God Is in Control

 

God is in control

Though it mightn’t look so,

The assertion may be puzzling

But by faith we know.

 

I choose to believe this

Come whatever may,

God is in absolute control

Each and every day.

 

That it is getting worse

Is the opinion of many

But never mind how it looks,

God is the Almighty.

 

 

The Omniscient One

The only wise God,

He that sees all and knows all

Here and abroad.

 

Take note of the order

That exists in all of space

And how each heavenly body

Is held in its place.

 

By God’s word

They all were created

And by God’s word alone

They are supported.

 

 

The winds and the waves

Obeyed the Christ

Having no mind of their own

For good or vice.

 

Unlike human kind

That was given a choice,

Man could obey his Creator

Or ignore His voice.

 

Like back in Eden

You would no doubt recall

When Adam and Eve

Both did fall.

 

Deceived by a serpent

The agent of Satan,

Eve felled for his treachery

Followed by Adam.

 

 

God was in control

When all this occurred

And He is in no less control

In the Present world.

 

Men do as they please;

They have lost control

Especially our world leaders.

They’re on a roll.

 

God is not responsible

For our present raw deal,

It is the leaders that we trust

To whom we must appeal.

 

Appeal to their conscience;

At least, what of it is left

Seeing in the wake of their insanity,

There is suffering and death.

 

Israel and Palestine

Russia and the Ukraine,

Guyana and Venezuela

They are all insane!

 

 

Yet God is in control,

It is mankind that is not

And it is not difficult to see

Given all the rot.

 

However, be assured

Man will answer to God

Not only in the life here and now

But in that final call.

 

God's still in control

Dare to believe with me,

A time of reckoning will come

For everybody.

 

Stewart Russell © March 15, 2024

Nonsense Articulated Resoundingly

 

 

Nonsense articulated resoundingly

Which is NAR for short,

Is the “New Apostolic Reformation”

Which many like to exhort.

 

Reform and Reformation

Are on everybody’s lips

But what it means still puzzles me

Both in church and politics.

 

New Apostolic Reformation!

I have a problem with every word

And when the three are combined,

They are even more absurd.

 

Why New in the first place

For something that’s over 2000 years?

Is it something revealed just recently

That before had not appeared?

 

Like, these are the days of Elijah

When Elijah had left a while,

A whole lot of repackaged stuff

Has become a new fashion style.

 

The Bible is an ancient document

Thus, its revelation is not new

So be careful whom you chase after,

They may obscure your view.

 

From the New to Apostolic

In fact, New Apostolic is the term:

It’s neither Peter nor Paul nor John

And this makes me squirm.

 

If it were it couldn’t be new

The apostles are in the foundation:

The foundation of the church I say,

Meaning its early inauguration.

 

 

The apostles laid the foundation

With Jesus the chief cornerstone,

No other foundation can any man lay

In a foreign field or home.

 

You’d recalled Peter’s message

On that remarkable day of Pentecost:

A message calling all to repentance

And pointing them to the cross.

 

The central theme was Jesus

Whom the people had crucified,

This same Jesus was the risen Christ

By whom all are reconciled.

 

Reconciled to the Father-God,

Whose Son they had utterly despised,

That had come to bring them salvation

But by most he was denied.

 

Resoundingly speaks of loudness

Where there is no holding back,

No effort or cost is considered too much

In dispensing alternate facts.

 

Yes, we live in a post-modern age

In which truth is becoming recessive

And the pseudo gospel message

Is by no means abrasive.

 

A strange mixture, my friend,

Of the Word and designated pretexts

With a deletion of noted essentials

To allow for liberal flex.

 

 

A gospel that is directly opposed

To the one that's in God’s Word,

Another gospel, as Paul would say,

From the one on Pentecost heard.

 

Nonsense articulated

In the churches and without

And compared to the quiet believers

These charlatans convincingly shout.

 

Experience is their thing,

Biblical doctrine is second-class,

An obsession with the charismatic gifts

And fakery unsurpassed.

  

Why harp on Reformation?

Transformation is the dire need,

 The Holy Spirit is on offer to do this

As we sow the spiritual seed.

Transformation works from within

Reformation from without,

That the latter relies of the former

There can be no doubt.

 

Nonsense articulated resoundingly

Does not make it sense

And the “New Apostolic Reformation”

Is an inexcusable offense.

 

Stewart Russell © April 18, 2023

Born Again

 

 

How many times, I ask,

Can one be born again?

Once, twice, three times, maybe four?

What is your truth claim?

 

Can anyone know for sure

That his or her name is written

In the Lamb’s book of life

Which is held in heaven?

 

What assurance is there

That we are born again

If this event occurs over and over

Again, and again?

 

 

“Rejoice,” stated Jesus,

“Your names are written in heaven,”

By implication meaning

You are also forgiven.

 

Chosen in Christ Jesus

Before the foundation of the world,

Go to Ephesians 1 and verse 4

In case you haven’t heard.

 

Can it be scratched out?

I am referring to a name

And be re-entered into the book

Again, and again?

 

Whether yes or no

Show me from the Word

For if yes is the stated answer

We ought to be disturbed.

 

Jesus knows who are his

And his should know him too

For they bear the Spirit’s seal;

Tell me, do you?

 

Is my name written there

On the page bright and fair?

The question of a beautiful hymn,

Is my name written there?

