I'm Not Lovin' It

As reported first on Pyromaniacs on the McDonald's sponsored Kidzworld site there are some rather troubling things. I would have expected that they would have a nice site with good safe things for kids, but on that site they have many things that are at best questionable, and at worst downright destructive. There is a whole section on Goth and by following the links in that section one very quickly ends up in sections dealing with the not so good parts of the web. Ok, the downright evil parts of the web. McDonald's is even so helpful as to have whole sections on Wicca seeking to debunk the myths about the evil of witchcraft. However, search for Christian and you find links on celebrities like Christian Bale or Christian Kane. As you scroll down there are some more things that I in the broad scope of Christian, but no explanation of what Christians believe. Even searching for Christianity only gets the following results:

• Pledge of Allegiance Debate | Kidz Submits | Kidzworld's Members Feedback | United States
  

• Pledge of Allegiance Debate | Under God | United States | Politics | Supreme Court | Feedback
  

• St. Patrick's Day | History | Ireland | Picture | Legend | Story | Shamrock | Green | Parade | Irish | March 17, 2006
  Why is it that on March 17th, everyone goes crazy with shamrocks, the color green and leprechauns? You can find out here!

I must admit I like McDonald's food, especially their toasted Deli Sandwiches, but I am not sure I want my dollars supporting a corporation such as this.

The Doctrine of Justification

My reading has taken a definite serious turn. From fiction novels to good solid theology. So, I have turned my mind to study the doctrine on which the church hinges, Justification. To do so I decided to re-start reading a book I started to read a while back, but got too busy with other things to complete. Now I try to read a chapter or so a day, and that seems to be working well. The book is The Doctrine of Justification by James Buchanan--subtitled An Outline of its History in the Church and of its Exposition from Scripture J.I. Packer had this to say about this book, "The doctrine of justification by faith is like Atlas: it bears a world on its shoulders, the entire evangelical knowledge of saving grace. The doctrines of election, of effectual calling, regeneration, and repentance, of adoption, of prayer, of the church, the ministry, and the sacraments, have all to be interpreted and understood in the light of justification by faith. When justification falls, all true knowledge of the grace of God in human life falls with it, and then as Luther said, the church itself falls. The value of Buchanan's book today is that it will help us to understand this message better, and so to preach it in the full and comprehensive way in which the modern world need to hear it. This is still the best textbook on this subject, from the standpoint of the classic covenant theology." There were two things that I found fascinating in the introduction. Remember that this book was originally published in 1867. Buchanan states, "looking at the character of our current literature, may it not be said that, to a large class of minds in the present age, nothing could well be more new than the old Theology of the Reformation?" What caught my eye here is how true that was not just then, but still is today. The doctrines of the Reformation seem to have been lost even in many Reformed denominations. Second, what caught my eye is his guiding principle, "that the only effective refutation of error is the establishment of truth. Truth is one, error is multiform; and truth, once firmly established, overthrows all the errors that either have been, or may yet be, opposed to it. He who exposes and expels an error, does well; but it will only return in another form, unless the truth has been so lodged in the heart as to shut it out for ever." This serves as a good reminder that as a pastor my task is not merely to reveal and correct error, but much more importantly to proclaim the truth in such a way that believers are filled with it and error is cast out. So far this book has been fascinating. I am looking forward to the rest of it.

Interesting Survey Results

I receive an e-mail update from canadianchristianity.com and in the most recent one there was an article concerning the results of a survey of pastors that has some concerning results. I thought I would post the article in total in my blog, so here it is:

Clergy spiritually exhausted, stressed out

by Amy Cameron

FORGET the demise of the church. Look closer. Our ministers, according to a new study, are spiritually exhausted, stressed out, have few friends and little support. In short, Christian ministry in Canada is, in the words of the author of a recent report, "in crisis."

'Clergy Well-Being: Seeking Wholeness with Integrity,' a report compiled by Andrew Irvine of Knox College,shows that 77 percent of the surveyed clergy felt they were more like a CEO than a pastor; 18 percent could not identify a close friend in church or their community; and 80 percent felt guilty if caught taking time off during the week even though most work a 50-hour week.

"There is a big disconnect between the call to ministry and what they actually do," says Irvine."There were major issues around things like identity, relationships and competition among clergy."

Irvine was recently appointed director of the Centre for Clergy Care and Congregational Health,officially launched in February. Jointly sponsored by Emmanuel College and Knox, both at the University of Toronto, the centre will focus on helping clergy deal with the stressors identified in the study. "How do we use this data redemptively to bring change to the church and those who serve it?" asks Irvine. "We see it as being a crisis."

The study, begun in 2003and funded by the Beatty Ryckman Trust, drew on responses from the clergy in six major denominations in Ontario: United, Presbyterian,Anglican, Evangelical Lutheran, Baptist and Pentecostal. Initially,questionnaires were sent to a sample group representing 30 percent of the clergy. With a 27 percent response rate, the data was then used to focus questions in direct interviews with men and women in ministry.

"Eighty-three percent saw a call to minister in a traditional sense. I am called of God," says Irvine, who also acts as coordinator of theological field education at Knox College and is the author of Between Two Worlds: Understanding and Managing Clergy Stress.

"But then when you ask them about the job, more than 80 percent said that it is more that of a CEO than a pastor."

And with the almost constant barrage of speculation about the demise of the church, adds Irvine,ministers are forced into a position of being more concerned about the survival of the church and its fiscal operation than spiritual leadership.

The issue of clergy health has come up often in the past several years. In 2001, the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod declared clergy wellness a top priority and formed a task force to look at ways to support ministers.Pilot studies were started in three Ontario communities, and in 2005the clergy in the Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island diocese formed a professional association to offer continuing education, support and information to their members.

On a cold evening in February 2005, hundreds of people gathered in a funky downtown Toronto nightclub for the launch of a new book. All ages and stations were represented at the event, including a local minister and his wife. A well-meaning friend introduced the man to a group of people using his formal title. "Please don't," he stopped her. "Announcing that I'm a minister kills the conversation."

This story, when related to Irvine, elicits a sigh of recognition. "That's very true," he agrees.When he was a minister in the Church of Scotland, Irvine was commonly introduced as "our minister" or "the minister" but rarely, if ever, as"Andrew".

Conversations in social settings inevitably died. "We don't admit to our sins because the holy person is here," he explains. "It is an identity that you can never getaway from. A priest or minister, even when they're at home, remains a priest or minister."

In the past, professional ethics dictated that clergy should avoid forming personal relationships with members of the congregation or community. Any show of favoritism or the whiff of indiscretion could jeopardize a minister's position.

But this strict view has stifled the very human need to make and maintain close relationships."Many clergy could not identify a close friend in the church or the community," says Irvine of those surveyed in the study.

The high level of competition among clergy in the same denomination make even relationships between peers very strained. Many ministers, in fact,could only name their spouse as a close friend which, says the professor, brings up a whole host of other issues around marriage and ministry. "Clergy have been seen as either superhuman who needed no friends or subhuman who could exist without them, but certainly not human."

Isolation, balancing family with the church and fulfilling a minister's spiritual needs are among the issues that Irvine and the centre are examining in their clergy workshops across the country. By bringing together ministers from different denominations but in similar positions (rural vs. urban, for example), the workshops provide a safe and comfortable forum for men and women to discuss their problems and, most important, work toward some solutions.

"Clergy are looking to back away from the heat of the parish to work with their calling and their personal life. These are good people who want, in all sincerity, to serve God and the world in any way they can," says Irvine. "What I believe is that there lies within clergy and each one of us the means to move to recovery and health. We're now being proactive."

The centre, which is still working on a fee structure for its services (though funding will be available to those who need it, assures Irvine), will continue to research the issues surrounding ministry and will work with congregations to establish a vision for the future and help answer the question: what does it mean to be a church in the 21st century?

The ultimate goal, says Irvine, is to eventually offer online courses to clergy on issues not taught in seminary. One course, for example, could be 'How to Deal with the Antagonist in Your Midst.' "There's one or two in every congregation," laughs Irvine.

