Here are 10 ways that Bethany Chapel engages with our community:
1. ESL conversational classes and one ESL Bible study group. We have two conversational classes each week. Approx. 25 attend.
2. Playschool – Started in 2001 with l8 families (this year we have 71 families registered, 5 families from our church and 66 from SouthWest community of Calgary)
3. Play Café – four years ago we received a $5,000.00 grant from the Calgary Foundation to buy educational toys for a toy lending library. Families come for a cup of coffee and moms get to know other moms in the area. They can sign out a toy and a book each week.
4. Good Food Box Program- People order a reasonably priced box of fresh produce once a month from Community Kitchen. The boxes get dropped off at our church and people pick them up. It’s a great way to meet our neighbors and distribute flyers for events.
5. Time Out – An eight-week program offering a variety of craft classes. A fee is charged for the class and for child care if needed. We give a thought for the day during the coffee break that is encouraging, thought-provoking and challenging. More than 80 ladies attended this past session.
6. Thread Shed – In partnership with the City of Calgary Neighborhood Services, and Calgary housing, Bethany Chapel sells quality used clothing for a dollar an item out of a small heated shed in the community. Our congregation donates the clothing which is purchased by Calgary Housing residents.
7. Let’s Talk – A unit in Calgary Housing where ladies from the neighborhood discuss and learn about topics of their choice. This past session someone from the library taught a basic computer class. This spring we are learning how to sew aprons with ladies from the church who are great sewers.
8. Community Dinners – Two or three times per year, our young adult groups or home groups cook a dinner for about l00 of our neighbours.
9. Ladies Night Out – Our young adults host special events for women in our community like a dessert night, or spa night.
10. Homework Club – West Central Resource Centre helps kids in our neighborhood with homework once a week. When their work is finished, the kids enjoy playing in our gym.

We have also held tax clinics, financial classes, soccer programs, VBS, as well as community Barbeques and a Chai & Chat night. Our deacons have also changed furnace filters for single moms and immigrant families.

The church can play a central role in the life of a local community if it is willing to open its doors and start building relationships with its neighbors. The congregation will be blessed and humbled as they see God at work.

Heather Webber has been the Community Development Pastor at Bethany Chapel in Calgary for the past ten years. She is passionate about her work and is keen on showing God’s love to those who live in the community and are in need. She is married to Dave and they have four great adult children. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, reading and spending time in the outdoors supporting her family initiatives.

Editor: How are you involved in your community? Share your stories in the comments.

Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is the proclamation of the end of religion, not of a new religion, or even of the best of all religions. . . .If the cross is the sign of anything, it’s the sign that God has gone out of the religion business and solved all of the world’s problems without requiring a single human being to do a single religious thing. What the cross is actually a sign of is the fact that religion can’t do a thing about the world’s problems—that it never did work and it never will.
—Robert Farrar Capon

There are always some people who feel that unless you delve back into the ancient languages that the Bible was first written in, you can’t make a good case for something. Without that, they feel like the story is incomplete. So for those of you who like that stuff, I offer this.

The writers of the documents that we now call the New Testament wrote in first-century Greek—the most common written language for the known world at that time. They obviously wanted their message to be received by as many people as possible. There are two Greek words they used that we sometimes translate “religion” or “religious” in our English Bibles. Each one is used in a derogatory or a highly qualified sense. Deisidaimonia means literally “dread of demons” and is used to refer to pagan religion. It might be better translated superstition or superstitious and is certainly not intended to be a complimentary word.

Threskeia primarily refers to the ceremonial worship of a deity and can be used to identify any externalization of someone’s internal beliefs, whether positive or negative. Threskeia, then, refers to the outward trappings that may or may not be associated with any genuine faith. It is this word that James plays with in James 1:26-27, reframing it in terms of the love ethic of Jesus.

Jesus never calls people to threskeia religion (and certainly not deisidaimonia religion), but always emphasizes faith itself. The Greek word for “faith” is pistis in noun form and pisteuo in verb form, which is usually translated “believe” and sometimes “trust,” because we do not have a natural verb form of the word “faith” in English. How about our English word “religion”—where does that come from? The etymology of “religion” seems to have two Latin possibilities: relegere, meaning to read something over and over again; or religare, which is a combination of re (to return or to repeat) and ligare (to tie or to bind). Following this second option, religion can mean a returning to restraint; a fastening of the self to something that is considered important; a kind of anchoring or reconnecting. Positively understood, then, religion is “a reconnecting to something important.” Negatively understood, religion simply means “a return to bondage.”

