Grains of Sand

Pixabay Who would you have chosen out of your High School Graduation class to be the most likely to succeed? How about the least likely? In my final year of High School, the guidance counselor arranged an interview with me—as he did with all the students. He asked what I was planning to do after graduation. When I told him, he bluntly informed me that I didn’t have the brains for higher education so I would be advised to forget my lofty ambitions. I ignored his “advice,” and despite the dire predictions, did well enough to be the valedictorian of my class when I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree. It wouldn't be the last time someone has told me “you can’t” and I went on to show that I could! I say all this, but not because this is a “look-at-me-and-see-how-wonderful-I-am!” I’m not, but God certainly is! It’s because I was reminded as I read Genesis 48 this morning that God really does surprise us with who He chooses for specific roles. The scene in Genesis 48 is Joseph’s appe...

There are so many oddities in life. Years ago the mission organization I worked for sent me to the Urbana conference near Chicago to represent them at, what is, the largest mission conference in the world. It's a gathering of young people from college and university campuses across the States and Canada. Mission agencies make contact with thousands of possible recruits for overseas service. The competition (though I am sure most agencies wouldn't like to think they are "competing" with each other) is fierce. I stood at our display and talked to whoever came by to ask questions. One young lady stopped to talk for a bit and then went on her way. Sometime later she came back and made an odd request. She asked if it was okay if she just stayed with me for a while because I had been the only mission representative who hadn't tried to sign her up to go somewhere and to do something! In the shelter of my display she could rest from the cacophony of voices. I was ...

forums.oneplus.net (Google Images) A story repeated in all four gospels is the feeding of the five thousand or, more precisely, the feeding of probably twenty thousand if you include the women and children. But it is what leads up to this miracle of the “loaves and fishes,” as it is often called, that captures my attention this morning. The followers of Jesus had just returned from their mission trips throughout the region. They reported to the Lord what they had said and done in His Name. Mark records this: “ …because so many people were coming and going that they did not have a chance to eat, he said to them, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest’ ” (Mark 6:31). So the twelve plus Jesus set sail across the lake. Meanwhile those who noticed them going took the land route and got to the place before the disciples landed. Instead of finding the solitude that they needed after such a demanding schedule, they found a huge crowd waiting to hear from Jesus and t...

just4mypet.com (Google Images) The theme verse for the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada , of which I am a member, is Luke 19:10: “ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. ” This is what the Kingdom of heaven (or of God) is all about. John the Baptist was all about the kingdom, its proclamation, and the preparation for the coming of its King. So when John’s disciples expressed concern that Jesus and His disciples were close by and enjoying a successful ministry they were a little concerned because “ everyone is going to him ” (John 3:26). John, who had drawn huge crowds, was no longer doing so. Rivalry among churches of like faith is not unusual—unfortunately. Often one church will refuse to advertise the activities of another church because of the fear that it will “lose” someone to that church. Another church will not participate in joint activities with another church for the same reason, or because the other church isn’t quite as dispensati...

Google Images Do we detect a little bit of “something” in the Lord’s voice as He looks at a multitude who refused to be satisfied? The Lord likens them to children: “T o what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn ’” (Matthew 11:16, 17). Do it our way, they say. The problem was (one that Jesus recognized easily) that these “children” would not be satisfied, would not respond to the message of reconciliation, no matter what the “packaging” looked like. Cosmetics wouldn’t cut it. Band-aids wouldn’t cover the wound. Jesus’ statement came on the heels of answering a question sent to Him by John the Baptist, who was then in prison. John was a rare character. He had appeared out of the desert. He wore strange clothes, ate weird food, and was in attack mode from the get-go. He was not “politically correct.” But he was doing what G...

Google Images Paul had his issues with the Corinthian church. His second letter, unlike his first, shows us that many positive things had resulted from his rather sharp first letter to them. In the second letter there were still some “course corrections” to deal with but the message exudes a much softer side of the apostle. As he begins what we know as Chapter 4, Paul communicates that he is not discouraged in the ministry despite some of the deep valleys that his ministry may have taken him through. The mission has been given to him by God (4:1) and so he does not “ lose heart. ” The thread of this same idea is picked up at the end of the chapter when Paul says: “ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but wh...

