Remembrance Day / Veteran's Dayby Don

Remembrance Day (Australia, Canada, United Kingdom), Armistice Day (France, New Zealand, and many other Commonwealth countries), Veterans Day (United States) is a day to remember the ultimate sacrifice of the many thousands of men and women who gave their lives in times of war, specifically the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. The observance is specifically dedicated to members of the armed forces who were killed during that war. In November 1919 this day was set aside for this purpose by King George V for the British Commonwealth and by President Woodrow Wilson for the United States.

Common British and Canadian traditions include two minutes of silence at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month because that was the time (in Britain) when the armistice became effective.

The Poppy

Poppies are sold every year as an act of remembrance to fallen soldiers at war. The poppy's significance to Remembrance Day is a result of Canadian military physician John McCrae's poem In Flanders Fields. The poppy emblem was chosen because of the poppies that bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their red color an appropriate symbol for the bloodshed of trench warfare.

The Greatest Sacrifice

What was the greatest battle of all time? What was the greatest sacrifice ever made to obtain the greatest victory? Do you know of this battle and sacrifice? Do you celebrate this great Remembrance Day?

In the Bible we read that all mankind is born into a condition of enslavement. Galatians 4:3-9 indicates we all were held in bondage to the elemental things of this world; to the bondage of legalism. This bondage brings us under the curse of the law which is death (Galatians 3:10-13). We were all under the sentence of death (Romans 5:12). However another has sacrificed his life to give us the victory. The Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily died on the cross so that all who believe in him would receive eternal life. "God demonstrated his love to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:9).

The Lord Jesus Christ died in our place so that we would be set free from the bondage and curse of sin and he rose victorious from the grave and lives for ever.

All those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their personal savior and deliverer are asked to remember his death until he comes. "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes." (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

Scripture does not specify a frequency for this great Remembrance Day celebration but we at the Pembroke Bible Chapel choose to do this weekly.

The Dragonhunterby Chris

One widespread fierce predator is harmless to human beings. It hunts all kinds of flying insects, including pesky mosquitoes and wasps. This predator, the Dragonhunter, is a Dragonfly, with 4 wings, big green compound eyes, and a body length of 8 cm (over 3"). The Dragonhunter has a relatively small head, a very big yellow-striped thorax that makes it look like a bodybuilder, and a long abdomen ending with a wide tip.

To hunt, the Dragonhunter usually rests on rocks at the edge of a river, and collects the heat from the sun, waiting for potential prey. If nothing comes by for a while, it will fly and patrol a little, and perch again. The heat of the sun is important to keep flight muscles ready for action; sometimes the flight muscles in the thorax vibrate to produce heat, especially in the morning. The Dragonhunter’s body temperature can reach about 45°C (110°F) when warmed up and active. When it sees a prey, it takes off vigorously and pursues it. Its top speed of about 60 km/h (40 mph) is quite amazing. It can adjust each individual wing to fly fast, slow, glide, turn around quickly and dive on a hapless prey.

How does it grab prey? With its 6 spiny legs, the posterior ones being longer. As the Dragonhunter is about to capture its prey, it spreads its legs a bit like a basket, and the spines retain the prey like hooks. It can devour its prey while flying, or at its favourite perch. Also, it knocks its prey into the water, and comes right back for the kill. Dragonhunters are amazing in that they catch and eat wasps, and are not affected by their poison. Also, they attack and eat big butterflies such as the Monarch. To insectivorous birds, the Monarch tastes awful. The Dragonhunter couldn’t care less, and it seems unaffected by the toxins of the milkweed in the Monarch butterfly. How could that tolerance to toxins happen by chance?

To reproduce, the male grabs the female in flight with his legs, and quickly bend his abdomen so that the claspers at the end attach behind the head of the female. Often, the male flies off with the female like that, in a "tandem position". When the female finally submits, she bends her abdomen at the base of the male’s abdomen, to mate in a "wheel position". The amazing part here is that the male’s claspers have to fit exactly behind the female’s head geometry, requiring high-precision design and shape, and the same with the female’s last abdominal segments, which have to fit exactly with the male genital plate. That fitting like lock and key just can’t happen by chance.

The eggs are laid as the female dips her abdomen briefly in the water, while flying. The larva is a dark flat ugly efficient predator of all kinds of small water life: it can extend jaws about one third its body length at lightning speed, and sucks the juice out of that prey. The larva never becomes a pupa, unlike most insects. When the larva is ready for metamorphosis, it walks out of water, and breathes air, which makes it swell and break its shell, the exuviae. Blood is pumped into the wings, which unravel and expand. They soon dry, as most of the blood is pumped back into the body, and the final colours show up. The larva and the adult look so different; yet it is the same amazing animal that just went through metamorphosis, all planned and made by our great Creator.

