A Letter to the Hurt

You've been hurt!

Hurt by the ones you trusted, the ones you confided in. With not only your heart but also in some cases your soul.

You woke up one morning to find out they had not been living the upright spiritual Godly life you thought they were and you instantly start to question everything that they had ever taught you and everything you believe in.

Because of this, you struggle to forgive them and others, you battle with trust, you struggle in your spiritual life, and you struggle because you instantly question whether they are real or not. You have no idea who you should trust with your heart and who you shouldn't.

Why? Because everything you had built your life foundation on, got kicked out from beneath you.

Today I want you to know, I hear your heart!

I hear your pain!

I hear your frustration!

I hear your cries!

It's painful to realize you have been lied to your whole life. That someone you had trusted was a fraud and that you had built your life foundations on what they have said and you are forced to evaluate what is truth including everything you believe in.

It's hard, I give you that grace. I am here to tell you today of an alternative. An alternative to thinking you are simply a victim of outside circumstance and can't be mended.

That Mender is Jesus Christ. He is not a human. He does not fail. He will never go against what He has said. He will never change His mind and He is always simply a prayer away.

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almight. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress My God in Him I will trust."
Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge His truth shall be your shield and buckler You shall not be afraid of the terror by night Nor the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilience that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked....
"Because He has set his love upon Me, therfore
I will deliever Him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon me,
And I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honour him.
With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation."

Psalm 16:1-7,14-16NKJV

Count Your Blessings

A cold trickle of water slowly makes its way through my hair and down my back, making me shiver and gives me the ever present reminder that I am/was not at home.

A little malnourished kid is abandoned on the side of the road. Why? You may ask, his mom died and his dad doesn’t want to be responsible. So bad is this little kid off that he looses his eyesight.

A child screams and runs out of the house as their angry, drunken father stagers into the room.

A young teen girl shakes with fear along a cold stony cell wall trying to drown out the pain of what has happened to her in the passed couple of hours. It seems to her as if this must be the end of all hope.

Tragedy strikes and we are forced to look at reality again. Our lives are just but for a day!

Here in Southern Ontario we are protected from a lot. Thanks to the News Media it is almost our only way of staring devastation in the face. Yet we have tragedy and heartbreak right here on our back door. We are so protected from everything around us.

Yet one could get so depressed by looking at all the terrible things around us and because your or my day maybe going a little backwards. But when you look at just simply all the regular things that God has blessed us with it overwhelms me every time.

Let me back up a bit to where this all started……..

With my job I spend a lot of time on the Internet, and in this case Twitter and everybody was talking about the devastating sites of Alberta. It is very devastating, and the reality stares us all in the face. If you were ordered to leave your house and you had twenty minutes to get out of there, what would you all grab? Where would you go? What would you do? How would you emotionally respond?

That night me and some of my sisters were riding home in the car and as always listening to one of our favorite groups, it was an old CD and it was good to hear all those favorites again. The song came on “Count Your Blessings”. And that is how this all started.

So I have come to count my blessings… one by one…

I want to start with the most important blessing of all and that is Jesus Christ. I am thankful that He saw us down here on earth as sin sick people in need of a Savior. I am also thankful that He was willingly to leave heaven, come to earth as a man sacrificing His own life for my sin and the rest of the world’s so that we would have the gift of having salvation and eternal life!

I am thankful that it’s an all-sufficient gift. God didn’t just choose a few people to except this Perfect Gift, but it is available to all.

I am thankful that God is Faithful. One of my favorite songs is an old song titled “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” As a kid I disliked the song for the sole purpose that it took …so long to sing… but when I grew older and grasped the depth of the words of the song if forever became a favorite.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, Oh God my Father, There is no Shadow of Turning with Thee, Thou changest not,… Pardon for sin and peace that endureth,… Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all Mine with Ten Thousands beside…”

…and forever I will sing.

I am thankful for parents. I am thankful that they love God and serve Him with everything that they have. I am thankful that they love me and the rest of my siblings.

Something else that I’m thankful for that I haven’t mentioned yet. I am thankful for the Church and that is not just the local Body of Believers that I choose to apart of but that also includes the Global Body of Believers that because of Jesus Blood we are apart of this Body and are unified as the Global Church. My reason behind this one is because when you are miles away from home and a lady walks up to you and with a hug and her broken English cries the words “Jesus Bless You!” It warms every bone in your body, and even though the communication with her is difficult at best, it’s Jesus Christ that bonded our hearts!

Tonight, I have a house to sleep in. I have a warm bed. My parents and my siblings are safely all under the same roof, I have food to eat, cloths to wear, and no foreseeable threats to any of my family or our belongings.

I could go on naming all the things that I am thankful for because I am not near done, but then this poor blog post would sit forever in draft mode and you would never have the opportunity of reading it because I would never get done with my list.

I challenge you to consider what you are thankful for, maybe it isn’t much but write it down, make a list, keep adding to it. Focus your life at counting your blessings. It has a way of changing your perspective on a lot of things!

Even when the day is going completely backwards.

Hey, you still have something to be thankful for. At least it wasn’t raining, or maybe it did rain… at least it rained because it watered all the freshly planted soil!

And when the shower is cold and cold water trickles down your back remember you could be bathing in ice cubes!

“Count your blessings… again… and again… and again… and all of a sudden you’ll have blessings you didn’t know you have.”

Changing Our/Your Church, from a Church to a Church

They cry but no one sees them.

They scream but its not heard.

They run and no one stops them.

They hide because no one hears them.

They wallow in there pain and slowly slip through the cracks, well we stand idly by, watching it all happen. Instead of helping them out we criticize them.

We have depression issues and instead of showing them Jesus, we either tell them to get over it or put them on pills. I do realize sometimes it is a medical need.

Instead of helping the victims we praise and lift up the victimizer to the point he or she can do no wrong. Pulling our victims down even further to the point they have no hope and no escape.

Thus, leading the way for those behind then to repeat this process again, and again, and again, and we wonder what is wrong with our churches.

We've watched this go on for years, decades and even centuries, yet we still sit here and wonder. What is wrong with our/your church?

The hurting people around us continue to faint and fall and yet we sit idly by and do nothing about it.

To be free from bondage is anybody's dream why then those of us who are free in Christ sit here and do nothing about it...

Where are you men and women of God?

When will we who know the truth stand up for what we believe? And follow God's two greatest commandments.

First to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and Second, to love our neighbor as ourselves or as Christ loved His Church. If I may jog your memory, Christ died for you, so how far are you willing to go for that hurting person in your Church or community?

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22: 36-39NKJV

What if we acted on the benefits of others instead of focusing solely on ourselves?

What would happen if we actually considered loving our neighbor better then ourselves?

We've already proven we can band together to save the needy in a foreign country.

I ask you, can you band together with believers in Christ to rescue your physical Church neighbor (the one who is suffering and hurting) from hell and damnation and show them Jesus Christ?

