So..
I grew up in Alberta and was always a Conservative. Makes sense as the Conservative government has been in provincial power for as long as I can remember. Ralph Klein is a boyhood hero and Stephen Harper, our Conservative Prime Minister, has his local riding in Calgary, Alberta.
It was quite a shock coming to Manitoba. Weekly I get surveys in the mail from the various political parties. One such survey asked me who, and by who means which political party, is best served to guide the economy in Canada. Being born and raised in Alberta, the answer is very simple, 'whoever puts the most money in my pocket'
I was sharing this at work one day and another co-worker commented 'You are such an Albertan Conservative, we need taxes!' I was taken aback as I have never in my life heard such a response.
I did some research and found that, as I get paid bi-monthly, in Manitoba, I pay $44.17 more in taxes. Now you may not think that is alot, but in the course of a year, 24 pay periods x $44.17 = $1060.08 per year. This may not seem like much to you either, but if you think of how much one works say from 22 years of age to 62 years of age that's $42,403.20 over 40 years. That's a pretty nice chunk of change, enough to easily live a year without working, so in essence from my point of view, if I lived in Alberta, I would get to retire one year early and if you were to ask my Mom how she likes early retirement, she says she absolutely loves it!
Plus, there is an 8% provincial sales tax, so in essence, when I buy something, I pay 8% more than my friends in Manitoba.
Now you may think I am being quite judgmental of Manitoba, and please know that I am not. I am just trying to let you, the reader, know how different life is, even 10 hours away by car.
Life here, though is much less fast paced. For instance, when it snows, I don't have to go out and shovel my snow, really at all all winter if I do not wish to. The town sends someone around to clear my public portion of sidewalk, so I am only responsible to shovel the snow by my house. Growing up in Vegreville, we lived on an almost busy street and the snow clearing crew would come and clean our streets of snow 1 time a year, sometime in March. In Dauphin, we live on an extremely quiet street and it gets cleared every time it snows.
I don't have to pay for a library card at the public library, there is a free indoor playground for my children to play at during the winter (and summer when it gets too hot), and Parcels in the mail get delivered to my house.
I admit, I have only lived in Manitoba for 4 1/2 months now, but I think I would be OK to work for another year of my life if it means I don't have to break my back shoveling snow, and get the mail delivered straight to my door. And, (wink, wink) I have people back in Alberta who can always buy me stuff PST free if I ever just feel like I am under the burden of the government.
That and it is pretty awesome that people feel sorry for me that I am an Oilers fan.
Sorry nothing Spiritual this week, unless you think of heaven and if we will be paying taxes there, or will our whole wage/worship go directly to God and all of our needs will be met and more! Until next week, enjoy the taxes you spend and God bless.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Thoughts on Creation
Lately, God has been teaching me about creation. How there is so much theology in the first chapter of Genesis. It has been a while since I last wrote on this blog. Life as a Youth pastor has bee much busier than expected. Blogging has been on my list every week, but in the "doesn't have to get done immediately" section and as a result, it made it's way to the back burner and even pushed off the stove.
Lots has happened in our lives, our son Elkanon (pronounced el-cannon) Jude Johnson was born on September 24, 2014. There were may complications with the birth and as a result, Colleen crashed 6 hours later and had to have emergency surgery to save her life, which in God's grace was, and not a day goes by that I am brought to tears of how good God is.
With this in perspective, and learning about this generation of youth that do not know Bible stories, God brought me to a series for the youth starting with stories from the beginning. I also was able to preach at a local church who is in need of Pulpit supply. I would like to share this sermon with you. Don't feel bad if you do not make it through as it is quite long. Enjoy!
Stories from the Bible – Grace Bible Church – November 30, 2014
Creation – Genesis 1-2
- I love reading novels. The development of the story, how everything ties in together, is just amazing.
- When a good novel is written, the reader`s imagination soars into the clouds.
- The first 2 chapters of genesis is no exception. When you reads them, you can`t help but daydream about what it used to be like.
- My favourite genre of the Bible is the stories. I love seeing how it all ties in. Not only that, how the Bible is one exceptional story of how we as people continually turn away from God, and in His grace and mercy, provides a way to himself.
- This is done through stories, songs, poems, essays, and letters. Every type of writing styles written by people from farmers and fishermen to lawyers and Kings.
- The beginning of a book usually makes or breaks a novel. Is the author able to develop the story enough and make a good foundation, with as little of paper, so the full story can be told.
- The Bible is no exception to this. The first 2 chapters of Genesis set the stage and foundation for what happens in not only the rest of the Bible, but for the unfolding story that happens today as well.
- As I have been interacting with this generation of Youth, I have realized they don’t know the Bible stories
- The stories that I grew up knowing like the back of my hand are new and exciting to them.
- As I contemplated this, and wondered where to go from there, God led me quite simply to the Beginning.
- So, for you today, I would like to go there as well.
- Show of hands, Who here knows the first verse of the Bible? That question is probably as simple as asking what John 3:16 says.
- Now I ask you, Show of hands again, who can tell me the second verse of the Bible, Genesis, 1:2
- Don’t feel bad if you don’t know it, when I asked the youth this question, nearly everyone knew the first, but only 1 knew the second.
- "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." From the New International Version.
