from the firing line…

This has been an exhausting and exhilarating week! How exciting to be a part of all this Olympic “aura” and celebration. The world has come to Vancouver and there is a genuine buzz all around the city, the thousands of visitors, the upheaval in work schedules, the cheering crowds, the throngs filling our downtown streets… but even greater has been the opportunity to be part of a dedicated gospel outreach to the people of our city and to those from around the world.

The time spent on the streets passing out J&Rs (the good news of Jesus Christ) to Olympic attendees from near and far has been a learning experience to be sure. I have rejoiced to hear the stories of witnessing, of people coming to know the Lord. And I have been frustrated by the vast number of folks who simply do not care. Polite Canadians often return the booklets; “no thank you” and off they go. You want to call after them, “Wait, you don’t understand, you will desperately need this one day…” But we can only do so much in the few seconds we have.

I know God can do what we never can do. His Word can find its way into a heart like nothing else on earth and I am trusting that there will indeed be faith that will come by hearing (and reading) the Word of God. I am thankful for the many people from our church and from our sister churches in Metro Vancouver who have been willing to head out into the battlefield for their Saviour. I know God will bless them as they have obeyed His commend to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.”

We have yet another week of Olympic fever. I am praying that God will do something special in the hearts of those who need Him most.

What a show we saw last night for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games here in Vancouver! It was eye-dazzling and exciting to see the special effects, the athletes, more special effects… and to hear of Canada’s strengths and beauty. I am confident that most Canadians – at least the ones watching it on TV at our house – were proud of the opening ceremonies. (Even though the final torch lighting did not turn out as planned.)

But there was a cloud over the entire evening as word had come that a young luger from Georgia (the country) had been killed earlier in the day when he lost control of his sled at very high speed at the end of a training run. The video clip hits like a hammer, a punch in the stomach. How terribly sad, this young man, just 21 years old, now gone. Nodar Kumaritashvili was remembered with a moment of silence in the midst of all the opening celebrations, but it could not bring him back.

I was surprized at how badly I felt about all this. Certainly other young people have their lives tragically cut short through accidents all the time. Maybe it was because it was so public, maybe because he was a fine athlete, but one thing for certain, he did not come to Vancouver/Whistler to die.

As I pondered the reality of this, I was once again reminded of James 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Life is so uncertain – even for the young and healthy. It serves to remind me why we are launching this Olympic outreach, taking forth the Word of God to many who have come for the games and many more who live in this great city. Their lives, like that of young Nodar are uncertain and they need to be prepared to meet God. Please pray with us for this gospel outreach, please get involved and go.

- Pastor Conner

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

For months now, we have been bombarded the advertising campaign “do you believe?” I think it is an interesting way to build loyalty and support for our Canadian Olympic athletes. But you know, all of this “believing” by us – the public at large – will not really help our athletes go faster or perform more skilfully. It may make us feel good, it will definitely add pressure to them, but it won’t help them. And when you think about it, though a good positive attitude is important and very helpful in your performance as a sport figure, good attitude alone is not enough.

I can guarantee that the athletes who will represent our nation and those from every other nation who are coming to compete are not depending solely on good will or even their own “can do” attitude and determination. They have trained, and trained – hour after hour, day after day, weeks, months, yes, years – to prepare their bodies and minds to a level of excellence suitable to compete on the world stage that the Olympics presents. All of this effort and preparation takes one thing: a hunger to win and the discipline to make it happen.

When I watch those people from the comfort of my Lazy-Boy recliner, I sort of feel ashamed at my lack of physical discipline. Makes me want to get up and at least sit on a hard chair while I watch them on TV. But more than that, if these athletes can pay such a price, to sacrifice so many comforts, to be rigid and determined in training to compete for a few ounces of gold in a medal, should not I, who desire to please my Lord and Saviour be willing to exercise some spiritual discipline in order to finish my course?

