Did you know that Walt Disney before his name became a household word was told; “you can’t draw.” I like that story because it offers me hope in the pursuit of my goal and that is to write a book! In my university years a philosophy professor said to me while looking at my assignment; “John, it looks like your paper has gone through hard times.” Well, before my book is completed it will have gone through some hard times as well but I will complete it.

   The type of book I envision is not a theological masterpiece there are plenty of those out there already. No, my book will be far less serious in fact I hope that when people read my book they will be able to laugh and even perhaps to shed a few tears. I want to tell the story of my 39 years in the ministry. Yes, you heard me say correctly, 39 years!!!! From the day I first dragged my trunk across campus thinking to myself, “I will never make the seven years in front of me,”  to 43 years later as I contemplate retirement I want to share with the reader what it is like to be a minister. If you the reader have crossed my path during my ministry you may find yourself in my book. Were you the one I watched the flying saucer with or were you the one for whom I conducted your wedding and you are still married? Were you the person with whom I could let my hair down and say; “Look I have a problem.” Perhaps you were the one or you know the one whom I caught preparing to poach lobsters and a few days later I found a pot of cooked lobster on my back steps! Maybe you were the one who scolded me for not bringing as many people into the church as a previous minister with a drinking problem had brought in! Then again you might have been by the bedside with me as we watched and prayed over your dad who was dying. Were you my friend with whom I fished while sitting on a dock sipping tea from a silver tray service! Maybe just maybe you were in the crowd of over 30,000 who watched as I led a service of color dedication for the Calgary Highlanders. If you weren’t in the crowd I know one who was and that was her majesty Queen Elizabeth who stood 10 feet in front of me. I have met people from all walks in life. I treasure the memories of many and shudder at the memories of others. A counselor that I had while in university once said to me; “John, just because you are about to become a minister doesn’t mean that everyone is going to like you.” Dear reader; you maybe one of those who didn’t like me but I do hope that you will enjoy reading my book. Watch for it!

Where Have I Been?

   If you have been following our website for the past few weeks you have probably been wondering; “Where have I been?” “Why hasn’t the site been updated with a new sermon and radio program?” Well, let me share with you what has taken place behind the scenes. Come with me!

   For some time now my father-in-law has not endured the best of health. He is “up in years” but until recently he has been blessed with relatively good heath. All of this changed rapidly during the past few months. In early June my sister-in-law called to say that their dad was not well and that the doctor was only allowing for a few days at most. My wife Jill made immediate plans to leave the Island to join her sister and together they would care for their dad making his days as comfortable as possible. Two weeks after Jill left the Island I also flew to Ontario. There were two reasons for my trip. I will tell you of the second reason shortly. First, I wanted to see my in-laws for whom I have always had great respect. Jill’s father was going through a difficult time and I wanted to be there for him. We have always enjoyed great conversations and these last few days were no exception. Even though he was not in good health yet he still retained a sense of humor. Only recently on the phone he told me; “John, I’m not deaf you don’t have to yell.” Following a week with my in-laws I began to engage myself in the second reason for my trip. In anticipation of my retirement (the government in Bermuda just issued me with a second three year work permit with the notation “non renewable) Jill and I bought a house in Florida!

   I was in Ontario to transport our furniture in storage to our new home in Florida. With the help of close friends and my loving brother Jim we packed the large U-Haul with barely enough room for our suitcases. Jill was staying with her dad and Jim was my co-pilot for the long haul south. During the two and a half days it took to make the journey Jim and I relived many of our childhood experiences. Leaving Friday afternoon we saw our first palm tree just inside the Florida boundryline on Sunday afternoon! My brother was able to stay for a week to help with the unpacking. As for me I stayed a further week placing boxes in various rooms of our new house. I didn’t unpack too many for I knew well that whatever drawer, cabinet or closet I put things in it would probably be the wrong one and Jill would move it! Finally, last Thursday I too left for the Orlando airport to begin my journey back home. Jill has always been my navigator and without her I am lost. My plane was due to leave Orlando at 8:30am which meant that I had to return the rental car my 7:00am. I knew that I was in trouble when my GPS happily announced; “You have arrived; Wal-Mart is on your left!” “No Lord, it’s not Wal-Mart I want it’s the airport!” God is good and I did arrive in time for my flight home.

   Where do things stand as of present? I am late with my web update that’s for certain. Our home in Florida is full of furniture which needs to be rearranged with a woman’s touch. Finally, my father-in-law is still with us and his doctor has declared, “I am not going to make any further predictions,” which goes to prove that only the Lord above knows the date of our departure.

