How Sharp is Your Sword? (March/April 2011)

Howsharp is yoursword?

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MISSION: To ignite and equip men to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ – resulting in homes, churches, workplaces, communities and nations impacted and shaped by the grace of God through the lives of men.

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contents

march – april, 2011

on the cover march – apr il 201 Newssta nd Price 1 CDN $4.9 5

Put on the full armour!

How sh arp

is your

SEVEN takes a stab at encouraging the manly art of practicing spiritual disciplines. A group of skilled practitioners reveal what armour the well-dressed Christian man should be sporting, and what accessories he should be carrying.

sword?

Publisher: Brian Koldyk Managing Editor: Doug Koop Pulse Editor: Robert White Associate Editor: Jerrad Peters

advertising account executives:

features 14 How sharp is your sword?

Holy man Kirk Bartha, CEO of an oil company, knows — and trusts — the Bible.

18 Keep your pants up Wearing the belt of keeps us covered in all the right places.

17

Suit up for spiritual combat

19 Brave men wear helmets

WILLIAM LEIGHTON: william@christianweek.org DARRELL FRIESEN: darrell@christianweek.org JIM HICKS: jhicks@christianweek.org Unless otherwise indicated, neither ChristianWeek nor Promise Keepers Canada guarantee, warrant, or endorse any product, program, or service advertised.

editorial advisory board KIRK GILES: Promise Keepers Canada JEFF STEARNS: Promise Keepers Canada PHIL WAGLER: Gracepoint Community Church SANDRA REIMER: Reimer Reason Communications DOUG KOOP: ChristianWeek Distributed by

promise keepers canada

21 Watch out for flaming arrows 23 Beautiful feet of peace 22 Hang on for the ride Following Jesus means more than chasing adrenaline rushes.

1295 North Service Road PO Box 40599 Burlington, ON L7P 4W1 (905) 331-1830 subscriptions@promisekeepers.ca Postmaster: Please send address changes to PO Box 40599, Burlington, ON L7P 4W1

24 Pray from the Heart

ISSN 1916-8403

25 Uncovering ancient rhythms of daily prayer

Cover Image: iStockphoto

departments

columns 5 PK Podium Connect the dots

8-12 Pulse Curious events. Interesting people. Good ideas.

6 Man to Man No more “men’s ministry” 26 Money Matters Learn to live within your means 27 Out of My Depth Mapping the interior

13 Reviews Find the better way 28 Power Play Tools. Toys. Technology.

30 What Women Want It’s the little things that count

SEVEN is a Christian magazine for Canadian men that exists to help men lead more fulfilling lives and leave enduring legacies.

The name reflects the seven promises that form the basis of the Promise Keepers organization, which works with churches to minister to men across Canada. one – A Promise Keeper is committed to honouring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer,

and obedience to God's word in the power of the Holy Spirit. two – A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises. three – A Promise Keeper is committed to practising spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity.

Editorial and Advertising Office 204-424 Logan Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3A 0R4 Phone: (204) 982-2060 (800) 263-6695 admin@christianweek.org dkoop@christianweek.org Design: Indigo Ink Studios www.indigoinkstudios.com

four – A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection, and biblical values. five – A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of the church by honouring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources.

six – A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity. seven – A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (see Matt 28:19-20).

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PK Podium

Connect the dots Men are apt to isolate faith from other areas of life. Not good.

by Kirk Giles

Bill and Pam Farrel wrote a book called Men are Like Waffles, Women are Like Spaghetti. The basic premise, as it applies to men, is that men have a tendency to segment or isolate their life into boxes and miss how one thing connects to another.

This was once again proven to be accurate during a recent survey conducted

by Promise Keepers Canada about the spiritual health of Canadian men. This survey was directed towards men who have been connected in some way with the ministry and allowed men to rate themselves on a scale of one to 10 on various aspects of spiritual life.

When asked to score themselves on the statement “I have a good and growing relationship with God” respondents gave themselves an average score of 7.38 out of 10. However, when asked to score themselves on other statements that relate to the original, the scores were lower. For example, “I regularly enjoy times of prayer” scored a 6.64 while “I regularly spend time reading the Bible” scored an average of 6.40.

This raises the question of how someone has a good and growing relationship with God without talking to Him or allowing Him to talk to them.

When it comes to living out this relationship with God, we continue to see the segmentation in men’s lives.

On the statement, “My sexuality is only expressed to, with

and for my wife,” men gave themselves an average score of 8.71. However, on the statement, “I do not look at any form of pornography” they scored 7.37.

Again, this raises the question, how can a man look at pornography and still say that his sexuality is only expressed to, with and for his wife?

Perhaps the most interesting picture that shows there is a broad gap between what we sense is happening spiritually in our own lives and what is actually taking place came in the very final statement in the survey. In responding to the statement, “I intentionally seek to invite others to become followers of Jesus Christ,” men gave themselves an average score of 5.63. This raises the question of how can we be growing in our relationship with God without actively following Jesus in His mission to make disciples.

There were encouraging signs in the survey, though, as men scored themselves well in family relationships and an increasing commitment to practically showing God’s love to those in need.

As we move forward, one of the great battles we face as men is segmenting our faith. When that happens, we tend to become comfortable with our sin. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all that we are and everything we have. We will truly have a growing relationship with God when we see that everything we do is connected to our spiritual life and our walk with God. Together, let us move forward as men who view all of life as an act of worship to Him. Kirk Giles is the president of Promise Keepers Canada. He and Shannon have been married for 15 years. They are the parents of four children, ages 7-14.

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man to man

No more “men’s ministry” When considering ministry to men, what you call it is important

by Rick Verkerk

Can I be very honest and admit something? I don’t like the term “men’s ministry.” There it is. I’ve gone public.

Now let me explain why.

When I hear or read this phrase, it is usually in reference to a church program that has no identity or relational content, or is the title used for an activity involving a few men but that really has nothing to do with ministering to them.

For many years now, I have been involved in “men’s ministry.” Quite frankly, at the local church level, it’s a dismal failure. Although there are vibrant men’s ministries in some churches across Canada, this is the exception and not the norm. Too many men, both lay leaders and pastors, have invested countless hours in trying to implement men’s ministry programs, only to experience defeat and disillusionment.

One reason it consistently fails?

The phrase “men’s ministry” scares men.

That’s right! When we hear or read “men’s ministry,” we shudder. The first word— “men”—immediately gets our attention because we’re guys (so it’s not referring to anybody else). But then there’s that word “ministry.” We relate the word to qualified individuals who can minister (such as pastors) and “that’s not me.”

Since most men think they are unqualified to minister to anyone or in any form, the combination of these words makes them feel uncomfortable.

Men have no problem with titles like “children’s ministry” or “youth ministry” because it does not directly affect them.

But when it comes to “men’s ministry,” it’s different because it’s about them.

Men like to know what’s involved, what’s

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expected and more before they consider participating or even attending. Often a “men’s ministry” program is left open ended and undefined. If there is even a sniff of potential risk or a number of unknowns, avoidance is always the safest route for men.

So what do we do? First, we need to stop using the phrase “men’s ministry” in our verbal and written communications if we really want to see more men growing in their faith. The correct phrase is “ministry to men.” Admittedly, even I use the “men’s ministry” term as a shortcut in verbal discussions. It’s just more convenient. But if we remove the phrase, we immediately remove one of the first barriers to seeing men ministered to.

Eliminating the phrase does bring a new challenge. If it’s not “men’s ministry,” then what do we call it? It has to be identified in some way.

Pastors and the lay leaders who form the leadership team could call it “ministry to men.” Yes, it takes longer to say, but it really defines what you are trying to accomplish which is ministering to the men of your church. If you use this phrase, you will be focused on how whatever you are discussing relates to the men of your church instead of being a process.

In his book, Why Men Hate Going to Church, author David Murrow points out that men follow men and are not interested in the process. He makes a good argument for this and it’s actually very true. If we are constantly using the term “men’s ministry,” which men interpret as a process, then we are not connecting with them because they are looking for other men—not a process—to

follow. Once your communication is focused on ministering to each man, they will pay attention. It won’t happen overnight but it will happen!

Ultimately the purpose of any ministry to men in the church is to help men grow spiritually so they can minister to others— ministry through men. The first step to attaining this objective, though, is to focus on how men can be ministered to so they grow in faith.

Which brings us to finding a good title for the men of your church to identify with.

The few vibrant “ministry to men” groups that I know have male-friendly names.

The Fort McMurray Fellowship Baptist Church, for example, has its Hit Men (HHonesty; I=Integrity; T=Transparency).

Others I like include “Band of Brothers,” “Iron Man,” “Journeymen” or MAFIA (Men At Faith In Action). None have the word ministry as part of their title. Get the drift?

Want to start or reorganize a ministry to men at your church? I suggest getting a copy of the book Mobilizing Men for One-on-One Ministry, by Steve Sonderman.

It is a comprehensive how-to on man-toman ministry and a “must read” in my opinion. Or, how about hosting a PK Canada “Grow Your Men, Grow your Church” workshop in your community? Contact me about this if you are interested.

