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 favorite 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.

Thankful For What?

American Thanksgiving

November 28, 2013  

 Thanksgiving usually carries with it a picture of a roasted turkey dinner with all the trimmings (for some it may be ham) and of course pumpkin pie. The little church where I grew up in Nova Scotia Canada would decorate her sanctuary with a table upfront full of vegetables and fruit local to the area. On the window sills there would be bottles of preserves and brightly colored leaves. There might even be a few bales of hay around the perimeter of the sanctuary. The fruit, the vegetables, the preserves and the hay reminded us all that it was Fall, that it was the harvest season and that we had much for which to be thankful.

   Well, we don’t all come from farms or small towns so the traditions and decorations of the harvest season may vary for many of us. Yet, the one thing that will tie us all together is the spirit of thanksgiving over whatever it is that we might be grateful for.

   Some, as they reflect back over the year past might be wondering what it is they have to be thankful for. This has been a rough year for some. Maybe someone lost a job or knows someone who has? Perhaps they have experienced a serious health issue or know of someone close to them who has. Financially, it has been tough on many. In times like this it is difficult to be like the Apostle Paul who declared in his letter to the Philippians; “I have learned to be content with whatever I have.”

   Allow me to share with you four brief little stories (all of them true) that might help each of us to be thankful for what we have rather than lament over what we don’t have.

   The first story is for those who have found themselves to be financially hard pressed this past year and wondering what there is to be grateful over.

   It’s the story of an Englishman by the name of Matthew Henry. He was a preacher and well-known Bible scholar who lived from 1662 to 1714. His exposition of the Old and New Testament is a commentary that is still in print to this very day.

   One day Matthew Henry was riding his horse through the woods. He was on his way to a church meeting where he was going to be the guest speaker. Suddenly, a masked bandit ran out of the woods with a gun in his hand and demanded that Matthew Henry get off of his horse. Mr. Henry obeyed the robber, as he knew this was a dangerous situation. Even though he tried to talk to the man about God and spiritual matters, the bandit would hear none of it. He quickly took all of Matthew Henry’s money and ran back into the woods. It all happened so quickly that Mr. Henry hardly had time to realize what had happened. Although he was penniless, he got back on his horse and continued on his journey.

His mind took him to the thought that we are supposed to give thanks in everything that happens to us. He asked God how he was supposed to be thankful for being robbed! As he continued on his way, the answer came to him. That night he told the story and concluded his message by sharing the reason he could be thankful for what had happened to him that day.

“First,” he said, “I am thankful I have never been robbed before. Second, I am thankful he took my money and not my life. Third, I am thankful he did not take more; he could have taken my horse and my clothes as well. Next, I am thankful that what I had stolen from me really did not amount to very much. Then I am grateful that what I lost, in time, could be replaced. But, finally, and most importantly, I am thankful that I was the one robbed and not the robber!”

The second story is for those who have often wished for better health.

   A 12 year old boy named David was born without an immune system. He underwent a bone marrow transplant in order to correct the deficiency. Up to that point he had spent his entire life in a plastic bubble in order to prevent exposure to common germs, bacteria, and viruses that could kill him. He lived without ever knowing human contact. When asked what he'd like to do if and when released from his protective bubble, he replied, "I want to walk barefoot on grass, and touch my mother's hand."

Erma Bombeck wrote in her book. An estimated 1.5 million people are living today after bouts with breast cancer. Every time I forget to feel grateful to be among them, I hear the voice of an eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, "I don't know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!" The kid is right declared Bombeck.

   Finally, a story for those who will find time to complain over just about every thing that I haven’t mentioned thus far; the weather, the traffic, the neighbors, the job and the list goes on.

   A Scottish minister by the name of Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won't think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this." Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this."

   My prayer for all of you today is that you might have the grace of the Apostle Paul who was able to be content and give thanks to God for whatever state he found himself in. May you experience God’s blessings this Thanksgiving and always.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

The Psalmist in Psalm 139:14 declared; "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful are your works." I wonder if he realized what we know today about the human body? Consider the following!

Your body is the most amazing machine ever built! The human body is highly adaptive, more so than any robot or computer will ever be. No man-made systems can be compared to human body in its inherent complexity and perfection!

Here are some amazing facts about the human body that you may find interesting:

* You lose around 50 to 100 hairs from your head everyday, but they are replaced that same day.

* An average human has 100, 000 hairs on their head.

* Around 45 miles of nerves run through our body. These electric impulses travel at a speed of almost 250 mph!

* By the age of 70, your heart will have beat 2.5 billion times and pumped around 48,000,000 gallons of blood.

* A square of human skin contains 20 feet of blood vessels, 1,300 nerve cells, 100 sweat glands and 3 million cells.

* The average human body contains enough: Sulphur to kill all fleas on an average dog, Carbon to make 900 pencils, Potassium to fire a toy cannon, Fat to make 7 bars of soap, Phosphorus to make 2,200 match heads, and enough Water to fill a ten gallon tank.

