Unspeakable

I'm a terrible gift-giver. I'm not proud of it but I have honesty and introspection in sufficient quantity to admit it. I won't bore you with excuses, suffice it to say that it's to the point where my wife will buy presents for herself now.

My wife is not like me, she knows exactly what people want and she will buy precisely the right gift at the right time so she will get a good deal as well.

God isn't like either of us, He gave us the ultimate gift at precisely the right time but paid the ultimate price. Some accept His gift, some choose to buy their own.

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. - 2 Corinthians 9:15

House construction

Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the LORD guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
- Psalm 127:1

We're building a house right now and it's exciting and scary. Our last house was perfect for us but now with 3 kids in one bedroom and one of them a 13yr old, it was getting a bit tight.

Some of us were more sentimental about leaving our old house than others... I'll tell you what I mean.

One of the doors in our family room had a broken glass pane. So to help make the house more attractive to buyers, I replaced it and took the old door to the dump.

When I got home one of my sons looked like his dog had been run over, "I never got a chance to say goodbye to the old door", he said.

When I was packing some things for the move, I looked in his treasure box. Neatly folded inside was a drawing of the old door. He even drew the cracks in the broken pane.


Sometimes we want to hold onto the broken and ugly things in our hearts because we're used to them. But if we hang onto sin or place our treasures above Christ, I believe He will cleanse our hearts with the same zeal He had for the temple in Jerusalem . That thought is exciting and scary.


When I read Psalm 127 I think about how I want Jesus to rule my heart and guard my mind just like He built and maintained the Temple in Israel and protected Jerusalem. And when the Temple became filled with greed and deceit He drove the moneychangers out with a whip.


The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?
Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:

he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.
- Luke 6:45-49

White feathers

Every Remembrance Day I feel sadness for the horrible cost that our soldiers paid and I also feel pride. The sadness never lasts as long as it should before I go back to my comfortable life of relative bliss.

They called the first world war the "great war" or "the war to end all wars" and when the war began many people thought that it would be glamorous and filled with derring-do. Young men signed up in droves and those that didn't were given a white feather. A little souvenir of shame handed out by the young women of the day.

Who wouldn't want to join the war? It sounded like a great adventure and you got a free cruise to Europe.

Unfortunately, the Great War introduced the world to something never seen before. A brutal war of mud, gas, disease and death on an unheard of scale. Aristocratic officers lined their men up like pawns and charged machine gun nests with bayonets. A terrible sum of lives were lost this way.

After the machine gun came chlorine and phosgene gas. And when the enemy first let the yellowish-grey gas drift over the trenches at Ypres, our allies wisely fled. But the Canadian Army did the unthinkable, with cloths soaked in urine to try and protect their lungs they braved the gas to fill the gap and reform the line.

My grandfather escaped the war with his life but wouldn't talk about the two souvenirs he brought home with him. A Military Cross and a gas wound on his calf that never stopped weeping.

Almost a century later, our eyes are dry and no one hands out feathers anymore. There is no way to fully comprehend the cost, all we can do is say "thank you".

Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. - John 12:23 - 24

God Is There

A few posts ago I wrote about how I had gone from feeling "six foot tall and bulletproof" to a nervous target for down-sizing.

I prayed hard for my results at work to improve but they didn't, instead they went from bad to worse. To my credit I prayed not only for good results but more than that I prayed for God's will to be done. It wasn't His will to pick me up and carry me over this valley, instead He walked me through it. It feels a bit melodramatic to worry about my microscopic problems but I am trying to remember this lesson for at time when I'm faced with a larger trial.

Now a few months later I see the wisdom of His choice. If He had fixed all my problems I would be the same person I was four months ago. Instead I learned so much more about the biology and equations that drive the results (good and bad) of my business. Armed with this knowledge we implemented equipment and strategies that made significant improvements for this year and the future.

One of God's names is YHWH-SHAMMAH which is translated "The LORD is There". As Christians, this name should give us peace in the face of danger. Look around at the world and you can't help but feel sorry for people as they react in panic to a crumbling economy in 2008 and the H1N1 virus this year.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. - Psalm 23:4

Pushin' broom

Pushin' Broom
Fall has come again
Bringing the leaves to the ground
Another year's gone away,
Nothing's changed in this town

Far may it be from you to live someone else's dream
Though your aspirations soar just thank the Lord once more

So many times we believe that our lives will go to waste
Unless we strive to achieve so many things out of haste

Sometimes we run too fast when God is asking us to crawl

He who is faithful minding less shall be given to rule over all

Does it feel like every time you're alone

A voice begins to speak "There's so much more to life"

You'll hear, but you know you're where God wants you to be

Do you dream your name in lights way up high

For all to see, could it be that faithful to

What you've got is what you first must be

Fall has come again

Bringing the leaves to the ground

Another year's gone away

You plan to leave that boring town

Far may it be from you to leave your dreams because of fear

At least you're not afraid to push a broom another year

Romans 4:17b - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did

In the fall of 1995 fourteen years ago I was sweeping the feed shed at a salmon farm and listening to music. I was a bored, unmotivated farm tech and I was considering quitting my job and going to work at the mill. As I worked that fall afternoon, I became aware of the lyrics of the song that you see written above, I heard the words "he who is faithful minding less shall be given to rule over all" and it seemed as if the singer was speaking to me. My ears perked up and I listened carefully to every word from that point on and the last verse really hammered the message home as the voice sang "at least you're not afraid to push a broom another year"

I looked down at the broom that I was pushing and just thought "wow! that's weird".

