"What Goes Up, Must Come Down...

...spinning wheel, got to go round."  This is the song I began to whistle as I watched a frustrated driver attempt to drive off of a patch of ice yesterday morning.

Behind the church there is an alleyway which provides access to the garages of residents who live on Gough Ave.  I am able to see this alley way and some of the garage doors from my office window.  When I arrived early Tuesday morning, a time of the day when my office is almost silent, I heard a high-pitched whirring sound and several yelling voices.  Immediately I recognized the sound I was hearing: spinning wheels.

Sure enough as I looked out my window I saw the stuck vehicle.  

As I continued to watch I gained a better understanding of the situation.  The driver was trying to get out of her garage when here front wheels became caught in an icy rut. 

The yelling was provided by three men who were all certain they knew exactly what was necessary to get out of this slippery situation.  After about 5-minutes of confusion, another man walked up to the car and asked if he could get behind the wheel.  Ten seconds later the car was freed from it's icy prison.

I cannot help but think how frighteningly familiar this occurrence was.  Sure, I've been stuck in the snow before, but that's not exactly what I mean...

Every day we are bombarded with dozen (hundreds, thousands..?) of "self-help" messages by "experts" who clutter our minds with what seem to be helpful bits of advice.  The men who were shouting and trying to "help" the stranded driver reminded me of these so called "self-help experts".  They confidently gave directions and when nothing worked they simply walked away.  

What really struck me was the man who got behind the wheel.  He actually knew what had to be done.  He was able to free the woman and her vehicle.  He offered true help.  A comforting Psalm came to mind:

"Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me

and set me free."

                                                                        - Psalm 118:5 (ESV)

How often are we spiritually "stuck" in our lives?  I know I get stuck a lot.  We must call on the One who can truly help get us unstuck.  We must call on the LORD and trust that he is able to free us when we are "stuck".

What do you do when you're feeling stuck?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Bless ya,

Dave

P.S.  Here are some helpful winter driving tips...click HERE.

Love for All, Hate for None

So read the bumper sticker of the car that I followed to work last Thursday.  There right in front of me, in just a few words was a profound statement.   It was of course a reflection of the vehicle owner’s worldview.  I wondered about how possessing that worldview affected the driver’s life.  I was so curious I sped up a little just to have a quick glance into the car to see who was driving expecting I would uncover more insight but it was to no avail.  There were no other messages just a young, professionally dressed man apparently on his way in to the downtown core.

This started me to think about what kind of bumper sticker I should have on my mini-van.  If the Apostle Paul was alive, maybe he would have had something like “Chief Sinner” (1 Tim. 1:16), “To live is Christ, to die is gain” (Phil 1:21), or “I know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him Crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).  Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with anything so pithy during my commute but I’ve started to work on it.   Maybe if it’s good enough I can get it printed on a t-shirt to stimulate conversation with strangers.

Okay, kidding aside I think we can all agree that it probably is a good idea to ask the question “What am I all about?”  Especially when sooner or later we'll be asked.

What would you say?

Pastor Gary

The Science of Happiness.

This is interesting! A Harvard University psychology professor studied the science of happiness. I guess the idea was to find out what makes us happy so we can predictably repeat it. Among the findings is that we greatly overestimate the things we think will make us happy.

For instance, we think a new car will make us intensely happy and that it will last a long time only to find out it didn’t make us as happy as we thought, nor did it last as long as we thought. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt!

As it turns out, pursuing the things we think will make us happy may not add much to our lives. I guess this is part of what motivated Jesus to say, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33, NIV). Seeking God’s best, instead of our perceived happiness, allows us to follow a higher standard which doesn’t change even when our feelings about what makes us happy do!

And once again, science validates the Bible! Very interesting.

Haircuts and Missed Opporunities

I don't like getting my hair cut.  There are a number of reasons why, but the main one is that when I leave I am rarely satisfied.  If you're reading this, then there is a good chance you have seen me before and might be saying that there is nothing special about my hair.  You're right.  It's pretty basic.  Yet, when I leave the barber shop I feel like I should have had a little more taken off the top, trimmed the sides shorter, etc.  This happens because I don't speak up when they ask me how I'd like it to be cut.  When asked how I'd like my hair to be cut I usually jokingly respond 'shorter'.  They think I'm kidding but the truth is I do want it shorter but don't know how to be specific or detailed.  That is why I am rarely satisfied when I see my reflection in the rear view mirror as I drive out of the parking lot.  It's too late.  I've missed my chance.  I'll have to wait for my next cut.

Now, I know it's just a haircut and that I will be going back for another cut in a months time.  It's not really a big deal and I will have a chance to try and explain better next time around.

But what about the times when we miss opportunities to share about our faith because we don't know what to say?

A few weeks ago I was driving home from hockey with a non-Christian friend.  We began talking about the Discovery Channel and a T.V. special he had watched about the ocean.  He was telling me about how incredible wildlife creatures are and how mysterious the ocean floor is and then went on to say that it's hard to believe that everything came to be "by some big explosion in space that happened a billion years ago".  "Yeah.  It is pretty crazy," was my response.

