When the Dust Settles

Many times I have witnessed the swirl of dust particles, hair and lint through the blazing sunlight coming through the window in our home. A dog shakes, a cat jumps, a body whisks through the room and little pieces of stuff are on the move. If the sun was not shining through the window at just the right angle nobody would even notice these tiny particles and what-not floating around in the air. Given enough time, eventually all the dust particles will settle down to the floor, furniture and counter tops. When the dust does settle it usually means that all activity has calmed down or ceased all together.
This past week was a swirl of unfortunate activity. Three people connected to our fellowship through relationships passed away. A mom, a friend and an uncle. The funerals and memorial services lined themselves up starting on Monday and finished on Saturday afternoon.
As the dust of these activities has settled I see two very important lessons to be learned, prayed through and put into practice.
First, as Christians our lives lived out is indeed the gospel to others. The preacher at my uncle’s funeral spoke of the great evidence of a changed life by the powerful display of the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was lived out in the life of my uncle. He entitled his message, “The Gospel according to Kenneth Neill Foster”. His life was full of the evidence of a life well lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. What is the Gospel according to Kevin Cecil Nichol like, I wondered to my self as I sat there listening. I wonder what 6 points the preacher at my funeral would make as a comparison to the real gospel of Jesus Christ I said I believed in.
Second, was a comment my good friend made about his mother as he read out her eulogy. He basically explained that his mom had a gift. This gift was powerfully evidenced as the family tried to come to a consensus on who would do the eulogy for their mom. The fear was that whoever did the task would somehow make it appear that they were "more favoured" than the others in the family by their mother. As the conversation continued it became quite clear that their moms wonderful gift was the ability to make each of her children feel like they were more favoured than the rest. Each child found that they believed that mom treated them more special than the others, only to discover together, that in reality she had treated them all so well it had become their own personal perception of that relationship. Oh that we would all inherit such a God-like quality. The ability to make others feel uniquely special, to make others feel highly favoured by our actions of faithful love towards them. This love is like God's love toward all of us. Lord, make me like my friends mother.
Well, the dust has settled now. Reflections have benefited my life. Like the scripture says the wise allow sorrow to have a refining influence upon them. Thanks Lord for the privilege of knowing these fine Christian people. Thanks also for the joy of knowing that becuase they believed in you, recieved your forgiveness, and lived out their faith they are with you even now forever in your care.
God is good... All the Time!

Blessings Following After

Blessed are those who... the word blessing, bless or blessed, has been brought into clearer focus lately. It is a curious word packed full of all that is good and pleasing. It has the strange ability to go deep into the center of our hearts but at the same time stay bubbly at the surface of our lives. It is something we can do for others like when we say "Bless you" after a sneeze or "bless you" in place of a greeting or a good-bye. It describes the life of a believer and in essence is the pronouncement of God on all of life from start to finish. After he made Adam and Eve he blessed them and said be fruitful and multiply. At the end of the Bible he pronounces a blessing on all those who carefully study the revelation of the Lord Jesus to John while he was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos. According to Paul all those who believe in the saving life of Jesus by faith are "blessed with every spiritual blessing" which seems a little hard to grasp just how big and wide this word blessing seems to indicate. We are even instructed to use a blessing as a spiritually charged weapon to combat those who would harm us, do evil to us, abuse, curse us and persecute us. A blessing must be deeply treasured for it can be stolen as was the case of Jacob stealing Esau's blessing from their father Isaac.
I believe the Lord's deepest will is to bless and be a blessing to all of his creation. I believe we are to seek a blessed life, enjoy the blessings given to us in Christ, live in them and embrace them to the best of our knowledge.
Blessed are all who reverence and hold in awe our great and blessed God!

Sometimes you just gotta shout!

The way I have been feeling these days is really quite remarkable given the circumstances that I find myself in. After a week and 1/2 of resigning from this great work in Peachland I am still very full of joy. So full of Joy that I could just shout! However, there were several moments this week when I began to doubt whether or not I had heard from the Lord regarding this. One parishioner jokingly wondered out loud if I had maybe listened to the Devil instead! I must admit I am a firm believer in trusting someone who has a few "second-thoughts" about any major decision that can greatly affect ones life. I don't think that person would be "normal" without them. I believe that even Jesus wrestled with some "second-thoughts" in the garden before he went to the cross. He asked his Father is there was some other way, something else that could be done, but in the end he wrestled those thoughts to the ground and went with the good and perfect and pleasing will of God. The second guessing in this case was simply being honest with himself and his God. This honesty lead him to came out the other side in line with obedience to the still small voice of the Spirit in his life. And the result, the result was JOY! Who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scoffing it's shame... I guess the danger comes when we allow the second guess to become the third, fourth, fifth and sixth guesses which lead us to doubting and despair and eventually not following through on what the Lord has originally told us to do.
How about any of you? What do you do with your second guesses?

A Chapter is Finishing

Last Sunday April 30th I announced to our congregation our resignation from the work here in Peachland. Our last day of official ministry at the Peachland Community Church will be June 30 2006. It was over 13 years ago that the Holy Spirit laid this little town on our hearts and Cheryl and I were obedient this call by getting a church started in May of 1993. We have seen some unbelievable things happen here, even mini-revival type events in our journey with what used to be this little (and now not so little) town of Peachland. We will miss many things about being here but we know that the same Holy Spirit that lead us to this town in '93 has spoken again and is now leading us away from this great place. To where? We don't know just yet! We will be taking a look at some options that have been offered to us but for right now there is nothing to go to. So for the next week or so we will just be relaxing in the knowledge that we are putting the finishing touches to this chapter of our lives in anticipation of what the next chapter brings. We need your prayers so don't be stingy with them. When we first came to Peachland Paige and Danae were only 3 and Mackenzie just 1. They had no input into all of this but now they have a much greater stake in this whole thing. Please pray for them as they have no control over this leading and so they're perception of all this is quite different from mom and dads.
Cheryl and I are very excited as we anticipate what new adventure the Lord will be taking us on. Our hearts are bubbling with joy over what has been and now what will be coming.
God is Good – All The Time :)

vain hope is really no hope at all!