Rick Verkerk is the national manager of events and field ministry for Promise Keepers Canada.

He supervises all PKC events and leads field staff in representing the organization to communities across Canada. Contact him by email at rick@promisekeepers.ca or phone 905.331.1830 ext. 30.

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pulse

Curiousities. Personalities.

Ideas. Information.

by Robert White PULSE Editor

CANADIANS ADDICTED TO THE WEB The survey says: Canadians log more time on the Web and social media, including Facebook and YouTube, than any other nation.

The measurement company comScore says around 68 per cent of Canadians routinely surf online, compared with 62 per cent in France and Britain. Close behind is 60 per cent of Germans and 59 per cent of Americans. The laggards are Italians, where only 36 per cent of the population goes online.

Web-addicted Canadians average 42 hours a month Websurfing, up from 40 hours in 2009. And they view an average 147 videos a month on YouTube and other online video websites.

Around 17 million Canadians, or 51 per cent, have Facebook accounts. Canada has a vibrant Twitterverse, with about five per cent of the traffic following homegrown pop idol Justin Bieber.

Despite Canada’s web-addiction, Canadians still lag behind Americans in their embrace of so-called “smart TV.” Netflix only recently entered the Canadian market. Google TV and Apple TV have yet to break through north of the border.

The delay is due in part to the country’s TV watchdog debating whether to regulate the Internet as major cable and phone carriers steadily buy up major TV networks, such as Bell Canada’s purchase of CTV.

GOING ON A DATE? THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT Love is patient, love is kind, Paul taught us—but it shouldn’t be boring. That’s why Jason Ballard and Josiah Peters want to bring creativity, originality and fun back to the Christian dating world.

The two B.C. residents created their first iPhone and iPad app: DateBank, a collection of date ideas, focusing on fun, humour and creativity.

“Dating shouldn’t be an endless parade of dinners and movies,” says Ballard. “We love hearing about awesome dates, and we wanted to share them. DateBank collects those date ideas and gives couples a great resource.”

Ballard, 22, has been friends with Peters for 10 years and has been married for just over a year. A Simon Fraser grad, he’s a Christian speaker and youth worker in the Lower Mainland.

Peters, 24, is single, and a local designer.

“DateBank will help any couple, whether you’re going out for the first time, or you’ve been married for years,” says Peters.

“Dating can get formulaic after a while, but there are ways to inject creativity into your relationship.”

Ballard and Peters convened a team of date brainstormers, and then brought in Jordan Bateman, a writer, wedding chaplain and Langley Township Councillor, to write the dates.

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study suggests they also contain a mysterious compound that influences the feelings of those around us, reports the Globe and Mail.

“We’ve found there’s a chemosignal in human tears,” says the study’s senior author, Noam Sobel, a neurobiologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Researchers collected tears from a group of female volunteers.

They also trickled saline down the faces of the same women and collected the droplets for comparison purposes. In a series of experiments, male volunteers were exposed to the tears as well as the saline.

When asked to sniff both liquids, the men reported neither had a discernible odour. But, at a subconscious level, real tears caused a sharp drop in testosterone levels and a marked reduction in sexual arousal.

High-tech scans confirmed less activity in the part of the brain normally associated with sexual arousal when the men sniffed the tears. That didn’t happen when they were exposed to just the saline. Tears sent out a chemical signal the woman isn’t sexually receptive at that moment—and men seemed to get the message.

“I believe chemosignalling plays a much larger role in human behaviour than we’ve assumed,” says Sobel.

MODERN MEN COULD BE WUSSIEST BOYS IN HISTORY

Bateman, 34, celebrated his 10th wedding anniversary last year, and dug into his bag of relationship tricks to both add several date ideas of his own and write more than 20,000 words of great date suggestions, strategies, tips and plans.

“A great date is one where you discover something about one another,” says Bateman, who has officiated the wedding ceremonies of more than 100 couples. “Being in love is the greatest thing in the world, and if DateBank can help, we’ll be very happy.”

After rave reviews from almost 100 beta testers, the DateBank app launched in October and is available now in the Apple App Store. Regular updates are planned, including seasonal and holiday date packs.

TEARS A TURNOFF FOR GUYS Tears are more than just tiny droplets that roll down our cheeks when we’re feeling blue or stricken by grief. A landmark

Peter McAllister, an Australian paleoanthropologist and author of Manthropology: The Science of Why the Modern Male Is Not the Man He Used to Be, says men today are weak, gutless, dimwitted shadows of their past selves, reported The Toronto Star.

McAllister says his initial attempt to write a testament to the virtues of contemporary man ended in failure once he looked at the data.

“I discovered it’s impossible to write a book about the superior achievements of modern males, because we haven’t made any,” he says. “From battling to boozing, babes to bravado, there’s nothing we can do that ancient men, and sometimes women, haven’t already done better, faster, stronger and usually smarter.”

Physically, we’re weaker than our historical brothers—and many of our historical sisters, too.

“We’re much less engaged as men in the physical, emotional and intellectual environment than we’ve ever been before,” says McAllister, a professor at the University of Western Australia.

“Men in the past had such a struggle for existence it really sharpened their abilities.”

Maybe the strength of today’s men is in the beauty, not the brawn. But, says McAllister, we’re even weak at being weaker.

“Beauty-wise modern males have had advantages no

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pulse

prehistoric man could have dreamed of, yet we still managed to blow it and wind up looking like the ugly stepbrothers,” McAllister scoffs.

And our sexual bravado, it seems, is a product of wildly optimistic self-delusion.

While the modern male is more sexually attentive to his female partner, our average of a couple-of-times-a-week frequency would be considered near abstinence to some earlier male cultures.

Pacific Islander males got busy as much as thrice nightly, research shows. Even men in their late 40s there hit it three times a week—more than double European men in their 40s today, McAllister says.

The state of modern mankind isn’t merely our problem.

It belongs to our sons, McAllister says.

“By inducing our sons to follow in our own less-than-glorious footsteps we’re sentencing them to a lifetime of brittle bones, weak tendons and softened bodies and brains. We do our children a real disservice by imagining them as incapable as we ourselves are.”

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CBMC LIVES TO SERVE BUSINESS PEOPLE The CBMC has lived to serve business people and professionals for another day. The November/December issue of SEVEN reported how Christian Business Ministries Canada (CBMC) had decided to decided to return to its roots of working solely with business people.

About eight years ago, the CBMC and Corpath joined forces to serve business leaders. But about two years ago they realized the two ministries served completely different groups in the business community.

CBMC worked mainly through local teams championed by a local leader. Over lunch or breakfast the Business Leader Groups (BLG) or City Teams met to pray for the business leaders’ needs.

The Corpath Forums allowed business owners and senior-level executives a chance for some peer-to-peer sharing during five-to six-hour meetings.

At CBMC’s June 2010 board meeting, two goals and an October 15 deadline were set: to recruit five new board members and raise a minimum of $40,000. New chair Derek Dutka says the board has welcomed five new members.

“But we didn’t quite reach our desired financial target,” says Dutka, although enough was raised to pay off past debts.

“A small base from monthly donors will cover our small budget.

We’re moving ahead.”

Dutka, who became involved with the CBMC in the early 1990s, says the board’s next task is “clarify and simplify what CBMC is, focussing on our original tenets.” He also says recruiting younger members is key and wants to see a few groups—either existing or new—with an average membership age of under 50.

“I’m happy to report that on the board there are a couple of us in our mid 50s, one in his 60s and three who are 45 and younger,” says Dutka. “We want to tie more into the younger mindset to find out what they need, what they find attractive.”

GEN EX-ODUS: WHY YOUNG ADULTS ARE LEAVING THE FAITH Former New Man magazine/website editor Drew Dyck has taken a look at why young people are leaving the church. His new book, Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith…

And How to Bring Them Back shares what he found and the best ways to help steer friends and loved ones back.

In an interview on www.newmanmag.com Dyck described six categories of “leavers” and suggestions for drawing them back to Christianity: Post-modernist: Someone who rejects Christianity because its exclusive claims and moral absolutes are too hard to accept.

“There’s one benefit to post-modernists. They’re likely to care about marginalized people, such as the poor. Jesus has a lot to say about that, so that’s a great place to start the conversation.”

Recoilers: People with a deep hurt or psychological scar that made them leave.

“With recoilers, the best thing to do is get them to trust you,” says Dyck. “If you can identify with their pain and understand their story, you can make a big breakthrough.”

Modernists: Care deeply about rationality and reject any truth outside the scope of science to be myth.

“If you can answer questions intelligently about the reliability of Scripture or the case for the resurrection, you have a much better shot.”

Neopagans: Both people who are literal pagans and for whom the earth is the primary focus of spirituality.

“When talking to neopagans, one of their big frustrations is that Christians accuse them of devil worship. They don’t believe in a traditional Christian God and Satan, so avoid that.”

Rebels: People who want to indulge in sinful passions like alcoholism, sex and partying, and drop their faith because their conduct and their creed don’t match anymore.

