Marching Forth!

Live long enough and you will have experiences that supply beneficial lessons God can use to live wisely.  Today I had one of those moments when a situation provided insight beyond the surface and speaks spiritual truth. When I went to change the batteries in my favourite torch, I noticed the lack of the familiar rattle of the batteries inside.  To my surprise the alkaline batteries over a year had swollen in size and were stuck fast in the aluminium housing.  Try as I might, I could not make them budge.  Tapping the end of the torch on a piece of wood making use of gravity had no impact, and grabbing the end of the battery with needle-nose pliers popped the circular end off!  I could see the end was blackened and oily, welded tight to the torch all around.  This was not a good sign. So I did what many people had before me:  look for posts on the internet by people who had the same issue and succeeded in fixing the problem.  This led to me drillin...

In the book What's Wrong With Human Rights,  David Cross makes a strong case the zeal for standing up for human rights is a religious one born of the tenets of humanism.  Those who would paint religion, "social constructs" or politicians as the cause of all conflicts have ignored and dismissed the sinful bent of their own hearts.  Cross sums up the introductory chapter of his book in this way: " A right is an entitlement conferred on a person by another who has the authority to give such entitlement.  In order for foundational and innate human rights to be legitimate, they must be conferred as part of our creation.  Some have argued that God has indeed given universal basic rights simply as part of our human existence, but this cannot be supported by the Bible.  Some have argued that such rights are a self-evident aspect of human development, which must be enforced by law, in order to bring justice to the world.  However, the Bible says that it is only...

Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian may not be a household name, but he stands along with Abraham, Moses, David and Jeremiah as people of faith in God He called by name.  Ebed-Melech was a eunuch who was in king Zedekiah's house in Jerusalem.  We are introduced to him in Jeremiah 38 when he went to the king out of concern for the prophet Jeremiah who had been thrown into a dungeon.  After he appraised the king of the inhumane and woeful conditions Jeremiah faced, the king commanded Ebed-Melech to take 30 men to haul Jeremiah out of the pit to be kept in the court of the prison. It was not long thereafter Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem and besieged it.  With no hope of overcoming his adversary, king Zedekiah attempted to flee by night and was captured.  The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah, put out his eyes, burned the king's house and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.   Jeremiah 39:15-18 reads, " Meanwhile the word of the LORD had come to J...

It may be from a movie, old TV show or personal experience but I recall a time on the playground when a classmate took offence at what was said.  "Take it back!" he shouted, doubling up his fists to show he was going to take action against the offender.  If he took back the unfounded, snide comments made about a family member all would be forgiven, but if he refused to back down from the offending statements there would be hell to pay.  Even if the offended person lost the fight, at least he demanded a reckoning for the rude and inflammatory words. While physical violence is in no way a godly response to offensive statements, there is a simple principle demonstrated we in recent times can neglect.  When a lie is told publicly, it ought to be refuted publicly face-to-face--not out of personal offence but of love of the truth and others who can be misled by it.  In a conversation I shared with a friend recently he spoke of the desire I share to see those who make ...