Preaching in Chinese

Last weekend I was invited by our sister church the Chinese Christian Alliance Church to come and preach in their English and then Cantonese services. I had so much fun. The first service was full of mostly young people with a few adults thrown in and the second service was a real treat. I really enjoyed both services and will take away a couple of great memories from the experience. The first thing I remember as I look back on the experience was the moment in the Cantonese service when they all stood and said the Lords prayer in almost perfect unison. The second would be the fun of preaching through and interpreter (or interrupter as he called himself). It was such a blessing to serve these churches with the gift the Lord has given to me. I hope I get to do that some more. The picture is of me and my “interrupter” Steven.
He was a terrific young guy and we really hit it off.
God is Good All the Time

Shared Thoughts From School

This week has been such a great blessing to me. I am like a dry sponge soaking up everything moist around it. I am so into this class that I start at 9:00 and end at 12:30 and it goes by so fast it seems like a blink. Dr. Mark Strom is our instructor and his easy going approach and story/narrative way of handling the material along with all the insights that are coming from the students makes for such a sweet time. I am sad when it is time to go home and face the awful Auckland traffic. Our topic is timely for me. The class is called Leadership: Ancient and Modern, and the essence of the class is to move today's leadership back to a basic understanding of Paul's view of leadership. That being to move leadership away from the ancient philosopher’s Plato and Aristotle's approach of rank and status. Rank means to understand your place and status means the prestige of the Rank that you held. He believes that the current church "system" is based on this rank and status approach and is nothing like what Paul had in mind for leadership in his writings. In other words it is a very "top-down" driven system. Leadership is based and rank and status, the top down approach that is created to keep things under control at all times. The basic instrument of change for all of this is something he terms "Naming" and also "conversation." Giving people and or things new names or new language in order to have new conversations that are meaningful and lead to new ideas etc.
Anyway, before I bore you with to many more details I just wanted to blog out the fun that I am having at school. I am grateful to the Lord for his provision that allows me get some more education.
God is Good all The Time

Off to School...

I went to school today, I was a bit nervous and for the most part felt a bit intimidated by the whole scholarly road to a new and hopefully better you. The nice thing about it was that there we're several students there who were older than me and quite a few younger. I found myself in the middle which i guess was a small bit of comfort.
The drive from my house to the school took one hour and fifteen minutes. It is almost from one end of the city to another. I sat at one traffic circle for almost 15 minutes. I sat beside a young lady who lives not to far from me so she gave me some "short-cut" directions that I will be taking tomorrow.
I really enjoyed myself today. It was fun to be back in a learning environment. A real live Prof. with real live students and real live papers! I have to write to 2000 word papers and one 10000 word paper. That all should prove to be very interesting indeed.
Well, I go back tomorrow for round two and each day Monday through Friday for the next two weeks. My class is called "Leadership: Ancient and Modern" and so far I have enjoyed the reading and now I get to enjoy the class work. And best of all Cheryl prayed for me as I went out the door this morning that no one would bully me... and it worked. I even learned that bullies are really just cowards! SO THERE!
God is Good All the Time!

When it rains "KD" it pours "KD"

WOW talk about the healing power of Kraft Dinner! Today we recieved another package in the mail from Canada. One complete case of 12 Kraft Dinner individual packages. I've got EMS on standby incase one of the girls goings into shock upon seeing the lasted delivery! Wow when it rains it pours around here!
God is a fan of Kraft Dinner!

The healing power of Kraft Dinner

Facebook has opened up a whole new connection with friends I had not heard from in some cases years. I am finding it a delightful way of just quickly reconnecting over simple things with quick notes that just carry a conversation on for days that in real life face to face stuff would take a few minutes.
MSN has kept me well informed from our friends in china as well as my family back in Canada. This week has been great as I have had some great talks with my brother Cam and then stumbled onto a semi family gathering happening out at Chris and Jamie's place where mom and dad had gone for a visit. I could sit in the comfort of my office chair, and see my cute little niece and nephew and say hi to everyone almost like I was right there. Ain't technology grand!
Just in case you haven’t heard the news yet, Paige broke her wrist during a soccer game. Somehow got mixed up with one of there players and ended up on the ground with a fracture. It was all a bit hazy, the ref didn’t see any infringement etc. but Paige is now sporting a cast. We're all hoping it is a simple fracture that does not require too much cast time so she can get back out there and play the game she loves so much. Poor kid!
Anyway, She decided to stay home today, she was quite down this morning as she tried to emotionally catch up to the whole thing. While sitting in front of a movie a long and much anticipated parcel arrived from one of her good friends in Canada. God's timing on those kinds of things just couldn’t have been better. It brought all kinds of joy and we shared a nice meal of Kraft Dinner together. It really brightened her whole outlook on life. YA GOD!
God is Good All the Time.

Back to School

Well, it is official, after much thought and prayer and discussions with Cheryl, I have decided to take advantage of the Bible School here in Auckland and pursue the rest of my masters degree. So, hopefully if all goes as planned I should be done my degree by the end of 2008. I have to reapply for an adjustment on my visa to do it but I was assured from their office that it is not too difficult and will cost only $60. God blessed the sale of our home back in Peachland and we are able to use some of the money from that to pay for this rather costly venture.
I do need your prayers though as it has been a long long long time since I was a student and even then I was poor at it!
It was a little humiliating to bring all my marks in from my transcripts as most of them are at a C or C- level. The registrar told me that my twenty years of ministry experience should bump it up to the required B to pursue a masters degree with them. I laughed sheepishly! He assured me that because it is a small seminary, I would get as much help as I needed to pull this off and I must admit that did make me feel a bit better. I will be attending as a part time student and my first class starts on May 14 and runs mornings for two weeks. I then have until the end of June to finish the final paper for that class. I am a bit nervous but I am pretty sure this is the time to do this and who knows where this degree will take me in the future.
God is Good All the Time!

The Woodpeckers have got to go...!

My wife send me these this afternoon and they struck me funny bone and brought a wee tear to me one good eye! Enjoy!

Everything I need to know about life, I learned from Noah's Ark
One : Don't miss the boat.
Two : Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three : Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four : Stay fit When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five : Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six : Build your future on high ground.
Seven : For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight : Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine : When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten : Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven : No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting
HOW TO KNOW WHEN A CATHOLIC IS SPEEDING!


laughter is like medicine!


Hope you're all having a great day!

Move over Mormons!

We meet in the Howick recreation centre for our Sunday morning celebration services. The rec centre happens to be right beside a massive Mormon Church and for years as our other pastor John has walked by he has prayed over this "church" and against its massive deceptions that good folks have been taken in by. Well, yesterday we had a young Canadian couple over for lunch following the service. It was a wonderful reunion as they had been over in Australia for a seminar he had been taking. He told me that while he had been travelling to church last Sunday morning, they had been held up in getting there and that made them quite late for church. As they drove by the Mormon Church they were overwhelmed by its overflowing parking lot and the vehicles that lined the highway and were filling the rec centre parking lot that ICC uses as well. Then the Lord gave him a vision; that our church would overshadow the Mormon Church. He saw in his minds eye that we would one day be bigger than this gathering of Mormons right next door to where our little church meets. He had no idea that one of our young leaders had had the same kind of vision on that same Sunday. Again, I feel a bit like Mary must have felt as she "treasured up all these things in her heart." They are not come true yet but if they are of the Lord then we have much work to do to get this fellowship ready for the harvest that is on its way!
Oh ya, and one more really cool thing… Danae led us in worship yesterday. It was her first time, she lead all by herself, and she did a fantastic job (all biases set aside that is) Her is a photo I snapped of her and her PowerPoint person Mackenzie.


