HPC Summer 2011 Newsletter

8/6/2019 HPC Summer 2011 Newsletter

1/13

SUMMER 2011

HPC NEWSLETTERCAMP.BEACH.SUN.FAITH.LOVE.

And yet, there is a certain kind of narrowness to the Christian life. Listen tothis.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that

leads to life, and only a few find it.This is Jesus speaking. After a sermon thathighlighted the wideness of God s mercy andinstructed his disciples to an equallygenerous mercy, Jesus narrows thingsdown. He presents us with two roads andtwo gates and brings us to a crossroads.

Enter through the narrow gate. What doesthat mean?

Oh that s easy, you might say. It has to dowith morals. The broad road is the road of sin, of worldly pleasure, immorality,corruption, injustice, war, and conflict; andthe narrow road is the road of upright living,of moral purity, of being good neighbours,of fairness, and justice and peace. That sthe way that it is most commonlyunderstood. For many years I ve had aposter in my of fice of the Dutch painting Debrede en de smalle weg (The broad and

the narrow way) which portray the tworoads in exactly that way. Along the broadroad you ll find all the places of worldlypleasure - the saloon, the dance hall, and

Most of us would rather die than to becalled narrow in our thinking and life-style.If I gave you a list of pronouns and ask you to tick off the ones that describe whoyou want to be, which ones would youmark? Would you choose narrow,blinkered, narrow-minded, parochial,insular, closed-minded, rigid, inflexible,

constrained, or dogmatic? Or would youprefer pronouns such as open-minded,progressive, flexible, tolerant, impartial,unprejudiced, and liberal?


2/13

For we walk by faith, not by sight. -- Corinthians 5:7

the lotto centre - while the narrow roadtakes you to Sunday School, the church,the missionary society, the hospital, etc.

It is enticing to think about it that way.But it ain t that easy. Jesus is talking tohis disciples, remember, and this is not amoralistic lesson. His focus is on thegate. Which gate do you enter throughand what road does that take you on?

When you understand Jesus teaching,you d be surprised how much religionyou ll find along the broad road.

When Jesus talks about the narrow gate,he talks about himself. I am the gate for

the sheep, he says elsewhere (John10:7- 10). And, I am the way, the truthand the life, no one comes to the Fatherexcept through me (John 14:6). Jesus isthe narrow gate. We enter through himalone. That is why the gate is small. Ourgood intentions are not the gate throughwhich we enter into the life of theKingdom. Our efforts to live well andright are not the gate. Our moralrestraint and purity is not the gate. Thechurch is not the gate. Our prayers arenot the gate. Our missionary work is notthe gate. Jesus is the gate. We enter onlythrough the person of Jesus and hisaccomplishments. We enter only by hisgrace.

Many people try to enter throughreligious gates (wide gates) that arevaguely related to Christ. But thesegates, how good and well-intentionedthey are, are not Christ. Many of thereligious gates through which we try to

enter into the life of the Kingdom havemore to do with ourselves than with Christ;with relying on ourselves rather than onChrist; with following the popular teachersand viewpoints of the day rather than with

following Christ.

Jesus is the gate. The road we travel is alsodefined by him and his work. It is a narrowroad, but He leads us. It is a road of repentance, of simple prayer, of trusting inthe mercies of God, of forgiveness, of prayer for enemies, of honest speech, of reconciliation with our brothers andspouses and children, of discernment, of hearing the word and putting it intopractice, of being salt and light in theworld.

And it leads to life.

Gerard


3/13

HARD SAYINGS OFJESUS

I would suggest that our approach to Scripture isvery often a rather practical, self-serving exercise.We like those passages that speak of God sblessings, His grace and the love He has for Hiscreation and His sin-filled creatures. Perhaps, aswe get older, we fear death more and wantassurance that we are really ok with God. But it isthose hard sayings of Jesus that causes usproblems. He has a way of coming at us,sometimes when we least expect it, and calling usto account.

On the one hand Jesus is a pretty attractivecharacter. He certainly seems to have had a lot of attention as He wandered around the Galilee regionand later on in Judea and the city of Jerusalem.The miracles He performed certainly helped makeHim popular and His criticism of the ruling religiousparty resonated with those who flocked to hearHim. But, on the other hand, His purpose forcoming into the world was singular, it was to callout people to follow Him and become disciples who,in turn, would carry out the redemptive mission Godhad entrusted Him with.

