Today I did something that I rarely do, AND on a day that I would almost never do it. I went to play golf.  As long as I have been involved in ministry Saturday has always been a day of preparation for Sunday: visiting, studying, etc.  So when Mike called early in the week wanting me to go with them I almost declined…that is until he told me that it was a gift for my birthday and that it was all paid for.  Well, I am not a very good golfer, but even a bad golfer can appreciate a free round.  So I agreed and stepped up my Sunday preparations a  bit so that I would have everything done that I needed to before Saturday.  The course where they normally play is about a 45 minute drive from our house (even at 6 am on Saturday, not to mention what it would be like the rest of the week).  They also invited Susan to come along to drive the cart and to visit with the other wives while the men played.  So we left the house a little after 6 am and went down to meet them this morning. We had a great time playing and fellowshiping; and for a bad golfer that only plays occasionally I think I did okay.

But as much fun as that was it is not the main reason for this post.  Back in 2002 we first came to Vancouver on a survey trip.  It was in January, and in the winter here the sun sets at about 4 pm or so.  We had been traveling all day from Texas to Seattle,WA and when our plane landed we still had a 3 hour drive north to Vancouver.  Well, by the time we entered Canada it was starting to get dark and it was quite dark by the time we actually got into the city.  Before we ever left Texas, Pastor Gordon Conner had given us driving directions  from the border to the hotel where we would be staying.  The route took us up Knight Street from Hwy 91.  Now, we had never been to Vancouver, we had never seen the city except in pictures.  As we drove north on Knight Street we came over a hill and from that vantage point the lights of the city seemed to go on forever.  Several weeks before we left for this survey trip I had given maps of the Greater Vancouver Area to my pastor and the men of our church, and we had asked them to pray for us to know specifically in what part of the Vancouver area that God wanted us.  Our hearts had been drawn to a particular place on that map, North Vancouver…a place we had NEVER seen before.  The next morning, after our arrival in Vancouver, I expressed to Pastor Conner the heart-felt awe of what I had seen driving in the night before.  He did not yet know either that North Vancouver was the place we were feeling led to, but as I described what I had seen he told me that from that point most of the city lights we had witnessed were actually across the harbour in North Vancouver.  That was the beginning of God’s confirmation in our hearts that North Vancouver was where He wanted us.

Today, as we came back from the golf course, we once again drove north on Knight Street.  This time it was not dark, but I could see in the distance the buildings and homes of North Vancouver…the place we now call HOME.  It was as though God reaffirmed once again His call on our family to be here, and a reminder of the multitudes that are still without Christ in this city.  Below is a picture of North Vancouver as you come down that hill on Knight Street.  I did not take this picture, but it gives you a glimpse of what I saw again this morning.

This Sunday we are launching a summer soul-winning emphasis: A Summer of Sowing.  The plan to to encourage all of our people to give out one tract a day for the next three months.  Every Sunday they can pick up another bundle of seven tracts for the week ahead.  Some will do much more than just one a day, but the goal is to get our people to look for opportunities to be a witness for Christ.  Hopefully, after doing this for the summer, they will develop a habit of looking for people that cross their paths from day-to-day with whom they can share their faith.

By the way, my son Andrew designed this logo.  He is graduating from high school this year and is planning to attend West Coast Baptist College in the fall.  If you need some graphic design work I am sure he would welcome the opportunity, and your contribution for his work would help him save some money toward college.

I just realized that I told you about our Baptist Hockey Challenge, but never told you how things turned out. All six weeks were exciting because of our people’s involvement AND because for six weeks straight we had visitors in every Sunday morning service.  On the last week, March 29th, we had almost double our normal attendance.  Dr. Eldon Martens preached on that day, and there were three different people that responded for various reasons during the invitation.  Three does not sound like much, especially to those of you in churches in the United States, but in a group of about fifty or so it it HUGE in Canada.  I am currently conducting a weekly one-on-one Bible study with one of those individuals who responded; both he and I are encouraged each week.  Below are some pictures from that last campaign service.

