Not Even Me

 

 

Having said yes to God

He will in no way accept no,

I am dogmatic about this

Because the Bible says so.

 

Born into God’s kingdom

Speaks to permanence,

I became His precious child

Via genuine repentance.

 

According to Romans 8

Verses 35 to 39 to be exact,

I have that assurance

And God’s truth is fact.

 

Being born again

Is the premise I choose,

My child of the Father status

I can never lose.

 

Once a child of God

I am always a child of God

Hence, I will not be deceived

Or let Satan defraud.

 

From my natural birth

I was my father’s son

But now I am born again

New life has come.

 

To all that believe

God grants us the power

To be His sons and daughters

From that very hour.

 

Since I cannot change

My earthly circumstance

Neither do I have the power

To alter what God has advanced.

 

What he has put in place

Is His sovereign will

And I know like you do

What he promises He fulfils.

 

I’ve heard the argument

That I can separate me,

Read Romans chapter 8

And that you won’t see.

 

It explicitly says nothing

And later implies no one,

Please read from verse 38

And please read on.

 

 

This is the word of God

I am sure you agree

So read verse 39

And tell me what you see.

 

“Nor any other creature”

Can separate us

From the Love of God

Which is in Christ Jesus.

 

Put my name right there

I hope you can see,

“Nor any other creature”

Can separate me.

 

From the love of God

Nothing or no one

Can separate me from God

Ever since I was reborn.

 

For having said yes to God

I was born again

Hence being a cast off

Will never be my pain.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

A Provisional Heaven

 

 

Could there possibly be

A provisional heaven

Where the physical dead definitely go

If their sins are forgiven?

 

Maybe some paradise

Like as in Abraham’s bosom:

A kind of holding area, if you like,

For deceased Christians?

 

Could it be immediately

On passing away,

Or in another way of expression,

On that very day?

 

What does it truly mean:

The dead in Christ?

Are these really in a physical grave

Or experiencing life?

 

If we are joint-heirs

And seated with Christ,

Isn’t this a very telling reference

To a heavenly life?

 

 

Isn’t any man in Christ

A new creation

Already possessing eternal life

Due to salvation?

 

Yet Christians die

And they do so everyday

So where do they go, I must ask,

Where do they stay?

 

In a provisional home

Maybe annexed to heaven

So that we can rest assuredly

They are already risen?

 

 

Would this in fact be

The first resurrection

To which the Apostle is referring

In the book of Revelation?

 

Where go the dead:

The dead that die in Christ?

Is there a provisional heaven

Where they enjoy life?

 

Ever since the creation

Believers have died!

Have they just rotted in the grave

And no longer survive?

 

 

Or, are they somewhere

In a provisional heaven

Still fully functional and conscious

Of sins forgiven?

 

A provisional heaven

Before the eternal one

When God in Christ will judge all

Before time is gone?

 

I am merely asking

And I am yearning to know,

Do you have any clear evidence

You’d like to show?

 

Stewart Russell © June 22, 2025

 

The War in Heaven

 

 

 

The war in heaven

Took place at the cross,

All Satan thought he had gained

Was suddenly lost.

 

This might be difficult

To conceptualize

But cogitate upon its truth

Before you despise.

 

He once was the prince

Of the power of the air

But now the children of God

Have nothing to fear.

 

We sit in heavenly places

With Jesus the Christ

And Satan has lost his power

Since Jesus’ sacrifice.

 

 

It was war in heaven

But was visible on earth,

Jesus was earmarked for this

From the day of his birth.

 

For this cause

Came he into the world

As recorded in John 3 verse 16

In the Holy Word.

 

Satan’s last effort

To pull Christ Jesus down

Concluded in absolute failure;

Satan was the clown.

 

Fought in the heavens

Where Satan once was

Now he is permanently disbarred,

Eternally judged.

 

 

Once a daring prosecutor

Of notorious fame

Now he has been taken down,

Bless Jesus’ name!

