Hanging by A Breath

 

 

 

You’d have heard someone say

“I was hanging by a thread”

As a way of expressing some drama

That had filled him with dread.

 

Some hair-raising experience

He believed was surely the end

But miraculously lived to tell the tale

To both foe and friend.

 

You could hear the expression,

“Boy I was hanging by a thread.

I am not kidding you

But that experience was dread.”

 

For some it’s once in a lifetime

For others it may be twice or thrice

But how ever frequent it occurs

This experience is never nice.

 

 

 

But there is another hanging

That happens non-stop,

It is every minute of every day

And it’s everybody’s lot.

 

It happens to the weak

And it happens to the strong,

To those who think they are right

As well as to them that are wrong.

 

It happens to the poor

And it happens to the rich,

To them that reside in the palace

And to them stranded in a ditch.

 

Politicians experience it

And so too the Pope,

The powerful and the powerless

Without it cannot cope.

 

The believer and the non-believer

The saved and the unsaved,

On a breath we are all hanging;

Both the coward and the brave.

 

Just refuse the next breath

And you will see what I mean, 

If you are successful

It will be your death scene.

 

 

Yes, take another breath

And don't you let it go

And as sure as I am typing now

It'll be the end of your show.

 

As healthy as we think we are

It is the next breath that matters

For life is as long as the final breath

And that aborts all chatter.

 

 

 

Hanging by a single breath

Each and every day,

From split second to split second

The human life drains away.

 

Far more critically important

Becomes the hanging by a breath

For when that final breath comes,

For that John Doe this is death.

 

Stewart Russell © September 21, 2022

 

Antichrist: Person, Ideology or Both?

 

 

Who or what I ask,

Is it one or the other?

Who or what I ask again,

Why should this be a bother?

 

In these times that we live in

Some believe he is near,

And given the signs around

Antichrist must soon appear.

 

There are a number of views

Pertaining to his ID

And many were given his designation

At different points of history.

 

Adolf Hitler was one of these

So was Mussolini,

Kissinger and Obama in the mix

And Trump of most recency.

 

The Pope is also advanced

Because of his perceived power,

Bill Gates has had a mention

Changes are rung in by the hour.

 

 

The error that we make

Is by not consulting God’s Word,

The information is given there

And now to that I refer.

 

Four passages are given therein,

All are found in the epistles of John,

Search the Bible throughout

And you won’t find another one.

 

The first is at 1^st John 2:18

Then, there were many antichrists,

Something important was drawing near

And not all of it was going to be nice.

 

The second gives us the definition

Locate it at 1^st John 2:22,

Go there and note what it says

And let this shape your view.

 

 

Anyone that denies Jesus is the Christ,

The same is a liar

And he that denies the Father and the Son,

The same is antichrist.

 

In the Apostle John’s time

The spirit of antichrist already existed,

Such denied the humanity of Jesus

And his message stoutly resisted.

 

1^st John 4:3 substantiates this:

That antichrist is a spirit-

The non-confession of Christ in the flesh

Is its declared edict.

 

The fourth and final instance

Is at 2^nd John chapter 1 verse 7:

Who confesses not Jesus is come in the flesh

Is a deceiver and antichrist.

 

Who confesses not “Jesus is come in the flesh,”

Located at 2^nd John and verse 7,

The same is a deceiver and antichrist-

Go there and see what is written.

 

 

Antichrist is defined as any person

Or any spirit or any ideology

That does not believe in Christ

Regarding his divinity and humanity.

 

The Scribes and Pharisees

Were the premiere antichrists,

Coupled with the Gnostics and Priests:

These constantly opposed the Christ.

 

It is therefore clear to me

According to the letters of John

That the obsessive adherence to Judaism

Was where these leaders had gone.

 

Thus, when the people turned away

They were particularly angered

And used the Roman authorities

To crucified the Christ.

 

 

“We have no king but Caesar!"

"Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

So that in opposition to the early church

Antichrists was the premiere problem.

 

They colluded with the Romans

And eventually suffered at their hands,

In their antichrist posturing

They tried to negate God’s plan.

 

The plan of salvation first to the Jews

And then to all the other nations,

The thriving ecclesia we call the church

Carrying out the great commission.

 

Both the Jews and the Gentiles

Working side by side

In the God-given mission of evangelizing

As the Spirit transforms the defiled.

 

 

So, in all eras ever since Pentecost

Antichrists have always existed,

No less prominent in this our time

Than when they first resisted.

 

Don’t look for antichrists in names

Like prominent leaders in the Nations,

But look for antichrists in ideologies

Even in our religious congregations.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

Know the Difference

Who or what is your calling?

Who or what is your hope?

For whom or what are you waiting?

Is it Christ, your pastor or the Pope?

Confused, convoluted and conquered

The state of many a Christian

Charged and ready to do “mischief”

Rather than commit to Christ’s “mission”.

Devoted to a “church of Christ”

Rather than to the “Christ of the Church”,

Unsettled because of distinctions

And always appear to be in search.

