May 31, 2018 - Suggested Reading Proverbs 30 for June 3rd’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

“The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.

“There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water,

    and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’”

Proverbs 30:15-16 (NIV) 

Have you ever had people tell you that there is not fire in hell, that fire is just a metaphor?

I have found it wise not to argue but to ask them to read the verses that talk about fire in hell and concede that it is possible that fire as a descriptor of hell (which is eternal separation from God and everything good) could very easily be a metaphor. Then I point out that if it is a metaphor, it scares me worse than fire does, because fire is terrible enough but fire needs fuel to burn and eventually it burns out. Our Lord’s description of the fire of hell is that it can’t be quenched, it will never be put out - honestly, that is terrifying to me.

Proverbs 30 lists fire as one of the four things that are never satisfied, the wisdom in this list becomes evident very quickly if we just take a moment to think about the characteristics of those four individual items. The open mouth of the grave provides business plans for funeral companies and pension actuaries, the disappointment and lack of solace that a barren womb brings to a woman’s life is so true, the never-ending need of land for water is evident to anyone who grows anything, and the requirement of fuel for a fire is evident to anyone who burns wood, or who enjoys a campfire.

If these are but metaphors for what awaits those of us who refuse to bend our knee and call out for salvation from the Lord Jesus Christ – then hell is terrifying - for people who end up in hell will be in a place that consumes and yet is never satisfied.

I don’t want to meet the leech with two daughters and I don’t want to end up in hell.

May 31, 2018 - Suggested Reading Numbers 16, 21 & 25 for June 3rd’s message on 1 Corinthians 9: 24 thru 10:13 in the 1st Service

“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”

1 Corinthians 10:11 (NIV)

The records in these three chapters of Numbers make fascinating reading - especially if you take Paul’s view and read them to learn from them. 

The grumbling over God’s choice of leadership and the sexual immorality sound familiar in
modern churches, but this ancient form of idolatry is harder to identify in our modern western world but is made much easier by Colossians 3:5 if we choose to listen. 

The story of the testing of Christ brings us the blessing of the bronze serpent and a realization that within these stories of sin and judgment and execution there is the grace of God at work bring us redemption and salvation by faith alone. 

Will we take the warning? Or will we say those are the old days that have no application for us? 

Paul is telling us that sin has consequences, that God will bring judgement and that a holy life, a righteous life – a life lived by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us - is required by each of us to keep us from judgement and execution. 

Sincere love for God requires us to hate what is evil and cling to what is good.
May we act on these warnings today 

May 30, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 10 for June 3rd’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

“The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.”

Psalm 10:16 (NIV)  

We sing in our services that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords,
but do we pray like we believe it?

David prayed like he believed it.

This prayer psalm starts with a question that reveals an underlying expectation that God is a King who intervenes in our daily lives on earth.

David then describes the wicked, their prosperity, their victims and – get this - their disbelief that God will notice and do anything to them on earth.

 We shudder when David prays for God to break the wicked man’s arm, and yet that is exactly what the helpless need done.

When I think of the few stories told me about the wicked things done to helpless people, I think to myself this is the only righteous prayer for what other prayer would be a prayer of faith to the
King of kings?

This prayer ends with a statement that God is the King forever and ever, and that He does what all righteous kings do for their subjects- he gives the afflicted a hearing, and He defends the fatherless and oppressed.

Oh, that we would have the faith of David to pray like we believe our
Lord is the King of this land today!

May 30, 2018 - Suggested Reading Exodus 14 for June 3rd’s message on 1 Corinthians 9: 24 thru 10:13 in the 1st Service

“They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

1 Corinthians 10:2 (NIV)

The apostle Paul is teaching us in 1 Corinthians 10 that the experiences of the Israelites being delivered at the Red Sea are comparable to our deliverance thru faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

You read this account in Exodus 14 and you notice that the people knew they were going to die - sure knowledge of death! Moses intervenes with God on their behalf, and God protects them with the cloud of His Presence and calls on Moses to deliver them with His staff. Not thru his own power, so that Moses gets the glory, but God chooses to deliver His people through His servant Moses. Do you notice that last verse says that the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant. Surely they were baptized into Moses and into the cloud- they feared God enough to trust Him and to trust His servant whom God used to deliver them. 

This passage is so important towards us gaining a proper perspective on the Old Testament stories of the Israelite people. They lived in the Day of example for our benefit and we live in the Day of the fulfillment of the ages. If we allow Paul's view of the experiences of the Israelites to shape our reading of their OT experiences that Scriptures describe - we will become thoroughly equipped for every good deed, that Christ has ready for us to do.

May 29, 2018 - Suggested Reading Deuteronomy 9 for June 3rd’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

 “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

Deuteronomy 9:6 (NIV)

The problem of spiritual pride in God’s people is not new.

Spiritual pride in Christians at Parkdale and in the Quinte area is revealed in Deuteronomy 9
as an old problem.

It reveals itself in the words we speak to ourselves - surely we are too wise to speak them out loud- like the Pharisee did to the tax collector in our Lord’s story. We read that story and think “What a fool- he should have kept his mouth shut.” Yet the problem is in our hearts and our minds- it is an inward problem -we experience God’s blessing, and we realize the depth of His love for us, and we think it is because of who we are – forgetting who we really are.

