Devotion 3.29/130: 1 Thessalonians 5:18, John 16:33: Hope's Vanguard

Presented to River Street Cafe, 04 May 2018

Not long ago I shared here about the Saskatchewan bus crash and how it affected me much more than I though it would and then while still coming to turns with that bus crash, that horrific van crash happened here in Toronto: that fellow ran down and killed all of those people on Yonge Street, just a few subway stops north of where we live.

This just passed Sunday I joined the Toronto community in supporting those impacted by last Monday’s tragedy at the #TorontoStrongVigil. The event was hosted in collaboration with community groups Toronto Area Interfaith Council and Faith in the City and the. I am a part of that group. It was a real blessing to be a part of that remembrance, that vigil. Many people shared prayers, songs, words of encouragement and comfort.

One of the things that really resonated with me as I was standing with community members and later clergy from other denominations and faiths was a spirit of gratefulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:18: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

People were grateful for the support of others. People were grateful for their community. People were grateful for the response, the love, the giving, and the forgiving of others. We were thankful.

This gratefulness, this thankfulness to God is one thing we can offer at this time as a community to our community in need. We can offer comfort and support to those of us who are healing through giving thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

And this is the case for all of us. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of mourning or tragedy. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of trials and tribulations. None of us, I don’t think, leads a life free of troubles and struggles.

John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

This, I think is the message of hope for me today. There is trouble in the world. There has always been trouble in the world and there will probably for many years to come still be trouble in the world. Sad things happen. We know it is true. Jesus told us so; the Bible tells us so; and we all have lived and will live through difficult times but, you know what? Tomorrow the sun will come up and the day will continue and we can take heart because Jesus has already overcome all of our troubles in the world; so we can turn to him and experience comfort for yesterday, peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

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Devotion 3.28/129: Romans 12:15: In the Mourning

Presented to River Street Cafe, 20 April 2018

Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

I read this verse today as I have been trying to come to terms with the tragic bus crash in Saskatchewan. I honestly did not expect to feel the amount of grief and sadness that I do. Friends of mine have lost friends and family members. My heart breaks for them. My heart breaks for the young people and their families.

As I led prayer time here in Toronto this Sunday, I had to stop more than once to regain my composure. Songs at the Sunday service would remind me of people whom I knew would be grieving. Images would flash before my mind. I used to live in Nipawin and pastor churches in both Tisdale and Nipawin. I would drive that same highway where the accident happened every week, many times a week. One Spring afternoon, at about the same time of day, at about the same time of year, I was driving that same stretch of highway with my two young daughters in the car. Our car crashed and rolled over and we were left dangling in the air. We were okay. I, disoriented, even wandered out into the middle of the highway at one point. We were in shock but we were okay.

I can't imagine the family members, friends and others standing recently on that same stretch of road - and their loved ones aren't okay.

My mind races. I recall a house fire in Nipawin that killed two very young children who were classmates of my daughters and my having to speak to the press. I think of those families then in Nipawin and the families now in Humbolt. My heart hurts. I recall an explosion and fire in Nipawin, right behind my office, as well. I recall standing next to people dying on the sidewalk. I recall walking the streets talking and praying with everyone I saw. I recall organizing food for those who needed it and providing comfort when I could. This time I am hundreds of miles away.

I recall my friends in Swift Current. The bus crash of 1986 is still in people's memories and their hearts. I have one friend who was a first responder and has told me many of times about that incident. I see my friends grieving. I can do nothing but pray and pray I shall for peace and comfort for all who are grieving as I, even though separated by thousands of miles, mourn with those who mourn.

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Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Presented to River Street Cafe, 20 April 2018

I read this verse as I was trying to come to terms with the tragic bus crash in Saskatchewan. I honestly did not expect to feel the amount of grief and sadness that I do. Friends of mine have lost friends and family members. My heart breaks for them. My heart breaks for the young people and their families.

As I led prayer time here in Toronto the other Sunday, I had to stop more than once to regain my composure. Songs at the Sunday service would remind me of people whom I knew would be grieving. Images would flash before my mind. I used to live in Nipawin and pastor churches in both Tisdale and Nipawin. I would drive that same highway where the accident happened every week, many times a week. One Spring afternoon, at about the same time of day, at about the same time of year, I was driving that same stretch of highway with my two young daughters in the car. Our car crashed and rolled over and we were left dangling in the air. We were okay. I, disoriented, even wandered out into the middle of the highway at one point. We were in shock but we were okay.