I understand that some people use the word “religion” to refer to a healthy outward expression of their inner faith, and that is wonderful. For the most part, when I look around me today, including looking over my shoulder at thousands of years of religious history, what I most often see in the name of religion is a ritualized return to bondage. The concept of religion has been closely associated with the repetitious tying of oneself to inherited beliefs and behaviors, traditions and theologies. Too often this leaves people mindlessly committed to the institution or clan that stewards the traditions, rather than the God who surrounds each of us with his love.

Religion ties us down. Jesus came to set us free.

This post originally appeared on www.bruxy.com on January 30, 2012. It is posted with permission.

Bruxy Cavey is the Teaching Pastor of The Meeting House—a church for people who aren’t into church. (Get a laugh from their 18 sec welcome video.) This multi-site community in the Greater Toronto Area creates safe places for spiritual seekers to ask questions and develop thoughtful faith. Bruxy’s accessible style, historical rigor, and refreshing candor make him a popular guest on television and radio programs and at universities across Canada.

Come hear Bruxy speak on Friday May 11 at 7:30 pm at Lakeside Church on 7654 Conservation Road in Guelph. The session is FREE and open to the public.

Review by Doug Loveday

I love this little book. Our church staff just finished reading and discussing it. We all found it very practical and biblical.

Conflict is such a normal part of life; at home, at work, and in the church. What! Even in the church? In spite of Jesus’ prayer for our unity in His Body, a church can be poisoned by disagreement and conflict. So tell me something I don’t know.

This little book (Did I say it was little? 107 pages) gives us another way of handling conflict, a way we can use throughout our lives at home, at church, everywhere. It presents a biblical approach to reconciliation that can turn anger into harmony. Conflict is an opportunity to practice the Gospel. God can empower us to bring the Good News of Jesus into a situation of conflict and see real reconciliation happen.

Ken Sande writes about the causes of conflict. He warns about the tragic results of unresolved conflict. Probably we all have our own illustrations here. And he leads us to see that godly reconciliation is worth our greatest effort. We are called to this. ” Make every Effort (strive eagerly, earnestly, diligently) to guard the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” Ephesians 4:3.

I love how this conflict resolution process is Gospel-centred. God’s approach begins with us understanding how graciously He treats us through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we fully receive the mercy of the God of the universe, it can’t help but flow out to others. This is the Vertical and Horizontal flow of the Gospel.

How do you respond to conflict? Some of us love it. We run toward it like a lion. Others of us run away. We escape like a turtle pulling our heads into our shell. In the biblical approach, God calls us to be peacemakers, entering into conflict to glorify God, serve others and become more like Jesus.

So it comes down to this: Four questions answered by four G’s.
1. How can I focus on God in this conflict? G1: Glorify God
2. How can I own my own part in this conflict? G2: Get the log out of my eye
3. How can I help others own their part in this conflict? G3: Gently restore
4. How can I give forgiveness and help reach a reasonable solution?
G4: Go and be reconciled

Each question and answer gets a chapter. These are very helpful, each one digging deeper into the practical outworking of the principle. I love the quote on unforgiveness. “Unforgiveness is the poison we drink, hoping the other person will die” We all desire harmony in our relationships. I’ll bet we all see the extreme importance of Jesus’ prayer for our unity. Resolving Everyday Conflict is a practical, biblical and concise guide to peacemaking in everyday life that can turn troubled relationships into peaceful ones, all to the glory of our great God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God. Matthew 5:9

O LORD, bless and use these beautiful Truths to heal Your church and help us to Adorn the Gospel of our great Lord Jesus. – Doug

Doug Loveday is a former VMC board member who now ministers as a full-time staff member with VMC as a “pastor to pastors.” Previous to his current role, Doug was senior pastor at Community Bible Church (CBC) in Lucan, Ontario for 23 years.

I started walking the streets of downtown Toronto as a “missionary”, every day, more than twenty years ago. (I’d already been involved in various street outreach activities for about fifteen years before that.) At the time, I would have said that my primary calling was to lead people to Jesus Christ for salvation – for personal conversion, the forgiveness of sins, and the confidence of eternal life. Despite working among some of the poorest and most excluded people in the city, the term “justice” wasn’t in my theological lexicon, nor was I hearing it much from anyone else. I never heard the word or the idea addressed in the many congregations where I was invited to speak.

