Will it be the Year of our Lord or the Year of the Dragon?

2012 is the Chinese Year of the Dragon. That's interesting since the Dragon is a wholly imaginary creature but has inspired all sorts of phobias in people over the centuries.

Personally I prefer to live in Anno Domine, the Year of our Lord.

 I have done so every year since 1939 A.D.

That year, and for four succeeding years, Hitler's Luftwaffe tried to change our dates to the Years of the Dragon as he blitzed our city with thousands of bombs.

My mother, even in the grimmest days of the conflict, refused to give way to fear or despair.

She made a great side-kick to Winston Churchill.

Through out the Second World War it was always "The Year of Our Lord." and her faith triumphed in the end.

Make sure that your new year is 2012 AD. There are 365 "Fear Not's"  in the Bible. Choose one for each new day and I pray that this year will be your best yet.

Ian

The Grand Christmas Finale from The Frozen Chosen.

 "The Frozen Chosen" is sobriquet we give to our neighbours to the North.

They are a special group of people who experience God's Fire on ice in remarkable ways.

We submit this short, simple but superb video as our Christmas greeting to friends far and near, especially those in Australia!

See you in a few days.

Ian

Merry Christmas from Ian and Pauline

Pauline and I want to pass on warmest greetings for the Christmas season to all who read BWI.
It was when we were visiting Cyprus two years ago that I first began sharing thoughts around the breakfast table. We were staying at the beautiful country home of John and Sue Cowgill, old friends from England.
It was Sue who one day said "Are we going to have 'breakfast with Ian' today?  I was able oblige our charming hostess and the thought of doing a morning blog stayed with me on our flight back to Canada.
Shortly thereafter, I put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and have been doing so ever since. Thus your BWI today.
We hope that you have had as much enjoyment reading this blog as we have had providing your daily wheaties!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ian and Pauline.

The Dear Leader has departed.

Kim, the Dear Leader from North Korea has made his exit.
He died this week and is now laid in state in his glass coffin for all the faithful to see.

Among some of his astonishing accomplishments were shooting eleven holes-in-one the first time he ever played golf, assembling the largest collection of Hollywood movies in the Eastern Hemisphere and sporting the world's longest running bouffant hair do. 
He also managed to bankrupt his nation and impoverish his people through his mad ambition for a nuclear weapon.

Daily, the nation was wakened with hymns of praise to the dear leader and, with his passing, there have been scenes of orchestrated grief flashed around the world.

Ironic that Kim will be buried on Christmas Day, the date when the Dear Leader of the Church was born and Who, after 2000 years, still lives and reigns in everlasting glory.

Well, who do you wish to sing praise to?

The choir will be tuning up in North Korea with new songs of adoration to the baby-faced successor, the Son of Kim. Meanwhile, South of the border, minutes away, they will be lifting the roof at Yongi Cho's 350,000 member church with carols to Christ.

Hallelujah for Christmas.

Ian

I'll be home for Christmas, no matter what!

Here's a Christmas story with a difference.

I was preaching in Edmonton, Alberta. One of the men in the church had worked for a multi-national company in the Siberian oil fields for several months and he was coming home for Christmas.

His salary had been deposited in his Canadian bank, his flight was booked and he got to Moscow airport only to find that there was a $75:00 departure fee.

He found it was no use pleading with the Big Ivans, who refused to accept his credit card.

In desperation he went outside, grabbed the Salvation Army Christmas Cheer kettle and tore off down the road.

He reached a nearby copse of trees, counted the contents and found that there was just enough for his departure tax.

Sneaking back to the airport he was able to avoid the hue and cry, pay his money and get on his flight with seconds to spare.

What a relief.

When he got back home he went to the local Salvation Army citadel told his story and gave triple the amount he ripped off by way of restitution.

I know you may have problems with what our brother did but at least he paid his dues and got home for Christmas as well.

Hallelujah for the Salvation Army Moscow!

Ian

Christmas, Giftmas, Candymas, Macymas, Moviemas, Partymas, Feastmas, drink..

As you can see from title, the challenge is to find Jesus on His own birthday.


Once it was an easy scene to behold. The shepherds, the lowly beasts and maybe the wise men (although it is likely they arrived later.)


But now the birthday scene has become like a "Where's Waldo?"