I can't imagine the family members, friends and others standing recently on that same stretch of road - and their loved ones aren't okay.

My mind races. I recall a house fire in Nipawin that killed two very young children who were classmates of my daughters and my having to speak to the press. I think of those families then in Nipawin and the families now in Humbolt. My heart hurts. I recall an explosion and fire in Nipawin, right behind my office, as well. I recall standing next to people dying on the sidewalk. I recall walking the streets talking and praying with everyone I saw. I recall organizing food for those who needed it and providing comfort when I could. This time I am hundreds of miles away.

I recall my friends in Swift Current. The bus crash of 1986 is still in people's memories and their hearts. I have one friend who was a first responder and has told me many of times about that incident. I see my friends grieving. I can do nothing but pray and pray I shall for peace and comfort for all who are grieving as I, even though separated by thousands of miles, mourn with those who mourn.

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Devotion 3.27/128: John 13:13-17: Spoonful of Salvation

This story is from an article by Reverend Dr. Darren J.N. Middleton published in The Expository Times where he relates a Ghanaian parable:

Once Kwaku Anansie lived in a town filled with wicked [selfish] people. They were always fighting, backbiting … [gossiping, and just being selfish]. Finally Kwaku decides to teach the people a lesson. He tells his wife to prepare a large banquet. Then he invites everyone in the town on one condition, that they have to eat with the spoons that are provided. As the guests arrive Kwaku hands each guest a spoon with a very [very] long handle. The guests then begin to eat the delicious food set before them. But since they are sitting close together they begin to disturb each other with their long spoons. In a short time all the guests are pushing, shouting, and fighting with one another. Kwaku [then] stands on a chair and calls for order. ‘I have invited you to a banquet and you have turned it into a battleground. Why are you doing this?’ One of the guests then raises his spoon and shouts, ‘Kwaku Anansie, you have [betrayed and] deceived us and made us look foolish! Nobody can eat with these long spoons you have given us! Kwaku responds, ‘no, it is not that I have made you look foolish but rather your own selfishness has betrayed you.’ Then he calls one of the guests to sit across the table from him. ‘This is the way to use these spoons’, he says as he dips his long spoon into the soup and feeds the person across from him.

Kwaku fed his guest personally, everyone at the banquet needed to do the same in order to enjoy the meal. Jesus washed his disciples feet and every one of us who has been cleansed by Jesus needs to do likewise at the eschatological banquet as we inherit everlasting life. Jesus says, John 13:13-17:

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Now that we know these things, we will be blessed if we do them. This is important. There is no room for selfishness at the everlasting banquet. There is no room for thinking we are above helping others and serving them as a servant would serve a friend of his master. This is the only way we can truly enjoy our place at the eternal feast with Christ.

In what ways can we accept a spoonful of salvation from someone else while we offer them the same?

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Devotion 3.25/126: Matthew 5:45: New York Wind

Presented to River Street Cafe, 21 March 2018

My family and I are blessed to be visiting New York this week as my children are on a break from school. It was a bit of a drive from Toronto but we don't mind, we are used to long drives.

It is great we got to see the Brooklyn Bridge, the Barclay Centre (where the Islanders play), the Museum of Natural History, 5th Avenue, Broadway, Time Square, and Central Park, among other places.

We walked around outside quite a bit an enjoyed ourselves - and then it got cold. Have you noticed how things can change in an instant? A day can be perfectly enjoyable and then it becomes too cold (or too hot) and all of a sudden everyone's mood changes.

Scenery hasn't changed. The neat things to see and do haven't changed. The monuments and parks haven't changed. You're enjoyment however has changed.

This is life. Life happens to every one of us. We all have many exciting and enjoyable things to experience just as we have many trials and toils to endure. The difference is how we experience these situations. If we focus on ourselves, it is like we are inviting a cold wind into our day to make us miserable in the midst of all the wonderful sights around us. If we, however, focus on Christ, we will also notice others and have our hearts warmed and lives enriched by his love as we take in all that He is doing around, in, and through us.

