Opinion

 

On Sunday, June 29, the very nice folks of Lakeshore Drive United Church in Morrisburg hosted a beautiful pot-luck lunch after our worship service to mark my 30th anniversary of ordination. A number of people from Williamsburg United Church attended as well as some of my friends from other places.

I would call 30 years as a minister a “milestone” in my life. On June 29th, I also marked another birthday–this time hitting those double digits.

Yes, I’m really getting on in years, though perhaps I should look at it as does Tamra from the television show, the Real Housewives of Orange County, who states: “I’m not getting older, I’m just getting bolder!”

Each one of us encounters milestones on our journeys of life. Our graduation from high school, perhaps college. The birth of a child. Watching our son or daughter take their first steps. Decorating our first home. Milestones which bring grief–a diagnosis of cancer, the death of our parents, the realization that all of one’s dreams may not come to fruition.

May we remember that God will be with us as we greet each milestone, as we greet each new day. Our Lord sheds His grace upon us and offers us His peace that passes all understanding. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us, we are never alone.

In the weeks to come, let us draw closer to God and to one another. Remember to love and  forgive our neighbours as God has first loved and forgiven us. Give thanks for blessings and know that the Creator of the heavens and the earth can inspire, guide, support and challenge us. Let us go into the world assured that we can never go where God is not.

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The bank account for the Splashpad to be installed at the South Dundas Children’s Playground in Morrisburg is growing steadily, and we are slowly working our way towards the end of the summer when the organizing committee would like to see the project underway and completed.

With $116,000 now in the bank, thanks to steady fundraising over the last few years and the generosity of a lot of local businesses, clubs and organizations, the committee is now hoping to get the entire community active in coming up with the remaining money needed  for the $200,000 project.

The organizing committee has submitted numerous proposals for grant money, and are hopeful, but you know what they say: You can’t always count on the other guy, sometimes you just got to get out there and do it yourself.

So really the committee is now looking for the South Dundas community, young and old, big and little, in school and out of school, to make a splash with a few fundraisers of your own. You are limited only by your own imagination…and for those of us who are limited on imagination like me, well then the cheque book comes in pretty handy.

For those of you, however, with lots of imagination there are all sorts of events to be considered like bake sales, or yard sales, or a great big huge community party and barbecue like a Block Party or in this case a Park Party, right down there at the playground…with facepainting and balloon popping games of chance…perhaps a cake walk…bake sales…family ‘goofy’ pictures, (we supply the frame, the costumes, the photographer, and you supply the family…a community wide silent auction or some crazy auctions for a free snowblow, or hairdo, or manicure, or garden weeding, a car wash or dinner with a local celeb…and eats and foods with every restaurant and food service in the community on site with their specialties…the list goes on and on. 

It’s all up to you the community. You did it before and the proof is in the  children’s park…at the playground and the nearby beautifully landscaped gardens…so if you did it once, you can do it again…Together we can all make a pretty big $pal$h. Don’t you think?       

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It was only eight months ago that I was standing in a hospital room as Sarah and I were excited to welcome our new little guy into the world. 

Jacob was born a healthy little boy, 8 lbs and 16 ounces. From seconds after his birth his eyes opened, and he began to look around. His life in this world was completely new, and our life with him also was completely new. 

At that moment all three of us had plenty to learn. He would learn how the simple world around him works and we would learn how he works in our world! 

New life is something very exciting, as we have been watching Jacob discover his world. He has  discovered how to drink from a bottle, how to use a spoon and even more recently how to drag (crawl) himself across the floor. 

While he has been learning all these things his mother has  been learning what it’s like to have very little sleep, how to thoroughly baby proof the house and is always finding new ways to entertain someone with a very short attention span (to be clear, that person is Jacob not her husband). 

I have found myself thinking a lot about how this new life is like our lives when we come to Christ. 

Jesus invites people to follow him. As I read through scripture time and time again, Jesus is inviting people to follow him, and some of those people don’t even believe him. They follow him because they are curious about what he’s doing, they believe he may have something they need, or maybe they just wonder if he is who he claims to be. 

Our little Jacob doesn’t know much about this world, but he is learning every day. We watch him learn to use his hands to hold something, use his eyes as he’s amazed by the flashing lights, and then discover how to get our attention by using his voice. 

As we come to know and learn about Jesus we are on a similar journey, discovering how he’s created us for a special purpose. We discover that life is so much greater than this moment, the challenges we face or even the pressures that we feel. As we get to know who Jesus is, we learn how to trust him, how he cares for us, and how he promises to always look after us. 

Jacob is growing up, we don’t have to tell him to. Each day he grows and develops a little more. His features are continually changing and developing. Sarah and I don’t wake up each day and tell him to “GROW UP”, or to “GET BIG”, he does this on his own as we feed him, and care for him. 

