Please Pray for the Barnes Family

Elizabeth Barnes, 18 year-old daughter of Pastor Ron and Susan Barnes, died on May 17th while she was on a trip to France. The funeral was today.

Ron is the pastor of Grand River Community Church in Elora, Ontario. I know him because he is on the board of Carey Outreach Ministries, a ministry near and dear to my heart.

Rick and I attended the funeral. It's not often one has the opportunity to witness the funeral of an 18 year old, especially an 18 year old who loves and serves God as Elizabeth did. Most often, funerals of young people are dreadful occasions, filled with grief and sorrow.

I am not saying that the funeral today was without grief. Clearly, those who knew and loved Elizabeth were grieving deeply. But NOT without HOPE.

Four people shared attributes of God that Elizabeth believed - that He is a Holy God, that He is Sovereign, that He cares deeply for His children and has provided a way of salvation. The gospel message was clear. Songs were sung that further glorified God...Blessed be Your Name; It is Well with My Soul.

But it was when Ron Barnes got up and did the eulogy that I felt that I was on holy ground. Ron first prayed that God would help him, then he began to share stories about Liz. He described her birth - a difficult one, through a C-section - and the subsequent IV's that were placed in her feet and on the sides of her head. He joked that Liz's first haircut was a "Frohawk", because they shaved the sides of her head, and her hair was naturally curly.

Ron told us that Liz was fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in her mother's womb by a Sovereign God. As he shared some of Elizabeth's characteristics, he spoke about genetics and how his loved ones, his relatives, shared many of the same traits.

Liz got her brilliance from her grandfather, Ron's dad, who graduated from medical school in second place - and this with two children competing for his time while he tried to study!

She got her musical ability from her grandma and mom.

She shared her "mushy, broad" nose with her dad. She loved to impress others by squishing it!

The list went on. Liz was a brilliant, dedicated student. A great athlete. A strong swimmer. She was an artist, and evidences of that were on display in the foyer of the church. She cared deeply for people, and longed for her friends and family to know and love God the way she knew and loved Him.

But the one characteristic that she did not inherit was her regeneration. It is not possible to gain salvation because your parents are saved. Nor is it possible to gain heaven because you go to church your entire life!

It is a gift of God.

Elizabeth Violet Barnes was rescued, saved by the grace of God, given salvation because Jesus paid the price for her sin.

And now she is free. Free from sin, from pain, from sorrow, from sadness.

Her dad's voice broke as he shared that he longed to see his daughter one more time, to pick up her lanky frame and cuddle her on his lap, and tell her, "It's going to be okay." He can't do that.

But Jesus can.

2 Corinthians 5: 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Elizabeth is at home with the Lord! There's no better place to be.

Suffering & God's Sovereignty

My daughter Linda is writing a paper on The Sovereignty of God in Suffering.  I'll be posting a link to her blog when she gets it posted on there.  Meanwhile, let the following words of wisdom from a young lover of God bless you:

Jesus understands our suffering because He’s human. 

He can do something about our suffering because He’s God. 

So we can put our complete trust in Him, and cling to Him as the Source of our help in times of trouble.

Hebrews 4:14-15 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

He is perfect, and He is sympathetic. There is no greater Saviour, and there is no greater Lord. Who else can we turn to in our suffering? No one else has both suffered as we have, and accomplished the work of atonement without the stain of sin. There is only Jesus, and He is enough. 

Praise God!

There is only Jesus, and He is enough.  Praise God!

A Picture and a Comic are both worth 1000 words.

The Holocaust

In our studies of History, we don't gloss over the nasty parts. As a family, we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and that includes some terrible stories of treachery, war, betrayal and torture. The worst (and best, for it purchased our Redemption) is the story of the Passion of Christ.

We've studied Christian history, and that includes the early Christians who were burned at stakes, torn apart by lions, crucified upside down, and so on.

All through the ages people have done unspeakable things to other human beings.

Why study that?

Well, first of all, it's reality. Secondly, it shows the pervasiveness of the sin nature. It demonstrates that power corrupts, and that this world is a world that needs to be rescued. It shows us that there is nothing new under the sun. When we read of wars and rumours of wars, of corruption and genocide even in this modern era, we are forced to see that nothing much has changed in the heart of man.

