From the journal of Don’s aging father:“Lord, save me from the sins of old men”
Concerning his father: “There was a candor to him. It wasn’t fake. What you saw was what you got.”
“The worst kind of christian home to grow up in, is the one where there are large spiritual pretensions but low spiritual performance”
“The best kind of christian home to grow up in is the one where there are low spiritual pretensions but quite high spiritual performance… because the best stuff is caught, not taught.”
“He took care of my mother who had Alzheimer’s for 9 years until her death.”
“They come here and see how tough it is, and take it as a sign that this can’t be where God wants them; because being where God wants them means, in their minds, being where there is lots of fruit.”
“I stay because I believe God has many people in this place.”
We’re back at it in St Jérôme, here are a few things going on:
After a full summer, including 2 weeks at World Venture Headquarters and vacation time as a family, we’re back in the swing of things here in St Jérôme. We’re looking forward to speaking at the Momentum Conference in two weeks in Gatineau, Missions-Fest Montréal in November, continued involvement in church-planting Province-Wide, as well as preaching through the Gospel according to John this year.
Building update: no clear response yet from the owners… they are taking their time (God has it all under control) Support update: we’re still several hundred dollars behind each month, but God is providing… month to month.
Recently, as a member of the Church Planting Committee for l’Association d’Églises Baptistes Évangéliques de Québec, I had the privilege to rub shoulders with people who have given their lives for the proclamation of the gospel in Québec. Several different denominations shared their passions and experience as we walk forward for the glory of God in this mostly French-speaking Province.
I thank God for the opportunity to benefit from the collective wisdom and experience and look forward to what’s ahead!
We split into two services (10am-noon, 1pm-3pm) knowing we would not have enough space. It was a good thing we did. Over 200 people gathered to celebrate the coming of the Savior of the world… the fulfillment of thousands of years of precise prophecy!
Children put on two excellent skits: “Blind Bartamaeus” and “The Pine Trees”
We enjoyed a phenomenal meal at round tables of 8: planned and organized by Celine.
Jacob put together a moving walk through centuries of messianic prophecy: beginning with Genesis 3:15. This included:
4 dramatic readers placed throughout the room, interacting with various messianic texts.
Songs were led by an able group of musicians and singers between texts
Historical images of Israel were shown throughout the reading.
A few photos:
Food-a-plenty! We are blessed to live with such abundance (leftovers were given away)
I will refrain from making any jokes about "stuffing faces" or anything similar
Caleb is beggar "Nathan" at far left, Constance is in a cream-colored robe in the middle
Shared this in an e-mail with a brother. Then thought I should post it publicly as we hunt for prayer.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying.
Building Hunt…
Last week I visited a potential building. It’s a 16,000+ square-foot two-story building smack-dab in downtown St Jerome. The first floor is rented by several different businesses, leaving 8,000+ upstairs for us, all with rental contracts of 5 years or perhaps more. The location is incredible. And with the rentals it looks like it may be great financially. But the aspect that makes me the most nervous is having to constantly deal with the rentals.
We’re going to take the next exploratory step and put some serious prayer into it as we go. God will lead us where He wants us to go. If the building doesn’t launch us forward to love St Jérôme more effectively, but instead impedes us… we want nothing of it. We are not here for buildings. Buildings are tools.
Jonah…
This morning I preached on Jonah 1:4-16. The main point is that the world does not work like it should. Jonah acts like a pagan, the sailors act like prophets should. Our only hope is God’s sovereignty… and that is on full display throughout the entire book. Obey or disobey, God can, does, and will, use us.
We finished with the Lord’s supper. There is only one hero. It’s not Jonah, or a pastor, or a christian. It’s Jesus Himself. He is the only one who saved us and will never disappoint.
Church Planting…
Have some serious regional and provincial church-planting projects. Won’t go into it here. Just can’t figure out how to have enough time. God is up to something though. There are multiple things popping up all over the province that tell me God is planning something big in the near future. Kind of like moving in for check mate. You feel it coming and see things happening, but just don’t know exactly when and how. I trust He knows what He’s doing.
Thanksgiving…
Looking forward to jetting down to my cousin’s in Albany for thanksgiving. My brother will travel up from N. Carolina before shipping out as a Marine to Afghanistan in January. My sister is also coming up from the D.C. area. It will be a great family get together (Albany is about 5 hours from our place).
Thanks for your prayers. We always, always need them.
A few quotes:
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