Grains of Sand

Ian Cruikshanks Recently I heard a report on the news in which COVID-19 was compared to the Spanish flu that infected 500 million people and killed somewhere between 17 to 50 million people. That outbreak lasted from January 1918 to December 1920. Another report, specifically concerning my home province of Ontario, also included some grim numbers as scientists and health experts looked forward to what could be the best and worst case scenarios when it comes to COVID-19. It was food for thought. But my thoughts did not turn to long-term isolation or protective gear or shortages or economic downturns. They went back to the history of my home church, First Baptist in Timmins, Ontario. It's connection to the 1918 pandemic is significant. In 1917 and 1918, a young man by the name of Ian Cruikshanks travelled back and forth from Toronto to Timmins on the train. His mission was to bring the Gospel to the miners and loggers of a community rising out of the woods, lakes, and r...

Pixabay “ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light .” (Matthew 11:29, 30) This, and the verse prior to it, are the gentlest of Gospel invitations in Scripture. We, as believers, are often accused of beating unbelievers over the head with hell and damnation and demonstrating a lack of compassion and understanding. That is sometimes true, even though a dose of hell and damnation is what some people need to recognize their need of Someone to rescue them from both of the above. But here in Matthew we have the message for those who have reached that point known as “the end of the rope.” They just can’t do “it” anymore, whatever “it” represents that they once thought would meet the heart cry of their souls. They have discovered that nothing, and no one, can satisfy and they are tired of the chase that leaves them aching and empty. And Jesus says: “ Come to me, all you wh...

Pixabay If memory serves, Michael Jackson tried to change the colour of his skin. That was probably the most extreme example during this present era of the measures to which people go in the constant search to feel better about themselves. The other example that comes to mind is the woman who underwent endless surgeries to make herself look like Barbie of the famous (or infamous) Barbie and Ken doll collection. On a smaller scale we "nip and tuck," cream and cover, make-up and dress-up, tone-up and touch-up, every flaw we think we see that keeps us from being whatever someone else has decided is handsome, beautiful, acceptable, marketable, relevant, or worthy of being taken seriously.  Then along comes someone like Jeremiah to expose, literally, the ugliness that really counts and the impossibility of covering that ugliness up at any price or by any means. The prophets spent a lot of time describing the consequences attached to the continual rebellion and disobedien...

A friend posted an interesting statement on FACEBOOK which I re-posted. Here it is: “ When ministry becomes performance, then the sanctuary becomes a theatre, the congregation becomes an audience, worship becomes entertainment, and man’s applause and approval becomes the measure of success. But when ministry is for the glory of God, his presence moves into the sanctuary. Even the unsaved visitor will fall down on his face, worship God, and confess that God is among us .” (drrichardlmoore). I re-posted the statement because I believe it to be true, but it was the last bit that connected with what I read this morning in my time of meditation. I’ve been doing advent readings leading up to Christmas and today’s passage was from John 12. These two verses particularly stood out: “ Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself ” (vss. 31, 32). Jesus is once more announcing His death ...

Google Images “ You must be born again ” (John 3:7). I doubt that this was what Nicodemus expected when he arrived under cover of darkness to talk to Jesus.  According to the record given to us in John 3, Nicodemus hardly got through the pleasantries of a polite introduction before the Lord went right to the point—the religious leader and member of the Jewish ruling council, needed a Saviour. In this most famous chapter of the Scriptures, the Gospel is laid out in graphic detail. No one can be part of God’s kingdom unless he is born again (3:3). Being born again is the work of the Spirit of God (3:6). The Son of Man, Jesus, would be the instrument of that new birth (3:14). Belief is required (3:15, 16). God made the supreme sacrifice to make it possible for us to be born again (3:16). The first coming of Christ happened so that we would have the opportunity to be saved (3:17). Those who reject Christ have already condemned themselves (3:18). Sin keeps people from being born aga...

Google Images It was an expensive gesture. Just two days before His death, Jesus reclined in the house of Simon the Leper. We can assume that Simon wasn’t a leper any longer, but he isn’t the focus of the story. As Jesus sat at dinner with His disciples, a woman came into the room. She might not have been noticed if she had been a servant in the house, intent on putting down some delicacy before the guests or filling up their cups. When she broke open the flask she was carrying and poured its contents on the Lord’s head, we can almost imagine the collective gasp that filled the room along with the scent of perfume. I was traveling from Lahore to Shikarpur, Pakistan. As we landed, the man sitting beside me opened his briefcase, took out a bottle of cologne and doused me with it. Honestly, I had showered and to this day I have no idea why he did it! In this story from Matthew’s gospel, Jesus made the reason behind the woman’s actions abundantly clear. “ She has done a beautiful thing...

Dr. R. E. Baxter, former pastor The aged prophet has just delivered a stinging rebuke. He was against the request that Israel had made to imitate their neighbours and have a king. But God had directed him to do as the people had asked. Samuel did as he was told, albeit reluctantly. Now, after the fact, he reminds Israel that they have made a big mistake. Oddly enough, and despite the fact that Saul has just had a decisive victory against the Ammonites, the people realize what they hadn’t understood earlier—they had made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Some are bigger than others and bring corresponding consequences.We often gloat a little (or a lot) when others get caught. We wiggle on the end of our own hook when we get caught, ably assisted by those who twist the line a little as they gloat over our mistakes. We might have expected Samuel to gloat a little at a remorseful Israel, but he doesn’t.While he doesn’t excuse them, he does offer them words of encouragement (1 Samuel 12:...