In the last twenty years or so the birthday party has been crashed by every commercial and begging enterprise on the planet.


This avaricious rush has engulfed not only the Holy Family but also the shepherds, livestock, wisemen and even the stable.


None can be seen behind the neon lights, the movie cameras, the paparazzi, toy mountains, Santa's sleigh and the rest of the impedimenta.


Just a moment! Let me remind you that Christmas is a CHRISTIAN  celebration. It is about  the birth of Christ the Holy Son of God.


 You object to the religious bias of the Holiday?


That's fine. Have your own holiday at another time of the year and I have suggested some names for it, but leave the believers to enjoy their own.


After all we have the best reason to celebrate.


Hallelujah for Christmas.

Ian

king herod: was he related to Christopher Hitchens?

No Christmas story would be complete without King Herod, the culprit who attempted to kill the Christian faith in it's cradle.

Now connect this thought with the death this week of Christopher Hitchens, a notorious atheist who spent a life time waging relentless war against religion in general, Christianity in particular and all things sacred.

He it was who described Mother Teresa as a "fraudulent fanatic."

His once strident voice that mocked faith  by pen and public debate was reduced to a mere croak and finally silenced by cancer of the throat.

Shortly before his death his brilliant mind concluded that at the age of 62,

 "My life is more rationed than I thought it was."

He maintained his virulent atheism to the end saying:

"No evidence has ever been presented to change my mind:
 but I like surprises."

Christopher, you have just received one in time for Christmas.

Jingle Bells

Ian

Proximity

We have been talking about angels and Christmas is the right time for that conversation. Here is Gabriel speaking with Zachariah in the Temple announcing the birth of John Baptist.

A common misunderstanding is that Gabriel had to fly from Alpha Centaurus to deliver the message.

In actual fact he stepped through the veil a matter of a few feet away to give his announcement. That is where he stood in the Presence of God.

Thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, "God with us".

When we think of God and His angels let's begin to measure in terms of inches and not light years.

Christmas tells us He is WITH us. That being the case whisper your prayer to Him right now. He is waiting to hear from you!

Hallelujah for Christmas.

Ian

Today. The Big Picture.

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their back to bite 'em, and little fleas have lesser fleas and so ad in finitum."

Remember the poem from yesterday on the God particle?

Augustus de Morgan added the converse with these words.

"And the great fleas themselves have greater fleas to go on, while these again have greater still and so on."

And thus our picture of the galaxies.

If there are ten trillion stars in the heavens which one do you follow?

The wise men knew, because one appeared to them.

Thus is the way of God.

It is my conviction that He gives every one a light to lead them. The question is  "Will you follow it?"

The Bible says:

 " You shall find Me if you seek for Me with all your heart"

Ever visited that place? Your WHOLE HEART!

Total honesty, no weasel clauses, no excuses, no conditions, no "Poor Me's" no third parties.... simply you and the star that God has given you.

The star that led the wise men to Christ will also lead you to Jesus if you follow with all your heart.

Hallelujah for Christmas.
Ian

Higgs has been found at last. So what!

O.K lets attempt to give a summary.

The scientists believe they may have have found "Higgs-boson", sometimes referred to as the "God particle."

After smashing trillions of atoms at the CERN accelerator, and then demolishing their nuclei and, after that, pulverising the resultant pieces, they may have isolated an infinitesimal fragment called "Higgs-boson".

This staggering news broke forth from the 10 billion dollar facility in Switzerland yesterday. It has been hailed as a mighty discovery since they have been searching for Higgs for years.

This puts me in mind of a poem I read by Jonathan Swift:

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em
And little fleas have lesser fleas and so ad infinitum."

Well it all depends who you are looking for. Higgs-Boson, the God particle from the cyclotron in Switzerland or Jesus Christ the Son of God in the manger at Bethlehem?

I don't know about Higgs but Hallelujah for Jesus and Hallelujah for Christmas.

Ian

Are black cats lucky or what?

I really must break into my Christmas series to tell you of Tommaso from Italy who, at the weekend, received an inheritance of $13,000,000:00. 

How generous of his mistress (Maria Assunta 94) to leave all of her cash to Tom.

He used to be a stray cat on the streets of Rome, but now they have taken him to the island of Sardinia to live out the rest of his days in luxury.

