Grains of Sand

Pixabay The media seldom reports on the persecution of Christians around the world. If we search the internet for information on the subject we come up with a number of organizations that speak for those who, for the most part, are not able to speak for themselves. The  Bible League Canada  estimates that there are as many as 100 million Christians suffering persecution.  Open Doors USA  says that 1 in 9 believers experience some form of persecution. One site posts that every day some 300 people are killed for their faith in Jesus. Perhaps the best known agency,  The Voice of the Martyrs , offers a variety of ways by which those of us who know little of being persecuted for our beliefs, can help those in places where being a Christian is a death sentence. The pilgrims of Peter's day understood persecution in a way that few of us can. In 1 Peter 4:12 to 19, Peter encourages them to rejoice in their suffering. What an odd thing to say! " Dear friends,...

Pixabay " How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God ." So writes the psalmist in Psalm 84.  Being a pilgrim, a stranger in a land growing more foreign to the follower of Jesus every day, is not easy. The desire to reach the end of the journey, to be at last in the court of the Lord and in His presence, is acute. But the journey isn't over. The pilgrimage has not reached its end and strength must be found to endure the strangeness, the darkness, the evil of the valley that must be passed through on the way to Paradise. We understand the darkness of the death valley to which we hope to bring just a little bit of life as we pass by. But it is hard to live in that darkness. Those who read Peter's letter also understood the challenges. He writes to encourage them to resist the pull from the dead, even though it might have been difficult. ...

Pixabay Our goal: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion. —Psalm 84:5-7 Pilgrims, on their journey to the capitol city of the Kingdom of God, are not promised a trouble-free trip. The believers to whom Peter wrote his first letter were experiencing persecution because they were followers of Jesus. They were scattered throughout the world of their day with little hope of finding peace and safety anywhere since Rome had her tentacles in every part of that world. Several years ago I read  We've Lost. What Now? ,  a book based on lessons from Daniel. In it, author Wayne Baxter describes how Daniel's experience relates to today's church as it hovers on the edges of society, in a world over which, as Francis Schaeffer said in...

Pixabay Here's where we are going as we travel through 1 Peter: Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.  —Psalm 84:5-7 Here's the next part of how we are going to get to our destination: I recently embarked on an archiving course. In preparation I bought a few books that looked like they might help me navigate my way through something I know very little about. I also confess that keeping track of important things in my life is not something I do well and I can certainly use some guidance on how to do a better job at that. One author used a fascinating illustration when discussing how vital it is to keep track of the important stuff. Apparently someone at NASA erased a huge chunk of the original video that had been taken duri...

Pixabay Paul Tripp writes: " Perhaps we can find no more real and present argument for heaven than the angst that we all carry in the face of the temporary and dissatisfying awes of the present." He then quotes C. S. Lewis: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." Placing our focus in life on eternity's destination changes what life looks like as it is lived out with anticipation of our arrival there. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go on from strength to strength till each appears before God in Zion.  —Psalm 84:5-7 When Peter writes his first letter, he addresses it to " …exiles scattered ."  "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect,  exi...

Jeremiah was known as "the weeping prophet." The situation facing his people was a dire one and the message from God that he was called upon to deliver to them was not always encouraging. He wept because of the sin that had brought about God's judgment and because of the pain that God's judgment would cause. But here and there throughout the prophet's message were words of hope, the assurance that the day would come when God's people would be exactly that: God's people, people who would follow Him wholeheartedly once again.  Jeremiah 50:4, 5 gives us one of those rays of hope: "' In those days, at that time,' declares the Lord, 'the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten .'" In the Old Testament Zion re...

