Spend as you wish

 Imagine one morning you are awakened by a call from someone who says, “ Good morning. Someone has just deposited $1440 dollars into your account. You must use all of it today. Have a good day!”

I imagine I would think it was some weird phone scam, hang up the phone, and go back to bed.

But the next morning, you get another call. “Good morning. Someone has just deposited $1440 into your account. You must use it all today. Oh by the way, the $1440 that was deposited yesterday, that you did not spend, has been removed. Have a good day!”

Okay, so that was weird. So you decide you should just check your online banking. It was true. Everyday $1440 was deposited and what wasn’t spent in that day was removed, and everyday a balance of $1440 was put into the account. The call came every day.  And everyday you had $1440 to spend as you pleased. 

I would imagine that at first it would be odd to just spend it on whatever you wanted.  Maybe even fun. But then, with time, you might imagine getting used to having $1440 deposited into your account everyday. You might even start taking it for granted, spending it here, spending it there. And then one day a fear might hit you in the gut, as you wonder to yourself, “What if I don’t get the money today?”

The moral of the story is this. Each day God gives us 24 hours, 1,440 minutes. We can choose how to use this time. But we need to remember that our time will one day run out. 

There will come a day when we are called to account for how we have used the time and all the other resources God has given us.

Use your time wisely.  Spend it on the things that bring you joy and bring joy to others. Use your time to love, to be kind, and to be generous. In all of it, Glorify God, the giver of time.

It is yours to spend as you wish. Spend it wisely.

 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Colossians 4:5-6

Whose boat are you in?

I heard a wonderful devotional yesterday that spoke straight to my heart.  It was taken from Luke 8:22-25 where Jesus calms the storm.

 Jesus and the disciples were in the boat and set out to the other side of the lake.  As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep.  A squall came down on the lake and the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

I’ve been there. I’ve been sailing through life and suddenly out of nowhere a storm comes up and I am caught off guard. Or even if it’s something I know about but afraid to dive into, the waves of uncertainty or insecurity can overwhelm me and I feel like I am drowning. 

“Master, Master we’re going to drown!” the disciples called out.

Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters and the storm subsided and all was calm.  Just like that.

In this tiny passage we see both Jesus’ humanity (His need for rest and time away from the crowds) and Jesus’s deity, because only God can make the “wind and water obey” (Luke 8:25).  With one quick word from Jesus, the sea became calm. 

Storms in life come and they are real and they are frightening but we need to remember who this is, asleep in the boat. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus.

 The storm is not where you face the enemy. The storm is where you meet your God.  

God never promised we will never see a storm in life (in fact, we are told to expect trouble, John 16:33). Rather, God promised that we will never be alone in the storm. God’s children will never be left alone in the midst of trouble; with perseverance they will overcome (Deuteronomy 31:8; James 1:12).

The moral of the story? I want to be in the boat that Jesus is in!

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So with that said, in a boat with Jesus, I am sailing over to the Today’s Teens Conferencethis Saturday. I am honoured to be giving the Keynote address to the Pastors, Youth Pastors, and Youth Leaders from all over Canada.

On Sunday morning join me in welcoming back Mike Gordon. Mike will be mc’ing the Today’s Teen Conference and since he is in town he decided to hang out with us! 

Plan to stay with us for a short, fun and very entertaining Annual General Meeting, immediately following the service. A light lunch will be served.

Looking forward to worshipping with you on Sunday!

What about the bears?

 I remember a couple of years ago when Emily, my eldest, was offered a contract position in Yukon.  My first thoughts of Whitehorse were: 

·       cold, 

·       dark, and 

·       bears.  

As it turns out Emily spent two years working with wonderful people and gaining tremendous experience. And I was right – at certain times of the year it was very cold, very dark and there were bears!

I remember the first time Emily called me to tell me that she was going hiking that afternoon. My heart literally stopped.

When I could breath again, I asked, “What about the bears?”  

“Bear attacks usually happen when people go alone," she responded. "That's what happened to someone last week. They were out running alone and got caught between a cub and a momma bear.”

“Oh, great,” I said, trying to sound calm but clearly the pitch in my voice gave it away.

“Don’t worry, mom, I’m not going alone, there’s a bunch of us going. It’s safer when we go together.  And we have bear spray!” (As if hearing that she carried bear spray was going to make me feel better).

She continued, “My friends are seasoned hikers. I promise to text when I get back.”  

That was one of many looong days waiting for my phone to ‘ping’.

But there was something about her statement, “I am not going alone. It’s safer when we go together.”  Being in community is part of God’s design.  

In fact, God is a perfect triune community, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God desires that we participate in that community and know the perfect joy and love shared by our triune God.

But God didn’t stop there. In Genesis 2:18 we read that after God created Adam, God said,

"It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him". God created community.

Throughout scripture we see the importance of community.

Today, in a world that wants us to believe that we can (or should) do it on our own, the truth is that we are not only created for community, we are created to need community.  Bottom line: We need one another (1 Corinthians 12). We simply can’t function without one another. 

Over the past couple of weeks, I have seen this in action as Amberlea Church has responded to the needs of the community by offering Strike Day Camps.  “Thank you” to so many of you who have volunteered your time to help parents in our community find safe, fun childcare for their children.  It doesn’t matter what side of the issue you fall on - the need is present and as a community of believers we are responding. 

We are responding as the hands and feet of Jesus to serve those in the wider community.  

We anticipate the numbers to swell as rotating strikes continue and the word gets out. Please prayerfully consider how you might come alongside. Please contact familyministries@amberleachurch.ca.

We need one another, we need community and like hiking in the Yukon (to ward off the bears), we are better together!