Our relationship with God can be the same. As we learn about who God is and begin to trust him, we too will find ourselves growing into who we are created to be.  

We don’t start in this world knowing everything or understanding it all, but we learn as we go. The same is true in our relationship with God, it’s a journey that we’ve been invited to take. 

At MPT we invite you to consider who God is, and discover all He has for you. We would love to meet you and welcome your visit anytime. For more information please visit www.mptonline.ca. 

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A teacher complained to Tim’s parents about their son (11 years old),  saying that recently he became aggressive in his behaviour. He is hitting his friends, and even when playing group games he will be violent in all his actions. The teacher’s notice, however, did not take the parents by surprise; Tim did not shy off from his behaviour at home. His older sister has had some bruises on her arm lately. 

Tim parents, teachers and the school’s social worker tried to talk to him about this issue, but things did not seem to be changing at all; on the contrary the snow ball was going downhill. 

One day, his class teacher arranged to meet the family right after the school; she was to take the school bus with Tim home to see if anything could be done, but she was not very optimistic. 

Once there she surprised his parents when she said, “I think I just learned what is wrong with Tim.” 

On the way to their house the bus had to go through the downtown and pass by the central cinema house where they had a huge poster about the movie being played there. The movie was an action one and the poster showed a picture of a very good looking, topless actor where you could see every single muscle in his upper body. 

“He really looked like everything an 11 year old boy wants to be. I saw Tim captivated by the poster as we passed by,” she said. 

Apparently, Tim identified himself with the picture or with the person in that picture; in other words, he saw himself to be that actor and quickly acted as one.

This story is not only about an 11 year old boy, it is about everyone. The honest response to it is not if we go through the same experience; rather, it is what kind of images play an important role in one’s self-understanding or in understanding the world around you? 

Before answering this question, we might want to remember a couple of things: 

•It is a picture-culture we live in; pictures surround us all the time, and we don’t have control over the ones we get to see every new day.

•They are all taken in professional shooting sessions: from the best angel, using the best lighting, putting the right things in, taking the wrong things out and by expert hands. 

So, we are surrounded with pictures that can’t be spontaneously found in everyday life.

The picture-culture we live in is really a fairy-like picture-culture; there is a tension between the images that surround us and the world we live in; there is a big distance between what you have on your tray and the giant hamburger you see in the ad.

Our eyes and minds are being trained, everyday, to connect and appreciate another kind of reality; a reality that has to do with the appearance more than the content, a reality where we are invited to identify with the eye-candies we see around. 

This can be a major reason behind our frustrations and unreal expectations.

And it can explain why our self-understanding, models and aspirations have become unreal more than real. 

In the Old Testament, in the book of 1 Samuel 16:7 it says: “…God sees not as people see, for they look at the eye, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

I think we are invited to learn again to look at the more important things in life and identify with them. Our life can take a big turn if we look to the heart and not to the eye. 

Our bus goes through downtown every day, what are we looking at and what are we learning? 

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A goodbye to South Dundas

Sometimes pastoral ministry is a contradiction. It is all about building relationships and yet when the Spirit sends Pastors out to another call, we and you are asked to drop those very precious relationships and move on to hopefully good new ones. 

After living and working here for nine years, I do feel as if I am a part of this community of South Dundas. Many of you already know I will be moving on as of the end of June.

I am going to miss my very good and hard working South Dundas  ministerial colleagues.

I have sat on the Dundas County Food Bank Board and the Spiritual Care Advisory working group for Winchester District Memorial Hospital. 

The congregation of South Dundas Lutheran Community Church has been through many changes since I arrived here in 2005.

My message to you, the South Dundas Community, is to never stop dreaming and never stop believing in a higher being – God.  

Don’t stick with the status quo! Dream outside of the box  – whether that is for your faith community or for your family or your community at large. Be the best that you can be! 

As I quote a very famous man  – “ Love God  and Love one another.”

Laugh a lot  . . . God loves to hear you.

Cry when you have to.  And Pray at all times.

May God be with you and I until we meet again. 

As always, Pastor Norine 

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No, Love South Dundas

I heard a story about a pastor who announced that next Sunday was to be a special friendship Sunday. Everyone was encouraged to invite family and friends. He asked that the congregation go out of their way to be welcoming and friendly. 

After his announcement one dear lady was so inspired she turned to the gentleman behind her and greeted him warmly. “Excuse me,” he said, “that friendship stuff isn’t till next week.”

Obviously, there’s something wrong with that picture. Being kind and friendly are hardly things we are to schedule or limit to a certain period of time.

Maybe that’s why it’s okay that after five years Love South Dundas is being discontinued.

