Sunday at the Manor

Today, Colin, Jessica, Jenny and I did our weekly duty at Scott Manor. It was a beautiful day and our numbers were down but Holy Ghost is more concerned with quality rather than quantity. We sang songs, shared about our week, taught some things from the Bible, and prayed with them.

The seeds for what we seen today were sown over a year and a half ago, when Josh Heymans and Melody Wallace started doing visitations. Our ministry there progressed with Josh and myself visiting the Manor twice (or so) weekly. Over the summer, we did our separate things and in the Fall, Heymans, Colin, Jessica and Jenny resumed visitations which evolved into Sunday church services.

We have seen residents who were incredibly anti-social come out of their shell and enjoy the social aspect of Sunday afternoon. We have seen Holy Spirit change hearts as only He can do. It has been such an honor to have a part in the pastoral care of Scott St Manor seeing as it has all but been forgotten by the "more important" things which consume the daily plans of the people (and us "Christians") in the world.

Jesus saw people who appeared to be forgotten and had compassion for them. He was driven by His intimacy with the Father. The intimacy that Jesus enjoyed left Him unable to pass by the forsaken without embracing them. His character was free from complacency. What if we Christians had this kind of intimacy that influenced our actions. It is obvious we do not..........blatantly obvious.

Scott St Manor has been a lesson in pioneering. To say it is an easy place to influence may be the farthest thing from the truth I have ever heard. There is plenty of (non)fruit, but there is plenty of fruit as well.

Pray that someone will step up to the plate and take over the Pastoral Care roll that will need to be filled as our plans post-St Catharines develop. (Colin and Jessica/South Korea, Heymans/Redding CA, myself and Jenny/NY and hopefully Amsterdam and beyond). These people are too precious to lose. But, in saying that, to say that the Spiritual life of these saints is dependant upon our leadership is absolute blasphemy. They are God's; the church planted in that Manor is God's, and their future is in God's hands, not our's, as it should be.

God is good...................we are not. We are servants, all of us, wholly dependant on Him alone.

the Blessing(?)

I'll admit it. Life can be frustrating. When I came back to St Catharines I thought I was starting work after two days; didn't work out. Then I thought I was starting work this monday, but SITEL has pushed that back two weeks till the 19th, so I am looking for work yet again. I remember when I first came to St Catharines in September of last year and it took me 4 mths to get work! Whatever! Things are well though. Jenny and I got to Welland this last tuesday (Thanks Colin!) for our Pastoral Care course; it is amazing stuff. I got to do some drumming in Hamilton last saturday at the Hamilton Celebration Church. Jenny and I did some visitations with some kids throughout the week applying the Gospel in a very practical way. Heymans, Jenny, and I started midweek visitations at Scott St Manor, trying to reach the residents who are more withdrawn and such. Stuff is good; we are blessed.

OK, lets get some controversy going. Much discussion among my peers lately has been around the "Blessing" of God on our lives. Some argue that the manifestation of God's blessing upon us consists of material wealth, while some laugh at the absurdity of such a notion. Am I blessed because of what I possess? Hardly, in fact the Bible clearly states the exact opposite in 2Cor6:3-10. The blessing of God upon our lives has nothing to do with what we possess externally. Simply put, I am blessed because God loves me and I have a Savior. That trumps "health, wealth, and self" anyday. The ammunition is endless and this post could go on and on and on.......but there is nowhere that Jesus promotes the accumulation of material goods. He seems to have more pressing priorities. Because someone is unhealthy or hungry or poor does not mean they are not blessed, in fact, Jesus seems to think the exact opposite (Luke6:20-21). This is all not to exalt poverty, which is totally demonic, but to get the focus back on Jesus and what He's done for us. Did He come and die for us so that we could live a fairytale life here on earth? Uh, no. The 50 or so scriptures I could rattle off would likely be a sufficient argument to that belief. Jesus came so that we would be empowered to be a witness (martyr). Wealth is not a manifestation of the blessing, unconditional love is. Is it a more accurate witness to give the shirt off your back to a naked person if you have 15 more shirts at home; or if you give your one and only shirt to someone in need without knowing if you'll have another to clothe yourself? This world will be won with this kind of self-sacrificial love. Name all the believers who have gone down in church history by propagating the Gospel with their millions of dollars................now name the believers who have gone down in church history by forsaking all for the sake of their King and the dying world. In my opinion, one list is much longer than the other.