"The rest of his days" may extend to another 50 years if his team of lawyers, veterinary doctors and dietitians have their way.

This cat is likely to be the first recipient of a heart transplant, kidneys and possibly a new fur coat.

How touching!

May he have a prosperous life along with his entourage of thirty servants.

Merry Christmas, Tommaso.

Ian

Angels. Where are they today?

The Christmas story has angels appearing everywhere. To the shepherds on the hillside, to Zechariah in the Temple, to Mary in her home, they appeared and disappeared, always with a message.

Which prompts the question "Where have they all gone?"

There are more around than we could ever conceive but we have no real requirement of their services.

Why, we have insurance policies, safety nets, crash helmets, air bags and, instead of a host of angels, we have a host of fail-safe devices.

The people who we read of in the Book of Acts had no such help.

Instead, they found themselves in impossible situations in the pursuit of God's service and continually needed to be rescued.

Angels were often the means.

Don't discount angels because you have never seen one. They are closer than you think.

Had any narrow escapes?

It may have been 'ANGELIC SERVICES Inc."  that  brought you through.

Invoke their presence in your life today because you never know when you may next need them to fly to your aid

Hallelujah for Christmas. Hallelujah for angels.

Ian

" A date that shall live in infamy.."..

December 7th, 1941. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

We all know of that devastating moment. Indeed, as President Roosevelt so succinctly stated, it was "a date that shall live in infamy"

What is not known or even quoted was Winston Churchill's response on hearing the news of this infamous event.

He exclaimed: "Our prayers have been answered."

Not that he was rejoicing in the hell and destruction that had rained down on Hawaii, but that he knew that America would now become involved in Britain's war with Germany.

You know the rest of the story.

Is it not strange what God will do to awaken a sleeping giant?

Yes, and is it not also strange that what is seen as a calamity by some may be a cause of rejoicing for others?

The cry of "havoc" in your circumstances today  may have changed to a heartfelt "Hallelujah" by tomorrow.

Romans 8:28

Just a thought.

Ian

sincere apologies. Technical hitch.

 

Yesterday we had problems with our transmission. What Ken called "a bird on the wire". It must have been mocking bird because we didn't fix things until this morning! Here is our post for December 6th.

A hundred years ago Santa would not have had this problem:
 the Wright brothers were just about off the ground in their first air-plane.

Living in the 21st Century has its challenges.

We used to sing a song

 "You better get in, get out or get run over."

We used that thought in encouraging people to make a permanent, irrevocable decision to follow Christ, but it could apply to all major choices in life.

Yoda, more recently, said "Do or do not: there is no try"

Maybe you are facing a big decision today? Take a deep breath, trust God and do it. If you procrastinate you may finish up being run over with Santa.

Ian

Santa exposed

• 

Among other traumatic memories of my childhood was  that of Christmas 1945, when a precocious child called Pat Pitchfork broke the secret that there was no Santa Claus.

I still remember the very place she informed me.

 "How could this be?" I asked.

 My father put out the fire on Christmas Eve so that the old man would not get scorched coming down the chimney and, besides that, he always drank his milk and ate his biscuit that were left out for him.

Scornfully Pat replied that only babies believed such a story. It was my Dad play acting.

The evidence of the hoax was provided the next day when my sister Anne showed me where the presents were hid in my parent's wardrobe.

So much for Father Christmas but not for the Christmas story.

In my seventy years a host of atheists, agnostics, infidels, intellectuals and liberal preachers have tried to break down the stable door and prove that the story of the Virgin birth of the Son of God was a myth.

They have come and they have gone: Hitchins, Huxley, Dawkins and Russell, but this year I will be singing carols and exulting in the great Advent story with the same joy as I did as five year old nearly seven decades ago.

I hope you will be too.

Hallelujah for Christmas.

Ian

The Rhode Island Christmas fiasco

Amazing in his defiance of the will of the Rhode Island legislature and brazen in passing off his "Holiday Tree" as an example of religious tolerance, the Governor, Lincoln Chafee has ignited a fire storm.

He has suddenly found that thousands of Rhode Islanders like their decorated trees called by the name "Christmas" and by no other title; especially that of  "Holiday Tree".