- So the stage is set, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- There are many theories within Christian circles of how old the Earth is. Some say millions and millions of years old, and others hold to a young Earth theory some say as young as 6000 years, and from what the Bible says, the infallible Word of God, the answer is quite simple.
- From the beginning.
- So, I am happy to let the Scholars and Scientists debate this because I believe God wanted us to know that the Earth has been around since Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- As important as the first verse of the Bible is, I would argue that the second is equally as important.
- Now the second verse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters is very significant.
- Why you may ask? Because there was water. What is essential for life? Water.
- This means from the beginning, there was this potential for life.
- God from the very beginning of the heavens and the earth had a plan.
- He didn’t create humanity on a whim, or as an afterthought, but was purposeful from the beginning.
- Now, raise your hand if you know how many days of creation there are?
- Take a moment now as I ask you this question. Do you know what happened on each of those days in order?
- I know I can tell you with certainty what the days are.
- If you have small children, have grandkids, were a kid in the last 10 years, you will know Dora the Explorer
- Having 3 young kids, I watch alot of Dora the Explorer.
- As I was reading Genesis 1, I thought I was watching a Dora the Explorer episode.
- Every episode, Dora and Boots accomplish 3 tasks. These tasks are repeated over and over throughout the episode. In Genesis 1 it follows the same pattern.
- Light, Water, Dirt. Say it with me, Light, Water, Dirt. Light Water Dirt.
- And this cycle repeats itself. Days 1-3 go light water dirt, days 4-6 Light Water Dirt then on the seventh day, God rested.
- So day 1 - Light - What did god create? Light.
- A man was talking to God one day and had an idea. “God,” the man asked, “I have heard a second to you is like a 100 years and 100 years is like a second”
- “That is true”
- “And a penny to you is like a million dollars and a million dollars to you is like a penny”
- “Also true”
- “So God, please grant me this request, would you give me a penny?”
- God replies, “Sure, just give me a second.”
- I will wait a couple of seconds for you to get it. Maybe not.
- There is a lot of discussion as to what a day is. Is it millions of years? Because 2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
- Was it 24 hours; was it millions upon millions of years? Again, it doesn’t matter to me, what matters is it happened. God spoke and created Light.
- 1 thing only 1thing – Light - now this is pretty significant, but I will come back to this.
- Day 2 – “And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.”
- There are different theories out there as to what this vault of water was. Some believe it was a large shield of water that created a greenhouse effect on the earth that basically made the whole earth a tropical forest.
- Others say it is the Ozone layer that keeps the atmosphere in and “space” out
- Either way, having an atmosphere was essential for life.
- I was reading an article on nationalgeographic.com and it states NASA has come up with a criteria for life to exist.
- The Criteria are:
o proper temperature – one in which water will not freeze or boil
o water – around since the beginning
o Light – created on the first day
o Nitrogen – I found this humorous as Oxygen is not on the list but Nitrogen is
It is essential for the formation of amino acids
The Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen – so when God created sky – He must have known what He was doing
o The last criteria is quite funny, but very important – Nothing that will kill you
Something as important as the Ozone layer to protect form UV light
Or the magnetic field of earth that deflects harmful radiation
- In 2 days, the life is now possible.
- As we look at our own Christian walk with God. We often want God to act now and fast, yet as we look at creation, God sets a foundation first, so He can create his greatest work, Us.
- Now we have water, light, air. What else is needed to have and sustain life – Think Biology – Photosynthesis – Plants
- Day 3 – God creates land with plants. Life not only is possible, but now is sustainable, again, God creating a means for us to continue living.
- We have gone through 1 cycle of Light Water Dirt. And now we are onto the next
- Day 4 – What was created? Sun, moon and stars
- The sun is 150 million km from Earth, it converts hydrogen into helium through thermonuclear fusion at a rate of 620 million metric tons per second and will eventually burn up in about 5.4 billion years give or take a couple years.
- The moon, responsible for ocean tides and the means by which ancient empires counted the months, seasons and years. From a humanitarian standpoint, the moon has a significant place human history.
- As I was studying this, I found it quite humorous. – How many stars are there in the Universe?
- Astronomists say there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the earth. How many grains of sand are there? And there are more stars?
- It gives a new meaning to Genesis 15:5-6 5
He took him (Abraham) outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
- Wow, that’s a lot of descendants and we are a part of that
- Galatians 3: 7-9 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
- Just think of all the people there will be to meet in Heaven, in some ways, I understand why we will be there for an eternity, it will take that long just to say hi to all of them.
- Back to Genesis, listen to how it is accounted for in the Bible
- Verse 16 “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” 5 words to describe the billions upon billions of stars out there – by the way, He also made the stars.
- Now, just for one moment think about it. How long did God take to create all of the stars?
- Ok now what did God create on the First day? Light. How much time did God take to just create one thing? 1 full day. How amazing must light be if God can create the billions and billions of stars in a day, but in that same timeframe, create 1 thing - Light
- Light is an amazing thing – it travels at 299 792 458 m/s . Which if you calculate the distance from the sun, it takes about 8 minutes to get there. So, when you are looking at the sun, you are looking at the past, 8 minutes ago.
- Light has no weight, just pure energy. In the formula E=mc2 the constant is the speed of light squared.
- According to the Wikipedia (because we know everything on the internet is true) – if an object of mass was to travel at the speed of light, it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so.
- How fast is God? Faster than light? Does God supersede light? How much energy does God have? More than an infinite amount.
