Church Mafia

 

What have we come to?

I have to ask myself,

This Church Mafia business

Is not good for one’s health.

 

It has come out of Africa,

Nigeria to be exact,

Bigger than “fake it till you make it”

And this is a fact.

 

If you are a pastor

And are seeking to be established,

Just connect with a big one

Whose lifestyle you relish.

 

Abandon the Bible’s way

Or your church will not grow

And consult with the big boys

That already know.

 

They will give you tips

On how to grow your church,

You don’t need the Holy Spirit,

Just these successful experts.

 

I listened to this pastor

That was giving his testimony,

He was sharing some stuff he did

And it wasn’t funny.

 

To begin his church-growth

He invited some big guns

And his church was packed out

Every time they would come.

 

 

They were full of the Holy Spirit

Or so it would seem,

People just swooned and fell;

It was an action-packed scene.

 

He was given mixed portions

He was supposed shower with

And when he operated,

It was as though he had the gift.

 

A part of his ritual

Was to make a grand entrance

And this came after worshippers

Had everyone in a trance.

 

He would stride down the aisle

As in a triumphal entry

And the congregants would fall;

There was such ecstasy.

 

But he found out some things

As he got closer to the big guns,

Regarding Christian principles

They had little or none.

 

Though in conjugal relationships,

They still played the field

And invited him to join them

As part of the deal.

 

They were wheeling and dealing

All in the name of Christ

And the materialism they gleaned

Did more than suffice.

 

It was the good life they lived

Just like the mighty Mafia experience

And any who dare not pay up

Suffered their grievance.

 

 

These are apostles and prophets

Of the extraordinaire type

And many believe in their offerings

And love the emotional hype.

 

Church Mafia is well organized

Like the Lodge and the occult

And the power they exert

Is like that of the Mighty Hulk.

 

They know more about you

Than you know about yourself

And they know how to use such

To generate their wealth.

  

They utilize their informants

To obtain critical information

Which is relayed via WhatsApp

About those in the congregation.

 

They are great at pretending

That they knew nothing about you

Until informed by the Holy Spirit

And it therefore must be true.

 

Call to come out by name

From among thousands of folks

Must be nerve wracking and chilling

And certainly no joke.

 

Then to hear your life history

Recounted in accurate detail

Can only generate the kind of reverence

Reserved for the holy grail.

 

 

Do not be fooled, my friend,

These so-called prophets are not God

And their well-engineered programmes

Are deceptions of King Fraud.

 

They utilize the fear factor

To get you to buy in

And to assure you that outside of them

Your hopes are simply dim.

 

They promise you a breakthrough

But you must sow a huge seed

Which goes into their pockets

To support their greed.

 

We live in a global village

And nothing is now far away,

Something could start in Africa now

And reach here by today.

 

“It can’t happen ‘bout here!”

Could be the colossal blunder

That opens the proverbial doorway

For the Church Mafia to plunder.

  

And that is the wolf’s objective,

To ravish the sheep:

Especially those frisky little lambs

Or the sheep falling asleep.

 

Be on your guard, I caution,

There may be a case near you,

So, open your eyes of discernment

And if needed, change that view.

 

Stewart Russell © October 20, 2022

 

Who God Is

 

I wonder who God is

I wonder what He is like,

His Word says He’s a spirit

He’s neither black nor white.

 

Perhaps you wonder

Why I started out like this,

Stay the whole course

And the point you won’t miss.

 

No man has seen God

Check the first chapter of John

But Jesus has declared him

To everyone.

 

It appears we can know Him

If we search in His Word

So let’s go there now

And see what others have heard.

 

Romans 10:17

 

For faith comes by hearing

And hearing by the Word

So read on my friend

And you too will have heard.

 

2 Corinthians 5:19

 

God was in Christ

The Bible clearly shows

Reconciling the World to Himself:

A people that were His foes.

 

So to know who God is

Let us ask His Son

For he was with God

Before the world had begun.

 

 

St. John 1:1 and 14

 

In the beginning was God

And so was the Word

That dwelt among men-

Some consider this absurd.

  

I accept it by faith

That is faith in God’s Word

So that when I am in doubt

To the Word I’m referred.

 

He who has seen the Son

Has also seen the Father,

The disciples didn’t have to wait

To see Him in the hereafter.

 

St John 14:9

 

Remember the conversation

Christ had with Philip

He who sees the Son sees the Father

Though God is a spirit.

 

2 Corinthians 5:7

 

For we walk by faith

And not by sight,

Faith then becomes our eyes

Faith becomes our light.

 

 

St John 4:24

 

God is a spirit

We see Him through His Word,

His Holy Spirit enlightens us

And removes the blur.

 

1 John 1:5

 

God is Light

In him is no darkness at all,

By faith we follow His lead

He is faithful to the called.

 

Psalm 46:1

 

God is our present help

Of this the Psalmist was sure,

He is our refuge and strength

And God is so much more.

 

 

St Matthew 6:9

 

God is our Father

As Jesus taught in the prayer

And if you take the time to study it

You’ll see how much He cares.

 

John 3:16

 

God is our loving Saviour

That has saved us from our sin

It is He who sent us Jesus

And then drew us to him.

 

Psalm 40:17

 

God is our Deliverer

And an Almighty Deliverer is He,

When we put our trust in Him

This very fact we will see.

 

Zechariah 12:8

 

God is our Defender

Against our archenemy,

Satan wants to destroy us all

Hence his hostility.

 

 

Psalm 18:2

 

God is our fortress

Into whom we can run,

There we can find safe haven

Until the battle is done.

