A Poetic Acrostic of CARMETA Williams

 

 

 

She was a CARING person

Regarding family and friends

And reached out to others in need

Almost right up to the end.

 

AFFECTIONATE she was

In so many ways

And her affection was demonstrated

Throughout her years.

 

There were rough times

But her RESILIENCE always shone through

Even in her illness,

Noted by more than a few.

 

She was MINDFUL of people

Regardless of their status

And in so many ways reflected

The love of Jesus.

 

She was ENDEARING to all

In her sphere, especially church

And I have no doubt, whatsoever,

That her passing truly hurts.

 

TRUSTWORTHY for sure

There is not one that can deny,

So, to say anything different

Would be an obvious lie. 

 

 

She was ATTENTIVE to detail

In her dress and cuisine,

These seven distinguishing traits in CARMETA

Were very readily seen.

 

Stewart Russell © December 7, 2020

 

 

Back out of the Cul-de-sac

 

 

Going down a road that leads nowhere?

Back out of the cul-de-sac!

Persisting in spite of what you know?

It’s time to “reverse right back”.

 

How oft in life we pursue dead-ends?

And such with a desperate hope

Only to find as we already knew

What all the signs already spoke.

 

It’s like a motorist journeying along

Through an area he does not know,

He is so enthralled he ignores the signs

Later to hear “I told you so.”

 

“I thought it would be different at least for me,”

Then comes his plaintive plea,

Rather than learn from another’s experience

He wanted himself to see.

 

Back out of the cul-de-sac

Do not ignore the signs,

Why waste your energy and effort

Not to mention your time?

 

More often than not the signs are clear

But our adventurous nature kicks in,

“If it’s wrong I don’t want to be right,”

Such are the allurements of sin.

 

 

Notice I said, “Reverse right back”,

For there’s not even room to turn around,

It makes no sense to drive in too far,

To do such you would only be a clown.

 

The Bible warns about the cul-de-sacs

That we so often encounter in life,

These are the snares that Satan sets

To cause us much anxiety and strife.

 

Do not forget that he is out to destroy

Our prospects here and in the hereafter

And for every cul-de-sac sign we ignore

He enjoys a belly full of laughter.

 

Back out of the cul-de-sac

It is time to redeem the time,

Why give yourself such trouble

When you have seen the cul-de-sac sign?

 

 

Reversing can give you a stiff neck

It can be quite a strain

And the longer that you have to reverse

The more intense that pain.

 

So here’s my admonition to you and to me

Do not ignore a cul-de-sac sign

And if you have it’s time to back up

Before you come to its end or run out of time.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2018

 

Not Imaginary It’s Real

 

The fight is on and the battle strong

One side or another, to one you belong

No sitting on the fence until you decide

You are God’s or Satan’s with one you abide

 

He that believes not is already condemned

This vital fact one needs to comprehend

Trust in God or on the devil depend

Be straight, be clean, don’t you dare pretend

 

There is no middle road I must repeat

Just a broad highway and the narrow street

Few there be that walk that narrow road

But on the broad many make hell their goal

 

Nothing political about the choice we make

It is not choose one party the other forsake

It is a choice between heaven and a fiery lake

Not a five-year duration but an eternal stake

 

 

It’s a choice to be made during this sojourn

For having exited this life there is no return

To change one’s mind concerning eternity

Right here is where we determine our destiny

 

I feel constrained to write poems of this type

Believe me this is not some emotional hype

A lot is at stake as we view a sinner’s plight

At this time when darkness passes for light

 

Fewer absolutes as the lines become blurred

And less store being placed in God’s Holy Word

More support for the evolutionists’ worldview

And more lies displacing that which is true

 

Be assured that God is not asleep; He sees all

Neither is His ear deaf to those who call

Evil may appear to triumph for a while

But God will expose all of Satan’s guile

 

What’s hidden in the cellar will come to light

God’s view is not hampered by day or night

He knows the human heart and every thought

He sees what we seek even before it is sought

 

All is made plain before God’s very eyes

Nothing reaches Him as a shock or surprise

It matters not how the devil plans his disguise

God is the Almighty One; He’s the God only wise

 

Some declare that many roads lead to Him

Perhaps citing this to cover up their sin

Regarding agendas that are personal to them

They deem their lifestyle as being no problem

 

But they are so wrong as the Bible explains

Neither here nor over there will be their gain

Thus, this poem’s title: Not Imaginary, It’s Real

God planned His course and He never fails.

 

Stewart Russell © June 23, 2022

 

None Is Squeaky Clean

 

In every life there’s a little dirt

A little scum and grease,

And often it turns up to haunt us

And to rob us of our peace.

 

None of us is squeaky clean

There’s some dirt in every past

And to ever get the rid of it,

Is an impossible task.

 

None can rewrite his history,

What is written is written

But God is faithful to all that asked

And our sins can be forgiven.

 

Our sins He nailed to the cross

When His Son was crucified,

Our past we can put behind us

We no longer have to hide.

