Editing the Truth

 

 

What a peculiar title

Is “Editing the Truth”!

This one I really have to tell you

Is through the roof.

 

Can the truth be edited

As the title assumes

And who is capable of editing it

If this is your tune?

 

You avid churchgoers

Will frown on this

Because you have truth editors

On your list.

 

You admire them

And you adored them

And your acceptance and approval

Excuse their problem.

 

Many truth-editors

Ascend church pulpits

And preaching another gospel

Is their habit.

 

They oft alter the truth

To suit their agenda

And browbeat their congregants

To meekly surrender.

 

They add to the truth

And subtract from it too

And they multiply it and divide it

Before they are through.

 

Faith plus works

And grace plus merit

And Jesus could never be God;

To some, a cleric.

 

More than one way

To get to God

In fact, there are many ways

Says King Fraud.

 

What a fragile truth

That we need to edit!

And if we are biblically astute

There’s no limit.

 

For only the brilliant

Can see truth’s fragility,

For it’s an everchanging truth

Invariably.

 

Unto another gospel

Which is not another

So that if you are about to change

Don’t even bother.

 

He who edits the truth

Knows not the truth

And the truth he attempts to edit

Is its own proof.

 

The truth stands firm

And will not pass away,

Absolutely no editing is required

For God holds sway.

Stewart Russell © October 18, 2025

 

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

 

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