Some years ago when our county school board banned all creches, trees and carols from our schools, I led a 600 member protest to the Board offices.

At a certain point in my deposition I asked how it was possible that the Board could ban Christmas Trees from schools and still have a 16 foot tall spruce erected in the reception area of their offices?

Their case collapsed and, after their recantations, Christmas was given back to thousands of area children.

Help is also on the way in Rhode Island.

State representative, Doreen Costa, saying that she is "Sick of political correctness" is setting up her own tree across  from the capitol building and it will be lit at the same time as the official tree.

It will be much smaller, but I bet you Christmas bells to Christmas pudding that it will draw a bigger crowd.

Hallelujah for Christmas and all it stands for.

Ian

When bad things happen to Santa.

Yesterday I commented on the crazy stuff happening with Santa in the Phoenix mall, surrounded by his body guard with assault rifles.

But what happens when Santa delivers his toys in Africa?

It can be a perilous enterprise, especially in lion territory.

This picture prompts the question:

 "Where was Santa's bodyguards when he really needed them?

I guess the kids in the Zulu village didn't get their presents that year!

Enjoy your weekend.

Ian

Dedicated to my friend Jeff Baker in Australia who always did  have a strange sense of humour.

Happy Serial Killer Christmas

So this is Christmas!

Coinciding with the appearance of Santa Claus and his heavily armed body-guard in a Phoenix mall came the news that the serial killer from Norway had been ruled insane.

 If that be so, the certifying board that ruled Anders Breivik a nut case should also include this happy little cadre surrounding Father Christmas. 

Is it not possible for people to connect the dots?

 Earlier this year another imbecile went on a shooting spree in a Tucson mall less than a hundred miles from Phoenix, killing four people and permanently maiming Gabby Gifford, the state senator.

Now the Arizona shoppers can see the same fire arms
advertised with Santa under the banner

 "Peace and Goodwill to men on earth"

But we hear this spurious refrain:

" Guns don't kill people: people kill people."

 Be sure of this my friends that 100 % of people who don't have a gun in their hands, don't shoot anybody.


Will someone please disarm these goofy folk and give them carol sheets instead.

Ian

So you wanna roll the dice?

I had a number of kind comments on yesterday's post on the Powerball winners.

It has prompted me to tell you another story.

About ten years ago I was flying from Canada to Salt Lake City.
Sitting next to me was a passenger on his way to Las Vegas.
Before I de-planed I asked him where he was going. 

"To the Casinos, of course!"

I replied that I had bet everything I had over 40 years ago and come up a big winner. 

Instantly I had his attention.

"Was it Black Jack? Was it the Crap tables? or was it a poker game?"

"None of them." I responded. "Over 40 years ago I bet my whole life on the person and promises of Jesus Christ. I was an instant winner and have been every day since!"

My friend was stunned for a moment and then he burst out.

"You know I really admire you. That puts faith in a new light for me."

Perhaps it did but he stayed in his seat and went on to gamble his money in Las Vegas.

Feel like taking a risk today? Put everything on Seven.
It's the Perfect number that stands for God and if you trust in Him you will never be a loser.

Ian

Powerball 2011.

Today, three men are $250,000,000 wealthier than they were yesterday, thanks to a monster jackpot that they won in the Connecticut state lottery.

Are they any happier? Probably not.
 
Some years ago I was waiting to have my car fixed. The man working under another vehicle shouted out that the winner of the state lottery had come from Barrie. I shouted back to him:

 "$20 million dollars couldn't pay for what I've got under the third button of my shirt"

A gray haired lady standing by whispered to me  "If I may ask,what have you got underneath your shirt?"

I replied "The living Lord Jesus Christ madam."

When I and friend went to see her, we found that she was an heiress to a family fortune.

Rich but unhappy and desperate for hope and true joy.

Thank God she received both that night and served Christ for the rest of her life. 


The secret of true happiness is given by Jesus in the Beatitudes. (Matt 5) Winning the lottery is not mentioned, but the key to joy is in every line.

Follow Christ's counsel and you will not only have abounding joy, you will also make your home in heaven and for that you cannot buy a lottery ticket.

Ian

Shop till you're dropped!

This Thanksgiving was a far cry from the gentle early settlers who opened up the great North American Continent.

