Heartland News & Prayer

March 20, 2011 by Wendy Carter.

Happy First Day of Spring!

“Since then you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2

Hurrah - spring has officially arrived. Are you ready to transition from one season to another? Spring often means cleaning or decluttering. Recently I heard an interview on how to declutter your clothes. This person recommended placing all your spring clothes on your closet rod but have the open part of the hanger facing you. When you wear something return it to the rod with the hanger facing the opposite direction. At the end of the season you will then know what clothes you have not worn as the hangers will not have changed. Those are the ones you can disperse. How easy is that? I like the verses above which remind me to declutter my mind and set my thinking on Christ alone. William sees all the various distractions in our country that keep us from important spiritual activities like prayer.

Please continue to pray for all the turmoil that is mounting from one day to the next in too many countries of our world that government leaders will make good decisions and have proper wisdom in knowing what the next step should be. Pray for all those who are suffering due to the crises around them and for Christians to be able to comfort them. Our Fellowship denomination has three families along with World Venture co-workers all living in Japan. Japan Fellowship Baptist Fellowship has an association of churches within the region hit the hardest by the monster earthquake and tsunami. If you would like to donate to FAIR Japan Earthquake relief let me know and I can forward monies to our Fellowship office in Guelph (see www.fellowship.ca and click on FAIR).

William is learning how to bowl this afternoon with the Macdonald family. Please pray that he will know how to make the best of his time during his last couple of months with us in Canada. He returns to visit the Burmese congregations in Ottawa next weekend. His Maple Syrup pictures from this past week are on his blog – www.william.heartlandfellowship.ca.

The Little Big Show with Gary Carter and Kaiya Burton has arrived! There are two 7-minute episodes to listen to at www.thelittlebigshow.ca. Enjoy!

Gary is planning to send Life on the Zipline – from Fear to Awe to print this week. This book is a compilation of writing by three of his colleagues and himself who have established Compass Coaching International (www.compasscoachinginternational.com) for life coaching. This tele-course begins once again on April 4. The book will enhance the course and is a good read for anyone who wants to move forward in their life journey.

Home Group happens this Thursday at the Burtons’ home at 7:00 p.m. as we continue to view Don Carson’s video series and pray.

Take care,

Wendy
wendy.carter@kainos.org
This blog is a summary of our 9:00 Sunday morning services held at 7777 Churchville Rd., Brampton, ON L6Y 0H3, 905-230-8116. It can always be found at www.blog.heartlandfellowship.ca.

A Free Gift Taken with not much Understanding by Gary Carter: Pastor Rob Bell in the US has written a book not yet released called Love Wins. His focus is everyone’s fate based on the fact God is love. He seems to believe there is no literal hell inhabited by people. This is turning the Christian world upside down. On the other hand, George Barna has written a new book called Maximum Faith – Live Like Jesus. After a survey of 15,000 people he learned that about only 14% of born again Christians agree they hold God and a relationship with Him in highest priority. Is not this the job of a Christian to be transformed to be like Jesus? Many take His free gift of salvation without much understanding and deny that God should have a rightful place on the throne of their lives. Many admire Jesus but don’t follow Him. George Barna describes three problems that have weakened the church – sin (“Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” James 4:17); selfishness (“After me you come first!”); and society (over stimulation and distractions). We must set our own agenda aside to love (expressed by truth) others.

Two Songs from William: William’s songs, By Faith I was Made Righteous (based on Psalm 103) and He is Patient to Prove His Love for Me (Ezekiel 1-4) are again on his blog - www.william.heartlandfellowship.ca. William knows that God is not ashamed to call him His son and he has been given true peace and joy as God leads him home to eternity. The sins of his past life God threw away from him. His past life involved living life according to his own will. His present life is not perfect but God, in His patience and love, gave William a chance to repent. He has had much blessing in his life since then.

