Grains of Sand

Pixabay It's not the milk's fault! I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the line the "perfect food" became imperfect. Milk used to be considered that "perfect food". I remember one choir tour that took us to a farming community in Eastern Ontario. The ladies of the congregation prepared and served lunch for us in the church basement after the morning service. It was a full meal, a banquet in fact. Part of any meal is a beverage, and milk was one of the items offered that day. I took the milk and I seriously doubt that what I drank was ever touched by anyone but the farmer from whose cows it came. It was the real deal. It was sooooo good! What appears in our stores today is not that. And while what we drink might be so altered as to no longer be "perfect" perhaps the problem is not the milk so much as it is the drinker. We are an altered people, contaminated by the world we have contaminated—tit for tat. But thi...

Google Images Last night I watched White House Down —for the second time. I had seen it on the big screen last year and when I discovered it was on television I decided to watch it again. Throughout the movie I found myself thinking, “This can’t be the same show! I don’t remember this!” Granted, my memory isn’t always the best, but honestly, though there were parts that I did remember having seen, most of it seemed new to me. But I also caught myself paying closer attention this time to the details. Perhaps in the back of my mind I did remember the story and now, months later, I had enough background tucked away back there to be able to focus on the nuances. Though there is a limit to the depth of most fiction, whether it be on the screen or in some other form, I would probably find something new in the movie should I ever watch it again. That same kind of thing happens when it comes to the Scriptures. This time we have a true story with depths that we can only begin to fathom. But...

Reading: Luke 23, 24 Does my heart burn when I read the Scriptures? Does it burn when the Word of God is taught? I have to confess that it doesn’t always. When did someone else’s heart burn when I taught from the Scriptures? I'm afraid to speculate on that one. For the two men traveling the road to Emmaus an encounter with Jesus resulted in heartburn. “ They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’ ” (Luke 24:32, NIV). In the physical realm, heartburn isn’t a pleasant thing. I suspect that there might have been some uncomfortable moments for these men as they listened to Jesus, whom they didn’t recognize, explain things from the Old Testament that they should already have understood. But more likely the burning hearts were caused as these two men instinctively recognized the voice of God even when they didn’t see God in this “stranger” who was walking beside them. They knew Truth when t...

Reading: Luke 21, 22 There are times when sermons and studies resemble nothing more than a series of personal illustrations or human philosophy lightly brushed with a phrase from Scripture. The Word of God becomes the illustration for the story instead of the story illustrating the Word of God. While the illustrations and the philosophy might have a positive impact, it is only the Word of God that will have “the last word” as it were. That means it should also have the first word. Luke 21:33 (NIV) tells us: “ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away .” This verses couples beautifully with this promise from Isaiah 55:10, 11 (NIV): “ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish the purpose for which I sent it .” I ...

“ As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it ” —Isaiah 55:10, 11, NIV. Easter weekend Spring brings with it an uncertainty with the dawn of each new day. Has it snowed overnight? Will it rain? Here in more northern climes, we are never quite sure until June that we won’t wake up to a blanket of white on the ground. Even then there isn’t any guarantee; some people remember snow in July! We grumbled a bit when it snowed heavily this past Easter weekend. At the same time we remember last summer when a Winter almost devoid of snow and a painfully dry Spring meant a summer of dry forests and the constant danger of forest fires even before summer began. In a part of the world where ci...

“ Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path ” —Psalm 119:105, NIV. There is a big different between using Scripture as a “proof text” to support an argument and making your argument the detailed explanation of a Biblical text. Today’s sermons, and the endless supply of books written for the Christian audience, often make me feel as though I am having to shuck a lot of oysters of human thought and cute stories just to find one pearl of divine truth. So when I come to a verse like this one from Psalm 119, I recognize again the importance of THE Word in my life, not as an “add-on” but as a guiding principle. Without it I can’t see where I am supposed to be going, or what the dangers are that lie at my feet. The psalmist makes huge claims for the one who takes his connection with the Word of God seriously. If we look back a few verses in this wonderful tribute to God’s Word, we read this: “ To all perfection I see a limit; but your commands are boundless. Oh, how I l...

“ Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word ” —Psalm 119:12-16, NIV.   Look at the richness in these few verses. “ teach me your decrees ” — To every believer has been given the Holy Spirit who, among other roles, functions as our own private tutor. His delight is to respond to our request to learn more about the “operating manual” that God has placed on our hands. “ recount all ” — What we are given must be personally applied, but that is not the end of the journey. We need to share with others what we learn from the Word of God through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. “ rejoice in ” — For some, following the Lord seems like such an onerous task. But the psalmist reminds us that we have in our hands, in our hearts, in our minds,...

There once was a king who, anticipating a special event, ordered two local weavers to prepare him a new set of royal robes for the occasion. The men promised that the suit would be so fine that anyone unworthy or incompetent would not even be able to see it. On the appointed day the two men arrived at the palace with the emperor's new costume. The king stood in front of the mirror as the weavers made a great show of clothing him in his new garments, making obsequious comments about how splendid their ruler looked. They tweaked a little here and tucked a little there. Then they stood back in admiration of their handiwork. The king was astonished. In the mirror all he could see was his royal person dressed in the usual undergarments. But since anyone who was unworthy or incompetent was incapable of seeing the suit, and the weavers obviously saw it, the emperor bit his lip and keep his doubts to himself. The moment came, and the emperor strode out of his palace to make his way throu...