Now you have to understand at this time I was no one out on the farm I was a tech who was not considered for any promotion, probably barely holding on to my job. However, I really believed that God was speaking to me through this song.

A couple months later I transferred to another farm and I really motivated and applied myself. A few months later I was promoted to assistant manager. Wow! Even more amazing, six months later in the fall of 1996 one year after I swept the feed shed listening to that song, I returned to the first farm and was promoted to site manager. Fall had come again, I pushed a broom, so to speak, for a year and now I was given to rule over all at that farm.

Four years after that I was promoted to Area Manager and responsible for the three farms in the area. Four years and a merger later three more farms were added to my area. Then another five. Then another merger and three more farms. Now thirteen years later I truly have been given to rule over all.

God has taught me so many lessons through all this and really expanded my faith. The Bible talks about Abraham's faith being accounted to him and us for righteousness in Romans 4. He was told he would be the father of many nations, he didn't consider his own body already dead (he was 100yrs old) and the deadness of Sarah's womb but gave glory to God. If you told me that I would go from being a site tech that fall to area manager in five years I would've found that extremely hard to believe but I hope I would've replied "with God all things are possible" and "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me"

Roll with it

Two years ago I went on a business trip to Norway to look at some catamaran work boats they build there. Below is an excerpt from a frustrated diary/email I sent to my wife.

"...this trip has been the best and worst of times, it's actually comical how many things have gone wrong I can't wait to get home to my less stressful job! Let's recap so far and I'll bring you up to date with the latest news:

Day 1 - Vancouver/Minneapolis/somewhere over the Atlantic
The worst food I've ever had on an airplane or anywhere. I eat the edible bits and leave the rest.

Day 2 - Amsterdam/Bergen
(The two gentlemen I travelled with) are given the John Candy and Steve Martin cuddle suite. This is a tiny room with two small beds pushed together with barely enough room to walk on either side. I complain to the concierge he looks at the room and makes a motion with his hands that we can separate the two beds. I get them a real suite with separate beds.

Day 4 - Bergen
I booked a taxi for the morning for 715 am to take us to the bus depot but it is mysteriously cancelled. Maybe someone else took it, we walk quickly to the bus depot.

The rest of the day goes fantastic and I should've known that there would be a catch, which there was... I arrived back at our hotel to find my key doesn't work in my door and we've been evicted! Apparently we didn't book 3 nights, which I did. [The reader should know I am borderline OCD, I wrote down the dates we needed and read them to the guy at the front desk when we checked in. This neurotic compulsion with checking and accuracy doesn't always help but it proves useful to focus righteous indignation in the appropriate direction] Thankfully, [Our Norwegian contact] has booked us two rooms in two other hotels and the hotel gives me a $320 discount for our troubles.

I get back after dinner but when I open my email [to check for confirmation of our flights to Trondheim] I find three airline confirmations that all say "CANCELLED"!... Nice. I send an email to my wife and go to bed hoping that when I wake up 5hrs later that God will help us get a taxi on time to the airport and that we in fact do have reservations at the airport.Mike and Fabian are sure I've done something wrong to have all this tribulation but they don't understand why they're being dragged into it.

Day 5 - Bergen
I realise that I cannot control even the simplest aspects of this trip. My pride is trampled and my wisdom perplexed. I decide to stop worrying and trust God. I get a good night's sleep. The taxi actually arrives and picks me up in the morning. "

It should come as no surprise but once I made the decision to relax and let go of control the rest of the trip went smoothly. Our flights weren't cancelled, we didn't get kicked out of any more hotel rooms and all our devices functioned as advertised. We did spend one night in Hell, not the place reserved for the eternal punishment of the Devil and his angels, but a Norwegian town that shares the same name. Maybe "hell" means something else in Norske...

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. - 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

I've learned trials and tribulation build character just like pressure and carbon build diamonds, best thing to do is to roll with it.

Tsavo lions

I just watched one of my favourite movies "The ghost and the darkness". Based on a true story it takes place in the late 1800's when the British empire was competing with other countries to project their power and influence into the dark continent. Along with the spread of the Empire they were ending slavery and spreading Christianity into Africa.

The movie tells the story of a railway bridge that is being constructed over the river Tsavo in East Africa. It's a pretty straightforward project until two male lions began killing the men who worked on the bridge.

The lions behaved in ways so unusual that the workers believed they were evil spirits. These maneless lions would come at night and seemingly at random, grab some poor soul and drag him screaming out of his tent and off into the darkness.

Under normal circumstances male lions don't usually hunt, they fight and eat while the female lions hunt. But these male lions were hunting and not just for food, they seemed to be doing it for sport. The movie offers no explanation for their unlikely behaviour but it's possible that the belief that there was a spiritual explanation might not be entirely ridiculous.

What if they were being used to try and prevent the bridge from being built and the spread of Christianity? We know that there are regional spiritual powers. Daniel 10:13 And they could possess two lions as easily as a herd of swine. I wouldn't put it past them.