My children have watched plenty of war movies with their dad. They've read about Hitler and the Holocaust. It's somewhat simple to remove themselves from those who imprisoned and tortured millions of people, because we aren't like that.

Or are we?

The question has been raised by a book and movie, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. We watched it recently, and concluded that it is a valuable movie. A quick search online brought up a Study Guide which we plan to use with our children.

I don't want to spoil the movie for those of you who haven't watched it. Let me say that it doesn't gloss over the nasty parts. What it does do very well is demonstrate clearly that life went on for ordinary Germans while ordinary Jews were being herded into cattle cars, imprisoned in camps, forced to labour for the Third Reich, then ultimately sent to their death in a gas chamber.

Ordinary Germans did not know. They didn't really want to know.

In my opinion, it is imperative that we know what is going on in the world today. Let's not gloss over the fact that although the number of abortions in North America fell in 2008, it rose in Spain, in the UK, in...(the list goes on...). Let's not forget that just a few years ago there was genocide in Rwanda and more recently in Sudan Christians were being targeted. In India and China people are persecuted for their beliefs.

What are we to do? Let's not bury our head in the sand and refuse to think about these tragedies. Instead, we need to remember that no matter how the nations rage, God is still in control. We have hope that He will "shake the nations" and restore this earth to its former glory. Eventually, we will have peace.


Psalm 2:1
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?


Psalm 46:6
The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts.

Haggai 2:5 My Spirit remains in your midst.Fear not. 6 For thus says the Lord of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’”

Between Two Worlds: An Interview with Max McLean on Mark's Gospel, Screwtape Letters, and More

Between Two Worlds: An Interview with Max McLean on Mark's Gospel, Screwtape Letters, and More

Posted using ShareThis

A Few Words About Grace

I visited Squaw Creek Ranch this morning and read the following words about grace:

From Romans Verse by Verse by William R. Newell, published in 1938.

“A FEW WORDS ABOUT GRACE”

“III. The Proper Attitude of Man under Grace

1. To believe, and to consent to be loved while unworthy, is the great secret.
2. To refuse to make “resolutions” and “vows”; for that is to trust in the flesh.
3. To expect to be blessed, though realizing more and more lack of worth.
4. To testify of God’s goodness, at all times.
5. To be certain of God’s future favor; yet to be ever more tender in conscience toward Him.
6. To rely on God’s chastening hand as a mark of His kindness.
7. A man under grace, if like Paul, has no burdens regarding himself; but many about others.

IV. Things Which Gracious Souls Discover

1. To “hope to be better” is to fail to see yourself in Christ only.
2. To be disappointed with yourself, is to have believed in yourself.
3. To be discouraged is unbelief,-as to God’s purpose and plan of blessing for you.
4. To be proud, is to be blind! For we have no standing before God, in ourselves.
5. The lack of Divine blessing, therefore, comes from unbelief, and not from failure of devotion.
6. Real devotion to God arises, not from man’s will to show it; but from the discovery that blessing has been received from God while we were yet unworthy and undevoted.
7. To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God’s order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man’s blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so,-in proper measure.”

~Romans Verse By Verse, pp. 246-247

Killing is Killing, No Matter What we Call It.

With Age Comes Wisdom

Or so they say.

But I am getting older (approaching my middle fifties) and am increasingly appalled at my lack of wisdom.

Oh, I can be wise, from time to time. I can say the right thing, and do the right thing. I've learned a thing or two about raising children, about being a wife, about living a life before the face of God. I've had younger women thank me for the influence I've had on their lives, and sadly, all I can say is "you don't know me."

If you really knew me, you'd see that all too often I sin with my mouth. And if that's not bad enough, I act in a manner unbecoming a godly woman. Worse, still, I sin where only God sees it - my thoughts are selfish, proud, demanding.

It's not that I never have wisdom. Praise the Lord, I am His child, bought with the precious blood of Christ. He is working on me, and thankfully, there are evidences of grace in my life.

Proverbs 16:31
Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

I have a few gray hairs. Just a few. Because I am blond, the gray looks like highlights. My husband, however, has a full crown of glory.

Proverbs 20:29
The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.

