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Yesterday, I was blessed to have the opportunity to visit my oldest  son, Kris. He and his wife, Amanda, reside in the Greater Toronto area and work for a major Christian denomination, which requires them to travel frequently (both nationally and internationally).

He was out here for a conference, and we were able to coordinate a couple of hours together before his return flight. It’s a little more than a two-hour, fifteen-minute drive from here to the airport, so it meant an early morning for me.

We met at the Flying Beaver Bar and Grill. Located in Richmond, the Beaver lets you sit and watch the arrival & departure of the Harbour Air seaplanes on the Middle Arm of the Fraser River. It was a nice spot with great views.

Over breakfast and coffee, we caught up on our respective lives and families, the ways we were seeing God at work, and what He was teaching us. All too soon, it was over. Kris headed to catch his flight, and I drove home.

The driving took far longer than the visit lasted, but it was a blessing.

It’s a blessing when family or dear friends can get together even after extended periods apart and pick up where they left off.

It’s a blessing that Christians can have even when meeting one another for the first time. The same Lord who saved you saved them. The same Spirit that dwells in you dwells in them. We are linked together for eternity to come.

What we share is greater than anything that might try to divide us. Nothing can take our connection from Him and one another apart from us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39 ESV

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:28 ESV

Closer than family. Tied with unbreakable cords. Designed for a purpose. What an incredible thought.

We are connected forever. It’s time to put away petty differences and learn to be the unified hands and feet of Christ we are meant to be.

We need to be ambassadors of peace and reconciliation in His name, inside and outside the church.

Just as the brunch yesterday was worth the drive, so will our efforts towards true unity be. Let’s strive to make the effort.

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)

Be blessed, 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

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A number of you have ties to “the cowboy church” in Sherwood  Park. FYI, in case you haven’t heard, “Cowboy Joe” Macdonald went home to be with the Lord on the weekend after a battle with illness. No word yet on service details. There is rejoicing in glory, but he will be missed here.

This weekend, Kathy and I spontaneously went to Vancouver Island. We left Sunday after service and returned yesterday evening.

We spent the first night at a hotel in Nanaimo. We checked in, got ourselves organized, and headed out to a nearby restaurant for supper, just around sunset.

We passed a green space, and I was surprised to see a little black bunny. Looking more closely, I realized there were more rabbits. Many more. 

The whole ground area seemed to be moving. On that small lot were at least 100 black bunnies.

Every area of lawn or green space between there and the restaurant had rabbits. The vast majority of them were black, but a few were grays, and there were some eastern cottontails as well.

We learned that Nanaimo (as well as many other cities) has a plague of feral bunnies. What might have been cute initially has become a plague or pestilence.

Some people thought it was a good idea to let their bunnies roam free. Perhaps they couldn’t keep them for some reason and released them on purpose. Then people didn’t want to get rid of a “few” feral rabbits because they were cute (and I admit they are.)

The rabbits did what came naturally, and over the years, they multiplied exponentially. They live in colonies of hundreds and consume anything around them.

Those few cute bunnies are now an ecological disaster.

We can fall into the same trap. We can let sin slide because “it’s not so bad” or “everyone else is doing it.” I can’t imagine anyone setting out to struggle with addictions, but plenty do.

All sin is addictive. That might sound like a bold statement, but if you disagree, I challenge you to stop your besetting sin (and we all have at least one). It’s not easy. We didn’t set out to be hooked on our sin. It might have just seemed fun, or a coping mechanism, or a one-time slip, but once it had its hooks in us, we had a problem.

Few of us can break sin patterns on our own, through sheer willpower.  We need help.

Fortunately, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit, the greatest helper ever.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:13

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. Galatians 5:16-17

That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, Ephesians 3:16

Let each of us turn to Him in repentance and seek the Spirit to lead us to freedom. 

We are works in process, but He will bring us to perfection. Praise His name.

May God richly bless you.

Kevin

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