The amount of effort and loss that was required to deal with these two lions and build the bridge all makes me wonder... when we run into obstacles how do we know if we're supposed to persevere or go and do something somewhere else.

They went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn't let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas. - Acts 16:6-8

And now I'm going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. - Matthew 16:18

How do I know if I'm up against a door that God has closed or a door that Satan is trying to bar that we're supposed to break down?

Six foot tall and bulletproof

Ancient England

A crowd has gathered to watch two knights joust. Prince John's champion, a Templar knight is faced by a mysterious knight referring to himself only as "desdicado" or disinherited.

When the two champions stood opposed to each other at the two extremities of the lists, the public expectation was strained to the highest pitch. Few augured the possibility that the encounter could terminate well for the Disinherited Knight, yet his courage and gallantry secured the general good wishes of the spectators.

The trumpets had no sooner given the signal , than the champions vanished from their posts with the speed of lightning, and closed in the centre of the lists with the shock of a thunderbolt. The lances burst into shivers up to the very grasp, and it seemed at that moment that both knights had fallen, for the shock had made each horse recoil backwards upon its haunches.

The address of the riders recovered their deeds by use of the bridal and spur; and having glared on each other for an instant with eyes which seemed to flash fire through the bars of their visors, each made a demi-volte, and, retiring to the extremity of the lists, received a fresh lance from the attendants.

The champions a second time sprung from their stations, and closed in the centre of the lists, with the same speed, the same dexterity, the same violence, but not the same equal fortune as before.

In this second encounter, the Templar aimed at the centre of his antagonist's shield, and struck it so fair and forcibly, that his spear went to shivers, and the Disinherited Knight reeled in his saddle. On the other hand, that champion had, in the beginning of his career, directed the point of his lance towards Bois-Guilbert's shield, but, changing his aim almost in the moment of encounter, he addressed it to the helmet, a mark more difficult to hit, but which, if attained, rendered the shock more irresistible. Fair and true he hit the Norman on the visor, where his lance's point kept hold of the bars. Yet even at this disadvantage, the Templar sustained his high reputation; and had not the girths of his saddle burst, he might not have been unhorsed. As it chanced, however, saddle, horse, and man, rolled on the ground under a cloud of dust. - Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott

This scene describes the "unbeatable" Templar knight beaten by the outsider. Beaten by confidence, skill and chance.

We have a saying at work, for people who are perceived to be safe in their positions. Strong in influence and safe from termination. Whether by their own virtue or by some extraneous blessing of the reigning power they are said to be "six foot tall and bulletproof".

Conversly, there are also nervous folks at the opposite end of the spectrum checking their mail for pink slips and the infamous "golden handshake".

I've felt like I was in both camps at different times in my career. Last week I went from one to the other. I started the week having it all together; under budget, on target and motivated. Then one of the sites I'm responsible for turned in some fairly poor results and I ended the week with thoughts of being fired running through my head.

Do you ever feel that way with God? Sometimes when you think you've been particularly good you might feel anointed to be His special gift to mankind and then when you mess up you hide in your garden busy covering yourself with fig leaves. What a concept to think that God doesn't love us more or less when we sin or don't. Jesus paid the price for our sin but also gives us confidence to do battle with our foe. If we believe in Him, we're all six foot tall and bulletproof.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; - Psalm 103:11-13

In the arms of Your mercy I find rest

'cause You know just how far the east is from the west

From one scarred hand to the other - Casting Crowns

Beautiful mettle

They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; - Psalm 107:26a

You are at the mercy of a storm on the water. You have nothing solid to hang on to. Your strength is worthless. There is nothing to do but to ride out the storm and hope your anchor holds.

Some people use concrete anchors. Concrete is heavy and cheap. This is called a dead weight anchor and it has two weaknesses; First, concrete loses 43% of it’s weight in seawater so as soon as it’s dropped into the water it has less holding power. The second problem is design. Concrete anchors are just big blocks of weight and if you apply enough force to them, they will slide. So the best plan if you’re going to use concrete anchors is to use lots of them, big and heavy and ugly with rough edges and maybe pieces of steel embedded through them… and hope that it’s enough when the storm hits and hope you never have to pull them out again.

Mechanical anchors are the opposite of dead weight anchors. They are comparatively light and made of steel. The beauty of mechanical anchors is that what they don’t have in bulk they more than make up for in design. First of all steel is much more dense than concrete so a 1000kg steel mechanical anchor in seawater is equal to a 1500kg concrete block but the real value is in it’s design. It has a shovel and this shovel is designed to dig and the harder you pull on it the harder it digs. Like a shovel on a plow or even a kite in the air it grabs mud, sand, gravel even rock and digs in and won’t let go it just goes deeper into the seafloor. Each anchor, depending on it’s design and the bottom composition has a different rating usually 5-20 times it’s weight in holding power. This means the 1000kg anchor is now equal to a 7.5 – 30 metric tonne dead weight anchor.

Our faith needs to be like the mechanical anchor, when the wind and waves come they'll test our mettle and our faith.

Few have had their faith tested more than Daniel's friends...

Daniel 3:15-28

Now when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, if you are ready to fall down and worship the image I made, very good. But if you do not worship it, you will be thrown immediately into a blazing furnace. Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?"