Vain hope is what most people have. They hope things get better, their job improves, their health returns, the future will be favourable and they really hope their marriages work. But all such hope is vain. It is aspiration that more often than not never quite delivers!
The recent interest in games of chance especially card games like Texas Hold’em illustrates this truth. These games are like a window into what most of us call hope. A lucky break here, a risk taken there, out on a limb praying [hoping] for something to go your way. So much depends on the hand your dealt; so much depends on when you lay your bet down. Hold your cards close to your chest and deceive everyone around the table as best you can. Try hard to make them think that you truly do have a winning hand! You've got what it takes to make it work. But in the end it truly is a game of chance and as in any casino 97% of the time the house wins.
This is how many people go through life. Round after round our chips of hope dissipate as life beats us up. We slowly but surely loose our aspirations, we loose our hope. All those Grad speeches we heard where just that, just speeches. Hopelessness is ramped in our society. Hopelessness leads to despair and that leads to all kinds of trouble. Hatred, deceit, stealing, violence, anger and rage, all stem from the root of despair that comes from the helpless sense of hopelessness.
Without hope we go through life with significant disadvantages. 1) The is no expectation that someone can save us from our selves and those nasty habits that bring damage to our lives, relationships and loved ones. 2) There is no knowledge of the great and awesome promises of God that introduce, foster and make hope flourish. 3) There is no hope past the grave. It's eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die! 4) The best hope we can muster is an, “I sure hope so…” kind of hope. 5) A desperate hopeless world breeds desperate hopeless people. It feels like a trap that is slowly squeezing the life out of us. Vain hope is really no hope at all!
Fortunately, vain hope is not the only kind of hope out there! God himself has intervened in his mercy.
Easter is all about a good and living hope. The Bible tells us that there is hope that comes from God. It describes it as a better hope, a Good hope, and a Living hope. It says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
Allow me to introduce you to this kind of hope that is held out by the good news of Jesus Christ.
What he did was die and take all the punishment that we deserve because of our sin on himself. This death opens up a way for us to connect with the God of the universe. The God of all hope! A way of hope, a way of grace, so that we can now have God and all the promises he makes of a life forever where He is the center of it all.
Jesus resurrection is like a guarantee that he really means business. His resurrection means what he promised is true and those promises have power to bring us good and living hope to transform our lives both now and forever!
So, what kind of hope do you have in your life; vain hope or Living hope? If you don’t have living hope would you like to have it? Hope that is good, merciful, living and eternal! This hope can be yours by believing the message I have just told you. We must claim it as our very own, turning away from lives full of vain hope and the trouble it brings, and turning them toward God for life and hope forever which he offers through his Son Jesus. Just believe it!

Sandy Footprints

I sat and looked at these footprints for along time tonight. Maybe I am just a bit tired from the week of rollercoaster riding that Cheryl and I went on. Ministry has those moments when you feel like you're just making dents in sand dunes. When it seems like you are in a dry and weary land where there is no water. When there isn’t a person in sight and you feel all alone.
Except - someone took the picture. Someone is there, right behind me all the way. He has my back. Encouraging me to keep putting one dusty foot in front of the other. Keep pressing on. Keep the way straight.
Marks are left in the sand. A Footprint is not a monument. A monument shouts, "At least I got this far". But a footprint, a footprint says, "This is where I was before I moved again." Not stagnant but moving, not stationary but progressive, not aimless but purposeful.
Finally, I looked up at the horizon. What adventure is just beyond that hill top? The next thing, the next event, the next whatever! I suppose it could just be more sand, but maybe, just maybe there is an oasis or a city or even just a camel. Nobody but God can see over that horizon and he has my future in the palm of his hand.
I can hear him whisper, “I delight in you, and you are spectacular!"
That's all the encouragement I need.
I will get there with the Lord's help one sandy foot in front of the other.
Where are your footprints taking you?

W A I T I N G ................................................................

Waiting. I've waited an awful lot this week. In fact I waited for almost 4 hours on Monday for a part to come to the mechanics shop but when it came it was the wrong one. Then yesterday I waited for 3 hours because when they sent the right part they didn't send all of the parts that go with the right parts. So I waited. Then I waited in line at the grocery store. Then I didn't want to have to drive home then turn around and come back and pick up Paige at soccer so I waited around the soccer field. I've waited an awful lot this week.
How much time have you been waiting this week?

Road Trip!

This past week I have spent an enormous amount of time on the road. First with five screaming, laughing uncontrollably, giggly and rambunctious-gotta-stop-again-and-use-the-bathroom teen age girls cramped into one itty bitty space! I am glad to be alive!
Then a second trip took me back into Alberta country, into the beautiful and exciting town of Banff where I was able to meet up with a good friend for a couple days of R&R.
An interesting thing happened one day while I sat in the mall food court having just stuffed my face with some delicious Japanese food. I noticed an old man who was smiling at me. Or at least I thought it was me and sure enough when I turned around to see if there was someone else behind me there was no one. He smiled again and then made a B-line for the empty chair across from me. Jack Lee he said as he sat down univited. He was 72 years old and was born and raised in Canada. His grandfather was one of the first people to set foot on Canadian soil from China back in the early 1800's. In fact his grandfather and his father after him both came to Canada as stow-a-ways in the bottom of commercial ships. The journey of his forefathers fascinated me and he told his story with deep reverence. Before I knew it an hour had zipped by. I figured that this was too good an opportunity to pass up so I asked him about matters of faith. He is a devout Christian who attends a United Church in Calgary. As I got up to leave he blessed me in the name of God and shook my hand like nobodies business.
Today at a funeral service I listened to the stories of a man who moved here right after the 2 World War from Germany. Tough times, yes, but he just kept moving, building, growing until he was done and he went on to his reward.
Pilgrimage; one foot in front of the other followed by the same thing over and over again. Seems like going somewhere is quite a strong and deeply felt unction in the heart of human kind. Everybody seems to be going somewhere.
God reminds us in Psalm 85. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
We're moving; we'’re moving on to God; we'’re moving in the right direction. Someone once wrote, "A monument only says' "at least I got this far" while a footprint says, "This is where I was when I moved again". Keep going.
The Christian life is meant to be done on the move. It is meant to be a pilgrimage, a journey for a lifetime. Are you moving these days? How's your road trip going?

It's all about understanding each other!

this ones for Niki and Paige

We need him in our church!

finally a team I could feel comfortable playing with!

Sometimes my couch feels like this!

Mackenzie and I had a good laugh over this Reebok commercial! Hope you enjoy it.

Captivate me; Elevate me; Lord!

Man races against horse

This morning I read a verse that simply took me away into the imaginations of my heart. It captivated my mind and fascinated my spirit. God has such a way with imagery, a real flare as a word smith. This weekend I picked up a book (finally used my Christmas gift card) by Eugene Peterson called "A Long Obedience in the same Direction: Discipleship in an Instant Society" As I settled in to read the first chapter this morning the opening verse found in Jeremiah was all I needed. It consists of two questions that the Lord asked of Jeremiah and then again he asked them to me a few thousand years later. Two questions that have the same answer; two questions that probe the recesses of the heart. Two questions that every apprentice of Jesus must settle, probably many times along the journey towards spiritual maturity. Though I found the God's Word enough to paint the picture in my mind I found a couple of pictures on the net to aid with the imagery.

The verse is Jer. 12:5 "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

The thickets along the Jordan River

man walks through plate glass window!

This is truly amazing! It is hard to believe to say the least

Cool car trick

What closely when the car comes out from behind the trees!

Chris's blog reminded of....

Being so exhausted that you can't even take a dump without falling asleep. This literally happened to me one time. I fell asleep on the crapper!

Things that make you go hmmm....

