The Citizen, 2010-10-28, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2010.
Worship Service & Sunday School at 11 a.m.
CORNER OF DINSLEY& MILL STREETS
MINISTER
Rev. Gary Clark,BA, M. Div.
All Welcome
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Floyd Herman,BA, M. Ed.OFFICE: 519-523-4224
Oct. 31st - Guest Speaker Tom Dunbar. Free luncheon and
Dedication of New Time Capsule to be opened in 2060.
Nov. 7th - Remembrance Sunday,
“Letters From The Front Line”
119 John’s Ave.,Auburn
519-526-1131
www.huronchapel.org
9:30 a.m.
Sunday School
10:30 a.m.
Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker:
Tim Whately
60th
Birthday
Open House
for
Ben
TenPas
Saturday, October 30th
from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
at Huron Chapel
9:45 a.m. Sunday School for all ages
10:30 a.m. - Sunday Morning Worship
Mid-week Bible Study
Blyth Community Church of God
Featuring Live Music by singer songwriter
Blair Miskie
Saturday, November 6th from 7 to 9 pm
Blyth East Side Dance ~ 273 Hamilton St., Blyth
Call 519-523-4590 or e-mail jackiecook@ezlink.ca for more information
• Admission Free • Donations to Operation Christmas Child ~ A project of Samaritan’s Purse
Sponsored by Blyth Community Church of God & Blyth East Side Dance
308 Blyth Rd. E., Blyth ~ Pastor Les Cook ~ 519-523-4590
COFFEE HOUSE
From the Minister’s StudyCurrent events shed light on perversionBy Pastor Ernest Dow,Living Water ChristianFellowship (EMC), BlythWe’re pretty good at hiding
unseemly thoughts. The Apostle
Paul wrote, “...wait till the Lord
comes. He will bring to light what is
hidden in darkness and will expose
the motives of men’s hearts.” (1Cor
4:5) For quite a while Colonel
Russell Williams had been able to
hide his sick thoughts and criminal
actions, but much came to light
recently in an Ontario courtroom.
His secret motives and covert night-
time activities were exposed. The
former commander of our largest
Canadian Forces base faced 88
charges including two of first-degree
murder. Williams admitted he was
guilty of sexual assaults on other
women; he had broken into over 40
homes driven by lust and fantasies. It
was shameful – not only for him;
others in uniform said they found it
more difficult to walk in public as a
result.
Those who knew Colonel
Williams at the base had a hard time
reconciling what they knew of him
with the profile of a condemned
criminal. How could such a high-
ranking, responsible officer be such
a pervert? A pervert whose lust led
him by degrees to death and
destruction, including discharge
from the forces, being stripped of his
medals, and incarceration.
Is the guilt and shame entirely the
colonel’s? To what extent was he
influenced by the culture in which
we live? A person commented on
Facebook that after switching on the
television, she saw three TV murders
in five minutes; she asked, “Is that
normal?” Along with violence,
sexually suggestive dialogue and
images are common in our media
today. Could not many of us confess
to perverse thoughts or daydreams;
we just don’t act on them as
Williams did?
When we forget God and take our
eyes off Him, lesser gods and
principalities are quick to grab our
attention and draw our energetic
pursuit. The Bible calls these ‘idols’.
Jeremiah the prophet compared
Judah’s religious adultery to wild
animals in heat, searching out sex
driven by lust and hormones. “You
are a swift she-camel running here
and there, a wild donkey accustomed
to the desert, sniffing the wind in her
craving – in her heat who can
restrain her?” (Jer 2:23f) When we
fail to find our satisfaction andfulfillment in God, we becomesusceptible to enchantment byworldly temptations that in the end
disappoint or even ruin us.
We may be quick to label
convicted sex offenders like
Williams a ‘pervert’. But does that
tag fit us – whether in our secret
immoral imaginings or in our
insincere religiosity? “...The people
of Israel...have perverted their ways
and have forgotten the LORD their
God.” (Jer 3:21) Forgetting God can
lead one to become a ‘pervert’. Our
conscience is no longer responsive
or held in check. Paul observed: “To
the pure, all things are pure, but to
those who are corrupted and do not
believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both
their minds and consciences are
corrupted.”