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Devotion 3.24/125: Ecclesiastes 3: Sadness

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-12

I remember when my daughters were about 5 and 6. I was driving the icy highway between Nipawin and Tisdale Saskatchewan. It was Spring time. The weather was changing but this afternoon there was black ice on the road. I hit the black ice not speeding, but going too fast. I lost control of the car. It crossed the road, hit the ditch and rolled over a time or two. I was completely disoriented and in shock as I looked back to see if my kids were safe. The car was upside down. I remember undoing my youngest's seat belt while she was dangling above me, only to have her plummet down to the ceiling. We were fine. I was in shock. I wandered out into the highway; no one hit me. The police and other help were there right away. The car was written off but none of us had a scratch (Maybe Sarah-Grace a small scratch from when I undid her seat belt.)

The next day or so I drove that same stretch of road (in a different car, as that one no longer ran). I pulled the car over to the side of the road where the other car had flipped. I got out of the car and I looked around. It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing; the snow was almost gone; the black ice that we slid on the day before was certainly gone. It was a beautiful day. And then it struck me ...even if we had all perished in that car crash yesterday, it would still be a beautiful day today, the birds would still be singing, the snow would still be melting and the ice would be gone. As a new pastor then, this remembrance has struck me at every funeral that I have been a part of. The beauty of life continues. As sad as life can be at times - and it can be sad - tomorrow, the birds will be singing, the snow will be melting, the ice will have gone away; it will be a beautiful day

There is a time for everything...

Devotion 3.23/124: Pride

• 1 Samuel 17:47 "...it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle belongs to the Lord..."

• Ecclesiastes 9:11 “…The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned…”

• Zechariah 4:6 “…This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.”

• Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

• Deuteronomy 8:10-18a: When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”

• Proverbs 16:18: Pride comes before a fall

• .Job 34:14-15: “If God were to withdraw his Spirit, all life would disappear and mankind would turn again to dust.”

• Matthew 6:32: God knows what you need Matthew 6:33: seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.

Devotion 3.22/123: Genesis 39:14-20: [#metoo]

Joseph, the 'slave' in this story was actually a powerful man. He was in charge of all of the properties, possessions, wealth, and the whole estate of the captain of Pharaoh's guards. Women in Egypt of the Pharaohs had a lot less power than do women of today. Potiphar's wife spoke out about this powerful man in her husband's employ taking advantage of her: there was no guarantee her husband would believe her over his right hand man. You can see she even needed the support of his staff to back her up. She confided in them that this servant of her husband's was here to make sport of them. She took a chance, she spoke up, and Joseph lost his job without warning and wound up in prison. There was no trial, you wouldn't want to disgrace Potiphar's wife any further. Even her identity is forever protected. Her name is never mentioned in the official record. She is protected.  

Recently in Ontario the leader of the Opposition Party was accused of similar things by two anonymous people from years gone by and he lost his job and was condemned by the PM, the Premier, his own party and others in a matter of hours. Over night he lost his job and his reputation. His accusers are protected; they went to the media; they didn't face him. He didn't get a trial. He has affidavits and evidence that even seem to clear his name. One day he seemed poised to be the next ruler of this province and the next, with reputation besmirched, his staff turned on him

Joseph we know was innocent but he went to jail.  

Our Lord and Saviour was executed for treason 

It is in your and my moments of insecurity that we turn to the Lord for security. It is when we are broken that He can make us whole. It is when we are fallen that He may lift us up

Billy Graham was ‘Promoted to Glory’. He always put the gospel in its most basic form. We need salvation.  Psalm 46:10: God: “be still and know that I am God.” Lent is a time to be still and focus on God rather than on ourselves. It is reminiscent of Jesus’ time in the desert and can remind us of Joseph’s time on his way to prison.  So today I encourage us not to rely on our positions, our strength, our skills, our talents, our smarts, our looks, or anything else – just like with Joseph in Genesis 39, they can all disappear in a moment but let us instead look to our Saviour for our Salvation. For salvation comes from Christ alone.

Devotion 3.21/122: Romans 3:22b-23: Short

Read Romans 3

Romans 3:22b-23: There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. I read a story by John Phillips:

     ‘Paul describes sin as a coming short of the divine standard.

Two men went to the recruiting office in London to join the guards regiment. The standard height for a guardsman was a minimum of six feet. One man was taller than the other, but when they were measured officially both were disqualified. The shorter of the two measured only five feet seven inches and was far too short; his companion measured five feet eleven and a half inches and, stretch to his utmost, as he did, he could not make it any more. Nor did his pleas avail. It mattered nothing that his father was a guardsman, that he promised to be a good soldier, that he had already memorized the drills and knew the army regulations by heart. He was short of the standard.

