Concerning the When

 

What nonsense is this?

What babblers these be?

They appear to be drunk

Was all some could see.

 

Was Peter confused?

Was he also baffled?

Was his a mere explanation

For their obvious puzzle?

 

I dare say not,

Let’s revisit the scene

And to men’s interpretations,

Please do not lean.

 

To whom was Peter speaking?

He was speaking to the Jews

On the Day of Pentecost

And they were quite bemused.

 

Of when was he speaking?

It was that very day

When the Comforter would come

As the Prophet did say.

 

Which prophet do we mean?

The answer is clear:

The Apostle referenced Joel

For all to hear.

“But this is that,” he said,

“Which was spoken by the Prophet Joel;

And it shall come to pass…”

And indeed, it did.

 

Just like Joel prophesied

It did come to pass,

It is clear as ABC!

Why make it a task?

 

Of course, the view of some

Place it at another time

Based on their interpretation

And what’s on their mind.

 

Like some time in the future

Unlike what Peter stated,

And until Jesus returns

This will always be debated.

 

Preterists believe

This prophecy has been fulfilled

 But Futurists argue

It’s to be fulfilled still.

 

More than two thousand years

Since this particular event,

Some behave as though

The Spirit is yet to be sent.

 

Joel was speaking of the future

Many still contend,

He surely was I would agree

But how far did it extend?

 

When Peter stood up

And with the eleven proclaimed,

It was the unfolding of Joel’s prophecy

As Peter back then had claimed.

 

As to when he was speaking

He made it very clear

And to what he was speaking

We still hold dear.

 

The Holy Spirit had come

Just as was prophesied

By the risen Christ and Saviour

Whom they had crucified.

Acts 1:4b-5

 

“Wait for the promise of the Father

Which ye have heard of me.”

 

“For John truly baptized with water;

And concerning the when,

“But ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost

Not many days hence.”

  

Notice Jesus referenced days;

He did not say years

Hence, the imminence of that event

To the hearers was clear.

 

Concerning the when:

It was in Peter’s time,

The future in Joel’s prophecy

Was Peter’s time, not mine.

 

Stewart Russell © August 6, 2021

 

God Cannot Not Be

  

 

Here is a Divine impossibility:

God cannot not be

Since he is a being in Himself

Quite unlike you or me.

 

God is underived

And thus, He is uncaused

And while many pretend to be,

He is the only God.

 

If God does not exist

Then nothing can have existed

For everything came into being

Because He insisted.

 

Atheists are struck down

By ten simple words,

Go to Genesis chapter 1 verse 1

If you’ve not yet heard.

 

Ordinarily,

I would type them here

But please check them for yourself

To be clear.

 

 

 

Following are words

Of an old medieval hymn,

They should bring some clarity

Amidst this world’s din.

 

Thou wast, O God,

And Thou wast blest

Before the world began,

Of Thine eternity possessed

Before time’s hourglass ran.

Thou need’st none

Thy praise to sing

As if Thy joy could fade,

Could’st Thou have needed anything

Thou could’st nothing made.

 

John Mason 1683

 

Herein lies remarkably

The aseity of God:

One contained within Himself

Needing nothing at all.

 

If ever there was nothing

Then nothing exists

For out of nothing, nothing comes,

Dear Mr. Atheist.

 

That God cannot not be

Is ontologically necessary

Or else, how could anything exist

That ever came to be?

 

 

 

An uncaused first cause

Is what God must be,

Having the power of being in himself

Is a logical necessity.

 

A perfect being at that

And not prone to entropy

Or else, His existence too is limited

And not for eternity.

 

In the beginning God…

There’s nothing more to add

Other than all that He has created

And from creation we’ve had.

 

 

 

Here’s another verse

Depicting God’s aseity,

A revelation John Mason must have had

To be able to see. 

 

Great and good God

It pleased Thee

Thy head to declare

And what Thine goodness did decree,

Thy greatness did prepare.

Thou spakest

And heaven and earth appeared

And answered to Thy call

As if their Maker’s voice they heard

Which is the creature’s all.

 

That God cannot not be

Is a Divine impossibility,

Thus, atheists and evolutionists

Argue nonsensically.

 

Stewart Russell © January 25, 2026

When It’s Safe to Die

 

 

I know what you are thinking

I can read your mind;

Not on every single occasion

But at least, this time.

 

You see, I put the thought there

By the very title I wrote

But I beg, lend me your ear,

This is no joke.

 

When it’s safe to die

Is applicable to every life,

Particularly so, my brother, my sister,

Given our current strife.

 

We’re drifting farther away

From the Word of God

And appear increasingly committed

To Satan, the chief fraud.

 

The church is being swayed

Away from the Gospel

And felt-needs are becoming

The appeal to attract people.