Love South Dundas was a combined effort of the churches of our area to show God’s love in tangible ways for two weeks during the month of June. 

Ditches were cleaned, graffiti was painted over, baked goods were given out, seniors’ residences were visited, and a whole host of other random acts of kindness were carried out.

For the last three years the event ended with a big outdoor fair with bouncy castles, children’s entertainers, face painting, a free barbecue, and all kinds of other great stuff. 

It was a lot of fun. A wonderful way to get together as a community. The event closed with a joint worship service in which a guest speaker shared the awesome message of salvation in Christ.

Overall, Love South Dundas was also a great way for the churches to get out of their walls to serve their community and in doing so to be a witness for God. It was also a powerful expression of the unity of the church. All these Christians working together as one. For some of us, this may be what we miss most.

But now Love South Dundas (at least for now) is no more. Maybe that’s okay. 

Serving the community and witnessing to it of God’s love really is to be something that is done year round. 

Hopefully Love South Dundas served as a catalyst for us churches to continue to work together. Hopefully it got us excited to be the salt and light that Christ calls us to be.

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PARTICIPANTS?

Currently, here in Canada, non-profit corporations have been required to file documents of continuance with our government. In the process of this filing, I am aware of at least one church that has redefined what we normally call members of the church, as participants of the church. 

Initially this did not sit well with me, since as long as I have been aware of the church, those in it had been called members; and this change seemed to be driven by certain changes in corporate law for non-profits. It did not seem to me to be a biblical change. (here I have reasoned from tradition)

However as I considered this matter over several months, I realized a certain value to designating those once called members of the church as participants. 

Suppose, that the key departure from biblical church in our day, was the lack of involvement by its members. Suppose, that the idea of membership in the local church, no longer conjured up the idea of personal sharing in responsibility for the support and progress of the local church’s vision and mission. Suppose, that for most people, church membership means primarily benefits, with little or no responsibility.

In fact, the forgoing suppositions seem to be well confirmed by every survey of the western church over the past decade. From biblically defined financial support, to church attendance, and adherence to a biblically defined world view and lifestyle; what it means to be a member of a local church no longer seems to call for committed involvement.

If the surveys of the past decade are accurate, the key departure from a biblical pattern of church, that separates the church from being what is envisioned in scripture, is the departure from a biblical quality of participation by its membership. 

We must recapture a biblical quality of participation in the local church. Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, has a vision and mission for His Church. The quality of each members participation in the church is not left to contemporary designs, but rather is made clear in Scripture. 

It is our hope that we will all respond to the biblical encouragement to be participating members or our local churches, fully involved in the actualization and conduct of Jesus’ vision and mission for His Church.

George T. Frey, Jr.

pastor @faithchristiancenter.ca

www.faithchristiancenter.ca

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Life Changes, God Doesn't

I have been sitting on my deck the past few days enjoying the beautiful scenery, the warm breezes and the glorious sunshine.  Today as I once again sit here seeing green grass, luscious leafy trees, and the spectacular St. Lawrence River, my mind wanders back to a few months ago when the area was knee deep in snow and nothing seemed to be alive here.  

I remember when talking to people about the past winter, the refrain was almost always the same.  Winter came early and just kept on coming and coming and coming.  Some wondered if it would ever end.

Life is like that sometimes as well.  We go through seasons of struggle.  Maybe a time of sickness or a strained relationship, and we wonder if things will ever be good again.  

I thought of a song that was sung by Waylon Jennings years ago.  The lyrics were written by David M. Potter.  Storms never last do they baby?  Bad times will pass with the winds. Your hand in mine steals the thunder.  You make the sun want to shine.

I hope that none of you will be offended because I am going to draw a  Biblical truth from a Country and Western song. 

God’s truth can come to us in various forms.  You see, we all have trouble in this life.  In fact, one of the last things that Jesus spoke to His disciples, just before he was crucified, is about this very thing.  

John’s Gospel Ch 16 verse 33 tells us the word of Jesus.  Here is what He said, “In the world you have tribulation,” that is trouble, turmoil, persecution, hurt, etc, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” 

In other words He says to us, don’t let the trouble that you will experience in this world overcome you.  I am in charge, I will be with you.  In fact, at least four places in the Bible, Deut. 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:5, and Hebrews 13:5, God tells us “He will never leave or forsake,” those who are His.  

I think David Potter had something when he penned the words, “your hand in mine steals the thunder, you make the sun want to shine.”  

That’s what it means to trust in God.  This doesn’t mean that we won’t experience some troublesome times. Jesus tells us differently.  When we know that He is with us, He is holding our hand, He is leading the way, we no longer have to fear what man or sickness can do to us.  

Even if sickness kills ours bodies, it cannot destroy our souls if our hope and trust is in Him who created us and loved us so much that He died to redeem us from our sinful state.

