Real Mathematics

 

 

One and one is two

And two and two is six,

If you were my teacher

I’d be getting “licks”,

 

But yet you can read

That is what you’d say

And particularly so

Especially in this day.

 

I was a teacher too

And still in my right mind

But now I’m getting old

This happens all the time.

 

I am assuming

You understand English

So that what is in verse one

Is not simply my wish.

 

Hence we’ll move on a little

In our Mathematics

And hopefully as you read

I’ll get you out this fix.

 

No doubt you are thinking

I am kind of mixed up,

I am old but not that old

So you are out of luck.

 

 

One and two is three

And three and three is nine,

If you add correctly

It will be right each time.

 

No I am not mad

And neither am I blind

And neither is new mathematics

Messing with my mind.

 

If verses one and seven

Were taken just as written

I assure you my friend

You’d see your problem.

 

Take lines one and two

Of verses one and seven,

Write them down in figures

And easily do the problem.

 

 

One from two leaves two

And five from six leaves six,

Depending on what you mean

This could be a fix.

 

If it were a case of eating

That might work out well

But in another case

It may be difficult to sell.

 

The items may be around

But in a different form,

Five dead sheep and one alive

Six is still that norm.

 

Remove the dead sheep

And the answer would be one

But if the opposite were true

Not a sheep would be gone.

 

 

I hope you are not confused

Or even experiencing strife,

This is real mathematics

And you have to factor in life.

 

They tell me I am mad

And my thing is so weird

But if you still don’t understand

Your thinking is impaired.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2018

 

Strange Designations

 

 

There are three designations

In a particular discipline

I want to call to your attention

With an intriguing spin.

 

We’ve all attended school

And we have learnt a lot

But the more we learn of a matter

It always seems a mere drop.

 

That particular discipline

Is none other than Mathematics,

A subject I am thrilled about

Due to its number tricks.

 

The focus, however, today,

Is nothing about numbers

But rather, three strange designations

I wish for you to consider.

 

Please focus with me now

On the topic of fractions

And remember the title of this poem

Is: Strange Designations.

 

No doubt you are thinking

What could he possibly mean

But bear in mind my inquisitive friend,

This you’ve often seen.

 

I have long discovered

In my exploration of fractions

It is never considered improper

To deal in the vulgar and common.

 

 

Yet in our everyday living

This is an absolute “no-no”

And if a pupil should be so daring,

He’d be sure to know.

 

No offense is being proffered

And none is taken, I trust,

But I consider raising this matter

An absolute must.

 

The parts of a fraction

Are its numerator and denominator:

If the numerator is bigger

That fraction is improper.

 

As is designated in life

Similarly, it is with factions,

Top heaviness is deemed improper

But is also considered common.

 

Two designations so far

And now for the third and last,

While the first two may be excused

The third is of a poor class.

 

 

 

Common may be positive

But never so with vulgar,

In whatever shape, form or fashion

Vulgar is improper.

 

I can understand common

And I can understand improper

But however hard I try,

I can’t understand vulgar.

 

Why call a fraction vulgar?

Isn’t common, common enough?

Tell me, what is its origin?

This one is really tough.

 

You are absolutely right!

I have nothing better to do,

That’s why I write and write and write,

If you were like me, Won’t you?

 

Stewart Russell © June 3, 2024

 

Bible Maths

 

 

God created Mathematics

And the Bible tells me so,

Let me share with you now

How I came to know.

 

Here are some facts

In the King James Version,

I will list a few of them

For your consideration.

 

Let me start at the centre

And then move either way

And hope at the end of this poem

I will have made your day.

 

Psalm 118

Is the middle chapter,

There are 594 chapters before

And 594 thereafter.

 

Add up these two numbers

To get 1188,

How many chapters in the Bible?

That was your mistake.

 

The centre verse of the Bible

Is Psalm 118 verse 8,

It would be interesting to see

To whom this verse relates.

 

“It is better to trust in the Lord

Than to put confidence in man.”

This can’t be a coincidence

But instead a Divine Plan.

 

 

At the Bible’s centre

We see the Almighty God

And the directive that He gives

Is to trust in the LORD.

 

In whom do you confide?

In whom should you trust?

At the centre of God’s Word it says-

In God we must.