-- courtesy of Presbyterian Record

Eagle Chicks

While the original Eagle's nest sadly had infertile eggs, the people who provided the eagle cam have put in on another next with two baby eagles. It is fascinating to watch them, especially when they are being fed by their parents.

Where will it end?

More and more I am starting to wonder if the RCA has gone to far in its slide into the theologically liberal wasteland. On the RCA web-site they have on this page a section on Earth Day promoting having churches do an Earth Day Sunday. It reads as follows:

Earth Day Sunday

Praising the beauty of God's creation is an essential part of our ongoing faith journey and worship experience and each year we dedicate one Sunday to lift up creation stewardship as a focus through a Earth Day celebration.Each year, the National Council of Churches' Eco-Justice Working Group focuses on a particular environmental theme and highlights a number of ways individuals and congregations can celebrate and protect God's creation. We hope these ideas inspire further thoughts, conversations,and actions in answering God's call to be faithful stewards of creation.

You may not see what is wrong with this at first glance, but notice that the first line calls for Christians to praise the beauty of God's creation. This is directly against God's commands to praise him and him only. Only God is worthy of our praise and worship, and to praise the creation in a worship service is to place an idol on the throne of God. This call is to outright disobedience to God in the name of being socially active Christians. Yet, things get worse. For not only do we have that line, but if you follow the link in the news alert to the "resources" for celebrating Earth day, you are linked to the National Council of Churches web-site there you will find such helpful headings as: Sacred Oceans and Seas Life-Giving Breath of God: Protecting Precious Air Resources Waters of Life: Enough for All Notice how the language used for each of these use terms that, intentionally or not, deify the creation. This is done by using terms that refer to our triune God to refer to the aspects of his creation that is being "praised." This is simply creation worship under the guise of Christianity. I would have looked at the resources themselves, but to do so I would need to register which I have no desire to do. People wonder why the RCA is consistently loosing members. They think that neat programs like 'NCD' and 'Purpose Driven' will make a difference while the real problem is that we as a denomination are in disobedience to our Lord and his revealed will in the scriptures. The problems are not simply the lack of discipline of those ministers, classies and congregations who are 'marrying' and lobbying for the ordination of practicing homosexuals. It is a fundamental abandonment of scripture as our guiding authority.

Interesting Take on the Mega-Church from 'King of the Hill'

I ran into this on another blog, and found it an interesting take on Christianity and the Mega-church by the creator of King of the Hill Mike Judge who as far as I know is and unbeliever. King of The Hill

More Happenings From a "partner" in the Formula of Agreeement

I probably should have posted on this before, as I had read about it elsewhere, but this commentary by Al Mohler reminded me of it. A congregation in the PCUSA has accepted into their membership a professed Atheist. He denies the existence of God, that Jesus is the Son of God, and all the other basics of the Christian faith, joining as a political move. It seems that there is a request for the Presbytery to deal with this, but I bears watching as if the PCUSA does not do anything to discipline the Session and Minister in this situation, and the Synod follows suite, then we can officially state that the PCUSA has become a false church, and all ties must be severed. As I said this needs to be watched by us as it unfolds further. Edit May 3, 2006: Here is the link to the article by atheist who joined this PCUSA congregation.

Same Process Going On

I was reading the following op-ed piece by David Kupelian, the author of The Marketing of Evil, and it struck me that a very similar process seems to be being used in the RCA. It is not as overt, but it certainly seems to be there. First there is the desensitization by the constant unwillingness to deal with one of our partners in the Formula of Agreement concerning their practice of not only ordaining practicing homosexuals, but of encouraging all the churches in their fellowship to do so. Again and again when overtures come seeking something to be done about this, nothing is done because we can't divide over an issue of Christian practice. Now we have the 3 year dialogue. Even the language used for those congregations that have abandoned the clear teaching of scripture, "Open and Affirming" is perjoritive. I guess that means all the churches that seek to be true to the Biblical injunctions against homosexual practice are "Closed and Demeaning!" The only thing we don't have yet is diversity seminars. Next we have the 'jamming' of those who are against the push toward being "Open and Affirming." As mentioned we are apparently close minded biggots to call for someone to show a change in lifestyle following conversion. We are charged with being "single issue" people who don't care for the poor the downtrodden and the oppressed, because GLBT people are the oppressed aren't they. Finally we have what Kupelian calls "Conversion" where people's views on homosexual practice are re-educated to break down the stereotypes that homosexual practice is wrong. We are not there yet, and I pray we never will be. I have not yet read Kupelian's book, but it is on the list of books I want to get out of the library. Hopefully our small town library will soon have a copy.

Going To the Banner In May

As I have mentioned before, I am planning to attend the Banner of Truth Minister's Conference. Well, I am now all registered and ready to go. It is still a month away, but I am very much looking forward to the teaching and fellowship with other ministers who share in the amazing doctrines of grace. At this point it sounds like we have a large group coming from our area of Ontario, although I have not heard the exact numbers, but I was told that we have a 'busload' of people. I would guess that was speaking figuatively, but one never knows. One of the things I enjoy almost as much as the conference is the time of fellowship and conversation during the long trip down and back again. If you are a minister or elder consider attending this conference. It is well worth your time.

Scottish Theologian

You scored as James Orr. You are James Orr. You are not afraid of Scholarship, but you know that scholarship is not necessarily objective. James Orr 95% Thomas Boston 90% John Knox 75% James Denney 70% Thomas Chalmers 65% Which Scottish Theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com

My New Laptop

I finally reached the last straw with my old laptop. It was getting a little long in the tooth anyway (about 7-8 years old), but it constant tendency to have the power go off with no warning and not being able to get it to power back up again finally pushed me over the edge. So I bit the bullet and purchased a new laptop. Now I am the happy owner of a Toshiba A100-LE1. It is a nice little beastie, with a DVD writer, built in wireless and wired networking, 80Gig HD, 512Mb memory, and a nice Celeron M 390. Certainly a big step up from my old Toshiba Satellite 2100cads running at 400mhz. Well, that is my new work partner. So far I don't mind Windows XP, but it still seems like most windows versions I have used, ok but full of aggravation :)

Da Vinci Code

With the Da Vinci Code movie scheduled to be released May 19th, I thought that the opening article of the Solid Ground from Stand to Reason would be helpful to some of you. It is a good response to Dan Brown's book, and has some helpful questions to ask people who my confront you based on that book. Check it out at Solid Ground.

Sad But Not Surprising

Kim Riddlebarger posted yet another example of more biblical ignorance among Christians. A survey done among regular church attenders in the UK showed they could not put key Biblical events in chronological order. I wonder first how well my congregation would do, but this also makes me wonder what have churches been teaching to leave people with no idea about even big events in the Bible.

Oh The Times They Are A Changing

As I was browsing through some of my favorite blogs tonight, I found an entry in my friend Michael Haykin's blog pointing to yet another blog that has been added to my subscriptions. It is Denny Burk's blog, and I suggest you check it out. What prompted this post was a post by Denny Burk concerning the fact that although in the past a general consensus could be found throughout evanglicalism, that consensus is not really there any longer. In fact many of the things the Carl Henry wrote about liberalism can now be found in some parts (popular parts at that) of evangelicalism. It seems times have changed and the group that was known for standing against liberal theology, has lost its grounding. Check out Denny Burk: Could Carl Henry Be Wrong?

Our Obsession With Numbers

Today as I was reading some of the blogs I frequent, I read this article posted on Doxoblogy. The article by Steve Green points out how our obsession with numbers (attendance, baptisms, etc) can be a great danger, because it can easily miss that God uses what is weak, powerless and despised by this world to achieve his goals. Numbers are not always the best way to determine the effectiveness of a ministry. As a pastor of a small congregation in a small town where there are already several large congregations, it is good to be reminded that numbers are not everything. Yes, I would love to see many more people come in, but as I have served here, I have seen other changes and other growth in the members of this congregation that cannot be boiled down to numbers, and those things are at least as important although not as easy to quantify.