God is Good All the Time!

...and your young men will see visions...

4 days in Raglan, it is like an exotic Peachland. It is a beautiful beach front that goes on forever. It is a town of about 4ooo during winter and swells to 10000 during the tourist season. One big difference is that during the month of November the Orca's come into the bay; 20 in a pod to play and show off in front of the entire town. Everything closes down and everybody heads to the sides of the inlet to see the spectacular sight. I want to see that and I can’t wait for that to happen.
Things here at ICC are progressing nicely. The 4 days away kind of opened my eyes to see the "toll" this venture has taken on us all. Naps in the afternoon, lots of fresh air, cool evening, and playing cards late into the night was excellent for our family to basically regroup from the flurry that has been our lives for the past 3 months. I found myself slightly overwhelmed last week. A feeling I don’t wish to repeat. There is so much going on and I need to keep it all in perspective and in prayer or it starts to get all bunched up in my mind, if that makes sense. Anyway, the rest did us good, it cleared my head and allowed me to think through each of the different scenarios I am currently trying to lead within the church.
The addition of a Filipino pastor named Richard is nearing completion. At this moment he is making some decisions for himself whether he is going to join with us or perhaps with another group. Apparently, he has a couple of other ministries pursuing him right now. So we will just leave this in the Lords hands and trust his gracious leading hand. We will know soon as I believe as his visa is drawing to a close on May 15th. Anyway, one of our young leaders had a spectacular vision that he told me about before we left for Raglan. He said that he had been praying and pondering what the Lord was doing when in his minds eye he suddenly had a vision of 500 people worshiping God at ICC. That was pretty cool and I deeply moved by his description of what he saw. Again the cry is going upwards... God what are you doing here? We are spending the evening in prayer tonight to focus on that very thing. God what are you doing and what is it you want us to do? Please pray with us.
God is Good All the Time.
Down town Raglan New Zealand

Happy Easter Everyone

It is Easter Sunday. I’m sitting here in this house in Auckland listening to the sound of a few cars flying by on Pigeon Mountain Road, this annoying clock shaped like the "Island of Australia" LOUD ticking like a time bomb. It was given to us from a couple of students we billeted from Australia a couple weeks ago. And finally of course there is the ever present humming of the refrigerator motor in the background. I've awakened early today, it is my usual custom to be up early preparing for the Sunday Morning Service. I like to go over my sermon again, tidy up my PowerPoint and spend some time in contemplative reading and prayer. I have this phrase running through my heart and mind this morning. Something I read on a spiritual formation website. It was quoted by an author who was making some excellent comments on prayer. Her words drew me in as she made this statement..."that we will cease to be one who prays and instead begin to become one who is a living prayer." I have always wondered about this concept. In fact for years I have mentioned it here and there in conversations with others about prayer this idea that we can be living pray-ers. That our conversation that is full of grace and seasoned as it were with salt, could in fact be a the spoken fruit of a life devoted to relationship with God. But this quote was less striking to me than the quote she gave from Carl Barth. "Prayer is really our whole life toward God: our longing for Him, our “incurable God-sickness". Our incurable God-sickness. Easter stars us in the face, it practically shouts at us to become love-sick over such an amazing God. What a story, what a love, what a sacrifice, what a mighty, daring plan that can, if we receive it by faith, dare us to draw near to the creator of the universe. In fact, as I contemplate the resurrection today I feel gob-smacked with what seems to me to be my own personal incurable God-sickness! UP FROM THE GRAVE HE AROSE!
God Is Good All The Time

sorry for the delay but hey what can I say!

Well, where to start is the question. It has been pretty busy but and I have not taken the time to blog much of what is going on here. I need to remedy that so this is at least a fresh start at doing that.
I think i will stick with 3 highlights. The first is one that most of you who see my wife's blog will know. Our daughter Paige was Elvis in her school play. We went to it and she basically stole the show! (Unbiased view of course)
Next was our official induction as the new "Lead Pastor" of International Christian Centre. That was a great evening and it really did feel like our new home as we were official welcomed by the Maori Leadership of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in New Zealand. This Maori welcome was the first one ever in the C&MA NZ history. So that was pretty cool.
Finally, and maybe even the most fun for me. A fella in the church named Kevin (who I now call skipper!) took me fishing on the ocean. Here are a few pictures of this great adventure. I had sooooooo much fun! We went snapper fishing. It bends your rod right over and puts up a pretty good fight. It was basically "heave-ho then reel-reel-reel then heave-ho and reel-reel-reel" for the better part of the afternoon. He firgurs we caught about $300 worth of fish. Enjoy the pics...
My first ocean fish ever
Skipper caught the big daddy of the day but mine was a close second!
My Trusty Skipper Kevin Avery






Me & the Skipper caught our limit of 9 snapper each and with a bonus of 4 other fish as well. We also threw back about 6 because they were under 27mm long

A Good Fence Makes For Good Neighbours

While I do agree with this old statement about good neighbours I am writing to testify that this is not always the case. It is possible that to back into a fence and smash it to pieces can also make for good neighbours.
Last week I was heading out to a conference early on Saturday morning. As I was backing out of my tricky driveway I had to do a three point turn to get my van pointed in a forward direction. As I did that I “lightly” bumped my neighbour’s fence and what happened next made my stomach churn.
The sound it made did sound exactly like a gun going off. The wood was so old and so brittle that my little bump sent pieces of shrapnel flying through the air. I didn’t know what to do... should I be late for my meeting or should I wake up my neighbour to let them know what I had done.
I decided on leaving a note on the door step expressing my deep regret over what had happened and that I would be gone all day but in the evening would come and speak with them about it. I told them that repairing the fence was important and that I would pay for it whatever the costs might be.
As I put the note down on the door step a couple of other neighbours who had heard the gun shot came to explore what was happening most of them in their pjs. I finally got to meet a few more of my neighbours. Even though I only had time to let them know that I would be gone for the day and when I got home I would face my well deserved firing squad.
When I returned that night to my total shock the entire old fence had been torn down and in its place a new brighter and better fence was there. My neighbours were thankful that I had knocked down their fence as it gave them a reason to do what they had planned to do for months. They just needed a reason to get going and low and behold I provided them with one.
The moral of the story is, if you want to meet your neighbours and begin a great relationship just knock down the fences that get in the way!
God Is Good All The Time.

Just Stay Focus On Jesus

This weekend I attended an ALPHA training course and I was blessed by the vision and basic tenants of this program that has literally swept the world. If you don't know about it basically it is a well proven, well oiled, well respected way of helping people discover the basic concepts of the Christian Faith and offers the average church goer a way to introduce their friends to faith in Christ. It started in an Anglican Church in England some 30 years ago by a pastor named Nicky Gumble. One thing that I really appreciated was the gentle and yet persuasive way that this program inspires those who attend to seek the filling of the Holy Spirit. Gentle in that he is welcomed in a warm and most deeply authentic way and yet persuasive because he is the only way we can be and become all that the Christian is meant to be and become. Without the working of the Spirit among us their is nothing of significance that can be accomplished.
As I was sitting their during a worship time in which we were instructed to wait upon the Lord for fresh anointing I remembered significant encounters I have had with the Holy Spirit. It became clear to me that at each of those significant points, turning points, points of redirection, there was also a significant and intentional desire for the fullness of the Spirit. I knew in that moment that if their was a call to come forward for prayer for a fresh filling I was to go. No sooner had I had that thought go through my mind the leader of the session invited those who desired a fresh move of the Holy Spirit to come forward for prayer. As usual their is that initial hesitancy but I knew that I had already been prompted by God so I went, by my self, no one else came, (eventually another women did come up)to the front of the church to wait for prayer.
I waited alone for quite some time, it seemed like several minutes went by and then a women joined me at the front and then several more minutes before one of the ALPHA workers came and prayed with me. He had been introduced to the crowd as the man who had just completed a 3 year process of turning ALPHA into something useful for English as a Second Language people. I remember being quite impressed with him and was secretly glad that the Lord had brought him to me to pray for me.
As we prayed the Holy Spirit moved him and he spoke to me this word. "Just stay focused on Jesus" There is always so many things to consider in a new work and the temptation to make small personal preference adjustments is there rather than deal with root issues. So, this was/is a good word, an excellent reminder, to simply and ruthlessly just stay focused on Jesus.
It is now two days later and I am still walking in the graciousness of the Spirits words to me through this gracious man. Simple yes, but profound, absolutely. If Jesus is intentionally lifted up here at ICC then Jesus will draw all men to himself. Make it so Holy Spirit, make it so.
God is Good All The Time.