Yesterday two things happened that made me go hmmm.... The first was an experience I had while stopping to fuel up my truck around 7:30 last night. I pulled in just ahead of a very expensive looking SUV built by Lexus that was sporting Washington plates. Three women in their early 40's got out but it soon became totally apparent they had never fueled up their vehicles before. They had no idea of how to start the pump, they had no idea where the gas port on the vehicle was, and they did not know how to pay for their gas. They called over to me and asked how to pay so I told them to go inside for that. I finished and followed the one women in while she tried to figure out how her debit card worked. Then after several attempts she decided to go get a credit card from one of her friends but only wanted to put 10.00 worth of gas in...in her words, "to start with lets put 10 dollars in and and then see if I will need more gas after that" I finally got my gas paid for and got out of there with the women still not having put one drop of gas into their SUV! Gotta wonder?
The second thing was an email I got from one of the guys in our church. He often sends me quirky little things and most of the time they are kinda dumb. However, this one made me go hmmmm....

This is what he sent me, "Sometimes you just scratch your head....

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered
that ball-point pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat this
problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion developing a pen
that writes in zero gravity, upside-down, on almost any surface
including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to over
300 C.

The Russians used a pencil. Your taxes are due again--enjoy paying them."
Just some things that make you go Hmmmm....
God is Good All the Time.

Sabbath

Sabbath. A good healthy and soulful practice that takes the pressure off, allows for moments of despair without rushing past them after all we are only human! It is good for the entire body, soul, mind and emotions. I love my day off. No church people! Nobody but family if that's what I choose. I don't have to answer any questions, I don't have to answer any phones, I don't have to check emails, I don't need to leave my haven of rest here in the house.
Sabbath was created by God for our sanity just as much as our sanctification. It is meant to be a time to unwind and recoup. I love it and after this past week I really needed it.
Thank you Lord for Sabbath.
God is Good All the Time!

Thoughts on the cost of non-discipleship

A lesson that I am learning right now regarding the cost of discipleship has been very fun to think about and learn. When you grow up in a Christian home and you tally up how many sermons you have heard, how many bible studies you have attended, conferences, camps and workshops you have enjoyed it can be a bit staggering. If I only take one sermon per Sunday over 43 years that alone adds up to just over 2400 sermons. That is a ton of biblical information running around inside my heart, mind and soul! Then something happens; an awaking comes and a fresh word is spoken to our hearts and we are like a kid in a candy shop with it.
I have heard countless sermons on counting the cost of following Jesus. I have basically always assumed that meant the cost to me personally or what I would have to give up in order to gain eternal life with Jesus. While that may be true, part of counting the cost is also counting what you gain through what you are giving up. There is a story of man who found gold in a field, lots of gold, more gold than he could ever have imagined. As it turned out he is the only one who knew the gold was there so he goes off and sells everything he owns(negative cost)and then takes the money and purchases the field with great joy (positive cost). Was it a burden to the man to sell everything to buy the field that was rich beyond his wildest dreams? Yes, but in light of what he gained the cost was almost insignificant!
Then I started to see another cost that needs to be factored in when it comes to counting the cost of following Jesus. That would be the cost of non-discipleship. What if I choose not to be an apprentice then what? It didn't take long for me to see that what I would loose far outweighed what I would gain by not entering into the apprenticeship program of Jesus. If I knew the gold was there but decided not to sell everything to purchase the property then I am the biggest looser for it. For me it should be a "no-brainier"!
I think it is healthy to think of life from this perspective; to ask yourself if you can really afford not to take on the life of an apprentice of Jesus. The way of the sinner is hard but then so is the way of the Christian who is unwilling to count the cost in both directions. If I am right about this then the cost of non-discipleship may even be harder!

Scary Night for Scottie

Last Wednesday evening while I was teaching a class on Elisha I received a call on my cell phone. I thought it might be the kids so I picked it up but saw it was my friend and kept teaching. Later I called him and found out that he was trying to get a hold of me to tell me that my cousin Scott Nichol had been seriously injured in a Hockey game. He had been watching TSN and saw that Scott had been hit, lost his balance and plunged head first into the boards. He was knocked unconscious and after laying on the ice surface for 10 minutes they got him on a stretcher and took him off to the nearest hospital. He missed most of the season up until Christmas and now this injury. They hope he will be back in the line up by the end of next week. Hope the rest of the season goes much better for him! Here are some pics that I found about the incident.

The Christian Reality Show

If been thinking lately about my own families considerable ingestion of reality T.V. shows. Right now Cheryl and the girls are focused on American Idol. I am trying hard to like it but it is not going very well. I am often told to go do something else as my comments are becoming a real nuisance to the ladies as they try and enjoy watching the show. What I find most amazing is just how horrible some if not most of the contestants are at singing if you could call it that. Yet, somehow, in their own little worlds, they believe the lie that they've got what it takes to become America's next Idol. Reality truly is the farthest thing from their minds and even the minds of those who support them in this endeavour. After completely humiliating themselves and slaughtering some song and being torn to shreds by the judges they storm off angry and hurt from their experience. Then in post interviews they bitterly argue with the judges decisions. Usually with tears and/or vulgar language they say they have perfect pitch, that they sang completely on key, they say so many things that are not remotely connected to the truth and therefore to reality. If it wasn’t for the few who can sing well you could call it Non-reality T.V.
Then I started to think about Christians and reality. I started to wonder how interesting it would be to have a reality show about how Christians really live. It may not be a hit T.V. show but it would be very interesting. It would be fascinating to see just how many Christians live out what the bible clearly teaches as the kind of life the believer is to experience. For example, you could post a warning at the beginning of the show say something like: "Tonight’s show contains scenes of violence, judgemtalism, contempt and rage. Viewer discretion is advised." Followed by a verse that would be the theme of that evenings show, something like 1 Pe 1:7 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy". Then follow a selected group of Christians around to see just what this inexpressible joy looks like at work, at home, with friends, with neighbours etc. Interspersed with interviews of those closest to the Christians in order to provide a living commentary from those who are on the receiving end of what is supposed to be “inexpressible and glorious joy!” Then as the show comes to a close the contestants would watch their lives, listen to the commentary and respond to it. Thus attempting to measure what is really true about themselves. Which could be very different from what they may think is true about themselvs.
Sounds like the makings of a sad and terrifying look at what really goes on in the hearts and minds of people who claim to be Christian yet act and think and feel something else! Or better yet, sounds a bit like judgement day!!!!

Block Buster Motto

Few and far between is how I would describe last night. It was one of those rare times when my wife and I had an evening alone at home. No kids, no running around, no interruptions, no pressure! We decided to rent a movie from Block Buster called "The Gospel". If you enjoy Black Gospel choir music then you will love this movie as the music is quite spectacular. It is basically a prodigal son story and the acting is definitely "B" rated. While we were standing at the check out Cheryl noticed the motto of the Block Buster staff.

It reads: "At Block Buster, our employees are empowered, authorized and committed to taking care of you." Pretty heavy duty stuff for a movie rental outlet half full of teenagers receiving minimum wage for their efforts!

We chuckled and thought that this would be a good slogan for a church leadership team. At Peachland Community Church our leadership is empowered, authorized and committed to taking care of you!
I like it!
God is good all the time

The Case of the Missing Mojo!