If you are reading this and you are experiencing trouble of any kind, small or great, why not call out to Jesus. He will not force Himself on you but He waits to hear your cry and He will  be there to help, if you will only trust Him.  

An old hymn has the words, “Hold to God’s unchanging Hand, build your hope on things eternal, Hold to God’s unhanging Hand”. 

Why not call out to Him today and trust Him with your life and experience Him in your trouble.  Blessings on you.

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Enjoy LIfe

Since I was a young child, I have had a love for horses. Riding lessons and summer camp were things I always looked forward to. 

I think my Mom probably thought the horse phase of my life wouldn’t last so when I started asking for a horse of my own she said no. I was quite persistent on it, and eventually I did receive my own horse when I was a young teenager.

All my free time, I spent at the barn with my friends and horses. As we grew older and got jobs, our schedules didn’t always work together so I ended up riding by myself quite a bit. 

This became the time I spent with God and time for myself. While I was riding I would talk to God and sing at the top of my lungs (only God doesn’t mind listening to my terrible singing voice!). 

Even now, spending time working with a horse is my escape from the busyness of life and time to relax. 

We live in a very busy world with our schedules always full it seems. Sometimes it is hard to find time for yourself to do the things you love, whether that is sitting down to read a book, going for a walk, sitting on the dock to watch the water pass by or whatever that thing is for you. 

We can be so busy running around to appointments that we don’t take the time to enjoy the life God has given us. Take some time for yourself this week to do what you love. It is the perfect time to talk to God and thank Him for the many wonderful things in your life.

Sometimes it’s hard to stop and talk to God, but when we do we find that we are far more thankful for the life we have.

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A new collection of paintings

In the beginning of the past month (April) the former U.S. President George W. Bush surprised many people around the world when he unveiled a new collection of paintings. 

He displayed them at his Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, Texas. Prominent figures like Putin, Merkel, and the Dalai Lama among others, inspire his art.

Isn’t it a very interesting idea to recapitulate a part, or a phase of our life, in some paintings and pictures? If we think a bit, we will quickly realize that we do the same thing for our own life without having a presidential library and museum. 

Our childhood, teenage years, working career, and many other parts and phases of our lives are turned into and remembered as a collection of paintings and images. We display them somewhere inside us and we unveil them on particular occasions. 

But do we need anybody to remind us that we are very selective when it comes to the pictures we want to keep from the past? 

President Bush Jr. must have met hundreds of people in his two presidential terms, and experienced many events, but he just chose to pick thirty world leaders and paint their portraits.

Likewise, we choose a pinch of whom we meet, and what we’ve been through, to keep as our personal collection of pictures and images. Every one of us has his or her filtering system. 

When we revisit our past we like to go through flowery and nice pictures. We don’t want to re-experience our hard moments, awkward situations and painful memories. It is like displaying pictures in the funeral home, they are meant to make us remember only the best moments in someone’s life. 

When I first heard the news of the presidential art display by Mr. Bush I could not help remember some pretty pictures that he painted back in 2003 in Iraq. 

After all, you wouldn’t expect to go to the Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas to see (for example) a picture of what happened at Abu- Ghraib displayed there. We don’t enjoy having pictures of torture and abuse in our personal collection, do we? In fact, some people argue that some bloody pictures that we see today in Iraq still carry Mr. Bush’s signature! 

But, are we any better? I mean, hasn’t every one of us done the same? I know I did.

I have suppressed the horrible pictures I painted somewhere in a dark cave, and if you are to visit my art gallery, you will just see green nature, blue sea and holy places. The best picture I keep is a self-portrait, I look awesome in that picture! 

Usually we look great in our self-portraits and selfies; we capture, keep and communicate a certain image of ourselves. Our standards of selectivity go up when it has to do with our own image. 

But the fact is we can never pretend that the images and pictures we don’t like have ceased to exist and live according to this fact, not because Google makes almost any picture in the world accessible and traceable, but because we know they do exist and we can’t make ourselves believe otherwise. We live aware there are many pictures painted by us, including self-portraits that we don’t like! 

Just as the Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas made the news a month ago, I hope what you read and see in the Bible is good news for you. 

Jesus has revealed there a new collection of paintings; one of them belongs to me, and the other to you! 

It gives me great pleasure to know that I have been accepted and loved, not because of the pictures I’ve chosen to display in my art gallery, but I have been accepted and loved in spite of all the pictures that I have been making sure to hide for a long time now. It gives me a reason to live my life in a different way than I did in the past because I am portrayed in the Bible as a beloved son or daughter. 

The Bible says: “In Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. Gal. 3:26.” I wonder if you want to add this to your personal collection.

Rev. Firas Shammas,

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