“A lot of the people in this camp have a deep desire for risk and adventure and view church as boring,” says Dyck. “By showing them how the gospel is radically demanding and exciting, you're much more likely to get somewhere.”

Drifters: Just kind of stop coming to church and over time tend to drift away. They’re not mad, and maybe intellectually they still believe, but they’re just not into it anymore.

“Getting these people involved again is the key. They like to go with the crowd. My grandpa used to say people learn spiritual truth through atmosphere, not arguments. That’s especially true with drifters.

“This generation is really the first to grow up in a primarily post-Judeo-Christian culture. It’s not the norm anymore to just take your family to church. Don’t turn a blind eye to this, because people think they’ll come back automatically, but I don’t think they will.”

NCMM CHANGES NAME, KEEPS ACRONYM An American umbrella organization for ministries to men— including Iron Sharpens Iron, Men’s Fraternity and Man in the Mirror—has changed its name. The National Coalition of Men’s Ministries (NCMM) is now known as the “National Coalition of Ministries to Men.” The new name reflects the broader and growing interest in men’s discipleship among members who aren’t just serving men.

“Many organizations that help disciple men wouldn’t think of themselves as ‘men’s ministries,’” says NCMM president David Delk. “Traditionally, ‘men’s ministries’ has connoted a narrow view of activities and programs exclusive to men. ‘Ministries to men’ recognizes many other types of ministries—those with couples, families and youth—have a tremendous impact in men’s lives.

“Every ministry which seeks to help men grow as disciples is a ministry to men,” Delk says. “Many of our members serve a broader constituency. The new name more accurately reflects the collective mission of our members.”

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Darrel Billups, newly-appointed NCMM executive director says, “The NCMM is undergoing a lot of exciting changes right now. The board felt this is best time to introduce a name change. The new name is ideal because it retains the NCMM identity that’s widely known while more accurately reflecting our membership.”

KING JAMES BIBLE’S 400-YEAR REIGN The King James Version of the Bible turns 400 this year.

Also known as the “Authorized Version” because of a titlepage declaration that this Bible was “authorized to be read in churches,” it’s topped the bestseller list for centuries. Since approved by England’s King James I, an estimated one billion copies have been printed.

“You can’t appreciate English literature unless you are to some extent steeped in the King James Bible,” says atheist Richard Dawkins in a video released by the King James Bible Trust in England. “There are phrases that come from it—proverbial phrases that echo in people’s minds.”

Those phrases include: “my brother’s keeper,” “salt of the earth,” “give up the ghost,” “scapegoats,” “an eye for an eye,” “casting your pearls before swine,” “scarlet woman,” “writing on the wall” and “the blind leading the blind.”

Geof Morin, communications director for the American Bible Society, says the KJV is “still relevant” in the age of Twitter and Facebook. The ABS will host a King James Bible exhibit later this year, The KJV has it origins in a contentious 1604 meeting at Hampton Court palace. At the time a young James VI of Scotland, newly crowned as James I of England, tried to iron out differences between the Church of England and the Puritans.

Seven years later, the KJV was presented to King James I.

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The title page stated it was “newly translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.”

Actually the KJV drew more on an earlier English version, says Larry Stone, a former vice president at Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Stone has also authored The Story of the Bible, a new history of the Scriptures published to coincide with the anniversary.

Thomas Nelson has mounted a major campaign to promote the KJV, with a website, www.kjv400celebration.com, and national marketing campaigns. The firm is also working with the History Channel to promote the anniversary.

Despite language changes and continued research, the KJV still retains a great deal of authority, says Alister McGrath, head of the Center for Theology, Mission and Culture at King’s College in London.

“The KJV is a surprisingly reliable translation, even though some minor translation changes are necessary on account of advances in our understanding of the manuscript tradition over the last 400 years,” says McGrath, whose 2001 book In the Beginning was a history of the KJV’s development.

reviews

Find the better way THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN BEFORE WE GOT MARRIED

By Gary Chapman The bestselling author of The Five Love Languages is back with a book of practical advice for couples, ideally read together before marriage. “Before you plan your wedding, plan your marriage,” he advises.

Each of the book’s 12 chapters highlights a particular aspect of what it takes for a married man and woman to live well together. He wishes he’d known, for example, “that apologizing is a sign of strength,” “that forgiveness is not a feeling” and “that toilets are not selfcleaning.”

Chapman devotes a chapter to explain how personality affects behaviour— that the way each person is wired will have a big impact on their life together. Things sloughed off as idiosyncratic while dating can become major irritants in a marriage. The issues he raises and the solutions he recommends will help couples right-size their expectations of each other. It will raise flags. “After all,” he writes, “a broken engagement, while painful, is not nearly as painful as a divorce three years later.”

CLOSING THE WINDOW: STEPS TO LIVING PORN FREE

By Tim Chester Porn is a feature of our era that must be confronted by Christians, says author and church-planter Tim Chester. “We have a generation of young people for whom the call to repentance must include a call to turn from porn.” The epidemic of porn in our society is direct result of permissive attitudes toward sexuality and the advent

of the Internet.

Porn is readily accessible, anonymous and affordable.

And countless Christians are deeply entangled.

Chester’s book begins by identifying a dozen good reasons to quit porn.

But the bulk of his message is a call to freedom from such sullied expressions of human sexuality. He provides biblically based strategies to help release people from the grip of porn, showing them a better way. “We need to look beyond the frame not only to see the ugliness of porn, but to get a biblical vision of beauty, sex, marriage, singleness and above all the glory of God,” he writes.

SURRENDERED AND UNTAMED: A FIELD GUIDE FOR THE VAGABOND BELIEVER

By Jason Clark Are you ready for some stories?

Transplanted Canadian Jason Clark delivers a high-octane ramble through the experiences of a soul sold out to God. Security is not much of a consideration in his life choices; trust in God leads to exciting places. Life is full, difficult and wonderful, and he believes that more Christians should travel this way. “The surrendered and untamed message is pretty simple,” he writes. “To the extent that we surrender our lives to God, we are

free to live untamed. Living untamed means that we are free to chase down dreams, free to believe and wildly step out in risk. Essentially, it is our surrender that releases us into this freedom. And it is this freedom that allows us to fully live out the promises God has placed within every one of us.” Jason invites the rest of us to confront our fears and develop a brave heart, to join him as fellow travelers “learning to believe in greater measure.”

THEY FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS: THEY DIE LIKE CHILDREN

By Romeo Dallaire Canadian military hero Romeo Dallaire is the tortured general who stood bravely in the gap during the Rwandan genocide while the rest of the world turned its back and tied his hands. He has witnessed the darkest, most sordid, most evil aspects of humanity. But the thing that really, really galls him is the destruction of innocence when children become warriors. “The ultimate focus of the rest of my life is to eradicate the use of child soldiers and to eliminate even the thought of the use of children as instruments of war,” he says.

Dallaire’s most recent book gives eloquent voice to that mission. He takes readers on a journey into his own soul and then describes for us the horrible darkness that turns children into weapons systems. It is chilling. It is evil. It is happening more than we can imagine because children are in surplus supply in many areas, they are expendable and easy to control.

Something must be done. Things can be done.

Dallaire issues a clarion call to concerted action to banish this evil from our planet.

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features

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Billy Graham knew something important happens when a preacher confidently and repeatedly proclaims, “the Bible says….”

It was a message the famed evangelist was unafraid to take into any arena, including an early 1960s address to the Harvard Law School Forum. There, in the intellectual bastion of legal precision, Graham revealed how “The Bible tells us that God took the initiative…

“The Bible indicates that this God has revealed Himself in a person, and that person is Jesus Christ…. When I was a student, I had to face Christ... One day, by a simple act of faith, I decided to take him at His Word… Here’s a man who comes on the scene and says, ‘I am the embodiment of all truth. All truth is wrapped up in me, centered in me!’”

The Bible. The Bible. The Bible.

I learned at least five things during the 10 years I worked with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. First, prayer was a part of every person and project. Second, they showed a contagious and unbridled enthusiasm for unity and solidarity within the whole Church. Third, I witnessed unprecedented, open-handed and rarely noticed expressions of financial generosity to others. Fourth were the relentless reminders to focus on the person and Word of Jesus Christ.

And finally, the preacher in the pulpit would repeatedly proclaim, “The Bible says…”

Forged in eternity At the recent U.S. National Prayer Breakfast, Randall Wallace, screenwriter of Braveheart and Secretariat, said to those gathered, “I'm a storyteller like Jesus… [As a writer] I wanted to tell the kind of story that would let a young man know who his ancestors were, and who he might be.”

From Hollywood to Jerusalem, men of God committed to opening their Bibles have always been aware of the tension between the often-misleading troubadour chivalry of masculinity and the fiery sword God commands His angels to wield.

It began in Eden when, because he disobeyed, Adam was banished from returning to paradise by an angel standing guard with a sword (Gen. 3:24). There in Eden, the crushing war between words and seeds began (Gen. 3:15). When the Word himself finally arrived in person, Simeon let Mary know that a sword would pierce her own soul too (Luke 2:35).

