Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Pointing to Jesus in Canada

O Canada, wake up!
Only in Christ can we truly stand on guard for our country.
 
 
 
 
In Canada I’ve made my home
Working in the Lord’s Vineyard.
I seek always to give all praise
To the One we all adore.
With sisters, brothers, clients, friends
We work and serve together
The One who is our strength and song
... Jesus our Redeemer.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Follow Him in pure delight,
And tell Him all your cares and joys
And Love with all your might.
The Word of faith in His cross and blood
Gives life and love and power;
As fully and above all else
You hear and follow Jesus.
 
‘I am the way - truth - life’, says he
‘All must come to God through me.’
T’is His desire that all be saved
And healed from sin’s despair.
God bless the stranger, rich or poor
As family by faith;
Relationships on earth will fade
But Jesus is forever.
 
 


  O Come, Lord Jesus!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

O Canada! From West Down East and Back, The True North

Whatever projects we get up to, I'm sure our Heavenly Father has some great laughs, sometimes in derision, sometimes delight.

Whatever mischief we create or encounter, don't you think many tears from mingled sorrow and joy come easily from His eyes?

Consider Canada,
 Canada consider Jesus.

Comment ça va avec lui? avec nous?

What keeps us together?
The Trans-Canada highway? Maybe.
The Federal government? Eh, say what?

But remember!
Our governors separated us into Upper and Lower Canada.

Then one day a true first-rate fellow took an act of political hubris to curb our inferiority and brought our constitution home from across the pond.

Now we can follow our dreams, if only we can agree on what they are.

But there's a war afoot. Both within the church and outside its influence, there's a battle raging for our mental, physical and spiritual health!

For the follower of Jesus, prayer and praise itself is an exercise in warfare. We fight against the spiritual forces at work in our own lives, the influences of the world the flesh and the devil. We battle on behalf of others including both friends and enemies.

One can follow all the Christian traditions without actually following Christ. We can misuse our faith if we allow ourselves to become insulated from our responsibility to stand against the world, the flesh and the devil. We may be virtually acting against the promises we make at every baptism to do all in our power to support new believers in their life in Christ.

Currently, many Christians inherit or intentionally choose the old pathways, expecting to receive all the valid traditions at face value. However, the true call and mark of the church is faithfulness to the gospel of Christ. This is nothing but the worship of God and the preaching of the message of the cross: the proclamation of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The call to focus on Christ and His Mission is essential. The urgency of our common calling is relevant to those who are lost and who need to know that The Living God will one day come again to judge this world.

As lay people, we cannot be afraid to do whatever it is the Lord is calling us to say and do, especially in those situations where either secular society or the institutional church attempts to stifle us. We are responsible under God to minister to clergy and even bishops when necessary. This requires humility on all sides, especially on the part of the senior partners in these relationships.

Spiritual warfare is not complicated. It can be as simple as maintaining a cheerful heart, serving quietly and participating in regular worship of God. It might mean, for some, extended times of prayer, for some, the singing of loud Alleluias. It might involve us in responsible social and political action, conducted in obedience to Jesus, according to our talents and interests.

If those in need around us are starving, it’s unacceptable to sit on the rich food supply. We think we must wait for the food inspector to give a certificate of approval before we can unseal the crate and give out its contents. This is what we often feel compelled to do because we have an unhealthy and unbiblical deference to so-called authority.

Perfect love is said to cast out fear. Scripture clearly calls all Christians to love and serve their fellows and through them their community. If we are being forced into independence, perhaps this is the Lord’s way of helping us grow up.

Help us, Lord Jesus, to love one another, to seek health for ourselves and our neighbours.

We who put our trust in God are called on occasion to arise in faith to stand up with the gospel, to set an example for our fellow believers to take risks in faith. This past few weeks I've been refreshed and strengthened to share the gospel on the streets and even to sing God's praises.

Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered!
Jesus still says, “Come to me, all who are weary, and I will give refreshment,” and “Father, may they be one!”


