Penn of Denn

One Million Dollars

2012-02-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

If you were buying a microwave and vacuum cleaner from Wal-Mart, would you try and pay for your $476.00 purchase using a million dollar bill? Probably not, but police say Michael Anthony Fuller insisted he could pay for his vacuum cleaner and microwave oven with a $1-million bill.

Fuller insisted the bill was real but the problem is, that there is no such thing as a million dollar bill. Police later arrested Fuller and charged him with attempting to obtain property by false pretence and uttering a forged instrument. Apparently million dollar frauds aren’t as uncommon as you might think. Just this this past summer, a Pennsylvania man was charged with trying to use a fake $1 million bill to purchase marijuana. I wonder who complained?

We don’t know where Mr. Fuller obtained the bill, but he seemed to be quite convinced that his money was real and he was sincere in his belief, but that didn’t make the bill any more real.

There are all kinds of folks out there who will try to use the spiritual equivalent of a million dollar bill to gain eternal life, and it doesn’t matter how sincere they are in their belief, it won’t make their beliefs anymore real. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Staying Close

2012-01-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about the family in Ontario that is appealing the water bill that was received by their late father's estate? Apparently, when their dad passed away he left the tap running in the bathroom and it was three weeks and $586.44 worth of water down the drain before his body was found. Three weeks! I certainly hope that when (notice that I said “when”, not “if”) I die, that I will be missed by someone, anyone, in less than three weeks. I don’t want to be critical of a family I don’t know but three weeks is a long time for your absence to go unnoticed.

It did get me thinking about the impact that we have on those around us. The Bible describes our life as a morning mist, here and then gone, but even a morning mist is noticed by those nearby. Back at creation, God said “It is not good for man to be alone.” Not to live alone and not to die alone.

Is there someone important in your life that could be gone for three weeks before you realized they were missing? If so, why don’t you pick up the phone and give them a call today? Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Abandon Ship

2012-01-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

The Costa Concordia has been the focus of the news over the past few days. If you’ve been hiding under a rock, the Concordia is an Italian cruise ship that ran aground in Tuscany this past weekend. Initial reports point to human error for a tragedy that resulted in the loss of upward of three dozen lives, a half billion dollar cruise ship and the confidence of the cruise industry.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about problems with the crew and emergency procedures during the incident. Not to negate the loss of life but there were more than 4000 people aboard the ship when it started to take on water. Over 4000 people, and 99% of them survived. That doesn’t happen when an airplane hits a rock. Someone must have done something right at some point.
What was most bothersome were the reports and videos of adults pushing children out of the way as they rushed to get to safety. Adults who were more concerned over their priorities than the future of the children.
My prayer is that as Cornerstone continues to grow, that this generation never becomes so selfish that we willingly sacrifice the next generation for the sake of our own priorities and preferences. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Unseen Blessings

2012-01-11T08:52:00.001-08:00

I got up the other day and there was just a light dusting of snow on the ground. When I looked out the window I saw several set of tracks crossing the front lawn. On closer examination, I realized that they were deer tracks where several deer had crossed the yard sometime through the night.

My first thought was “Darn, I wish I could have seen them.” One of the joys of living in Kingswood is the opportunity to see wildlife, whether it is deer, rabbits, foxes or maybe even bears. My philosophy is: if you don’t like wildlife then you shouldn’t live in the woods.

Then I had an epiphany: it still happened even though I missed it. The deer were there while I was sleeping. It is so easy in our lives to think we haven’t been blessed because we didn’t actually get to see the blessing when it happened. Then, because we haven’t actually seen the blessings we assume they didn’t happen. But God doesn’t stop working just because we are sleeping or not paying attention.

Why not take a few minutes to look around today, you may not see the deer but you might see their tracks. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Priests with Brooms

2012-01-04T11:36:00.001-08:00

I’m not quite ready to leave Christmas yet, at least not in the Penn. Did you read about the fight that broke out in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity during the Christmas season? The Church of the Nativity is the church built over the site where some believe Jesus was born. The incident made the news around the world and there was even video available for those who wanted to see what actually happened. It wasn’t pretty. You see it wasn’t terrorists armed with bombs, it was priests armed with brooms.

