A Blast From the Past. This was written in response to the death of Princess Diana.

            Once upon a time in a faraway Kingdom there lived a Beautiful princess who was loved by everyone, not only in her kingdom but in other kingdoms as well.  She was kind and gentle and people loved to see her and to hear about her loves. 

            In the same kingdom there lived a playful dragon named “Grog.”  Many of the people of the kingdom enjoyed playing with Grog even though he had a few annoying habits.  Sometimes Grog had been known to get carried away and hurt the people he played with, sometimes families were destroyed and sometimes people were killed.  Oh well.     

            One day the Beautiful Princess and her love had been to a banquet feasting and making merry.  What they didn’t realize is that one of her love’s servants had brought along the playful dragon.  To make a long story short, in his own unique way the dragon managed to destroy the Beautiful Princess, her love and her love’s servant.  

            The people of the kingdom loved their Beautiful Princess but because they enjoyed playing with Grog they didn’t want to offend the playful dragon by blaming him or heaven forbid by banishing him from kingdom. And so they sought to blame her love’s servant and the peasants who followed her about. And nobody lived happily ever after.   Except maybe the dragon.

Have a great week and remember:  Life be in it!

It all makes sense now

I was putting my contact lenses in the other day when I noticed how grey my hair had become. As I wondered how that could possibly have happened without me noticing, I remembered something I was told almost thirty years ago. Roy Corey, a member of the Truro Church, told me how he had discovered his eyesight was directly connected to the amount of pigment in his hair. When I questioned him more, he told me how he had noticed that when his hair was dark he had no problem seeing, but as his hair became progressively greyer his eyesight got progressively worse. Ergo, it was apparent that his eyesight was directly connected to the amount of pigment in his hair.

When you think about that, it makes sense. An obvious case of cause and effect. But I have discovered in life that just because something makes sense doesn’t mean it’s true. Those in the world will often ask you to embrace their culture and their values simply because they make sense. Granted, sometimes they do make sense,  but that doesn’t mean they are  true or right.

And just because you colour your hair doesn’t mean you won’t need glasses. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Demons in the Grass

I drove by our old house the other day and the lawn looked great.  I was a little concerned when put the sod down when the house was built.  You see when the sod was delivered the driver told me that it was demon possessed.  Honest!  At least I think that’s what he meant when he told me that during the first week I’d have to “water the hell out of it.”  I wanted to ask him how the hell got in there in the first place but decided that discretion was the best part of valour.

I’m sure that part of Satan’s strategy to ensnare people is to trivialize hell so that it’s no longer taken seriously.   Hell has become such a common place part of many peoples everyday conversation that it is no longer a threat.  The fact is Hell is a reality, it’s not in the grass and there’s only one way to avoid it, and that’s not by watering it.

 Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.  Don’t know if that’ll keep the hell out of grass but I plan on it keeping me out of Hell.
Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

Would you like. . .

I read the other day that the most frequently asked question today was . . . “Would you like fries with your order!”  Profound, to say the least.  Now I did not read that the most important question asked today was. . . “Would you like fries with your order!”, just the most  frequently asked, although I’m sure that to some it is a very important question.  The reason the question is asked so much is that it is in reality an example of  “suggestive sales”.  Just by asking the question they are increasing the chances of you buying fries with your meal, as if your meal wouldn’t be complete without fries.
The most important question that can be asked today is the same question which held that honour 2000 years ago and it was asked over and over again, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  The    answer is the same now as it was when Jesus answered it then in the book of  John 3:3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
The answer to the other question is “No, if I’d wanted fries I would have asked for them.” Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

Choices. . .

It was a tragedy. A young man lost his life and another man had his life changed forever. Like many people, I watched the video of Sammy Yatim being shot in Toronto last week and, like many people, I felt a sense of rage. Really, nine shots?  And then they tased him. Seems a little much. But then again, I wasn’t there.

I agree that the officer involved will need to be held accountable. However, we need to remember who was ultimately responsible for what happened that night in the streetcar. For reasons we may never know, Sammy Yatim reportedly was waving a knife and threatening a female passenger. (The media seems to have forgotten her.) That’s what led to his being shot. He wasn’t an innocent teen gunned down on the street. 

Had Sammy Yatim chosen to stay home and watch TV–or if he had left his knife at home–chances are nobody would know who he was.

It’s all too easy to look at our circumstance in life and blame God and others without ever taking the time to examine the choices we made that brought us to those circumstances. Remember, if yesterday’s choices helped shape today, then today’s choices will shape our tomorrows.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.   

Blast from the Past

In the Spring of 1997 I had managed to grow our baby church from 82 to 43.  This was the Penn that I wrote to the survivors of the "Spring of Tuesdays" on May 11, 1997

It’s the dawning of a new day, a new chapter in the book, the beginning of a new era!  My dream and vision for Bedford Community Church has never been stronger than it is today and never fresher than it is right now.  I truly sense that God has some great things in store for us in the days and weeks ahead.  Along with that surety comes the surety that it will require very special people to make that vision a reality, a people committed to God and a people committed to the dream.

           

            It will not be an easy task, church planting is not church playing.  If it was easy then everyone would be doing it.  I believe deep in my heart that God has picked families and individuals to make BCC what He wants it to be.  And to those who have chosen to be a part of that group I say thank you.  The great thing is that in years to come you will be able to point to Bedford Community Church and say “I had a part in the beginning, I helped plant that church!”  Have a great week and remember: Life Be In It!