As Believers in Jesus it is our responsibility to make sure that every hurting and lost soul hears of the Truth of Jesus Christ, the Truth that will set them free from their bondage.

We will never change the world by going to Church in a physical building and having Sunday service.

We will only change the world, once we discover the benefits of courageously standing out and serving our neighbor as the Church of Jesus Christ and that's not in a physical sense.


Are you willing to allow your Church to become not just a physical building but rather a group of worldwide believers who represent Jesus Christ? That's a pretty high calling, because to be a Christian means you walk as Christ did.

Or are we supposed to be nothing more that a group of people represented by a steeple, two by fours, insulation, doors, a few benches, and a name printed on the front of your building.

Some how I don't believe this was Christ's intent when He said "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Matthew 28:19NKJV

I believe that if we finally got this figured out it would do number FOR the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

How far are you willing to go, for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

Are you willing to stand alone physically, in order to rescue the hurting souls around you?

I ask you, what are you willing to do?

Heaven

Do you ever dream about heaven?

I do!

Ok, so maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm crazy for sitting down and wondering what it must be like to sing and never run out of air, or to always be on key, or to sing and never get tired, the sound must be absolutely amazing, breath taking to be exact, and oh the beauty that must be there! I think it would make earth seem pretty boring and plain.

To dreaming of standing among the millions of people who have gone on before us and join in a song no person can ever do justice to here on earth! It sends shivers up and down my spine just thinking about it.

"I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me a sinner, condemned unclean... How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be: Oh How Marvelous, Oh how wonderful, is my Savior's love for me!"

Oh, our human earthly voice can not do justice to that song and we only get a little flavor of what it must sound like in heaven here on earth.

But then who knows what we are going to do in Heaven, after years and years of praise and adoration will we finally sit down and have those talks or will our hearts still be so full we cannot stop singing and praising our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the One who has saved us from everlasting death and pain.

We already know that we won't be able to measure time in Heaven and that in itself is enough to blow our little human brains. Man have tried for years to understand eternity and we just can't. It is completely impossible.

I wonder!!!

"And He shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb..." Revelations 21:1NKJV

Not only does the singing get me thrilled, but everything else, it will be truly amazing.

And so I will continue to dream of heaven, the beauty, the music, the awesomeness of meeting my Savior for the first time face to face, and I do hope for the opportunity to sit down with those of old and to hear the good ole stories of how God brought them through!

I do believe even the Second Coming of Christ will be breathtaking! If you need a slight picture of what that day could be like read the Book of Revelations.

And so I will keep dreaming and anticipating that glorious day!

I ask you to anticipate with me, for that moment when we will be forever with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen,

Humility and the Grace to Overcome

How big are you???

OK, so I don't mean in size, I mean in mind?

Who are you?

Do you look at your accomplishments or the things you have done, as your own work or God's?

Do you think you are humble about what God has done in your life?

If you take the time to boast about your current responses to these questions, I will begin to question your humility on the spot. :)

Humility- the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc!

You know the funny thing about humility the moment you think you have it, you've already lost it.

The struggle towards the top of the mountain is old, its been around since the beginning of humanity. In fact that's how sin first came into the world. The desire to be somebody, to be wise regardless of the end result.

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate...Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked... Genesis 3:6-7NKJV

And we could go down through history, story after story of people who thought it would be better to knock God off the top of the top of the mountain and instead place themselves on the top. It's been bread into us as little kids, why else do we play "king of the castle"?

We take pride in not only our own accomplishments but we try to make what God has done our own accomplishments!!! The stories have repeated themselves again and again but we've only changed the names and the numbers of the year on the calendar!

The Jews had the same issue, even after they had been cleansed of their sin. "For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh." Galatians 6:13.

Paul went on to say, "Hey, wait a moment you are making them do something, that isn't needing to be done anymore, because of Jesus Christ and the Cross only so that you can boast in the fact of what you have done. When you accept Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross being circumcision means absolutely nothing, but you being a new Creation in Him."

But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation." Galatians 6:14-15

Pride is such an ugly thing and is the result of sin entering the world and only with God's help can it be brought under the blood and we can be free from it and grace shows itself strong once again!!!

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

You and me, are both a work in progress and until God sees fit to take us out of this world, He will continue to work on us and mold us into the human beings that He wants us to be and that is going to involve grace. Grace that exceeds anything that we could have ever imagined.

"And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, them am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

The key being, for when I am weak, and at the end of of everything that I can give, I am strong, because of Christ. 

I love this song and for me it explains grace way better then I could ever try. It's entitled simply "Grace", and feel free to click here to listen to the song.

My heart is so proud. My mind is so unfocused.I see the things You do through me as great things I have done.And now You gently break me, then lovingly You take meAnd hold me as my Father and mold me as my Maker. 

At times I may grow weak and feel a bit discouraged,Knowing that someone, somewhere could do a better job.For who am I to serve You? I know I don't deserve You.And that's the part that burns in my heart and keeps me hanging on. 

As I walk with You, I'm learning what Your grace really means.The price that I could never pay was paid at Calvary.So, instead of trying to repay You, I'm learning to simply obey YouBy giving up my life to you For all that You've given to me. 

[Chorus:]I ask you: "How many times will you pick me up,When I keep on letting you down?And each time I will fall short of Your glory,How far will forgiveness abound? "And You answer: " My child, I love you.And as long as you're seeking My face,You'll walk in the power of My daily sufficient grace. "

And so God is saying to you and me today, "My child, I love you, and as long as you are seeking My face, you'll walk in the power of my daily sufficient grace."

Amen,

8 Ways to Get the Most out of the Bible in 2016

OK, I apologize for the really long title but I didn't know how to shorten it...

The older I get (and that statement just made me feel really old) the more I realize that studying the Bible and making the Bible a part of our lives every moment of the day is important.

The Bible says, "Pray without ceasing" but how do you do that when you work eight hours out of the day, spend forty minutes a day on the road driving, and approximately an hour a day eating... and that list could go on, you get my point. When do you pray, when can you spend time studying God's Word?

And so I have but this list together with the help of some other sources...

1. Ask God in Prayer to help you

I make this step number one because it really is step number one in everything. Ask God to help you get more out of His Word. He will deliverer I promise.

When you ask God for help He will show you in ways that will "literally blow your mind"(Sorry that statement is borrowed).

2. Start a Bible Plan and Stick with it.

What are you reading in the Bible now? What are you studying now?

Where do you want to be in the Bible in a year from now? A month? Two weeks?

What do you want God to teach you in 2016?

Create a plan, Stick with it. Tell somebody else what you are doing and make yourself accountable to them. Get them to ask you how its going... weekly... monthly... whatever you personally need. It might need to daily to start. :)

3. Get An Audio Bible

YouVersion Bible App

Along with this I want to include if you have a Smart Phone get a Bible App. Find one that you like and stick with it. I love the "You Version" Bible App. Not only does it have different versions in the Bible that I flip back and forth from, but on some of the versions it has Audio Capability.