Cookies!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

Now Even Cats Can Be Terrorists

Reports in the Connecticut Post Online, A ferocious feline terrorized a quiet Fairfield neighborhood, to the point that residents are seeking help from the law to stop the so-called "Terrorist of Sunset Circle." Lewis, a 5-year-old, black-and-white long haired cat, attacked at least a half-dozen people on the cul-de-sac and even took on the local Avon lady, neighbors say. "He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot each with a long claw," Sunset Circle resident Janet Kettman said. "They are formidable weapons." I always knew there was a reason I didn't trust cats. To read the whole story you can find it here. This link will work for 14 days, after that you will have to search for it using their search engine.

Abdul Rahman

With the charges dropped by the court in Afghanistan because of lack of evidence and a belief that Rahman is not mentally competent, he has been freed. However, the story is not over. Apparently the Parliament of Afghanistan is now saying that he should not be allowed to leave the country even though he has been offered asylum in Italy.

Eagle Nest

Tim Challies posted this link on his blog, and I found it rather amazing. I have always considered Eagles to be beautiful birds, and to be able to watch a streaming video feed of an Eagles nest is fascinating. Check out Eagles Nest Video.

Very Interesting Post

Yet another thing that points out that the origin of all things cannot be explained without a creator.

It Seem People Really Don't Know

As I was going through the various news stories found at the Pearcey Report I went to read this article. The article recounts the fact that the St. Paul City Hall removed a toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" from their lobby. The concern that prompted this was that they thought they might offend non-Christians. It seems that they are under the misapprenhension that Easter is about some rabbit and coloured eggs. I guess that is why Christians have celebrated it for the last 2000 years. The only person there who may realize this has nothing to do with Easter is Council Member Dave Thune who wondered, 'why they can't celebrate spring with "bunnies and fake grass."' Ok strike that, he seems to be under the impressiong that Easter is a celebration of spring. Frankly, I am offended by the rabbit and eggs because I am a Christian. That is not what Easter is all about, and to think otherwise is complete ignorance. Easter is about one thing only, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead showing his victory over sin and death for all who believe in him. The last thing I want is for the world to co-opt Easter like they have Christmas. Perhaps it is time to have real Easter decorations (and Good Friday ones for that matter). How about an empty tomb decoration? Anyone have other ideas how to fight against this trend to make all the Christian faith into excuses to buy chocolate and tacky decorations that have nothing to do with what is actually be celebrated, or good ideas for real Easter decorations?

Two More Sermons

Here are two new additions to the streaming sermons. How To Worship The One God Do Not Take God's Name Lightly I actually don't know how well these are streaming, so if you have any problems comment about it so I can try to fix it.

HE IS HOME

We just received a call from Annette's father, and he is home! Yes, we are surprised by this, at least I am! They talked to a health care professional (Annette doesn't remember what the person actually is) and they said Justin should not come up until after he has finished his current medication (For more information on that go to here to find out more) so Annette will not be going up to help until Monday. Thank-you again for all your prayers.

What's New With My Father In Law

I realized it has been a while since I have given an update here. His recovery is going well. He is able to walk down the hall and back in the hospital with a walker for support, and his blood is looking pretty good. They took the filter out of the vein in his leg, and so far he has had no clots. If they can get his blood to the correct thinness for two days in a row then he will be able to go home. His blood was at the correct level on Monday, and we hoped he could go home on Tuesday. Yet, by Tuesday it was not at the correct level. I am not sure on this, but as I understand it if his blood were at the correct level today, he would need to maintain that for tomorrow before they would let him go home. We are still hoping he will get home this week, but if not it will hopefully be soon. With that in mind I want to thank you all for your prayers. Through all this God has made his grace known, and shown that it is sufficient for our needs. That is a great thing to learn.

Persecution For The Name of Christ

The news broke in the last couple of days about a Christian in Afghanistan who faces execution for converting to Christianity. For more information you can look at Michelle Malkin's Site or check out Al Mohler's blog On section in the report that caught my attention was this one, "The judge, however, holds hopes for a solution. "We will ask him if he has changed his mind about being a Christian," Mawlazezadah says. "If he has, we will forgive him, because Islam is a religion of tolerance."" Emphasis mine. This quote shows something important about Islam and it's view of tolerance, and it is not something that should set our hearts at ease. Pray that God will work in this situation, so that he is glorified either in the release of one of his saints or if that is not his will, that he would use this to bring others to Christ.

Faith and Emotions

Read this on Wittenberg Gate today. This is something that I have strived to get into the minds of the younger people of the congregation I minister to. They has such a feelings based approach to faith, that when the feelings are not there with the same fervor as they were before, they wonder if they still have faith. When I read this, I thought that it said what I have been trying to say very well.

NEW SERMON ONLINE

It has been a while since I have added a sermon to the streaming audio sermons. What can I say, I have been busy. Today I added the next in the series on the 10 Commandments looking at the first commandment. You can listen to it by clicking No Other Gods

HOW CAN THIS BE

I was reading on Riddleblog today and found this post rather disturbing. How a person can be a pastor and not know the answers to these questions is problematic at best. I understand that the questions are filled with Christian terminology, and I wouldn't expect many members in the church to necessarily be able to understand them or give a correct answer. But, pastors should know this. It is part of their job to know this. If I went to an engineer and they didn't know about material strengths and the like, I would probably go find another engineer. If I went to a doctor and he didn't know about the human body, I would probably go find another doctor. But, for a minister who deals with eternal life, I guess people don't care if they know what scripture teaches.

Feeling better, but not completely

Last night was my first good night of sleep since getting sick on Friday. I slept the entire night, didn't have to kick the sheets off the bed because I was too hot, or put an extra comforter on later because I was too cold. I woke up in the same spot that I fell asleep, and I feel much better than yesterday. I am not 100%, but when I went down for breakfast, the idea of bacon and eggs actually sounded, looked and smelled good to me. Up to this morning any meat at all would turn my stomach, and all I could really eat without upsetting my stomach was toast and chicken broth. This morning I could enjoy a real breakfast, so I figure the worst is past. Good thing because it looks to be a busy week. We have a combined service of prayer for crops and industry with the local CRC congregation on Wednesday where I will be preaching. I have a video of our church worship service to edit for broadcast, and I have my regular pastoral tasks as well. I'm glad this didn't last as long as it did with my wife, but it would have been much preferable to not have it at all :)

Sick

If you look at the time stamp of this one you might wonder why I am even up. Well, I am sick. Headache, stomach ache, fever, chills, even my hair hurts. I slept for a while, but then go so uncomfortable that I thought I would see if sitting up feels better. It doesn't, but it was worth a try. My wife had the same thing a week or so back--now I know what she went through. Hopefully Justin won't catch this one as it is very uncomfortable. That about does it, I just wanted to share my discomfort with everyone who reads this :) Now I am going to see if lying down helps. Maybe I will sleep. That would be good I think.

Surgery Went Well

We just heard from Annette's mom that her dad came through the surgery very well. To prevent any blood clots that may form for going to his lungs they have placed a temporary filter in the large vein in his leg. He is currently in recovery, and will then be moved to ICU. The concerns are how his blood will do, and will have to monitor it. He was put right back on the heparin after the surgery.

Another Change

They have rescheduled my father-in-laws surgery again. Now it will be on Thursday at 9:00am. They have the OR booked, and the bed in ICU booked. For now they are keeping him in a segregated room to avoid him getting any infections. Hopefully this will be the last change.

Father-in-law's surgery

My father-in-law's surgery was moved back to Wednesday. The doctors want an ICU bed available for him following the surgery. There was one available until Sunday night a person came in with a major heart-attack. That filled that bed, so the surgery could not be done. They have rescheduled the surgery for Wednesday at 3:30pm D.V.

Update on Father-in-law

Today my father-in-law will be moved from Palmerston Hospital to Grand River hospital in preparation for part 2 of the repair of his hip. The surgery is planned for Monday, and when it is done, the rehabilitation will be like that done with a hip replacement. In fact this second surgery is basically a hip replacement to replace the first one that failed that started out this whole process with the first surgery to clean up the place where the pin goes in and treat it with antibiotics. We don't have a time yet for when the surgery will be done on Monday, but please pray that those doing the surgery will be given clear minds, skilled hands, and wisdom to know what to do to make this successful.

