over the top christmas lights

check out this, these people have way to much spare time!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6883449590273474624&q=wizards+of+winter

Faith-musings

Thanks for sparking a bit of thought and thinking about faith Chris. I have been on a bit of a crusade myself regarding faith and being full of faith. Biblically, there are a few different ways in which the word faith is used. The most Holy Faith would be the set of doctrinal truths, as we would say it today our Statement of Faith. Then there is faith used as the broad sense, the way of faith, we would say today the Christian faith. Then there is faith that is described in Hebrews 11:1 the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. The essence of this faith is assurance and conviction. It is full of life, it is full of hope, it is full of love and it is full of the eternal. It is full of God as God is completely faith-full.
My Christmas message this year focused on the supernatural aspect of the Christmas story. Why did God pull back the curtain so we could read of the supernatural goings on of the angels, of dreams, of the Holy Spirit "overshadowing", of Prophecies, worshippers and prayers. Because the whole story must be believed by faith. Not just faith because we weren't there but faith that any one part of the entire story could somehow be true! Zechariah's silenced voice from disbelief, Mary's servant obedience because she believed by faith in the word of the angel regarding "nothing being impossible with God", The shepherds angelic visitation, Joseph's consistent obedience to his spiritual dreams, Simeons Holy Spirit promise of actually seeing the Lord's salvation, Anna's prophetic utterance, Wise men following a star that disappeared and then reappeared directly above the place where Jesus was and then going home a different way because of a spiritual dream. The whole story comes off so NON-WESTERN, by that I mean so mystical and that it must be accompanied with faith to believe it.
My prayer these days is that I would be a man full of faith; that I would full of assurance that God with me all the time, fully convinced that God can do the impossible in my life, my family, my relationships and my church. Full of faith that is growing day by day until I see him face to face and faith becomes sight.
God is Good- All the Time!

Memories from frozen water

It has been cold enough this year to have an out door skating rink. I know, I know, that is not a big deal to you all but to us here in the mild Okanagan it's a real treat. This year the fire department got a few of it's members to volunteer to make a terrific outdoor skating rink a little way from our house. There is quite a fine art to this procedure and it as taken a few seasons to get it right. Basically, I think you just can't be in any kind of a hurry. One must put thin layers of water down because if you put to much water down at one time the top freezes before the bottom and forms air pockets. And skate blades and air pockets in ice don't mix. I am excited to go over and skate around a bit.
I was thinking about the times when me and a bunch of friends would go skating on the ponds and lakes around B'lodge. We had such a great time except of course for solidly frozen feet that came with it! That nasty sensation of the THAW! When your toes ache right up to the top of your knees! The uncomfortable feeling of taking chilled feet and putting them into ice cold boots! Did I say we had a great time???? I remember freaking out a couple of times when we heard a huge crack as the ice shifted and made a sharp cracking sound. Ever see 15 kids skate for the edges all at the same time. I even remember taking a vehicle out on the ice surface and spinning doughnuts as everything in the cab was tossed from side to side! Oh what fun it is to ride! (Yes dad that was your vehicle!)
Guess I'll just have to find some time before we head for B'lodge and home for Christmas to take the kids over for a skate on the new out door rink. Should be a good time. Make a few of our own memories on frozen water.
Have a good day everyone!
God is good--all the time!

Christmas: Seeds of the Eternal

Lately I have been quite interested in the current surge of attention in our culture toward being entertained by the realities of the spiritual realm. There is a large volume of "spiritual" entertainment that has come over the past few years. On T.V. we are watching a steady diet of the spiritual. With shows like Touched by an Angel, Medium, The Ghost Whisperer, and Missing all relying on the spiritual to help solve crimes and other such type stories. From the movie theatres we have the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter and now the much anticipated C.S. Lewis Classic The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. Certainly they are all classified as fantasy and I don’t want to take this too far, however, the stories that these great movies are made from are from classical books.
These books have had a significant influence upon our modern society. Most of that influence comes in the form of subtle (and at certain points in the stories not so subtle) spiritual content. And the reading/viewing public really eats it up!
Evil is real. However, evil can be overcome by good. Hate, vengeance, power, manipulation can all be overcome by love, forgiveness, courage and wisdom. The story teller’s creative abilities with these basic facts set our hearts at ease. They basically reassure us that the power of love and goodness will ultimately win over all that is rotten and evil in this world. It’s never without a fight and it always seems like evil has the upper hand for most of the story.
The bible is very clear about why we are all so fascinated with the hereafter, the other worldly, the spiritual realms. It teaches that “God has planted eternity in the human heart”. We come by this fascination honestly. You could say it is in our spiritual DNA. We long to know as much as we can about the supernatural. We believe in "lucky charms' or even "superstitions". Some will go to great lengths to pry into the darkness through witchcraft and incantations but only end up spent, depressed and disillusioned at the end of their search. But search they must for God has planted the seeds of eternity in all of our hearts.
In keeping with this theme I want to encourage all of you to check out the Christmas story. It is full of the supernatural. It is truly a spiritual story from start to finish. There were Angels coming and going and God speaking to people. Speaking to young and old alike, all of whom were searching for life and fulfillment just like the rest of us are. The Christmas story is a truly great story! Some have even gone so far as to say the greatest story ever told. However just because it is in the Bible, sadly most folks haven’t bothered to read it. But take the time this Christmas to slow down, grab a bible from somewhere (if you don’t have one give me a call we will try and get one to you somehow) and read this fascinating and wonderful story. It is found mostly in the Bible Books of Matthew and Luke, and in both cases they are in the first couple of chapters of these books. You will see that the reason God planted eternity in our hearts is for us to take interest in spiritual things and so be lead towards a relationship with him.
Please feel welcome to join our Peachland churches this season. Our schedule includes a Christmas service is on December 18th @ 10:30 AM; a Christmas Eve service from 6-7 PM of music and carol singing and a reading of the whole story of Christmas on Christmas morning @ 10:30 AM all in the Peachland Community Center. Check this local paper for times for all of our Peachland church services this season. Don’t allow the fantastic and highly spiritual story of the birth of Jesus Christ to slip past you this year. Merry Christmas everybody!

