What Sports car are you?

I'm a Mazda RX-8!

You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

My Brother, the author

My brother Malcom and a colleague have published Six Hundred Years of Reform: Bishops and the French Church, 1190-1789 (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2005). Way to Mal!!

Click here to buy the book at Amazon.ca.

4x4+4

4x4+4
I was tagged by Rebecca. These are my answers.

Four Jobs You've Had

These are my first four jobs:

1. Garden laborer
2. Security Guard
3. Bricklayer's helper
4. Nursing Aide in a Nursing Home


Four Places You've Lived

Okay, so these are the first four places I lived:

1. Ottawa, Ontario
2. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
3. Christchurch, New Zealand
4. Edmonton, Alberta



Four Vacations You've Taken

1. Hawaii
2. Yarker, Ontario
3. Vancouver, British Columbia
4. Arlington Beach, Saskatchewan



Four Vehicles You've Owned

1. 1973 Mercury Comet
2. 1963 Belair
3. 1971 Impala
4. 1990 Golf



Four Blogs I Want to Tag

1. Mark
2. Jill
3. Sue
4. Rebecca tagged the other bloggers I know !

The Impact of God's Word

Daily Encounter: The Impact of God's Word for Friday, January 27, 2006

It is amazing how synergy happens. Some would say there is no such thing. Things do not happen for a purpose. Random things happen with no purpose... Big Bang and such. But I believe there is a God in charge of everything. And he is making an impact every day. This is not to say you and I do not have many choices. But God has allowed you and everyone to have those choices. As a Gideon member, I know that people are often given a choice alone in a hotel room or in their own room or in a hospital bed or some other place where a Gideon member has placed a bible. Often the Gideon member has made a choice to place such a scripture but they may never know the impact. Sometimes we hear about or are contacted with stories of how the bible was in the right place at the right time and that a suicide was prevented or lost hope was restored or a new hope was presented. I know personally of such a story. A young person about nine years old received a New Testement in Grade 5. In this child's life the idea personal faith in Christ was not taught in her church or at home. This child sat down and began reading the new bible and on about January 13, 1977 the young student made a commitment to Christ using the information in the back of the New Testement. This happened thirty years ago and as I said I know this personally because the young student is my wife. So if you have opportunity to help provide bibles through Gideons or the Canadian Bible Society do not resist. The impact could be life changing.

Trust: When In Is the Way Out

I share from Daily Encounter an on line devotional writtten by Dick Innes.

Daily Encounter: When In Is the Way Out for Monday, January 16, 2006


When In Is the Way Out

"So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion's den. The king said to Daniel, 'May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!'" (Daniel 6:16, NIV).

Most of us will be familiar with the story how Daniel, supposedly because of his religious beliefs, was thrown into a den of hungry lions. No question, Daniel got a dirty deal. He was set up by jealous lesser men who wanted him out of the way. It seemed as if they were about to succeed except for one thing: They overlooked Daniel's trust in God.

The interesting thing, however, about Daniel being thrown into the den of lions is that God didn't deliver him out of the den before Daniel first found deliverance in it.

Imagine if Daniel had fought against being thrown into the den (which he would have been justified in doing) and gone into the den fighting against it every inch of the way, chances are the lions would have torn him to shreds before he hit the bottom. But Daniel didn't. He accepted his lot and trusted his life to God who shut the lion's mouths.

On more than one occasion I have asked God that if I am not going to be delivered out of my "lion's den" (naming the frustrating situation I'm in), would he please help me to find deliverance in it.

Sometimes, like Daniel, God has a lesson for us to learn in our present difficult situations and before he delivers us out of it, like Daniel we need to find deliverance in it. The good news is that once we learn the lesson we don't have to go through the same experience again.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, regardless of my feelings and my circumstances, I choose to trust my life to you in the situation I am in right now with which I am really struggling. And like Thomas said, 'Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

<:))))<><

My mother

1921-2004
It has been two years since she has been gone. It is amazing how they are still part of my life.
When my mother passed away I was reminded of the day my father passed away. I came home with my mom from the hospital and I remember her saying, “What will I do now?...What will I do now?” In some ways this is the way I felt when my mother passed way. At twenty-one I lost my dad and then at forty-one my mother was gone. What should I do now?
I know what I will not do I will not lament the loss of my mother for my sons. I could focus on the fact that they will not have meals, visits or sleep overs with Granny. I could think on other experiences the other grandchildren had that my boys will not have with their Granny. I will talk to my boys about their Granny much like I have their Grandpa Ross. I will share stories with them and tell them of the spiritual and life lessons my mother and father taught me. Nathaniel said, “Granny is in heaven, now. Right?” He is right. I rejoice that at the end she knew who her Lord and Savior was and that He was there to guide her home.

How do I know she is heaven? Well,


If anyone has a doubt about the incarnation or Christ being a saviour then all you have to do is look to the example of my mother’s life. Jesus Christ was her Lord and saviour and that is why she was who she was. She was a humble person who learned of God’s love as a child when she walked hand in hand with her own father through the Northern Irish country side. She can now walk hand in hand with both her earthly father and her heavenly Father. She can also have “discussions” with her husband Ross again. She did not just talk the talk of Christian faith. She walked the walk! Her faith was real. Don’t remember her as a quaint old lady. That would be a disservice and a disrespect to her memory. She was a prayer warrior. Using the term “warrior” to describe my mother may sound strange but that is what she did on behalf of many people, especially her children and grandchildren. I remember coming up to bed before I was married and looking in on my mother and she was on her knees by the side of the bed praying.
As it says in Ephesians 6 verse 12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” That is what prayer can be about. Real prayer is a spiritual battle. My mother was a warrior.

Step-By-Step Grace -- Devotions.org: Streams in the Desert

I share again from Mrs. Charles E. Cowman. She compiled this in 1925 but it is still fresh alive and real today.

