Grains of Sand

“ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘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. The Lord Jesus has just finished calling Peter a “ stumbling block .” That was the politer of the phrases Christ used to describe His passionate but mistaken disciple. The Lord was getting into a habit of announcing His coming death and Peter couldn’t stand the negative talk any longer and took it upon himself to “correct” the Lord of the universe. After the stinging rebuke, Jesus turns to all His disciples with this word. Basically if they are serious about following Him, their path must take them all the way to the cross. They will need to sacrifice everything for Him just as He is sacrificing everything for them. This is not: “I just want you to be willing to do it. I really won’t ask you to carry out your promise.” This is for s...

This weekend our church is hosting a spring revival for youth. Already, before the main event has started, plans are afoot for a follow-up night next Friday. I was asked to "man" one of the booths that are to be set up for this second event. The primary purpose of the booths is to focus on next steps that young people are going to asked to consider during this weekend's conference. My booth is the baptism booth. If that sounds weird to you, it does to me too. Who ever heard of a "Baptism Booth" and how does one go about setting up one of them? Then I got an idea. It's not really original. In fact the thought came to me as I was reading a synopsis of The Radical Question: What is Jesus Worth to You? by David Platt. In the book, Platt tells his readers about an incident between one of his professors and the members of the class, a sort of reverse psychology that, Platt confesses, didn't work when he tried it sometime later. But I'm going to tr...

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...