Some people DO pay attention. It has crossed my mind that ten plagues was sort-of overkill. The object was to get the Hebrews out of Egypt, so why not just do a couple of miracles, skip directly to the last plague and then presto, we’re out of here! I think one of the reasons is hidden in this statement in Exodus 9:20: “ Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside. ” This was plague Number 7. We often forget about the Egyptians in this tug-of war between Moses and the King of Egypt, but not every Egyptian followed Pharaoh’s party line. There were a few who believed—at least to some extent—though it may have taken them seven plagues to do it. We sometimes wonder why God seems to be so slow to rain judgment down on unbelievers. It’s not that His patience is limitless. No, He will judge sin and sinners. But He is also merciful and here in Exodus we catch a glimpse of that mercy, Yes, He wanted to cement in the...

Reading Matthew 13, 14 Bread making is part science and part art. My mother used to make the best bread in the world. I have tried countless times, without success, to equal her. I have used her recipe, her pans, and her technique. But it never turns out like hers did. When messing with yeast, there is no room for cheating. Exact measuring is required. Too much, or too little, salt, sugar, or flour will give you a less than satisfactory product. If the liquid is too hot, or not hot enough, disaster could be the result. Too much kneading, or too little, can have an effect. Even altitude and atmospheric conditions can make a wreck of your bread. That yeast needs the right conditions to produce the expected results. Jesus often used elements that were familiar to His audience to explain spiritual truths. As a boy he must have observed Mary in the kitchen making bread because He knew all about yeast. Jesus said: “ The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed int...

Since personality profiles hadn't been invented yet, the Apostle Paul missed out on being analyzed and catalogued according to one of the multitude of tools that we have at our disposal today. My guess is that Paul was a choleric (if you follow one system of measurement) or a High D (if you follow a different system of measurement). According to Florence Littauer ( Personality Plus , Revell, 1992) a choleric is: ". ..a dynamic person who dreams the impossible dream and aims to reach the unreachable star...Powerful Choleric is always aiming, reaching, teaching, succeeding...He is the easiest temperament to understand and get along with, as long as you live by his golden rule: 'Do it my way NOW! '" According to the Institute for Motivational Living , a High D personality is characterized this way: " dominant, determined, driven...good problem solver, risk taker, strong ego, self-starter, goal-oriented...good motivator, good at organizing events, values time, re...

I read an excellent post this morning written by a friend ( http://brendaflemming.blogspot.com/2010/10/lord-you-are-my-home.html ). It was a reminder to me about how important perspective is in determining what our priorities in life need to be. Added to Brenda's post was an interesting incident that I read about in my devotions this morning. Jesus was coming to end of his earthly ministry and in one of those last discourses he spoke to his disciples about what was to come in the future. Among the things he said was this: " No one knows about that day [the coming of the Lord] or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house in charge of his servants, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back–whether in the evening, or at midn...

" His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful " —2 Chronicles 26:15, NIV. What is it about success that plants the seeds of failure? " But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense " —2 Chronicles 26:16, NIV. Ahhhhh, pride. Uzziah's punishment was a touch of leprosy. That's just as deadly as a touch of cancer. Physical death might take a while, but it's becoming a pariah in the community that really hurts. No one to touch and no one to be touched by. Total isolation except for those who have also been embraced by the disease. Uzziah's son, Jotham learned the lesson. " He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Uzziah had done, but unlike him he did not enter the temple of the Lord " —2 Chronicles 27:2, NIV. Interestingly it wasn't the ...

An incident yesterday got me thinking about how we do evangelism. A message was left on the church office's answering machine from a woman who uses our food bank. She was upset. Part of the program of the food bank involves a hot meal and a Gospel presentation. This gal had been offended by the Gospel presentation and called to express her complaint. We know that the Gospel is often offensive to those who hear it. Paul wrote: " For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing… " —1 Corinthians 1:18, When I returned this lady's phone call I discovered that, at least in part, she had been offended to hear that her efforts to put her life in order would not be sufficient to gain her entrance into heaven. She was offended by the Gospel. That part of the conversation didn't concern me greatly because we know, as Paul says, that those who are perishing will not understand. The part of the conversation that did concern me was the fact that t...

Hebrews is the most amazing book. Take these two verses for example: " Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sin of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him " —Hebrews 9: 27, 28. HUGE theology in two verses. Man's state: Destined to die . The question of sin and its consequences: Judgment The introduction of the Saviour: Christ The remedy for our sins and their consequences: The sacrifice of the perfect for the imperfect. The efficacy and finality of that sacrifice: It will not be repeated. The second coming and its purpose: The final piece to our salvation. Our posture: Waiting for Him—not for judgment but for completion. The Gospel in a nutshell. One of the wonderful things about Scripture is the ability it gives us to find an explanation of the Gospel throughout its pages. From Genesis to Revelation we find illus...

I sent some time yesterday brainstorming with a colleague about short term missions. He's under pressure to prepare a brochure which will describe our vision as a mission in the area of short term ministry. Since there is hearty debate about what the word "mission" actually means, his problem is not an easy one. Our war with words often becomes a distraction. Getting lost in the semantics has, for example, clouded the wonderful message of God's redemptive purposes as found in the Book of Romans. We fight over the meaning of words when the message within the context of the rest of Scripture is perfectly clear. All this to say that this morning's verse is an excellent definition of mission. Paul's heart, like God's, is the sharing of the Gospel. The apostle was a preacher so preaching was his preferred method. But in the end it was the gospel preached by any means that stoked the furnace of his heart. " Prepare God's people for works of service, so ...