For them, heads were reverently bowed in prayer as they thanked God that they had survived their first year as pilgrim colonists and praise was offered for what little they had.

Turn the clock forward and three centuries later we have Black Friday.

 Even before the turkey was digested  America witnessed an unseemly rush to the malls that resulted in pepper spray assaults, two shootings, innumerable tramplings and the death of a shopper suffocated in a check-out crush.

Ah, dear forefathers, was this what you braved the perils of the oceans and the privations of the wilderness to see?

But friends, be encouraged, coinciding with the great mall stampede, was the launch of the "Curiosity". This was a space vehicle sent to explore Mars in detail. 

Perhaps when we have thoroughly and finally ruined this planet we can all take off to Mars and do the same thing again 40 million miles from here?

Ian

The lunacy is complete.

Astonishing that the occupying army that is laying down life and shedding blood daily for the freedom of the Afghan people are forbidden in their texting to use the name of "Jesus" or "Christ"

For why?

Because they may offend the Muslim population. Thus the lunatic muddle that is the Afghan war is complete.

If the battle has not been for the self determination of the Afghan people why has it been fought at all.

The British were faced with that question in the nineteenth century and the Russians in the 1980's and neither nation supplied a satisfactory answer.

Now the Americans, after the expenditure of a trillion dollars of treasure and the longest war in their history, are forbidding their soldiers to tweet the name of Jesus.

They, like others before them, have clearly lost their way and it's time to come home.

Ian

Falling Man

My friend Max Carter from England sent me this picture at the beginning of the week. He asked me to make a comment.

Apparently the shot was a clip from a video and is the cook jumping from the restaurant on the 102nd  floor of the W.T.C tower.

 My reply to Max was that this incident is filled with hope for these reasons.

1) Physics: A body in free fall will accelerate to a maximum speed of 117 m.p.h. Which means that it took this man 5.3 seconds to reach the ground.

2)The scripture which says in Romans : "Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

3) The excellent words of John Wesley who said "If a sinner shall fall from his horse and immediately call on the Lord he shall be a new man ere he reached the ground."

4) The mercy of God which describes Him as "Rich to all who call upon Him."

All things considered, an admirable way to meet your maker.

Have you made your own peace with Him?

Ian

Occupy is now occu-bye

Now that the last of the occupation forces have been legally evicted from the public parks and thoroughfares of our cities after thoughts have begun.
Just what was it that the new army of the 99% was requiring of the beleaguered 1% ?

After listening to all the highfaluting, ideological rhetoric and drum beating I have concluded that the 1% are not giving the army of the 99% a big enough slice of their pie.

This is how an economics professor responded to the cries from the park. His points carry an irresistible logic. There are five of them.

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

If you agree with his thoughts maybe you would like to pass this post along to one of your friends.

Ian

A human torch.

Yesterday I was mystified about "Hugging Amma" from South India and the thousands who flock to her arms for comfort and consolation.

 Today I was even more at loss when I saw a picture of this Tibetan monk incinerating himself to protest the chinese occupation of his country.

He is one of a dozen that have suffered self immolation in as many weeks.

While I was casting in my mind to find a reason for such a catastrophic reaction I suddenly recalled words spoken by Jesus.

"These things they do because they do not know me."

It was a moment of clarity.

Human beings are capable doing the most insanely hideous and the most insanely bizarre things if they do not know the love of God.

                       'Ardens sed virens'

 is a life motto I gave to one of my daughters:
                      
                      'Burning but still alive!

Give us the true fire of the Spirit Lord and protect us from all other.

Ian

Baba Amma the great hugger

Astounding but true. In the Alexandria Palace in London last week 9,000 people lined up for as many as ten hours to be hugged by Amma the hugger from Kerala, India.

What was behind this public display of amity and affection?

Was it a fad or a genuine phenomenon?

Again it is hard to tell but I have concluded that there are legions of lost souls in the world who feel unloved, unlovely, unwanted and lonely.
There must be, or why else spend a whole day waiting for a finely timed 12 second embrace and a few words in Urdu whispered in your ear if you were a whole, fully functioning human being?

I listened to one lady rising from Amma's voluminous embrace, declare that she was "Changed forever." Another was so lost in a euphoria of wonder that she could not answer a reporter's questions.