Moses wants the Israelites to realize who they truly are - a stiff-necked rebellious people - remember your history - remember your propensity to disobey, to rebel, to worship false Gods, to disobey God because you don’t trust Him. Moses wants them to truly glorify God by acknowledging that the blessings they were receiving, were coming to them in spite of them, not because of them.

Do we understand that our blessings are in spite of us - not because of us?

Do we understand that He chose us because of His love, not because of our righteousness?

There was only one human who fulfilled all righteousness before God.

There was only one human who God was well-pleased with.

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Run to Him, live your life in Him and thru Him!

Let's change the conversation with ourselves - let us continually tell ourselves we are blessed in spite of our true self and only because we are hidden in Christ. 

May 29, 2018 - Suggested Reading Revelation 4 for June 3rd’s message on 1 Corinthians 9: 24 thru 10:13 in the 1st Service

“the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:”

Revelation 4:10 (NIV)

Some days more than others - we need to a glimpse into heaven.

This was a spiritual glimpse, for John needed to be in the Spirit to see anything.

What he saw was a throne with someone on it-not someone like us - but someone pretty fantastic, someone Holy, Holy Holy.

He saw a throne sitting on a sea of glass surrounded by twenty-four elders on twenty-four thrones of their own

John saw four amazing spiritual creatures close to the throne and seven lamps which are the Holy Spirit and he experienced storm central emanating from the throne.

He then witnessed a worship service in which the spiritual praise leaders sang the same chorus over and over and over again – and each time the spirits sang the elders (representing redeemed humanity) bowed low and laid their crowns in front of God – telling Him that He alone is worthy to receive glory and honour and power.

As we begin this week looking at scripture Paul uses to teach the Corinthian Christians their need to do whatever it takes to live their own lives in such a way that they will receive an everlasting crown 

- I thought it would be good to consider what we will do with those crowns after we receive them- for it is not our work we receive a reward for but Christ’s work through us.

May 26, 2018 - Suggested Reading Ephesians 5 for May 27th’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

  "For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”

Ephesians 5:5 (NIV)

Are we anticipating an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God?

Do we believe there is a house waiting for us in heaven?

Do we believe that there are friends and family waiting for us in heaven?

If you asked people around you - family, neighbours, friends, classmates and workmates, you will find that most people will express a belief in heaven and express that they hope they have an inheritance there.

God wants us to know something for sure- He wants there to be complete assurance in our hearts of this inheritance in heaven and so He cautions us through Paul about the great web of deception that most of the people who live around us are caught up in.

At the heart of this deception is the idea that you can live in this world without submitting all of your self to Christ, and still be accepted into the place where only God’s will is done.

Don’t be deceived by empty words - for the truth is that only those who bow to the rule of Christ now, will have any inheritance in His kingdom. 

Only those who live as children of the kingdom of light will enter that kingdom of light when their life on earth is over.

Only those who long for the kingdom to come to them, who seek to have God’s will done in their lives on earth, only those have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

May 26, 2018 - Suggested Reading 1 Thessalonians 2 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 in the 1st Service

“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.”

1 Thessalonians 2:6 (NIV)

It is an amazing truth that the true apostle would set aside his authority because of his love for God’s people, whereas false apostles assert their “authority” to manipulate God’s people.

It is not that the Thessalonians didn’t recognize Paul’s authority- for verse 13 says they accepted his words as the Words of God- 

but it is that Paul did not have the attitude of getting what he could from them- rather his attitude was to give all he could to them.

There is a world of difference between those two attitudes.

A giver or a taker?

A friend of mine tells his daughters that when they choose a mate they need to determine whether the person they are going to marry is a taker or a giver. 

As long as they can tell him what he himself has identified in the potential mate- he is happy - for they are forewarned.

The apostles gave they didn’t take.

They didn’t even look for praise, they didn’t want to be a burden in any way.

Look at their attitude towards God’s people- their hope, their joy, their crown, their glory.

Quite a different attitude than the one who thinks the only problem with church is the people.

May God help us to imitate them.

May 25, 2018 - Suggested Reading Daniel 4 for May 27th’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”

Daniel 4:37 (NIV)

Could it be that we Christians can learn something from this pagan king?

It used to be that this king praised himself, exalted himself, glorified himself

but – “Now I praise  and exalt and glorify the King of heaven”

It used to be that this king was the highest form of justice in his land,

the sole determiner of what was right and just in all the land,

but now he knows- that the King of heaven is right and just in all His ways.

It used to be that this king walked in pride, but now he walks in humility before his God.

I called him a pagan king, but on the basis of his testimony in Daniel 4 it seems that this pagan has become a Christian. 

Could it be that we modern Christians can learn something from an ancient Christian king’s testimony about how God deals with the ones He loves?

He breaks us and brings us low that we might truly worship the only One who deserves our praise. 

The storm, the trouble, the hunger, the distress are tools of a loving God to bring us to the place where we can kiss His Son with sincerity.