This morning I went out to leave early for my work out and my truck wouldn't start. It just kept turning over and over. I checked under the hood to see if something obvious had happened but saw nothing. I hopped back in and noticed my gas gauge was on empty and I mean right empty. No gas No go! Someone had come and taken my gas out of my tank in my truck while it was parked in my driveway at some point in the night. I think it was just under half full when I parked it last time.
So, I guess I will have to go out and buy a key entry gas cap so I don't have to go this trouble of running out of fuel and the expense of the lost petro!
We live in a fallen world but...
God is still Good all the time.

The Measuring Wall

Its been a long time since my last note. So many things have happened, the good the bad and the ugly have been a part of my daily routine. One of things that was a big deal was lining up our kids against the corner wall in the kitchen and measuring their growth. It is fascinating to me. I live with them everyday of their lives and I don't notice the growth. That is I don't notice the growth until it is time to buy some shoes or pants or whatever! The biggest growth spurt in recent times goes to Paige. She must have grown a full 3+ inches in one year a while back. But needless to say, they are all growing up and there is nothing any of them can do about it. We ended up teasing Paige about her resistance to growing up. She used to cry when someone would say "my how you've grown" because she didn't want to grow older or grow up. But, all the crying in the world cant stop the growth that the body is created to go through.
Since I am in an apprentice type mood these days it didn't take me long to start seeing some interesting parallels between my girls growth spurt and the need to have a growing faith as well. We feed the body, we feed our faith, we exercise our bodies, we exercise our faith, we measure the bodies growth and we measure the growth of our faith. One thing remains the same, we are meant to grow and it would quickly be seen as a serious problem if growth suddenly stopped when we know it should be happening.
Every once in a while we need take out the pencil, line up the girls, back to the measuring wall, place the pencil on the top of the head and make the mark. I think every once in a while we need to take out our pencil, back our faith up against the measuring wall, place the pencil on top and make our mark. Stand back and see the results... Growing?

Blah Blah Blah

Wow what a week it has been. First week back from a break is usually full and this one was no exception. So I finally have some time to do a little blogging. And wouldn't you know it, I seem to be at a loss for what to write about. Our family is busy enjoying all their new Christmas toys, thanks to everyone for all the spoiling over the Christmas season. We had one of the best Christmas times on record. It was especially nice to re-meet Nyah and then to also get to know Avery and Ethan a bit better as well. What great kids they are all turning out to be. We are looking forward to the new addition in a few months from Chris and Jamie.
Well, I suppose one of things I haven't mentioned is that I received an invitation to become the chaplain for the local Legion. My instalment ceremony is Monday the 23rd - Election Day! I have taken on this task reluctantly and decided to say yes to it based on a 3 month evaluation where-by if the load is too much I will step down from being chaplain. I look forward to hearing all the stories that go with our war vets. Peachland has quite a few vets living in it. We have a very active Legion here with a membership of around 500 folks. The Legion crowd is a group of folks in town that I don't (for the most part) know. I know I am going to enjoy getting to know these Peachlanders.
My friend Blair Bates has worked for a couple of years to put together a Music CD and it was finished this past week as well. He is pretty excited about it and I have listened to it and he really has done a good job. I hope the sales go well for him and that his music is well received by those who listen to it. If you want to check out his Cd here is a link for his website www.journeymusic.ca
Today is my day off and I am glad I get a day to rest and get ready for the new week to come. Today at 3 pm I am off to pick up my girls and hustle them all over to the eye doctors for their regularly scheduled eye appoints. That should prove to be a real eye opener! Ha-ha.
Any way, have a good day everyone.
God is Good All the Time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Christmas season always brings with it such high heights and then suddenly it's all over and done and life goes back to the glory of the grind. Whoosh is the sound that comes to mind when I think of it all! Then the first day of the New Year comes leaving behind a whole year for good and starting a new one once again! It is a clean slate, a fresh new start, an exciting beginning. The whole combination of spending time with family, shopping, seeking out a few deals between Christmas and new years, checking out a couple of movies, (fun with Dick and Jane was great), driving great distances, eating rich foods, staying up late, getting up early, laughing and reminiscing, missing some folks who we haven'’t seen in many Christmas'’s, saying all those yucky good-bye's, getting home, unpacking and settling in, seems to leave me in a reflective state of mind. I seem drawn to examine my journey, drawn to sitting in my favourite chair, to sip a hot cup of fresh coffee and contemplate the Lord of the past year and the same Lord of the New Year that's on its way in a big hurry!
I always like it when I get a "word". By that I mean a mental picture of what I sense the New Year will be like for me. An image of what I hope to look like at the end of the year in my life. An all inclusive "word" that just seems to be where I am headed based to a large extent on the experiences of the past year. Last year was the word "reason", taken from the book of Isaiah when we are instructed to come and "reason" with the Lord! As I look back I see the progress made in that particular area of my life. I feel that I have grown more reflective, more communicative, more prayer-full in my approach to life this past year. Thanks Lord for this gracious and spacious place you'’ve led me too in my journey. This year the word is "apprentice". I see myself as entering into a new and deeper relationship with Jesus. I feel as eager as those on the T.V. show apprentice to be like their master, to learn his ways, to understand his teachings, to follow in his footsteps and too becoming more skillful with the tools of his trade. I see myself growing deeper, moving farther along, and soaring just a bit higher than I have ever been before. Yes, I believe the word for 2006 is apprentice. "If any one would be my apprentice, he must take up his cross and follow me..." Jesus once said. Yes Lord, I am enrolling in your apprentice program in 2006. I am taking up my cross, I am counting both the negative and the positive costs that come with following you. And, I will follow you. I will be more like you by the grace of God come January 1, 2007. God is good all the time!

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.

friday night fun with bruce and niki

see Cheryl's blog for more...








I'm watching you....

separated at birth

Double Double

2 Ki 2:7-10 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?" "Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit," Elisha replied. "You have asked a difficult thing," Elijah said, "yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours — otherwise not."

Who do you know that would answer the question of Elijah the way Elisha did? Who do you know that would ask the question Elijah did of Elisha?

Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken from you? Tell me what is in your heart? Tell me what is the deepest passion of your soul? Tell me what you desire above all else in this world? Tell me what you see in me that you desire the most?

What if you asked this question of someone you know? What if you asked a close companion what they would want from you before you died? What is the most significant thing you possess that others would want a double portion of if given the chance?

I want a double portion of your spirit. I want what I can't have. I want the most significant thing about you Elijah- your spirit. After following you around for some time now I desire what you have so much and I want it in double portions! I want the boldness you have for what is right, I want the wisdom you possess to pass along to others, I want the devotion you have for the Lord and his work. I want the prayer life you exhibit. I want the miracle working power. I want the prophetic mantle. I want the leadership.

Only Only
I I
want want
twice twice
as as
much much
as as
you you
have! have!

I want to ask for the hard thing. The thing that appears really "out there" to most others. I don't want to settle for the status quo. I want to ask for the things that look really difficult and a lot desperate. There is no guts nor glory is playing it safe all the time.

Give me a double portion of the spirit of Elisha!
Amen!