I accidentally grew three sunflowers in my balcony planter this summer. They were probably the result of some stray bird seed, but nevertheless there they were. In the beginning the sunflowers were quite pretty. But their beauty didn’t last long. Very quickly they petals began to dry up and turn brown. I wondered if the soil wasn’t deep enough for them or if they were lacking water. Then I realized that the death of one part of the plant was a natural part of the process that was bringing life to another part of the plant—the sunflowers seeds. As the petals died, the seeds were bring produced in the heart of the flower. I was reading John’s account of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 this morning. When the disciples returned from hunting up some lunch, they discovered that Jesus had been busy doing ministry. They thought they had left Him to rest by the well. They were concerned. “ ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothi...

Reading: Acts 6, 7 They needed someone to look after the local food bank. It might seem a little odd in this age of discovering “spiritual gifts” and finding one’s “sweet spot” to see that the early church leaders didn’t take an inventory of the likes and dislikes of the people they chose for the task of looking after the needs of the widows in the congregation. There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with taking an inventory of a potential candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, but sometimes we miss the best by deferring to the good when we judge who can fill a vacancy in the church. The leaders of the church in Acts may have checked out whether Philip or Stephen, or any of the others (Acts 6:5) actually liked handing out food to the needy, but they looked for other qualities first. “ Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3, NIV). One of those selected, Stephen is described as “a man full of faith and of the Hol...

It's funny how the mind works. I just finished reading through the Book of Romans in my devotions. This morning I got "stuck" on this little phrase: " Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ " —Romans 13:14, NIV. I wondered what being "clothed" in Christ would look like. Of course, the context of this verse gives us a list of some of the "nasties" that we should avoid such as: orgies, drunkenness, sexual immorality, debauchery, dissension and jealousy. Since I'm not having any issues with any of those (well, maybe a little jealousy from time to time!), I wondered what else "clothed in Christ" might look like in my context. Ministry never ends. There is always more that can be done than there is time or ability to accomplish. That has weighed heavily on my mind lately so as I thought about this phrase from Romans I initially began to think about all that Christ accomplished during his earthly ministry. When I do ...

Though I haven't been chosen to rule a kingdom, I can empathize with Solomon. When the Lord appeared to the new king in a dream, as recorded for us in 1 Kings 3, God asked Solomon what his greatest desire was. Solomon replied: " …I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours " —1 Kings 3:7-9, NIV. The heart of the request comes in: " give your servant a discerning heart… " Part of my task is that of discovering and mobilizing people to do ministry. In the weeks that I have been here, I've begun to investigate and observe. Sheets of information on the gifts that have been identified in members of the congregation have been handed to me. However, paper, as good as it is, doesn...

Some people groan, or grimace, when those of us who actually went through "the good old days" mention them. It's not fair. While we have to admit that not everything in "the good old days" was all that good, there are some things that were good and should always be preserved. As I read this morning, I could empathize with David when he said: " So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands of done, I spread out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land " —Psalm 143:4-6, NIV. The key to distinguishing between the stuff from the past that is better left behind and those things from the past that desperately need to be preserved appears in that little phrase: " I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done… " It was God who taught his people what the trappings of respect for him should...

It could be this new opportunity for ministry that made me more sensitive to this blessing that Moses pronounced on the tribe of Levi in Deuteronomy 33. The leader of Israel is coming to the end of his earthly days. He has brought God's people to the edge of the Promised Land. He will not cross over with them. His duty is done and it is time to take that final journey. But before he climbs the mountain to take a long, last look at the fulfillment of God's promise to Israel, he blesses each of the tribes that have been such a joy and a sorrow to him over the many years since he led them out of captivity in Egypt. This is what Moses prays for the tribe of Levi, to the priestly tribe, to the spiritual leaders whose task it is to guide Israel in the ways of God. " About Levi he said: 'Your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored. You tested him at Masah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah. He said of his father and mother, 'I have no regard for them...