Grains of Sand

Pixabay The media seldom reports on the persecution of Christians around the world. If we search the internet for information on the subject we come up with a number of organizations that speak for those who, for the most part, are not able to speak for themselves. The  Bible League Canada  estimates that there are as many as 100 million Christians suffering persecution.  Open Doors USA  says that 1 in 9 believers experience some form of persecution. One site posts that every day some 300 people are killed for their faith in Jesus. Perhaps the best known agency,  The Voice of the Martyrs , offers a variety of ways by which those of us who know little of being persecuted for our beliefs, can help those in places where being a Christian is a death sentence. The pilgrims of Peter's day understood persecution in a way that few of us can. In 1 Peter 4:12 to 19, Peter encourages them to rejoice in their suffering. What an odd thing to say! " Dear friends,...

Pixabay Submission is one of those thorny aspects in Scripture that prompt, "But you don't know what I'm dealing with!" In 1 Peter 2:13-17 Peter addresses the issue of submission to authorities. He is writing to those who have been, and are being, persecuted for their faith and who may have wondered why Peter was asking them to respect and honour those who nursed hate in their hearts for all those who followed Jesus and who demanded that they recant or suffer the consequences.  " Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority: whether it be to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will  you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God's slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, h...

Jeremiah was known as "the weeping prophet." The situation facing his people was a dire one and the message from God that he was called upon to deliver to them was not always encouraging. He wept because of the sin that had brought about God's judgment and because of the pain that God's judgment would cause. But here and there throughout the prophet's message were words of hope, the assurance that the day would come when God's people would be exactly that: God's people, people who would follow Him wholeheartedly once again.  Jeremiah 50:4, 5 gives us one of those rays of hope: "' In those days, at that time,' declares the Lord, 'the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten .'" In the Old Testament Zion re...

Google Images Sometimes I feel like a broken record! As I read Joshua 4 this morning, I was reminded of something I have said quite a few times over the last few years—probably to the annoyance of several people. However, here I go again. Joshua and the tribes of Israel pass over the Jordan in Joshua 4. God does yet another enormous miracle by parting the waters of the river in front of the them, allowing everyone to pass over safely. But before the water returns to its natural place, Joshua asks one man from each tribe to pick up a stone from the river. “ And Joshua set up at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, ‘In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, “What do these stones mean?” tell them, “Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.” For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over… ” (4:20-23). We often don’t think our spiritual journeys matter to anyone...

Google Images Martha is much maligned. Yes, the Lord did rebuke her for getting so uptight about the meal she was preparing for thirteen men (and what hostess wouldn’t be?) that she missed the spiritual meal that came from sitting at Jesus’ feet. Yes, she did that. But by the time we get to John 11, we find a different Martha. We find a woman with whom Jesus discussed the resurrection. Hmmmm, she must have been sitting at Jesus’ feet to have gotten that intelligent in a world where women were hardly educated in anything but washing, cooking, hauling water, and having babies. It was Martha who said: “ I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world ” (John 11:27). Martha didn’t pick up that bit of good theology by scrubbing floors. As Jesus and His disciples approached Bethany, His arrival was announced at the house where Mary and Martha were mourning the loss of their brother, Lazarus. This time it was Martha who dropped everything and rushed...

Jacob was on his way to his mother’s family home. He stopped for the night to rest. During the night God confirmed the covenant that He made with Jacob’s grandfather, Abraham. “ I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you ” (Genesis 28:13-14, NIV). Interesting note that God didn’t say that He was the God of Jacob. He was, because He is God over all—and He wasn’t. Jacob wasn’t ready to submit to God yet. In fact, Jacob couldn’t have cared any less for the generational blessing that God was confirming with him. Jacob, typical of ...

“ As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him ” —2 Samuel 22:31, NIV. This gem comes in the midst of many more. David is singing praises to God, recounting how God has brought him through so many difficult places during his years of exile being pursued by Saul, and then throughout his years as king. It took a long time for David to finally see the fulfillment of the promise that Samuel made to him when this servant anointed him as king. He was only a boy then, and he would go through some terrifying times before he finally ascended to the throne of Israel. Being king wasn’t always easy either. But as a boy, then as a young man, then as a mature man, David would have wondered in all his dark moments whether or not God was going to make good on his promise. As he sings this song of praise, he remembers those awful times as he rejoices in how God delivered him from them. Without a doubt, we repeat David’s story ...

A few weeks ago I posted an article about people I had met. Several of you commented that you wanted to know more, particularly about the young woman who is constantly walking around the block in the area of the church where I work. She has Down's Syndrome and I wondered why she was always out on the street. Yesterday, as I was heading to church, I saw her out walking and took the time to slow down to her pace and talk to her a little. It turns out that she does 14 laps of the neighbourhood in the morning and another 14 laps in the afternoon because she is trying to lose weight. I discovered where she lived (having observed her in her yard with her parents the day before while I was heading downtown). Her well-worn path through the neighbourhood has made her a fixture that you can set your watch by. She never deviates from her path. This little episode fit very well into my readings from Jeremiah yesterday. One particular verse jumped out from the page. " This is what the ...