I'm quite sure that the gray hair isn't the point. The life lived before the face of God, the minutes and hours and days and years spent walking in this world, learning the inevitability of sinful responses and being astounded at the certainty of God's forgiveness in spite of our sin is the point. The ones with gray hair have walked longer. They've stumbled more. They've fallen to their knees and cried out to God, (Romans 7:24) "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

John Piper said it best. Tim Challies wrote about John Piper discussing the topic of growing older. Tim wrote,

he spoke of growing older and his increasing knowledge of his own sin. "The longer I live the less optimistic I am that I will end without sin and the more grateful I become for the blood of Christ imputed to me. As I grow older I do not feel myself becoming gloriously holy but I find myself feeling great love for the gospel."

Psalm 71:18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Oh, Lord, this is my prayer.

Isaiah 46:4 even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.

Oh, Lord, Your promises are sure and certain. They give me hope. You WILL carry me, You will save.

It's always and only about You, God. If we honour the elderly, it's because You have been gracious to them and have worked in their lives. With age comes wisdom, and You are to be praised.

“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:32

Heaven

We don't think about heaven much, because most of us don't have it so bad down here.  God is with us, and we Christians know that, and take comfort.  We aren't heartsick for heaven, we don't long for heaven, simply because we don't really understand how wonderful it will be.

Heaven isn't "the big sleep", as some insist.  We'll be wide awake, in the presence of Christ.  Absent from the body is present with the Lord, the Bible states.  There won't be any purgatory, and certainly not any "second chances".  No, as it is appointed unto man to die once, and after that the judgment...and we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  That brings great joy to those who know Christ as their Saviour; it should terrify those who don't.

Revelation 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw a the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold,  the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We have a new heaven and a new earth to look forward to.  God will dwell with us.  And He will wipe away every tear.

There are some things that we can speculate on when we read what the Bible has to say about heaven, and there are some things that we know for sure.

We will dwell with God.  He promises again and again that He will be our God, and we will be His people, and that He will dwell with us.

We will recognize our loved ones.  Jesus, in His glorified body, was recognized by his friends.

We will have work to do.  Creative work, fulfilling work.  The Bible says in 1 Cor. 6:1-4 that we will be judging angels.  

We will have no more sorrow.  Life is hard here on earth.  Children die young, or are born with disabilities.  Infidelity, loneliness, pain, disease, corruption, regret, sadness... the list goes on.  All of that will be eradicated.  There will be no more sin.  No more pain.  No more sorrow.

We will see no more wicked and sinful things.  Nothing impure will be in heaven.  The only ones who will be there are those whose names are written down in the Lamb's Book of Life.  Because of the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God, the coward will be changed, the vile will be holy, the immoral will be made righteous.  The blood of the Lamb will wipe away our sin.

Royal posed a penetrating question to us today:  "When you consider the joy of heaven, the creative work that you'll have, the fact that you'll know your loved ones and dwell with God...think about this:  Could you be happy in heaven if Jesus were not there?"

Did you recoil?  Did you think, "Oh, NO!"?

Jesus is the Bread of Life.  He is the Living Water.  He is the Alpha & Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.  Without Him, there is no heaven.

Do you thirst for Him?  

Or, are you comfortable without Him?

Listen to Rachel's Testimony, then think about these things.  Eternity is a heartbeat away.

Mother's Day Revisited

Apparently, I am not the only one who was thinking that Mother's Day ought to be about GOD! Al Mohler wrote a post, "Why Mother's Day is a Bad Idea!"

In the post, he outlines the origin of Mother's Day, decrying its sentimentalism. He writes,

The Christian vision of motherhood is more about courage and faithfulness than about sentimentalism. The mothers of the Bible are a tough lot. Jochebed put her baby in a floating ark of bulrushes, defying the order of Pharaoh that all Hebrew male children be put to death. Rachel, mother to Joseph and Benjamin, died giving birth to Benjamin. Hannah promised her son to God, and presented Samuel as a young boy for service in the House of the Lord. Mary, the mother of Jesus, risked shame and disgrace to bear the Savior, and to provide all Christians with a model of brave and unflinching obedience. She was there when Jesus Christ was crucified. As Simeon had told her just after the birth of Christ, "Behold this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." [Luke 2:34-35]

The mothers of the Bible are a tough lot, and their courage comes from the same God who said, "Be strong and courageous." He is the One Who gives grace. He is the One Who gives faith.

