Salvogesis

Today, as well as All Hallows Eve eve, it is also Reformation Day Eve. The Reformation is acknowledged to have started on 31 October 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, in what is now Germany.   When Covid-19 struck the world – at least when the panic and the initial measures were taken, when they started closing borders and not allowing people outside, we were in Germany. Germany was our first stop in our planned trip. We were hoping to see Denmark and other places but most of Europe was closed before we would have a chance but one place that we were able to see before the great lockdown was Mainz in Germany. (Here are some pictures of our time in Mainz) Do we know what is an important artifact relating to the Reformation that is in Mainz? It is something that actually came into being sometime between 1450 and 1454, a few years before the Reformation: The Gutenberg Bible! (show pictures)   Acts 17:11-12: Now the Berean...

Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”   We have just had municipal elections. I had a number of friends running. Our Mayor was re-elected, of course she is married to Colin here, congratulations to the family. I also have a couple of friends of mine from Rotary and the community who were running and some have been elected and/or re-elected to different positions. There are also those for whom I wouldn't and didn't vote who were also elected. These are our new governing authorities. You may not have personally voted for them but they are now our authorities and, Romans 13:2-3a:   Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong…   This reminds me...

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, Verse 3, because He loves us, God hungers us blessing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter times of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction.   The book of Deuteronomy here records the time after the Hebrews had fled Egypt and before they reached Canaan. They had only what they could carry and – as they were nomadic – obviously, no farms to grow food, no permanent water source or anything like that. They were hundreds, thousands or even more people without a permanent home wandering around the desert.   As the Hebrews followed God around the desert like this, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them; when they had nothing God provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:15,16:   He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its ven...

Friday was Orange Shirt Day. It was the second Truth and Reconciliation Day statutory holiday. As a result, we were closed here at The Salvation Army, at the Bread of Life Centre, and at Kuu-us Crisis Line. A number of our people (congregation, staff, volunteers) were involved in the events in town yesterday. Colin’s wife, our Mayor, Sharie Minions, gave a speech; Cherie, our supervisor at the Bread of Life and an hereditary Tseshaht Chief, danced; many of us, clad in orange shirts, walked either or both from the Friendship Centre down to the Harbour Quay where there were speeches, songs, dances and more and/or from the Harbour Quay to Maht Mahs, Tseshaht where there was a meal and much more still. We did this to acknowledge reconciliation. Our passage today, Romans 5:8-11, is about reconciliation:   8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.           9 Since we have now been justified by his blood,...

Joseph in our text today was trafficked. His family – his brothers, ten of them, ganged up on him and through him into a pit and sold him to people passing by. The people who bought Joseph took him to a foreign country and sold him as a household servant. His family did not know what had happened to him; his dad never knew what happened to Joseph, his favourite son. Joseph was all alone.   Joseph was a domestic servant with no rights. When his employers was done with him he was sent off to jail.   Trafficking like this isn’t just a thing of the past. We have worked to try and help many different people who have been trafficked in a number of the places we have lived and worked with The Salvation Army.   Here in town there are a couple of businesses that are rumoured to be involved in trafficking people, domestic help, like Joseph – one is a hotel. This hotel apparently has a number of new ‘staff’ come regularly from India, stay and while and then be moved along.   I ...

Queen Elizabeth II was Promoted to Glory this week. she had a strong Christian faith that has been evident throughout her life. As well as her formal role as 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England', her personal faith was evident even before she was crowned. 'Pray for me’, she urged us all prior to her coronation, ‘that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.’   The theme of service to God and her neighbour even ran throughout her coronation ceremony and she mentioned time and time again, very publicly throughout the years that she was inspired by the sacrificial life of Jesus Christ, who said of himself: I ‘did not come to be served, but to serve’. She said, ‘For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.’   In 2008 the Queen encouraged us all: ‘I...

We had a great time at the toy run and the food drive this weekend. 2,878.1  lbs.  of food were raised from the food drive and an elevator load full of toys from the toy run! Thank you everyone! It was great to be able to be out there serving coffee, doughnuts, publicly praying for the community, serving lunch, picking up toys, setting up, cleaning up and helping in everyway we can. So much of my life in this day and age seems to be spent looking at a computer screen: filling out forms, entering information into databases, answering questions, doing computer tasks from headquarters, emailing and messaging people about this or that or the next thing and since the pandemic struck,  Zoom  and now  Teams  has invaded our lives – so that even meetings we used to have in person are carried out on a screen! It is a weird place to be, societally speaking. I grew up in a generation and a household that did have a TV – but we were always told that too much screen tim...