Be it at the gates of Eden or among the gnarled olive trees of Gethsemane, the Sword of the Lord has always been hammered down into the fiery shards of His own destiny (Jer. 23:29, John 12:24, Isa. 2:4).

Forged in eternity, the Sword of the Spirit— the very Word of God—is the most dangerous weapon in the arsenal of heaven (Eph. 6). Why? For one thing, He is capable of plunging deeply personal into the labyrinth of the human heart (Heb. 4).

Invitation to grace In The Word of God and the Word of Man, Karl Barth observes that “There is a river in the Bible that carries us away, once we have entrusted our destiny to it... the invitation to dare and to reach toward the highest... is the expression of grace...”

I recently witnessed this expression of grace in my eight-year-old daughter. Bree was curled up in a big comfy chair by the fireplace, enjoying a bit of quiet time. With her Bible in her hands, she took a deep breath, relaxed into the sacrament of the present moment, and asked God what she should read.

After a few moments of silence, Bree mumbled herself through the pages, arrived at a destination, pondered thoughtfully—and then began reading aloud, becoming more and more amazed with every word.

Eyes afire, Bree burst out, “Dad, in Mark 10, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.”

In simple faith and quiet amazement, Bree knew God was speaking to her about being with Him, about His kingdom belonging to her, about her entering

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His presence, about Him receiving her, laying His hands on her and blessing her.

Bree understood the treasure she’d found. She squeezed her Bible close to her heart and giggled with joy. My eyes and heart welled up in the promise of my daughter’s faith, as she enjoyed the proclamation and presence of her God. Why fall on your sword?

Over the years, I’ve witnessed many men shoot their way out of the first two chapters of Genesis only to get bogged down in the labyrinth of John’s Revelation—all the while missing the One in the middle, the Sword of the Spirit Himself. Why do so many men fall on their swords avoiding Him? When he stood uncomfortably in Saul’s armour, David had no romantic longings to hoist Goliath’s sword, or Saul’s. To young David, the Sword of the Lord accompanied a smooth pebble through the air.

To Moses, the Sword of the Lord etched

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Ten Words onto tablets of stone. To Elijah, the Sword of the Lord brought drought, water and heavenly fire upon a saturated sacrifice. To David, Joshua, Gideon, Elijah and many others, the Sword of the Lord’s Word was often followed with swords of steel.

Getting back to the sword references in Ephesians and Hebrews, the cardinal rule of heavenly swordplay is that what is written interprets what is already written, which means there is no way around the One who wrote it all, had it all written upon Himself, to turn around and write it all down upon all of us—in His own blood.

Hosea 6:1 calls out: “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” The apostle John saw a sword coming up out of the King’s throat (Rev. 1:16), rallying ranks, teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training—while His enemies increasing became a footstool under His feet (Ps. 110:1).

The enemy within When Paul told the Ephesians that their struggle was not against flesh and blood, it seemed to put the battle outside of the Church. We can easily preach that stuff, “The enemy is out there, stand firm!”

But the writer of Hebrews brings the battle home, and turns the sword toward our dark hearts, which according to Jeremiah, are desperately wicked things and beyond cure, incomprehensible (Heb. 4:12; Jer. 17:9). The Word of God— “sharper” than a sword—lays all that is within wide open.

Ephesians 6 and Hebrews 4 take the Word of God in two important directions—toward the heavenly realms and toward our own hearts! We are not our own judges. Not one of us is the Judge of the whole Earth. We can’t stop either thundering blow, unless of course we choose to walk away from the Word of God. Even so, the Word eventually hunts us all down (in person) and wrestles us into submission (Gen. 32:24). It was—and is— for us to deal with the fact that God was born a man. From His first breath, God has had a distinct human voice for those who have ears to hear (Isa. 6:9). Do you know His voice (John 10)?

In John 3:34, Jesus taught: “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.”

In Isaiah 49:2 the Servant of the Lord testifies: “He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.”

Notice that the Servant of the Lord is sharp, polished, hidden and concealed.

His authority comes from the Spirit, but is hewn and battle-hardened in the wilderness to be revealed in the fullness of time.

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Suit up for spiritual combat In C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Caspian and his men approach the unsuspecting guardians of the castle of Narrowhaven, “Though their armour was in a disgraceful condition, these were fellows who might have fought if they had been led or had known what was happening; so this was the dangerous moment. Caspian gave them no time to think.”

Surgical scalpel The Sword of the Lord already has us outflanked. As those who bear His Name, we must bend our proud necks and hearts to the surgical scalpel of His Word. Then, in simple obedience, we must go to everyone He sends us to, and say whatever He commands us to say (Jer. 1:7-10), clothed in the armour he expects us to wear (Rom. 13:12).

As James 4:7-8 teaches, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

God’s double-edge through every doublecross and double-mind is the only way to His throne, His armory, His table and His garden.

A big reason why so many attempt to preach the power of the cross and fail miserably at it is because they attempt to wield the power of the cross rather than submit to the legal Conqueror of it.

Without the declaration of the plumb line of righteousness, there is no outworking of the measuring line of justice. Same cornerstone; two distinct lines (Isaiah 28:17)—a vision of the cross, a well-balanced sword, thrust into the earth, never to be removed and proclaimed in the Spirit’s power until He comes!

Kirk Bartha (twitter: kirkbartha) is an oil company executive with a grand spiritual vision outlined in his recent book, Clairvaux Manifesto. Discover more at www.clairvauxmanifesto.com

by Bill Hogg “Hawaii Five-0” is must-see TV in our household. We enjoy the idyllic scenery and the shoot-ups and car chases. Often, when getting ready for a show-down, McGarret and Dan-o step out wearing bullet proof vests. Kevlar jackets never seem to go out of fashion for contemporary crime fighters.

In ancient Rome, Kevlar was not de rigueur; a soldier wore a protective breastplate around his chest to protect his heart and vital organs from enemy attack. With this in mind, Paul exhorts us to don spiritual heart protection. He tells the Jesus community in Ephesus to suit up with the breastplate of righteousness.

Paul recognizes the spiritual battle that rages around us is actually a battle for the heart of a man. All of life is a spiritual combat zone and we need divine protection to guard our hearts (see Proverbs 4:23 ).

Wearing the breastplate of righteousness means living with fierce faith and full confidence in the finished work of Christ!

Freedom from striving, performing, posturing and measuring up and bold access to God is freely available because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice. Jesus lived the righteous life we cannot live and died the death that we deserve to die. Because of Jesus’ loving life of full obedience and His atoning sacrifice, God declares the undeserving sinner justified, fully and finally accepted, acceptable and righteous.

Scripture has good news for repentant rebels and scallywags: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God”( 2 Cor. 5:21). A glorious exchange took place—Jesus took our sin, death, judgement and hell upon Himself and God has declared us righteous for Jesus’ sake. God has reckoned us righteous for Jesus’ sake to live free of shame and condemnation. You have been righteous-ified by the blood of Jesus.

Satan’s choice assault weapons are shame, accusation and condemnation. You cannot resist the enemy on your own merits— your righteousness is a pile of filthy rags. We stand before God and resist Satan, our accuser, knowing Jesus paid it all. His righteousness is our foundation. Because of what God in Christ has done for us we are declared righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).

This glorious truth insulates and liberates us from the fiery accusations of the evil one. “...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

So, gentlemen, suit up with the breastplate of righteousness!

Bill Hogg is lead pastor at Gracepoint Community Church in Surrey, B.C. Discover more at www.gracepoint.ca

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Truth

actually does matter

Put on the belt of truth.

by Joseph John Boot

The Christian faith gives us a totally unique and the only coherent understanding of truth. In Scripture, truth is not a philosophical abstraction floating somewhere in the immaterial ether, a subjective taste, or an individual epiphany. Truth is simultaneously absolute, relational and personal.

How is this possible? Jesus said, “I am the truth” (John 14:6). That is a direct claim, not simply to uniqueness, but to a divine status as the second person of the Godhead. Absolute, relational and personal truth is only possible because God is absolute, personal and relational in the eternal community of the Trinity. He is both the eternal subject and the eternal

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object—both one and many. Without this foundation, truth cannot have any absolute or final referent. Only God can claim to be the ground and embodiment of all truth and this is precisely what our Lord claimed for Himself.

What is more, because God is Trinity and thus has distinction within His being, and because human beings were made in His image, the incarnation was possible and unveils the historical nature of truth, without undermining its abiding, eternal character in the being of God (John 1: 1-4, 14). That is, truth was not born with Jesus Christ (John 1:14), since the Son of God was and is from all eternity; rather it was fully manifest historically in Jesus as John

tells us, “grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1: 17). Truth, then, is absolutely real, intensely personal and relational simply because God is all these things!

Men and women can know the truth (relational context again) in Christ and His Word that is made real to us by the person of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised would lead us into all truth. Christ is the logos of God and His every Word is truth.

Jesus links truth and life in John 14:6: He is truth and life. Without truth there is only meaninglessness and death. This is why Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”

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Brave men wear helmets

by David Arrol Macfarlane

(Matthew 4:4). We can only know life by the truth, which is Christ. As John tells us, “in him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).

