Christmas Greetings from Downton Abbey

Here's a snap shot of Pauline and me at my daughter's farm.
One of the kids said: "The lady, the earl and the dog. You would fit right in with Downton Abbey."
So, to all friends and family out there, including the international folk: 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From all of us to all of you : MERRY CHRISTMAS.

The  B.W.I. family restaurant will be closing at the weekend.
We will be re-opening in January after the Christmas holidays.
Count these photographs in the next three posts as our Christmas cards to you. They come with sincerest good wishes to you. May you enjoy special times with your loved ones and may your New Year be filled with health, blessing and every success.

Ian, Pauline and family.

Christmas Inflation

There was an interesting point that came over the radio the other day. It was to do with the Twelve Days of Christmas ( the partridge, swans, gold rings, pear tree carol)
If the " true love" was to give the gifts mentioned in the carol in 2014, it would cost him about $ 60,000!
The inexorable march of inflation has taken our society from its humble and simple beginnings of carol singers at the door and 'chestnuts roasting by an open fire' to an avaricious rush that lasts from Black Friday to Boxing Day.
Lost in the "Toy Mountains" and the never ending "Santa Parades" is the reason at the very heart of Christmas, namely God's gift to the world in the form of baby boy called Jesus.
The 'HO HO HO'  of jolly Santa can never replace the "SO SO SO" of the Father's gift of love to us that first Christmas Day in Bethlehem.
"For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life"
Take time to ponder that thought as you enjoy Christmas with your family this year.

Jubilate.

Ian

York, 1947 A Bad Christmas

Christmas 1947 in York was one of my less enjoyable events.
From my earliest memories ( all 8 years of them) I had been a follower of Santa Claus.
He was the one who came down the chimney with his toy sack and, to stop him being scorched, my dad ceremoniously put out the fire the evening of his arrival. Also Santa was left his cookie and glass of milk which he always appreciated during his busy night shift.
He was the one who left gifts by our two feet tall imitation tree.
It was all so wonderful; that is until Pat Pitchfork, the precocious kid from Shirley Avenue, blew Santa's cover.
I recall the scorn in her voice when she said: " You don't really believe in Santa Claus do you?"
Well of course I did. Who else drank the milk and ate the cookie?
Without mercy she replied "That's just your Dad fooling you. There is no Santa Claus."
Ah, the brutal honesty of children. My new football boots that year helped me get over the trauma, but a lesson had been learned.
It was this. There is a difference between the verifiable and the believable.
Years later, when I placed my whole confidence in Jesus Christ, it was through BELIEVING  His written statements in the Bible. Fifty years of answered prayers and daily walking with Him have added VERIFICATION to that first step of faith.
Come and join me on the journey.

Merry Christmas.

Ian

Christmas 1945

Christmas1945. We were still on rationing after WW2.
Santa's sack was not as full in those days immediately after the war.
My mother, resourceful soul that she was, kept hens at the bottom of our garden, in the village of Acomb, near York.
These hens provided eggs and, as Christmas approached, were being fattened for the special day.
It was going to be a difficult moment when dad pulled their necks.
Mother had developed a relationship with the two chosen for our dinner table. She called them by name and reserved the best scraps for them. They responded by following mother in the garden and by putting on weight; lots of it.
On the Sunday before Christmas our family parlour time was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps on the path outside.
The moment passed but next morning the ghastly truth was revealed. Mother's hens had been stolen.
My mother was a good, church going lady, but this abduction took her beyond the limits of her grace. She took off round the neighbourhood following a scanty trail of feathers and breathing unchristian threats against the kidnapper of "Speckles" and    "Beauty". Fortunately for him he was never discovered.
A local farmer, hearing of the wicked deed provided a goose by way of replacement.
We all ate well that year, but for the subsequent ten years the fate of "Speckles" and " Beauty" was never a subject to be broached at our Christmas gathering.

Jubilate.

Ian

Christmas Day Truce 1914

In our series "Christmas with a Difference" December 1914 stands out above all others.
It was then that troops in trenches only a few meters apart mutually agreed to call a cease-fire.
It began with sounds of the carol 'Silent Night' wafting over from the German lines to the British soldiers. They then joined in the chorus in English. Next, a small Christmas Tree appeared over the parapet. Then voices began to speak.
"You no shoot. Me no shoot."
Next heads began to appear followed by soldiers cautiously making their way over 'No Man's Land'
In a matter of minutes hundreds of men had gathered, shaking hands, offering small gifts of chocolate and cigarettes and enjoying comradeship.
Then, spontaneously, they all agreed that the war should end and that they should all go home.
It would have happened had not the "Top Brass", a couple of days later, commanded everyone to get back to their respective positions and commence the killing all over again.
So much for the truce of 1914. Nevertheless, for few short days, it proved that 'Peace on Earth, Good will among Men' could be a reality if the 'Caesars and King Herod's of this world were kept out of the story!

