Monthly Archives: May 2013

Sunday Post: Perspective

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

WATER SNAKE 2013

Our word this week is perspective:

Just a part of the pot

Just a part of the pot

Raphael Petrucci was quoted as saying, “The fact is we have confused one system of perspective with perspective as a whole”.
Let’s face it our eyes and our minds are easily deceived. What we perceive as real many times has more to do with where we are standing than what is true. Perspective is important. The story as we see it lends a piece of the truth to the world, but lets not confuse what we understand with the whole truth. Only God knows that and He has yet to show all His cards.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 2 Cor. 2:9 NLT

 Tell me about a time when your limited perspective caused you to second guess God.

If you would like to write your own perspective post join the gang over at: http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/sunday-post-perspective/

Pastor Wrinkles: Ways or Deeds

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psm. 103:7 NIV

He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: Psm. 103:7 NIV

 

We discussed this verse of Scripture during our staff devotion this morning. I suppose a Bible study on the verse could lead to a discussion about the sovereignty of God versus the free will of man. But whichever way you choose to lean there is an intimation here that  what Moses was given (the knowledge of God’s ways) was far and away better than what the people of Israel were given (knowledge of His deeds).

Now while I see in Scripture that God is sovereign (and who wouldn’t see that) I also see in Scripture that man has free will. I can’t do anything about the sovereignty of God but I am fully able to choose my own will. So as far it concerns me I want to have the better part of Psalm 103:7. I want to know God’s ways!

As I was pondering this verse the Holy Spirit dropped three nuggets of grace into my soul that helped me to understand why knowing God’s ways is infinitely better than knowing just his deeds:

1. When I know God’s ways I no longer doubt the Holy Spirit’s motives. Knowing God’s character helps me not to be afraid of the move of the Holy Spirit in church. Conversely only knowing his deeds can leave me shaken and afraid like the children of Israel before the fires of Mt. Zion when His supernatural power moves in my life.

2. When I know God’s ways I become all that God wants me to become as an actor in His Divine Drama. When I only know his deeds I remain a spectator in the audience of the Jesus Show.

AND FINALLY

3. When I know God’s ways I understand that God can be relied on in every situation. When I only know his deeds I again doubt his motives and lean more towards  trying to solve all of my own issues.

I have to admit that as I read through these blessings of knowing God’s ways I am coming to understand I have some more knowing to grasp. Number three in particular is one I struggle with. How about you?

Pastor Wrinkles:The Ever-Present Now

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof Gardens

 

In his well-known book, The Screwtape Letters,  C.S. Lewis writes from the vantage point of a devil. He writes, “The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present–either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure. “

Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” MA. 6:34 NIV

The truth is God dwells in eternity which is not lots of time but no time and all time together. He is able to inhabit past, present, future and something else besides which is beyond any of those things. But He has made us different in that we cannot dwell in anything but the ever-present now. We remember the past. We can minimally plan for the future, and He has set eternity in our hearts according to Ecclesiastes. But we can only dwell in and deal with the present.

While this may frustrate us it is God’s plan. The Psalmist writes, “As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
    they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
    and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
    the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
    and his righteousness with their children’s children—Psm. 103:13-17

To paraphrase Lewis the present is the context in which we identify with eternity. We understand eternity only as we come to, “obey the present voice of conscience, bear the present cross, receive the present grace,  and give thanks for the present pleasure. “

While I suppose we can’t speak absolutely about why God has made this so I believe we can say with some authority that the reason God has made us like this is because in this form we are continually offered the opportunity to put forth that attitude which He so deeply enjoys…faith. As we walk in faith He becomes our hope and we then have access to that greatest force in all the universe…God’s love. So it is our very diminished capacity, living in the ever-present now, that has the potential to create the cycle of which I Corinthians 13 speaks so highly…“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I Cor. 13:13