True For Us As Well

I found this blog entry, and found it sadly describes the RCA pretty much dead on. No pun intended

Dwelling of God

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:22 (ESV) Sometimes I think today we really don't get how amazing the church is. We find many people, so called Evangelicals, saying we should get rid of the church. Oh, there intentions are good--they see a generation of people who are against organizations like churches, and figure by doing away with the institutional church they will appeal to these people. But if they really want to do that, if they really think the church has not place today, what do we do with scriptures like the above. It is from a section of Ephesians that speaks of how Christ takes people who are separated from God and from one another and brings them together into a new people. That sections ends with the words above, that we who believe are not only brought together, having the separation between one another and God removed, but we are also built "together" into a place for God to live. That is, the church, the gathered believers in Jesus Christ, are where God dwells. I can hardly comprehend that truth. As we are brought together as believers, we are where God lives. How could we ever think that the very dwelling of God that Christ suffered, died and rose to establish, is of no importance merely because the culture around us doesn't like institutions. Perhaps the problem is that we don't really understand who we are as the people of God in Christ. If we really started to understand that, and live that perhaps we would not be so quick to downplay it.

Brian McLaren at RCA GS in June

I saw this in the newsletter sent out by the Central College. BRIAN MCLAREN TO SPEAK AT RCA GENERAL SYNOD — Noted Christian author and lecturer, Brian McLaren, will be a keynote speaker at the RCA General Synod (June 8-13) at Central this summer. McLaren, author of The Church on the Other Side: Doing Ministry in the Postmodern Matrix, Finding Faith, and A Generous Orthodoxy, will address delegates on Saturday night, June 10. Time magazine listed McLaren as one of America’s 25 most influential evangelicals in 2005. To access additional information on Brian McLaren go to www.anewkindofchristian.com. Why is it that the RCA seems compelled to bring in speakers of questionable theology? First is was Anne Lamott whose views on abortion cause me to shudder being a speaker at the RCA women's trienial. Now this will be presented to GS delegates. Of course would they ever consider having someone with solid theology speak? Probably not, it might offend people in the liberal wings of the denomination. Well, for the record I am offended by this.

John The Baptist And His Seeker Driven Preaching

I was reading Luke 3 this evening before bed, and was struck by the preaching of John the Baptist. He is a fine example of seeker driven preaching. We read the following: "He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."" Luke 3:7-9 I will let you form your own conclusions from that.

Snow Day

Today is the classic snow day. Windy, cold, and snowsqualls off the lake. At times I can't even see across the road. I guess today will be a stay at home and work day.

I always knew it

I took this online quiz. Boy, big surprise . . . not. My nerdiness level: High-Level Nerd. You are definitely MIT material, apply now!!!.

Great Resource

In my searching around on the web, I discovered this site from Covenant Seminary. It contains the lectures of a whole host of seminary level courses. Some even include .pdf files with transcripts and handouts. Well worth a look.

Instructions For People Set Free

The first sermon in our congregations first study on the Ten Commandments is now posted here Click to Listen

Banner of Truth 2006 Conference Information Released

Today I found that the Banner of Truth has released the information for the 2006 pastor's conference in Grantham PA. The information is in this PDF file. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this file. It is free and can be downloaded from Adobe.com As I said in my previous post about this conference, it has been one of the most beneficial things I have done as a minister. I wish I had went years back. It is well worth your time, and the time of your Elders to come. It is open to men only, so they are freed to focus on the teachings being given.

What a pierced heart

"Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified." Acts 2:36 I am sometimes amazed at how often I can read something, yet still miss it. It was only as I read this verse of the day that it struck me how these words would have pierced the hearts of those who heard them. The Jewish people had been waiting for the Christ for centuries. They had prided themselves on their religious obedience. Yet, what did all that get them? When the Christ came, did they recognize him? Did they receive him joyfully? Did they follow him? No, here Peter points out to them that the very Christ they were looking for, the very Lord they should have honored and followed, is the one whom they cried out to Pilate, "Crucify him, crucify him." The one whom they mocked, demeaned, and derided. The one whom they crucified. I cannot imagine how that would have cut to the heart of their self trust, but I know it does to mine. For while I was not back there some 2000 years ago, Jesus died for my sins. He died for all the times that I have ever gone wrong in my walk with God. He died for every idle word that does not bring glory to God. He died for ever idle thought that I did not take captive but let wander off down roads of the mind that should never be trod. He died for every moment when I live my life without the realization that I live always before the face of God. That pierces my heart, for I know how far I am from being the person I should be as someone who is joined through faith to Jesus Christ, and it moves me to go again to the only place I can find hope. For the very cross that convicts me of my sin, is also the very cross where my sins can be and have been dealt with. There at the cross, I find not only how horrible my sin is, but also I find that the Son of God died willingly to free me from that sin--from the punishment it deserves which he willingly took upon himself, and for its power over me, so that in him I can now say no to sin and yes to God. My question to all those who read this is does this pierce your heart? Does it cut you to the quick? Does it drive you to your knees? If it does then turn back to that cross again, and remember that Jesus died that death to set his people free from sin. Renew your faith in him, and seek to live in light of the cross. For there you find the only remedy that will clean your guilty conscience.

Which LOTR Character Am I

You scored as Gandalf. You are Gandalf! This wise, old mage is loyal and brave. He is known for his counsel and advice to his friends and allies during tough times. "All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you." Gandalf 75% Eowyn 56% Samwise 56% Frodo 50% Aragorn 50% Arwen 50% Faramir 44% Pippin 31% Gollum 31% Which LOTR character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Morning Meditation

The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” Exodus 34:5-9 This was part of my Bible reading this morning. It is a wonderful passage that I have preached on in the past. At its heart is speaks about our awesome God. He is a covenant keeping God who is merciful, gracious, loving and faithful among other wonderful attributes. Yet, just because God is all of these, does not mean that he is not just. He will by no means clear the guilty. As I considered this once again, I realized that it is a call to myself and all people. We are guilty sinners in ourselves. We cannot stand on our own before the court of God expecting that he will clear us because we tried to make up for our sins with some half-hearted "good" works. God will by no means clear the guilty who come this way. The only hope we have is to come God's way. The way he has provided so that he can exercise his mercy, and forgiveness. Thankfully, God has provided this way through his Son Jesus Christ. He is the one who provides all we need through His perfect obedience which fully fills all the requirements of God's law. He is the one who willingly took the curse and punishment our guilt deserved upon Himself, suffering the suffering, facing the hell, and dying the death of punishment for all who trust in him. In doing that He brought the perfect justice of God and the perfect forgiveness of God together, showing how God can be just and merciful at the same time. What a wonderful Saviour is Jesus the Lord. In light of all this Moses response seems so very appropriate. We read, "And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”" How can I not bow down and worship our most holy God? How can you not worship? What further caught my eye was Moses prayer. It convicted me as a pastor. He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance." I guess some might take him to task in calling the people stiff-necked, but I know who I am and you know who you are. We are a stiff-necked people. If you are a pastor you realize that is true about not only yourself, but those you have been called to minister with. We may complain about that often. Yet how often do we bow before God and plead, even though we are a stiff-necked people, that God would go in our midst? How often doe we plead for God to wash us and those in our care of all our unrighteousness? How often do we plead with God to make us and those stiff-necked people we pastor, His inheritance? I know that I don't pray that way as often as I should. Before the word of God I stand convicted. Do you? It is only as God goes in our midst that we will be the people God has called us to be. All the conferences, programs, and plans in the world will come to nothing if God is not in our midst. It is only as God washes us clean of all unrighteousness that we will shine forth as lights in this world of darkness. Only then will people who do not know God start to see Him though his people. It is only as God make us his inheritance, His beautiful portion, that we will be moved from the wilderness to the promised land. The challenge to me is to stop saying prayer is important, and to start living out that truth and pray. That is the challenge to you as well, for all the great works of God start with prayer. If you are a pastor, and are discontent with the people God has put under your care finding them stuborn and intractable; remember who God is and bow down before Him. Don't simply complain, instead pray God to be in the midst of your congregation. Then all the plans and programs will bear the fruit that He gives.