Pixabay Somehow it seemed appropriate to end 2018 with this verse: “ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away .” (Revelation 21:4) As we enter a new year we are reminded that we are just a little closer to the time when Revelation 21:4 will be the reality for those of us who know the Lord. Perhaps that reminder is a little more forceful for me today. Early in December, we got news of a cousin on my mother's side who had passed away. Just before Christmas, a FACEBOOK post announced the passing of a missionary colleague and friend. Last night came the news of the death of a cousin on my father's side. For friends and family far and wide 2018 has had its sorrows. But the promises of Scripture inevitably bring us the reassurance that, for the believer, the "end" is no end at all—it simply signals the beginning of the new order. No death. No mourning....

Pixabay There are lots of things I don't know. Included among those is the hour of my passing into eternity. I was reminded of that this morning when an SUV making a left hand turn while I was in the crosswalk came to a screeching halt just inches from me. That wasn't my place, or time, to go. The driver didn't see me—but God had! That's a pretty major "I don't know." But there are lots of other things—major and minor—that I don't know—but God does! My verse for today reminded me that " No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him. " (1 Corinthians 2:9) If the "worst" had happened this morning, it would actually turn out to be the best—I'd be face-to-face with the Lord and that's a very good thing. The semi-worst would be broken bones and ruptured stuff! And many would wonder why God would allow such a thing. It's the famous "Why me?" or ...

Pixabay “ In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears ” (Psalm 18:6). There is a lot of that going around these days—a lot of calling out to the Lord. If you read the rest of the psalm you discover how the Almighty answered David as he cried out to the Lord. It’s impressive reading. But the words of this particular verse from the psalms came to mind as I was reading Exodus 23 earlier this morning. These have been challenging days, days of huge concern, sorrow, confusion, doubt, and even a little fear. And each has been met, in some way, by some form of reassurance that the call for help from the Lord will not, and has not, gone unanswered. This morning was no different. Israel is still at the foot of Mount Sinai. Moses is still furiously taking notes as God tells him what is required of the nation-in-the-making. Then the Lord says: “ See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you alo...

Pixabay If I could have, I would have shoved my feet through the floor of the bus and used my own legs to push it along. If mind ever had power over matter, mine should have forced the driver’s foot to press down harder on the accelerator. The night flashed by, faint outlines of trees interrupted by the occasional house dimly lit by a yard light or edged with Christmas bulbs. The road stretched before me. I willed it to end where I needed it to end, but perversely it refused, one curve morphing into yet another length of highway flecked with swirling snow. The demon of doubt whispered: She’s going to die before I get there . A desperate faith countered: Please don’t let her go before I arrive . Does a minute always take so long? How is it that an hour seems like an eternity? Eight hours on a bus crawling through the night. No flights available this close to Christmas. No trains leaving that would get me there any faster. Faster?   My demon doub...

Pixabay When we buried my father in September 1991, a light rain was falling. One of the ladies standing by the graveside remarked: "Heaven is crying with you, Lynda." At the time, and three months later when my mother passed away, we thought we'd never get past the weeping stage. In a sense we never have, though with time, the tears are less frequent and intense than they were twenty-five years ago. They are different. Today they are softened by a certainty that had a hard time making its presence felt back then in the midst of the sharp edges of loss. Psalm 30:5 says: " ...weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning ." In 1893, James Black wrote the words to When the Roll is Called Up Yonder. I will never forget the less the complimentary comments of one of my Seminary professors who criticized the song because the eschatology didn't match his. But nevertheless, it came to mind as I was thinking of the verse from Psalm 3...

Pixabay, Public Domain “ …and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever ” (Psalm 23:6). Journey done. Home at last. The picture of sheep and shepherd is one of wandering from place to place, from pasture to pasture, from watering hole to watering hole. It is a picture of dangers and difficulties from which the shepherd guards his flock. It is the life of a pilgrim—exactly what believers are in this world. But now it is time to go home. And the Shepherd knows the way. He’s been there. Everything is prepared. Jesus told His disciples “ Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you with me that you also may be where I am ” (John14:1-3). Thomas was confused at Jesus’ words. We might wonder what the confusion was since he had walked with Jesus for more than three ...

