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Because of the Lords great love weare not consumed for his compassions

never fai l. They are new every morning;great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

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Vol.8~Iss.3 Whats Inside?

Page 4Editorial - How Great is ou r God ! - John Boekee

Page 10Poem - Mirror - Josiah Bredenhof

Page 8Creative Highway - Hospi ta l i ty - Iwan Borst

Page 11Roadquest - S tru gg l ing wi th Add ic tion -Stephanie Visscher

Page 13Article - Discipleship and Reformed

M issions - David PolPage 17Inne rview - Kei th Verberg~Christ ianCounsel l i ng Centre - Alyssa Tuinstra

2

What This IsRoadside Assistance is a orum or Reormed youth. A orum is a place where p eopletalk together. So listen and read, but go ahead and write something as well. We wouldlike you to send your articles, poems, and art, and well do our best to include them inthe upcoming issues!

Tis particular orum is a place or discussing aith matters, encouraging one anotherin the aith, passing on Bible knowledge, building and expressing our belies as Re-ormed Christians, sharpening hearts and minds, stimulating reading on Bible-relatedissues, and educating each other.

Do you want to write or RA? Email us your articles and maybe your work will appearin an upcoming issue!

ContactRoadside Assistance Magazine

38 Queensdale Ave. WestHamilton, On L9C 1B5

roadsideassistance@gmail.com

acebook.com/roadsideassistance

Send an email toroadsideassistance@gmail.com to

subscribe to our new digital magazineor 2014 and to submit your articles.

The BoardIwan Borst (Editor)

John BoekeeStephanie Visscher

Alina Van GoorAlyssa uinstra

Design: Caitlin Hamoen

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EDITORIAL

How Great is our God !John Boekee [Ay lmer, ON]

God is not Great - this is the title o a book by well-known authorChristopher Hitchens. A similar amous author, Richard Dawkins,

wrote a book called Te God Delusion. As you can probably tell by thetitle, in this book he claims that God does not exist. Our first reaction mightbe; well at least Hitchens acknowledges the existence o God. However, these

two book titles are not actually that ar apart. Hitchens seems to recognizesomething which we sometimes orget. Tat is that i God is not great, thatis essentially the same as i He did not exist. It can be easy to think o Godas much less than He is. We can think o Him as not as powerul as He is, ornot as just as He is, or not as caring as He is. A weak or unjust or uncaringGod is not the true God. Tereore we can in this way deny the existence othe true God. We too easily think o Him as less than He is, we make Himin our image. In short, we lose sight o His greatness. We like to sing HowGreat Tou Art and How Great is Our God, but Satan loves to tell us thatGod is not great. Except he says it in much more subtle ways, like God is

just your riend, or you only need to pray to God when you need somethingrom Him, or you only need to gloriy God with most o your lie, not all.Te truth is that our God is great and majestic and holy, and that we doneed to worship Him with every thought, word and deed. In act, we mustworship God not first o all or our own sake, or even because o what He has

done or us. We must worship and praise God because o who He is, becauseHe is great, because He is God.So let us take a ew minutes to contemplate the greatness o our God. Let ustake a moment to be struck once again, in a small way, by the awesomenesso our triune, sovereign Creator and Lord. Te obvious place to start withsuch a meditation is in the Word o God. Much o Scripture is in some waytalking about God and His greatness, but one area that especially praisesGod or who He is, is the Psalms. You dont have to look very ar. Psalm 2is about the sovereignty o God over the governments o the earth. Verse 4speaks o how God laughs at the pathetic and petty rants and schemes o thenations (a comorting thought as I write this at the close o an election day).Psalm 8 is praise to the Lord or the glory o His creation. Lord, our Lord,how majestic is your name in all the earth. Verse 3 describes the heavens asthe work o Gods fingers. Te radius o our solar system is approximatelyseven and a hal billion kilometers. Te nearest star is almost orty trillion

kilometers away. Tere are an estimated 100,000,000,000 galaxies and anestimated 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. Te known universe is an es-timated 880,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometers in diameter. And verse 3describes this as the work o Gods fingers! Not even o His arms, or His hands,but His fingers, like He was playing with play dough or Lego or something likethat. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!Psalm 19 continues on this theme o Gods glory in His creation. Te well-known verse 1 says Te heavens declare the glory o God; the skies proclaimthe work o His hands. Psalm 96 is a song o praise to God or His greatness

and majesty. It also calls to the whole earth to sing praise toGod or who He is. Verse 4 through 6 says For great is