As we enter into the Olympic experience, may the Lord use the disciplined determination of our athletes to stir up some spiritual discipline in us for the race set before us…

- Pastor Gordon Conner

I have been blessed by a little volume by J.R. Miller. I trust it will be a blessing to you as well. Here is his devotional for February 5^th.

“Be thou there until I bring thee word.” Matthew 2:13

All our movements should be under the direction of God. In very olden times God guided his people by a pillar of fire and cloud, which lifted and moved when they were to move, showing them the way, and which rested and settled down when they were to halt. In these days of so much fuller revelation there is no need for any such visible token of guidance, yet the guidance is no less real and no less unmistakable.

It was an angel that brought to Joseph the bidding to flee into Egypt. Angels do not now appear to our eyes; but who will say that they do not whisper in our ears many a suggestion which we supposed to come from our own hearts? At least we know that in some way God will always tell us what to do; and if only we have ears to hear we shall never fail of guidance. We should always wait for God’s bidding before taking any step. Especially in times of danger, when we are moving under his guidance should we wait and not move until he brings us word.

It ought to give us great comfort and a wonderful sense of safety to know that God is caring for us so faithfully. Some people laugh at the simple faith of childlike believers in God, and say that it is all fancy that there is no one in heaven taking care of us. But we need not be worried by such sceptical ones. There is a God in heaven, and he is our Father. He never sleeps. He has charge of all the affairs of this universe, and is always “at the helm.” This should give us all confidence. Our whole duty is to be ready always to obey. Whenever the voice comes bidding us arise and depart, there is some reason for it, and we should not hesitate to obey. Wherever we are sent we should quietly stay till again God sends to call us away. The place of duty is always the place of safety, and we should never move until God brings us word.

Well, here we sit on January 1^st, 2010 – a new year and a new decade await us like fresh snow untraveled or marred. I love the start of a new year – getting a new calendar, placing the family birthdays, new scheduled events and wondering what unexpected things the next months hold in store if the Lord delays His coming yet another year.

It is a great blessing to face each year, not with a sense of dread, but of hope and the certain knowledge that whatever comes my way, God will still be God and will remain in my heart and at my side to see me through. I face the year with new dreams and aspirations, with new goals and yes, a few “resolutions,” too. I know I will need God’s help to reach those goals, but I also need a good dose of self-discipline and determination.

My greatest desire is to be used of God to help someone in their walk with the Lord, to point the lost to the Saviour, and to become more like Him in my attitude, holiness, and day to day life. I desire to be a better husband & father, to be more faithful to my Lord, to love others in a greater way. Big dreams, high hopes, but with God’s help – nothing is impossible.

As you ponder the road ahead, this new year of 2010, consider carefully your stewardship of the life entrusted to you by the Lord. With His help and an abundance of His grace, we can make a difference in our life and the lives of those around us. May God bless you as you seek to follow Him this year.

Micah 7:7
⁷ Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

from the firing line…

Pastor Gordon Conner

That is a common year-end saying and a suitable sentiment for forward thinking and forward looking people. I would surmise that most of us have some memory from the last twelve months that we are ready to toss out with the close of 2009. And it is good to move on from bad events, sad experiences, and negative thinking – unless there was a lesson to be learned in them.

Life is not always easy, the roads we travel not always smooth, but for the child of God – even the toughest of times have purpose and reason behind them. There is nothing that can come into my life or yours without the “permitting” hand of God. So when I sigh and mutter, “I am sure glad that’s over.” Maybe I would do well to reflect on the lessons God had for me in those times of trial, testing, or unpleasantness. Did the trials serve as God’s chastening? Was I brought into a closer relationship with the Lord? did my faith fail or grow stronger? Did the Lord desert me? God never left my side and here I am – a survivor of 2009. As someone once said many years ago, “The trials of life are meant to make us better, not bitter.”

So as we close out another year, we may be ready to let it all go… and that is okay. God’s mercies are new every morning, and we then, can look forward with fresh anticipation to the new year with all it holds in store for us. It is a fine balance we should embrace – learning from the tough times, but also not allowing them to rob us of a fresh future in 2010.

