Better All the Way

“A temple is to be built”

I hear some say,

“But the Muslim sacred dome

Is standing in its way.”

 

That dome must be moved

Can’t be there still,

The temple will be there

Believe me it will.

 

It will be the signal

Of Israel’s Messiah’s coming

For which devout Jews

Are currently looking.

 

Sacrifices must restart

So, the temple is a must,

Dispensationalists believe it

And do make a fuss.

 

Israel will be in charge

As nations go up to her,

This will follow the tribulation

To which the Bible refer.

 

Thus, a new temple

And animal sacrifice

Though this in the first place

Did not quite suffice.

 

There’s no temple need

Or for animal sacrifice,

Jesus’ once for all atonement

More than sufficed.

 

 

Why return, I ask,

To the beggarly elements

After the veil in the temple

Was permanently rent?

 

Showcasing for all

A much better way,

Jesus’ once for all sacrifice

Speaks to a better day.

 

A better High Priest

Than any before him,

The only High Priest ever

That can forgive sin.

 

Jesus is our temple

And our sacrifice,

He is also our High Priest

That gave his life.

 

This is borne out

In the book of Hebrews,

Go there I recommend

For a better view.

 

Better than the angels

And of better things,

We are so wonderfully blessed

We’ve a right to sing.

 

A better blessing

And a better hope,

Jesus is a better testament

Please take note.

 

 

A better covenant

Built on better promises,

The heavenly things themselves

With better sacrifices.

 

A better country

With a better resurrection

God providing a better thing

To bring us salvation.

 

Jesus is the mediator

Of this better covenant

That speaks of better things

For the elect remnant.

 

 

Better all the way:

From the Old to the New,

For the Jew and the Gentile:

For me and for you.

 

Better here and now

And still better to come,

Heirs to the kingdom of God

Through Jesus, His Son.

 

 

 

Christ the new temple,

Believers his lively stones,

Built up in Jesus the Christ

As the Spirit tones.

 

Go to Hebrews now

To study the word better

And see how Jesus shines

In this descriptive letter.

 

To God be the glory

And praise to the Son,

Honour to the Holy Spirit:

Three yet one.

 

Stewart Russell © July 12, 2024

 

When I Say I love You

 

When I say I love you

I mean just as you are,

Promises are for the future

We never know that far.

 

When I say I love you

I can only speak for now,

Now is all I can give to you:

It’s in the now I vow.

 

Heaven knows I mean it

When I say I love you

But it’s only now I say it,

The future is always due.

 

I can make a promise

But what is a promise worth?

Many a promise is made

In merriment and mirth.

 

When times are good

And all is fair in sunshine,

Honey dew escapes the lips

And the mind is in a bind.

 

Yes, it’s in the present

When I say I love you,

So very certain in the now

What else can I do?

 

Age and illness matter not

When I say I love you,

The future I cannot factor in

I know not what is due.

 

I know I made a vow

As I was expected so to do,

I repeated the words I heard

And I said them all to you.

 

A moment like no other

And I meant it all the way

When we two became one

Right on our wedding day.

 

It’s not about the future

When I say I love you,

This moment now is all I know…

I know my love is true.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2022

Manifesto of Promises

  

Our manifesto of promises:

Here is what we will do,

If only you give us your vote

We’ll see you through.

 

 

  

Our manifesto of promises

That we have timetabled

And we pledge to follow through

For we are able.

 

We cross our hearts

And we also hope to die

Showing you how serious we are

That we won’t lie.

 

Who would go so far

As the third verse did state?

None, for that is like handing you

Their heads on a plate.

 

An escape clause

Is what they will present

For oft times the promises made

Are just intent.

 

We knew it was bad

But not really this bad

And of course, we made promises

On what we thought we had.

 

 

 

May work for those

That are trying to get in

But for those that are actually in,

It’s a cardinal sin.

 

For, they know the truth

Of what is there or not,

They were the elected custodians

Of the entire lot.