Let our churches return to the job of proclaiming the power of God to heal mental, spiritual and physical disease, and restore the partnership between medical and spiritual professionals.

The men in our bible study have been praying for each other. One day, a few months ago I asked for prayer that I would be able to go down to Nova Scotia to visit family but especially for my twin nephew's graduation from High School. I didn't see how it could happen due to both poor health and finances.

But the Lord prepared the Way. My boss gave me the time I needed. I was able to cash in some air miles and my wife was satisfied that there was enough food in the house for  her while I was away.

I flew out of Pearson 3 PM on a Wednesday and returned just after 8 PM the following Friday. Three full days of showers of blessing and peace. The rain lifted and the sun came out as my nephews left the ceremony.

It was invigorating, seeing my sister and her clan, spending time with Mum and visiting my brother and his new family.

As I return to the big city I've sensed like never before the freedom to preach and sing again the song I learned in Quebec in my youth, on the streets and byways of Toronto, especially last Sunday and again Monday, Canada Day.

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la Croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée des plus brillant exploits'

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Some of the words have been changed since my days in Quebec, I say for the better.

...and yet...Quebec feels left out.
But then, So do the Atlantic Provinces the Prairies and B.C.
We’ve no Grand Canyon, just a few noisy fire-crackers, dissidents who avoid responsibilities while promoting rights!
What about the privilege of duty?
What of Ontario?
The Place to Stand, Out in the cold with the North?

So what can keep us together?
Simple convenience and compromise has so far,
but a little more is required:
Charity, friendship, common sense,
hope, the Word of life,
hot apple cider and sticky maple syrup
Et Mon Dieu!

Let’s take up our cross, using the sword of the Spirit to make our future full of exploits for Jesus! Whatever your national origin, let’s stand together for His righteousness and truth.
 
All for Jesus! Gloire a Dieu!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Discrimination and stigma plague Canadians with schizophrenia

Evidence straight from those who know!
Would you wait 18 weeks to have a broken leg treated?

According to a national report released in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on March 30/09, by the Schizophrenia Societies across Canada, 60% of Canadians assume that people living with schizophrenia are likely to act violently toward others.

Schizophrenia in Canada: A National Report calls on Canadians, health care professionals and government to support a National Mental Health Strategy that addresses the disparities and inequities faced daily by those living with schizophrenia and their family members.

The report describes different factors affecting those with
schizophrenia, such as public perceptions and discrimination, quality of life, access to health care services, access to medications, wait times and government spending on mental health. These are key factors that illustrate the standard of schizophrenia care in Canada.

"While 92% of Canadians surveyed have heard of schizophrenia, most do not understand what it is or its symptoms. In fact, the majority confuse it with split personality disorder," said Chris Summerville, CEO, Schizophrenia Society of Canada. "Misconceptions such as these lead to negative stereotyping and stigma towards people living with schizophrenia."

The report examines how stigma negatively impacts the lives of people living with schizophrenia. Stigma causes gradual social isolation, making it harder for them to seek the help and treatment they need to manage their illness.

The report found that people with schizophrenia also experienced discrimination within the Canadian health care system. Schizophrenia in Canada calls highlights the findings of a 2008 report by the Fraser Institute on hospital waiting times, in which, physicians were asked to provide a reasonable wait time to receive various medical treatments. On average patients are waiting over six weeks longer for psychiatric treatment than is deemed reasonable. (Source: Fraser Institute, Waiting Your Turn: Hospital Waiting Lists in Canada, 2008 Report)

"It is simply unacceptable that people living with schizophrenia wait an average of 18.6 weeks from referral to receiving treatment for psychiatric care," said Mr. Summerville. "Mental health must be considered a top priority in the national and provincial wait time strategies."

The research for Schizophrenia in Canada: A National Report was conducted by Léger Marketing and supported through an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer Canada Inc.

******************************************************************

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada began in 1979 and is dedicated to improving the quality of life for those affected by schizophrenia and psychosis through education, support programs, public policy and research. The Society works with 10 provincial societies in a federation model to: raise awareness and educate the public in order to reduce stigma and discrimination; support families and individuals; advocate for legislative change; and support research through the SSC Foundation and other independent efforts. All the Societies are united through each organization's efforts and share a common goal to raise awareness and educate the public in order to reduce stigma and discrimination.


