A Discernible Historical Cycle

 

 

Phases of this Cycle

 

Acknowledgement

 

Indifference

 

Ignorance

 

Doubt

 

Denial

 

Irritation

 

Affirmation

 

Acknowledgement

 

Dr. Robert A. Morey

Death and the Afterlife

  

In his book “Death and the Afterlife”

Dr. Robert A. Morey posits

A cycle across the Christian Church eras

That has become a habit.

 

This cycle, Dr. Morey contends,

Pertains to the issue of hell:

How belief goes through these stages-

And I think I understand him well.

 

However, I wish to make the leap

And extend it even beyond,

For many things we once held dear

Are either going or gone.

 

And so, this presentation

Will not identify all these issues

But will use Dr. Robert Morey’s cycle

To help us to catch the view.

 

Seven stages or phases, he cited

That a people will go through

From acknowledgement to confirmation

Before starting the cycle anew.

 

The nature of hell and its reality

Is the issue that he describes

But there are several other matters

To which this can be ascribed.

 

The Trinity for example

Or, salvation by faith through grace,

The ongoing matter of eternal security

And whether always saved is safe.

 

Once there was certainty

And we stood in acknowledgement

But after taking it for granted,

In came indifference.

 

We developed the assumption

It would be forever understood

And we did not treat to the new recruits

In the way that we truly should.

 

Due diligence went out the door,

We assumed everybody knew

So, we left off that particular matter

And took up another issue.

 

Indifference led to ignorance

After all, how would they have known

When the ones principally responsible

Had not these truths shown?

 

Hence, these wandering sheep,

Now ignorant of the shepherd’s ways

Continue in their presumed ignorance;

No longer reluctant strays.

 

As a consequence of their ignorance

These initiates begin to doubt,

They are unable to defend themselves-

Lack of knowledge weakens clout.

 

Doubt as the Bible shows

Was Israel’s greatest undoing,

Doubt dogged their tracks persistently

And their unbelief was unending.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

From indifference to ignorance,

Doubt has now set in

And there is little resistance.

 

 

Like Humpty Dumpty on the wall

They have taken the inevitable fall,

They now gravitate towards practices

The body once appalled.

 

They are in militant denial

And now willing to fight for the wrong,

They call good evil and evil good

And in this they are very strong.

 

In here I slip in the gender issue:

Gender confusion I say,

Once not even voiced in the Church-

It’s now some believers’ way.

 

Denying God’s original template

Based on Adam and Eve,

We now have not only Adam and Steve

But Eve and Genevieve.

 

But there is irritation for some:

Maybe a relative few

Ready to strengthen what remains

And reinstate the Bible view.

 

The upsurge of evil in our world

Should rub us in the wrong way,

Not as a soothing and fragrant lotion

In the case of lesbians and gays.

 

They need the guiding light:

That perpetual light is Jesus Christ:

The one who is faithful in the here and now

As well as in the afterlife.

 

After irritation comes confirmation

The last in this historical cycle,

It is the time of necessary refocusing

For God’s adoptive people.

 

In confirmation of those things vital

To living the Christian life,

And the spinal cord of the Christian faith,

The atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

In acknowledgement of his return

When he shall come to claim his prize,

When the born again of faith’s household

With their Saviour shall arise.

 

At which stage we are now

May vary from place to place

But the immorality some are pushing

Is nothing short of disgrace.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

To ignorance then doubt,

Denial, irritation and confirmation

Before this cycle runs out.

 

Then it’s back to acknowledgement

Beginning the cycle all over again,

How great it would be simply to remove

Some carriages from this train?

 

Delete indifference and ignorance

As well as doubt and denial,

Then add irritation to these four

Thus, shortening this cycle.

 

We are left with just two:

Acknowledgement and confirmation-

The Scriptures speak to both of these

In the matter of our salvation.

 

Stewart Russell © July 4, 2023

 

Ash Phenomenon

 

 

 

The ash is still falling

Though no longer from the sky,

It’s falling from treetops and roofs

And causing many a sigh.

 

“I just cleaned this place,

Swept down and swift down

And now I’m walking back through

I still feel the ash abound.

 

I’m feeling it in my nostrils

It’s irritating my palate,

I am coming to one conclusion-

This ash has to be fate.”

 

It gets in between your toes

And in between your fingers

And though the house is closed

Inside it still lingers.

 

It sneaks in the tiniest crevice

And fills the smallest hole

And where you least expect it

It begins to form like mold.

 

It is as light as air

And you actually breathe it in,

And by its persistence it says,

There’s no way you can win.

