Presented
to Maxwell Meighen Centre, 21 April 2016, by Captain Michael Ramsay
About me:
Hello, I am Captain Michael Ramsay. My wife
and I have 3 daughters: two are in high school and one is in kindergarten. We are
blessed to be Corps Officers at 614 Regent Park. We have been here for almost a
year now. And it was very interesting when we first found out that we were
going to be posted to 614 Toronto because we
actually came into the work – we became Officers – out of 614 Vancouver Vancouver Steven
Court
Now, I was actually born and raised in Victoria , BC
Since that time we have served God in the
Army in Winnipeg ’s North End and Stoney Mountain
Penitentiary, in Northern Saskatchewan – in Nipawin and Tisdale – and in
Southwest Saskatchewan running a myriad of ministries including a large justice
ministry – court work, alternative measures, transition through incarceration,
etc. – and the primary feeding programs for all of Southwest
Saskatchewan . We were also blessed to be used by God to set up the
very first rural chaplaincy program in the province. It was exciting.
We have seen many of God’s blessings in all
of those settings; we have already seen some in this area and we look forward
to seeing even more as God works in the hearts of everyone here.
Today I want to read to us from Acts Chapter
19.
Acts 19:11: The Miracle
Acts 19:8-12:
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke
boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through
Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken
to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
Do miracles still happen?
There
was a fellow who decided to go parachuting with his friend. As neither of them
had ever been parachuting before they needed to be trained. They spent the day
at the airport studying wind trajectories, physics, the speed of acceleration
of a free falling object, as well as what to do if your parachute fails to
open. The one friend did not understand it at all and even when they practiced
with a mock parachute, he didn’t get it. He couldn’t even get the mock
parachute to work. He didn’t get it.
Then
they went to the plane. Flipping a coin to see who would go first, the friend
lost and was supposed to jump first. Discovering, however, at about 850 ft in
the air that he was afraid of heights, he convinced his companion to jump
first.
They
were jumping from 3000 ft. As this was their first jump, cords were tied to
their parachutes so that they would open automatically upon exiting the plane
because you never know if someone new will be able to pull the cord to release
the parachute or not. The companion climbed out on the wing (as he was supposed
to) jumped, counted to five (as they practiced), looked up saw that the
parachute had opened beautifully and enjoyed one of the most peaceful
experiences of his life noticing the miracles of God’s creation while drifting
to the ground on this perfectly windless day.
The
friend, emboldened, does the same: climbs onto the wing, jumps, counts and
looks to see the parachute; he reaches to grab the steering toggles on his
parachute…they aren’t there. His parachute isn’t there (most of it anyway). It
isn’t working. He has to take it off his back and pull the emergency chute all
the while following faster and faster towards the ground. As he pulls the cord,
he prays: “Lord, please save me.” He pulls the cord, looks, and the emergency
chute didn’t open properly either. It isn’t catching any wind. It isn’t slowing
him down. He falls beneath the trees towards the power lines and highway below.
It is
at this time that the Lord’s hand reaches out and actually lifts the
parachutist up in the air, opens his parachute and gently sets him on the
ground without a scratch. This is a true story; I am that parachutist.
Miracles
do happen.
When have you experienced a miraculous encounter with
our Lord?
Miracles do happen because God is real and there is
even more to this story too:
When I was without a parachute and about to pull the
emergency cord, I prayed. Now, I was a smoker back then and when I pulled my
emergency cord, I remember praying, “Dear God, if you save me I’ll quit smm… -
never mind just please save me!” And He did. And I knew that as He did the
first thing that I would want after I landed would be a cigarette. And it was, so
it was a good thing that I didn’t make the vow. (I did eventually quit smoking;
but that’s an unrelated story.) I know that God takes covenants, oaths, and
vows very seriously and I didn’t make one then that I wouldn’t keep.
Mind you, as an Officer in The Salvation Army now, I don’t
smoke anymore anyways – God has delivered me from that addiction, just like he
has delivered me from other addictions and just like he can deliver you from
anything. Honestly, truly, when I was a Salvation Army soldier serving on Vancouver ’s DTES I saw
people actually cured of AIDS, actually cured of cancer, actually cured of
diabetes. I have seen people delivered from demons. I have seen entire lives
transformed – sometimes in deliverance from these things and sometimes in being
given the ability to live through these things so that they can be used to help
others who must themselves live through the very same things.
That is a key point of Christianity, I think. Life is hard
and life is going to be hard but when God is with you, no matter how bad it
gets, it will be okay because you will never be alone. God is with you… and
when we really need it, when we are really at the end of our rope, and there is
nothing you can do, more often than not I think we will find God opening the
parachute of our life and placing us firmly on the ground on salvation.
Let us pray
[1] This section is based on the article by Captain Michael Ramsay, Do Miracles
Still Happen? Nipawin Journal (September 2008) On-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com/sasknews.htm#miracles
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