Biblical Illiteracy

 

 

None likes to be identified

As being illiterate,

It’s an insult of huge proportions

For those with this trait.

 

Unable to read or write

Was severely life hampering

And such persons had to make an X

When they were signing.

 

An X for a signature

Could cause some trouble,

I guess the signatures for such

Would more than double.

 

Think of one person X

Accusing another person X

Of forging his signature X;

How complex!

 

Once Barbados boasted

Of 98% literacy,

I’ve heard it’s not that anymore;

What lunacy!

 

But let’s turn our attention

To biblical illiteracy

And many of these go to church

Just like you and me.

 

For non-church goers

This can be expected

And for schools outlawing the Bible

It would be exacerbated.

 

But for those in church!

How can this be?

I tell you regarding biblical literacy

This is easy.

 

 

Most people’s knowledge

Comes from the pulpit,

And regarding second hand info,

There is a lot of it.

 

Especially in a day

When preachers extemporize

On pseudo biblical teachings

Cleverly disguised.

 

Like a felt-needs gospel

And financial breakthrough

And motivational talks on how

To be a better you.

 

Little Bible involved

If any at all

And how all roads eventually lead

To the oneness God.

 

Sunday school is exiting

And losing importance

And regarding the Bible in schools

Is meeting resistance.

 

So, looming greater

Is biblical illiteracy:

That is, not knowing the Bible

Even fundamentally.

 

Made fun of

By atheists and agnostics

Who believe a belief in the Bible

Is less than scholarship.

 

Frown upon

By fellow Christians

Who need to do some research

On what is pure religion.

 

Are you biblically illiterate?

You need not be,

The Bible is in circulation

For everybody.

 

Grab one today

And read it for yourself,

You need to take it from the dust

It gathered on the shelf.

 

 

 

There’s treasure within

Its many pages of gold,

There is much spiritual insight

For the young and the old.

 

Read for your ailment

If you are biblically illiterate,

Within the Word is the Holy Spirit

To set you straight.

 

Read it and study it

And then live by it,

It’s a sure cure for biblical illiteracy

And offers eternal benefit.

 

Life everlasting

Is found among its pages

And the offer comes from

The Rock of ages.

 

Jesus is that Rock

We should all build upon

Where all who are born again

Are heirs to his kingdom.

 

Stewart Russell © July 7, 2024

 

Is God Domesticated?

 

 

Have we converted God

Rather than He converting us?

Have we finally converted Him

Such that in us He trusts?

 

Are we now wagging Him

Like a dog wags its tail

And feel with him in our control

We cannot fail?

 

Oft we pray in this way

As though we are in control

And God has to meet our request;

Why, isn’t this bold?

 

Like domesticated animals

Trained to do our bidding:

The dog, the cat, the horse, the ass;

And I am not kidding.

 

 

 

God is no man’s debtor,

The Bible surely points out,

The fact that everything is His

Leaves no doubt.

 

He spoke into becoming

All that we see and experience,

Without Him was and is nothing

That is in existence.

 

Even our breath is His

From the very first one,

And to the time that is appointed

When the last is gone.

 

So, to the Jewish ethnicity

And to all other peoples

God belongs to no particular nation,

Including Israel.

 

 

 

None can domesticate Him

Or Him monopolize:

No President, no Pope, no Priest;

Or Satan who lies.

 

For it is a blatant lie

That God can be controlled,

Whether by prayer or supplication

Or intercession untold.

 

Whether in church or out

Let there be no doubt

That God is the only sovereignty

And no other has clout.

 

 

 

All power is His

And all kingdoms as well

And nowhere without His jurisdiction;

Not even hell.

 

Read the book of Job

And discover what He saw:

God is the Omnipotent Wise One;

In Him there is no flaw.

 

You’d better be on His side

And do what He requires

For He is no respecter of persons

And does what He desires.

 

Stewart Russell © October 29, 2025

 

What Proof Have You?

 

 

Are you sure I’m your friend?

What proof have you got?

What if you’ve been misled

And your friend I am not?

 

Don’t stick your neck out

If you are not sure

And then blame me if I fail you

For being a lure.

 

A trick used by the enemy

To lead you astray

From the one who has insisted

That he is the way.

What proof have you

That I am truly your friend?

There is only one I can assure you

Will be with you in the end.