            Yes, he is taller than his friend (just like some people may seem holier than the rest of us) but it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that he is taller, he still isn’t tall enough and there is nothing he can do about that. There is nothing he can do to grow any bigger. Thus he failed to obtain his goal. Likewise, it doesn’t matter if we are Jew or Gentile, male or female, employer or employee, a missionary, a relatively good person, or what have you… for we have all sinned and thus fall short.

We know that “There is no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22b-23) and we also know that we “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). This is good news. Like so much in this world, it is not ‘what you know’ but it is ‘who you know’. Now to some this sounds unfair but when you take into account that no one knows enough to actually pass the test and merit salvation, then we really do appreciate this grace.

Now God loves the world so much that He did send His only begotten son so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. He sent His son into the world to save the world not to condemn the world (John 3:16-17) and since He did that at such a great personal expense, let us please accept that gift today and let us not be ashamed of this good news (Romans 1:16-17), let us let all our friends and family know that the Lord our God loves us all. He has purchased this special gift of salvation for every one of us and all we have to do is not decline it; so please let us each accept that love present, that gift of eternal life today.As we accept this gift, our lives will never be the same again.                                      

Devotion 3.20/121: Romans 7:19: Deliverance

Read Romans 7:15-8:2

Paul knows that sometimes even when we understand that there are some things that are not beneficial for us we still do them. This is an old problem. People have wrestled with this one for a long time. Horace said, ‘I pursue the things that have done me harm; I shun the things that will do me good’ (Epistles 1.8.11). Plato said, ‘one may acknowledge evil things to be evil, and nevertheless do them’ (Protagoras). Ovid said ‘I see and approve the better course, but I follow the worse one’ (Metamorphoses 7.20ff). The Apostle Paul said, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.”

What can we do when desire to the destruction of sin is pulling upon us like a giant magnet pulling us ever so slowly towards it?  Whether we are trying to stop lying, lusting, or smoking crack cocaine; the more we think about ways to avoid it, the more we wind up pondering ways to imbibe it. Soon our every thought is consumed with that sin that we are trying to flee. It is everywhere! …and then it has us.

There is a secret weapon for seeing sin defeated though. Now I am not saying that if you are a Christian you will never sin but here is the path to freedom, should we choose to take it. Paul says, Romans 7:24-8:2:

7:24 …Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, [He] delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!…8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death...

The one who can deliver us from all of this is Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God Himself will transform us. Instead of wrestling with our sins, we can know that Jesus has defeated sin and death between the cross and the empty tomb. Just like a long-time married couple can often finish each others senteces and know what each other are thinking, as we spend more and more time with Jesus, we will naturally become be more and more like Him and as a result sin less and less. As we pray and read our Bible, as we sing our songs, as we come to Church, as we serve God by serving others in Jesus' Name, as we tell others about the Gospel of Salvation we will be transformed into the very likeness of God Himself! As we focus on God and His holiness that will be reflected in our life!

So today let us resolve to do just that

Devotion 3.19/120: Deuteronomy 8:10 Good Times

Read Deuteronomy 8:1-20

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, 8:3, because He loves us, God hungers us causing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter a time of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction

As the Hebrews followed God around the desert, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them; When they had nothing, God provided for them Deuteronomy 8:15,16:

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

Even though one generation of the Israelites were faithless upon leaving Egypt, that did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4) who provided this desert experience as a means to their salvation. God, through Moses reminded the people not to forget this: in the desert, God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive this Promised Land. Alas, as God warned them, these times of relying on God passed when the people acquired stability, income, relative ease and apparent self-sufficiency. They didn't think they needed Him once they settled in their promised land so they left Him and then they didn't have Him. And so when life's hard hand dealt them their blows they turned to look for God's protection but they had turned their backs, walked away and left Him behind. God didn't leave them. They left Him. They exchanged the safety of God's love for the death of wealth and the myth of self-sufficiency. 

In our country too: Canada was founded on the Word of God (Psalm 72); we used to have the Lord's Prayer in Parliament and Gideon Bibles in the schools. Now we don't seem to think we need Him anymore.

This is sad but there is some good news. There is still time to return to our Lord. As long as we exist as a nation there is still the opportunity for our nation to return to God. We, as Christians should do our best to help build God’s Kingdom here as it is in heaven. As long as we exist it is not too late, we can still return to the Lord.

We know that as far as Israel is concerned, their Messiah did eventually come, even after all the unfaithfulness. He has come already. Jesus is their, and our, Messiah. Jesus was born, died, and rose from the grave. We know that Jesus will come back too and he will reign forever not only as King of the Jews but also as King of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6).

