In Spite of Our Fears, Spring still arrived _ Bruce Atchison

I see that all the usual events in God's creation have come to pass. The days lengthened and the sun's warmth has melted the snow. The migrating birds returned and all birds are pairing up to start the next generation. They aren't worried about a flu from a distant land and depression-level unemployment.

Though we're bombarded with frightening news, our Lord and Master reminded us of the Father's care in Matthew 6:25 (BBE). "So I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about food or drink, or about clothing for your body. Is not life more than food, and the body more than its clothing?"

Likewise the Apostle Paul knew on whom he depended. That's why he reminded his beloved saints in Philippians 4:19 (BBE) to trust in the Lord, "And my God will give you all you have need of from the wealth of his glory in Christ Jesus."

I know from personal experience that it's easy to quote scriptures but hard to live them. Even so, the author who wrote Hebrews 13:5 (BBE) said, "Be free from the love of money and pleased with the things which you have; for he himself has said, 'I will be with you at all times.'"

Of course some folks can be inconsiderate when parroting Bible passages. A certain church elder angered me whenever she quoted Psalms 37:25 (BBE) at me when I had no money for food. "I have been young, and now am old, but I have not seen the good man without help, or his children looking for bread."

The church I attended also gave me twenty-one-year-old jam and a tin of spinach from 1957. The jam wasn't bad but I refused to eat that spinach, fearing botulism. Even so, I survived.

As a consequence of poor counsel, God seemed stingy to me. Nobody back in the seventies taught me about the Father's sovereignty and providential provision for his children. That errant congregation treated the Father like a vending machine which used faith as its coinage.

I know better now and I praise God for whatever happens. I know it's for his glory and the strengthening of my trust in him.

The Breathings of God's Heart - Bruce Atchison

Isn't The Holy Bible the breathings of God's heart? Second Timothy chapter two and verse sixteen declairs that all scripture is God-breathed. Therefore when we read it or hear it read aloud, we're experiencing the breathings of the Lord's heart.

We can discover much from studying our heavenly Father's communication with humanity. We learn of his continual sorrow when we reject his sovereign and magnanimous love.  Reading the Old Testiment prophets alone shows how troubled the Lord was over Israel's never-ending harlotries. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem because he knew how close they came to meeting their messiah and yet they rejected him. Christ also wept as he foresaw what would happen in A.D. 70.

Our heavenly Father's joy is also manifest in both testiments. Whether it was his blessings on Israel when they worshipped him or his joy over Christ's faithfulness, even a casual reading shows how the Lord felt about those he chose. At the end of the worldly system, Jesus will pronounce his joyous blessing on all of us who have been faithful.

God's anger is also evident in scripture. Sadly, some non Christian readers mistake it for petty jealousy and many other insulting things that I'd rather not list. This is because they don't know him as we do, as our heavenly Father. Like any good parent, he punishes bad behaviour for its sake alone. Our Lord is immune to the human faults of peevishness or waking up in a bad mood. His justice is just, completely free of malice.

The Bible also shows us that God laughs at the puny efforts of humanity to rebel against him. As (Psalms 59:8 KJV)says,  "But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision." We human beings figure we're made of gold and can't be sold, yet we lack the experience of our eternal and all-powerful Lord to see how foolish we look.

One of the most wonderful facts we can learn in regard to our relationship with God is that, through Jesus, he knows what it's like to be human. Hebrews chapter two and verse sixteen to eighteen demonstrates how he experienced life as we do, not as if he were some distant super being without emotion or empathy.

The passage above deeply touched me as I recovered from the teachings of an aberrant house church minister. Please listen to my testimony here and rejoice with me that our heavenly Father rescues lost lambs from the clutches of wicked shepherds.

@ve6xtc

What is God's Desire for Canada? - Ramona Heikel

I believe that God’s desire for Canada is the same desire he has for all nations: to bless them and to draw them to himself. One way he does that is through believers going outside their homeland to tell others about their faith.

