I hope she finds peace

Another heart-rending story to cross my path is that of a young lady who has recently tested HIV positive. Our Senior Pastor shared his experience with her in this way:
M came from the doctor's office. Her blood work came back indicating that she was HIV positive. The news devastated her. She has 2 children and doesn't know how to tell them. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably as we were talking. The reason she dropped by was to ask for prayer and to find out when our worship services are. I prayed for her and gave her a couple of tokens to get to her next appointments.
I spoke with her a week after she shared the devastating news with Pastor Bill. In that conversation she conversed a little about the deceitful man who infected her but also indicated that since receiving her horrific news things had gotten better. "I used to be an addict," she told me, "but I've been free for the last week." But the better news was that she was starting to see God at work in all of this: "I'm going to keep coming here because something is working."
May God be known as a Healer and Deliverer - even today with all of our scientific understanding and available treatments.

I hope he found peace

We learned some sad news today. A young man living on the streets (who was ministered to by TAC) was struck by a car as he ran across the Gardiner Expressway after drinking Listerine. He woke up in the hospital but quickly left. This morning at staff meeting we were amazed to hear that he survived the incident - and I wondered whether God had something special in store for him. This afternoon, however, our Sr. Pastor heard from some friends on the street that he had suffered internal injuries and passed away. From what I hear, ever since his father passed away, this man had been self-destructive.
May I not forget this reminder of how fragile we are, and how urgent the need to get the message of the Gospel out is.

Parental Perplexion

I found myself angry with God last Thursday night. Karen (my wife) and I broke some difficult news to Elijah (our firstborn: otherwise known as Number 1) and he took it very hard. We decided that we would likely be changing something about his future which he very much did not want changed. As he wept and pleaded with us my heart was breaking. I very much wanted to go back on our decision (which is, we hope, for the best). However, sometimes tough decisions need to be adhered to.
Where my disappointment and bewilderment with God comes in is here: God regularly sees His children weeping and pleading in pain. As a Father, His heart must regularly break. He often allows us to walk through pain because pain and suffering are His tools for shaping us. I get that. As a father I need to allow our sons to walk through difficulties because they build character. No argument.
A major difference between God and me though is that God has the power to deliver us from any situation while I, as a human, am very limited in what I can do. If I could fix Elijah's situation without any pain to him I most certainly would. Why does God not save us from pain while also shaping us to be more like Christ? That is my dilemma.
Perhaps we can find an answer in this way: God most certainly could have created beings who were robotic in their demeanor - perfectly obedient and unable to stray from what is right. Instead He made us - beings capable of making moral choices. In His wisdom, He chose to create human beings who could accept or reject Him. Maybe, just maybe, under these conditions, in the absence of compulsion, the only way for some lessons to be learned is through pain.

Lean Ground Beef 2

As of this morning, 2 pounds lost, 88 to go. I need to take this more seriously. My weight-loss tip for this week comes from my former doctor: At the beginning of a meal, consider chowing down on some raw veggies to fill up your stomach. You'll eat less.

Forgive and Forget?

On Facebook one of my friends was pondering whether forgiveness is truly possible if you can't forget. One of her friends responded with "Forgiveness doesn't mean forgetting. That's what makes it hard." Wow. What an insight.
When God expects us to forgive (for the Christian, its not an option - if we don't forgive others God will not forgive us (Matthew 6:15)), He knows that we will need to live with the pain, consequences and memory of wrongs done to us. Forgiving means knowing that someone has wronged us, feeling the effects of that wrong, and yet still choosing to release that person from any retribution and any anger or hatred which we may be tempted to feel towards them (even if they deserve it).

Powerless Prayers

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:15-17 NIV

I often wonder why God seems so distant at times - so far from this city of Toronto. Why does He not pour out His power in conversions, healings and miracles? Why are we surrounded by so many who doubt His existence or want nothing to do with Him? Why are there so many lost and hurting souls wandering this city? Why does He not reveal that He is real? Why does He ignore our prayers for revival?
It seems that the answer to these queries may often lie with us, the Church. We do very well singing songs on Sunday mornings, celebrating Christmas and listening to sermons - but how often do we allow God's love to flow from us to those who cannot help themselves? God has a heart for the broken and He wants His people to love them too. Too often we walk by the homeless without a word; we fail to give enough to the orphans of the world; we don't stand up for those who cannot stand up themselves; we fail to share the Gospel with a dying world. We fail to love because it takes too much time, money or risk. God isn't happy with this.
Bible reading, prayer, corporate worship - all of these are good things. But if we fail to love, if we fail to follow God's will, God will refuse to listen to our cries.

