Happy New Year

Well, Christmas has come and gone and New Year’s Eve is just a memory. How are you feeling about 2016? Are you excited? Are you cautious? Are you simply resigned to it happening?

The reality is that, regardless of how we feel about the coming year, there is a very good chance that it is going to happen, with or without your permission.

We have very little control over the coming of the New Year. What we do have control over is how we react to the events of the next 365 days regardless of whether they are good or bad.

Ultimately it will be your choice whether you allow the events that come into your life to make you a better person or a bitter person. Others may determine what happens in your life, but only you will determine what happens in your heart.

So, as we bid farewell to 2015 and hello to 2016, let’s do so looking forward to the New Year as an opportunity to do great things for God and to allow Him to do great things for us. It’s a brand new year with brand new possibilities, if we are only willing to see them and claim them.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Now that's News!

The headlines that vied for top place this week seemed to be the new Star Wars Movie, including the multimillion dollar pay cheque that Harrison Ford received, and the mistake made at the Miss Universe Pageant.  The fairness of both stories have been debated by the masses. 

In Ford’s case it seems that he may have been paid as much as 50 x more than some of his co-stars to revive his role as Hans Solo. 

On Sunday night Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez wiped away tears of joy when she was named Miss Universe 2015, the second year in a row her country had won the title.  But the $30,000 blue diamond and topaz crown remained on her head for less than two minutes before host Steve Harvey realized he had made a mistake, the actual winner was Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach.

First World problems. 

And while we can’t do anything about the inequities of Star War pay cheques or beauty pageant heartbreak the Cornerstone family has dug deep and will help cap 4 fresh water springs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  And for the thousands of families in the DRC who will now have access to clean drinking water I would suspect that is much more important news. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible

Chance and Choice

December 6th was the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, but I’m sure most of you knew that.  And you probably knew that it was the largest man made explosion until the explosion of the atomic bomb.  The Halifax explosion has defined our city for the past 98years.  And I knew all those things but what I didn’t know, until just recently, was that my great grand-father was here when it happened.  My mother’s grandfather was a young sailor from Estonia who jumped ship in Halifax to start a new life, (today he’d be an illegal immigrant) but he wasn’t counting on being a part of history.  Family folklore says that he was behind Citadel Hill when the two ships collided and escaped the force of the blast. 

More than 1900 people died that day, but Pritu Rahnell did not, and because of that, I’m writing this today. 

It was by choice that Pritu jumped ship in Halifax and it was by chance he was protected from the blast of the explosion.  Each of our lives will be shaped by choice and by chance.  We really can’t do much about the chance but we are the author of our choices. So instead of complaining about chance, we need to do our best with our choices. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible

Thank You Salvation Army

$500,000.00, that was the amount of a cheque dropped into a Salvation Army kettle last week in Rosemount, Minnesota.  $500,000.00! I’m pretty sure the local Salvation Army thought the cheque was simply a joke, that it was too good to be true.  But it was true, the cheque was honoured at the bank, all $500,000.00. 

The couple who put the cheque in the kettle later told the Salvation Army that when they were first married they struggled to get by, often eating groceries discarded by a local grocery store.  And now they felt they were in a position to pay it ahead.  "You get to a point in life where it's time to take care of others, the way you were taken care of," the donors said.

They also wanted the gift to honour one of their fathers who had served in the First World War and was always grateful for the hot coffee and donuts served to the soldiers by the Salvation Army.

Neat story, this year I will be again ringing a bell alongside of a Salvation Army Kettle because it’s a little bit I can do.  And like the Minnesota couple I believe in what the Salvation Army is doing to make our communities better places.  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

They are going to the chapel

Who would have thunk?  After living together for thirty years they are finally tying the knot.  And I don’t know what was more of a shock, reading about the wedding or seeing the picture of the happy couple. She doesn’t look much different than she did when I had a crush on her when I was 12 but now he looks homeless.  

Goldie Hawn, who just turned seventy, and her long-time partner Kurt Russell, have decided to get married, and I think that’s great.  After thirty years they seem to have decided that there is something different between simply living together and being legally married.

And that is the reality.  When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4 she commented that she had been married five times and the man she was presently living with wasn’t her husband, in Jesus’ mind there was a difference. 

I don’t know why they waited so long, or why after thirty years they finally decided, but I hope then have a great wedding and a happy and long marriage.

Someone asked me if I thought it was a good idea that Goldie and Kurt get married after living together for so long, you bet your sweet bippy I do. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

I hear singing!

So, the other day I was strolling through Walmart when I heard it.  At first I thought I had just imagined what they were singing about, but when I stopped and paid closer attention I confirmed that was what they were singing.  And nobody seemed outraged, as a matter of fact I don’t think anyone other than me even noticed, but I did. 

They were singing about angels and virgins and God sending a Saviour.  And nobody so much batted an eye or raised an eyebrow about what they were listening to.  It was almost as if I was the only one who could hear the words.