 

Prosperity and profitability

Have become the view

And those in this lotto game

Are filling many a pew.

 

The organism is obscured

By the social organization

And the message of such churches

Is not of redemption.

 

Repentance is being retired

And living right is sidestepped,

Levity has replaced gravity

On the emotional trek.

 

Solemnity has given way

To the boom, boom and bum

And the seriousness of lost souls

Is being out-drummed.

 

 

Lost souls are dying

Without the only eternal hope

While many of the living

Are hooked on Satan’s dope.

 

Hence, my questionable sanity

In bringing this title,

Circumstances surrounding us

Determine it is vital.

 

I know it sounds moronic

To bring together dying and safe

But it makes a whole lot of sense

Within the context of grace.

 

I speak of the grace of God

That has brought us salvation:

The glorious message of the church

To be propagated to every nation.

 

I speak of eternal life

That is offered through Christ

By God our heavenly Father

Before exiting this life.

 

Based on the words of Jesus

That he who dies shall live again

And this blessed assurance

Makes dying less of a strain.

 

 

I speak of all the born-again

That ultimately on God rely,

These are the only ones I know

That can safely die.

 

If one is not born again

This is a bad time for him,

What that means my brother, my sister,

You can die in you sin.

 

For you it’s not safe to die

Unless you repent of your sin

And do as Jesus implores you-

That is, to come to him.

 

For any who comes to him

He will in no wise cast away

And then it will be safe to die

Be it night or day.

 

Stewart Russell © May 29, 2023

 

 

Breakthrough for Whom?

  

 

There is much talk

About breakthrough these days

Promised to Christian believers

In myriad ways.

 

Promised from pulpits

From stadia to church

And the people in eager anticipation

Are left in the lurch.

 

Often required to pay

Or rather, sow a seed,

And this seed must be sacrificial

Aka out of their need.

 

The gullible are trapped

Mostly ladies, I dare to say,

And almost all of them still wait

For that coming day.

 

Meanwhile, no change

Everything is as before

And they continue to lose faith

More and more.

 

 

Breakthrough is mouthed

By faith leadership

Who rather than preach the Word

Shoot from the hip.

 

Five break-through

Are recorded in the Word

But to the two in the New Testament

I now refer.

 

Both are in Matthew

In consecutive verses

And from what I have gathered

They are really curses.

 

Beware of treasures

That thieves can steal

Rather, store up treasures in heaven

In the Word revealed.

 

Thieves break through

Moth and rust corrupt

And sooner rather than later

Thieves run out of luck.

 

 

 

Let the light of the Word

Breakthrough in your heart,

This breakthrough none can give

Not even in part.

 

It cost Jesus’ blood

And his death on the cross

And it matters not your millions,

Without it you are lost.

 

Breakthrough is dependent

On the grace of God,

It’s not in money or worldly gain

No, not at all.

 

Breakthrough for whom?

For the one in the pulpit

Making merchandise of the sheep

And getting rich.

 

 

 

Sounds like a wolf

Dressed up like a sheep,

Be careful my brothers and sisters

If you hear him bleat.

 

If he tickles your ears

And make you feel sweet

Next, he will take all you have

And have you for meat.

 

There is one shepherd

That was never a sheep

Yet though a sinless lamb crucified

He now speaks.

 

 

 

Come unto me, he says,

Meaning the burdened

And the breakthrough you’ll get

Is his pardon.

 

The message is the same

To the pew and the pulpit,

Breakthrough is eternal salvation,

Not getting rich.

 

Stewart Russell © February 4, 2026  

 

Nobody Told Death

  

 

Nobody told death

That she had had three children

And that for years ongoing

The father was missing.

 

Nobody told death

They were all very young

And that for not one of them

Was the father around.

 

Who’ll look after them

Was never death’s concern

Because death just does not care,

I have long learned.

 

 

 

Nobody told death

That he was a young doctor

And that he had just graduated

Top in the order.

 

Nobody told death

Of the great investment

That was made in him by others

And the Government.

 

What a waste that was

Some would want to say

But death does not care about such;

Absolutely no way.

 

 

Nobody told death

He’d just had a promotion,

Death simply delights in playing

With one’s emotion.

 

This one must have hurt

Many a concerned heart

Since this recently made magistrate

Was now at the start.

 

But nobody told death

About any of this

And by family and legal fraternity,

He will be sorely missed.

 

Nobody told death

The bullet had gone astray

And it was not for the innocent

On that horrid day.

 

Only a youngster

And still in his teens,

Life blood running in the street,

What a numbing scene!

 

 

 

But death didn’t care

For his allotted time was up

And the means did not matter;

He was out of luck.

 

We come in one way

But we go out many ways

And death is an appointment,

The Bible says.