Expectations

How high are your expectations? I have been wondering about a quote that I read some time ago. The quote went something like this... "Christians in general are far to easily pleased." The context had to do with our deep down core value of faith. Faith in what we believe God can accomplish through us or even just what God can do period! It has to do with setting our expectations of what God wants to do too low; With being more and more satisfied with the status quo: With being less and less concerned with risking for God or exchanging that heart of passionate calculated risk for passion for an increasingly comfortable way of living. It has to do with expecting Christ to change peoples hearts and lives when we pray for them; Rather than hoping our prayers get answered so we don't look to ridiculous in front of others. It has to do with being desperate and recognizing our pathetic nature and how we are to be pitied above the other creatures of God's creation.
I sometimes wonder at the western idea of what commitment means. It is a word that gets thrown around a fair bit in church circles. But what does it refer to? It may mean greater attendance at church functions more than it means stepping out and taking a risk of faith by being vulnerable and honest with fears and heaven forbid some honest tears. It may mean supporting financially or spending more time in prayer and word study to some. But what if all it means is that instead of endlessly studying or endlessly praying or endlessly attending meetings we actually step out and minister God's powerful love to lost, lonely and mostly unaccepted people in our communities?

I love this story. It sets my heart and imagination aflame. I like it but I hate it at the same time. I like it because it shows there could be so much more that I expect. I hate it because I know how many arrows I would have stuck in the ground? I will let the story do the rest so here it is.
"2 Kings 13:14-20 Elisha came down sick. It was the sickness of which he would soon die. Jehoash king of Israel paid him a visit. When he saw him he wept openly, crying, "My father, my father! Chariot and horsemen of Israel!" Elisha told him, "Go and get a bow and some arrows." The king brought him the bow and arrows. Then he told the king, "Put your hand on the bow." He put his hand on the bow. Then Elisha put his hand over the hand of the king. Elisha said, "Now open the east window." He opened it. Then he said, "Shoot!" And he shot. "The arrow of GOD's salvation!" exclaimed Elisha. "The arrow of deliverance from Aram! You will do battle against Aram until there's nothing left of it." "Now pick up the other arrows," said Elisha. He picked them up. Then he said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground." The king struck the ground three times and then quit. The Holy Man became angry with him: "Why didn't you hit the ground five or six times? Then you would beat Aram until he was finished. As it is, you'll defeat him three times only." Then Elisha died and they buried him.

The holy man became angry that the king had such low expectations of the "arrow of God's Salvation".

How many arrows would you have struck the ground with?

Discouragement

What do you do when you are discouraged? I have now been asked that question 3 times over the past 36 hours. All of the comments were made in regard to our little church. Over the past 4 years we have been in a steady decline in attendance, participation, ownership, commitment and finances. We have a pretty solid core of about 40-50 people who rarely miss out on a Sunday morning gathering. We have about that many or maybe a bit more involved in our Life Groups on a faithful basis and we have a life group meeting every day of the week except Sunday's. We have new faith, we have pre faith, and we have immature, maturing and mature christians and ages ranging from 0 - 70 within the fellowship. However, over the past 3 months several long time attendees and others have left to find "greener pastures". Many have said that they love our church, they don't want to leave our church but they feel they must leave and often for "family" type reasons (at least that's the one they admit too). "Our kids need more"; "our youth need more"; "our children attend this other fellowship"; "some of our needs are not being met"; are the vast majority of statements used to describe why people are leaving. In most respects it is basically consumer driven not Holy Spirit driven. Also, the ghost of past success has never really left us alone. We used to have 230 on a regular basis to church; 60-70 children in Sunday School; 40-50 young people in our youth ministry. We used to have so much extra money that we wondered what God wanted us to do with it and now we can barely pay my salary. And so, discouragement seems to be the dominant conversation people are having over coffee with others. This tends to breed more and more discouragement and on and on it goes.
I have a pattern that I follow whenever I start to get that discouraged feeling. Mostly it starts with talking out-loud to myself and that usually while I am driving (or mowing the lawn). This is usually where I work out some of the angrier parts of my feeling of discouragement. Then after I do that I start to lay out the scenario as I perceive it in my mind to God. Then I begin asking the Lord for his perspective on the situation. Then I begin to praise him and seek the Lord to renew my mind, heart and emotions and bring me a refreshing sense of his power and Joy (strength).
I started this process many years ago while I was still in high school after I heard the story of David found in 1 Sam. 30:1-6. The families of David and his merry men had been taken captive by the Amelikites. They had attacked the city, burned it to the ground and took everyone in it captive while David and his men were off raiding the Philistines. When they got back you can imagine the horror, anger and discouragement of the men as they find that all that mattered most to them was gone. This slowly turned to blame and then quickly to rage against David as their leader. Then in verse 6 it records what David did, it says; 1 Sa 30:6 David was now in serious trouble because his men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the LORD his God.
Since hearing this I have made it a growing practice/discipline not to try and find strength in anything else except in the Lord. It seems clear to me that there really is no where else to turn to rid myself of discouragement. And, it is something that I can do several times a day if the need warrants it.
Maybe if you find yourself discouraged today this scripture can help you. The Word of God can help you find strength and courage to face whatever it is you are facing in the strength that the Lord wants to provide for you. What else is there to do with the nasty little beast called discouragement?

Don’t Forget to Remember!

I am notoriously forgetful but only when it comes to remembering things. In fact I can pretty much forget just about anything and not even feel guilty because I don'’t remember what it was I forgot! That is until someone comes along and awakens my guilt by reminding me of what it was I was supposed to have remembered. Confused yet? Me to!
It seems to me that when it comes to forgetting it can be either good or bad depending on what is supposed to be recalled to memory. It may surprise you that it can be a good thing that some things are forgotten. When horrible events happen the trauma associated with them can push those things to the back of our memories. We are designed this way as a defense mechanism and it is important that this happens to enable us to go on functioning until a more opportune time comes to deal with the trauma. Sometimes these hidden memories can lay dormant for a long time until that person is confronted with them by some event or situation that triggers the recall.
A bad thing to forget is your spouse'’s birthday or your wedding anniversary or some other important date like that. It is also a bad thing when forgetting leads to being seen as unreliable or irresponsible. This kind of forgetfulness basically devalues other people, their time and their efforts. It is very frustrating to those around us and can even sour some relationships if things don'’t improve over time.
History repeats itself because of forgetfulness. One reason that wisdom and discernment are seemingly on short supply in our day is largely do to the fact that the valuable lessons of history are forgotten. Someone once told me "“A mistake is not a mistake if you learn from it!" I think that means that if the mistake is forgotten then the lessons to be learned are also gone. Sadly we are then doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again until we remember the agony associated with it and make the necessary changes.
Tomorrow we will be reminded of the sacrifices of those who fought in wars to preserve the freedoms that most of simply take for granted. Remembrance Day is an important day for all Canadians because it gives us some practice at remembering the sacrifices of others on our behalf. Thank you to all our veterans for what they had to endure and still do endure that we might enjoy the freedoms we have.
Remembering is also a vital part of the practice of our faith in God. Often we meet and remember the great sacrifice Jesus Christ God'’s only Son made when he died for the sins of the world. We also have a designated time on the calendar to help us to remember this event called Good Friday and also Easter Sunday. Often God warns us in the bible not to forget. Instead we are to memorize, to recall, and to bring to mind the teachings of God and obey them in order to bring ourselves into lives filled with great joy.
So I guess I am saying don'’t forget to remember the sacrifices of others on our behalf. From the sacrifice of the men and women of war to the sacrifice of the Son of God on our behalf, we must never forget by intensionally seeking to remember.