 

It is finished

Was not a cry of defeat

But Satan was to be crushed

Under Jesus’ feet.

 

Three days hence

And Jesus would rise

And as prophesied in Genesis,

Satan’s demise.

 

Death is dethroned

The grave has no sting,

Satan is virtually powerless

And Jesus is king.

 

 

All Satan has left

Is a weapon of deception

Which is completely neutralized

By our great salvation.

 

He may war on earth

But not in the heavens

And all he can do to the believer

Is merely threaten.

 

Fear him not,

Neither his bark nor bite

For he merely thrashes around

Having lost the fight.

 

 

 

Jesus delivered to him

That fatal blow

That crushed his head indeed;

We assuredly know.

 

As in the fulfilment

Of Genesis 3 verse 15

Jesus is the blessed hope

Of the redeemed.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2, 2025

 

Water Woes

 

 

Out of water again

The pipe is not running,

At least I can catch up to it

Even if I’m limping.

 

It’s becoming rare

To last an entire week,

Maybe I put my mouth on it

When like this I speak.

 

Scarcely a warning

Like water running slow,

One moment there was water

And the next a no show.

 

Summer is coming

And water is crucial,

Here’s wishing for a water tank

That is always full.

 

 

It is kind of expensive

To set up a tank, though,

If you are a pensioner like me

I am sure you know.

 

Yes, I need a tank

Given these water woes

But how I am going to get one,

Only God knows.

 

The tank, the pump

And the concrete platform,

Please tell me can I claim it

On my income tax form?

 

 

I really hope I can

Just like the solar system,

I really hope I can get somebody

To stop and listen.

 

To listen to my plight

And my weekly water woes

And how just sudden like that

The water goes.

 

The days are getting hot

And I like to cool down

But I cannot get a good shower

When no water is around.

 

 

Hear my plight BWA

And hearken to my cry,

If it be your will, please send me

A reliable water-supply.

 

Stewart Russell © June 25, 2025 

 

Topsy Turvy World

 

 

In a topsy turvy world

Where madness is sanity

How do the sane actually survive

In a pseudo reality?

 

And if atheism is true

And everything else is a lie

Then matter is all that matters,

Oh me, oh my!

 

Where, tell me, is up

And which way is down

And how can we say differently

And neither is wrong?

 

I can transition

But I cannot change back

Even though anything goes

And nothing is a fact.

 

A topsy turvy world

Is as good as any name

Where there is moral relativism

Thus, no blame.

 

Accept my gender

Once I tell you I am that

And never mind how I look,

Treat it as a fact.

 

 

 

Remember, I have the right

To be whatever I feel,

So, don’t you dare oppose me

Just simply yield.

 

All that matters is matter

Hate-speech is a no-no,

It’s not your worry what I am

Just agree it’s so.

 

To some this is not much

To others, quite a lot,

But there are irregularities

I hope you spot.

 

Atheism is one of them

Materialism is another,

Scientism is a scientific stretch

Monism is a bother.

 

Nothing before life

And nothing thereafter,

There is no slave and no servant

And definitely no master.

 

No God to overrule

No creator or creatures,

The right to do whatever I like-

Absolutely no standards.

 

 

Ecclesiastes 9 verse 3

Is an appropriate summary,

And how to avoid this inevitability

Is beyond you or me.

 

It will come to one and all

Both great and small

And none will escape its frigid bite

No, none at all.

 

Death is of a truth

It’s as real as real can be,

It’s a gateway to another world

Awaiting you and me.

 

Nothing before life

And nothing thereafter

Is nothing more than a satanic lie

Full of tragic laughter.

 

Laughing oneself to death

That’s what I mean,

What a topsy turvy world it is!

What a hopeless scene!

 

Stewart Russell © June 6, 2024

 

It’s Just a Problem

 

 

It’s just a problem,

Solve it!

It’s only a problem,

Don’t quit.

 

Sounds amazing,

Doesn’t it?