We may pretend to be religious;
we may pride ourselves on our
orthodoxy, our denomination, our
regularity in attending or even at the
forefront of serving. That’s
important. But woe to those who
don’t love God, instead becoming
enchanted with worldly things,
“worthless idols” as Jeremiah would
call them (2:11). What is Jesus’
rebuke to the church in Ephesus – a
church to which He says, “I know
your deeds, your hard work and your
perseverance” – a church that had
endured hardships for Jesus’ name?
(Rev 2:2f) Christ warns: “I hold this
against you:You have forsaken your
first love...Repent...” God calls us to
love Him with the white-heat of
‘checed’, the passion of appreciative
dear relationship and devotion (Jer
2:2).
Purity is a prerequisite for entering
into any kind of relationship with the
Holy One. “Who may ascend the hill
of the LORD? Who may stand in hisholy place? He who has clean handsand a pure heart, who does not lift uphis soul to an idol or swear by what
is false.” (Ps 24:3-4) Jesus said,
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
How do we become pure?
Repentance is a first step – that
means to recognize and admit our
guilt, the reality of our shortfall in
the eyes of God. “‘Although you
wash yourself with soda and use an
abundance of soap, the stain of your
guilt is still before me,’ declares the
Sovereign LORD.” (Jer 2:22) God
purifies hearts through faith in Jesus
Christ, who died on the cross (the
most perverse act of all time – unjust
murder of the Sinless One!) in our
place so our sins could be forgiven
(Acts 15:9). The Bible maintains
that it’s “the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered
himself unblemished to God, [that
can] cleanse our consciences from
acts that lead to death, so that we
may serve the living God!” (Heb
9:14)
Asking for forgiveness is part of
the Lord’s Prayer. Christianity is
hard-wired to address our mess-ups.
That doesn’t mean we can keep on
sinning the same old sins: that’s not
true repentance. To repent is to turn
away from wrong (turn to another
channel? turn off the computer
monitor?). Paul admonished, “Let us
purify ourselves from everything
that contaminates body and spirit,
perfecting holiness out of reverence
for God.” (2Cor 7:1) It’s revering
God – holding Him in deep awe,
gratefully appreciating His goodness
and beauty and savouring all He’s
done for us – that alone can
reinforce our resolve to live purely.
And so avoid the pitfalls that sankthe colonel’s career and destroyedand scarred deeply several women’slives.
To avoid the destructiveness of
lust, we need to love the right things.
Purity (on our part) and love for God
go together. John Henry Newman
noted: “The impure then cannot love
God; and those who are without love
of God cannot really be pure. Purityprepares the soul for love, and loveconfirms the soul in purity.”What greater bonus there is in
being pure through finding and
loving Christ, than in forgetting God
and becoming perverted by idols
that ensnare!
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Sandra Cable, Worship Leader
Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - beunitedchurch@gmail.com
Sunday, October 31
Ethel United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
Worship Service and Sunday School - 11:00 a.m.
Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship
Youre Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, October 31
Brussels Public School
at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
6:30 pm - DVD series on the Book of
Revelation by James MacDonald
Sunday School for children
4 to 11 years of age (mornings only)
Childcare provided for infants and toddlers
Coffee & cookies after the morning service
For additional details please contact:
Steve Klumpenhower 519.887.8651 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
Chris McMichael 519.482.1644
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Rev. Elwin Garland
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31
Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available
519-887-2664
10:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship
- Sunday School
getlivingwater.org
Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848
Living Water
Christian Fellowship
10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School
at Blyth Public School,
corner of King & Mill
Tuesdays 7:30 pm - Wingham Small Group
1st & 3rd Wednesdays 7:30 pm - Women’s Ministry
Fridays 7:00 pm - Youth Group
Christ-centred, Bible-believing,
Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared
Oct. 31: Jer. 8:18ff
“Hurting for the Plight of Others”
Saturday, October 30 at Memorial Hall:
FREE Community Breakfast
RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT SUNDAY
Please join us for worship
SUNDAYS
Morning Service 10:00am
Evening Service 7:30pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Pastor John Kuperus
Hwy. 4, BlythHwy. 4, Blyth
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
Welcomes you to come
and worship with us
Trinity, Blyth
9:15 a.m.
Church Office: 519-317-4883
St. John's, Brussels
11:15 a.m.
519-887-6862
Sunday, October 31
Rev.Perry Chuipka