Good Bye Mom

I have been blessed with many things in my life and one of the greatest of my blessings has been my mom. I am an only child and so I had my mom and dad to myself and enjoyed all the spoiling. They were both great parents who loved in their own ways. I have an incredible respect for my mom. Everyone should love their mom but I really mean it when I say that I respect her. Even though she has had bad osteoporosis for years and was constantly breaking bones in her back, up until last year she was still doing yard work and driving around an older lady on her street. She visited and encouraged people with cancer. She talked with younger people on her street who came to her with their problems. Mom was very good to us as well. She helped us to buy our first house and was constantly spoiling our children. When others began to question our wisdom of bringing more children into our family, my mom saw them as more opportunities to spread blessings. My father died five years ago and never met our three youngest children but mom made sure to make up for it.

Yesterday, April 24 2009, my mother passed from this world and entered into the presence of God. She had been sick for some time and her last week was particularly difficult. I am thankful for the care she received from the Meaford Hospital and St. Joseph's Hospital in Hamilton. I am thankful for the many prayers that have been spoken on behalf of our family. I am thankful for people who have helped out with taking care of the children. I am thankful for the freedom my churches have given me to be with my mom. I am thankful for my wife Amanda who has done so much work getting all the details together. I am thankful for God's strength in the midst of my weakness. I am thankful that my mom was Audrey Edythe Bedard.

Her funeral will be on Tuesday, April 28 at 11:00 am at Lambe-Bocchinfuso Funeral Home in Thorold, Ontario.

Miracles in the Midst

This past week and weekend has been very difficult in numerous ways. I had mentioned that my mother was in the hospital. On Friday we had an appointment at the cancer clinic in Hamilton. She ended up needing a trachioscopy and feeding tube inserted into her stomach. The cancer is inoperable and mom is physically quite weak from malnutrition, dehydration and oxygen deprivation. Overall things sound pretty grim.

On Sunday, I was supposed to preach on the existence of God. While I did not get a chance to preach that sermon, God preached His own sermon to me on His existence. I would like to share a few miracles that God has performed in the midst of all the difficulties of the past week.

1. We are thankful that we have a specialist in Hamilton dealing with mom who is both very skilled and is a Christian.
2. That doctor indicated that it was a miracle that my mom survived the car ride from Meaford to Hamilton (a three hour drive) in her condition.
3. The timing was perfect as her windpipe was down to 3mm and the doctor believes she could have lived only one more day like that.
4. Although I was not prepared to stay over in Niagara, I just happened to have the keys to our house in St. Catharines (that I do not normally have on me) with me at the time. This gave me the opportunity to go through some of our stuff at the house as we prepare to sell.
5. I had asked a retired colleague named Jim Neale to takeover a funeral I was supposed to do on Friday so that I could take my mom to Hamilton. Jim offered to take the Sunday service in Meaford, which I initially declined as I planned to be back in Meaford. Finding out that I would be staying over the weekend, I ended up taking Jim up on his offer. Andrew Scholl graciously took the service at Woodford at the last minute.
6. Both Meaford and Woodford have been overwhelmingly compassionate and supportive of our family at this time. They have given me as much time as I need to get through this and have lightened my load.
7. While I am trying to visit my mom as much as possible, today is the only day that I could not be there. Amanda, on a hunch, asked our friend Dave to visit her. Normally, Dave is not in Hamilton, but already had plans to be in Hamilton, allowing him to visit mom.
8. Amanda has done a great job of being supportive through out all of this. She made numerous phone calls to make sure things got taken care off, not to mention taking care of five young children. She has done an awesome job.

This has been a difficult situation, but God has continued to make Himself known throughout by sending the right people at exactly the right time. There are difficult days ahead, but we are trusting that God will continue to provide. That is our source of hope.

Update on Mom

Just a quick update on my mom. She is still in the hospital but she is doing well. She now has a feeding tube so that she can get the nutrition she needs to regain some strength. We go to Hamilton on Friday to the cancer clinic to find out what the next step is. I have been visiting her regularly and have brought Logan with me twice (logan broke his foot and so he has been with me at the hospital for his own needs). Logan is a better visitor than I am. He really loves his grandma and could not stop himself from climbing into bed with her both times. She loved it and his cuddles were the best medicine she could get. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and would ask for more prayer, especially for our appointment on Friday.

