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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Peter's Picks


The Perfect 7-day Diet – Peter’s Picks
‘What’s New?’
Day 1: 1 Peter 1:3 – “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.”
Day 2: 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Day 3: Ecclesiastes 3:11 – “Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
Day 4: Isaiah 40:31 – “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”
Day 5: Jeremiah 29:11 – “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’”
Day 6: Isaiah 43:18, 19 – “’But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Day 7: Lamentations 3:22, 23 – “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”
** Verses taken from the New Living Translation

Why Can’t I hear You?


I’m in Calgary taking a course that is primarily a review of counselling courses I took fifteen years ago. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining that I have to take another course that I have already taken. Counselling styles have changed over the years and it is always a bonus to learn new techniques and get some practice with some incredibly talented people. Something that really stood out for me was a simple phrase; “do we listen to respond or are we silent to comprehend?” I have often heard the phrase “we have two ears and one mouth so we need to listen twice as much as we speak” but the other thought seems to expand a bit on that. When others are talking, are we too busy formulating what we are going to say in response or do we take the time to really listen to others, mull it over for a bit and then respond or even rephrase what we just heard? As an aside, did you know that listen and silent use the same letters just in a different order?

So you may ask what does this have to do with a Christian walk. Over the years, many have told me they left the church because they don’t feel that the gathering or God is all that relevant in their lives. They say they prayed for miracles and asked for all sorts of signs but there was only silence. My question for them today is this; are they listening to respond or are they silent in comprehension? I am looking for a miracle and I prayed and prayed yet nothing happened. Here is the thing however, if we put it out there and seek out the miracles He provides rather than look for only the responses we are expecting, are we truly understanding what God has gifted us with? I got upset with traffic the other day in Calgary, took a couple wrong turns, added time to my journey and prayed that God would give me calmness. As I arrived at the first set of lights on the outskirts of the city, there were police cars all over the place and a few cars in various states of disrepair scattered all over the road. In my mind I heard that it could have been me had I been a few minutes earlier. The question we all need to ask is not “why don’t You provide what I ask for?” but rather “what do You have in mind for us now?” It is at that moment we need to remain silent and seek out the provisions He has lovingly provided.

This Sunday, we continue our journey through Psalm 119:81-88. We invite you to join us if you can at 10:30 MST on Sunday or watch live online on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MainAvenueFellowship/ ) or view it afterwards on our website (www.mainavefellowship.blogspot.ca).

Blessings
Pastor Todd

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

His Words, Their Voice


As I write this message, I am struggling with the aches, pains, and loss of energy of fighting cold/flu symptoms. What started with a sore throat quickly became a fight for every breath, and the continuous coughing has robbed me of any meaningful sleep. It’s interrupted my life this week. Yet, even in this I have heard the sweet sounds of God’s voice, or rather the voices He used to tell me I am His beloved. From the house call of a physician friend to examine me late at night, to the prayers and phone calls from my church family, He tends to me. From my wife’s tender touch of a scalp and back rub and a home cooked meal, He covers me. In the sweet voice of my mom who called just to check in offering soup for the soul, and ending a phone call with the words that she loved me very much, He will heal me.

I tell you these things because He does that for each and every one of us. I just happened to pay attention to the many ways He tells us we are loved by Him. It seems to me that God is forever trying to communicate His love and care for us, but in our own situation we don’t always hear Him. The busyness of our lives, the volume of the world, and yes a heath issue have a tendency to deafen us to His care. I am reminded that it is exactly in times like this that we look up and search for Him. He already knows what our situation is and is waiting for the invitation to settle in and surround us. Look for him in all things, not just the good things. Don’t worry about what anyone else says or thinks when you give thanks.

You may even have somebody ask you if you really believe what you’re speaking or praying about. Plant your faith feet and say yes, absolutely. I had an earthy father who I can speak to any time. All I have to do is picture him in my mind’s eye and memory and he’s there. Even though I don’t know what he looks like, I can do the same with my heavenly Father. I know that when someone calls to pray for me, that it’s His words to me that I hear. When I am tended to by my wife, I know it’s His healing power that is in her hands. So you see that even the simple thing like fighting a cold or flu can bring you closer to God. The breaths you take in between the coughing are the ones He sent you to say my child, I too love you very much..

Mike Shindruk
www.mastershandministry.blogspot.com

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Greatest Thing


In our church services, we sing a song entitled, The Greatest Thing. It is a chorus piece where the main line goes like this. The greatest thing, in all my life, is knowing You… then Loving You… and serving You. It is a very soft melodic repeat that allows the singers and listeners to close in with Jesus. Once you hear the choruses, and pay close attention to the lyrics, you can clearly get a most powerful message. If you get to know God, you will get to love Him, and then you will want to serve Him. It is such a simple song to follow, yet it draws you near to the Father in ways that defy explanation.
          
