Weekly Wisdom

09.17.2008

With my job I travel quite a bit. My normal trip schedule is leave on a Sunday morning and come home on Friday. I really do enjoy traveling, and having the Government pay for me to visit my brother and his family, like it is on this trip, works out nicely.

But the down side of it is that I quite often miss church. I find I really do miss it. I find that worshipping the Father with my church family is greatly stirring to my soul, and it allows me to connect more deeply to the Father than I can on my own.

One of the things that stirred up these thoughts is that I went to church this weekend in Edmonton. The church is named "The Bridge." It is another church in the Canadian National Baptist Convention, to which Celebration! also belongs to. They are also a church with a strong university focus.

I had a really good time and got to hang out with Courtney formerly of Celebration! (She says hi to everyone). What struck me as I worshipped with them was that as good as it was, it wasn't the same as worshipping at my home church. I think the reason was that I just was not as connected to those around me as I am at Celebration!.

I sincerely think that really being a part of a Church body is very important to our relationship with God. And I don't mean just attending when I say being a part of a church, I mean being involved. I mean getting involved not only in the church activities but getting involved in each other's lives.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Hebrews:10: 23-25

In Christ,

Andrew

09.08.2008

I've got to admit that at times I have a tough time starting my time alone with God in the Word. I come to the time that I have set aside in my schedule for my personal devotions (shortly after rolling out of bed, making coffee and choking down whatever breakfast I can make quickly;) I sit on the couch in my office; I pull out my Bible and journal; and sometimes I freeze. Whether it's because I'm physically tired, or maybe I'm emotionally spent from the day/night before, or many times I've got something that weighs heavy on my heart that leaves me feeling spent before I even start my quiet-time.

This morning was one of those times, and I've found that in situations like this I turn to other sources for help. Sometimes devotionals or diaries from past Christians provide the spark and momentum that I need to engage my God and His Word. "My Utmost For His Highest," by Oswald Chambers, is one of my tried and true sources. I'd like to share with you from today's (Sept-08) entry.

". casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God ." (2Corinthians 10:5)

Determinedly Demolish Some Things. Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God's divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some thing over which we are not to fight, but only to "stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord ." (Ex. 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier "against the knowledge of God" is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God's power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2Cor. 10:4). It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin-Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched-the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Heb 2:10).

- - - -

What in your life sets itself up against the knowledge of God? Allow the Spirit to work holy character through getting into the Word and through making God-honoring choices. Have a great week!

Jason

08.28.2008

I would like to share with you how present God can be in our daily life. The day before Eric and my wedding, my uncle was killed in a tragic accident. He and his wife were coming to our wedding from South Africa. On the morning of our wedding rehearsal, he went up in a little sightseeing plane in Toronto that crashed. My uncle had decided to come to the wedding to visit with my dad and be of an encouragement to him after his stroke earlier this year. I can't tell you what it was like for my mom to lose her brother the day before her daughter is married. My mom's other brother arrived from Ireland the morning of the wedding and found out his brother had died.

I want to share this you because of the significance of certain things that happened around the event which lead us to believe God's hand was with us. My Uncle and Aunt got up at 5:30 to read the bible and pray together every morning. The morning of, they read the passage in Philippians 3:14. It talks about looking ahead and pressing on to gain the prize of going to heaven. «Nothing that I have already obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.» The morning of, my Uncle took hold of that prize. It seems like God is speaking right through his Word. The devotional they read the same morning related this to running a marathon. My uncle was a marathon runner. Was God saying to them: today, you will finish the race, just like all the marathons you have run?

A common question: does God will painful things to happen or does he allow them? Let me just share something more. My Uncle was planning on coming to the wedding alone, but an American family for which my aunt was going to do some work afterwards, offered to pay for her to come out early to go to the wedding first. My Uncle from Ireland was never planning on coming, but decided at the last minute, that it was a long weekend and he had always wanted to come to Canada. All this to say, God knowing what would happen,

-­ Was He making it easier for everyone by having my Uncle's brother, sister and wife all there to support each other and mourn together?
­- Is God going to use this to draw my Uncle's children to faith in Jesus?
­- Is God using this to encourage Eric and I by showing us an example of how a devoted couple lives for him?
­- Is God using this to speak to my mom about the importance of the Holy Spirit by her receiving my Uncle's bible and seeing all the scribbled notes everywhere about his Spirit?
­- Is God using this to speak to unsaved people at our wedding?