That’s right. Priests and brooms! And the scuffle had to be broken up by policemen armed with batons and shields. The 1700 year old church is administered by rival groups of Greek Orthodox and Armenian Clerics who were cleaning the church in preparation for Orthodox Christmas which is celebrated on January 7^th. The two denominations share the administration of the church and speculation is that the incident was sparked by perceived encroachments on one group's territory by the other.

Bethlehem police Lt-Col Khaled al-Tamimi commented, “It was a trivial problem that... occurs every year, no one was arrested because all those involved were men of God.” Then they should act like it. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

What Next?

2011-12-28T06:23:00.001-08:00

WELL, CHRISTMAS HAS COME and gone and New Year’s Eve is just a memory. How are you feeling about 2012? Are you excited? Are you cautious? Are you simply resigned to it happening?

The reality is that, regardless of how we feel about the coming year, there is a very good chance that it is going to happen, with or without your permission.

We have very little control over the coming of the New Year. What we do have control over is how we react to the events of the next 365 days regardless of whether they are good or bad.

Ultimately it will be your choice whether you allow the events that come into your life to make you a better person or a bitter person. Others may determine what happens in your life, but only you will determine what happens in your heart.

So, as we bid farewell to 2011 and hello to 2012, let’s do so looking forward to the New Year as an opportunity to do great things for God and to allow Him to do great things for us. It’s a brand new year with brand new possibilities, if we are only willing to see them and claim them.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Keeping Christ in Christian

2011-12-21T05:36:00.001-08:00

You find truth in some of the strangest places. I was reading an article online a couple of weeks ago, Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell was interviewing atheist Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens who passed away last week, talk about “all dressed up and no place to go”, was the author of “God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”

Rev. Sewell, a liberal pastor, felt that the book’s criticisms were mostly directed at conservative Christianity and so she asked the author, “Do you make a distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?”

And Hitchens said and I quote, “I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that He rose again from the dead and by His sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

So, you would think if an atheist can figure that out it must be a fairly straight forward concept. The question then has to be: How come there are churches that would deny the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ and his atonement and yet still call themselves “Christian” Churches?

Maybe for some the challenge shouldn’t be keeping Christ in Christmas but keeping Christ in Christianity. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Come on Ring that Bell

2011-12-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

I said I’d do it and I did it. This week I volunteered with the Salvation Army to tend a kettle in the mall.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get a bell, so I downloaded an app for my smart phone. What says Christmas like a bearded fat man , wearing a Santa hat, shaking his phone next to a kettle?
And it was an interesting evening. I was surprised at those who wouldn’t meet my eyes, although maybe that had to do with the phone and Santa hat. I noticed that the majority of those who gave were over forty or under fourteen. Interesting. The gifts ranged from a few cents to a twenty-dollar bill and for a number of people it wasn’t the first time this year they had put money in a kettle.

And there were a couple of highlights. An older gentleman came over and offered to buy me a coffee, an obviously Muslim couple, (she wore a veil) wished me a Happy Christmas and a number of people thanked me for the work that the Salvation Army does in the community. Overall a good evening.

I said I’d do it. . . and I’ll do it again. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Hark the Herald Mall Muzic

2011-12-07T14:24:00.001-08:00

I heard it amongst the hustle and bustle of the season, in the commercial clamour of a shopping mall. My mind was a million miles away as I rushed about my day, and I really wasn’t prepared for it, but I heard it anyway. Above the busyness of the day, and through the fog of my daze, the words slowly broke through, “Oh come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

One of my favourite things about going into the Christmas season is knowing that for the next month the world will willingly do what they would have problems with the church doing; publicly and loudly proclaiming that Jesus is Lord. Songs of praise and adoration will be sung about Jesus in the most unlikely places by the most unlikely people, and they’ll enjoy it. I think that’s a hoot. What a great opportunity it is for believers to remind people what they are singing about and what they are celebrating.