I also mentioned in the previous post that we had made this into a contest between our church and Anchor Baptist Church. Anchor is a bit larger than we are so we worked on a percentage of increase in attendance rather than straight numbers.  This coming Sunday evening, May 17th, the two churches will be getting together for the time of fellowship with the winning congregation being treated by the non-winning congregation (I say non-winning because anytime you get visitors in church it is hard to think of it as losing!).  So the good folks at Anchor Baptist Church will be hosting this Sunday evening service and providing a time of food and fellowship following the service.

In March of 2006 Lions Gate Baptist Church began hosting an annual conference for men, The Men of the Word Conference.  This year we had it fit in with our overall church theme of “a heart for God.”  We host the conference at Camp Squeah’s facilities near Hope, BC.  It has become a highlight of the year for our men and men from churches as far away as Prince George, BC.  This year we had our largest attendance yet; 58 men representing 9 different churches:

• Anchor Baptist Church ~ Burnaby, BC
• Berean Baptist Church ~ Quesnel, BC
• Greater Vancouver Baptist Church ~ Vancouver, BC
• Metro Baptist Church ~ Burnaby, BC
• New Testament Baptist Church ~ Abbotsford, BC
• Okanagan Valley Baptist Church ~ Vernon, BC
• Spruceland Baptist Church ~ Prince George, BC
• Urban Community Baptist Church ~ Vancouver, BC

and , of course, Lions Gate Baptist Church ~ North Vancouver, BC

We were privileged to have Dr. Eldon Martens as our guest speaker.  Dr. Martens is the author of, The Steps of a Good Man, a book that is printed by Striving Together Publications, a ministry of Lancaster Baptist Church.  His teaching was on the responsibility of the husband to meet the needs of his wife, as well as some teaching on how to be a godly man. We also had lots of fun with a 3-on-3 basketball tourney and some time in the loft game room.  The fellowship was good and the teaching challenging and helpful.  Praise the Lord for a great conference!!  Below are a few pictures taken during the conference.

Last year when I was planning our church calendar, I was trying to come up with a way to motivate our people to invite others to church.  Several years ago, when I was on staff at Baptist Temple,  we would have Sunday school campaigns and award points for different things during the contest.  Then prizes would be awarded to the ones with the most points at end.

Knowing how Canadians love hockey, I came up with a six week campaign that centers around hockey.  So we are in the middle of a six week (three periods of two weeks each) campaign.  Members can earn points for visitors and for their visitor’s visitors (assists); and a few other things here and there.  Our first week we started out like every hockey games begins…with a puck drop.  Andrew designed the logo for these pucks and we gave everyone in attendance a puck to take home.

On our first Sunday we saw a 32% increase over our average attendance in the final quarter of 2008.  Not every Sunday has a special emphasis, but several of them do:

• Tomorrow, March 8th, is Section Sell-Out Sunday.  We have two sections of seating in our church.  So, I divided the regular attendees into two teams and tomorrow the will try to fill up every seat in their section; bonus points can be earned if we have to add more chairs than normal to a section.
• Then next week, March 15th, is Youth Appreciation Sunday.  We will be going to several of the secondary schools (high schools) to pass out special initiations to the students.  On that Sunday we will be having pizza following the morning service, and we are going to connect a Nintendo Wii to our projector and and play video games, and also have some tables to play some board games on.
• Our final Sunday is on March 29th; that will be Hat Trick Sunday and all points earned on that day will be tripled.  Dr. Eldon Martins, who travels representing West Coast Baptist College, will be preaching for us on that final Sunday.

On our last Sunday we will total up all the points and announce the winners:

• First Star gets two tickets to a Vancouver Canucks game
• Second Star get a Vancouver Canucks Jersey
• Third Star get a Vancouver Canucks blanket

Well, then I thought, why not make it a competition between our church and another area church.  So, I talked to Pastor Ben Turner at Anchor Baptist Church in Burnaby about our two churches “competing” in a spring campaign.  Bro. Turner was excited about the idea, and so we set some ground rules for that part of the competition.  The losing church has to host a gym night activity for both churches.  I imagine some floor hockey will work its way into the event, and of course, being good Baptist, there will be food involved too.

