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 It’s just a little piece of trivia. As we read of deeper, more “spiritual” details, we can easily skip right over it. But John 7 highlights a problem that shouldn’t exist. The trouble is, in a broken world what shouldn’t be, often is. Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles in secret. But that secret visit didn’t remain so for long since His intention was to appear in the Temple to share His message—the message that the religious leaders wanted to kill him over (7:1). But quite apart from the battle between Jesus and the religious elite found in this passage, is the undercurrent of fear among the general population. People talked about Jesus wherever He went. They had opinions—pro and con (7:12, 13). But they voiced those opinions in whispers and behind closed doors. “ ...no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews ” (7:13). As I read this I was reminded about another incident in John 9 where Jesus healed a blind man. The man whos...