But does this advice

Every problem fit?

 

See that pupil

Struggling with Math?

Here is encouragement

For him at last.

 

Just a problem?

Oh, I can solve it,

That’s what you do with a problem

I don’t have to skip.

 

 

A changed attitude,

That is just it!

It’s just a problem!

Don’t quit.

 

Not so easy, I dare say,

Not so easy at all!

It might be just a problem

But I am stalled.

 

I cannot solve it,

No solution insight,

It is really beyond me

I’m not this bright.

 

“It’s just a problem”

Sounds really great

But I wish I knew how,

So much is at stake.

 

 

It’s just a problem,

Solve it!

All a problem requires

Is to solve it.

 

It’s no more

And no less,

Just find the solution

That fits it best.

 

It’s just a problem

So, find its solution

And let’s bring this poem

To a conclusion.

 

 

A word to the PM

Re our national ship,

It’s just a problem,

Solve it!

 

Every problem

Comes with a solution,

It’s somewhere out there

In the confusion.

 

The confusion

That leaders create

Either to conceal the truth

Or make it dissipate.

 

It’s just a problem,

Solve it!

Easier said than done

So, I quit.

 

Stewart Russell © February 28, 2025

Cannot Sleep

 

 

They cannot sleep

For the sound of the guns,

They know not where the next volley

Would come from.

 

High powered weapons

That bypass doors

Easily piercing chattel house wood

To drop on the floor.

 

So, they stay awake

Ready to hit the floor

While the little ones sleep through

Evidence by snores.

 

Unaware of the danger

That such weapons pose

The young ones could soundly sleep

As though comatose.

 

But the more aware,

They just cannot sleep,

They must be ready to take action

When the bullets speak.

 

In the still of the night

When the crickets chirp,

Mamas must watch over their babes

So, they won’t be hurt.

 

 

They cannot sleep

For the threat of the guns

While the avengers cannot sleep;

They’ve work to be done.

 

Revenge and reprisal

For the last one executed!

Wherever this assassin or whoever,

He too must be muted.

 

Half 2025 completed

And, with much to show

With a whopping twenty-eight persons

Who no longer pass go.

 

As judge and jury

And with weapon in hand,

These assassins have all they need

To execute their plan.

 

They cannot sleep

But for a different reason,

They have a mission to accomplish;

It is killing season.

 

Whether it be nighttime

Or whether it be day

Barbadian citizens are on the alert;

It is now the way.

 

 

A wave affects the island

Though not a storm type

And which our Parliament and police

Seem unable to fight.

 

With loads of rhetoric

And with “talk can’t done”,

They appear clueless as to the source

Of these imported guns.

 

We know how they come

Was a comment recently

In which the speaker made the effort

To be heard clearly.

 

That comment, as I recall,

Eliminated a constituency

Suggesting that we look to the others

To solve this mystery.

 

Can we have this assurance

From the other sitting MPs

What this particular MP made clear

Re their constituency?

 

 

They gave a suggestion

To be taken seriously

Regarding the Barbados Police Service

In carrying out their duty.

 

A targetted approach

Aimed at both high and low

And not just certain communities

As statistics show.

 

The country can’t sleep

With bullets flying around

When almost daily another citizen

Is taken down.

 

It is mostly the youth,

Putting our future at stake

As well as our tourism endeavour

Still thriving to date.

 

 

 

Many cannot sleep

Though for different reasons

And this reckless gun importation

Is akin to treason.

 

The elderly are targeted,

Our women especially

And we wonder who will be the next

In this unsolved mystery.

 

Many cannot sleep

And it is getting worse

And all we are mostly regaled with

Are speeches rehearsed.

 

From the illegal importer

To the assassin’s hand,

Guns are causing serious insomnia

In our fair land.

 

To grammar purists

Re my incorrect use of they-

To avoid the issue of gender identity,

I took this way.

Stewart Russell © July 1, 2025