

That is why they can be described

As an apostate lot.

 

This reference is to the Jews;

They crucified the Christ

And via the Roman authority

He became sin’s sacrifice.

 

This was the avenue God used:

For His Son to shed his blood

For the remission of the sins everywhere:

Thus, out of man’s evil came good.

 

 

The Jews meant it for evil

But God meant it for good

For there can be no remission of sins

Without the shedding of blood.

 

But apostate Judaism continued

To target the body of Christ

With the Romans following on after

As Christians were sacrificed.

 

And even up to this day

Apostate Judaism is rife

As many Jews do not believe

In Jesus as the giver of life.

 

Some believe in a special time

When Jews will be saved in a day

But on that matter, I can only say,

Jesus is the only way.

 

Until one comes to that realization

For him there is no hope

For the Gentile as well as the Jew

This is the critical note.

 

Stewart Russell © May 16, 2021

 

Anything for An Experience

 

 

What are churches coming to?

So much feelings, fiction and false fire,

And it’s going from bad to worse

They are even putting out for hire.

 

They invite special guest evangelists

Especially from over in away

To come and do miracle crusades

For astronomical pay.

 

A diluted Gospel message

With little said about sin,

An overdose of motivational talk

Down on substance and up on din.

 

A personal prophecy for money

The more the bigger the request,

And as though that were not enough

A money seed to reap a harvest.

 

A sinner’s prayer that says little

No contriteness or repentance,

But loaded with political correctness

Nothing about the Saviour sent.

 

Anything for an experience

And experiences are in great supply,

Following are some examples

I am sure you can identify.

 

Drunkenness in a spirit

Please notice my lower case ‘s’,

It couldn’t be the Holy Spirit

Unless I miss my guess.

 

Eyes red and bloodshot

Stumbling, reeling and rocking,

And these are the types of churches

To which many people are flocking.

 

 

Holy laughter is another

This is for the special class,

They laugh till they cry and roll on the ground

You’d think they had breathed laughing gas.

 

Then there are the prayer requests:

The requests plus the money,

Money extracted, envelopes discarded,

I’d laugh but it isn’t funny.

 

How can I forget

The learning to speak in tongues?

And whenever that course is completed

They still keep getting it wrong.

 

Almost anything is allowed

After all, it is a changing world,

Not saved from your sin but saved in

At one time that was unheard.

 

Experience life like before

There is nothing you have to give up,

In the church and in the world

There is nothing like double luck.

 

In the church is a mixed multitude

Not all in there are possessors,

Some are really in for the experiential ride

These are called professors.

 

Drunk in some spirit, they may be

But void of the Spirit’s possession,

Yet, they are clever to con you and me

After all, that is their profession.

 

 

The Spirit uses our consciousness

We respond better when we are aware,

Surely not when we are sleeping of slain

To the believer this should be clear.

 

Be careful with experiences

Faith is not about feeling,

Rather, it is based on believing God’s Word

Not on one’s wheeling and dealing.

 

Anything for an experience

Plays into the devil’s hands,

If you have knowledge you’re born again

This is not God’s plan.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

Ayeee and Ouch

 

 

“Ouch!” and “Ayeee!”

We know them so well

And from many practical experiences

Their stories we can tell.

 

Like a near miss I saw

When two cars almost hit,

“Ayeee!” was my immediate expression,

Bajan drivers really sick.

 

Or the fearful victim

That’s been selected for a blood test

That deem such needles

As a nuisance or pest.

 

A different “Ayeee!”

But Ayeee!” nevertheless

Thus, turning a rather simple exercise

Into a colossal risk.

 

Or watching a boxing match

It is “Ayeee!” for every hit

And especially if it is the favourite,

You don’t want him to quit. 

  

Ayeee! Ayeee! Ayeee! Ayeee!

Licks like peas!

Different kind of “ayeee”, though,

If bitten by fleas.

