Grains of Sand

He’d said it several times while He walked the dusty roads of Palestine. The kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom, He told them. But somehow it’s really hard to wrap our minds around anything other than the “here-and-now.” It’s just so, well, immediate. In John 18, Jesus is standing before Pilate. The Roman governor assumes (thinking in the immediate like everyone else) that he holds in his hands the power of life or death over this rustic Rabbi from the backwater town of Nazareth. How can this man be a threat to Rome? The Jewish authorities want Him killed. Their inability to pronounce a death sentence over Him had them grinding their teeth and tearing out their beards. So they twist the charges a little to make it seem like this Jesus is looking to overthrow the Romans and make Himself king. Mind you, since the beginning of the Lord’s ministry there were lots of people who embraced Him because they thought that when He spoke of “kingdom,” overthrowing the Romans was exactly wha...

Google Images Perhaps it’s just because I choose to read them above others, but it seems as though more and more posts and articles are appearing on the subject of revival, and all that is implied by the word. This morning a pastor friend posted a plea for prayer for revival among our leaders, churches and believers. Shortly after I read his post, I turned to my reading of the day and was met by this passage from Matthew 12:38-45. Jesus is rebuking the Pharisees and religious authorities. They want Him to produce a “sign” to prove His authority. Jesus refuses. But He points them back to their roots, to a piece of history that they know only too well. He directs them to the story of Jonah and his mission to Nineveh. “ The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now one greater than Jonah is here ” (Matthew 12:41). Roots. Repentance. Revival. The root, as Jesus implied, was not in another new s...

revolfaith.com (Google Images) At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, He came to Jerusalem at the time of the Passover and went into the temple. Instead of the reverence due to God that was to be expected He found the riotous sounds of bargaining, the clink of coins, the braying of animals (John 2:13-25). “Worship” was big business, and corrupt business at that! Jesus “ …made a whip of cords. He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And he said to those who sold doves, ‘Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!’ ” Taken by surprise the Jewish authorities settled, this time, for challenging His right to do what He had done and asked for a sign to back up that right. His answer was misunderstood by many of those who heard it, but there was one leader of the Jews who was intrigued by what he heard. John 3:1-21 tells us about the encounter Jesus had with Nicodemus. T...

Google Images Most of us are familiar with the word pictures that Jesus used to describe Himself. As the Shepherd, as Living Water, as the Resurrection and the Life, we know Him. But here, at the beginning of John 10, is a picture that we don't often hear much about even though its truth is understood by probably all believers. “ Therefore Jesus said again, ‘I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep...I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture ” (John 10:7, 9). Before making this magnificent statement, the Lord describes those who come into the sheepfold by any other way as thieves and robbers (10:1), making it clear that it is only through Christ that we can enter the Kingdom, and reminding us that it is possible for pseudo-sheep to sneak in among the real flock of God. Jesus also gave a brief mention to the “watchman,” the one who minds the gate (10:3). This gives a nod to those who bring the good news of Jesus...

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...

Google Images It is mind-boggling to me that a man of Paul’s fiery character could so easily say what is recorded for us in Philippians 1:15-18. “ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ pout of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice .” Paul was the first in line to call out hypocrisy—he even rebuked Peter! In Ephesians, as in other places, he urges believers to “ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them ” (Ephesians 5:11). It seems like a contradiction. However, while Paul is pointing out the obvious in Philippians, he isn’t he isn’t ...

Google Images What do you do when the cross no longer moves you? You keep going back to it until it does. When we are no longer impacted by the remembrance of the cost of our salvation we have, as Paul writes to the Colossians, " lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow " (Colossians 2:19). The cross is the pumping of the heart that moves the blood that supplies life to the body. Psalm 22 is a Messianic psalm, describing the work of Christ on the cross. Over David's story is superimposed HIS-tory. " My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me… Many bulls surround me; stong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my...