The sales clerk snickered

This is now March !

And to celebrate the end of February I went to our local Christian book store and ordered some (4) books and one of them made the owner hesitate and snicker it was a book by John MacArthur titled "Fools Gold".
The owner as he was writing down my information made the comment that this book was against a lot of the current trends.
I assured him I knew this and wanted the book.

He with out knowing it sent a very clear message to me of today's church culture, that they treat trends or fads or new teachings "like the purpose driven... Stuff" as the gospel and any one who bucks the trend is bucking " this new gospel" and that's bad...

So where do pastors and Christians go for material that's has doctrinal truth and makes you think besides the internet ?

Well one place I go every Tuesday is Frencys where soft covered books cost a dollar and hard cover books $ 1.60
and this weeks big find was Called to be Holy by Oswalt (new)
Obsessions of an extraordinary executive (new)
Bringing out the best in people (new).
Now I don't always get such finds but the weeks I do I feel pretty proud.

I think its a sad day in order to find books on holiness they have to come from a used clothing store instead of a Christian book store....
Where the owner of the book store attends a Wesleyan church.
That brings me back to my blog on attendance but not adherence.
and This says something on the place of holiness in our lives when we want heatlth over holiness or
heart warming fiction over holiness or
happiness over holiness and
how too's over holiness.

Later

Monday

We just had a Super Sunday !
Our offering was way over the top !
We had a "I love my church offering" a once a year tradition that helps us stay out of debt which was over the top !
And we had a 99% attendance for our potluck following the service !
God is working in our church !

So now for the week ahead I plan to finish reading "Let us be Holy" by Judson Cornwall.

Tuesday I " if the weather is good" plan to attend a leadership class I am taking.
Wednesday get ready for Midweek ...
Thursday Start and even finish my sermon and plan for our prayer meeting for revival.
Friday Finish up sermon.

And somewhere in there I need to visit and do a thousand more things....

But For today ... I am going to read and surf and maybe even tie up a few flies :)

Later

It's Thursday

I am not sure where the weeks are going but this one is wrapping up too quickly!
So beside doing my weekly office duties I was able to attend a funeral on Wednesday.

I went because this lady was a sister to one of our church men.
And I was blessed to watch one of my hero's take part in the service.
He is a retired minister who comes from England with a cool accent and he is a true Calvinist !
He knows what He knows and is not afraid to defend it from the bible, nor is He afraid to use theological terms in his preaching . He doesn't believe in sugar coating the gospel.

Why would I A not so young Wesleyan pick a Baptist as a hero ?
Well this past week I have been fervently reading on line a bunch of stuff on the deception that is entering the church through this "emerging church" fad we find so strong today.

And while we are in a post modern swing of thinking all is ok.
with Christians who don't want to stand apart from the world but blend in.
Comes a man like my hero who will stand up and say " Thus says the Lord..."
You see He isn't swayed by fads but seeks the leading of God.
The very God who began the church and will complete it.
Why trust anyone else ?

Later

I put my foot in my mouth again

Here I am on Monday Morning reviewing yesterday !
And even before I started my wife got ahead of me when she said I was out of place to say at dinner yesterday that
" going to dances was going to hell"....

Here we were with fellow Wesleyans who are 'members' like us and they are talking about dances !
And so I made a bold statement on dances....
( which made for a quite few minutes)

What has happened to us that we have lost our level ground with in the church that we all shared the same convictions and practices ???
I think My favorite Author said it best " ...We have learned to live with unholiness ..."
And so as I preach on the Holiness of God it gets people uncomfortable....
And here is our problem we have gone with a gospel of comfort instead of a gospel confrontation...

Now here is where I am glad to be in smaller church not that I want it to remain small because I think Holiness preaching is still more acceptable.

But it should be acceptable everywhere !

Later

Sunday Again!