the Lord and most worthy o praise; He is to be earedabove all gods. For all the gods o the nations are

idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendorand majesty are beore Him; strength and gloryare in His sanctuary. Psalm 97 also praises ourawesome God. Verse 5 says Te mountains meltlike wax beore the Lord, beore the Lord o all the

earth. Psalm 98 and 99 also continue this theme.99:2 and 3 says Great is the LORD in Zion; He is

exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your greatand awesome name He is holy. Psalm 104 is another

well-known psalm that praise God or His work o creation. Itstarts out Praise the LORD, o my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great;you are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps Himsel in light aswith a garment; He stretches out the heavens like a tent. Scientists do noteven ully understand light or how it works. God spoke it into existenceand uses it as a blanket. Te next time you go camping and pop up your

15 oot long tent in a matter o minutes, remember that with the sameease God created the 880,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilometer wideuniverse. Tere is but one conclusion, that is the one o the psalmist in

verse 33, I will sing to the LORD all my lie; I will sing praise to my Godas long as I live.Tere are many, many other passages in Scripture that tell o the greatnesso our God. Tere is one that is particularly striking, especially regardingthe holiness o God. Tis is the sixth chapter o Isaiah. Te chapter startsthus In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne,high and exalted, and the train o his robe filled the temple. Above Himwere seraphs; each with six wings: with two wings they covered theiraces, with two they covered their eet, and with two they were flying.Tis in itsel is striking. Four out o six o their wings were used to coverthemselves. Tey knew whose presence they were in and they knew that

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they were not worthy to even uncover their aces. And angels are sinless!And yet not even they were worthy to show their aces to the holy God. Tepassage continues And they were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holyis the LORD almighty; the whole earth is ull o His glory! Te angels areso overwhelmed by the holiness o God that all they can do is ceaselesslypraise Him and proclaim His greatness. Tey themselves are holy, and yet theholiness o God is so great that they are lef speechless, except to proclaim hisholiness. You may have heard your minister say that in Hebrew a word can berepeated or strong emphasis. Note that here the word holy is said not twice,but three times! Tere is nothing and no one that can even compare to Godsholiness and greatness. Te seraphim proclaim the holiness o the Lord, notonce, not twice, but three times in a row, and do this perpetually. Isaiah isalso overcome by what he sees. He says Woe to me I cried. I am ruined!

For I am a man o unclean lips, and I live among a people o unclean lips;and my eyes have seen the King,the LORD Almighty. He is struckby the holiness o God, especiallyin contrast to his own sin, and thesin o his people. He is in act sostruck by it that he seems sure he isgoing to die. He doesnt think he canhave this kind o experience and live.Would that we would have somethingo this awe or who God is. We maynot have had a vision like Isaiah did,but this same God is revealed to us inScripture. We can read o His holinessand greatness and, like the seraphim,

should be lef with no words except words o praise.We could continue to discuss Isaiah 6 at great length, but there are otherpassages that we can look at as well. Among the different parts o the Bible inwhich we are particularly blown away by the greatness o God, another onethat comes to mind is the end o Job. Although Job does not accuse God or getangry with Him, it seems that he does come to the point where he is wonderingwhy God has done the things He has. In answer to Jobs questions, the Lordgives Job a small taste o His greatness. Its not that Job didnt know who Godwas, but God reminds Job just who it is that he is questioning. Te Lord doesthis by questioning Job. Tis entire passage is on the greatness o God, but ormatters o time and space we will only look at a ew verses. When you have achance, read and meditate on Job 38-41. We start our brie look at this passagein Chapter 38:12-13: Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown thedawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked

out o it? As was mentioned earlier, we dont even ully understand how lightworks, but God commands every photon, where it comes rom and where itgoes. In verse 31 and 32 we read Can you bind the beautiul Pleiades? Can youloose the cords o Orion? Can you bring orth the constellations in their seasonsor lead out the Bear with its cubs? Te stars in the belt o Orion are one hun-dred thousand times brighter than the sun, and roughly 10,000,000,000,000,000kilometers rom earth, and yet God speaks o unbinding them as easily youwould untie your shoe. For millennia philosophers have debated epistemolo-gy, that is, how we know what we know. Tey have yet to come up with a firmanswer. On this theme verse 36 says Who has endowed the heart with wisdomor gave understanding to the mind? Jobs response is similar to that o the sera-phim, as well as Isaiah, and hopeully to ours. I am unworthy how can I replyto You? I put my hand over my mouth.

