Grains of Sand

conversiondiary.com (Google Images) Many years ago a roommate came to me to talk about a conversation she had just had with her pastor about me. He told her to have as little to do with me as possible (not easy since we were sharing a very small house). This advice was based on an accusation made against me to him by a coworker of mine. I was devastated. Firstly, because the accusation was false. Secondly. because it came from a coworker who chose not to confront me personally with it. Thirdly, because the pastor had sat at my table and eaten my food several days earlier and hadn’t spoken to me about the issue. Fourthly, because there was no thought about correction, repentance or reconciliation, (supposing that I had committed the evil I was being accused of) only judgment. Fifthly, because if the misinformation spread my reputation, and that of others, could be ruined. So when I read Psalm 35 this morning I could empathize with the psalmist. David’s issue was similar to mine. He ...

Google Images The last three chapters of Judges present us with a bizarre, but interesting picture of the cycle that the nation of Israel was living. For us it is also a fascinating example of the redemptive process. In Judges 19 we are introduced to a Levite who ended up in Gibeah among the Benjamites. He had stopped there for the night with his wife and one of his servants, only to discover that the townsfolk were less than friendly. In fact, the story reads like a page out of experience of the angels who had visited Lot in Sodom before that city’s destruction by God (Genesis 19). Except in this case, the woman died and the Levite, upon his return to his home, committed the bizarre act of dismembering his wife’s body and sending parts to the each of the tribes of Israel. All this serves to remind us just how terrible the situation was in Israel during these dark days when the evil of men was at its lowest point. The dismembering of the body, as horrific as it was, served to galva...