You are going to hear me say this again, shut the music off. Listen to the Bible while you run or do your morning workout, on your drive to and from work, or when you are making breakfast.

Trust me I know how easy it is to go for the music but choose rather to listen to a Chapter in the Bible.

Truth is in the time that it takes you to listen to two songs, you could listen to the first chapter in Matthew.

4. Shut the music off and spend time thinking about God's Word

I love my music. I would listen to music any chance that I have... but sometimes we surround ourselves with all of the today's noise that we forget to sit in quietness before the Almighty God and allow Him to speak.

How can I apply the verse that I read this morning or last night to my life? Ask God in the quietness of that moment for that direction.

This is likely one of the things that I fail the most miserably at... but I'm learning, learning to sit in solitude, quietness, and peacefulness before a Holy God. Some of the best times that I can remember are the drives to and from work well I worshiped God and prayed. If the truck windshield could tell you stories, of all that I have learned driving to and from work. I am sure that it would write a very thick book.

Spend time studying God's Word. I don't care if it is in the morning, evening, before you go to bed, or halfway through the day.

I know how it goes, you hate mornings, and there is no way that if you got up a half hour earlier that you could study the Bible, because you spend your twenty minute drive to work trying to wake up. I get it. I am the expert at waking up with only enough time to get myself out of bed, get ready, and occasionally have breakfast.

I've tried studying the Bible in the mornings, and it doesn't work. Anybody in my family could give you about five reasons why this doesn't work. But we won't go there because that really isn't my point here. For me evenings work best, before I go to sleep at night... and then my wonderful Bible App wakes me up in the morning with a random Bible verse that I read and its that little kick that I need.

5. Highlight, Bookmark, Scribble, Create notes around verses.

I learned this from my Grandma, although I didn't get to know her that well spending a few moments reading her Bible could teach you a lot. She highlighted key verses and beside them would be a little note an inspiration or a prayer she had. Reading through her Bible is like story time with Grandma, even though she is no longer with us.

For myself since I have picked up this habit... I find it inspiring because I date my notes. Go back six months, a year, two years, four years later and read them. That's what was happening then, "Thank-you God for bringing me through that."... or "hey, wow I was so stupid, God Thank-you for teaching me so much in the past year."

I love sticky notes for this reason. They were the best invention ever known to man-kind.

Your own personal notes become inspiring and encouraging for yourself. Also no different than my Grandma. If the Lord doesn't return before we all have Grand-kids, and we pass off the scene. Your Grand-kids will find it inspiring to read through your Bible.

6. Discover, Study, and enjoy the Bible with friends and family

Get a support group together. Don't make it to big of a group.

But study God's Word together over coffee and chocolate, tea and biscuits...etc! you get my point.

Make your friendships grow because you learn to know each other spiritually.

Learn to know your friends and family and how their personal walks with Jesus Christ are going.

7. Journalize your walk with God

This has been one of the biggest things that has helped me. A journal, I don't write every day, but I try to write as often as I can.

Write your prayers out... and again make sure you start off with the date at the top of your page.

Write in your journal what God has been teaching you in your study time. It makes it stick a little better or at least it does for me.

The best investment that I ever made was a 100 page spiral bound notebook... I have an office job so this works well for me... I have this notebook on my desk and at the beginning of the day I write the date and so anytime I have an inspiration whether it be a quote, something God gives me or simply the reference to a Bible verse I write it down... and later in my devotional time I look into it a little deeper if it needs that. Sometimes its simply a prayer request. It can be whatever... There are no rules in what you write there.

This may not be somethings you want to simply share with everybody so in a public office space a spiral bound notebook might not be the greatest thing. :) Maybe simply emailing yourself these inspirations might be a better thought. You need to figure out what works for you.

8. Share God's Word

We all have Social Media, or at least most of us. We have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc! Use your social media to honor and glorify God. Share your inspiration even if it is just a verse. I don't know home many times I have flipped onto social media and a friend of mine has posted a verse and an inspiration and it was exactly what I needed. Do that for the next person. If it inspired you, I can guarantee that out of your approximate 250 friends on Facebook somebody is going to need to hear what you have to share.

But don't limit your sharing of God's Word to just social media... your unbelieving coworkers need to hear what God has done in your life or maybe its just a random stranger.

Sometimes the simplest things, speak far bigger volumes than anything else. Help that elderly lady cross the street. Open the door for a stranger that has their arms full.

When you meet somebody on the street, you never know what they have been trough already that day or are going through. Where there is a need, there is a call. If you see a need God may be calling you. It can be God's way of calling you to minister into somebodies life. Don't allow those opportunities to go undone.

---
Please be advised there are not only eight ways to get the most out of the Bible in the next year. This is only a start. I hope this will be the start that you need and will help you discover on your own more ways to get more out of the Bible. 

Day after Christmas

Wow, I can't believe that Christmas is over already, it feels again like this season has went by so fast.

And so now we return back to work and back to our usual daily chores whatever they may be. January is a dual month, nobody ever does a whole lot cause they are all broke from Christmas and its the time of year you find a lot of people simply down and out.

It's like the season of Joy and anticipation just melted away like the delicate slipper in Cinderella when the clock struck twelve.

I have asked myself this question for years, does it have to be this way? Why... does it have to be this way? And what can I do, to stop that "day after Christmas" dullness?

This was inspired by a song I heard for the first time a few years ago and have listened to it a few times since.

"Happy the day after Christmas, Merry the rest of the year, Even when Christmas is over, the LIGHT OF THE WORLD is still here."

We so quickly go into our dreary minds after Christmas, and in doing so we forget even after Christmas, the true meaning of it all. Why can't we continue our happiness and show the world that Christmas actually means something to us?

Jesus wasn't born on Christmas Day and then disappeared at midnight. He is here. He is here with us and therefore I choose to be "merry the rest of the year" because the LIGHT OF THE WORLD, the SON OF GOD, the KING OF KINGS, and PRINCE OF PEACE is still here, and can be in each one of our hearts today if we ask Him.

Christmas isn't over, because Jesus didn't stay in the manger. He grew to be a man and then fulfilled God's Master plan for Him coming when He chose to die on the cross for you and I.

Giving a greater and bigger meaning to the Christmas message of joy, and hope, and salvation.

And so today, the "day after Christmas" don't allow the dullness to affect you, but rather take this opportunity to show the Gospel Christmas message all through the year.

God Bless,

That First Christmas Night

You ever wonder what the first Christmas must have been like?

The music of that night as the angles burst through heavens gates and into the sky, surprising the shepherds singing joyful and announcing tones of joy beyond measure... "A Saviour has come to earth to save that which was lost..."

Sing Gloria.... Sing Gloria....

As they hurried into town to spread the news to only later congregate at the birth place of the Saviour. It must have been simply breathtaking.