Philippians 3:13-14
¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

This was sent to me and I thought I would share it with you. Enjoy!

by Pastor Al Hughes

Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones

and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems

logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second.

This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has

1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney,

fill the stocking, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever

snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move

on to the next house.

Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the

earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations

we will accept), we are now talking about 0.78 miles per household, a total

trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us do at least

once every 31 hours, plus feeding, etc.

That means that Santa’s sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3000 times

the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on

earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second – a

conventional reindeer can run, at tops 25-30 miles per hour.

The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming each child

gets nothing more than a medium sized LEGO set (2 Ibs), the sleigh is carrying

321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight.

On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting

the “flying reindeer” can pull TEN TIMES that normal amount, we cannot do the job

with eight, or even nine-we need 214,200 reindeer. This increased the payload, not

even counting the weight of the sleigh, to 353,430 tons. Again for comparison, this

is four times the weight of the HMS Queen Elizabeth.

353,000 tons travelling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance.

This will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecrafts re-entering the

earth’s atmosphere. The lead pair will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy

per second, each. In short, they will burst into flames almost instantaneously,

exposing the reindeer behind them, and creating a deafening sonic boom in their

wake.

The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second.

Santa meanwhile, will be subject to centrifugal forces of 17,500.06 times greater

than gravity. A 250 Ib. Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to

the back of the sleigh by a 4,315,015 pound force.

In conclusion, if Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he is now dead.

I have a small red-covered book written by J.R. Miller entitled Come Ye Apart. It is a little daily devotional book first published in 1890. I have enjoyed reading it from time to time, and finding important, helpful truth. I was looking at the preface the other day and was struck by the timeliness of his thoughts. I trust they will speak to your heart as they did mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Life is hard for most of us; at least, it is hard to live nobly, grandly, purely, Christianly. We can do so only by getting a great deal of help from Christ. We need, therefore, daily to heed His invitation, “Come ye apart.” In communion with Him we shall receive strength and blessing to enable us to fulfil our mission of obedience and ministry in His name. We shall rob ourselves, therefore, of Divine anointing, of Divine help if we do not make room in our busiest days for quiet retreats from noise and strife – apart with Christ, where we may sit at His feet to hear His words… to absorb His spirit, for the refreshing and transforming of our own lives.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May we each take that much needed time today – to come apart and be with Christ.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:24-25

We have our choice. We may live for self, take good care of our lives, not exposing them to danger, not making sacrifices, looking out for our own interests, and we may prosper in the world. People will commend our good sense and congratulate us on our success. We may reach old age healthy and well preserved, and greatly enjoy our accumulated honours and possessions. This is one way of living. There seems to be something pleasant about such a life, but really it is only the grain of wheat preserved in the barn and kept from falling into the ground. The life abides alone, well enough kept, perhaps, but with no increase. It has been no blessing in the world. It has done nothing for the glory of God. It has fed no hunger, shared no good news, it has won no reward. That is the whole outcome of selfishness. He that loveth his life, shall lose it.

The other way is to forget self; not to think of, nor care for one’s own life, but to throw it away in obedience to God and in unselfish service. People will say you are foolish to waste your life, to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others in Christ’s cause. But was the Lord Jesus foolish when He went to the cross? Let those of us who are redeemed be the answer. Were the early church martyrs foolish when they stood boldly for the truth – were such lives wasted and thrown away? Are missionaries who leave family and home and travel to distant lands foolish in their cause? Is any life that is willingly given to fall into the ground and die a wasted and worthless life?

The way to make nothing of our lives is to be very careful with them. The way to make our lives eternal successes is to do with them, just what the Lord Jesus did with His.

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.” – copied

Honestly, I can’t remember where I found this article, but I won’t let that ruin my attitude! I trust this will encourage you and help you to make the most of your day – for good and for God!

Pastor Gordon Conner