 

If it were as bad

As they make out to be,

They’d hope the opposition wins

And they escape free.

 

Do you see the point

That I am making here?

Well, if you don’t, I am so sorry,

To me it is clear.

 

  

A manifesto of promises

Is invariably one’s intent

To sway the eligible electorate

In a certain bent.

 

It is like the calypso:

“You hear lie? That is lie.”

And smacks of clever politicians

Operating on the sly.

 

‘Tis a difference between

Manifesto and manifest:

The latter is closer to the truth;

The former is a mess.

 

  

A manifesto should be

A five-year plan

But when completed in far less,

That is a scam!

 

Consecutive snap elections

Convince me of this

Unless something is significant

That I have missed.

 

A manifesto of promises

Is invariably one’s intent

To sway the eligible electorate

In a certain bent.

 

Stewart Russell © February 9, 2026

 

I’m Amazed

 

 

I’m amazed

At the goings on

And the shocks I get

Almost every waking dawn.

 

I’m amazed

At promises made

That are ineffective

And absolutely to no avail.

 

I’m amazed

At the lot o’ talk

But in evident absentia

Is the accompanying walk.

 

I’m amazed

At the crime rate

Especially of shootings

And our concomitant state.

 

I’m amazed

At the resulting fear

And the no need to fear

By those who say they care.

 

 

I’m amazed

At the authority

That appears so clueless

In the running of our country.

 

I’m amazed

At the hopelessness

That crushes one’s hope

While mocking at their zest.

 

I’m amazed

At the little we do

And then seriously expect

A phenomenal harvest to accrue.

 

I’m amazed

That we believe

That a ban on toy guns

Will gun importation impede.

 

 

I’m amazed

That we believe

That the crime upsurge

Is to satisfy basic familial needs.

 

I’m amazed

At those people

That believe Government

Care about the most vulnerable.

 

I’m amazed

It is getting better

And life is getting easier

Yet people are becoming bitter.

 

I’m amazed

That the church

Feeling it is irrelevant

Is turning to secular experts.

 

 

I’m amazed

That its message

Now amazingly diluted

Leaves little substance to salvage.

 

I’m amazed

That immorality

Is now the new reality

With the dulling of sensibility.

 

I’m amazed

That I am amazed

That we are at this phaze

With so many walking in a daze.

 

Senses numbed

And outlook bleak

And is getting worse

At this very time as we speak.

 

Stewart Russell © December 19, 2024

 

Fools We All Are

 

 

A promise is comfort to a fool

Especially to them that wait:

I must be one; I am convinced,

I was thinking here of late.

 

My life is full of promises

Therefore I must be a fool

And waiting on each to be fulfilled

I find comfort my trusted tool.

 

In one’s work there is a promise

To work and then get pay

And one works with expectation

Especially as it nears payday.

 

 

Married people are fools

Comforted by conjugal ties

And if you are married like I am

For years on “I do” you’ve relied.

 

Children rely on promises

Certainly they too are fools,

Trusting in what adults promise

Both at home and at school.

 

The electorate or illiterate,

Not sure which of the two I am,

Especially if it’s a priority need

We would dare to trust a man.

 

The eager conman lies in wait

For another trusting fool

And with his assured pleasing facade

Opens up his bag of tools.

 

“I won’t be caught again,” we say

And that is, till the next time,

Up comes another smooth talker

And we do not recognize his kind.

 

Fools we all are, by now you see

We have to trust somebody,

A promise is comfort to a fool

That means both you and me.

 

At work, at school, at play

Promises is a way of life

And every time a promise is broken,

There is likely to be strife.

Some promises are stated

These are the contractual kind,

Often we sign on the dotted line

But not each and every time.

 

Some are just word-of-mouth

“Lend me and I’ll pay you back”

An event or time is stipulated

But concerning both there is lack.