Gumption

I liked this so I thought I would just pass it along to the rest of you...

Reading a Chuck Swindoll devotional recently pointed me to Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and a reminder of a little-heard word these days, gumption. Pirsig writes:

"I like the word gumption because it's so homely and so forlorn and so out of style it looks as if it needs a friend and isn't likely to reject anyone who comes along. It's an old Scottish word, once used a lot by pioneers, but . . . seems to have all but dropped out of use.

"A person filled with gumption doesn't sit around, dissipating and stewing about things. He's at the front of the train of his own awareness, watching to see what's up the track and meeting it when it comes."

As Pirsig applies gumption to life, he does so behind the word picture of repairing a motorcycle:

"If you're going to repair a motorcycle, an adequate supply of gumption is the first and most important tool. If you haven't got that you might as well gather up all the other tools and put them away, because they won't do you any good.

"Gumption is the psychic gasoline that keeps the whole thing going. If you haven't got it, there is no way the motorcycle can possibly be fixed. But if you have got it and know how to keep it, there's absolutely no way in the whole world that motorcycle can keep from getting fixed. It's bound to happen. Therefore the thing that must be monitored at all times and preserved before anything else is gumption."

Sanctified gumption. It's not only handy when you're repairing a motorcycle; it's downright essential to be an effective preacher and church leader( or just a plain ordinary person).

Michael Duduit

Our New Friend

Well this will be my 5th try at getting this to blog! I have had some trouble today with my computer as it keeps crashing on me and I have lost 3 entire blogs just before I posted them and one that was lost a couple of sentences into it. I was trying to write about my dear little Paige. She is most definitely a Nichol to the max. She has inherited the "spill-gene" from her father. She has the dubious distinction of being able to spill pretty much anything, anytime on her clean clothes. It always seems to happen when it matters most to be at least half ways decent looking. This weekend we hauled off to Kamloops for a rockets/blazers hockey game with D & P's camp friends. We had a great time (see the pics on Cheryl’s blog) We had not got through Kelowna when I heard from the back seat, "Dad, we need to go to Wal-Mart and buy a Tide Pen!" I had no idea what she was talking about but it turned out that her friend Janelle had given her some of her chocolate bar and she had chocolate crumbs all over her white rockets baseball shirt. It was quite a mess. So we headed into the bowels of Wal-Mart, she found a Tide Pen on sale; she applied the pen to the various areas of concern and WALAH! It was clean as a whistle! All the chocolate stains and the oil stains that surround the chocolate stains completely GONE! I wonder where the stain went one our friends said when I told them this story. Good question?
So, Paige and I now have a new best friend. The Tide Pen to the rescue! You really should try it!

Is it OK?

Recently I was meditating on some scripture and an argument of Jesus caught my attention once again. It has been a while as far as I can remember the last time I was "handled" by this passage of scripture. It is one of those passages that seem to present a conundrum. We all know that obeying the laws of God are vitally essential to life and the pursuit of being wholly holy. They are the bedrock and foundation of a growing relationship with God and of course deeply vital to managing and growing relationships with each other. The only thing the law falls short of is providing salvation but it does manage to point us to Christ who is our salvation.

Anyway, the passage is found in Lk 6:1-5 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. 2 Some of the Pharisees asked, "Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?" Jesus answered them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." 5 Then Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

So what exactly is Jesus saying here? Each week twelve consecrated loaves of bread, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, would be placed on a table in the house of God, the tabernacle. This bread was called the bread of the Presence (or showbread). At the end of the week, the bread would be replaced with fresh loaves, and the old loaves would be eaten by the priests. On one occasion, the high priest gave this consecrated bread to David and his men to eat as they were fleeing from Saul (and lied about this fact). The priest understood that their need was more important than ceremonial regulations. Although the priests were the only ones allowed to eat this bread, God did not punish David because his need for food was more important than the priestly regulations that he had clearly laid out. Instead, he was emphasizing discernment and compassion in enforcing the laws, something the self-righteous Pharisees did not comprehend. People's needs are more important.

So, does this mean that this story, although stemming from the commandment concerning the Sabbath, simply gives us the freedom to interpret the laws of God, (ceremonial, civil, temple, priestly and moral) with careful discernment that in some ways may mean that we end up disobeying them?

For example....

Is it ok to lie if it is going to save a life?

Is it ok to steal if one is starving?

Is it ok to kill if one's family is being threatened?

Is it ok to remarry if one is dying from loneliness?

Is it ok to disrespect your parents if they are cruel and abusive?

Is it ok to skip a "Sabbath" rest if your livelihood depends on it?

I love it when these types of passages create some good old fashioned thought.
Hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

GRUSOME GROSSNESS!

 

Couldn't resist a little HORRABLE HUMOUR!

 

Who Teaches You?

While studying for a message recently I ran across something that made me stop and think for a while. Actually, I am still pondering it and seeking to let it mold my thinking about how I live life and how I see our fellowship encouraging others to live life. I always enjoy it when I come to these moments in my life; I guess you could say they are "God moments” for me. They can draw attention to something brand new or be the kind of thing that you may already know deep down in your soul somewhere but haven’t really given it words, or concepts to bring substance to it. Sometimes it is directed towards a current situation or time of need and at other times it prepares us for what may be coming down the road, like finding a piece of the puzzle that enables you to put more of that puzzle together. I guess that's why it is called a living faith and not some dead philosophy or religious teaching but rather a living word.
This idea came from a book that I have enjoyed so much I have read it 3 times. It is a book that speaks my language, it shapes my thinking and it soothes my soul. The book is called "Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard. I find my self going back to it often in sermon prep or just to pick up a teachable principle for my leadership or the fellowship in general. I have read a few books like this over the course of my life but right now it is the one with most impact.
The statement I mentioned is found in the section called "On being a disciple, or student, of Jesus." He asks a couple of questions then makes a bold statement. "Who teaches you? Whose disciple are you? Honestly. One thing is sure: You are somebody's disciple. You learned how to live from somebody else. There are no exceptions to this rule. For human beings are just the kind of creatures that have to learn and keep learning from others how to live..."
Maybe, if you get a few hours of quiet time over the next few days or weeks you can enjoy this quote as I have over the past couple of weeks. I have used it to counsel a couple of young people who thought they we "self taught" and "their own persons" but by the end of the session had come to agree with this statement. I have used it in a sermon that got a few "amen’s" and some good old fashioned "humms" as I stopped talking and let this idea sink in a bit deeper.
Who is teaching you right now? Whose disciple are you? Honestly. Who is instructing you how to live at this season of life your in? Whose philosophies of life are you abiding by right now? Whose writings are you drawn to and why? Who have you granted leadership to in order to influence how you handle the day to day stuff of life? Colossians 2:8 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ.
By the way I found a cool sight that gives you some good reading without reading the whole book for those who may be interested; http://www.christianbooksummaries.com/ Enjoy!

check out my new moves!

