Italy Fights For the Crucifix

A recent European court has called for a ban on all religious symbols in class rooms.  This is a problem for Italy.  How much more Roman Catholic can you get than Italy?  Italy is fighting for the right to keep crucifixes up in their class rooms.  One parent, who wanted a secular education for her children, already successfully sued over the presence of a crucifix.  You can read the story here.  I understand that in this multicultural world, we can not assume the religious backgrounds or preferences of parents of students.  But surely there is something better that can be done.  Is not school about education?  The Roman Catholic tradition is a huge part of the historical heritage of Italy and it should not be suppressed.  They should not make people follow the Roman Catholic faith or denigrate people of other or no faiths, but I do not see how removing this symbol will improve any child's education.

Why Christians Are Jerks Online

I truly believe that Christianity has the message that can transform people.  Unfortunately, as long as I have been on the Internet, there have been Christians that embarrass us all.  Frankly, they can be jokes.  Jonathan Acuff has some interesting ideas about why Christians are jerks online.  You can find it here.  It is worth checking out.

Smallville

I have been a Superman fan for a long time.  I have sometimes seen his story done well and often not so well.  I remember when Smallville came on the air and I decided not to bother watching it.  Eventually I watched a couple of episodes and quite liked it.  Amanda and I bought the set of seasons 1-8 and started watching it from the beginning.  Last night we watched the last episode of season 8.  Having watched it from the beginning, I have grown in respect for the people who have taken another run at the mythology.  The basic story is that of a young Clark Kent discovering his powers, meeting his friends and embracing his destiny, all before getting his costume or going by the name Superman.  Their portrayal of Lex Luthor was fresh and complex.  They dug deep into the mythos to bring out new versions of familiar heroes and villains.  Far from a typical superhero TV series, Smallville is a pleasure to watch. It has its share of cheesy episodes but even then, it is not afraid to laugh at itself.  If you have never watched an episode, I recommend going back to the beginning.

Let It Rain!

Last week at church we continued our series Genesis to Revelation by looking at Hosea and Joel.  The focus was on Hosea 6:1-3, where we looked at the 3R's of revival.
1. Return - Any spiritual revival must begin with repentance and a return to God.  Not just a feeling of sorrow but a decision to turn around.
2. Resurrection - Revival is not just religious excitement, it is a spiritual resurrection that brings new life.
3. Rain - Hosea compares revival to the rains that come to Israel.  Unlike where I live (where it rains or snows all the time), there is a specific time when it rains and if it does not rain there is disaster.  True revival needs a spiritual rain such as the pouring of the Spirit described in Joel.
These are important keys for praying for revival in our individual life and our church.

Oldest Known Images of the Apostles

A discovery has revealed the oldest known images of the apostles.  These images go back to the 4th century.  This is still unlikely what they looked like but it is still interesting.  You can find the pictures here.

Father's Day

Tomorrow is Father's Day.  I love being a dad.  All of our kids are such a blessing.  They bring more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined.  However, this Father's Day I am drawn to thoughts of my own dad.  My dad died six years ago next month.  He was never much of a handyman.  But he bought tools, watched shows, practiced cuts and experimented with projects.  All of this took place after he retired.  I was impressed at how he was willing to learn new skills at a later stage of life.  We have a number of his projects at our house and at my office.  With my mom's death just over a year ago, I inherited all of his tools.  Like my dad at first, I am not much of a handyman.  But with his tools and his inspiration, I am trying.  I have been working on Abby's room off and on for the last couple of weeks.  Using my dad's tools has made me feel close to him.  During this project, Justus has been "helping" me.  It makes my work take longer but it is great to work with him on this.  It is the highlight of his day and more than building walls, it is building memories into Justus and my own life.  To all the dads out there, have a happy Father's Day.

Stephen Colbert

In our multicultural world we are confronted by numerous religions.  How do we make sense of such confusion?  I believe that we need to seek the wisdom of the great sages of our world.  Stephen Colbert is one such person.  You can catch his opinion here.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

Today is Amanda's 30th birthday.  Here are some birthday wishes from myself and a number of friends.  Have a great birthday Amanda!

Here is my birthday message for you.

Here is a greeting from Heather Barrie:

Here are greetings from Lani Green and family:

Andrew Scholl has this to say.