* Each second 10,000,000 cells die and are replaced in your body.

* You create new skin every month and a new skeleton every 3 months!

* The liver is the body's chemical factory. It has over 500 functions!

* You spend one third of your lifetime sleeping -- 20 Years in an average lifetime!

 The DNA helix measures 80 billionths of an inch wide.

It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.

The surface area of a human lung is equal to that of a tennis court.

Holiness

Holiness

   Within Church circles we make frequent use of the word holy. We refer to the Bible as being a holy book. We speak of Sunday as being a holy day. It should go without saying that our God is a holy God. So, what does the word holy mean? Holy means set apart from, different from and above that which surrounds it.

   The Bible is different from all other books. The Scriptures have been set aside by God for a unique purpose and that is to convey God’s will and God’s way to God’s people. No other book written or printed was designed with this divine purpose in mind. The Bible is God’s Word breathed by the Almighty to spirit filled individuals who recorded it in printed form. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16 that; “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” It is when we treat the Bible as man’s word, man’s opinion and of man’s design that we run into all sorts of problems. In many homes and in many churches the Bible is seen only as a good book a nice book but not a holy book. The Bible needs to be returned to the top shelf.

   Sunday is a holy day because Sunday is different from all other days of the week. The Sabbath commemorated God’s day of rest following creation while Sunday commemorated the resurrection of our Lord from the dead.. Early Christians worshipped on both the Sabbath as well as the first day of the week (Sunday). In time Christians felt led to set aside Sunday as their holy day and they honored that day by resting from their labors. God’s people need one day of the week that is different from all other days. We need one day specifically set aside for worship, for rest, for meditation and for fellowship. That is not to say that we cannot do these things on any other day of the week but that we need one day free from the distractions of the pace that we set for ourselves during the week What happens when we take the holiness out of Sunday and treat it as just another day is that we forget the intended purpose for which the day was given to us. Churches now have to compete with stores, sport gatherings and other venues because such places no longer see Sunday as holy. God’s Word declares; “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy,” (Exodus 20:8).

   The world in which we live is full of gods. We place people, things, events, our jobs, our toys, and other deities as the most important thing, object or desire on which to focus our attention. When we do this we no longer see God as holy but simply as one of many objects on which we can (providing we have the time) focus our attention. We live in a culture that says it really doesn’t matter what you believe so long as you believe in something. Such an attitude has stripped God from his place of prominence and placed him on cultural shelves for people to pick and choose from. We no longer agree with the prophet of old who declared; “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory,” (Isaiah 6:3).

   We need a return to the Holiness of God, the Holiness of our day of worship and the Holiness of the Bible.

My Dog and I

My Dog and I

 I and my faithful dog lived in a small house perched on a little hill just a stone’s throw from the church. Sometimes the church bell would waken me on a Sunday morning just in time for services. I learned to be very quick in showering, shaving and getting dressed in those days! My dog whose name was Shadow was great company for me out in the country. Have you ever eaten a meal while talking with your dog? It can be quite interesting. They always appear to listen intently to what you are saying. I attempted to train my Shadow to fetch my slippers. I though it would be a novel idea for me to say “slippers” and have my dog fetch them for me. I put a lead on my dog, said the magic word “slippers” walked him to where my slippers were put them in his mouth walked him back to my chair and had him drop them on the floor. We did this several times before it was time for me to go to a prayer meeting service. It was late by the time I got home. I turned on my kitchen light to be greeted by my dog who was glad to see me and glad to go outside!!! My kitchen was in a complete mess. I had made the mistake of leaving my garbage in a bag in the corner. It was no longer in the bag and it was no longer in the corner it was all over the kitchen floor. In the midst of the garbage was a trace of something material like; you guessed it, my slippers! Lesson learned.

Political Correct Hymnology

Mainline Protestant denominations are engaging in a publishing frenzy to see who can produce the most politically correct hymnal for today's church-goer. The traditional language of worship is being revised in order to be more gender-neutral, and to avoid the possibility of minorities and people with disabilities being offended by what has been deemed "antiquated" language. For example:

From the United Church of Christ Hymnal

- "O Master Let Me Walk With Thee" becomes "O Savior, Let Me Walk With You

- "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" now appears in our hymnbook as; “Dear Father Lord of Humankind.”

- The doxology in our Book of Praise has been butchered, no longer "Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," but now; “Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise God all creatures high and low, Praise God in Jesus fully known, Creator, Word and Spirit, One.”

The new version of the Gloria Patri ("Glory Be to the Father") is "Glory to the Creator."

= The phrase “right hand of God” has been changed to “mighty” or “strong” hand of God, so that no left-handed people won’t feel insulted.

= The words “darkness” or “blind” can no longer be used to symbolize spiritual ignorance.

= No longer appropriate are such terms as “Lord;” “Ruler,” “King,” and “Master,” when referring to the Almighty. A truly democratic God is now addressed as the “All-inclusive One,” “Great Spirit,” “Architect Divine,” or “Source of Being.” On a more personal level, God is ferquently referred to as “Mother” and “Partner.”