For further information: or to book an interview with Chris Summerville, CEO, Schizophrenia Society of Canada, please contact:
Jennifer Gordon, Thornley Fallis Communications,
(416) 515-7517 x 348, gordon@thornleyfallis.com;
or
Marissa Lukaitis, Thornley Fallis Communications,
(416) 515-7517 x 324, lukaitis@thornleyfallis.com

Friday, June 27, 2008

Quebec City - My Portal to Canada

To mark 400 years,
Je me souviens.


Why go to Canada?
Memories of cold winters in Loughborough, England, no central heating, and having hot water bottles by our feet just to get to sleep.
Toes chilled to the point of pain in the mornings.
Dad fetching coal to start the fire in the dining room, and taking a blowtorch to the outside loo to melt the layer of ice that had formed in the bowl.

Hearing my mother tell the stories of Jesus, and even then, seeking the face of God on my bedroom wall.
My younger brother and I waiting together for my sister to be born.
Being inside a dark church, hearing, "Shush, God is here."
Playing with tops and trains and wooden hammers and an alphabet set, each block an animal picture with its letter, A for antelope, B for Buffalo. Distinct recollection of the moment I realized that letters could be put together to made words. Amazement! Reading simple nursery rhymes, long before I started school. Remembering that we were to look for police if we were threatened or lost. Being the oldest, the one to set the example. Doing jigsaw puzzles while it rained outside. Listening to the wireless (radio), not having TV, or even a fridge.

Being allowed to play records on an old manually cranked phonograph. Walking to visit my Nana, hearing the bells of the marvellous carillon in the large park near her house.


Remembering peacocks, budgies and poodles. Almost every Sunday having tea with my great-grandparents who lived in a big old house another short walk past Nana’s. The clip-clop of horse-drawn cart on cobblestones, the smells of the cattle yard and the weekly market, fair days. Being disappointed, yet excited when at seven and a half, my parents decided to bring us to Canada.

Leaving Liverpool on the Empress of Canada. Setting foot on Canadian soil, taking a whirlwind tour through the narrow streets of Old Quebec City, visiting a church decorated red and gold, getting back on the ship and on to Montreal, passing multi-coloured roof tiles on the homes which hugged the cliffs.

The cross on Mount Royal. Living in a duplex, shopping at vast supermarkets. Growing beans in a glass jar. Spelling bees. Memorizing the 23rd Psalm for a poetry recital in Grade five, and after reading only four or five words, being told by my teacher, ‘Sit down! That’s not poetry, that’s Scripture!’ In grade six, getting hold of a Gideons Centennial Edition of the New Testament, being intrigued by the book of Revelation and the Gospels. And EXPO '67; Canada, notre pays! Trips with school and family to visit the Plains of Abraham.



Being told to look to the church and God for help with spiritual struggles. Reading everything: Hardy Boys, Jules Verne, modern sci-fi, historical romance, … Recovering from chicken pox, being given a book all about ghosts, mind reading, astral travel and other strange ideas. One night I experienced a very real personal attack. I felt physically grabbed by someone or something not of this world. Childhood's End?

Throughout high school being shy and always managing to avoid speaking in class. Pulling up roots again, moving to Nova Scotia. At university, taking honors Physics and Engineering. New friends giving me copies of the Bible, strange books with titles like Bel and the Dragon, and the Wisdom of Sirach. Being challenged to seriously consider the story and claims of Jesus, attending Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, and for the first time, clearly hearing the message of the cross: the good news that Jesus had died for me; discovering that I needed to make a personal response to His sacrifice.

Asking God to reveal Himself to me if he really was there. Shortly afterward, feeling my heart being powerfully touched by His loving presence. Talking to my friends at length even in the middle of the night. Being prayed for. Experiencing a turmoil that required hospitalization. Spending two months at home with my family. Writing in my New Testament of my decision to receive the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. Three days later, being admitted to psychiatric hospital; my baptism of fire!