Four things social conservative Christians can learn from the prophet Elijah
Commentary article by Timothy Bloedow Publisher, Christian Government E-letter

I was recently reading the account of the prophet Elijah's "culture war" battle with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel in I Kings 18:17-19:4. There are some very helpful insights to glean from this incident. I would not argue that these social and cultural observations are the primary lessons of this passage, let alone the only lessons, nevertheless, they are legitimate observations from this historical, real-world incident. (These observations/principles can be found elsewhere in the Bible as well, so we are not talking about dynamics that are applicable only to Old Testament prophets.)

1. Despite being in a minority position - Elijah even made the point (although inaccurately) that he was the only prophet of God left against the hundreds of prophets of Baal: "I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal's prophets are 450 men" - the prophet of God set the agenda (18:19-25). He told Ahab to call the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the groves to meet him at Mount Carmel then he laid out the test that was to take place to prove who worshiped the true God. It is astonishing that they let Elijah set the terms of battle. Perhaps it was Ahab's arrogance and self-confidence, or perhaps it was fear and embarrassment, but it is astonishing. Canada's social conservatives today are constantly reacting to our enemies. We need to engage in the prayer and kind of creative thinking necessary to discover ways of setting the agenda. People who know anything about human nature know that fear suffocates creativity. So, to exercise the necessary creativity and resourcefulness, one also has to abandon fear and exercise genuine faith in God - and possess the kind of boldness and confidence in the superiority of the Christian faith and worldview.

2. Elijah mocked and humiliated the false god, Baal, and in so doing, also mocked and humiliated King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. Many Christians today exclusively use rational argumentation as their approach to confronting their cultural opponents. This is an important tool in our arsenal, but it is not our only tool. Orthodox Christians know that you can't reason people into the Kingdom of God. God has to grab hold of people's hearts. This is also the dynamic that often takes place in "lesser" areas of life when we are being transformed. Sometimes we need to be confrontational Sometimes we need to draw from the various forms of speech that are available to us, whether hyperbole, sarcasm, generalizations, mockery, or others. Some Christians consider it inherently wrong to use some of these rhetorical tools - either that, or they are so afraid of using them sinfully that, in practice, they avoid all use of them and encourage everyone else to take the same approach. That, however, reflects an attitude of defeatism. That isn't the posture of someone who is committed to victory.

How did Elijah mock and humiliate Baal, King Ahab and the false prophets? He did this in several ways in this single incident. First, he did so by emphasizing his inferiority. "Look, it's all of you against little old me. If I don't represent the true God, then I'm just a pipsqueak. Surely, you can take me on!" (18:22). Then, while the prophets were calling down their god to consume their sacrifice, going as far as cutting themselves and drawing blood, Elijah mocked them. Elijah asked them if their god was too busy to respond to them, or if he was sleeping. One preacher I heard on this passage said that the language in the Hebrew could legitimately be translated to include the question: "Is your god using the bathroom? Is that why he can't get down here to help you out?" (18:27-28).

Thirdly, Elijah humiliated the Baal-worshippers by saturating his sacrifice in water, thereby giving the perception that he was giving his God a much harder task of consuming his sacrifice (18:33-35). Doing this immediately after the idol of Baal failed to consume the sacrifice offered to it, must have been incredibly humiliating to the prophets of Baal. Once again we see Elijah's creativity at work. He humiliated his enemy in several ways, not simply by his use of direct and sarcastic language - although he did that too - but in other ways as well that were consistent with the nature of the conflict he was in. This is the kind of creativity and resourcefulness that a person can demonstrate when he has a strong and unflinching faith in the greatness and responsiveness of his god. It's the kind of faith that every Christian should possess. "Lord, give me such faith. Lord, give every social conservative Christian leader such faith, or replace them with leaders who do possess such faith."

3. Something else we notice from this incident is how fickle people are.
Human beings are sheep; nose-ring wearing sheep, who are all too willing to be dragged along through life by others. That is not a very attractive image, but we see it throughout history, and even in our own culture: people who live outside of the Christian worldview prefer the security of slavery.

That's what socialism is all about, the exaltation of security over liberty, an exercise achieved by centralizing an increasing amount of authority and control in the state, or civil government. This is the central organizing principle of Secular Humanism, which is why the humanist religion is so dangerous - but the general public is sleep-walking through this humanistic revolution, even parroting the moronic mantras popularized by Secular Humanists, such as the need to separate religion from politics and the notion that a pro-life position on abortion is inherently "religious," while a pro-abortion position is respectful of science. People are sheep.

Sometimes this works to the advantage of Christian leaders, as we see in this event at Mount Carmel, but often it doesn't. And even when it does, I don't think Christians should be happy "tyrants," pleased with the ability to manipulate people who don't want to think for themselves. Christians should be known as those who advocate maturity and personal responsibility.