And from Lindsay Holten:


Happy Birthday Amanda!  Although we have both grown up so much in the nine years since we met, you will always be my "young friend", and not just because I'll always be older than you but because of the fresh and passionate spirit with which you approach life.  I am honoured that my home is your Mexico, although someday I think we should meet on a sandy white beach instead!  Thank you for making the effort to deepen our friendship despite the vast amount of land between us....I am a better person for being part of your dance.  And this is my prayer for you today and for the year to come, that you would know that God is with you, that he is mighty to save, that he takes great delight in you, that he quiets you with his love and that he rejoices over you with singing! (Zephaniah 3:17)

Love,
Lindsay

And from the Willis family:


Hey Amanda,
You have finally reached your 30’s!  What took you so long?  I hope you have the most amazing day celebrating with your friends and family.  We are so sorry that we cannot be there.  I pray that your 30’s are a decade of increase and abundant blessings from the Lord.  I can’t believe how time has flown by and that we have known each other for 17 years.  You were 13 or 14 at the time.  It is so exciting to see what God has done in your life and how you have grown into an amazing woman of God.  There are so many memories and so many funny pictures.  My family will never forget the day that I shaved your head.  Sorry that I chickened out last minute, but it was really funny.  You have been an amazing friend who has been so faithful and so selfless.  I know I am not that great at keeping in contact, but I am so thankful that you are.  I really appreciated when you and Steve would travel all the way to Peterborough to visit me a school for the day.  You are a blessing to all who know you.  We love you lots!
Janira, Jason, Serena and Ethan

From Alexis Kirk:


Happy Birthday Amanda!
I was very fortunate to have met you several years ago.  I never stopped being amazed by your patience, resilience and kindness.  You have such a beautiful love for your family and a strength that I admire so much!  I have always enjoyed getting together with you over the years and am glad we have kept in touch!
I hope you have a wonderful birthday and an even better 30th year full of great things!
Best Wishes,
Alexis

CBOQ Assembly

Last week, Amanda and I were at the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ) annual assembly.  The guest speaker was Myra Blyth.  She did a great job and was good at taking us through the resurrection narratives of Luke.  The worship was great and it was also nice to see some of our old (or not so old) friends.  It is always a highlight for us to go out for meals and to renew acquaintances.  The real highlight however was the radification of Tim McCoy as our Executive Minister.  Tim is a great guy is both a talented executive and a godly and humble follower of Christ.  God will use him greatly in our denomination.  One of the temptations, I must confess, is the book store.  I am happy to say that I gave into temptation and purchased the following books:

Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype, and Spin by Os Guinness


On Guard: Defending Your Faith with Reason and Precision by William Lane Craig


Dictionary of Biblical Criticism and Interpretation by Stanley E. Porter


The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller


God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable & Responsible by William Lane Craig

The Book of Eli

Amanda and I just got the opportunity to see the Book of Eli.  I very much enjoyed it.  First of all, I like the post-apocalyptic genre, movies such as Mad Max and Logan's Run.  But that was not the only thing about the movie that I appreciated.  The basic idea of the movie is that there had been a war decades before that affected the ozone layer.  Some people blamed religion for the war and burnt most of the copies of the Bible.  In the movie there is one last copy of the Bible that happens to be in the hands of the good guy.  He feels led by God to take the Bible into the west where it can be used for good.  Meanwhile, the bad guy is also on a quest for the Bible.  He has memories of pre
-war times when the Bible was used to manipulate people and he sees the Bible as a potential weapon.  What I liked about the movie was the universal acknowledgment of the power of the Bible.  The question is: how will the Bible be used?  Is it for good or is it for bad?  History has taught us that it has been used for both.  The challenge for us to make sure we use the Bible for good.

Zeitgeist Movie Response

I have been considering putting together a little booklet on the Zeigeist movie.  Not the political and economic conspiracies but the Jesus myth stuff.  My question is: have people lost interest?  Are there people still asking questions about this movie?  I am trying to gauge interest.  Please let me know if there is still a need for this.  Looking forward to your input. 

The Role of the Holy Spirit

Last Sunday I preached on the role of the Holy Spirit.  This was partially inspired by my listening to Francis Chan's Forgotten God and reading Gordon Fee's Paul, the Spirit and the People of God.  The thing that Chan really gets across is that Jesus said that it was to our advantage that he leave so that we would receive the Holy Spirit and yet we do not really get excited about the Spirit.  We took a look at six roles of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian.