My New Family Doctor

Finding a new Doctor is a vital part of any move. It is so hard to find one on your own and for us anyway, it was largely determined on the word of mouth of friends who have lived here for a few years. So, yesterday we found ourselves a new Doctor.
He is a terrific guy, we hit it off almost immediately and he was very thorough and very encouraging to both Cheryl and I in regards to our continued battle with the bulge. We both instantly felt comfortable with him and he was gracious but firm with both of us regarding what we could do to continue our downward progression towards a good weight.
After taking my blood pressure he declared that it was so low that I needed to go off of one half of my medications! That was such great news. So now I am only on what is affectionately called a "water-pill"; as in, take it and you find out just how much water you can get rid of in a day! But, there are two things about this little pill that I like very much. First it is really really inexpensive, but the doctor in Canada gave me enough to last me about a year and a half so expense wont really matter for now, but secondly, if I control my salt intake and continue to lose weight there is a very strong possibility that I can go completely off of my medications all together. All very exciting news to me!
Anyway, please continue to pray for us her as the whole transition and new place and many different stressors have caused both Cheryl and I to move up and down the scale over the past couple of months. We need your prayers regarding this simple yet difficult thing.
God is Good All The Time.

the value of good leadership

The longer I serve in the church the more I am convinced that absolutely everything with in the church rises or falls with the leadership. The leadership guru John Maxwell has said this in as many ways as it can be said and in as many situations as it can be said. Without the God given gift of leadership nothing would ever get accomplished in any fellowship anywhere!
Today, I was able to get into the heart of this little fellowship called ICC. They have a group that meets monthly to approve financial reports and give some general direction to the affairs of church called the Executive Committee. Today, they met and I really enjoyed being with them. They seemed very eager to bite into a bit more responsibility than they have had in the past. More of a say in what is going on and the ability to influence those in the church towards using their gifts and how to we should conduct our Sunday morning services. Everyone participated, lots of great ideas came tumbling out and we had an hour and half dialogue that literally zipped by. It was just enough to wet their appetite and leave them hungering for a bit more.
I enjoy leaders. They are often belittled and they frequently are kept back from launching out in faith to offer their incredibly valuable insights. Unleashing them to their full potential has its challenges. Often I find they need some mentoring in how to use the influence they have in a gracious way. But mostly they are eager to use what God has placed inside of them.
Lord give us more gracious Godly leaders in our churches. AMEN!
God is Good All The Time

Tiz the Season...

Tonight I was reminded that this Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. It is to be a 40-day time of reflections, prayers, fasting and sacrifices as we journey with Christ towards the Cross. I found an interesting website that includes some excellent writings and takes a thematic approach to this season of preparation for the most holy of celebrations on the church calendar, that being of course Easter Weekend. Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday and Easter Monday. For me the timing of this event could not have come at a more pivotal point. We are smack dab in the middle of beginning a new work here in Auckland and if there was ever a time to remind myself just how weak and frail and sinful and dependant I am upon the work of Christ for me it is now. There are so many things that need to be worked through, restarted, renewed, rejuvenated, reinvented and even a bit of rubbish that needs taken out. At times I don’t know which way to go or even which way not to go.
Two of my girls and I had an interesting talk this evening about how much of their faith (the girls) is really “knowing” God or is it more like knowing “about” God. They figure that they need to strike out and find their own way and make this great faith their own journey. I was blessed by their keen insight and I will now be praying that this transition from riding on the shirt tale of my faith to making their own way will be successful and full of joy.
Anyway, it is getting late and we are having a few men over for breakfast tomorrow morning so I will bid you all a good day. Here is that link I mentioned regarding the Lenten writings. http://mustardseedjourney.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/a-journey-into-wholeness-lenten-series.pdf

God is Good All the Time

Working at Half Moon Bay

I enjoy working from time to time in a cafe. I love the buzz of the activity in the shop, the low mixed voices of folks sitting around the tables chatting up the latest and greatest information. Sometimes it helps me to think of them when I put together a sermon series, it helps me to be sure that I address their needs in the message should they ever decide to walk into the doors of our church. Finding those places is not always easy. It cant be too busy or be frequented by folks who know me and would want to sit and chat. It also just has to have the right feel to it.

Well, this morning I decided to venture out and went down to half moon bay marina. Cheryl and I had stopped for coffee there a few nights back when the girls where attending a youth group. We liked it and I made a mental note to go back something during the day and try and do some work there. I must admit that this morning flew by and I got a lot done. My mission was to finish up my current series "His-Story In My Life" and start scheduling the next 6 months of sermons. Before I knew it, it was 12:30 and time to head home for some lunch.

I think I will be going back. Oh ya, here is the view from my coffee table. Totally awesome eh! I also found this view from the air on the internet. It has the Volcano we climbed up a couple weekends ago, Mt. Rangitoto
















A couple of other interesting things that happened today. There was and earthquake here last night. Cheryl said she was reading on Paige's bed around 9:00 PM and felt the bed shaking. Also, the girls had their first of three drivers education experiences this afternoon. They did well and the lady that took them around was very friendly and they really enjoyed her.
God Is Good All The Time.

Afraid to go out naked!

With all the preparation, prayer, planning and personal propagating that I am doing these days in regard to our churches mission/vision of gathering the nations I sometimes get discouraged. The other day I was out with some fellow believers and we went to a local coffee shop. While there I engaged the two workers in a conversation about church and faith, which ended in an invitation to come out to church Sunday and check it out. One of the friends with us just couldn’t believe that I had done that and with emphasis on the fact that I obviously really enjoyed it. That night I was recalling the incident to mind and just how often I had heard those words from other believers. Now I know that certain personalities are more able and I am also aware of a gifting that the Lord has given to me, however, each of us in our own uniqueness can present the gospel. I loved the old saying, "Share the gospel everywhere you go and if you have to use words." In other words, live it out, and then when the opportunity presents itself give a reason for the hope that you have. Anyway, the other day I came across this story that made me laugh but it also carried a pungent point that I did appreciate.

The father of Origen, a third century theologian, was arrested for being a Christian. Origen, then only 17, was aflame with the desire to follow his Dad and share in glorious martyrdom. His mother pleaded with him not to go, but the headstrong boy did not want to listen to reason. His quick thinking mother did what she could -- she hid his clothes. Though Origen stormed and protested, she wouldn't reveal where they were hidden. He couldn't leave the house, and so he was unable to volunteer for martyrdom.

Isn't it interesting? Origen was brave enough to be martyred, but not brave enough to go outside naked. Stepping outside without clothing would have sped up his arrest and imprisonment, but it was a step he was unwilling to take.
In a sense, I suspect that talking with a friend about our faith is, for many of us, the equivalent of going outside naked. It makes us uncomfortable. We feel exposed. We declare that we will give our lives for Christ if he should ask it, but to risk a bit of embarrassment for him seems to be beyond our level of discipleship. How sad. The disciples were willing to forsake everything including the esteem of their friends.