He loves us enough to break us

May 25, 2018 - Suggested Reading Luke 6 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 in the 1st Service

“When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:”

Luke 6:13 (NIV) 

I hope you are a disciple of Christ.

I hope that your heart was warmed and challenged as you read these Words of instruction Christ spoke to His disciples.

I know you are not an apostle of Christ.

Jesus taught His disciples, giving them knowledge - Jesus chose His apostles giving them authority.

Christ Jesus had a finite number of apostles.

We can wonder was it 12 or 13 for we know that Judas was never really one, and we know that Acts records the apostles choosing Matthias and Acts also records Christ Jesus calling Saul on the road to Damascus.

But we do know that the number of apostles was a finite number, and that Christ Jesus chose them and gave them authority over all of His disciples, over sicknesses, and over demons.

True disciples of Christ submit to the apostles’ authority, by reading and obeying their words contained in our bible. As we do this we are submitting to Christ’s authority - for Scripture records Christ appointing them.

  I am aware that in the Quinte area there are a number of men who call themselves apostles. I am unsure of what they mean by that, but I am sure that they don’t mean that they are an apostle like Peter was an apostle, or like James was an apostle, or like Paul was an apostle. The Roman Catholic church claims that their pope is an apostle- but do they really believe that their pope is an apostle like Matthew?

I hope you are a disciple of Christ, and I hope that the only apostles you submit to are the ones Christ Jesus designated as apostles.

May 24, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 2 for May 27th’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

Psalm 2:6 (NIV)

The world is astir, rulers threaten each other and jockey for power and authority.

Will North Korea submit, or will they fight? What is Russia doing? What is China doing?

What is Pakistan doing? What is India doing? What is Iran doing? What is Sudan doing?

This psalm answers the question – “Can they ever find common ground?” – for they do find common ground in their rejection of and rebellion against God’s King.  They conspire together, they rise up together, they band together to break God’s rule over the world. God laughs and uses their conspiracies and energies to install His King. He uses them for His good purposes – He uses them to fulfil His plan to make His Son the King of kings and Lord of lords, and to bless the world thru His good and righteous rule.

So the question for me and you on this beautiful day is - will we break with the world around us and willing submit to this King, our King Jesus?

May 24, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 65 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 in the 1st Service

“Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.”

Psalm 65:4 (NIV)

The good things of your house, of your holy temple, of your gospel.

Have we ever considered the good things that come to us from belief in the gospel?

The gospel is what brings God near to us- for it is belief in the gospel that brings His Spirit to us.

His Presence lives inside of us – His Spirit dwells within us - we are God’s house.

His comfort, His counsel, His love, His wisdom, His joy, His peace, His strength.

The blessings that we receive are hundredfold, they are truly abundant.

David lived in a time when God’s Presence dwelt between the cherubim on the atonement cover of the ark, a place that was forbidden for David to visit, and yet in this psalm, David lists the wonderful blessings that accompanied God’s Presence. This was the age before the blessing of all blessings, the fulfillment of all promises, the grace upon grace who came to set His people free, to save them from their sins, to baptize them in the Holy Spirit- the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

If David had a reason to praise the LORD in the morning and the evening, then friend - those of us who experience the blessing of the everlasting presence of God in our person, have a thousand more reasons to praise Him.

May 22, 2018 - Suggested Reading 2 Kings 1 for May 27th’s message on Matthew 3:1-17 in the 2nd Service

 “They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

2 Kings 1:8 (NIV)

Was Ahaziah with his father Ahab during Ahab’s confrontations with Elijah?

Ahaziah’s men were sent to find out from a false god as to whether Ahaziah would live or die, but they came back with a report that they were stopped by a man who told them to return and tell the king that he would die. Upon hearing their description of the appearance of this man, to immediately know that this was Elijah - Ahaziah surely must have seen him before.

The gospel of Matthew records this same appearance of John the Baptist so that all would know that he was the man of God, the second Elijah, sent before the Messiah would come.

I marvel at the wisdom of the third captain, in his approach to Elijah. The first two captains tried to use the king’s authority to order Elijah around. The fire from heaven that killed them made it very clear whose authority Elijah answered to, the living God of Israel. There is no mercy in Elijah’s message for Ahaziah, no expectation of repentance, no hope for his future, just the expectation of death from injury. For the king’s heart was turned so far away from God, that even when faced with painful injury and imminent death the king turned to a false god instead of turning to the true God. We see this lack of mercy again when John the Baptist confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, as the Elijah to come before the Messiah’s appearing.

May we never find ourselves in the state where repentance is impossible!

May we even today turn to the living God for forgiveness and help, in our time of need, so that when our last need arises, and the death dew is on our brow, we turn towards the God who is coming to take us home.

May 22, 2018 - Suggested Reading Deuteronomy 25 for May 27th’s message on 1 Corinthians 9:1-23 in the 1st Service

“For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned?”

1 Corinthians 9:9 (NIV)

It has been said that the Word of God is like a diamond, in that while it is beautiful from a distance, it becomes more beautiful as you get closer to it, 

and that each time you look closer at it and change your angle of looking, you will see beauty you hadn’t noticed before.

