Bible News and Biblical Views

 

 

The problem with the Bible

That we daily hear,

Are the very many contradictions

We often find in there.

 

Throughout the Old Testament

And into the New,

There are contradictions galore

That is a popular view.

 

Look at the many denominations

Which are all around,

The primary reason for this

Are these contradictions that abound.

 

These accusations and more

You will regularly hear

Day in and day out

Each and every year.

 

In this poem

I want to suggest to you

That it is about high time

That we change this view.

 

I wrote a poem

Entitled “News or Views”

In which I attempted to show

That the views often eclipse the news.

 

For having heard the news

We turned to the views

And thereupon, we adopt the views

And lose sight of the news.

 

That’s exactly what

Has happened to God’s Holy Word,

What it says it does not mean,

Isn’t that absurd?

 

 

Another term for the Gospel

Is the Good News

But the Good News has been distorted

By a myriad of views.

  

Each view, a denomination

With an adherent following,

With its Bible based views

From its pulpit loudly bellowing.

 

And since all cannot be right

The Bible is blamed

For the very many contradictions

That are preached in Jesus’ name.

 

Theologians and apologists

Argue to and fro,

Each advancing the Spirit’s conviction

That theirs is the way to go.

 

And the gullible adherents

Often blindly follow,

Convinced that their leaders

Are the only ones that know.

 

 

Therefore, I hereby announced

That the winner is the views,

The news become secondary

To the views that we choose.

 

“I believe” and “it is my opinion”

Are two of the terms we use

To relegate the Good News

And promote somebody’s views.

 

I have observed over time

With programmes on the air,

Preachers are preaching

What they want the people to hear.

 

Their views are the focus,

There is little of the Word

And the way believers drink it in

Makes one feel disturbed.

 

On the radio and television

On the Internet and from their pulpits

It’s the views about the news,

Which are given the credit.

 

 

We read Bible commentaries

And then go to the Bible

And what the commentary says

Becomes the chief principle.

 

Salvation adherents are divided

By two predominant views,

These are the views of two dead men  

Which are still making the news.

 

Each one of them wrote it

The way he saw it

And hundreds of years after

It is still the edict.

 

“In my studied opinion”,

Or “via research diligently pursued”

Has become the fulcrum

For many a denomination’s view.

 

The Catholic or Protestant

The Evangelical and Jew

These are all built up, quite evidently,

On somebody’s view.

 

The Church’s one foundation

Is Jesus Christ the Lord,

This is not the view of a songwriter

But it is God’s Holy Word.

 

That Jesus is the only Saviour

Must not be one among many views

But must be the headline and the body

Of the ever-breaking Good News.

 

 

Jesus is come to save sinners

Of which I am chief,

The Good News for me today is,

That is my belief.

 

May the radio and television broadcasts

Reach out to sinners with the Good News

As opposed to preaching to believers

To convince them of their views.

 

May the year 2021 be a watershed

For the preaching of the Good News

Across Barbados and the World

And not for the advancing of our Views.

 

Stewart Russell © January 2020

 

Nothing New

 

 

Truth from truth leaves truth

It is what preachers are called to do,

It’s a rhema word from the Logos Word

This should be nothing new.

 

Truth from a lie is bewilderment

A mathematical impossibility,

But it’s just what the devil did to Eve

And it is still his modus operandi.

 

A lie from the truth is hypnotic

It is what magicians do,

Like how cults read into the Holy Word

To mislead first me and then you.

 

A lie from a lie is remarkable

This is the scammers’ way of life,

Get caught in a lie tell another lie

To create more and more strife.

 

 

Truth plus the truth is questionable

The Bible is the word of truth,

You may be called to swear on the Word

But that is not the burden of proof.

 

A lie plus the truth is zero truth

The slightest contaminant is impure,

It is rendering the whole just another lie

Though truth may be at the core.

 

A lie plus a lie is a liar

That’s like 1 plus 2 equals 5 plus 6,

This has become the world’s unique way

For effecting an apparent fix.

 

Multiplying the truth by the truth

Sounds probable but is untrue,

Remember, multiplication is repeated addition

But dividing is to undo.

 

 

There is no more truth or less truth

No who is more right than wrong,

The truth is the truth and nothing but the truth

And to it no lies belong.

 

If you read through this poem again

The following you would recognize,

Each of the verses is amazingly true

Though seven of them are about lies

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

They Want Our Children Too

 

 

They have captured many adults

But they are still not satisfied,

They want to have our children too

And they will do it in style.

 

They are diligently working their way

Into our children’s classrooms

And under the cover of education

They aim to have them soon.

 

All that outdated hogwash

About this present binary gender

Will be a thing of the past quite soon

And just barely remembered...

For procreation purposes only

Until that is needed no more,

With advancing medical science

There will be much more in store.

 

Our children are their future

They must be ready for the change,

Hence, the subtle manipulation

So at first it won’t seem strange.

 

Like the contented frogs

That had eventually died

When the water was gradually heated

And they met their demised.