I hope you had a good laugh and then paused to think about the application of this story. Is it true in your life?
God is Good All the Time!

Those Crazy Immigrant Drivers!

Look out New Zealand one more crazy immigrant has passed their drivers test and now is legally and officially able to navigate the "other" side of the road. Yup it’s true, I went in to the drivers place today, did some serious praying, took the test in hand, and 7 minutes later emerged having passed with a 100% on my exam. The lady in charge took a double take on the clock on the wall when she saw me emerge so quickly.
It has been a lot of fun learning to drive on the other side of the road. I had built it up in my mind as a much more difficult thing than it really is. Although, some habits are really hard to break!!! I found that out the hard way as I got a speeding ticket on this side of the road just as easily as the North American side!!! I got caught going 64 in a 50 zone by a photo radar camera just a few days after we got here! A real nice welcome to New Zealand letter came the house the other day with an $85.00 bill attached to it! I remembered seeing a flash out of the corner of my eye and when I went by that same spot the next day I noticed where the flash had come from.
Anyway, the hardest part of driving here is in parking lots where I have to back out of stalls. I still have a tendency to back out North American style and then drive away forgetting for those first few split seconds that I am not on the proper side of the road. I look forward to the day when parking lots will no longer pose a threat to my driving record and of course my life and all the lives inside my vehicle and the other guys too!
Why am I telling all of you this? Well, I would have to say that while it is difficult it certainly is not impossible to teach an old dog a new thing or two!
Ha-ha:)
God is Good All the Time

A Fathers Heart

I have never had to experience changing communities during those turbulent teen years. I was one of those rare birds that graduated with most of the same group of friends I started out with in grade one. I suppose I took it all for granted and as fun as graduation was I would have to say it was very quickly forgotten. I seem to remember thinking that graduation was only the end of something that was a lot like a cocoon and the beginning of something that was really big and really scary... that is real life!
As a dad of three beautiful young ladies who have now had to move to a far away place and start making friends from scratch I too echoed the concerns of their mother. (See Cheryl's blog "A Mothers Heart")
However, as concerned as I was for them about the coming changes I was growing even more concerned for them had we stayed where we were. As Cheryl mentioned they were definitely blessed/spoiled and it was becoming more and more apparent to me that in their blessings they were starting to feel entitled to those blessings. One of our daughters even bemoaned the fact that her life was to easy; it didn’t really have any difficulties in it. Another of our daughters had looming fears that something would happen to upset her perfect little world. In the past I have for the most part welcomed change mostly for it "shake me to wake me up" affect. As far as my kids were concerned I was more and more eager to see change come for same "shake and wake" reasons. Of course our move was much bigger than all of this but these things were factored into our desire to move.
So now we have to watch them struggle, we get to feel their down times with them and we get to show a strong hand of support and encouragement when they feel lost and lonely. We get to encourage them to trust the Lord and seek his face often when they feel like doing just the opposite. My prayer is that the lessons they are learning right now are lessons they will need to enable them in the future to become fruitful and productive in God's Kingdom.
In my view the battle for their hearts and minds has moved (for now) from the shadows to right out into the open.
For me personally, I would have to say that while I prayed often for my kids in the past my prayers have increased many fold for them as they embark with us on this new journey. At times I feel helpless even speechless (yes I did say speechless) not knowing how to comfort them but more importantly I know whom I have believed in and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until He comes again.
GO GIRLS GO!
God is Good All the Time.

Relaxing, Routines and Ruts

Just been thinking last couple of days that my inner clock is really out of whack. I believe that is mostly due to a total lack of routine in my life! I've noticed that everything is disturbed at this juncture of my life. Sleeping, eating, exercising and praying are just all over the map in my life right now. Therefore I have concluded that what is missing is a definite lack of routine. We all need relaxation time and I believe its roots come from the teachings of scripture regarding Sabbath taking. Down time, quiet time, away time, vacation time, play time, waste of time and holiday (holy-day) time are just a few of the descriptions that come to mind when we consider relaxation. However, the one down side to this down time is that it can only happen for a specified occasion before life begins to feel like it is moving towards the chaotic! Things forgotten, work ignored, roles confused, way to much TV, and the list just goes on and on...
But then I started to think about routine. We are most definitely creatures of habit and therefore we thrive when we establish a good routine. Things get done, roles work well, and priorities and values guide the course of action we take in a day. Instead of asking the "what" questions of relaxation we start from the “why” questions of purposeful routine. However, there is one thing about routine that needs to be guarded against and that is when the routine becomes a rut. A rut according to some is simply a grave with the ends knocked out! We can become so used to the routine that it effectively removes the impromptu of the Holy Spirit right out of the ballpark! We become so comfortable in our routine that we actively resist change, and change is the only thing we can really routinely count on.
So what was my conclusion to all this you ask. The answer is Jesus. He was a master of a life lived with purpose. He established his routines based on his connection with his heavenly father. He also established his time away based on his need to reconnect with his heavenly father. And as far as ruts go, you could say that there were no ruts. He managed his life so well that it was in perfect harmony with Sabbath as well as work (and I believe play as well although scripture does not mention it). Some people call that balance but I think it is deeper than that. I think it was wise redemption. “Live wisely then, redeeming the time for the days are evil”
Just some thoughts...
God is Good all The Time

Felt Good to be Back in the Saddle!

It seems as though I am in a once a week mood these days when it comes to blogging. Sorry there are few pictures yet since my computer hard drive crashed I lost them all. Boohoo:(.

Last week we enjoyed more of the new country that we get to live and minister in. We enjoyed a couple of days in a city 2 hours drive from here named Rotorua. Very beautiful and very touristy and of course that means mucho denarii’s! It helped that one of the families in the church has access to an apartment style room that took a lot of the edge off financially. We had a really good time. We did a couple of crazy fun things. One called the Lug(sp?) and the other called Zorbing. Here are a couple of photos that we took from these different events.




This week I also took a one-day retreat with John and Carolyn to pray, to seek the Lord and to simply chat and get to know one another. It was a really good time and we made plans to repeat the process for the next little while as we continue to get to know and understand each other.

And probably the biggest event for me personally was getting back behind the pulpit again. It has been a good long 7 months with a few speaking engagements here and there but this was the real deal. After 10 months of planning, praying, doubting, second guessing, finding faith to meet the demands of this process it all became the real deal once I stood to proclaim what the Lord had put on my heart. I have started with a series called "His-Story in my life." and it has been a total delight to reminisce since I was a kid the different times that God and I have had some pretty special moments, some serious moments, some fun filled joyful moments and some times where we just couldn’t seem to get along. My prayer is that the folks here will get a pretty good idea of who I am, what makes me tick, what I love and hate, what I struggle with and what I have gained victory over, and secondly I will be encouraging them to share "His-story" in their lives with each other as well along the way. I preached for 30 minutes and only got to age 8 so I figure I should be at this for a few weeks anyway... there are some things you just cant rush.














All of this good stuff was followed a wonderful afternoon at the beach with friends and then a suprise bbq when a family on the beach (who happened to notice their son Matt hanging out with us) invited us over to their amazing home just off the beach. We all had a great time. Any way, thanks for reading, thanks for praying and also thanks for giving to keep us alive and kicking over here.
God is Good All the Time!

Builder Bob and his Blistering Blundering Befuddling things of Beauty!