When we read Deuteronomy 25 we understand that this chapter is written for the Israelites thousands of years ago, for the purposes of regulating their lives in the promised land living under God’s rule which we call a theocracy. We wince when we read of the 40 lashes, we feel compassion for the widow and her predicament, we wonder how a brawl involving married couples could break out while living in a theocracy, and we are appreciative of the rule of measure, and wish it could be used at our grocery store- they seem to flip and flop between metric and imperial measure just to confuse us into spending more! We wince again at the last 3 verses, and wonder how the genocide of the Amalekites could bring glory to God, and yet we know God enough to trust His good purposes, Saul stumbled at this command to his detriment, but Samuel and David didn’t to their blessing. This chapter is about honouring God in our relationship with others - it is about justice, for it begins and ends with justice, and it is about family-  there is much to be gleaned for ourselves about honouring God in our relationship with others as we look closely at it.Paul saw something in the instruction about the ox, he saw that this verse was the only verse that didn’t specifically address people, and the Holy Spirit revealed to Paul that this verse is speaking about allowing people to eat from the proceeds of their work, and if your work is in the spreading of the gospel then the people benefitting from your work should feed you. The Lord said the same thing to His disciples when he sent out the seventy. Truly this chapter is about honouring God in our relationship with others.

May 18, 2018 - Suggested Reading 2 Corinthians 7 for May 14th’s message on Nehemiah 13 in the 2nd Service

“By all this we are encouraged.

In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you.”

2 Corinthians 7:13 (NIV)

Paul had been hard on the Corinthians because he loved them.

This chapter has much to teach us about true repentance versus false repentance, and yet this chapter is all about an apostle who rebuked a congregation out of a deep love for them. You see this love revealed in the encouragement he received from Titus’s report that the Corinthian congregation was deeply concerned for Paul’s well being. Paul did not want their relationship broken, he wanted it deepened. Our tendency is to not appreciate rebuke from our spiritual leaders, our first instinct tends to be rejection, and yet the bible speaks of leaders who loved their people so much that they rebuked them, even gave them a hard time, prodding and testing, all for the good of the people. Moses, Joshua, Joseph, Nathan, Ezra, Nehemiah, our Lord Jesus, and Paul knew the importance that rebuke plays in the corporate life of the people of God.

Do we know the importance of doing the hard work of receiving a rebuke? 

May 18, 2018 - Suggested Reading 1 Timothy 6 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 in the 1st Service

 “which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might forever. Amen.”

1 Timothy 6:15-16 (NIV)

Paul knows that in order for Timothy to be able to carry out Paul’s charge - to fight the good fight of the faith and to take hold of the eternal life to which Timothy was called – that Timothy would need a proper view, a high view of God. Not only is this a need for Timothy, but a proper view of God is necessary for any person to serve God till the end. Whether the end is today when Jesus comes back or tomorrow when I get hit by a bus- the only way I will be ready to meet God is if I have this view of God that Paul gives Timothy.

So friend does your God have His own time?

is your God blessed?

is your God the only Ruler- King over all kings Lord over all lords?

is my God alone in His immortality?

does my God live in unapproachable light?

does all honour and might belong to my God?

That is a God we can serve- He is a God alone!

May 17, 2018 - Suggested Reading John 2 for May 14th’s message on Nehemiah 13 in the 2nd Service

“So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.”

John 2:15 (NIV) 

Our Lord revealed His glory by changing the water into wine,

and He revealed His heart by clearing the temple.

The disciples believed in Him because of the miracle at the wedding, 

but the disciples remembered what David prophesied when Jesus cleared the temple.

Zeal is defined as great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause.

Consume is defined as eat, drink, ingest, or use up.

These words together describe our Lord as being so enthusiastic about seeing true worship of God occur that He was willing to be used up, to be eaten so that true worship of God would occur. 

We can see from His prophecy about being killed that He understood exactly what confronting this false worship system would bring for Him. 

They loved Him for changing water into wine, but He wouldn’t trust Himself to them, for He knew that inside of each person is a rebellious heart that resents, rejects and strikes out at any initiative to purify our worship. 

We call ourselves followers of Christ, peacemaker is a name we love to carry for our Saviour came to bring peace to those who near and those who are far away. 

How many of us “peacemakers” are willing to be consumed by zeal for God’s house? 

It starts with us for we are God’s house - deny yourself, put yourself to death- biblical Words that describe being consumed in order to purify make our worship true and pure.

May zeal for God’s house consume each of us today!

May 17, 2018 - Suggested Reading John 1 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 in the 1st Service

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

John 1:3 (NIV)

The gospel starts with creation!

There are people today who believe that they can believe the good news about Jesus Christ without believing in creation - they believe they can be a Christian without believing in creation.

The apostle John will have none of that type of thinking.

I love John’s gospel – full of grace - full of stories and full of the good news about Jesus Christ.

Just look at this first chapter- to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world – Rabbi you are the Son of God

This is the gospel! Believe in Christ Jesus and be saved.

Believe that Christ Jesus was present at the beginning - more than present Christ Jesus was the active force in creation.

More than the active force in creation, that Christ Jesus is the light which sustains all life.

