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 Submission is one of those thorny aspects in Scripture that prompt, "But you don't know what I'm dealing with!" In 1 Peter 2:13-17 Peter addresses the issue of submission to authorities. He is writing to those who have been, and are being, persecuted for their faith and who may have wondered why Peter was asking them to respect and honour those who nursed hate in their hearts for all those who followed Jesus and who demanded that they recant or suffer the consequences.  " Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether it be to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will  you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, h...

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 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...

Pixabay It was inevitable I suppose. A recent article in Christianity Today ( http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/january/bolivia-makes-evangelism-crime.html ) reported that the government of Bolivia has fortified its penal code with provisions to persecute any person or group that, “ …recruits, transports, deprives of freedom, or hosts people with the aim of recruiting them to take part in armed conflicts or religious or worship organizations will be penalized 5 to 12 years of imprisonment. ” President Evo Morales, an admirer of the late Hugo Chavez, former president of Venezuela, has beaten the Venezuelan government to the punch by this latest endeavour to still any voices in opposition to the abuses and oppression of the regime. Interesting that, “ armed conflicts ” and “ religious or worship ” would be mentioned in the same statement as if they were related in some way. Just a couple of weeks ago a friend traveled to Bolivia to do some ministry in an orphanage in that c...

Pixabay Remember...Prayer Before that recent, fateful Tuesday in the United States, there were all kinds of pleas made for people to pray. Since that day, more calls have gone out for people to pray. Whatever side of the political landscape one falls on, prayer seems to be the fall-back position for many. Certainly prayer is the right thing to do before the ballot is cast (Acts 1:23-26). And the Scriptures remind us to pray for those in authority over us (1 Timothy 2:2) after the ballots have been cast and the decision made. Paul was a man of prayer. In his letter to the believers in Rome he wrote: " First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, who, I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the way may be opened for me to come to you " (Romans 1:8-10). T...

Pixabay Remember...the Master. People came to Jesus looking to sign up as His disciples. There were times when His fame was such that it would have been considered quite prestigious to be numbered among the elite in Jesus' retinue. Crowds followed Him, hanging on every word, looking for another miracle. Some may have believed the rumour that He would be God's instrument for raising an army and chasing out the Roman overlords. Three such "employment interviews" are recorded in Luke 9:57-62. None of the three understood that the benefits to the position of disciple did not include comfort, safety, prestige, or advancement. As the Lord approached the night He was to be betrayed, He warned those who had become His disciples, and those who would in the future, that discipleship was not an easy road. As He washed His disciples' feet He is recorded as saying: " I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the...

Pixabay No one can accuse David of being politically correct. He was often surrounded by enemies and didn't hesitate to call down God's judgment on them for their unjust actions. Psalm 109 is one testimony to that. Bottom line: may what they curse David with be brought back upon their own heads. But at the end of the psalm David turns his focus back to God—a good move. It's never a wise thing to focus on the problem and relegate the problem-solver to second place. " But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me " (109:21). God is sovereign—even over those who seek to do David harm. God's reputation is of highest importance—and that influences how He acts on David's behalf. God is good and loving—even when things seem to be going badly. So David runs to the Lord: " Help me, O Lord my God; save me in accordance with your love " (109:26). The photo says it a...

Google Images I was checking out the local paper this morning while waiting for my overnight guests to appear for breakfast. My eye caught an opinion article on the Editorial page. The article, the subject of which is covered in other places like, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trinity-western-law-school-rejected-by-ontario-law-society-1.2621211 , concerned Ontario and Nova Scotia’s rejection of graduates of the Trinity Western University Law program. The school is on a level with other prestigious schools in Canada but because it has a moral code that students are required to adhere to, the law societies in these two provinces have decided that any graduates from the school will not be allowed to practice law in either of province. Trinity’s law program hasn’t even been officially launched yet, but both provinces have made their prognostications as to the quality of its graduates—a quality that could only be enhanced by graduates who have been exposed to an honour ...

Google Images It’s not exactly good recruiting policy to tell your prospective employees that deprivation and death are likely to be their on-the-job experience. But that was the gist of Jesus' message to His followers in Matthew 10. They were going to be “ sheep among wolves ” (10:16) as they went out with the message of the Gospel. Serving Him would be dangerous. If I were delivering such a discouraging message I would be tempted to temper it with assurances that I would be looking after their worries about provision and protection. But Jesus doesn’t really do that. Instead He tells them not to worry about what they should SAY when they are arrested and brought before their accusers. Okay, then we should rehearse our explanation, “get our stories straight” as they say in the crime dramas. But no, that wasn’t what Jesus told His followers to do. They were to exercise faith. “ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be gi...

Google Images The second gift of Christmas is sandwiched between two statements that seem, at first glance, to have little to do with anything good. John copied down the message that God had given him for the church in Smyrna. This church was located in what is modern day Turkey in what was a strategic port city and trading centre. The message begins with a reference to the death and resurrection of Christ, not particularly ominous until we read the last part of the message which says: “ He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death ” (Revelation 2:11b). The “bread” in this “sandwich” leaves us with the feeling that the “meat” might not be something that will tickle our taste buds. And we’d be right about that. God’s message to Smyrna was “ Be faithful, even to the point of death ” (2:10). The believers in this city were going to have their faith severely tested. They were going to be persecuted; some were going to die. The assurance at the beginning of the message, ...

Will peace come in our time? No. Will we enjoy the right to practice our faith freely? No. Will those who profess Christ follow Him faithfully? No. Someone told us that the world was getting to be a better place. After all, we have better technology, better education, better social awareness and social consciousness. Odd how that makes no difference, easily proven by the headlines in our newspapers and the breaking news on our television screens, computers and tablets. Jesus told us this was going to happen. " You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains " (Matthew 24:6-8). We insist that we should have the same freedom to speak openly about Christ as others have to speak openly about what they believe. After all, we are gua...

“ I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world ” –John 16:33, NIV. I am surrounded by people who seem to have constant trouble. It makes me almost ashamed to say that my life, though it has had its “black holes,” has been relatively trouble-free. As the Lord comes to His darkest hour, His “black hole” shaped into the form of a cross, He reminds His disciples that all He has said applies to those dark moments that await them at the cross and beyond. They will need the assurance that a better life is waiting for them (John 14:1-4), that He will return. They need to know that they can ask and He will deliver that which will bring glory to Him through them (John 14:11-14). The Spirit will come to live in them so that He, the Christ, will forever be in their lives (John 14:15-18, NIV). They are not to be afraid but to trust and count on the peace that He will give during all their difficult...

“ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up ” —Daniel 3:16-18, NIV. It’s tough standing up for what you believe is right. Sometimes it gets downright dangerous! These three Hebrew men put their lives on the line to literally stand for truth—everyone else bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statute but them. They knew before that potentially fatal moment what would happen but didn’t shrink from the challenge. That’s courage. That’s faith. That’s scary. Their answer to the king is classic. They fully believed that God could rescue them from the fiery furnace. But since they did not know whether God would be most glorified throu...

Pity the poor prophets who had wonderful visions but probably never knew what those visions meant. If they did know, how disappointed they must have been not to see the fulfillment of those dreams. Daniel is lying down on his bed and God sends him a dream. Among the many fascinating things he sees, the most glorious must have been this: " As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, b...