The Wisemen, well they had been traveling for years, searching for a meaning for the signs in the sky. And even after years of searching they still searched.... knowing that there was more... And so they went on a journey to Bethlehem to follow that Star. The Star that gave them hope, hope that they would someday find a Saviour.

You know I wonder what could the Wisemen tell us today... What signs in the sky could they see of not Christ's first coming but of His Second Coming. The Second Coming that will divide right from wrong, truth from lies, love and peace from hatred and crime and make all men bow their knee before a Holy God.

And still today although we may not have Wiseman in name, we still have people that search for a Saviour... A Saviour from their pain, a Saviour from their guilt, from their heartache, from the lies, the crime, the hatred, and discouragement.

And Oh poor King Herod, the man who was so filled with finding earthly fulfillment that he missed the coming of a Greater Man who could have filled and over stuffed that void he was so desperately trying to fill with earthly things.

You know how often are we King Herod's we need to fill a void in our lives so we run after kingship, authority, and lordship and when finally someone comes along and says, "Yeah, we are looking for a man to do just that" ... Instead of getting in our chariot and joining their search for the Greater Man we tell them keep searching and when you find Him, come tell me cause I want to kill off every hope of someone else taking what "fulfillment" I have already tried obtain through my earthly measures...

"And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him. bring back word to me. that I may come and worship Him also." Matthew 2:8

Then my thoughts turn to Mary... the thoughts and the emotions that must have run through her mind and soul as she could feel that child leap within her womb and then that perfect night holding that sweet child in her arms as wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.

No wonder Mary kept all the things that had happened and pondered them in her heart! She must have had so much to consider, so much to pray about and so much to rejoice about! Her spirit inside must have been so full and simply leaped for joy!

"But Mary kept all thse things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

We could continue on discussing each aspect and each character that made up that First and Greatest Christmas, but we won't.

We could likely find somebody for each of us that we could identify within the Christmas story. Each had their own experiences, life problems, and scenarios. And each person in their own way brought a gift that night, but received a much bigger gift in return. 

An amazing gift that only God could have given. And that gift is the gift of salvation. The gift that was given to all of us, that is there for each one of us to grab hold of and then in turn be able to share that gift with others.

This Christmas share that gift let others know what God has truely done in your life!!!

Forgotten Christmas

It's exactly 2 days away..... until Christmas tonight!

It's a wonderful time of year, the busyness of this season makes it almost impossible for me to sit down and actually type...

Snow is falling from the sky... (at least in some part of the world) and all I can think of is I love Christmas. 

I love everything about it. 

The music, the lights, the snow(even if I hate the cold), the warmth of a good cup of coffee in my hands as I relax in front of the toasty fire, the cookies, the togetherness that Christmas brings.

I just simply love it all.

But as I sit here and consider Christmas I can't help but think of the true meaning of Christmas. In today's world we have so forgotten the true meaning of it all...

We busily prepare for our festivities and, set up the decorations, set up for and plan events every night between now and New Years with never a dull moment and in it all this we have a "Forgotten Christmas"

I apologize because that title is not original with me, but rather an inspiration from somebody else that I find very inspiring...

Inspiring... not in the fact that I want to just skip Christmas and everything with it or simply forget the real meaning of Christmas but INSPIRING in the fact that as you think about the perfect gift God gave to us you are inspired to walk closer with Jesus Christ and learn to know more and more that True Gift from God....

Quiet My Heart Lord
And show me a Christmas
As Peaceful and Calm as
An old Cattle Shed... 

Slow down my pace, Lord
And  help me seek Jesus,
The Son of Your Love,
In a humble Straw bed... 

Steady my spirit, Lord
Call me from Chaos
In Simple Surrender
To pray and rejoice... 

Breakthrough the busy,
Too-bright celebration,
And whisper Your message,
"Be still... hear my voice..."

So this Christmas even with everything else that we love to do, take time to stop and remember what the Birth of Jesus Christ really means to you.

What difference did His birth make?

More to come......

Old Tunes and Old People

I stood and sang to a group of old people, yet all the while noticing a man in the front row, who no matter what song we sang, he sang his heart out as tears rolled down his cheeks. I talked with him afterwards, and listened as he told me his story of how precious some of those songs were to him and how each one held a precious spot in his heart.

I think back to some of my Grandparents favorite songs, two that stick out to me are “Trust and Obey for there is no other way” and “What a friend we have in Jesus”. Two songs that filled out a testimony and a legacy from my Grandparents and an encouragement to the next generation to live faithfully.

First Trust and Obey Jesus because there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to Trust and Obey and Second find a friend in Jesus… and take EVERYTHING to the Lord in prayer.

When I sit back and think, that’s quite a legacy I have to live up to. The legacy they left not only from how they lived their lives, but the encouragement that they left behind, in song, in written word, in spoken word, and that list could go on is proof of what they made priority in their life.

I have the privilege of meeting a lot of old people. I look across the groups of silver hair and you look into the eyes of each one and you know there is a story there, a past, a history. You have to think of everything they have seen in there 85 odd years of life… all the stories they could tell.

Sometimes you see a distant sadness in their eyes, sometimes regret, sometimes sorrow, and sometimes there is peace, there is a joy in that old ladies smile that just shakes your backbone and sends shivers up and down your spine, and a twinkle in that Grandpa’s eye that tells you there is a joy in his heart unlike any other.

…And I can still hear George Younce say it, “I love ole people, I really do.”

Yeah, I love them and some days they crack me up.

You ask for a song favorite and they immediately pull out the good ole songs from many years ago… “The Old Rugged Cross”, “In the Garden”, “How Great Thou Art”, and many, many more… I sing them with joy because (I know I am a weirdo) I love old songs. I also like some new ones to…:)

You see their dreamy eyes as you sing songs of heaven, knowing that some of them have a handful of loved ones there already. A tear slips down that wrinkled cheek as you sing, “Amazing Grace”, and you know it meant something to her.

Have you ever thought of what heaven must be like?

What will eternity be like?

There is no time there so how old will we be?

Will age really matter?

The Bible talks about singing...

What songs are we going to sing?

How many parts will there be?

An old man remarks, “Do you think out of all the thousands and thousands of songs we are going to sing in Heaven, that Jesus will just let me lead one song?”

Will we be able sing at all... or will we simply be flabbergasted by the beauty that surrounds us, we won’t know what to say or do but simply bow our knees in adoration? I can only imagine...

You know, I have wondered sometimes.

Of Red Cups, Mexico, and the True Meaning of Christmas

I could cry but instead I will pound my keyboard with my fingers (as my family would say). I flip onto my social media and this is what I see. I just might cry, my poor Mexican friend will finely understand when he or she buys their Starbucks Coffee that it’s a red cup representing Christmas all over the place instead of just representing what Christmas must be like in just my enclosed little bubble of Northern North America where the snow flies and we go skating on Christmas Eve.

