Grains of Sand

Pixabay Some of my American friends are wrestling with how they voted in the last presidential election. Believing that Hilary wasn’t a good choice they voted for Donald. Now they are rethinking that. The latest scandal to hit the White House has sent ripples throughout the world. Donald was caught disparaging people from African nations and from Haiti even while he is signing some kind of document to honour Martin Luther King Jr. He claims that what he said was taken out of context. Even if it was, calling African nations “s—hole” countries is not appropriate no matter what the context. But that is the mouth of man. And the Scriptures (Matthew 15:18, 19) are clear that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart—deny it all you want! Meanwhile, our own Prime Minister is pushing his marijuana agenda in town halls across the country. A young Muslim girl was attacked in Toronto because of her hijab. The PM expressed concern, and rightly so, but then made the statement that, “T...

Google Images What do you want most in life? I’m no mind-reader, but I suspect that Moses got what he most wanted. I suspect that if he hadn’t wanted this more than anything else in life, God would not have responded to him as He did. Exodus 33:11 tells us that, “ The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend .” God, who sees the heart (and reads the mind), knew what Moses wanted. He knew that beyond the want was the commitment on Moses’ part, to be all that God asked, to do all that God required. The result was the most intimate description of a relationship between God and man that we have in Scripture. God’s friend. It doesn’t get any better than that. It isn’t that Moses proclaimed high and low, “I’m God’s friend!” His statement would not have necessarily made it so. What proved the truth of the statement was what happened just a bit later and is recorded for us in Exodus 34:29-35. After Moses had been with the Lord he would return to the camp of t...

Canadian Armed Forces Reserves—Google Images We don’t tend to hold much in reserve. If we have it we spend it, use it, give it away, or protect it so that it isn’t useful to anyone! If forced, we might consider sacrificing a little of what we have held back to ease the stress of the moment. I would think that facing everything He knew about the cross would have tempted Jesus to let loose the heavenly reserves. “‘ Put your sword back in its place,’ Jesus said to him [Peter] , ‘for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you not think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?’ ” (Matthew 26:52, 53) The crowd had gathered to arrest Jesus. One of the disciples (identified in John 18:10 as Peter) was wearing a sword. He drew it and cut off the ear of one of the servants of the high priest. Gut instinct. That Peter was carrying a sword in the first place was odd. A fisherman carrying a sword? The disciple of an itinera...

“ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age ” —Matthew 28:19, 20, NIV. Recently I took a group of people through a class meant to prepare them for baptism. After explaining to the group all the standard information about baptism, I introduced them to a second presentation. This one, I warned them, was all about the reasons they shouldn’t be baptized. Perhaps that presentation might have something to do with why only half of the group moved on to the next step in the process leading up to actually being baptized. Part of me feels badly about that—but not that bad! After all, I didn’t keep anyone out of the Kingdom since being baptized doesn’t affect anyone’s salvation. What I hope I did do was to remind those in the class that baptism  is not only a public confession of the f...

This morning I sat in my usual spot by the window in the living room of my wonderful apartment. Beyond the glass, the flowers in my balcony garden are blooming—including a beautiful while flower that just opened since yesterday. The birds are happily feeding at the bird feeder. The sun is shining and all is replete in my world. Missionaries are supposed to be suffering for the sake of the Gospel. Any suffering I do is slight. I am doing what I enjoy in a relatively safe and pleasant environment. As the psalmist writes: " The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance " (Psalm 16:6). I am grateful. I read this morning's verses, and wonder. Jesus said: " If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it " —Matthew 16:24, 25, NIV, emphasis mine. MY cross? By definition, a cross is a...