Jubilate.

Ian

Season's Greetings from Ferguson

We know the story well. A black teenager shot by a white police officer. Twelve shots fired at an unarmed man. The protests that rocked the town of Ferguson four months ago with stores looted and buildings burned. The uneasy three months calm awaiting the decision of a grand jury. The verdict to acquit the officer of any criminal charge and, last night, another orgy of plunder, rage and burning..
Yet what struck me most forcibly in the midst of all this mayhem were the photo shots of the great Christmas banner outside the city court house.
"SEASONS GREETINGS" was all but obscured in the smoke and flares of the riot and street battle in Ferguson.
And I guess in the end that is what it came down to.
Christmas Greetings, "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to all Men." obscured in a fog of tear gas, the message of brotherly love lost in the din of war.
Pauline is putting up her own decorations today which will include a miniature stable of Bethlehem. We are going to once again celebrate "Unto us a Child is born;unto us a Son is given" and make sure that NOTHING obscures the Wilson's Christmas Banner.

Jubilate.

Ian

"All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."

"All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" . Back in the fifties this song was top of the Christmas Pops in England.
You would have to dig deep in the archives to come up with it today.
After a strange survey in England last week, having your front teeth becomes suddenly relevant.
Three years of research concluded that upper-middle class people had seven more of their own teeth at 70 than their poorer working class counterparts.
After losing my own front teeth in a youthful escapade I found that Santa Claus could not produce a set ( as much as I wished).
Later I went to Mexico for a couple of implants.
However, in the midst of this festive season while you are enjoying your Christmas fare, think about the less fortunate souls in the survey in England, who, having a turkey on the table, may be having trouble in chewing it.
Robbie Burns captured this thought well when he wrote his famous grace:
       "SOME HAE MEAT AND CANNOT EAT.
        AND SOME CAN EAT BUT HAE NAE MEAT.
        BUT WE HAE MEAT AND WE CAN EAT
        AND SAE THE LORD BE THANKET."

Jubilate

Ian

Dreaming of a White Christmas.

In Buffalo, our neighbor to the South, they have banned singing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas".
In three days of continuous blizzards driving off Lake Erie, the city has accumulated about six feet of snow.
Major high ways and streets have been shut down, public transport is no longer running, at least eleven people have died, the National Guard has been called out, roofs have collapsed and rumor has it that Santa is going to by-pass the city on his way south from the Pole.
Not only is Bing Crosby and his White Christmas song not welcome in Buffalo but also the whole notion of global warming has suddenly become unpopular.
Temperatures last year were the coldest in this part of the country for a hundred years and this season seems about to follow suit.
This post goes out to many parts of the world and you all will have your own views on climate change. However, for us who live in Canada or close by, forgive us for praying, "Lord, please send us a little global warming for Christmas." 

Jubilate.

Ian

Christmas... some new perspectives.

How do we know when the Christmas season has arrived?
Back in my early days living in the city of York, in England, the sound of carol singers around the doors heralded the advent of exciting days ahead. That was usually around the second week in December.
Now, in 2014, the season seems to have come early. I wonder why?
The beginning of November seems to be the starting line for the great crescendo. It is when I see the Salvation Army volunteers with bell, kettle and "God Bless You" in the local mall.
Today I asked a well dressed lady manning her post if she knew the name of the founder of the organization. Although well educated she knew nothing of General Booth. Did she know what was the motto on the Salvation Army battle flag? No. She didn't know it was "Blood and Fire"  "Blood" for the blood of Christ: "Fire" for the power of the Holy Spirit.
Did she know that the official publication of the Salvation Army was a paper called "The War Cry" Again it was a negative. Then suddenly , in a moment of inspiration, she suddenly said: "Ah, that's why they call it the SALVATION Army.
Got it dear!
Amazing what time, allied to over-familiarity, will do.
Turn "Blood and Fire" into "Thank You" and "God Bless You "

Jubilate.

Ian

Rosetta.... the answer to all things. Maybe.

For a scientific marvel it probably has no equal. The equivalent of hitting a bullet with a bullet. Yesterday, amid scenes of near hysteria at Space .H.Q. Europe, the Rosetta space probe touched down on a hurtling asteroid and managed to stay upright.
Sort of. It is in a precarious position in the shadow of a looming, grey colored rock, held in place by a couple of thru-bolts. It's gravitational weight one hundred times less than that of earth.(it could bounce back into space again given a small jolt)
What is all the commotion about? Well apart from the technical achievement of landing on an asteroid, this expensive little baby is supposed to unveil some of the hidden secrets of how the universe began. Did asteroids transport the first water droplets to earth? Are they part of  far-off planets that had living microbes on them?
Do they consist of special metal and minerals that were generated a split second after the Big Bang. Are there fossils of space creatures riding on their crusty exterior?
The stuff of super-heated imaginations, allied with an almost limitless budget, to produce Buck Rogers fiction.
Meanwhile down on planet earth real life goes on. More mass shootings, more wars, more Ebola, more Middle East mayhem, more.....
Please land the Rosetta in Central Park New York and fix some problems there before we waste another billion dollars chasing rocks in space.