The Angel told the shepherds “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone!” 2000 years later the news is still good, the joy is still great, and you will be somebody’s angel if you just take the time let them know.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

As Dependable as the Weather

2011-11-30T07:37:00.001-08:00

Penn of Denn

Awesome weather last week. On Wednesday we were digging out from 35 cms of snow and on Saturday I was in the city doing hospital calls and I had the roof down on my car. Gotta love Nova Scotia weather. If nothing else, it certainly gives us something to talk about. In one conversation someone said “The only thing you can depend on with Nova Scotia weather is that you can’t depend on it.” Which although a fairly innocent comment about metrological affairs would be a fairly scathing comment about someone’s character.

A very good question I would think would have to be “How dependable am I?” Jesus told us to let our “yes” be “yes” and our “no” be “no”. Is that a reality in our lives? Can people depend on us to do what we said we would do, when we said we would do it? And if they can’t then we have a problem bigger than strange weather patterns, it becomes a matter of integrity. And you can be assured people will talk about that just like they talk about the weather. I hope nobody will have reason to say “The only thing you can depend on with Denn is that you can’t depend on Denn.”

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Yesterday ended last night at midnight

2011-11-22T11:39:00.000-08:00

I am reading a novel about a man’s attempt to change the past. In this case he is trying to prevent the assassination of JFK. I know that time travel isn’t possible but it is just a novel. Although sometimes I wonder if we are on the bank, while the river of time flows by or if we are in the river that takes us past the banks of time? Thoughts like that are what make me Denn.

But the novel got me thinking.... which isn’t a bad thing. What would I change in the past if I had the chance? Have you ever spent time wondering about how you would change the past if you had the opportunity?

The protagonist in the novel is working under the assumption that the US would be a better place if Kennedy had lived and maybe it would have been. Or maybe it would have been worse, but we will never know. And we can never know for sure what would have happened if our past had been different.

I know I harp on it all the time but here it is again: we have no control over yesterday but we have control over tomorrow by the choices we make today.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Poor Me

2011-11-17T06:29:00.001-08:00

What a bummer of a day it was. First, when I was at Tim Hortons to finish things up for my Sunday message, I discovered I had lost my USB key that my nearly completed message was stored on. Then, as I made my way in the torrential rain, I pushed the wrong button on my key fob and instead of unlocking the doors, it opened the roof, so I had to go home to get changed and dry my car out.

The Community Remembrance Day service that I had helped plan had to relocate to the community centre and the size of the crowd was just too large for the facility we had. Bummer.

So let me recap. While I was enjoying a coffee that cost a day’s wage for many people of the world, I realized that I wasn’t able to put my message that I had prepared on my netbook, onto my laptop. Then, I inadvertently put down the roof on my convertible in the rain and had to return home to put on dry clothes from my closet- full of clothes. Then to top it off, we had way too many people show up for our Remembrance Day service. No wonder I was bummed out.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

2012 is almost here!

2011-11-08T10:28:00.001-08:00

I got my first look at a 2012 calendar the other day and, to my surprise, it went right up to December 31st! I checked every day in December and nowhere did I see a notation that indicated the “End of the World”. Then I realized that I was looking at “my” calendar and not a “Mayan calendar.” My bad.

In case you missed the subtle attempt at humour, according to some, December 21st, 2012, marks the end of the 5,125-year cycle of the Mayan calendar. So, what does that mean to us a year away? Well, depends on where you stand. For some it is indicative of a variety of doomsday scenarios, while others feel the cycle will just begin all over. I think they just didn’t get to the drugstore to pick up their new calendar.

And while we can make light of it, there will be many who take it very serious and want to make plans for the finale. While the Bible does tell us that this old world does have a “best before date” it also tells us that “today is the day of salvation.” And if you take care of that today you won’t have to worry about what’s in store for December 21st 2012.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

That's a Bad Idea

2011-11-02T09:18:00.001-07:00

That’s one of the dumbest ideas I’ve heard. In response to a number of deaths in the Valley, related to people mixing alcohol while abusing prescription drugs, the provincial government has responded with . . . an ad campaign.

The province wide campaign will include print and television spots warning people about mixing alcohol with their prescriptions. A typical knee jerk reaction. We have a problem so let’s throw money at it.