Again, there are many more passages in Scripture like this that we could study.Hopeully this small beginning gives us a bit o a reminder o the greatness othe God we ser ve. We could spend much more time looking at the greatness oGod in the Bible, let alone the greatness o God we see in general revelation, inHis creation! Te intricacies o every atom and cell continually proclaim praiseto the great creator God. o be amazed anew at creation you have to look nourther than the mirror. Te human body is made up o an estimated 37 trillioncells (37,000,000,000,000). All the blood vessels in your body combined are onehundred thousand kilometers long! I learned recently that in an average humanlietime, the heart beats one and a hal billion times! How great is our God!Yet another way to study the greatness o God, would be to do a study onHis attributes. I will mention only one. Tat is the infinity o God. Tismeans that everything God is, He is as much as He possibly can be. Tisapplies to all o his other attributes. With regards to his holiness, He is asholy as anyone can possibly be. Tis also applies to his power. Tis is part

o what makes Him all-powerul, He can do anything. Also, his wisdom,He knows everything. Also, his size. God is everywhere partly becausehis size is infinite. Tese are just a ew o his attributes. In everything thatGod is, He is that to the ullest extent possible. Tis also applies to hismercy, He is infinitely merciul to those who repent and praise Him.We could write about and discuss the greatness o God orever, literally. Inact, one day we will be able to do just that. Until then, let us live each dayin praise and glory to our great triune God. How great is our God! Godis indeed very great, the greatest concept there is. However, that procla-mation How great is our God, despite being so small, also contains thesecond greatest concept in the universe. Tat is that this great, awesome,holy, majestic creator God, is our God. He is the great Lord o heaven andearth, and yet He calls us weak, vile humans to praise and gloriy Him. Letus do so every day until He returns, and then orevermore!

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CREATIVEHIGH

WAY

IwanBorst[Hamilton,

ON]

If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; ifhe is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this,you will heap burning coals on his head, and theLord will reward you. Proverbs 25:21-22

When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreathim. The alien living with you must be treated as one ofyour native-born. Love him as yourself, for you werealiens in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:33-34

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doingsome people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hebrews 13:2

Offer hospitali ty to one anotherwith ou t grumbl ing. 1 Peter 4:9

Share with Gods people who are inneed. Practice hospitality.

Romans 12:13

Bible Texts:

There is no place in Gods world wherethere are no people who will come andshare a home as long as it is a real

home. Francis Schaeffer

When there is room in the heart there isroom in the house. Danish Proverb

Hospitality is making your guests feel athome, even though you wish they were.

Proverb

Quotes:

HOSPITALITYhospitality /hspi ' talite/noun : the friendly and generous reception and entertainmentof guests, visitors, or strangers.adjecti ve: relating to or denoting the business of housing orentertaining visitors.

Hospita l i ty in the Bi ble :

Abrahams hospitalityOne day three strangers pass by the tent of Abraham during the heat of the day:

Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, hehurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. Hesaid, If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let alittle water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way now that you have come to your servant. Very well, they answered, do as yousay. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get three seahs of

fine flour and knead it and bake some bread. Then he ran to the herd and selected achoice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. He then broughtsome curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.

While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.(Gen. 18:2-8)

Moses has just helped the daughters of Reuel water their sheep. So when they arrivehome earlier than expected, Reuel asks:

Why have you returned so early today? They answered, An Egyptian rescued usfrom the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock. And whereis he? he asked his daughters. Why did you leave him? Invite him to have some-

thing to eat. Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah toMoses in marriage.

(Ex. 2:18-21)

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ROADQUEST

Struggl ing with Add ict ionStephanie Vissche r [Ham i l ton, ON]

Wait! Do not skim past this article just because you have never beenaddicted to drugs! You might think this article is not or you becauseit is about addiction. It can be so easy to think that we do not strugglewith addiction simply because we have not ever experimented withdrugs or pornography or misused alcohol. However, there are so manyother kinds o addiction that we do struggle with.Have you ever ignored a riend or amily member because you weretoo busy with your phone, stalking a riend on Facebook? Or maybeyou were on Pinterest, again. Perhaps you take photos every day andpost them on Instagram. Tese can be addictions. Do you love toshop? Maybe shopping is your addiction. You love shopping so muchthat you think about it constantly, always looking orward to your nexttrip to the mall. Video games can also be an addiction. Te adrenalinecaused by winning, by beating the big boss, by scoring higher than

ARTICLE

MirrorJosiah Bredenhof [Hami lton, ON]

Te book is opened here and now,What lies Ive told and men disowned.