Jubilate.

Ian

And the wall came tumbling down!

Twenty five years ago today the Berlin Wall tumbled down... figuratively and then literally. On that day, the head of the East German security gave permission to the long imprisoned citizens of East Berlin to visit the Western Sector of the city and then return to paradise in the East. He probably expected that the folk would go on a sight-seeing tour to the Brandenburg Gate and be safely in their beds that same night.
Instead, like the Biblical Exodus of old, thousands streamed across the border  under the gaze of the astonished guards, linked up with their long distanced cousins and began a revolution that finally brought about the collapse of the old Soviet Union.

Freedom is a glorious thing for those who enjoy it. The loss of it brings the most exquisite ache to the human heart.
The next time we sing "O Canada" and repeat the words "God keep our land glorious and free," consider the price that was paid for that to take place in our own great country.

Jubilate.

Ian

The passing of a champion

One of the true champions in our city passed away yesterday.

He was one of our grand old men, a second world war vet, one of Canada's top marksmen and a staunch, unwavering man of faith.

Ralph Cathline had the aptly chosen middle name of "Bright" and bright he was, almost to the day he died at 98 years young.

He would regale us with tales of his days in the Canadian army where he served as an armourer. Not only was he the best in his profession but he was also his country's leading marksman. He competed in the Royal Bisley range championship in England and also in many contests in the States. Here he set a record for the number of bulls eyes scored at the Fort Benning contest and carried the prestigious 800 yard trophy back to Canada.

More importantly he had an eagle eye for the invisible world of the Spirit and held an unclouded vision of Christ in his heart.

I always loved to be in Ralph's company, a true warrior of the faith who left you feeling better after a cup of tea and sent you home with some of his own zest for life.

Well, Ralph, you have been called home yourself and, if there be tea in Heaven, I shall look forward to  sharing another cup soon.

Jubilate.

Ian

40 Years ago. THE RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE.

Forty years ago this weekend the world witnessed an astonishing sport's event in Kinshasa, Zaire.
It was the much heralded heavyweight boxing championship bout between prize fighters George Foreman and Mohammed Ali.
Each received an equal division of the 10 million dollar purse..... an astronomical amount of money back then.
We know the outcome of this historic contest:  a knockout for Ali in the eighth round. 
"Bomba-Ali" became an adored figure among the Africans and became known as "I am the Greatest" to the rest of the world.

What is a lesser known script in this story, was the conversion of George Foreman whilst alone in his dressing room after his epic battle in the ring with Ali.
In an account given at a later date, he said that he felt the Presence of the Lord fill the locker room and heard the voice of God calling him to higher things.
It was not the promotion of the George Foreman meat grill (for which he has made far more money than prize fighting) but as a preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that the call of God came to his life.
From a menacing, sullen figure, George Foreman is now known as 'gentle George' , amiable and happy , the man who swapped his boxing gloves for a Bible and who has told us how to cook the best steaks in the world.

Jubilate.

Ian

How much do we really care?

In a recent experiment conducted in France, an actor dressed in the poorest of clothes, took an apparent heart attack on a busy street.
He lay there, supine and unmoving for a full fifteen minutes while the crowds continued to walk past him, oblivious to his fate.
At the end of this time he rose to his feet, took off his tuque and, 'Hey Presto' was alive again, but with the point proved.

The question is an obvious one. Could that be you or me lying on the side-walk, and would we ourselves be among the crowd that walked by on the other side?
In Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan, the man set upon by thieves was helped by a stranger. 2,000 years later in our kinder, gentler society not ONE person stopped to help a fellow traveler in distress.
We sure have come along way in our Brave New World of Social Darwinism.

Jubilate.

Ian

The joys of "Sweet Mary-Jane".

Earlier this year the state of Colorado made yet another step into the Brave New World and legalized marijuana.
Should it surprise us that kids are now bringing 'Sweet Mary Jane' to school and getting high in the classroom.
How can this be? Why, the little rascals are using all the new, undetectable delivery systems for the drug: nasal sprays, gum, flavored drinks and special paints for the end of their pencils.
When the teacher thinks that Johnny is chewing the end of his pen in deep concentration, he is actually in the process of getting high.

U.S. Schools. No prayer, no Bible, no Intelligent Design taught in the classrooms but drugs by the boatload, all now officially sanctioned by the State.

As I have stated before, my friends, we are living in a moral mad-house which, since the commencement of a new school term, has just become even crazier.

