Missed it, by that much.

I was talking to a friend the other day when the topic of the terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso came up & she mentioned that I had been there in the past and wanted to know how I felt about what had happened.  And the conversation got me thinking, I was supposed to be leading a teaching team to West Africa the first couple of weeks in January but we had cancelled back in October for a couple of different reason.  So I checked our itinerary and there it was, on January 16th the team was supposed to arrive in Ouagadougou in preparation to preach in local churches on the Sunday.  And while I assume that we would have been staying at our usual place, which was less than 7 kilometres from where the attack happened, it’s hard to say where we would have been that evening.

I’m never sure if things like that are providential or fortuitous because I’m not convinced that God loves our team more than he loves those who were in Ouagadougou that day let alone the Canadians who perished in the bombings.

But I am thankful that we weren’t there that day and will credit God with having kept us out of harm’s way. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Do You See What I See?

Last Thursday, I had a late afternoon appointment with my eye specialist and as part of the process he dilated my eyes.  Not the first time I’ve had my eyes dilated but I never had them dilated so late in the day before. 

After supper Angela and I drove our son back into the city, or I should say that Angela drove and I just went for the ride because my eyes still weren’t focusing.  And as we drove I marvelled at the streetlights.  Every light was a kaleidoscope with a large blue halo surrounding it, and their colour depended on whether they were LED or sodium vapour.  Regardless of their colour each was incredibly beautiful in their own way.

As I oohed and aahed I realized that neither Stephen or Angela seemed aware of the display.  And when I asked what they saw they described ordinary street lights. Their undilated eyes were missing it. 

Sometimes when we dream of what God can do, others are unable to see the dream, no matter how eloquently we try to describe it, they just don’t get it. We describe the extraordinary and they simply see the ordinary, but that should never be a reason to give up on the dreams that God has given us. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

A Lot of Zeros

1.3 billion dollars, that’s a one and a three followed by eight zeros.  That’s the projected jackpot in the US Lottery Powerball this week.  And there will be people who will play this week who didn’t play last week because apparently last weeks’ jackpot of just under a billion dollars wasn’t large enough, but 1.3 billion, now you are talking some serious cash.

Here’s a question, how many billions of dollars had to be lost, probably by people who couldn’t afford to lose it, in order to have a jackpot that large? Billions of dollars that could have been spent or saved instead of gambled away.

I’ve heard state run lotteries defined as: a tax on those who are bad at math.  But the reality is that they are a tax on dreams.  The dreams of those who see it as their only escape from their present financial situation. 

A third of those who buy lottery tickets do it for fun, they can afford to throw the price of a ticket away, but for the other two thirds it is a form of financial planning.

The reality is, that for a majority of the world’s population, just living in the US or Canada would feel like winning the lottery.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

No Worries

The other day, I sat with a lady who is receiving palliative care, and she cheered me up.  It’s not often that happens, but during the entire time there I didn’t hear a discouraging word from her, no complaints, no regrets.

Bev has spent her life loving Jesus and serving His church as a pastor’s wife and now that she has been told that her time on this earth is limited it seems that she’s looking forward to being in the presence of the One she has loved and served for so long.

Not that she’s without concerns. Her son said that after she had planned her funeral service she has been quite adamant that they make sure there are enough sandwiches and sweets at the reception that will follow her funeral.

Every one of us will die, but we won’t all face death like Bev, who simply sees death as a doorman and not as one to be feared.

The choice that Bev made many years ago to follow Jesus allow her to face her impending death with peace today. 

I trust that if you haven’t yet embraced the grace of God that you will soon, so at the end of your life your biggest concern is that nobody will leave the reception hungry.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Happy New Year

Well, Christmas has come and gone and New Year’s Eve is just a memory. How are you feeling about 2016? Are you excited? Are you cautious? Are you simply resigned to it happening?

The reality is that, regardless of how we feel about the coming year, there is a very good chance that it is going to happen, with or without your permission.

We have very little control over the coming of the New Year. What we do have control over is how we react to the events of the next 365 days regardless of whether they are good or bad.

Ultimately it will be your choice whether you allow the events that come into your life to make you a better person or a bitter person. Others may determine what happens in your life, but only you will determine what happens in your heart.

So, as we bid farewell to 2015 and hello to 2016, let’s do so looking forward to the New Year as an opportunity to do great things for God and to allow Him to do great things for us. It’s a brand new year with brand new possibilities, if we are only willing to see them and claim them.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Now that's News!

The headlines that vied for top place this week seemed to be the new Star Wars Movie, including the multimillion dollar pay cheque that Harrison Ford received, and the mistake made at the Miss Universe Pageant.  The fairness of both stories have been debated by the masses. 

In Ford’s case it seems that he may have been paid as much as 50 x more than some of his co-stars to revive his role as Hans Solo. 

On Sunday night Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez wiped away tears of joy when she was named Miss Universe 2015, the second year in a row her country had won the title.  But the $30,000 blue diamond and topaz crown remained on her head for less than two minutes before host Steve Harvey realized he had made a mistake, the actual winner was Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

First World problems. 

And while we can’t do anything about the inequities of Star War pay cheques or beauty pageant heartbreak the Cornerstone family has dug deep and will help cap 4 fresh water springs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  And for the thousands of families in the DRC who will now have access to clean drinking water I would suspect that is much more important news. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible

Chance and Choice

December 6th was the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, but I’m sure most of you knew that.  And you probably knew that it was the largest man made explosion until the explosion of the atomic bomb.  The Halifax explosion has defined our city for the past 98years.  And I knew all those things but what I didn’t know, until just recently, was that my great grand-father was here when it happened.  My mother’s grandfather was a young sailor from Estonia who jumped ship in Halifax to start a new life, (today he’d be an illegal immigrant) but he wasn’t counting on being a part of history.  Family folklore says that he was behind Citadel Hill when the two ships collided and escaped the force of the blast. 

More than 1900 people died that day, but Pritu Rahnell did not, and because of that, I’m writing this today. 

It was by choice that Pritu jumped ship in Halifax and it was by chance he was protected from the blast of the explosion.  Each of our lives will be shaped by choice and by chance.  We really can’t do much about the chance but we are the author of our choices. So instead of complaining about chance, we need to do our best with our choices. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible