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“From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth – he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.” Psalms 33:13-15

Have you ever received good and bad news in the same week? When our daughter Rebekah and her family returned to Kelowna Thursday she opened an e-mail from Chicken Soup for the Soul. Their Canadian version due out this fall will include her “hockey mom” article (see below). She can now call herself a published author. Our Carter clan has become a writing family. Our daughter, Sara, has written a book called From the Couch to the Stage which should be available this fall as well. Our daughter-in-law Jessica writes a cooking blog. Gary’s latest book, See You Next Week! (on welcoming visitors to church), will soon be ready to purchase. My sad news this week was the passing of my cousin from cancer who was a little older than myself. Probably due to an early death of his father and a broken marriage that resulted in the estrangement of his son for several years he took his bitterness to find solace in alcohol. Too many trod this same path. God does consider everything we do; therefore I must do better – we all must do better – in spreading the Good News so others can live a better life.

The gang from Kingdom Bound returned home Thursday safe and sound after a few days with lots of rain stories along with lots of good memories from this annual Christian conference at Darien Lake, NY. The Burtons met an acquaintance of old who remembered when we had just adopted Lee from S. Korea. I guess that made an impact on his life. You never know!

This just in! William reports that all is well with him in Myanmar. They have started another new church since his return home. He is still working on sourcing lower priced parts for the lighting system before production begins.

Congratulations to Chris and Sara Burton on their 18th Wedding Anniversary today! Gary and I are getting old.

Home Group happens this Thursday at the Burton “manor” at 7:00 p.m. We are continuing to view Don Carson’s series on the Bible and praying together.

Great rain this morning during church. The farmers will love that.

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.

The Fleeting of Time by Gary Carter: The baseball season has now ended for our granddaughter, Cassidy. The stores are reminding us once again that school is just around the corner. An old friend has decided to move across our continent to live in BC. Our lives are full of various changing seasons. Years ago a young man in our church wanted to go back to school and graduate. He didn’t because of the pressures on his family at the time. Now he is old with health not so great. Is he disappointed with his life choices? You are never too young to make a positive decision. You do have time or time’s got you and you will have arrived at your best before date.

The Apostle Paul exhorts Corinthians in I Corinthians 7:29-31, “ … the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” There are advantages in not being married e.g. you can serve the Lord more. The proper use of time is a big concern.  Will the church in the days ahead have people to lead it because they know time is short and encourage the next generation to serve? Are parents inhibiting young people from going to Bible school and encouraging them to go to university for a better paying job? Why are we so concerned about planning for our future e.g. having enough money in our pension plan? We must please the Lord and do what He wants us to do for time is passing away. Did someone in Wendy’s cousin’s neighbourhood take the time and show interest in inviting him to church? Do you know of someone who has dropped out of church? 50% who move into a new city who used to go to church quit going to church in their new location.

Gary is working on his new book, See You Next Week! He believes there are six loves in the church that cause newcomers to stay. All six are needed – the pastor loves the people; the people love their pastor (no tension); the people love their faith and their church; the people love each other; the people are open to loving newcomers; and the church is a place where that newcomer believes they will learn about the love of God. The challenge is to come up with ten top simple activities we can do to demonstrate each love before the newcomer slips away. For example, a friend said that she joined a church because the pastor knew her name the second time she visited. That is a simple act demonstrating love.

Conversations with Jesus – Jesus Calms the Storm (Luke 8:22-25) by Chris Burton: What did the disciples expect Jesus to do when they woke him? Their response seems like they weren’t expecting him to just stop the storm. Maybe they wanted some calming words or perhaps they were looking for a plan. Maybe they just wanted to wake him to say good-bye since they were all going to drown. It doesn’t really say what happened next but whatever the reason they were significantly panicked so that they forgot who was in the boat with them. This won’t be the last time the disciples falter in the face of adversity, but each time they learn a little more about the Man that “…commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” Jesus’ question, “Where is your faith?” is a good one to recall when we face our own storms in life.

FYI: The size of the fishing boat was not overly large. It was really like a big canoe, 7-8 feet wide which must have created a harried and rocky experience in a big storm with 12 disciples crammed in.

FYI: Storms result from differences in temperatures between the seacoast and the mountains beyond. The Sea of Galilee lies 680 feet below sea level. It is bounded by hills, especially on the east side where they reach 2000 feet high. These heights are a source of cool, dry air. In contrast, directly around the sea, the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large temperature and pressure changes. This results in strong winds dropping to the sea, funneling through the hills. The Sea of Galilee is small, and these winds may descend directly to the center of the lake with violent results. When the contrasting air masses meet, a storm can arise quickly without warning. Small boats caught out on the sea are in immediate danger. The Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow, just 200 feet at its greatest depth. A shallow lake is “whipped up” by wind more rapidly than deep water where energy is more readily absorbed.

Return Trip from Greece (Paul’s 3rd Missionary Journey) by Steve Macdonald: In Acts 29:5-6 we learn that Paul joined others in Troas. Whose house is Paul staying in while he is giving the sermon in verses 7-12? Does it belong to Carpus (2 Timothy 4:13)? The Latin word for Carpus means fruit, fruitful or profits (Check out John 15:16.) The house must have been large since Eutychus fell 3 stories (maybe he should have been taking notes!). Did he actually fall asleep due to the length of the Paul’s sermon or did the stage lighting provide a source which overcame the lad? Does Paul feel guilty or responsible about the boy’s death? Whatever the cause, Paul took a step of faith and acted like Elijah and Elisha (I Kings 17:20-21; II Kings 4:34-35). He embraced the dead boy and asked God to raise him. Eutychus (Greek meaning fortunate) did not stay up late watching TV or hanging around down on the main strip with his friends watching the camel races. He wasn’t locked away talking to his friends on his laptop or watching videos on his Roman tablet (Ipod first edition). He tried to stay awake to listen to Paul speak. He sat in a room with many other people listening to the Gospel. Paul also teaches us a few things here. He spoke from supper time until midnight. He stopped to resurrect a boy and then spoke again until morning as time was short and he was leaving the next day. Obviously he knew the Gospel very well. Fatigue did not stop him.