Dear Lord - We believe, please help us with our unbelief!

May 16, 2018 - Suggested Reading Malachi 3 for May 14th’s message on Nehemiah 13 in the 2nd Service

“Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.”

Malachi 3:16 (NIV) 

The beginning of this chapter takes my breath away.

The Lord did come to His temple, and they didn’t endure His coming.

How can it be that the appearing of the One we desire can be our downfall?

The message of this chapter is repentance, described as returning to God.

Start with returning to God with our money, put your money to work in His church.

Then speak properly about the LORD, stop saying that it is futile to serve God.

Do you see the connection between these two thoughts?

Do you see that a person who believes that serving God is futile, and therefore has no benefit for our lives now – will never put any of their money to work in Christ’s church. 

That’s crazy talk- that’s like throwing your money away- we have too many good things that require our money to be wasting it by giving it to the church.

But those who speak properly of God, who fear Him and honour Him with their wealth- their names will be written down for God to “remember”.

At church we talk of the coming of our Lord, we even desire the Lord to come.

I wonder how many of us will endure the day of His coming?

May 16, 2018 - Suggested Reading Isaiah 45 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 in the 1st Service

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:22 (NIV)

We need to remember this chapter - Isaiah 45

When the news has got you down - when everything around you seems to be wrong- Isaiah 45 reveals God in all of His glorious sovereignty - it reveals the truth 

that our God is in charge on earth and that He has got His eye on us, always working for the good of His people.

Skeptics scoff at this chapter - no way could Isaiah have known Cyrus’s name - this had to be added in- they say, as they harden and harden their hearts and ears to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the gospel - just look again at verse 22.

But worshippers notice that this is the 5th verse in this chapter that declares there is no other god. It is true that we are in a spiritual battle every day, against our own sin nature, against the spiritual authorities in this world, even against those people who are being used by Satan to discourage and tempt us - and honestly, we are outclassed, we are doomed to fail. But God is the only real god, He is greater than all power, He outclasses everyone, and He is on our side! Not because we are right, nor because He owes us anything, but simply because He loves us with a love that will never fail - the covenant love we possess through faith in His Son and our Lord Jesus Christ.

I need to read Isaiah 45 more regularly.

May 15, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 73&74 for May 14th’s message on Nehemiah 13 in the 2nd Service

“Remember the nation you purchased long ago,

the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed—

    Mount Zion, where you dwelt.”

Psalm 74:2 (NIV)

As our grown children gather in our home, our hearts are warmed as we hear “remember that or remember this” as they take a short walk down memory lane. We make a mistake if we think that the psalmist is asking God to walk down memory lane when he implores and pleads with God to remember the nation he purchased. These 2 psalms read together give us a good sense of the desperate straits that true worshippers of God found themselves in during the time after the destruction of the temple of the Living God. The hope expressed in Psalm 73 comes to the psalmist as he enters the temple, but in Psalm 74 the temple is destroyed, and with that destruction goes the hope of the worshipper - EXCEPT - for the hope that God will remember the nation that he purchased. To ask God to remember the nation He purchased is to ask God to remember the price He paid for us, more than that to remember the cause – the motivation for the purchase to be made - and that motivation is God’s great covenant love for His people. To ask God to remember the people He redeemed is to ask God to turn His eyes on His beloved Son and to see us hidden in His Son. Make no mistake - to ask our God to remember us is to ask God to reach down into our life right now and glorify His Name through us.

Oh God remember us today, restore your church today!

May 15, 2018 - Suggested Reading Deuteronomy 4 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 in the 1st Service

“There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone,
which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.”

Deuteronomy 4:28 (NIV)

I hear echoes of the ancient idol makers in the words I hear people speak in Ontario in 2018 as they tell us they can never believe anything they can’t see. They imagine that they are so progressive and so far advanced from their ancient ancestors, for they are scientific, and are not as gullible as our uneducated ancestors. Yet the truth is that they and their ancestors are exactly the same when it comes to needing sight before believing. The Only True God is Spirit, He is invisible, He has no form, and true worship of our Creator demands that we believe before seeing. Instead, we make things we can see and form belief systems around what we observe completely missing the God who made it all. We can observe His creation, and we can observe His outstretched arm of power, and we can observe His Word, but we can only worship Him thru faith. God’s people scoff at the “pagans” who make idols but this chapter is a warning to God’s people, not to the “heathen”, and we should search our own lives and own households, ensuring that we have not fallen into worshipping gods made by my own hands. Whom do we trust? Whom do we depend on? Who’s Word do we obey? Whom do we worship? To whom do we pray?  For surely no one else has “their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him”

May 14, 2018 - Suggested Reading Deuteronomy 23 for May 20th’s message on Nehemiah 13 in the 2nd service

“No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, not even in the tenth generation.”

