Aches and Praise Two Hundred & Seventy

Posted on 2016-11-10 in English |

Dear friends,

 

This week is a very special week for our family, as our daughter Candace graduated on Monday from Concordia University in Montreal and Karen and I drove to Ottawa the next morning to participate in the Missions conference of the Metropolitan Bible Church. We have many happy memories of this church, including receiving a car from a generous brother in Christ there thirty-four years ago.

Last night I had the privilege of hearing saints pray for us and other missionaries in the “power centre” of the church. In the past month, we have been blessed to visit relatives and supporters in a number of cities in Ontario and have been encouraged by the faithfulness of our prayer partners. We were also encouraged to meet a lady who showed Karen a certificate for a Bible course that she followed from our office in Châteauguay a number of years ago. She told us that the course helped her a lot.

One of the highlights of the Missions conference has been to meet other missionaries and to hear what the Lord is doing in various parts of the world. We were blessed by a message by Pastor Jonathan Griffiths on the charge and the cause of the apostle Paul from 2 Timothy 1. The new lead pastor of the Met moved to Ottawa from England this summer. I also learned that he served the Lord in a church close to where I lived when I was with Operation Mobilization.

One of the insights shared by Pastor Jonathan was that we are called to suffer for the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8). We should not be surprised when difficulties come our way. Pastor Brian Mitton, who served in Benin with his wife, Kim, for many years, shared a striking illustration of seeing a man cross a swelling river, carrying a pole on his shoulders with heavy weights on both ends. When Brian asked why the man carried the weights, the reply was that the weights were needed to enable him to stand in the midst of the raging water.

The former pastor of another Missions-minded church – Tulsa Bible Church – graciously gave me permission to quote from his book “The Joy of a Word-Filled Family.” Dr. John Barnett writes: “Isn’t it wonderful that our perfect God does not expect perfection before He can be served in a mighty way? Isn’t it amazing that he wants
to use each of us for His glory? Because of this, with great joy we can press on as husbands and dads to become all God calls us to be! And even when we fail at times, we get to start over again through the cleansing of forgiveness. Each and every day thus becomes His gift of a marvelous new beginning!”           
 
Scripture for the weekend: “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” 2 Timothy 1:14 (NIV)  
 

Thought for the weekend:  “The way you treat your Bible is the way you treat your Lord, for it is His Word to your heart.” – Warren W. Wiersbe (from his “Chapter by chapter Bible commentary”)

 

By His grace,

 

Steve

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