Thus, when we are called upon by Paul in Ephesians 6 to put on the belt of truth, the invitation is, in fact, to put on Christ.

Indeed, all the elements of the armour are aspects of putting on Christ Himself. In Him, Scripture tells us, “all things consist” (Colossians 1:17) and in Him, “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid” (Col. 2:3).

The picture of the soldier’s belt helps us to appreciate that to hold everything together coherently in our lives, and to be ready for the conflict that we face as

Many U.S. states do not require motorbike riders to wear helmets. We see “tough macho men” ride bareheaded or with little skull caps that pretty much guarantee that their face and brains will be spread like butter all over the highway if they are ever in a serious crash.

The Bible tells us that Christians should wear helmets.

Ephesians 6 says “Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…Take the helmet of salvation...” Even if we are not that smart, our brains need to be protected! For a Christian man this “helmet of salvation” guards attitudes, motives and thoughts where Satan most often defeats us. Here are some reasons why you should never leave home without the helmet of salvation.

First, it gives men hope so in the middle of stressful battles they find strength as they remember that on the cross, Christ triumphed for their salvation.

Second, when tempted to sin, a protected mind helps men resist as they recall that God will not allow them to be tempted beyond what they can bear. Finding a way of escape they go on to live successfully keeping their integrity.

Third, when discouraged, tired or weak, a mind protected by this helmet gets a second wind and men are able to get back on their feet knowing that Christ will never leave them.

Fourth, when spiritual doubts bombard them, helmet wearing Christians will remember how they encountered Christ’s transforming power at salvation and cling tenaciously to their faith.

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Without this helmet of salvation, Christians will default to focussing on themselves and keep silent about the good news of the gospel. But helmetwearing men will live with courage and integrity the abundant life Jesus talked about and leave an eternal legacy in the lives of all they encounter.

David Arrol Macfarlane is director of national initiatives for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada.

Discover more at www.davidamacfarlane.com

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Truth

actually does matter

Christians (2 Cor. 10: 3-6), we must put on the truth of Christ. All elements of the armour are relevant and we should not exalt one over the other in importance or be too “subtle” in our explanations. John Calvin made a very important observation about the armour of God: “We must not, however, inquire too minutely into the meaning of each word; for an allusion to a soldier’s kit is all that was intended.

Nothing can be more idle than the great pains which some have taken to discover why righteousness is made a breastplate instead of a girdle. Paul’s design was to touch briefly on what was chiefly required in a Christian man...”

As we put on Christ, we put on His armour and this includes truth as a belt.

This encompasses truthfulness—what the psalmist describes as “truth in the inward being” (Ps. 51:6)—and the truth of the gospel that has been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit. “Because the Christian has accepted the truth of revelation and is now indwelt by the risen Lord, who is himself the truth, his life has truth (or reality) as its basis and he displays the consistency of character that springs from it.”

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In our contemporary culture, truth has been reduced to “truths” and meaning to “meanings” because belief in the absolute, personal God of Scripture has been largely jettisoned for practical atheism—God is dead for me. Many Christians have misunderstood the existential subjectivism and isolation of our time as an unequivocal attack on the idea of truth, when in fact it has often been a desperate and hopeless attempt to salvage a semblance of truth and meaning from the vortex of the abyss.

If man is really the only god, and must thus define truth and reality for himself, then only what I think is real is finally real— or as the German philosopher Hegel put it, “the rational is the real.” If there is no personal God relevant to my life then I have the horrific burden of being my own god, confronting the void of chaos and choosing a course of action for myself. All truth and meaning is thus derived only from what I do—since there is no meaning inherent to human life, as established by God, and no one can impose their truth about reality onto me.

This is the mood of our time—the lust for godhood based in the illusion of absolute freedom. Yet Scripture is clear that, despite our strident objections, the

truth about God’s being and moral nature (and our own status as creatures with a moral nature) is in every person’s heart; the challenge is that the unbeliever suppresses this reality in moral rebellion against God (Rom. 1 and 2).

This means that as we put on the belt of truth in readiness to share the gospel of peace, we are appealing to a basic reality already known to men and women: that they are sinners in rebellion against God. The armour of the warriors of peace is necessary because men and women will defend their self-delusions and, with the aid of spiritual powers, will seek to propagate vain philosophy and false knowledge that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Our task is to recognize the conflict and enter it in faithfulness to God, and in the knowledge of God’s superior fire power—His Word! Paul calls attention to the spiritual nature of the conflict and our armour: “The weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every highminded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10: 4-5).

To put on our spiritual armour,

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including the belt of truth, means that we must take the truth of the gospel to be a “first order” fact; that is, we cannot apply human standards of truth to the gospel in order to determine its truth value. Rather we must recognize that without the Christ of Scripture, there can be no truth, no light and no life. This means, further, that to compromise the message of Scripture is a betrayal of Christ and the truth, which weakens or diminishes the revelation of the gospel through our life and witness.

We cannot take spiritual and intellectual strongholds and make peace, if our armour is in disrepair or missing.

On the contrary, our witness will lack integrity and our presentation and defence of the faith will fall apart around us.

Simply put, the belt of truth involves readiness to be instructed by God’s Word, not sit in judgment over it. We must know our faith, believe it and live in terms of it.

We cannot possibly “contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all” (Jude 3) if we do not know the nature of our story or have any confidence in its truthfulness.

Truth is historical, in the person of Christ; it is subjectively encountered by each person, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us; and through this indwelling we are bearers of the truth. Truth, like the belt in a soldier’s armour, secures a person; when the belt was fastened, it was to convey that the soldier was alert and ready for battle. Similarly, when we fasten ourselves to the truth, we are alert, we are ready for battle with the lies this world and the devil wants to pass off for the real thing. If we abide in Christ, we will abide in His unconquerable truth; and we will not be defeated.

Watch out for flaming arrows

by Darryl Dash

It was probably the coolest thing I’d seen in church. One Sunday night they showed a movie based on John Bunyan’s allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress. I can’t remember much of the movie, but I can remember the scene in which Apollyon attacked with his flaming darts. This was long before movies like Gladiator, and it’s stuck in my mind to this day.

Of course, Bunyan got the idea for the flaming darts from the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Suddenly I’m not enjoying the image as much anymore.

Paul says we need the shield of faith in all circumstances.

In essence, he’s saying we’re in constant danger of attack.

Those flaming darts could come at any moment, and we’d better be ready. They’re not just any flaming darts either. They’re from the evil one. It’s a thrilling idea for a movie scene, but this is no movie. This is the life of a Christian.

They say that Paul was thinking of the large rectangular wooden shields that Roman soldiers would carry. The fronts of these shields were made of leather, which would be dipped in water before battle so that the flaming darts would be extinguished. As troops closed ranks they would hold their shields together and were practically invulnerable to any flaming arrow that came their way.

That’s exactly what we need today. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised when the arrows come; Satan’s playbook hasn’t exactly changed much over the centuries. It seems the defense hasn’t changed much either. Faith is simply laying hold of all of God’s resources when under attack, remembering that He’s given us all that we need.

I shouldn’t be surprised when the arrows come. I just need to remember God’s given me everything I need to survive the attack.

Darryl Dash has been pastor Richview Baptist Church in Etobicoke, Ontario, since 1998. Discover more at www.dashhouse.com Joseph Boot is the senior pastor of Westminster Chapel in Toronto and founder of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity. Discover more at www.westminsterchapel.ca

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Hang on for the ride Following Jesus means far more than chasing after adrenaline rushes.

by Tom Roes

The headlights from the truck showed only water where the road should have been. The roar of great breakers crashing onto the beach filled the night air. Neal, our friend and driver, assured us the water wasn’t deep. This happened regularly along this stretch of the road.

We were following the shore of the Indian Ocean along the southwest side of Sumatra. The coastline had actually been shifted by the huge earthquake and tsunami 10 months earlier, on December 26, 2004, which meant that at high tide the road ended up submerged for a few hundred metres.

It was at that point that I started to wonder what we had gotten into. After working for five years in Central Asia, my wife Lynette and I were seeking God’s leading for what we should do next. After wrestling with several ideas and options we joined a team that came together to help the people of Aceh, Indonesia rebuild

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their lives. This was our first day.

Neal was correct. The water wasn’t more than knee deep and the truck should have had no problem navigating the submerged roadway. However, in his hurry to get us safely to our destination, Neal drove a bit faster than he should have.

Water sprayed up into the engine, stalling it. No amount of turning it over could convince it to go again. We were stuck. At night. With our three kids. Even praying didn’t seem to be helping.

We decided that at least we could push the truck the 30 metres to where the road rose out of the water. I had thoughts of poisonous snakes as I removed my shoes, rolled up my pants and stepped into the calf-deep water. But we managed to get to higher ground without incident. And then we waited. And prayed some more.

After a short time we could see the headlights of another vehicle coming up behind us. Our prayers were answered

when it stopped to see if we needed help.

In the ensuing conversation, of which I understood nothing, our need was communicated and a solution developed.

