If the Dead Could Talk

 

 

If only the dead could talk

What would they say?

Would it mean anything to us?

Would we change our way?

 

There’s a case in the Bible

With which we are au fait,

In which one begged for his brothers

From hell where he lay.

 

He was in fiery torment

And asked to warn his kin,

They were living wretched lives

And would end up like him.

 

They refused to listen

To the prophets of the day

And with ears nigh dysfunctional,

Went their own way.

 

If only the dead could talk

What would they say?

Would we listen to the departed

And change our way?

 

What about our parents?

What would they say?

Would they speak any differently

From back in their day?

 

What about our friends

Whom we loved so dearly?

Would we give a listening ear

And be really sorry?

 

Or, would we like many

Refuse to even listen

And join the ever-growing throng

Incarcerated in prison?

 

 

If only the dead could talk

They wouldn’t be dead

But like our blessed, risen Saviour

They’d be alive instead.

 

But the dead cannot talk,

Neither can they see

Thus, while life is yours today,

Be the best you can be.

 

Talk to an errant one today

To set his path straight,

To express his trust in Jesus Christ

And to love and not hate.

 

For there’s life after death

But only to the saved,

Meaning the born-again believer

Who from sin was raised.

Stewart Russell © April 8, 2025

Today's Word Is...

 

 

Draw ye near hither,

I will tell to you a tale

And if you do not like it,

Send me an email.

 

Words intrigue me:

Today’s word is draw,

I checked the Bible for it

There were 76 in all.

 

Draw your conclusion

Only after each context

And by the end of this poem

See how many you get.

 

So far there are three:

Draw, draw and draw,

One in each foregoing verse

But these are not all.

 

 

I will draw you a picture

Though only in words

But it will set you straight

How this occurred.

 

Lisa went to the well

But the bucket was missing,

She could draw no water;

It was quite distressing.

 

Draw away for a bit

And give it some thought,

Come with up with a solution

Rather than be distraught.

 

On finding the culprit

He went to draw his sword

But consider it

An act he could ill afford.

 

Not a breath could he draw

Without Almighty God

So, to take a life, he decided,

Could never be his call.

 

To draw him out

They set up a decoy,

It was the better thing to do

As he fell for the ploy.

 

He was put on a cart

Horses were used to draw

And taken before the judge

For breaking the law.

 

Draw nigh to God

And He’ll draw nigh to you

Draw also on His strength

To do what you must do.

 

If a man is to come to God

The Son must draw him

And for a man to go to the Son

The Father must draw him.

 

Let us draw near

And that with a true heart,

The just shall live by faith

And from God never part.

 

Draw after draw after draw

And each in its own context

Did you draw a conclusion?

Or, is this too complex?

 

 

Draw me a picture

Like you see me draw

And to draw my attention to it,

Give me a call.

 

I’ll draw a cup of tea

And you can draw one too

But whatever you draw from this

I am finally through.

 

Stewart Russell © December 30, 2021

 

 

My Name Is in the Bible

 

 

My name is in the Bible

I guess you didn’t know,

And just in case you want the proof,

The proof to you I’ll show.

 

I guess you’d probably think

It’s Michael or Gabriel

Or since I could never be an angel,

It must be Peter or Lemuel.

 

It couldn’t be Esau or Jacob

No such names these days,

No James and John and David

We’re into the African ways.

 

No more European trappings

And colonial underpinnings,

That may have been useful in its time

Now all of that we'er trimming.

 

“Where in the Bible?” You ask

And I will show you soon

But when I really think of it

I can jump over the moon.

 

If to you I seem excited,

It is because I genuinely am

To think that my name was included

In God’s redemptive plan.

 

My name is not only unique

But it is a common name as well,

“How can that be?” I hear you ask,

I am only to delighted to tell.

 

Go to John chapter 3 verse 16

And you’ll find it written there,

Right there in the Holy Bible

On its pages bright and fair.

 

For God so loved the world

That he gave his only begotten Son

That whosoever, yea, that’s it!

That’s where I got it from.

 

 

My name is whosoever

And you will find it in God’s Word,

In the golden text of the Bible

You can be absolutely assured.

 

Assured of divine salvation

Like all the whosoever

That call on the name of Jesus Christ

Knowing they shall be his forever.

 

For none that come to him

Will he ever cast away,

This assurance is to the whosoever

That come to him today.

 

Stewart Russell © September 3, 2020

 

 

In the Bible

 

 

Exodus 6:20

 

Amram took him Jochebed

His father’s sister to wife,

If that were to happen today

That would be bare strife.

 

But that is not all

I have a little more for you,

She bore him Aaron and Moses

Don’t tell me that you knew.

 

Yes!  Amram married his aunt

It’s right there in the Bible,

We must study the genealogies

For this is very vital.

 

 

Deuteronomy 23:12-14

 

If you want to defecate

Be careful where you do it,

Doing it outside of the camp

Should be the general habit.

 

For the Lord walks in the camp

And therein should be holy,

Indiscriminate defecating

Should never ever be.

 

Operate like the cat

And make sure you dig a hole,

Nobody wants to step in your mess

Never be so bold.

 

Plus, if God enters the camp

You don’t want Him to turn away,

Keep the camp clean and tidy

Each and every day.

 

 

 

Proverbs 12:21

 

Bad things happen to good people

That is what we say,

But it appears that Proverbs 12:21

Sees it in a different way.

 

No evil shall happen to the just

But the wicked shall be filled with mischief

Care to give me an explanation?

Is there something that I missed?

 

 

John 2:22

 

What is this passage doing here

So early in the Gospel of John?

Jesus was not yet betrayed

Or to his trials had he gone.

 

He had not yet been crucified

And he certainly was not yet dead

But it says “when he was risen”;

John appears to be way ahead.

 

His disciples remembered then

That he had said this to them,

I hope you are following, my friend,

And that you see my problem.

 

They believed the Scripture and the word

But that was after the fact,

What is this scripture doing here?

Please, can you tell me that?

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020

 

 

Just Three

Just three in the Bible

That are still alive,

Only three in the Bible

That continually strive.

I won’t say who they are

Not yet, anyway,

But highlight some in the Word

That have passed away.

Methuselah is the first

And I’m sure you know why,

He lived the longest

But guess what!  He died.

   

Noah is the next

In the nine hundred group,

Genesis chapter nine

Puts him third in this loop.

Seven made this number

But they all have died

And all, except for Noah,

Are located in chapter five.

We can have a discussion

On relatively young Enoch

That was translated

And died, he did not.

Or, perhaps Elijah,

That was carted away

And nobody has seen him since

That appointed day.

Rather, read verse 1 again

For the qualifications there,

There are two characteristics

In your mind you should bear.

Alive and continually strive:

These are the two

And of those that meet these,

There are only a few.

A few, in the strictest sense

Is what I mean

And not how we deem a few

Re the modern-day scene.

 

God, the Father, the Word

And the Holy Ghost,

These three are in heaven

With the angelic hosts.

These three in the beginning

And an eternity before

And when time has ended

They will close the door.

Just three alive

That continually strive

And in these three

Every born-again believer abides.

 

These three exist and co-exist

These three are co-eternal,

These three are co-essential

These three are supernal.

A tri-unity or The Trinity

As some to them refer,

And when I examine the Bible

I am forced to concur.

Stewart Russell © March 2020