In his book Unchristian , researcher David Kinnaman writes: “ …even among people who believe they are personally being saved by faith in Jesus, they think of salvation’s a multiple-choice test, with many reasonable possibilities: while they believe their own spiritual destiny is secure through faith in Christ, they also believe that other could be saved through being a good person or because of God’s benevolence .” (page 50). Kinnaman was referring to what the majority of the Buster (born between 1965 and 1983) and Mosaic (born between 1984 and 2002) generations believe. The truth of his statement is constantly reinforced in conversations I have had with people who have lost friends or relatives who, to anyone’s knowledge, were not believers. They speak of their loved ones in heaven, in a better place, with the angels (or one of the angels), and other similar expressions. Even evangelical ministers have, in recent years, declared that hell doesn’t exist and that everyone will be save...

My connection with Margaret Haines goes back to my childhood. My mother used to do light housework at Margaret’s place during a period in her life when she was still working and looking after her aunt and uncle in her home. Margaret loved children—I won’t say “kids” because Margaret would not have approved—and she loved books. The teenagers who remember her will tell you that she was good to them. She was the driving force behind The Northland Bible Bookroom in our church and was absolutely dogged about getting people to buy good books—even to writing articles for The Timmins Daily Press promoting the books and the bookroom. If people didn’t come into the bookroom, or even if they did, she’d take the books she thought were appropriate for them and pursue them until she could catch them long enough to explain why they urgently needed to read that book. It was not a matter of sales, it was always a matter of people and what might be meaningful to those people. In fact,...

Reading: Revelation 6-8 Countdown. The cradle is tightly bound to the cross. The first coming of Christ is connected unflinchingly to the second coming; once in humility and then again in glory. For God, there is no counting of days as we know it. We count the days until the 2012 dawns and a new year begins, but time doesn’t have the same meaning for Him as it does for us, though He is perfectly aware of it. But He knew the hours, days, weeks, months and years that would pass from the time His Son left heaven to become a child in a manger to the time when His Son returned, resurrected, to Him. And though the centuries have passed, He has ordained the moment when that beloved Son will come again in glory. It seems appropriate to finish the year reading about the stages and ages of the plan of God as it moves toward a completion and a new beginning. This life is, at times, pitiless. Thankfully, this life is not permanent. John records the create gathering of the saints from...

Reading: John 11, 12 I love the story of the raising of Lazarus. It’s just full of little side stories, trails that lead us off to lessons and insights. The relationship between Jesus and these three siblings, Martha, Mary and Lazarus, is unique in the Gospels. John remarks that: “ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus ” (11:5) so it blew everyone’s mind that He didn’t hurry to Bethany the moment He got the news that Lazarus was sick. Martha, the strong one, was likely looking after all the arrangements and entertainment of the people who came to commiserate with the sisters after Lazarus was buried (11:19). When Jesus did arrive she rushed out to meet Him before He even got to the house. They had a significant theological discussion before she took Jesus to the tomb where her brother has been laid to rest. “ Jesus wept ” (11:35), writes John. I wonder why. Jesus knew what He was about to do. Perhaps He was feeling the pain of His dear friends who had suffered this tr...

Reading Zechariah 12-14; Revelation 21 I just finished perusing some posts on Facebook. A young woman whom I used to do Bible study with commented that today was the 13 th anniversary of her father’s death. She remarked that this was the day that God decided it was time for him to leave this earth. She also remarked on how much he loved his daughters. According to my friend, her father now looks after them and protects them lovingly from where he is. It’s funny, and sad, how we remember things. We filter them through our “wanna be” and “wish it was” and end up with a story that comforts us even when it isn’t true. Her father was a philanderer who abandoned his daughters and wife to live with a second family that he had been maintaining on the side for some time. He left them penniless and with a mountain of debt that took his wife years to pay off. He committed suicide immediately after calling his oldest daughter to come and visit him, knowing that she would be the one to dis...