Ah, if access to Heaven were that easy. I have found that since coming to Christ nearly fifty years ago I have experienced setbacks, persecutions, disappointments, tribulations and great extensions of heart in this business of being "Changed forever."

Maybe a new brand of salvation has appeared on the market.
Try it if you will but, as for myself, I'll stick with Jesus who said
"Except a man take up his cross daily and follow me he cannot be my disciple."

Ian

Chez Nous.

When Pauline and I first arrived in Canada it was a struggle. We lived in a little cottage in the Big Woods and barely survived our first two winters.

I had a single pair of shoes in which I worked and then polished up on Sundays to preach.  I got another pair of preaching shoes but I continued to work in my first pair. At the end of year three (1977) this is what they looked like.

I could have thrown them in the trash but I felt that they deserved to be bronzed and handed to my grand-children as a remembrance of the early years when Pauline and I were still "colonists".

If ever I am tempted to become complacent or unthankful for God's blessings in my life I can always take a trip to the basement and remind myself of the road that Pauline and I started down nearly forty years ago.

Moses did something like that when he kept a pot of manna from the forty year journey in the wilderness.

Perhaps the Lord was saying:

 "If you forget me when you are eating well in the land of milk and honey I can always put you back on bread and water!"

Maybe you are going through your own hard times. Don't stop trusting God, look for a memento and, in a few years time, you will have a story to tell.


Ian

Chez nous

Here is a shot of "Chez Nous" taken by a neighbour before a thunderstorm broke.

The rainbow goes right through the roof. The pot of gold is the family who live under it.

In the ancient world God made a covenant with Noah and said that He would seal the deal with a "Bow in the sky"

That same covenant is good to this day.

The secret is to stay under the arch of God's  presence and protection when the storms of life are seeking to blow you everywhere else.

Why don't you read proverbs 3:5-6 this morning and believe the Lord will put His rainbow of blessing over your own house?

Jubilate.

Ian

Chez Nous.

Here is a text that we have on our dining room wall. It is taken from Psalm 48:13-14.

When Pauline and I were married we had this text engraved upon our wedding bands. Our kids knew about this and presented us with the verse beautifully scripted in copper plate handwriting for our fortieth wedding anniversary.

You will notice that the prelude to the verse reads :

 "That you may tell it to the generation following."

That phrase is crucial to the perpetuation of the Christian faith to our children.

The Jewish people were commanded to put the Word of God upon the portals and walls of their houses. In this way their children would learn the Word and be able to recall the gracious dealings of God with them and with their ancestors.

When a generation is allowed to grow up without God, His Word and the testimony of their forbears, irreparable damage is done.
The church, ever since it's birth at Pentecost, has always been one generation from extinction. Nothing simply happens of itself; nothing good that is.

Parents stay with the programme and put the Word of God on the walls of your children's minds.

If you don't, Hollywood and Much Music will be only too happy to make them infidels.

Ian

Chez Nous.

Yesterday I posted the sign "Straight Street", nailed to the 60 foot high oak tree in my back-garden.

Today we have a picture of the two fish which are painted on the front curb of my property on Florence Park Road.

As you can see, we have a brown one which the city officials use to denote the flow of the sewers. The other is a white one swimming the opposite direction. I put that there myself.

Which ever way the sewer of society is flowing my family is going against it. 

One of my early mentors was a an extra-ordinary individual called Ken TerHoven, a South African evangelist.

I remember him saying:

"Any dead fish can float down stream; it takes a live one to swim against the current."

I've carried that principle with me for the past forty five years, and endeavoured to live by it.

Thus the two fish on my curb-side.

Today's thoughts are dedicated to the memory of Ken TerHoven and the thousands of young lives that he influenced for Jesus Christ.

Ian

Chez Nous 1

This week I'm doing a series which I've titled "Our House".
It is not intended to be a royal tour, but each of our homes has some unique aspect to it. Here are five that come from mine in Canada.

We live on a road called Florence Park. The sign is on the front lamp standard. In the back garden I have nailed a second sign
"Straight Street" to an oak tree.

For the distance of ten houses we have no fences built so our back gardens have a park-like effect and run in a straight line.

More importantly the sign "Straight Street" is where Paul the Apostle was sent after his conversion on the way to Damascus.

