15 for 15
Back in May my wife and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary.
Instead of taking a big trip we decided to do something different. For our 15th anniversary we are taking 15 Cape Breton adventures.
Some are bigger than others, but all are things we haven’t really done before on this island.
Some are restaurants we’ve been wanting to try out, some are hiking trails, some are beaches and there are other adventures too.
So far we have:
Gone skiing at Ben Eoin
We went to see a production of Les Mis at the historic Savoy Theatre in Glace Bay.
Just this past week we took surfing lessons at the Point Michaud Beach. What a blast that was, even though I spent more time falling off the board than riding it.
We also hiked down a gorge to view the beautiful Egypt Falls
We hiked along Inverness and West Mabou beaches and tried a number of delicious Cape Breton restaurants.
Inverness Beach pan shot
West Mabou Beach from a trail above the shore
One thing I’ve noticed from this year of exploring Cape Breton Island is that we can become desensitized to the beauty of this place because there is so much of it, and we see it every day.
So take your time. Explore it anew. This is a beautiful island.
Meanwhile we’ll be taking care of the last half dozen adventures we have left.
God bless you all.
The Body of Christ
“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
There’s an exciting thing happening in the church. Actually, in four churches.
In downtown Sydney, NS there are three United Church of Canada congregations and one United Baptist congregation worshiping together. They’ve been doing so since last November, sharing a building, clergy and fellowship. It’s going pretty well!
Well, I guess it’s going better than that…. they have embarked on the process of amalgamation.
Four congregations which were struggling a year ago with buildings beyond their means, bills which looked out of reach, struggling to find ministry personnel, etc., etc., etc….
And now, they are discovering they can come together. They can worship together. They can share in meals. They can share in… *gasp*… ministry!
They, who once thought they were alone have realized they aren’t all that different. In fact, they may even be complementary to each other in the gifts, skills and resources they bring together.
Different parts! One body! Just as Paul told the Corinthian church.
God is at work here. And it is exciting!
Book Review – A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Rachel Held Evans
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans was a book I was unsure of picking up. Possibly for some of the reasons she mentions in her book.
But I’m glad I did.
Reading this book you will learn things about the Bible. You will laugh. You will sit in awe. You will wonder.
From rules around cleanliness, submission, justice, grace and many more over the course of the year you will gain insight on verses in the Bible. You will see how over time some of them have been used out of context to keep women from fully using their gifts in the church and how others are used to lift women up!
As Rachel takes you through the ups and downs of a challenging year of study and faithfulness you will be there with her in her journey. And I believe you will take something from it too.
Eshet Chayil!
Book has been provided courtesy of Graf-Martin Communications and Thomas Nelson.
Guest Blog posting on “Hope”
Recently an online “friend” asked me to write something on hope. She posted it today.
In my experience of life, few words hold the same emotional power and strength as the word hope.
I suppose love used to, but it’s been watered down at times. I love that show. I love broccoli. I love Pluto.
But hope… hope expresses something meaningful, something beyond our understanding.
Lives in me
The end of Galatians 2 is one of my favourite passages of the Bible.
Paul is writing to the church of Galatia to urge them to resist giving into the temptations of following certain ritual laws that some other teachers are telling them they need to follow in order to call themselves a church.
Paul tells them it’s not about the laws of the “works” they do, because if all it took to call yourself saved was to be able to follow some rules, then there’s no need for Jesus Christ!
Jesus came to build relationships. He came to draw people to God and show them God’s love. He also showed us how to share that love with others, helping them be drawn to God also. If it was about following rules around rituals, then Jesus’s death and resurrection are meaningless.
I asked in church yesterday what our “rules” might be today. What are the things which keep us from being the church Christ is leading us to be? Are we following the urging of the Spirit, or are we expecting people to conform to what we have already established?
Let us be one in Christ. Let us respond to the love of God by building relationships with the people around us. Let us not be examples of the church, but examples of Christ. It is through him we come to know our Father in heaven.
Robin Mark performs a song to these verses of scripture, written by Steve Merkel and Wes Tuttle, called “I Have Been Crucified With Christ”. Enjoy…