Is everybody serious we are being offended over Red Holiday Starbucks Cups. First of all they are cups, second of all they are only “Holiday” cups, third of all since when was Starbucks a “Christian” company, fourthly have you bothered to look at how much you just spent buying that holiday cup and its contents(sorry to all you Starbucks lovers), fifthly did you think of the little kid that just died this morning because his or her parents couldn’t scrap together a dollar for this months allotment of rice to feed the family, sixthly... did you think of the man in Asia who just had his head cut off because he wouldn’t blaspheme the Name of Jesus, and seventhly... did you think of the One who came to earth giving up Heaven to only die so that you and I would have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and to someday experience Heaven forever. Is that not what Christmas is really about? Oh, I get excited!!!

My heart goes to the persecuted, the ones who are standing everyday for their faith, and well we in North America argue over red coffee cups. May I ask you a question? Would you seriously die over a coffee cup? If you wouldn’t, what’s your point for arguing?

I love what this one lady said, “The viral video that is making its rounds does not represent me! It actually irritates the snot outta me. We have bigger fish to fry, people! And persecution? Please! Take a little trip to Syria. I think you might change your definition. It’s a red cup, folks…. And for the love of Christmas, can we please conduct ourselves in a way that INVITES people to Christ, instead of repelling them?...”

I know even the non-christians are telling us Christians how to act... Now isn't this sad?

This is a prime example of the verse from my previous blog post and its becoming literal. “But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another.” Galatians 5:15NKJV

Yeah, we are getting consumed alright and we are working on dessert and enjoying or coffee with it! Oh people, it makes me want to scream. Why?

Do we have nothing better to do? Dare I say this, but it would be good of us all to take a trip to Syria, and experience the hardships of living your life as if you didn't know if you were going to live another hour, another minute, another day, or another week.

On maybe a different note…

One person said, “The absence of snowflakes on the cups denies the hope of Jesus” and another said “My Christmas mentality: If a store won’t promote Christmas re Starbucks, I’m not spending my hard earned money there.”

This starts to open a lengthy discussion I realize this, but the point I want to make is. If you want to make Christmas all about the snow, the snowmen, the sleighs, and the skates go live in Mexico where you never experience snow for Christmas because you have already missed the point here.

And well you are there please discover the hard way, that Christmas and snow don’t have to go together and so that you have the opportunity to read the first four books of the New Testament and study them hard because there you will find the purpose and the plan for Jesus coming to earth in the first place which we choose to celebrate on December 25 every year and furthermore could be celebrated in July so that we all could experience no snow on Christmas.

If you want to make snowflakes, sleighs, skates, etc! apart of Christmas let me ask you this… Why do we expect a worldly company to uphold our Christian faith and decorate their advertising materials, when they don’t believe it themselves?

I love what this person said and he is so right, “If you need a coffee chain to be your ambassador of Christ you need to re-examine your relationship with God.”

Oh people, my heart cries for your souls, because in our materialistic society we simply operate by what we see, feel, and touch and we have lost the portion of our brains to think to a higher level, where God calls us to think.

I challenge you this Christmas. Instead of looking at Christmas in the worlds view look at it as an opportunity that the world has given us as Christians to celebrate Christmas and provide a much easier, and an amazing opportunity to spread the Word of Jesus Christ in word, in deeds, in gifts, in our actions, on our social media pages, on our church websites, in and around our homes, our local communities and everywhere.

Use Christmas as an opportunity to share Jesus and the real meaning of why He came to earth, instead of arguing with people over decorations on a coffee cup. The world has given us this opportunity, lets use it well we still can because someday that door may close and then you and I will stand before a Holy God and will have to justify our reason for not sharing Jesus with a stranger, when we could have to an All Knowing God. Believe me, you and I don’t want to have to try and justify ourselves?

Hey even use the plain red coffee cup as an opportunity to write your own message on it and share a cup of coffee and a Word for Jesus with the homeless man, or the struggling young mother, etc! Starbucks just gave Christians a clean red board to write a Gospel message to a stranger and they don’t even now it…

Now go make good use out of that plain red “holiday” cup that Starbucks just gave you!!!

Share a message for Jesus this Christmas!!!

God Bless,

No Elbow Town

This all started last week with a Sunday School lesson, and if you could have all been in that Sunday school room, you would have had a small window into this story. As the kids sat there and tried to be like the people in No-Elbow-Town they all figured out how if they wanted to get somewhere they needed to help eachother and when they did it made life so much easier. I encourage you to try it yourself, with some friends, it is a very eye opening experience!

The story is told of a town called “No-Elbow-Town”. One day a man took a journey and came to visit this town. What he saw totally disturbed him. He saw row after row of tables full of delicious looking food. Food that would have made anybody's mouth water! Yet there was people laying in the streets too weak to get up and bring themselves to the table. 

Others who were still able to move and walk were sitting at the table but all were pale and suffered from extreme cases of malnutrition. They moaned and groaned with hunger pains unlike this man had ever heard. The man stood there in question. 

Why would these people be moaning and groaning with hunger in the face of tables laden with food. As this man got closer he understood what their issue was. Each person held a spoon full of food, but couldn’t get it to their mouth, because they had no elbows, just two straight arms. Even tho they tried hard they could not bring the food to their mouths.

It broke the poor man's heart to see this torture, and the groans of these poor people, as they held their food so close but still couldn’t get it to their mouths. They tried so hard, yet feeding themselves was not an option. The man was so discouraged, he tried to help but every time he would walk up to someone and say, “Let me help you, so you can have some food, I want to help you." 

The man was pushed away and yelled at. "I can do this myself," was their response. The man got so discouraged he left the town. He wanted so badly to help but without the cooperation of the people he would not be able to help them. 

The man continued his journey, the next day he walked into a small village but even before he got there he could tell there was lots of people bustling about. Going here and going there always in pairs of two. But again he noticed there was rows and rows of tables laden with food.

But instead of people moaning and groaning about. They were busy talking with each other, obviously been satisfied from their delicious meal.

As he got closer, He noticed that the people were not any different than the people in No Elbow Town, they couldn’t not bend their arms; they had no elbows. How did these people manage to eat? 

He was so curious that he stood there and watched them to total astonishment. As he watched, a man picked up his spoon and dug it into the dish in front of him. Then he stretched across the table and fed the person across from him! After he did this the man that he fed thanked him, and then he picked up his spoon and returned the favor by leaning back across the table to feed his new found friend.

The man suddenly understood these people had the same issue as what they did in No Elbow Town but they had learned to work together with their issues so that each man got fed and because of that they loved and treated each other with deep respect, because without their friend or someone else to be there, they couldn’t do anything for themselves.

"For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:13-14NKJV

As Christian people we are commanded to love one another. It isn't an option. It's the second greatest commandment Christ ever gave to His people. To be honest, we have likely failed the most at doing this one. Well, I guess we should start back at the beginning because when we fail the second, we have miserably failed the first! And the First is, to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. If you do exactly that, you will have no option but to love your brother or sister. It will just sort happen naturally.