Paul leaves Troas and walks to Assos, while his friends sail around the peninsula to meet him. Why? To speak with someone, to evangelize, to rethink what happened by himself, to restore his soul? The reason is not known, but there was a reason. From Assos his travels took him to Mitylene to Kios to Samos and then to Miletus. In Miletus, Paul sends for and speaks to the elders of Ephesus. Then he went to Cos, Rhodes, Patara, Phoenicia, Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesarea (Acts 21:7-9) where he stayed at the house of Philip, the evangelist (Acts 6:3-5). Philip performed many miracles (Acts 8:4-8); he converted Simon the magician (Acts 8:9-13); he baptized the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39); he was swept away to Azotus and on to Ceasarea where he preached the truth for years along with his four unmarried daughters who prophesied (I Corinthians 14:1-4). Eutychus plus these 4 girls, who must have received positive parenting, made for five good young people. Agabus arrived who is mentioned only twice - when he came down to Antioch at the start of Paul’s first mission where he predicted the famine and now again at the end of this third mission (Acts 11:28; Acts 21:10). His earlier correct prediction obviously caused concerns among Paul’s companions. Next stop was Jerusalem where they stayed at the house of Mnason (a Greek name meaning reminding), a native of Cyprus like Barnabas. This man must have had some means to be able to house Paul and his entourage.

Ready … Reset (Nehemiah 5) by Gary Carter: Did you know the second best thing to taking notes during a sermon is something like colouring? It keeps your mind active. Did you also know that you get better sleep in a hammock? Paul spoke all night because his time was short but that is not the reason for our current world’s lack of sleep. It’s time to reset.

“A fool and his money are soon parted.” (Thomas Tusser) “A fool and his money are lucky enough to get together in the first place.” (Stanley Weiser) “A fool and his money get a lot of publicity.” (Al Bernstein) “A fool is one who thinks that solely because he has money he is not a fool.” (Gary V Carter)

It was very costly to finance the reconstruction of the Jerusalem walls. Americans are finding this so in their country with the down grading of their credit this week. It is now costing them 40 cents of borrowed money for every dollar the government spends. They have been living beyond their means. But it is never about how much money you have but what you do with your money.

When this project began the King of Persia had contributed a substantial but undetermined amount of money for the military and timber (Nehemiah 2:8-9). The governor had given gold, bowls and garments valued at about $500,000 (Nehemiah 7:70). The heads of families gave gold and silver valued at about $11,500,000 (7:71). The rest of the people gave gold, silver and garments (not a pile of used clothing!) valued at about $11,400,000 (7:72). There was, however, a problem with personal finance; the people complained about their mortgages on their fields, the high taxes exacted by the king (about $600/head) and there was no money left for grain. Labour value was substantial because of 52 days of lost income. Nehemiah got angry and after a meeting with the nobles and officials they agreed to take an oath to give back “… their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them…” (5:11). After the completion of the wall, Nehemiah and the people promised to bring a tithe (= 10%) of their crops to the Levites (10:37). Today it costs $6.29 to produce a bushel of wheat and sale price is about $10.00/bushel. The tithe then was $1.00 (not $10.00 - $6.29 = $3.71 X .1) = $.37 - the way we might calculate it in todays terms by deducting the cost of doing business from the income.

General lessons learned from this story are: walls are expensive; social justice is important; believers must give proportionately to have a wall (the temple mattered but the wall protected it); rich believers must give about half; and government subsidy is an option (used in this case). I Corinthians 16:1-2 teaches everyone, every week, from every pay cheque to give in proportion. Unfortunately many of our churches have money sitting in bank accounts that is not being used. They have become too security conscious and people from Somalia in Kenyan refugee camps are starving. The wall can be rebuilt and the message moved forward. We are here today to do that!

More Punny Book Titles by Steve Macdonald:
Eating a Good Breakfast by Hammond Eggs
Fire Me Up! By Matt Chez
The Truancy Problem by Marcus Absent
I was a Cloakroom Attendant by Mahatma Coate
Oh the Pain, the Pain! by Moe N. Groan
No More Rifles by Morgan Control
Handel’s Messiah by Ollie Luyah
All about Orchestras by Phil Harmonic
Punny Book Title Collection 8 by R. D. Harhar

GROWING WITH A CANADIAN OBSESSION ~ Rebekah Wilkinson (Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul)

Hockey in Canada is more than a favorite past time; it is an obsession. There is something stemming from the genes that pulls parents out of bed at 4:30 on dark weekday mornings to go sit in a cold arena, hunkering around travel mugs of coffee, to watch their children pass puck after puck around the slippery surface. Even the Canadian five-dollar bill pays tribute to the game with pictures of pond hockey and a quote from Roch Carrier’s short story “The Hockey Sweater”. “The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places – the school, the church and the skating rink – but our real life was on the skating rink.”

I wouldn’t say that I have caught the ruling, consuming passion of hockey as of yet. But I do appreciate the appeal of the concoction of the suspenseful adrenaline rush laced with camaraderie that binds Canadians to this game. I am not at a place yet where I will sit glossy-eyed and glued to the television to watch Hockey Night In Canada. We’ll see when my son makes the NHL. But I will say this, “I get it.” Shh… don’t tell my husband.