BITS and PIECES
A random collection of news and views compiled by Frank McClelland for the Toronto Free Presbyterian Church.
218th Edition – November 24, 2024
HUMAN IDOLATRY
Toronto was treated to a rare display of human idolatry this past week with the visit of singer Taylor Swift. She sang six three-hour concerts to sold-out crowds at the Roger’s Centre, which seats about 50,000.
It was reported that the best tickets sold for $13,000 and the ‘nosebleeds’ around $2000. The adulation seen in the various TV news interviews would make it hard to deny the charge of human idolatry.
Recent studies in Jeremiah and Ezekiel show just how obnoxious idolatry is in the nostrils of God. It calls down His judgment on the heads of those who practice it.
Some of those interviewed said that the singer was a wonderful role model for our children. The performer appeared in semi-nude costumes. Is this what we want our young people to emulate?
It is reported that the singer is now a billionaire making money, as she does, from the people. In Toronto we are continually bombarded with the plight of the homeless in the municipality, yet it is somewhat incongruous for the city to idolize a singer, to the extent of temporarily re-naming a street after her for the duration of her visit.
Many people suffer from the herd instinct. They stampede after the latest fad without very much thought about the consequences on their minds and families. This herd instinct is seen not only in the entertainment industry, but also in sports where untold thousands support their sporting idols. Another singer used to sing, “It’s a wonderful world.” He was right, but now it is a seriously wicked world.
FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE
Consider the wonders of our blood circulation system. Within our bodies moves this astounding fluid, blood. All our
bodily cells are static and confined to one part of our body, but in our blood the cells move around the body.
Each of us has about 8 to 10 pints of this precious fluid, and it circulates every minute of our lives. “The life of the flesh is in the blood”. [Leviticus 17: & Genesis 9:4]. That being the case blood must reach every part of the body, or it will die.
The heart is about the size of a clenched fist. This amazing little pump shifts about 1800 gallons a day, or about 45 million gallons in the Biblical norm of a 70-year lifespan! [Psalm 90:10].
If all our arteries, veins, and capillaries which transport our blood were laid end to end they would measure an astounding 60,000 miles, or twice round the earth! Some of the capillaries are so small that the blood cells must line up one after another to get to their destination with the necessary nutrients, and at the same time remove the waste for disposal. As Dr. De Haan points out in his excellent book, The Chemistry of the Blood, can you imagine your household food brought in the same truck that carries away the garbage? Yet the blood does this with no trace of infection.
Our hearts begin to beat before we were born, and continue non-stop until we die which, in some cases, can be over 100 years. Can you imagine your car engine, or any other machine, going non-stop for 100 years? You can’t, because they couldn’t.
These few facts alone should have us say with the Psalmist, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” [Psalm 139:14]
THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
The life of the human body is in the blood, so the spiritual life of the redeemed soul resides in the blood of Christ. Jesus shed His precious blood as a sacrifice on the cross to pay the price of our sin.
It is not for us to decide the terms of reconciliation. God is the One who is aggrieved by our disobedience, and He alone can dictate the terms of our redemption. This He has done in the blood sacrifice, pictured in the Old Testament sacrifices, and fulfilled in the one sacrifice for sins forever that Jesus made on the cross.
Seven times in Hebrews does Paul speak of the one sacrifice for sins forever. Does it work? Yes! “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” [I John 1;7].