I was preaching on that subject to a men's meeting. I said that each person who comes to Christ should immediately go to an address called "Straight Street" and live there for the rest of their lives. For Christians crooked living is OVER, period.

At Christmas that year, one of the men who works for the city of Barrie presented me with the sign made by the roads department and autographed by all the men who heard the message.

Neat eh!

Ian

Phew: a near miss!

I hope you slept well last night. Had asteroid YU 55 been a fraction closer to earth in its 200 year orbit none of us would have slept at all.

This mighty behemoth, bigger than an aircraft carrier and traveling at 35,000 MPH, would have created a 20 ft tsunami wave had it plunged into the ocean.

But it missed us and won't be in our postal area until 2211, so we can all breathe easier.

By the way there won't be any inter planetary collision any time soon despite what Hollywood might cook up.

God happened to place the huge gas planet Jupiter towards the outer reaches of the solar system.

It's immense gravitational field sweeps up the really big stuff as it enters our neighborhood and keeps little old Earth safe under its protection.

Nice to know that we have a big brother as well as a Heavenly Father looking out for us!

Ian

When a BIG TREE falls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaQSAd8eTMU&feature=related


This is a truly awesome 15 seconds video of a forest giant hitting the ground in Nothern California last month.

As you can see, when a big tree falls others crash with it.

So it will be when Italy, with a 2.6 TRILLION dollar debt, falls as the latest victim to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

Firstly other nations like Ireland, Spain and Portugal will go down, along with banks and smaller lending institutions and lastly, as the undergrowth is reached, millions of individual investors will be crushed in the fall. 

In July, when I first voiced the prospect of a Greek default, many of our readers were sceptical. Now the spectre is all too real.

But Italy is simply too big to fail!

I do not doubt that many people said that of the thousand year old Dyersville Sequoia. Yet in fifteen seconds the grand old lady shook, tottered and then slowly fell in a crash heard three miles away.

Which leaves the question:

 "Where is there a safe place to make our life investment."

The only place that I know is the one given by Jesus when He said: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth which are easily lost, but lay up treasures in Heaven which will last for eternity"

Your breakfast thought for the day.


Ian

Another dose of political correctness.

One of our truly unique canadian characters is John Crosbie, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland.

He found himself in hotwater last week for making the following joke at a public dinner.

Let me quote him.

"The other day I was depressed thinking of the economy, the state of my health, my savings. my social security and everything else so I called the suicide hotline and got a call centre in Pakistan. When I told them I was suicidal they got all excited and asked if I could drive a truck."

The politically correct crowd  were immediately galvanized and aired their views on T.V, radio and in the press under the general heading of

"CROSBIE AND HIS SHOCKINGLY BAD TASTE."

They failed to mention that prior to this quip about suicide bombers Crosbie had spent several minutes insulting himself and fellow islanders with "Newfie" jokes.

Thus we have the first two targets of all politically correct bile: namely,the real truth and a sense of humor.

May God deliver us from us from such stupidity and those who propagate it.

Ian

yet another dose of political correctness

There are always fresh supplies of political correctness forthcoming in Canada. This week was no exception.

Consider, for instance, the Notre Dame High School in Ottawa. For the past 19 years they have invited the war vets in for a Remembrance Day event. This year, however, the old soldiers have been pronounced 'Personae non grata'.

Why so? Because one neurotic female administrator has deemed that the presence of the vets and their equipment was sending the wrong message to the student body.

"We have a zero tolerance policy towards weapons of any kind in our school, and that includes armoured personnel carriers in the parking lot"

What drivel!

Were it not for these venerable old soldiers who defended our life and liberties in two world wars, the battle wagon in the parking lot would have been a panzer tank and our dear children would have been lined up to salute the swastika!

Lest we forget I'll see you at the Cenotaph on Friday.

Ian

The wierd, the wacky and the spiritual norm.

Yesterday's post on tattoos produced a lot of comments.

Allow me then to follow it up with another on the same vein.

Several statements are made in the Bible concerning male and female adornments.

Concerning men, in proverbs, Solomon says:
 "Let them be adorned with wisdom"

 Peter speaks of  women:
"Being adorned with godliness."