So, what is the evidence of the sheep-like nature of the people of Israel from this passage? Firstly, we know that the public at large had bought into the worship of Baal. We see throughout the Biblical history of Israel that the people would bounce back and forth between idol worship and the worship of God, depending on the example and dictates of their kings. So, under the leadership of Ahab, and even more so, his far more wicked wife Jezebel, the Israelites were Baal-worshippers. Yet, despite this, when somebody with the confidence and poise of Elijah publicly confronts the prophets of this god, and proposes a test for this god, the people remain silent rather than rising up in protest (18:21). Talk about fickle. And if that's not fickle enough, look what happens after God consumes Elijah's sacrifice: First the people immediately engage in public worship of God: "When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, 'The Lord, He is the God; the Lord, He is the God'" (18:39). Then, before the prophets of Baal can get away, Elijah calls on the people to grab them and take them down to the Kishon brook where Elijah killed them all (18:40). This kind of vigilante behaviour is not something we have the right to imitate today. What I'm drawing attention to here is the utterly fickle nature of the people.

Yesterday, they are enthusiastically worshipping a false god under the direction of these false prophets; today they are helping the prophet of God kill these prophets and they are praising the God of Abraham (at least with their mouths).

Why is this an important observation for social conservative Christians?
Because most of our strategies today fall into the category of what we might call "grassroots" mobilization - an attempt to rally individual citizens, voters, taxpayers. This populist approach to political action is seen as the antithesis to the "top-down" paternalism and aristocratic mentality that has, in more recent generations, been exercised by socialists with their atheistic, humanistic and materialistic vision, and thereby undermined liberty and Christian culture in America and Europe. Christians, however, should not put all their energy into "grassroots" mobilization - and in part for the reasons noted about the fickle nature of so many people. It is important to the Christian democratic tradition for political leaders to govern with the consent of the people. But there are institutions and dynamics in society that exist outside of, and above, individual people, and which act as vehicles to perpetuate and nurture culture. So much can be said about this, and people far more capable than me in this area have provided good insights. Suffice it to say that different vocations naturally result in different degrees of influence over different numbers of people, and there is nothing wrong with those who move lawfully into positions of greater influence by way of their vocations to exercise that influence over others. Politicians are examples of people who have a disproportionate degree of influence in society. Instead of undermining the influence of the office, Christians should be pursuing such office so that they can be the ones to exercise this lawful influence. One can say the same thing about educators, academics, lawyers and even artists. Social conservative Christian activists should always appeal to "the grassroots" public, but we should also take seriously the importance of pursuing positions of disproportionate influence, and encouraging our children to do the same, in order to implement this two-pronged approach to cultural reformation. I would submit that the presbyterian form of church government is an excellent example of a mean by which to balance the principle of consent of the governed with a process that has structured, and is carried along by those who hold positions of spiritual leadership (which is to say that it is not an open-ended process that is subject exclusively to the whims of the general membership).

4. We can also make several relevant observations from Jezebel's reaction to the news that God vapourised the reputation and credibility of her Baal god - and from Elijah's reaction to her reaction (19:1-4). Vs. 1-2: "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, 'So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time'." What do we see here? First we see that Jezebel's reaction is that of a die-hard, fanatical believer. She is proof that you can't reason with some non-Christians. The evidence was indisputable. Her god was dead. Ahab saw the evidence with his own eyes, and so did the Israelite people. But Jezebel didn't care. She was unswervingly committed to her blind faith. She was irrational. Instead of bowing her knee to the living God, she declared her commitment to kill God's prophet Elijah.

Jezebel was the one person in Israel at the time who had a faith and vision approaching that of Elijah's in God. In fact, in view of Elijah's decision to flee, one could argue that Jezebel's faith and vision were greater, but Elijah's decision to run was probably evidence of momentary bad judgment due to shock at Jezebel's response, rather than his abiding state of being.

In this respect, it is worth noting that we must never under-estimate our enemy (which also means that we must know who our enemy is, which is to say, know the nature of our enemy). So many Christians assume that our enemies are as polite, respectful and rational as we are. This is often a mistake, and one that has cost us not a few unfortunate defeats in Canada's culture wars. It may not be morally acceptable for us to imitate their unsavoury tactics, including their commitment to the ethic of "the end justifies the means" and their willingness to exploit the levers of political power to advance their own agenda, we should be aware of their willingness to use such tactics, and we should take the time to anticipate how they will act, so that we can take pre-emptory and evasive action. The civility, morality and decency of Christianity does not flow out of our generic humanity, it flows out of our Christian faith, worldview and value system. So it is naive and, I would submit, irresponsible, to assume the same attitudes and posture among our opponents. Expect the best, but anticipate the worst - all the while setting an example by treating them as respectfully as possible.