Jubilate.
Ian

Au Revoir Margerie

What happens when one of the world's richest men meets an unknown snow-plow operator at an airport?
Well, we found out this week.
On Monday, the Chief C.E.O. of the French energy giant, Total, was taking off in his private jet from Moscow.
Christophe de Margerie had just signed a lucrative energy contract with the Russian government and was headed back to Paris. He was the only passenger on his jet, manned by a crew of three.
As the plane accelerated in take-off a snow-plow, operated by Vladimir Martynenko, suddenly appeared on the runway. There was an horrific crash, followed by a fire-ball as all four men in the jet met their fate. 
Martynenko survived to tell his story which was a sad tale.
He had been drinking and was driving his plow on the wrong runway having lost direction.
The words of Jesus come to mind.
"What shall it profit a man if shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Martynenko has exchanged his seat on his snow-plow for a seat in a  Moscow prison cell, but what of the man he sent to Eternity?
We don't know, but everyone of us must answer the question of our soul's salvation personally, for we never know the moment it will be required of us.

Au Revoir.

Ian

IT'S A FIRST!

Breaking news today which, the presiding surgeon described as, "more important than a man walking on the moon"

For the first time ever, a severed spinal cord has been bridged using cell strips from the olfactory organ of the nose.

Darak Fidyka, who was paralysed after a knife attack is back walking again under his own power.

The transplant operation was performed in Poland under the guidance of a scientist, Geoff Raisman from university College London.

After seeing the patient upright and walking with the aid of a mobile frame, he declared; "This opens a door that was never open before. We are looking at something historic"

I was brought up on accounts of how Jesus made the lame to walk. Ever since I have hoped that God would give men a breakthrough in their knowledge of how to reconnect a severed spinal cord.

Yesterday it happened.

If I am excited, just think about the 3 million people in wheel-chairs world wide.
 "YIPEE"

In his interview Fidyka exclaimed  "It's like being born again!"

Now where have we heard that before!

Jubilate.

Ian

The last of the series.

I was waiting in the medical lab for a blood sample to be taken and, lo, there was Harvey and his wife. 
Harvey was not looking well, in fact, he had been given only a matter of weeks to live. Cancer was the problem.
I have never been reticent about where I pray, so right there in the waiting room I prayed that Doctor Jesus would touch Harvey and grant him years of healthy living. The folk in the waiting room began to realize they were in church but  didn't seem to mind. Suddenly, the miracle of Hezekiah's healing came to mind. This was where the prophet Isaiah spoke to the dying King and told him that the shadow on the sundial was being put back fifteen degrees; fifteen degrees, fifteen more years to live! When I spoke this to Harvey, he and his wife began to praise God; they already had been given this word by someone else and, as far as they were concerned, the deal was sealed!
All of this was over three years ago.
This summer I saw Harvey. He looked full of health and told me that he was hoping to go on a mission trip to Nicaragua.
Not bad for a man who was given only a few weeks to live in 2011.

Jubilate.

Ian

Why remain earthbound?

My son, Mark, passes his old Time magazines to me.
In the issue I was reading today, side by side, were two articles, one on the giant roller coaster, Goliath, at a park near Chicago, the other telling of the a growing fad in America, "atheist churches."
Where is the connection you may ask?
Well, if you are an atheist (and I haven't met too many of them) you are bound to this planet by the process of  reason and by a creed that declares all there is for you is confined to this life and, that all you can see around you can be explained by the working of reason and natural laws.
Now, on the other hand, if you are a believer in Christ, get ready to strap yourself into a ride that will outstrip "Goliath" for daily thrills.  Living by faith in the promises of  God, Who controls the whole earth by His power and wisdom, will match any any man-made junket this world can offer.
To cast off the shackles of a life lived by "reason only" and to trust in the up holding Hand of the Holy Spirit is as exhilarating as walking on water.
More than one person has suggested that, in living by faith, I am "round the bend", to which I reply " come and join me, the view from God's inverter is stupendous!"
"Aaaarghhh! Here we go for another thrill"

Jubilate.

Ian

Ebola. The Vultures Gather

Predictably, as if on cue, with the announcement of the death of America's first Ebola case, comes news of an intended law suit against the Texas hospital where he was being treated.
It is of no concern that Thomas Eric Duncan lied to the airline authorities in order to board a plane to the U.S.A. Also, let it not be mentioned that he knowingly had relations with his 'partner' when he arrived in Dallas.
Sufficient that, with his passing, accusations are now being leveled against all the care-givers who courageously sought to keep this man alive, that they failed to give Thomas Duncan the expert treatment that other Americans would have received. 
While the vultures are circling in West Africa where the Ebola plague threatens to take a million or more lives, in America far more ugly birds have now taken to the air.
These scavengers have an acute nose for money, money and only money.
Let us hope that they get not one red-cent and that the doctors and nurses are able to do their missions of mercy without the sounds of greedy squawking above the hospital roof.