Money is a tool and I'm gonna need lots of it. I don't want it so I can accumulate things like Rolls Royce's, or million dollar mansions, or $30,000 conference tables, etc etc. I want it to supply the hungry with food, children with places to live and study, prisoners with resources to better their life, the sick with medicine, and the world with the Gospel. Storing up treasure here on earth means little to me, in the end it amounts to trash.

To be a "blessing" to this world does not mean we make them as materialistic as we have become, it means we give them unconditional love as we have recieved that love from God.

entering into GLORY

Quite a bit is happening the last couple weeks here in St Catharines.

Weekly, Heymans, Colin, Jessica, Jenny and I conduct church services at Scott St Manor. Last week we had our largest attendance yet (16) and the Spirit of God was moving in awesome ways, (check it out -->HERE<--). Sadly though, a couple of days before that service, one of our closest friends at the Manor (James, pictured at right ) suddenly passed away. He was in his mid-forties, and we were lucky enough to have met and spend time with this man whom God was obviously transforming into the image of Jesus. James has now entered into Glory, and although we miss him, we celebrate the fact that he is now in the literal presence of his Savior!

I went for a job interview at SITEL the other day and it appears I will be starting work on Feb 4. So that is pretty cool. It is a call center; which should be fairly amusing.

Yesterday, Jenny and I rented a car and went to TACF to see Bill Johnson (left). It was pretty rockin. Heymans also took a couple people down for the day. On the way back to St Catharines (which is normally an hour long drive) the traffic was AWFUL and it took us a little over 3.5 hrs to get back!!! We totally missed the 2nd weekly session of a Pastoral Care course we're enrolled in in Welland. Anyways, it's all good. We'll get there next week, I hope. And if you are so inclined, pray about Laos with me. Something about it has dropped into my spirit and I want to see if the desire for it increases or not.

Why did the Pope, Mother Teresa, and St Francis cross the road?

The answer is totally obvious.........................TO PREACH THE GOSPEL!!! And thats what they did.

Last night was obviously Halloween and I wanted to go to the bars dressed as religious icons and spread the Good News of what Jesus has done for people. Colin Jackson and I went to Niagra Falls to look for costumes and when we were there I convinced him and Jenny Brown to dress up as the Pope and Mother Teresa (respectively). So, we did.

Later that night we went downtown St Catharines and started going outside bars, inside bars, and on the street witnessing to people about the Gospel of grace. We were told off and cursed at a lot and MANY were surprised when they found out we were not putting on a show but were actually genuine and concerned for their realtionship with Jesus. We got quite a few opportunities to speak into people's lives but the highlight was when Colin and I jumped up onto a ledge and started open-air preaching to a group of about 30 people standing in line to get into a bar! They thought we were fools until they realized we were preachers of "Grace" and not "condemnation"! Looks on faces changed and people couldn't believe what we were actually doing. It was pretty sweet. We were out for a bit over 2 hours and there were times I couldn't help but wonder where all the other christians were? We did run into one Christian, but he wasn't out to evangelize. It is too bad for all the people who want Jesus but don't have anyone to show them His love. Sad.

We realized just how much people need Jesus. In Africa they are all to ready to admit their need for Him; it's obvious. Here in the 1st World people need Him just as much, they just don't realize it. Help us reach the world Lord, please.

Niagara Falls evangelism

I just got back not long ago from evangelizing in a mall in Niagara Falls. It wasn't the best day of witnessing, but it's always good. It's an addictive habit to start. Colin and Jessica picked up Kyle, Jenny, and I at the Fairview Mall and we booked it to Niagara Falls. Since it was cold and windy, we stuck to indoors. Like I said, people were not too excited to hear about the love of Jesus today, but a couple of people were at least willing to talk to us for a few minutes.

On the way there, we stopped at this Catholic church and went inside. It was an awesome church. I love the old churches with the stained glass and stuff. I'm not much for the idols, but hey, the charismatics aren't perfect either; far from it. It was a good day though, at the Falls.

In about an hour I head to Wal-Mart for my last shift. Time in St Catharines is drawing to a close. I will indeed miss some of the people I've met here. I won't likely admit it to them, but I will. Anyways, if I never see them again, "I'll see them by the River", so it's all good. Keep evangelizing everyone. Let's get this "Christ-business" done!