And She's Off

So Annette is off to Chicago for a womens conference. For the remainder of this afternoon that means I will be taking care of Justin, but thankfully Grandma is able to come up and help or I would never get my sermons done for Sunday. I hope she has a good time there, and a safe drive there and back.

He Fills What Is Empty -- Genesis 1:14-25

He Fills What Is Empty -- Genesis 1:14-25

Another Episode In Simon's Cat

Praying For The Brother Who Sins -- 1 John 5:16-17

In this passage we find that the instruction to pray for our fellow believers who have fallen into sin, but with it comes the difficult to understand qualification that we should not pray in the case of a sin unto death. What does this mean, and how does it apply to praying for our brother or sister who is sinning? This sermon will look at this.

Praying For The Brother Who Sins -- 1 John 5:16-17

Form From Formless -- Genesis 1:3-13

Continuing our study of Genesis we look at the first three days of creation finding how God took the earth which was first created formless and empty covered in darkenss, and brings it to an ordered form through his word.

Form From Formless -- Genesis 1:3-13

Going Back To The Old Facebook

While I was not as opposed to the new Facebook layout as some, I did prefer the old style. There is a group that you can join which give directions on how to change back, but they are also quite self serving in having the first several instructions being joining the group and inviting your friends to join. However, you don't need to do that. Just follow the instructions below, and you should be able to go back to the old Facebook layout.

1. Use FireFox. If you don't have it, download it here.
(This ONLY works with FireFox. FireFox is a browser much like Internet Explorer and one of the most used.)

2. Install Greasemonkey found here.
(Click the Green "Download Now" button to do this)

3. Restart FireFox.

4. Install the script at this page.
To do this, just click the black "Install" button on the top right corner and it will install.

5. Go to Facebook and login normally. You should have the old version of Facebook. It might take a couple of seconds for the design to change from new to old after you log in, but it WILL.


Make sure you spread these GOOD news to the world! :D

For proof that it works, look at the photos :)

Confidence In Prayer -- 1 John 5:13-15

One thing that grows out of knowing one has received eternal life through faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ, is that a person can have confidence in coming to God. This sermon looks at that confidence and what it means for prayer.

Confidence In Prayer -- 1 John 5:13-15

In The Beginning God -- Genesis 1:1-2

This Sunday we started into a series looking at the first 11 chapters of Genesis. These chapters deal with the initial history of the world, and as with many beginnings, they help us understand more of what we see around us now.

Although we may consider it easy to do, if we think about it, it is very difficult to imagine what it would be like before the universe we know around us came into being. But the Bible is clear, there was a time when there was nothing material at all. It was only when God created all that exists, that what we know came into being. This sermon focuses on what the Bible has to say about the beginning of all things, and helps us to come to know the foundations of all things so we can understand thing better today. More than that, it points to the fact that above all else, is God from everlasting to everlasting.

In The Beginning God -- Genesis 1:1-2

The Elusive White Chipmunk

Just discovered this

We volunteered here this past May.

More Diet Coke and Mentos

I don't know if I posted an earlier video by these guys, but I liked this one as well and thought I would post it.

Got'er Done

It was a long, difficult stretch of work, but I got the van's rear end finished. The axle seals are in, the differential is closed up and filled, the air-adjust shocks are installed and working, and everything is back together. It is good to be done. The next big one will be the front end, but that can wait for a while.

It is nice to be done. I like the sense of accomplishment when the installation is all done.

Getting Closer

Today was a good day off. Now Monday's are normally my day off, so although it is a holiday here in Canada, it really does not seem like a long weekend to me.

I wanted to get the van finished, so I ran off to Canadian Tire to get the correct gasket maker (Napa didn't give me the right stuff.) I made sure the differential cover and the differential housing were both clean of the old gasket and any oil that may have gotten on them while I was working. I put the bead of gasket maker on the cover and attached it to the housing following the instructions on the tube. That required an hour wait until tightening the bolts all the way, so I took the time to start to take off the old shocks. Got one bolt loose, and then the hour was up so I tightened the bolts, showered, and we headed to London to get some bunnies, and have a picnic with my Mother.

