Forget Not!

We just finished Thanksgiving weekend. The scripture passage I used was Psalm 103:1-5. (New International Version)

Psalm 103
Of David.
1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

The words that stood out in this passage to me are those that are bold: Forget Not! It is an ailment that too many people have, including myself. When I contemplate the benefits and blessings God bestows in my life that he forgives my sins, heals my diseases, redeems my life from the pit, crowns me with love and compassion and satisfies my desires I am amazed. But even more surprising is that time, complacency, busyness and the heaviness of life can cause be to have a form of Spiritual Amnesia. I forget His benefits.

As I write this, I am discouraged. It is the discouragement that comes when something does not live up to your expectations. My temptation is to embrace this disappointment and in doing so forget His benefits. But today, I will choose to rest in his benefits. I choose to remember his forgiveness, I choose to remember his healing in my life, I choose to remember that he redeems my life from the pit and thank him that he continues to redeem every part of me for his purposes, I choose to remember that I am crowned with love and compassion and I choose to remember that he alone satisfies my desires and that contentment can only be found in my relationship with God through Christ.


From my inmost being...I will not forget, I will not forget, I will not forget.

Back From Holidays

I'm back from holidays. They say that "a change is as good as a rest", so I'm good. I think that you should really have a buffer between holidays and returning to work. A period of time when you can recoup from your time away and get your bearings again. Sometimes having fun is too tiring (boy that makes me sound old. I wrote on my Facebook status that I was having a coffee after supper and my brother told me I was living on the edge. Coffee after six has become risky business.

The prophet Joel stated that young man would have visions, older men would have dreams. I hope and pray that I still have some visions in me.

The King of Kensington

Back in the day there was this television show called the "King of Kensington" It was a Canadian show, so probably only a select few of us remember it. It was about a guy from a section of Toronto (Kensington, hence the name)who everybody new. The theme song sang, "When he walks down the street he smiles at everyone he meets". I think I met our town's "king" the other day. I actually didn't meet him, I saw him. I was driving and a number of vehicles slowed down in front of me. They were all slowing down, smiling and waving at one individual walking down the street. I looked to see who it was and saw a man that I didn't recognize, but as I looked more closely I could see the logo on his shirt. The King of our town wheres an LCBO shirt. The most popular guy in our town works at the liquor store.

This kind of hit me hard. Don't get me wrong he is probably a wonderful, pleasant gentleman who cares for his family, but a man who dispenses alcoholic beverages by the case is the towns most popular guy.

I've been doing a series of sermons about Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God in the Parables and the thought came into my head that if we are truly being His kingdom shouldn't its impact be felt and seen in our community. As we invest our lives in people and establish kingdom projects in our community it will begin the process of transforming our lives, our churches and our towns. If we were dispensing the kingdom in our community maybe we would become "Kings" in our own little Kensington's.

I'm Back...I Think

Being I haven't blogged in 9 months or so I thought I should reappear. Let's get this thing rolling again.