Lucky or Blessed?

Crazy stuff on the news. In the past three months we have seen flooding of Biblical proportions (their words not mine) in Australia, earthquakes in New Zealand, earthquakes, erupting volcanoes and nuclear accidents in Japan and the U.S. has Charlie Sheen.  In a discussion with someone about the weird stuff happening worldwide I mentioned how lucky we are to live in Canada and they corrected me and told me that we weren’t lucky, we were blessed. So I stopped and thought about it and pondered it and considered it and I think I’m going to have to stick with lucky.

If we are blessed to live in Canada that means that we have been blessed with God’s favour.  I have no problem with that, but have serious problems about why other people in the world have not been blessed with God’s favour.  Obviously, it’s not because of the sterling moral character of the people of Canada.

We live in a fallen world that is drawing closer and closer to its best before date and we are lucky to live in a country that so far has escaped the consequences of that.  When that happens, then we will be blessed to have God’s grace to carry us through. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Rollllll up the Rim

As a country, we have now come together for a national season of prayer.  Collectively, even though most folks wouldn’t consider Canada to have a national religion, it becomes very apparent at this time of year that we have a common point of faith.  I’m not talking about the season of Lent leading into Easter, I’m talking about the great Canadian Religion.   That’s right it is time for, “Roll Up the Rim”, and in Tim Horton’s across Canada and into the States people are fervently whispering, “Please God, let it be the car”, as they roll up the rim of their coffee cups.   Of course, we have already explained the rules about Roll up the Rim at Cornerstone: You win it here you leave it here.

It is funny and sad, how many Christ Followers will get more excited over having won a free coffee or donut than they do about having experienced the grace of God, which results in eternal life.  They will talk about it to complete strangers, they will rejoice over it publically, and yet are silent about the great gift that God has given them.   And seriously the odds are much better with God’s Grace than they are with Tim’s. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Brothers with different Mothers

Do you know the name “Sayed Mossa”?  Well you should, he’s your brother, or at least your brother from a different mother, but you have the same father: God.   Mossa is a Christ Follower from Afghanistan who just recently escaped the death penalty. His crime?  Becoming a Christ Follower.  Sayed, a Red Cross worker, lost his leg in a land mine explosion, and while recovering began a relationship with Jesus.   It was during a baptism service, shown on Afghan television that he was identified as having converted from Islam to Christianity, and he was arrested and subsequently sentenced to death. It was only because of a Twitter campaign that he was released.  But there are millions of Sayeds around the world who live in fear of their lives because of their relationship with Jesus. His story is very similar to the story of the man throwing the starfish back into the ocean, who commented, “made a difference to that one.”

So what do we learn?  First, how blessed we are to have the freedom to worship as we please, but secondly, that we can make a difference in the life of a brother thousands of miles away if we are just willing to make the effort.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

I have a bad feeling about this

Can anything good come from this? I think not.  Apparently a team of Russian scientist are ready to broach a lake in Antarctica that was been sealed since the last ice age.  Reports out of Moscow are that the group has been drilling for weeks to reach the lake hidden 3,750 metres (12,000 ft) beneath the polar ice cap.  Team leader  Alexei Turkeyev stated that they are only 5 metres from breaking through into what has been dubbed Lake Vostok.
A hidden network of subglacial lakes were discovered by satellite imagery in the late 1990s and scientists around the world are anxious to discover what mysteries the lakes might hold.  There have been theories that these pristine reserves could hold life forms that we have never experienced before.  Sounds like a plot in a science fiction movie, leading of course to all of humanity being rescued by Bruce Willis, or someone much younger. 
So we have an environment that has never been sullied by people and just above it is a12,000 foot borehole that has been pumped full of Kerosene and Freon to keep it from freezing shut.  You'd think we would have learned by now to leave well enough alone after the fiasco in the "Garden". Apparently not.     Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

The End is Near. . .or Not

There's catastrophic weather systems, political unrest, uprising and not to mention that 2012 is just around the corner, and yet it seems that people have stopped talking about the end of the world.  It used to be that every new political crisis or weather anomaly brought about a fresh rash of speculation as to whether these were heralds of the end times.  There was a time that anything that happened in the Middle East was examined and dissected in light of the book of Daniel and/or The Revelation and new dates and theories were bandied around.  But not now, nary a word.  Earthquakes, cyclones, and  volcanoes erupting are taken in stride. Very few people even talk about such things as "acts of God". Instead, people speculate how our irresponsible environmental habits are to blame.  I wonder what they blamed the destruction of Pompeii on? 
Do I think that recent events are harbingers of a coming apocalypse?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but regardless it would be a pretty good idea for your soul to be ready either way.  The reality is that we know this old world has a "best before date", even if we don't know what the date might be.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Oops

He was just doing what he was told to do. Who would have thought it could be so wrong? Apparently, two senior citizens from Britain were touring Germany when the GPS in their car told them to turn right, and they did, even though there was no road on their right to turn on to. Instead, the 76-year-old driver drove straight into the side of the village church, writing off their car and damaging the church's foundation. A police spokeswoman commented, "They were confused and didn't notice that the navigation system was faulty". I guess there is the entire confused thing, but you'd think he would have noticed the church! The Bible tells us in Proverbs 16:25, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." The rough translation of that admonition is to pay attention to where you are going. And if you need some route guidance don't forget Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." And while we trust His word will lead folks to church, we would prefer that they leave their cars in the parking lot.. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Way to go China!

Penn of Denn

Well, kudos to the Godless communists!  Last month government officials from China announced that they had shut down more than 60,000 pornographic websites and vowed to keep up their campaign against material deemed obscene.  Beijing has been running a highly publicized  battle against what was referred to as: smutty and lewd content overwhelming the country's Internet and cell phones, threatening the emotional health of children.
I know there are all kinds of people who will denounce the move as government censorship.   So?  Wikileaks has already proved the existence of government censorship; this move at least is aimed at protecting children.
I read recently that the internet is made up of 30% retail, 30% porn and 30% lies, and we have provided our kids with a key to Pandora's Box.  I fear for the generation whose moral outlook will be shaped by what is so widely available a mouse click away and whose relationships are defined by what pornographers have defined as normal. 
So, what is the answer?  It is the same as it's always been. Society can't be changed without people being changed.  Only God's grace can change people but the church needs to be the messenger of that grace.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible