The How of Salvation

 

 

Can anyone tell me

How salvation works?

Spare me all your credentials

Or that you’re an expert.

 

If you can tell me

Just put your hand up,

I’d love to wait on you but I can’t

You are out of luck.

 

Some do behave

Like they have the answer

But I believe they don’t:

Neither Madam nor Sir.

 

Let me hasten to add

That neither do I,

If at some time I told you I did

That was a lie.

 

So, why this topic

When they’re so many more?

Well, because some believers

Seem rather sure.

 

They argue about it

And sometimes cause division

Trying to explain

The “how of salvation”.

 

It’s like you’d better know

If you truly want to be saved

So, they go to great extent

In their rant and rave.

 

They would dig a hole

And deeper they would get

Pulling in the mold over them

To everybody’s regret.

 

 

Calvinists and Armenians

In the ages long debate

Trying hard to convince the other

Of their mistake.

 

Pitting God’s sovereignty

Against man’s free will

And at the end of every debate

Both confused still.

 

Trying to be God

Which they can never be

Plunging headlong into depths

Deeper than the sea.

 

What does it matter

Whether or not God saves all

Or, on the other hand,

Saves none at all?

 

Unlike as with ethnic Israel

Salvation is personal,

And what is even more critical

Salvation is eternal.

 

 

To teacher Nicodemus

Jesus would only say,

“Ye must be born again!”

It’s the only way.

 

This is not about how,

It is about the what,

It is not about who gets saved

And who does not.

 

“What must I do

To be saved?” asked another,

Believe on the Lord Jesus!

Is that a bother?

 

Fact number 1:

Almighty God is sovereign!

Fact number 2:

Man has his freedom!

 

That is freedom to decide

Whether yes or no,

Saying yes to Jesus Christ

Or with the devil go.

 

Whichever he chooses

Does not thwart God,

God delivers on all his promises,

He is never a fraud.

 

I cannot say the same

For you know who,

Satan will promise the world

But that he can’t do.

 

 

He tried it with Jesus

Though it was not his to give

But that is how con-artists work

And their adherents live.

 

Let’s forget the how

Which is not our concern,

Instead, let us be more like Jesus-

This we should learn.

 

The how is what God did

In sending us His Son,

The other how is the born again

And what the Spirit has done.

 

Go and tell, is our mandate

Tell them to come,

It’s an invitation to God’s kingdom

And that of His Son.

 

It’s one kingdom

Most definitely not two,

There’s not one for the Gentile

And one for the Jew.

 

 

 

The “how of salvation”?

Not our concern,

Calvinists and Armenians

Have a lot to learn.

 

Better to spend time

Conforming to Christ

For knowing the “how of salvation”

Can never suffice.

 

Stewart Russell © April 20, 2024

Made in Our Image

 

 

 

You call on your God

And I will call on mine

And at the end of the exercise

Tell me what you find.

 

From the get go

You see the problem!

Your God and my God,

At least there are two of them.

 

As many religious sects

Each one with its God,

Which one is the authentic God

And which one the fraud?

 

My God is like me

Made in my own image,

And your God is what you make

Sounds like sacrilege.

 

And the world looks on

In definitive confusion

Asking whose is the true God

Given our delusion.

 

Our prayers are a boast

Of how he responds to us;

Mostly a fake-it kind of thing,

Little to do with trust.

 

 

We shout at our God

And we continually nag

And the slightest success we get

We unashamedly brag…

 

Of how our God hears

But your God does not

And the resources our God has

Yours haven’t got.

 

A God for the Adventists

And one for Evangelicals

A God for Hindus and Muslims

And one for Israel.

 

A cursory glance shows

Each created their God

And any God created by a sect

Must be a colossal fraud.

 

Actually, it’s idolatry!

In the Bible it is so called,

Such a God cannot be appealing

But one we should appall.

 

 

Reminds me of a Mount

Known as Mount Carmel,

Elijah versus Baal’s prophets

When the latter fell.

 

Baal was obviously deaf

To his adherents’ screams,

Not very different sometimes

From a modern-day scene.

 

Some scream and shout

As though their God is deaf

And the way they keep this up

Tells me they are stressed.

 

Like the prophets of Baal

That became a bloody mess

Cutting themselves in desperation

As they failed the acid test.

 

For hours and hours

Baal’s prophets prayed

But as Elijah mockingly suggested

Maybe Baal had gone away.

 

After all, what was so hard

For their God to answer

And ignite their prepared sacrifice

With just a spark of fire?

 

You see Baal was their God

Whom they had made

But however much they prayed

It was to no avail.

 

From morning till evening

Not a sound from Baal,

After hours of prayer and mutilation

Things got depressingly bad.