The Nicene Creed states “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
- Did you hear that about Jesus “Light of Light” How fitting that Jesus is called the Light of the World!
- So, now, reflect on this Christmas season. Jesus is 100% Human and Jesus is 100% God.
- How did God take all that bigness and complexity and cram it into a human being. That to me is more mind-blowing than how Big and powerful God is, but how did He make it fit in such a little package?
- Then Day 5 – fish and birds
- I have often wondered why create sea and air animals on a separate day than land animals. And really the only conclusion I come to is that they are vastly different.
- For instance, when talking about types of meat, usually the one that gets the bad publicity is red meat like beef and pork.
- Somehow chicken, turkey and fish seem to escape the negativity and even lots of diets will embrace them, but not the red meat.
- Now we move to Day 6 – Land animals – when one reads a story and the author writes 10 pages on Uncle John but only briefly mentions Auntie Sue, who do you think is the more important in the story? Uncle John or Auntie Sue? Uncle John.
- Same here – the first 25 verses of the Bible are devoted to creation of everything – the next 31 – except the 3 that are devoted to the 7th day – are devoted to the creation of humans – namely Adam and Eve
- So, creation – light, the stars, oceans, animals, humans and the Sabbath, from the very beginning – all fit into 59 verses and 31 of them – over 50%, are devoted to the creation of humans.
- I would say we are pretty important to God.
- Not only are we important the Bible says that we are made in God’s image, that He formed us, not just spoke, but formed and then breathed life into us.
- Isn’t that amazing, we hold the very breath of God in us.
- Also very interesting is that God created mankind to decide. To think and make a decision.
- We were not created to follow our animal instincts but to create and have options.
Genesis 2:19-20 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found.
- I find it interesting that God brought all of the animals to the man “to see what he would name them.”
- God not only created Adam with the ability to make a decision, but also to be creative.
- If he wanted to call an animal a platypus, he did. Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus orangutan, And the list goes on.
- We were not created to be robots, but to think an embrace that we don`t just blindly follow, but are to have substance in our faith.
- So…God searched all of creation and did not find a suitable helper for Adam so he took a rib from Adam and used it to form eve.
- Now if you follow Dora the Explorer, Adam looked at Eve and said “Wo-Man” (like Swiper)
- But we all know Adam was probably older than a child and was pretty ecstatic to see a beautiful lady and said “woah – Man” (like a happy teenager)
- The point of the story of Creation is not necessarily what was created, like the stars, air, light and fish, but the focus is that Mankind was created in God’s image!
- Think about it, you are the reflection of God in this world; you hold the breath of God. Does that not make you want to praise Him!
- The Creation account also brings a new meaning to John chapter 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.?”
- And Colossians 1:115-17 “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
- We are physically alive on this earth, Only because of Jesus. We are Spiritually Alive in our Hearts, Only Because of Jesus.
- As I was saying in the beginning. I believe Creation is the perfect foundation to the rest of the Bible, The stage is now set.
- The rest of the Bible is the story of how Mankind turned from God and how God brought us back to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus, if we would only ask Him to do so.
- As you go this week, remember, I am made in God’s image, I hold His breath.
- As you look at others, remember that too, each one of you is special, because you are each a unique creation of God’s design.
- Pray
And a few pictures of our family for you to enjoy. Tune in next week (that's the plan at least) for 'The Marvelouseness of Manitoba!'
Lots has happened in our lives, our son Elkanon (pronounced el-cannon) Jude Johnson was born on September 24, 2014. There were may complications with the birth and as a result, Colleen crashed 6 hours later and had to have emergency surgery to save her life, which in God's grace was, and not a day goes by that I am brought to tears of how good God is.
With this in perspective, and learning about this generation of youth that do not know Bible stories, God brought me to a series for the youth starting with stories from the beginning. I also was able to preach at a local church who is in need of Pulpit supply. I would like to share this sermon with you. Don't feel bad if you do not make it through as it is quite long. Enjoy!
Stories from the Bible – Grace Bible Church – November 30, 2014
Creation – Genesis 1-2
- I love reading novels. The development of the story, how everything ties in together, is just amazing.
- When a good novel is written, the reader`s imagination soars into the clouds.
- The first 2 chapters of genesis is no exception. When you reads them, you can`t help but daydream about what it used to be like.
- My favourite genre of the Bible is the stories. I love seeing how it all ties in. Not only that, how the Bible is one exceptional story of how we as people continually turn away from God, and in His grace and mercy, provides a way to himself.
- This is done through stories, songs, poems, essays, and letters. Every type of writing styles written by people from farmers and fishermen to lawyers and Kings.
- The beginning of a book usually makes or breaks a novel. Is the author able to develop the story enough and make a good foundation, with as little of paper, so the full story can be told.
- The Bible is no exception to this. The first 2 chapters of Genesis set the stage and foundation for what happens in not only the rest of the Bible, but for the unfolding story that happens today as well.
- As I have been interacting with this generation of Youth, I have realized they don’t know the Bible stories
- The stories that I grew up knowing like the back of my hand are new and exciting to them.
- As I contemplated this, and wondered where to go from there, God led me quite simply to the Beginning.
- So, for you today, I would like to go there as well.
- Show of hands, Who here knows the first verse of the Bible? That question is probably as simple as asking what John 3:16 says.
