The Source of Our Trouble

 

 

From whence come wars

and fightings among you?

Come they not hence, even of your lusts

that war in your members?

 

The question is asked

Then answered rhetorically,

That is: by another question

In which is the answer-obviously.

 

It doesn’t require rocket science

To show us one’s self,

Just dust off the old Bible

That is lying on the shelf.

 

 

It’s the source of all our problems

In the church and without;

I am not accusing you,

You don’t need to shout.

 

If you really must shout

I suggest you shout at God’s Word,

In any case thereafter,

I’d be convinced you heard.

 

Go to James chapter 4

And read from verse number 1,

If you understand what it says

Then you are not a moron.

 

For while it asks a question

It gives the answer as well

And if you want to dispute it

Then you are not so well read.

 

It is as straightforward

As straightforward can be

And if you still do not get it

You don’t have eyes to see.

 

The source of our trouble

Are the lusts in our members

And until we satisfy ourselves

There is no retreat or surrender.

 

 

The symptoms are our behaviour

On account of our lusts

Hence, the war in our members

And all of the fuss.

 

It all results from self:

Self must be brought under control,

We must not give in to our lusts

But on the Holy Spirit lay hold.

 

From whence come wars

and fightings among you?

Come they not hence, even of your lusts

that war in your members?

 

Stewart Russell © August 25, 2020

 

Unconditional Love

 

 

What do I know about it?

Little, if anything,

What’s the quality of my practice?

In this, I am lacking.

 

Sounds kind of hollow

Whenever I hear it,

My example and what daily I see

Is a not a habit.

 

I still struggle with self

More than I should

And tell me if I could do better

You know I would.

 

Yes, I often talk to myself

Trying to convince me

That I am doing the best I can

But not truthfully.

 

Unconditional love

What is your grade?

I can tell you that as for myself,

Mine is a FAIL!

 

Don’t you begin to think

I am hard on myself

For of all the photos in my mind

I’m # 1 on my shelf.

 

You may say I am honest

Given my analysis

Because I have openly confessed

I am first on my list.

 

But admitting to guilt

Should not me excuse

Or anyone else, for that matter,

If the wrong they choose.

 

It is practically not easy:

Unconditional love,

Though Jesus demonstrated it

When he came for above.

 

 

There is absolutely no self

In unconditional love,

For you that scored yourself high

That’s what I’m talking of.

 

I am seeing the adjustment

You are already making,

Unconditional love is about giving

Far more than taking.

 

Now create two columns:

Under “Giving and Taking”

And show me that you give more

Than you rake in.

 

Do not include your bills

Or even your tithes:

Women, don’t include your husbands

Or husbands, your wives.

 

Check the good Samaritan

Back in the Bible time,

This was unconditional love;

He wasn’t just kind.

 

 

He risked his own life

For his life-long foe,

Very unlike the Levite and priest

Who no concern showed.

 

Unconditional love

Isn’t who is my neighbour

But rather, and fundamentally so,

Am I a neighbour?

 

Note the lawyer’s question:

“Who is my neighbour?”

And note Jesus’ pedagogical approach

In cluing him the answer.

 

Don’t ask the question

Who is my neighbour

But do the introspection and ask:

Am I a neighbour?

 

Luke 10:37

 

And he said,

He that shewed mercy on him.

Then said Jesus unto him,

Go, and do thou likewise.

 

Romans 5:7-8

 

For scarcely for a righteous man

Will one die:

Yet peradventure for a good man

Some would even dare to die.

 

But God

Commendeth his love toward us,

In that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

 

Herein then,

Is unconditional love:

That Jesus Christ gave up all,

Even heaven above.

 

Stewart Russell © November 28, 2024

 

What’s in It for Me?

 

 

What’s in it for me

Underlies every human attitude

Christian or non-Christian

That’s the general mood.

 

Paul calls it the flesh

It’s the human nature,

For the spiritually uncircumcised

It’s the bigger picture.

 

What’s in it for me

The objective and the outcome,

That’s where our focus is

From the rising of the sun.

 

It’s about our protection

And our prosperity,

It’s about us as individuals

And about our family.

 

Every deal we broker

Every scheme we pursue,

It’s about the “I”, my friend,

Never first about you.

 

“But they are exceptions,”

No doubt you will contend,

Yes, pertaining to important others,

Still the “I” in the end.

 

Whatever we do

Can be traced back to us

Even when we claim

To be closely following Jesus.

 

Paul speaks of this struggle

Even in the Christian,

It’s the problem in our fellowships,

It’s the underlying mission.

 

  

Even when we do for others

It’s about how we look,

It’s our image we are protecting

That’s straight out of our book.

 

If this poem offends you

Then you prove my point

But I am no different from you

 For I sit on my mount.

 

It challenges our spirituality

As we walk with Christ

And sometimes as Christians

We are not too nice.

 

Testimonies are often sullied

Because self gets in the way

And if you are like me

It can really spoil your day.

 

There is that innate drive

Spontaneously to protect the “I”,

We push Christ in the background

And that I can’t deny.

 

Anger management:

You may want to call it that

But by whatever you call it

It is still the underlying fact.

 

What’s in it for me

Is what it boils right down to

And it is not only in you

But it is in me too.