 

There’s an “Ayeee” of excitement

And there’s an Ayeee of pain,

The former you’d want to repeat

But the latter, never again.

 

And then there’s “Ouch!”

Another interesting sound,

And if you ever mix up these two

Then you are a clown.

 

 

“Ouch!” for a spill:

It could be coffee or milk,

Or “Ouch!” when the knife slips-

Thank God not up to the hilt.

 

Stepping on the hot cement

With no shoes on your feet,

“Ouch!” is the expected cry

And a hasty retreat.

 

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

For the daring one that persists,

And if it is blistering hot

A layer of the feet you might miss.

 

There is also an “Ouch!”

For the unexpected mistake,

“What a fool I am!

I am not thinking here of late.”

 

“Ayeee!” and “Ouch!”

Similar in some ways but not in all,

“Ouch!” from a slip

But “Ayeee!” with a fall.

 

“Ouch!” is usually short

While “Ayeee!” tends to be long,

However, when it comes to pain

Expect both to be around.

 

Stewart Russell © October 22, 2020

 

Before the Beginning

 

 

Before the beginning

There was not nothing

And since God cannot not be

There had to be a being.

 

Without a being

There can be no beginning

And without a beginning

There is nothing.

 

The fact there is something

Speaks to a beginning

And so, before the beginning

There has to be a being.

 

This is not pre-ramble

Or wandering willy-nilly,

This is trying to grasp the idea

Of an eternity.

 

Most scientists will agree

The Universe came to be,

That it had to have a beginning

They can clearly see.

 

It was not its own cause

Such would be an impossibility,

It would have to have a cause

That did not come to be.

 

Everything that came to be

Had to have a beginning

Thus, indicative of the reality

Of an eternal being.

 

One before the beginning

Self-existent and uncaused,

Independent and transcendent

Before the beginning, God…

 

 

God in the beginning

Yet before the beginning

Transcending the beginning

Creating the beginning.

 

First cause without a cause

The Creator of it all,

In and before the beginning

The Creator God.

 

Given all of time

Since the Genesis creation

Evolution dissipates with a big bang

And is its own cremation.

 

Before the beginning,

God!

And in the beginning,

First Cause!

 

Stewart Russell © December 8, 2021

 

Aw Shucks!

 

I wanted to tell you something

But I cannot remember what,

I guess I have reached that stage

At which one forgets a lot.

 

It shows up in my conversations

Especially on the phone

And it happens to most of my friends

So, in this I am not alone.

 

“What were we talking about?”

This a question I often ask

And believe me, however hard I try,

To remember is a task.

 

 

I leave home to run an errand,

Sometimes two or maybe three

And I end up driving around the place

As though I was on a spree.

 

Head confused and mixed-up

And traversing the wrong road

I begin to feel the stress

Like I am carrying a great load.

 

Sometimes when I settle on a plan

And I am already on my way

I would get a cellphone call

And my day goes into disarray.

 

 

Whether it is the wife

Or another family member,

It’s one more favour added to the list

That I must remember to render.

 

Words have begun to fail me

And I mean the simplest of words,

 I know what it is I want to say

But even this sounds absurd.

 

It is on the tip of my tongue

But I just can’t get it out

And often the person on the line

Doesn’t know what it is all about.

 

I am now forgetting names too:

“Don’t tell me; I know your name.”

But eventually, I have to give that up

And ask the person’s name again.

 

 

Not to mention misplacing things:

I do that quite a lot,

Although I try to put a plan in place

It’s often a useless prop.

 

You may smile and laugh

Because you are nowhere there yet,

But when your time comes, if it does,

I hope you don’t get vex.

 

It is the vagaries of old age

With its dementia and senility,

You just have to come to grips with it

And forget how it used to be.

 

 

Aw shucks! I forgot!

I had something more to say…

But never you mind, I am through,

Perhaps we can try another day.

 

Stewart Russell © August 20, 2020