This might be you or it may not be

But give a listen whatever your state,

Some terms can be rather confusing

So let us some distinctions make.

“Christianity” and “Churchianity”

Are the first I will put on your plate,

We have exchanged the former for the latter

And now “my church” has become the state.

There is no church like my church

My church is the “church of choice”,

The church that’s alive is worth the drive

Come and hear God’s voice.

In my church there are “apostles”

In the others there are “apostates”,

We are the “one and only church”

Where only ordained persons officiate.

There is one “flock” and many “folds”

Some denominations claim them both

And sometimes in their pronouncements

They bind their members to an oath.

Between “organism” and “organization”

We really need to differentiate,

The Church is a “family” not a “faction’

There is no need to hate.

  

The church must be Christ-Centred

Since it is the body of Christ

But often it is Council-Centred

As though a council paid its price.

The “sect” overrides the “Saviour”

And its “traditions” obsolesce the “truth”,

The replacement of the “Individual” by the “Institution”

Is evidenced by abundant proof.

Through the institution many are “deluded”,

To the same they make a “profession”,

Severely lacking in their “devotion to Christ

And denying the Holy Spirit’s “possession”.

The Church possesses a rich “heritage”

As chronicled in the Acts of the Apostles

But many “heresies” have become obvious

Through the infiltration of ungodly people.

The “church building” becomes the emphasis

Rather than the focus being “Christ’s Body”,

My church becomes “The Only One”

And not like the others: “One of the Only”.

Believers are called to be “separate”

But many have striven to be “separatists”,

Somewhat like the Scribes and Pharisees:

These were ignorant in their bliss.

These were “reformed” not “transformed”

And they conformed to a creed

But they ignored the “born-again” call

And premised their righteousness on their deeds.

Many today are earnest churchgoers

But they are bored to death

For they having not been born-again

Have experienced neither peace nor rest.

These sit in their churches and brood

Or they roam from place to place

Hoping to find the “Church of Choice”

While the “Chosen Church” they cannot trace.

They may even search the yellow pages

Trying to find such a church

But won’t find the “blood washed church” there

No matter how hard they search.

The Bible is where they will find it

Not in the latest telephone directory,

The Church is a family not a faction

And the Holy Spirit ensures its unity.

It is based on the apostles’ doctrine

Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone,

It is an “organism” not an “organization”

And the Holy Spirit sets its tone.

Its message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ

The good news of God’s salvation,

Its mission is to reach the lost for Christ

Across all ethnicities and in all locations.

Stewart Russell © July 2018

Salvation in No Other

Some people set store by a given day

Some in an organization or denomination,

Some in a church movement or association,

Some by some creed or by indoctrination.

Some may put trust in the Pope

Or in some other very illustrious apostle,

Some prefer their prophets and religious gurus

While others just want to be someone’s disciple.

Some pull passages from the Bible

And upon these will build their doctrine,

Some will make the Bible secondary

And then set store by what is in the discipline.

Some believe it’s in what they do and say

While some trust in their tithe and giving,

Some hold up their self-righteous acts

As though salvation results from one’s living.

A myriad of qualifications are proffered

Concerning the obtaining of salvation

And for some only a minuscule selection

Will avoid the fires of damnation.

Little is said about the Christ of Calvary

And the price he paid for sin

And when mentioned it is so very erroneous

As though everybody will just be gathered in.

Sin is played down on every hand

And sermons about hell not often heard,

God sent Jesus to die for the world

So all and sundry will get to see the Lord.

It is true that all will get to see the Lord

But not in the way that some believe

For some he will be their Saviour

But others his fierce judgment will receive.

You see the path is marked out in blood

The shed blood of the glorious Christ

And only those who come by way of the cross

Will benefit from the Saviour’s sacrifice.

It is not in Mohammed, Buddha or Haile Selassei

In Judaism, Islam or even Christianity,

It is not in Hinduism, Sikhism or Animism

But only through Jesus who is from eternity.

For God so loved the world, the Bible says

That He gave His only begotten Son

And it’s only by the precious blood of Jesus

That a penitent sinner can be won.

And so the Bible makes it crystal clear

That there is salvation in no other,

Jesus is the only name given under heaven

And to trust any other would be a bother.

So if you should hear his voice this day

I entreat you to harden not your heart

For in the coming day of judgment

You do not want to hear “from me depart”.

To all those who believe that for them

It is adherence to some religious guru,

Remember it this same Jesus you will face

And your religious guru will do so too.

He for himself and you for you

For none can stand in another’s place

When the Judge of Heaven sits in His court

And all stand before His face.

The one question I am sure he will ask

Will not be how well you have lived your life

But whether or not you had trusted in him

To deliver you out of sin’s strife.

At that point any other would be a waste

Of your time, your effort and your plea,

For the truth of the matter will come to light

That Jesus is the only Saviour for you and me.

No other name I say

No other name I repeat

Whereby a man can be saved

For all others spell defeat.

Stewart Russell © 2017