The End of January

 

 

The end of January

Already!

The pace is hot

And steady!

 

The end of January

2024, not 2023,

Can you imagine it would finish

So quickly?

 

What you must do,

Better do it quick!

Procrastination

Is not a good tip.

 

Just out of Christmas,

Celebrated the New year

And believe it or not,

’24 is an old year.

 

 

Some believe

The days are shortened,

Just as in the Bible it says

This would happen.

 

A day is still 24 hours

No less and no more,

The days are no shorter

Of this, I am sure.

 

It is, as you can see,

There is more to do,

So much to cram in a day

And this is my view.

 

Days being shortened

Did not apply to us

And it was not a literal day,

No need to fuss.

 

 

It was a time period

Of exceeding trouble

That was prophesied by Jesus

To fall on Israel.

 

And it came to pass

Just as Jesus said

Way back in the first century

And they are all dead.

 

Nothing about today

And the speed of time,

This is merely a perception

Playing on our mind.

 

Plan a little more

And be more organized

Is the best we can do

On this wise.

 

 

The end of January!

2024, not 2023,

Can you imagine it would finish

So quickly?

 

Stewart Russell © January 31, 2024

 

Planned Obsolescence

 

 

Planned obsolescence!

Read it in the Word,

Rebuilding any Jewish temple

Is absolutely absurd.

 

Never to be permanent!

The Jewish temple I mean,

Just a shadow of things to come;

Such things as now seen.

 

Planned obsolescence!

Meaning to be done away with,

Why would we need a temple

When Jesus is God’s gift?

 

The Law was a school master

To point us to the Christ,

On Calvary our eyes beheld him

And his vicarious sacrifice.

 

No other was good enough

To pay the awful price of sin,

Only Jesus Christ, our Redeemer,

Could do it and let us in.

 

The Law with its sacrifices

Is relevant no more,

The fact it is now obsolescence

Means an ineffectual door.

 

Any that would enter therein

Cannot now be saved,

Jesus, God’s only begotten Son,

The way he has paved.

 

Yes, a planned obsolescence

Regarding the temple Law,

It was not meant to be permanent

And its sacrifice was flawed.

 

 

When he that is perfect is come,

In part shall be done away,

Thank God for such saving grace

I have lived to see this day.

 

Planned obsolescence!

Read it in God’s Word,

Rebuilding any Jewish temple

Is absolutely absurd.

 

Stewart Russell © January 11, 2024

 

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

You do not know 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

 

In Line and Online

 

 

How times have changed

And how life has progressed

And what a price we are paying

Just to have a little rest!

 

In line was a discipline

That was developed at school,

From primary school days in sun and rain

Get in line was the rule.

 

Stay in your given position

And don’t you dare go out of line

Or you may feel a whack in your back

Or some heat on your behind.

 

It’s not a forbidden expletive

Just an anatomical designation

That teachers and parents often used

To get a child’s attention.

 

In line for milk and biscuits

In line when the lunch break ends,

In line to board the school bus

In line was then the trend.

 

In line to receive punishment

Usually a lash in the hand or two

Or a caning by the school principal

Leaving the butt black and blue.

 

In line to get your immunization

In line to get your tooth pulled,

In line for pleasure and in line for pain

In line there was scarcely a lull.

 

 

It was the discipline of the time

And it gave us a sense of order

That we even practised into adult life

At home and beyond our border.

 

In line could be frustrating though

Like in line to pay a bill,

Land tax, income tax or driver’s license

Can be a difficult pill.

 

In line at the petrol station

Inhaling pungent petrol fumes

Or in certain un-named supermarkets

Where there is little room.

 

In line at the commercial banks

Standing for an inordinately long time,

In line to board public transportation

After the daily grind.

 

But a change of sorts has come

Where in line is giving way to online,

Much of this change was made necessary

When COVID plagued body and mind.

 

 

 

 

 

Paying from the comfort of home

Working and shopping too,

Online facilitates a far better experience

For people like me and you.

 

Sometimes in line still plays a part

In frustrating me and you

Especially with certain utility services

When we have to report an issue.

 

Although we are operating on line

We sometimes have to wait in line

And the wait can be so time consuming

It can wreak havoc with our mind.

 

When you are standing in line

You know how many are before you

But online it is a different situation

And often you don’t have a clue.

 

While the customer service reps

Are busy dealing with other complaints,

You listen to some unappealing music

And learn to exercise restraint.

 

In line can play havoc with online

And cause patrons a frustrating wait

But I’d still rather online to in line

Because I get an easier break.

 

I can shop overseas if I want

Or I can peruse the local stores

And I can have the item that I ordered

Delivered right to my door.

 

 

I can pay my bills on time

Be it morning, noon or night

And should I feel somewhat hungry,

I can order my favourite delight.

 

That online trumps in line

I have not the slightest doubt,

Perhaps it is time my valued reader

That you also try it out.

 

Stewart Russell © August 11, 2023

 

Bedazzled and Spellbound

 

 

There they sat

Bedazzled and spellbound

Only that it wasn’t a circus

And he wasn’t a clown.

 

Fluent and convincing

He held them in his palm

Some on the edge of their pews

Eating out of his hand.

 

He grew up among them

But migrated for a while

And as a preacher he returned

With panache and style.

 

Isn’t this McNeal’s son?

My, how he has changed!

When he breaks into tongues

It is beautifully strange.