The human face reflects the image of God and  the revelation of God's glory is in the face of Jesus Christ. ( 2 Corinthians 4:4)

While the beauty of the human face may fade with age ( as the glory of God faded upon Moses's face) the beauty of the Lord is still the inheritance of all God's people.

Nobody can improve on that!

Take another peek in the mirror today and tell yourself that you are unique.

Ian

Tattoos: easier to get on than get off.

Tattooing: derived from the sound of hollow, sharpened bamboo used by the Polynesians when pricking tribal marking on their skin centuries ago.

This week I decided to have my own tattoo removed, received 55 years ago when I was in the port of Montreal as a merchant marine.

I was a seventeen year old who sported his bluebird on his bicep until his early twenties.

About that time I decided I needed neither tattoos, ear-rings nor male jewellery of any sort to project my image. It must stand on its own for better or for worse.

Since then I have waited fifty years to get the bluebird off, and what originally cost $3:00  will cost around $250:00 to remove with a laser gun.

Well it all goes to show that there are things in life that are easier to get into than get out of.

Matt from "Wild Ink", who looks like a Polynesian chief himself, was interested to know that I am also in the business of tattooing. ( I preach across the street from his little bat cave)

When I told him that I tattoo people's hearts he asked me if I was a heart surgeon.

 "Sort of" I replied. "I'm a preacher and I tattoo the Word of God into people's lives"

His response.
"Rock on, man. We're in the same trade"

Hmmmm.

Ian

St Paul: now and then

The world supplies unending material on which to comment. But for the truly bizzare we must often turn to the church!

Yesterday the Dean of St Paul's in London resigned his office.

The reason for his departure from his august and well paid position?

Because a motley, rag-tag band of protestors refused to move from their camp in front of St Paul's cathedral after the dean's repeated calls for them to be off.

Could nobody have told the man that he could have dispersed

 the crowd within 10 minutes if he and his bishop had stood and preached the Gospel in power from the steps of the sanctuary?

Unfortunately the preaching was going on INSIDE the building and not to the congregation that really mattered on the OUTSIDE.

Contrast this miserable display of cowardice to the preaching of the original St Paul at Mars Hill in Athens.

The great man, seen here, preached to a band of Athenian sceptics who didn't hang around for another sermon.

They were soon gone leaving behind a handful of people who were the seed that helped spread the Word through the whole of Greece within the century.

Thus an opportunity was seized by St Paul and a golden one was

missed yesterday at St Pauls!

Ian

Where are we going to put everybody?

We have just reached a memorable milestone through the night.

Sometime in the early hours of October 31st the world population passed the seven billion mark.

Do you suddenly feel claustrophobic, over crowded or underfed?

You ought to: that is if you happen to be a follower of  T. R.  Malthus.

 In the 18th century he gave forth a doomsday warning that, within a hundred years, the world population would rocket to an unsustainable one billion people.

Civil strife would erupt, famine would be rampant and there would be societal breakdown. Along with other solutions, he advocated celibacy and abstinence from sex WITHIN marriage.

How wrong can an expert be.

There are now seven billion souls and counting. This number, put shoulder to shoulder, could stand within the area of greater Jacksonville, Florida and half of them from the West would be suffering from obesity from over eating!

Let's get a grip on things folks.

This is our Father's world and He knows how to run His own affairs without the help of Thomas Malthus.

Enjoy your breakfast and make it a grand slam.

Ian

Halloween.

 

The annual ghoul show has arrived.

Goblins, ghosts, wizards, witches, warlocks, fiends and zombies will be out in force tonight on the hunt for candy, chocolate and all things goo.

While the parade goes on, none will stop to ask: "What is the history of Halloween and why the name?"

That would be too much for a consumer driven, occult obsessed generation to ask.
Nor would parents be concerned enough to provide such an answer to the legion of kids on the prowl with their treat sacks.

That their candy-fest could ever be connected to the glorious resurrection of the saints would be too much of a stretch for mind or faith.

But that's what it is all about folks. Halloween (Hallowed evening) is the prelude to the victorious resurrection of the saints and the appearing of Christ. 


That's why they call it "All Saints Day."


"For lo there breaks a yet more glorious day.
The saints triumphant rise in bright array.
The King of Glory passes on His way.
Allelujah! Allelujah! "


You can count me in on that parade!

Ian