Grains of Sand

Someone doesn’t get it. Someone doesn’t see the link between the Premier of this province celebrating her victory in getting beer sold in grocery stores by buying a six-pack in front of the cameras, with encouraging drunk drivers, domestic violence and under-aged drinking. Someone doesn’t see the connection between allowing physician assisted suicide for terminally ill twelve-year-olds with the probability of an even higher rate of teenage suicides brought on by depression and hopelessness. One pain is as real as the other. Someone doesn’t see that legalizing marijuana for “medical” purposes is not the message delivered in the advertising by its proponents, advertising that doesn’t depict dying, pain-ridden people in hospital beds, but perfectly healthy young adults smiling through the euphoric haze of their addictions. They just don’t get it. How can you facilitate the purchase of alcohol as though it were an acceptable part of our daily menu and then pretend to be concerned about i...

Athabasca Falls I stood on the landing outside of the sanctuary of my church yesterday. There was a lull in the traffic and no one for me to greet. I glanced at the space over the entrance and read the words from Psalm 29:2 written on a banner that has been hanging there since the 1960s. “ Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness .” This morning my reading was from Psalm 29. I was reminded of the banner but I was also reminded of something else as I read the psalm. Last week I traveled with friends to Alberta, Canada. We spent a wonderful week exploring the beauties of the parks of Jasper and Banff. One of the places we stopped was Athabasca Falls. Psalm 29:3-5 reminded me of those mighty waters, their breathtaking power and beauty. “ The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks the...

Google Images The excitement builds. The moment has arrived when the Israelites will cross the Jordan River and enter the land that God had promised their ancestor, Abraham, so many years earlier. Strict orders were given. The tribes were to follow the ark, carried by the priests. Only by following the ark would they know where to go (Joshua 3:4). That in itself is heavy with meaning. The ark carried the Word of the Lord to His people—the Ten Commandments. But it is the next statement, so easily passed over, that grabbed my attention this morning. Joshua 3:5 says: “ Joshua told the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.’ ” The King James Version of the Scriptures uses the word “ sanctify ” in place of “ consecrate. ” The nation was to set apart, to dedicate, to treat as holy, to honour, to treat as sacred, both themselves and the occasion. They were to prepare themselves for God’s blessing. Back in the early days of their journey, th...

Google Images One of the major concerns that constantly came to the forefront in God’s instructions to His people through Moses was the issue of becoming enculturated, or taking on the patterns and habits of the society in which their were living. I remember a professor of missions that I tU studied under under many years ago who took this to its limits. He was sold on what he called “incarnational ministry,” or becoming like the people you serve in every way. He quoted from the life of Hudson Taylor who apparently sported the pigtails of the Chinese he served, along with wearing their clothing. He often referred to Christ, who gave up all that He had and was to put on human skin and identify with the people He had come to save. But he also believed that incarnational ministry included depriving your children of shoes or education if that was the norm in the society you lived in. We could debate the pros and cons of this concept for a long time. We could explore the boundaries and ...

Google Images There appears to be no gap (except a humanly created one) between Leviticus 9 and Leviticus 10. If that is the case, then the actions of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, are all the more inexplicable. The now official priesthood has been solemnly consecrated. Sacrifices have been made and specific instructions given. The glory of the Lord has descended on the Tent of Meeting and the people have responded with joy and worship. And the two men enter the Tent of Meeting and offer “ unauthorized fire ” on the altar in direct and willful disobedience to the Lord’s command (Leviticus 10:1). The result was swift and devastating (10:2). They died. As I read this story my mind went back to the beginning of the church, as we have it recorded in Acts. The foundation of the church was being laid so it was very important that, as the saying goes, they begin as they expected to continue. When Ananias and Sapphira lied to the church leaders about the disposition of their property, the...

Google Images I appreciate grace. The blessing of God on my life when I don’t deserve it, can’t earn, and can never show Him enough how much I am grateful for it, staggers my mind. God gives it freely and constantly. Still, I am wrong to abuse it, to take it for granted, to treat it as commonplace. When I do that, I abuse Him, take Him for granted and treat Him as just another “friend” on my friends list. I was reminded that while I can sing with all my heart the words to “What a friend we have in Jesus, all my sins and griefs to bear,” He is still Almighty God. This morning I read Exodus 19 which describes the arrival of Moses and his tribe of Israelites at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Sinai was referred to as the mountain of God, a place from which God spoke and on which God appeared. It has never ceased to amaze me the preparations that were made by God’s people to get ready hear from God. “ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have the...

Google Images One of things I made a BIG point about when I was training Sunday School teachers had to do with what they should NOT be doing on the way to church. Three guesses what that might be? No clue? Well, it might not be the first thing on the list of Sunday morning priorities, but preparing your lesson on the way to church was never a good plan. But there is something else we shouldn’t be doing on the way to church on Sunday morning. In fact, we shouldn’t be doing it at all, but especially not on our way to worship the Lord. In John 11, right at the end of the chapter, we discover some of the Jews, particularly the religious authorities, plotting how they could get rid of Jesus (11:46-48). That was bad enough. But as the Passover approached—one of the holiest of all Jewish celebrations—things got worse. The text tells us that in preparation for the Passover, people were expected to go through a ceremonial purification (11:55). If you are going to worship God, you need to “g...