Apollos - by Steve Macdonald: Apollos was an interesting Jewish believer and church leader in the New Testament. He is mentioned in Acts 18:24-25, 27; 19:1-3; I Corinthians 1:12; 3:4-6, 22; 4:6; 16:12; and Titus 3:12. We learn that Apollos became very knowledgeable about the Scriptures. So how did that happen? He grew up in Alexandria, close to the worlds largest library at the time. Josephus wrote that the library was established by Ptolemy II (Philadelphus).  His head librarian Demetrius of Phalerum was “anxious to collect, all the books in the inhabited world.” If knowledge of a book worthy of study was obtained, he bought it. Books from Greece, Rome, Egypt and even as far away as India were collected.  Demetrius got a number of Jewish writings translated from Hebrew or Aramaic into Greek. His most important accomplishment was having the Hebrew Bible translated into Greek.  This was called the Septuagint (LXX) after the seventy Jewish Alexandrians who translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek. According to Josephus there were up to half a million books in the library. To have a thorough knowledge of Scripture you must study and memorize the Word of God. Having this library available would certainly make this possible for a young Apollos while growing up.

Did he study with Philo of Alexandria, a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher and renowned preacher in his time who spoke allegorically about the Scriptures? What is certain is that Apollos spoke with a fervour in public about what he heard and what he knew. Did Apollos make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16) and hear someone preaching about baptism in water? Being knowledgeable in the Scriptures, did he realize that the Messiah was coming and took to heart the message of baptism with water as the way to salvation (Isaiah 40:3)? Did the words of Malachi 3:1-2 convict his heart and give him the passion to speak with “fervour” about Jesus? We know that as knowledgeable as Apollos was, he was willing to be corrected, to learn the truth. After being taught by Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 1:26), he continued to teach about Jesus in Achaia, (Greece, Corinth, Ephesus, Crete). We know he was effective in his teaching especially in Corinth if a faction of the church chose to follow him (I Corinthians 3:4, 22).
Some side stories associated with Apollos from church history: He may be the author of Hebrews (as per Martin Luther); he may be the author of the Gospel of Matthew; he became Bishop of the Church of Corinth after the divisions within Corinth were taken care of by Paul (as per Jerome); he became the Bishop of Caesarea; he became Bishop of Crete after retiring there with Zenus; and along with Zenus, is numbered among the 70 Apostles.

Ready … Reset by Gary Carter: When is it time to say, “Enough is enough?” The prodigal son in the New Testament looked for a better world other than his home. He finally returned after realizing it just was not out there and was welcomed back with open arms. While many wander some come to the fresh realization of the value of the home they once rejected.

King Asa, in 2 Chronicles 14:1-2 in the Old Testament, on a personal level before God lived righteously. The nation of Israel around him, including his grandmother, on the whole was not right before God (2 Chronicles 15:3-4). In verse 6 God was even prodding them with distress to get their attention. King Asa didn’t fix everything but he did depose his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because of the horrid Asherah pole she had made. Asa took action because of his awareness of the repulsiveness; he crushed and burned the pole. Too often today our world just puts up with it e.g. disgusting television sitcoms. Christians seem to lack awareness of the outrage of sin.

How real is real? The church in Corinth was troubled with all of its divisions. Paul sent them a letter (2 Corinthians 7:8-11) which initially caused them sorrow; sometimes truth hurts. It did, however, lead to repentance or Godly sorrow. It made them aware of what was wrong. Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? Do you see how bad it is? Do you know what you need to change? Are you convicted enough to tear up or make an intervention? Will it take a written letter, a conversation, a meeting? King Asa was committed and a measure of renewal came to Israel.

Communion: How often should we celebrate Communion or the Lord’s Supper? Some groups celebrate it once a week, once every 4 months, once a year. We celebrate it once a month and is that too much or enough? I Corinthians 11:17-33 (the only chapter of instructions) doesn’t really say what to do. The bread is just a symbol of Christ’s body; it doesn’t do anything for you. The wine (we use juice) or crushed grapes is another allegory. This activity is designed to cause us to remember Him. It is a reminder to be thankful for Jesus’ death on the cross for our salvation.

What I Meant to Say (more newspaper headlines) by Steve Macdonald:
County to pay $250,000 to advertise lack of funds
Fourth Annual pelling Bee
Madonna reads her second book
Church of England begins weighing female bishops
Mayor Parris to homeless: Go Home
Females likelier to test for women’s diseases
Pregnant girls are vulnerable to weight gain
State population to double by 2040: babies to blame
Girl kicked by horse upgrade to stable
Most doctors agree that breathing regularly is good for you
Breathing oxygen linked to staying alive
Kayaking is hard when the water is frozen
Starvation can lead to health hazards
Total lunar eclipse will be broadcast live on Northwoods Public Radio
Man with 8 DUIs blames drinking problem
Planes forced to land at airports

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