Now I would suspect if they had of been playing hymns or praise music at Walmart it wouldn’t have been long before someone complained, but people seem to give a pass to Christmas music.  And I’m not sure if it’s because after years of hearing it that people have become immune to the words or if the message is simply considered harmless.

But regardless, when I hear the birth of Jesus being sung about, between songs of snowmen and Santa, I will celebrate and whisper a prayer that a heart will be touched and an eternity will be changed.   Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Something I didn't know

I stumbled across something the other day that I didn’t know.  Unlike our neighbours to the south, our leaders very rarely talk about their faith publically.  We all seem to know that Stephen Harper was an Evangelical Christian, but I never actually heard him mention it.  Maybe everyone learned a lesson from Stockwell Day.  But the other day I came across some comments made by Prime Minister Trudeau in an interview last year.

He spoke about how his father had him in church every Sunday, prayed with him every night and read the Bible with he and his brothers at least once a week.  Hmmmm, things I never knew. 

And then the Prime Minister mentioned that after his brother Michel was killed in 1998, that a friend invited him to attend a 12-week Alpha Course, which he did.  And then he closed that part of the interview by saying: “Since that moment, I still consider myself and have re-found myself of a deep faith and belief in God. But obviously very aware of the separation of church and state in my political thinking.”

Justin’s comment may confuse you or make you angry but for me it renews my commitment to continue to pray for the Prime Minister and his family.  #prayingforjustinandsophie.   Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Christmas Projects

It’s November, the days are getting shorter and as much as we might try to ignore it, thoughts of Christmas start creeping up.  At Cornerstone we promote “Christmas” projects, not projects that have will have an impact on Cornerstone but on people who we will never meet.

Operation Christmas Child will put gift boxes in the hands of children who may never have received a gift before. And there are many families at Cornerstone that Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without filling a box or many boxes for children in developing countries. 

Our second project, Clean Water for Christmas, has raised funds to provide clean water for over a dozen villages in Africa through the years.  This year our gifts will be matched dollar for dollar by another donor and used to cap fresh water springs in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And no one at Cornerstone is poorer for having taken part in these projects, but lives have been changed and without hyperbole lives have been saved.

As a church family most of us have been blessed and I want to thank you for the blessings that you have and will pass on to folks who you will probably never meet, at least not on this side of eternity.    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

The Price of Fall

Angela and I were marvelling at the autumn colours last week as we drove along the highway. The woods were a kaleidoscope of colours, no two the same. It wasn’t hard to imagine Jack Frost painting each leaf individually.

One of the many things we missed during our time in Australia were the fall colours. As beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful (have I used enough adjectives yet?) as the weather was in Australia, and it was beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful, their trees didn’t change in the fall. To be truthful, I don’t think I ever truly appreciated the various hues that paint our forests until they weren’t there to see. That’s a sad reality of life as well—you don’t realize the good you have until you don’t have it anymore.

As much as I enjoy the fall scenery I don’t appreciate what it takes to make the leaves change—chilly fall mornings leave me cold, so to speak. That’s human nature though isn’t it? We never seem to want to pay the price, no matter how small. The great thing about the beauty of Heaven is that the price has already been paid, and all we have to do is claim it. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Your Choice

I was part of democracy in action this week. Not only did I vote but I also worked on Election Day as the Central Poll Supervisor, which isn't nearly as important as it sounds.

Pretty good gig, all in all, I was paid by Elections Canada to welcome people to Cornerstone.  During those twelve hours I was able to make several observations about people as they voted.

Some people were visibly excited to have the privilege to vote while others it seemed were simply voting out of obligation, they felt they had to. There were those who were hardly behind the screen long enough to mark their ballots while others were obviously deep in thought or asleep.

What they all had in common was they had each been offered a gift, the right to vote, and they had accepted it.

Many others were offered the same gift and turned it down, for any number of reasons. Perhaps some thought they were too busy, others left it too long and ran out of time, some were disinterested and still others viewed the entire process with disdain. Bottom line: some people chose to vote and other chose not to vote, but it was their choice. Kind of reminds me of salvation. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Slow Down

I saw a sign in a Doctor’s office once that had a profound effect on how I view life, and how I approach it in most cases.  The sign said, and I quote, “Don’t take life too seriously, because you’ll never get out of it alive!”  Deep?  Profound?  Have you stopped and smelled the roses today?  Have you slowed down a little bit from the rush to just enjoy life?  Too busy?  Too much to do?  You’d better do your best to enjoy life ‘cause you aren’t going to get out of it alive.

“You don’t understand how busy I am, Denn!”  No, I probably don’t but I do know that we often allow the urgent to take precedence over the important. 

There are some things that are universally important, or at least should be, and so we need to ask, “Are you spending enough time with your family?  With your God?  With yourself?”  and for that last one, I don’t mean working, I mean enjoying your own company, reflecting on who you are and how you can be better as a person

Why not take a little time today and find a rose to smell, a sunset to watch or a pond to dip your feet in!  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.