Hope For Today

Dear Friends, Some years back a man was visiting another country and while he was there he was arrested for a crime he didn't commit.  He was given an unjust court trial with witnesses who falsely accused him.  His father, being a prominent figure, could have stepped in at any moment and put an end to this travesty of justice, but he didn't. The man was convicted and sentenced to death.  During his imprisonment he was tortured and abused by the prison guards who watched over him. Still his father did not intervene.  He had the authority to send in those who could have stopped it on his behalf, he didn't even need to go himself.  Yet he did nothing.  The father made his choice - he allowed it all.  And at the appointed time the man was put to death. Do you consider these the actions of a loving father?  Were there serious issues between the father and son?  What could have happened to cause such irreparable damage to ...

Dear Friends, Last year I watched the film "12 Years a Slave" which was based on the true story of Solomon Northup.  It was not easy viewing and I was sickened by the extent of the wickedness of humankind.  As I watched it I found myself comparing it with the life of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Solomon Northup was a freed black man enjoying a prosperous life in New York with his family in the 1840s.  He was tricked and kidnapped by two men who stole his free papers and sold  him into slavery.  Everything was taken from him, his freedom, his family, his identity.  For 12 years he was viewed as a white man's property and viewed as less than human.  He endured extreme brutality on the cotton plantations of Louisiana.  Punished and whipped severely on many occasions for no real reason, he didn't deserve any of the harsh treatment he received.  But he was helpless to stop it.  He tried to escape, but was found ...