Consider this

           In my mind, I can still smell the mixture of grease and used motor oil that permeated my Dad’s shop.   He was a mechanic and he and a bunch of his buddies used to spend most of the winter rebuilding old cars in our backyard garage.   It was always sort of a strange and mysterious place to me.   I had no idea what the various tools did and I did not know what all the parts were for, but I wanted to learn.   In fact, it never even occurred to me that there were people in the world who wanted nothing to do with repairing old cars.   I saw it being done and so I wanted to know how to do it too.            Another place of mystery was my Uncle Grant’s work room.   He had a basement room full of electronic stuff including diodes, capacitors and electronic test equipment.   I had no idea how to use them and I did not know how electricity worked, but I decided that, someday, I would learn.             Maybe you have been inspired to learn or do something because you saw some

            I was feeling pretty good about myself as I rode my motorcycle around the little town of Wasagaming in Riding Mountain National Park.   The sun was shining, it was hot outside and the place was packed with people.   Many times in the past I had watched guys ride through this town on their motorcycles and thought, “Look at that lucky dude!   What a great place to ride!” and now I was the “lucky dude” that everyone else was watching and envying.   It felt good to be the centre of attention.             As I turned the corner and headed back down past all the shops to show off one more time, a couple of guys stepped out on the street right in front of me.   I grabbed the brakes and the clutch lever and stopped.   The guys jumped back and gave me one of those “Oops – sorry about that” waves. I waved back, let out the clutch… and stalled the bike.             I had been cruising around town in second gear and when I stopped so quickly I forgot to put it back into fi

            Though he had no idea where to find them, Alvin McDonald went back into the cave.                  The previous day, three people had become separated from their tour group somewhere in “Wind Cave”.   Searching the cave, located in the south east portion of the Black Hills in South Dakota, was not going to be an easy task.   With more than 139 miles of known tunnels (and an average of 4 more miles being discovered each year), there was no telling where the lost tourists would be found.   However, if anyone could find them, Alvin McDonald was the man.             McDonald, born in 1873 began exploring “Wind Cave” when he was sixteen years old.   Over the next four years, until his death in 1893, he mapped the tunnels and a kept an extensive diary describing what he had found.   Alvin explored the cave with nothing but candlelight which afforded him about four feet of sight.   When the candles went out, he could not see anything.   In fact, the darkness was so en

In Revelation chapter twelve, John hears a loud voice from heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them!” (Verses 10-12) I like that the first word is, “Now”. There is no waiting for some future event or time. We can participate in God’s kingdom, receive salvation and live with God’s power - “Now!” We can be reborn as God’s children and participate in what he is doing in this world – “Now!” Notice, too, the definite article in the phrases, “the salvation… the power… the kingdom… the authority of his Christ”. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”