The results of not knowing what to say to my barber is far less important than my pathetic response to my friend's observation.  He provided me with an opportunity to bring the scriptural account of creation into the conversation and I didn't.  The Leafs scored (we were listening to the game on the radio), the conversation change to their losing streak and the opportunity was gone. I missed it.

I might get another chance to share my beliefs on the God who created our incredible planet.  I'll have to wait and see.  I should have been prepared in that moment.  I should have known what to say.  It is more serious than a bad haircut.

Are you prepared to make the best of an opportunity like the one I missed?

I'm praying for ya.  Please pray for me, too.

Dave

I have a question...

Okay...the truth is I have several rhetorical questions but they really can be distilled down into one.  

Can anyone tell me what exactly about the behaviour of North American Christians during the Christmas season actually reflects the Christ of Christmas, the story of Christmas or even the essence of our Christian values?  

Is it our overeating?  Is it how we spend our money?  Is it our schedule of activity?  Is it our brief time of organized worship during a Sunday service?  Is it the process of shopping, wrapping, unwrapping, and then storing stuff we don’t need?  Is it who we invite into our inner circle to celebrate with us? Is it how we live among and are available to our neighbours practically and spiritually? 
  

I’m thinking that if we were honest with ourselves we would have to admit that there is not that much about our behaviour as Christians during Christmas that distinguishes us from everyone else.  Notice I am using inclusive language here.  I'm definitely included in this conversation.

Yet still we wonder why the world isn't attracted to Jesus.  Why we aren't experiencing exponential growth like the early church.  Perhaps it's because the world simply doesn't see Jesus in his "followers."  Isn't this the perfect time of year to work toward changing that?

What do you think?  How do you propose we follow Jesus this Christmas?

Pastor Gary

Bethlehem...A Personal Christmas.

With just 10 days to go before Christmas, the excitement and pressure is growing! But if you're like me, over the years the excitement has changed. It has changed steadily from a focus on the gifts that are exchanged to the people that bring meaning and joy to life. In other words, Christmas is getting more personal.

I wonder if this is why the town of Bethlehem was chosen by God to be the birthplace of Jesus. Jerusalem, Rome or Athens would have been more notable places because of their role in world affairs. Why wouldn't the World-Changer come from a town with more notariety?  Maybe Bethlehem is among the first indications of how personal Christmas is supposed to be!  Maybe the reason for Bethlehem was to ensure that the Christ of God would be someone to whom even a commom person could relate--you know, those of us not born into royalty, riches, celebrity, power or influence!

Or, given that Bethlehem means "house of bread," I wonder if Bethlehem was God's choice in order to indicate that his Christ would satisfy our most basic hunger. After all, the One born in Bethlehem's "house of bread" later called himself "the bread of life" (John 6:35). A remarkably intentional connection, don't you think?

Or, I wonder if maybe Bethlehem might have been chosen to testify that we individually must choose the One born there. You can't eat for another person. Even if we eat from the same loaf of bread we each eat for ourselves (1 Cor. 10:17).

By the way, I still like getting and giving gifts :-) but I think there's more...a whole lot more...that is worthy of our excitement and attention. Like the "bread of life" that came from the "house of bread."

Merry Christmas!

Twitter | Christmas | The Gospel

Do you use Twitter?  I’m sure you’ve heard of it somewhere.  Twitter.com is a social media website which allows its users to write microblogs consisting of no more than 140 characters.  When properly used, Twitter allows users to creatively and concisely share their thoughts, post web links, share photos, etc.  I use it mainly to follow the thoughts of authors, Christian thinkers, and get news and TTC updates.  This blog, however, is not about Twitter.  It’s about something I found on Twitter.

Today I read a ‘tweet’ which jumped right off the screen and hit me like a ton of bricks!  The user (@leadershipfreak)  posted a quote by Henry David Thoreau which read, “It takes two to speak the truth: to speak and another to hear.”  I immediately flipped open my bible to Romans 10 where Paul is writing about The Message of Salvation to All.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.  Romans 10:17

Faith comes from hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ.  

How will people hear it if we don’t share it?

Christmas time is absolutely overflowing with opportunities to discuss your faith in Jesus at work, school, in line at Tim Horton’s...Anywhere!  The radio is playing songs that are singing about the manger in which our Saviour was born, performances of Handel’s Messiah are selling out in venues across the city, ‘Jesus is the Reason for the Season’ stickers and decorations can be seen stuck on the bumpers of cars and in store windows, beautiful life-sized manger scenes are setup in front of churches...do you get the idea?  Simply talking about what you see and hear during the Christmas season will provide you with a foundation to share your faith.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the arrival of our Saviour and King.  God the Father directly and intentionally brought his Son into the world with the mission of dying in the place of sinners and rising again for the eternal salvation of all who believe it.  

 

How can you not tell somebody about it?

I’m praying for ya,

Dave