 

At the centre is Psalm 118

With the shortest chapter before

Which chapter is the longest?

Need I tell you more?

 

Psalm 117 is the shortest

Psalm 118 is at the centre,

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter

And comes immediately after.

 

One hundred seventy-six verses

Has Psalm 119

But Psalm 117 has but two

And this is clearly seen.

 

The longest verse in the Bible

Is Esther 8 verse 9,

And if you count the number of words

Exactly 90 you will find.

 

You will not see the word God

Nowhere in the book of Esther

But in the entire Esther narrative

God is the Mighty Deliverer.

 

Next is the shortest verse

Which is but just two words,

An oft used expletive in the past

That was horribly absurd.

 

In St. John 11:35

We read that Jesus wept,

Lazarus had died, the Bible tells,

Causing much regret.

 

I just wanted to show

The Bible is not by chance,

It is the divinely inspired Word of God

And not mere happenstance.

 

It is replete with facts

Both serious and amusing

And the information you find therein

Is by God’s own choosing.

 

  

I trust I have made your day

But even more than this,

I trust you have put the Bible

Top of your reading list.

 

Stewart Russell © April 29, 2021

 

Who Created God?

 

 

Such a question assumes

That God had a cause

But I plead with you, my reader,

Just pull up here and pause.

 

This is a childlike question,

If you see what I mean:

A first cause can have no cause-

On what would it lean?

 

A first cause would be the cause

For all other causes to follow,

Even for a child, I dare say,

This is not hard to swallow.

 

Yes, there are created gods

And thus, not the Eternal God,

History is replete with them

But every one was caused.

 

Caused by human beings

Who also worshipped them:

The makers bowing to their creation-

Don't you see the problem?

 

Who created God

Presupposes a created being

And thus, an infinite going back

In the past recurring.

 

Like decimals in Mathematics

We learn of in school,

These must be approximated

Or we would go on like a fool.

 

Like one-third, for example:

It’s the first one you’ll come across,

Approximate it to the hundredths

And little time will be lost.

 

 

 

Zero point three-three (0.33)

With a little dash on top

Or repeat the (3) like a headache

That never ever stops.

 

 

A recurring past cause

Does not make any sense

Hence, an uncaused Creator God:

Always in existence.

 

It is a childlike question

When it is posed in this way,

Any created god

Will lead us all astray.

 

Who created the uncreated God

Is a better question to ask

For within this lies the answer-

It’s a much simpler task.

 

God is the uncreated Creator

That always exists

And by Jesus Christ and for him

All things consist.

 

 

The I AM THAT I AM

That is unrestricted by time

And stated in His Holy Word

As Jesus Christ, the Vine.

 

He is the timeline and lifeline,

Creator of all we know

And we believe that this is true-

By His Word He tells us so.

 

In the beginning of time

God created space

And in space He placed all of matter

And the human race.

 

If God created before time

When would His creating be?

Where would He have put the matter

If there were no space to see?

 

A trinity of trinities, therefore,

That is: time, space and matter,

Before God there was no creator

And there’s none Him-after.

 

Time: past, present and future,

Space: length, width and height,

Matter: solids, liquids and gases:

All for God’s delight.

 

Who created God

Must mean a little “g” god, of course,

Since God, the self-existent One,

Has no prior source.

 

Stewart Russell © May 15, 2023

 

Patterns of A Cult

 

 

Adding to the Word of God

 

God gave a direct command

A simple straightforward word,

Do not eat of a specified tree

But Eve thought that absurd.

 

She set out to clean it up

And to make it more user friendly

So she added to the word of God

And thus began human misery.

 

God stated a particular tree

Eve emphasized “a position”,

This gave the serpent an opening

To introduce some indecision.

 

God stated clearly, “Do not eat,”

But Eve gave an added command:

“Neither shall ye touch it,”

Was never in the original plan.

 

“Ye shall surely die,” said the Lord

But Eve introduced a caveat:

“Lest ye die” is what she offered

And then possibility replaced fact.

 

Three additions to the word of God

Three additions added Eve,

Addition has become the compromise

Such that it is now Adam and Steve.

 

Add thou not unto his words

States Proverbs 30 and verse 6,

It was through Eve’s addition

That the whole world was unfixed.