Laughed, as I mysel enthroned.Rolled in filth like wretched sow.

With stubborn heart reused to bow.

Repentance was too of postponed.Sinul ways I have condoned.

How can I be saved oh Lord, how can I be saved, oh how?

We all lie depraved.Te minister preaches,

and tells us about what our God teaches.Tat i we believe in Jesus, we all shall be saved!

Oh what good news, what good news I say!For He saved us who were just traitor clay.

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your riends can be so thrilling! Sugar can be an addiction too. Howmuch sugar do you consume every day, in the orm o candy, cookies,ice cream, cake or other junk ood? What about coffee - are you addict-ed?

Te Bible addresses the issue o addiction in Romans 6:16 when it says,Dont you know that when you offer yourselves to someone [or some-thing] to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience,which leads to righteousness?

We cannot be enslaved by earthly things. We must be ruled by God

alone. As Christians, we need to offer ourselves, heart and soul, to ourLord and Maker, and subject every part o our lives to his will. We knowthat, No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and lovethe other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Youcannot serve both God and Money. (Matt. 6:24) What other addictionsare common among Christians? What addictions do you struggle with?How can we address and deal with our addictions? Would talking toothers who struggle with the same addictions help or discourage you?

How can you help a riend who has an addiction?

Interact with the Roadquest! o respond, ask a question or comment,just visit our Facebook page and comment on the Roadquest post there.See what others have to say on the subject o addiction!

Discipleship andReformed Missions

David Pol [Hamil ton, ON]

ARTICLE

With a small group o close riends gathered around him, a young manglances into the sky. It is soon time or him to go. Te sun shines downwarmly and a ew clouds tumble across the expanse overhead. Hillsrise up around him and olive trees stand in stark contrast to the sky. Hetakes a deep breath and exhales.All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Tereore goand make disciples o all nations, baptizing them in the name o theFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And surely I am with you always,to the very end o the age.Hands then outstretched, Jesus speaks the words o the Aaronic bless-ing over his devoted ollowers and rises up into the sky. Te disciplescrane their necks, watching him go, until one o the clouds tumbling byhides their Lord, Saviour and riend rom sight.With those words rom the Great Commission, Go and make disci-ples ringing through the ages right to our present day, we ourselves

must pause or a moment and take stock o where weare at. What does it mean to be Reormed in

relation to the great commission? Whatdoes making disciples o all nations haveto do with us today?In our Canadian Reormed setting,

were pretty comortable just sittingback and letting our missionaries takecare o the disciple making. Tey can

plant a couple o churches in Brazil,Indonesia or elsewhere while we sit back

and und them.Dont get me wrong, unding missions is very

important. Without unds, the ability o missionaries to do workwould be much less. But money is not the be all and end all.Without warm bodies on the ground, all the money in the worldwont bring people the gospel. It is the bringing o the gospel thatis essential to aith, because How, then, can they call on the onethey have not believed in? And how can they believe in the oneo whom they have not heard? And how are they to hear without

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someone preaching to them? And how are they to preach unless they aresent? As it is written, How beautiul are the eet o those who bring goodnews! (Rom. 10:14-15)It is this preaching and training and Biblical ocus that has always beencentral to Reormed missionaries, rom the time o Calvin to today. TeBiblical model, starting at the time o Jesus, right through the Reormationto today, has indeed been key in making disciples. Men going out to talkto men, not just to teach them the knowledge o the gospel, but to makedisciples o them. Te task o the church is not just to plant churches in allnations, but to make disciples. It is not enough simply to have a congrega-tion o receivers in the pews, but men and women who receive and over-flow: disciples who become teachers in their own right.

Tis strongly affects the attitude with which you sit inchurch. Are you just a receiver? Do you passively

sit, while the minister fills your ears and hopeit affects you in the coming week? Or are

you a disciple? Do you write down notes,with the nagging eeling o *I may need topass this on!* in the back o your mind?It is by this disciple-building model that theearly church was able to grow so explosive-ly. Imagine, or a moment, i Jesus discipleshad just been receivers. Imagine i they

just sat there and heard instead o listening,growing and passing it on. I that had been the

case, Christianity would have remained in thehands and hearts o a ew in the Middle East instead

o roaring across the globe. No. It is not just enough to

hear. We must be disciples and listen.When we change our attitudes and apply our minds to listening instead o

