Yes, self control, cleanliness, sobriety and good relationships are good. But when someone “falls from the standard”, we shouldn’t call it “falling from grace”. After all, Grace is what catches us at the bottom when we fall. By His Grace, we are caught, lifted back up and protected.
Well, we’ve been at The Salvation Army Regina Waterston Centre 2 full weeks. It’s a 122 bed residence for men in downtown Regina. There are several different sections caring for the needs of boys and men needing emergency accommodation, transitional housing, supportive living and long term residency for older men. We like it. There is lots of opportunity for interacting with the residents and the staff are very competent. We had chapel each Sunday afternoon and about 16 residents came out.
My Fuji digital camera works great…. except that it suddenly developed a tendency to drain the batteries. Consequently, there are no pictures being posted here. Maybe next week.
Well, in Regina Saskatchewan that is.
It was a 30 hour drive down to Kelowna, then another two days accross to Regina. Canada is pretty big. Now we’ve been in Regina for almost 2 weeks and our house is starting to feel like home.
This will be a short post because I’m very busy getting a handle on my new responsibilities at the Regina Waterston Centre. – pictures will follow.
I get to share the Word of the Lord in the chapel on Sunday afternoons. Here is the audio from yesterday! Hope you listen to it and don’t forget to pray and ask God to help you see things His way – not my way – always a good thing to pray when we listen to someone preach.
If Jesus could change one thing about you.... what do you think it would be? Maybe not the thing you think...: Play NowI am tired. And we must get packed up and clean up the house within weeks now. I start the week thinking it’s a whole week, but it goes too quick.
Please be patient,… if anyone out there actually makes a point of listening to the sermons I post here, please check back later. I may or may not get around to posting messages between now and July when we arrive in Regina.
Bless you..
Here’s this week’s message. I missed 2 weeks ago because the battery was dead, and last week the Commissioner did the message (thank you, Commissioner). This week its back to me.
When we come to the Lord, we have a tendency to think that now we’re on His Side, other people (including all infidels etc.) must be the enemy. But we need to remember that God is on the Side of the unsaved. For this purpose He came into the world. Let’s not curse what Christ died for.
We’ve lived longer in this house than anywhere else.
The Yukon Adult Resource Centre.
This weekend we were blessed with the visit of our Territorial Leaders, Commissioners William and Marilyn Francis and our Divisonal Leaders, Majors Eric and Donna Bond. I think we almost wore them out, visiting all the components of the ministry here. Commissioner Marilyn shared the Word and prayer with many people she met in Whitehorse and Commissioner William brought the Word of God to us in the Sunday morning meeting. Everyone got the opportunity to fly with me over the Yukon river. We really appreciated the visit, fellowship and company. Up here we don’t see very many other Salvation Army officers.
Commissioners Francis and Capt. Johannah
Major Donna Bond flying a Cessna 120 over the Yukon
In The Salvation Army, headquarters shifts the officers around every now and then. Sometimes they forget where they put them (I think this is the reason we stayed in the Yukon for 10 years). Well, they found our file…. and now we have farewell orders to a new appointment in Regina Saskatchewan. I will have to change the title of my blog. Maybe “Grace and Mercy on the high prairie” or something like that.
We will be packing up here at the end of June and arriving in July. It is a long drive.
The new officers for Whitehorse will be Captains Jeffery and Shannon Howard. They are very excited about coming here.
Hard times, sickness, stress… does the presence of these things mean you haven’t yet convinced God that your confession is real and your faith is firm? Some people would say so. But listen to the audio lower down and hear what I think the scripture is saying. The disciples made a beautiful and strong confession, staring right into the eyes of the Son of God, yet Jesus’ response was that they must still experience difficulties.
Now, before anyone gets hung up on dates and says something like: Jesus actually died on Thursday, you know. Or, he actually rose on Saturday or such like, take a minute to think about it: Did Jesus get hung up on dates? Or the Sabbath? All those people that kept pointing out what day of the week it was started to get on his nerves.
The point is, Jesus is alive, seated at the right hand of God in the heavens, making intercession for you. Let’s give thanks.
Don’t forget to listen to the audio !
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Today, my new roof rack arrived. Good thing it’s not new. A new one would cost me over $1,000 US by the time it arrived. This one cost $250 and I’m very thankful for the nice lady in Ottawa that sold it to me and wrapped it up so nicely to ship it to me. Check out her original art work - www.artengine.ca/esaheurs It looks good on the old Land Rover eh? Now I can carry a canoe.
Sadie Helped assemble the roof rack. Her job was to sit in the Land Rover and wait until it went somewhere.
We did go somewhere. We went to the foot bridge over the Yukon River. It’s starting to be spring….
Today we were blessed with the visit of the Drost family. The Drosts are missionaries with SEND and live up in McPherson.
Today it was Palm Sunday. The Triumphal Entry. We like triumph. I like triumph. I like triumph in soccer, in hockey, in mountain climbing, in arguments…. But what we have been taught to accept as triumph and signs of popularity are noticably absent from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Yes, he was praised – but look who was praising him; not everybody who was anybody. And riding in on a donkey? Even Christians prefer the image of him appearing in glory on a white horse, with trumpeters and banners before him and an army at his back. But we have to know the Jesus who came in on a donkey before we can assume we are on the ‘right side’ of the Jesus that will appear on a white horse.
Hope you can listen to the audio !
Here is a photo from about a year ago. Two of our regulars accepting the donation of an industrial toaster for the Shelter. Sadly, Chico, the man on the right, drowned in the river a little time after this photo was taken. He had appeared on the back cover of Faith and Friends a few years ago.
These little guys liked to be in charge of the campfire on a trip to a divisional event a couple years ago. We stopped in the grand canyon of Northern BC – the Stikine River.
Behind Grey Mountain, there is another mountain with a big bowl. Flying over in winter, you can see hundreds of animal trails all over it. Hardly any roads in the Yukon, but this cut line goes all the way from the far end of the parking lot at Marsh Lake dam all the way to the tree line. It would be the easiest way to the upper level back there.