Deuteronomy 23:3 (NIV)

Various thoughts enter our heads as we read the diverse group of instructions found in this chapter. The instruction about latrine pits makes us wince although we see the wisdom, and in a very basic way seems to drive the point of the whole chapter home - The LORD is holy, and we should do our part to keep the place where His protective Presence dwells among us holy.  The instruction in the last verse about eating standing grain makes us smile as we remember the confrontation with the Pharisees over the disciples eating grain while walking with Jesus on Sabbath, and the wonderful truths taught by Christ - that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and that the Sabbath is made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The first 6 verses, however, bring joy to my heart as I realize how God has turned the curse of the law into a blessing for me because I was cut off from the holy assembly - like the eunuch, like a mixed-race individual, like the Moabite and the Ammonite. But praise God for His mercy shown to me in the gift of the grace given to me that I would put my faith in His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, that I may draw near to God in the holy assembly of His people covered in the righteousness of Christ. Praise God! No longer on the outside, no longer filthy and defiled, for I have been made holy and clean, acceptable to God through the blood of my beloved Saviour Jesus Christ.

May 14, 2018 - Suggested Reading 1 Corinthians chapter 8 thru 10 for May 20th’s message on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 in the 1st service

“Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.”

1 Corinthians 8:1 (NIV)

This is not a normal blog post - for I what I hope to achieve is for you to consider reading 3 chapters of 1 Corinthians in one sitting - chapters 8, 9 & 10 - in order for us to “see” the unity in the various topics Paul discusses in these 3 chapters. I fear that if we don’t “see the big picture” of what Paul is communicating, we will most certainly miss Paul’s point in each section to our determent. I see these 3 chapters as a unit because the topic of chapter 8 is repeated in chapter 10:14-33- these sections form “bookends” - and reveal for us that the content inside these “bookends” must certainly be connected to this topic. I anticipate the Holy Spirit blessing us in ways we have not yet experienced in previous readings of 1 Corinthians if we choose to spend the time taking the “long look”, but it will take effort on our part.

Paul sets knowledge up against love in this first verse, and he will come back to this theme over and over again until he begins the wonderful resurrection teaching in chapter 15.

So the questions for us are these; What do I know? Who do I love? Who do I know? Who knows me?

May 12, 2018 - Suggested Reading Revelation 22 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

“No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.”

Revelation 22:3 (NIV)

The Greek word behind the English word servants is doulos and it appears in the NT 124 times, and in 94 of those instances it refers to a servant and in 30 instances it refers to a slave.

Servant is a lowly word to us humans, we would prefer to be served rather than to serve, and yet tomorrow is a day we have set aside to honour the key servants among us.

One of the goals for us as we honour our mothers and wives on Mother’s Day is that we serve them – maybe breakfast in bed, or lunch at a restaurant, or a bbq at home with someone other than her doing the work. 

This has become a goal because the other 364 days of the year she serves those she loves, and we seek to honour her by serving her once a year.

I think we would all agree that mothers make the word servant look good.

Philippians 2:7 teaches that becoming human for Christ Jesus was “taking on the very nature of a servant”, which means that to be a human is to be a servant. The entire bible is clear on this truth, which is that we will either serve sin or serve God - there is no intermediate state.

The Greek word behind the English word serve is latreuo and it appears in the NT 21 times, and in each instance it refers to serving God, or worshipping God. We see it in the NT first in our Lord’s answer to Satan during His temptation when he answers; “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Worship and service go hand in hand, they are a matched pair for those who are saved by grace. It is a truth that those who don’t worship God in this life now wouldn’t enjoy heaven for it is a place of continuous worship. It is also a truth that those who do not serve God in this life will not enjoy heaven for it is a place of continuous service.

Stated negatively –  those who do not bow their knee to Christ Jesus in worship and service in this life - will not enter heaven’s gates in the next life.

May we be those who come before our Lord today to worship and to serve Him.

May 11, 2018 - Suggested Reading Acts 2 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Acts 2:21 (NIV)

As the disciples were obediently praying and waiting for Christ Jesus to send what His heavenly Father promised (Lk 24:49), a sound of wind and what looked like fire came down upon all who were present in the room in Jerusalem. The Christians had begun to declare the wonders of God in foreign languages to the diverse crowd gathering to see what the noise was about, when Peter stood up and preached the first evangelical sermon ever preached. This was a tremendous sermon with a tremendous result of 3,000 souls saved through repentance, baptism and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. I want us to focus in on just this one sentence - "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”.  What God was declaring through Peter was that the world had entered a new age- the age of salvation - it was different from ages past and is the last age until the return of Christ as King and the establishment of the new heavens and earth. This age is marked by the lack of restrictions on those who want to enter the kingdom of heaven- all they need to do is call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Gender doesn’t matter, tribe doesn’t matter, wealth doesn’t matter, physical appearance doesn’t matter, language doesn’t matter, education doesn’t matter, as matter of record the only thing that matters is that you call on the name of the Lord to be saved. Almost 2,000 years have gone by since the world first heard this Good News and yet just a relative few of the large numbers of humans who have lived on earth during those 2,000 years have actually called on the name of Lord to be saved. Just a few. What makes those few different than the many? They knew that they needed salvation- they were poor in spirit, they knew their need of a Saviour - and so they called on the name of the Lord to be saved. Friend I hope that you are one of the few who are saved. What a glorious state to be in, to have the Spirit of the Living God present within you, as a deposit guaranteeing our glorious future. Friend if that is your glorious state- may I ask you a question?