just hearing, then we will suddenly find ourselves equipped! How ofen do wehave it that we back away rom sharing the gospel with a riend or co-workerbecause were caught flat-ooted and unprepared? How wonderul we wouldeel i we were regularly re-supplied with the good news o salvation and theability to share it confidently! When we listen and pray or the Spirit to workin us, we ourselves are no longer just like cisterns holding water, but springs,welling up resh water or those around us.And i we live in ear? What then? ake it to the Lord in prayer. Ask him, beghim to give you courage and opportunities to work your aith into your ev-eryday lie. Beg him to give you a changed heart and a changed mind towardsthe good news o the Gospel. Sure, there will still be uncertainty and ear, butremember the words o Philippians 1:29-30: For it has been granted to you

on behal o Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer or him,since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hearthat I still have. I the worst we suffer is a little mockery one time romsomeone who is hard-hearted, were doing pretty well. At the same time, we

need to see it as a gif rom God. He has not only granted that we believed,but he also granted us our suffering. Do you remember when the disciplesrejoiced afer they were flogged by the Sanhedrin because they were count-ed worthy o suffering or the Name that is above all names? Ask yoursel,what would drive them to do that? Pray that God would take away yourear and replace it with rejoicing.When hearing has been replaced with listening and ear with joy, we canagain turn to the task o missions. And not just missions abroad. Te worko missions abroad is incredibly important and we must always take joy insupporting that work and take joy in going there ourselves i we have theability and opportunity to help, but it is not where the buck stops. Each andevery one o us should have a missional attitude in our lives. Tis doesntnecessarily mean preaching on a street corner (kudos to you i you canmanage that), but it does mean living a lie in which your aith is so central

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to you that it overflows into your everyday. It means approaching every mealtime reading, every devotionalmoment and every church servicewith the attitude beyond justocusing on ones sel, but con-sidering how we can share thiswonderul news that we learnwith other people. Ten wewill truly display discipleship.Ten we will publicly and not

just privately display that weare partakers in Christ, who is

the spring o living water wellingup or all those around him.

INNERVIEW

Kei th Verburg -Christian Counsell ing Centre

Alyssa Tuinstra

Roadside Assistance: Could you give us an introduction to the

Christian Counselling Centre?

KV:Te Christian Counselling Centre (CCC) is a non-profit, charita-ble organization. It has a Board o Directors that sets policies and givesdirection to the operation o the Centre.Te CCC originated rom the Free Reormed Churches in NorthAmerica on the advice o their Classis. In the last ew years CCC hasattracted support rom some United Reormed Churches o NorthAmerica, Canadian Reormed Churches, and Christian ReormedChurches. Currently the Board o Governors consists o members romthe Free Reormed, Canadian Reormed and the United ReormedChurches o North America.Te first office was established in St. Tomas in 1990, and several yearslater this office was moved to Lambeth (part o London, Ontario).When client demand increased in the Hamilton-Burlington area aCounselling office was established in Burlington, Ontario.Currently CCC employs five counsellors, an executive director, and twooffice personnel working out o two main office locations. Te CCCis also providing counselling services to three local high schools. Teboard o CCC thought it important to have someone that can directly

communicate with the schools and with the church communities toensure the mission o the CCC is delivered. Because the organizationwas getting too large or the board to provide this direct oversight, theybelieved the best way orward was to hire an executive director. So Iwas hired to fill this position a year ago.

RA: Why is a uniquely Christian counselling clinic important?

KV:CCC is dedicated to gloriying God by caring or those who aredistressed or struggling emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Tecounsellors at CCC commit to demonstrating Gods love by providingcompassionate and positive regard in all interactions, and serving withbiblical integrity, ethics and moral standards.

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Tere are many types o counselling, but ofen the solutions offered by thoseservices are grounded in a humanistic viewpoint where man is good and capa-ble o finding truth within himsel. As Christians helping Christians we need tomake sure the approaches and steps within the counselling process direct ourattention to Jesus Christ, the source o truth and the one who truly restores usboth body and soul. We can definitely benefit rom research and studies thatexamine human patterns and behaviour, but long term effective solutions needto be biblically based. But this does not mean that the solution is simple, nordoes it mean that people do not struggle or long periods o time with theirissues. What is key, however, is to have a place where people eel sae to sharetheir burdens and to work with others who are willing to stand alongside themno matter how long the struggle is. Ofen suffering is compared to a wilderness

journey and we are aware that analogy rom Scripture implies a prolonged

period o time which is different than those travelling through a hardship thatis similar to the valley in Psalm 23. Tat may be intense but it is also shorter inlength.

RA: What services does the centre offer?

