Breakthrough for Whom?

  

 

There is much talk

About breakthrough these days

Promised to Christian believers

In myriad ways.

 

Promised from pulpits

From stadia to church

And the people in eager anticipation

Are left in the lurch.

 

Often required to pay

Or rather, sow a seed,

And this seed must be sacrificial

Aka out of their need.

 

The gullible are trapped

Mostly ladies, I dare to say,

And almost all of them still wait

For that coming day.

 

Meanwhile, no change

Everything is as before

And they continue to lose faith

More and more.

 

 

Breakthrough is mouthed

By faith leadership

Who rather than preach the Word

Shoot from the hip.

 

Five break-through

Are recorded in the Word

But to the two in the New Testament

I now refer.

 

Both are in Matthew

In consecutive verses

And from what I have gathered

They are really curses.

 

Beware of treasures

That thieves can steal

Rather, store up treasures in heaven

In the Word revealed.

 

Thieves break through

Moth and rust corrupt

And sooner rather than later

Thieves run out of luck.

 

 

 

Let the light of the Word

Breakthrough in your heart,

This breakthrough none can give

Not even in part.

 

It cost Jesus’ blood

And his death on the cross

And it matters not your millions,

Without it you are lost.

 

Breakthrough is dependent

On the grace of God,

It’s not in money or worldly gain

No, not at all.

 

Breakthrough for whom?

For the one in the pulpit

Making merchandise of the sheep

And getting rich.

 

 

 

Sounds like a wolf

Dressed up like a sheep,

Be careful my brothers and sisters

If you hear him bleat.

 

If he tickles your ears

And make you feel sweet

Next, he will take all you have

And have you for meat.

 

There is one shepherd

That was never a sheep

Yet though a sinless lamb crucified

He now speaks.

 

 

 

Come unto me, he says,

Meaning the burdened

And the breakthrough you’ll get

Is his pardon.

 

The message is the same

To the pew and the pulpit,

Breakthrough is eternal salvation,

Not getting rich.

 

Stewart Russell © February 4, 2026  

 

Animal Like Behaviour

 

 

They say that we are animals

A higher class of course

But often times we behave

Much lower than the worse.

 

And we may earn their names

By some of the things we do

Though this is highly offensive

To both me and to you.

 

Like “you stupid old goat”

When we do something foolish

Or, what a “sloppy pig”!

When what we do is a mess.

 

What an “ignorant donkey”!

Just don’t use the other name,

Male it is, not female,

But both genders are to blame.

 

 

Dare to stand your ground

And you are a “stubborn mule”

Or do something most despicable

And “dog’ is the naming tool.

 

Go back on your word

And you are a “backbiting snake”,

Or “chameleon” might be better

Just to show you are a fake.

 

Some authority on looks

May refer to another as a “monkey”

And if perchance one’s ears shoot out

“Bat-ears” it then would be.

 

 

A lowdown act: you’re a “dog”

Lower than that you’re a “snake”

And for females in pregnancy

She waddles like a “duck”, not “drake”

 

I had to put that in

Because of the confusion gender wise,

These days you mightn’t be sure

Some don’t wear disguise.

  

Check out the “lower animals”

They are surer than we are,

Especially when mating time comes around

They make more sense by far.

 

How can I leave out the “sheep”?

This is a regular name,

It is the one I mostly like

For I am one, in Jesus’ name.

 

The good shepherd calls us such

Especially, when we follow him,

He gave his life for his dear “sheep”

To free those “sheep” from sin

 

“Wolf” is the name for those

Pretending that they are “sheep”

However, they don’t eat grass

Their diet is strictly meat.

 

 

“Vipers” is one we hear from Jesus,

In the same verse “serpents” is used,

Matthew 23:33 is the text…

Such people are without excuse.

 

I choose to end with the following:

These are “turtledove” and “lamb”,

The former is a romantic term

The latter is held in the Shepherd’s hand.

