Salvogesis

You need to read  Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza. You really do. This is an amazing book that speaks about the power forgiveness. The author lost most of her family in the Rwandan Genocide and she only survived by being hidden in a secret bathroom with a number of other ladies - the space was too small for all of them to stand at once: she was in that room for months without much food at all and when she was released she found out that her parents and her two brothers were murdered by machete. This is a lady who has experienced the power of forgiving. The media and government of Rwanda was encouraging Hutus in their country to hunt down and kill Tutsis. There was one part in this book that my mind has not been able to forget. Immaculée tells of some of the Hutus who risked their own lives to save specific Tutsis from Hutu killers. She mentioned (with at least two specific examples) Hutus who would risk their lives to hide a speci...

My teenagers have become big 80s Rock fans. They know more about 80s Rock and 80s Rockers than I ever did - and I lived through the 80s! Sammy Hagar, before he joined Van Halen, of course, had his big solo hit, I Can't Drive 55 . My mind often plays this song and Golden Earring's Radar Love as I drive the highways here. We have recently moved to the Island from Toronto. Driving the highway is quite different. The speed limit might be the same in some places but there are many times in Toronto where it wouldn't matter if the speed limit was 100 km/h or 200 km/h, because of the traffic you aren't travelling quicker than 5 km/h or 10 km/h. It can be really frustrating when you are stuck in traffic and going nowhere fast and it is great when you can travel unimpeded on nice stretches of road. The other day as I was cruising down the Island Highway I was thinking of how this relates to our walk with Jesus. Our life is like a trip down the highway. Everyone travels a high...

One day at the McDonald farm there is a rumbling in the air; something is a foot. In the chicken coop something isn’t just quite right. The old farmer walks all around the chicken wire fence. It seems to be in tact. The barbed wire along the perimeter looks undisturbed. Everything looks fine as he locks up the hens for the night. But inside the henhouse on the top rung, something is stirring…it is Henrietta the poultry hen. Now, as soon as Farmer McDonald closes the door to the coop, Henrietta the hen, speaks up: “It’s time.” Quickly Henrietta, Polly, Mick, and all the chickens on the top rung run to the southeast corner of the coop. They peck and they peck the ground in the corner like never before. Last night they had almost made it. Tonight would be the night. Finally – breakthrough! Henrietta and the other chickens are free. They are free from the farmer’s coop. They are free from the barbed wire and the chicken wire; they are free from the tedious ritual and routine. They a...

Peter, who is not only a good synagogue-going person but also a devout follower of Jesus, has a dream. One day he dreams of all these foods he is not supposed to eat - now I am not talking about chocolate or cake or things that were bad for his diet. I am talking about things that in his day good people who followed God wouldn't touch because they were good, God-following people. Peter has this vision: the Lord asks him three times to eat this food. Now Peter isn't daft and he, not long ago, has already been caught denying Jesus three times and so he is not going racing to any rash decisions; he shows the Lord that he is faithful to his Jewish covenant and declines the invitation three times. This is not what is wanted here though and this is not what the dream, it turns out, is even about. This passage is not about dietary laws and what foods a good follower of Jesus will or will not eat and Peter should know this because he was there when Jesus fulfilled/abolished th...

In 1957 the average cost of a brand new house in North American was only about $12 000. A gallon of gas only cost $0.24 and this was good because the average wage (even figuring into the equation the big bucks that CEOs made) was only $4.50 an hour. 1957 Canada was different in other ways too: Canadians were swearing oaths on the Bible and meaning it; officially breaking one’s marriage covenant through divorce was rare; and people, more or less, did what they said they would do. The proverb applied: a man’s word was his bond. Today we are going to look a little bit at oaths, vows, and covenants. [2] (For more on this I will mention quickly my book, Praise The Lord For Covenants . If you want to look into this topic more after the service today, let me know.) [3] Today we are looking at Numbers Chapter 30. Ronald B. Allen reminds us that, “This chapter is a significant Old Testament text on the subject of the vows.” [4] And Numbers 30:1-2, “Moses said to the heads of the tribes of...

We have recently moved to Port Alberni, BC. It is a great community. We are getting to know people and enjoying experiencing the things that happen in the community. This is one of the great things about a smaller community. Probably, in part, because of this there is only one movie theatre in town; so every week you can see the same movie as everyone else in town, if you want to. Last week our family went to see Hotel Transylvania 3 ;  simply because I hadn't seen one or two I probably wouldn't have gone without the convincing of my family. It was an excellent movie. It was an excellent show in the way that George Reeves' Superman , Clayton Moore's Lone Ranger , and Adam West's Batman were excellent shows: the good guys were actually good guys. I have seen so many shows on TV and in the movies this century where the 'good guys' are somewhere between as bad as and worse than the 'bad guys'. I have come to expect that the 'good guys' wil...

Psalm 122:1: I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go up to the house of the LORD.” Let us go up to the house of the LORD: It is always exciting when people wish to go up to the house of the LORD, to go to church, to come to the corps - either new friends from out-of-town visiting with their family at Christmastime or when we have visitors from other churches to do Advent Reader Exchanges and that sort of thing. It is good too when people haven’t been in church for a while decide to come to the house of the Lord again and it is nice too to see people who are just showing up to put in a request. It is even just good from week to week when we come here to the house of the Lord, to church (the corps) and have a chance to see our long-term or old friends. [1]  Especially great is when people come to the house of the LORD to give their lives to the LORD for the first time. Can anything be better than that?  [2]  No, so, Let us all go up to the house of the LORD whene...

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—a he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.  John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. John 11:25-26: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.The one...

There has been a lot of civil unrest and other things in the world lately: Let’s have a bit of a quiz to see if you can identify the incidents in the press (from 2011): This country is now under military rule after their President Mubarak who had won 5 consecutive elections was ousted. (Egypt) This country issued warrant for its past President and its Prime Minister resigned this week. (Tunisia) Civil unrest continues in this country and the American Military surrounded the nation this week; Canada even sent the HMCS Charlottetown there. (Libya) A Canadian man has recently been abducted by the Taliban in this country. (Afghanistan) I read a headline also this week that says this country invades Denmark. Who invades Denmark? (Holland) The headline read: Holland Invades Denmark. Sounds scary. Anybody know what the story was about? What the article is really about though is a little less scary: The Canadian women’s curling championship, the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, was thi...