Al Mohler goes on to say,

Mother's Day is a bad idea because it subverts the reality of faithful mothering and robs faithful mothers of their true glory. Mothers deserving of honor are handed cards and taken to lunch, when songs of praise should instead be offered to the glory of God. Undeserving mothers, who abdicate their true responsibility, are honored just because they are mothers. Children, young and old, who ignore and dishonor their mothers by word and by life throughout the year, assuage their guilt by making a big deal of Mother's Day.

I am not saying that you ought not to do anything on Mother's Day. By all means, honour your mother...but do it every day of the year! And remember to give praise to God for anything your mom does that is good, for it's all about HIM!

The Door

My friend Royal preached yesterday on a topic that is too often neglected - Heaven!  It was an uplifting message, and it culminated with a poem that Royal wrote.  He gave me permission to post it here:

The Door

 

Before me waits a darkened door,

And terror’s tentacles reach out to grip my heart,

Yet gazing more, golden wisps of misty light,

Stream from lintel,

Cascade under door,

Seep through cracks,

Caress, surround, enfold me,

Pry open terror’s talons, so that,

Black fear falls vanquished to the floor.

 

Beyond the door a loving King,

Waiting until I shall pass,

In golden wisps sends Spirit, life, and hope,

Eternal life begun, abundant life secured

What terrors now can there be?

For when that deathly door opes for me,

My soul shall float on trusted golden mist

Find refuge, endless delight, pleasure unspeakable,

In presence of nail-pierced triumphant King.

 

Royal Hamel

April, 2009

Eyes of Faith

Tim Challies has done a review on a biography of John and Betty Stam, missionaries who were killed by Communists when their baby daughter was just a couple of weeks old.

It warms my heart to know that Betty, as a young girl, poured out her soul in poetry that contemplated Jesus.  At age ten Betty Stam wrote:

I cannot live like Jesus

Example though He be

For He was strong and selfless

And I am tied to me.

I cannot live like Jesus

My soul is never free

My will is strong and stubborn

My love is weak and wee.

But I have asked my Jesus

To live His life in me.

I cannot look like Jesus

More beautiful is He

In soul and eye and stature

Than sunrise on the sea.

Behold His warm, His tangible

His dear humanity.

Behold His white perfection

Of purest deity.

Yet Jesus Christ has promised

That we like Him shall be.

At age 18 she wrote:

Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes

All my own desires and hopes

And accept Thy will for my life.

I give myself, my life, my all

Utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.

Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit

Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt

And work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost now and forever.

Mother's Day

Today was Mother's Day in North America.  Churches were extolling the virtues of being a mother.  Ladies were handed flowers, or coupons for Tim Horton's, as they walked into church.  Families gathered for food and fellowship, honouring mom by giving cards or flowers, pictures of the children, or gift certificates to favourite restaurants.

It's a good thing to honour moms.  Theirs is a difficult task.  I honoured the moms in our family by writing the following to my daughters and daughter-in-law:

To all of my daughters and my daughter-in-law, who have blessed our family with the most gorgeous grandchildren in the world, Happy Mother's Day.  Praise the One Who blessed you with children and formed them in secret, in the depths of your wombs.  Praise Him for giving you strength and courage to labour, not only to bear these little souls, but to raise them to know Him and serve Him all the days of their lives.  May God continue to pour out blessings on you - love for your families, joy in the journey, wisdom to deal with their needs and desires, and peace as you remember that He Who called you is faithful, and will walk with you all of the days of your life.

I believe in giving honour to whom honour is due.  And as I was lying in bed this afternoon, trying to catch a quick nap before the Thundering Herd arrived, I thought... "GOD is the One Who should be honoured on Mother's Day!"

God designed mothers.  He gave them the unique ability to accept a seed that would join with their egg, forming a tiny person within the womb.  He intricately knit each one of us together in the secret place!

God designed pregnancy.  Every detail of the pregnant woman's body is amazing.  Blood volume doubles.  Organs move out of the way to accommodate the growing uterus.  The placenta, the amniotic fluid, the exchange of blood gases and nutrients - all designed perfectly by our Creator!

