Of Wedges and Clamps

  

 

Which of the two?

Is the question I pose:

Am I a wedge or am I a clamp?

The individual knows.

 

Carpenter Frank

Would have the answer,

For him in his line of work

It’s a daily matter.

 

Or cobbler Candid,

He would know it too

Depending on what he decides

To do with a shoe.

 

 

 

A clamp holds tightly

And is a necessary tool,

Of course, it can be misused or abused

By a regular fool.

 

 

 

Wedges do the opposite

Forcing things apart

But both are very distinguishable

From the start.

 

Now that we know

The difference between them

I will now attempt to identify

A problem.

 

In any organization

There are both of these:

The wedges force people apart

The clamps will squeeze.

 

One forces apart

While one pulls together,

Look across any congregation-

Which one is the better?

 

 

 

One works outside in

The other inside out,

While one acts like a strong adhesive

The other creates doubt.

 

 

Doubt is like a wedge

That comes in between

And the fellowship then splits apart

At the very seam.

 

Gossip and rumour

Are two common wedges

That often contaminates the unity

To which one pledges.

 

Scandal is another,

Not much difference here

And the upsurge of this behaviour

Creates much fear.

 

The fear of trusting

And the fear of confiding

And thus, less comfortable brethren

Resort to hiding.

 

Lacking in confidence

And feeling out of place

And for the most times unable,

To look one in the face.

 

Fear of being read

As though an open book

Ever since a wedge, rather a clamp,

Was allowed to look.

 

Far better to be a clamp

Than to be a wedge,

Preferring not to be quicksand

But to be a ledge

 

And not a narrow ledge

Encouraging one to fall,

But a broad and an inviting ledge

Available to all.

 

Disunity is that wedge

Forcing members apart

Where unity is a mere buzz word

And not of the heart. 

 

Be a clamp, I suggest,

That dares to pull together

So there can be wonderful fellowship

With one another.

 

Unending fellowship

Whene’er we have to part,

Just like a good working clamp

Joining us in heart.

 

 

 

The blest Holy Spirit

Will perform this function

And as he indwells the born-again,

He’ll also give unction.

 

Stewart Russell © September 22, 2026

 

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

 

Not Easy at All

 

 

One of the hardest things to do

Is to challenge your own beliefs.

 

I received the above quote

From an influential elder

That played a pivotal role in my life

As both pastor and teacher.

 

I found the quote to be true

Especially regarding my beliefs,

I am what I grew up on

And my religion is chief.

 

What I was taught

Especially from my youth

Became my photo lens

For determining truth.

 

Being very trusting

Of my pastors and teachers,

To accept without question:

Was a desirable feature.

 

Back then it was declared

To be the written Word,

Thus, to question or disagree

Would have been absurd.

 

So, I drank it all up

And passionately preached it too

Just like I was taught

And probably, so did you.

 

Such that when I was forced

Those beliefs to defend,

I was quick to the draw

And only too eager to offend.

 

 

A dispensationalist to the core

And of the pre-tribulation too:

Nothing was ever allowed

To vanquish those views.

 

Jesus was coming soon

Meant of the imminent kind

And for me that definitely had to be

During my lifetime.

 

From 1948 to the present

Jesus was expected to appear;

Israel becoming a nation

Signaled the end was near.

 

 This is over a generation ago

Yet most still hold to it,

Therein lies the problem

When belief becomes an edict.

 

Traditions are so strong

Re the hold they have on us

That when they are proven wrong

In them we still put our trust.

 

It is critically important

Our beliefs stand upon the Word

And not necessarily

What for ages we have heard.

 

Time does not alter fact

Neither can it change the Word,

God’s Word stands forever

Regardless of what you heard.

 

Challenge your beliefs, I say,

In the light of God’s Holy Writ,

Find out if they are biblically based

Or just an uninformed habit.

 

Much of what we believe

We are afraid to put to the test

For fear that if it be found in error

It would rob us of our zest.

 

I could never face my church

If I find out that I was wrong

So, let me hold on to my beliefs

And continue to appear strong.

 

To challenge my own beliefs

Requires me to be honest

And to accept what the Bible says

In the event they fail the test.

 

It requires me to be loving

In how I share that truth,

Not in a condescending manner

Even when displaying the proof.

 

I must also be faithful

To the clarity of God’s Word

And to present it as it truly is

Even if friends are disturbed.

 

It requires me to be humble;

The Spirit must hold full sway,

It is he that reveals the Holy Word

And tells me what to say.

 

One of the hardest things to do

Is to challenge your own beliefs:

However, when one is able to do just that

It can bring tremendous relief.

 

Stewart Russell © August 29, 2020

 

White Washed and Washed White

  

 

White washed

And washed white:

Don’t make them synonyms

And think you are right.

 

Look again

With a closer eye

And you will see the difference:

Come on, you must try.

 

Two were a praying

To Almighty God:

 One was extremely boastful,

The other, not at all.

 

One was different,

This had to be known,

Only his kind you must understand

Was in his zone.

