What Faith Is

 

 

Faith doesn’t get you through the storm

No, it does not!

Faith does not make the fiery trial

Any less hot!

 

Faith does not heal a loved one,

As a matter of fact, faith can’t!

Faith cannot even restore

A shattered romance.

 

Faith does not pay the bills

When the money is lacking

And it certainly doesn’t keep a train on track

When the train is not tracking.

 

Faith does not bring back a precious saint

When the grim reaper calls

And it surely doesn’t fill the gas tank

When the motor engine stalls.

 

Why did that airliner full of missionaries

Suddenly crash to the ground?

And why when they needed God

He appeared not to be around?

 

 

Clearly faith didn’t turn things around

For that plane burrowed into the ground

And the screams and the prayers went unheard

All the time it was going down.

 

Faith didn’t bring the miracle

That for long years some had sought

Though with tear-stained face and bruised knees

They prayed and were not distraught.

 

They believed every time

And they kept on beseeching God

But the evidence showed, and starkly so,

They never received that for which they called.

 

Though they had faith

And they never lacked,

Their request was not forthcoming

But was like a letter sent back.

 

 

So, what is this faith

That so many elaborate about?

This faith, that pleases God,

And the born-again cannot live without?

 

It is the faith that speaks to:

Who is in the boat

When the storms of life assail us

And we struggle to stay afloat.

 

It is the faith that we hold to

 And increasingly convert to trust

When all around us is falling apart

Amidst the confusion and fuss.

 

It is the faith that resolutely says

I know the Saviour is with me

And with trust in him I will march forward

Irrespective of what circumstances be.

 

His strength for my weakness!

His perfection for my every flaw!

Faith in the Spirit of the Living Word

And not the letter of the Law.

 

Faith in his every admonition!

Faith to walk the blood-stained way!

Faith to crucify the flesh and the world

And to walk with Jesus till my dying day.

 

Faith to traverse the valley of death

With an assured and calm repose

And faith in the knowledge of being a conqueror

Over death, my final foe.

 

Faith to know that when I open my eyes

After they close in death

I will behold my precious Saviour, Jesus,

And my eternal rest.

 

I will behold his nailed pierced hands

And know for a surety,

It wasn’t just faith that brought me through

But trusting the Almighty.

 

Faith doesn’t get you through the storm

No, it does not!

Faith does not make the fiery trial

Any less hot!

 

 

Faith is knowing

Jesus is with you in your boat

And he will be always with you

Whether it sails or float.

 

Stewart Russell © October 25, 2022

 

Tact and Diplomacy?

 

 

 

Today I read the above

And it seemed like a misprint,

It sounded more to me

That hypocrisy was the intent.

 

A thin line between the two

I implied in another of my poems,

Re diplomacy and hypocrisy

It’s difficult to separate them.

 

Tact and hypocrisy!

That’s what invaded my mind:

Not to do with the church

But politics it is this time.

 

More tact and hypocrisy

Since the truth really hurts,

Such is rife in today’s politics

As well as in the church.

 

 

Tell them what they want to hear,

Tell them it’s the truth

And like moths to a lighted lamp

They will provide the proof.

 

Impression covers up the truth

As it titillates the mind

And given our hunger for rumour

It works almost every time.

 

Addictions are many and varied

And there’s one for every sucker

Such as with the right diplomacy

He will become a follower.

 

 

One of yard-fowl proportions

Even when there is no corn

So, my faithful brother and sister,

I think it’s best we be warned.

 

Tact is good and so too diplomacy

O yes, we would all agree

But be vigilant and militant

To stamp out hypocrisy.

 

And there is a lot around

Especially on the political scene

And when we think we’re improving

We are back where we have been.

 

Tact and diplomacy?

No, hypocrisy and diplomacy!

All and sundry are consummate diplomats

Practising political hypocrisy.

 

Stewart Russell © August 6, 2022

 

Consider This

 

 Consider this if you will

Not all Jews are Jews,

This sounds particularly contradictory

Now listen for the news.

 

For they are not all Israel

Which are of Israel

How should we take this:

Physical, natural or spiritual?

 

The truth of the matter is

All three are involved,

If we look carefully at the transition

This matter can be resolved.

 

Jesus once said to the Jews

You are of your father, the devil

And if he were not who he was

It would have been to his peril.

 

The Jews had challenged him

Regarding their father, Abraham

But Jesus seemed to be saying

That is no longer the plan.

