Yearly Archives: 2015

Two churches we have attended have 50th anniversaries this year.  1965 was a great time of starting churches – that lasted.  There was much unrest in the nation, desire to provide Jesus as the answer to a growingly restless society, and resources that could be stretched to reach this goal.

Although neither my wife nor I were attending these particular churches as they were planted, we are the beneficiaries.  For that we thank God. 

As I read of the early days of these churches, you note immediately a sense of unity – a sense of “we are one, for the glory of God.”  50 years later a myriad of life circumstances have caused both growth and retrenchment in each church. 

But God is not dead.  And life continues to arise.

I have another anniversary to commemorate on May 17th.  My first wife, Jill, passed away three years ago on that date.  I’ve been excited about life that has followed – God is not dead and life arises.

But we are wise to remember. 

In the remembering we will sometimes glorify the best and try to ignore the worst.  We will best benefit from an honest view of past pains and glories.  And we will reshape the future as we seek after God’s will – knowing that God has been faithful to bring us thus far!!

Perfumes have become a bane of society. 

At the same time, we may have to encounter the worst of two evils – or simply exit the room.

Right now we have a lacquer smell in some cloth – attached to a seat that we use regularly.  Removal of the cloth is not an easy task.  But the odour can become overwhelming, or at least irritating.

I did the “Google thing” and came up with what may be a unique solution.  Both literally and figuratively. 

The suggestion was to apply alcohol (chemical interaction?) and to have a neutral or inoffensive smell included.  As I searched, one option arose.  Use pure vanilla extract (the 35% alcohol kind!).

So, this morning, I diluted some pure vanilla extract with some water and sprayed it on the material.  I’m expecting by midday, the offending cloth will either stink pretty or pretty much stink!

As a youth my interest in faith was interesting!

I was given various examples of belief.  Sitting on a chair that I had never sat on before, trusting in my parents.  The list increased as I got older.

The list was not the experience.

If all I needed was knowledge, then I had a superb list of what others had said and done.

But what about believing that God would give us children when we were barren?  What about believing that giving money away to help a young couple was possible on our own slim budget?  What about entering into relationships with unstable individuals believing that we would remain unharmed and they would be transformed?

Those are walking papers! 

Until you walk the talk – live the list – your faith will not grow.

We have entered into a new adventure.  We are currently looking for a house.  In a town where houses are scarce and prices high.  We have peace that God will provide.  He has in the past, and he will once again.

That is faith.

June 18 – July 17 the Muslim world will celebrate Ramadan.  I came across a statement about praying for Muslims during Ramadan.  Sorry, I haven’t got the source written out for you, but as with most things nowadays, you probably could Google it to find out.

When we pray for Muslims during Ramadan we will be praying with them.  When we pray that they will get to know God better, we also will learn new things from God.  God loves Muslims and in prayer we will be able to love them too, which is much better than being afraid of them.

I’ve made this time a prayer time for close to a decade.  My own awareness of Muslims and their practices has increased.  But more than that, my love for them is also increased.  In fact, I find sitting and conversing with Muslims is an invigorating thing – might even learn a few things from them!!