God designed labour and delivery.  It's astounding to watch a baby emerge from his mother's birth canal.  The contractions, the thinning of the cervix, the birth of baby and placenta...all planned by God's good hand.

God designed the mother's breasts to be the perfect way to feed a baby.  He gave her maternal feelings so that she would love (instantly, in most cases!) and protect her little one.  The breasts were not only designed to provide nutrients, but also to provide antibodies so that the baby's immune system would have the right cues to develop immunities to germs in this dark and sometimes dangerous world.

God designed a mother's love.  He knew that she would care for her children from before they were born to the end of life - whether hers or theirs, only God knows.  He knew that the children would learn from Mom; but He also knew that the Moms would learn from their children -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, selfcontrol.

God, YOU are amazing.  You deserve all of the praise and all of the glory.  If there ever were a mother who loved as You love, it's only because of Your grace.  If there ever were a mother who disciplined with wisdom and taught her wayward child with patience, it is only because of Your grace.

Thank you, God, for Your beautiful design.  Thank you, God, for mothers.

Legalism is a Real Killer

You all know I love poetry.  It really doesn't matter whether it's a child's poem (Jonathan Jo has a mouth like an "O" and a wheelbarrow full of surprises) or a sonnet, I love the twists and turns poets create with words, and the pictures that flow through my head as I read them.  By far the best poetry, however, has the attributes of God or the truth of His Word as its subject.

Lynn at Indelible Grace has written one such poem.  She gave me permission to copy it here:

My righteous deeds are but a trap. 
They never can erase
My sin; these filthy rags just slap
The sacred scars of grace.


Completely filled with pride and self
I strive to make sin less,
But what I count as gain is pelf*;
In bondage I regress.


On God alone I must depend;
All pride confess, forsake.
These hellish bonds my God must rend;
This legalism break.


Christ broke my bonds and set me free!
His work, not mine, I sing;
Whose pain and scars at Calvary
Accomplished everything.

*pelf–noun

money or wealth, esp. when regarded with contempt or acquired by reprehensible means.

What is wrong with the world?

Lots.  Look around you, and you know that not all is right with the world.  But how can what is wrong be made right?

If you do nothing else today, click on the link below, and listen to this man:

The problem is: ME.  I do not acknowledge the Supremacy of Christ.  I judge God based on how He carries out MY goals in this world.  I want a God who is omnipotent, but not sovereign, so I can wield His power. Click below:

 Voddie Baucham on the Supremacy of Christ

Entrepreneurship Part 2 - OCHEC Conference

Have you ever thought about having your own business? How do you make that happen? Come and find out from Andrew Knor and Jake Zwart, two entrepreneurs who are home school dads. They will share the stories of how and why they became entrepreneurs.

Andrew spoke after Jake, and readily admitted that he was an unlikely candidate for owning a small business.  He is not a risk taker.  He likes all of his ducks in a row.  A college drop-out, he had absolutely no interest in starting his own business.

But God had other plans.  He delights in mercy, and gives us everything we need for life and godliness.  

Andrew was working for a printing company that was quickly falling behind in technology, so was struggling with being competitive in this computer age.  Andrew was offered 1/4 of a year's salary to go on his own.  His ethics prevented him from taking a client from his boss, and he really didn't want to start his own business.

More workers were laid off, the economy was slow, and the wrting was on the wall.  The boss declared bankruptcy.

Andrew wondered, "How will I provide for my family?"  The truth that we are utterly helpless without God hit home.  A call came in from the same client, with the same offer of 1/4 year's salary.

Andrew soon found himself completely out of his comfort zone, having to purchase a computer.  All computer mumbo-jumbo was complete gibberish to him.  He laid the entire situation before God in prayer, asking Him to show him what computer system he should buy.  

A neighbour spoke to his wife the next day.  He was a computer buff, and could speak computer!  Andrew made a major purchase of a computer, printer, and software, and it took him six months to learn it, painstakingly going through the manuals a page at a time.

There were other hurdles along the way.  He finally switched to MacIntosh, but a new neighbour from Australia was a Mac guru, and helped him in the changeover. 

Seventeen years later, Andrew has his own Graphic Design Solutions business.  He works out of his heated, two-car garage.  He's done snowmobile magazines, ATV magazines, and a Korean War Book.  His children help with phone calls, cleaning, filing, etc.  