We so often look at other people's abilities or disabilities as a handicap rather than looking at them as an opportunity to serve them. Knowing full well that we have disabilities of our own that we need help in. For those of you who know me you know I hate cooking, but computers I get. "How long does it take to cook a turkey?" you may ask. My response, ask mom or a sister I have no clue. Ask me what you need to do to fix your computer. Well there I can help you. You see even just at home, We all need eachother and that doesn't change at home, at church, in our work, in our play, in... the list could go on and on.

If we go back to the beginning of time. God made one man and one women. They were both human. One didn't have more power over the next, beyond God's designed of headship order. Why now 6,000 years down the road do we think that we can change that by lifting ourselves up above the next person? Because you can do something better than what I can or the other way around. What changed? When did helping and serving the next person because we love them become so wrong?

"...aren't we all made in the image of God, cause if one of us is hurting, none of us have peace, and if one of us is bound, than none of us are free... I am apart of you, you are apart of me, no longer strangers, we're sisters and brothers, we need each other..."

The next part gets more serious.

But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!" Galatians 5:15 NKJV

If I could give you a window into the mental picture that goes through my ever active brain when I read these scriptures I would because it would be worth all of your price for admission, at first I laugh for how stupid it sounds and then I cry in my heart, because in modern day Christendom this has so often become reality. If you are going to bite and chew on one another be careful that you don't completely devour each other or be-careful that you don't find that so fulfilling you forget to do anything else.

If we honestly served the next person, like we would want to be treated, or as Jesus would have done it would so shock society, I don't even want to say what could happen, because I do believe it would be breath taking.

Do I have it all figured out? No, I don't. I still fail miserably sometimes!!! But that is why God gifted us through His unending, undieing(if that's a word), never failing love, that gift of Grace!

I want to finish with the Conclusion from the Sunday School lesson because I can't say it any better...

"When we all help and serve one another, following Jesus becomes much easier."

And folks, that's ultimately where it is at. As we put our focus on serving others instead of ourselves we understand better and better how much Christ did for us, when He died on the Cross to save us from sin and from death.

God Bless,

To Much To Gain To Only Loose

I listen as the leaves rustle in the distance... I hear the birds calling out to their friends in far away trees... The river as it rushes by and I think of what a mighty God we serve...

The trees turn all different colours and nobody told them to, they just did. Its been that way since the beginning of time and until Jesus returns and calls us out of this world it will continue to be that way.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:1-4

We look at the times and the changing of seasons. Summer became Fall and before we know it the snow will fly. At least for those of us who choose to live the greater north of North America. It's also a wonderful time of year which includes Thanksgiving this past weekend for Canadians. I love thanksgiving, the idea of it, the importance behind it, the need for it, and the beauty that surrounds it and that list could go on.

The Idea:
Thankful- pleased and relieved, expressing gratitude and relief, appreciative

The Importance:
Well if the quote above doesn't sum up the importance of thankful hearts, I don't know what does. What would you do if you woke up today with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday? If we really let that thought motivate our very being, what would that do to us? What would that do to society? What would that do in our Churches, in our workplaces, in our homes? Did you even Thank the Lord this morning for the plan of Salvation, the fact that Christ came to earth so He could die for your sins and for mine? Now wake up tomorrow morning without that? How devastating!!!

A thankful heart is one who is thankful for everything: things past, things present, and things to come. That's a hard place to be, I know sometimes we let life happen and we forget what our true calling really is here on earth.

The Need:
We live in a world where everything is at our finger tips... We have the latest news in our local community with a few clicks of a button. We don't have to go that far and we are at the local grocery store. We get our mail sent right to our door. You woke up this morning and went to the tape and had fresh, clean, drinkable water. You woke up this morning and had a hot or at least warm shower. You woke up this morning and got to choose if you wanted breakfast or not and if you did there was food in the cupboard for you to eat. You have a Bible in front of you, you can read. The list could go on and on.

You have to much, to gain, to only loose it by being unthankful. A thankful heart is a happy heart. It is such a blessing to be around a person who chooses to be thankful.

"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

We need to be a thankful people. The more you are thankful, the more things you recognize to be thankful for.

To end it all one must add...

The Beauty that surrounds it:
First, a thankful heart is a beautiful heart. As I said before its a blessing to be around a person who chooses to be thankful in every circumstance.

Second of all, with the "beauty of it" comes nature itself. God's artwork! Nature a thing that only man will dream of being able to capture the beauty of. Even tho we try and save it by dragging out our cameras. I am thankful for this time of year for the exact reason of trying to capture the beauty of nature.

A couple months ago a friend of mine challenged me with the idea of writing out a 1000 things that she was thankful for big or small. She shared of how it had changed her outlook on life and how she viewed more and more things as simply gifts from God alone. If you started now how long would it take for you to run out of things to write down. I will leave the comments open, but I encourage you to comment with things you are thankful for.

Above all BE THANKFUL!!!

God Bless,

Believe

Believing...

It is so simple yet it is so difficult...

Why is it so difficult?

Why do we question it?

Sunday mornings we sit in Church and it is so easy for us to say, "Yes I believe, I want to go serve the Lord with everything" but yet on Tuesday morning when the hammer hits the thumb we flunk and fall back into our old ways.

Hey, I am with you I know what it's like to battle with this, week after week, after week to be honest I still struggle with it. The simple yet powerful word believe could so dramatically change us  that we would hardly recognize the old you!

Oh I pray, that I that we could allow this simple seven letter word to capture our whole being to the point where we would not live without it. If we were to try to live without it, it would destroy our whole being.

Jesus says, "I want to see you believe!" The disciples wanted it, they said "Lord, increase our faith." Luke 17:5. Jesus  responds so beautifully, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea and it would obey you." Luke 17:6NKJV. 

Do you have any idea how tiny mustard seed is? If we could only put our belief in action do you have any idea how much could be done for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ? I do believe it will blow our minds. 

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' " Romans 1:16-17NKJV

The Bible continues on and so does life. God inspired Paul to write these words in Romans as a commandment to His Follower, His Believers, "The just (the one's who follow Me) shall live by faith." If you are going to be a Follower of Jesus Christ you have to live by Faith, there isn't an option.

Ok, So I am thinking right now that that's pretty radical of me, to think I should have faith in such a way that I could look at something in my life and say "be removed" and it would be gone. It blows my mind. Now God is saying "Live like that everyday." Not just Sunday, not just Saturday, not just Tuesday... but every single day of the week.

Oh... Ouch... Scary.... Awesome... Isn't God simply amazing....

"Faith is to Believe what we do not see, and the reward of this Faith is to see what we Believe." -Augustine

Jesus is asking you, "Do you believe, I am able to do this? (Matthew 9:28) and He is looking for a response from you and from me. 

"I am surprised at how calm I am. But then, if God has decided that my time for serving Him with the Motilones is over, who am I to question Him? And so I wait for the explosion that will end my life..." Bruce Olson, from "Bruchko and the Motilone Miracle"

Oh to have faith like that, to only Believe with that mustard size of faith. Jesus says, "Do not be afraid, only believe." Mark 5:36...

