Spiritual Bullying

 

 

Spiritual bullying!

Where can this be found?

In the church of course,

There is much around.

 

Mostly senior members,

Not necessarily in age

But with responsibility and clout

Re pulpit and stage.

 

They follow the Spirit,

At least, that’s what they say

And it matters not who’s in charge

They will have their way.

 

They alter the plan

Feigning the Spirit’s leadership

And they bully the congregants

And church membership.

 

Urging an emotive display

Of shouting and raised hands

And even the person in charge

Must heed their command.

 

 

The time is ignored,

Time consciousness is rebuked,

All had better fall into line,

Don’t dare refute.

 

Refusing to comply

Is being disobedient to God

Thus, therein lies the fear factor

When such a one calls.

 

It may be an apostle

A bishop or a pastor,

Or it could even be a worship leader

Or a prayer intercessor.

 

The Chair is ignored,

The programme is put on hold

And I wonder how such persons

Can be so bold.

 

You are forced to stand

As worship leaders lead

For sometimes close to an hour

While your feet plead.

 

Whether the old or the young,

It does not really matter

For if the seniors decide to sit down

They are blocked by the latter.

 

And if there is prayer

Immediately after this session

Depending on the intercessor

There could be more oppression.

 

O how I wish

We would do as assigned

Rather than take over the service

As if by design!

 

The people who planned,

Planned with the Holy Spirit,

Who gives spiritual bullies the right

To just come and change it?

 

I know things can change

But this need not be the norm,

The exception is enough,

Please be warned.

 

Follow the Spirit’s lead,

Don’t get me wrong

But don’t ignore the chairperson

And put him down.

 

You would not like it

If you were the chair person,

So, to claim the Spirit’s unction

Is not a genuine reason.

 

 

Of spiritual bullies

You had better beware

But don’t be intimidated by them

And be driven by fear.

 

Spiritual bullying!

There is much around

And in virtually every assembly

It may be found.

 

Stewart Russell © April 30, 2024

 

Two Debates

 

 

The first one was a debacle

The second was a debate,

I’m not talking about Barbados

I mean the United States.

 

Trump was all over the place

Biden was in a bind,

And I got the stark impression

Of the blind leading the blind.

 

The issues were not ventilated,

They were not even aired

And the moderator in my opinion

Wished he could disappear.

 

 

He had little control

But then again, how could he?

Remember Trump is the President

And that we all must see.

 

Trump is an alien to rules

Unless they are his own,

Such that any debate that he is in

Will be as though he is alone.

 

The moderator is ignored

Time allotments too,

Trump will always ensure

That he gets more than his due.

His scowl was intimidating

Biden was no match,

Any opposition in a Trump debate

Definitely ends up scratched.

 

 

Trump and Biden staged a debacle,

Pence and Harris was a debate,

But even here, I must confess,

Neither of the two was great.

  

Some questions were ignored

Especially by Pence

And Harris eventually followed suit

And also committed this offense.

 

They acknowledged one another

When it suited them

But each blamed the other

For the country’s problems.

 

  

Pence, more often than Harris,

Ignore the moderator

Whose repeated calls of time

Became a constant bother.

 

However, this second debate

Far outshone the first,

Someone must tell Trump and Biden

Maybe they should rehearse.

 

One a debacle the other a debate

But neither one was great,

I eagerly await the next match-up;

I intend to make it a date.

 

Trump and Biden: nothing doing,

Pence and Harris was better,   

Trump and Biden must up their game

And be the real trend-setters.

 

Stewart Russell © October 8, 2020