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and his attitude toward them changed. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.

So these men, wearing their robes, trousers, turbans and other clothes, were bound and thrown into the blazing furnace. The king's command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?"

They replied, "Certainly, O king."

He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!"

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Money, power and technology, the heavy things we sometimes trust are useless. Whatever happens don't lose faith. God is there, good, bad whatever happens, dig in and trust Him.

Smoke is to fire as sin is to...

I hate smoke.

Sure I like fire. I like it bright and hot but hold the wood smoke please. I like my gas fireplace. Pure, uncorrupted fire without the dirty smoke. Dangerous? How dangerous could flammable gas piped under our feet and into our homes be? What could go wrong? Anyhow it's way more convenient than wood cutting.

Of course in the summer, we turn down the gas, grab up the kids and head to the beach. Which usually leads to roasting hot dogs and s'mores. To do that you need a fire, and where there's a fire there's usually smoke. When they finally invent a gas beach fire I'll probably buy one.

"Hey kids who wants to help dad set up the fire?"

"Son don't wave that burning marshmallow NEAR THE PROPANE TAN..."

I don't want the smell of smoke on my clothes and wherever I sit the wind blows the smoke in my face. Not to mention, breathing the stuff will probably give you cancer.

Even though we're imperfect and full of smoke.
Jesus is full of gentleness and grace.
When He sees a tiny spark of fire in our lives
He doesn't put it out.

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. - Isaiah 42:3

Deconstructing a life spent chasing the wind

I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house.
I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces.
I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well—the delights of the heart of man.
I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.

In all this my wisdom stayed with me.

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

Ecclesiastes is a strange book. Sometimes I have even wondered why it's in the Bible. And then my wife told me it's like Solomon's mid life crisis and then it all seemed to make a little more sense to me. Here's this guy who's basically got everything the world has to offer; success, slaves, possessions, money, women and fame. And then he comes to the realisation that it's all meaningless.

I recently watched Jean-Claude Van Damme's latest movie. "JCVD". Hold on, I know what you're thinking, don't roll your eyes, trust me it's not the usual muscles from Brussels fare.

It's Jean-Claude in real life. Gone is the invincible martial artist. He's aging, broke, very mortal and caught in the middle of a post office heist. It's actually quite odd to see him in this situation. Afraid for his life and unable to disarm the 50-something, overweight robbers.

At one point in the movie he breaks into this introspective soliloquy where he looks back on his life. A Belgian nobody who learned karate, got a break in Hollywood, became a star and had the world by the tail. Money, fame, wives, drugs, etcetera. Now he wonders what the point of it all was? Everything he's done, everything he is, everything he had is nothing. An elusive vapour.

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. - Ecclesiastes 2:17

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. - Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

Distaff and spindle

Do you tire of hearing Proverbs 31 on Mother's Day?

Thankfully the congregation I attend was not subjected to that microscope today. I always found it strange to hear that impossibly perfect woman described on Mother's Day while all the men just have to "sit around at the gate".

I'm here to take a huge burden off mothers everywhere... I don't believe this passage is meant to put pressure on you, or at least it's not yours to bear alone.

I believe this scripture is about the bride of Christ. So to all you men smiling and nodding your heads, silently hoping all the women are listening, better listen up as well.

Without question, Christ has completed the most difficult part of the equation in our relationship. He is worthy to receive all honour and praise. He contracts His business at the gate and signed the cheques in His blood. Our lot is to attend to the work He has given us. Stretch out our hands and take hold of the distaff and spindle. The whole passage is an important challenge for the church and I'll highlight what I believe is the material point;

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. - Proverbs 31:30

Jesus doesn't want to marry some snake oil saleswoman or a Barbie beauty queen he wants a bride of true character; wise, diligent and strong.

Windstorm

“For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.” – Psalm 107:25

“Lord Jesus if there is anything in my life that I am placing before You I pray that you would bring it crumbing down just like You did to the false God Dagon.”

Some years ago I prayed this prayer and went to bed with no idea how quickly God would answer this prayer.

The next morning as I travelled to work in a crew boat to the salmon farm I worked at, I heard Adam, one of my crew members, calling us on radio. After a quick conversation over the radio we learned that, while it was calm where we were, my farm site was in the middle of a storm. One of our work boats was breaking free of her moorings and Adam needed to learn quickly how to start this vessel to keep her from being thrown up on the beach. None of us could understand how it could be rough at the site, while only twenty minutes away where we were it was calm.

Later, when the site came into view, I’ll never forget what I saw. The channel is about five kilometers across but everything was calm except for the area immediately surrounding my farm site. The water and air around the site was white. It was as if a storm like a small hurricane touched down and whipped up the waves into white froth. I’ve seen a lot of storms in my years on the water but I have never seen a storm set itself up like this in such a small area before.

I spent that morning with my crew securing our boats and equipment and afterwards assessing the damage. We saved the work boat thanks mostly to Adam’s quick thinking but the other damage was pretty extensive. A wooden float in behind the farm was broken and ripped in two. A feed shed broke loose when a shackle was stretched open and a metal bracket was torn from it’s side. During the storm it was heaved up onto a six foot diameter steel mooring buoy and the main beams were broken and half of the building collapsed. One inch metal stanchions that the work boat had been tied to were pulled out straight. I’ve never seen a storm concentrate itself like that and I’d never seen a storm in inside waters that destructive, I knew God had answered my prayer.

