Seven Pounds

Last night Amanda and I watched an interesting movie called Seven Pounds starring Will Smith. At first it was a very confusing movies. It was one of those movies that waits until the very end to explain everything. If you start watching the movie, stick with it as it is worth it. The movie is about a man identified as an IRS agent who visits a number of people and begins to do things for them. He checks into their lives, determines if they are worthy and then blesses them beyond measure. In a world where selfishness reigns, this movie is a huge challenge with regard to the power of generosity. I certainly do not agree with the way that the character finally provides for the people he is interested in, but it does leave one wondering what our lives are doing for other people. There is even a sort of analogy to Jesus who was willing to give all for the sake of the many. Seven Pounds is a movie worth seeing.

Thanks Andrew!

Last Sunday was my second Sunday off. I am thankful for Andrew Scholl for taking the pulpit for me. Andrew is one of our deacons at Woodford and was Woodford's interim pastor before I arrived. He is also the director of R.A.Y. Ministries, a youth drop-in centre in Owen Sound. Andrew is a good friend and my fairly frequent sci-fi/superhero movie partner. Thanks Andrew for taking the services at both Woodford and Meaford.

I am looking forward to this coming Sunday. Both my churches have been known to have potlucks, it is almost a third sacrament after baptism and communion. Recently I had the idea of taking the principles of a potluck meal and applying that to a worship service. I have asked people at both congregations to bring what they can, whether a Bible passage, poem, testimony, hymn request or whatever. So far the response has been very good and I am looking forward to what people are going to bring. I am enjoying my vacation but I am also looking forward to this exciting worship service.

Why I Am Not a Calvinist

To celebrate Calvin's birthday, I thought I would explain I am not a Calvinist.  It basically comes down to the five points known by TULIP.

Total Depravity

Unconditional Election

Limited Atonement

Irresistible Grace

Perseverance of the Saints

1. I accept the doctrine of depravity in that I accept that human nature has been corrupted by original sin.  But what Calvinist normally mean by this is that no one would ever look for God unless they were the elect and God revealed Himself.  What do we do with the fact that there are thousands of people who seem interested in God but never become Christians?  We can redefine seeking and redefine God all we want but people still seem interested in God.  What about what Paul says in Romans?  We must remember that Paul was not writing a systematic theology but was responding to a specific situation at Rome.  He was trying to show that the Jews and the Gentiles were on a level playing field, neither group could meet God's standards.

2. Unconditional election means that God chose at the beginning of time who would be saved, separate from any willingness of the individual to put their faith in God.  Election is spoken of in the Bible and I will confess that I do not fully understand it.  What I do know is that the Bible puts expectations on people to believe and to follow and to be obedient.  The Bible seems to take seriously the need to choose God.  How does this fit with unconditional election?

3. Limited atonement means that Jesus only died for the elect and not the whole world.  1 John 2:2 says "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

4. Irresistible Grace.  I am not sure what to make of this one.  I am not sure that it takes seriously the biblical command to choose who we will serve.  How can we choose if we don't have a choice?

5. Perseverance of the Saints.  This means once saved only saved.  I am not sure this takes seriously Hebrews 6 which describes the consequences of someone who loses faith.  Calvinists would not deny that there are people who seem to fall away.  Instead they would say that membership in the elect is confirmed by those who remain faithful to the end.  In fact Calvinists and Arminians would say that only those who remain in Christ (whether they were ever there in the first place) receive eternal life.

This is not meant as an attack on Calvinists.  Some of my best friends are Calvinists.  This is only an explanation of where I am in my journey so far.  Who knows?  God may change my mind yet!   

Beware of Cooties!

As a child I knew they were dangerous but I had no idea how serious! This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Happy Birthday John Calvin!

Today is John Calvin's 500th birthday!  Calvin is one of the greatest leaders and theologians of the Reformation and his influence continues greatly today.  Now I am not the most reformed Christian and I struggle with the five points of Calvinism (TULIP) but I do respect Calvin as a theologian and a Bible scholar.  Happy birthday Calvin, you are look good for 500.

Battlestar Galactica

As a child, I thoroughly enjoyed the 1970's Battlestar Galactica.  It was a classic in science fiction even if the Cylons looked a little cheesy.  A few years ago they remade Battlestar Galactica into a mini-series.  This was what is called a re-boot, that is it starts from scratch, re-imagining the original and not requiring continuity with the past.  I was blown away.  They took of the best of the past and introduced many new concepts (they even redesigned the Cylons).  That made for TV mini-series was better than most big budget movies.  Thankfully they made Battlestar Galactica into a TV series.  That series has since ended and I watched many of the episodes but unfortunately missed just as many.  I have now picked up the first three seasons and am currently watching the first season.  There is some things that I do not like about it.  They struggled from season to season with how much sexuality to include.  However, the quality of the stories more than make up for the few head turns required during the series.  I am enjoying watching the series, re-watching some episodes now that I know some of what happens.  This is science fiction at its best.      