 

For when as “lambs” we frisk around

We sometimes go astray,

It’s then the Shepherd breaks our leg

And carries us along the way.

 

Just one set of footprints

The prints of the Shepherd’s feet

Not yours or mine, I hope you see

He is carrying his little “sheep”.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2019

 

Don’t Be Mistaken

A cat and a dog once had a chat

Said the cat to the dog, “I am a cat.”

Said the dog to the cat, “Is that a fact?”

Said the cat to the dog, “I’ll swear to that.”

Said the dog to the cat, “I’m glad I know

For now I can add you to my list of foes.”

“Oh no,” said the cat, trembling to his toes

In a just a bit I’ll be in death throes.”

Some things you should keep to yourself

This could greatly enhance your health,

This knowledge to the dog was like wealth

Instantly he went into a mode of stealth.

The cat was trying to make a friend

Instead she came upon a long time fiend.

Upon whom could she call for help to send?

In this dilemma she was at her wit’s end.

But then she remembered her feline crew.

“I have a sister that’s bigger than you.

She’s ferocious and fierce and cunning too

And dogs like you she’ll be happy to chew.”

“Well you don’t know my family clan:

Fox, wolf and hyena, beat that if you can.

We rule the earth, every inch and span

We put fear in everyone, even a man.”

“My family head is the king of all beasts,

Yours revere him from the greatest to the least.

It would do you well with me to make peace

Lest he should come and make you his feast.”

“Who is this king of beasts you talk about?

 Would he hear you if you should shout?

Is he different from any my family did rout?

While the getting is good you’d better get out.”

“My family, the lion, is king over all,

Everyone who opposes him takes a great fall,

He’d be here in a minute if I should call,

If you like your life you would no longer stall.

“Ha, ha, ha, you really make me laugh,

If I were not careful I would crack in half,

I had never thought you’d go that path,

Sorry you won’t be here for the aftermath.”

With that said the dog rushed at the cat,

The cat stood her ground and humped her back,

The dog stopped suddenly in his attack,

“Was this fiction or was this really a fact?”

He stared at the cat; surely he was stunned,

He thought to himself, “This cat should have run.”

The dog realize this was no longer fun

And suddenly he wished the matter could be done.

“I have bitten more than I could chew,

I don’t know as much as I thought I knew,

O how I wish I could fix this, I really do!”

There was no doubt he had a change of view.

There is an exception to every rule,

I am sure you have heard this even at school,

This dog had mistaken this cat for a fool

And now at the end it was not even cool.

He thought the matter would go his way

Only to find out it was not his day.

The cat had managed to keep him at bay

It was really the dog that had gone astray.

Cats are afraid of dogs; that’s what we know,

In this case it seems this wasn’t so

Even though at the beginning it started to show

But greater than her fear this cat did grow.

She thought of family but this didn’t help

And she wasn’t a dog so she couldn’t yelp

And she couldn’t pretend to be a whelp

Because she was a cat and that’s how she felt.

Be yourself when things get tough,

Be yourself when the going is rough,

There are times when enough is enough,

You must stand your ground even if it’s a bluff.

The cat’s action left the dog bemused

The cat should have run but defiantly refused,

As a result the poor dog became confused,

“Was this for real or just a cat’s ruse?” 

While the dog thought, the cat walked away,

She had made her point; she had had her say,

This dog’s black and white had become grey

What if the matter had become a fray?

I hope this lesson you have learned,

It’s better to back off than to get burned,

Commonsense should never be spurned,

A cat claw in the eye is worse than a germ.

This meeting could have gone differently,

There was no need for animosity,

They too could have lived together in harmony

Had the dog’s response been more friendly.

So in the final stanza I’ll show the reverse

It would be good if we all could rehearse

Then there would be harmony instead of a curse.

To get the point just read the last verse.

A cat and a dog once had a chat

Said the cat to the dog, “I am a cat.”

Said the dog to the cat, “I know, that’s a fact.”

Said the cat to the dog, “You can count on that.”

Stewart Russell © August 2017