KV: Our counsellors can help people develop a strategy to deal with a widerange o issues including: marriage conflict, amily breakdown, financialconflict, eelings o depression or anxiety, eelings o detachment, unresolvedresentment, addictions, and helping victims o abuse. Te CCC currently servespeople throughout the province o Ontario. We also aim to help our communi-ties by offering inormation sessions, presentations and even teaching coursesto equip people to serve in their communities or to be better at ser ving one

another.Our two main office locations are in Lambeth (London) and Burling-ton. However, we also make use o office space at Streetlight Ministries inHamilton, Orangeville Canadian Reormed Church, Covenant Reormed

Church in oronto, and in Jordan, Ontario near St. Catharines. We are also lo-cated in or near three high schools in the province with our Student EmotionalSupport (SES) program that acts like a walk-in clinic or students. We providethis service or Guido de Bres Christian High School (Hamilton), EmmanuelChristian High School (Fergus) and Rehoboth Christian School (Copetown).

RA: What are some challenges the CCC has faced so far? Are there any spe-cific challenges that come with being a Christian organization?

KV:One o the largest challenges or a Christian organization is the way we, asChristians, perceive them. Sometimes we view them as being similar to church,

a place where there is no charge to attend and where the programs are run byvolunteers. We can easily expect the same sacrifice rom a Christian organiza-tion as we would o the church. It is ofen expected that those that work underthese umbrella Christian organizations need to make sacrifices that most can-not or are not willing to make. In the process though we can devalue the veryservices we claim to hold dear to our heart. Ofen the community can wonder why there is a shortage o pastors,teachers, and good biblical counsellors without realizing the demands o thosetasks are compounded when their financial means are not also accounted or.I we pay top dollar or the stuff in our lie and are stingy with our donationsto enhance Christian ministries we also send messages about the inherent

value o each. Te worldly pursuits should have the deals and bargainsbecause they offer very little eternal value; however, the organizationsthat promote eternal perspectives and seek Godly ways to live should be

valued at the premium level.

Another significant challenge to counselling organizations isanother kind o perception. Tis involves both those that require care andthose who do not. For those who are considering counselling the stigmathat is ofen attached to difficulties is prohibitive. Christian communitiespromote truth but in doing so those that all short o the mark can eelthey will be judged and become the leper within the community. Shameand guilt can be strong influences that prevent people rom reaching out.Seeking to build trust and compassion within our communities especiallywhen we become aware o hardship and brokenness is the first step inbreaking down barriers or those who need counselling. We also need to realize that some issues are complex and requiredifferent spiritual care. Ofen mental/emotional issues are viewed differ-ently than physical ones. We want to simpliy them, but that is not real-

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istic. We must realize that i we try to treat serious physical trauma with basiccare the results will be very harmul. An ruptured artery or appendix requiresmore than a bandage and an Advil. However, we ofen do not regard mental/emotional issues in the same light. Minimizing the danger or these issues canhave the same impact. Serious emotional trauma requires different care and itdoes not make the person suffering with it less than another or automaticallyweaker in their aith. It is difficult to understand these matters and they arecomplex, but attempting to understand them more is a better option than try-ing to make something complex simple or reject the reality o them altogether.

RA: How can young people help with the CCCs mission?

KV:Awareness is the best way people can help the CCC with its mission. Getto know us by checking out our website and acebook page. Attend events thatwe host and sponsor. Discuss and talk about the things you learn and let others

join the conversation. Instead o judging others you do not understand, orsimply repeating thoughts expressed by others, start listening to those that aredifferent rom you. Also become discerning as to when a listening ear is neededand when giving advice is the correct response. Biblical knowledge and under-standing are key to helping others as well, but ofen pat answers or rehearsedphrases and lines are o little benefit to those in need.

Secondly, pray or us as we minister to those who come to seek resolutions.Remember us when the collection plate passes by or become a regular donatori you can.

Tirdly, become involved with us. Let us know your thoughts and ideas to help

us better serve your community. Invite us to come and speak at your events. Letus know i there are things we can develop to help you in the struggles youngpeople ace today. Part o our mission at the CCC is to partner with commu-nities to make them stronger and more vibrant, and you are a large part o theaith community. We would love the opportunity to connect in this way.

Te Christian Counselling Centres website ishttp://www.christiancounsellingcentre.ca/

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EDITORIAL

How Great is our God !John Boekee [Aylmer, ON]

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How Great is our God !John Boekee [Aylmer, ON]

He g ives strength to the weary andincreases the power of the weak.

Isa iah 40:29

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