Deuteronomy 10:16

 

 

Can you believe it?

In the Old Testament?

And it was there all the time;

It’s no accident.

 

It is circumcision

And as plain as ABC

So, what is the great surprise?

It’s ancient history.

 

Go, I adjure you,

And read it for yourself,

It speaks not of the physical

But of spiritual health.

 

When I first read it

Circumcision was clear

But when I read it a second time

Something else appeared.

 

Circumcise the foreskin

Of the penis, you’d expect,

But with a more careful reading

This you’d reject.

 

Please check again

And there you will find

It’s “the foreskin of your heart”-

There all the time.

 

 

This is Deuteronomy

The fourth Tora book

And it was written by Moses

Go, take a look.

 

Old Testament Law

Was encapsuled therein

Showing myriad circumstances

How one may sin.

 

Obstinacy was one,

To the heart it pertained,

And circumcision outside of it

Was futile and vain.

 

Circumcision of the flesh

Was done by a man

But in Deuteronomy, of the heart

Is the Master’s plan.

 

 

In Christ to be precise

By way of the cross,

Whereupon the spilling of blood

Was the actual cost.

 

Therefore, it follows

And to this I say, “Hark!”

Circumcision profits one nothing

If it’s not of the heart.

 

Circumcision is by faith

For the Gentile

But the circumcised is uncircumcised

If Christ is denied.

 

The following sums it up

Far better than I can,

The inward circumcision is of God

And not of man.

 

 

Romans 2:28-29

 

For he is not a Jew,

Which is one outwardly

Neither is that circumcision

Which is outward in the flesh;

But he is a Jew,

Which is one inwardly;

And circumcision is that of the heart,

In the Spirit, and not in the letter;

Whose praise is not of men,

But of God.

 

Stewart Russell © July 9, 2025

 

The How of Salvation

 

 

Can anyone tell me

How salvation works?

Spare me all your credentials

Or that you’re an expert.

 

If you can tell me

Just put your hand up,

I’d love to wait on you but I can’t

You are out of luck.

 

Some do behave

Like they have the answer

But I believe they don’t:

Neither Madam nor Sir.

 

Let me hasten to add

That neither do I,

If at some time I told you I did

That was a lie.

 

So, why this topic

When they’re so many more?

Well, because some believers

Seem rather sure.

 

They argue about it

And sometimes cause division

Trying to explain

The “how of salvation”.

 

It’s like you’d better know

If you truly want to be saved

So, they go to great extent

In their rant and rave.

 

They would dig a hole

And deeper they would get

Pulling in the mold over them

To everybody’s regret.

 

 

Calvinists and Armenians

In the ages long debate

Trying hard to convince the other

Of their mistake.

 

Pitting God’s sovereignty

Against man’s free will

And at the end of every debate

Both confused still.

 

Trying to be God

Which they can never be

Plunging headlong into depths

Deeper than the sea.

 

What does it matter

Whether or not God saves all

Or, on the other hand,

Saves none at all?

 

Unlike as with ethnic Israel

Salvation is personal,

And what is even more critical

Salvation is eternal.

 

 

To teacher Nicodemus

Jesus would only say,

“Ye must be born again!”

It’s the only way.

 

This is not about how,

It is about the what,

It is not about who gets saved

And who does not.

 

“What must I do

To be saved?” asked another,

Believe on the Lord Jesus!

Is that a bother?

 

Fact number 1:

Almighty God is sovereign!

Fact number 2:

Man has his freedom!

 

That is freedom to decide

Whether yes or no,

Saying yes to Jesus Christ

Or with the devil go.

 

Whichever he chooses

Does not thwart God,

God delivers on all his promises,

He is never a fraud.

 

I cannot say the same

For you know who,

Satan will promise the world

But that he can’t do.

 

 

He tried it with Jesus

Though it was not his to give

But that is how con-artists work

And their adherents live.

 

Let’s forget the how

Which is not our concern,

Instead, let us be more like Jesus-

This we should learn.

 

The how is what God did

In sending us His Son,

The other how is the born again

And what the Spirit has done.

 

Go and tell, is our mandate

Tell them to come,

It’s an invitation to God’s kingdom

And that of His Son.

 

It’s one kingdom

Most definitely not two,

There’s not one for the Gentile

And one for the Jew.

 

 

 

The “how of salvation”?

Not our concern,

Calvinists and Armenians

Have a lot to learn.

 

Better to spend time

Conforming to Christ

For knowing the “how of salvation”

Can never suffice.

 

Stewart Russell © April 20, 2024

Bible Thumping Bigots

 

When I hear the term bigot

Here’s what comes to my mind,

You may have guessed it is idiot

And this happens every time.

 

It may be how they end

And the fact they also rhyme

But every time I hear the word

Idiot comes to my mind.

 

But you know, it takes a bigot

To call another bigot a bigot

And as a matter of fact, I suggest,

So too an idiot.

 

So, who is the bigger idiot?

Sorry, I mean the bigger bigot

Since it must come down to…

Well, the most corrupt.

 

 

People who thump the Bible

Ought not to be bigots

Even when outlandish behavior

Is promoted by idiots.

 

It is at this time, my friend,

That we define these two words

So that the wise is not seen

As being absurd.

 

I advance this at this time

Because crazy is everywhere

And what was considered sensible

Is about to disappear.

 

 

Idiot: half-wit, imbecile, stupid,

Dolt, dullard, simpleton,

Imbecile, pudding head,

Of little intelligence, a moron.

 

 

Bigot: a prejudiced person

That regards his opinion alone

And is intolerant of any position

That differs from his own.

 

Bible thumpers are not bigots,

Not by a long shot,

Not even regarding the LGBTQ

And the transgender lot.

 

Not those who follow in the way

Demonstrated by Jesus Christ

For whom love was the key

As shown in his sacrifice.

 

“Forgive them Father,” he said,

“For they know not what they do.”

This in relation to bigoted zealots

Each of whom was a Jew.

 

For them a Gentile was a dog

And should be treated as one

And if they had their way

All but the Jew would be gone.

 

 

 

Very unlike the follower of Christ

That is called to be charitable,

Loving and kind to one and all:

Even the unlovable.

 

The story of the good Samaritan

Is really a good case

Where the Samaritan rescued a Jew

That was in a very bad place.

 

I may not like your lifestyle

But I regard you as my neighbour

And as a born-again believer

I must be on my best behavior.

 

If morally upright is bigotry

The believer stands as charged,

And given the road we are travelling

The LGBTQ looms large.

 

They, in fact, are the bigots,

Seeing no other way but their own

Even though on immorality

They build their royal throne.

 

Yes, a bigoted minority

Is about to take over the world

And many are trapped in a stupor

Looking rather absurd.

 

But it is not the Bible thumper,

No, not at all,

Instead, it is the LBGBTQ

That blows that trumpet call.

 

Stewart Russell © July 28, 2023