 

The container was left uncovered

They could easily jump out,

But they were happy in the water

This was better than any drought.

 

The frogs never really noticed

That the water was getting hot

And when it reached its boiling point,

They were all cooked in the pot.

 

 

This is a serious lesson for parents

And to responsible adults too,

They are coming for your children

Do not let them deceive you.

 

Monitor your children closely

Show them that you care,

Tell them that you love them

And keep them in constant prayer.

 

Be their trusted confidant

Be the support on which they can lean,

Show them that God and you and them

Will always be a winning team.

 

Don’t take this admonition lightly

They want our children too,

We must do everything in our power

To prevent this from coming true.

Satan’s agents are near and far

They are at home, at church, at school,

Do not let him catch you unaware

Please, do not become his tool.

 

Be aware of Satan’s enticements

He is a specialist in traps and snares,

Do not try to fight him on your own

God is the only one he fears.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

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

 

77 777

 

 

One seven, two sevens,

Three sevens then four,

If five sevens make up a row

What is the score?

 

If seven is the perfect number

Five times this is it,

Seventy-seven thousand, seven hundred seventy-seven-

The number of blog hits.

 

Today on my blog

That’s the number that showed up,

I know with God in charge

This is more than mere luck.

 

I take none of the credit

It all belongs to God,

It is He that inspires

It is He I applaud. 

 

I thank God for this talent

He has given to me

And to use it for His glory

Is my ministry.

 

I am honoured to serve Him,

My Lord and my King

And any witness I can render

To His service I bring.

 

I also thank all of you

For supporting this blog,

You, the readers have made it

An enjoyable job.

 

 

I will continue to write

As long as God lends me breath,

Meanwhile, to all and sundry,

I wish you happiness and health.

 

Stewart Russell © April 29, 2021

 

A Very Real Problem

 

 

People would owe the Government

But pay private enterprise,

And when the country gets in trouble

Pretend they are surprise.

 

Government on the other hand

Makes it difficult to collect

By the long queues waiting to pay

Which people definitely reject.

 

It has become harder to pay a tax

Than obtaining the money to pay,

Don’t bother to pay the tax

Is what Government seems to say.

 

And they do not seem to mind

When the people fret and complain

For rather than make it easier

They simply add to the pain.

 

I know governance is not easy

But collecting the taxes should be

Since the services Government offers

Depends on people’s money.

 

 

The more they dissuade the people

The more difficult it is to collect

And the behavior of some public officers

Smacks of gross disrespect.

 

You can get the distinct impression

You are in a line of beggars

Given the treatment you receive

From modern day tax collectors.

 

They act like the high and mighty

Like leaders in the Government

And your wait can become much longer

If their behavior you resent.

 

 

Consider your taking time off

From wherever you are employed

And standing in a line for hours

And being treated like a boy.

 

Like you are there for amusement

And your business does not matter

Hence, occasionally you are ignored

As they persist in useless chatter.

 

And you had better not interrupt

If you know what is good for you

For with a flounce and a curt dismissal

You’d have a longer wait in queue.

 

 

I can tell you of an experience

That I am sure it would blow your mind

But this is such a small country

That this would be definitely unkind.

 

For your mind would go a wandering

To a public officer that you know

And you most probably would be wrong

Especially if that one is not so.

 

So enough said at this point

And besides, this is not about persons

But of the difficulty experienced

When paying our needed subscriptions.

 

For indeed taxes are subscriptions

For the services that we receive

Which are rendered by our Government

As part of the social deal.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

Why Are We Still Here?

 

 

Why are We still here?

By now we should have left,

I am speaking of the rapture

I don’t mean death.

 

There was a time I believed

That I would not die

And that I would see Jesus return

Some day in the sky.

 

Maybe that is still possible

But I am not so sure,

The word soon is a little confusing

As the event is yet to occur.

 

From as far as I can remember

Jesus was coming soon,

We even sang in the song

Morning, night or noon.

 

And before my time

My parents and grandparents too,

There was an urgency about the return

Before the night was through.

 

 

I experienced it in my dreams

When I slept at night

And often I would come awake

Immobilized with fright.

 

I would then lie in bed

Wishing for morning to come

And afraid to go back to sleep

Because I was so frightened.

 

I seldom have that dream

Since the soon has worn off

Though concerning Jesus’ return

I would never scoff.

 

For I believe that he will

Though I do not know when

But to be honest with you

For me, that is no problem.

 

However, given the fact

That soon was the time

I believe that we have missed it

Though not left behind.

 

  

 

Hence, the question I asked:

 Why are we still here?

For soon was a long time ago

And not necessarily near.

 

That soon could not be for us

Thousands of years hence,

It is time my brother, my sister,

We shift our defense.

 

I recommend Matthew 24

And the book of Revelation

As well as Mark 13 and Luke 21

For more information.

 

Pay close attention

To “soon” in these Scriptures,

Do not mistake which generation

And you will get the picture.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020