I can see how God blessed the nation of Israel and used it to spread the word about the one true God by drawing Abraham and his family out of their home to a foreign land. There, over time, Abraham’s faith influenced his neighbors. God used Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph, who was sold as a slave to the nation of Egypt, to make himself known to that nation that still worshiped idols made by the hands of men. Joseph demonstrated God’s sovereignty and omniscience by interpreting dreams and correctly warning the Egyptian leaders of an imminent famine, proving the truth and power of Israel’s God.

Before Europeans arrived in our country, the religious beliefs of the land were those of the Aboriginal people, believed to have originally come from Asia. These were largely animistic, and included an intense reverence for spirits and the Creator of nature. French believers settling in the new land beginning in the 17th century brought their Christian faith with them, and established a Roman Catholic population in what are now Nova Scotia and Quebec. This was followed by the English who brought believers of the Anglican and Protestant faiths across the ocean to what eventually became the province of Ontario.

I found it humorous to see how a religious competition accomplished a major change in a region’s faith, and brought blessing to the nation. Around 1700, the first large Protestant communities were formed in the Maritimes after they were conquered by the British. Unable to convince enough British immigrants to go to the region, the government decided to import continental Protestants from Germany and Switzerland to populate the region and counterbalance the Roman Catholic Acadians. This effort proved successful and today that region is still largely Lutheran.

Look how God used the great explorer and mapmaker, David Thompson. Thompson, growing up in England in a poverty-stricken family, found work overseas with the Hudson Bay Company of Canada. He suffered great hardships and setbacks, but wanted to share his faith with natives, so he carried his Bible with him into the bush and held services. When asked why he endured the difficulties of such a life, he said, “…so that these physically impenetrable barriers may be traversed and the Gospel be spread.”

It is fascinating to see how a sovereign Lord used various strategies to populate and influence this new, sparsely populated land, and I am grateful for the spiritual light that came to Canada and has stayed for all these hundreds of years. That is not to say that every person in Canada puts their faith in Christ, but that our nation’s policies and cultures do welcome and embrace the Christian faith.

It has been recently suggested that although once central and integral to Canadian culture and daily life, Christianity is on the decline. Canada is said to be in a post-Christian period, with irreligion on the rise, and the practice of religion is now generally considered a private matter. Apparently the majority of Canadians consider religion to be unimportant, but still believe in a God.

I wouldn’t exactly say that we have come full-circle, because I don’t believe that most people in our country worship man-made idols or elements of nature. But I do believe that God has the same plan He has always had for our nation, and that he has strategies in mind and in place to continue to use believers to draw all people to Him. His will shall be done, and those of us who embrace his will shall be used to accomplish it. He may move us around to places that need his light, like he did with Joseph and David Thompson, or bring others to us. So we best be prepared, however we can, as we wait for him.

Ruler Supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion in Thy loving care,
Help us to find, O God, in Thee,
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the better day
We ever stand on guard.

(O Canada, last verse)

Posted by Ramona
www.happilywriting.com


Some references:

Aboriginal religion - Native North American Religious Traditions: Dancing for Life - Page 5, Jordan D. Paper – 2007

Religious competition - Beverley, James and Barry Moody, Editors. The Journal of Henry Alline. Lancelot Press for the Acadia Divinity School and the Baptist Historical Committee. 1982.

Christianity in decline - "Canada". Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/canada

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Canada

David Thompson, quoted in Canada: Portraits of the Faith website, http://ca.geocities.com, retrieved February, 2004.

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/thompson_david_1770_1857_8E.html

Tracy Krauss - God's Time Line

I wrote my first post here at 'Inscribe Writers Online' fourteen months ago in October of 2010. My how time flies! I am grateful to be part of such a vibrant and varied group of writers, not just here at this blog, but also as part of the Inscribe organization. It amazes me how, in such a short time, I have come to feel like 'part of the family'. Thanks to Brenda Leyland, our blog-land leader, and all those who regularly contribute. I'm getting to know each voice and look forward to hearing from you each month.