Streaming Sermons

Today I started to do something that I have been thinking of doing for a while, putting my sermons online in a streaming format. I did a little bit of research, and a little bit of trial and error. Finally, after all that, I got them up and running. I am currently hosting them on my home machine, and as long as I can I will continue to do so. The downside of doing this is that they will not be online when I have my machine off. Either way, I find this really quite interesting that I can do such things with such relative ease. If I wanted to I could also stream our worship services live although that would require a somewhat larger outlay on some additional hardware. If you want to check them out you can go to Streaming Sermons

Just so I can comment

I didn't really need another blog. My primary blog is found on Live Journal at
Live Journal However, I needed a way to comment on some blogs I read, and that required a blogger account. If you want to read my regularly updated blog, check out Live Journal I will probably post here on occasion, but not very frequently.

Reminded of the blood

You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. Exodus 29:19-21 As I was reading this during my morning devotions, it struck me what was being done here. A sacrifice was made to consecrate Aaron and his sons. A Ram was put to death in their place. Yet, notice what was done. The blood of that Ram that died in their place was mixed with oil and sprinkled on them leaving the stain of that blood on the linen robes they wore. That meant as the priests served in the temple, they carried the constant reminder of this sacrifice for their sins with them. Those stains were a constant reminder that they could only approach God because of the blood of the sacrifice. This brought to mind several things for me. First, that a Christian believers, it is only through the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that we can approach God. It is in him and his sacrifice that we are washed clean. While we are not marked with the physical blood of the Lord, we still should always seek to remember that sacrifice that brings us to God. We need to be constantly reminded that it is only through the blood of the Lamb of God that we sinners can come to God. If that filled our minds, wouldn't it change how we live, moving us to greater gratitude and love for our heavenly Father. He did not spare his own Son, but gave him for us. Wouldn't keeping this in our mind help us be humble and Christ focused? So we need to seek to keep the sacrifice of the Son in our minds, because as we focus on the cross, we are strengthened to live as people of the the cross. Second, it reminded me of a message preached by Doug Kelly at the Banner of Truth conference when he commented on Revelation 6:9. There we read, "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne." He pointed out that their proximity to the alter in heaven would be a constant reminder of the love of our Lord and his blood shed for them. Here in this world, we often struggle to remember our Lord Jesus Christ, but when we come to eternity, we will no longer struggle with this. There we will always remember the love of Christ shown to us. We will always be reminded of how wonderful he is, and we will be single-heartedly focused on him. What a glorious thing to be reminded of that great love, of our great and glorious Lord, and of his willing sacrifice for the sins of his people. May that be what fills our minds as we minister in whatever role God provides for us. For we can only minister as God requires, as we live as people washed in the blood of Jesus.

Update on Father in Law

The latest news on my father in law is quite good. The doctors are very happy with how the blood thinners are working on the clots, and how well my father in law is handling it. His surgeon came to seem him at last, and has scheduled him for the completion of the repair of his hip replacement on the 27th of February. Now that we have a date, he has something to work toward. They are intending to keep him on heparin until that time because they can take him off of it the evening before the operation, and put him back onto it almost right after the operation, which should help prevent any further clotting. Because it is still almost a month until the surgery, they will be moving him back to the Palmerston hospital either today or tomorrow so he will be closer to home.

Banner of Truth Pastors Conference

One of the things I wish I had discovered early on in my time as a pastor is the Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference. I started attending three years ago, and it has done more to strengthen me as a minister of the Word than anything else I have done. The first year I attended, when I returned one of my Elders said I should go to this sort of conference more often. Then realizing what he said, he clarified that he finds my preaching good, but it was even better after I returned from the conference. I encourage all pastors and elders who can go to attend. You will leave with a greater sense of how awesome our God is, and will be encouraged to preach the word in season and out of season. The scheduled speakers this year are Sinclair Ferguson, Joel Beeke, Philip Ryken, Ian Hamilton, Mark Johnston, and Matt Kingswood. If you want more information have a look at The Banner of Truth. At this point they have not posted the topics or registration information, but that should be posted soon.

Who's body is it anyway

I listened to this sermon over at a fellow RCA minister's blog. It was a good reminder of whom our bodies really belong.

What a thought

The following was part of my morning Bible reading today. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:13-16 What a thought, God could have destroyed Pharaoh and his people in such a way that they would have been completely destroyed, but he allowed them to continue in life. Even more, he allowed them to continue to fight and rebel against Him. This was not a sign of God's weakness, but rather of His overarching control of all things. For, he would turn that resistance to praise of His name, to show that God is great. Today as I consider how our culture is rebelling against God in more and more blatant ways, and even among those who go by the name of the Christian, knowing rebellion against the plain Word of God is seemingly growing. Sometimes I wonder why God allows this, and here is the answer, "to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth." What a comfort in the battle for the hearts and minds of people. God will use even the rebellion of people and nations and churches to bring glory to His name. God will be glorified in the salvation of his elect, and in the just punishment of sinners.

Update on Father in law

After it seemed like things were getting better, things have gotten worse again. The doctors were sure that the clots in his leg and lungs had stabilized, so they moved him back to Palmerston hospital to get back into his physiotherapy. However, not more than a day back in Palmerston, a clot moved into his lungs again causing another blockage. He was rushed to St. Marys Hospital in Kitchener where they have him back on heparin and will do some more tests today. To make matters even more problematic, there is a rattle in his breathing which may indicated pneumonia. Currently he is on an antibiotic to deal with pneumonia and has slightly labored breathing on 70% Oxygen. Dad is starting to despair that he will recover from this, and both he and mom are getting very tired. Please continue to pray for both of them?

Making the church attractive to the world

As I was reading a blog entry here I was struck by the statement about making the church attractive to the man outside. I have heard this statement again and again in present times. In fact this seems to be the mantra of those who teach on how the church is to grow. However, as I read that comment in relation to the discussion on the beatitudes, it hit me, why do we even think this way? Jesus taught us, "Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:20) By its very nature, the church is different from and unacceptable to a world under sin. The constant testimony of the Scriptures is that those who follow Jesus will be rejects, outcast, and persecuted. As Christians who take the Word of God seriously, as not just some human opinion, but as the very word of God written, we must realize that by its very nature the Church is not attractive to the world. To make it attractive to the world is not merely a matter of changing what we do, but would require either downplaying or changing of the message we are charged to proclaim. This still begs ths question, "Why do we seem to think we need to make the church attractive to the world?" There are several possible answers I can see. We could want to do this because we want people to come to embrace Christ in a true and living faith as their Lord and Saviour. This is an a very proper goal. We are called to be salt and light in this world of decay and darkness. Yet, just before that teaching by Jesus he pronounced a blessing on those who are persecuted saying, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12) So it seems that proclaiming Christ to people is not a matter of making the Church attractive, but proclaiming Christ even if that means we are rejected by many. The other reason that came to my mind why we may have the seemingly overwhelming desire to make the church attractive to the world is related to the above one. We want to win people to Christ, but we realize how attractive the world is to us in comparison to the church, and want to compete with it. The problem with this is that behind it lies something very troubling. The fact that we find the world so very attractive. In essence what we are saying is, "Yes, the world is great and fun and satisfying, but here we can make the church like that too." I say this is troubling because behind it lies not a full orbed satisfaction in Christ, but a seeming dissatisfaction with Christ, as if coming to him is not truly satisfying, but only coming to him along with all the fun of the world. Now I want to be careful here, because I do realize that often what we do as the church is not what it should be. We often have practices and traditions that are not commanded by scripture which may be what makes a particular congregation unattractive to a person. I am not by this saying that one type of song is better than another, be it traditional or contemporary. Nor am I commenting on musical instruments should be used in worship. Rather, I am trying to say that we need to realize that we do not attract people to Christ or the Church by making it attractive, but rather by proclaiming Christ in all his glory and worshiping him, whatever our worship style, with all our heart. These thoughts are just in their formative point, but where they are going is troubling.