Jubilate 

Ian

The devil in the details

There is never shortage of material when it comes to the human race.
Six parents in London, England, gave up their first-born "for the duration of eternity" in an experiment aimed at highlighting how little we pay attention to terms and conditions on-line.
In order to show how people ignore the weasel clauses in agreements the security firm, 'F-secure', offered free Wi-Fi to a focus group of customers with certain conditions attached. One of these was the "Herod Clause" in which the recipient agreed to "assign their  first-born child to us for the duration of eternity."
Needless to say the point was proved, that people do not read the small print when it comes to signing up on what they consider to be bargain deals.
"Caveat Emptor" is the legal term for caution in scrutinizing the contract, indeed, for the devil is often in the details.
In the case of the the parents who gave up their first born he was in the "Herod Clause".

Jubilate.

Ian

Protecting the President

The F.B.I. on a 13 billion dollar budget to help keep the country safe and to, above all things, protect the President of the United States (POTUS) has been made to look like a Chinese fire drill.
Earlier in the year someone pulled up to the perimeter fence of the White House and let blaze with seven shots that chipped the facade and broke a window. The guards drew their guns but then concluded the noise came from the back-fire of a vehicle. Four days later the cleaning lady informed them of broken glass on the carpets.
Two weeks ago an intruder jumped the fence and ran across the lawn to the White House, pushed aside a guard and made it all the way to the East Room before being stopped by an off duty security officer. He was carrying a knife.
Today, news that a contractor with a concealed weapon and with a criminal record for violence, was allowed to travel in the same elevator as POTUS.
All this happening with thirteen billion dollars a year being spent to STOP it happening.
Listen to the Pope. On a recent visit to Argentina he abandoned the pope-mobile and left his body guards behind in order to glad-hand the crowd. He said: "If God and His Angels can't protect me bullet-proof glass certainly won't."
Take words like that to heart. Committing yourself and your loved ones into the safe-keeping of the Lord is better than all the safety devices ever made and a lot cheaper too.

Jubilate.
Ian

Conner: The miracle child.

Shortly the Book of Miracles will be published.
Before it is, let me tell you about Conner. He is my neighbor's son.
The Stewart's arrived across the road eleven years ago and shortly afterwards their son, Conner was born.
I had little contact with the Stewart's for the first couple of years since I was away traveling much of the time.
One day I was in my driveway and I saw Monica with her child in a harness teaching him to walk. At two years old there was an obvious problem. I went over and introduced myself. It was then that I learned that Conner had hypertonia, was largely deaf and might also be autistic. Asking his mother if I might hold him I took Conner and prayed over him for strength, healing and power in his legs and body. Suddenly, by a word of prophecy, I said: "This child shall be well and shall surprise many."
This morning I spoke with mother and child. Conner is now eleven years old, rides his bike in Summer and a snow-mobile in Winter.
He attends the local school, has a razor quick mind, a loving heart and a hearing aid which has greatly helped his hearing.
Every time I see Conner I am reminded that with God all things are indeed possible.
Want to hear more of this story? Monica will be glad to talk with you.

Jubilate.
Ian

Restaurant Closed

Pauline and I are on a trip to the States for a few days.
We are going to see the Sound and Light Show "MOSES" put on by the Amish people in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.
I hope to be back in the kitchen by the weekend.

Till then, stay safe in  the love of God.

Jubilate.

Ian

"NO" Which part of the word don't you understand?

"The shouting and the tumult dies.
The captain and the kings depart, 
Still stands the ancient sacrifice, 
A humble and a contrite heart.
O Lord of Hosts be with us yet,
Lest we forget, lest we forget"

But quite obviously the "YES" side of the Scottish Referendum Campaign DID forget.
They forgot the 1715 uprising to reverse the Act of Union between England and Scotland signed a decade before.
They forgot that, when they came out in 1745 for home rule, it ended in a further disaster at the battle of Culloden Moor.
And now a third attempt to put asunder what God has most certainly joined together has ended in failure.
For almost 60 years, until the death of 'Bonnie Prince Charlie', the people who were after Scottish independence were called "The people of the old leaven" Yesterday, and after millions in wasted dollars and hot air, they failed again.
Let us hope that these old Jacobites finally get the message and be content with their Haggis, bagpipes, kilts and queen so that "YES" and "NO" might enjoy a Happy Hogmany together.

Jubilate.
Ian

Something to Ponder.

If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills, 
If you can always be cheerful ignoring aches and pains.
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it.
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time;
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, if you can treat a rich friend the same as a poor one.
If you can conquer tension without medical help and relax without cigarettes or liquor and sleep without the aid of drugs..
...................then you are probably the family dog.

Jubilate 
Ian

More for the Book of Miracles.