God had given me this job. He had allowed me to work my way up into management and I thanked Him by pouring my heart into my job. I was putting it ahead of my family and my relationship with God. I’ve never forgotten this lesson and I’m so thankful that He is a jealous God.

There is another lesson that I learned from this storm that I think is just as important. I look back on what was destroyed in that storm and it was all wood hay and stubble. The floats were old wooden floats that were aging and undersized. The house the staff lived in, the steel cages and nets that held our fish and our boats all safely rode out the storm. What God showed me was that as we go through storms, whether they are of the meteorological sort or not He will remove everything that is not profitable. He doesn’t promise that it will be a painless process. In fact it probably will hurt and more than that it may even test the hardness of our faith.

Gethsemane

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, and your need like an armed man. - Proverbs 24:33-34

The night before Jesus was crucified He went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray.

"The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak", He said to His disciples, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with me".

Do you ever wonder if you would've stayed up through the night and prayed with Him or would you have dozed off to sleep and your comfortable dreams. I've been awake all night before, under high stress and unable to rein in my myriad of anxieties. That happened to me once and I realised then how long a night actually is. I've also dozed off when I should've stayed awake that's the story I'm going to relate now.

Fifteen years ago my wife and I were backpacking across Europe and we had arrived in the town of Dieppe. It was "Bastille Day"

Bastille Day was not in our otherwise handy travel guide and it's the biggest holiday of the year in France. No banks open and every hostel and hotel full. We actually had a room in a hostel from the night before but they couldn't tell us if they had room for us until 5pm the next day.

We waited around until 5 to let them tell us they had no room. Perfect, so we now started on a pointless journey walking from hotel to hotel only to hear how every place was full.

At some point we came to the realisation that we would be sleeping outside that night. Only problem was, and I'm not sure why, but people in Dieppe don't like you crashing in random places in their town and we didn't want to spend the night outside the relative safety of the streetlights. We decided we would buy a dinner we could eat late on the beach, stay up as late as possible and then take turns sleeping on a bench at the train station.

Dinner was good, we hung out and wandered around town as long as possible and then we walked over to the train station and sat down under the pretense that we were waiting for a train.

The attendant would come over as each train arrived and ask us if this was our train and we'd shake our heads no.

I gallantly took the first turn sleeping.

My wife woke me up when it was her turn to sleep and I groggily came to. I started my watch with the best of intentions but I was so tired. My eyes were heavy, I was constantly rubber-necking and there was nothing to do. I guess I kept waking her up by doing the little things that probably seemed innocuous to a person who's awake but make it difficult for a person to sleep. Or worse, I would ask, "Is it my turn to sleep yet".

She finally woke up and let me sleep. I didn't argue.

Dr Phil says "history is the best predictor of future performance" so I guess if I was in the situation Jesus' disciples were in I'd probably sleep too. My wife thinks if Jesus' disciples were women they would've stayed up and prayed with Him. We'll never know but it's probably a strong hypothesis.

Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. - Mark 14:41

The face of love

What is man that you make so much of him, that you give him so much attention - Job 7:17

LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You think of him? Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow. - Psalm 144:3-4

I started reading a book called "Crazy Love" it's about how amazing God's love for us is. The first chapter highlights the reality of how infinitely small we are even in terms of a physical universe. Some scientists say the universe is finite but unbounded . In other words there is an absolute limit to the amount of stars, planets and matter in existence but the universe is expanding into a unlimited space-time continuum. Expanding or not it's massive and we're small.

Click on this link and then videos and then "Awe factor" http://crazylovebook.com/ to see a video demonstrating just how small we are.

Let's assume for a moment that the universe is only as big as our telescopes can see, hundreds of millions of light years. Even if we assume it's limited to that size, we are so incredibly small in comparison. If we were to try to put that in relative terms on earth, we would be like a microvirus, on a bacteria, on a flea, on a dog, on a continent, on the earth. I can't imagine even the nicest, most sympathetic PETA card-carrying individual even caring for a flea let alone the microvirus. That would be crazy. And yet that's kind of similar to God caring for us.

I've seen Your face on stained glass, in coloured lights
In pictures of You looking to the sky
You've been portrayed a thousand different ways
But my heart can see You better than my eyes
'Cause it's love that paints the portrait of Your life
- The face of love

Always in season

“The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.”

I found this quote written on the first page of the New Testament of my wife’s childhood Bible. It seems amazing to me that God would use not only words but events, actual history to reveal spiritual truths for people thousands of years in the future.

Here are two scriptures that I have always found curious. I believe they are connected and partially explained in the Old Testament.

The first I began to wonder about while I was lurking on an Atheist discussion website. One of the participants on this site who called himself “Vynn” asserted that there were many errors and inconsistencies in the Bible. He offered up the following verse as one example; John 7:38 “He who believes in me as the scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’” According to Vynn nowhere in the Old Testament does it say this and neither is there any concept like this. If it’s not in scripture Jesus is either lying or mistaken. God cannot lie or be wrong therefore Jesus isn’t God. Or so goes the argument...

