No Nations in Heaven

 

 

No nations in heaven

Not a single one,

God ushered in the heavenly Jerusalem

And the old was gone.

 

He didn’t start with a nation

But with one man

To whom he gave a woman

For redemption’s plan.

 

The first Adam failed

With his eyes opened wide,

That he knew what God required

Cannot be denied.

 

 

Judgement came later

In the form of a great flood,

Noah preached for 120 years

But nobody budged.

 

Eight people were saved

To repopulate the world:

Noah, his wife and six others

According to the Word.

 

Next it was Abraham

Called from among his clan

And who was instructed by God

To journey to a land.

 

Followed by Isaac

And Jacob renamed Israel

Out of whom came the twelve tribes

God’s chosen people.

 

 

In faithful Abraham

All nations are blessed

Becoming one people in Christ

Thus, entering God’s rest.

 

No nation at the start

And no nation in the end

But a people out of many nations

Christ calls his friends.

 

To all that received him

They are children of God:

A people not limited to ethnic Israel

But scattered abroad.

 

 

 

Made up of every nation,

Every kindred and tongue

Having heard the everlasting gospel

To YAHWEH now belong.

 

A people, not a nation,

Do not be mistaken!

All of ethnic Israel will not be saved;

Only those that are forgiven.

 

Now no wall of partition,

No longer Gentile and Jew,

All are one people in Christ Jesus

No chosen nation in view.

 

 

No nations in heaven

Only the people of God,

And with these God tabernacles

Though scattered abroad.

 

1 John 3:2

 

Beloved,

Now are we the sons of God,

And it doth not yet appear

What we shall be:

 

But we know that,

When he shall appear,

We shall be like him;

For we shall see him as he is.

 

The New Jerusalem

Prepared as Christ’s bride,

Coming from God out of heaven

With us to forever abide.

 

Stewart Russell ©June 13, 2025

 

Whither the Constitution?

 

 

Where the Constitution gone

That was promised in 2022?

I recall it was before the General Election

And almost four years due.

 

From a colony to a Nation,

From a Nation to a Republic

But regarding the Republic Constitution,

We have let that slip.

 

“The cart before the horse”

Is what we said back then

But little attention was paid to this

And hence, this problem.

 

All and sundry had agreed

A Constitution was necessary:

The Democratic Labour Party, the PM

And the governing BLP.

 

But it would wait until after

The election that was to come

When Barbados would become a Republic

Aka the BLP kingdom.

 

For what else would it be

Having won all thirty seats?

This, for the second time in succession;

Wasn’t that neat?

 

An election promise:

The PM had given her word

And all like now after almost four years

It is still deferred.

 

Hence, the question I ask,

Where the Constitution gone?

Is there really a need for a new Constitution

Or can we keep the old one?

 

Regarding the General Elections

There was extraordinary haste,

It appeared that the manifesto promises

Were all executed with pace.

 

Was only three and a half years

And another election was called

With just a couple weeks for canvassing

And that was all.

 

Was one and a half years

Not enough time, I ask,

To commence working on the Constitution

And complete the task?

 

Apparently not, it seems,

Given the time they have been at it

So much so, while talking to myself,

I wonder if they quit.

 

For weeks on end

One hears absolutely nothing

And then suddenly out of the clear blue

A bell would ring.

 

Another deadline given,

Another deadline would pass

And yet again, the anticipated Constitution

Would be stuck fast.

 

Reminds me of documents

Stuck in somebody’s desk

And then finally ending up in file 13;

Oh, what a mess!

 

But such would never happen

To the Republic Constitution

Given the calibre of individuals sitting

On this Commission.

 

In the light of all this,

Where the Constitution gone?

Will we wait till after General Elections

To shelve the old one.

 

Is the task too difficult

For these persons of renown?

Do they think we should continue to operate

Under the Crown...

 

Thinking an old Constitution

Is better than no Constitution

Bearing in mind there are still remnants

Of the English Constitution?

 

Is integrity legislation

Included in the new Constitution

And could this be one of the obstacles

To finding a solution?

 

What an uproar, I hear!

What kind of fool would I be

To even imagine such silly tomfoolery

Re the ruling party?

 

So, where the Constitution gone?

It’s been a long time coming,

It is almost like having a fretless guitar

And vigorously strumming.

 

 

 

A new mandate, I heard,

Was why Election 2022 was called

But after the Republic pomp and pageantry

The Constitution is stalled.

 

One individual even stated

Barbados has no Constitution

And that they did not have to pay attention

To any legal adjudication.

 

So, you see why I must ask

Where the Constitution gone

And make a desperate call to the PM

To quickly enact a new one?

 

Enact the new Constitution

Before the Republic gets old

For as far as I and many are perceiving,

The Republic brand is cold.

 

So far, it is purely cosmetic:

Rebranding with just a name

And it is full time we move the State’s Ship

Into the republic’s lane.

 

If only we could reverse

We’d put the Constitution first

For right now Barbados is an orchestra

Playing unrehearsed.

 

Wither the Constitution?

Not a man would answer me,

Maybe I am thinking of the Attorney General

Instead of PM Mia Mottley.

 

Stewart Russell © November 11, 2025

 

Asking the Hard Questions

 

 

After I have fasted

And after I have prayed,

After the solemn assembly

And my nerves are frayed,

After the prayer vigil

And after the prayer walk,

What do I do when nothing changes

And it seems just talk?

