New Video about The Elisha Foundation

Study Sins

The last time I went to the surgeon to have my dislocating shoulders examined, he called over a gaggle of interns to take turns sticking their finger into the strange, genetically-transferred gap at the top of my arm. This was a teaching hospital, don’t you know.  I didn’t mind as long as it helped these interns learn to spot the problem in somebody else.

To properly train a doctor, you have to show him the disease, not just the cure. That is why I think it is helpful to pay careful attention to what the Bible identifies as a sin. This avoids false-diagnoses. Our culture may think cutting a tree down is a sin, but that is only the case if you trespassed onto your neighbour’s property first. Studying sin also helps us to identify actions that we are tempted to accept as mere foibles or personality traits. Aunt Gernie is sinning when she gossips, not just “doing what old Aunt Gernie has always done.”

So, take time to study the sins of the Bible.  A great place to begin is the Prison Epistles like Colossians or Ephesians. Paul takes the time to tell those saints specific actions that are sins.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices
(Colossians 3:5-9 ESV)

Do you know what each of these sins is? Can you define them and explain them to yourself? They are important enough that you will be held accountable for them.

So, take some time and study sins. It will help to focus your life and your relationships.

Connected (Letty: Part Four)

Last week we buried my mother-in-law. It was a surprisingly happy day as we rejoiced in the current bliss of her soul and the end of her earthly sufferings.

One of the happiest times occurred when the family gathered and we shared some of our memories of mom.  As we did my son Will tried to get his out, but living with Williams Syndrome and zero emotional apprehension meant he only got about four words in before erupting in a doleful wail that, “Grandma died…” That was just fine.

What he wanted to talk about was his relationship with Grandma. Will was born the year Alzheimer’s invaded. In fact, some of our first clues about mom’s suffering surrounded her confusion at his birth and condition. And in that way, the two of them lived with their disabilities together.

2007 - Grandma and Grandpa and the kids

A year or so ago, when mom was rarely interacting with anyone, we showed up for a visit. Will did what he always did – marched straight over to Grandma’s hospital bed, took her hand, exploded in a massive smile and gently started to sing-song, “Hi, Grandma!” Like so many times before, she locked on. And to all of our surprise, mom smiled right back and started playing a little game with Will using her good hand like a slow motion pair of pliers. Will loved it. And he did it right back to her. It lasted a few minutes and then mom drifted off again.

Did I mention Will loved it?

He seemed to have this thing with mom where he was going to connect with her no matter what. He was not easily dissuaded and most of the time he met his goal. It was sweet. In those little exchanges, the real mom still came out. She loved children and in the only way she could, she still managed to love Will.

Serving (Letty: Part 3)

The Lord graciously took my dear mother-in-law, Letty Hueni, to Himself on April 23rd after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and the effects of several strokes. Bed-ridden for her last five years, she was wonderfully cared for by Dad and the surrounding family. She never left home. I thought I would post some thoughts about mom over the next few days…

You didn’t have to be around Mom for long to notice that she had a servant’s heart.

We lived in a small cottage not far from Lake Ontario as newlyweds. It was rather idyllic, but to afford this acre lot surrounded by millionaire neighbours, I had negotiated with my landlord to care for the lawn. “Lawn” may be an overstatement. “Forest” may be more accurate.

I am trying to recall now how many bags it was… 15, 25, 40? I think it was close to 40. Mom and Dad had come up to visit us in our new digs and while I was off trying to sell Russian cars in Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhood, they were raking.

For two days they raked and raked and gathered up somewhere around 40 bags of leaves. It took me a while to drive them all to the end of the lane for pick up.

I was amazed to think they would do that. It was a huge service to us as we got settled into our life together. And that would become a signature of my in-laws. Mom seemed to love to serve. She would even sneak off and do our laundry sometimes when we were down to visit!

And she was consistent. If you were sitting down, you were offered food and drink. If you were working at something, you were offered help. And obviously, it wasn’t just us. I watched Mom serve church members, neighbours, family and even strangers.

What floors me now is that I cannot remember a single time she expressed the slightest level of annoyance at having to serve. Rather, it seemed like it was her joy. In some very deep places the Gospel of Jesus Christ had taken root and borne good fruit in her life.

