Grains of Sand

Last night I finished reading a novel by William Forstchen called, One Second After . While it is a novel, it was written to highlight what might happen if an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) wave hit, in this case, the continental United States. Apparently this is a real threat, according to Newt Gingrich, speaker of the house, who wrote the forward and navy captain, Bill Sanders, who wrote the afterword. The book describes what happened to a small town after the pulse weapon was activated, when nothing electronic would work. Neighbours became enemies in the fight for survival and strangers became friends to stand together for the common good. The true nature of man, however noble he may see himself when times are relatively good, appeared in odd bursts of intertwined sacrifice and selfishness. Oddly enough the book triggered emotions in me that had nothing to do with EMP waves or any of the events and actions described in its pages. I cried buckets for lost causes, lost dreams, lost p...

Genesis 43-46 Such a roller-coaster of emotions and changing circumstances for the brothers who had so easily sold Joseph into slavery without a thought for their father’s feelings or for the consequences of their actions. Joseph tested his brothers. Would they save themselves rather than try to save Benjamin? Would they cause their father additional grief by abandoning another favoured child? This time, the brothers passed the test. Imagine their surprise to discover that this figure of authority who seemed to know so much about them, was really the brother they can once so callously delivered into the hands of Midianite traders. Joseph was quick to reassure them right from the beginning that their actions, evil as they had been, were divinely orchestrated. “ …do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…to preserve a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it w...

Over the years I've had the opportunity to talk to singles about their emotional needs. In my counseling I take Hebrews 2:18 quite literally. The writer states: " Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. " It's hard for us to imagine that the Son of God felt the same emotional needs as every single who has, and will live on the planet—and I mean ALL of the emotional, physical, mental, spiritual needs that we experience. To truly be able to identify with us Jesus had to experience every need and face every temptation presented to Him to meet those needs inappropriately. I confess that it boggles the mind to travel down that road in my imagination and to try to picture Jesus looking at a woman and being tempted. It almost feels like blasphemy. But in order for Him to know how we feel, the temptations we face, and to be able to help us face them as He did, He had to have encountered them personally. And He never sin...