First time changing oil

Today was a first for me, I changed the oil in my wife's Mazda Protege. I know, big strong, manly man that I am, I should have done something like that log ago, I never have. I have replaced the exhaust system on the '78 Trans Am I used to have, done tune-ups, fixed body work, and a whole host of other things, but never did an oil change. Well, today all that changed. Amazingly enough it went forward without a hitch (at least so far) and there is not oil spewing all over. For the small bit of work it took to do this, I finished an oil change with a good quality oil and a Fram oil filter for $13. I wonder why I didn't do this long ago. Now if I could only find the grease points on her car I could use my new grease gun and give them a shot of grease as well. That will have to wait for the next time I am under there.

Joys of Parenthood

Ok, this isn't really about the joys of parenthood, although there are plenty of them. Rather it was a rather tongue in cheek way of saying that often children can make life rather trying :) Our boy Justin, after sleeping well for three nights, decided that Saturday night was a good time to wake up at 2:30 and cry for an hour or so. I am the sort of person who does not handle being woken up in the middle of my sleep very well. I never seem to get back to sleep the way I need to so I can be rested the next day. So today I get to do my preaching, leading in worship, and teaching with a wonderful headache, all because I didn't get the sleep I needed last night :) Oh the wonders of having a baby in the house. At least this time he didn't scratch my cornea :D On the positive side, Justin is not usually this way. Generally he is a happy baby who may not sleep through the whole night, but who doesn't spend an hour complaining because we can't figure out what is going on with him. I think of all of us, he is the only one who slept enough to be full of energy today.

January 14th Update on Father In law

I received an update from my brother in law this morning. Bill is struggling with being in hospital. He is also struggling with an intestinal issue which made him a bit weak and tired. He has problems sleeping at night, and then has a hard time staying awake all day. The medications he is on are also affecting his mental state, making it hard for him to be alert and causing some hallucinations. A new doctor has been assigned to him for what will probably be the rest of his stay in Kitchener. The blood clots are very probably stable enough to be of no concern at this point. That means that physiotherapy can start with few worries about the clot letting loose. The blood thinners he is on, have his blood to a thin count of 1.7, the target being nicely over 2, normal being at 1, so things are going well that way. His hemoglobin count is at the bottom of normal (121, where normal is 120-160), which means he can probably stop taking the iron pills, which will help some of his stomach issue's. They will be looking into seeing if there is anything they can do about the medications affecting his mental state. As to his being in the hospital for 3 months, if he demonstrates the ability to safely move around on his own, it will be no problem for him to get out of the hospital for at least day trips.

January 12 Update on father in law

Today we went to visit Annette's father. He looked much better than he did when we saw him a week earlier. He no longer is on the Oxygen, and his breathing is pretty good. He has a cough which he picked up in the hospital before he got the clot in his lungs, but other than that he sounds good. His blood Oxygen level was 95% which is better than it was a week ago with the mask on and a high level of O2. All in all it looks like the clot is probably clearing and his lung function is improving. He will probably be transfered back to Palmerston Hospital next week. On the negative side, he has been told that he will have to remain in hospital for the next 3 months until they do the second part of his surgery. Bill is not very happy about this. Yet today we heard that if his mobility improves he may be able to go home for several hours some days, which is better than being trapped in the hospital for 3 months. He also finds sleeping very difficult even on the air mattress they have him on right now, and is still very uncomfortable. It seems that the worst with the clot is passed, which is a great answer to prayer, but if you could continue to pray that the healing will progress well it would be very much appreciated. Also, pray that he will be able to get out of the hospital soon, even if it is just for a few hours, while he waits for the second half of his surgery.

January 8th update on Father In Law

Not a whole lot of news today, which is not a surprise since it is the weekend. Dad was apparently failry uncomfortable today when he was being visited. He has been moved to another room. I'm not sure if that is a reflecton of his improved medical condition, or if it was simply to provide a better bed for him. Hopefully we will receive more detailed news as the week progresses. We still ask your prayers that things will progress well, and the clots will clear.

Father-in-law progressing in recovery

Today we heard that Bill is doing slightly better than when we saw him. His blood oxygen level is still good, and has improved enough that they could take the oxygen mask off and only use the tube on his nose. He still breaths a little more rapidly than normal, but he is not gasping for air. He remains very tired, and the hospital is going to put a special bed in to try to help him get more comfortable so he can sleep. Items for prayer: 1) That the heparin will work to dissolve the clots 2) That Bill will be able to sleep so he can regain some of his strength 3) That when they start to introduce warfarin into his system, that he will not have any adverse reaction. 4) That the doctors will have wisdom in dealing with his condition.

Update on my father in law

"We went to see my father in law today. He seems to be doing a little better, and his breathing is not labored any longer. They did a bunch of tests today to confirm that he has a blood clot in his lungs and still has one in his leg as well. The doctor came while we were visiting and confirmed that he has a pulmonary embolism which it affecting his left lung and partially affecting his right lung. His blood oxygen level is above 90% which is good, although he still needs to be on oxygen. The doctor stated that the first 72 hours are the most dangerous, so each day he stays alive should improve his situation. He is on heparin and they are going to try to get him on warfarin although he had some problems with warfarin six years ago. He still tires out very quickly. The expectation is that it will take at least 2 weeks for the clots to re-absorb, and it will be at least 6 weeks until he will be able to have the hip repair surgery completed. Reading about pulmonary embolisms shows that they are very common and very dangerous. In the US 600000 people per year will have them and of that group 100000 will die. However, those who die usually die in the first 30 to 60 minutes. That means each day improves the prognosis. Please keep lifting Bill up in your prayers as well as his wife Wilma and their family. This is a very trying time for all of us."

Prayers requested

I am not really sure how many people read this blog, but if you read it and believe in Jesus Christ, please pray for my wife's father. He is in hospital with a blood clot in his lungs. This all started a little more than 3 weeks back when he went in to have a hip replacement that was loose and infected fixed. Since the surgery he has been in hospital. Yesterday he was doing very well, feeling good, and progressing well with his rehabilitation, then today this clot happened and he had to be moved to another hospital. We don't have much details beyond him having the clot and being quite ill. My mother-in-law is very concerned. Please pray the God's glory will be seen in this as he sustains them and us through it. Also, please pray that if it is God's will, that he will bring healing. Thank-you.

Still Amazed

Once again I was amazed at how fast our son is growing. It seems that almost daily he develops some way. Yesterday he would only scoot around the floor pulling himself with his hands. Today he is using his feet to push while pulling with his hands. Annette told me that he can even stand in the bath-tub when there is no water in it. To top this off he is starting to show some problem solving attempts. Annette blocked off his access to the dog bed Riley sleeps on to keep Justin from doing his favorite thing, crawling up and grabbing Riley's paws. When Justin encountered this barricade, he tried to figure out a way around or over. He even started to try to crawl around it. Two days ago he wouldn't have done that. As I said, it is amazing how quick he develops.

Early Morning thoughts

One of the strange things that has happened to me since the birth of Justin is that the time I wake up in the morning has moved much earlier. I say this is strange because with Annette nursing him, I don't have to get up early since I cannot feed him. Yet, I still find that I am regularly up at 6am. For me this is weird because I still have difficulty getting to sleep before 11:30pm. Needless to say this has left me rather tired. Over the past couple of days I have been ill as well with aches and pains, a sore throat, and headache. Thankfully, the worst of it was on Monday, and since then I have been feeling better each day, although I am not over it yet. I can still feel it there in the background although fading.

RSS feeds

Over the past couple of days I have discovered the joy of RSS feeds. If you don't know what an RSS feed is you can look here RSS Links What I have done using them is added my most recent blog entry to my personal web-page as well as adding a page to my web page that gathers together the RSS feeds from various blogs that I read frequently. Sadly, not all of the blogs I read have RSS feeds, or if they do, they don't make it know what the address for the feed is. So I encourage all those who have blogs to set up an RSS feed. If you are with livejournal you already have one. If you are a paying user of blogspot you can set one up in your blog settings, but if you are not a paying member, you can use Feedburner.com to get a free RSS feed for your blogspot blog.