 

And it is not me, I tell you,

For I am prone to fail,

The evidence is starkly obvious;

There’s a long trail.

 

I am thus clearing the air:

I am as weak as you,

And whatever opinion you have

May differ from my view.

 

So, what proof have you

That I am truly your friend?

How do you definitively know

I am not a fiend?

 

At verse number four

I pointed you to a friend

Of whom I said will be with you

Even in the end.

 

Well, let me identify him

As I come to an end,

I am sure you’ve heard of Jesus,

Oh, what a friend!

 

No comparisons, I say,

For there is none like him,

He is the hope that reassures

When earthly hope dims.

 

He’ll never mislead you

Like I have from time to time,

He is a friend for all eternity;

The proof you can find.

 

 

That proof is his Word;

Every promise he has kept

And, unlike your friends like me,

He has never failed yet.

 

Earthly friends will fail;

Of this there’s much proof

But you can trust this friend always

For his Word is the truth.

 

 

Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!

What a friend to cherish!

And all of whom he is a friend

Will never ever perish.

 

Stewart Russell © January 6, 2025

 

All

 

“All” have sinned,

The Bible points out,

None of us has anything personal

About which we can shout.

 

In Romans 3:23

It is clear to see,

To sin we were all slaves;

Not one of us was free.

 

No golden spoon in the mouth

Is another way to put it,

We were born in sin

And its practice is habit.

 

We’ve “All” fallen short

Of the glory of God

Our actions, attitudes and aspirations

Are shaped by Satan, aka Fraud.

 

Keeping God’s perfect Law

Is impossible for us,

Only one achieved this

And that was Jesus.

 

How could imperfect man

The perfect Law keep?

Whether Jew or Gentile

“All” were wandering sheep.

 

Hence,

“All” have broken God’s perfect Law

And even in our pious religiosity

We are still flawed.

 

Without exception

“All” need a Saviour,

None can save himself

Even on his best behavior.

 

“All” are condemned,

That is how we start

And the only way to change

Is with a change of heart.

 

Only the Lord Jesus

Can perform such a work

If you are hearing the Spirit now,

Heed his alert

 

The Lord Jesus is the one

And only righteous man,

It is through him

That we have salvation’s plan.

 

He is the one

And only Saviour of the world

“All” must come through him

As instructed in God’s Word.

 

None can enter in

Except he be born again

“All” must come by the Cross

Is one hymn’s refrain.

 

The way of the cross leads home,

 “All” must pass this way

And like another song instructs,

Be saved today!

 

Stewart Russell © February 2020

 

An Act of the Will

 

There is much conflict

Between Armenians and Calvinists

And there is clearly a major point

That both of them miss.

 

That point being, of course,

God’s ways are past finding out

And that man’s enormous deficit

Is surely without doubt.

 

For every one who is saved

It was an act of the will,

Concerning what Calvinists hold

This is the bitter pill.

 

The elect chooses to be saved

By a definite act of the will,

Thus, the “whosoever will” may come

We hear the invitation still.

 

There is clearly no doubt

That choice is a factor,

Those who come will not be denied

Who don’t, is another matter.

 

 

 

God is God

And He is definitely in charge,

He was and is and always will be

Though often disparaged.

 

His sovereignty is intact

Despite giving man a choice,

That is to accept His invitation

Or ignore His voice.

 

In the acceptance of grace

Neither is compromised:

God’s sovereignty and our choice

Work side by side.

 

On this wise we ought to pray

Even when I don’t understand

Lord, let me never wander away

From your sovereign hand.

 

 

The elect is the elect

Because they’re chosen of God,

Is it any wonder, therefore,

They answered His call.

 

They were given to Christ

As is outlined in the Word

And to think Satan can snatch them

Is to be absurd.

 

Having said yes to His call

They are held by His hand

And nothing can pluck them out:

No creature or no man.

 

For by an act of their will

They show they are the elect

And seeing the footsteps of Jesus

They fell in step.

 

Prevenient grace or total depravity

Is not the critical issue

But having heard Christ call,

What will you do?

 

 

Christians argue technicalities

While sinners are lost and undone,

It is for such sinners the Saviour died

And now he bids them come.

 

A simple act of the will

Expressed in an act of faith,

God’s sovereignty and our free will

Meeting in wonderful grace.