There is a difference between being in the center of your comfort zone as a Christian believer and living by faith on the brink of disaster.
Our circumstances, over our years preaching to the colonists in Canada, took Pauline and me very quickly from the safe seat in the boat to walking on water.
God HAD to perform regular miracles or we were sunk.
On one occasion, in the depth of winter, I had a call from a man called Charlie Perrault. Charlie had a log house which he would fill regularly with young people for Christian retreats. It was a hundred miles due North in the boon docks. Charlie asked me if I would come up and preach for him. He had a house full of kids and had run out of sermons. It was six-o-clock on a Sunday morning. Charlie said: "If you can find the gas money to get up here we will get you home."
All I could rustle up was one dollar and some odd change. 
I put that into my gas tank on a big 350 Chevvy and set off on a hundred mile trip with less than two gallons of petrol. This old car did about 15 miles to the gallon so it was an act of insanity to think I could make it on Esso. The extra would HAVE to come from God. Thirty miles up the highway the needle was on empty and I began to pray. One hand was in the air and the other on the wheel. Every time I brought my hand down the engine began to cough. I drove 70 miles on fumes and faith before I pulled in to see my friend Des Kerr. He had a jeep and drove us the next thirty miles through the snow to Charlie's cabin. After I preached these kids gave me $80:00 to get home. I picked up my car at Des's house and asked for a can of gas to prime the engine because I knew the tank was as dry as the Gobi desert. When my friend began to pour the gas in the filler pipe it over flowed immediately. The tank was full to the brim. 
I proved two things from that episode. Firstly that engines run better with NO gas at all; secondly that God, Who could feed five thousand people from five loaves and two fishes, finds no problem in filling the gas tank of a penniless preacher when He sends him  to preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jubilate

Ian

75 years on Planet Earth

On Sunday I celebrated my 75th birthday with an old fashioned Canadian hog roast.
A hundred friends, family and fellow Christians gathered under the Big Top: guitars, bag pipes, drums - all were at full volume to make a joyful sound.There were prayers, praise, testimonies from my kids followed by a BBQ.
I'd like to do it all over again but Pauline says "NO"
That's O.K. It was good to be part of a joyful celebration that I was actually compos mentis, compos corpore enough to enjoy!
A month earlier I had been in a different context at the funeral of a dear friend. Wonderful eulogies and speeches were made but he wasn't there to hear them.
My advice to you all: say the things that need to be said to your family and loved ones NOW while they are still alive to appreciate your words.
And if you really want to get everyone together to share your heart, kill and BBQ a fatted hog.

The aroma of those roasting spare ribs does wonders to make good words and good times roll.

Jubilate.
Ian

The book of Miracles

A lady has recently contacted me to ask if she can publish some of my recent accounts of miracles that Pauline and I have witnessed over the years.
When the book is in print I will post the title for you, but meanwhile here is another event that took place to add to the chronicle.
One day I was down at the muffler shop having my exhaust pipe fixed. There was a pair of legs sticking out from under the car and a disembodied voice shouted:
"The winner of the LOTTARIO came from Barrie this week and he won $150,000:00 "
I shouted back: "$ 150,000:00 wouldn't pay for what I've got under the third button of my shirt." 
The lady whose car was being worked on asked: "What have you got under your shirt?" I replied: "The Lord Jesus Christ lives under there and He can live in you as well."
This lady said: "I have been suffering seizures and have sky-high blood pressure and tintinitis. Could He heal me?" 
I told her to read James 5:14 and give me a call.
The next day myself and another man went to pray for her. It turned out that she lived in the biggest house in town and belonged to one of the wealthiest families. We prayed for this lady (her name was Audrey). The following week her MRI came back. The brain scan was clear, her blood pressure was normal and the ringing in her ears was largely gone. This lady never had another seizure and became an ardent witness of her new-found faith.
There is another part to this story but if you want to read about it you will have to buy the book!

Jubilate 

Ian.

The latest six-shooter

Incomprehensible, imbecilic, loony-tunes, unconscionable, brain-gonzo:  we run out of vocabulary. In Arizona this week, a six year old girl shot her gun instructor dead while he was teaching her how to fire an Uzi machine gun.

 A mere six and a half years earlier this child was in her mother's womb; five days ago she was at a firing range with a loaded sub-machine gun in her hands. Not a barbie doll, not a teeny make-up set but a SUB MACHINE GUN.

This child will not be allowed to pray in school, will not be taught from the Bible in her school. This Christmas she will not be allowed to sing carols in her class,  BUT it was just fine for her to turn up for lessons on how to use an Uzi machine gun.

Next week is my 75th birthday and I have lived long enough to say that a world that forsakes the love of God in Jesus Christ is a world that will go stark raving mad.
Will some one out there please agree with me?