Things have changed. The pursuit of biblical justice has become a significant matter, both in terms of church programming and the way followers of Jesus want to live their lives. This has become so pressing a matter in evangelical circles, especially among younger Christians, that even seminaries and Bible colleges are beginning to realize that they need to offer some courses about that justice stuff!

An unscientific observation, but one based on having spent a number of years speaking at churches and conferences across the country: a great many disciples of Jesus who are under 35 “get” justice in their bones; a great many older church leaders are (like me) late converts, struggling to keep up, or wondering, “What is this ‘justice’ they speak of?”

If there is a fresh, deep concern about lifting the yokes of poverty and oppression from the necks of people in our own neighbourhoods and around the world, does this mean the gospel has changed? Does it mean we are changing? Is the gospel changing us, or are we changing the gospel? Are younger people drifting away from conventional church because the gospel seems irrelevant to them, or are they leaving because the gospel is so vital to them that they must follow Jesus “into all the world”?

I believe more than ever that the death and resurrection of Jesus means salvation – forgiveness, cleansing, the confidence of ultimate healing and eternal life – for any individual who puts his or her trust in Christ. I have no other hope for myself, and have seen enough to believe that, even in practical daily life terms, such a salvation is the only hope worth the name for people whose lives have been destroyed by abuse, addiction, mental illness and more.

Kingdom justice, though, demands an answer: how will I live out the salvation of my soul with my body and mind? Is it enough to tell others that they need and can have the same salvation? As Isaiah relays the word of the Lord, “Is this the fast that I have chosen for you?” Could a Kingdom gospel in all its fullness mean that the cross also works salvation in society?

His answer, of course, is unequivocal. Look up the passage (Isaiah 58) and read the rest of the chapter!

Greg Paul has been involved with inner-city ministry for more than 25 years. Author of God in the Alley: Being and Seeing Jesus in a Broken World, he is the founder and director of Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto and pastor of the Sanctuary community. Sanctuary welcomes those who are hurting and excluded, including addicts, prostitutes, and homeless people.

Geriatrics and mental health are hot topics in health care, and as the political world continues to poke and prod at Canada’s health care system, I believe churches need to lead the way in intentionally ministering to these often overlooked populations.

This is the passion that drives my work in chaplaincy, and it is why I am contributing to this blog. Together I would like to ponder the question of “How do we provide spiritual care for people whose healthcare needs are complex and who are not sitting in our pews or contributing to our programs? “

Let me start by telling you about one of the highlights of my week. During our weekly chapel service we will frequently “share the peace” with one another. (Sharing the peace involves taking time during the service to have everyone shake each others’ hands and say “peace be with you” – a practice more commonly found in some liturgical traditions). I don’t come from a background where sharing the peace is common, but it has become one of my favourite things to do. Because it means that I can touch people. I can hold aged and weathered hands, look into a patient’s eyes, call them by name, and prayerfully say those powerful words of “peace be with you.” I feel something incredibly sacred when I hold the hand of a patient who is afraid to let go. When a patient is unable to talk but gently raises my hand to give it a kiss.

I am touching people who often receive minimal touch – they receive touch through nursing care or in stopping aggressive behaviours, but much less frequently do they receive the touch that communicates that they have value and are loved.

Touch is a beautiful thing. It is something that is easily taken for granted when you are in a relationship, when you’ve got kids clambering all over you, and when you’ve got friends who give you hugs. It takes on a very different meaning when you’ve lost everyone you’ve ever loved, when you are surrounded by strangers, and when both your outer and inner worlds are strange and unfamiliar to you.

I am pretty sure there are huge spiritual implications to providing appropriate touch. Just as I’m pretty sure that touch can be dangerous when you don’t take into account timing, gender dynamics, boundaries, and how your touch may be interpreted. I’m pretty sure Jesus touched people.

So, when I think of the question of how to provide spiritual care in a healthcare context, I think first of the value and power of touch.

Jessica Baker is a chaplain with Covenant Health in Edmonton, Alberta. She’s an endorsed chaplain through Vision Ministries Canada and a soon to be certified Specialist in Spiritual Care with the Canadian Association for Spiritual Care. She’s passionate about the intersection of spirituality, mental health and trauma care.

