Heading off for another weekend of camping

Another weekend of camping.

this time at bronte creek.

Justin's excited! the red barn! the red barn!!!!

Vacation thus far

Left Wednesday for camping, came back today.

Had a good time. Camped at site 267 at Fanshawe Park Conservation area in London.

learned LOTS of bunny town stories from Justin.
Did you know that in bunny town bunnies, cats and good people live there. but sometimes bad guys come and then the bunnies shoot them with guns. :)

Listened to good music at the home county folk festival. Lots of fun.

Justin discovered the funky mamas! He loves their music!!!!! YEAH!!!!!

He also likes magic acts! Fascinating he finds them (at least Dickie Bird's version of magic shows).

Justin had fun swimming in the pool though it was quite cool to swim in.

Now to decide where we are going next weekend. :) Valens or Bronte?????

Stuff

Jim sent me this blog Good News for Toronto to read. Very interesting. Very useful I'm hoping for stimulating my thoughts about evangelism.

also...news about facebook, making all wall posts public! ARGH!!!! that's what I like about facebook....my wall posts only go to friends. If I wanted my stuff to be public to the whole world I would post more often on Twitter! hmm....perhaps I'll need to dump facebook OR just the inbox options to keep folks up-to-date on my life.....

Today's Sermon - Seeing Things Differently

I heard not a word of it...other then "amen" when Jim finished his message this morning.

For the last few services Jim has preached on James, spending lots of time in the first few verses, today he moved on to James 1:9-11

⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

The larger context of course is vv 2-18

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

16Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

But let this quiet moment be my worship time....Jim's off to find some food to eat. I had no idea what to do for a meal, nothing appealed to me, nothing appealed to him....so he's figuring out his thing and I'm munching...not good for a Sunday..but that's life tonight. This quietness won't last long, we do live in a small town....

Anyways, .... ⁹Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, ¹⁰and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

These three verses follow a section where the wise go to God in faith for anything that they lack. And here we find the lowly boast in their exultation and the rich in their humiliation and knowing that none of it matters because it will all fade away anyways. The days come and go, the seasons pass, and as they go...so do the rich.

I have to admit....how does one preach on this for 20 minutes?? :) Makes me wish I could have heard it instead of minding a preschooler Jim often pulls things out and all together that makes me go AH>>> cool. oh...change, growth.... and such like. :)

I suppose though it is a comfort to know that it doesn't really matter about the rich...they do all eventually pass away. Things have a time and season. And I have everything that I need if I come to God in faith. He will supply all that I need. The rest is just chaff to blow away in the wind. I grew up on a farm....I know what the chaff dust looks like. It can make a body cough, and looks horrid on the wind, but once the wind dies down....it's just gone. Good to remember that. Good to remember that reliance on God is indeed where it is at for the believer.

Jim doesn't have it posted on line yet, when he does you'll find it at his page here. He's been a bit lax lately on this....but in time it will be there. :)

Children's books

Justin LOVES this book. Makes him laugh, makes me laugh. LOTS of things to look at, ask questions about, and if you know the "to market, to market" song just as easy to sing as it is to read. He can even help read the book as well. :) It's a clever way to redo an favourite old ditty.

Justin has been captivated by this book a couple of times. This is not the actual book that we got out of the library, but I kinda gave up finding the correct book to link to. Tons of things on each page, some items cleverly hidden, others easily found. A bit challenging for him yet, but he likes it. Makes me think about getting a different one out for him next visit.

Encourage each other

here is the rest of Hebrews 10

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

²⁶For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. ³⁷For,

"Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
³⁸ but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him."

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

A bigger piece perhaps than I want to really chew on this morning, but good piece to read. Last time we were together we learned about how Christ's sacrifice was once for all.

Knowing the Christ died once, for all people, can give us confidence that we can come before God. He is our high priest, nothing more needs to be done. All we need is true heart full of faith to come before God.

Have to admit, sometimes that sounds daunting to me. I am SO full of sin. How can I have a true heart coming before God? There is always a part of me wanting my own way.

These words "²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." draw me closer and give me hope. GOD is faithful! I can trust him and know that it is all paid for. If I come to him in repentance, believing that he will indeed forgive me and cleanse me....that's all I really need to do.

I like how the author ties in it with the next verse... because we know that we can come before God, that we can be cleansed, "let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works". One great act on our behalf SHOULD cause us to want to do good acts ourselves. :) WE should encourage each other. Being with other believers, hearing their stories of faith....isn't that an encouragement? Being stirred up and convicted by God's word being preached/taught....isn't that an encouragement? We need to be encouraged AND we need to encourage. Satan keeps trying, but God has won the war...doesn't mean it isn't hard sometimes. Do let us encourage each other to keep up the battle!

And part of that encouragement means togetherness...to not give us meeting with each other.

I have to admit, I struggle to understand folks who call themselves believers but won't come to church because they can worship God just fine all on their own. That's not the sole point of worship. Worship is a communal thing...it's praising God together, it's being encouraged by fellow believers, it's learning of God together. Our God isn't a solitary God...so why should we be solitary Christians?

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us , ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Christ's Sacrifice, once for all

The heading in today's section in Hebrews 10 is "Christ's sacrifice, once for all"

¹For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. ²Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

"Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
⁷Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"

⁸When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), ⁹then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
¹⁶ "This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,"

¹⁷then he adds,

"I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

I'm not going to promise that I"ll get through all 18 verses, but thought I'd post the whole section anyways. :)

If you remember....when I studied in chapter nine I was hit by how complete Christ's death was. He died, he rose from the dead. He doesn't ever have to do that again. Think about the finality of that. Such a complete sacrifice, that did such a complete work. Forgiving/redeeming every aspect of my life when I am repentant of my sin. And not just me...everyone! And I want my boy to know this joy as well.

Today that theme continues.

The Law was not complete. Sacrifices had to made on a continual basis, at least once a year. The blood of animals can't actually take away sin. The only way to take away sin is Christ and his sacrifice for us. Only through Christ might we (might I) be sanctified. There is no other way for any of us.

God asked him to do, he obeyed AND the Holy Spirit bears witness as well. God, the three in one, makes this so.

One action, that then covers all of mine. Still just amazes me at times..... doesn't it you?