The solution involved attaching our vehicle to the rear of the other vehicle using what can only be loosely described as a rope. Then they would tow us the 10 kilometres or so to our destination. With no alternative we prayed some more and sat back while we were hauled along at speeds that seemed much higher in the dark than they actually were, stopping only for the military checkpoint (picture soldiers with machine guns).

We did indeed arrive at our destination safely. But that drive highlights for me what being a follower of Jesus is all about.

I admit that part of me enjoyed the adrenaline rush of that experience. But part of me also felt the discomfort of losing control of my own safety and that of my family. I don’t like being out of control.

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Beautiful feet of peace

by Jamie Arpin-Ricci

The gunshot shattered the silence that sunny afternoon as my wife and I relaxed in our living room. For a few moments, we stared wide-eyed at each other. Gunshots are not unheard of in the inner-city neighbourhood we call home, but a daytime shooting so close to our home was a first. In that moment, I faced a choice: stay in the safety of my house or put on my shoes to see if anyone needed help. “...Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15).

I especially don’t like it when my family is at risk and I can’t do anything except trust someone else.

Radical commitment to following Jesus means far more than chasing after adrenaline rushes for Jesus. He calls us to give Him control of every part of our lives and trust Him to look after us. Actually it is like admitting that the engine of my life is flooded beyond hope of running again, attaching my life to His and hanging on for the ride! Your journey may not take you to the jungles of Indonesia, but I promise it will be better than you could plan for yourself.

After five years in Central Asia, and 16 months in Indonesia, Tom and Lynette returned to Southern Ontario in 2006 where they live with their five children along the shores of Lake Huron. Tom is a part-time pastor at Kingsfield, and also runs a portable sawmill.

We put on our shoes when we are going somewhere.

The gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to go into the entire world with His message of salvation and hope. However, in the history of God’s people, we have not always brought “good news” with us, and certainly not the gospel of peace.

Paul powerfully demonstrates the paradox of the gospel by call us to put on armour—the garb of warfare—yet when he gets to the part of us that brings us to our enemies, he calls us to put on peace. In this way we see that the gospel is by no means passive or weak, but powerful and effective. However, it is not the power of the world, but one of true peace.

That afternoon I found that a friend had been shot in the leg in a gang-related shooting. He was loaded into the ambulance and recovered perfectly. Yet, stepping out that door into the threat of violence was only possible because I deeply believed God was with me, giving me a peace which would carry His love to the world—if I chose to put on my shoes and go.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’”

(Isaiah 52:7).

Jamie Arpin-Ricci, CJ, is a writer and pastor of Little Flowers Community, an inner-city church plant in Winnipeg, MB. He is the author of the forthcoming The Cost of Community: Jesus, St. Francis & Life in the Kingdom (IVPress, November 2011). He blogs regularly at www.missional.ca.

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Pray from the heart God simply asks that we talk to Him

by Brad Jersak

As an advocate and practitioner of crafted liturgical prayers, I am also keenly aware of the importance of spontaneous prayer, bursting from the depths of the soul.

What are we to make of these raw and unrehearsed stammerings, composed in the moment?

To begin, they need not be beautifully composed or theologically “proper” presentations to the Almighty. Rather, they represent the heart-to-heart intimacy we see in some of David’s Psalms—“Why me?” and “How long?” or even “Where are you?” Jesus, too, frequently broke out in cries of joyful thanksgiving or tearful anguish to His heavenly Father.

These texts model for us what it is to “get personal” with God—that He values our willingness to come out from behind our facades of propriety and our fig-leaves of shame to “be real” in His presence. The ego, ever concerned with appearances, is bankrupted so that the “new self”—the

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heart that Jesus gives us—can come before God, naked in dependence on His favor and grace. Somehow, this is faith: to allow God to see me as I am, without preening, and to know that He loves me.

In Romans 8, Paul admits that we don’t really know how to pray as we ought anyway. We don’t even need to because, he adds, God’s indwelling Spirit intercedes for us, and even groans through us in spontaneous prayer. The Father then searches our hearts for these moanings, knowing exactly what they mean and affirming them as the very will of God. Finally, Christ promises the New Covenant people that those who call on Him can expect an answer. Our prayers are potentially much more than rehearsed and repeated monologues for the sake of public worship or private spirituality. They can be so much more than a religious technology for manipulating God into

giving us our way and our wishes, as if faith were a vending machine.

Rather, if we wait and listen, expectant for a response, we might find that God is interested in transforming our devotional lives into interactive conversations with a living Friend who has promised to live in us and be with us forever (John 14-16).

Liturgical prayer is no hindrance to spontaneity or heart-felt communication with God. But neither are your briefest exclamations of praise or plea. In either case, God simply asks that we pray and promises to both listen and answer.

Brad Jersak is an author and teacher based in Abbotsford, B.C., where he attends Fresh Wind Christian Fellowship. Discover more at www.bradjersak.com

Uncovering ancient rhythms of daily prayer

by Arthur Boers When he was a young adult, Arthur Boers’ 17-year-old sister died of leukemia. Torn by grief and unable to understand how God could allow such a terrible thing, he found himself unable to pray. Then a friend introduced him to the practice of using a prayer book for daily prayers. It helped him, and started him on a journey to learn more about daily prayer. Here he shares some of his thoughts on daily prayer with John Longhurst.

What is daily prayer?

Common daily prayer is the practice, or discipline, of praying every morning and evening, using a set of prayers being used by other Christians around the world. In the more liturgical traditions, this practice is variously called the “daily office,” “divine office,” “common prayer,” “liturgy of the hours,” “morning and evening prayer” and even “fixed-hour prayer.”

What is the history of daily prayer?

It goes back to the Old Testament, where Jews prayed two to three times a day. In the Psalms we read: “In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (5:3); “Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice” (55:17); and “At midnight I rise to give you thanks” (119:62).

The early Christians followed this practice, gathering daily to pray in the temple and in their homes (Acts 2:46).

Since there were no clocks back then, they prayed at the third, sixth and ninth hours— the third hour was after sunrise, the sixth was in the middle of the day and the ninth came after sunset.

How did this practice of daily prayer come to an end for many Christians?

Part of the blame lies at the feet of “professional” Christians in the Middle Ages. They made the prayers longer and more complex, making it impractical or impossible for regular people to use them.

Even clergy found them difficult to use; Martin Luther wrote that he couldn’t keep up with his daily obligations, and that he made himself sick trying to do it.

As well, since the practice of daily prayer was associated with the old, corrupt church that was overthrown by the reformers, many Protestants abandoned it.

Today, some evangelicals and other Protestants don’t do it because it has been associated with Catholicism. Plus, some Christians believe that extemporaneous prayers are more authentic than written prayers.

How did daily prayer become important to you?

When I was a young adult, my prayer life was not able to withstand the untimely death of my 17-year-old younger sister and only sibling, Margaret. Prayer became very difficult for me. While coping with that grief, I was first introduced to the possibilities of using a prayer book to help me pray. It helped, and that discipline has stood me in good stead ever since.

Being able to pray in that way reminded me to trust that God is active, even when I cannot discern God’s activity or even feel God’s presence for a long, long time.

Why is it important for Christians to set aside some time every day to pray?

We live in an era when our notion of time has shifted pretty dramatically. Today time is almost meaningless; we can shop or work anytime we want. This is good, in some ways, since we are no longer tethered to a clock. But it’s also a burden— now we are tethered to our work. This way of praying teaches us to reclaim a rhythm of engaging with God, and releasing things to God, on a regular schedule.

With all the busyness in our lives, it is easy to get off balance and forget our relationship with God. By making a commitment to pray at certain times, we can keep our spiritual balance, and remind ourselves that God is central to our daily activity.

How can praying written prayers like this help Christians with their prayer and devotional lives?

Written prayers can help you focus, direct your attention and expand your imagination for what you pray about and whom you pray for. It can challenge us to

pray beyond our comfort zones—to pray for more than only ourselves, or our family and friends.

It also helps when we find it hard to pray, or don’t feel like praying. During times of crisis, or when you can’t pray, it’s an anchor. When you don’t know what to say, the prayers help you verbalize the thoughts and ideas that might be hard to express.

There’s also something powerful about knowing that you are joining others around the world in praying the same prayers or for the same things. It’s a way of expressing solidarity with the wider church, and also of not feeling alone.

What is your goal with this book?

The way I like to describe it is to say that I want to help people uncover the practice of common daily morning and evening prayer. It has never really been lost, of course; lots of Christians still practice it. But many others have misplaced it, perhaps even buried it.

Distortions, misdirected emphases, misguided priorities, and even good intentions went wrong—these have gradually covered up and reworked the original genius of morning and evening prayer.

Yet it remains there in the roots of Christianity, even within Protestant traditions. What is required, then, is not to find, invent, or discover something new.

Rather, we have the gift and opportunity to encounter what is already there and to claim it as a potential legacy for all Christians. It is part of our heritage, and it can still be a great blessing.

My hope is that readers will join me in exploring what happened to such prayer, and then see its potential for renewing our spiritual lives, and enriching the life of the wider church.