Dark, cloudy day

Today is yet another dark and dull day weather wise. None of us got much sleep last night. I could not seem to sleep more than an hour before waking up feeling uncomfortable. Whatever bug had gotten in my system leaving me feeling physically miserable all Monday is still active. Annette was woken up by Justin almost as frequently. In fact Justin is the only one who seems to have lots of energy is Justin. Oh to be a baby again.

New Years

As is our practice, we both ended the old year and started the new year in worship with our church family. What stood out to me this year was that we worshiped together with the local Christian Reformed Church this New Years day at an evening service. What I found amazing what how the message preached by the pastor of the CRC fit so well with the morning message that I preached at our New Years Day service. Both were calls for us to live as God has called us to live. My focus was on Paul's words in Philippians 2:5, "Have this mind in you, which is yours in Christ Jesus." I pointed out that those who believe in Christ are to be transformed by that, so that they have a view of the world and their lives that is in keeping with Christ following the pattern he gave of humility, obedience, and love for the glory of God. The evening service focused of how we are to live as the family of believers, bearing each others burdens and gently restoring one another when we sin. My prayer is that we will see this sort of world view fill our congregation, and my own life.

Not the most pleasant part of being a parent

This weekend is usually one of my favorite of the year. We have our morning worship service, followed by a lunch together as a congregation, followed by our annual Christmas program. However, such was not to be the case this year. Oh, the day we pleasant enough. The Christmas program was quite good, bringing together Christmas and Easter, but I was not very comfortable. You see, on Saturday night my baby son decided that my one eye was fascinating to him, and he reached out with his sharp little nails (talons would probably be a more accurate term) and scraped my cornea. Off to the hospital I went to have my diagnosis confirmed. Sure enough, I had a bad scratch to the cornea, and it was quite big. I expected them to put on an eye patch for 24 hours, as that is what they used to to, but no longer. Now they put a whole host of eye drops in the eye that is scratched. The first one is to relax the eye, and it immediately takes away the pain, and dilates the pupil so you can't see clearly at all. The next is a pain killer, and finally an anti-biotic. The good side of this is not having to wear a patch. The bad side is I had to preach with one eye that would not focus at all. That meant reading scripture and all the rest by closing the bad eye so I could see to read. Even looking at the congregation was uncomfortable, and eventually resulted in me wishing I was just home in the dark. The meal as usual was great, and even the Christmas program was very good. However, my eye was a major pain the whole time. Even typing this I keep my one eye closed. I am very thankful that I am at least a passable typist :) The great part is that in all of this God gave what was needed to proclaim his word. In spite of the discomfort, the Lord's day was still a good day to be with his people. Now I just need to remember to keep my eyes away from little baby hands :)

Who would have thunk it?

David Palmer

Which 24 Character are you?
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Christmas Light's Will Never Be The Same

The Lights of Christmas Story

OFTEN ACCUSED OF ILLEGAL GATHERINGS and creating social unrest, house church pastors in China face arrest, persecution and imprisonment. When imprisoned they are forced to do hard labor – making bricks, mining coal, putting together cigarette lighters...and even assembling Christmas lights. The same Christmas lights we use to celebrate the Savior’s birth are being used to punish Chinese pastors who have risked everything to share Jesus to the largest people group on earth – it’s a story that captures everyone’s heart who hears it. Instead of boycotting these items, house church leaders in China have asked that we use our Christmas lights as reminders to pray that they have the strength to stand firm for the Savior during their suffering, and for the Lord to protect and care for their families. The Lights Of Christmas Story PICTURE THIS! A COLD, DARK PRISON CELL IN THE NORTHERN INTERIOR OF CHINA. The cell is only 20' by 20' and occupied by 40 prisoners. One of these prisoners is a Chinese underground church pastor in his mid-40s, sentenced to a three-year prison term for preaching the Gospel of Christ. At 5:30 a.m., after being allowed four hours of sleep, a swift blow awakens him to his back from the boot of a communist prison guard. Pastor Stephen is allowed to have one of the two bowls of soup that will be his food for the day including the one small steamed roll he is given each day, he will consume perhaps 500 calories. Now all 40 prisoners are taken to a room and put in two lines facing each other and forced to kneel. In front of each prisoner is placed a box containing unassembled Christmas lights. The guard viciously barks out the command and Pastor Stephen quickly grabs the empty strings of lights and begins to assemble them. He takes the tiny individual light bulbs and threads the two small metal wires extending from the glass through the plastic holder and bends them into place. Before long, his fingers are raw and bleeding. Then he puts the bulb into the fitting on the string of lights and clamps it into place with his teeth, as prisoners are not allowed tools. His quota for the day - 5000 bulbs. Work will continue for 16 to 20 hours or all night if necessary. If the guards are unsatisfied with the speed or quality of the work, he will be beaten mercilessly. Such is a normal workday for this humble servant of God. When he is taken back to his cell, he recalls the many verses of Scripture he has memorized and thanks God for His faithfulness in spite of the hardship. Then quietly he begins to sing worship songs he has hidden away in his heart and he begins to pray for the well being of his family. Tears of thanksgiving begin to roll down his face as he ponders how blessed he is to be considered worthy to suffer for Christ. Blessed because he is a part of the underground Church of China - the largest Church in the world, numbering over 80 million believers. A Church that is vibrant and passionate and deep in the things of God. A Church that is paying a great price for this great turning to God with persecution and suffering. For more information on this click.

Me?! Hidden Talent?!!!

As I was jumping from blog to blog I ran into this one. I can't say that I think it is correct, but maybe my hidden talent is hidden from me :)

Your Hidden Talent

You have the natural talent of rocking the boat, thwarting the system. And while this may not seem big, it can be. It's people like you who serve as the catalysts to major cultural changes. You're just a bit behind the scenes, so no one really notices.

What's Your Hidden Talent?

What Bible Translation

You scored as NASB - New American Standard Bible. You are intelligent, responsible, and understanding. You strive to do your best possible in all areas of life and are generally quite successful. You do not mind being different and sometimes taking risks, but you simultaneously find no virtue in completely doing away with the past. NASB - New American Standard Bible 55% NWT - New World Translation 45% KJV - King James Version 35% CEV - Contemporary English Version 20% NRSV - New Revised Standard Version 15% What version of the Bible are you? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm Rerun, how about you.

Which Peanuts character are you?
You are Rerun!

Thoughts after a week

We are a little past a week since Justin was born. The week has been filled with highs and lows. The highs of having Annette get stronger and come home, of Justin feeding well and growing, and of parents who are so very willing to help. But then there are the lows--lows of self doubt, wondering if I can be the father my son will need, lows of exhaustion from a fussy baby who won't go to sleep, and lows of wishing my wife was recovered from everything and knowing it may still be weeks before she is. None of this has been helped by the heat-wave we are going through right now. Day after day of hot, humid weather starts to take its toll as well. Yet, I don't think I would trade any of it, except the hot weather, for anything. As hard as it has been, it has also been good. It has been and continues to be a learning experience on how to balance work and family. My hope is that as the days go by, the learning will progress and will turn into some joy in the doing of all this.

Baby Pics

Here are a pic of Annette and our baby, and one of our baby.

Baby On Board!