With minimal searching I found the following scripture;

The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side. - Ezekiel 47:1-2

Here's the second one...

And seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, (Jesus) went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He answered and said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening. – Mark 11:13-14

And as they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. – Mark 11:20

Wha… Hang on, he cursed the fig tree? He knew it wasn’t the season for figs, why would He blame the tree for not bearing fruit?

I think the answer is concealed in Ezekiel…

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, "This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing." – Ezekiel 47:7-12

The river that flowed from the temple watered the land and life flourished because of it, fish and trees and the trees bore fruit not just in season but every month.

Something happened between the time Jesus cursed the tree and when they returned to see it withered. He found the temple of God in disarray. A den of thieves in the heart of Israel.
If we believe Jesus, living water will flow from our hearts and we will bear the fruit of the Spirit perpetually not just when our circumstances are “in season”.

Dead to the world

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real you weren't sure if you were awake or dreaming?

I have.

I recently experienced a dream that really affected me and I've been thinking about the meaning of the thing for days.

I woke up at about 1am and couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned until I finally drifted off to sleep again. While I was dreaming I had complete lucid control of my actions but the environment and other characters in my dream were completly out of my control. Then I woke up,... or so I thought and I dreamt almost the same dream a second time. After this dream I was sick for days.

I won't bore you with the details of the dream but one of the messages that I took from it was that although I hate the world I seem to be having an affair with the world at that same time.

If you've seen the Matrix one of the characters Cypher is so sick of the cold, hard reality of the real world that he wants to have his memory erased and be put back into the Matrix (a computer generated virtual reality that appears real to most people). He wants to experience all the pleasures of the world again. In his words... "I know it's not real... but ignorance is bliss"

The reality is once we've been saved we can't go back. Life can never be the same again. I can't roll with the same folks I did once. When they zig left I have to zag right. When they sit down I might be left standing all alone.

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. - James 4:4

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. - 1 John 2:15

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2

Man overboard

Last week, myself and a coworker were watching a small pod of Orcas swimming in Seymour Narrows south towards Campbell River. Suddenly, we heard a distress call being sent out over the Radio.

"Comox Coast Guard this is the Regent"

"Go ahead The Regent, this is Comox Coast Guard"

"We have a man overboard"

The man calling for help sounded pretty rattled. I listened for what came next knowing they would be calling for all boats in the vicinity to help them search. We were about 20min away from their position.

As we raced to help search I listened to the conversation between the Tug "The Regent" and the operator at Comox. A man was missing off the tug, presumed to have fallen overboard somewhere between century shoal and Cape Mudge and he'd been last seen an hour ago. They said he was wearing a black T-shirt and jeans.

"He didn't happen to be wearing a lifejacket did he", the operator asked

"Negative", came the reply.

Excluding the miraculous, I gave the man slim to none odds. The ocean temperature in March is around 7-8 degrees I think you've got about 20 minutes at that temperature before your muscles start to freeze up and you can't swim anymore, and without a lifejacket when that happens you sink.

On our way I prayed that this man would be saved. Even though the odds of finding him in the huge expanse of Georgia Strait where the tide divides and ebbs north and south were low, I knew God knew where he was and could save him.

"Comox coast guard this is the Pacific Faith, we can see him and he's waving his arms at us"

What a relief, and how cool. The Pacific Faith is a seine boat skippered by Harold Sewid who I know quite well from work.

Later I read about this episode in the paper and heard how the man had said he lost consciousness several times and woke up underwater. Each time he would struggle back to the surface and fight to stay alive. As the seiner loomed into view the word he saw clearly written across her hull was "Faith".

What strikes me about this story is how in life sometimes we fall overboard. We have lost control and cannot save ourselves. We have no idea how things will end. We don't know for sure who is trying to help us, or who is praying for us, or even hear the instructions being given by the Rescue Coordination Centre.

What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should endure? - Job 6:11

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. - Isaiah 64:4

Read about it by clicking here --> Miraculous

x(body) blade

Doctors know today that our minds don't store information the way some previously thought. For example your brain does not necessarily store whole words. Bits of words and letters are stored separately and as you speak your brain arranges and assembles the words and sends the information along to your mouth.

Now imagine the Word of God hidden in your heart, buried deep in your subconscious. Every bit and byte of your hard drive holding fragments. Letters, words, verses, chapters that the Spirit can call up to your remembrance whenever He wills.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:10b

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. - John 14:26

This leads me to the third way to avoid sin.

Hiding God's Word in your heart.

I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. - Psalms 119:10-11

Words are powerful. They can affect hearts, change minds and set the world on fire. As the old cliche goes, "The written word is mightier than the sword".

How much more powerful then is God's Word?

For thousands of years man has been making swords. I heard once that swords in some cultures are given a "body blade" rating. I.E. if your new sword strikes a nice balance between tensile strength and the keenness of the edge it may be able to cut through multiple human bodies (x=number of bodies hewn) therefore earning the distinction of being referred to as an x(body) blade.

Many people commonly know the power of repetition, imagery and emotion when used with words. Imagine words that are God-breathed. Two dimensional projections of an infinite sum of God's power. An unlimited body blade.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

Perfect night for a mugging

This post is rated PG for violence and mild language

I've been thinking (and weblogging) lately about how the Bible teaches us to deal with sin and temptation and I heard a great true story recently that illustrates one method.