Step-By-Step Grace -- Devotions.org: Streams in the Desert

Election

I know my Calvinist friends were thinking of another kind of election but I am referring to the Canadian election on January 23. I have been observing the Canadian election and I really like what the NDP did with the Liberal Ads. The "average Canadians" in the Liberal Ads are all Liberal insiders. Well done. You can see the "average Canadian" voters exposed at:

NDP | More "Average Canadian or Liberal Insider?"

Mr. Martin has a problem with a friend in Quebec. I am amazed it took the RCMP this long to uncover this new scandal. It seems a friend of Paul Martin gained some money via the 1995 Quebec referendum:

"A source told The Globe that there are questions about the
distribution of some of the grant money, believed to be $300,000. ...
Still, the news isn't good for Liberal Leader Paul Martin. The man who ran
Option Canada at the time of the grant was Claude Dauphin, a close friend
of the Prime Minister who worked for him in the mid-1990s, when Martin was
finance minister. He's also one of Martin's closest advisers from Quebec."

Read the whole story below:
CTV.ca | RCMP looking into 1995 grant to pro-Canada group
OR
The Globe and Mail: Mounties eye another referendum handout

Well I guess we will see what happens next!

Psalm 23- The Safety of Obeying and Trusting

My theme this month is Trust and Obey. As I read Psalm 23 tonight to one of my son's from his children's bible it struck me that this Psalm, is all about trusting and obeying. I have always found that the view of us humans as acting like sheep in God's eyes as being such a wonderful illustration. They are not the brightest of the barnyard animals. I think we are so often like sheep that have gone astray and followed our own way. We often need the shepherd's rod as a guide. Psalm 23 offers us many reasons for trusting and obeying, especially safety and guidance.

Psalm 23
(Contemporary English Version)


(A psalm by David.)
The Good Shepherd
1You, LORD, are my shepherd.

I will never be in need.

2You let me rest in fields

of green grass.

You lead me to streams

of peaceful water,

3and you refresh my life.

You are true to your name,

and you lead me

along the right paths.

4I may walk through valleys

as dark as death,

but I won't be afraid.

You are with me,

and your shepherd's rod [a] makes me feel safe.

5You treat me to a feast,

while my enemies watch.

You honor me as your guest,

and you fill my cup

until it overflows.

6Your kindness and love

will always be with me

each day of my life,

and I will live forever

in your house, LORD.



Footnotes:

1. Psalm 23:4 shepherd's rod: The Hebrew text mentions two objects carried by the shepherd: a club to defend against wild animals and a long pole to guide and control the sheep.

Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
American Bible Society Source: BibleGateway.com: A searchable online Bible in over 35 languages and 50 versions.

Trust and Obey

When I think of trusting God, I think of the hymn, Trust and Obey. Hymn book theology is not always the best but I believe this is a very good theology. It is one to live by.


Trust and Obey
1. When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2. Not a burden we bear,
not a sorrow we share,
but our toil he doth richly repay;
not a grief or a loss,
not a frown or a cross,
but is blest if we trust and obey.
(Refrain)

3. But we never can prove
the delights of his love
until all on the altar we lay;
for the favor he shows,
for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will trust and obey.
(Refrain)

4. Then in fellowship sweet
we will sit at his feet,
or we'll walk by his side in the way;
what he says we will do,
where he sends we will go;
never fear, only trust and obey.
(Refrain)
Pasted from: HymnSite.com--Christian Online Music

Reggae version:
Praise And Worship Music, Reggae Midi Songs (Higher Praise)

Some other versions:
HymnSite.com--Christian Online Music

Praise And Worship Music, Midi Songs (Higher Praise)

Praise And Worship Music, Midi Songs Organ (Higher Praise)

A Sermon and story which makes use of the Hymn:
Freedom from Fear

Bible Society of South Africa - Good news for all for ever

New Year

A picture of my dad from the mid-1970's










11But the hills and valleys in the promised land are watered by rain from heaven, [a] 12because the LORD your God keeps his eye on this land and takes care of it all year long.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12
Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
American Bible Society


As the New Year begins, let us remember that trusting God is the most important action we can take at all times. My father, Ross Greenshields passed way over twenty years ago in 1983. He always talked about, "Life, how sweet it is.." He was a man who enjoyed being alive. This sounds very simple but if you knew him you would understand that he loved his wife, his children, his grandchildren and meeting knowing and helping people. Ross saw a stranger as a friend he was meeting for the first time. He loved learning and teaching. He loved life and trusting the Lord. In today's world loving life mostly means a love of drinking, partying or getting...or having or experiencing but that is not really living. My dad also saw life as a gift from God and used it appropriately in sharing Christ in everything he did or said. I look at a new year as Mrs. Charles Coleman says in "Streams in the Desert",
"We cannot tell what loss and sorrow and trial are doing. Trust only. The
Father comes near to take our hand and lead us on our way today. It shall
be a good, a blessed new year!"
So in this new year trust the Lord Jesus and live life to the full.

Below is a link to Mrs. Coleman's January 1 devotional. Read, enjoy and be of good cheer.
New Year -- Devotions Streams in the Desert Jan 1

Gun control

In a very interesting column, Rondi Adamson talks about how tougher gun control is not the answer. Her line lies somewhere between the Liberal and Conservative policies. she says banning guns is not a bad idea but that the deterrent on the street just is not there. I would tend to agree. Many young people in large urban areas do these crime more for a thrill factor or because they feel they have been done wrong in some way. Yet as she points out many people feel wronged in some way and they do not reach for a gun. I say ban the guns(although this does not work), provide programs to prevent problems in large urban ghettos, and come down very hard on the those who use the guns. it needs to be a justice package.