I pray that each one of us would find ourselves with the response of the father, where his son had a mute spirit(Mark 9) when Jesus asked Him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately, the father of the child cried out and said with tears, 'Lord I believe; help my unbelief!' " Mark 9:23-24

Only Believe

Do you believe?

They were down by 21 in the last half of the second quarter! The announcer had already called his opinion on how the game would end, and it was not in their favour at all short of a miracle. The team was disheartened as they slowly dragged their already weary bodies out to do the next play all the while complaining to the one beside them how much they were going to loose this game and how they would be the laughing stock  of the town for the next five generations since they could not win a single game even to the easiest of teams.

Hearing the complaints of the team, the couch got discouraged, "how could he let his team get down this much. They still had a fighting chance. It wasn't over yet!"

Wrapping up the second quarter and still down by 21! The couch pulled the team aside in the dressing room instructing each one to take a seat and pay attention. 

Walking to front of the dressing room where a chalkboard rested against the wall and where many plays had been drawn out before. he simply wrote the word "BELIEVE".

From the back of the group of players a teammate asked, "Are you going to tell us one of your stories again?"

Without turning around the couch took his piece of chalk and drew a line underneath of the word. "You better BELIEVE I am." 

Shoulders sank, as they realized they were in for along one again. The couch went on to say. "This story is about a football team, from the beginning they had huge potential and ability." 

Turning around he took his chalk and drew another line under the word on the board. "But there was one problem, they didn't BELIEVE they could win. Then a dog came along and this dog could do great things and suddenly the team started winning but you see with or without the dog they were winners, each and everyone of them. So if you believe that a dog can play football, than you better believe that we can and will win this game!"

Now some of you may know where that story comes from and in your mind you are saying, "ok, Erica has gone completely crazy now." Hey, that's fine I likely have, but don't tune me out yet, let me finish.

You see the story is true in our Christian lives as well! If you don't believe that you can make it to Glory with the help of Jesus Christ, you aren't going to!

I know that is speaking harsh language here, but if you don't believe that the Blood of Jesus is sufficient to cover all of your sins and that Jesus is really Who He said He was, is and will be, you have but in jeopardy everything in the Bible and relinquished your right to Heaven. That my friends is a dangerous place to be.

Likely one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible sums it up. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16NKJV

But often we stop there because that brings the "comfort" that we in this "western world" (if you will) want to feel. I want to continue:

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." John 3:17-21NKJV

So the question I ask you today is... Do you Believe?

And if you Believe how is that going to change you?

What are you going to do differently in your life, because you Believe?

When God asks you to love your neighbor, how does that change the way you respond when his dog eats your flowers? I know, simple problem but change that story as it needs to be changed to fit your need of the hour.

God asks us to simply to Believe on Him. 

Do you believe? And if you BELIEVE what are you, what am I going to do about it?

Feel free to comment your ideas on what you are going to do because YOU BELIEVE.

God Bless,

What Do You Believe?

What do you believe???

Well, good question. When have you sat back and re-evaluated what you believe, and why you stand for the things that you do, what your future may look like, and at the end of it all what does God think???

I had such an experience; I began thinking and pondering on the things of this life. I had to think also of my eternal life. If I would die today were would I go?

What would God say to me right now if I was kneeling before Him?

Would He turn me away saying that “I never knew you” or would He welcome me with open arms and welcome me into His Kingdom?

I wonder. 

It also suddenly dawned on me that either we except God now; for who He said He is, and what He can do in our lives or we can reject Him and someday admit on bended knee who God really is when He says “I never knew you” and then casts us into udder darkness.

It’s a sobering thought and it brings me to tears just thinking about it.

Where will I, where will you stand on that day? You know these questions aren’t just for us to think about they are for us to take action on. This is life; we don’t just live in a dream. If this is just a dream what does that say about life then? If this is just a dream, than please pinch me and wake me up because I want to get back to the real world.

You see sometimes we think we believe merrily because we have been taught from little up what is “truth”, we have never had to search it out for ourselves. This is what we do, this is how you explain this scripture, if you don’t understand it, talk to your ministry! Above all do not question your belief, just simply believe everything you hear across the podium! 

The result is, what we have today, we have adults in our churches who have no idea what it is like to experience an ever growing, and everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ, therefore generating youth who don’t know what its like either, they believe that works will save you and therefore we do all the right things and we talk about the things we have read about, but never apply any of it to our lives. Further more, we have children who make fun of the Bible and really don’t know that they are doing it and they think its “cool” because Christianity isn’t their belief, its Mennonitizm, Catholism, etc. They have never been taught and we have failed desperately at teaching them.

We may say we believe in God, but do we believe merrily for the blessings and to say that we do, or do we believe because we truly understand what God is saying, that His Word is really, truly, real and we know what Jesus has done, is doing, and will do in our lives in forming us into the people He wants, not the people we think we should become.

I know that this speaks home to many of us seeing as I, and most people I know have been raised in a Mennonite home of some interpretation. I know that my home isn’t perfect and that we have much to learn but I know that my parents have always taught me a balanced view we are Christians we aren’t following a doctrine of Mennonitizm. 

I wonder sometimes if God really likes the name Mennonite the name some use to describe themselves. Why are we ashamed to describe ourselves as His/Christ's followers? It is almost like we hold some shame as we stand there and honestly trying to admit that we follow Jesus Christ and yet on the backside hold onto the ways of a man. Do you believe that He is the Way, The Truth, and The Life?

I have personally dropped the title in recent years because I would, based on God's Word, never want to follow after a man because even Menno Simons was human and made mistakes and fell short of the Glory of God. I ask you why would you want to follow any man?

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then , because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'-and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked- I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcome and sat down with My Father on His throne. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' " Revelations 3:15-21NKJV

I believe that Jesus is calling all people to rise up, stand for what they believe in Jesus Christ, and not for the "lies" they have been taught, yet holding fast to the Truths of God’s precious Word for in it is eternal life and salvation and it is only through Jesus Christ that we can find full redemption, freedom from sin, and complete peace. 

I encourage each one of you to sit down pen and paper in hand, and write out your personal statement of Faith. This may take you awhile... It will not just be a Sunday afternoon job. It may take you months, but the exercise will be worth it as you discover "the lies we believe and the Truth that sets us Free."

God Bless,

Bad Things-Good People

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I watched as a young boy about the age of twelve stood by the casket that held his father's earthly body. My heart cried as I thought of everything that little boy will miss not being able to go through his teen years or the rest of his life with his father, and I cry in my heart. A twelve year old boy shouldn't have to live without his Dad, yet his dad was gone and there was nothing I or any one of the doctors could do about it.

Later in the week a guy from my former youth group was stabbed for standing up for his faith, when confronted on his stand on homosexuality. A story comes across my Facebook timeline of a little boy suffering from cancer. The orange helicopter flies overhead and you know it can't be good.