The Netherlands 2013 Day 6

Posted on by under Photography, Travel
100_1960

Keukenhof Gardens

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. ISa. 61: 11

100_1961

Keukenhof Gardens

 Do not be afraid, land of Judah;
    be glad and rejoice.
Surely the Lord has done great things!
22     Do not be afraid, you wild animals,
    for the pastures in the wilderness are becoming green.
The trees are bearing their fruit;
    the fig tree and the vine yield their riches.
23 Be glad, people of Zion,
    rejoice in the Lord your God,
for he has given you the autumn rains
    because he is faithful.
He sends you abundant showers,
    both autumn and spring rains, as before.
24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
    the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

25 “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—Joel 2: 21-25

 

100_1917

Keukenhof Gardens

26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26,27

Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof Gardens

I hope you enjoyed these photos and Scriptures inspired by Keukenhof  Gardens!

The Netherlands 2013 Delft Continued

Posted on by under Travel

As promised here are more pictures from Delft the city of the Royals.

A flower shop behind the Oude Kerk. Delft

A flower shop behind the Oude Kerk. Delft

One of the most exciting things I did in Delft was to climb the tower of the Nieuwe Kerk. The church is the burial-place of the Family Orange. While the sanctuary and royal crypt are amazing the climb up the tower is absolutely breathtaking. From the steeple you can see all the way to Rotterdam and Den Hague. Warning: this is definitely not an activity for those with a fear of heights!

When in Delft remember it’s only 278 steps to the top!

Lightning Rod Cross

Lightning Rod Cross

The Netherlands Day 4 1/2 and 5

Posted on by under Travel

Brenda and I left Amsterdam and trained to Delft.  By the time the train stopped at Delft station and we made it to the town square it was well past lunchtime. So we stopped at a little cafe called Rossio’s

Yummy fresh Dutch bread!

Yummy fresh Dutch bread!

After our lunch the waitress was kind enough to hail us a cab and we taxied to our hotel, a place on the outskirts of town called the Shanghai. We were surprised (though I suppose we shouldn’t have been) when all the channels on the tele were in Chinese.

But I don't speak Chinese!

But I don’t speak Chinese!

Fortunately we were given free tokens to the bar downstairs. When Brenda and I went to get our free coffee we noticed Ice Road Truckers was playing on the public set. So back in our room we fiddled a bit with our TV  and lo and behold English started coming out! Huzzah!

Not that we watched a whole lot because we were there to tour!

Here are some shots of Delft:

After visiting the Oude Kerk we visited the Nieuwe Kerk which is the burial-place for The Dutch Royal Family.

Hey! Come back tomorrow for more of Delft!

The Netherlands 2013 Day 4

Posted on by under Travel

I think my sister roused me around 5:30 A.M. So that we could have breakfast (fresh bread, cheese, fruit and coffee of course) before catching our train from Womerveer to Amsterdam Centraal. Brenda does not have a car so our journeys were primarily by mass transit.

Amsterdam Centraal

Amsterdam Centraal

We hopped a tram headed for the Free University where Brenda had a speaking engagement before we could trot off to Delft.

Apartments in Amsterdam

Apartments in Amsterdam

A Lone biker by Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam

A Lone biker by Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam

100_1685

 

It’s an unwritten rule in our family that early is on-time, on-time is late and late is unacceptable (Dad’s rule). Naturally we arrived a half hour before the missionaries. So we took those moments as a photo op for the Amsterdam skyline.

 

Brenda gave her lecture on drama in ministry and we had a photo opportunity with veteran missionaries George and Muriel Thomasen.

Brenda teaching

Brenda teaching

 

Brenda, Muriel and George

Brenda, Muriel and George

 

Once Brenda was finished it was back to Centraal and off to Delft!

 

 

The Good Shepherd Pt.11

Posted on by under The Stories

100_1062

If you have been following the Good Shepherd, thank you. If you have missed out on some of our episodes you can catch up with them on our Good Shepherd page here:  http://wp.me/P39vIx-j1

Now here is the conclusion of our story:

The Good Shepherd Pt. 11

     The church is gone now, burned a week ago when the National Guard came and disbanded the local militia.  The deacon board voted to resist the new state ordinance. When the  of State soldiers marched into town the militia mustered on the church lawn. I stayed home and worked on harvesting the garden. Two of my deacons died in the firefight. The other five are arrested and waiting trial in Boston. All swords and bows have been confiscated throughout the town and we exist under martial law.