When he does, will he find that we are walking with him or that we have walked away from him and his salvation?

Devotion 3.18/119: Romans 15:16 Good Home

Presented to River Street Cafe, 09 February 218

Read Romans 15:14-22

As our friends or colleagues are speaking about life, do we tell them what we have heard from God and what we have read in the Bible? When someone shares their struggles with us, do we share with them the strength to persevere that is offered through Jesus Christ? 

  

Salvation is like this: imagine a friend is living on the street – some here have been there. Our friend is very poor and suffering from various illnesses, struggles and the most painful of lives thinking he is alone. Now, imagine that you know his father. Imagine you know that his father wants your friend to come home and live with him because his father is very well off and in his father’s house there are many rooms (John 14:2). Imagine you also know his father’s first born son. Imagine that the older son, knowing his homeless brother is sick and dying, told you to invite his brother home and imagine you don’t and your friend dies alone and sick. Imagine you don’t share this information because you are afraid. Imagine you don’t share this information because you are ashamed. Imagine if every time you see your friend it becomes more and more difficult to share the good news of his father who loves him because you are too embarrassed to admit you hadn’t told him sooner. Imagine if he suffers and dies and you don’t remind him on every possible occasion that there is another way: he can turn to his father and live out his days in the comfort of his father’s love. If that happens, what kind of friend are you? What kind of a friend am I?

Today and from this day forward let us point our friends to the Good News that they can live out the sorrows, joys, tragedies and triumphs in the full comfort and support of our father’s house.

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Deuteronomy 8:10: Thanks for Abundance!

Presented to River Street Cafe, 29 January 2018 by Michael Ramsay

Read Deuteronomy 8:3-20

Deuteronomy 8 reminds us of an important truth that, 8:3, because He loves us, God hungers us causing us to rely on Him but, 8:10-11, as we enter times of abundance we must give thanks to the Lord because, 8:19-20, forgetting the Lord will result in our destruction

As the Hebrews followed God around the desert, He provided for them. Even their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell during this time. God provided for them; when they had nothing God provided for them. Deuteronomy 8:15,16:

He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.

Even though one generation of Israelites was faithless upon leaving Egypt that did not nullify the faithfulness of God (Romans 3:3,4) who provided this desert experience as a means to their salvation. God, through Moses, reminded the people not to forget this: in the desert God and God alone provided for them, preparing them to receive this Promised Land. 

Alas, as God warned them, these times of relying on God passed when the people acquired stability, income, relative ease and apparent self-sufficiency. They didn't think they needed Him once they settled in their promised land so they left Him and then they didn't have Him. And so when life's hard hand dealt them their blows they turned to look for God's protection but they had turned their backs, walked away and left Him behind. God didn't leave them. They left Him. They exchanged the safety of God's love for the death of wealth and the myth of self-sufficiency. 

In our country too: Canada was founded on the Word of God (Psalm 72); we used to have the Lord's Prayer in Parliament and Gideon Bibles in the schools. Now we don't seem to think we need Him anymore.

This is sad but there is some good news. There is still time to return to our Lord. As long as we exist as a nation there is still the opportunity for our nation to return to God. We, as Christians, should do our best to help build God’s Kingdom here as it is in heaven. As long as we exist it is not too late: we can still return to the Lord.

We know that  Israel's Messiah did eventually come, even after all the unfaithfulness. Jesus is their and our Messiah. Jesus was born, died, and rose from the grave. And we know that Jesus will come back too and he will reign forever not only as King of the Jews but also as King of the whole world (cf. TSA doc. 6).

When he does, will he find that we are walking with him or that we have walked away from him and his Kingdom?

A Salvogesis original (February 01, 2018)

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1 John 2:15-18: Swansong 2018

Presented to River Street Cafe, 26 January 2018

I received as a present a book entitled, ‘Swansong 1945’. It is a collection of letters, speeches, and most of all journal entries written with imminent fall of Germany pending, from April 20^th 1945 until the end of the war a couple of weeks later.

There are journal entries from famous people like Churchill and Mussolini; Russians, English, and Italians; but mostly the journals are from everyday Germans watching their whole society come crashing down around them. Friends and family are dying or being separated from each other. Homes are being bombed day and night but if they go out in the street they may be shot by their ‘liberators’. There is no food. People sleep with their clothes on in case they have to flee at a moment’s notice. People try to figure out how to surrender without getting shot or killed in the process - just so they can eat, sleep and not be bombed. It is tragic.

