My Header Story

My header is a photo of a piece of art that I value more than any other I have in my home.

Several years ago, somewhere in the early nineties, Vic and I were strolling along the shore of Harrison Lake admiring the wares of the vendors who had set up temporary shop on the sand.
One artist and his work caught my attention and I stopped .

I learned the French artist had been fascinated one day by slabs of slate stone ..

the jagged edges begging him to paint them into mountain scenes.

He had numerous resulting pieces on display

but my eye immediately rested on one in particular.

It was as if he had sat in my family room and painted using the colours around him.

I LOVED it … I went closer and instinctively reached out to touch it .
The artist had been watching me, and as I reached out, he cried

“Don’t touch it !!.... then too late , he added ..”its still wet!”
But to my dismay, I had already left my thumb smudge in the wet paint and the picture perfection was ruined.

His face severe, the artist handed me a scalpel “Now you have to fix it , “ he said.
I took the scalpel my hand and looked at the painting.

I knew I could not repair the damage I had done.
Then the artist’s face broke out in a smile, his eyes twinkled and he said, “I’ll fix it !”
With a few deft strokes of the artist’s hand the painting was a good as new!
He joked, “100 years from now when they scrape back the paint

they will find your fingerprint and accredit you as the artist !”
Of course I bought the beautiful slab of slate.

How like the artist is God and how quick we are to mess up what He has done.
God said, “Don’t touch!” in the garden of Eden but Adam and Eve touched and ruined perfection with their sin.
God gave them the Old Covenant and said “Fix it !” but of course man in his own strength could not do it !
Then God smiled and took the Old Covenant, perfected it through Jesus and gave us the New Covenant – perfect!

Our personal imprint of sin has been covered over ,

eternity is ours at a price we can afford ---

Our faith in the Artist’s work.

But God continues to cover our ‘imprints’ does He not?
Bad things happen and He promises ,

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God,

to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28)

We fail, we stumble, we touch , and He is ready, scalpel in hand, to make it right again. “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!” (I John 1:9)

One day when we are standing at heaven’s door and are asked why we should be allowed in… we will be able to say .. “because my imprint of sin is covered by the redemptive work of the great Artist!”

Rom 4:7 "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS ARE FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED;
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The Ship is Sinking

Last week I saw a documentary about the Oceanos.
The Oceanos was a Greek cruise ship with the highest possible safety rating at Lloyds Registry of Shipping. She was sailing off the coast of South Africa when she hit turbulent waters and sank on Aug. 4,1991.

The crew discovered the ship was in trouble and instead of alerting the passengers they quietly lowered the life boats at 3:00 am. and deserted the ship.

The Captain was still on board but he did and said nothing, leaving the passengers unaware their very lives were in danger.

There were entertainers on board, Julian Butler and Moss Hills and His wife Tracy.
Despite the stormy weather they were doing their best to distract the passengers, but most of the 571 passengers were lying down in their berths.

It was Moss Hills who began to be concerned that not all was well with the ship and he went to speak with the captain who insisted all was well and that the ship was not in any kind of danger. Hills was not convinced and he went below deck to see for himself. What he saw, to his horror, was that the hull was rapidly filling with water. He realized that he would have to take charge if any one was to be saved.

He and his wife and fellow entertainer alerted the passengers to the imminent danger, handed out life jackets and ordered them all to the comparative safely of the top deck.
He radioed for help and several helicopters flew in for the rescue attempt.
The captain insisted that he be lifted to safety in the first helicopter - ignoring the age old rule that the Captain goes down with his ship.
(He, along with members of his crew, were later charged with negligence by the Greek Maritime Board.)

Thanks to the three entertainers, all 571 passengers were airlifted to safely. Butler, Hills and Tracie were among the last 5 to be airlifted, just before the ship sank.


An investigation revealed that there had been an unrepaired leak in the watertight bulkhead which would not have been a problem except that a door had been carelessly left open allowing the water to spread to the other departments. Also the port holes had not been closed by the fleeing crew which was standard procedure in an emergency. Because the port holes were open when the ship turned on its side it could not right itself because of the water rushing in through the port holes.


At the end of the documentary Hills commented. "What I learned from my experience was that rules are there for a reason and when obedience to these rules is neglected the results are disastrous."


I saw this story as a parable.

Our Ship Earth has the highest safety rating that can be given to any ship sailing through the universe.

Original Sin has caused a leak in Ship Earth, but this in itself would not be a problem if the safety rules, given by God Himself were followed. They have, however, been blatantly ignored and disobeyed.
Consequently, Ship Earth is sailing toward destruction, but its passengers are totally unaware of any danger.

