Missing your Turn

Did you hear the one about the two pilots who missed the airport? No, it's not a joke, it's a news story. Last week, a Northwest Airline plane, en route from San Diego, flew past its destination city of Minneapolis and it wasn't until it was over Eau Claire, Wisconsin, more than 160 kilometres beyond Minneapolis, that the flight attendants alerted the pilots that they had missed their exit. Oops! While there has been some speculation that the pilots were asleep, they maintain they were simply engrossed in conversation and weren't paying attention . . .to their instruments, the repeated calls from the control tower or the bright lights of Minneapolis. Don't know which would be worse.
But if we are honest, we've all done it. Maybe not in a plane, but we've all been caught up in the moment and missed an exit, a turn or a driveway and really it's just a matter of degree.
What is infinitely worse, is when we become so caught up in life, that we stop paying attention to God and end up missing what He has in plan for us and for our lives. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    
 

    
 

Pastoral Job Descriptions

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away; actually, it was Fredericton in 1985, but it seems like a different time and a different world. I was a young pastor, attending one of my first annual Pastors retreats with Wesleyan pastors from around the Atlantic District. It was an open forum and various pastors were lamenting not having written job descriptions in their churches, complaining about the unwritten expectations their churches and parishioners had for them. After this went on for awhile, a short man with a gravely voice, a British accent and shock of white hair stood up and said, "My job description comes from Acts 6:4, to give myself continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." Then he sat down.

Walter Fernley seemed ancient and wise that day. I attended Walter's funeral this week. His legacy to me has been whenever I have felt overwhelmed during the past 24 years by what I have to do, I think back, hear a gravely voice with a British accent reminding me, "My job description comes from Acts 6:4, to give myself continually to prayer and the ministry of the word." Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

    
 

Stop means Stop

Well, that was embarrassing. After almost stopping at a stop sign in Kingswood the other day, I came to a complete stop for the mountie who waved me down. He sauntered over to the car, while I sat wondering what the fine was for running a stop sign, although in my defence it was more creeping or rolling a stop sign. The officer was very pleasant, said he was there to remind people that we were supposed to stop at that particular sign. I smiled and assured him that I would remember next time and then it happened . . . I had hoped it wouldn't, but it did.
He didn't write a ticket; I should have been so lucky. No, he asked me how things were going at the church; he recognized me. That was embarrassing. Normally I like being recognized and talking about Cornerstone, but not necessarily while breaking the law. We chatted for a few minutes, he wished me a pleasant day, reminded me again about stopping at the sign and left.

It's never pleasant being caught while doing wrong, but the truth is we get caught every time we do wrong, if only by ourselves. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    
 

Biblical Political View?

Interesting, I read an article the other day, that said in a recent survey taken in New Jersey, 8% of respondents thought Barack Obama was the Anti-Christ and 13% were undecided. Interesting, even if the article isn't true. I would suspect that if you took a similar survey in Canada, about Prime Minister Harper, there might be many different words used to describe the Prime Minister, not all of them flattering, but I am doubtful that the word Anti-Christ would enter the conversation.

I am also fairly certain that there were people who thought George Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, could also fill the position of the Anti-Christ and equally certain that thought never crossed the minds of Canadians concerning previous Prime Ministers. Although my father thought Trudeau was of the devil, or maybe it was a communist, either way in the seventies, the two thoughts were synonymous.

I find it kind of interesting that two countries that share so much in common, could differ so much in how they view things and people. And I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. After all, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

    

The Best Laid Plans

So I flew to Indianapolis, a couple of weeks ago, for a meeting at the Wesleyan Church Headquarters. It was a perfect day for flying and we arrived fifteen minutes early and as we taxied up to the terminal, I was already planning the most effective way to use my new found quarter of an hour. Then an announcement came over the P.A., advising us that an employee had fallen at the entrance of our plane and we would have to wait for the paramedics.

Thirty-five minutes later, we deplaned. My hotel was less than fifty kilometres from the airport, but because of an accident, the trip took an hour and eighteen minutes. So instead of arriving at my room fifteen minutes early, I got there over an hour late. What was it that Burns wrote of Mice and Men?

That evening, when I was telling Peter Moore about my series of unfortunate events, he wondered where I would have been in relation to the accident without my delay at the airport.

And again, I was reminded of Solomon's words in Proverbs 16:9 We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.