We have a baby boy, Justin Matthew, born July 6, 2005; 9lbs11oz; 23 inches long! I was not going to post this tonight, because I was absolutely exhausted. As you can see from earlier posts, this all started Monday night, and with everything did not finish until Wednesday late afternoon (early evening with waiting for Annette to come out of surgery) So from getting up early Monday after a tiring Sunday and not a very good sleep, I am Annette have been awake for 60 hours or so except for an hour here and there (no more than 3-4 total) We are both exhausted and that contributed to the whole story of what happened. I went to bed after sending out and phoning the absolutely vital announcments, but then a neighbor called about an hour later and woke me up so I cannot get back to sleep. So what was our three days like? It was one of the best and worst times of my life. Labor for Annette came and went again and again. She worked so hard, and it was so special having a home birth. However, when she got stalled at 8cm dilation and twice her contractions stopped, our midwife said we really needed to get her some assistance. We went to the Clinton hospital to have an Oncytocin drip given to her to get her contracting and dilating at 7:30 or 8am Wednesday. By this point we were all tired, but the drip worked great and she started to have good contractions and dilated until all that was left was what is called an anterior lip. That is still not all the way to 10cm, but it soon thinned so it could fit over the baby's head and Annette was allowed to push. She tried as hard as she could. She pushed and pushed, but she was exhausted. I was so proud of her and tired to help her as much as I could. She worked so hard for the three days that we had been in labor. By the end, she just could not go on, and even then she pushed. I had tears running down my face as, I think, did everyone else in the delivery room, but Annette was done. The shear amount of strength she showed was amazing. I always kneww she was strong, but she did the labor of three women, and even in the face of exhaustion, she kept trying until the end. The baby came very close to being born vaginally, but we were out of time and energy. So, we opted for a c-section. God truly gave me a wife who is amazing. They got the c-section organized quickly, and got me and our midwife, Susan, gowned up so we could be there with Annette. But, once again things did not go as planned, the epidural did not work, and they opted to use a general anestetic, and we were not allowed in. Through all of this my feelings were flying all over. Pride in Annette. Sadness and disappointment that our hopes of a home birth or even a vaginal birth were gone. Anger at myself for not being the supporting husband I should be, and even though I know better, anger at God for how in his providence he had our hopes and all that work of Annette dashed. It took me a long time to get through all this, and I am sure I am not through it completely yet. The c-section went well, and soon they came with a beautiful baby boy. The problem was I was so conflicted at that moment that I can't say I enjoyed it as much as I would like. Yes, he grabbed my heart right away, but at the same time I felt so . . . so . . . I don't know. It took a while and some tears before I realize that I just need to put it all behind me. Then things became so much better, because Justin is a really great baby. God in his providence has given me someone who grabbed my heart. My prayer is he will grow up not just healthy, but as a person who truly loves and puts his trust in Christ. May God give Annette and I the grace we need to raise this beautiful boy. So as I type this through my tears--tears of sorrow, tears or joy, tears of thankfulness for a wonderful wife and child--I can say the last three days have been some of the best and worst of my life. I would never exchange the experiences of going through labor at home with family around us for support. In my opinion this is one of the most amazing times of fellowship a family can have. I would not, even though part of me wishes it had been different and we had the baby at home, exchange the long period of sharing as much as I can, Annette's labor. Seeing her strength. Holding her. Encouraging her. And all the rest. That too was amazing. And I was so thankful that we had the option of a c-section. The nurses, doctors, surgeons, and all the rest were great, even when I was far from happy at the time. Finally, that little baby is beyond words for me to describe. Now comes the recovery. Physically for Annette 4-6 days in hospital. And then emotionally and all the rest for both or us as we deal with a very stressful three days. Now I need to see if I can sleep.

Labor away!

Well, Annette has been having contractions since Monday night. We were very excited when she reached 8cm dilation, but then after a couple of hours of hard frequent contractions, she had not dilated more, and the baby's head had actually moved up from the cervix, and for about 30-40 minutes there were no contractions. Baby's heart beat was strong, but this could be bad. It could also just indicate that the baby needed to reposition before labor could continue. So Annette went into a position to assist that, and as we lay there for half an hour, I prayed. I always find it amazing how while at first I simply said God get the baby repositioned, after a few minutes of praying my prayer was, God this is in your hands, and you have given us many good things, you do what you know is right, but if it be your will reposition the baby. Happily it seems the baby repositioned well, and labor started again and is even more intense. As of this writing, things are still progressing, so hopefully my next entry will be the announcement of who our new baby is.

Labor Started!!!!

Labor started last night about 9-10pm. Annette started to have more regular contractions when we were out walking the dogs at Pinery Provincial Park, and after we got home they got more intense and more frequent. We asked the mid-wife to come to see how things were going, still not sure if Annette was starting into labor or not. When the mid-wife arrived at 9:30 or so, she found Annette was having good contractions and was 3cm dilated and the baby's head was fully engaged. Since it would take all night for her to fully dilate, (increase of 1cm/hr would be very fast, .5cm/hr would be more usual) she told us to sleep as much as we could. Needless to say Annette did not sleep much what with the hard contractions, and I didn't sleep much because, well, this is exciting and my mind keeps running over what is happening. Things are continuing, and we will phone our parents soon so they can come down. Going into labor was an answer to the prayers of many people. If she had not, we would have had to seen an Ob for a consult and could have ended up having to have the baby in hospital if they said we had to induce, which is not what we desired. But thanks be to God, everything is going naturally!

Still waiting, but something seems to be happening

The count is at 15 days overdue and counting. However, yesterday and today Annette has been having some strong contractions. Yesterday they were quite far a part (55 minutes or so) and did not always follow a regular pattern. Then they seemed to slowly disappear. Today, Annette woke up with lots of energy, and we had a good day together going to a local plant nursery that has a half price sale, and then going to the Pinery to walk the dogs and enjoy the lake. At first Annette only had very infrequent contractions, but as the day progressed they became more frequent. Now they are quite strong and much more frequent. Maybe, just maybe the baby is ready to make an appearance :D

No baby yet.

Well, we are still waiting. Annette and I went to see our Mid-wife again today, and she did a fetal stress test to make sure that everything is ok with the baby. The test showed that the baby is doing well, moving a lot with a good heart rate that matches up well with his/her movements. She also did some other tests and told us that Annette's body is good to go, but the baby's head is not right against the cervix. When the baby's head is against the cervix, labor will probably start. Hopefully for our sanity and sleep that will happen soon. On another note, today was Canada Day. While I cannot say I am pleased with the things our current government has done, especially their redefining of marriage, I must say I am still happy to be a Canadian. It is truly a wonderful country with some great people. God has blessed me to have me born here.

No News . . . yet!

The latest update on the baby front is that we are still waiting. Occasionally Annette will have things that seem like contractions, but so far they are far apart. Hopefully we will see some progress soon as I am finding getting a good nights sleep it getting difficult (yeah, like I will get any sleep after the baby is born :) ) As of today I am completely beat. Only slept a few hours last night. The following picture probably best summarizes how I currently feel.

No Baby yet

The baby count up continues. We are now 10 days over-due. The waiting is starting to get to me. Although I sleep at night, I don't seem to get any rest because my mind keeps wondering when will this little baby come. The result today was that I was very groggy and grumpy. Hopefully the baby will come soon. Annette had an actual contraction yesterday, but that one was the only one. In spite of being tired I still got a fair amount of work done, but not as much as I would have liked. I am hoping that I get a good sleep tonight.

Still counting down

Today we went to meet with our mid-wife. Our baby is now 9 days overdue. The waiting is driving both of us somewhat stir crazy. Of course for Annette things are worse especially with the heat that we have been having lately. The best way I can describe it is it is like Christmas is coming, but we are not sure what day it will be. Every day we think, is this going to be it, and then it isn't, so we go through another day of waiting. Needless to say this starts to drain ones energy, so we are both getting tired. Top that off for Annette with carrying a full term baby, and you can imagine what it is like for us. As for the rest of things, everything is ready and looks good.

Baby seat

Today we made our final step in preparing for the upcoming birth of our baby. Annette's parents came down, and took us out for our anniversary. After a huge meal at the Mandarin buffet in London, we stopped as Sears, and they purchased a baby seat for us, for which we are very thankful. We installed it this evening, and it looks good. Now we just need to wait for the baby :)

Back again

It has been a while since I last posted. What can I say, life has been busy :) Since my last posting many things have happened. We purchased a new to us van ('97 Safari), and are expecting our first child. My hope is to post more often, but then my original hope was to post frequently. Only time will tell.