My Adventure

On Saturday, Amanda left for Calgary to visit family and friends.  That means I get almost a week of quality time with the kids.  I remember when I thought it was a lot of work looking after just Logan and that was when he was young and we did not know he had autism.  Now I am looking after five, each of whom can be faster, stronger and smarter than I am.  There have been some challenges.  Logan, who is most often easy going and well-tempered, had a major meltdown which also set off Abby.  Had to call in help on that one.  I also have to be very careful as Logan has been known to try and leave the house.  I keep the front door locked, alarmed and barricaded with heavy boxes.  He can get through all three measures but it at least slows him down.  Oh the joys of autism!

But there has been lots of fun as well.  The other day Logan was very proactive in playing with Justus, Emma and Faith.  I opened a toy for Abby and she responded with an encouraging "Good job!"  Justus insisted that instead of pooping our poop, he was pooping out meatballs.  So that is where they come from!  Emma was cranky and crying and Logan had already had enough and responded with a loud squawk of protest.  Emma yelled back "Fine!" and then stopped crying and ate her dinner.  Faith has been falling asleep at the same time each day, no matter what position she is in or what toy she is lying on.  Every day the kids have done something to make me laugh.

I am glad that Amanda has had a chance to get away and I hope she enjoys the rest of her time in Calgary.  I will be looking forward to her return.  Unfortunately she will not be home until Friday instead of the expected Thursday.  A friend of hers died this week in an ATV accident and her funeral is on Friday.  She was only around 30 and we saw her and her husband just a couple of weeks ago.  Please pray for her family.

First Sunday Off

I am now on two weeks of holidays.  Sunday was my first Sunday off of my vacation.  Preaching for me was Jim Neale.  I first met Jim when he was pastoring at First Baptist Church, Thornbury.  After his retirement, Jim and his wife Iris began attending First Baptist Church, Meaford.  Although Jim has done quite a bit of interim ministry at Durham Baptist Church, he has been a great blessing to our church.  I appreciate Jim's wisdom, humility and overall balance.  I greatly appreciate Jim bringing his message to the people of Woodford and Meaford.

My Journey So Far

One of the rewarding projects I have undertaken recently is to write out my faith journey.  It was amazing to see how often and how differently God has intervened in my life.  If you are interested in my story, you can find it here.  The cost is purely for the printing and I do not make any money.  You can also download it for free.  Feel free to pass this on.

Getting Fed

One of the things that I really enjoy about being a pastor is the opportunity to preach.  I never cease to learn new things through my own preparation.  But the one thing that I really miss is getting fed spiritually by other preachers.  I sometimes download sermons but it is not the same as being there.  When I am off on a Sunday, we do not always get a chance to visit another church as most churches are not prepared for our childcare needs.  That is why this past Sunday was a treat.  At First Baptist Church we had Henry Grift, pastor at Sheffield Baptist Church in Halifax, preach.  Henry grew up at our church and he did a great job of reminding us of the comfort of God from 2 Corinthians.  In the evening, Woodford Baptist Church had their 154th anniversary service.  Our guest speaker was Keith Sweeting from First Baptist Church, Owen Sound.  Keith reminded us of the now of anniversaries from Philippians.  It was great to listen to both of these preachers and to sit under their teaching.  Next weekend I start two weeks of holidays and we will have two more talented preachers taking our pulpit.  Thank God for pastors who are willing to share the Word! 

How Do I Get Right With God?

On Sunday we concluded our Back to the Basics series.  In many ways this was the most important message in the series.  It is like writing a test in school and getting all the answers right but putting down the wrong name.  If you get everything else right but this, you have gotten everything wrong.  The question is: how to get right with God?  There are only three options:

1) What You Know.  Proper doctrine is important but it is not enough to be right with God.  The demons understand God better than we do and yet they are not right with God.

2) What You Do.  People today are more interested in what you do than what you know.  The problem with good works is that you can go through the motions without putting your heart into it.  Also, God's standards are so high that we will never be able to meet them.  You do not want to try and earn God's love.

3) Who You Know.  It is all about who you know.  Putting your faith in Jesus and what He did on the cross puts you in relationship with Jesus.  That makes you an adopted child in the Father's family.  Knowledge and action are good when they flow out of our relationship with God but they are no substitute.

Tender Words of God

It always a challenge to find good devotional material.  A few months ago, one of the deacons at First Baptist Church, Jean Gillespie, gave each of us a copy of Ann Spangler's The Tender Words of God.  I had not heard of it and so had no expectations.  I was pleasantly surprised with the simple power of this devotional book.  It does not take a lot of time as each morning and evening just has a couple of short Bible passages with a short prayer.  The power of the book is that it focuses on the tender words of God, the good news you need to hear when life is tough.  Ann concludes each week with a summary and she sets up the following week on Sunday with a reflection on that week's theme.  I highly recommend this book as a powerful devotional, especially for those who are busy.

Putting No into Innovation

This is very funny but I can see some churches agreeing with this.