 

Stewart Russell © March 21, 2024

 

Editing the Truth

 

 

What a peculiar title

Is “Editing the Truth”!

This one I really have to tell you

Is through the roof.

 

Can the truth be edited

As the title assumes

And who is capable of editing it

If this is your tune?

 

You avid churchgoers

Will frown on this

Because you have truth editors

On your list.

 

You admire them

And you adored them

And your acceptance and approval

Excuse their problem.

 

Many truth-editors

Ascend church pulpits

And preaching another gospel

Is their habit.

 

They oft alter the truth

To suit their agenda

And browbeat their congregants

To meekly surrender.

 

They add to the truth

And subtract from it too

And they multiply it and divide it

Before they are through.

 

Faith plus works

And grace plus merit

And Jesus could never be God;

To some, a cleric.

 

More than one way

To get to God

In fact, there are many ways

Says King Fraud.

 

What a fragile truth

That we need to edit!

And if we are biblically astute

There’s no limit.

 

For only the brilliant

Can see truth’s fragility,

For it’s an everchanging truth

Invariably.

 

Unto another gospel

Which is not another

So that if you are about to change

Don’t even bother.

 

He who edits the truth

Knows not the truth

And the truth he attempts to edit

Is its own proof.

 

The truth stands firm

And will not pass away,

Absolutely no editing is required

For God holds sway.

Stewart Russell © October 18, 2025

 

Window Dressing

 

 

There is much window dressing

All year round:

In store windows and in Parliament-

By persons renown.

 

I recall going into Bridgetown

With my dad and my siblings

And viewing the Christmas showcases

And this was so exciting. 

 

It cost my dad nothing more

Than a pack of nuts and bus fare

And while we stared at the show window,

No police appeared.

 

 

 

If that went over your head

It means you are quite young,

I am talking about back in the 60’s decade

When you were not around.

 

We seldom got what we saw

But we anticipated the tour

Though as we got older and better off

We did it no more.

 

You see, it held no more appeal

As it did when we were kids

And so, when we became young adults,

Other things did.

 

However, I must confess

Window dressing has returned

Though it’s not the window dressing

For which I once yearned. 

 

It’s not the store windows

But behind Parliament walls

Where MPs paint wonderful pictures

That have us enthralled.

 

Pictures about projects

That never get off the ground

But year after year they get recycled

Like a merry-go-round.

 

Window dressing of the kind

To attract investment

Like the recent legislation to encourage

Free regional movement.

 

  

 

Our west coast and south coast

Are strewn with hotels

And the picture of these coasts shows

Our country is well.

 

 

 

But while seeing is believing

All that glitters is not gold

And all this window dressing is doing

Is creating debt untold.

 

Window dressing in the form

Of importing experts galore

But the myriad of perennial problems

Still vexing us sore.

 

Borrowing to window dress

To prop up foreign reserves

Making the country appear wealthy:

Apparent future preserved.

 

Yes, a healthy environment

But a people grossly sick

Forcing them that are disenfranchised

To be economically slick.

 

Reimagining and reinventing

Window dressing décor

But nothing’s really getting any better

For our indigent poor.

 

Other than window dressing

That smacks of welfarism

That only generates more and more

Social rheumatism. 

 

The facility to climb

The proverbial ladder of success

Appears to be targeting a select few

Leaving most in a mess.

 

 

 

The country of opportunity!

A great window dressing ad

But beyond the window dressing façade

Things are really bad.

 

A renown Prime Minister

Respected worldwide

But the Republic she presides over

Experiences a great divide.

 

Between the rich and the poor

There is mighty wide gap

And often the token assistance given

Is more like a slap.

 

 

Like the window dressing

Of that $300 amount

That in the blink of an eye disappeared

From the poor’s account.

 

Absolutely no trickle down

Reaches the vulnerably poor

While the window dressing politicians

Get more and more.

 

The MPs dress up the window

And invite the poor to look

But these recycled manifesto promises

Produce only a book.

 

 

 

A book for posterity

Given to the poor for free:

“A Window Dressing Guide for Politicians”

Added to a sparse library.

 

A world of window dressers

Politicians have become,

Showcasing their promises to all

But only benefitting some.

 

Yet they are convincing

And for them we vote

Lured by another window dressing:

A politician’s master stroke.

 

Stewart Russell © October 19, 2025