Elijah's response to Jezebel is rather interesting in light of his use by God in a visually stunning victory over the idolatry of Baal worship in the land. Elijah fled when he heard that Jezebel intended to kill him, and he asked God to kill him (19:3-4). What are the human dynamics going on here?

One might expect Elijah to be walking on "Cloud 9," euphoric in victory, with the feeling that he can take on the world. Why would he jealous of such a despicable and cruel God-hater as Jezebel? On the other hand, maybe he was over-confident. He saw Ahab cower in the face of the defeat of his god. The king of the nation allowed Elijah to get away with the capture and killing of 450-850 prophets. The people seemed to be on his side now too. After all they killed the prophets and verbalized their commitment to God. Elijah perhaps thought that, faced with this evidence and "peer pressure," Jezebel was sure to cave in as well. Perhaps Elijah didn't take the time to think through a "worst-case scenario," so he was completely unprepared for Jezebel's response. In that state of mind, he ran. Among other things, this demonstrates another dynamic related to Point #3 above: It's not good enough for social conservative Christians to win the support of the fickle general public because the general public often do not have the last say on any particular issue. There are leaders in place throughout society and those leaders are often the ones who exercise the greatest influence on decisions being made, regardless of the opinions being divined through public opinion surveys. Social conservative Christians, therefore, should never assume that just because public opinion polls lean their way on any given issue that somehow all the influential people in society whose roles impact that issue will quickly fall in step with the position that holds majority support among the general population. Instead, social conservative Christians need to learn how to communicate with leaders (while they move into those positions of leadership themselves).

November 10, 2007by Chloe

We arrived in Ontario the end of September after spending three awesome weeks in Great Britain with my grandparents! While in London we stayed at the Highbury Missions Center, a large building with a little rose garden in the back yard. When I woke up and saw that rose garden right outside my window, I felt just like Lady Jane Grey or some lady-in-waiting who wakes up in the morning to peer out at the castle grounds!

I cannot describe the beauty and wonder of Carreg Cennan Castle in Wales! Situated high on a hill, it commanded a spectacular view of the surrounding valleys and rolling hills! We were the only ones there that evening! The ruins felt secret and deserted. As if they had been left alone for the last few centuries. Before we went down from the hilltop, we gathered together and sang "A Mighty Fortress is Our God". Just like the castle was a stronghold in ancient days, so "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18: 10)

We climbed up the hill behind Snowdon Ranger hostel amongst grazing sheep. Observing these gentle creatures gives me a better feel for the passages in the Bible that talk about sheep. With their floppy ears and quiet nature, they look patient and calm. But most of them are frightened of me and scatter when I get too near them. I guess they don't know my voice. Just like Jesus says in John 10:5, "... they [the sheep] will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Jesus is the ultimate example of a loving shepherd. He says, " I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11)

Most of our time was spent in Scotland. Amongst other things, we saw several castles, enjoyed the Highlands, and visited Loch Ness (didn't see any certain evidence of Nessie, the Monster!). We slept in unique hostels and bunkhouses along the way, and the last six nights we stayed at a lovely cottage farmhouse which was right next to the ruin of a castle! Who would dream of staying next door to a castle?!

While here in Ontario we've been staying with my grandparents at their house on a lake. My grandpa and brothers have been deer hunting in the woods nearby several times in the last few weeks.

We woke up to a light snowfall this morning! It's amazing how a touch of snow transforms the world into a wonderland! My brothers and sister and I all bundled up and went outside to play. We haven't seen snow for a couple of years (it doesn't snow in Guinea), so I'm glad we got to enjoy a snowfall before we left for Texas! I know some Canadians aren't exactly looking forward to the start of winter, but to us, snow is exciting!

Last weekend, at the missionary breakfast in Ottawa, I had the neat opportunity to give a short presentation on life as an MK. I enjoyed hearing the other missionary presentations as well. The mission challenges that I've heard in the last month have given me a renewed purpose and excitement to continue to be involved in mission work when I grow up. There's so much work to be done telling other people about Jesus. It's not finished by far!

My time in Canada has gone by quickly. In just a few days we'll be driving down to Texas, my dad's home state. I'm looking forward to visiting several old friends along the way. Although they are now living in the States, I think we'll find that we still have a lot in common from growing up in Guinea as MKs.

Swedish Apple Pie by Bev

Try this easy to make delicious apple pie and avoid the necessity of making pie crust.

Fill pie plate 2/3 full of peeled sliced apples Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar & 1 tsp cinnamon In small bowl combine 3/4 cup melted butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup flour 1 egg pinch of salt Pour over apples Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until brown