Do you not need Him now to live this day to His glory? 

May 10, 2018 - Suggested Reading 1 Chronicles 21 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

“David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.”

1 Chronicles 21:26 (NIV) 

A leader calls on the LORD and fire comes from heaven - same result as Elijah’s result recorded in 1 Kings 18 and yet the contrast in situation is stark. In Elijah’s case the leader was innocent and the people were guilty - in David’s case the people were innocent and the leader was guilty. To drive this point home, this chapter portrays bloodthirsty Joab as more righteous than David. Not only that but in Elijah’s case the false prophets were killed, whereas in David’s case innocent people died. There is much worth mentioning in this chapter but I want to point us to the one wise thing David did as a leader - he chose for Israel to be punished by God, not by famine nor by the swords of enemies, but by God. Let us remember that the people are being killed for their leader’s sin, and yet their leader knew who the LORD is, for His mercy is great, and their leader choose to have God’s people be punished by the LORD’s hands. His mercy is great indeed! His mercy is the only ground any spiritual leader has to approach God with on behalf of himself and the people God has placed him over. David built an altar and sacrificed animals, God sent the fire and stopped the destroying angel. God had mercy because of who He is, in spite of David, and David was wise to count on God’s mercy. I can’t help but think of the blessed truth in the gospel of Christ Jesus, that God had mercy because of who He is and because of who our spiritual leader the Lord Jesus Christ is - not in spite of who our spiritual leader is. We would be wise to call on God using only the grounds of His mercy. I wonder if we will be wise enough to ask Him to punish us today, to pull our pride out of our heart?

His mercy is great! 

May 9, 2018 - Suggested Reading 1 Kings 18 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

“Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

1 Kings 18:24 (NIV) 

We know nothing of Elijah’s call to lead but man oh man did God ever use Elijah to turn God's people's hearts back to God! We read this chapter and marvel at the miraculous working of God- the drought, the rain, the fire from heaven and the turning of the hearts of God’s people away from their false gods and back to their true God. I think of the prayer time this week with Pastor Barry, and the heartfelt prayers going up to our God to turn the hearts of adult children of the families of Parkdale back to their God and I long for God to answer our prayers as He answered Elijah’s prayers that day long ago.

I make the mistake sometimes of thinking that this account recorded in 1 Kings 18 is how God used to act - do you know what I mean by that? That God doesn’t send fire from heaven anymore, that God doesn’t do miracles thru His leaders anymore, that a test like this test proposed by Elijah is not pleasing to God in this age of grace. We sometimes think that they saw God’s power and that they didn’t need faith because they had sight.

I call this type of thinking a mistake - for the New Testament doesn’t teach this. Actually Acts 2 teaches that this age of grace is the age of God sending fire from heaven and James 5 teaches us that the heavy rain recorded at the end of this chapter was the result of a human just like us who earnestly prayed, and 1 John 5 teaches us that when we pray according to His will that we know God hears us, and because we know He hears us we know we have received what we asked of Him. 

So let us call on the Name of our Lord today to turn hearts back to Him!

May 8, 2018 - Suggested Reading Exodus 3 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

“God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.”

Exodus 3:14 (NIV) 

I never tire of reading the account of God acting to save His people by first calling His man to lead them. This is how God acts on this earth- He calls men to lead His people, to deliver them from bondage. We forget this - we pray and pray and pray and forget that God uses people to rescue His people, many times we remain in our misery because we are unwilling to follow the human that God has designated to lead us to freedom.

Notice that the call of a spiritual leader begins with a conversation between God and the person. Not as friend to friend but as a Holy God to a sinful mortal, for the human leader needs to know that they are nothing compared to God, and yet they need to know that this God is the God of Abraham, a God who chooses and blesses specific individuals out of a crowd. Moses’ response is every godly leader’s response - who am I?  God’s answer is that your ministry is not about you – it's about me, for I will be with you and you will bring my people to this mountain to worship me.

Moses’ next question - who are YOU? – is answered in a specific way and takes us to the true calling of every godly leader – for our true calling is to reveal to God’s people who this God really is. I AM who I AM, I AM YHWH - the Jewish people understand this in the technical sense that this is God’s personal Name, and therefore when we use His Name for any other purpose than worship or calling on His Name to save us, we are using His Name in vain.

We know as humans that a name is only what a person makes of it- there is no magic in a name per se - actions and attitudes give our names meaning. So it is with our God, He gives us His Name here and His actions and attitudes recorded in Exodus and the rest of Scripture, and the Person and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ give His Name meaning. Moses - like the rest of the human leaders God calls - doesn’t yet know what this calling to lead God’s people means, nor does he yet know the full meaning and value of this Name- he will learn - he will KNOW - as he serves God for the next 40 years of his life- for God's Name is revealed as He saves His people. 

May 7, 2018 - Suggested Reading Genesis 4 for the Mother’s Day message from Psalm 86 “save me, because I serve you just as my mother did”

“Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the LORD.”