If people don’t know that it’s a bad idea to mix alcohol with prescription drugs or for that matter mixing alcohol with driving, marriages or child rearing, do we seriously think advertising will make a difference? “Wait, I saw a television ad and this could be a bad idea.”

Of course it’s a bad idea and they already know that. But I’m not sure that advertising the fact will make a difference. It goes back to people making bad choices and that’s not always a rational process. Before people will change what they do, they will have to change who they are. I am not convinced that will be the result of an advertisment they see, it has a lot more to do with a God they need to meet. And that is more the church’s responsibility than the governments.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Fall has Fell

2011-10-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Angela and I were marvelling at the autumn colours last week as we drove along the highway. The woods were a kaleidoscope of colours, no two the same. It wasn’t hard to imagine Jack Frost painting each leaf individually. One of the many things we missed during our time in Australia was fall colours. As beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful (have I used enough adjectives yet?) as the weather was in Australia, and it was beautiful and gorgeous and wonderful, their trees didn’t change in the fall. To be truthful, I don’t think I ever truly appreciated the various hues that paint our forests until they weren’t there to see. That’s a sad reality of life as well—you don’t realize the good you have until you don’t have it anymore.
As much as I enjoy the fall scenery I don’t appreciate what it takes to make the leaves change—chilly fall mornings leave me cold, so to speak.
That’s human nature though isn’t it? We never seem to want to pay the price, no matter how small. The great thing about the beauty of heaven is that the price has already been paid, and all we have to do is claim it.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Arab Spring? Not so much.

2011-10-19T11:54:00.000-07:00

What’s with all the protests? And I guess if I have to ask, then I’m probably part of the problem. The occupy Wall Street and now the Occupy Canada movements have been all over the news and I have heard at least one commentator compare these protests to the, “Arab Spring”. The Arab Spring involved protests in Tunisia and Egypt; a civil war in Libya and civil uprisings in Bahrain, Syria and a host of others.
And again, maybe it will identify me as a part of the problem but those involved in the Arab Spring were demanding things like the opportunity for free elections and enough food to eat and in response their blood flowed in the streets. Not sure if that’s a fair comparison with what is happening on Wall Street and the Grand Parade in Halifax.
But the protestors are angry for a reason, and with Wall Street executives taking bailout money and bonus money in the same year, they make an easy target for that anger.
Personally, I think if everyone who laid claim to the name of Christ actually lived like Christ wanted us to, you know the entire, “Love God and Love others” thing, there would be less to protest and fewer protesters.
Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

A Life to Live

2011-10-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

56 years ago, a life was saved and a world was changed. When 23 year old Joanne Schielbe discovered she was pregnant, she was a student at the University of Wisconsin and she knew two things. She knew she wasn’t in the position to raise her unborn child but she wanted the very best for that child. Paul and Clara couldn’t have children of their own but they promised Joanne that if she would allow them to adopt her son, that they would do their very best to raise him right and by all accounts they did.
I wonder what the world would look like today if Joanne had of chosen to abort her child instead of allowing him to be adopted? If she had of decided that his life wasn’t worth her inconvenience and the heartbreak of giving him up?

We’ll never know because the decision Joanne made would have a profound impact on how the world looks today. And that decision was reinforced by the love that Paul and Clara would show the child they had been entrusted with.

So we can only wonder: what would the world look like today if Steve Jobs had of been aborted instead of adopted?

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Nothings is worse than. . .

2011-10-05T07:46:00.001-07:00

After I gave blood last week, I decided to enjoy a bowl of soup and a fig newton in exchange for the platelets that had been removed from me. Before dishing up my bowl of soup from the po,t the volunteer tried some to make sure the temperature was fine and apparently it wasn’t because she burnt her mouth. The other volunteer seeking to comfort her friend said, “There is nothing worse than burning your mouth.” And her friend agreed. Well, I immediately thought of at least a dozen things worse than burning my mouth and that didn’t even include being eaten by a bear.

Denn being Denn, sometimes when I hear someone make a, “there is nothing worse than. . .” statement, I will offer suggestions of things that might be worse. “What about . . .?” Normally my suggestions are not considered helpful.

