Grains of Sand

Google Images One of the ongoing concerns that people have about the church is its revolving door, or back door. People come, some stay, others disappear, some look good, others look bad—spiritually, that is. There are complaints about hypocrites, and devastation when a spiritual giant within the congregation turns out to have clay feet. I remember a young man in my youth group—its leader as a matter of fact—who stood up one night in prayer meeting and confessed that he wasn’t a Christian. His profession, his baptism, his leadership was all fake, done to please his parents and others in the church. Looking back I might have picked up a clue on that when, as President of our Christian High School group, he refused to speak at an assembly and left me to do it. The non-Christian kids probably saw through him better than we did! But Jesus warned His followers that in the Kingdom of God there will be real “fish” and plastic “fish” and we might not detect the difference. Sorting those ou...

A friend of mine recently traveled to Florida for the births of two new grandchildren. Her step-daughter was due at the end of April, and her son's wife was expected to deliver at the end of May. In the meanwhile I was busy preparing for a series of studies on The Lord's Prayer. The two events melded as I thought about the phrase: " Our Father … " Those two babies came into the world with absolutely nothing, buck naked and totally dependent. Those are the conditions necessary for entering the Kingdom of God. We come with nothing and are totally dependent on the goodness and mercy of our Father in heaven. This was the message that Jesus delivered when He took the child into His arms and said: " I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven " —Matthew 18:2, 3. We can add nothing to our salvation except trust. It is only as we stand before Him with nothing to offer that we can receive everyth...