Well another week of building furniture and reading unbelievably difficult instructions has come and gone. The worst one was MacKenzie’s special bed. It had one picture with letters going up to v and lines and dotes and arrows accompanied by one paragraph that read something like [attach both "J's" to top of post B with screw D for right side and screw E for left side and two regular screws for foot of bed post A]. Both Kenz and I were almost ready to throw the thing out a couple of times. But the best part is that I can with confidence say we are pretty much set up as comfortably as we can be in our new home. It has left us with a bit more spare time and we have not wasted a second as you can tell from reading Cheryl’s blog. This is one of the most spectacular places to live just for its natural beauty.

This week we had a very informal get together with John and Carolyn Gummer for our first of many planning meetings regarding ICC's new future. John and Carolyn are quite tired from the past 10+ years of ministry with this congregation. It was nice to find out what they were up to and begin the process of relieving some of the burden they have carried for far too long from off their shoulders. We are going to be getting together weekly and this Wednesday we will be going to a private retreat area to pray and do some more planning together. God has graciously blessed us with this wonderful couple to work with and we get along terrific. As I see it our gift mix will work out very wonderfully and I believe the work that God has called us to will flourish under our co-operative ministry.

There is one thing that stands out so clearly to all of us about this church. It is a rare thing I think to see multi-nations coming together to worship one Lord, experience on body, and share in one baptism. Today was honor India day and during the sermon the Indian pastor spoke of his friends within the fellowship. One Chinese and the other Pakistani. In the real world these nations do not get along in fact they are warring most of the time. But in our fellowship they get along as one. It is the very thing that drew me here so strongly. The nations coming together under one roof, united and strong, praising the one God who created us all. It is soooooo cool and I can’t wait to develop this more deeply and work it for the advancement of Gods multi-national kingdom.

The fun and games will slow a bit now as we enter this week. The girls will be registering for school and I will begin preaching on Feb. 4th. Cheryl is planning a "painting the house program" and our landlord is going to be removing the old carpets and putting down either new carpets or even laminate. So that could prove to be a bit unsettling as we have to move all the things we just built and put in place. Oh well ROUND 2 here we come....

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. We all appreciate your prayers and your financial support.

God is Good All the Time

Elvis has left the building!

We're gone, we flew the coup, we hit the road, we dug in the spurs, said all our so longs and farewells, we did it... we left our dear old Canada for a brand new adventure in New Zealand.
7 days could not possibly go by faster or busier! We have been Kiwi's now for a week and every single day has been packed to the brim. We have spent over to $20,000.00 in that time furnishing this new home and picking up a sweet deal on a 1999 Nissan Presage. Jet lag was the worst I have ever had probably because I was not flying along and had to drag, carry and push copious amounts of luggage through 5 different airports. The church has graciously given me my first two weeks off just to get over jet lag and allow us time to set up the house and do a little exploring. John and I will meet this week to start the process of our transitions. He will be transitioning to a more associate role and I will be transitioning into what looks like a more senior role. However, titles don’t mean much so it will more than likely look more like co-leadership than anything else. I look forward to our discussions and what will be coming out of them.
We have had several folks dropping buy right from the first day to wish us well. Matt Mordaunt (mission creek alliance) was able to come and help us haul our bags from the airport. Jason and Chelsey Gray and Kelly and Jen Johnston (& Mattao) have come by. Along with a few who have become internet friends Mike and Jules who work with young life as well as the martin family who had moved here several years ago from South Africa.
Timing and the Lords Grace were abundantly obvious in the prices we were able to get on everything we bought. I don’t think we paid full price for anything as most of the stores are trying hard to get rid of their Christmas stuff through some serious summer sales. We almost have everything except a few smaller items,also a bed for Danae, a lawn mower and a BBQ. Once we get the BBQ we will launch a few get togethers with neighbors and church friends and even salesmen who we have met along the way here.
The kids are doing great. This is such an adventure for them. They are starting to get a bit restless today as their are no friends yet so being bored is often in their vocabulary. Please pray for them, as finding the right friends will be at the heart of how well they do here.
Cheryl is off having coffee with a couple of ladies right now. How I thank God for her. She is such a trooper and she has been such a great person to shop with. She really knows how to move things along and sniff out those great deals.
This is getting kind of long for a blog so I will hang up the keypad for now. Bless you all for your prayers and financial support.
God is Good All the Time.

send me your links

My hard drive crashed so I lost almost all my info. (A good reminder to all of you that it could happen at any moment so be sure you have all the important stuff backed up!) Anyway, fortunatly for me i only lost a few of my latest sermons that were important. Anyway, could you all send me your blog addresses. I need to put them all into this computer.
Happy New Year everybody!
one week until departure!!!!
God is good all the time.

here is mine chris

http://www.myheritage.com

Weekend of Celebrations

Saturday evening will always be held as a great memory for me. Cheryl and I attended the PFRS Officers Banquet. During the evening Fire Chief Grant Topham and Assistant Chief Paul Cloutier presented me with my retirement gift. A pencil sketched picture of our old parade truck, a 1950-something Dodge and our new 2004 American Lefrance Engine 22 parked in front of our hall, Station 21. It is beautifully framed and will be a nice addition to whatever office I may end up having in the future. When they presented it to me the whole room stood their feet and clapped, it was humbling to say the least. Here are a few pictures of my time here with PFRS.

Sunday Morning was also a celebration. Westside Alliance Church held their 25th Anniversary. They honoured us with an offering at the end of the service and also had me pray a prayer of blessing upon the church. It was fun to reconnect with a great bunch of folks who were with me in my first 6 years of ministry. It was a grace-filled place to "get my wings" and for that I will always feel a debt of gratitude. There were some pictures taken at this event as well that I tried to include here but for whatever reason they are not cooperating!
Oh well, it was a very fun weekend.

So Long Little Buddy

Well, the first of our little fuzzy creatures has found a good home. Sonny went to a family full of young kids who are crazy about him. In fact I heard reports yesterday that he had already made his way into one of the kid’s classrooms as a show and tell item. He really liked that when we took him there for the girls when they were that age. He enjoys all the attention and that just makes me feel good. He is happy and adjusting just fine to his new surroundings. Sonny’s leaving was not that hard on us as a family, only Paige was sad as the other two girls both have their cats that they spend all their attention on. I suppose that will be a much sadder day for them when it arrives. We plan on handing them over to their new owners on November 30th. That’s the cats not the girls!
I woke up this morning thinking of our 3 awesome girls and how they will handle that day and prayed for them. They have had such great attitudes about this move and all the sacrifices they are willing to make to see it happen. Not too many teenagers are so willing to have as good an attitude as these 3 beautiful girls. I thank God on a regular basis for them; they are a great source of joy in my life. And I thank God for such a great woman of faith they have to follow as an example in their mother. WOW this is getting kinda sappy!
On another note, we were able to find a buyer for our van. And just as everything else about this move it has fallen into place in a beautiful fashion. The folks who want it are willing to let us keep it until we leave and are willing to take it whenever we are ready to hand it over. Isn’t God just amazing! He even cares about silly material stuff like this! We know that the van will be a great blessing to this young family.
Today is day #1 of our moving schedule. I have a friend coming over with his truck and we will be moving most of our bedroom stuff, a hutch and our TV stand over to Bruce and Niki's basement suite. We are also moving Paiges dresser and Mackenzies desk to a family here in Peachland. Then tonight we have our Annual Peachland Fire and Rescue Officers Christmas Banquet. Apparently they are going to be giving me some sort of plaque for my years of service here in Peachland. That should be interesting and fun.
Well, I guess I had better get moving---literally!
God is good all the time.