Can we find ways to learn, as I did, that a Christian leader can be weak?

Shortly after our second child was born, a doctor diagnosed my wife with postpartum depression. I wasn’t worried. If we believed enough, Jesus would overcome. He won the victory over sin and death and we needed to live in that victory. So, we prayed for her healing—and Bonnie still had postpartum. She was not getting any better. So, in the lowest moment of our marriage, I accused my wife of not having enough faith. A good friend called a few days later. “I’ve heard what you said to Bonnie about her faith,” he began. I was shocked to hear him continue, “I have depression too and I’ve learned that some things on this side of eternity do not get healed.” My foundation of a victorious, powerful Jesus crashed around me.

I apologized to Bonnie and begged her forgiveness. And, reading 2Corinthians opened my eyes. I remember soaking in, “God’s grace is sufficient for me…In my weakness I am made strong.” I began to read the Biblical narrative with new eyes. God continually made Himself known through the weakest, most dependant people. And in Jesus, I saw a God who comes not in power but in love, humility, and even weakness.

I need to admit I am weak. The cross demands it. But it’s a daily challenge. I put pressure on myself and receive pressure from others to be strong and have it all together. And every time I sense I am giving into that pressure, I know I am wearing a mask. I am not being honest.

From the first week of our church plant, we intentionally built in the need to admit we are weak—individually and collectively. We welcome those who are hurting and feel rejected by society. Having coffee with one of our congregants last week, she said, “If you didn’t admit you were weak, I would lose respect for you.” But I have friends who are pastors in town. They do not feel that. They wear their masks of having-it-all-together. So, they hurt with me—not with their congregations. One pastor told me that any sign of weakness or sin would give his congregation a reason to get rid of him.

Admitting our weakness is inherently risky. We open ourselves up to rumour and criticism. For years I didn’t want to or even know that I should admit weakness; it was easier then for sure. But I have found a depth in relationships that can only come with honesty. I have found that there are many people waiting to admit their weaknesses too—if just given freedom to do so.

Can a Christian leader be weak? I hope so.

Gil Clelland is pastor at Sanctuary London. This newly planted church (January 2011) is focussed on being “home” for the most impoverished in downtown London. Gil has lived in Chatham teaching High school, Regina for a MDiv, and Thunder Bay pastoring at Slate River Baptist Church. After 4 years at London YFC’s Streetlight division, Gil and his co-worker Darryl Reckman left YFC to plant Sanctuary London. Gil is married to his wife, Bonnie and they have 3 hockey playing boys – Joseph 12, Isaiah 10, and Jacob 6. Visit http://www.sanctuarylondon.ca/

A seminary professor was discussing his perspective on preaching during a seminary class. He queried his students about the preaching task with two questions. “What is preaching?” and, “What is it all about?” Our answers were typically full of theological and academic words. Caught in the lofty places of higher learning, we wanted to make it more intellectual and inaccessible. He listened patiently for a while but finally interrupted our wordy intellectualizations with a simple and profound statement, “Preaching is God’s story in your story.” Then he asked, “Ah! But what if there is no story?”

Healthy and effective borderland leaders find their rootedness in God’s story as it relates to their unfolding story of church and community engagement. This narrative shapes the way they lead and creates the canvas on which outcomes of their leadership are painted. As they model an integration of personal spiritual encounter and relevant community living, the congregation develops its ability to live out that same integration.

I live in a country that negatively images aggressive and proactive leadership. We like our leaders to be somewhat reluctant and unassuming. Some covet the “can do” atmosphere so prevalent in the United States. Whatever your preferred contextual leadership image, the key part of the journey is where deep spiritual disciplines are developed and from which the risk of leadership can take place. These risks must take place if a church community with varied expectations, role confusions, and preferred directions is to move ahead.

In Future Faith Churches, Don Posterski and I called this idea “leading from soul.” If leaders are called to transform congregations into spiritually dynamic borderland movements, it will be necessary for them to discern and nurture their own souls. Professional expertise is not enough.

Concerning this living and leading from their soul, Gordon Macdonald, reflecting on the “below the waterline” issues of life, writes, “The soul is the deeper part of all of us that others cannot see. It is a quiet place where people are most apt to connect with God. In that deeper, quiet piece of spiritual geography there was, in biblical times and today dialogue with heaven events of repentance, praise and the formation of intentions to life and knowledge that enable people to become what I like to call kingdom builders.”