When things go wrong, the 'crew' of this world looks out for number one. They are quick to lower life rafts to ensure their own safety instead of risking their lives to save others. The captains are paralyzed, turning a deaf ear and blind eye to any danger signs.
Their wisdom and advice will help no one in the day Ship Earth sinks.

There is only one hope.

There are 'entertainers' on board Ship Earth.
Christians - Their message is not taken seriously and is often good for a laugh.
It is the Christians who see that Ship Earth is in danger and they are the ones with hope.
Their message will save any passenger who hears and obeys.
Everyone who hears their message and receives it will be air lifted to safety,
saved from eternal death to enjoy eternal life!

The lesson from the Oceanos.....
God has given us rules regarding every aspect of our life. His rules are not given to make our life difficult but to make it 'safe' . He gave us the 10 commandments, He lay before us the blessings in Deut. 28 and warned us of the curses (consequences) that follow disobedience. As surely as the rules of gravity cannot be ignored without hurt, so also God's other rules cannot be ignored without dire consequences.
May we learn to seek to know the rules that God put into place,
and obey them, every one.

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"
Jesus said to him, 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it: 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Matt. 22:36-40

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Another New Year

Years ago we had colourful bantam chickens as part of our ‘pet’ barnyard. They had the run of the yard and their own little hen-house with nest boxes and a night roost above the ground where they loved to sleep.

One year we decided we wanted some baby ducks and bought some fertilized eggs.

Rather that incubate them under lights we ‘hired’ our bantam hen to do the job. She and her mate were delighted with the whole surrogate parenting thing and faithfully kept those eggs warm.

In due time the eggs successfully hatched and you never saw parents more proud of their ‘chicks’.
They didn’t seem to notice that their ‘chicks’ grew too big too quickly making it rather difficult, and quickly impossible, to fit them all under Mother Bantam's little wings.

The day the 'chicks' found our pond and instinctively went for a swim, Mr. and Mrs. Bantam realized that they had some severely challenged offspring. They clucked wildly from the edge of the pond and reluctantly the ducklings returned to their parents perplexed at what all the fuss was about.

The real problem arose when the parents decided the ‘chicks’ were big enough to join them on the roost for night. They demonstrated the flight up and squawked for the ‘chicks’ to join them.

The ducklings looked up in confusion and found no responding desire in themselves to ‘roost’. Somehow they knew webbed feet were not going to be able to balance on nor grasp the wooden rod.

We watched in amusement as every night the Mother Bantam tried to coax her ‘chicks’ to join her on the roost. Up she flew, then down and up again , clucking instructions the whole time.

She seemed to be convinced that if they watched long enough they would surely catch on.

They would/could not.

Finally, she just decided to sleep with her children on the ground rather than leave them alone and afraid.

I thought what a beautiful picture this was of what God did for us.

We could not come up to Him. Our sin ‘webbed’ our soul and we could no longer grasp His holiness.
So what did God do, but come down to us, to live among us where we were comfortable, rather than leave us alone and afraid.

John 3:13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
(NKJV)

We are approaching another new year.

We look back on the year that is past and in hindsight view the blessings and the trials.

We do not know what the new year will bring.... but as Christians we have an anchor. We have a God who cared enough about us to come down to dwell among us. He gave us every promise that He would see us through whatever comes our way.

We need not fear the new year, because we know God has already passed through the year and prepared it for us. He has not left us to walk here alone. He has come down to walk with us. His Holy Spirit lives within us and is our trustworthy guide.

May this be our song throughout 2010,

Isa 12:2 ...Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.' "

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Wishing YOU a Blessed Christmas!

I learned something this year that I had not heard before....
Always in my mind the shepherds to whom the angel appeared with the Good News were men. But someone explaining the customs of that time said that the shepherds were always the old or the feeble , women and children, or the youngest boy in the family - shepherding was a lowly job.
I don't know who the shepherds were, since we are not told in scripture, but is it not like God to give more to those who are thought less of in their society?

How exciting it must have been to those shepherds, in the midst of another endless night of watching sheep to suddenly have the heavens open to them with the most glorious display!
It always moves me when I think of God purposely choosing the poor, the weak, the ordinary to display His glory to or give His special gifts !
There truly is no respecter of persons with God -- unless it is in favor of those the world rejects.
Isn't it reassuring to know that we need never fear that we are not 'good enough' to approach God ?
In sending His Son ... He sent an open invitation to you and me - no matter who we are - to come into His Presence!
Read the words of that beautiful story of the shepherds ... again ... and imagine YOU are one of them.. Imagine what it must have been like that glorious night !

Luk 2:8-20 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"
So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."
And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.
Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.
And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

I wish you a very blessed, glorious Christmas season. May you with the shepherds of old rejoice over the good news that is still the best news man has ever heard !!!