Consider this

           A friend of mine, who had just gone through a life changing tragedy said, “I knew it was coming, but I had no idea how bad it would feel!”            That is the issue, isn’t it?   The feelings we go through are often the hardest part of the journey.   Most things are not unbearable.   I mean, in a physical sense, if you had to get out of bed and face the day you probably could.   It is the “feeling” that we can’t face a certain issue or event that makes it difficult.             To make matters worse, places that should acknowledge those feelings and help us deal with them often do not.   Take church for example.   Churches should be full of people who are there for one another and who are ready to listen and “bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).   Too often, though, we dress up and act as if nothing is happening in our life (whether good or bad).   “How are you today?” always gets the same response, “I am fine!” whether that is true or not.           

On May 26th, at 4:30am, Harrison Okene, a cook on a tugboat off the coast of Nigeria heard a loud noise and thought, “That didn’t sound good!” Within minutes, the choppy, storm-filled waters of the Atlantic Ocean began filling the vessel. Knowing that the tugboat was sinking, some of Okene’s crewmates headed for the escape hatch. When they opened it, water rushed in and swept the men into the sea. The on-coming water also washed Okene back into the boat. In the darkness, he found his way to the officer’s washroom and for the next few hours stood there holding onto the overhead light fixture to keep his head out of the rising waters. When it was clear that this was no longer a safe place, he moved to another room and found another pocket of air. Trapped 30 meters (or about 100 feet) below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean, Okene sat on a mattress in the dark and waited. A half of a day passed. Twenty-four hours later, he was still sitting in the boat at the bottom of the sea.

            A week ago, a friend of mine who lives and works in North Central Regina came to our church to talk about the needs that he sees every day.   It was interesting and sparked a lot of discussion about poverty and what we could do to help change things.             Two days later, my mailbox was flooded with “Black Friday” ads and sales on hundreds of things that I don’t really need.   As I write this it is “Cyber Monday” (the online equivalent of “Black Friday”) and there are even more deals to be found.             So what do you do?   I mean, on one hand there are people all over the place who are barely scraping by and on the other hand I am looking at a new welder and thinking “I really need that!”    How much should I give away and how much should I keep?   Where does my responsibility to look after myself cross the line and become “greed”?    Questions like that keep coming and there are no easy answers (at least none that are helpful).             In 1 Timothy

            I do not know anyone who wants to just go to church.   Church services, even the very best of them, are not really worth our time if they are not accompanied by life-changing faith.             The question, though, is “How do we find that ‘deeper faith’?”               In 1 Chronicles 28, King David gives his son Solomon some advice as he prepares to pass on both his kingdom and his faith.   Maybe these thoughts will help us.             "So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God: Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you” (verses 8-

            Sometimes the simplest phrases say a lot.   One such phrase is embedded in the following paragraph.             “For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever” (2 Corinthians 7:5-7).             The part to notice:   “But God… comforted us by the coming of Titus”.                It was “God” who comforted Paul, but notice how he did this:   He sent Titus!             Now I have no idea whether Titus knew that he was doing God’s work when he went to find Paul.   I have no idea if God told him to go, or if he just decided that he needed to see his friend.   I do know this, though, his arrival made all the difference in the

            “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).             Faith comes in two forms; an easier one and a harder one.             The easier form of faith is to “believe that he (God) exists”.   This is “easier” for two reasons.   First, I can see some things that help me believe.   For example, take a few minutes and look at the starry sky tonight and ask yourself, “Do I really believe that all those stars and all those galaxies (not to mention all the ones I cannot see, do not know about and the ones that we have not even discovered yet) came about by some weird, strange and really good accident?”   Think about that long enough and you may come to the conclusion that it more reasonable to believe in a God who created all these things.   Or, hold a baby and think about the systems of the body and how they work.   Do some reading abou

              In Luke 1, we are introduced to a priest named Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth.   It says that “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old” (verses 6-7).   That last part about them not having a child is significant.   That was a big deal back then.             One day when Zachariah was serving at the temple, the angel Gabriel appeared and said, “Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John” (verse 13).               The part that I find interesting here is that Gabriel says, “Your prayer has been heard”.   When was that prayer prayed?     There are only two options and both of them having something to teach us.               It could be that they were still praying for a child even though they were well past the normal child-bearing

            I grew up going to stock car races in Moose Jaw, so you can imagine how happy I was, about thirteen years ago, to hear that Estevan was getting a new dirt track.   In fact, I was one of the first people in the grandstands on the first night and I have missed very few races since then.   I have sat in those grandstands in the heat, through torrential downpours and I have frozen out there more times than I care to remember, but it was always fun!             All through those years, I used to think “It would be fun to volunteer out here”, but I never did.   I did not know anyone and I was not sure if I would be welcome, so I did not do anything about it.             This past winter, the speedway president was talking to my wife.   She knew that I enjoyed the races, so she said, “Do you think Tim would like to help us out there?”   Sara said, “Oh, I am sure he would.   Why don’t you call him?”   Within minutes I received a call, an invitation and I signed up.   And g

            It seemed simple enough.   God’s people were in the wilderness.   They needed water and God gave Moses a solution; “Gather the people and speak to the rock and before their eyes it will pour out its water” (Numbers 20:8).   Now that seems a little strange, but it had worked before (see Exodus 17:1-7), so Moses gathered the people.   Unfortunately, this is where everything falls apart.             Moses is tired!   He has been leading these people for forty years and all they have done is complain and gripe about everything.   In fact, we are told that earlier that day “the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron.   They quarreled with Moses and said… ‘Why did you bring us to this terrible place?   It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates.   And there is no water to drink!’” (Numbers 20:2-5)             Forty years of frustration boiled over and Moses turned to the people and yelled, “You people are always complaining. Now listen to me. I w