 

Psalm 33:20

 

God is our help

Right now and for all eternity,

One day Jesus will return

And with God we’ll ever be.

 

Psalm 34:8

 

Come and taste I adjure you

And see that God is good

Then you’ll know just who He is,

It’s time you really should.

 

 

St. John 10:30

 

Then you’ll really know

That God and Jesus are one

And together with the Holy Spirit

Your life He will transform.

 

1 John 4:8; Acts 20:28

 

For God is Love

And through His Son, Jesus Christ,

God shed His blood for us

And such was His loving sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2018

What’s That You Said?

 

 

Is it mathematical correct

To speak of the bigger half?

Because every time I hear it

I am inclined to laugh.

 

And how ‘fully aware’, I ask,

Can a person actually become?

‘Very fully aware’, I am told

Recently made a home run.

 

 

Sometimes I have to ask,

What’s that you said

Because the way it came over

Was clearly above my head.

 

You see, I am not as bright

As some of you believe

Since the qualifications you have

I am yet to receive.

 

I was listening to a comedian

Just here recently

And what he said on the show

Sounded incredulously.

 

The show was in two sessions

Separated by a break,

There was quite a bit of humour

But this one took the cake.

 

 

“This half,” the comic said,

“Will not be as long as the first half,”

And with that I must confess

I didn’t even laugh.

 

Whether he was serious or not

I really could not have told,

I knew he was a stand-up comic

And such is their natural mode.

 

I was not fully aware

If he understood what he said,

After all, he was no mathematician,

Just a comedian instead.

 

The one that really jumped me

Was ‘very fully aware’,

I had never heard it before

At school or anywhere.

 

Hence, how ‘fully aware’

Can any person be?

Can ‘fully aware’ be compared?

If you know please tell me.

 

Perhaps it can be

Given the person who said it,

‘Very fully aware’ that person said,

And they were extremely literate.

 

I used the word they

So, do not bother to guess,

Whether woman or man,

Please let it rest.

 

I would say, however,

It was an erudite politician

And that is why I decided

To give this one a mention.

 

Well, just those two for now

So, do have a good night

And all things being equal

Everything will be all right.

 

 

What’s that you said?

All things being equal?

Whenever will that equation be?

Well, that’s another puzzle.

 

Stewart Russell © January 24, 2023

 

Stranger than Fiction

 

 

His hair was quire ruffled

Yet he was skin-head bald

And though as short as they come

He was actually quite tall.

 

He was of light complexion

But of the darker hue,

And while he looked like me

He could have been you.

 

When I first met him

I was not around

Such that when I looked for him

He could not be found.

 

He wore very dark shades

That were actually spectacles

Yet he was blind as a bat

Just like ordinary people.

 

 

He ran with a noticeable limp

On his single peg leg

And though he was filthy rich

He preferred to beg.

 

He was very transparent

Given his bulky size

And though he was quite humble

He was still full of pride.

 

Yes, he was arrogantly proud

Yet the humblest of men

And though this was just recent

It was way back then.

 

He seldom left home

But frequented his district

And would entertain a lot

But nobody would visit.

 

He was stranger than fiction

And larger than life,

Though he had never been married

He still lived with his wife.

 

All this may seem incredible

But it was actually so

And even if I am lying

Tell me, how would you know?

 

 

I was the only eyewitness

To all of these non-facts

And I knew the man

Because I created his stats.

 

So, don’t accuse me of lying

I am a story writer

And likewise, the novels your read

Don’t make you any brighter.

 

He was stranger than fiction

And larger than life

The truth and what you believe

Need not cause you strife.

 

Outside of the Bible

All else is fiction,

Have a little fun sometimes

But don’t let it be an addiction.

 

If you must tell a lie

Make sure everyone knows,

It is what jokes are made of

That’s how they flow.

 

 

I was in the deep throes of sleep

When I wrote this poem…

There I go again

Now you know my problem.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020

 

 

With All Our Mind

 

With all our mind

Necessitates we have a change of heart

For how else from our carnal desires

Can we draw ourselves apart?

 

With soul and heart and mind:

This is the command

That is given to the born-again believer

Already living by God’s plan.

 

It is not for the unregenerate

Who are not yet saved

Neither for the goody-two-shoes

By the vain way they behave.

 

It is only the born again

That seeks to know God’s way,

This is the endeavor of a renewed mind

Over which God holds sway.

 

The heathen does not seek God

But wants the things God gives:

Like peace and joy and purpose

And the good life they live.

 

“The seeking after God

Is no business of the heathen

But the seeking after God

Is the business of the Christian.”

 

The preceding quotation

Is not a product of my mind

But I find it extremely appropriate

To reference at this time.

 

It defines the stark difference

Between the pagan and the Christian

It is a matter of the mind:

Like Christianity and religion.

 

Christ’s righteousness and man’s

Yes, another stark contrast,

One is counterfeit and superficial

The other is destined to last.

 

Romans 12:2

 

And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that ye may prove what is that good,

and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

The unregenerate mind

Can never be in tuned with God

But is turned in enmity against Him

And is manipulated by King Fraud.

 

The devil is doing his worse

To destroy and to deceive

And he targets and attack our mind

To challenge what we believe.

 

But the injunction is:

Love God with all of our mind,

This is to the born-again believer

Both now and for all of time.

 

Philippians 2:5

 

Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus

 

With this mind, seek after God

With this mind, Him adore,

With this mind, Him alone worship

And grow and go and glow!

 

Stewart Russell © January 17, 2022