 

 

Subtracting from the Person of Christ

 

“In the beginning was the Word”

And the Word was with God.”

Some were not comfortable with this

And set out to make Jesus a fraud.

 

“And the Word was God” the Bible said

But this assertion did not suffice,

The indefinite article was introduced

To subtract from the person of Christ.

 

A lower case “g” was used instead

The Word was relegated to “a god”,

If Jesus were seen otherwise

Then he surely would be a fraud.

 

“All things were made by him”

Again that’s what the Bible states

But this would make him the Creator

Which his detractors could not take.

 

So “all other things” was introduced

To subtract from the person of Christ,

This would make him a created being

And this would adequately suffice.

 

Neither shall ye diminish from the word

We read in Deuteronomy 4 verse 2,

Subtracting from the person of Christ 

Is another operation that cults do.

 

 

Multiplying Salvation Requirements

 

The Bible is clearly explicit

Concerning the salvation of a person

But some have multiplied the requirements

To create a gigantic problem.

 

Confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus

And believe God raised him from the dead,

This is the basis for salvation;

In the Bible this is what is said.

 

For with the heart

Man believes unto righteousness

And with the mouth

Confession is made unto salvation.

 

This is rather simple and straightforward

But some believe it’s not enough

So as to make it more exclusive

The requirements must be tough.

 

So, they multiply the requirements

They repeatedly added to the terms

Hence offering a pseudo salvation

And the true salvation spurn.

 

They introduce laws and rituals

They emphasize days and diets,

Their study books replace the Bible

And any contravention creates a riot.

 

Saving faith is replaced by works

And God’s grace is minimized

And the recipient is always in doubt

Concerning whether he’s been reconciled.

 

 

Dividing the Loyalty of the Follower

 

Some held allegiance to Apollos

And some were loyal to Paul,

Some were devoted to Cephas

But that is not even all.

 

Some lay claims on Christ

And no doubt felt better than the rest

But Paul being under the anointing

Said they all had failed the test.

 

He noted that Christ was not divided

And Paul was not crucified,

None was baptized in the name of Paul

Such loyalty was not his to decide.

 

His was to preach the Gospel

And that not with the wisdom of words

Lest the cross of Jesus Christ

Be viewed as being absurd.

 

These days it is particularly rife

To divide the loyalty of the follower

To the extent that it is sometimes difficult

To determine the object of the worshipper.

 

Two ways come to mind readily:

Those of the institution and the leader

Both of which usurp the authority of Jesus

In the eyes of many a follower

 

The focus and loyalty of the believer

Must always be placed upon Christ

And any attempt to sway him otherwise

Should be crushed as though in a vice.

 

 

Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing

The fault is not in Mathematics,

It’s just another of the enemy’s strategies

In the way he packages his tricks.

 

These are the patterns of a cult

The intent most often is to deceive,

They are regularly wrapped in sincerity

And made particularly easy to believe.

 

Do not be misled by their subtlety

Be led by the Holy Spirit,

Depend on him to reveal the Word

Let this be your daily habit.

 

There is no need to add to the Word

Or subtract from the person of Christ

In this one thing we can be confident

That Jesus is the only required sacrifice.

 

No need to multiply salvation’s requirements

Or divide the follower’s loyalty

Christ is all and in all to us

And is one with the blessed Trinity.

 

He is the object of our faith

And the expression of God’s grace

And if we deem his sacrifice as not enough

This is nothing short of a disgrace.

 

He deserves our total worship

He desires our absolute trust,

He demands our unswerving obedience

And that we walk in the faith of the just.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2018

 

The Widow’s Mites

Let’s examine the widow’s mites

For me, it’s another favourite,

I am particularly impressed this time

At Jesus’ brand of Mathematics.

The citizens were paying taxes

A percentage of their income,

The rich gave out of their abundance

Making for a hefty sum.

This poor widow came along

And threw in her last two mites,

If you make that one hundred percent

This time you got it right.

 

She gave more than any of them;

This was Jesus’ assertion,

For they cast in of their abundance

While she gave her entire life-portion.

One hundred percent she gave

That’s what Christ demands,

Her two mites were more than all the rest

She held nothing more in hand.

Stewart Russell © June 2020