Chew on This: Exploring the Charge of Christian Hatred

Several days ago the Toronto Transit Commission started putting ads on its street cars which asked big questions such as “Do I have an eternal soul?” There was one question in particular which caused a flood of outrage. This question pondered whether homosexuality was good or not. Several people, in responding to this specific question, shared the opinion that Christians are hateful.
I can understand where this view comes from. After all, we Bible-believers affirm that there is a day of judgment coming, that one can reach heaven through Jesus Christ alone and that certain actions are wrong in the sight of God. In some ways, we are not a very “tolerant” bunch.
But are Christians hateful? Sometimes, we certainly are. I found myself responding in hatred and anger just this past weekend. I work at a church which spends much time and energy meeting the needs of the poor and homeless. Without giving you all of the details, I responded very poorly to one individual’s recent demands. And for that I am truly sorry. At times each and every one of us Christians does hate. We are not perfect and have much growing to do. This is to our shame.
To make matters worse, the Church is filled with compulsive haters of all sorts: racists, bigots, chauvinists, those who look down on the poor, and so on. Whether these people are true followers of Jesus or not makes little difference to those outside of the Church. The haters trample on our Lord’s good name.
What concerns me more in this article, however, is not the wrongful hate which so often emanates from members of the Church, but rather the charge that we hate for upholding biblical teachings. Does the Bible create haters? Is a Christian, in the purest sense of the term, a natural hater? Does denying the “goodness” of certain activities mean that we hate those who do them?
At the risk of sounding patronizing (but I implore you to understand the spirit of what I’m writing) we might answer this question by reflecting on a lesson we can all relate to from childhood. As a child walks with her father along the sidewalk she might long to run onto the street (why I don’t know, but children, for some unfathomable reason, often long to do this). At her first attempt, her father would undoubtedly grab her arm and hold her back. If she kept it up he would carry her, give her a lecture or even slap her hand. The little girl would kick and scream and hit – thinking that her father was mean and that he didn’t love her since he was holding her back from her desire. But this is of course the furthest thing from the truth. He holds her back and causes her some discomfort and even pain because he loves her and wants to prevent her from being struck by a car. Love leads the lover to often do things which appear hateful.
To further complicate the matter, the lover will continue to love even when the beloved longs not to be loved. The girl would prefer that her father’s love be withheld so that she could reach the street. The father loves in spite of her insistence that he not love (or in her opinion, hate). This creates vast amounts of tension in our modern, tolerant society, for the Christian continues to love and offer life even though society perceives this love as hate.
Whether you like it or not, Christians are bound to love those around them because they are commanded to by God. That means that we are compelled to share the message of the cross, that we must feed and clothe the poor, that we will strive after justice for the oppressed and that we need to share the Bible’s view on right and wrong. Anything less would be to fail to love God, and to fail to love our neighbour (the two greatest commandments). And while you may not like this, at very least you can understand the love of a parent who loves a child who does not want to be loved.

Modern Day Slave Owners

So often we look back on the slave trade with disgust, as well we should. There are few practices more despicable than kidnapping a human being, stealing them away from their sons, daughters, wives, husbands and community, and forcing them to work in a far-away land without pay. However, I think that many of us are not much better than those slave owners of old. Sure, we would never be a slave trader nor would we ever purchase a slave for our own use. However, many of the products we regularly purchase have been produced by workers living in worse conditions than many slaves have had to live in. This makes us, in my opinion, modern day slave owners.

Why do I suck so much?

Sometimes it feels like everything I do just plain bites. I was just chatting with a friend who was in Serbia learning about some church-work going on there. It was great to hear that their ministry to addicts is more than just feeding and clothing them. The missionary there has created an addiction treatment centre in which the patients live, work and learn about Christ. So much of their work could be applied here - but this is not the crux of my present problem.
My heart is regularly moved with the idea of evangelism and missions - with sharing the incredible news of the possibility of reconciliation with God with those who are cut off from Him. However, I have not moved to fulfill what I sense as my primary calling. Sure, I am at a church which does much "mission" work, but there is still something not at ease within my soul. I'm still searching. Still waiting. Still seeking. I think it is time to act.
How can it be the case that the All-Powerful God of creation has taken up residence within me and yet I still find myself lazy, cold-hearted, easily-distracted and living for small things? Why does His power not launch me into a completely different sphere of existence? Why does my old-man still seem to cling to life when he should be dead?
Perhaps if the Church as a whole could answer this question there would not be so many people dying without a knowledge of God's love.