Labels

Maybe it's more a pastor thing than anything else. Then again maybe it is typically human for all of us. The fine art of labeling other people. As a pastor I know I tend to label others based on two basic criteria. First, by their foremost or obvious sins. So and so is a liar, that person has a shady character, this person is immoral. The second is by the way that person has either intentionally or unintentionally disappointed me. They said one thing and did another, that person dropped the ball, this person has stopped attending our fellowship. The list could tend to be long and varied for both obvious sins and disappointments. Unfortunately, when I run into these folks, I often find myself unable to look past their sins and disappointments. The labels I create put up barriers that restrict connection with some while in other cases stopping relationship all together.
How do you view people?
In Luke 7 there is a terrific story about a women who came to a Pharisee's home to see Jesus while dinner was being served. Uninvited, unwelcomed and definitely unwanted by those gathered around the table, this women put on a show of extravagant love in desperate measure by wetting Jesus feet with her tears, drying them with her hair and anointing them with expensive perfume. Those around the table had labeled her as a sinner and were busy attaching labels to Jesus because he allowed this show of desperation by letting such a women even touch him.
Jesus whole ministry drove anyone who labels others crazy! He seems to gravitate to the labeled ones. So much so that his label went something like "he is a glutton and a alcoholic and a friend of sinners!" These outcasts found love, acceptance and forgiveness in Jesus and maybe for some of them someone who didn't bother to label them by their sins and their disappointments for the first time in their entire lives.
Lord, help me to train my mind and heart to see all the people around me without attaching labels based on sins and personal disappointments. Show me how to love and accept everyone the way you did and do to this day. Amen.

Something evil this way comes

I've been agitated about something lately. It has to do with the current Christian sub-culture. By that I mean the group of saints that prefer to "hunker and bunker" as individuals and families. By that I mean those who move away from the world rather than follow Christ's simple instruction to be "in" the world but not "of" the world.
Four conversations as of late have made me wonder about those who speak of "all the evil out there in the world". To listen to them you would think that at no other time in the history of mankind has evil been so raw and ramped and unredeemable. One person said that they couldn't even listen to the radio because it is so black and depressing and negative. Another person said that the horrible destruction of property and the lives of so many from the 3 southern states was just a "cleansing" from God on all the vile things going on there. Another person said that they couldn't believe how awful it is out there in the world and that they feel so violated whenever they venture forth into society. Finally, a conversation our youth pastor had with another youth pastor whose church is right across the street from a middle school. She said she couldn't mobilize her young people to care about the hundreds of teens right across the street from where they meet. It happens that of the 15 youth 14 are home schooled individuals and they have no, natta, zip, zero relationships with any kids or teachers from that local area school. When I heard that I flipped my lid!
And that was when it struck me. Have you ever noticed that when you come from inside a cozy warm house and have to step outside the cold winter air actually seems worse than it really is? Once your out in it though, before long you slip your gloves off and undo your jacket zipper a bit and maybe tuck your scarf into one of your jacket pockets. You have adjusted to being outside and it not so bad after all. It still is winter, you still need to be mindful of hypothermia, frost bite and freezing to death but if you keep your wits about you, you can really enjoy the winter air.
If we as Christians stay in our cozy little sub-culture groups. If we never venture out into the big bad world of cold air, if we live with unnecessary fears, then whenever we do venture out, or hear a radio or news broadcast we will be "shocked" at how "awful" it is out there. This then only fuels our desire to keep away from those bad evil people out there. And, sadly on and on it goes...
There I ranted. I got this off of my chest. I believe there is a need for fellowship, for meeting together and experiencing the safety of healthy fellowship. But then we must come down off the mountain to the valley below full of people all searching for life, love, liberty, and longing to leave legacies. Unfortunately they end up being deceived into many different things that rob, steal and kill those dreams. Boy do they need the good news. Just any old good news feels like some alien force they are so used to hearing bad news most the time. If they were to hear our conversations about them and how awful they are I am quite sure they would be unwilling to come in from the cold and experience the warmth of the love of Jesus through us.