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Seminar #3

I spent the day in Kelowna at the Willow Park Church enjoying a "pastors care net" seminar on "dealing with difficult people". The highlight for me was taking one of our elders along for the experience. I love this guy he is such a solid leader and asset to our fellowship so it was great to spend that much time with him in one shot. The seminar was pretty good too. Basically, the seminar morning was about seeing conflict as important to our growth and maturity in any relationship. To work at getting the church to have a healthy culture of understanding regarding the necessity and benefits of conflict when it is managed in a healthy fashion. The afternoon was spent dealing with how we manage conflict within our selves. The theme of the afternoon was that the only person I can change in any conflict is me. We also learned about adrenaline. It is basically a poison released into the body to increase blood flow to the heart and brain while taking all blood from the digestive system. If you get to much of it in your system it causes high blood pressure, artery plaque build up and heart failure. So watch out how much adrenaline you don't work out of your system. A good walk and/or a good sleep is generally enough to clean it out of the body.
Both morning and evening were well prepared and well presented and kept our interest level high along with the Q & A session that provided some rounding out of the principles mentioned by the instructors.
One story that was relayed today was a bit shocking. It is a true story that happened in the past couple of years. It is about a senior pastor who had called the care net help line in a bit of a dilemma. It seems that he had got into a serious dispute with his two fellow assistant pastors. As the conflict increased and the tensions grew over the coarse of a few days if finally reached its fever pitch! The two assistant pastors got so aggressive that a fight broke out between the three of them. The two assistants pounded the daylights out of the senior pastor. He was calling the crisis line because he didn't know what to do! SCARY STUFF!

Anyway hope you all had a great day and don't forget

God is good all the time!
peace-out

God may be Good but.....

God may be good all the time but Plymouth Caravans are a piece of crap! Not only are they a piece of crap but they are expensive pieces of crap. They have crappy transmissions, crappy brake systems, crappy electronics, crappy driver seats, crappy back door access, and they get crappy gas mileage!

I hate my vehicle! This is our second transmission in 2 years!


any body want to by a Plymouth caravan???????


REAL CHEAP!

Stupid vehicle


BUT GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!

There and Back Again by Bilbo Nichol

Wow I had no idea what I was getting into when I left the house last Friday evening. This whole firefighters chaplain thingy is quite the deal. My butt is sore from the seemingly endless hours and hours sitting in a chair that is made for a 20 minute quick-sit. My mind is numb from the over use it sustained and the sharp and heavy learning curve it had to endure. But, I am now in my family room, surrounded by some of the ones I love the most in this world, and all is right for now. I think there was so much to take in that it may take a couple of weeks just to unravel it all and figure out what is usable and what has to go on a shelf somewhere in the back room of my mind for another day and time. I figure the whole thing must have cost our fire department about $1000.00 all in all to send me to this conference. I am not sure how much of what I learned I can actually put into play in my "paid-on-call" fire department here in Peachland. Most the instruction was geared to the majority of chaplains who "serve those who serve" in professional halls in major centers. But there were still some very helpful, insightful and useful information that I know will come in handy as we deal with the large number of incidents that our little hall deals with in a year.
It was good to have a change of pace, to be in Vancouver, to be treated to a couple of Salmon feasts and to meet some pretty terrific people from all over north America. All of them with a passion to serve their fellow mankind with love, compassion and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. AWESOME!

As a friend of mine always says.... GOD IS GOOD>>> ALL THE TIME!

Critical Incident Command System

Yesterday was all about communication. When hell is unleashed in peoples lives to reduce death and damage a well established and well groomed communications system is absolutely necessary. It is a proven reality that without ICS the reality of the book of Judges takes over. That being that "everyone does what is right in his own eyes" and we all know how well that worked out for the children of Israel. Death, devastation, destruction, divorce and discouragement pretty much describes the whole thing. Today, we are back in the class room for another 6 hours straight followed by a nasty test on the details of this system. The text book is about 2 inches think. My brain has never been so challenged! Oh, well, I wouldn't be anywhere else right now as it has been good to be here for a much needed change of scenery.

Good Stress Bad Stress

We started off the morning in much the same venue as yesterday, that is with the issues relating to death. The number one killer of firefighters on a scene is heart attack. The second killer among firefighters was a little shocking to me. The second killer is suicide. After the class I was talking to a chaplain from Virginia and in his hall alone in the past 2 years 3 firefighters have taken their own lives. The stress on these guys is massive.
Needless to say we spent the day talking about these two subjects and the connection between the two top killers is unmanaged bad stress. Bad stress kills. Bad stress is basically any situation that is out of the control of the firefighters but the basic personality of most firefighters is to want to try and control what is basically uncontrollable. The result is bad stress. Feelings of failure, feelings of depression, mental illness and guilt all take an enormous toll on their personal health and also the well-being of their families. The staggering divorce rates among firefighters are as high as 80%.
Basically the whole morning convinced me of the necessity of the role of Chaplain. To watch the firefighters (myself included), to listen to them, to care about them enough to even talk to chief on their behalf if necessary. To provide a safe place to talk out their stuff and to offer encouragement, wisdom and of course directing them towards some professional help could literally save their lives.
The planners of the day were smart enough to remove us from the heaviness of the mornings classroom by sending us all on three buses for a tour of the city. This was followed by a BBQ Salmon feast at Hall #18. We feasted on fresh fish and listened to the Firefighters Band play some terrific music while we ate. It was a terrific way to end the day.

God is Good All the Time!
See you tomorrow.

Death: the destiny of everyone

I spent the entire day in classes dealing with death. I have had some experience with death as I have done too many funerals and memorial services. But most of today was focused on the death of emergency personal and how to handle that. The protocols alone were completely overwhelming. As one instructor put it; " Nobody does funerals like the fire service".
We learned about "Delivering the Death Message" for the better part of today. I remember a time not long ago, where I had to comfort an EMT after they found a women who had hung herself. I also remember having to go to the two different schools to gather up 3 kids and tell them the bad news that their mother was dead. Thankfully my wife, teachers, principles, and school counselors were so professional and helpful the personal trauma of that event was minimized for myself. I also remember back to a call we took were the man had taken a large caliber rifle and did himself in. I was able to assist a few of the guys who were traumatized from that whole experience. There are also other stories of death that affected many of the fellows in our hall, it goes with the line of work we do. Therefore it is an invaluable thing chaplains do when they are there for and serve those who serve others in their time of need.
I found that throughout the day there were times when I found my own eyes welling up with tears as the instructors broke down expressing their own stories of tragedies. They shared with us their dealings with the reality of death that surrounds the firefighters, their families, friends and of course the thousands of victims that are left behind after death strikes their lives.
The room fell "dead" silent as one presenter walked us through the fallen fire fighters from B.C. over the past year. Very moving.
Death. No one really talks about it much outside of funerals. It did feel a bit strange to be talking about it all day long. Kind of made me feel a bit mortal, like I'm not as invincible as I think or feel I am. Very sobering day. As Solomon said, "Death is the destiny of every man and the living should take it to heart and learn from it." Today I learned about it.