 

Nobody told death

It was her only child,

A longed-for child in her later years

The odds she defied.

 

Then death took her

At just age number three,

The grim reaper had struck again;

Oh what misery!

 

Nobody told death

Since it made no sense,

Death marches on to its victories

Full of offense.

 

 

If you are reading this

Right about now

Be aware that one day to death

You too will bow.

 

Stewart Russell © January 22, 2026

 

September Already?

  

 

Can you imagine

It is September already?

Time is flying at record speed-

At least, so it seems to me.

 

Each and every dawn

Truncates the night before

And even though I am retired,

I long to sleep some more.

 

‘Tis the shortest holiday

This current vacation

Given the rapid passage of time

And school resumption.

 

September Remember

Hurricane Janet of fifty-five,

We’re still in the hurricane season,

One can still arrive.

 

So far, so good,

Three months have passed

And I pray for the three to come,

Such fortune will last.

 

 

Time is really flying

Though not for everyone,

Surely not for the challenged individual

Facing a difficult storm.

 

Of inner conflict

Bringing constant turmoil,

Time is stretching out unbearably

As that one toils.

 

Healing appears distant

As the night drags on

And the darkness is not dispelled,

Not even at dawn.

 

September has dawned

But it is lost on some,

Very unlike those enjoying life

And having fun.

 

“How time flies

When we are having fun!”

But it is certainly not for those

That are having none.

 

 

 

September already

But of delight and dread,

It’s delight for some but for others…

It’s sadness instead.

 

In whatever circumstance

Let us give God praise,

For having life there is still hope-

So, let’s not be fazed.

 

‘Tis September already

And we are still here,

Let’s give thanks to God Almighty

Who ultimately cares.

 

Stewart Russell © September 1, 2026

 

But Ye Are Come

 

 

But ye are come…

Four words that mean the world,

Straight from the Word of the Lord:

Such a blessed and precious pearl.

 

Let’s start with the contrast…

Something went before,

That something was horridly frightening!

Thank Jesus, it is so no more.

 

So frightening it was…

Even Moses did quake with fear,

But a better covenant came on stream:

God’s Word makes this clear.

 

 

“But ye are come to Mount Sion

To the city of the living God!”

You would not find this on a map

Even if you search abroad.

 

It is the heavenly Jerusalem

That the Apostle saw coming down,

Recorded in the book of Revelation;

It is time we come around.

 

Our focus is on the earth,

On the old Jerusalem

But re the writer to the Hebrews,

He is pointing us to heaven.

 

John 21:2

 

“And I,” said John, “Saw the holy city,

Coming down from God out of heaven,

Prepared as a bride

Adorned for her husband.”

 

This is the heavenly Jerusalem;

The tabernacle of God is with men,

They are God’s people

And God is dwelling with them.

 

 

What was future to the Apostle

Is now present and continuing,

Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant

And to the blood of sprinkling.

 

Its coverage runs from Abel

Even to the present born-again:

The assembly and church of the first born

Over which the Lord Jesus reigns.

 

Not the first born

As in Jesus was the first to be created,

But the first born from the dead

And over the church he initiated.

 

An inaugural address to the saints

Whose names are written in heaven,

The spirits of just men made perfect

Whose sins have been forgiven.

 

 

To them as well as to us

To be reflected on whenever we meet

As the church of the Lord Jesus Christ

Within buildings or on the street.

 

We have erred in our numbers,

The count has never been right,

We only count those that are in-house

And never those out of sight.

 

The attendance we cannot enumerate

For it includes both present and past,

And it stretches up to Christ’s return

When all are gathered in at last.

 

In attendance too are the angels

Comprising an innumerable company,

This is not reserved for a future time

But is happening currently.

 

 

Yes, we are come to Mount Sion

Every time we meet for church,

The attendance we cannot enumerate

Even given our numerous experts.

 

If to you this sounds farfetched

Then read the text again,

Though the church is present on earth

It’s within a heavenly frame.

 

The angels we do not see,

Their voices we cannot hear

But do not refuse the Lord that speaks

For he is definitely here.

 

He speaks better things than of Abel

For Abel was of the earth,

Jesus mediates the new covenant

Though he was of earthly birth.

 

That was in his incarnation

For he has neither beginning nor end,

No apologies to any who believe differently

Though it’s not my intent to offend.

 

But we are come to Mount Sion

Each and every time we meet,

Goodbye to the old Jerusalem covenant!

It’s the heavenly Jerusalem we greet!

 

However, let’s not take it lightly

Whene’er we meet together

For in the company with which we meet

Are the Spirit, Son and Father.

 

 

We worship in the beauty of holiness

For God requires such,

Jesus paid our redemption price

And no other could do as much.

 

Stewart Russell © May 21, 2023