 

It is not the accusing finger

But those pointing back,

When we do the Mathematics

There is an obvious fact.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2020

 

Amidst Our Mist

 

 

In the midst of our mist

When our vision is unclear

We are prone to act erratically,

Mostly out of fear.

 

Oft there are events

We can do nothing about

Like some happening in our past

That left us in doubt.

 

In the midst of our mist

When we battle the world

We attack both friend and foe,

We’re so disturbed.

 

We level accusations

As we hit out left and right,

Not even sure of the enemy

For the lack of light.

 

 

In the midst of our mist

When our nemesis is self,

We often blame everybody else

For our failing health.

 

Both spiritual and social,

For our mental and emotional,

Visibly shown in our expression

And in our physical.

 

In the midst of our mist

Like righteous Job of old

Who once was radiating warmth

Gradually becoming cold.

 

Throwing a pity party

For all who would attend

And engaging the eager reporters

From beginning to end.

 

In the midst of our mist

When friends become few

And not many are the persons

We thought we knew.

 

People who are hurting,

That is the “we” I mean,

When in the midst of our mist

Nothing is clearly seen.

 

Like some wounded animal

We are ready to lash out

And our once affirming tongue

Becomes a negative spout.

 

Quick to spread rumour

In the midst of our mist

And those with whom it is shared

Comprising a long list.

 

In the midst of our mist

Often empathy departs

And the twins, jealousy and envy

Occupy our hearts.

 

We share others’ sorrows

But their joys hurt us more

And invariably, as is our custom,

Grudge comes to the fore.

 

Our criticism is rife

Of another’s achievement

And we question its authenticity

With much resentment.

 

 

In the midst of our mist

When we are not seeing well

We need an understanding friend

That we can tell.

 

Someone who’s been there

And can identify with us

And who will help us to see clearer

In the midst of our fuss.

 

Someone who will absorb

The shock of our story

And not share it with another

For posterity.

 

Someone who appreciates

His time will come too

And what he does for someone

For him another will do.

 

And I don’t mean Jesus

Though he is our best friend,

I mean that someone he will use

To get us round the bend.

 

For Jesus uses people

In the midst of our mist

Who will come not to cast blame

But to assist.

 

There go I

But for the grace of God,

Let him that thinks he stands

Take heed lest he fall.

 

Stewart Russell © June 4, 2024

 

Don’t Stereotype Me

 

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because I don’t agree with you,

Have I become a villain

Because of my varying view?

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because of the way I dress,

With that kind of labeling

I am definitely not impressed.

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because I am not in your club,

Just like you, please understand

I do the things I love.

 

Don’t stereotype me

On account of my community,

That may be the best I can do;

I mean financially.

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because I was talking to your foe,

It was none of your business

You don’t need to know.

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because of where I am employed,

It might not pay as much as you

But it gives me joy.

 

Don’t stereotype me

And disdainfully call me a fool

Simply because unlike you

 I did not go to a top school.

 

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because you know more than me,

I may not know what you know

But I am no dummy.

 

Don’t stereotype me

And say I can’t do anything,

If given a chance you’d be surprised

What to the table I can bring.

 

Don’t stereotype me

Because I work for you,

If I could do any better than that

Better I would do.

 

Do not stereotype me

Because I find value in life,

Perhaps I had a break you did not

But I don’t mean you strife.

 

All day long we stereotype

People we think we know,

It’s like, say and do as you see me do

For life is really my show.

 

How deluded we can get

As we climb to dizzying heights

When all but ourselves

We stereotype!

 

Each time you stereotype me

You show me just who you are

And just like you, I am better than you,

So much better by far.

 

Don’t stereotype me

Be I what you like or hate,

What you see is what you get,

I am me at any rate.

 

Stewart Russell © November 23, 2021

 

Tolerance

 

 

A very misunderstood word

To most if not all

And the concept even worse

Is this term so called.

 

In these pluralistic times

Tolerance is on every lip

Yet the more we publicize it

The more it eludes or grip.

 

Its definition is very narrow

And particularly individualized,

It is defined by person or group

I have come to realize.

 

What tolerance means to one

Is totally different from another

And, as a matter of fact,

Therein lies the bother.

 

Its opposite is intolerance

But then again, you knew

Yet tolerance is only regarded

When it comes to your own view.

 

Tolerance is now synonymous

With self and selfishness,

My position must be tolerated

For my position is the best.

 

Tolerance is one way

It is not about to and fro,

Don’t even mention reciprocation

Tolerance is a one-way flow.

 

You accuse me of intolerance

Yet you do not tolerate me,

I may be guilty but so are you

I know you won’t agree.

 

 

Tolerance is not in agreement

But agreeing to disagree,

Doing so in an agreeable way

And not in hostility.

 

It is more about persons

Not necessarily about ideas,

So you can still be my friend

Though I don’t see it your way.

 

Tolerance is now a misnomer

The practice is now extinct

And some will even take your life

If you so much as blink.

 

If you call me intolerant

Perhaps, you are as well,

Since it takes on to know one

I am sure you can tell.

 

I am not going to celebrate

Your difference in opinion with me

But we can share mutual respect

And disagree agreeably.

 

If two agree in everything

One might be a fool,

Afraid to have a personal view

He is the other’s tool.

 

Tolerance in disagreement

Means a door is still open,

Once dialogue is possible

Tolerance is a token.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019