Blessings,

John

DIRTY HANDS

      Sound strange? Please read on. Last week I worked in my little garden. The best stress reliever around is to be found working alongside Mother Nature. Seeming problems melt away as we dirty our hands while turning sod, pulling weeds, spreading a little of the old fashioned fertilizer, making  rows, placing seeds in the furrows and then carefully covering the seed while saying a  prayer for sun, rain and growth. Periodic visits to a garden are an absolute necessity. Weeds need to be weeded and sometimes showers from above need a little assistance from a garden hose! The dirty hands and aching knees are more than compensated though by little green stems that struggle through the soil to grasp the sunlight above. If we are patient we will reap the benefits of fresh vegetables straight from the garden. When we grow it ourselves it tastes great. It may not be as pretty as the package in the store but we will have the satisfaction of having grown it ourselves even though we did get our hands dirty.

   When we look at our church we love to see signs of growth as well. We want to see a strong youth ministry, a growing Sunday School, an active Senior’s Program, an abundant supply of Fellowship Ministries, a growing Membership Roll, extensive Outreach Ministries and of course Sparkling Worship. There are two ways of finding the above.  Find a church where all these things are in place and prepare to settle in and enjoy yourself. This is  much like finding that perfect head of lettuce in your corner grocerystore. It looks nice in the package and you didn’t have to sweat or get your hands dirty. Enjoy! Now the second way of finding a Growing Church is by rolling up your sleeves, getting down on your knees and being prepared to get your hands dirty. Church Volunteers are God’s Gardeners who don’t mind working hard because God has given them a vision of what happens when people work together.

   Thank you to all our volunteers who don’t mind sweating and getting their hands dirty. Consider this an invitation to all to join the Gardener’s Club.

Your Pastor & Friend

John

Why Do We Go To Church?

Have your ever thought about that? Let me tell you about a church that I heard of on a CNN news broadcast. How would you like to go to this church? This was a church with a difference!

On arrival at this church you are greeted by the minister’s spouse who asks, “What kind of coffee can I get you?”

She is behind a Coffee Bar which is lit with neon lights that spell out “Heavenly Beano.” This is not your ordinary church coffee, oh no, this is the “Star Buck” variety coffee. You grab your coffee and instead of heading to your regular pew or sanctuary chair you sit at a table for eight.

While sipping your flavoured coffee, you listen to the organ prelude, no again, you listen to a jazz band instead! You finish your coffee in time for a sermon, no once more! You finish your coffee in time to enjoy a meal (hopefully you’ve come to church hungry). This church’s specialty is none other than pasta!!!

Now they do have a minister and she eventually finds her way to the front, to stand behind a pulpit – nope! She sits in a comfortable position and chats with people at the tables.

When interviewed, some of the diners and/or worshippers were asked what they thought about this method of worship. One responded by saying, “I think this is just wonderful! this is a place for all faiths.” The other responded with a comment that says a great deal about those who frequent such places. He said, “We feel really comfortable here.”

What’s wrong with all of this? Something is not right! Firstly, they feel that worship must not offend any faith, but be designed for all, and even for those who have no faith! Secondly, when they worship they must be comfortable.

According to the Bible this is not what God had in mind when He declared in Hebrews chapter 10:25: “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as is the habit of some but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.”

Worship is an absolutely essential element in the life of a Christian. While it is true that we can, and should worship in many places from our homes to the golf courses, there is however, no substitute for the weekly coming together of the saints. We need the fellowship, the challenge, and the spirit that an assembly of God’s people provides. We need to hear the word and be challenged by the word.

The next time you attend church look for the Bible, not the Lazy Boy Chair!

Pastor John

Do You Remember?

Do you remember your first Christmas gift as a child?  Well, it may not have been your first gift but it’s the one you first remember!  I remember mine.  I was about four years old and I received a plastic lunch box.  I even remember the colors, yellow and green.  What made it so special was that now I had a lunch box just like my older brothers and sister who took theirs to school.  We have come a long way from plastic lunch boxes to electronic toys.

Do you remember the little bubble lights in the shape of candles that one use to see on decorated trees? Then on the very top of the tree there was the angel that you plugged in?  I think the angel may still be around but I don’t see very many bubble lights.

Jill and I still hang our stockings on Christmas Eve and we look forward to the next morning.  The stocking I hang now looks pretty flashy in red with my name on it.  Hung stockings today are a far cry to the ones many of us remember;  a long grey work sock in which Santa would always put an orange in the toe.

The value of gifts has certainly changed over the years.  Of course one earned a lot less in years past but I always thought it was fun making a dollar go four ways!  A dollar would buy a package of razor blades for dad, a small comb for mom, bobby pins for my sister and maybe a small jackknife for my brother.

When our girls were small, of course like all others they wanted to get up while it was still dark and open their presents.  It was a real struggle to convince them to remain in bed until the sun came up. One year I came up with the perfect solution! I told them on Christmas Eve that “daddy is going to set an alarm clock in your room and as soon as it goes off you can get up.”  They thought that was great.  I didn’t tell them that it was set to go off at 8:00am not 6:00am!  It only worked for one year.