One thing I learned today...

Hi everybody. I'm at the holiday Inn in down town Vancouver and I'm attending a chaplains conference here and I thought I would just journal key thoughts that I learn from the sessions in the day classes.
So today it was refreshing to hear the difference between a pastor/preacher/intercessor vs. The ministry of a Chaplain. It is meant to be a role that is mostly about presence. Just being there for those who are experiencing trouble through some sort of trauma. The firefighters, their spouses and their kids are the priority of our chaplaincy duties. Sort of like Pre-evangelism type ministries. Just being there for them can speak volumes about your faith. And when the time is right they will invite you into their lives and at that time and only at that time you can move towards a pastor, preacher, intercessor type role for them.

This fits so well with my overall philosophy of life. I found myself feeling encouraged that there are others with the same kind of thinking as I have.

God is good.
talk to you tomorrow.

Eating and Talking Around the Table

They say that necessity is the mother of all inventions. When faced with the idea of spending this Thanksgiving without family or friends, something had to be done. My wife and I were spending some quality time in the van between kid drop offs when my wife came up with a brilliant idea. Faced with this thought of a lonely thanksgiving, we would make a feast fit for a huge family gathering. Then we would purchase some tinfoil plates and take packaged meals down to the "Peachland ghetto" as I have heard it called. Then we would tootle off to the Edge Water Hotel and do the same thing. As we talked, the vision changed and grew. Why not host a massive feast at the community centre after church and invite anyone who we thought could be alone this Thanksgiving to come and join us? The day and time were set and we began to pass out invitations and invite people to come so that they wouldn't have to be alone either. My wife's office is right downtown, the window she looks out of faces the street. She passed out invitations to all those who seemed down on their luck and probably would be spending Thanksgiving alone and would enjoy a good turkey dinner. As a part of my sermon a couple of Sundays ago, I mentioned this idea to our congregation and the plan took off among our church family with wild enthusiasm! People gave money, turkeys, time, salads; helping hands were so numerous we didn't know what to do with everyone. This idea had taken on a life of it's own and we were excited.
Yesterday, Thanksgiving Sunday, was a day I will not soon forget. We didn't take a head count but we figured that close to 100 people participated in our free thanksgiving feast. One woman's words summed up so well the success of the event. She said, " I really love this. I don't have to sit down to a meal all by myself. It is so nice to be able to eat and chat with someone. There is nothing like eating and talking at the same time." Apparently eating and talking around the table at the same time was a rare event in her life. She was so grateful along with many others who enjoyed eating and talking so much that they asked if we could do this again soon.
We came home last night, exhausted but feeling so great. What a tremendous experience and seeds were planted in our hearts that just maybe we will do this again. Why? Because there is nothing like eating and talking around the table.
In fact, eating around a table, filled with guests is one of life's richest moments. As I look back in Jesus' day, he was famous for "reclining at the table" with anyone from the worst reprobate to the most powerful religious leader. Jesus reclined, dined and had some deep and meaningful conversations around a table. In fact it became a picture of the kind of relationship that Jesus desires with all of us. A kind of "reclining at the table of our hearts" picture. He wants to "do life" with us so that we never have to "dine" alone. All we have to do is invite him in and he will come.

Hectic

Hectic is a good word. It describes something that is almost out of control but still has elements of control in it. It describes my week to a tee. It seemed as though this week has been a ton of people time and not much study time. The times I usually set aside for study were consumed by others who I suppose I could have seen as interruptions but by the grace of God I didn't. Helping a homeless man with three kids what just the beginning. That took up most of my Tuesday. Most of Wednesday was spent with a group of caring folks who want to assist and enable our food bank here in peachland to broaden its mandate to include the transients and the families like the man with three kids in desperate need. Most of Thursday was spent with leadership people. I am so happy that one of our parishioners wants to use his teaching gifts more within our fellowship. I have been trying to entice him for years and finally this year he has decided to bless our church with his teaching skills. He also wants to do more counseling so I will be passing off some of what I do to him. That night I went to a rockets hockey game with danae and paige with tickets that were given too us. The rockets won 3-0 over the St. Albert Raiders. We had a great time. I was also approached by one of my fellow fire fighters to counsel him through the grief he is experiencing over the loss of his father in law. I love those times. Times I can minister to a person who is yet to experience the life of Christ. Five minutes before we were to meet he called and asked for a rain check. So I guess we will see if that opportunity comes round again. This morning was my regular men's life group. We have such a great time together. Praying for each other, encouraging one another, challenging one another, a real band of brothers. I always come away very full after our meetings. Needless to say that after all this stimulation I had a tough time settling down and getting into the books today and I haven't finished my sermon yet. Oh well, hectic basically describes it all.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I've been wondering these past few weeks about how I (and people in general) struggle with just telling others what I think they need to hear rather than listening to them and asking some penetrating questions to help understand them. As it happens a few days ago I was walking along the road doing my morning routine exercise when I had a total God moment. I was reading in the book of Luke as I walked along at the story of Jesus when he was left behind in Jerusalem by his parents. They later came back and after searching high and low they finally found him in the temple “about his father business" is what he told them. But what really nailed me between the eyes was the next part of the story. It struck me deeply that this 12 year old boy had a better handle on how to engage people than this 43 year old pastor ever has. It says that they found him sitting among the teachers; 1) listening to them... how good of a listener am I? 2) asking them questions... rather than telling them what was right or wrong or good or bad he was asking them questions.– How many times do I tell people what to do rather than ask them deep and profound questions? 3) they were amazed at his understanding... most people around me are amazed at how I don’t get it, I don’t understand! I must admit understanding others is a slower and much more difficult way of engaging them. When what I would rather do is just throw a bible verse or two at them and tell them to obey it. And finally, 4) then and only then does it mention his answers. Before he ever got to the answers he worked at listening, he worked at asking profound and penetrating questions (at least for a 12 year old level), he worked at understanding those around him BEFORE he gave his answers. I wondered if this whole way of dealing with others is the thing that astonished the teachers around him. Just a kid yet such a handle on respecting them, by listening, asking good questions, understanding them, and answering their adult type questions! Then come the fascinating part... he grew in wisdom and stature in favor with God and men. He still had wisdom to grow into... WOW, he already was amazing but he still had some learnin to do! The boy Jesus has so much to teach all of us when it comes to engaging others in dialogue. We need to stop trying to fix others or force answers on them when we haven't first done the hard work of listening, asking and understanding. Make me like you Lord!

When I told my family this morning about all this Mackenzie my 13 year old piped up and said, "Don't worry about it dad, Jesus was God what did you expect!" We all had a good laugh.