We see hints of the amazing capacities that God meant all of us to have as we secure ourselves in that resting place. It is the product of the indwelling Spirit of God that comes to replace the deadened parts of our own lives.

Borderland leaders enter into that story. Word, Spirit, and community nurture their souls, bringing a unique understanding of spirituality to the leadership task. Secular management consultants Lee Bolman and Terence Deal describe it this way: “The signs point toward spirit and soul as the essence of leadership. If ignored, the result is a hollow leader, some one who spends most of life and ministry responding to events and circumstances rather than living though them.”

Living from the soul of leadership provides the intangible characteristics and qualities that set leadership apart. Their soul capacity creates a grounded place from which they can find courage impossible to conjure up.

The result is a leadership style more rooted in character development than learned technical skills. Inner development of character focused on themes such as integrity, honesty, humility, courage, commitment, sincerity, passion, confidence, wisdom, determination, compassion, and sensitivity are crucial.

From Borderland Churches by Dr. Gary V. Nelson (pages 73-74)

Dr. Gary Nelson became President and Vice Chancellor of Tyndale in Toronto in 2010, after ten years as General Secretary of Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM). He helped CBM expand their global impact in leadership development, theological education, and sustainable community development. An urban missiologist, international lecturer, andauthor with a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary, he has also served as a senior pastor and in other pastoral roles. Dr. Nelson is passionate about helping churches impact local and global communities.

As I mentioned in my last blog post we have seen a lot of change these last few years here at Wallenstein Bible Chapel. Almost invariably, it seems that whenever we begin to speak about doing things differently someone asks the question, “Does this mean that our former elders were wrong?” (You can insert father, brother, mother, pastor, board, or whatever noun suits your situation). What follows is very often a minefield full of emotions or offense. How can we press for adaptation and change but not set ourselves up for this kind of dilemma?

I read a journal article a couple of years ago about Developmental Evaluation that has helped us to avoid this issue almost completely. The answer lies first in how you view your programming and ministries, and then in how you subsequently evaluate them and bring about change.

Generally life in the church goes like this: we set up and run ministries etc., with the goal of setting up what is the best way to do something. Somewhere along the line they get evaluated and possibly changed. Thus enters the potentially offensive language especially if it is something we inherited from those who came before us. To improve or do better implies that someone else didn’t do it as well, or that they made a mistake. It can appear that you are saying that you are smarter or better than the previous leaders.

But what if we viewed most of what we do as a process of continual development, where the very process is the outcome? What if when we started something, we already knew it would need to change because circumstances would change? Evaluation then becomes about determining the factors that have changed and require adaptation. From a developmental perspective change is not necessarily an improvement or progress, it is simply adaptation.

This is not just about semantics but a deep down shift in how we view what we are doing, how we evaluate our activities and what went on before. Here at WBC we are doing some major “renovations” on our structure. Since we view what was done before as the best for that time we are not placing ourselves in a position of judgement. We can genuinely praise the past and simply seek change because so many factors are different. We also feel freer not to have to get it perfect—we are developing too.

This does not mean we don’t speak of things being wrong, bad, or biblically incorrect. We have and will continue to do so when necessary. It is just that most of the time what we do and seek to change doesn’t fit those categories. They are simply programs and procedures that are in a constant state of development.

See the article: Patton, Michael Quinn. Evaluation Practice (JAI Press) 15, no. 3 (1994): 311-319 @ https://www.abp.org/abpwebsite/r3p/pre-read/Patton.DevelopmentalEval.pdf

Ron Seabrooke is pastor of Outreach/Teaching at Wallenstein Bible Chapel in Wallenstein Ontario. www.wbconline.ca. Ron and his wife Win have been involved in ministry for over 25 years. They served as missionaries for 10 years in the Middle East and in church planting in Ontario before coming to WBC in 2006. Ron is currently working on his DMin in leadership at Tyndale University/College.

A question that shapes our activity in the Downtown Windsor Collaborative is imagining what the Lord would change if he moved into our neighbourhood. Each street varies in its needs and the downtown has a diverse set of people, industry, and socio-economics. However, there are common denominators, and we sense that God gives us direction through the United Way’s Community Wellbeing Report of 2009. The document shapes the strategies of organizations receiving UW funding. It has focused agencies in their activities. The summary identifies five priorities for a healthy community, including basic needs such as housing and food, health, children, employment, and revitalized neighbourhoods.