Passover

Last Sunday we concluded our series on an Old Testament Easter with a look at the Passover. The cross was the defining moment of Jesus and it is the defining moment of the Church. There is a reason why the cross is the symbol of Christianity. It is no coincidence that the crucifixion of Jesus took place at Passover. Passover was the defining moment of the people of Israel and Jesus was about to become the new Passover Lamb. When John the Baptist saw Jesus and said "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world" he was not saying that Jesus was cute and cuddly like a lamb. John was identifying Jesus with the Passover lamb. When God's holiness and our sinfulness are mixed, they are an explosive combination. But because of Jesus' death on the cross, God sees Jesus' blood rather than our sin. Jesus' blood causes God's wrath to pass over us just as the lamb's blood caused the angel of death to pass over the Israelites in Egypt. We must be thankful that we have a perfect Passover lamb in Jesus Christ!

Happy Birthday Justus

Yesterday was Justus' birthday. Our little boy is three years old already. I told him that the terrible twos had to end on his third birthday but he does not seem to care. Justus is a great kid. He is so full of life. He is always coming out with very adult statements or facial expressions. He can be often seen rubbing his chin and saying "hmmmmm" just like I do. He picks up everything. He loves to fight with Abby (mostly in good fun) and he leads Emma around. He has a very gentle and nurturing side but a very mischievous side as well. Justus is a lot of fun and we are so glad he is in our family. Happy birthday buddy!

Good Friday

25It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30come down from the cross and save yourself!"
31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! 32Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
The Death of Jesus 33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
35When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
36One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15)

Prayer Request

As a pastor I am used to going into families dealing with sickness and supporting them through difficult times. I try to comfort loved ones who are concerned and pray with all of them that God's peace would prevail. I now need to call upon others to support our family. Yesterday, my mother found out that she has a tumour in her neck. It is quite serious. It has blocked things up so much that she really has not eaten anything of significance in months. As a result she is very weak. They are going to try radiation as soon as possible to shrink it, so that she will be able to eat again and regain some strength. Please pray for strength for my mother, effectiveness of treatment and peace for our entire family. Thank you.

Happy Birthday Logan!

Today is Logan's eighth birthday. It is hard to believe that eight years ago I was still youth pastor at Queensway Baptist, I was finishing my thesis for my M.Th., we were living in Thorold Ontario and we were just having our first child. We have four more children in our home but we still look to that April 8 of 2001 as a defining moment in our life and family. What a miracle it was to see that bruised, green, slimy baby being born. It was one of the beautiful things that I have ever seen. We enjoy watching Logan grow and develop. We are extremely proud of him, of his accomplishments and of the young lad that he has become. Happy birthday buddy! We love you lots.

We Need a Scapegoat

Last Sunday we continued our series on an Old Testament Easter. We looked at the Day of Atonement as found in Leviticus 16:1-22. If the previous week on the sacrifice of Isaac was emotionally overwhelming, this passage is the exact opposite. What are we supposed to do with all these bulls and goats? There are three important principles to take away: 1) the need for the holiness of the high priest, 2) atonement takes place through death and blood and 3) the people needed their sin to be transferred to another. In Hebrews 9, the author uses these concepts to compare and contrast with the role of Jesus Christ. Jesus was already pure and did not need a bull to be worthy of making atonement. It was Jesus who died and shed His blood for our atonement. Jesus' death was atoning because He took the sins of the people upon Himself. The great Day of Atonement took place on the cross two thousand years ago and in that event we have hope.

International Autism Awareness Day

April 2 is International Autism Awareness Day as decreed by the United Nations. You can find more information here. I can honestly say that I did not think much about autism until our family was touched by it. With two autistic children we have been thrown into a whole new world. There are many challenges with autism. One of them is, unlike some other disorders, autistic kids do not look any different from typical kids. You have probably seen autistic kids and thought that they were quirky, badly behaved or just a lot of fun. As Logan and Abby get older, we see more and more how behind they are. At the same time, we have seen huge improvements in them. We try not to compare them to other kids and our prayer is that they simply be the best kids that God designed them for. There are tons of controversies surrounding autism but what is important is that families dealing with autism need your support. Talk to the parents and see what they need. Interact with the children and watch how fun they are. Do something to learn more about autism. Be aware!

Documentary Clip

Here is a clip from the documentary based on our book Unmasking the Pagan Christ which is airing tonight (April 2) on Vision TV. For those of you in the U.S., keep watching the listings on HDNet for its next show time.