 

Being natural has no rights

To that which belongs to the spiritual,

From the old covenant to the new

The spiritual regulates the natural.

 

This will probably be hard

For any naturalized Israelite Jew,

He sees himself as the chosen

And he must have his due.

 

His due to a promised land

As a son of Abraham,

How dare Jesus come and change

What was the original plan!

We see a little bit at a time

That is but a tiny dot

But all too often it swells in our eyes

And our dot becomes the lot.

 

A single piece of the puzzle

Becomes the whole puzzle

And such was the case with the Jews

As it related to Israel.

 

God has a glorious plan

It proceeds from the natural to the spiritual,

From Eden’s creation to a new creation

From the old Israel to the new Israel.

 

No longer the middle wall of partition

No longer the Gentile and the Jew,

Where once these were separate

They are now one not two.

 

Only one way to the kingdom

That is through Jesus Christ the Lord,

Only one way to salvation

That is by believing on his word.

Consider this, I urge one and all

It is not a replacement theology,

It is the working out of God’s glorious plan

Upon which hangs our destiny.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

No Receipts for Seats

 

 

“I normally sit there

But I guess you didn’t know,

First time here I guess

But someone could have told you so.”

 

“What are you trying to tell me?

I do not understand,

One sits in an empty pew

That is the usual plan.”

 

“I am a member here

In fact I have been for years

And right where you are sitting

I always sit down there.”

 

Everyone here knows that

And now you know it too,

Don’t try to ignore me

When I am speaking to you.”

 

 

“So I guess this is your seat,

Is that what you are trying to say?

And that you sit here all the time

And at this church that is the way?

 

Does each member own a seat?

I thought they were all free,

Even now looking at the seats

There’s not a name that I can see.

 

There’s no name on this pew

I can certainly tell you that,

I checked it when I came in

I can attest to that fact.”

 

“Well I will stand right here

Until you get up and move,

You are sitting in my seat

And I have nothing more to prove.”

 

Well he was sticking to his word

And the service soon began,

He intended standing right there

This was obviously the plan.

 

 

The seat was definitely his

And this visitor was trespassing,

This was where he always sat

And there’s no way he was moving.

 

The pastor approached the pulpit

And asked why he was standing,

He said he wanted the man to move

That’s all he was demanding.

 

“He could go somewhere else

There are many more seats,

I know you understand me pastor

So there will be no need to repeat.”

 

“In a minute I will,” the pastor said,

“If only you could prove,

Show me how that seat is yours

And I will make him move.

 

If you could produce for all of us

A genuine, authentic receipt,

I would make him move immediately

And you could have your seat.”

 

However, I know that’s impossible

And I do not need to repeat,

Since we have never held a sale

There are no receipts for seats.

 

 

So as we start this service

You have a choice of several pews,

Just remember my dear brother

That one doesn’t belong to you.”

 

Stewart Russell © February 2019

 

Spiritual Fast Food

 

 

Are you tired of the Logos?

And its rhema Word?

Join the spiritual fast food line

Never mind how absurd!

 

It’s where the crowds assemble

To get their deficient diet,

There are mouth-watering delights

And you don’t have to buy it.

 

You won’t be disappointed

And you can go again and again,

The preaching is hot

And worship sessions insane!

 

Nothing to convict you

And make you feel uneasy,

It doesn’t matter your lifestyle

Or even if you are lazy.

 

There’s food for everyone:

Spiritual fast food I mean,

And nothing much to take away-

There’s little to esteem.

 

That ancient document

That we call the Holy Bible

No longer provides exciting food

For this modern-day people.

 

Yes, here and there

You can still grab a few quotes

But nothing doctrinally sound

To cause you to choke.

 

 

“Man, the preacher was hot,

You should have heard him!

Fast food inspiration,

Full up to the brim.

 

As expressed by a good friend

Only recently deceased,

It is just spiritual corn-curls

That bring fake relief.

 

From many a pulpit

And from many a church

Spiritual fast food is served

Causing spiritual belly-hurt.

 

Appealing to felt-needs

But not reaching to the core

And causing the recipient

To yearn for more.

 

Ah, ah, you are so correct

It’s an addiction for sure

And that is why, you see,

They go back for more.

 

Caught in the fast-food trap,

The better diet having ignored

And now using a plaster

To treat their life sore.

 

  

From spiritual fast food

Emerges a spiritual deficiency

And the core morbidity result is

Spiritual diabetes.