Genesis 4:26 (NIV)

Humanists who believe in the inherent good of humanity, and its built-in ability to advance itself through cooperative efforts must reject the truths in this chapter, for it reveals city life, at the very beginning of human existence on earth. Sceptics of the veracity of Scripture scoffingly ask “Who did Cain marry?” as if Scripture’s silence on that insignificant question somehow renders all of Scripture null and void. But for those of us who seek God and truth in His Word, this chapter contains a fascinating description of the elements that are present in every advanced society.

Cain builds a city, and 6 generations of his descendants are listed with special mention of a son named Lamech. This Lamech had sons who were the fathers of all who keep herds (farmers feed cities), who make music (think symphony), and who make tools (oh the tools we have today). The record of Cain’s descendants ends with a cryptic song about killing an enemy, a song about Lamech’s strength and ability to overcome - speaking about the ability of humans to look after themselves. No doubt Cain’s descendants needed to sing songs about being able to look after themselves for they had been driven from God’s Presence and blessing.

 Then the bible moves to Seth and his descendants but inserts a note after his first son Enosh that this family line of humans began to call on the name of the LORD. We will not hear any more about Cain’s descendants - though we will continue to cluster together in cities and enjoy food from herdsmen, and enjoy music from musicians and enjoy the wonderful life that tools bring- for the rest of the Bible is the account of the humans who called on the Name of the LORD. These humans knew that they needed more than food, music and tools - they knew that they needed the wonderful Presence of the LORD in their lives.

Friend what about us today?

 Do we have all we need?

Do we sing the song of Lamech?

Or - have we called on the Name of the LORD already this morning?

May 3, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 150 for the purpose of encouraging us to praise the LORD!

“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”

Psalm 150:6 (NIV)

I was with a friend - who had worked on the ambulances for a long time - when someone collapsed onto the floor. We went over to help and I watched my friend pull out a mirror, hold it in front of the collapsed person’s mouth for a while and then it put it back in his pocket and then inform us that the fellow was still living. How could a mirror tell him that? Well - although the person was completely still - even looked dead - his breath steamed the mirror.

We can look at this psalm and identify instruments and decide that those instruments are the only ones to be used in corporate praise times - but that would be missing the point of the psalm. The point of this last psalm is that if we have breath we can praise - actually we NEED to praise God. Praise the God who is seated in the highest, praise Him for what He has done, grab an instrument, any instrument, every instrument and praise Him, while we still have breath - for it is the living who NEED to praise Him. Psalm 6:5, Psalm 88:10, and Psalm 115:17 all explore the concept that it is the living who praise God. It is true that when we who are alive in Christ enter into His Presence after leaving our body, that we will enter into a praise service like we have never seen before- yet it is also true that those of us who haven’t praised the LORD while drawing breath on this earth will never enter that wonderful place of heavenly praise.

We NEED to praise the LORD now while we have breath. We can and we NEED to – so let's do it!

May 2, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 149 for the purpose of encouraging us to praise the LORD!

“Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his
faithful people.”

Psalm 149:1 (NIV)

Modern praise team leaders love the idea of a new song, whereas congregations generally groan inwardly because they are unsure of how to sing this new song. For a Christian who desires to sing God’s praises in a church service, not knowing songs can turn our spirit of praise into a spirit of despair even a spirit of sullenness very quickly- and yet here we are told to sing a new song in church none the less. Thank God He tells us why we should master the new songs.

He made us and He is our King, a King who takes delight in each one of us – I am so glad His delight in me is shown in a new way every day. A King who grants the humble victory over our enemies- these are new victories are they not? – many victories for as many times as we seek His help. We shudder a bit at the reason for a new song given in verses 6-8 and wonder how this has anything to do with me today- surely this type of behaviour was for David’s day, or possibly for that Day to come when Christ comes back in His glory. But friend can we not put on spiritual eyes - the eyes Paul was using in Ephesians 6:10 thru 20? Can we not see that one of the reasons we need to sing new songs is because we have a new battle in front of us? Our enemy constantly seeking advantage and God giving us the victory in the new battle, on the new front, as we use the equipment He supplies for our defence. Friend have you not seen a new battle this week? Have you no need to fight a new fight? Yes you say- I do need to fight a battle- it came out of nowhere- wasn’t expecting it and I am back on my heels-  then friend sing a new song to your King, fight and win!

May 1, 2018 - Suggested Reading Psalm 148 for the purpose of encouraging us to praise the LORD!

“And he has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his faithful servants, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.”

Psalm 148:14 (NIV)

Horn is a symbol of strength - what is being said here is that the praise of His faithful servants is the strength that God gives them. Praise equals strength, strength equals praise. Paul and Silas demonstrated this truth for us in the Philippian jail.

This psalm continues the theme of praise by calling on the angels and the stars and all that is above the earth to praise the LORD, for He created them forever and ever.

The psalmist then calls on the sea creatures and oceans, on the weather systems, on the earth itself and the vegetation, on the wild animals and the domestic animals, on the small creatures and the birds, on the kings and queens and rulers, and young and old to praise the name of the LORD because He is higher than all of us.

But His servants have another reason – a wonderful reason to praise the LORD!

It is the method – it is the place – where His people get their strength.

We see it in the accounts of the battles in the Old Testament.

We see it in the accounts of the apostles.

Have we experienced it for ourselves?