 

 

For all have sinned, the Bible says,

And fallen short of God’s glory

But God through Jesus made a way

To change our sin-stricken story.

 

The wages of sin is death

But someone paid that debt for us

And just in case you didn’t know,

That someone is Jesus.

 

He calls the whosoever to himself

It matters not what he has done,

He will in no wise cast him off

There’s no more need to run.

 

One cannot rewrite his past

But it need not be his blight,

Jesus can change the vilest sinner

If he would come to the light.

 

That light is Jesus!

Jesus is the light of the world,

There is life eternal in Jesus Christ

He is the living Word.

 

 

Come to him this moment

Especially if you hear his voice,

Come to him; don’t turn away,

There is no better choice.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020

 

Discerning the Real

 

I know the title is strange

But this is where we are today,

The real is not easily distinguished

When feelings get in the way.

 

A feeling is only as real

As the feeling you are feeling

When you are feeling

The feeling you are feeling.

 

This is sometimes more

That what some people can take

And as a result

They rush off to tempt fate.

 

One’s feeling and reality

Are in fact, two different things,

And not seeing the difference

Can bring much suffering.

 

What if I feel I am a bird

Does that make me one?

Try putting that to the acid test

And for sure you’d be gone.

 

 

What if you are a male

But are feeling a female inside

Wouldn’t it make sense to get help

Rather than the feeling imbibed?

 

Feeling might be your reality

But if it is not real

Even your superhero attempts

Are likely to fail.

 

Feelings,

Nothing more than feelings

Is ample enough ammunition

To send a person reeling.

 

Fake it till you make it

Does not work with one’s gender,

You are what the equipment says

Even though a pretender.

 

The equipment qualifies you

Regardless of how you may feel,

And that penis says boy or man

And this is a done deal.

 

No surgical procedures

Will change your cell structure,

Your DNA is your birth stamp;

It’s your real picture.

 

Feeling is not a fact

But one’s DNA is, my friend,

And what it said at the beginning

It will say at your end.

 

Absolutely poor is the argument

That “feelings” is who we are

For such is more like the moon

Claiming to be a star.

 

It has no light of its own

And thus, must depend on the sun

And if the sun refuses to shine

Alas, the moon has none.

 

To conceive a man can conceive

Is to conceive a colossal lie

For such will only be possible

When the eagle births a fly.

 

All of this so-called science

That we say that we are following

Is nothing more than a cheap thrill

For all who are swallowing.

 

A feeling is just a feeling,

A feeling is never a fact

Other than the fact you are feeling

And a feeling is just that.

 

If you feel like you are a female

But trapped in a male body,

Your equipment proves you wrong

Unless you are a dummy.

 

 

If your genitalia say female

But you are otherwise inclined,

Then you are not being wise at all

If you follow right behind.

 

If your feelings get ahead

Please stand back and watch,

It is easier to live with your feelings

Than to be what you are not.

 

One race and two genders only

Are all there will ever be,

In His own image God created man

And this is the reality.

 

Having a woman’s equipment

Cannot a real man make,

The most you’ll get for your trouble

Will be a real-life fake.

 

 

And if an appendage is obvious

You will never be a female,

Notwithstanding the millions spent

To create your fairy tale.

 

Now let the Word of God speak

As only God’s Word can,

A man can never ever be a woman

Or can a woman be a man.

 

Genesis 1:27; 5:2

 

God Created man in His own image,

In the image of God created He him;

Male and female created He them

And bless them and call their name Adam

In the day when they were created.

 

Matthew 19:4

 

And he answered and said unto them,

Have ye not read,

That he which made them at the beginning

Made them male and female.

 

Romans 3:4

 

Let God be true

But every man a liar!

 

Remember, my erudite friend,

An opinion is not a fact,

Neither is your feeling the reality

Because you say it is that.

 

Stewart Russell © November 24, 2022

 

If the Shoe Fits

 

 

Don’t you dare lecture me

About what I am going through

Until you have walked that mile

In my pair of shoes.

 

Don’t you miniscule my trials

Accusing me of a lack of gumption

When you don’t have a clue

Re my underlying problem.

 

And even if you’ve been there

It still doesn’t give you the right

To ridicule me in my affliction

And blame me for my plight.

 

And, what If I am to blame

Must I become a punching bag

For all them that are better off

And have the rights to brag?

 

 

Often, we stand in judgment

Of another experiencing hardship

And all we offer is criticism

But assistance? Not a bit!

 

And sometimes if we do help

We do so with flaunted pride

Robbing that one of his dignity

And wishing he could hide.

 

The one thing he had remaining;

We take that away too,

Now bereft of pride and dignity

He is also without shoes.

 

Until you have walked that mile

In the “pair of shoes” I wear

Don’t you dare lecture to me

As a means to show you care.

It has even gotten worse

Now that I’ve no shoes to wear,

Try that for a “no shoes fit”

And prove to me you care.

 

I know I sound disgruntle

But your counsel is rather vain,

Don’t you dare lecture me,

Please wheel and come again!

