Salvogesis

Busy time at The Salvation Army! And only getting busier now until Christmas is done! Yesterday was the Toy Run. We were blessed to be able to prepare and serve chili and hotdogs. We were blessed to be able to pick up a cube van full of toys. We were blessed to say the prayer and ask the blessing before the riders rode.   Last weekend was the fall fair and the parade. Thank you to everyone who helped out. We were blessed to be able to have  a booth and we were blessed to have a float and our mobile kitchen (CRU) and a number of walkers in the parade. Thank you!   The weekend before that was Salmon Fest. We were blessed to be able to run the bullhead derby and we were blessed with rods and lures to be able to hand out to kids who were fishing.   We, of course, were blessed to help our community and Parksville / Qualicum with the fire relief as well this summer.   Next up: in a couple of weeks we have Men’s Camp and the Thanksgiving food drive. We are blessed to b...

Hebrews 13:14 (LB): For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven.   2 Corinthians 5:1-2 (CEV): Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever. 2 While we are here on earth, we sigh because we want to live in that heavenly home.   It was interesting visiting Toronto, if only for a very little while. We saw the ROM. That was good. We weren’t there long. We didn’t get to see any friends – well Sarah-Grace did; she was prepared but the rest of us didn’t. It did remind me, like it has reminded me when we have visited other places we used to live – Winnipeg, Nipawin, Swift Current, Victoria, Vancouver – that things continue to change when we aren’t there and very quickly the people and places we used to know are not there. Toronto wa...

When we were in Paris and the rest of France, we were able to see the Louvre, other museums, art galleries, and many famous works of Art. We saw the Mona Lisa and other great oil paintings. One thing that struck me as I looked upon the original works of art of which I have seen reproductions dozens or even hundreds of times before in my life, is that the reproductions are never as good as the original. They can be like the cloud of witnesses in our text but they are not anywhere near the value and power of the original! A picture of a painting is not the painting itself: not nearly as vibrant and alive!      This reminds me of our faith and a temptation for some Christians who maybe even grew up in the churches. I have met some people – even in seminary - who hadn’t ever read through their entire Bible even once! There are people who identify as Christians who look to or through others instead of to God directly for their faith. They rely on preachers, teach...

This verse was on the wall of the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris, just around the corner from Notre Dam on the Seine. The Shakespeare and Company Bookstore is an amazing place many famous authors have visited there, stayed there, written there; many famous poems and works of literary art could have been composed there. Even today, as well as buying great books and other works of literature, we are invited to stay and write. The verse on the wall of the bookstore, relates to their historic hospitality that the Lord has used to bless us through the writings of the authors and poets who have stayed there. I have stories of entertaining or being entertained by angels myself which I will certainly share another time. This passage is important. We should remember that anywhere and anytime, any stranger might just be a messenger of God, and even if they aren’t we should treat them as if they are for God created us all in His own image and He can use us all as His own agents to do ...

The second candle of Advent is faith. The four candles are (according to the source I am using): Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace. Advent is about waiting. It is about people waiting for the Messiah, the Christ to come the first time (as we now know He did, as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem) and it is about us waiting for Him to return, as we are now. When people began waiting for Christ to come the first time, they did not know when He would come; they did not know how He would come; they did not know exactly where He would come (similar to us now waiting for His return) – but when the signs of His pending arrival started to appear, people started to notice and as people started to notice they started to tell others and as they told others more people began to notice the signs. (aside: all the miracles recorded in the Gospels are just recorded signs themselves that point people to the Advent of Christ). The more people notice the signs, the more they share the good news of Jesus’ arrival,...

I was at a board meeting for the Neighbourlink Society: a group that provides food for children in the schools. Many of the people on the board have been friends for years. They were telling a few good stories. John and Carol are very good friends. John was giving Carol a hard time about her cooking because apparently shortly after she fed him a grilled cheese sandwich he had a heart attack – he was saying, ‘don’t let Carol make anyone any food’. Carol then told us more of the story. John was coming over to mow her lawn and after he had a lunchbreak, he headed outside to finish the work… and he did have a heart attack. They called the ambulance. It was quite significant. Carol was quite concerned. They took him to the hospital and then they actually had to fly him out by helicopter. You have to really understand the humour of these two for the rest of the story. As he was going up in the helicopter with his family and everyone around Carol yelled out, ”and don’t think I’m paying you! Y...

A few interesting things happened in the previous week or two – well, lots of things actually – but one or two things I’d particularly like to share today.   You know of course that The Salvation Army has a drug and alcohol policy: we don’t drink or do drugs at work (or soldiers anywhere, anytime). I recently needed to print out our drug and alcohol policy and go over it with some of our volunteers, staff, or community partners. Apparently one or two folks may not have remembered (even though they all read it when they were hired or started volunteering) that they can’t use drugs at work with our clients. You'd think that would be self-evident, a ‘no-brainer’ as they say. We don’t want to harm people and we do want  to help people, but good, well-meaning folks actually needed to be reminded that they shouldn’t use drugs with our clients. There are many reasons for this and God gave us an object lesson, an example of being sober so we can help others out; as well as a lesson ab...

PRESENTED AT THE ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION, 01 JULY 2021 . [1]   In the Alberni Valley today we would like to acknowledge Winston Joseph, who has passed on since the previous Canada Day. He was the driving force behind our community's Canada Day activities for many years.   Canada Day is very important to our veterans as they offered up their lives and many of them laid down their lives for Canada and for all of us.   Today we are gathering to remember Canada and, as always at the Legion, those who have lived, fought and died for Canada and for our future. One of the many brave people from this area who offered their lives up for the future of others was Edward John Clutesi of the Tseshaht Nation. (Our community is on the un-ceded territories of the Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations)   Today, heavy on our hearts is the tragedy of the horrors of the residential schools and those who suffe...

I am so thankful that we are allowed to have our worship times outside now (as long as we are blessed with appropriate weather).  There has been a lot of talk about obeying the authorities in recent times. It has after all been illegal for the Church to meet in the churches for church services since Christmas. It is only in the previous few weeks that we have even been allowed to meet outside in the elements again. There have been many discussions about churches gathering. I had an article published in the  Journal of Aggressive Christianity  entitled “What we did when Church was illegal  “ [i] . It has been a serious concern. At a time when rates of suicide and drug use and abuse are at all-time highs to remove these emotional and spiritual supports from the most vulnerable doesn’t seem to make any sense to many people.   According to Matthew, Jesus famously tells us to “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s”  (M t  22:21)  and  Paul in  ...