Please pray for those who are invited during this campaign (at both churches);  that first of all they would come, and also that they might come to Christ if they are not saved.

Paul here challenges the church at Colosse that they “let” the word of Christ dwell in them richly (abundantly).  So much so, that even their music should be filled with the truth of scripture!  Paul gives three categories of music: psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.  Psalms and hymns are pretty easily understood, but spiritual songs would seem to leave a door wide open to anything that calls itself spiritual.  I would submit, based on the context of the verse, that a spiritual song must too be a scriptural song if the word of Christ is to be taught through it.  If a song fails to line up with the Word of God, then it has no place in the life of a believer regardless of when it was written, who the writer was or even what emotion it may invoke within the hearer.

Now, just because a song is a modern composition does not in and of itself make it a bad song; after all, all songs were new at some point.  However, often, contemporary Christian music fails to measure up to the standard of being a”scriptural song.  There is one particular song that comes to my mind because of the number of people I have come across that claim that it makes them feel good, or that it helps put them in an attitude of worship.  It is a song by a group called MercyMe. The song is titled, “I Can Only Imagine.”  The song, in the chorus, asks several questions with regard to our actions when we finally reach heaven, one of which is: “Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?”  While there is no argument that we cannot know all that awaits us in heaven, we can know what the Bible teaches with regard to how man responded when he came face-to-face with a holy God.  Here are several passages from scripture that demonstrate man’s response to God’s presence (emphasis added):

Not only do we find man humbled and on his face before God, even the seraphims that dwell in God’s presence cover their faces:

In our modern Christianity we have, whether intentionally or not, minimized the holiness of God.  We hear people refer to God as “the man upstairs” or “the big guy in the sky” or some other such generic term to try and bring God down to our level, to humanize Him.  The hymn writers of days gone by understood the holiness of God, but far too many of our modern song writers fail to consider the attributes of God or scriptural truth while composing their lyrics; instead of exalting a holy God, they work to connect with fallen man.

“I Can Only Imagine” is not a psalm, it’s not a hymn and it is not a spiritual (scriptural) song.  So, the next time the ear buds go in or you are preparing a special to sing in church, check the words and ask yourself… “Is this a spiritual song?”

Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians 3:15-17

Previously I asked the question, “In Whom Does Your Heart Trust?” The answer to that question controls the direction and decisions of life. If you trust in yourself, then you will have only yourself to blame when things go wrong. On the other hand, if you are trusting in the Lord and have given Him full control of your heart, then every decision and action in your life will line up with Christ’s will for you. Our children don’t often appreciate being told what to do and how to do, but if they follow our directions they are absolved from all responsibility of the outcome. The same is true of God’s children! If we have a heart that is totally surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, we really do not have to make any decisions at all. The decisions are God’s and we simply ask His direction, then obey.

Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says to “let the peace of God rule in your hearts,” and to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” The Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “let” in this way: “To permit; to allow; to suffer; to give leave or power by a positive act, or negatively, to withhold restraint; not to prevent.” When we have a heart for God and make that one decision the basis for all other decisions we “let,” or allow, God’s peace to rule and Christ’s word to dwell in us. We then no longer are hindered by having to decide whether to do right or not; that decision is already made. Our entire focus is now on how! How do I live so as to please God? How do I dress so as to please God? How to I speak so as to please God? How do I act so as to please God?

Bro. Lester Hutson in his book Cultivating Your Heart puts it this way:

“Once your focus is on what is right before God, you start choosing to do what is right instead of what is wrong. The deliverance accomplished by this approach to life is sensational. No more having to hide or cover up what you’ve been doing. No more having to dodge your wife or the police. No more worries about hangovers, getting a DWI, to ‘getting hooked.’ No more worries about the marriage breaking up, losing your job because you are cheating there, or debate about your money management policy. No more indecision about whether or not you are going to be faithful to church, no more pressures about status symbols, and no more anxiety and stressing worries about whether or not you are pleasing everyone. As long as you have a clear conscience towards God, it doesn’t matter.”