Like most of you, this has been a very productive, although sometimes hectic, year for me, especially in terms of my writing activities. My third novel PLAY IT AGAIN released, I signed a contract with a publisher for a second stage play, and I found an agent who is busy pitching my fourth book. Yet, sometimes, I feel as if my writing goals aren't moving forward fast enough, or as if my aspirations aren't really being realized. This is when I need to stop and take stock; when I need to remember who is supposed to be driving this ship anyway, and let go of the wheel.

It is easy to give lip service to God and say, "He's in charge of my life, including my writing," but it is another thing altogether to actually allow Him to BE in charge. As I look back over the last few years since crossing that line into the world of 'the published', I clearly see God's sovereign hand and I am amazed at how far I've come. I also know that if this had happened any sooner in my life, I might not have been able to handle it. It's easy to feel just an eeny-weeny bit jealous of those younger writers who seem to be making it early when I feel as if it's been a long time coming. Then again, I am grateful for the time I had to focus on family and other ministry opportunities and know that this would not have been possible had I been focused on my writing. 

God knows each and every one of us. He knows what is the best timeline for our lives. It is up to us to accept that and allow Him to do the work in and through us that He desires to do. With this thought in mind, I would like to wish each and every one of you a most joyous Christmas season and a blessed New year.

The Epistle of Dale - Bruce Atchison

Unlike spoken communication, writing allows a person to organize thoughts without distracting interjections. Though we have telephones, letters via the post and the Internet still provide time for contemplation.

During my rebellion against God, he used a most unusual man to introduce a key truth to me, one that eventually lead to my repentance. From my upcoming How I Was Razed memoir, here is how the Lord used a radio program host thousands of miles away to point me in the right direction.
-------------------------------------------------------------

In January of 1994, I discovered Tempered Steel, a Christian death metal program, on an American shortwave station called WWCR. The aggressiveness of the music appealed to me and the lyrics that I could understand didn't sound preachy.

I entered a contest and won a compilation cassette of Vengeance, one of the bands featured on the show.

When I received the tape, I wrote Dale, the program host, a thank-you letter. As he seemed like a decent guy who would give me straight answers, I asked him about why Christ denied my many petitions for full sight.

Instead of a photocopied form letter, he sent a four-page hand-written epistle. I opened the letter after supper and read it all.

Dale wrote in part, "Bruce, I want ya to know that I truly sympathize on ya on your situation -- not sorry, just compassion. Well bro, based on the Word of God, I honestly believe ya are gettin' some very bad council. Let me try to explain. I believe very VERY strongly in the sovereignty of God. By that, I mean in God's control & direct influence on the events of our lives. I believe that our lives and the course it takes is determined by our Heavenly Father."

Dale then told me of his personal struggles and how he saw God work through them. "However, Bruce, I'm totally convinced that the Lord can deliver me from the 'bondage' in an instant!" But, guess what, it hasn't happened yet!"

Then he surprised me by writing: "Is it because of sin in our lives? Everyone is guilty of that." He referenced John 8:7 which says, "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, 'He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.'" Dale then added, "Because our parents sinned?" and referenced John 9:1-3.

A light came on in my mind. I had never connected the blind man's plight in the story with my own situation. Could my poor sight really be something through which God could glorify himself?

"Lack of faith?" Dale added. "No bro, it is Jesus who does the healing."

He ended his letter by saying, "Bruce, I truly believe that everything happens for the primary purpose of bringing honour and glory to the Lord."

That sounded nice but it didn't help me deal with not being healed.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Leaders of the cult church that I was a member of for more than fifteen years kept insisting that I had unconfessed sin, a lack of faith, or ancestral sin blocking my healing. John 9:1-3 showed me that I wasn't lacking in faith or righteousness but God is glorified even through disabilities. My hope now is that I can encourage victims of name-it-and-claim-it preachers that we really do have a loving heavenly father who is glorified through our weakness.

Please visit my web page where my two memoirs and writing career information are presented. God willing, I hope to have How I Was Razed in print by the end of the year and a blurb about that book on the site.