Ian

Wally

One of my good friends, a man of  great stature in the preaching world, was called Walter Best. His ministry had much impact in the town of Peterboro where he pastored a large church.
One Monday morning my phone rang. It was Elanor his wife, asking me to join her at St Margaret's Hospital in Toronto. Wally was in a coma after suffering a massive heart attack. He had been clinically dead for several minutes but, after skilled intervention, they had revived him. However, things were not good.
"No More Tears" baby shampoo was the only anointing oil I had in the house, so armed with a bottle I set out for Toronto.
I was met by by Elanor ( a woman of strong faith) who directed me to the emergency facility. The beds, in this state-of-the-art ward, were arrayed in a circle like numbers on a clock face with the nursing station in the center.
Wally was lying at one-o-clock on the dial.He was unclothed with wires and tubes hanging off him. With permission from the nurse I went to his bed,took his hand and spoke his name. There was no reaction. It was time for the shampoo. I shook the bottle and about half the contents finished on Wally's chest and when I prayed I found my hands slipping among all the fixtures. I didn't think that God was worried about the lack of protocol. I just asked Him to rebuke death
(which has a real presence) and restore Wally to life and  health.
Then I spoke in Wally's ear  "Remember you are due to preach for me in November. Squeeze my hand if you are going to be there." Sure enough, still snoring in his coma, Wally squeezed my hand.
Later that year, Wally, the Prince among preachers, preached from behind my pulpit his first sermon after been discharged from hospital, and it was a good one.
Faith in Christ and "No More Tears" baby shampoo had worked!

Jubilate.
Ian

OOOPS!

We can all breathe a sigh of relief. The latest pronouncement from the body that studies world climate tells us that the warming cycle that was a threat to the planet is officially over. In fact the 'pause ' began in 1998 and will not commence again until 2030.
Professor Ka-Kit Tung, the noted climatologist from Washington University, and his counter-part Refo Knutti from Berlin have spoken. The great Pacific Ocean, the driver of world temperatures, has gone into a period of inversion and the deeper waters have now risen to the surface to cool off the sweating earth.
Really, as if we didn't know this already. 
In Canada we endured the coldest winter for 60 years and have just suffered a lousy summer that reminded us of being back in England, our home and native land.
In the Victorian era Lord Hardinge wrote in a pithy letter to Lord Curzon, the Vice-regent of India:

"Really Curzon, you must learn to suffer fools more gladly, after all they constitute the majority of the world's population."

It could well be so, but as far as the voodoo scientists are concerned, absolutely true.

Jubilate.

Ian

Another Miracle New Life.

The voice was tense and fraught with anxiety. "Pastor Wilson come quickly, Joel is dying." It was Roxanne Smith a young mother in my congregation who lived with her husband, Mike, a few miles north in Orillia.
"We are at the Soldiers Memorial Hospital waiting to be taken to Toronto," continued Roxanne, "but if you come now you will be able to pray for Joel."
And "come" I did. On the way north, steering with one hand I read a scripture from Luke 5 where Jesus gave John the Baptist His credentials: the deaf being healed, the blind receiving their sight and the dead being raised.
Fortified, I went to the emergency room where the six month old baby was in an incubator as grey a paper with an angry red lump above the forehead where the Meningitis poison had gathered.
I asked the nurse to remove the lid and, with Mike holding my hand, I rebuked the power of death and commanded life and health for the child.
Immediately the ambulance arrived but before they whisked Joel away I said to the parents " Call me in twenty years time. I want to officiate at his wedding!"
The next morning Joel was out of his coma but a day later was pronounced to be deaf because of brain damage. Roxanne recalled the scripture I had given her about the deaf being healed and requested other tests to be run. Sure enough by the end of the week Joel was discharged restored to health and fully intact. The Smith's later moved to Florida.
Twenty one years later I received a phone call, it was from a young man called Joel and, you have guessed it, he wanted me to officiate at his wedding and tell the story of his personal miracle.
He is still living in Destin alive, well and awaiting your call if you wish to speak with him.

Jubilate.

Ian

Another Miracle.

If there is one thing better than a miracle its two.
In my post last week I recounted a recent miracle that had taken place in the healing of a lady with cancer.
Let me tell you of another one.
Numerous years ago David, my brother-in-law, was prostrated with a lower back problem. This persisted for many weeks and resulted in him being confined to bed. Eventually the doctor booked him into Winchester hospital to undergo an operation.
My sister Anne, phoned me the day before and asked for special prayers.
It was a Sunday and I had people join hands after evening service and launch off our faith in the general direction of England for healing for David. The next morning, just before he was due for surgery, the pain disappeared. The presiding nurse called for the surgeon who told David to go home before he used his scalpel on him.
And home he went  and returned to work where his colleagues gave him the sobriquet "The Miracle Man."



Thereafter David has led walking tours all over England, plays a mean game of golf  and  lives pain-free in his home in Southampton. Call him anytime and he will tell you his story.

Jubilate.