And the list could go on of all the bad things that go on in our world today, the wars, the abortion, the sexual abuse, etc!

When you look at all of this it's easy to ask the question, why do bad things happen to good people? I am here today saying; I want to turn that question around why do good things happen to bad people? One could go on what makes a person good or bad? That is a whole topic in and of itself.

But to answer my first question you have to go back to the beginning of the Bible, where everything began. Where did death, destruction, and bad things start? What brought that into the world?

"So the Lord God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel." To the Women He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it'; "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return." Genesis 3;14-19NKJV

Because of Adam and Eve's sin, sin entered the world, they were chased out of the perfect Garden God had created for man-kind to live in and sin, pain, hurt, and the list could go on entered the world. Until Jesus comes back and makes all things new by creating a New Heaven and a New Earth we will continue to have sin, hurt, pain, and all things "bad".

One could still ask, "OK, so you told me where pain all started but what did that do to change any of this?" I know, you have to let me finish.

Job in the Bible believe it or not had the same questions. Job even questioned God asking, Why?

In my mind I imagine God sitting down with Job as a Father does his child (although in this case God spoke out of a whirlwind) wrapping his arms around Job, He goes on to say...

"... “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know or who stretched the line upon it? ... Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. … “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’? Who has put wisdom in the mind? Or who has given understanding to the heart?" Job 38:1-5,17,18,34-36NKJV

God continues to go on questioning Job... and in the end of it all He goes Job listen to me "Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? He who rebukes God, let him answer it."Job 40:2

By this point God has Job's attention and Job is starting to understand... if that is your struggle I pray that you would not only reread the verses that are above but go to the book of Job and discover the rest of the questions that God asked Job.

Job finally answers back to God as a little child knowing that he had done wrong, by questioning God. He says, "Behold I am vile; What shall I answer You? I lay my hand over my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will not answer; Yes twice, but I will proceed no further." Job 40:4-5NKJV

Who are we to question the Authority of God, and all powerful Creator, Who is, and was, and is to come? We are simply just humans God has seen fit to place on planet earth.

So Job acknowledged his frailty before an Awesome God and repented heart. God blessed Job for this and He will bless you when you place your full trust and faith in Him. Job 42:17, "So Job died, old and full of days."

May we learn never to question God for what He may bring into our lives but rather understanding that He allows these things to happen to us so that we in turn will place more of our faith, trust, hope, and strength in Him. One of my favourite passages of scripture that became very near to me during a low point in my life was this "Trust in the Lord, with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

God allows these things in our lives so that He can show the fulfillment of His Glory, and His caring heart, His Excellence. Can you imagine with me for a moment that if God never allowed a trial in our lives, how would we know that He is a Provider, a Sustainer, a Comforter, and the list could go on?

God also says in His Holy Word, "In this world, you will have trials but have no worries, for I have overcome the World."

Romans 8:37-39 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Are you persuaded in your own heart on what God is capable of all doing in your life?

Traditions #mashedpotatoesonmondaynight

If I was to finish that title it would include:

The Good side and the Bad Side

I could start by listing you off a long list of reasons why I hate traditions and maybe I should, but I won't. I'll let you search in this blog post and discover my reasons.

If you have read my all-famous About-Me page(which I hate) you will know that I grew up in a Mennonite Church. I respect the fact that some of you may still be there. I just want to say this... It is likely one of the first places one could refer to when discussing Traditions. This would also be the spot to reference back to the sub-title "The good side and the bad side".

You see, you can have a good tradition of always having mashed potatoes on monday nights, there is nothing wrong with that. Mashed potatoes are good, and if its something your family or you always do and it's a tradition you have put in place, there is nothing wrong with that. But now to all you anti-tradition people I ask the question. Did doing the same thing a couple months in a row make it wrong? Or what makes a tradition wrong?

What makes a tradition wrong?

Back to our mashed potato example. If my family decides to have mashed potatoes every monday night(which we don't) and then all of a sudden one monday night we missed it because Mom ran out of potatoes in the house and now we all feel guilty and feel like we have sinned not only towards our family but towards God and we feel the need to confess to God over missing mashed potatoes on monday night, is that not wrong?

You see the tradition had no point to it. It was simply something that the family decided to start. There was no spiritual value one way or the other... It wasn't a point where our relationship with Jesus Christ was put in jeopardy if we by chance didn't have mashed potatoes on monday night, but rather just a simple decision that we as a family are going to have mashed potatoes on monday nights.

Let's take this a step further... and don't laugh we will continue with the mashed potatoes on monday night scenario.

Let's just say my Dad's Grandparents had the tradition of mashed potatoes on monday night, and their reasoning behind it had no spiritual meaning, but was simply the fact that because of the Great Depression, Grandpa only went to the General Store in the Big City every monday to exchange enough corn from the garden for enough potatoes for one meal as long as they were mashed and whipped. This became a standard by which was passed onto my Grandpa which passed it onto my Dad. Who when starting his home insisted on having mashed potatoes on monday nights. with simply the reason of carrying on a generational tradition in hopes that each one of us children would do the same.

Now if I don't carry on that tradition for mashed potatoes on monday night. Have I sinned?

Should I go back and confess to my parents and to God, for not carrying on the tradition of mashed potatoes on monday night?

Excuse #1: We have done it for years, why change it.
Excuse #2: We don't know anything different.
Excuse #3: Coming from my Dad here, "your mother adjusted" she used to have rice every monday night in remembrance of her Great-Aunt Once removed's trip to India in the year of 1902 which she never returned from because she died of a terrible disease.

You are all likely for sure laughing by now, but do you get my point of how ridiculous this can get and how quickly we don't even know why.

Why do you wear a veil on your head if you are a women? My Church has done it for generations.... AHHHH that makes me want to scream.
Why do you wear a veil on your head? Is is not to show honour and glory to God, and a sign that you respect and believe in God's perfect design(and much more could be added to that).

Or has it simply become nothing more than a tradition, where all you do is make mashed potatoes on monday night because Great-Grandpa did? Or you wear a veil on your head at a certain age because your previous 8 generations back Grandma did the same thing?

That's why I believe it is so important for each one of us to discover what you believe, why you believe, how it is going to change the way you operate, and what are you going to help instil the Bible and its instructions in the next generation so that it doesn't become nothing more than mashed potatoes on monday night.

If you haven't had the opportunity in your lifetime to discover on your own what you believe? What do you believe about God? Who is He to you? What has He done in your life that has changed You? any of those I encourage you to do so. You will be so amazed by what you learn.

All of a sudden a tradition with a spiritual meaning, which you have newly discovered will take a whole new meaning.

Do I say all this to say I am in favour of traditions? No I don't what I do say is this.

"Don't allow the things you do with a Spiritual/Biblical reason and instruction to become nothing more than a heap of mashed potatoes on monday night."

Please feel free to comment... I know some of you have tried... and I am trying to get that fixed... So please comment....

As always God bless,