Consider this

         Like most people, I do not like to wait for things.   I like being able to go to the ATM and get money even if the bank is not open.   I like being able to throw leftovers in the microwave and eat five minutes later.   A stoplight (or a train) that lasts longer than a minute or two seems too long.   I do not think that I am a “Type A crazy person”, but I certainly like things to be quick and convenient.              Maybe that is why the following passages are a little disconcerting.   “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot their God… so he sold them into the hands of [their enemies] to whom they were subject for eight years” (Judges 3:7-8).   Now, if that were the only time the Bible said something like that, then maybe I could just skip over it.   However, four verses later we read, “Once again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and… the Israelites were subject to [their enemies] for eighteen years” (verses 12-14).   Verses like thi

       The Bible starts with a picture of the “Garden of Eden” (Genesis 1) as a place of perfection where God’s glory was seen and where God himself walked among his people (Genesis 2:8).  It was “paradise” in every sense of the word.              After sin entered the world (Genesis 3), another picture starts to emerge.  The focus shifts from “God and his glory” to the people and their desires.  Eventually, they get together and say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4).  Notice the words “us”, “ourselves”, “we” and “ourselves” (again) in that sentence.  God has been moved out of the spotlight.             Those two pictures, the “Garden of Eden” on one hand and the “Tower of Babel” on the other, represent the two paths that we can choose in this life.  One is “God-honouring” and the other is “self-honouring”.  One is “outward-focused” and the other is ‘inward-focused”.  Life is

            By now you probably know all about this, but something terrible has happened!   Tim Horton’s has changed their cup sizes!!                Why is this “terrible”?   Well, the other day I ordered a “medium black coffee” as I always do and what I got was a huge, sloshing tub of coffee.   A “medium” is now what used to be called “large” and what used to be “medium” is now a “small”.    Those of you who know me know that I do not need a large “tub” of coffee; I am wound up enough as it is.             “So why not just order a small coffee?” you ask.   Well, here is the thing, I can’t!   I can’t order a “small” for one good reason:   I think it makes me look like a sissy!               Now, some of you are likely thinking, “That is stupid!” and you would be absolutely right.               The problem, of course, is not what they call that cup size.   The real problem is my thinking.   Often the way you think about a given situation will determine both your

             In Old Testament times, justice and law worked on the principle of “An eye for an eye” (See Exodus 21 for some examples).   It was a little like the “Wild West” where scores were settled personally between families (think, “I am looking for the man who shot my paw”).              What happened, though, if you killed someone accidentally?   What if you were cutting a tree down and it fell on your helper?   Well, the law made provision for that too.   The Israelites set apart six towns and called them “The Cities of Refuge” (see Joshua 20).   If a person killed another without forethought or malice, he could run to one of these cities, plead his case and find safety.   If the man’s family came demanding retribution, the people of the city would protect the man until his case was heard in court.   The “Cities of Refuge” were meant to be places where mercy and understanding reigned and where people were treated “fairly”.             Those cities are long gone, but t