 

Stewart Russell © July 22, 2022

 

Which Is Your Interpretive Lens?

 

 

Everyone has an eschatology

Be it biblical or not,

We regularly think of the end times

And what will be our final lot.

 

Some believe not in heaven or hell

And some wish that there were only one

And that they would awake up there

On that resurrection morn.

 

Now is as good a time as any

To state that belief does not change fact

And that our feelings, desires and wishes

Often lead us into traps.

 

Hence, a question worth considering

Is, what is your eschatology,

This is a critical question indeed

Pertaining to one’s destiny.

 

 

The Bible speaks of the end times

And of the return of Jesus Christ,

Thus, an eschatology outside of the Bible

Most definitely will not suffice.

 

The books of Daniel and Revelation

Speak to this eventuality

However, these are not the only books

That feature eschatology.

 

One’s eschatological stance

Is dependent on one’s interpretive lens,

There are four distinctive positions

Though with some common trends.

 

 

 

There are the Futurist and the Preterist

The Historicist and the Idealist

But the overarching narrative is the same

Regarding the four on this list.

 

In the book of Revelation especially

There is a distinctive storyline

Beginning with letters to seven churches

And concluding with the end of time.

 

These four basic eschatological positions

In some way relate to this event line

And through their interpretive lenses

They determine the prophetic time.

 

From the letters to the Lamb’s Throne

Then the seals, the trumpets and the bowls

These three comprise the tribulation

And then the millennium unfolds.

The Futurist may be pre-tribulation,

Mid-tribulation or even post-tribulation,

Whichever of these positions he holds

His belief is premillennialism.

 

For him the tribulation is yet to be

As well as the promised millennium,

He stands at the beginning of Revelation

When none of these has begun.

 

The preterist is quite the opposite

And stands at the ending of Revelation,

The great tribulation has already passed

And this is currently the millennium.

 

 

The tribulation for him was in AD 70

When the Jewish temple was destroyed,

This signaled the end of the Old Covenant

And the beginning of New Covenant joy.

 

He is noticeably postmillennial

And sees the world as getting better

Quite unlike the premillennial futurist

That believes it will get even darker.

 

Well what about the Idealist?

What was the stance he took?

Well he is considered as amillennialism

The millennium is different in his book.

 

 

The millennium is the church age

This is the period the devil is bound

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ

Now to everyone redounds.

  

For him the events are repeated

As humans traverse the annals of time

The book of Revelation is a repeated pattern

Thus, not one, but many story lines.

 

The historicist is precisely that

It is an overview of the entire church age

And they can hold a different position

At a specific given stage.

 

 

Like a middle of the road position

While at times siding with the other three:

Amillennialism, premillennialism or even post-

Dependent on actual history.

 

Not as definitive and as precise

As each of the other three

But still holding a prominent position

As it relates to eschatology.

 

Stewart Russell © February 22, 2021

 

Cocksure Is Not Make Sure

 

 

Cocksure and Make Sure

Got into a fight,

Cocksure was sure

And Make sure was right.

 

Cocksure started it

And Make Sure struck back,

That Cocksure was provoked

By Make Sure was a fact.

 

Make Sure was prepared

But Cocksure was not

But it really didn’t matter

Cocksure felt on top.

  

Cocksure was cocksure

That he couldn’t lose

But Make Sure made sure

And that idea refused.

 

The two traded blows

There was no retreat,

They slugged it out toe to toe

Neither accepting defeat.

 

They were at it for a while

Based on their belief,

Both were absolutely certain

So neither sought relief.

 

Let us take a look

At how they operate,

Their distinct personalities

And how they relate.

 

Cocksure is brawn

He is big and strong,

Make Sure is studious

His preparation is long.

Cocksure is always ready

Though never prepared,

Make Sure is about timing

And being in top gear.

 

Cocksure and Make Sure:

This is brawn versus brain

Cocksure hates

And Make Sure disdains.

 

They are sworn enemies

And are always in combat

And whether wrong or right

Cocksure will attack.

 

As for their strategy

I will tell you a bit,

Cocksure will bulldoze

But Make Sure has tricks.

 

 

He will avoid Cocksure

For as long as he can,

Cocksure just wants to grab him

Being the stronger man.

 

Should that happen

There would be no letting go,

Cocksure just wanted

To get his hands on his foe.

 

Make Sure would make sure

That did not happen,

He was guardedly confident

And didn’t feel threatened.

 

The fight continued

At a frenzied pace,

Perspiration was pouring

From each dualist’s face.

 

Then they began to tire

This was Cocksure’s chance

And upon Make Sure

He determinedly pranced.

 

Make Sure’s neck was locked off

In a vice like grip

So he decided to resort

To his ace card trick.

 

  

 

He was a strategist

And that came in to play,

In the final analysis

It was Make Sure’s day.

 

Cocksure is not Make Sure

A valuable lesson to learn,

Preparation is superior

To size and brawn.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019