= Rarely are personal pronouns applied to Christ, and hymns such as “Crown Him With Many Crowns” now appears as “Crown With Your Richest Crowns.”

= Jesus is referred to as “God’s only Child” rather than “God’s Only Son.”

< Other changes made to old favorites include “Faith of Our Fathers,” which is now “Faith of the Martyrs.” (OUR BOOK OF PRAISE HAS SIMPLY DELETED IT)

-“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,” now appears in our hymnbook as “Dear Lord and Father of Humankind.”

< In Isaac Watts’ beautiful hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” the phrase “On which the Prince of glory died” has been replaced by “On which the Christ of glory died.”

< And in “Just As I Am,” all reference to being “poor, wretched, and blind” has been eliminated.

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
Ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high his royal banner,
It must not suffer loss

has become

Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand up before his cross,
an instrument of torture,
inflicting pain and loss.  (OUR HYMN BOOK HAS SIMPLY DELETED IT)

- the words to Hark! The Herald Angels Sing have been changed to be 'gender inclusive' by removing the words 'man', 'men' and 'sons'. (LISTEN TO HOW OUR BOOK READS; “Born that we no more may die, born to raise the lost of earth, born to give us second birth.”)

-In our hymn book as well this time in the second verse; “Pleased as Man with men to dwell Jesus our Emmanuel has been changed to, “Pleased on earth with us to dwell.”

-Glory to the newborn King from the hymn Hark the Herald Angels in another church’s hymnbook has been changed to; “Glory to the Christ child, bring,” our church might follow in its next revision.

In other hymnbooks the carol O Come All Ye Faithful has its refrain changed from O come let us adore Him to O come in adoration, the reason given is that the original text sounded sexist.

-  The following lines from Joy to the Word was judged in 2008 to have been WORST political correct Christmas carol. The lines “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King” has been replaced with “Joy to the world, for peace shall come, Let this be our refrain.”

-The altering of lines from the original to make it politically correct saw churchgoers being told not to sing the words all in white during Once in Royal David’’s City in case they appeared racist.

Hard to believe isn’t it. Our hymnbook has us sing instead of “all in white shall wait around,” to “bright like stars, with glory crowned.”

The Apostles' Creed and Nicene Creed are both included in the affirmations of faith, but alternative versions are also provided, and it is these that will be used by ideologues. In the revised Apostles' Creed, Jesus is referred to as "God's only Child" rather than "God's only Son." The first sentence of the creed is now rendered, "I believe in God the Father-Mother almighty, creator of heaven and earth." The last section of the revised Nicene Creed becomes "We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Sovereign, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father-Mother, and from the Child."

 

A Positive Note To End On!

"What a way to learn great theology! That's what comes to mind whenever I sing one of those old hymns. "And Can It Be" is like putting the doctrine of salvation to music. "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a melodic lesson in grace. No wonder good hymns make for strong faith!

-- Joni Eareckson Tada

~

Living on an Island

   What is it like living on an Island approximately 550-600 miles from the nearest point of land? Well, the first thing I can say is that it is not a good place to get Island fever better known on the mainland as cabin fever! Bermuda has been my home for the past three years plus and I must say that it has been a great experience. When you add our time here with the time spent in the Bahamas you come up with a little over six years surrounded by nothing but water! Shortly after moving to Bermuda an elderly bishop in a sister church made the comment; “You know that Bermuda is built on an ancient volcano.” He then we on to say; “Every night we pray that God will keep the lid on it.” It was comical but certainly made one think of how far we are from our neighbors should an Island wide emergency occur.

   What is it like to live in Bermuda? Well, I always like to tell our visitors that one of the most beautiful things about the Island is our beaches. There is nothing like the pink sand on a Bermudian beach. One of the great challenges about living here is getting to the beach! There is nothing like driving on the Islands roads. First, unlike Canada and the US we drive on the left side of the road. To make driving a bit more interesting we keep our roads very narrow, very twisty and as an added bonus we don’t really have any places where one can pull off the road!! The top speed limit on the Island is supposed to be 23 mph! Because Bermuda only allows one car per household there is an abundance of motor scooters. The increasing number of scooter has resulted in what Bermudians call the “third lane.” What is the third lane you ask? Well, the third lane is that narrow space of pavement between two lanes of traffic travelling in the opposite direction! Due to the lower speed limits you might think that we seldom if ever have any serious accidents. WRONG! There are lots of accidents and many of them are fatal. Why? Well, no one abides by the speed limit, there are no real passing zones and that third lane has a nasty tendency of becoming narrower and narrower. If you happen to live off Island and are planning a vacation to Bermuda you don’t have to worry about driving a car on the left side of the road with no pull-overs. The reason for this is that we don’t allow foreigners to drive cars on our Island. You can’t even rent a car here. Have no fears though because we will rent you a motor bike! Plan to rent a bike? Make certain that your insurance is paid up!

   Next time I will tell you about shopping in Bermuda.

Your Friend:

Rev. John