Do you remember reading the Christmas story from the Bible (as a family) before opening your gifts? What about the Sunday School Christmas Concerts with their plays, recitations, carols, and of course a visit from Santa.

A lot of things have changed over the years and this is to be expected, but one thing that has not changed is the reason for the season. We gather as family, friends and church community to celebrate the coming of the promised Messiah in the form of the Babe of Bethlehem.

May God bless you with happy memories of the past, may you retain some of your favorite traditions in the present, and may the Lord who greeted the shepherds long ago greet you with the same Good News today:  “Unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

Great Hymns of the Faith

As many of our readers are aware I host a weekly radio show called “Great Hymns of the Faith”.  I started this radio outreach while pastoring a church in Barrie Ontario (1993-2002). When we moved to the Bahamas (2002-2005) Great Hymns of the Faith continued over a local radio station. While in St. Mary's Ontario Great Hymns was heard over Joy 1250 in Oakville.

Now that we are living in Bermuda, Great Hymns of the Faith can be heard over local radio station Magic 102.7, Joy 1250 in Oakville and through friends in Scotland. Great Hymns is shared through a CD distribution ministry. For many years I have enjoyed sharing hymns, gospel songs and spirituals with listeners who enjoy not only the music, but also enjoy hearing a story about the author or perhaps a story behind the hymn itself.

Have you ever wondered why many of the Great Hymns of Faith are no longer in our new church hymnbooks?  Perhaps you have noticed that some of our Great Hymns have undergone changes in terminology!  Go ahead check it out! See if your favourite hymn from childhood days is still in the hymnbook that is being used in your church today! If it is, check to see if the words are all the same or if some verses have been dropped or new verses have been added. The reason behind many of the changes and deletions is that today’s church music committees have fallen prey to something called “politically correct language”.  In order to correct this problem new hymnbooks have done a number of things like dropping verses, adding verses, changing words and of course the most popular “drop the hymn entirely”.

In your study notice how many times reference to God the Father has been changed to God the Creator. Today’s society tells us that we mustn’t “overly” portray God as Father. But the Bible portrays God as Father so what are we to do? Well, we’ll drop reference to Father and use Creator or Lord instead! Also, many of our old hymns that have military images in them can no longer be found in the newer hymn books because today’s society states that to use military images is to glorify war!!

Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t have a problem if people want to come up with new hymns that don’t refer to God as Father, drop all military references and in general are completely gender and politically correct. I don’t have a problem unless these new hymns try to disguise themselves as the old hymns with the same authors. If you want politically correct hymns, come up with new ones yourself and stop stealing from the past!

I want to close this blog with a story of one of the greatest hymn writers of all times and that is Charles Wesley. Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. Like most hymnists, his works were frequently altered. In the preface to the 1779 Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, his brother John wrote:

I beg leave to mention a thought which has been long upon my mind, and which I should long ago have inserted in the public papers, had I not been unwilling to stir up a nest of hornets. Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without naming us) the honour to reprint many of our hymns. Now they are perfectly welcome to do so, provided they print them just as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them, for they are really not able. None of them is able to mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them these two favours: either to let them stand just as they are, to take things for better or worse, or to add the true reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page, that we may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.

A Few Minutes Late!

Have you ever experienced the disappointment of missing a plane, a boat, a bus or maybe a train?
They went on without you and left you on the dock, in the lounge or at the station!

NOT A NICE FEELING

What about trying to check into a hotel after a busy day on the road?  You walk up to the front desk only to be told, "I'm sorry, but you are just a few minutes late.  Our last room has been booked."

You return to the blackness of the night and try again but always the same story, "I'm sorry, we are completely filled."

We don't know how many inns Mary and Joseph went to before being told, "No room in the inn but you can sleep in the barn if you like."

It's disappointing when there is no room.

- No room at the inn

- No seat on the plane

- No table at the restaurant

- No tickets to your favourite concert

- It's frustrating

- It's depressing

- It's not fair!

I wonder how Mary & Joseph felt as they settled in with the barn animals.  Though He was born in a stable He would make it possible for us to live in mansions, dine at banquet tables, and rejoice with the angels.

Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go away I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

We have our room for eternity and banquet tables have been prepared for us.  Listen to the invitation. Jesus said, "Someone gave a great dinner and invited many.  Go out into the roads and lanes and compel people to come in, so that my house may be filled."

The One who at His birth was told, "Sorry, but we have no room for you" is the One who has made it possible for you and I to live in mansions and dine at banquet tables.

Have you accepted your invitation?

Or are you

- too busy

- not interested

- some other time

- or do you want to check out something else before making a commitment?

Some day God will say, "My mansion and my table is full" and the sign will go up, "No room in the mansion and no room at my table."

Grace keeps the door open for the moment but it may only be for the moment.  Check in before the sign goes up