Champions

Near Half Moon Bay in August in the dead of winter


As my cousin Stu so elequently put it in his most recent email, "Hopefully living in Half Moon Bay will remind Kevin to pull up his pants!" Both Cheryl and I got a great laugh out of it but then I started wondering just how much of my moon he has seen; was there emotional truama; nightmares; shortness of breath; cold sweats????? I think you should consider getting some professional help cuz!

Any way, this past Sunday I was able to preach again for the first time in over a month. I sooooooooooooo enjoyed it. The invitation came from some friends of ours from Westside Alliance days who moved out to Armstrong several years ago. Their pastor has resigned recently and so they have asked me to preach a few Sundays which of course I am happy to oblige them. Speaking of Westside Alliance, they are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this coming Sunday and have asked me to come and participate in the festivities. We've also been informed of their desire to do something really nice for us in support of our new upcoming ministry in New Zealand. We are blessed and humbled that they would consider doing this for us on such a special day for them. What a great support team we have!
So this weekend went smoothly, not to many hick-ups as we spent most of it buried in boxes, drawers, and bedrooms. Cheryl is the mastermind behind the time lines and what to pack on which weekend and where to put it. She is such a great organizer and the feeling of accomplishment that comes over the family when we have been able to conquer a part of the packing war on schedule is really good. One thing we would ask you to pray for is the selling of both our van and truck. We would like to see this done as soon as possible.
Emotionally, we had a bit of a roller coaster week including a few tears, some short fuses with each other and of coarse some awesome prayer times and answers to those prayers. There are moments when we are overwhelmed with the massiveness of this whole ordeal. We question God, we question our motives, we pile up some worry over all the "what-ifs" of the future, we battle our fears, and we sometimes battle each other. The tests that come from following after God in transition really do show us what we are made of. Both the good and the not so good! But through all this we get some encouraging emails that we can laugh at and we read of those who have been praying for us. At that moment we are suddenly aware we are in a spiritual war. We know our Commander and Chief has assigned us to a new place and we know that our champions of prayer are behind us and their prayers have sustained us; and empowered us; and keep us going. So thanks for your prayers they mean so much to us, more than words can say.
Well, that's all for now... until next time... play nice in the sandbox out there will ya! (to quote one of our local DJ's)
God is Good all the Time!

Death & Dying

This morning during the breakfast hour we had a strange and unusual conversation going on. It was about our life insurance and the certainty of our deaths, all of our deaths really. The facial expressions of our kids as they listened in were priceless to say the least. Every once in a while there was an extended sigh or awe followed by a mumbled confidence builder that we weren’t planning on dying any time soon – right?
Lets face it, death is just one of those subjects that doesn’t get a lot of air time unless your hanging around funeral homes, cancer wards or watching the history channel. The reality of course that we all must face our own deaths, therefore, being prepared is really wise, helpful even hopeful.
This week one of my best friends in Peachland suffered a heart attack. (See blog below) His story was fascinating to say the least. While taking a nice Sunday afternoon hike with his wife he began to feel the symptoms. Eventually his wife who is a nurse began to suspect the worst and had him lie down while she hustled down to our neighbourhood to call 911. While lying there, trying to control his breath to find a rhythm that reduced the pressure in his chest, he was suddenly aware that this may be the place where he was to pass away. He said that he told the Lord he was ready and that if this was going to be the last thing he saw on earth it was sure beautiful. He was at peace and he was ready to meet his Lord and friend Jesus. Death held no fear over him. Like the bible says, Death is the destiny of everyone; the wise man takes it to heart and prepares for it. My friend is prepared!
How about you? When was the last time you had a good chin wag over the subject of your own death? Are you ready to meet your creator? I certainly hope so. It is possible to be like my friend, ready at a moments notice to go on into eternity with Jesus. It begins with trusting him to give you new life in exchange for your sin ridden old life. It is one of those things that just should not be procrastinated over!
God is Good All the Time!

Pray for my Friend

Cheryl and I were out in Kelowna and Danae had stayed home. Our cell phone rang and it was Danae wondering about all the commotion happening right outside our front door. She reported that there were a couple of ambulances and the PFRS fire truck parked outside with emergency lights flashing. We told her everything would be fine and that I would be home in very short while. And that was about all there was to this story until the next day. In the morning I was trying to get my computer up and running and I was on the phone with my computer expert friend Jamie. At the end of our conversation he mentioned that it was too bad about what happened to one of the fellows in our Friday morning men's group. I told him I didn't know what he was talking about and that's when he spilled the news that our good friend and brother in Christ had suffered a heart attack while hiking up in the woods above our house on Sunday afternoon.
I couldn't get into Kelowna on Monday but yesterday I was able to go in and see him. He doing OK and under observation. He seemed in good spirits and is recovering. Though it was a mild heart attack it was a heart attack none the less and in that sense there is nothing mild about it! Any way if those of you who read my blogs wouldn't mind, I would love it if you could send up a prayer for his complete recovery from all this scary stuff.
Thanks and bless you all
God is Good All the Time!

Band Of Brothers

Yesterday I was able to attend my regular Friday morning 9-11 event. It is a group of about 6-8 men who meet together each week to enjoy a great homemade breakfast, cup or two of coffee, discuss the topics of the day, and eventually we enter into a time around God's Word and prayer. I started this group about 7 or 8 years ago and some of the members have come and gone but for the most part there is a solid core of terrific fellows. Doing life together, sharing the good times and the hard times, seeking the council of respected brothers, finding support when times are really tough, and being able to return the favour when times are tough for others. It is easily one of the most rewarding and beneficial events of my life here in Peachland. I will defiantly miss this group when it is time to set sail for NZ.
A band of brothers is what every man needs. Good brothers who are there for us, who are committed to our well-being, who have our best interests in mind even when it is a hard thing to say (or hear). "As Iron sharpens Iron so one man sharpens another"
Latter in the evening Cheryl and I took Paige and Danae to “The Santa Clause 3” movie. They invited their friends along and there was 8 of us in total. We had a very relaxing evening and it was fun to be together. Mackenzie went to a B.C. wide United Church Camp with a really close friend of hers out in Naramata. She will be back on Monday.
This morning Cheryl and I went for brunch with a couple of really great friends. It is something that we really enjoy doing together. Later this afternoon, P & D are having 15 friends over for a make-up party! I think I will go swimming or something just to get out of here. Then it is off to church in Vernon tonight.
I think I will drop by my old church tomorrow morning and say hello to everyone there.
Have a good one everybody!

God is Good All the Time!

YEE HA Cowboys for Jesus!

Winter happened yesterday! We got snow... 5 cm of the white stuff... which is pretty normal around this time of year I guess. I decided with a few promptings from my wife to go out into the wintery weather and drop in on a little local church gathering that meets on Thursday nights. Around the end of September our family friends, Blair and Brenda Bates felt led of the Lord to start a local cowboy church. It meets every second Thursday up the Peachland Riding Club in their club house. It all started back in late spring from a local fella who happened to be watching a cowboy church gathering on TV. He decided that Peachland needed one of those churches though he himself is not a "church-going" man much at all. He approached Blair because he knew he was an ordained minister and asked him if he would ever consider doing this sort of thing for the local cowboy community. After some prayer and careful planning they decided not to let this invitation slip by and started up a local chapter. They went online and found out there is quite the growing phenomenon that stretches from Texas to Alberta and BC and everywhere in between. The Lord led them to some very helpful folks who were already involved in the Cowboy Church movement and the rest as they say is history.
The service meets on Thursday evening’s because many of the weekends are taken up with rodeos. The format is simple, a few country sounding songs, a reading of some cowboy poetry, a simple salvation message and a few closing comments followed by some coffee, cookies and cake. I was blessed for having been there and Brenda, who happened to be the speaker last night, did a fantastic job of communicating the hope that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. If you want to check out this little church here is the link. http://www.bestlifesuccess.com/cowboyvalleychurch/
Enjoy, God is Good All the Time!

