To Fix A Broken World

 

 

 

None can fix the world

Not one of us can,

But we are doing our best to destroy it

As though that’s our plan.

 

Every era has left it

Worse than the era before

As though in a competition

To get the worst score.

 

But the loser wins nothing

And the aftermath is grimmer

Yet there is this weird feeling

That he is a winner.

 

 

Our world is a broken puzzle

With pieces out of place

And given our so-called intelligence

This is a universal disgrace.

 

A Nobel winner for this

And A Nobel winner for that

Yet few can derive the benefits

And this is a sobering fact.

 

The masses are unchanged

In the barrel at the bottom,

And while a few enjoy the good life

For most it’s mostly rotten.

 

Those that try, pretend

That they are fixing the puzzle

But the sureties they put in place

Are not for ordinary people.

 

 

The world is a broken puzzle

For certain, a puzzle to me

And when I try to understand it

I experience futility.

 

None can fix the world,

None in this world I see

And they that reap the benefits

Are saying to leave it be.

 

It is fixed for the wealthy

And suited to the strong,

Only the vulnerable would say

Something has to be wrong.

 

For some it needs no fixing,

For others it is out of shape

But none of us knows how to fix it

Especially here of late.

 

 

Some pieces are hidden

For the benefit of a few

Thus, the majority can do little

Even if they knew.

 

There is one who will fix it

Though not fix it like we would,

And the change he has facilitated

Was purchased by his blood.

 

His is really not a fix

But a complete makeover anew:

Transformation from within

And also, a change of view.

 

 

Make the man right

And all will be rearranged,

This is not a fix, I must add,

But a genuine change.

 

Stewart Russell © September 7, 2021

 

Created in God’s Image

 

 

Created in God’s Image

And likened to Him

Now flawed by the fall

Because of Adam’s sin.

 

Fashioned from the earth

God breathed into him life

Felled by Satan’s deception

The beginning of all strife.

 

Hopeless and helpless

Man wandered the earth

But God had a plan

To give him a new birth.

 

In Genesis three fifteen

God first signaled this plan

To usher in a new beginning

And to redeem fallen man.

 

His Son would come to earth

To be be born of a virgin

Implanted by the Holy Spirit

And totally without sin.

 

 

He lived among the people

Teaching the way of the Lord

His was the perfect way

He was the Living Word.

 

The people were overawed

By his many miracles

And even teachers of the law

Were puzzled by his parables.

 

They questioned him often

At times they even ridiculed

But Jesus would not be tempted

To be the devil’s tool.

 

Finally they crucified him

Achieving the Father’s plan

That one would pay the price

For the sins of fallen man.

 

He who was without sin

Died the death of sinful man

To take away sin’s scourge

And fulfil God’s redemptive plan.

 

His life was the example

Of how everyone should live

And he is now the object

The focus we should give.

 

Thus created in God’s image

Man the crowning creation

But saved to conform to Jesus

The purpose of our salvation.

 

 

For whom God foreknew

Them He also predestinate

To conform to the image of His Son

And as His sons we now relate.

 

Be not conformed to this world

But be renewed in the mind

So that as the world looks on

Jesus’ image they would easily find.

 

Stewart Russell © 2016

 

It Happens Both Ways

 

 

Bad things happen to good people

And good things happen to the bad,

Neither appears to be just and fair

And thus, neither makes us glad.

 

Bad things should happen to bad people

That’s the way we generally feel,

That is the working out of justice

We all consider that to be ideal.

 

Good things should happen to good people

How we wish it would always be so!

That for us would be utopia

And good would be the way to go.

 

Hey, but bad things happen to bad people

Isn’t this what we desire?

As a matter of fact this is true

But only the bad should face that fire.

 

Good things should only happen to good people

Never the bad or the contrary,

This is what is considered fair

 And this, even the bad should see.

 

 

Jesus was good, wasn’t he?

Yet he experienced the ultimate bad-

Death on a cross for you and me,

Don’t you also consider that sad?

