32 Years And I Still Love Church

I've been "going" to Church for 32 years and I still look forward to Sunday morning. We aren't a perfect Church. We have some things out of balance; some things are overly religious and others are underly religious.  Perhaps its because I don't "go" to Church, I am a part of the Church.  Church is my family and I am an active part of her success and failures.  There are highs and lows, but because of my love for Christ and His love for the Church, I am committed.  The act of committing to Church is very much like committing to marriage or to raising a family.  No doubt there are struggles, but because of the commitment we persevere and a bond is built.  The bond creates an environment for real love and delight unlike any other.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to find a Church close to your home that holds good doctrine (at the very least, on the essentials) and lay down roots.  Open your life and heart, serve and give, love and hope together.  There's not doubt that at some point you will get hurt (just as in marriage/family), but perhaps that's the only way you'll learn the power of Christ's forgiveness and the depth of His grace.  I don't say that to excuse people/behaviour that harm/abuse others.  I say that to give you a clear picture that it's not just in the receiving of grace that we grow in Christ, but that we usually grow more when we learn to extend it others.

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I hope all is well in your world.  We've been enjoying the nice weather and not enjoying having to say goodbye to my sister and brother-in-law (they are moving to Vegreville, AB... home of the giant Pysanka Egg).  They had a garage sale the other day and Ruby set-up a lemonade and cookie stand.  She's started to raise funds so that she can send some Operation Christmas Child boxes to kids this Christmas. Her cookies and lemonade brought in $50.

Last night I made Angela watch "The Last Air Bender" with me.  It was pretty dumb, but I liked how the story was based on a Stoic philosophy (something I have been reading about the last two weeks).  Ang fell asleep half way through and I caught myself nodding off a time or two.

As mentioned in my sermon today we starting a new plan of memorizing Scripture at the Nelson house.  We are going to memorize one verse a month as a family.  Every dinner and at bedtime (and probably at a few other times through out the day) we will read and recite together.  We start tonight with Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”


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I hope you have a great week filled with many opportunities to respond and engage the Good News of Jesus.  Thank you for being such an awesome Church family!

Overjoyed by Friends, Family, and The Body

I'm not good at receiving help.  I sometimes refuse help because of pride.  Other times, it's because I like to be in control. Then there are times where I feel like I don't deserve it and there are others that need the help more.  Finally, there are a few times where people want to help and it's something that I really enjoy and so I want it for myself.

God has been using the last few weeks to grow me in receiving help.  In some situations, I have to swallow my pride and simply say 'thank you'.  Other times, I have to learn to simply trust others.  In other situations, I explain that the offer for help isn't needed at this time, but the offer means so much.

I am also learning that if I don't accept offers for help, I rob them of the joy and blessing it is to give.  I'm learning these lessons in new ways.

We have been so blessed by our friends, family, and the body of Christ (the Church).  Here's just a glimpse of what we've experienced to date:

• Literally hundreds of offers of help in all shapes and sizes.
• Non-stop meals every day with enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.
• A freezer that went from being one-third full to overflowing.
• A constant stream of people letting us know they are thinking of us and praying for us.
• An extended family that is praying and fasting for Angela on a regular basis.
• Professional weekly house cleaning given by friends.
• Amazing love and help for our kids from our families and close friends.
• .... plus, so much more.

In fact, even as I wrote this we were interrupted by a door bell.  Standing at the door was Chris K. with Angela's favourite dinner... chicken souvlaki from Elleni's.  I think our kids have forgotten that food can be made in the kitchen.  It just "magically" appears each day at our door.

On Friday night, a friend stopped by to let me know that their Church (of a different denomination and town) had heard about our situation and wanted to help our Church in a physical way during this time.  He gave me an envelope and inside was a cheque for $10,000 to bless our Church.  This gift proved to be the last hurdle of a two year process of getting our Church out of debt and operating in the black.

We feel incredibly blessed and look forward to getting back in a position where we can take what we've experienced and be a blessing to others.

Today was a lot of fun.  Our kids sang in the Church service for a mini-Christmas performance, then we had a bake sale, and lots of good connections with others.  Angela's parents came over for lunch and we feasted on all our leftovers.  Ruby and I installed our token string of Christmas lights on the house.  We are tired this evening from everything and will be resting.  I'm sad to miss the Christmas concert tonight.

I hope you have a great week, following Jesus and allowing the joy that comes from the Good News to change the way we live.