Macbeth RD Style

RD stands for readers digest. That’s what happened last night when MacKenzie’s drama class did a 30 minute drama of a play that would normally take closer to 2 hours. It was fun. Of course MacKenzie did an awesome job of her witch’s part. No pictures were taken last night but there is a rumour going around that tonight will be picture night. That means once again that I will post some pictures of this event later to the blog.
The theme of the story is clear; it is not good to want something you shouldn’t have but could take. And, if you end up taking what is not right for you to take you certainly will not enjoy it for long. And when you take something that does not belong to you then the chances of even your once best friend deciding to take it from you are very real. Basically, Macbeth is a masterpiece of the consequences of deciding to ignore the very basic moral codes of life given by God in the 10 commandments - not to covet - not to kill - not steal - and not to lie. It also includes a healthy dose of "bad company corrupts good morals" and be careful who you marry! Even though the kids raced through the key moments of the Shakespearean play the message was clear as if a preacher had stood up and preached a sermon. I loved it. Tonight I will post the pictures.
God Is Good All the Time! (PS Mackenzie wants you to check out her blog as well...kenz911.blogspot.com)

Take your Daughter to Work Day

Today should be a pile-0-fun. MacKenzie has a class at school that is expecting me to take her along with me to work. As it turns out she inadvertently invited 3 of her friends to join us for take your daughter to work day. Right to left... Teala, Bryanne, Catilena (cat) and MacKenzie. So now I have to come up with enough work for them to do to keep them busy. I spoke to the fire chief about it yesterday and we have one exciting time planned for them. They will be able to help me clean a couple of shelves, return a whole lot of pylons to thier proper place in the hall, tag SCBA bottles for service and go for a fire truck ride along. Should be a real busy time. I have a suspicion that they will be working pretty hard and that the time will go by pretty fast. (Although they may not think so) Anyway, I am just happy to have my kid hang around with me for a good part of the day. We have lunch planned at the fire hall and during that time they have planned an interview with me. What a fun day ahead. Then tonight, we are all off to watch MacKenzie’s school play, Macbeth I believe it is. She ended up with one of the Witches parts with a few others. If we take a few pictures of our time together today I will post a couple later on.
Have a good one everyone.
God is Good All the Time!

A Study in Contrasts

This is what this week looked like in my home town of Beaverlodge Alberta



And this is what it looked like this week in my current home town of Peachland...need I say more!

The 20 Year Old Flag

Curious things flags are. When I was about 25 I decided I wanted to collect flags. I was really serious about it at first. I got my first flag free when I wrote to my local MP and told him I was going to live in the Philippines for a year. He sent me a big 3 ft by 5 ft Canadian flag. I didn’t have anywhere to put it in the tiny little flat we stayed in so I used it as a bed covering. But while I was there I mentioned my desire to get a Pilipino Flag to a friend and low and behold it wasn’t long before I was able to find one. That got me pretty excited. I remember looking around the city of Manila for more flags but could not find a store that had flags for sale. I’m sure there must have been one there but I couldn’t find it. It was not like I searched high and low or anything it was just one of those things I had in the back of my mind and from time to time I would look for a flag shop when I had a bit of spare time.
On our way back to Canada after my year long experience there we traveled home via Hong Kong. It was there that I stumbled across a flag store but to my dismay they were all way to expensive and I only had a small amount of money left over. I seem to remember stumbling across some older cloth flags that were on sale so I decided to spend my last bit of money on this flag that I thought was pretty cool. It was packed away in my suit case, and then it was packed away in a box of memorabilia, and over time it made its way from the top of the pile in the box to the bottom of the pile.
Yesterday, (about 20 years later) as I was packing up our house to move I stumbled across this box. There is lots of stuff in it from my world travels, money I had colleted, t-shirts that were from all over, even some old vinyl records that kept for some reason and of course those three flags; Canadian, Pilipino and the third flag made of cloth, which I am pretty sure I bought while wondering the streets of Hong Kong. You’ve probably already guessed what country this flag is from but if not it is the Flag if New Zealand. Now, I don’t think I can read too much into such a "coincidence" but you have to admit, it is very cool that something I purchased some 2o years ago would have such a bazaar comeback two months before we move to New Zealand, the land of the Southern Cross.
Just another cool story to add to the many we have been experiencing these days.
God Is Good All The Time.

God's Waiting Room

Sorry to all my faithful blog readers out there for the lack of Blog enthusiasm coming from me these days. All that has been happening in our lives has really diminished my interest in blogging or even reading other blogs. But now that the house is sold and the tickets are bought and we are in the stage of gathering more support, cleaning, organizing and packing up our house, and it seems that daily we are being surprised by the Lords provisions for us, I am more interested in blogging once again.
The journey of the past few months has included a long and almost depressing wait. God's waiting room is one of the most frustratingly gracious places in the universe.
What do I mean by that...? I mean that the process of waiting is extremely foreign to us in this instant culture. We just don’t see the reason for or any benefit at all from waiting. We see it as a waste of time, we feel as though we are spinning our wheels and going nowhere fast, we don’t like the thoughts that come scampering through our minds at odd hours of the day or night. These thoughts come in the form of deep searching questions that may have undesirable answers or even no answer at all. Time spent sitting in a waiting room or in a traffic jam or in a line up can now be eased by cell phone conversations, PDA's with internet access, ipods with movies, mp3 players with music and laptops with work on them. If we fill it with enough noise or activity it may seem to pass quicker. This habit is hard to break when it comes to being patient while in God's waiting room.
Why? There are probably many reasons for our impatience not the least of which is a sinful lack of ruthless trust in the Lord. But I wonder these days if that lack of trust, as it relates to waiting, has something to do with our concept of Sabbath rest having long since been forgotten. I think we would find this waiting time much more rewarding if we have practiced the power of an attitude of Sabbath in our lives on a daily or at least regular basis.
At the root of Sabbath rest is a simple trust in the Lord that he has our best interest in mind and he will provide as our Jehovah Jirah! When we practice Sabbath it is like working a muscle to strengthen it so it is strong when it’s tested. Likewise when we are in God’s waiting room we find that our trust is tested. If we have exercised trust in regular Sabbath we will benefit from the waiting.

answers to prayers

Well, it has been an interesting week full of ups and downs but what a difference one day can make. Thank you for all the prayers and this blog is about how they are being answered. First, the visa stuff is all off and we had only one call back...so far... and the processing has begun for that. Keep praying that we find favour with the NZ government and they accept our visas.
Second, after several calls both from myself and my District Superintendent we finally got the E.I. office to lift the "not approved" status from my E.I. claim. I found out this morning that all the issues had been settled and that we should be receiving some financial assistance very soon... I hope that means tonight! But anyway, thanks again for praying for God has reversed the original decision and now we qualify for E.I.
Third, we heard back from the founder of the society I had applied to join with and he was in favour of the idea pending we find out and settle any legal issues that may arise and also have a workable plan in place that tax Canada would approve of. So a couple more hurtles there but very doable and we are anticipating that by the end of this week we will hear final word from this group. Once that is in place we can begin the HUGE task of raising funds to cover our living expenses, traveling expenses, setting up a new home expenses and ministry expenses for the next two years. We think we need in the ball park of about $100,000.00 in order to do all this. PRAY PRAY PRAY.
Finally, we listed our house this past weekend with a realtor friend. Please pray that we sell it soon as that would be a real blessing to get the sale out of the way. Once that happens then Cheryl will begin the process of winding down her work, training her replacement and then go full time into packing and preparing our family for our new lives.
Hope all is going well for everyone out there.
God is Good All the Time

