Summer Greetings!

“The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…” Romans 8:6

What a week it has been with the terrible vandalism and looting in London, England by young people and the roller coaster ride of the stock markets worldwide. Not much control there by either the London “bobbys” or the business analysts or investors. Over 2000 arrests have been made, some as young as 11 years. Oh that parents and children alike would take the above verse to heart which would give them the kind of life and peace they are desperately seeking. Please pray that our church may become a Biblical information place for our city of Brampton.

Heather Macdonald left for Nova Scotia this past Thursday with her Guiding group for 10 days. Please pray for her safety, for positive life development and above all may she be a Christian testimony to her friends.

A new book recently put into our library is called 400 Years of Canadian History by Donald Gingras, a French Canadian hockey coach who became converted to Christianity as an adult. This book is a “must” read for everyone who wants to understand why Quebecers have wanted to separate from the rest of Canada all these years.

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

Enjoy your week,

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.

Medals, Trophies or Crowns by Gary Carter: Cassidy and Kaiya Burton have been collecting a lot of medals and trophies from all their baseball tournaments over the past few years. The word “trophy” is not mentioned in the Bible but the word “crown” is used several times. An Olympian champion would receive a woven crown of leaves to adorn their head. This award that did not last really had no value; it was just a symbol of success with good memories attached (II Timothy 2:5). Jesus’ crown of thorns placed on his head was therefore a mockery. Crowns are people (Philipppians 4:1; I Thessalonians 2:19) that have become joy to us. Crowns of righteousness will be awarded to us when Jesus comes again (2 Timothy 4:8). We will also receive a crown of life i.e. eternal life (James 1:12) that God has promised. These crowns of glory will never fade away (I Peter 5:4) but we must hold onto them (Revelations 3:11) so that they won’t be taken away. Many crowns are made of gold which is a beautiful precious metal. Revelations 4:10 says that crowns will be laid before the throne of the Lord.

On the Road to Rome by Steve Macdonald: In the fall of 59 A.D. Paul started on his road to Rome and finally arrived there in the spring of 60 A.D (Acts 27:1-28:16). He travelled on a prison ship from Caesarea to Sidon, Myra, Cnidus, Fair Havens, Malta, Syracuse, Rhegium, Puteoli and eventually to Rome. His travelling companions were Luke (Acts 27:2 - “We boarded a ship.”; Aristarchus (Acts 27:2); and Julius the centurion. Is this the same centurion as in Acts 22:25 or 23:23? Plus there were 273 others according to Luke in Acts 27:37. Paul’s ship also carried a cargo of wheat. Lucian describes an Alexandrian wheat ship as 180 feet long (including end projections) by 45 feet broad - about 1,300 tons. Paul’s ship would likely have been about 600 tons.
Due to a hurricane they were blown off course along the way. In Acts 27:21-25 Paul predicted that even though their ship would be destroyed they would all be saved. They landed on the island of Malta where they were welcomed by the the islanders (28:1-6). They built a fire on the beach. A viper driven out from the heat of the brushwood fastened itself onto Paul’s hand but he suffered no ill effects. His reaction to the snake bite just re-enforced his faith in God to all the people traveling with him and to the islanders. In modern Malta there are almost no trees and the island does not have poisonous snakes. However, in Paul’s time, much of the Mediterranean basin was still wooded; so there may also have been poisonous snakes on Malta. Publius (from the Latin Populus meaning popular) held office under the governor of Sicily. As the leading official in Malta he was responsible for any Roman soldiers and their prisoners who might land there (28:7-10). Obviously he displayed more than ordinary attention for Paul and his shipwrecked company (28:7) for he hosted them for three days. Publius, according to some eastern churches, was converted to Christianity. Paul healed Publius’ father and many others. He stayed on the island for three months. Saint Publius is also one of the patron saints of Malta. He was never canonized like all the Biblical saints; so he is not recognized as Malta’s first saint. For that reason he was martyred (c.125) during the persecution of Emperor Hadrian.
Once the weather was favorable for ship travel, they set out again and arrived in Rome where Paul stayed under house arrest for 2 years. Paul had several companions in Rome. He trusted Tychicus (Ephesians 6:21) with letters to deliver to Colossae, Ephesus, Philemon and possibly Philippi (and maybe the missing letter to Laodicea). He is of Greek origin – his name meaning casual, by chance. He came from Asia, possibly Ephesus. Epaphroditus (the name corresponds to the Latin Venustus or handsome, charming) was a “brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier” (Phillipians 2:25) - a well balanced combination in a Christian life. More next week.

Ready … Reset (Nehemiah 6) by Gary Carter: Have you heard of Google Plus yet? It is a networking system with overlapping circles to help gather and organize your information – a new Facebook or Linked In – that you have to be invited to. Nobody really understands the power of this tool but it is turning our world more and more into a village. Is this something we should learn about early on so that it can become a potential tool in the hand of God? You can never know how far your influence will travel. Ron Howard’s daughter who is starring in the new movie, The Help, has never had a drop of alcohol. It would be interesting to know about her background and why she has come to that decision. Is it time to reset our buttons and not get distracted from our real direction in life?
“It is better to make a piece of music than to perform one, better to perform one than to listen to one, better to listen to one than to misuse it as a means of distraction or entertainment.” (John Cage) “You can always find a distraction if you’re looking for one.” (Tom Kite) “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” (CT Studd)
There are always jealous people around who will criticize you and oppose you by saying you have a hidden agenda or distract you from what you ought to be doing. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem invited Nehemiah to meet them on the plain of Ono in a village 12 miles away. Nehemiah refused to go. He prayed to God for strength. Another trap was set for him to go to the temple. Shemaiah hired by Tobiah and Sanballat said he should come to the temple as men were coming to kill him. Nehemiah said he would not go and went back to praying. In 52 days the walls were completed which was an amazing architectural feat. Ideas and events come and go but relationships last forever. Gary has been recently helping Can & Mylene replace the flooring in their upstairs bedrooms of their new home. What a great time for permanent memories to be made and Can has now learned a new skill.
Are your conversations with people going nowhere or somewhere? Here are a few questions to ask yourself.
1. Do they (family/friends) understand the implications? Are they taking you somewhere you ought not to go? Gary prefers walking over golfing because of the time investment. He won’t be wrapping clubs around trees any time soon.
2. Are they interested in their own comfort? People don’t want to see you struggle as it will make them feel bad. Gary is helping a good friend write a little each day. It is good for him but others see it as too much because of injuries from a car accident years ago. Is the task too hard or are you too old?
3. Is the discussion worth the time?
4. Is the discussion a distraction?

These are So Punny by Steve Macdonald:
I Disagree With That! by N. A. Sayer
Ready for Knighthood by Neil Downe
Self Money Management by Owen Cash
Girl On a Budget by Penny Pincher
Stop Harassing Me! By Percy Kuershun
How I Won The Marathon by Randy Wholeway
Songs from “South Pacific” by Sam and Janet Evening
April Fools! By Sue Prize
It’s Just not Fair! by Y. Me