- Now I ask you, Show of hands again, who can tell me the second verse of the Bible, Genesis, 1:2
- Don’t feel bad if you don’t know it, when I asked the youth this question, nearly everyone knew the first, but only 1 knew the second.
- "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." From the New International Version.
- So the stage is set, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- There are many theories within Christian circles of how old the Earth is. Some say millions and millions of years old, and others hold to a young Earth theory some say as young as 6000 years, and from what the Bible says, the infallible Word of God, the answer is quite simple.
- From the beginning.
- So, I am happy to let the Scholars and Scientists debate this because I believe God wanted us to know that the Earth has been around since Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- As important as the first verse of the Bible is, I would argue that the second is equally as important.
- Now the second verse of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters is very significant.
- Why you may ask? Because there was water. What is essential for life? Water.
- This means from the beginning, there was this potential for life.
- God from the very beginning of the heavens and the earth had a plan.
- He didn’t create humanity on a whim, or as an afterthought, but was purposeful from the beginning.
- Now, raise your hand if you know how many days of creation there are?
- Take a moment now as I ask you this question. Do you know what happened on each of those days in order?
- I know I can tell you with certainty what the days are.
- If you have small children, have grandkids, were a kid in the last 10 years, you will know Dora the Explorer
- Having 3 young kids, I watch alot of Dora the Explorer.
- As I was reading Genesis 1, I thought I was watching a Dora the Explorer episode.
- Every episode, Dora and Boots accomplish 3 tasks. These tasks are repeated over and over throughout the episode. In Genesis 1 it follows the same pattern.
- Light, Water, Dirt. Say it with me, Light, Water, Dirt. Light Water Dirt.
- And this cycle repeats itself. Days 1-3 go light water dirt, days 4-6 Light Water Dirt then on the seventh day, God rested.
- So day 1 - Light - What did god create? Light.
- A man was talking to God one day and had an idea. “God,” the man asked, “I have heard a second to you is like a 100 years and 100 years is like a second”
- “That is true”
- “And a penny to you is like a million dollars and a million dollars to you is like a penny”
- “Also true”
- “So God, please grant me this request, would you give me a penny?”
- God replies, “Sure, just give me a second.”
- I will wait a couple of seconds for you to get it. Maybe not.
- There is a lot of discussion as to what a day is. Is it millions of years? Because 2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
- Was it 24 hours; was it millions upon millions of years? Again, it doesn’t matter to me, what matters is it happened. God spoke and created Light.
- 1 thing only 1thing – Light - now this is pretty significant, but I will come back to this.
- Day 2 – “And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.”
- There are different theories out there as to what this vault of water was. Some believe it was a large shield of water that created a greenhouse effect on the earth that basically made the whole earth a tropical forest.
- Others say it is the Ozone layer that keeps the atmosphere in and “space” out
- Either way, having an atmosphere was essential for life.
- I was reading an article on nationalgeographic.com and it states NASA has come up with a criteria for life to exist.
- The Criteria are:
o proper temperature – one in which water will not freeze or boil
o water – around since the beginning
o Light – created on the first day
o Nitrogen – I found this humorous as Oxygen is not on the list but Nitrogen is
It is essential for the formation of amino acids
The Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen – so when God created sky – He must have known what He was doing
o The last criteria is quite funny, but very important – Nothing that will kill you
Something as important as the Ozone layer to protect form UV light
Or the magnetic field of earth that deflects harmful radiation
- In 2 days, the life is now possible.
- As we look at our own Christian walk with God. We often want God to act now and fast, yet as we look at creation, God sets a foundation first, so He can create his greatest work, Us.
- Now we have water, light, air. What else is needed to have and sustain life – Think Biology – Photosynthesis – Plants
- Day 3 – God creates land with plants. Life not only is possible, but now is sustainable, again, God creating a means for us to continue living.
- We have gone through 1 cycle of Light Water Dirt. And now we are onto the next
- Day 4 – What was created? Sun, moon and stars
- The sun is 150 million km from Earth, it converts hydrogen into helium through thermonuclear fusion at a rate of 620 million metric tons per second and will eventually burn up in about 5.4 billion years give or take a couple years.
- The moon, responsible for ocean tides and the means by which ancient empires counted the months, seasons and years. From a humanitarian standpoint, the moon has a significant place human history.
- As I was studying this, I found it quite humorous. – How many stars are there in the Universe?
- Astronomists say there are more stars than there are grains of sand on the earth. How many grains of sand are there? And there are more stars?
- It gives a new meaning to Genesis 15:5-6 5
He took him (Abraham) outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”
6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
- Wow, that’s a lot of descendants and we are a part of that
- Galatians 3: 7-9 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”[d] 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
- Just think of all the people there will be to meet in Heaven, in some ways, I understand why we will be there for an eternity, it will take that long just to say hi to all of them.
- Back to Genesis, listen to how it is accounted for in the Bible
- Verse 16 “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.” 5 words to describe the billions upon billions of stars out there – by the way, He also made the stars.
- Now, just for one moment think about it. How long did God take to create all of the stars?
- Ok now what did God create on the First day? Light. How much time did God take to just create one thing? 1 full day. How amazing must light be if God can create the billions and billions of stars in a day, but in that same timeframe, create 1 thing - Light
- Light is an amazing thing – it travels at 299 792 458 m/s . Which if you calculate the distance from the sun, it takes about 8 minutes to get there. So, when you are looking at the sun, you are looking at the past, 8 minutes ago.
