Still no furnace !!!

It's Wednesday Night and bible study is over.
We had a great time of study on the or gin of Satan.
Someone had requested a bible study series on the devil so were-a-doin it!
An in our discussion it was said that it use to be preached (reformed baptist days) that when a person was sanctified they no longer could sin. How could you if the old nature is removed !
So I in my wisdom noted that I was not sure on this position based on past experiences concluding I have only meet a few totally sanctified people. To which I admitted that this can be a very con fussing topic.
I assured them all that I am Ordained by the Wesleyan church and have passed the test on Doctrine.
In trying to get a balanced view on this topic and a biblical one I am currently reading a sermon by J.C. Ryle titled " Holiness"
Now I'll read others from our side as well as theirs :)
But to me we have to have something that is livable,
and conforms us to the image of Christ in our preaching and in our lives.
Besides a broken furnace is a great test on ones faculties.
And so I wonder except for the few who major on 'magnified' minors how many faithful church people are sitting back contemplating doctrinal issues, or are they just making it through the day with no thought of God and no prayer.
What are you thinking about ?

Later

Furnace Migraine

Well now its up to day 10 and finally I ordered the furnace and the man said it won't be till next week that I can do it!!!!!!

Oh well more time to work on my patience I guess..

Its interesting in how the furnace is gradually dieing on Monday it just kept getting hotter and hotter til we were just about at 90 it was a Sonia in the parsonage and once again we were rescued by a church man who by now I am sure will be glad to see anew furnace as well.

Easter Sunday is over, but I am not sure if I had time to really rejoice over in the significanceof the day.

It started with a 7:00 am service with the local Baptist Church and breakfast which I preached at , to going home to shovel snow of the wheel chair ramp, sadly informing a child who came to Sunday school there was none, to answering a phone call to what time church started, handing out bulletins because the usual people were not there, to leading the whole service plus communion, plus lead a members meeting on deciding a new furnace to having 12 people for dinner to going out for supper to watching the islander win a play of spot in the race for the Stanley cup to keeping an eye on the furnace.

And some where in all that I think I missed Easter.

We celebrate the resurrection every day but on that day - it got missed and my kids might have missed it as well , finding eggs and eating chocolate is fun but do they know what the day means, yes its up to me to teach them , but as a church community we should model it and here is where I get scarred , because are we (church) modeling a life that is changed because of the resurrection or do we play it for a couple of hours and the go on our way.

Things I am thinking about

Later

For my Father

Proof that marriage exists in the animal kingdom...

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Day 5 and 6 of furnace shopping

Well here I still waiting to get a new furnace, but as every day gets closer now to Monday there is hope. That I can place an order and have a new furnace by next Easter....
Thursday Night came with a power outage all night that left us cold on Good Friday Morning Because the furnace didn't fire back up when the power came on.
Thankfully for a man in the church we got it running until the next problem or its replaced.
This man and I have spent a lot of time on the furnace and pipes this week saving the church big $$ on bills , I almost wonder now if I should put some cots in the room so we can stay with it.lol
With a broken furnace and being Good Friday I went to a combined service where I was speaking, and so while the service is going on , I am subconsciously listening to their furnace cut in and out, this is furnace is really now getting to me.

Well its Saturday and my sunrise sermon is ready,
with the regular service order prepared and the bulletin done and the sermon almost ready to go.

have a Great Easter !

later

Sunrise

I am blessed every morning to watch the sun rise while having my devotions and here is what caught mt attention the other morning, this awesome display of God's handy work.

Furnace Head aches Now into day 4

Since my last post I have waited two more days for quotes , and the company I want to hear from hasn't called back yet even though I have called for the price they have yet to get me a number and they came Tuesday.

So my next step is to present what I have collected for pricing briefly to the church members Sunday and let them decide on how they will finance it .

This may stall the process further...

Here are some more lessons I have learned....

The really experienced furnace person wants to offer me a better furnace

because its one they've had no problems with and will cut down on $.

The others are just saying nothing but giving a price on a machine they know little about.

The really experienced guy is confident in his product and company and says we will be happy with the furnace.

The other guys say nothing that shows any confidence in what they are selling.

So it is another day with a long weekend here with no sign of a new furnace and knowing that in a matter of time the whole thing will stop.

later

pictures of the sick furnace

Furnace shopping day two

Today has been spent waiting for return calls and peope to come and give the church a estimated price.



There are some things I have noticed so far...



i) The people who really want your $$$ return your calls promptly.



ii) Most people do not return calls left on a message machine.



iii) Local business people have a totally different approach than the big companies. The big company rep had a laptop and printer, the local guy had a note book.



The big company guy left me with the information I needed to present to my board.



while I am left to wait again (more days) for a estimate so I can bring it to the board.



iv) Needing a new furnace before a a long weekend is the worst time to have furnace troubles because it will take more days to have it delieverd plus put the paper work through.





v) Some estimaters take pictures,others measure, some just give it a quick over and some take the time to explain it all out.



Well tomorrow will make another day of waiting and will take me one day closer to a week of furnace troubles.



Later

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new adventures...

On this monday I am doing something never personally done before. Shopping for a new furncae for the Parsonage.

Because Ours went on friday and so today I am phoning and making potential contacts if the price is right.

If you are wondering we have heat but no hot water unless I turn a bunch of velves on and drain an expansion tank and empty a run off velve that empties into a 5 gal bucket by the hour.