On to Toronto, passing by Quebec City, and Montreal, passing again to revisit the Maritimes, pondering lingering early memories of God and church. Being born again, a new childhood: excitement!

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

O Canada! Watching for the Vision

Whatever projects we get up to, I'm sure our Heavenly Father has some great laughs, sometimes in derision, sometimes delight.

Whatever mischief we create or encounter, don't you think many tears from mingled sorrow and joy come easily from His eyes?

Consider Canada
Comment ça va avec lui? avec nous?

What keeps us together?
The Trans-Canada highway? Maybe.
The Federal government? Eh, say what?

But remember!
Our governors separated us into Upper and Lower Canada.
Then one day a true first-rate fellow took an act of political hubris to curb our inferiority and brought our constitution home from across the pond.
Now we can follow our dreams, if only we can agree on what they are.
Romance clashes with work ethic. In our national anthem we sing, en français,
'Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée des plus brillant exploits'...and yet...Quebec feels left out.
So do the Atlantic Provinces the Prairies and B.C.
We’ve no Grand Canyon, just a few noisy fire-crackers, dissidents who avoid responsibilities while promoting rights!
What about the privilege of duty?
What of Ontario?
The Place to Stand, Out in the cold with the North?
So what can keep us together? Simple convenience and compromise has so far.
But a little more is required:
Charity, friendship, common sense,
hope, the Word of life, hot apple cider
and sticky
maple syrup.

Mon Dieu!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Out of the Waiting Room to Write! Canada

After experiencing massive writer's block several years, Our Lord is, I believe finally helping me to begin to share some of my experiences and insights. Many ideas on paper or disk have till now remained as frustrated dreams. Early in June, I attended my first Word Guild Conference, in Guelph, Ontario, a real occasion! Along with over two hundred other believers, I enjoyed the privilege of being insired and educated by people who are actually practicing their chosen art, writers, speakers, singers, agents and publishers.

I had known about God Uses Ink and TWG for a long time and had allowed my chronic lack of both energy and funds to prevent me from going. This year I was prodded by a lady I met at work who told me she was already registered. She didn't give up on me, even offering to help pay for my fees. She didn't need to. Joy, Marcia, Albert and I decided to commute back and forth to Toronto each night. I volunteered to do most of the driving giving Albert, the Jeep's owner, a much needed break.

Friday night we stayed late so I could share at the night owl session, only the second time in ten years I found a forum to read my work aloud, outside my home, that is. For me it was a breakthrough. I shared two poems and asked to share a third before leaving at 11:30 for the city. The trip back was dramatic. We sang along to upbeat worship music as we drove through heavy rain, passing truck after truck, watching the lightning only a short distance ahead. The next morning we arrived back in Guelph about 10 o'clock and enjoyed another informative day.

The following week, after getting permission from our ED to use my office computer and e-mail, I was able to set up my blog in under ten minutes. Now for the hard part; continuity! Most writing gets done at home. My regular work is counselling and spending time with marginalized street folk and others with various addictions or other mental health issues. I'm able to teach Bible studies and assist in leading worship.

Other highlights from the conference: meeting new people, hearing the three plenary speakers, the educational and inspiring workshops and classes, and Deborah Klassen's worshipful singing. And of course Hot Apple Cider, a compilation of inspirational stories by Canadian writers.

I'm thankful that Jesus encouraged my friend Joy to drag me out of my shell. May God give His wisdom and grace in telling the stories He has given.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A Canadian Sunrise


Sunrise, Son Rise!
O Jesus, the descending King,
Seek your own to lead and quicken!
Away with abuse, brutal and treacherous,
that attacks sound minds,
freezing their song in fear!
And yet a melting into humble power is done
by The Helping Spirit One,
and we become deeply thoughtful,
concerned ones,
really no longer divided by the evil one.
Let the educators awake in time
and wonder at His plan
to accomplish all on sounding trumpet;
Come Lord Jesus, Come.