There were many would-be followers of Jesus, butHe certainly didn t make it easy for them. On oneoccasion, as they were walking along, someonewith, I expect, a burst of enthusiasm said: I will follow You wher ever You go. To which Jesusreplied: Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. I imagine there were some who overheardthis exchange and smiled knowingly. So Jesusturned to another and said (y ou) follow me. Intoday s parlance He would be said to have gottenin his face. Certainly He was pretty direct. Theman responded, Lord, first let me go and bury my

father. But Jesus wouldn t let him off the hook that easily, Let the dead bury their own dead;

but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Another quickly stepped up, I will follow You,Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home whereupon Jesus replied, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.

As I read this series of exchanges (Luke 9:57-62)I realized that not much has changed and thesame kind of excuses are still being made. Iwould like to, but I don t have the time; Oh no,

I cou ld never do that! I m not qualified; I wouldbe there but that s the night of my favorite TVshow; No, that s the day I play golf; I wouldlike to do that, but I don t know what I will bedoing two weeks from now; Sign up for a Biblestudy or a prayer group? Well, I would like to butI wouldn t want to commit myself to anything likethat, something important might come up and Iwouldn t want to tie myself up. Makes one wonder if Jesus ever gets any newproblems. But one thing for sure, Jesus is

unre lenting and doesn t let us off too easily. Hestill says to all He meets, Come, follow Me andwaits for our response. I guess it comes down toa matter of priorities.

R. Dorne Cornish


4/13

HPC YOUTH/YOUNGADULTS GROUP

HPCs Youth/Young Adults Group spent the lastweekend of May at Camp Douglas, joining with theyouth from Calvin Abbotsford for a combinedwork party and mini-retreat. All told we were 18young people, four sponsoring adults, with another12 adults from the Presbytery (including severalfrom HPC), joining us for a regular Camp Douglaswork party on the Saturday.

Half of the Haney group were able to get to thecamp early on Friday in order to prepare theinterior of Haney Presbyterians adopted cabin,

Cedar, for painting. They washed and painted theceiling, then sanded, washed and primed thebunkbeds.

The next day we got to work right after breakfastand I have to tell you: our youth are extremelydisciplined workers. Heres what we did:

Painted ceiling and bunk beds of Cedar cabin(unintentionally I think we chose Canucks colours!)

Re -roofed the First Aid Cabin

Moved the bush from field by the bridge

Stripped ivy from trees

Cleared the bush from the ocean campfire area

Touched up the paint on the retreat centre railings

Defrosted the chest freezer

Power washed the moss of the main building

Weeded the gardens and planted some dahlias

Mowed the lawn and weed -whacked the edges

Hemmed and washed the cookhouse drapes

Washed the cookhouse and cabin windows

The interior of HPCs cab in still needs a bit of work.In September we plan to go back up to touch up thebunks, paint the walls and maybe even the floor.

Of course, it wasnt all work. On Saturday night wesang around the campfire, ending the day withsnacks and board/card games. On Sunday, after

worship in Camp Douglas outdoor chapel, wecleaned up the camp and then spent the afternoonenjoying the sunshine, playing outside. We caughtthe 6.50 ferry home.

This summer our youth will be spending most, if notall, of their time up at the Camp, either as volunteers,staff or Leaders-in-Training. For the past month,they have been very busy preparing for theirministry. Please keep them and the children andyouth they serve in your prayers.

If you would like to see some photos of our May

weekend, check out our website atwww.haneypreschurch.org.

Paddy Eastwood


5/13

Cariboo Presbyterian Church

This church is not like most that we are usedto. People meet in homes, halls, outdoors,wherever it's convenient. Recently they'vestarted "cowboy church". (If you haven'theard of it, check cowboychurch.ca.) Thereare three ministers, two of them a wife andhusband, and, together, they serve some 17points, most of them once a week. There is asignificant native outreach. Check the website:cariboopresbyterianchurch.bc.ca. The breadthand vision of this ministry is well laid out. If you click on "map" you will see the broadgeographical area that this ministry serves:from the coast to the mountains, from Lillooetnorth to a point between Quesnel and PrinceGeorge.

This ministry is one of five that aredesignated by the Mission Committee for

special support by our congregation.

Allen Aicken

"Let my heart be broken with the things that break God's heart" Bob Pierce, World Vision founder

HPC MISSIONS

CHRISTIAN YOUTH ASSOCIATIONOF NICARAGUA

For six years now we at HPC have had theprivilege of enabling an increasing number of Nicaraguan students to pursue their coursesof study: high school, technical colleges,university. Last year we were able to send$5,000, permitting twenty young people tocontinue post-secondary programs. Severalhave graduated recently.

All the students volunteer at the Associati on syouth centre in Acahualina, a sprawling,crowded, rather fetid and extremely poorghetto at the margins of the capital,Managua.

