New Room

Coming into the house is just a whole lot easier now. We have two dozen hooks to hang our coats. The kids can now hang their wet snow-pants, mits and hats to dry and line up their boots on the floor. We're very thankful for this new addition. The only things left do are the trim inside and the vinyl siding on the outside. We're waiting for the warm weather before putting up the siding otherwise it might crack.

Winter Phenomena

Here are some of the the things that have been taking place around here lately. One is from this morning. Something called a sundog or what is scientifically known as parehelion. The frosty air and bright sun on the horizon make ideal conditions for this winter phenomenon.

Another phenomena that is simply amazing is hoarfrost. We had some last week. Every detail of every limb & branch is carefully outlined. Pretty amazing stuff. "He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters frost (or "hoarfrost" in the KJV) like ashes" (Ps. 147:17, 18).

The cords of kindness

"I drew them with gentle cords,
With bands of love,
And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.
I stooped and fed them" (Hosea 11:4).

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).

"And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself” (John 12:32).

Agnus Dei - Michael W. Smith

JC Ryle. The Frank and Manly Preacher

John Piper spoke at yesterday's conference for pastors held in Minneapolis, MN (Desiring God Conference for Pastors). I wish I was there... Next year! He gave a biographical sketch of JC Ryle, one of my preacher 'heroes'.... Encouraged and strengthened once again. Here's an excerpt:

"Not all preachers have the same personality or the same tone. Some are louder, some are softer. Some speak faster, some slower. Some with long sentences, some with short. Some with many word pictures, some with fewer. Some with manifest emotion, some with less. Some with lots of gestures, some with few. These differences are inevitable.

But preaching, as opposed to teaching — kerussein (Greek) as opposed to didaskein — involves a kind of emotional engagement signified by the word “heralding.” There is in preaching a kind of urgency and a kind of forcefulness. A message is being delivered from the King of the universe — with his authority, in his name — and this message deals with matters of infinite importance, and the eternal destiny of the hearers hangs on how they respond to the message.

This is preaching. And no matter what a preacher’s personality or preferred tone, this preaching necessarily involves urgency and forcefulness and a penetrating conviction which aims to come with divine thrust into the minds and hearts of the listeners. And therefore, this is a manly task. Coming to a people with an authoritative word from God, aiming to subdue the hearts of men, and summon them into battle, and lead the charge at their head against the principalities and powers—this is where men belong."

The whole thing.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

4 years ago, today, I went into labour for the 6th time. For the 6th time we anticipated the birth of a little one. We had the crib up, blankets folded "just so" to make a cozy nest for a small, warm body. Meals were in the freezer, little clothes were washed and folded, the change table was stocked with the tiniest of diapers and our hearts were oh, so ready to receive this next addition to our family.

And along came Yvetta. 10lbs, 2ozs of cuteness :) She filled our lives with so much joy! Suddenly there were chubby cheeks to kiss, smiles to induce, big eyes to stare into, baby smell to breath in, a cozy body to snuggle with.

Now, she's a girl. No longer a baby, but still filling our home with girlish giggles, squeals and her vibrant personality that explodes with fun and with flashes of independance and defiance that make us laugh inside. She's affectionate - loving to give hugs, wanting to share the (dubious!) comfort of her blankie (rag....). She surprises us with a vocabulary sprinkled with big words, used through the lens of her young life and limited experience.

We love this girl, and thank God for seeing fit to gift our family with her.

Yvetta, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. May He ever be your Rock, your Fortress, your Deliverer. And your eternal Joy.

Sit here at my footstool

Have you ever let yourself be prejudiced against someone
before you really knew him? Have you ever allowed criticism or harsh words or
mistaken judgment to influence you about the person so that your mind was made
up about him before you met him? Then, when you finally meet him, you had a
distorted view of who he is. You found yourself thinking wrongly of the man. Right
from the beginning, he’s someone behind the eight ball. However, as you get to
know the person more, you discover that you have misjudged him. You feel
ashamed for so quickly judging a man on the basis of some criticism you heard
against him.

If we all are honest with ourselves, we have done something
like that before. Or we ourselves may have been the recipient of the same kind
of prejudice. This is what James addresses in James 2:1-13. Verse 2 says, “For
if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings [literally, ‘a
gold fingered man’], in fine apparel and there should also come in a poor man
in filthy clothes….” Back then, social status was noted by the number of rings
one had on and the fine clothing. You could tell a man’s so-called quality by
just looking at him. Verse 3 continues, “and you pay attention to the one
wearing to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, ‘You sit here in a
good place,’ and say to the poor man, ‘You stand there,’ or ‘Sit here at my
footstool’….”

This scenario described by James is the problem of judging
(or misjudging) a person, or the problem of partiality. It is warning against
showing favouritism. No one can determine the heart of another by a first time
encounter; it is impossible to judge another man’s motives simply on the basis
of outward appearance.

The clearest reason why prejudice is sinful is because it is
inconsistent with the character of God who judges without partiality (verse 1).
It is also incompatible with the rest of Scripture. It may have been that James
was anticipating an objection – is social preference really that serious? James
says it is - on the basis of the royal law: love your neighbour as yourself.
Partiality violates God’s supreme law of love. The sin of partiality breaks the
royal law to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbour as
yourself.

What happens when there is prejudice in the church? It can
lead to real problems. Cliques can be formed. Or legalists rule. Or power
hungry people take over. And they can put enormous pressure on others to
conform to their rules of behaviour.

Are we quick to condemn others on the basis of appearance?
Is there a tendency to feel prejudice toward those of social status, education,
rank, looks, age, or background or whatever it is? We need to consider what James
is saying. This is a warning to us not to be judgmental. The Lord deals with us
in His mercy. But, we must remember that we all stand before Him as the Judge.
This truly should be humbling to us…. We are called to be merciful as He is
merciful, as He is impartial and merciful to us in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.