- Light has no weight, just pure energy. In the formula E=mc2 the constant is the speed of light squared.
- According to the Wikipedia (because we know everything on the internet is true) – if an object of mass was to travel at the speed of light, it would take an infinite amount of energy to do so.
- How fast is God? Faster than light? Does God supersede light? How much energy does God have? More than an infinite amount.
The Nicene Creed states “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”
- Did you hear that about Jesus “Light of Light” How fitting that Jesus is called the Light of the World!
- So, now, reflect on this Christmas season. Jesus is 100% Human and Jesus is 100% God.
- How did God take all that bigness and complexity and cram it into a human being. That to me is more mind-blowing than how Big and powerful God is, but how did He make it fit in such a little package?
- Then Day 5 – fish and birds
- I have often wondered why create sea and air animals on a separate day than land animals. And really the only conclusion I come to is that they are vastly different.
- For instance, when talking about types of meat, usually the one that gets the bad publicity is red meat like beef and pork.
- Somehow chicken, turkey and fish seem to escape the negativity and even lots of diets will embrace them, but not the red meat.
- Now we move to Day 6 – Land animals – when one reads a story and the author writes 10 pages on Uncle John but only briefly mentions Auntie Sue, who do you think is the more important in the story? Uncle John or Auntie Sue? Uncle John.
- Same here – the first 25 verses of the Bible are devoted to creation of everything – the next 31 – except the 3 that are devoted to the 7th day – are devoted to the creation of humans – namely Adam and Eve
- So, creation – light, the stars, oceans, animals, humans and the Sabbath, from the very beginning – all fit into 59 verses and 31 of them – over 50%, are devoted to the creation of humans.
- I would say we are pretty important to God.
- Not only are we important the Bible says that we are made in God’s image, that He formed us, not just spoke, but formed and then breathed life into us.
- Isn’t that amazing, we hold the very breath of God in us.
- Also very interesting is that God created mankind to decide. To think and make a decision.
- We were not created to follow our animal instincts but to create and have options.
Genesis 2:19-20 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
But for Adam[f] no suitable helper was found.
- I find it interesting that God brought all of the animals to the man “to see what he would name them.”
- God not only created Adam with the ability to make a decision, but also to be creative.
- If he wanted to call an animal a platypus, he did. Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus orangutan, And the list goes on.
- We were not created to be robots, but to think an embrace that we don`t just blindly follow, but are to have substance in our faith.
- So…God searched all of creation and did not find a suitable helper for Adam so he took a rib from Adam and used it to form eve.
- Now if you follow Dora the Explorer, Adam looked at Eve and said “Wo-Man” (like Swiper)
- But we all know Adam was probably older than a child and was pretty ecstatic to see a beautiful lady and said “woah – Man” (like a happy teenager)
- The point of the story of Creation is not necessarily what was created, like the stars, air, light and fish, but the focus is that Mankind was created in God’s image!
- Think about it, you are the reflection of God in this world; you hold the breath of God. Does that not make you want to praise Him!
- The Creation account also brings a new meaning to John chapter 1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.?”
- And Colossians 1:115-17 “15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
- We are physically alive on this earth, Only because of Jesus. We are Spiritually Alive in our Hearts, Only Because of Jesus.
- As I was saying in the beginning. I believe Creation is the perfect foundation to the rest of the Bible, The stage is now set.
- The rest of the Bible is the story of how Mankind turned from God and how God brought us back to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus, if we would only ask Him to do so.
- As you go this week, remember, I am made in God’s image, I hold His breath.
- As you look at others, remember that too, each one of you is special, because you are each a unique creation of God’s design.
- Pray
Along the same lines as my sermon, and if you have 45 minutes to spare, I would recommend this Louie Giglio sermon called Indescribable.
And a few pictures of our family for you to enjoy. Tune in next week (that's the plan at least) for 'The Marvelouseness of Manitoba!'
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Pastry Flop
This last week, we had the privilege of hosting our youth sponsors team at our house and had some pulled beef sandwiches, pasta salad and dessert! Pie by the Mile! Basically is pastry dough spread over a cookie sheet, pie filling in-between and then more dough on top. Altogether, one big pie the size of a cookie sheet.
To get the pastry dough recipe, Colleen messaged her mother and got the recipe, which called for one pound of shortening. If you know shortening packages, one pound is a whole container. She mixed the dough and while kneading it commented that it felt very moist, yet broke apart when rolling like it was too dry. We called my mother-in-law to find out what we should do, add more flour, or more liquid because we were at a loss of what to do. "Oh, I think the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, not one pound. (The difference is that 1 cup is about 1/4 of a package)
We did not want to make 4 times the pastry dough, so I went googling on the internet to find out what we can do to solve our problem. The best answer I got, and really the only one, was to throw it out and start over. "There must be a way to salvage something good out of that dough," I thought, but alas, it was a lost cause. We threw it out, I went to the store to get more shortening (as we had used up the whole package on the last batch) and we started fresh.
The pie was delicious and worked out great and we had a encouraging time preparing for the coming year at Youth group!
As I was running to the store for more shortening and disappointed previous dough was hopeless, I began thinking about being a Christian in this world.
