As a young boy, every Friday night was Bible Study at one of the homes in our valley. I especially remember cold, clear, moonlit nights in December driving to one of these homesteads and singing Christmas Carols by lamplight and real candles burning on the pine Christmas tree. Dad played his accordion and Cy his guitar and singing were filled with joy, warmth and volume; being on key was not required.
What does it mean to be an outsider, to not be included?
I suspect many of you could tell a story where you felt this way . . .
Two men, Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Luke 9:30 NIV
I have always been intrigued by the showing up of Moses and Elijah on the Mountain of Transfiguration in Luke 9:30.
Something special happened a week ago in my Tsawwassen Retreat Office. I had finished responding to a few emails, making some notes for an upcoming coaching call, and was looking for some documents from a few years back. I tend to be a pack rat for keeping records and files, as I filed through a drawer that had been untouched for years, I came across a Personal File which was given to me by our previous Accountant and friend, when he retired. I actually had never looked inside of this file . . .
Charles Spurgeon has written,
“I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for my need”.
Now that is great perspective!
I sat on an airplane at 37,000 feet flying to Singapore to speak at a leadership conference in South East Asia. Beside me was my friend and mentor, Dr. Roger Birkman, and we were talking about anxiety. Both of us struggled at times with it and he shared what had caused him to write the following statement on perceptions, which is now used in every Birkman Certification.
The reality of life is that your perceptions, right or wrong,
influence everything else you do.
When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions,
you may be surprised how many other things fall into place.
During the pandemic, we hear passionate support for various viewpoints. I overheard someone say quite strongly, “What is truth today? Who can I believe?" I am examining my own heart for that question through the lens of being an overcomer as described in Ephesians Chapter 6.
. . . over these weeks, I am going to share what I am learning about being an Overcomer, to experience renewal and transformation. I have to believe that God has created you and me not to live in defeat, rather, He has given us the supernatural tools to go on the offense.