 

 

One must be born again

Not of physical rebirth

But born again of the Holy Spirit;

Of heaven, not of earth.

 

It is a work of grace,

God’s grace I need to add

And it continues in the Holy Spirit

Minus all manmade fads.

 

Plain and straightforward

As told to teacher, Nicodemus,

“Ye must be born again,”

The very words of Jesus.

 

How many times, I ask,

Can one be born again?

Once, twice, three times, maybe four?

What is your truth claim?

 

 

Once, it appears to me,

Not what Nicodemus thought

And so, as in the natural,

It is only once wrought.

 

I know it is puzzling

Re the saving claim of people

That live somewhat differently

From kingdom principles.

 

But leave it to the Lord,

He knows who belong to him,

Just know if you’ve been born again

You’ve been saved from sin.

 

Stewart Russell © June 14, 2024

 

My Favourite Movie

 

 

 

I have a favourite movie

That has no name,

I like it so much

I watch it again and again.

 

I especially like

The parts of high suspense

And having watched it many times

I still feel tense.

 

It’s like, one of these times

He is not going to make it,

Leaving it for the last minute

Has become his habit.

 

Of course, as you know,

This has to be the star

And compared to the movie’s star.

None else is on par.

 

He is speeding along

And you expect him to crash

But with a twist and a turn

He is through in a flash.

 

Or, he goes into a town

And buts up on a fast gun

And the slower lies in the dust

When the dual is done.

 

And you constantly wonder

Why he wins every time

Notwithstanding that this movie

Is inscribed on your mind.

 

It’s my favourite movie

Though they’re others I like more

Yet every time I watch it,

Something new is in store.

 

Did that verse escape you?

Well, I would not be surprised,

That it also puzzles me

Cannot be denied.

 

Another thing that I like

About my favourite movie

Is how the star of this show

Is so immensely tricky.

 

He hides in the same location

Each and every time

And though his enemies get close

Him they can never find.

 

Every time I watch it

I expect a different outcome

But it is the same old, same old

When the movie is done.

 

No doubt you would ask me,

Why watch it so many times?

After all, it is my favourite movie,

It’s always on my mind.

 

 

This guy went to the cinema

At least twice a day,

He went to watch the same movie

Whenever it would play.

 

Like me, he really liked it

Or, maybe he didn’t at all,

But he went back each and every time

Hoping the building would fall.

 

The movie showed a building

Leaning precariously

And just when it seemed it would fall

The scene changed suddenly.

 

He knew should it fall

There would be action galore

So, like me, he always went back

Hoping for more.

 

My wife will watch a series

Over and over again

And it seems every time she feels

The same excitement and pain.

 

In my favourite movie

The movie star always wins,

Oh, how I wish life was like this

And not so grim!

 

That I could win every time

Just like my movie star

But I guess that is rather far-fetched-

Life is not on par.

 

Stewart Russell © June 9, 2023

 

Understanding All

 

All is an interesting word

That we all confuse,

So much so, I must say

That I am often amused.

 

The word all is puzzling

If you see what I mean,

It has different meanings

That it is what I glean.

 

If it is something I want

All is understood,

But if I must give up all

That is not so good.

 

So that all is defined

Re giving and receiving

And means different things

In our everyday dealings.

 

It is very unreasonable

When I cannot have all,

But it is small mindedness

When the all is your call. 

 

All and selfishness

Go hand in hand

So that in relation to self

We can all understand.

 

To give all is difficult

But to receive all, not so,

On one hand, all is my friend

On the other, all is my foe.

 

Jesus gave up all

And that all we appreciate,

But the all he expects of us

We continually berate.

 

Jesus is so unreasonable

To expect all from me,

And besides, I am human

I am sure he can see.

 

It is not as easy, you see,

When required to give all

As it is in receiving

When that all is our call.

 

Please note!

 

We have a difficulty

Understanding all

But God has

All understanding.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

It’s Amazing

 

It’s amazing how what’s important

Is not important anymore,

Has this ever struck you?

Had it entered your mind before?

You have set out your plans

And you have priortised,

Suddenly an emergency occurs

And you are de-energised.

Everything suddenly flat-lines

And prior priorities are relegated,

They are not important anymore

And relatively unrelated.

A case in point is a recent event

That just threw everything askew,

We were planning towards Christmas

Christmas was in everyone’s view.

Unexpectedly there was a death

A death we thought would be averted,

After a promising turn around

Then of the death we were alerted.

All of a sudden our Christmas plans

Were not important any more

For the passing of our beloved one

Grieved and vexed our spirits sore.

Many were the puzzling questions

And the “what if we had done so and so”

But “what if” are only afterthoughts

Which come with the emotional blow.

The Christmas lights are not as bright

The appetite is pretty slack,

We would change every single plan

If only we could have our loved one back.

It is surreal to say the least

Has he really gone for a truth?

Christmas will not be the same this year

And that forms part of the proof.

  

Sometimes it smacks of a set up

But God is not a conman,

Though it’s difficult to understand

God is getting on with His plan.

His is primary; ours is secondary

And not nearly quite as important,

His ways and thoughts are past finding out

And ours are relatively insignificant.

In time to come we will understand

But for now we must commit to trust

And thank God for Michael Clarke

And the legacy he leaves with us.

Stewart Russell © December 19, 2018

At: 5:21 p.m.