Arthur Boers holds the R. J. Bernardo Family Chair of Leadership at Tyndale Seminary in Toronto. Day by Day These Things We Pray: Uncovering Ancient Rhythms of Prayer is available from Herald Press.

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money matters

Learn to live within your means Budgeting helps you make the best use of God’s gifts

by Paul Emerton

1. Determine your available monthly household income.

“Available” income means your aftertax income, not your gross salary or earnings. You can find this number on

newsflash: men read reach them with your ad message in seven.

seven – issue seventeen march – april, 2011 page 26

your pay stub or most recent tax return.

If you operate on a non-fixed monthly income, use a yearly average divided by months.

2. List monthly expenses.

To help you determine your actual spending, it’s helpful to record all your expenses, right down to vending machine purchases. Then divide these into one of two categories—fixed or variable expenses. Fixed expenses are items that don’t change much from month to month, such as contributions to your church, your mortgage payment and insurance premiums. Variable expenses are items that fluctuate over time.

They are expenses over which you have more control, such as food and entertainment costs.

3. Compare income versus expenses.

If your income is greater than your total expenses, you have a positive net household income. You only have to continue to monitor your expenses to ensure you effectively manage what God has given you by continuing to live within your means and work towards your goals. However, if your expenses are greater than your income you will need to bring your spending into line by examining your “budget busters.”

Canada East: William Leighton Ph 866.229.6397 william@christianweek.org

4. Combat your budget busters.

Budget busters are problem areas that can ruin the best-laid financial plan if they are not addressed. These include purchasing big-ticket items such as housing and vehicles. Many people are motivated by peer pressure (especially in this era of relatively low interest rates and readily available credit) to buy items they simply can’t afford.

As Christians, we need to ask: “How much is enough?” You can identify your personal “budget busters”—and overcome them—by answering these questions: • “Where is my money going?”

• “Why do I overspend in these particular areas?”

• “What am I willing to do to prevent this overspending?”

A realistic household budget can help you track your spending and manage your finances efficiently. It can help you determine whether you’re living your faith and making the best use of God’s gifts.

Paul Emerton is a Certified Financial Planner and Trainer at FaithLife Financial. For further information call 1-800-563-6237, email moreinto@faithlifefinancial.ca or visit www.faithlifefinancial.ca

Canada West: Darrell Friesen Ph 800.263.6695 darrell@christianweek.org

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Canadian households are spending more and saving less. That’s the word from a recent Statistics Canada report. And according to the Bank of Canada, we are piling on debt more than twice as fast as our income is growing. This is not good.

How can Christians learn to avoid the influences of a materialistic society that encourages us to live beyond our means?

How can we enjoy what we’ve earned and prepare for the future, while still meeting our responsibilities—faithfully serving God with our tithes and offerings?

The answer is budgeting.

God wants us to live well. He provides us with the tools to build a good life—a job, skills and knowledge or the ability to learn them. But we don’t own these resources. We are “stewards” or managers of these gifts. Our job is to make the most of what we’ve been given, not only for our own benefit, but also to further the Lord’s work. Budgeting can help us do that by allowing us to become more organized, gain financial control and grow our resources.

Here are four steps for building your budget.

Out of my depth

Mapping the interior Maps record our histories, guide return visits and point us to new frontiers.

by Phil Wagler

Maps intrigue me. It’s fascinating to learn where people settled and why they gave particular names to those crossroads and deltas. Sadly, with our growing dependence on GPS systems to cheat, map reading may be a skill forced into extinction. This may have more dire consequences than we think. Maps record our histories, guide return visits and point us to new frontiers. Dots, lines and letters on a page reveal what has shaped us and the convoluted roads we and others have tread.

The Plains of Abraham. Queenston Heights. Dawson City. Vimy Ridge. Bay Street. Walkerton. Mayerthorpe. The names alone tell a story. Marks on a map invite us to take a journey into the soul of a people. Outdated maps uncover the ever-changing ebb and flow of human geography.

For instance, why did the Ontario city of Berlin, where sausage and sauerkraut are staples, change its name to Kitchener?

Whatever became of Frobisher Bay? Look internationally and Leningrad is no more and the 2008 Summer Olympics weren’t in Peking; and yet they were.

Curious, isn’t it?

Explorers like David Thompson are fascinating and most young males imagine mapping wild interiors like he did. Once upon a time, some friends and I mapped a scavenger hunt that took participants around our township by car.

All they had to do was follow our clues and directions. Many left. Few returned.

Of those who managed to straggle across the finish line no one actually completed the hunt as charted. The reason: we had made a grave error in our mapmaking.

At a crucial intersection we had sent

people left when they needed to turn right. We were no David Thompsons.

Navigating the contours of our own interiors can be, similarly, full of good intentions yet marked by utter failure.

There are diverse locales in a man’s heart that even he, homo-erectus-who-needsno-mapus, is hesitant to explore let alone lay down a path for others to follow. Like a closed country, we do not easily open ourselves to the outside world. We can be our own North Korea.

Recently this became personal. A conflict awakened things in me I thought I had moved beyond. Apparently there are “further up and further in” lands in me I am unfamiliar with. I hardly knew what

Navigating the contours of our own interiors can be full of good intentions yet marked by utter failure. to do with this uncharted terrain. Where did these emotions come from? Why is this bothering me so much? Lord, cartographer of my heart, what is going on? I could hardly put it into words. Ever been there? Ever been too scared to travel down that dark lane?

This most recent mapping of my interior required some means of grace.

I required the grace of Scripture. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” croons Psalm 119:105. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” instructs Paul in

2 Timothy 3:16. The ancient Word has taken so many on surprising and transforming internal journeys and it happened to me again too.

I needed the grace of companionship.

Every Lewis needs his Clark. Every Lewis and Clark needs a Sacagewea. We can’t map the interior alone. Many claim to have tried, but I’m convinced that’s just a line of buffalo chips on a trail to nowhere.

Saying you’re okay and you’ll go there alone is a big smokescreen to hide fear of back roads. I needed a mentor and friends.

I needed my wife. Through their words, listening ears, wisdom, prayers, embrace and rebukes, I found my way again.

I found rest in the grace of the incarnation and the resurrection.

Everywhere you go, there you are. So goes the irritatingly pithy yet nonetheless true declaration that I can’t escape myself.

Thankfully and gloriously, I can’t escape the risen Jesus either. Everywhere I go, He is. He knows all about mountains, valleys and even agony in a garden. He was tempted in every way as I am. God Himself knows what is true from false in me and still He calls me “Son” because I trust Him. For those afraid of what lives in the back country this is enormously hopeful and frees the boyish explorer to venture into the interior that the fearful man risks cutting off from the outside world.

Phil Wagler is proud to be Jen’s husband.

Together they have five kids and are enjoying travelling the road marked out for them as they serve the mission of Jesus in beautiful British Columbia. He is author of Kingdom Culture: Growing the Missional Church.

seven – issue seventeen march – april, 2011 page 27

power play

Great games. Great toys.

Great gadgets.

Reviews by Sandy McMurray

MOTOROLA ATRIX

YEAR ROUND SLED

www.motorola.ca

icesled.com hammacher.com/Product/79484

The Atrix from Motorola is one of the most interesting devices shown at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show. Yes, it’s a powerful and versatile smart phone, but it’s more than that. Connect Atrix to an HD monitor, HD TV or laptop dock and it doubles as a lightweight computer or media centre. You can use Atrix to manage your files, photos, and e-mail, or browse the Web using a large screen and full keyboard. When you’re done, undock and put it in your pocket. It’s what WebTV could have been, and it’s a smart phone as well. Atrix runs on Google’s Android 2.2 operating system, has dual core speed and supports Adobe Flash. Available accessories include a laptop dock, a vehicle dock and a multimedia dock.

The Motorola Atrix is available exclusively in Canada from Bell.

CREDIT CARD LIGHT miniinthebox.com

The pocket card light from Doulex is a handy tool for travelers. This tiny nightlight is slightly larger than a credit card and folds up to fit in your wallet. To light up the built-in LED, just fold the “light bulb” insert upward. To turn off, fold it back down. You can use it any time, anywhere.

The card light requires a 3V battery (included). The light is not very intense— it’s really more useful as a nightlight than as a flashlight—but it’s very portable.

Available in multiple colours but just one size: small.

As spring approaches and the snow melts, you might think it’s the end of sledding season. Not so fast! Slicer, the year-round sled, makes it possible to enjoy sledding even when it’s hot outside.

In winter, Slicer works like any normal sled on a snowy hill. Its smooth contoured shape and low profile runners are great for packed snow as well as deep powder. The double-walled, unibody design can absorb bumps with riders up to 200 pounds. When the weather gets warmer, Slicer brings the ice to the hill. Slicer comes with two plastic ice molds that attach to the bottom of the sled. To prepare for your warm weather sled adventure, remove the ice molds, fill with water, then freeze ‘em. When re-attached to the bottom of the sled, the ice molds reduce the friction between the ground and the sled (especially on hotter days that encourage melting). The end result is about half an hour of snowless, seasonless sliding.