Picture Danny Bonaducci child star of the partridge family. Once a child star then rebellious youth turned philanthropist/professional fighter/radio personality. Can you picture him? Ok now picture him jogging through a bad part of a certain city. It's night and his girlfriend is sitting on a bench keeping track of his laps.

Three nefarious-looking individuals start following him. They seem intent on catching up with him.

Danny knew they meant him harm and he quickly considered his options. He could try to run away with his girlfriend but knew they would be overtaken. And when this happened he would be out of breath and unable to fight. Alternatively, he could try and bluff them and if it went badly at least he'd have some energy to fight.

He chose the latter.

Danny spun around and walked quickly and directly at his followers.

"Who wants what and when do you want it?", he demanded

Immediately two of the would-be assailants turned and fled. The one remaining man was brandishing a razor sharp carpet knife.

"Give me your wallet!", he demanded

"I can't give you my wallet man", Danny said. "My girlfriend is watching.

"I don't give a d*** about your girlfriend", the mugger swore.

"Now that's not nice", Danny said "and now we're gonna have to have words"

"Gimme your money", muggerdude repeated.

"Look there's guys that will use a knife and guys that won't and I can tell you're a guy that won't"

This statement obviously provoked the carpet knife carrying fellow because at that moment he struck out and sliced Danny cutting him on an angle from his shoulder and down across his chest. Danny spun away from him and he was sliced a second time down the back of his arm to his elbow. Blood immediately started to leak out of him all over as he turned to face his attacker.

Now you should know that Danny taught self defence classes. Included in the usual curriculum was how to disarm someone wielding a rubber knife. Apparently most muggers don't use rubber knives but thankfully the move worked just as well on a metal knife. So well in fact, that if someone had been standing nearby they would've been killed by the force that the knife left the surprised mugger's hands.

Bloody and shaking Danny glowered at the unarmed mugger, "I was going to beat you while you had a knife, imagine the horror show I'm going to unleash on you now"

Apparently that was all the mugger needed to hear because he turned heel and ran away from him as fast as possible.

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - James 4:7

Don't feed the Aklak

Do you ever wonder why God doesn't just miraculously take away sin nature? Why does it have to be a process?

As Paul said, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me." - Romans 7:14-20

Why is this? Wouldn't it be better to pray and have the problem just taken away? I realise sometimes God does deliver us this way. He finds us sitting in some inescapable prison, the heavy chains fall to our feet, the gates creak open seemingly of their own accord and his Angel leads us to the street. We have only to follow him out the door and leave the place. But it's not always that way and I think I can guess why.

This past fall there has been a lot of contact between people and bears in BC. At one of my farm sites we had an interesting experience...

The farm sits in a spectacular fjord. With the coastal mountains of mainland BC rising sharply on either shore. Beautiful and dangerous, the shore near this farm is home to many different species of wildlife including the largest land predator Ursus Arctus Horribilis. Or more commonly known as the Grizzly Bear.

Grizzlies have a pretty varied diet which includes; berries, fish, deer, moose, other bears and when chance allows... humans. Fish are a favourite meal. Whenever fish die on the farm they are stored in containers on a a floating platform near the farm called a "mort float" they are kept there until a boat comes by to pick them up and take them to be turned into fish compost. Until that time their odour is not unlike the wild fish rotting in the creeks which bears are attracted to. Anyways this particular grizzly, a young male, showed up, swam out to the mort float and started trying to eat the dead fish.

I realised the staff that live on site would need some protection in case the grizzly decided to put people on his menu. When I was buying bear spray the salesman at the store advised me that one should wait until the bear was within 3m before unleashing the spray at him. "Any sooner and it wouldn't be effective, probably just make him mad". A happy thought. "Wait until he's 3m away" how hard could that be? Armed thus with pepper spray and bear bangers my staff would drive out in a boat and scare him off each time he came out to the mort float.

I called conservation hoping they would swoop in like a Grizzly SWAT team, dart the bear, wrap him up and ship him into some comfy valley deep in the wilds of BC far from me and my crew.

"No way am I sending any of my officers in there", I was told, "it's too dangerous" and apparently if they were to move the bear he'll either get eaten by a bigger Grizzly or die without finding a place to hole up for the winter.

We were on our own.

Remove the morts, lock up the feed shed and sleep with bear spray on your night stand was pretty much our action plan. Okay, that's the sarcastic version. Truth is, we were told to remove every possible attractant and steer clear of the bear at all costs. If there was an immediate danger to anyone we were to call the hotline and they would come and relocate the bear but it would likely mean the end for the bear.

At one point I had the privilege of seeing this bear up close and personal. Before you think I'm some gallant "grizzly man" I was in a boat with roughly 7m of water between myself and the bear. I will admit that even from that relatively safe vantage point I was extremely intimidated by the beast. He was trying to open a mort container and the way he moved was aggressive, almost angry. I yelled at him and he looked coolly up at me. I imagined that I probably looked like a glazed turkey sitting at the controls of my boat. A chill went through me as I imagined what would happen if my engine died and the afternoon breeze gently pushed my boat up to the float he was on. I decided to move my boat around behind him. This put me downwind of him and out of his sight. He didn't like not being able see what I was doing and jumped into the water and swam to shore with me following him.