The picnic did not turn out well . . . it started to rain, so we stopped at Wendy's. Then after picking up a bunny we headed to Mom's place, dropped off Justin, and went to Wal-mart to allow Justin some time with his grandma. After picking up a few things we headed back, picked up Justin and headed home.


Then I really went to work. I removed the old right hand shock. That was the more difficult one. I put the new shock on, but was not sure which way to face the air fill fitting, so I decided to leave it loose until I could ask some people. I moved on to the left shock. It was not too bad to remove, and again I left the new shock loose until I am sure which way to face the air fitting.

Not a bad day overall, and with maybe an hour or so of work on the van tomorrow, I should have it back running.

Almost All The Way Done

At last I found a way to get the pinion locking bolt out. It took a universal adaptor, and some shed blood, but it came out. Once it was out I realized I had a problem, because the pinion shaft would not come out.

See this picture:


Then I found out that I could rotate the whole thing by putting the van in Neutral. That would have made the whole process go much smoother. Once I got things rotated, I was able to get the bolt out, the shaft out, and remove the c-clips so the axle could slide out. After that it was easy.

Now everything is back together, but the cover is not yet back on because I am considering getting a new one because this one is much more rusted that I originally thought. That means I will have to wait until tomorrow when I can make some calls.

However, at this point the end is in sight.

O For A Six Point 5/16 Box End Wrench

Today is the day I take care of Justin. I thought while I was doing so, I would be able to get some of the work done on the van replacing the rear axle seals. All went well until . . . I found that the pinion locking nut would not come loose. I used my 5/16" box end wrench on it, but it is a 12 point, and even worse, it rounded the points of the bolt off a little bit.

Before doing more damage I thought I would see if I could find any way to get a six point socket on it. Not a chance there simply is not enough room. You can see it looking at this picture:


My only thought is to go and get a 6 point 5/16" wrench when Annette gets home.

Our Visitor

We have had a visitor since earlier this spring. She made her nest on the sill of our bathroom window, and has already raised on clutch of eggs to fledglings. She is working on number two right now and here is a picture I took of here from our back yard with my new camera.

How Can You Know -- 1 John 4:13-16

It has been a while since I posted a sermon. I have simply been quite busy, and it takes a certain amount of time to get the sermon captured on the computer, rendered into an mp3 and posted. Anyway, here is the sermon from out evening service on July 6th, 2008.

Begging Taken To An Art

Our dog Sassy has taken begging to an art. I don't even have anything to give her and she can pull this off.

Canada Day -- Fireworks

Last night we took Justin to his first fireworks display. We have not been able to go with him before because the display does not start until 10PM, and he would be in bed. Today we got him to nap so we could attend. We arrived a little after 9PM, and found a spot to sit. While we waited Justin and Annette went for a walk to see what they could see. I, having done a fair amount of work today, took the opportunity to sit, and relax. When they returned, Justin noticed some other children playing with a ball beside where we had set up, and he went off to play with them. He enjoyed it, although he still needs to learn a bit more about how to play with others.

At 10PM the fireworks started. We were unsure what Justin would think of them since he had never experienced them before. Happily, he loved them. He watched wide-eyed, and got quite excited about the whole thing. I think for him the display ran a little long--for me too to be honest. However, he enjoyed it.

Canada Day

Today is Canada Day. The day we Canadians celebrate the birth of our nation. I don't have much to say except that even with all the wickedness that is growing in this county, the growing opposition to Christianity, and the fact that we still pay about 20% more for things than those in the US even though our dollar is pretty much at par with the US dollar, I still am thankful that I live in Canada. It is a country which is free, where I can worship and preach without fear, and it is a country, that overall, wants to care for those in need.

My prayer for our country is that those Christians in this country will not trade the great gospel we are called to proclaim for the bells and whistles that will gather a crowd, and that God will send his Spirit to revive this nation bringing many to saving faith in Christ.

Happy Canada Day!