This week, I viewed this in action. A friend had to let her mom’s hand go to be with Jesus. Her room was made ready, and He came to take her to her new home in our Father’s mansion as promised in John 14:2-4 NCV. Jesus says,” there are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so you may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. She had a faith walk, and as her time drew near, she told her family she wanted to go to heaven. This was a clear message that she knew Jesus. She knew where she was going and her love for Him was enough for her to go with Him. She expressed love for her children and for a close companion friend of over twenty years, and a son who both were waiting on the other side. She left behind a legacy of kindness and a spark for life that showed she was a true and faithful servant.
   
In this, I saw the greatest thing, in it’s entirety. My observation was of many ways that we all can know, love and serve the one and only true God. Watching a life well lived with family and friends around us we should have us believe that God is well pleased with His children. It’s a simple phrase in a simple song yet gives such a wonderful message. Ask yourself if your life fits into these words. Would you like to know Jesus? Answer yes and you will fall in love with Him. That love will open the door to wanting to serve Him. Yes, such is the greatest thing in all my life.

Mike Shindruk

www.mastershandministry.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

The Smallest Can Be The Greatest


In doing the study of Psalm 119, I am finding out so many things that just resonate with today’s society and so much of it has been lost. Did you know that the tenth letter of the Aleph Bet is Yod? Did you also know that it is the smallest letter yet is one of the most utilized letters? In fact I read where the Torah could very well be considered invalid without the kotz of Yod. The size of the letter denotes a humility and I found it interesting that the only letter that remained unchanged in Jocob’s name (Ya’akov) was the Yod (Yisrael) and the people who bore his name later would be the smallest of nations.

As I read this, I remember watching a video on the computer that spelled it out incredibly well. Two children, barely of walking age, say each other from across the park and began to run together with arms wide open. They came together and embraced and held each other as they chatted away looking directly at each other. This may seem like a normal thing but the point was that they embraced even though they were not of the same race. The humility of a child’s love for another is colour-blind, free from the encumbrances of what society will teach our children later in life. In a world where we fight for equality based on gender or race and rights of different categorizations of lifestyles spark anger on both sides, why can we not be humble and realize that we are all children of God. He sees past race, creed, colour and gender and seeks out the joy in the relationship. Society spends way too much time seeking ways to defend their rights and defining their life choices that they forget to seek after God with humility similar to a child running towards a familiar face seeking to embrace the love. Pride motivates to set our feet steadfast and demand that others recognize our rights, humility motivates us to seek out the perfection of His promise and embrace the love He pours out equally for all His creation.

This Sunday, we will explore Ps 119:73-80. We invite you to join us if you can at 10:30 MST on Sunday or watch live online on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MainAvenueFellowship/ ) or view it afterwards on our website (www.mainavefellowship.blogspot.ca).

Blessings
Pastor Todd


Peter's Picks


The Perfect 7-day Diet – Peter’s Picks
‘GOD OF PURPOSE’
Day 1: Colossians 1:16 – “For through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.”
Day 2: Jeremiah 32:19 – “You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You see the conduct of all people, and you give them what they deserve.”
Day 3: Proverbs 19:21 – “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”
Day 4: Psalm 33:11 – “But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.”
Day 5: Romans 8:28 – “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Day 6: Ephesians 2:10 – “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Day 7: Isaiah 46:10 – “Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.”
** Verses taken from the New Living Translation


Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Taking On Responsibility


I was watching a commercial the other day where the children were being asked if they had done something wrong. One child was asked if she had been playing with the make-up and she said no but here painted face and stained hands proclaimed differently. Two boys in the shower stall covered from head to toe in paint of a variety of colours both denied to painting up the other and pointing accusatory fingers at the other. A young girl with black felt marks all over herself and the pen still in her hands was asked if she drew all over the hardwood floor. Her response was complete denial of any involvement. Denial, deflection and blaming others seems to be the norm as of late. I long for the days where people flat out accept responsibility for an error and accept the consequences for their actions without screams of persecution or deflecting the attention to those around us just to avoid the punishment.

Look back in time to the days of Christ. The Pharisees and the Sadducees knew the laws and wisdom of God and yet they manipulated the rules and laws to suit their own purposes. Now granted, many had been taught those ways but, truth be told, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. We are to hold the Word of God in utmost esteem but mankind has a habit of making their errors and then declaring “the devil made me do it”. The rulers of the day, religious and secular, took the opportunity to deny the teachings of Christ because to accept His directions meant they were wrong so they decided to shift the blame off themselves and onto the Author of their discomfort. The more He preached the Truth, the more awkward they felt and the more they needed to shift the focus so they would not be found out yet Christ did not come to condemn anyone, prince or pauper, Priest or heathen, rather He came to set us all free from our filth. The first thing we need to recognize is that we are all broken and open to sin but Christ came to forgive. I can see the look on the young children’s eyes in the commercial and the thought of “I am in for it now”. There is that same look in the eyes of those who are trapped in sin and are confronted. Jesus did not come to condemn but rather to save. Confess your sins, take responsibility for your errors and do not shift the blame. Ask for His forgiveness and it shall be given.