The song Blessed Be Your Name which we sang during the wedding ceremony was indeed so true that day, when all good, when all is bad, when we receive, when we lose-God indeed seems very present and real to us in this time. Have you ever seen God in your weakest times?

Monique

08.06.2008

Bridges for the Kingdom

Last week we had 28 visitors from two different churches in Arkansas who were here to help us broaden the scope of our ministry for 6 days. They were part of a group of around 80 people who came to Ottawa as a part of the North American Mission Board program called PowerPlant. For many of the people, it was their first time out of their home country and their first time "on mission." I had the wonderful privilege of watching as they challenged themselves to reach out to people with the Good News and see the resulting challenges that God placed on them as He grew their faith and knowledge of Him.

Among the activities that the groups performed, they gave some simple spiritual surveys on our campuses and streets, particularly in the downtown/market area. Among the questions were "What do you think about Christianity?" "What to think about Jesus of Nazareth?" and "Would you be interested in being a part of a small group that met to talk about life, work, and spirituality?" One of the most striking results of the surveys was that the people from Arkansas met more people who had never heard of Jesus or who thought that he was just a good man than they had ever met before. While processing through some of these experiences, God really challenged us with the great need that there still is to share with people who Jesus is. Many of the PowerPlant visitors fervently committed to take back with them a fresh passion to find the people in their home towns who need to hear about Jesus Christ.

The job here is ours to take up. We are called to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, we are meant to be His voice to our generation. Our business should be building bridges through relationships where we can share the hope that is Jesus to a people who desperately need Him. Take some time to pray through and analyze your life. Do you live as an ambassador for Christ? Find at least one area where you can work on building a bridge for the gospel with someone in your life.

Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. . . . For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. . . . All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-2Corinthians 5:11, 14-15, 18-21

For the sake of the Name,

jason

06.04.2008

05.21.2008

This upcoming Sunday we'll be talking about the passage of scripture in Acts 12. The chapter begins by relaying to us that King Herod had one of the Apostles, James, put to death with the sword. Typically this language means a fairly dishonorable beheading-similar to the previous Herod's beheading of John the Baptist. In my mind, this brings up the issue of "counting the cost of discipleship."

One time when large crowds of people were following Jesus, he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his [family]-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose on of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish(Luke 14:25-30)."

No doubt these words scared some followers into turning around because the cost was too high. What about you? Have you considered the cost of following Jesus? Jesus says that a true disciple follows with the knowledge that they must submit everything to Christ and to His will. This means saying that the good news of Jesus Christ is more important than ANYTHING-my job, my wealth, my dreams, my family, even my life. There are many Christians around the world today who face this cost in a very literal sense. For them, following Christ means being cut off from family, from society, and sometimes from life itself. I've met some of these people, and my heart has been greatly humbled at the excuses that I've given for not submitting completely to Christ. Excuses like grades, my to-do list, fear of rejection, earthly pleasures, etc.

Take some time to read Luke 14:25-35 and Acts 12. Consider the foundation that you've started to build in your relation with Jesus. Are you willing to submit to him, obeying his commands, and therefore continue to build on that foundation? Faithfulness in these small things, that's what we're striving for together as a church.

For the sake of the Name,

Jason

05.12.2008

This past week, I had to deal with a sad incident that occurred at work. An ex-employee made a negative comment about the organization on a popular website. I am not sure if the person responsible for sharing her feelings "online" knew that the business owner would hear her comments. As a result, the owner called that person to inquire about the comments she made. She expressed her disappointment and how inappropriate her actions were, especially after all the privileges she had been given and all the efforts that were made to accommodate her.

This situation immediately made me think about the "taming of the tongue" in the book of James. It says, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person," James 3:6.

The consequences of her actions resulted in people being hurt, a black dot on that person's reference and a negative reputation. This example proves that what scriptures reveal, what the living Word of God says, is always TRUE and impacts a person's life in many ways, whether you are a believer or not. I acknowledge that it is not hard to criticize, be negative or complain on a daily basis, but I also know that it does no good to anyone either. James 3:10, says:

"Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be."

My challenge for all of us you would be to really live out this verse:

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29

Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help me and any everyone who believes in you to follow in your steps and in being purposeful in encouraging others. Lord, I pray that I will not let any negative words out of my mouth. And if I do, please help me realize it so that I can ask forgiveness. May the words of my mouth be of service to You, Lord, In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Have a great week,

Isabelle