A Sip of Scripture

Here's a little ad for any of you who are still wondering what you might do for your devotions this year. If you got this far into the MCBC website, then you will have passed by a tab on the homepage called Links. If you click on Links there's lots of good stuff, but go right to the bottom and you will find A Sip of Scripture. This is a daily Scripture reading. This year the Sip of Scripture is going through the book pictured above. If you are not familiar with this book, it is a collection of the primary Scripture texts that the early Anabaptists leaned on most heavily. You can buy the book from Pandora Press. But, you can also be challenged and blessed by going to the MCBC website every day and making this your daily Scripture reading. If you go to the source of this webpage, you will be at Thirdway Cafe. At Thirdway there is lots of good stuff about Anabaptists, but at Thirdway you can also get this daily devotional sent to your email address and have it pop up for you every morning! You can even go back to January 1st and get the full-meal-deal from the beginning of the book.  

And, a bonus - this is not just a Scripture reading, but a devotional. When you scroll down you will find a daily blog called A Simple Desire. Every day one of a number of people will write a reflection on the Scripture passage.  

One surprise - the early Anabaptists included the Apocrypha in their Scriptures, so you will find the occasional text that is not from the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that we carry. Blessings.

New Year's Day

The U2 song New Year's Day has been one of my favourites.  It probably has been a real frustration for those who want to start afresh and make all kinds of resolutions to live a better life.  Here are the words of the first verse and the chorus, 

"All is quiet on New Year's Day.  

A world in white gets underway.  

I want to be with you, be with you night and day.  

Nothing changes on New Year's Day.  

On New Year's Day. 

and then the chorus 

I... will be with you again."

This song has always struck me as encouraging.  Bono often intertwines the story of his relation with his wife, with God and the world.  It is heartening to know that we will spend another year together - through the good and the bad, the celebrations and the frustrations.  To celebrate that the first day of the new year is not miraculously different that the last day of the year before is encouraging.  God is with us and we will find him when we seek him.  

May 2009 be filled with the hope of the God who was, and is, and is to come.

Life in the Fast Lane

There have been a few people who have suggested that breaking my leg just before Christmas might be just what I needed to cause me to stop working and be with my family at Christmas. Some have suggested that it may have even been God's intervention.  I do not disagree.  I did cancel one speaking engagement due to my injury.  I also missed the celebration at Camp Squeah of Dan Friesen's 20 years of service there. Certainly, being unable to drive a car kept me at home much more.  I did slow down.  While it has caused me to reorganise my schedule to travel less and work more from my home, it has also been very frustrating.  But, it has caused much reflection on what life is like for those who do not have full mobility and for those who must rely on the assistance of others for some very basic activities. Trying to bring down the swelling in the lower leg and ankle has resulted in the possibility photos like the one above.  

I have deeply appreciated the assistance offered by my family and so many others.  I have also appreciated the privilege of being able to laugh at myself as others laugh at me.  I am thankful that my travel schedule took a break at this time.  I am thankful for every time that God speaks to me about having too much on my plate.  This has probably been the most obvious one.  But there have been others, such as physical signs of stress.  The one I like the most is when someone cancels an assignment to which I have said yes, and I have known all along that I should not have taken it on.  If I have ever felt freed up, it has been when one of these happens.  

I would welcome any of your stories about what God has done in your lives to help you to slow down or to show you a better pathway.

Blessings.