Most of Christian’s lives are a jumbled up mess full of frustration and turmoil because we are trying to do it all ourselves, for ourselves, by ourselves. The truth is God never intended for the lives of His children to be that way.  Jesus said that He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, but we have to “let” Him have first place; we have to have a heart for God. And that one decision will greatly simplify your life.

For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

II Corinthians 1:12

Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of Lions Gate Baptist Church!!  We had had a great service, with many visitors in attendance.  The grand total of regulars and guest was 56!  I am so proud of how our folks worked to get family, friends and workmates to come.  I preached a simple gospel message, and while no one came forward during the invitation there were tears and other indicators of the Holy Spirit working in hearts.  Please pray for those who heard the gospel, and yet, walked out of the service still without Christ.  Below is a video presentation I put together to share our anniversary with you.

25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.

26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

Proverbs 28:25-26

Solomon here points out that there are two possible conditions of the heart: 1) trusting in self, or 2) trusting in the Lord.  There are not any other options; our trust is in one of these two places.

These verses would indicate that we have a choice in the matter.  Human nature is to trust in ones own self, so to have a heart that is trusting in the Lord requires action on our part.  Solomon said, “He that putteth his trust in the Lord” indicating that it is something that we need to do; putteth is an action verb, not a state of being.  Putting our trust in the Lord is making a commitment that we will do what He wants rather than following our own will and desires.  It is making Him Lord of your life, not only in word but in deed, and surrendering your will to His.

By comparison, Solomon says, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool“.  A fool! That is pretty strong language considering what else is said of a fool in scripture.  David said in Psalm 14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.“  That begs the question then, when we put confidence in ourselves, are we not in a manner of speaking, at the very least acting as though there is no God?  For if we truly believe there is a God in whom we could have complete confidence; that He is always right, and knows and does what is best for us, why would we not be totally willing to place our trust in Him?

The choice of where your trust is placed determines the outcome of your life!  As important as the physical heart is to the physical body, so is the spiritual heart to the spiritual man.  Without the heart beat in your chest you would cease to live.  All of your blood is propelled by and passes through your heart on its way either to pick up necessary oxygen and nutrients, or to drop off carbon dioxide and waste.  If while reading this blog post you started to feel some tightness in your chest and having difficulty breathing you would immediately seek professional medical help. (Unless of course you’re a man, in which case you would insist you’re okay until you have passed out on the floor and then your wife would call the paramedics for you.)  But you get the point, the proper functioning of our physical heart is important to us! We watch our diets and exercise to keep that little fist-sized muscle working at peak efficiency.  Just as the operation of the physical heart determines your quality of life, so the operation of the spiritual heart determines your quality of spiritual life.  Every thought, every decision, every action, every word spoken is a direct reflection of your heart and where your trust is.

Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”

And in Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

The first step to cultivating a heart for God is to determine where your heart is now!  In whom are you placing your trust?

At least it is new for me.  My wife has been in the blogging world for some time now, and I enjoy hearing about the people she meets via her blog.  I have never fancied myself a writer, but decided to give it a go.  A couple of different things motivated me to do so:

1. The first was to be able to share with the general public some of the thoughts that my church folks hears on Sundays.  Our theme this year is “a heart for God“.  On Sunday mornings I have been preaching a series on Cultivating a Heart for God.  (It is not original material by any means, but it is beneficial.  Much of the material comes from a book by Lester Hutson, pastor of the Berean Baptist Church in Houston, TX.) So, I thought by blogging some of the thoughts it might serve as a reminder through the year to our people and be a help to other Christians who are not in our congregation.  I mean, shouldn’t ALL Christians desire a heart for God and be working towards that end?  If God will use something I post to aid them in developing such a heart, Praise the Lord!

2.  Another reason is to simply use every available means at my disposal to share the activities and accomplishments of Lions Gate Baptist Church and its people.  In the day in which we live, the internet is more and more a prominent way of communicating with the public, so I may as well use this medium since I can.

So, thank you for stopping by my blog! I make no promises about the frequency of my posts; nor do I promise to acknowledge / reply to your comments.  My only promise is to pray that as you read, it may be used of God in some small way in your life.