Often I look at myself and desire to "save" my flesh; I want to hold onto those things I am called to give up. I keep insisting that they are not necessarily bad, but can be made good if I just try hard enough. But, as I remember the pastry dough, there is no saving the flesh, it must be thrown away and burned in the fire.
1 Peter 2:11 states that the fleshly desires we have war against our souls. We my think and try to take the things that are not from God and try to make them good, but it is clear, they war against us.
Kindof like Adam and Eve in the garden where eve saw the fruit was pleasing, good tasting and helpful in gaining wisdom yet, the act of eating it destroyed their relationship with God.
It is a pretty simple formula, if it is of the flesh, destroy it, and of God, embrace it.
Yet so difficult in practice, as even as we look at the war happening in Ukraine - simple in concept, but yet so complex and confusing.
To get the pastry dough recipe, Colleen messaged her mother and got the recipe, which called for one pound of shortening. If you know shortening packages, one pound is a whole container. She mixed the dough and while kneading it commented that it felt very moist, yet broke apart when rolling like it was too dry. We called my mother-in-law to find out what we should do, add more flour, or more liquid because we were at a loss of what to do. "Oh, I think the recipe calls for 1 cup of shortening, not one pound. (The difference is that 1 cup is about 1/4 of a package)
We did not want to make 4 times the pastry dough, so I went googling on the internet to find out what we can do to solve our problem. The best answer I got, and really the only one, was to throw it out and start over. "There must be a way to salvage something good out of that dough," I thought, but alas, it was a lost cause. We threw it out, I went to the store to get more shortening (as we had used up the whole package on the last batch) and we started fresh.
The pie was delicious and worked out great and we had a encouraging time preparing for the coming year at Youth group!
As I was running to the store for more shortening and disappointed previous dough was hopeless, I began thinking about being a Christian in this world.
Often I look at myself and desire to "save" my flesh; I want to hold onto those things I am called to give up. I keep insisting that they are not necessarily bad, but can be made good if I just try hard enough. But, as I remember the pastry dough, there is no saving the flesh, it must be thrown away and burned in the fire.
1 Peter 2:11 states that the fleshly desires we have war against our souls. We my think and try to take the things that are not from God and try to make them good, but it is clear, they war against us.
Kindof like Adam and Eve in the garden where eve saw the fruit was pleasing, good tasting and helpful in gaining wisdom yet, the act of eating it destroyed their relationship with God.
It is a pretty simple formula, if it is of the flesh, destroy it, and of God, embrace it.
Yet so difficult in practice, as even as we look at the war happening in Ukraine - simple in concept, but yet so complex and confusing.
Monday, August 18, 2014
The Mulching Mower Conundrum
As part of our rental agreement for our duplex, we are responsible for the upkeep of the lawn on our side of the property. Part of upkeep is making sure your lawn is mowed. Having lived in an apartment building in Sexsmith and then in Kiev (where the grass would get to the point where it needed mowing and then it would take them a month to actually mow it with a weedwacker), we have not had a need of a mower and one did not make the trip with us to Dauphin.
So, the first Saturday we were here, I went garage saling to find one. Low and behold, the first sale I went to, they had an electric mulching mower. Electric! Great! No need to fill with gas. Electric! Great! GUTLESS! The chord that came with it even almost stretches to all parts of our lawn, save 10 Ft Squared that I have to start up the mower and move fast because it will unplug and stop. But enough about the electricity problem.
The thing that got me was the mulching property the mower has. When I was a young sprout, we had a mower, but it had a bag. So, one always had to check the bag and find a place to put all of the clippings.
I remember thinking to myself, "I wish there was a way to mow without having to always empty the bag" and then it happened, a friend asked me to mow their lawn, and they didn't use a bag. They just shot it out the side. This was an ingenious idea, you mow the lawn and spew it everywhere. It took much less time; well except for every 3rd time you mowed, you had to rake it up and bag it because it would begin to look unsightly. Once again, I thought, "If only there was a way to not have to rake every 3rd time." And then it happened, I bought an electric mulching mower 3 weeks ago, and no more bags, no more raking, just everything gets picked up, chopped and put back to keep nutrients in the soil. Whoever thought of this was a genius!
Well, actually, whoever thought of this had no weeds in their lawn.
When we moved, we maybe had 10 dandelion plants on our yard; within 3 weeks of mulching (picking up the dandelion seeds and spreading them), our lawn has grown dandelions exponentially! And all the money I have saved on not buying gas, I have spent at Canadian Tire buying Killex dandelion spray, but the battle is a lost cause.
As I was mowing the lawn this last time, I began thinking about those little seeds and sharing the gospel with others. There are 3 different ways I thought of: Someone who bags it all up and doesn't share, Someone who shares with everyone, and others who share within a small, yet specific area.
On one hand, the lawn of the person who bags looks beautiful, with no dandelions. Another spreads the seed everywhere, but with little aim and purpose, and the third, although only in a specific area, spreads exponentially.
I will be the first to admit that I do not go out and share Jesus with everyone, but, my prayer is that God will give me specific times to share and the wisdom and boldness to share when and where He desires.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Manitoba Bound!
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| Our Uhaul ready to go! |
To catch you up to date, we left Grande Prairie on Monday July 21 for Bow Island. Tuesday we packed up the Uhaul and Wednesday we left for Dauphin at 4:00 am and arrived in time for supper at 6:00 pm, losing and hour on the way.