The many testimonials and photos we ve seenover the years confirm a continuing need forour assistance. Cesar Moncado, justgraduated with a law degree, writes a movingletter concluding, On a personal level Iwould like to thank you for all the goodyou ve done and hope you will always carry

on realizing this type of contribution so muchneeded by the youth.

Roger Page


6/13

Congregational Family Retreat

A new book entit led One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp has just been read by ourBook Club members and will be available inour church library this summer. Annencourages a perspective in each of us tosee God in all things; to see all thingsthrough God s eyes. Thus we will view theevents in our lives both the positive and thenegative as the outworking of His grace.She poses the question, In a world of certain loss, what is grace? Ann then linksthe word origins of Thanksgiving, Joy andGrace; arriving at the connection betweengratitude (eucharisteo) and grace. If we livewith a constant attitude of gratefulness,

thanksgiving will always precede the miracle. Ann writes in a poetic prose style. She isintrospective but shares deeply spiritualtruths that she dares each of us to apply toour own lives.

One Thousand Gifts

Evening Devotion

Scavenger Hunt


7/13

Narthex and Bulletin BoardProject

The kitchen area had been dressed, and amirror installed to capture more light andenlarge the space.

The Interactive Communication Wall iscomplete. I hope you will all agree that is notonly an inviting space, visually organized andinviting. It encourages people to see what shappening with events and news.

In the Mail Room, I have installed a mail box by Paddy s office door. I had noticed pe opleleaving items in front of the door/floor. Ithought the box would help, and it gives theyouth an area to leave Paddy messages. It s achallenging corner, so I have also added somewall tattoos to make the area more noticeablefor the youth, encouraging and inviting.The large wall tattoo on the staircase is for the

Name Tags......Church Family Tree. I havemore work here with the gluing of magnets for the name tags. I hope to include a verse on thewall reflecting family and or roots. I have also

been looking at a leaf pattern for the nametags....injecting some green colour for thechildren to identify their tags.

The Pew Restoration Project, I have glued,filled, sanded and sanded some more, strippedthe old stain and glue from this tattered old

pew. I have treated it a few times with a woodconditioner in order to open the grain preparingfor the new stain colour to take. I have chosena dark tone, it will not only make the woodlook rich, but give it that look of an old pew. Itwill be dressed with a few coordinatingcushions too. A great place for a Sunday chat!The panel boards, a.k.a. the main notice

boards, one has been installed in blue by thestairway tree wall. The other panel board will be installed shortly on the opposite wall, same pattern in Red. This will highlight the Fire

Zone wall, and bring attention to what is postedon the board in a corner area.The Fire Wall has just the Evacuation Plan andFloor plan to be framed and hung.Furniture for the narthex, regarding storage anddisplay will be installed last, flanking both sidesof the Memorial Table. The furniture willfeature labeled drawers for items (magazines,misc. items). They will be dressed accordingly.Lower Hall will feature the interactive photowall. To be completed when the wallpaper arrives.I hope you are all happy with the changes to thespace and find it more pleasing on the eye. Mygoal was to keep the main narthex clean andinviting, with the majority of the

communication items to the CommunicationWall in the kitchen area. It has been a big process to date, I ask for patience as moretranspires in Watch this Space!Please forward any questions or concerns to meI am more than happy to receive anycomments....good or bad, I have big shoulders!

Jacqueline Curtis


8/13

MONDAY CRAFTERS Some of us were able to take the day off onMonday, June 13, and headed for the WestCoast Express into Vancouver playing touristsin our own back yard. We had a great day;great fellowship; great food! And yes, wecame back with a few new crafts forSeptember. Hope you ll join us beginning

Monday, September 12, 9:30-11:30 in thechurch library. We wish you all awonderfulsummer.

THINK SUMMER! THINK BAZAARSo the last thing on your mind as youanticipate the long hot days of summer isChristmas. Let us assure you were talkingHaney Presbyterian Family Bazaar in November. Thatssix weeks before Christmas. Sounds a lot better, right? So

when youre putz ing in the garden consider doing some picklingor canning or making a batch of jam as the fruit and vegetables begin toripen.Summer is a lazy time for many of us; a time to sit and maybe stitch up anapron or knit a pair of socks. For others it is a good time to clean out thegarage or the crawl space wow, there are some real treasures there.Whatever your plans, enjoy! But every so often think Bazaar!

MEXICAN TRAINWith summer approaching ( wehope), we will take a break. We donot meet in July and August butresume again in September (Sept.26 th ).

We encourage you to join us inSeptember for a night of fellowshipand, of course, refreshments.

Have a great summer and hope tosee you all in September.