 

Watch that fast-talking preacher

That skirts around the Word

Giving his spin on everything-

Even the absurd.

 

Look out for that liberal

For whom nothing is an essential,

Everything is negotiable-

Even established fundamentals.

 

Beware of the Bible twisters

That quote Scripture out of context

So that their required agendas

Can easily be met.

 

When spiritual fast-food

Becomes the only food you ingest

The sweet talker will use you

To build up his treasure chest.

 

Stewart Russell © October 6, 2022

Faith in Whom?

 

 

 

What we call faith in God

Is more often than not faith in man,

To impress the human authority

In all of life is our plan.

 

For the job and for the wife

We say we sought God’s plan

But the truth be told in all honesty

Such was always in our hand.

 

God did not choose our job

And neither did He choose our wife

And neither was He responsible

For most of our choices in life.

 

Hopefully they were wise choices

Base on the wisdom from above

Installed in each born-again believer

Because of the Father’s love.

 

Faith in human authority

Has been plagued with many a fall

And even in the case of Christians

Many accuse Almighty God.

 

We put faith in our national leaders

To fulfil the promises they made

But we blame God for our suffering

Whenever these leaders fail.

 

We cannot live out our existence

Without trust in a human source,

That is a certain everyday reality

We must acknowledge, of course.

 

However, we can use godly wisdom

As we choose whom we will trust

While understanding at the same time

The possibility of being crushed.

 

Faith in God: He’ll see us through,

Trust in man: it’s natural to do,

We ride on planes and busses and trains

We are very trusting: both me and you.

 

“I don’t trust a single living soul.”

That is a colossal untruth

And every waking and sleeping moment

Provides unmistakable proof.

 

The arm of flesh will fail us

As is demonstrated in the Word of God,

But the strong arm of God Almighty

Sustains us even when we fall.

 

It is never ever God that fails

But men in whom we must trust,

Let’s put this matter in right perspective

And save us a world of fuss.

 

Stewart Russell © September 8, 2022

 

The Future’s in the Bag

 

I walked into a supermarket

And I saw these words:

“The Future’s in the Bag”

And I thought, “How absurd!”

 

Ads can be so silly

I am sure you would agree

But often there is more there

Than we actually see.

 

Like this Ad for example:

“The Future’s in the Bag”

Not terribly encouraging I’d say,

It’s more like a gag.

 

It offers a promising future

But the bag is empty,

Nothing much in the future

Not a great expectancy!

 

It is a supermarket bag

In case you did not bring one

But you have to purchase it;

Such freeness is gone.

 

There are cheap ones to buy

But this one is much stronger

So, I guess, as you’d expect,

It would last much longer.

 

“The future is in this bag”

But that you must purchase too

For there is nothing in the bag

For neither me nor you.

 

What a future to anticipate

If it is already in a bag!

It is a rather peculiar AD, my friend,

Tell me, of what do they brag?

 

Stewart Russell © September 10, 2022

 

Unanswered Prayer

 

 

Someone said yes wait and no

Are God’s responses to our prayers

But tell me How can I know

To which one I should adhere?

 

Another person advanced

God’s responses are yes and no,

There is no wait in His replies

That is unbiblical say so.

 

“God answers every prayer.”

This is a position held by most

With some having a special line

Of which they daily boast.

 

Regarding unanswered prayer

There is never a case,

Nowhere in the biblical text

Can such ever be traced.

 

Yet we pray incessantly

About matters of great importance

And each time without an answer

But there is no admittance.

 

How do we know for sure

That God always answers prayer?

Can we attest to this?

Does it in His word appear?

 

Is answered prayer in proportion

To requests that are granted

Or whatever form the answer comes

Even if we are disappointed?

 

And if we do not hear from God

As is known to have occurred,

Would this not be unanswered prayer

Even if the answer is deferred?

 

What then is answered prayer?

Is it only when we get our request?

Is prayer only answered when we get relief

From some undesirable test?

 

It is definitely not as clear cut

As we had thought at first

Though the position we held on this

We once would never reverse.

God answers every prayer

That is my belief,

He points all to His Holy Word

In which we find relief.

 

We may not favour God’s answer

But His answer is always best

And once we follow the Spirit’s lead

We will conquer every test.

 

When prayer seems unanswered

As sometimes it will seem

We have an advocate with the Father:

We, meaning the redeemed.

 

Stewart Russell © December 19, 2021