Ian

Farewell to Robin Williams

The life of  Robin Williams the nation's funny man came to an abrupt and brutal conclusion on Monday: death by suicide.

Behind the smile, the brilliant mind, the repartee, and the irrepressible sense of humor there lived a dark, menacing alter ego.

It had a voice that ultimately spoke louder than the laughter and the effervescence of Robin's personality. A voice that decreed doom to this most marvelously talented actor.

Jesus gave insight into this spiritual state when he spoke of the need  for the 'strong man' to be overpowered and dispossessed by One who is stronger.(Luke 11 v 18-22).
Interpret this parable how you will, we must agree upon one thing; namely, that evil powers are forever at work seeking to rob people of their health, hope and happiness.
Take heart! God, who is the Author of real joy, peace and true fulfillment, offers a solution in His Son who came to vanquish the thief of all things good and give us LIFE ABUNDANT.
(John 10:10)
Put this promise to the test and receive Him into your life today.

He IS the answer.

Jubilate.

Ian

The Joy of a Miracle

I'm happy to report good news in the midst of a world gone mad.
A couple of weeks ago I visited my daughter on vacation in the lake district of Ontario. 
While we were relaxing by the lake shore she remarked that her friend, who was sitting nearby, had cancer. She was a young, blond- haired, sweet looking lady and, what added to the tragedy of her situation, was that she was a mother of four.
The doctors had said she had but a short time to live.
My daughter, Sharon, knows that I am likely to pray for anything that moves, so she was not surprised when I went over to introduce myself. Before I left I laid hands on this young lady and implored that God would heal her and extend her years that she could live to see her grand-children.
Shortly after Pauline and I were on our way home.
On Sunday I called in to see Sharon at her farm just outside the city of Barrie.
I was greeted by the wonderful news that her friend had phoned her in great excitement to say that her MRI had come back clear. The doctors are amazed. No sign of cancer!
Hallelujah. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever"

Jubilate.

Ian.

Flight to Mt Sinjar.

Where is Mt Sinjar one may ask? Until this week we had never heard of the place, that is, until 40,000 Iraqi Christians fled for their lives to the shelter of its slopes.
And the culprit behind this desperate exodus? Who other than our sweetheart friends the Islamic State of Syria and Levant. (ISIS)
These folk have given the Yazidi Christians a simple choice, convert to Islam or receive a bullet in the head.
Where do these people ISIS get their insidious doctrine? Why, from the guiding light of the Koran which tells them to go ahead and kill all infidels who will not bow the knee to the prophet Mohamed.

To all  readers who object to fundamentalist Christians referring to the Bible as God's Holy Word, I say: "Be Happy"
If you don't like these evangelical types preaching from the Bible you may soon have people like ISIS bringing their version of the Koran to a city near you.
After all, their latest boast is to fly their flag from the roof of the White House.

Now there is a prospect for our liberally minded friends to ponder.

Jubilate.

Ian

Blood swept lands and seas of red

There are memorials and then there are living memorials. None has made an impact more than the millions of ceramic poppies that now fill the dry moat of the Tower of London.
They commemorate the hundredth anniversary of England entering into the First World War. 
The brilliant concept of Paul Cummins, these poppies gush from one of the gun ports in the ancient tower and represent the river of blood that was effused in the nation during the years of 1914 to 1918.

People have been brought to tears and visibly moved by this depiction of the stark horrors of war.I have been one of them.

Its title is: "Blood swept lands and seas of red"

May God grant this race of human-beings wisdom to beat our swords into plow-shares before we annihilate ourselves and bring His blessed creation to a ghastly end.

Ian

Eyeless in Gaza

Back in the 1930's Aldous Huxley wrote a book based on the fate of Samson who ended his life in the hands of the Philistines having been blinded by way of revenge. It was called "Eyeless in Gaza"

The territory of these Philistines was named by the Romans as Palestine and has been known as such for two thousand years. Hence we can see that nothing has changed over the millennia. The Philistines are still at it, implacably at war with their hated neighbor Israel.
The conflict has exhausted the diplomatic efforts of seven U.S Secretaries of State in the last fifty years and will add John Kerry to its list of failures before long.

Deeper than handshakes and truces in Egypt and Pathways to Peace in Washington lies the seed of enmity birthed in Abraham's own family between Ishmael (the father of the Arab nations) and Isaac (the progenitor of the Jewish people)
The Bible says that it shall last until all war is quelled by the arrival of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Therein is the subject of my post "Eyeless in Gaza" . The failure to bring about lasting peace between these warring family members is not through lack of trying  but by lack of BELIEVING in the Only Begotten Son of God, the Prince of Peace and the Lord of Lords.
While we remain blind to His gospel of reconciliation expect more bombs and bloodshed until He returns to put an end to it all.

May that be REAL SOON.

Jubilate.

Ian