Portions (Letty: Part Two)

The Lord graciously took my dear mother-in-law, Letty Hueni, to Himself on April 23rd after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and the effects of several strokes. Bed-ridden for her last five years, she was wonderfully cared for by Dad and the surrounding family. She never left home. I thought I would post some thoughts about mom over the next few days…

Back in those days when Susan and I were engaged to be married, my 23^rd birthday came along. Mom asked what I would like and I told her that a new bottle of Drakkar Noir would be nice. For the uninitiated, Drakkar Noir was, in 1989, about the coolest cologne a guy could splash on.

Well, my birthday arrived and with it a box from Mom and Dad. I opened it up only to find the largest spritzer of cologne on the open market. The thing was huge. In fact, I am still using it! Scents and sprays may have moved on but I am still happily exuding 1989!

This penchant for the large was a mom trademark. That same summer I was working back in Canada and she insisted on sending a dinner every week in my work cooler for the long drive home from Indiana. This was remarkable. Five or six cold meat sandwiches (with ketchup nonetheless!), two full sized bag of chips (“you like Doritos?”), two full baggies of carrot slices, other assorted fruit and vegetables, and a few sodas (“you like Dr. Pepper?”). I don’t think I ever told her, but that “supper” would last for the drive home and all the way to Wednesday lunch!

Then there was the year I asked for a bag of the infamous Leman’s mints for a Christmas gift. When we got to Indiana there was a good-sized box under the little artificial tree that had my name on it. Leman’s mints came in small bags, not a box. I was curious, but not shocked. When I opened my present there were 48 bags of mints in the box!

Now, I used to think that mom just thought I was enormous and thus everything needed to be big. But I saw her and Dad give generously to so many through the years that I learned it was only a sign of her deep love and generosity that she gave so much. For, it wasn’t just gifts. Mom gave her food, her work, her affection, her joy, her time, her babysitting, her home, her thoughtfulness, and her prayers in the same huge portions. And she lived like a woman who expected nothing in return.

The Night I Fell in Love with Letty

The Lord graciously took my dear mother-in-law, Letty Hueni, to Himself on April 23rd after a long battle with Alzheimer’s and the effects of several strokes. Bed-ridden for her last five years, she was wonderfully cared for by Dad and the surrounding family. She never left home. I thought I would post some thoughts about mom over the next few days…

Tonight I have been enjoying one of my favorite Mom memories. It was early in my engagement to Susan and I was down visiting my fiancé on a summer weekend. (Those were the days... working 60 hour weeks landscaping, jumping in the 3-cylinder Pontiac Firefly on Friday nights and zooming off to my love!)

Anyway, it was one August Saturday night around the little family room table eating fresh corn on the cob when it happened. I am something of a corn on the cob fiend, truth be told, and I was enjoying this Indiana specialty. Really enjoying it.

Somewhere in the middle of my third or fourth cob, Mom put hers down, looked over at me (with that twinkle in her eye I would come to love) and said matter-of-factly, “You sound like a pig when you eat.”

That was it.

But it was all so dry and so innocent and so wonderfully true! And we all laughed a lot as she went back to eating.

I decided right then and there that we were going to be good friends, me and Letty. And through the years she would say the funniest things at the most unexpected times. She was the master of the “zinger!” She could wonderfully crush me or call my bluff in ten words or less! I often wondered if she knew what she was doing. She had that kind of Gracie Allen charm about her that made you wonder, “Did I just get got?” And then she would be back to sewing or cooking or cleaning or reading a book to one of my kids with a little smile hiding underneath.

Dreadful Alzheimer’s eventually stole much of that sparkle, but that just makes memories sweeter now.

8 Reasons to Tell Each Other About God's Work of Saving Us

“Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of his salvation from day to day.”

- 1 Chronicles 16:23

1. To think right thoughts about God and His character.

Satan’s ploy in the garden was to deceive Eve into thinking that God was not who He revealed Himself to be.  That same tactic is used by our enemy all the time! We need to think rightly about God and nothing so sanctifies our thoughts of Him as a careful contemplation of the cross.

2. To promote His Gospel.

Over and again the Bible calls us to speak of His salvation “that the nations might hear!”  Those who are fluent in the Gospel have something to say to the Lost.

1Chronicles 16: 24 “Declare his glory among the nations, / his marvelous works among all the peoples! / 25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, / and he is to be held in awe above all gods. / 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, / but the Lord made the heavens.”

3. To aid in our worship.

Our corporate worship is massively intensified if we all come together with fresh thoughts of Jesus and His cross.  Our prayers, singing, preaching, fellowshipping and reading of the Word are enlivened in intangible, but very real ways.