Morag Baxter


9/13

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirtwith holes in it, jeans and no shoes. This wasliterally is wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of esoteric and very,very bright. He became a Christian recently whileattending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-

dressed, very conservative church. One day Billdecides to go there. He walks in with no shoes,

jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service hasalready started and So Bill starts down the aislelooking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can't finda seat. By now people are really looking a bituncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill getscloser and closer and closer to the pulpit and,when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats

down right on the carpet. (Although perfectlyacceptable behavior at a college fellowship, trustme, this had never happened in this church before!

By now the people are really uptight, and thetension in the air is thick. About this time, theminister realizes that from way at the back of thechurch, an Elder is slowly making his way towardBill. Now the Elder is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man,very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He

walks with a cane and, as he starts walking towardthis boy, everyone is saying to themselves that youcan't blame him for what he's going to do.

An Unspoken Bible

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid onthe floor? It takes a long time for the man toreach the boy. The church is utterly silent exceptfor the clicking of the man's cane.

All eyes are focused on him. You can't evenhear anyone breathing. The minister can't even

preach the sermon until the Elder does what hehas to do. And now they see this elderly mandrop his cane on the floor. With great difficultyhe lowers himself and sits down next to Bill andworships with him so he won't be alone.

Everyone chokes up with emotion. When theminister gains control, he says, "What I'm aboutto preach, you will never remember. What youhave just seen, you will never forget. Be carefulhow you live. You may be the only Bible some

people will ever read."

Author Unknown


10/13

The people here are very warm and kind. They havegiven us everything we need for our stay and it is verycomfortable. This manse is so small there is very littlehouse work and I can spend daysdoing whatever I want plus waiting on the Lord. It is

pretty fabulous. It isn't exciting looking from theoutside, but the quiet times and the times of ministryare very rewarding. The weather here has not beenterrific. It will be nice and warm one day and thendown right nasty windy and cold the next. The very realthreat of constant flooding is really hurting peoplehere. Their ranches are so flooded that they must moveup to 300 head of cattle out of the muck. One man andwife who come to church named Gail and Ben, are oneof those ranchers. They were telling us how they were

pulling calves late into the night.( Calves were born or were backwards and one of themdied) they said they had about 30 of them to take careof and they have a herd of about 200. Calving season islater here than in warmer climates. They don't want thecalving to take place in the colder months. But, Gailand Ben are cheerful always smiling, and they take allthese things in stride after years of experience workingon the land. As they speak about the land and thewater you can hear the partnership they have withnature. They are close and upfront with the reality of the weather and the changing seasons. It is hard forme to describe how they have a symbiosis with theearth. The people are clear, direct and straight forward,there seems to be no guile in them and they take it asit is dished out to them from God and the Earth. Iremember some of these feelings from growing up withfarm kids. They always had the best attitudes. They

grew by working hard with their parents.So, this flooding in Manitoba this year iswithout precedence and we are expecting another bigrain storm this coming week. Last week the wind cameup strong from the north east. It blew across thesehuge lakes and ( Lake Winnipegosis is just a kilometreor two away. It is perhaps 100miles long and more than

50 miles wide) When the wind blows huge waves arecreated and they lash against the shores pushing wateronto the land and drowning docks, cabins, homes and100's of acres of farmland. When this happened lastweek the community here was out in full force sandbagging and dyking through out the night. The nextday Dennis went out to help in the pouring rain and hecame home after a few hours totally soaked andexhausted. The community set up a hall and began tosupply everyone with food and hot drinks. The peopleworked together to save, just one example, Foxy's GasStation just down the road from here.Grain fields in this area and throughout the province are

filled with water in places. Everyone is talking about theplanting of fields and gardens. Will it dry enough or not?Huge tracks of beautiful flat land are just muck.

Yesterday as we drove the 58km to Dauphin (a largercentre where we can shop) the land looked drier.Farmers were out seeding like mad men. They will work way into the night to get it done. By the way, it stayslight here until 10:30 or 10:45 and dawn is around4:30am. I am glad that we have thick curtains in ourbedroom.....hahaha.Our ministry at this point is partly to do a lot of listening. The people need to talk and tell their storiesand they are gratified to have someone pay this kind of respect to them. Through this God does many things forthem. .......so we continue on praying for the bestoutcome for this country place, it is a big part of thebread basket of our country.Dennis is really digging in with ministering the Word inchurch and he gets some pretty good ideas for his BibleStudies and his sermons, at least I think so, but then Iam his wife and I love being in full support of hiscomings and goings. We are having a really good timehere, it is quiet and we feel the presence of God dailyto help us. A big hello!! to all of you at Haney

Presbyterian and many thanks for all your prayers for us

we can feel your support. Please pray for this churchtoo. Knox Presbyterian Winnipegosis.

the Love of the Lord to you all from us.........Gayle


11/13

TOUR OF THE HOLY LAND

April 15 - 30, 2012

Yes, we are going to Israel again. Thiswill be our eighth visit to the Holy Land. Why

do we go? We have been asked that many times and it isdifficult to put into words. When we step off the plane in Ben Gurion airportwe have the feeling of coming home. It is a special place, the land of Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. So much of our history as Christians and the Church comes to life here. No onemaking this pilgrimage will ever read the bible as before. This is where Jesus spent his timeon earth and what an experience it is to walk where he walked.