Here is my morning So far....
Up real early to turn the church furnaces on :)
Read my daily scriptures....
Surf the net and check on world news !
Surfing the net to see there are now 41 days till fishing season!
Last minute sermon details, (Today my sermon is on God's Holiness.)
Sunday School.
Church (with out me leading the whole service this week :)
Coffee Time following the service
Dinner out at a palls (a Tournament angler who is reel cool)
and home !

Later

Praying for Revival

Tonight will be our second night of prayer for revival to come in our church.

As a pastor I love to see from the people this desire for revival to come to our church.

But are our people ready ?

Week after week , sermon after sermon altar calls are given and no one moves :(

The people are eager for sinners to get convicted but I think and believe this " until our own people get convicted of their sins and cry out in repentance first - how can we expect the unsaved to do the same "

I am thirsty for revival in our ministry here to take place but as a Pastor I know it has to be done in God's timing.

As a Pastor I think a consistency needs to be established... With the people like coming out to our regular mid week prayer meetings not just on special occasions can revival not be prayed for on these nights to?

A new initiative of bringing people to church needs to start now -
I don't think this habit will happen magically over night because we have " a special speaker"

Can we pray for revival and yet rob God with tithes at the same time ?

Later

Still using a overhead projector

While all the rage today is using a power point for sermons etc....
We still use a overhead projector for our services along with Hymn books.
Now my point isn't that we don't have power point... But our people still use their bibles when I am preaching.
And this I BELIEVE is vital for Christians to know.

It's interesting the comments that I get from visiting people of how its nice to see bible's used in church's because there's have been replaced by power point.

So I wonder as we 'progress' and no longer need the use of our bibles what's next to go ?

I believe its hard enough to get people to feed on the bible so not bringing their bible to church would make it all the harder.

As I think about this I guess I'm a little more old fashion in some of my church thinking, and while studying up on the dangers of the Emerging Church - I would not want to have it any other way than being old fashioned.

Later

Another funeral...

Today my focus has been preparing and assisting in a funeral.
I did it with a retired Pastor who was cool to work with.

But this was no ordinary l funeral - because for some reason there some members of the family who will not speak to me no matter what - they have such a bitter spirit that they avoid going in the same store if I am in it.

The message of the funeral centered around reconciliation by the retired pastor and I pray it sinks in....

But in all this its not so much how they treat me BUT my attitude toward them.

One of my church ladies reminds me that these people are like sand paper that help to take off our rough places as we grow in grace.

These folks provide great illustrations in telling the kids how to deal with bullies so that helps.

So now that this deed is over - its on with the rest of the day....

Later

Short term memory

Tonight was parent teacher night !!!

The principle tried to explain to us that kids need their cheat sheets for doing math questions because some kids have " short -term - working -memory"
(I wish they had this concept back in my day !)

So there message being sent to the Kids is it's o.k. to cheat :(
and we were informed that the kids then are not expected to know all these -- :( So cheat !
Because after grade four times tables are not covered again do to all the other material that must be covered .
So if they don't grasp them by then - they are rewarded with a cheat sheet.
But isn't that a basic that all kids should know?
But what I am concerned with is the idea it's ok to cheat !
Well try that on a drivers test and see what happens
or try that with the tax man and see what happens.

Later

God is so big He can cover the whole world with His love, and so small Hecan curl up inside your heart.--June Masters Bacher

What a great winter !!

Here it is the 7th of Febuary and not a bit of snow !!
We have even escaped a cold snap so far....

But if it does get cold I have the answere :) I bought a cheap outdoor thermometer which for some reason the mercury in it has gotten stuck at 80F. So no matter how it is out side its always 8o.

On my weekly venture to town today I saw a lot of people who have gotten stuck at some point in there lives and have never kept up to date, what a shame !

But I don't even have to go out off my church to see that for most sundays there will be those who are stuck on 80 some where in thier lives and measure everything by that .

I think that life is to much of an adventure to live it by the past, It need s to be lived now !

A Night out watching hockey

Tonight we went as a family and watched our local Jr. A Hockey team play ( http://www.yarmouthmariners.com/ )

But it Just wasn't any game because they were playing against our kids cousin which to them means big bragging rights at school.