Psalm 40: 9 “I have told the glad news of deliverance / in the great congregation; / behold, I have not restrained my lips, / as you know, O Lord. / 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; / I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; / I have not concealed your steadfast love and your  faithfulness / from the great congregation.”

4. To encourage our own souls.

MLJ said, “Your problem is that you listen to yourself, rather than talk to yourself.”  We are in need of daily preaching the cross to our own souls – its accomplishments, its application, and its illustration of the love of God.

Jude 1:3 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation…”

5. To have something to say to our Accuser!

John Newton said: “Be thou my shield and hiding-place!  That, sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, And tell him, "Thou hast died."  Or consider the words of Charitee Bancroft’s wonderful hymn: “When Satan tempts me to despair / And tells me of the guilt within / Upward I look and see Him there / Who made an end of all my sin / Because the sinless Savior died / My sinful soul is counted free / For God the Just is satisfied / To look on Him and pardon me”

Or consider the words of Psalm 70:3 "Let them turn back because of their shame / who say, “Aha, Aha!” / 4 May all who seek you / rejoice and be glad in you! / May those who love your salvation / say evermore, ‘God is great!’”

6. To Prepare us for Heaven

Isaiah 25:8 "He will swallow up death forever; / and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, / and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, / for the Lord has spoken. / 9 It will be said on that day, / ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. / This is the Lord; we have waited for him; / let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’”

Thinking on salvation is one of our primary heavenly activities.  Pondering His saving work will never grow redundant or tiresome!  So, we do good heaven prep work by telling each other now all that we can discover of His saving grace!

7.  To Encourage Each Other

Romans 1: 11 “For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.”

Paul writes to Christians, but tells them he wants to preach the Gospel to them – the Good News of Jesus and His atoning death!  Why?  Because it will be a source of profound mutual encouragement to speak to each other about what Jesus did on their behalf (“that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith”).

8.  To Strengthen Our Cross-Centered Authenticity

A growing grasp of justification by grace through faith alone allows men and women to stand without fear of condemnation before God and each other. One of the great aids in our personal sanctification is this very thing – the ability to treat our sin as sin.  This kind of authenticity is increased as Believers find their understanding of Jesus’ cross-work expanded.

79 Things I Love About My Mom!

Today is my mom’s 79^th birthday.  Yesterday I got to thinking about her and all the ways the Lord has blessed me through her and I decided to write a few down. Once I got going, I realized it would be pretty simple to come up with a lot of things I am thankful for! So, I decided to try for 79. It was easy!

Without further ado, in no particular order, I present you with 79 things I am thankful to God for in my mom:

1. Taking me to church when I was a boy
2. Letting me be friends with her adult friends
3. Buying me a lot of Legos before they were cool
4. Taking me to the cottage when the rest of the family had to work in the summer
5. Letting me spend endless days at the cottage in a swimsuit – and only having to wear a shirt at meals!
6. For spilling that plate of spaghetti on my lap so I could learn how hot food feels on the legs
7. Making our home a place where all my friends liked to be
8. Taking me to hockey practices at early hours
9. Taking me to hockey games
10. Cheering like crazy at hockey games
11. Never complaining at my routinely poor grades on report cards
12. Coming home for lunch every day from the flower shop
13. Taking me to thousands of visits to the doctor to get those awful, twice-per-week allergy shots. Shudder.
14. Sitting by my bed every day when I was in the hospital for two weeks as a scared 11 year old.
15. Challenging me to corn on the cob eating contests when it was just the two of us at the cottage
16. Doing my laundry for 19 years
17. Coming to all my school plays, concerts and other stuff
18. Making me stay at school during kindergarten while I cried like a firehose
19. Asking my principal to help me when my entire class was out to beat me up – it was a pretty miserable existence for a few days before that!
20. Years of routine. Routine meals, routine conversations, routine weeks – blessed routine!
21. Letting me eat popcorn in the family room while we watched Love Boat.
22. Playing softball at the cottage in front of my friends and knocking one out of the park!
23. Allowing me to have three cookies a day. A rule I never broke. (Until I was married!)
24. Letting me come into her room on Sunday mornings and jumping into bed with her and Dad.
25. Not killing me after I vomited apple juice all over her and some important afghan that got “retired” after that moment in time
26. Smiling a lot
27. Listening to what had to be remarkably boring stories of what happened that day at school
28. Paying for four years of The Master’s College while the Canadian dollar tanked
29. Telling me it probably was a good idea for me to move out and go to California
30. Being excited when I wanted to get baptized even though that was different for us Presbyterians
31. Not getting angry at me for barely writing one letter per year home while I lived in LA
32. Coming to my graduation from The Master’s College
33. Accepting Susan without hesitation from the very start
34. Letting us live in her home for a few months while we got set up back in Canada and headed off to Chesley Baptist Church
35. Letting us live in her home for 13 months while we got Grace Fellowship Church started.
36. Regularly visiting us in Chesley
37. Being there when Allie and Sophie and Will were born – and sending beautiful flowers when Chloe came into he world in LA
38. For listening when I emotionally explained I would need to resign the first church I pastored in the city
39. For telling me that boys who spat on sidewalks were really quite rude
40. For teaching me to open the door for ladies
41. For teaching me that men should walk on the side of the street exposed to danger or splashing and keep the lady with them protected
42. For making me chop wood and keep the pile by the stove in the cottage filled
43. For getting up early every cold morning to silently start a fire – how does a person crinkle newspaper silently? Still in awe of that!
44. For never complaining at all the band practises my Dad held so that I could enjoy that little bit of fun
45. For letting me get out of doing dishes so I could play the drums while Dad played the organ for what seemed like every night after dinner
46. For keeping a clean house
47. For always respecting my dad. Never a word of criticism do I think I heard
48. For coming to my graduation from The Master’s Seminary
49. For loving my kids
50. For coming with Dad to countless birthday parties and seeming really excited about the presents
51. For loving Susan and me back in the early days and taking our kids so we could get away
52. For coming to Grace Fellowship Church in the evenings when we first got started and being so supportive
53. For asking me to baptize her and getting immersed in a public pool in front of a crowd in her seventies – with joy
54. Having relationships with folks in the church that are independent of me as the pastor
55. Modelling loyalty in friendship
56. Caring for friends who have gotten older and need help
57. Caring for a special couple of ladies who need love
58. For talking on the phone to everybody. I’ve always loved that about my mom. She’s good on the phone!
59. For not being afraid to ask for help when Dad got sick
60. For sticking tight with Dad through his cancer – right to the end
61. For sticking tight to her mom and dad when both of them came to the end of their lives
62. For loving her brothers and sister and in-laws and the rest of the extended family
63. For loving my Dad’s mom through her trials and illnesses and not flipping her lid when grandma got the cat food instead of tuna in the sandwiches one day
64. For telling me to stop whining when I worked at the flower shop
65. For telling everybody in her orbit to stop whining!
66. For praying for people every day
67. Letting me drive a boat at 14 years old without a life jacket on.
68. Making me be a cub, then a scout and letting me quit when it got bad
69. Not throwing our television out the window when I insisted on watching Emergency every day after school and turning up the volume when the sirens “sang”
70. Not harping on the little things
71. Always stopping at Grandpa and Grandmas on the way to the cottage or back and for all the other visits there. I loved those times
72. Never making me feel I had to do something intangible or otherwise in order to be accepted by her
73. Not being a gossip
74. Being quick to laugh
75. All those years of family gatherings at the house and the cottage
76. Still cheering like crazy at hockey games
77. Never complaining about chronic physical ailments
78. Writing well over 29,000 birthday cards annually. At least that is what it looks like!
79. For loving me.

Not everyone is blessed with a mom like mine. I thank God for her!

Bring Your Child With Disabilities to Church With You

Show up and prepare somebody else for this life (and maybe save a life while doing so) « The Works of God:

I think everything my friend John Knight writes is important, but I really appreciated this little section in his article interacting with Mark Leach's piece...

"I know church can be hard, but if at all possible, show up.  Attempting to ‘do’ church with a child with disabilities is complicated, sometimes frustrating, and even overwhelming.  Yet the very presence of our families makes a difference!  When Paul was really little and we returned to church, I watched one family from afar who have a child with Down syndrome.  I never even approached them. Paul doesn’t have Down syndrome, but just knowing there was another dad walking around with a disabled child was a comfort.  It was only recently that I had the chance to tell that dad the impact he had. 

Our children matter, and people can see that when we show up with all our complications and embarrassing behaviors and strange noises.  And by doing so we help plant different seeds in people’s minds."

'via Blog this'

My Jazz Daughter Gets a Moment of Fame

A little brag on my kid... :-)

Plus, you get to listen to a sweet samba.