 

Then it was Elijah’s turn

To pray to the Almighty God,

He had no fear he would answer

So on Him he called.

 

 

I counted 59 words

The length of Elijah’s prayer

And immediately on completion

Fire from heaven appeared.

 

We often pray as though

We’re trying to convince God,

There’s something He doesn’t know

Hence, on Him we call.

 

And it gets even better,

We remind God of His word,

We have no problem with this

Yet Baal’s prophets were absurd.

 

“Don’t forget, Lord,

In your Word you said such,

To ask you to keep your promise

Can’t be asking too much.”

 

Let’s hold God to His word

Seems to be the endeavour,

What’s wrong with putting our God

Under a little pressure?

 

And if He doesn’t answer

We’ll just pray and pray again

And ensure we constantly repeat

The phrase, in Jesus’ name.

 

And if still no answer

Just pretend that there was,

Believe you have received it-

Let faith become the hub.

 

 

  

Yes, made in our image

To do with as we please,

Waiting at our every beck and call

To give us our desired ease.

 

So, you call on your God

And I will call on mine

And at the end of this exercise

Tell me what you find.

 

Stewart Russell © April 15, 2024

 

What Is Sin?

 

 

My unsaved friend

Do you know what is sin?

Even with a moral compass

One is still dim.

 

One may be good

In the way he understands

But sin is not something

That happened to man.

 

Sin is a phenomenon

That brought on death;

Both spiritual and physical

And severed man’s rest.

 

Ye shall surely die

God did say said to Adam

So that when Adam disobeyed

It brought death to man.

 

A missing of the mark!

This was Adam’s sin

And Adam having disobeyed God

Separated God from him.

 

 

A clear directive

Given by Almighty God,

First of all, Eve was deceived

And this triggered the fall.

 

Sin is a transgression

Or a missing of the mark

Which Almighty God established

From the very start.

 

Sin is clearly defined

1^st John chapter 3 verse 4

Then go on to Mark chapter 12

And read some more.

 

There is a difference

Between sin and crime:

A crime contravenes a state’s law

But sin is contra Divine.

 

 

Sin is a transgression

Of God’s perfect law

Hence, the ten commandments

Showed man his flaw.

 

Man could not appease

The Most Holy God

And this was clearly shown

From his initial fall.

 

  

 

Given a single directive

Adam miserably failed,

There in the garden of Eden

The enemy prevailed.

 

Mrs. Adam was deceived

While Mr. Adam succumbed

And just as God had indicated

Man was undone.

 

All have sinned

Meaning all in the earth,

Sin’s curse falls on everyone

Of a natural birth.

 

And the wages of sin

Is eternal death,

Eternally separated from God

And void of His rest.

 

But there remains a rest

For the people of God

Guaranteed by the second Adam

Who did not fall.

 

Believe on the Lord Jesus

And you will be saved,

This is the so-great salvation

Almighty God gave.

 

Having shed his blood

Only Jesus can forgive sin

And now he invites all and sundry

To come unto him.

 

 

We must love Yahweh

With all of our heart,

With all our mind and strength-

This is where we start.

 

We must love others

Just as we love ourselves,

These two define the benchmark

Of spiritual health.

 

Sin occurs every time

That we miss this mark

Whether we sin in word or deed

Or in our heart.

 

It is only by the Holy Spirit

One can hit God’s mark,

It is His indwelling Holy Spirit

That transforms the heart.

 

The spirit of the law

Is what we must achieve;

The Holy Spirit helps us to do this

Once we believe.

 

The greatest sin is rejecting

The Lord Jesus Christ

For in so doing we make of no avail

His atoning sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © June 21, 2024

 

Of Phobias Two

 

 

 

Of the myriad phobias

There are two that are right here:

Islam and homosexuality

These two bring me much fear.

 

And they are on the increase

In numbers and in strength

And to accomplish all they desire

They will go to any length.

 

Only just the other day

I came across a brand-new fear

Islam-a-phobia was its name

And someone said it’s here.

 

 

So just imagine this:

These two fast growing fears

Islam-a-phobia and homophobia

And both of them are here.

 

The difference in these two

From the phobias that I know

Would be their very subtle deception

And the rate at which they grow.

 

They can sneak in the backdoor

In very undercover ways

And their appeal to tolerance

Do on our mind plays.

 

Nothing’s wrong with either

Is the unenlightened comment

Plus, the stigmatizing of all persons

That in any way resent.

 

 

I desperately try to understand

The agendas of these two

And they both seem set of coercing

All and sundry to their view.

 

 

I follow both across the world

In places where they are like towers

And their status in some countries

Has given them great power.