Here is the thing – even though no one seems to believe Goebells’ propaganda anymore, the people seem to still love the senior leadership. They listen to the fuhrer intently, believe in his passion and resolve (even as they know the cause is lost) and they long to see or hear from him. Goerring and his associates were surprised at how people rushed to meet him, desiring even a glimpse of him, to offer their support and respects even as the world is crashing down around them.

Something similar, on an eternal level, is going on in our world today. The end of the Enemy’s time in our world is near. The end is obvious – just look around you. Just like there was no doubt that the German war effort was coming to an end and their leadership was to be replaced; so it is obvious that the devil’s reign in our world and our own society is coming to an end. We need to stop lapping up the words of the devil’s regime today just as much as the Germans needed to stop seeking out the leaders of their WW2 regime.

So with the end imminent, instead of serving the regime of the Enemy that is crumbling our world, causing death and destruction, we need to prepare the way of the Lord. When He rolls across this country and this world, all the destruction and death caused by the Enemy will be replaced by an eternal theocracy. The current CEOs of Greed, Prime Ministers of Self-Interest, and our Presidents of Death will be replaced with the Prince of Peace whose government will never stop ruling and being peaceful..

Instead of serving the crumbling regime of the Enemy in our world today, let us now pledge our allegiance to the Prince of Peace.

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Devotion 3.15/118: Ephesians 5:15: Jet Lag

Presented to River Street Cafe, 08 January 2018 by Michael Ramsay

and presented to TSA AV Men's Breakfast, 29 October 2022

Read Ephesians 5:18-20

The other day the whole family flew from Toronto to Victoria. Flying can be an adventure – especially when you are travelling with young children. This most recent trip was probably the first one from which we all experienced Jet Lag. Jet Lag is an awful feeling. It wastes your whole day. We have only one week’s holiday and during that time I have some work to do as well and the whole first day or even two are wasted.

Jet Lag is when you feel so tired you can’t really enjoy your day or be productive. It is only when you get over this that you can do what you need to do and experience life.

Are there times we suffer from Spiritual Jet Lag? We want to pray and read our Scriptures and associate with other Christians in a Christian context, we want to even sing praises to the Lord and thank Him for everything but we just seem to be lethargic instead.

God really will get us where we are going a lot faster than any jet but sometimes our strength will lag behind us. This is why there is this encouragement from Ephesians 5 to wake up and live as the wise.

One successful way to get over your Jet Lag is to try to set a normal routine – get up, eat, and go to bed at the proper time. Soon enough you will be back at life.

Likewise, when we become Spiritually Jet Lagged, we are encouraged to get back into our regular routine of daily worship: pick up our Bibles, read a word or two; pray – speak even just a sentence or two to God and listen; call up a Christian friend and encourage one each other with testimonies about what God is doing in our lives.

As we do this we will find that soon we will wake up from Spiritual Jet Lag and find that we are able to enjoy serving the Lord again in the fullness of our daily routines.

- a Salvogesis original

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Devotion 3.14/117: Matthew 1:24: Joseph’s Choice

Presented to the River Street Cafe, 22 December 2017

Read Matthew 1:18-25

In our text today we have Joseph:  Joseph is a carpenter/stone mason. He is from the Roman occupied territory of Judea and Joseph is righteous.

Matthew tells us also that Joseph is pledged to be married to a girl named Mary. Now, betrothal in the first century is not like it is today. When you are engaged then you are already bound. But even so before Mary and Joseph ever ‘know each other’ in the Biblical sense, before they ever come together in THAT way, Mary becomes pregnant.

Imagine this scenario with me, if you will – men in particular: you are engaged, you have not had relations with your fiancée and all of a sudden you find out that she is pregnant. What would you do? What would you say? What would you feel? What would you think? What would you think and what would you do if your girlfriend to whom you are engaged becomes pregnant – and not by you? Would you still get married? Joseph, when he finds out that Mary is pregnant, is planning to call off the wedding altogether. Verse 19 says that he wants to do this quietly so as to not bring any disgrace upon Mary.

Then something happens. Joseph has a dream. He dreams about an angel and in the dream this angel tells Joseph that he should ‘take Mary home as his wife’, Verse 20, ‘because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit’. He then dreams of the child saving people, even from their sins. Joseph thus has a number of decisions to make.