 

He paid his tithes

And also gave alms,

There was absolutely no doubt

He was a godly man.

 

He merited salvation,

He was so good

And he kept the Mosaic law

Like he should.

 

He notified God

Re the good he did

As though God did not know

What he hid.

 

And to look at him

He was really clean,

So white washed on the outside

He actually gleamed.

 

 

 

The other one

Smote on his chest

But unlike the religious Pharisee

He was a pest.

 

A societal nuisance

Mostly to the Jews

As he yearly exacted from them

More than their dues.

 

Summed up in a word,

Publican to be exact

But meaning he was a tax collector

Of dubious extract.

 

He had been merciless

In his tax demands

But for mercy he had pleaded

As a sinner man.

 

He bowed his head

As he cried out to God

And thence he found satisfaction:

The other, none at all.

 

He was washed white

Unlike white washed

And all his many sinful infractions

Immediately quashed.

 

The other, white washed,

Was self-deluded

Thus, could not access righteousness

Which is imputed.

 

He did his own washing

Which was outward only

Just like the white washed tombs

Used to bury.

 

A form of godliness

But denying its power,

Somewhat like the first skyscraper

Or Babel’s tower.

 

Washed from inside

Spreads to the outside

But just white washed outside

Many sins hide.

 

 

  

A definite 'coverup'

Or 'swept under the mat'

And when self-deceit settles in,

It’s a deadly trap.

 

However, washed white

Is a daily routine

That’s enabled by the Holy Spirit

Who constantly cleans.

 

Stewart Russell © April 16, 2026

 

Charity in All Three

 

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

 

Two cannot walk together

Except they be agreed,

Neither should we yoke a mule

With a fast running steed.

 

Two at different speeds

Cannot walk together,

Neither will keep the other’s company

In any kind of weather.

 

The foregoing scenarios

Speak to the fundamental,

Hence the strength of our unity

Must hang on the essential.

 

What are the essentials?

On what must we agree?

The undiluted Gospel of salvation

That in God’s Word we see.

 

 

Summed up in John 3:16

For God so loved He gave…

Thus, redeeming the repentant sinner

From the clutches of the Knave.

 

That Jesus came and died

Must indeed be an essential,

And that he rose up from the dead

Is an indisputable fundamental.

 

That there is only one God

And only one path that leads to Him:

Meaning there is absolutely one way

That we can be saved from sin.

 

Jesus is that way,

He is also the truth and life

And unless a man believes in him,

He is forever in sin’s strife.

 

The Word of God is our manual,

No other book even comes near

And whenever we peruse its pages,

We must do so with godly fear.

 

Reverencing the Holy Spirit

That brings enlightenment

To the born-again believer

And to the genuinely repentant.

 

Yes, in essentials: unity

Absolutely no compromise

And be aware of the counterfeiter

That comes in alluring disguise.

 

In non-essentials: liberty-

Judge not another on these,

However, cause not a brother to stumble

Is top of the charitable pleas.

 

Focus not on the “do-nots”

Rather, focus on the “do’s”

And be patient with one another

As God has been with you.

 

The “do-nots” are alluring,

Like Eve, we wonder, “Why not?”

Like Eve, we fall headlong

And trouble becomes our lot.

 

Quite enough non-essentials:

Discuss but don’t quarrel,

The enemy loves divisiveness

And in disunity he revels.

 

 

 

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three:

In essentials, non-essentials and all things

There must be charity.

 

Charity conquers all,

It is the evidence to the world

Of every born-again believer

That walks in God’s Holy Word.

  

It’s the hallmark of the faith-

The unifying trend

That says to all and sundry,

We will be faithful to the end.

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2020

 

All

 

“All” have sinned,

The Bible points out,

None of us has anything personal

About which we can shout.

 

In Romans 3:23

It is clear to see,

To sin we were all slaves;

Not one of us was free.

 

No golden spoon in the mouth

Is another way to put it,

We were born in sin

And its practice is habit.

 

We’ve “All” fallen short

Of the glory of God

Our actions, attitudes and aspirations

Are shaped by Satan, aka Fraud.

 

Keeping God’s perfect Law

Is impossible for us,

Only one achieved this

And that was Jesus.

 

How could imperfect man

The perfect Law keep?

Whether Jew or Gentile

“All” were wandering sheep.

 

Hence,

“All” have broken God’s perfect Law

And even in our pious religiosity

We are still flawed.

 

Without exception

“All” need a Saviour,

None can save himself

Even on his best behavior.

 

“All” are condemned,

That is how we start

And the only way to change

Is with a change of heart.

 

Only the Lord Jesus

Can perform such a work

If you are hearing the Spirit now,

Heed his alert

 

The Lord Jesus is the one

And only righteous man,

It is through him

That we have salvation’s plan.

 

He is the one

And only Saviour of the world

“All” must come through him

As instructed in God’s Word.

 

None can enter in

Except he be born again

“All” must come by the Cross

Is one hymn’s refrain.

 

The way of the cross leads home,

 “All” must pass this way

And like another song instructs,

Be saved today!

 

Stewart Russell © February 2020