 

You and I were the bad

From it we derived the ultimate good,

The righteousness of Christ imputed to us

The good did for the bad what the bad never could,

 

Salvation came to the bad not the good

For the good has no such need,

Christ came not to save the righteous

But it is for sinners that he pleads.

 

None of us is good, no not one

Yet Christ is the good that happened to us,

Was it not for the bad the good had died?

Yes!  The only good is Jesus.

 

 

It happens both ways I do need to repeat

It is the hope for the sinner man,

The goodness of God reaching down to all

The murderer, the thief, the damned.

 

If good things only happened to the good

Not a single soul could have been saved,

For sin had corrupted the human race

And such influenced the way we behaved.

 

But one day good came down to earth

And transformed the penitent bad,

I can testify of that experience

And now I am eternally glad.

 

Stewart Russell (c) August 2019

 

To the Misinformed

Let’s talk about this god

That you don’t like,

Is he a tyrant?

Does he bite?

Is he unjust?

Is he unfair?

Does he give you reason

To be full of despair?

A few more questions

Just to make sure

And I promise you

I won’t ask any more.

Does he make promises

That he doesn’t keep

Especially in difficult times

When the road is steep?

 

Now I have finished

Let me analyze

This god in your head

That you have described.

Having read your form

I am now informed

Your god is deformed;

You need to be transformed.

You are void of sight

Your world is all night,

You will never be right

Until you see the Light.

You’ve been led astray

Each and every day

But your fears I can allay;

I can show you the way.

 

The god you do not like

Is Beelzebub,

A.k.a. the devil,

In him is no good.

He is a tyrant

And he also bites,

In him is all darkness

And surely no light.

He is unjust

And he is unfair,

And he gives every reason

To cause you to despair.

His name is spelt

With a common ‘g’

And his followers are common

And disorderly.

With that understood

Let me introduce to you

God my Saviour

Whom you never knew.

For had you known him

You would also have known,

That none of his children

He ever leaves alone.

Once one of His children,

Always his child,

Nothing like the god

Whom you described.

Acknowledge Him now

And confess your sins,

Open you heart

And let Him come in.

This is no coincidence

But a planned encounter,

Say yes to Him-

That’s your best answer.

To be misinformed

Is to be misdirected

And to continue therein

Is to be regretted.

Now you are informed

Correct your form,

Be ye transformed

And to Jesus conform.

Then…

Let’s talk about this God

That is from above

That now showers you

With infinite love.

Stewart Russell © June 2020

Love Says

Love says I am forgiven

Love says I am called

Love says I am chosen

Yes, I am chosen of God

Love says I am free

Set free by God’s grace

And the Holy Spirit

Monitors my case

Love says I am a work

Crafted by the Spirit

His aim is my development

Everyday a little bit

Love says I am an heir

And joint-heir with Christ

Sitting in heavenly places

Wow! Isn’t that nice?

Love says I am loved

Despite faults and flaws

Any good in me

Is due to Love’s cause

Love says I am a conqueror

More than a conqueror

That’s what Love’s power

Is in me for

Love says I’m shaping you

To be a better man

To walk in accordance

With the Father’s plan

Love says I’m a witness

To God’s grace in me

A heaven-bound creature

Though created earthly

Love says I must love

Even as I am loved

Like Jesus, my Saviour

That came from above

Love says I am transformed

And being transformed

By him who is in me

Having been reborn

Love says I must conform

To the image of the Son

Christ my hope in glory

And for this race I run

Love says I am a winner

No loser I will be

Love is mine forever

And runs alongside of me

Love says God is in me

And also I am in Him

And by His Holy Spirit

Christ also dwells within

Love fortifies me forever

In this life and that to come

He does so through the Spirit

And Jesus Christ His Son?

This Love is the I AM

Yes, The Great I AM

The Only God and Saviour

Fully God yet fully man

Stewart Russell © February 2018