So after the Game with pen and paper they waited for autographs - and these players did well to sign them !

It hockey - the fights , the roar of the crowd and the Rock and roll music !!

In the middle of the second period they started playing the chicken dance song !

And people ( not me ) started dancing with it !

And here is my idea that has come from that "wouldn't it be cool in the middle of a sevice just to have it played for 30 seconds..." Just enough so you know what it is and....

Maybe this could be a memorable finally to my ministry her when I leave ( maybe)

it's Friday!

Here I am again , its so close to being sunday that you think I would have every thing ready for the service . But procrastiantion is a blessing and a curse at times.

I am always looking for life lessons that can be applied to the church or me .

And I found one this week at my car dealerships parts department.
and the lesson is CUSTOMER SERVICE...

My lower rad hose blew in my car on Tuesday and Thank The Lord it happened at church members home who is a truck mechanic and when he saw the problem he sent me to town to get the part in his van becaus e my car was going no where...

And the first place I went to was my dealership who basiclly said I better like walking becasue they didn't have the part and wouldn't have it till thursday by 2:00 pm or later.
If they meant to be funny they weren't.

So then off I trucked to another auto parts store and they didn't have it either soooo
then I went to a third auto store which is the one who I got the part from but before they ordered it for me they called the last auto parts store in town just to see for me if they had it and they didn't ....
( why my dealership didn't do that I don't know why )
So they orderd the lower rad hose and I had it in wed. morning by 9:30 not Thursday after 2:00 .

my lesson is :Customer service is not the palce to be making jokes in ( which can be seen as rudeness) , but a place to be concerned and willing to help.

I hope now as a Pastor I keep this in mind that when people come my way and I offer humor which can be miss-interperated as rudeness instead of concern it turns people off , but concer is like a senko in front of a hungry bass they will take it every time.

Later

Election time

This is the day I enjoy being Canadian with the oppurtunity to vote.
Its something I have done since being legally old enough too.
And Now for the rest of the evening its a wait and see what happens... that can be nerve racking.

I have gone through votes before my self !
My pastoral vote was held a year ago which the church gave me a 100 % to stay which was cool.

Yet I can remember waiting for the results - much like Martin a bad vote could mean means no home or job and no $$$ .

Thankfully all went well...

I somethiomes wish more jobs could be held on a vote system -
like grade six elementry teachers - wouldn't they change their attitudes if there job was voted on every year by the class ( parents ) that just finished ... the parents should have a say !

or that rude postal worker....
or that bus driver ...
or clerk ...
or nurse...
or doctor...
or...
But our society doesn't work that way, but we do have a choice which might not impact their lives but we can feel better because we choose this over that...

Which is why we vote - to make a choice of this over that.

Later

Sundays over

Thankyfully this day will soon be over and on with a new!

This morning I finished a three part series on Faith, Hope and Love (today)
Enjoyed a coffee with folks after the service and then spent the afternoon watching the history channel !

Then it was 7:00 pm time for a combined musical service with the local baptist church.
I like music but there is some I just can't get in the mood with and tonigh it was that.
While Sitting in church fighting the urge to play on my pda because of bordem I listened and wondered if when Jesus said we were to be salt to the earth is this what he meant - choirs that don't smile , hymns that no one knows , specials so old that Noah wouldn't know them, is this really being salt?

Well its over !

later

I have been away...

I know I haven't been on here much of late.
Among my many reasons its just the busyness of life.

And from Oct till April I live in a kind off cocoon state (why) Fishing season is over :(
It might not affect others but I just don't like winter!
When I can go its like I am alive !
I see on a site that calculates the number of days , hours and minutes till fishing season opens its now as of todat at 70 days :) so hopefully now I can start to come alive.

My closest town which is 15 minutes away This week has opened a wal-mart , so now for the first time in my life I live less than one hour from one.