When the Saviour returns, He will be looking for those who have declared they are not perfect and taken on the responsibility for their errors, those who have asked forgiveness and shed off the mask and are born again renewed in His grace. Only the Truth can set us free. We invite you to join us if you can at 10:30 MST on Sunday or watch live online on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MainAvenueFellowship/ ) or view it afterwards on our website (www.mainavefellowship.blogspot.ca).

Blessings
Pastor Todd

Monday, September 9, 2019

Where There’s Hope


This past weekend, Eastern Canada experienced a significant storm. Hurricane Dorian rolled directly over Nova Scotia like a well- placed dart on a dart board. For almost two weeks we watched from the relative safety of our homes as it ravaged our neighbors to the south. As it made land fall here in Nova Scotia as a category two storm, it quickly lost its’ bite and within a hundred miles it was mere tropical storm with high winds, some rain, and moderate personal damage. Our county experienced power failures, but they were really a mere inconvenience compared to others in our provincial capital of Halifax.
          
One could only wonder, why? Those of us who pray at times like this will credit God for calming the storm. Others who are less faith-filled, or sceptical will credit geography as breaking it up. Regardless of opinions or belief, the reality is, not a single fatality occurred in our Maritime Provinces. To me that is God’s grace. Regardless, we should give thanks that we lost nothing of real significance.
          
I believe in God and His grace and mercy. I see evidence of His existence, power, healing, and promise each and every day. I have been given a gift of hope by Him. My hope comes in many forms.  My spiritual hope is that there is someone and something waiting for me when I leave this earth. My emotional hope is that my marriage will endure the uncertainties of tomorrow. My physical hope is for mine an my wife’s health to sustain us into our old age, so when we are married over sixty years the simple touch of each other’s hand will have the same effect as when we said our vows. My mental hope is that God will gift us with capacity to love one another and never fall victim of dementia. You see, having a faith walk with God is a matter of believing in someone we have never seen. It allows us to pray about storms that will come and go, whether it is weather, or life. A sense of hope for a place in my Father’s mansion keeps life alive in me.
    
There are those who will rely on science and physical proof to make their own determination if there is anything after our time here. I respect that, yet I wonder why our human body is so complex, like the world around us, without having a creator that designed us. These questions will go on forever I suppose. If there is eternity, we believers win, if not, we still win, because we lived a life with hope. Without hope, we will surely fear every future hurricane in our life. Where there’s hope, there’s life and where there is a lack of hope, perhaps there is nothing.

Mike Shindruk
www.mastershandministry.blogspot.com

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

The Eternal Gift


Death where is your sting – your power is as dead as my sin. (Hillsong – Album “Zion”)

Jerry (not his real name) was looking at a very long prison sentence and wondered how his life had gone so sideways. As a child, he was surrounded by a loving family and had all the benefits of a healthy upbringing. Jerry had it all and then some but there was something missing and he couldn’t put his finger on it. School was done, university loomed and the promise of a bigger life ahead. University was tough but manageable and the day came when it was time to shift the tassel and graduate. The world was a different place even in the few years that he had been in university. His degree was common place and higher education was required to compete for the great jobs. A Masters degree meant more time and more effort but it would be worth it. Long days, long nights and the caffeine was no longer helping. One bad mark followed by another took its toll and soon the accolades that were bestowed on him in the past began to create a burden for him in the present. Then came the crash and he found himself in the prison of self, a life sentence that would end his dreams and possibly his life.

As Jerry fell into the dungeon of despair, a message on the inside cover of a Gideon’s Bible in the tableside drawer struck deep into his very soul – “Do not despair for you are not alone. Jesus cries with you and wants only to draw you nearer to Him. Read John 3:16-17 for comfort”. Jerry began to turn the pages and found it very difficult as he had severed many of the tendons in both wrists. Then he read it;

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

There were no massive volumes of rules to adhere to, no great sacrifices and no one to impress. Jerry was not condemned for one mistake in life but rather he was set free knowing that life could be lived fully knowing that there was more than the grave. The prison door that had held him down, the court of public opinion that helped to drive him into the dungeon of despair no longer held control over him. Life is for the living, Christ’s promise of eternal life in glory was made possible through His sacrifice on the cross so why should we let death rule our lives. Jesus has made death’s grip inconsequential, it is time to live fully and completely.

This Sunday, we continue to study Ps 119:65-72 and look at the just how precious is the love of God. We invite you to join us if you can at 10:30 MST on Sunday or watch live online on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/MainAvenueFellowship/ ) or view it afterwards on our website (www.mainavefellowship.blogspot.ca).

Blessings
Pastor Todd


Monday, September 2, 2019

Peter's Picks


The Perfect 7-day Diet – Peter’s Picks
‘The Only Choice That Matters’
Day 1: Romans 10:9, 10 – “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Day 2: Isaiah 55:6, 7 – “Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”
Day 3: John 1:12, 13 – “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.”
Day 4: Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 – “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Day 5: Revelations 3:20 – “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
Day 6: 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
Day 7: Hebrews 11:6 – “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.”
** Verses taken from the New Living Translation