 

Think back in your mind

And note how trusting you are,

An event will surface, I am sure

Such an event cannot be far.

 

A promise made and not kept

Makes that victim a fool,

If a victim’s experience has been yours

Comfort was that conman’s tool.

 

Trust in God and not in man

God is the source of all comfort

But be aware that in everyday life

There are predators of all sorts.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2019

 

Lies in the Bible

 

 

The Bible is full of lies

And this may be considered true,

But not truly full of lies

Is my considered view.

 

It would be wise to ask

What people mean, though,

By the Bible is full of lies

Whenever they say so.

 

Is it in its history?

Is it in promises unfulfilled?

Is it in its incredible claims?

Tell me if you feel so still.

 

Many a person says this:

The Bible is full of lies,

And often without explanation

They are apt to criticize.

 

In the very first line

I said that this is true,

That there are lies in the Bible

Is more than just my view.

 

As early as in Genesis

The biggest lie was told,

The serpent lied to Mother Eve-

Boy, wasn’t he bold?

 

 

He even implicated God

Saying that God also knew

And Eve was horribly deceived

Into accepting Satan’s view.

 

Abraham twice and Isaac

Lied because of fear,

Stalwarts they certainly were

But lies they also shared.

 

It surely ran in the family

For Sarah also lied,

When denying she had laughed

And unbelief was implied.

 

Jacob did also lie

Being a grandchild of Abraham,

His sons too, to cover their tracks,

Lying was their plan.

 

 

Laban, Jacob’s uncle,

Deceived the love-struck Jacob

Giving him Leah instead of Rachel

Whom Jacob had not loved.

 

Potifar’s wife had lied to him

And Joseph did implicate,

He had given her a resounding no

And she was full of hate.

 

Rahab misled her country men

To protect the Israelite spies,

As a result, her life would be saved;

What a blessing in disguise!

 

Saul had promised David

Merab, his daughter to wed

But recanted on his promised word

And gave her to another instead.

 

Also, the husband and wife

That lied to the apostle of God,

It was through the Holy Spirit

They were exposed as frauds.

 

 

They had lied to Peter

But weeks before Peter had lied,

When he said “I know not the man,”

It was Jesus he had denied.

 

There are lies in the Bible

As shown in the foregoing proof

And the very fact that there are,

Substantiates this truth.

 

Do note that people tell lies

And in the Bible people lied

But the saving truth that's in the Word

Should never be denied.

 

Yes, there is a greater truth:

Jesus is the Word of God,

He’s the Way, the Truth, the Life;

Go spread this truth abroad!

 

Stewart Russell © May 9, 2021

Political Games

 

 

Childhood games are loads of fun

But political games are not,

They play with our livelihood

And are full of sinister plots.

 

Like pawns on a chest board

Swapped for any and everything,

A vote every five years or so

And then dangled from a string.

 

Collateral damage you may say

There must be a cost, you see,

Why not the hapless electorate

That ensured your five-year spree?

 

 

Politics, my friend, is a reckless game

Unlike those of childhood

And sometimes it gets so horrid

It even calls for blood.

 

So much of it is cover-up

That the truth is difficult to know

And if you take off your partisan lens

There are times you’ll see it show.

 

But our loyalties are very fierce

And we don’t easily let go

While they that rule over us

Just watch their fortunes grow.

 

But they can be apologetic

Every five years or so

When they come to town again

Like clowns in a circus show.

 

 

And we the faithful electorate

Become the illiterate again,

Spellbound by their circus antics

We participate in their game.

 

A game that promises much

But delivers little, if anything,

Except to the ones that have it all

While we, their praises sing.

 

Like the lotto games we play

In anticipation of winning,

But we mostly turn up the losers

With the politicians grinning.

 

But will we ever learn?

It does not seem we will

For our parents made the same mistake

And today we make it still.

 

 Childhood games are really fun

But political games are not,

The politicians are always the winners

While losing is our lot.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020