This you might think is weird but with the big 40 on my radar this year I kind been thinking about some of the things I have never done...
Like
I have never flown.
Never been to Florida
Never been arrested ( that's a good thing)
Never gone beyond my B.A. degree in religion.
Never had a broken bone.
Never played a x- box ( or the like)
Never been on a city bus
Never drank a beer or alcohol. ( That's an legacy I hope my kids will have too)
Never won a spelling bee.
Never won a grammar contest.
Never successfully read through the entire bible in a year. (started but not finished)


Now I am not going to make this a must do list before I die but its just what I kinda been running through my mind of late.

I have asked other men if turning 40 bothered them ? They didn't reply which didn't help.
But I kind off felt it today playing street hockey for two hours with other kids and adults.
I walk 3 times a week but that didn't help today with playing hockey.

To me this is a turning point in my future the big 40 - So I am back to watching my diet and the families more carefully ( a personal annoyance I Have is -- over weight sloppy ministers so I try not to appear as such) and exercising and working on my attitude and to keep reading and learning.

So I am am hopefully charging ahead in to my 40's with the right stuff.

Later

only 17

While our american news stations showed our friends to the south hitting the stores for deals today , I too went for a great deal that was only on at 8:00 pm and it was for a sewing machine, but only 17 came in and no rain checks...

It amazed me to see the lack of patience people had when it came to getting something for themselves.
They wanted it and they rushed the door for a sewing machine.
Oh well its christmas and I guess culture excuses this behavior for that reason .

I have been on a blogger break for a while. Life seems to have just dictated my time away from blogging .

But now with christmass on the way I'll be back to blog and and hope fully keep my head above the waters while haveing a merry christmas..

Later

Happy Thanksgiving

What a great day here in Nova Scotia we are having a nor/easter which means heavy rains and wind.
But its better than snow:)
So being Thanksgiving I preached a sermon on how to be thankfully- something that isn't practiced enough !
And we had 6 people in for dinner which was cool along with a football GAME AND A BALL GAME to be entertained by.
So as we sat around the table the question was asked what everyone was thankful for...
it was interesting the things that were said and the differences in the responses.
But when we begins to think about it, we do have a lot to be thankful for.
For me it was being introduced yesterday to some acadian culture as I watched a sawmill do its thing and then sitting around a table eating deer meet sandwiches and talking about trouts and deers.

later

up with the old

It has now been a week since in the parsonage we have removed all carpets that were at least 30 years old and replaced them with that flooring that looks like hardwood but isn't.

It's hard work and i wnat to thank thoes who helped.

What a reminder that some put down and others tare up!

Its a great day when you get to do both !!

Later

Time for something new

Since my last post I took a 3 hour cruise (ferry) to n.b. and back.
Going on the ferry had a couple of bus tours aboard .
What interesting people seem to be attracted to bus tours...
I guess I won't pick on them today!

I have recently gone to my first Baptist induction service for a new minister.
Truly we Wesleyans have got things good compared to others.

But as we are in this service with all of its formalities , right in the middle of it, they had 3 choruses.
Why?
It wasn't a worship service.
The hymns they sang were wonderful funeral marches.
These were new songs so mostly no one knew the words.
They were I think arranged wrong.( Slow to fast. I prefer fast to slow)

Who say's there has to be " chorus" to make it a service ?
Can not the reading of the word be seen as worship?
Do we forget that hymns are worship to?

later

NY Islanders

Yarmouth has hosted this week the NHL training camp NY Islanders and last night we went to their game- islanders against islanders or blue team against white team and it was great!
The chance to see NHL players play any time is great :)

But this morning we are getting another chance to see someone famous and its Tropical Storm Ophelia that's now hitting us with rain.

I checked out our provincial gov't Emergency Preparedness Checklist WEB SITE to see what they recommend in case we lose our power or suffer even greater loss.
I wonder how many hits they get from serious people or is it a service offered but just used.
I am curious because As a church we have a " Emergency Preparedness Checklist" for eternal disaster and not a lot of people seem to be taking this one serious.
So As a church I hope we are getting hits ( people) and being a service offered but not used!

We Need Revival !
Later