A very busy few days, but it is also good to have a home our kids can call home for more than a month as since February we have lived (constituting at least 5 days) in Poland, Ukraine, back to Poland, Parksville BC, Grande Prairie, Vegreville, Dauphin (ok so this was only a 3 day trip), back to Vegreville, Bow Island, Grande Prairie again and finally back to Dauphin where we have been for 20 days and counting!
I am pretty sure our kids are setting themselves up to move again, however, they like their own beds and Ellianna has started calling our duplex our house. It also helps that we have not gone more than a 10 minutes drive away from the city (8000 people in Dauphin, but a Walmart, McDonalds and Tims!).
I was reminded when I put the title "Manitoba Bound" of the song Alberta Bound by Paul Brandt. (Just a little video that really has no point to this blog, but a little piece of "home" for us)
I had the privilege of marching with the Grande Prairie Marching Band as we celebrated Grande Prairie's 100 years, so history is a little on the brain. As part of moving to Dauphin, I went to city hall to register for Manitoba health insurance. And noticed Fort Dauphin has been around since 1741. And at one point was one of the most western settlements of North America. Fort Edmonton was only around since 1795 (thanks Wikipedia for all that information (because everything on the internet is true!)) So we are living in a ton of history.
Manitoba has been very Friendly as their licence plates state; however, having only ever paid GST tacking on another 8% PST totaling 13% has been quite "unfriendly"
But with the extra tax comes alot of free things like no Library fees. I was watching a Bomber's game with some guys this past week (for some reason, they don't want to get together to watch Eskimo's games) and I was explaining the difficulty of transferring our licence and registration.
There is a reason you have 90 days to transfer your vehicle as it takes 90 days to fill out the paperwork and jump through the hoops to get it done. One guy commented "Welcome to Friendly Manitoba. Socialism, everything is free, but you have to do a lot of work to get it!"
I started work last week and am starting to make connections; I even got to go inline skating at the skatepark and boy was I bad.
A few highlights include Celebrating Ellianna's birthday and going to the street fair (which happened to be on the same day)
And Jolen riding a horse for the first time (the wrangler said he was the littlest kid she has ever had ride by themselves)
We are excited for what God has in store for us and the community and if you would like to connect sometime, don't hesitate to comment or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Здравствуйте!
I was reminded this week about Ukraine and learning the language. The title of this blog is "Strasvoche" the Russian word for hello. If you know how to sound out the Slavic alphabet, you can sound out words but have no idea what you are saying. While riding the busses, I would constantly be reading billboards just to sound out the letters, but I would have no idea what they were saying. (When I went to Venezuela, to learn Spanish I would sound out graffiti until our translator kindly told me to stop swearing, so that lesson had been learned before heading to Ukraine!)
We were driving through Grande Prairie, Alberta and saw this sign and thought of all of our times of trying to figure out what was being said and missing the humour. So, I hope you are not offended but laugh for the humour that is the sign.
For instance, when I was building houses, I remember building the house my brother-in-law now lives in and walking into the house, I remember all the mistakes I made on the house, but not the things I did right. And everytime I walk into his house, I remember two things, "I really love his house and think it is the best designed house I ever built, and, I built a rake wall wrong and we had to adjust the trusses to fix my mistake." None of the stuff I did wrong was structurally unsound and it all got covered up by drywall and shingles, but I know it is there.
When I think of heaven, a question comes to mind, will I remember my sins? Will I constantly know what I have been saved from and this brings rejoicing because Jesus forgave my sins and I am counted as righteous because of it. Or will my mind be wiped blank and be rejoicing because of who God is or maybe a little of both? I know that there will not be pain when I remember life on earth. Also, we talk alot of the Bible enduring for eternity and in the Bible speaks of all kind of sins and keeps record of David's sin, Solomon, and even mentions sins of those who are not spending eternity in heaven. Many questions, few answers, but the answers I know is that God is perfect, so however I remember life on Earth, it will be in His perfect wisdom and not my own.
Speaking of life on this Earth, our hair is constantly growing. And sometimes it needs to be cut off.
We were driving through Grande Prairie, Alberta and saw this sign and thought of all of our times of trying to figure out what was being said and missing the humour. So, I hope you are not offended but laugh for the humour that is the sign.
If you are not from Grande Prairie, Fourward is a bike, skate and board shop, so it fits the "surfer" type humour. But what if you could not speak English and were riding the bus and saw this sign and were reading outloud. I get this image of a guy in his 30s or so sounding out words and you usually can only sound out 2 words at most. Next to this guy learning English is a pretty girl checking out her appearance in her mirror and the guy reads the sign outloud "Fat, Ugly" It could be that I have made my fair share of cultural mistakes and I feel for those that make them as well, but the most learning I did, especially learning about culture, was making mistakes. You remember things you got wrong and not things you did right.For instance, when I was building houses, I remember building the house my brother-in-law now lives in and walking into the house, I remember all the mistakes I made on the house, but not the things I did right. And everytime I walk into his house, I remember two things, "I really love his house and think it is the best designed house I ever built, and, I built a rake wall wrong and we had to adjust the trusses to fix my mistake." None of the stuff I did wrong was structurally unsound and it all got covered up by drywall and shingles, but I know it is there.