(Here's a picture I drew, notice the long teeth and angry eyes)

We removed everything that could possibly interest the bear including the mort containers and locked down everything else. He returned one more day and tried to get into one of the feed containers and then went away, probably to sleep for the winter.

Would it have been better if the CO's had come out and hustled him away? Then we wouldn't have to do anything. Or is it better that we had to roll up our sleeves and make some improvements and get rid of the things that were attracting him?

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. - Matthew 5:29-30

Mea maxima culpa

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered
Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD" and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah - Psalm 32:1-5













Here's a little insight into a typical Sunday morning in the life of me..

0700 - Alarm rings. Knock over empty glass, glasses and wristwatch before finally finding the snooze. The goal here is to silence the alarm BEFORE it finally gives up trying to wake me.

0715 - Second alarm. Hit the snooze again. Easy to find it now that the bedside table is cleared off.

0900 - Get out of bed and make coffee.

0915 - Skip breakfast, drink coffee and post self-righteous blog.

1010 - Get ready for church, polish the outside of my coffee cup, yell at kids for destroying the house and not caring.

1030 - Leave late, grip the steering wheel tightly while listening to loud music. Part way to church turn off the music, yell at kids some more to be quiet and calm down. Did someone bring a tiger or is that my stomach growling?

1045 - Teach Sunday school, take great care to pretend to be a good Dad.

11ish - Awkward confession of hypocrisy to 7 bored looking 5 - 12 year old children. Bust into a mini sermon on forgiveness and righteousness. "Go ahead and colour a picture on the back of your handout while I talk kids." Feel better, hot chocolate and peanut free cookies for everyone. Collect the drawings, notice that my kids have drawn pictures of what looks curiously like me being killed in various painful and creative ways. Is that my spleen hanging out there? Wow, I can really appreciate your use of light and shadow (ok I made that bit up, but I wouldn't blame them if they did).

1130ish - Start video late. 15minutes later shut off the video before it's over, kids look unimpressed. "See you next week kids, maybe I'll share with you how I'm letting my career get in the way of spending quality time with my children... bring a friend".

Lawbreakers

I've heard some believers describe trying to obey God’s rules as “legalism”. This is funny and sad. True legalism is believing you can obtain salvation by following God’s laws. If this was possible Jesus Christ died for nothing. (Galatians 2:20-21) Clearly, we are saved by His righteousness not our own. But does that mean we ignore God’s laws? Acting as though we don’t have to follow laws is lawlessness and Jesus is pretty clear that lawless people will not enter his Kingdom (Matt 7:21-23).

Say a certain believer decides to kill someone. Maybe a neighbour that is really, super annoying. You might confront him and say, “Brother you can’t kill your annoying neighbour the Bible says ‘Thou shalt not kill’” and then this individual turns to you smugly and says “that’s legalism, we’re under grace” in a sort of patronizing hiss. Before you turn around with your tail between your legs feeling like you just said something really stupid. You might want to remind said individual that Jesus did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it and wilfully sinning is to trample Him underfoot (Hebrews 10:26-29). I’m pretty sure being “under grace” doesn’t mean we can go around whacking our neighbours and sending them for a dirt nap in our backyard.

I certainly don't claim to understand it all. I don't know why we don't have to avoid unclean food or wear four tassels on our clothes anymore but I dislike hearing people using legalism as a crutch for sin. The bottom line is of course you can’t earn salvation by following laws, you receive it through faith (Romans 4:20-25) and if you have faith you will show it by your works and the fruit you bear.

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?" - Luke 6:46

Fearfully

We are a fearful people. People who fear animals, heights, closed spaces or open spaces. People who fear dates, numbers, even clowns (and not just evil clowns).

And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. "It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. - Isaiah 8:12b-13

A few years ago if you asked me what my biggest fears were I probably would have said, (In no particular order);

Getting old, failing in my career and getting locked in a public washroom.

That last one might sound funny to the uninformed but imagine if you will...

You are travelling away from home and you wheel into some dirty rest stop looking for a washroom. You must temporarily suspend basic hygiene as you enter this particular "wash"room.

"Get in, be quick, touch nothing and get out", you tell yourself.

You turn to leave and try to turn the handle. It won't unlock. Worried now, you look down at the handle and try again... nothing. Panic races up from your heart and begins to pound in your ears. You throw caution to the wind and discard the piece of paper towel that you were using to cover the door knob. Restraint and your peripheral vision fades as you grab it with both hands and give it a mighty effort. The knob comes off in your hands. Your worst fear has happened. Your pride will soon join biosecurity lying on the stained tiles.

The locals will talk for many days afterwards about the proud tourist who rolled into their dusty town. Full of pride when he stepped out of his minivan. Reduced to pounding like a child on the door of the restroom.

Happily I'm not afraid of these things anymore. It's funny the things that we fear, things that cannot significantly alter our lives. Often we're afraid of everything but God. We like to say He's our best friend and I agree there is no God like Him who loves us and would give His Son for us. But I don't think when I come face to face with Him that my first thought will be "Hi God, you're my best buddy". The God who has power over my body, soul and spirit. Power to heal and save and power to utterly destroy.

It truly is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.