1. Does he believe in visions and angels in general and does he believe this vision of this angel in particular?
2. And how will he respond to this belief? Will he ignore his conviction that this vision is from God and press on with the separation/divorce anyway or will he accept the commission given to him from God through a messenger in a dream?

What would you do? Do you believe in your dreams? When Joseph awakes from his sleep, Verse 24, he does everything the angel from the Lord told him. Joseph is a righteous man.

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Devotion 3.13/115: Isaiah 40:3: Easy Running

Presented to River Street Cafe, 15 December 2017,

by Captain Michael Ramsay.

Read Isaiah 40:3b-5

  

Today we hear classic words of God through Isaiah also in the Gospels. A couple of weeks ago we had the Santa Shuffle. Heather participated and got a great metal. Since my 30s, I have off-again and on-again done quite a bit of running. When I lived in Vancouver I faithfully ran every second day. I lived about 5km from my office – I used to run there and back. In Winnipeg I lived almost 10km from the College, and a colleague and I did that run more than once. Running can be fun – but when you get out of the habit, and have to start again or when you start for the very first time it can be a chore. And sometimes those hills in your first few runs can feel like mountains and those valleys, ravines.  I can remember when I was first learning to run out west – where there are real mountains - being near the end of my run and my energy... rounding an almost last corner and seeing... a mountain to try to run up for my last 1/2k or so... Isaiah 40:3b-5:

“...make straight in the desert

a highway for our God.

Every valley shall be raised up,

every mountain and hill made low;

the rough ground shall become level,

the rugged places a plain.

And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people will see it together.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

This is a great verse to ponder when you are running up and down hills and around curves, looking towards a time when obstacles will disappear. I also used to do a good deal of hiking and some backpacking. After a few hours following switchbacks up and down mountains, you can almost feel the relief of Isaiah’s valleys raised and mountains levelled. This is part of the Good News of Isaiah 40.

This is the Good News also that John the Baptist proclaims: when Jesus’ returns with His Kingdom, obstacles, barriers in life will be removed. As during Advent we mark waiting for Jesus’ birth, we also hope for His return –very soon- so that our mountains of trouble will be levelled and our valleys of despair will be raised to abundance and the crookedness of our paths will be straightened.

And today even, let us not hesitate to bring before the Lord the valleys in our life that are making us feel low and the mountains of troubles that seem to be insurmountable, for the Lord is the one who will walk with us side by side until the day that all those mountains are leveled, those valleys are filled and our paths are straightened for eternity.

 

Devotion 3.12/114: Ecclesiastes 9:11: Mandolins

Presented to River Street Cafe, 20 November 2017

Read Ecclesiastes 9:11

Jethro Tull won the 1988 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, beating the favourite Metallica. The award was controversial because most people rightfully do not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. On the advice of their manager, who told them they had no chance of winning, no one from the band even attended the award ceremony. Their front man pays the flute and their band’s logo is a silouhette of Ian Anderson playing the flute.

When asked about the controversy Ian Anderson quipped, "Well, we do sometimes play our mandolins very loudly." And their label, Chrysalis, responsed to the criticism by taking out an advertisement in a British music periodical with a picture of a flute lying in a pile of iron re-bar and the line, "the flute is a heavy metal instrument."

In 1992, when Metallica finally won the Grammy in the category, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich joked, "First thing we're going to do is thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year"

Ecclesiates 9:11:

I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift

or the battle to the strong,

nor does food come to the wise

or wealth to the brilliant

or favor to the learned;

but time and chance happen to them all.

This is grace. It is our job to enjoy our labour under the sun, as Ecclesiastes repeatedly reminds us throughout. We must work hard; we should enjoy our work for we must remember that at the end of the day, everything good does not directly correspond to our effort, influence or anything else. Our blessings are due to the grace of God alone.

When have you experienced the grace of God recently?

  

Devotion 3.11/113: Matthew 6:14: Tutsi Forgiveness

Presented to River Street Cafe,  27 October 2017

and 614WM am service,  22 Ocotber 2017

Read Matthew 6:7-15

Immaculee Ilibagiza says, “Forgiveness is possible in every situation”; she says, “God is always right; whatever our Lord tells us to do is right. And God tells us to forgive.” Immaculee is a Rwandan and she is a Tutsi. Remember the Rwandan genocide? The Hutus slaughtered about 1 million Tutsi’s in 90 days – mostly by machete.