When I think of heaven, a question comes to mind, will I remember my sins? Will I constantly know what I have been saved from and this brings rejoicing because Jesus forgave my sins and I am counted as righteous because of it. Or will my mind be wiped blank and be rejoicing because of who God is or maybe a little of both? I know that there will not be pain when I remember life on earth. Also, we talk alot of the Bible enduring for eternity and in the Bible speaks of all kind of sins and keeps record of David's sin, Solomon, and even mentions sins of those who are not spending eternity in heaven. Many questions, few answers, but the answers I know is that God is perfect, so however I remember life on Earth, it will be in His perfect wisdom and not my own.
Speaking of life on this Earth, our hair is constantly growing. And sometimes it needs to be cut off.
Thank you, my son the model, for showing everyone what must happen sometimes. It is really hot up here and the shave is a welcome addition.
Also, If I was to start my own business, it would be in the deck building category. I would say that decks are my specialty! I love building decks and enjoy the finished product.
100 feet or so of deck, and I am finally finished. The whole front of the house, the side and another 10 feet on the back! 14 rises, 7 different platforms, I am happy to be done.
I noticed that the Dauphin First Baptist Church has added me to their blogs list, so if you are in Dauphin and would like some advice on building a deck, I am your man. We are leaving next Monday and hopefully arriving in Dauphin next Thursday or Friday! The end is near, and it has only just begun! God Bless!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
This blog post is brought to you by the letter "P"
I remember growing up watching Sesame Street. Every episode of was brought to you by a specific letter. Well, this week it was the letter P in the Johnson household.
Potty, Pee, Poop, Panties and Treat (I know it isn't a P word, but it was a big word).
You have probably guessed, but Potty training has begun. Not only Ellianna, but now Jolen is sitting on the green and orange froggy potty we got at Superstore.
The interesting thing about potty training is I was really surprized at how it relates to the Christian life. As mentioned in previous posts, God has been teaching me alot about the process of life and our daily walk with Jesus.
When Ellianna started, the battle of the wills began and it was sitting on the toilet for 3 hour stretches waiting for something to come out. As the days progressed, the three hours shortened to 15 minutes every 2 hours, to less than 30 seconds from entering the bathroom to exiting. I really didn't notice the shortening of time in the process, until we would say, "Ellianna, it is time to go potty," and then before I got off of the sofa, she came streaking back, "I peed."
Again, another revelation happened yesterday when Ellianna came streaking (I emphasise streaking, because she was she really without clothes running around the house) into the room. "Why does she have her clothes off?" I wondered. "I peed!" without being told to go to the bathroom. She had moved to sensing the need to empty her bladder. (I know I am being quite descriptive, but I am one very proud father!)
As our time in Dauphin is coming soon (in two weeks we are leaving Sexsmith and heading East), I have really begun reflecting on connecting with and discipling teenagers. I mentioned on the youth trip to Edmonton that I forget the way youth think, but more than that, I realize the need to tell youth what they should do.
I know youth don't like to hear what they are supposed to do and want to figure things out on their own, but there also needs to be someone to show them the right way. Kindof like my daughter on the potty. She didn't know really what to do, but eventually she came to the point where she knew what to do.
We can't expect young and new Christians, and even those who are not as sensitive to Holy Spirit like someone who has been forgiven for 30 years. We are all on a journey and some are farther than others, but we are called to help each other along the way. So next time you stop and shake your head because of something someone has done, or said, come alongside them and think of where they are coming from.
Potty, Pee, Poop, Panties and Treat (I know it isn't a P word, but it was a big word).
You have probably guessed, but Potty training has begun. Not only Ellianna, but now Jolen is sitting on the green and orange froggy potty we got at Superstore.
The interesting thing about potty training is I was really surprized at how it relates to the Christian life. As mentioned in previous posts, God has been teaching me alot about the process of life and our daily walk with Jesus.
When Ellianna started, the battle of the wills began and it was sitting on the toilet for 3 hour stretches waiting for something to come out. As the days progressed, the three hours shortened to 15 minutes every 2 hours, to less than 30 seconds from entering the bathroom to exiting. I really didn't notice the shortening of time in the process, until we would say, "Ellianna, it is time to go potty," and then before I got off of the sofa, she came streaking back, "I peed."
Again, another revelation happened yesterday when Ellianna came streaking (I emphasise streaking, because she was she really without clothes running around the house) into the room. "Why does she have her clothes off?" I wondered. "I peed!" without being told to go to the bathroom. She had moved to sensing the need to empty her bladder. (I know I am being quite descriptive, but I am one very proud father!)
As our time in Dauphin is coming soon (in two weeks we are leaving Sexsmith and heading East), I have really begun reflecting on connecting with and discipling teenagers. I mentioned on the youth trip to Edmonton that I forget the way youth think, but more than that, I realize the need to tell youth what they should do.
I know youth don't like to hear what they are supposed to do and want to figure things out on their own, but there also needs to be someone to show them the right way. Kindof like my daughter on the potty. She didn't know really what to do, but eventually she came to the point where she knew what to do.
We can't expect young and new Christians, and even those who are not as sensitive to Holy Spirit like someone who has been forgiven for 30 years. We are all on a journey and some are farther than others, but we are called to help each other along the way. So next time you stop and shake your head because of something someone has done, or said, come alongside them and think of where they are coming from.
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