With the exception of, “dying and going to hell”, in most cases there is something worse than whatever it is that we are experiencing right now. Even if you were eaten by a bear you would at least have the notoriety. Let’s be careful that we aren’t guilty of blowing some things out of proportion while ignoring the obvious blessings that surround us.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Spinning our Webs

2011-09-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

Have you had enough spiders this fall? Incredible, the number of arachnids we have around the outside of our house right now. Mind you, having lived in Australia for four years—where you could saddle the spiders and ride them like ponies—these aren’t a particular threat.

It’s not the spiders I mind; live and let live, right? It is the webs. There is nothing more annoying and frightening than walking into a web, unless it’s the thought you had down under: what spun the web could weigh as much as a small puppy. Yuck!

Spiders aren’t the only things that have webs. So do we! Webs of influence and webs of relationships that are all interconnected to the centre—you. I was told recently that, on average, churched believers have a relationship of some kind with seven people who aren’t in church or in Christ. It might be a co-worker or someone you share a hobby with. It might be the parents of your kids’ friends or a relative. Who is in your web?

Maybe it’s time you actually took the time to see whom you could introduce to your church and whom you could introduce to your Lord. After all, it might make an eternity of difference. Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

I Owed a Debt I Could Not Pay . . .

2011-09-22T05:44:00.001-07:00

1.5 Trillion dollars. Imagine, that’s a 1.5 followed by 12 zeros. That is enough to pay off the national debt of England, enough to give every Canadian $50,000.00 or enough to buy every person in the world an iPod. 1.5 Trillion dollars, if it was paid in $1000.00 bills, it would be a stack 163 km high and in dollar coins the pile would reach to Mars.

That is the amount of tax revenue that the Obama administration is trying to raise in taxes. I wonder if the President ever lays awake at night wishing someone would just come along and pay the bill for him. After all, he didn’t create the debt, he just inherited it. The American public seems to be blaming the President for their folly.

We can’t even imagine a debt that large, but what about the spiritual debt that we owe? You know the one the Bible talks about when it says, “The wages of sin is death”.

We are responsible for that one but what if it was just paid off, clear and free? That is the offer that Jesus makes. The question is: Will you allow him to pay your debt? Because he is willing, but you have to be as well.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Now that's big!

2011-09-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

I spent part of last week travelling. I got a good deal on a ticket to Atlanta Georgia that went by way of Fort Lauderdale, Florida and saved $150.00 over a more direct flight. But it wasn’t just a trip to see how much of the Eastern Seaboard I could cover in one day. It had a purpose. The purpose was to attend a leadership intensive, but the side benefit was that on Sunday morning, I worshipped at 12stone Church and on Sunday evening, I was able to catch a service at one of the campuses of North Point. The total combined attendance at those two churches is greater than the combined population of Hammonds Plains and Bedford. Can you imagine? Now understand that’s not in one service or even in one location . . . but still.

I love to see big things done for the Kingdom of God and while we shouldn’t expect every church to be like 12stone or North Point or every pastor to be like Kevin Myers or Andy Stanley, it wouldn’t hurt if we all had their passion for reaching the lost and for doing our very best possible to advance the Kingdom and introduce people to Jesus.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.

Gently, Gently

2011-09-07T11:42:00.001-07:00

I cringed when I saw it fall on the TV news. It seemed so.., so disrespectful,... just not right. I couldn’t believe they allowed to happen. But I suppose, how do you stop such a thing from happening once events have been set in motion. In case you’re wondering, it was the report that the Stanley Cup fell off a table on its way to visit Bonavista Newfoundland, the home town of former Bruin, Michael Ryder.
The cup was fine, other than a small dent in the top, and Ryder can claim that he left more than his name on the cup. It’s not the first time the cup has fallen off a table. It happened in 2000 and stranger things have happened to Lord Stanley’s cup through the years, including having been punted into a canal and being used as a flowerpot! You would think people would be more careful.
There used to be a time that I was very careful about how my Bible was treated, but I’m probably less conscious of it now. Maybe it needs to become a concern again. If I was dismayed at the treatment of a sports trophy, how much more should the careless use of God’s word trouble me?

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.