    The whole world is teetering on the brink of war and what’s left of the U.S. government is not going to make nice with those they see as homegrown terrorists when real terror lies just beyond our borders.    Russia, Iran, Turkey and Libya launched an attack against Israel two weeks ago. A huge army swept from the North on horseback armed with swords and bows. It’s Ezekiel 38 in a nutshell and Israel’s victory over the aggressor though prophesied has set the world bubbling with tension. England, America, Australia and Canada have launched formal protests against Russia while the Islamic world  is screaming for the blood of the Jewish people.

   The day after the attack I set up a soap box on the corner by the old candy store and began to preach to whoever would walk by. A year ago I would have been laughed off the street. Cars humming by at breakneck speed would have honked to shame me. But now that the world has slowed down and everyone is walking to town my little sideshow has become quite the attraction especially since I removed myself as pastor of the church.

I should have set myself to the simplicity of the gospel preached long ago but it took a worldwide blackout and the beating of the ever- nearing prophetic drum to make me realize that so much of my life was lived only for the now. Oh, that I could go back and make it all driven by eternity. But there is no going back. There is only grace and that is enough.

Soon I shall leave this earth. I no longer doubt any of the prophecies. I have lived through too many to think they are not real. Jesus will come and take his church away soon and then the end will come. Who knows it could be today. After all it is R………………

THE END

C.cada April 2013

Posted on by under C.cada: Arts and Stuff

Devotion:

We discussed rejection at April’s artist gathering. Rejection is a part of life and of course a big part of being an artist. It is rejection that causes many artists to become untrue to themselves and their work in hopes of becoming pleasing to people. It is fear of rejection that separates people from their talent. Yet rejection can also drive artists to improve their craft or to try new mediums which better suit their gifts. In the end rejection is what we make of it.

How have you dealt with rejection in the past?

What’s happening this month:

This month our choir started its new work for Memorial Day.

One of our artists has been invited to lead worship for a Royal Ranger event in our network.

Clayton Phelps was asked top play at two art shows this month and just interviewed with a local radio station about his new album.

Garrick Brewer one of our teen writers and preachers qualified for the National  Fine Arts Festival in Orlando Florida

Our featured artist this month is Charlotte Dorais. Charlotte is a wonderful artist in paint. Recently she has returned to an old love… poetry. Here is some of her recent work:

The Walk

Charlotte Dorais

The church steeple protrudes up a missile ready for launch

Radiant white against the grey early morning sky

The predawn sky glows orange over the downtown lights

Sporadic traffic, delivery trucks commuters pass by

Soon I will be one but now my feet transport me

The swish of cars passing barely audible over Jim Croce’s Greatest Hits

The music a metronome paces my steps

Solid comfort flows from each foot as it strikes the ground

The music and scenery collides my thoughts muddled

A goose taking off from the river draws my attention outward

My labored breathing witnesses the challenge the hill gives

Rounding the corner Central Street stretches quiet before me

Fresh brewed coffee entices me to stop yet I press on

I speak a breathless greeting to the woman as I pass by her outside the diner

Through the open door I view the pre-customer ritual taking place

Sugar bowls filled, clean ashtrays set out

The mail box sentries guard the front of the Post Office

My reflection moves with me as I pass blank windowed store fronts

Crossing I watch a lone dog, his look determines I am of no interest

Diner customers are entering into their morning routine

The coffee shops activity increased with the sun rise

Down hill my step quickening the sky alive with movement

Geese swimming upstream break the reflection of the golden clouds

traffic’s increase impedes my cross back home

My walk over I enter the house to complete my morning ritual looking forward to tomorrow.

Creator

 Charlotte Dorais

Tanka  5/7/5/7/7

God’s love is mighty

Awesome powerful potent

Unfathomable

Taught by example practice

Received by invitation