Is It Possible?

 

 

Is it possible

I sincerely ask,

To read and understand the word

When so tasked?

 

Can it be done

Without added help

Of theological interpretations

Based on what is felt?

 

And Holy Spirit,

Tell me, what is his role?

Can he truly lead us into all truth

As we’ve been told?

 

 

 

Is it possible

I sincerely ask,

To read and understand the word

When so tasked?

 

How do I know

Who’s right or wrong

Especially as a young born-again

When not yet strong?

 

Can I trust the Word

As it is plainly put

Or do I have to faithfully lock into

A denominational rut?

 

Is a world view key

In understanding

And is it absolutely necessary

To stop me falling?

 

How do I know

Which is right or wrong

Especially as a young believer

And not strong?

 

 

 

I have a Bible

Which I read daily,

Can I truly, definitively depend

On its accuracy?

 

What’s fundamental

That I need to know

And please tell me, if you can,

Does it show?

 

Do I need to know

Hebrew and Greek

To be able to understand concepts

Considered deep?

 

 

 

Is it possible

I sincerely ask,

To read and understand the Word

When so tasked?

 

Third iteration

If you are following,

Can you tell me if there is a way

Of knowing?

 

 

 

I’d like to know

Given what I’ve heard

If I need some specialized input

To grasp the Word.

 

For whom, I ask

Was it actually written?

Must I read it from cover to cover

To be forgiven?

 

 

 

And the doctrines?

Must I know them fully:

Like covenants and dispensations

Assuredly?

 

 

 

It seems like a lot

To keep in one’s mind

And there’s a lot of minors’ emphasis

Recently, I find.

 

Major on minors

At the majors’ expense

And the critical Gospel message

Is lacking defense.

 

Is it possible

I sincerely ask,

To read and understand the Word

When so tasked?

 

Stewart Russell © December 28, 2025

 

News We Can’t Trust

 

Hearsay and slander,

Libel and gossip

Are the news we cannot trust-

We need to fix it.

 

A juicy piece of news

Travels like a forest fire

And social media platforms

Are here for the hire.

 

“This is the gospel”

“I know it for sure”

“This is from a reliable source”

But there are more.

 

 

“You must believe me”

“From the horse’s mouth”

News from the east to west

From north to south.

 

News about politicians

And about pastors too,

News about the church-goers

From pulpit to pew.

 

Hearsay and slander

Libel and gossip,

Are the news we cannot trust-

We need to fix it.

 

Had an old pastor

That condemned gossip,

You could not take news to him

Yes, he fixed it.

 

One thing he required

And this before listening

Was for that one to be present

Meaning the victim.

 

If this couldn’t be done

It was simply, “case dismissed”

For he had better things to do,

In fact, a long list.

 

Re news we can’t trust,

We must be very careful

For we often end up hurting

Innocent people.

 

And it is embarrassing

When it is not true

Though from reliable sources

Like me and you.

 

If it is positive news

Then there is no problem

But if they bring the negative

We must reject them.

 

 

 

Hearsay and slander,

Libel and gossip

Are the news we cannot trust-

We need to fix it.

 

It is at every level:

High, medium and low

And if it is generally expected,

You’d hear, “I felt so.”

 

Let’s be more positive

Encourage the unfortunate,

Glorying in one’s misfortune

Is a pathetic mistake.

 

 

And be careful too

With this “in confidence”,

It is often said to titillate

A captive audience.

 

One thing we can try

Is a “don’t need to know”

And be that considerate person

To interrupt the flow.

 

The flow of such news

That we cannot trust

And for that unfortunate one

Causes much fuss.

 

 

 

Hearsay and slander,

Libel and gossip

Are the news we cannot trust-

We need to fix it.

 

Stewart Russell © June 18, 2024

 

 

Heartfelt Prayer

 

 

 

The only prayers that matter

Are heartfelt prayers,

We are born-again believers

And not soothsayers.

It is not our business to say

What the outcome will be

But rather to pray from our heart

And to do so sincerely.

 

Let us not treat to prayer

As though prayer is the object,

But as a God-given facility

To be used as a conduit.

 

An open line to the Father

Like an internet phone

So that we can call him any time

Whether in Barbados or Rome. 

 

 

From heart to heart

That is: from our heart to God’s

With whatever troubles us

At home and abroad.

 

The data package is unlimited

And so is the time

And unlike internet providers,

We don’t pay a dime.

 

The prayers that matter, however,

Are prayers from the heart,

This is the heart of the matter

And this is where we start.

 

Not elocution or oration

But straight from the heart,

Not a premise of bargaining rights

But taking the humble part.

 

The war that we wage

Is not prayer but the Gospel,

Prayer is constant communication

With the God of the Bible.

 

It is mostly not audible

And it need not be

Except in corporate circumstances

For example: in an assembly.

 

The weapon of our warfare

Is God’s precious Word

And in constant touch with God

We share it with the world.

 

Let us not boast about

About your prayers or mine

And whose prayers win the most battles

In this or at any time… 

 

But let us pray from the heart

Every minute of every day

For this is praying without ceasing;

It is the Christian way.