please pray

I must have made an error in my initial application for E.I. because we just received word that for two reasons we are not eligible to receive E.I.
The first reason was that I had put on my application that I was not available for work. So because I was not available to work they didn’t bother to follow the rest of the information I had given them regarding contacting my District Superintendent for more information. Not only that but I guess I am very frustrated that since I sent my initial application I have filed 3 times over the last 6 weeks stating clearly that I was ready and willing to work. So, no one called me, no one spoke to my DS as to why I had filed for a claim if I was not "ready and willing to work"! AARRGG, you wait for six weeks squeaking by on the little you have and then wham, they leave you high and dry!
The second reason they gave was that I had "left my former employment without just cause" so I don’t qualify. But my DS had assured me that this was going to be looked after if I made sure to inform them to contact him directly. However, they obviously did not do as I had instructed them to do so now I have two separate decisions that need to go through an appeal process and then another 6 week wait to receive the necessary financial help! This is all just very frustrating to me today.
Anyway, I hope and pray that my DS and I can get all this cleared up tomorrow and therefore I am asking you to pray that the Lord grants me favour with the insurance agent and that I can hold my temper so as not to make the situation worse than it already is.
Thanks for praying.
God Is Good All the Time!

Are you a non-conformist?

I am not working much these days. I am preaching a few sermons, doing some running around for our next season of ministry in New Zealand and I do have one more wedding to perform in a couple of weeks, but the pressure is most definitely off. I was trying to think of a time when I have not been working...and couldn’t come up with one. I suppose you could say going to school but even that was work and prep work for future employment, so if you don’t include that I have basically had a steady job since I started helping dad on the farm picking rocks and working farm equipment. I'm not sure when that started but I think it was around 14 or 15 years old.
Anyway, since I have the most amount of time I get to do the odd jobs like groceries and other errands. While picking up some fresh peaches the other day on a local farm I found myself in the middle of a very curious exchange of words with the farmer’s son.
As I arrived he was stacking a box of peaches on top of some other boxes but it was the wrong size of box and did not conform to the other boxes and he mentioned this out loud as I approached. For some strange reason I blurted out, " Non - conformist eh? Well you better sell me that box!" I still am not sure why I said that. He responded straight back with the question that buzzed around in side my head for a good portion of the day. He asked, "So, are you a non-conformist then? To which I responded with a solid "sometimes" without any hesitation!
It started me down a road of wondering why I answered - sometimes. As a Christian I am not to conform to the pattern of this world but I am to conform to the image and likeness of the Son of God. So my answer was correct. I do seek after the conformist way of life when it comes to my faith but I also strive to be a non-conformist when it comes to the ideas, philosophies, and attitudes of this present darkness.
I have also noticed that within the society of saints there are those who I deem as sub-cultured Christians. I try and stay away from their pattern of thinking as much as possible so in that sense I would tend to see myself as non-conformists within the faith. This tends to get me into some trouble whenever our ideologies collide within the context of the church. Then I wonder how much of that is just pride sometimes and not healthy? I like to think of myself as someone who would conform to being a non-conformist within the Kingdom of God and the society of saints. If that makes any sense!
It is funny how a simple exchange of words that happens in a split second of time can open up a world of thought within us. In this exchange of words the depths of what is in one's heart is exposed. I was blessed by that little exchange.
God is good all the time!

Cam's New BBQ

Hey little brother, I couldn't help but think of you when I saw this picture... Put another shrimp on the bawbie will ya... haha!

A moment to ponder...

This little picture I borrowed from another blog site. I kind of feel like this guy... my new dream, our new adventure is out there across this enourmous body of water! To bad he spoiled the pic with the writing but you get the idea I am sure. I've taken a few moments to ponder and boy does it seem like ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM and the summer has blasted by! Ireland and New Zealand took two big chunks of my summer time so it seems like it just plain old fashioned disappeared on me.
I have been busy preparing a series of 4 sermons that I will preach on Sunday evenings in a park around Peachland. I preached my first one last night and I had a nice crowd of about 10 folks who heard about it and came to be a crowd for me so I didn't have to preach to a camera lens. I will be doing this for the next 3 Sunday evenings so I can get them all done in the nice weather and put onto a DVD to send to International Christian Center in Howick. They suggested I do this as a way to keep in touch with them through this 4 month transition period.
Each message builds upon the new purpose statement that I suggested for this Church while I was with them. It reads this way... "The purpose of ICC is to be a group that together with Jesus gathers the nations. To love them, make disciples of them, baptizing them and teaching them in the power of the Holy Spirit and to the glory of God the Father."
I am really enjoying the process of creating these messages as they are in a way solidifying the call of God to go to Howick and join this fellowship in this task.
God is good all the time!

Last Day Journey into New Zealand

Today we left mid morning and headed out to visit John's sister and brother in law. The drive was spectacular and it seemed as though around each corner it grew even more so. This is quite the diverse little country. It is green like Ireland but the hills are more "hiller" and the Coastal mountains rise up in the back drop and are beautiful. The rich volcanic soil makes pretty much everything grow. There are lots of different coloured birds and many dairy cattle and sheep farms dotting the country side. There was too much scenery to catch while driving in a car so I didn't snap a lot of pictures. However, I did get to pick a fresh orange off of a tree and eat it. Now that was a real treat. This evening I plan on relaxing, packing up my things and getting ready for the long trip home tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. I leave Tuesday morning at 7:00 and I arrive in Vancouver at 7:00 Tuesday morning. I have had a wonderful experience here but I am looking forward to getting home to be with the family. Thanks for reading along and catching up on all that I have been up to here and for your prayers that the Lord would show us the way and he has been doing just that. Good on ya mate!

WE'RE COMING TO NZ!

We informed the International Christian Center of the Christian and Missionary Alliance of NZ that we are officially going to accept their invitation to come and be their pastor. The news was recieved with vibrant applause and cheers. So now comes the very hard work of getting here. Please pray with us that all the many details that must come together for us to get here by January 2007 do indeed come together.
After church I was invited out to lunch at Kathleen's home with Mark & Rowena, Rachelle (Matt is taking picture) plus kids and Mary. We had a great feast of Thi steak stew and great fellowship. Very excellent.
Tonight I will be meeting with the ICC Executive and anyone else who may come. We will be exploring options for how to handle the distance between us coming here in January and the distance from NZ to Canada over the next 4.5 months. Should be an interesting meeting.

Prayer, Lunch, Shop, Dinner, and Drop into Bed!

Yesterday was a full day of activity. It started out with an early morning prayer time with some of the church members. New to the group was Franks wife Mary-lace. Afterwards Frank, Mary-lace and Jerad took me out for breakfast to Denny's! It was pretty good as far as Denny's goes but the fellowship was second to none.

After lunch I was dropped off at the Pakaranga Shopping center where I hunted high and low for some gifts and some special items for the family back in Canada. Then I was home for a few minutes and whisked off to supper with Eli & Nitz plus their friend Rose and their teenage children.

Errands and eating

Spent much of today taking care of the finishing details of visa applications and running a few errands related to banking. Then we hurried back to be home in time for Pastor Eddy and his wife and his co-pastor Mariam of the Chinese Alliance Church to take me out for a traditional Chinese lunch. It was absolutely delicious! We took a tour of his church building they had converted from an old soup factory. It was pretty cool.





This evening Carolyn and I had supper with Dandy and his wife Fran. It was a traditional Filipino meal and again, it was very yummy. This church is full of such wonderfully friendly people. Maybe it is partly because they are all from other countries and they have learned the importance of reaching out and building vital relationships. It is the main weapon against loneliness in a strange land.