PORTABLE RECORDING STUDIO ikmultimedia.com/irig/features

AmpliTube iRig is a clever gadget that turns an iPhone (or iPod touch or iPad) into a mobile guitar amp and effects rig.

Plug your guitar or bass into the iRig, then connect the iRig to your iPhone. Once connected, just launch the free AmpliTube app (included) to manage the effects using touch screen controls. You can mix

and match sounds as desired, adding whatever amps and effects you want. AmpliTube iRig can handle up to 11 stomps, five amps, five cabinets and two microphones. If you want more you can upgrade to the full version of the AmpliTube software for $20.

Additional effects can be added later for about $3 each.

IK Multimedia, the company that makes iRig, also makes a condenser microphone accessory (iRig Mac) and a microphone stand for iPad (iKlip). iThink that’s enough about that.

FRIGITS FRIDGE TOY think-of-it.com

Frigits is a creative building system designed for your refrigerator—no iPhone or apps required. Create a roller coaster for marbles using your imagination plus the specially made chutes, funnels, rails and spinning buckets. Plan your contraption, position the magnetic pieces, then let the marbles go at the top and watch them tumble and roll along the path you created. Frigits inspires the Rube Goldberg in both young and old but it’s not just an award-winning toy. The contraptions you make with Frigits are great for learning basic scientific principles such as simple machines, forces, inertia, kinetic energy, and (of course) magnetism. The Frigits Deluxe kit includes two serpentine rails, two swinging buckets, four straight rails, one ferris wheel, one catch box, one tornado, and 12 marbles. Frigits is for ages seven and up.

MOTOROLA ATRIX

AMPLITUBE IRIG

power play

WRAP A NAP wrapanap.com

Some people can nap anywhere, any time, without any help. The inventor of Wrap-A-Nap is not one of those people.

As a sleep-deprived college student, Chris Schenk found that hard surfaces, loud noises and bright lights got in the way of his need to nap. Necessity begat invention, and he came up with Wrap-ANap, the portable travel pillow you wrap around your head. You can use it as a pillow alone or pull it tightly over your eyes and ears to block out sound and light as well. Wherever you go, you can Wrap-ANap to drift off to dreamland.

EAT’N TOOL

IPAD ARCADE CABINET

crkt.com

thinkgeek.com ionaudio.com

A combined spoon, fork and knife closely resembling the modern “spork” was invented by Samuel W. Francis and recognized by US patent 147,119 in February 1874. What was the source of this idea? Perhaps Francis read about the “runcible spoon” in Edmund Lear’s poem The Owl and the Pussycat (published in 1871). Perhaps he just hated doing dishes.

I think we can safely assume that he was lazy in some way. Lazy and awesome.

Today’s lazy dishwashers are machines, not people. We’ve come a long way since 1874. If Samuel W. Francis were alive today, I think he would approve of the Eat’N Tool from Columbia River Knife & Tool. After a century of progress, modern man has moved beyond the primitive spork to create more awesome combinations of useful things. The Eat’N Tool is a spoon, fork, bottle opener, pry tool, screwdriver, metric wrench and carry carabiner. (Go ahead, look it up.) All kidding aside, the Eat’N Tool really is a useful, portable, lightweight gadget. It’s available in silver finish or with a food grade black nonstick coating, all for less than $10.

ALL-SEASON ICE SLED

CREDIT CARD LIGHT

When ThinkGeek announced the iPad arcade cabinet in 2010, it was an April Fool’s joke. Now, thanks to partnerships with game maker Atari and hardware maker ION Audio, this joke has become a real iPad accessory. iCade is a wireless dock and speaker system that turns the iPad into a retro video game machine.

The mini arcade cabinet comes with a fullsized joystick, arcade-style buttons, and built-in speakers. Just dock the iPad in the specially designed cradle, launch any compatible App, and you’re ready to play like it’s 1979. The Atari classic Asteroids is the first title announced with iCade support. ION promises “a huge suite of classic arcade game titles” will follow.

The iCade sells for $99 (approximately 400 quarters).

Sandy writes about technology in plain language at techstuff.ca

WRAP-A-NAP

What women want

It’s the little things that count True oneness isn’t built overnight.

by Sheila Wray Gregoire

One of my favourite movies is Gwyneth Paltrow’s Sliding Doors. It follows a woman’s life in two possible scenarios, based on whether she missed a particular subway train or whether she caught it just in time.

We often think that the pivotal moments in our lives are the big ones: when we propose; when we recite our vows; when we accept a job; have a child; purchase a house. But I’m starting to realize the really pivotal moments are far smaller—so small we may not recognize them.

Like Sliding Doors, one little decision can launch a chain reaction. Take a marriage, for instance. People don’t divorce just because one Sunday afternoon it occurs to them that the one they wed is a weasel. It happens gradually, by the little decisions that they make together.

He decides to start working harder to get that promotion, and it becomes easier to just grab dinner on the run rather than making an effort to come home. She becomes wrapped up in the kids’ lives, and when he does make it home, she’s preoccupied with their little ones. He forges strong friendships at work, where he spends most of his time, and shares with them his career goals. She meets some friends in chat rooms, and starts sharing with them her insecurities. Soon the only thing they talk about is the kids.

The relationship has faded. And yet it wasn’t due to any one thing; it was a series of small decisions.

As depressing as that scenario may be, though, the opposite is also true. When you want to watch a game, but put it aside because she obviously needs to talk, you build goodwill. When she thanks you for

seven – issue seventeen march – april, 2011 page 30

the work you do around the house, even when she wishes you would do more, she builds goodwill. When you tell the kids what a great mom they have, while she’s in earshot, even if the family has eaten take out for the last two nights because life’s been too chaotic to cook, you build goodwill. As we start to show love in the little things, we feel more kindly towards each other. And then, the next time you do something that would normally irk your spouse, she overlooks it because of the foundation of goodwill you’ve built up.

While that scenario sounds sunny, what happens if she’s not reciprocating in the kindness department? It’s not easy to reach out when the other person is pulling away. And when two people grow apart, quite often the blame does lie more heavily with one than the other. You may legitimately feel that she is neglecting your needs and feelings, or being too demanding. But that’s all the more reason to take that first step and change the dynamic.

With the Easter season upon us, I’ve been contemplating a verse that at first glance may not seem to have much to do with marriage: Romans 5:8. It says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” He died for us before we apologized, before we changed, before we showed Him any love at all.

And guys, I know it’s easy for me, as a woman, to point this out, but He asks you to act the same way.

Is it fair? Nope. But what has fair really got to do with it? Isn’t saving your marriage, and making sure you stay madly in love, worth it?

I’m reminded of an experiment that took place off of the Brazilian coast.

Two glass bottles were dropped off a ship simultaneously. One drifted east, washing up 130 days later off the coast of Africa.

The other drifted northwest, landing in Nicaragua 190 days later. They started in exactly the same place. They ended up half a world apart from each other.

Something similar is at play with our marriages. We can never drift together; we can only ever drift apart. When you’re not paying attention to the small things in your relationship, you won’t end up closer.

You’ll only end up separate, little by little, wave by wave, as different currents catch you. If you want to go through life in tandem with someone, you have to be intentional about those little things. Too many people ignore their relationships until a crisis hits. That’s a recipe for disaster. Instead, care for those little things when there is no crisis, and you’ll be able to navigate those choppy waters much better.

Are you up for the challenge? Can you decide to turn off the TV and help her with the dishes? Can you give the kids a bath?

Can you kiss her even when she’s been standoffish? Or here’s the real test: Can you hold her, and snuggle, and then roll over and go to sleep peacefully, even if you’d rather the evening had ended much more vigorously?

Two people do not become strangers overnight. Likewise, true oneness isn’t built overnight. Through the little choices that we make, we can gradually choose to let the gulf grow wider and wider, or we can turn toward each other. So in the little things, what course will you choose?

Sheila is the author of the upcoming The Good Girl’s Guide to Sex (Zondervan). You can find her at www.SheilaWrayGregoire.com.

PK@Home Resources for your daily walk…

SEVEN Magazine

Men of Integrity Devotional

World Class Speakers Audio

Men. God. Life.

A Christian magazine for Canadian men.

Relevant, exciting and biblical.

Especially written for men, personally challenging, eternally rewarding.

Available in a 60 Day Booklet or a daily e-devotion.

Make the most of your commuting time by listening to these inspiring messages on the critical issues in your life.

Available in a CD or MP3 download.

Visit www.PromiseKeepers.ca to receive your copies.

seven – issue seventeen march – april, 2011 page 31

Life insurance is a gift that keeps on giving ...

Life insurance is a simple solution that gives future generations a step up in life and allows you to give a gift that locks-in a child’s insurability star ting at an early age. And depending on the type of life insurance you choose, you may be able to build cash values in the policy that the child can access when he/she becomes an adult.

FaithLife Financial is a financial services company with a difference.

We offer a financial portfolio including competitive and affordable insurance and investment solutions that help you build a more secure future, plus we reach out to Christian communities and charities you care about.

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