Andrew said, "I don't always enjoy having my own business.  But God is totally faithful, and we look to Him.  No telling what He will do for our good and His glory!"

So you want to be an entrepreneur?  Look to God for the ANSWER:

Appeal to  the Lord.

Non-negotiable beliefs.

Strategy

Way of Wisdom

Empowerment from God

Response

Appeal to the Lord before you begin.  Examine your motives.  He will walk alongside you.  Jeremiah 33:3. 

Non-negotiable beliefs should be determined.  We do not work on the Lord's day.  This has earned our clients' deep respect.

Strategy - Evaluate talents, Make a business plan.  Service goes a long way.  Be the best you can be.  Speak to people in your industry.

Way of Wisdom - seek to glorify God in your business.

Empowerment - Give glory to God; be men and women of courage, love, self-discipline, honesty and integrity.  Look to the Lord for His strength.

Response - People will fail you.  Choose your response.  React in a way that pleases God.

Entrepreneurship - OCHEC - Part 1

The second workshop we attended at OCHEC was led by two men, both homeschooling fathers, both with home-based businesses.  

Jake Zwart spoke first, and he told about growing up on a farm, helping his dad rebuild a barn.  The lessons learned working alongside his dad were invaluable.

Jake defined an entrepreneur as someone with a driving interest in starting a new venture - he'll find a way to do it.  An entrepreneur would not be a good manager of a large business.  He's a self-starter, and would do better running a small business, or his own family-based business.

Biblical Background

God gave Adam dominion over the earth - plants and animals.  In Deuteronomy it was clear that marriages were important - a newly married man was exempt from service in the army for an entire year after the wedding, in order for him to get to know his wife.  Jesus chose a small group of men to disciple, and worked alongside them, demonstrating how to minister by doing ministry.

The most important lesson a child can learn from his parents in a home-based business is character.  Other skills such as answering the phone professionally, learning about cash flow, marketing, writing proposals, figuring costs, evaluating (are we too busy?  too slow?), managing others, doing accounting are learned while working alongside mom and dad.

Jake shared how the Lord led him from working in a large corporation to running his own Engineering business in the Vibration Field.  His children naturally began helping, by answering the phone, loading the van, and so on.

A supportive wife and family is essential for a man to leave a secure job and begin working in his own business.  

• Know how to serve
• Don't be addicted to debt
• Choose a product/skill/expertise to sell
• Find a market to sell to
• Keep a good contact manager
• Write proposals 
• Write a business plan
• Make sure the work is done on time, and done well.
• Keep track of finances
• Know the tax laws
• Keep careful records
• Know how to income-split

Jake explained that a subordinate completes a task.  If he is a good subordinate, he asks for the next task.  A better worker looks around and suggests a task.  But an entrepreneur will see it, do it, and inform you when it's done.  That's the kind of character we want to develop in our children!

Challenge:  Jake said that in order to have continuous learning in your field, you need to bite off a little bit more than you can chew.  Stretch yourself.  Go to conferences in your field.  Take seminars.  Study!  Have lots of children, so they can pitch in and help.

Would he do it again?  Absolutely!

Afraid?

From Tim Challies:

The poem, entitled "Afraid?" was written by Presbyterian missionary E.H. Hamilton following the recent martyrdom of one of his colleagues, J.W. Vinson, at the hands of rebel soldiers in northern China. A small Chinese girl who escaped from the bandits related the incident that provided the inspiration for Hamilton's poem.

"Are you afraid?" the bandits asked Vinson as they menacingly waved a gun in front of him.

"No," he replied with complete assurance. "If you shoot, I go straight to heaven."

His decapitated body was found later.

Afraid? Of what?
To feel the spirit's glad release?
To pass from pain to perfect peace,
The strife and strain of life to cease?
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
Afraid to see the Saviour's face,
To hear His welcome, and to trace,
The glory gleam from wounds of grace,
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
A flash - a crash - a pierced heart;
Brief darkness - Light - O Heaven's art!
A wound of His a counterpart!
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To enter into Heaven's rest,
And yet to serve the Master blessed?
From service good to service best?
Afraid? Of that?

Afraid? Of what?
To do by death what life could not -
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid? Of that?

~E.H. Hamilton