            Immaculee remembers her family was able to hide her in a home of a Hutu pastor. No one else in the family could hide. They were murdered. One day a death squad came to search the house where see was hiding. A chain of people surrounded the house so that if there were any Tutsi in the house they couldn't escape. Then then searchers came in the house. They searched even suitcases in case someone might be trying to hide a small child there. They were looking for Tutsis and if they found one, even a child, they would kill her.

            She remembers when searchers were close to their hiding place, a part of her wanted to run out and defy them and a part of her wanted to remain hidden. She is Catholic and she prayed, "God, if You are who You are, please don't let them look in this room" and then she fainted. When she came to, the evangelical Hutu pastor who was harbouring them said that they were by the door when one searcher said, ‘Mr. So-and-So, you are a good man, you wouldn't have anyone in your house’ and they left. God saved them.

When God answered her prayer and the searchers did not come in her room she knew God was real more than she ever knew before and so she would pray her Rosary prayers all the more. One of the prayers on the Rosary is the Lord's Prayer. She would pray it regularly but then she would get to the part that says please forgive our trespasses (our sins) as we forgive those who trespass (sin) against us and stop. Surely God didn't mean me? How can I forgive the sins of what has been done to me? How can I forgive my enemies – when they killed my mother, my father, my brothers, and my family? She got to the point where because she knows God is real and knows everything, she wouldn't even say those words in the Lord's Prayer – forgive us our sins as we forgive others - she would skip them over because she didn’t want to forgive them but then, of course, all-knowing God knows she is skipping those words. She came to realize this and so she opened her Bible to find some relief from this conviction to forgive her enemies. She opened her Bible and it said:

• Pray for your enemies, so she closed it and opened it again,
• Pray for those who persecute you, close,
• Forgive your enemies!

And then she remembered God. Jesus on Cross: do you remember what some his last recorded words are - about those who have put him up on that cross to die? Jesus said, "Father forgive them" and then Jesus said "for they do not know what they do". Jesus forgave his enemies. Jesus says, "Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Jesus himself told us to forgive others as we want to be forgiven.

            Immaculee says, “Forgiveness is possible in every situation and God is always right; whatever our Lord tells us to do is right. God tells us to forgive.”

            And if Jesus forgives those who put him on a Cross to kill him and if Immaculee can forgive those who killed her family and extended family and the people she loves then surely we can forgive those who hurt us.

Devotion 2.61/112: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Presented to River Street Cafe, 18 August 2017
    

In this letter, in our verse for today, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” “Therefore if anyone is in Christ…”: This phrase refers to anyone who is a Christian or as the New Testament more commonly refers to us, saints. We know what a saint is, right? The Greek word ‘saint’ in our Bibles is derived from the same word as ‘holiness’. In the New Testament ‘saint’, simply put, just means ‘Christian’. A Christian saint is contrasted with a ‘sinner’. So in the apostolic letters in the New Testament there really are just two choices in this regard. You can be either a Christian saint or you can be a sinner. As Paul’s letter reads ‘if anyone is in Christ’ it is saying that for all of us saints, for all of us Christians, we are a new creation – the old is gone, the new has come for all of us! This is exciting. When we hand our lives over to the Lord, it is like a changing of the guard; a new, fresh set of eyes now guards the prize. Paul is saying, like with the changing of the page on the calendar; so when we each turn the page on our life, giving it to Christ, we are holy (cf. Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16).We are saints. We are renewed (cf. Isaiah 42:9, 43:19-20).The old has gone. The new has come.

Now does that mean that we never sin? We were reminded yesterday by Wendy that if we say we've never sinned we make God out to be a liar for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. This is important. We have all sinned. One key in John's writing, I think, is the identity statement. We have all sinned. We don't want to sin and God can keep us from sinning. A key is how we see ourselves: are we a sinner who sometimes does not sin or are we a saint (a Christian) who sometimes might sin and who can then turn to God ask for forgiveness, hopefully be delivered from sins and definitely continue on as a saint until the end. It is not a matter of how bad we sin or how much we sin (as Monica has reminded us, just because your sin is different from my sin, it doesn't mean that I -or you - have not sinned or that my sin is better or worse than yours). What matters, as far as sinners and Christian saints is concerned, is whether we identify ourselves as those who sin (and give ourselves licence to continue on sinning) or whether we identify ourselves as Christian saints who ask God to continue to free us from our sins and everything else that is plaguing us.