 

When people laugh

And they poke scorn at us,

When they mock at our God

And discredit the Lord Jesus,

When like in Elijah’s time

He mocked Baal’s prophets,

What do we do when this seems reversed

As a regular habit?

 

When God seems distant

And untraceable,

And there’s no apparent help

In time of great trouble,

And we say how great God is

But nothing ever happens,

Tell me what ought to be our response

When the unthinkable threatens?

 

 

When we pray for country

And it gets mockingly worse

And it appears that all we have done

Is to exacerbate its curse

Thus, a “where is your God”

Is the question scorners ask,

Please give me a watertight answer

Re this formidable task.

 

When I quote Scripture

About all God has done,

But yet in the recent past battles

Satan seemed to have won,

When the church seems clueless

Regarding what can be done,

Why should I not in frustration give up

And away from it run?

 

When Governments pretend

To respect the church

And call for its spiritual reflection

When the Nation hurts,

And when the church responds

Just as the Nation dictates,

Tell me this then, who is really in charge

Of the church’s fate? 

 

 

Is it not the Nation

That is calling the shots

To determine the church’s role

As well as its available slots?

When did Governments become

Regulators of the church?

How I wish the church would wake up

For this really hurts.

 

What exalts a Nation?

Is it still not righteousness?

Do we not see that our countries

Are one sordid mess?

Which churches will trumpet the call

For the country to repent

Rather than asserting their independence

And their fund-raising intent?

 

For our nation is divided

And so are our churches

And both have been majoring

In cosmetic excesses

Pretending to genuinely care

About God and the people

But yet guns, drugs and their importers

Make our lives miserable.

 

Rather than clean the mess

We pray for protection,

Rather than expose evil doers

We want God’s intervention

But He must operate on our terms

While we ignore His Word

Expecting Him to leave man unchanged

But fix the world.

 

 

Back in the Bible times

Whenever Israel strayed

They were instructed to repent

However hard they prayed,

So, however hard we pray

And however long we lament,

Will we bring God into our political affairs

And first up, genuinely repent?

 

Stewart Russell © July 28, 2024

 

Take Note

As we celebrate

Independence year fifty-three

Let us take note

It is no longer a spree

Fifty-three years of nationhood

Years of continuous struggle

Years of success and promise

But also years of much trouble

More so in these latter years

As we confront our fears

A lot of fret and a lot of care

Blood and sweat and tears

A change of governance

In our fifty-second year

With prospects and promises

That better was near

The vulnerable of our country

Still the vulnerable

And hoping that this will change

If such is at all possible

Water woes and garbage

Mounting up every day

Commuting from place to place

Difficult in every way

The challenge of recession

And the intervention of BERT

An economy once promising

In the grip of IMF support

All systems still on slow

A serious interruption in the flow

Material and human resources

Always getting ready to go

Difficulty in doing business

Everything taking a long time

With the prospect of enterprise

Ever on decline

Sick schools and buildings

And our youth devoid of feeling

Less focus on the moral

Prayer and Bible reading

Minorities becoming majorities

In matters of little repute

Time and effort wasted

On fruitless and vain disputes

The suspicion of sabotage

And that for whatever reason

The marijuana discussion

And the silly gender season

The fleecing of our people

By business people most corrupt

The “dog eat dog” mentality

A most destructive construct

A blatant disregard for God

And most things pertaining to Him

A mounting mocking perception

On what the Bible calls sin

A metaphorical procuring

Of our own coffins and caskets

And with a bent on spiritual suicide

Many appear dead set

A plethora of ideas

From the intellectually acclaimed

And universities and colleges

Now centres for the insane

The lettered and the illiterate

Almost indistinguishable

I would never have believed

This could ever be possible

The brighter we become

The duller in commonsense

Sorry to those who wear this cap

If you deem this an offence

  

I prescribe the introspection

Which has already begun

And sincerely hope at the end of it

The foolish thinking will be done

Observe the open punctuation

Do so with an open mind

Let’s return to our moral underpinnings

I deem this an opportune time

A transparent trust in God

And our Judaea-Christian constitution

I make bold to declare today

Christ is still our salvation

The highlight of a thriving nation

Is a nation under God

And other claimants to such success

Are only imposters and frauds

Stewart Russell © November 2019

Heavenly Father

As each wends his way to vote

Let Your Holy will be done

Keep us focused on the task

And all detractors and enticers shun

Let there be calm I pray

Throughout this entire day

And however we may vote

Let’s accept it as the people’s say

For parties we may be divided

But for country let us be one

And give our support to whomever

Will rule at the coming dawn

Let everything be done in decency

And in the stipulated order

Let not stupidity or folly

Be seen within our border

May fairness and justice reign

Let there be no intimidation

To influence one way or another

As we vote across this nation

Give your journeying mercies

To the greatest and the least

And may every single constituency

Experience your Divine peace

We thank you for our country

And for Your gracious oversight

That whoever forms our Government

Will do what they know is right

Inspire them with a conscience

That is quickened by genuine love

And remind all and sundry

Blessings come only from above

Honour today this prayer

We pray in Your Son’s name

And to you we give all praise

For your sovereign and gracious reign

Stewart Russell © May 2018