But is it safe? Another question we are frequently asked. My answer is simple: it is probablyone of the safest places for tourists to go. Both the Israelis and the Palestinians depend somuch on the tourist industry they go out of their way to ensure the safety of those who comefor a visit. This May of 2011 saw 268,000 tourists visit Israel, up 5% over May of 2010,

setting a new record. In all our time in Israel we have never felt threatened or uneasy aboutour safety.

We will begin our pilgrimage in Jordan, visiting the ancient hidden Nabatean city of Petra;travel the King s highway, the route followed by the Israelites on their journey from Egypt tothe land of Canaan; stand on Mt. Nebo and gaze with Moses out over the Dead Sea and thecity of Jericho; visit Amman (N.T. city of Philadelphia) and Jerash, the best preserved ruinsof a Roman city in the Middle east.

Then on to Israel, to the Galilee, Capernaum, Dan, Bethsaida, Nazareth, Bet Shean, Megiddo- the list seems endless!- Caesarea, Bethelehem, Masada, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem. These are

just some of the highlights. If you are interested, please pick up a colored brochure whichwill lay out the whole itinerary. The cost of the tour covers all costs: included is the fuelsurcharge, airport improvement tax and all tips. There are no hidden costs.

Lorraine and I are thrilled that Gerard Booy will be co-hosting the tour with us.We arecommitted to making this, not just a tour for tourists, but a pilgrimage, a spiritual

journey that will have a significant impact on those who travel this journey with us.

Yours in Christ s service,

Dorne


12/13

This fall we will be expanding the Girlsand Boys Group programme.Gods Girls, led by Laura and RickyNewberry for girls aged 9-13, willcontinue to meet on Friday nights but willnow meet 5-7pm. A new girls group forgirls aged 6-8 will start this September.Watch for more details.The Boys Group will split into two groups:HPC Guys for boys aged 13-17, led byAndrew Newberry and Regard Booy; andHPC Boys, for boys aged 8-12 led byJohnathan Booy. The programme will besimilar to whats been done in the past:bible study, games and sports. The

younger group will focus on biblicalknowledge during their study period; the

older group will focus on spiritualdevelopment. The two groups will meettogether periodically for special events.Circle this date: Mark Friday September16th on your calendar. The Corn MazeKick-off is back! This event is for allages bring your flashlight and lets kick -off our fall programme together.

Kids Korner

Vacation Bible SchoolAug. 22-26, 2011

*space is filling up fast so register early!

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn fromme, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will findrest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is

light." Matthew 11:28-30


13/13

Calvin@500Theology, History, and Practice*

EDITED BY RICHARD R. TOPPING AND JOHN A. VISSERS

Calvin@500 is an exercise in appreciative criticismand appropriation of the Reformers work for churchand society. The collection serves as an introduction tothe life and thought of this sixteenth-century Reformerin his context. The book also traces Calvins continui nglegacy for political, economic, theological, spiritual,and inter-religious practices of our own time. Theessays reflect the depth and breadth of Calvinscholarship from the sixteenth century to the present.They also reflect Calvins own wide -ranging ministry:the authors are pastors, teachers, social justiceworkers, and theologians. Calvin@500 arose from twoCanadian conferences on the occasion of the 500thanniversary of Calvins birth.

RICHARD R. TOPPING holds the St. Andrews Hall

Chair of Studies in the Reformed Tradition inVancouver, Canada, where he teaches at theVancouver School of Theology and lectures at Regent College. He is the author of Revelation, Scripture, and Church (Ashgate, 2007).

JOHN A. VISSERS is the Principal of PresbyterianCollege in Montreal, Quebec, and Adjunct Professor of Christian Theology, McGill Faculty of Religious

Studies.

ISBN 13: 9781- 61097-131-7 / $23 / 198 PP. / PAPER

Order via phone (541) 344-1528, fax (541) 344-1506

or e-mail us at [email protected].

*as a matter of interest - our very own minister has an article in this book
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

HPC Summer 2011 Newsletter

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