Grains of Sand

Areopagus from Google Images Those who are my generation and older were probably taught to stay away from the world and from those of other faith practices. We were to be “separate.” Our understanding of the Biblical concept of separation from the world was flawed. Paul gives us a prime example of that in Acts 17. The apostle is in Athens. He started out in the synagogue, which was his custom (17:17). The Athenians were idol-worshipers and this was a concern to Paul so he headed to the marketplace to preach (17:18). Then he was taken to the Areopagus (17:19). Traditionally we talk about this place as being a kind of central housing area for all the gods that the Athenians worshiped, but it was also the place where the high court met to judge criminal and civil cases so it could be that there was the possibility that someone wanted to bring Paul up on charges for “ advocating foreign gods ” (17:18). In any case, Paul did not resist. It is interesting to note that Paul, usually consi...

Abraham’s nephew, Lot, looks so much like today’s average believer. 2 Peter 2:7, 8 described Lot this way: “ …and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)…” The word “righteous” has several meanings, two of which perfectly fit this man: “ of those who seem to themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves to be righteous, who pride themselves in their virtues, whether real or imagined ” and “ in a narrower sense, rendering to each his due and that in a judicial sense, passing just judgment on others, whether expressed in words or shown by the manner of dealing with them .”* Lot hated what he saw around him in Sodom, the city that God was about to destroy because of its wickedness. And though he himself was a good man in an evil society, he apparently was not intolerant enough of evil to speak agai...

“ Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers ” —Psalm 1:1, NIV. Psalm 1 was the first chapter of the Bible that I memorized in Sunday School as a child. I can still picture, if my memory isn’t playing tricks on me, standing in the Primary classroom in the basement of the church, reciting the psalm in front of Mrs. Wood and my classmates. In those days memorizing Scripture was an important part of what we did in Sunday School, and I still remember Psalm 1 as clearly as if I had learned it just yesterday. This particular verse had its greatest impact on me when someone explained the progression in it. The psalmist says that a person enjoys happiness, contentment, peace, with God when he doesn’t: 1. Walk , or get too close on a regular basis, with those who would encourage him to do what doesn’t please God, 2. Stand , or hang around, with those who are not doing what would please God,   3. Sit...