 

 

And the promises he makes

For a financial seed,

And the breakthrough to come

If they only believe.

 

Spellbound they were

Hanging on his every word,

Oblivious to all around them-

Him they preferred.

 

The church was packed

On that Sunday morning,

Hallelujah was on their tongues

As they kept chanting.

 

Filled to the brim

The offering baskets were,

No doubt, many utility-bills

Had to be deferred.

 

If only from today

Their needs could be met

Then it would be worth it all-

For life, they’d be set.

 

 

So, with rapt attention

They gazed on the man

Hoping for a breakthrough

For them and their clan.

 

He was a preacher-man

With great oratorical skills

And all them that heard him

Were greatly thrilled.

 

For two hours or more

And sometimes three

They were held spellbound

By His Majesty.

 

Some saw him like this

Almost infallible

Especially when he would do

A few miracles.

 

 

 

From rags to riches

They had seen him rise,

Yes, this was McNeal’s son

And he wasn’t disguised.

 

And as he had risen

They could rise too

And this he dangled before them

Convincing not a few.

 

It was not about Christ

It was about breakthrough

And they were eating it all up

As though it was new.

 

There they sat

Bedazzled and spellbound

Only that it wasn’t a circus

And he wasn’t a clown.

 

Stewart Russell © January 16, 2024

 

The Man Who Heard His Obit

 

 

There was once a man

Who heard his own obit,

The experience was so profound

It made him think a bit.

 

His is a popular name

And it is sure to ring a bell

But you might see it differently

If it rings no bell.

 

Now how is it possible

For such a thing to happen?

Either he was not really dead

Or someone was mistaken.

 

Well, it so happened

That his brother had died,

Somehow their names got mixed-up

And a wrong name was applied.

 

 

One had invented dynamite

To the displeasure of many

And mistakenly this was the one

That heard his obituary.

 

What if I were to tell you

His surname is already given,

Can you tell me where in the poem

This man’s name is written?

 

I will give you another clue

But before I do that

Let me share with you my friend

Just one other fact.

 

Hearing his own obituary

He was extremely disturbed,

Nothing good was said about him

And in this many concurred.

 

 

Dynamite was dangerous

And could take many a life,

Why would anyone in his right mind

Create such a device?

 

Alfred decided there and then

To be seen in better light

And willed to a very good cause

His wealth from dynamite.

 

He created five awards

Which he established by a will

And even up to our present time

Those prizes are awarded still.

 

 

 

He had had much wealth

Accumulated from dynamite

And today innovator Alfred is held

In much better light.

 

Mistakenly hearing his obit

Really turned around his life

When in the eyes of his contemporaries

He had only created strife.

 

Dynamite was at first seen

As an instrument of strife

But his peace prize among the five

Must surely preserve life.

 

Stewart Russell © January 22, 2024

 

His Story

 

 

Do note the title!

It is two words and not one,

It is a prophetic history

Not totally gone.

 

It is a history written

And its end already declared

By God who established it

In Christ who did appear.

 

People look for flaws

And for contradictions too,

And seek to confuse many

Like me and like you.

 

But His story is flawless;

No errors you will find,

Any contradictions that exist

Exist in our mind.

 

His story is about a plan

And, also a man,

One needs to recognize this

To better understand.

 

 

From Genesis to Revelation

Redemption is its theme,

Jesus is central to His story

In every unfolding scene.

 

It starts out with the creation:

The origin of the universe,

All was declared good

But then sin emerged.

 

In a corner of creation

There was the garden of Eden

Where the first married couple

Committed the forbidden.

 

Adam and Eve were real:

Not a mere legend or myth

As some would want to say,

If you catch my drift.

 

If Adam and Eve is a myth

Then so was the crucifixion,

There was no coming of the Christ

And definitely no resurrection.

 

No ascension,

Hence, no coming back again,

If the beginning is a myth

Then none has a claim.

 

The cleric who believes this,

What does he teach?

For, if there is no Saviour

Of whom does he preach?

 

Thank God, my friend,

This is so far from the truth,

His story is history

Substantiated by His proof.

 

For the woman’s seed

Did bruise the serpent’s head,

The crucifixion proved

Just what in Genesis is said.

 

Thousands of years after

This event was prophesied,

The woman’s seed, Jesus,

Was crucified.

 

 

His story was unfolding,

It was all coming true,

Jesus came and he died

For me and for you.

 

So, if Genesis is a myth,

The Church’s preaching is in vain

So, what is this cleric doing

Preaching in Jesus’ name?

 

It’s a contradiction of sorts

Or a confused state of mind,

No wonder such clerics get it wrong

Each and every time.

  

His story is still unfolding;

The end is already written,

There is the reality of salvation

For all of the forgiven.

 

For the creator of the beginning

Is the establisher of the end,

Man make talk his foolishness

But God is God, my friend.

 

 

Whose report will you believe?

His story or man’s?

Will you believe the Devil’s lie?

Or trust redemption’s plan?

 

All of the Holy Bible, I repeat,

Is centred on a man

And that man, I reiterate,

Is central to salvation’s plan.

 

There is no Saviour

Other than the Saviour, Jesus Christ,

And the salvation he offers

Is the only one that will suffice.

 

Tell my friend, that cleric,

He must revisit the Word

For the one that he now teaches

Is absolutely absurd!

 

Stewart Russell © February 13, 2022