 

It does not discriminate

That is one sure consolation,

Black and white, rich and poor;

All experience frustration.

 

 

In the heights or terraces

The gardens or the farms,

On the blocks or in the villages

This is causing alarm.

 

Some things it coats in black

Other objects it covers in grey,

The roads are coated in white

As this ash holds full sway.

 

Not to mention the dust clouds

Whenever a vehicle passes by,

It’s as though the clouds are on earth

Having vacated the sky.

 

When will it go away?

This question is on every lip,

Whether COVID-19 or the ash

It’s sometimes hard to pick.

 

COVID has become COVASH,

What a relentless duo!

However, what we see is all we get

And a future we don’t know.

 

 

This ash is a phenomenon

Just like that of COVID

And all we can do, my friend,

Is to count our blessings and live.

 

Stewart Russell © April 28, 2021

 

Hell: Not to be Taken Lightly

In Robert Morey’s book “Death and the After Life” its title

He draws our attention to a “discernible historical cycle”,

Starting with ACKNOWLEDGEMENT the first of seven stages,

It ends with affirmation; it’s been like this through the ages.

In acknowledgement most were clear on the doctrine of hell,

It was then an eternal punishment the Bible clearly did tell,

Sinners were warned to flee the wrath of God to come,

It was either an eternity in hell or forever in God’s kingdom.

But then came those who teach hell is not eternal just temporal,

INDIFFERENCE becomes the next stage in this historic cycle,

Sinners will be raised and judged and then be eternally dead,

No relentless consciousness of punishment, enough said.

God is a God of love; how dare one ascribes such hate to Him

To banish anyone to an eternal hell just for committing sin!

Why, how much sin could a person commit in his short lifetime

To warrant an eternity in a flaming hell with no chance of a lifeline?

This introduces IGNORANCE that sniffs at indifference heels

Since the biblical theme of God’s judgment is being repealed;

Now the people in the pew know not why to believe in hell

For little is said on the subject, apparently no one dares to tell.

Does God’s word really warn of an eternal hell? Of course not!

DOUBT rears up its ugly head and facilitates the devil’s plot,

“An eternal hell what!  Such a loving gracious God would be unkind,

Awhhh man, get that nonsensical folly clean out of your mind.

Think on this: a person who has had a short sixteen-year slice

Was never a bad fellow but had never accepted the Christ,

How could God in His mercy not only cast that youngster out

But commit him to an eternal lake of fire?  That I must doubt!”

The cults quickly advance universalism or annihilationism

Causing many to deny the true doctrine and accept their schisms

So that DENIAL becomes prominent since the orthodox teachers

Have not instructed their people, neither they nor their preachers.

The Universalists propagate, “Don’t worry, everyone will be saved!”

While the Annihilationists present hell not much different from the grave,

So that basically what will happen is the unsaved will be judged

Then punished in hell for a period, from this no need to budge.

At first orthodox theologians are not inclined to treat to the issue

Choosing to believe instead that theirs is still the established view

But then IRRITATION sets in as the opposing pressure begins to mount

And orthodox theologians see the need to put again the biblical account.

There is need for such irritation as we wallow in undue compromise

While accepting heresies that will contribute to our spiritual demise,

Heresies that will dull our spiritual sense and thus cause us to reject

The infallible word of God and the doctrine of hell it clearly projects.

Clearly the Universalists and Annihilationists don’t intend to go away

So AFFIRMATION is needed concerning this serious matter today,

There is dire need to reaffirm the biblical stance once taken on hell

And reach a lost and dying world before its final death knell.

There is a heaven to gain as certain as there is a hell to shun,

There is a common characteristic to both hell and God’s kingdom,

Eternal consciousness will be the fact regarding both destinations:

Eternal torment verses eternal bliss, heaven or hell the only two options.

After affirmation the Christian Church begins to acknowledge again,

Most are comfortable to propagate that hell is eternal conscious pain,

Such ACKNOWLEDGEMENT acknowledges that God is just though merciful

And has provided a way of escape from a horrid hell that is surely eternal.

Acknowledge with me to what God subjected His beloved begotten Son,

View with me his horrible death at Calvary and his tormentors’ fun,

Think with me concerning his resurrection and his subsequent ascension

To prepared a place for every born again believer in His coming kingdom.

God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance,

Hell was not prepared for man but for the devil and his co-dependents,

Then shall Jesus say to them on his left, “Depart from me into everlasting fire!”

But what if some still don’t believe?  Let God be true and every man a liar!

Stewart Russell © 2016