But This is not the only adventure of the week , it got started the previous sunday night service when I mixed two words together and said Sh*T while preaching , people (almost all) laughed, and I kept on till again when quoting from the message bible instead of saying what was there I said God pickles us... well by that time it was time to conclude and exit out the back door and hide....



But the greates adventure of the week was my comeback to ice hockey after a 24 year absence.

My sons team had a game us the parents.

I got a hold of equipment and got dressed with the otehr fathers and off I went to the ice with someones maple leaf jersey on :( and everything on the small side to show my son that I could play hockey, well after falling first thing on the ice the embarsement began. Why I thought I coukld keep up with him I don't know but my body sure let me know quick I could not!

I didn't know if I would make it off the bench for my shifts, it was the longest hour I have spent in a long time. and by the end of it I was glad I had phoned early and said goodbye to my parents. Death was close at hand.



But I did score !!!!



And 100% loved it!!!!!



Under bass fishing has to be hockey.

My son is now convinced I need to join up next year.

If there is a league for the out of shape 40+ crowd I am in!!!!



Later

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todays quote

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with
a success unexpected in common hours."

– Henry David Thoreau

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here is an eye opener

Church and workplace separated, say business professionals

The vast majority of pastors are failing most of their church members by
not helping them see themselves as missionaries to the marketplace, say
those who minister among Vancouver’s business and professional
community.

“On Sundays, businesspeople have been sitting so
long [in church] without hearing a lot of connections to their Monday
world, they don’t even ask for it anymore,” says Tim Ernst of The
Navigators.

source: www.christianweek.org

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time for reruns

Here it is March and the reruns have begun on csi and law and order .



Its o.K. But American Idol seems to rule over watching reruns on the big t.v. these days.

And thats one show I personally never want to see in rerun form.



But Not all reruns are bad, Like the Greatest story ever told of the Cross and the Resurection, I have allready taken two sundays to Get our church thinking on what the cross means to us.

And my biggest hope is that they get it.



Off Late I have been carrying again the weight of is it time to move? Our church in the last year has declined and any new people , come and move on to other Church's :[



And I question would my moving bring people to church "thinking a new broom sweeps clean" or is it the fate of the small rural church living in the shadows of the bigger church.



These are my burning questions of the day, I have shared them with a few and the answere always rest on me.



And I repeatedly ask myself can I be comfortable here and bUrry the seniors and watch my workers soon age past their 60's and stop helping in the church!



All this is going through my head knowing that the offical "wesleyan time to resign is soon over "

And Only rebells resign after this time.



I also know that this church would have no problem in replacing me,as I hear there are lots of available ministers.



I also know There are not any available church's within my district.



So then I would have to move, and where ?

I do not want to go to the states !

With no connections its hard to know what to do.



But I am here and so to these people I will minister to the best of my ability .



Later

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Today's prayer

O
God, who has been the Refuge of my fathers through many generations, be
my Refuge today in every time and circumstance of need.

— John Baillie

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Todays prayer

Lord Jesus, Let Me Know Myself
Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,And desire nothing save only You.Let me hate myself and love You.Let me do everything for the sake of You.Let me humble myself and exalt You.Let me think of nothing except You.Let me die to myself and live in You.Let me accept whatever happens as from You.Let me banish self and follow You,And ever desire to follow You.Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,That I may deserve to be defended by You.Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,And let me be among those who are chosen by You.Let me distrust myself and put my trust in You.Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.Let me cling to nothing save only to You,And let me be poor because of You.Look upon me, that I may love You.Call me that I may see You,And for ever enjoy You. Amen.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop, Writer, Doctor

Todays prayer

I read this prayer while reading a book titled Praying with Ignatius of Loyola

Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give, and not to count the cost,
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,
to toil, and not to seek for rest,
to labor, and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will.

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Great Idea

For today

“We are what we repeatedly do;

Excellence is therefore
not an act but a habit”.

– Vince Lombardi

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More snow and school cancellations

It's a snowy Thursday and now for the second day this week school has been cancelled.

the first day is cool but after that Borden sets in . :(

The first day my daughter and I played that wonder classic game called frustration for what seemed like a 100 times which was fun. And to keep my losing streak alive we moved on to scrabble . Its interesting now that she is in grade 5 we have moved beyond 2 and 3 letter words until she really starts beating me and I sadly have to regret back to those simple 2 and 3 letter words to carry me through.

As I think about this ,its the simple things of Prayer and meditating that keep me in the game of life. I have to just keep being reminded of this.

So to quote Mr. Luther again

Prayer is the most important thing in my life.

If I should neglect prayer for a single day,

I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith. Luther

Later

Snow in PortMaitland

words from Luther I need to repeat often

Luther’s Sacristy Prayer

Lord God, You have appointed me as a pastor in Your Church, but you see how unsuited I am to

meet so great and difficult a task. If I had lacked Your help, I would have ruined everything long

ago. Therefore, I call upon You: I wish to devote my mouth and my heart to you; I shall teach the

people. I myself will learn and ponder diligently upon You Word. Use me as Your instrument -- but

do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all.

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todays quote...

There is nothing which my heart desires more than to see you, the members of this church, distinguished for holiness. It is the Christian's crown and glory. An unholy church! It is of no use to the world and of no esteem among men. And the larger the church, the more influential, the worse nuisance does it become when it becomes unholy. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church — C. H. Spurgeon