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...

Pixabay Remember...The Wandering. For many of us, the parable of the sower is well-known. Matthew 13 is one of the passages that describes the seed that was sown. The first fell on hard ground and was snatched away. The last fell on prepared ground and produced a harvest. It is the seeds in the middle that often cause the most debate. Some seed fell on rocky ground. There wasn't much soil and the seed grew for a short while and then was killed by the strength of the sun because it didn't have strong roots buried deeply enough to draw moisture from the ground. Other seed fell among thorns and was eventually choked. In explaining the parable to His disciples, Jesus said that the seed that fell on rocky ground represented the person " ...who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away " (13:20, 21). Then Jesus described th...

Google Images It’s not exactly good recruiting policy to tell your prospective employees that deprivation and death are likely to be their on-the-job experience. But that was the gist of Jesus' message to His followers in Matthew 10. They were going to be “ sheep among wolves ” (10:16) as they went out with the message of the Gospel. Serving Him would be dangerous. If I were delivering such a discouraging message I would be tempted to temper it with assurances that I would be looking after their worries about provision and protection. But Jesus doesn’t really do that. Instead He tells them not to worry about what they should SAY when they are arrested and brought before their accusers. Okay, then we should rehearse our explanation, “get our stories straight” as they say in the crime dramas. But no, that wasn’t what Jesus told His followers to do. They were to exercise faith. “ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be gi...

Google Images On one of the many spin-offs of the original Star Trek series, there appears a race, the Ferengi, that gets extreme pleasure out of having its ears rubbed. I wonder if they ever read Paul's letter to Timothy? Paul warns his son in the faith, " …the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hea r" (I Timothy 4:3, NIV). Back in the days of King Ahab, human nature wasn't any different. I Kings 22 records for us the last major incident in Ahab's life. He had made a pact with Judah's King Jehosaphat, to fight against Aram. Before going to battle, Jehosaphat insisted that they consult a man of God to find out what the Lord had to say about all this. Ahab had plenty of "prophets" around him who told him exactly what he wanted to hear—they rubbed his ears—but the King of Judah was not decei...

“ But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken ” –Matthew 12:36, NIV. I’ve been reading The White Rose by Inge Scholl which recounts the story of Sophie and Hans Scholl who were decapitated by the Nazis in 1943 for resisting the direction in which their country was going under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. At the time they were students and their protest consisted mainly in the publishing and distribution of leaflets decrying the actions of the Fascists. The group was never big–a half dozen or so–but obviously their written words were a thorn in the flesh to the regime. As I read the verse for this morning and the context surrounding it I thought of the consequences that the words of these students had during that terrible time. Their words were not careless by any means. Sophie and Hans were deeply religious. They knew that what their country was seeing and experiencing was wrong and were driven to find a...