1. Conviction - Not condemnation but conviction of sin so that we can improve and get back to where we need to be with God.
2. Prayer - Romans 8 has some great things to say about the role of the Spirit in prayer.  The Spirit in us knows both our heart and the will of God.
3. Testifies of Jesus - The Spirit does not point to himself but to Jesus.  The Spirit forms Christ in us, producing the fruit of the Spirit which represents the character of Christ.
4. Understanding the Bible - The Bible is not just about ancient history and cultures.  The Spirit that inspired the Bible also illuminates the meaning and application to us as we read it.
5. Wisdom - This is not an excuse to be lazy but there is a promise that when we find ourselves in a situation beyond our abilities, we are not left to our own resources.
6. Comfort - The Spirit is the Comforter/Counsellor/ Advocate.  He is the paraclete  who is called to come along side us and stay with us the rest of our life.  What comfort to know that as Christ is God with us, the Spirit is Christ with us.

I will be preaching this message in a couple of weeks at First Baptist, but for a preview you can find it on www.stephenjbedard.podbean.com.

New Autism Gene Found

I very often get asked what causes autism.  In fact I was just asked yesterday as I was visiting someone from our congregation.  We have known that there is a genetic factor since our two biological children both have autism.  There is some exciting research into the genetics of autism.  You can read the story here and it might answer some of your questions.

Tolkien Podcast

I love the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.  I recently stumbled on a podcast of a course taught on Tolkien.  I listen to a number of podcasts and audiobooks but they are generally on the Bible or religion.  However, I am thoroughly loving this podcast.  You can find this podcast and other information about Tolkien here.

What If God Does Not Answer My Prayer?

Last Sunday we looked at one of my favourite passages: Daniel 3:8-28.  This is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  They were ordered to worship a golden image which they could not do in good conscience.  The result was they were threatened with death by being thrown into a fiery furnace.  It is here that we see a very balanced view of prayer.  The three young men demonstrate a confident hope that God could rescue them.  When we pray, we are not just performing a religious ritual, we are asking God to intervene in our lives.  But this is not a prosperity gospel message where God is to do our will.  The three young men also confess that there is a possibility that God will not rescue them.  The fact is that God does not always answer our prayers the way that we want.  Their preference would have been for God to prevent them from going into the furnace.  However, God chose to meet them in the furnace.  Notice that the fourth figure in the furnace did not rescue them but stayed with them until the circumstances changed.  Sometimes God gives us his presence rather than a change of circumstances.  When we pray, we hope that God will perform a miracle but at the same time we must sometimes be content with God meeting us in the furnace.  For the next few weeks this message in audio and text format can be found at www.meafordbaptist.ca.

Forgotten God

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Francis Chan's Forgotten God.  This was a great book.  I expected good things as I had previously listened to his Crazy Love.  Forgotten God is a reference to the Holy Spirit.  When it comes to the Trinity, we can picture a Father and we can picture a Son, but what is a Spirit?  Since the concept is difficult, we often ignore the Spirit.  Yet Jesus said that it was to our benefit that he leave so that the Holy Spirit could come to us.  Chan works out the implications of this truth, taking us on a tour of the Scriptures as well as presenting short biographies that demonstrate what a Spirit-filled life looks like in practice.  Chan does a great job of finding a balance between radical charismatics and rigid cessationists.  Christians are to seek a Spirit-led life that includes both experience and the guidance of Scripture.  This book is highly recommended.

What a Study Leave Looks Like

This week I am on study leave.  What is a study leave?  When I used to work at CMC distribution warehouse, they never gave me time for study leave.  Most pastors get a number of weeks off a year (I get the week but not the Sunday) for study.  This is a time to recharge, do some reading, take a course, do some research and basically spend some time to become a better pastor without the usual schedule of meetings and visitation.  This week, Amanda is away in Calgary so this is not an intensive forty hour study marathon.  I am looking after the kids but I have also built in time for study.  I am doing some reading in journals (specifically the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society).  I am doing some reading for my doctoral dissertation as well as the course in 1 Corinthians that I am teaching at Tyndale next month.  Finally, I am working on a couple of journal articles, one on the raising of Samuel in 1 Samuel 28 and one on creation motifs in John.  Will I get all this done?  Not likely but it is a good way for me to get at some stuff that my regular schedule does not allow for.  There you go, that is my study leave for this week.