 

Yes, I hear you loud and clear,

“Why should they be a worry?”

And my answer to such a query

Comes out in many a story.

 

Stories in many places

Where both have stormed ahead

Leading to many disillusioned families

And many more that dread.

 

The dread of that initial lure

Like a fish that’s drawn to the bait

That struggles to escape its hook

But alas, it is too late.

 

And therein lies my fear

Call it a phobia, if you like,

The truth of the matter strikingly is

For many, it is a fright.

 

And the backing they have

Both financially and otherwise

Says they will be around for a while

Up front and in disguise.

 

 

Of phobias two

Only to the enlightened that fear

For there are many that don’t

And to me that is clear.

 

At first, they appear harmless

Until they get a “foot in the door”

But thereafter they take over

After one has taken the lure.

 

Many a daunting phobia

Is a fear and nothing more

But these two that I have mentioned

Have much more in store.

 

 

They both decimate the family

By weakening its building blocks:

One through its jihadists,

The other at nothing stops.

  

One takes a community’s adults

The other inhibits birth,

Islam and homosexuality

These two phobias in the earth.

 

Stewart Russell © September 23, 2021

 

Impossible

 

 

You cannot do another’s work

However hard you try,

But if perchance you manage to

You are living a lie.

 

For then, you see, I must believe

Your work is oft unfinished,

For if you have time to do another’s

Yours must be quite diminished.

 

Little or nothing to do

Or, perhaps not exercising enough,

If this be the case my mixed-up friend,

That is rather tough.

 

All the work you’ve managed to do

Simply was your own,

If it wasn’t at the beginning

Then your workload had grown.

 

To whom much is given

To the same much is expected,

So the thought it is someone else’s

Must surely be rejected.

 

You will be held accountable

For the work you have to do

And the excuse it was not your work

Will never see you through.

 

If you do another’s work

That person is automatically absolved,

His work is now become your work;

You are the one involved.

 

It switches from him to you

Hence, you are now responsible,

And if anything should go wrong

You’d be the one in trouble.

 

If it is good, you get the praise,

If it is bad; the blame,

And that to my mind is fair enough

However much you complain.

 

 

You cannot do another’s work,

Whatever you do is yours

So, do it well with all your strength

For your reward is sure.

 

The reward is fitted to the work;

The two go hand in hand,

He that works, the reward is his,

That’s according to the plan.

 

You might do ten men’s work

Or five men or even two,

It’s your work you must remember

So keep this within view.

 

You cannot do another’s work

That is not at all possible,

Concentrate on the work you have

And do it while you’re able.

 

Every believer has a work:

A work he or she must do,

No one can do another one's work

And that also means you.

 

Stewart Russell © January 16, 2022

 

Oh Wow!

 

 

How this year has flown!

Three quarters now complete

And into the third we go

Even as we speak.

 

October is now upon us,

It’s crept up almost unnoticed

And most of our elaborate plans

Must now be dismissed.

 

Definitely so for me

As these days I’m a little slow,

Not that young anymore

With little get up and go.

 

Often can’t be bothered

Or the funds won’t stretch,

I am living off a pension now

And still in debt.

 

Debt to certain companies

Like BWA and BLPC,

And there is Digicel and FLOW

Plus a few luxuries.

 

There is procrastination:

That perennial thief of time

Where several things to be done

Gets done only in my mind.

 

Good intentions, of course,

Never gets anything done

But these days I prefer to walk

Since it is difficult to run.

 

 

Oh Wow!  How time flies

And how this year has flown!

And finances previously sound

Are now down to the bone.

 

Into the Christmas quarter,

Oh, how I love this time,

The money is not like it used to be

But I am feeling quite fine.

 

October, it’s all over!

That’s what it used to be,

But storms have still knocked us

In recent history.

 

It’s been a mix year so far

Already three quarters in

And many smiles have been replaced

By the expected grin.

 

Growth has taken place

But little development I see,

Fortune is still favouring the rich

And the poor, poverty.

 

Much talk about nothing

Deflecting the real issues:

The ploy of double-speak leaders

Making us more confused.

 

 

The guns are coming in

But so too is the tint

Complicating the problem bigtime,

Making citizens flinch.

 

If only we could see

The driver behind that wheel

The solution to the gun crimes

Would be a done deal.

 

Something tells me though,

The faces are well known

But the swiftness deceives the eye

Just like the year has flown.

 

I end just as I began

Re how this year has flown,

And I pray that the authorities act

On what I believe is known.

 

 

 

It’s a wow moment

And so, I say, “Oh wow!”

Leaders, stop the lot of long talk

And get to the source now!

 

Stewart Russell © September 28, 2024