 

A thought spared for a brother

As he goes through his crisis

Is a heartfelt prayer

That the Father doesn’t miss.

 

And even when we don’t assemble

As was the case not long ago

Still, heartfelt prayers are ongoing

Is a thought we should know.

 

The heart of the matter

Sums up our heartfelt prayers

For every brother and sister

Each and every day.

 

Stewart Russell © September 3, 2020

 

All of History is Present before God

All of earth’s history lies bare before Almighty God,

Its past, its present, its future is expressed in His Holy Word,

He who was in the beginning is still the Great I AM,

He who was crucified to save us was no ordinary man.

I once use to think a man could die before his time,

I held to that and argue; this was how I opined

But then it occurred to me if this was possibly true

The Bible, God’s Word couldn’t give an exact preview.

It records the times of man from beginning to the end

Thousands of years of history and into the future extend,

Not billions of years as misguided scientists report

But only thousands of years as the Bible clearly purports.

Let’s examine the idea that all of History is written

And that from the Great I AM not one iota is hidden;

He who was in the beginning did not then begin

But was before the beginning and only created it then.

Now for this to happen there must have been eternity

And an eternal being too to create such a possibility,

For where else could the beginning have originated

Outside an eternal God and the time that He created?

Clearly time is a segment with a beginning and an end,

It doesn’t take rocket science such a position to defend,

This is where the Bible premised its record of History

As the Eternal God created this timeline way out in eternity.

Why should it be a wonder that He knows it all in detail?

Why should we marvel as though hearing a fairy tale?

How could it all begin with no one to start its process?

Surely there must be someone to withstand time’s greatest test.

God is that someone that stands the test of all time,

Yes, He is that someone that started time’s clock to unwind,

It has been ticking away thousands not billions of years

And the future of its history doesn’t catch Him unawares.

So then if before Almighty God all history is revealed

This means its past, present and future already is a done deal,

Having been written already how can it be rearranged?

Even Pilate confessed what he wrote could not be changed.

  

Pilate was following History even if he did not know,

Remember Jesus told the Baptist suffice it to be so,

Jesus went through Samaria; he knew the course of time,

He was in the beginning; he knew its rhythm and rhyme.

Then, how could this God create a person to be damned?

Did He not know the destiny that awaited that woman or man?

O yes he did, for He knows the destiny of everyone

For while history is unfolding to us to Him it is already gone.

How for example could God change what has already passed?

For Almighty God even such would be an impossible task,

For what is written is written and all that is known to Him

And should he change the past that would be a horrid sin.

That would impede man’s choice that God has given freely

And in a real sense too subtract from God’s sovereignty,

For within these two realities is a balance as delicate as ever

And to change the course of time one or both would be severed.

What would He do in Eden when both our fore parents sinned?

Would he reverse the event?  That would be foreign to Him.

What then would be the sequel?  Would Jesus still have come?

Would we still have had the choice to be a part of His Kingdom?

And what about Hitler and the like of tyrannical attitude?

Would God expunge from our mind these unscrupulous dudes?

What about Noah’s ministry with not a single convert?

Would God change all that so that the flood he could avert?

You would notice in Isaiah that a future event was written

In the past tense, as if the Saviour already had been smitten,

He was wounded and was bruised and for us all was stricken

Yet at the time of Isaiah’s writing God’s Son had not yet been given.

The authenticity of God’s word is sealed in prophetic utterance,

What it says will come to pass in spite of men’s defiance,

For the promises of God are yea and His decrees are very sure,

Heaven and earth will pass away but His word stands forevermore,

 

All history has been written with man’s choices and his faults,

It’s more secure than an impregnable bank with its money vault,

It cannot be altered for God has no such intention,

All of history has been set from the beginning of creation.

  

So that we are not making History we are simply in its grip,

Every act and accomplishment forms a part of the chronicled trip.

We may feel we changed our mind and perhaps we really did

But regarding altering History’s course that’s what God forbids.

I hear you say, “This is fatalism for what will be will be

And it really doesn’t matter since I have no say in my destiny.”

That’s not entirely true, as a matter of fact, not even partly so

For in God’s word, the Bible, we’re told all we need to know.

A sower went forth to sow and he sowed indiscriminately,

The seed was scattered near and far with random diversity,

Just like the seed from that sower the Gospel is so designed

For everyone everywhere to hear, that means all of human kind.

For the Word of God declared that the Gospel shall be preached

In Judea and Samaria and until the ends of the earth are reached

So that every man that hears will be left without excuse

Particularly so when such a man treats God’s word as refuse.

He that does not believe is already condemned

Because he believes not on him whom the Father did send,

So that it really does matter for if today you hear His voice

Harden not your heart but earnestly make Him your choice.

For choice is the God-given say that we now have in this matter

Hell or Heaven our destiny and we should choose the latter,

For while it is true that in God’s eye all of History is written

The Bible also declares he who calls on the Lord will be forgiven.

All of earth’s history lies bare before Almighty God,

Its past, its present, its future is expressed in His Holy Word,

He who was in the beginning is still the Great I AM,

He who rejects the Saviour will be eternally damned.

Stewart Russell © 2016