Our efforts of renewing the city are shaped by addressing these priorities. One of our strategies that we are currently working through is using social enterprise to provide employment training, while establishing a presence in the business core.

We are working with the University of Windsor’s Business School in developing a business plan for opening an eatery at a recently closed location in the business district. In the eatery will be a training school for kitchen staff. After completing a six-month course, our network will help in finding long-term employment in the food industry. Participants will come from those currently on Ontario Works.

In addition to this school at the eatery, we have longer-term objectives of being a positive presence and citizen of the downtown business district, establishing a missional Christ Community tethered at the eatery, and being a launching pad for creative engagement of the population living in the core.

Our engagement takes place through informal relationship building, as well as intentionally planned programming. We anticipate the eatery, will be a “third place” (home is a first place, work is a second place) for the four nearby condo complexes and the numerous office workers in the core. Over an extended time, our staff will see relationships move from familiarity to acquaintanceship to friendship. We imagine our intentional programming will include gatherings bringing people together such as once-a-month cooking, games nights, Alpha, and The Marriage Course.

A critical principle in creative engagement is making it the neighbourhood’s turf. It will be incredibly gratifying to see the eatery become a gathering place for local residents, anticipating they will view the restaurant as “their neighbourhood place.”A second principle in this experiment is exploring creative ways of funding ministry. We are building this based on a business that we hope can provide ongoing operational cash flow. The initial capital investment to launch will be a donation.

This week we are negotiating the lease costs and time frame. This will be critical for ensuring operational sustainability. The project might not proceed if unprofitable. But the exercise of defining successful objectives and creative engagement has been invaluable and can serve us well in future endeavours.

Bob and his wife Margo, launched and serves through the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative – building friendships that renew the city – one neighbourhood at a time.
www.bettertogetherwindsor.ca http://lifebettertogether.blogspot.com/

A couple of times the tops of telephone poles deceived as they crossed the road and concealed a sharp bend. So I approached this curve in the snow banks extra cautiously, all the time wishing that I could see what was around the bend.

My caution was justified. As I rounded the curve I saw a red flare and one of those emergency triangles—just in time to carefully apply the brakes. But my caution wasn’t enough. To avoid colliding with the road grader that was stuck in a drift in front of me, I had to bury my Volvo in the snow bank just short of the grader.

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to see around the corners? Or to be able to see in the dark? Not likely in this life, but there is One who can do both.

F.B. Meyer tells of approaching a narrow harbour mouth in the dark as a passenger on a boat. Meyer became alarmed that the captain was not slowing down even though the harbour mouth was a rocky and dangerous. When he challenged the captain about his lack of caution, the captain pointed out three lights on shore. If he approached in a way that the three lights were lined up, he knew that he was heading into the harbour safely. He could proceed confidently and at speed.

Meyer, never one to miss an application, likened the captain’s wisdom to the wise Christian. There are three lights believers can use to guide them, even in the dark through dangerous passages. One of the lights is God’s Word. The second is the inward prompting of the Holy Spirit and the third is the wise counsel of trustworthy followers of Christ. Without all three lined up, it is not safe to proceed through the dark or dangerous passages of life—at any speed.

So what is the corner you can’t see around? Is it plans for a ministry initiative? Is it trusting someone to assume more responsibility? Is it financial uncertainty because of offering levels? Is it understanding what season your ministry is in? Perhaps it’s about a move, or family issues or whose counsel to take when the not everyone agrees.

As leaders, we need to be serious students of God’s Word and stay close to Him so that we can experience the guidance of the Counselor that Jesus promised in John’s gospel. We also need to surround ourselves with brothers and sisters who will tell us the truth and hold us accountable.

It may be a time to stay put, to reconfirm the lights or simply to wait for the lights to line up.

Whatever your situation, trust Him who can see around corners and in the dark.

Bruce Fournier is the Executive Pastor at Lincoln Road Chapel in Waterloo, Ontario and a founding VMC board member. His interest is helping people become all they can be in Christ. He and Beth, parents of five grown children, enjoy grand parenting and working together at Lincoln.