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!

My Story: God is the Healer

Lord have mercy on us!
Help us to wake to the Power of Prayer

Memories from childhood can have a life-long impact. When I was born, my parents were living in Loughborough, a small city in the English Midlands. The cold winters meant being given hot water bottles by our feet just to get to sleep. Back then most people didn’t have central heating. Our toes would be chilled to the point of pain in the mornings. My Dad used to get up and fetch the coal from the cellar to start the fire in the dining room. Many mornings he had to take a blowtorch to the outside loo to melt the layer of ice that had formed in the bowl. My mother told me the stories of Jesus. Even then, I heard the call to seek Him. I had a brother and sister, but I was the oldest, the one to set the example. There were toys and jigsaw puzzles to play with. We had radio, but no TV, not even a fridge. I was allowed to play records on an old manually cranked phonograph. We would walk to visit my Nana who lived near a large park which had a marvelous 47- bell- carillon which could be heard from quite a distance.



We visited my great grandparents almost every Sunday for afternoon tea. I used to play with a wooden alphabet set. Each block had an animal picture to go with its letter, A for antelope, and so on. I distinctly recall the moment I realized that letters could be put together to made words. Amazing! Before I started school I was reading simple nursery rhymes. Every November 5th, the skies were bright with fireworks shot into the air in many backyards to remember the infamous plot to blow up the House of Lords in London back in 1605. In early 1961, I remember being in a dimly lit church where I sensed the presence of 'God'. Jus over two years later, one morning my parents told us about the news over the radio that President Kennedy had been shot.

When I was seven and a half, my parents decided to bring us to Canada. In grade five, in Quebec, I memorized the 23rd Psalm for a poetry recital. When I stood up to speak, my teacher told me, ‘Sit down! That’s not poetry, that’s Scripture!’ In grade six, I got hold of a Gideons Centennial Edition of the New Testament. The book of Revelation and the Gospels caught my attention. I also read the Hardy Boys, Jules Verne, Von Daniken, Velikovsky, science, modern sci-fi, historical romance, … One day while recovering from chicken pox I was 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.

Throughout high school I was very shy and always managed to avoid speaking in class. At university, I took honours Physics and Engineering. Friends kept giving me copies of the Bible, some containing strange books with titles like Bel and the Dragon, and the Wisdom of Sirach. I was challenged to seriously consider the story and claims of Jesus, and began to attend Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, where, for the first time, I clearly heard the message of the cross: the good news that Jesus had died for me. I discovered that I needed to make a personal response to his sacrifice. I helped to distribute copies of the New Testament in the Student Union building.

In the middle of my senior year, just after Christmas, I experienced a turmoil that required hospitalization. I asked God in prayer to reveal Himself to me if he really was there. Shortly afterward, I experienced His loving presence in a powerful way. I was pretty excited, 'high on Jesus', and began talking to my friends at length, in the middle of the night! I asked my landlady if I could examine an old ceremonial sword, which hung in her living room. I took it up to my room and, later that night, baptized it in the bathtub. For me this was a powerful symbol of spiritual warfare. Fortunately a friend came by. If he hadn’t been there, I might have done something even sillier.

(Edmund Yu was a troubled medical student who, a few years ago, was killed by police on a TTC bus in Toronto, and all because they thought the little hammer he was carrying might have been a gun!)

My friends contacted the local Anglican priest and my mother and brother, who together got me to see a local doctor, someone I already knew and trusted. He prescribed tranquilizers. But I was so hyper I was admitted to the local hospital for eight days. My Christian friends were all praying for me privately and in their churches. After spending two months at home with my family, I marked in my New Testament, March 9, 1978, as the date I chose to receive the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. Three days later I was admitted to the Nova Scotia Psychiatric Hospital, where I languished for two months, pacing the hallways with increasing frustration. The rest of that year was a write-off. I had neither motivation nor energy to do anything. I struggled just to get up each morning.

The following year I took two summer courses in Religious Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island. In October I heard Billy Graham preach on the story of the Good Samaritan at the Halifax Metro Centre and I went forward as a public act of faith. I began to work with handicapped adults and later that year began shift work as a residential counselor caring for these folk. I also held a second job, 35 miles away, as a research assistant in St. F. X. University’s Spectroscopy lab.

In December, I received my Bachelor’s degree in Science, the two courses in the Christian faith having fulfilled my course requirements. During the next few years I spent five more months in hospital. I was often hyper, going from singing God’s praise in the halls to making an unruly nuisance of myself. One day I was placed, almost naked, in a locked ‘quiet room’. I felt like a caged lion. Someone had etched onto the wooden door the words, ‘Hello world!’ It seemed everyone was going crazy!

The enemy seeks to cloud our minds and steal our peace. I could have ended up another suicide statistic! When Jesus says, ‘Come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden and I’ll restore you,’ He really means it! He’s ready to give His peace if we really want it and faithfully seek after Him.
I spent a year and a half living in a depressingly decrepit Rehab Centre where I learned to operate an offset printing press. My healing has come slowly and is entirely due to the love of our Lord Jesus, my wife and the rest of my family, my doctors, as well as the support and prayers of many Christian friends, known and unknown. I’ve known the torment of dreams that turn to nightmares that gradually turn to waking reality. There’s an ecstasy in believing that Christ will surely come today and severe depression in enduring another day without seeing his face.

In the worst circumstance, there’s really no need to remain isolated and depressed. An Anglican minister and his wife helped me, through the ministry of the Order of St. Luke, to experience a measure of healing.

Demons are real. Mental illness is real. Connections between these two concepts are difficult to establish. Surely we can admit that most mental illness probably has little or no demonic component. 

Can we not also admit that some conditions cannot be explained unless we accept the existence of ungodly, wicked spiritual forces? Joy Vassal’s book, Demons are Real, gives vivid testimony of the negative spiritual impact of belief in voodoo and wizardry. Ron Armstrong, who was an Anglican missionary to parts of Latin America, talked about the power of prayer to bring healing to communities bewitched by so-called medicine men and witches. Many people have become followers of Jesus after finding that prayer in His name was the only effective way to receive help for their various afflictions. The occult practices of witch doctors usually only succeeded in temporary alleviation followed by worse problems later. Jesus gives freedom from entrapment to the lies that these people offer.

Too often in so-called advanced societies we believe a different lie, that formally trained medical practitioners, with their drugs and surgeries, can heal our diseases and we are released from the need to pray. Reliance on God becomes an option and only for those who already believe in Him. For me that early memory of hearing about Jesus was critical. Just as we were told as children to look for police if we were threatened or lost, so we must look to Our Lord, through the church, His people, for help with spiritual struggles.

O that our churches would respond to all illnesses with both prayer and medicine, referring both parishioners and enquirers to other qualified professionals if church members are not yet properly trained and qualified. Doctors and ministers must learn how to work together. This is a life and death issue. God is able. O that men and women and children would come to know and praise the Lord for His wondrous doings. Amen!