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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2008-01-31, Page 11By Pastor John KuperusBlyth Christian ReformedChurchGod has given us a gift of a heart,the emotional seat of our being. God designed our hearts to be open and receiving, yet many times our hearts are closed because of some past experience. The heart is one of the places love comes from and God wants us to set our hearts on him. The writer of the Proverbs affirms this instruction when he says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5) and also “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). Jesus speaks of the heart and says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34). Jesus also expresses his disappointment when he says, “These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mt. 15:8). The Bible sees the heart as the source of conviction and courage. It is the source of our faith, our hope and of love. It is the emotional seat of our being. Our hearts also experience pain. David writes about a friend betraying him in Psalm 55 and he comments about his heart in verse four when he says, “My heart is in anguish within me.” Another place the psalmist speaks of his wounded heart is in Psalm 109:22. “For I am afflicted and needy and my heart is wounded within me.” Wounded hearts often cause us to put up a wall to protect ourselves from future hurt. I read this story in David Augsburer’s book entitled The New Freedom of Forgiveness. “Two brothers grew up in a small South African village. The older was tall, handsome, intelligent, an excellent athlete, a good student, and a natural leader. Sent away to a private school, he quickly made a name for himself. As an admired campus leader, brilliant student, and outstanding athlete, he was in his final year when his younger brother arrived to begin studies. The little brother was not good- looking or athletic. He was a hunchback. Since his childhood his mother had sewn padded jackets that concealed his spinal deformity. His sensitivity to his short, curved stature had grown through the years. None of the family spoke of it out of respect for his shamed feelings. Yet the boy had one great gift. He had a magnificent voice and could sing gloriously, like a nightingale of the veldt. Soon after his arrival at the private school, the students held initiation ceremonials that included hazing—a sort of trial by fire—a public humiliation to extract proof of courage. Often one student would besingled out to be especially houndedas a kind of scapegoat. On the eve ofthe initiation, the student body in acruel mob action ganged up on the younger brother, carried him off to the water tank, and demanded that the acclaimed singer sing while they jeered. His fear only focused the purity of this tenor and the frighteningly beautiful sound only incited the crowd to be all the more abusive. Finally, they tore off his padded shirt to reveal his never- before-seen hunchback. The older brother, aware of what was planned, watched silently from the laboratory window. He could have stepped through the playful mob turned sadistic and with a word put a stop to the whole tragic scene. As a leader, he could have acknowledged the strange boy as his brother, but instead he busied himself in his work in the laboratory while the mob raged outside. By refusing to go to him in love when he was being abused, he betrayed his brother. The younger brother never sang again. He survived physically, but his spirit was crushed. He withdrew into himself. At the end of the term he returned to the family farm, where he lived a lonely, reclusive life.” The heart of the younger brother closed. One traumatic event put the fire out in his life. We might tell him to get over it. Or we may tell him to forgive them. The point is that his heart closed. How often does this not happen to you and me? We offendone another and it causes a breakdown in relationships. In our culture,we are suffering from many brokenrelationships. We offend one another and do not even realize it. I remember when I was a teenager, I wanted to hunt woodchucks. My father told me that I had to finish the chores before I could go. Then we had to have dinner. Finally I went and did not see any woodchucks. I returned home disappointed. My father laughed about my lack of success. That cut like a knife. I felt like he did not value my desires or passions. Gary Smalley in his book, The Key to Your Child’s Heart, gives 84 different ways we can offend our children. I will give you 10: 1. Lacking interest in things that are special to me 2. Breaking promises –getting my hopes up to do something as a family and then not following through 3. Criticizing unjustly 4. Lecturing me and not understanding when all I need is some support 5. Not spending time alone with me 6. Never telling me “I love you;” never showing me physical affection 7. Being too busy to care for me and listen to me 8. Being disciplined in harshness and anger 9. Insulting me in front of others 10. Comparing me with other kids at school and telling me how wonderful they are and that theywish I could be better.Do you ever mess up and do thesethings? I do. I find myself indesperate need of forgiveness from God and my children and others. How can we tell if a person’s spirit is closed? Smalley says, a person will avoid you and will not want to be near you or will not want to talk to you. When you are in the company of the other person, they may be argumentative and respond negatively to anything you say or do. When a child’s spirit closes, they may seek friends you do not approve of and may swear and use disrespectful language. A closed spirit is a major cause for the misuse of drugs and alcohol, and a primary reason why children become sexually permissive. At the very worst, a child whose spirit has been completely closed may run away from home or commit suicide. How can a closed heart bereopened?First, we need to have a tenderheart to see we have offendedsomeone. Some people’s hearts are like stone and they run right over others without even realizing what they are doing. If this is the case, then we need to ask God to do surgery. In Ezekiel 36:27-28 God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Second, we need to take the time to understand how we offended another person. A person with a tender heart is going to take the time to move toward the offended person and discover what the problem is. That person is going to care and communicate the other person is important and valuable. If we approach the other person THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008. PAGE 11. From the Minister’s Study‘Heart, the emotional seat of our being’ Welcome to Brussels Mennonite Fellowship Worship Service 9:30 am Coffee Break 10:45 am Sunday School 11:00 am (for all ages) Pastor Brent Kipfer 519-887-6388 BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Sandra Cable, Worship Leader Church Office 519-887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wightman.ca Sunday, February 3 Ethel United Church Worship Service - 9:30 a.m. Brussels United Church Worship Service - 11:00 a.m. Celebrating our Christian Faith together in worship MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 Wheelchair accessible ~ Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 519-887-9831 11:00 am - Sunday Morning Worship - Sunday School 9:30 am - Sunday Belgrave Service THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA Welcomes you to come and worship with us SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. 519-523-9595 St. John's, Brussels 11:15 a.m. 519-887-6862 308 Blyth Rd. E. ~ Pastor Les Cook 519-523-4590 B l y t h C o m m u n i ty Church of God C H U R C H O F G O D ,ANDERS O N , I N D I A N A “The Church is not a building, it is people touching people Sunday School 9:45 a.m. - Christian Education for all ages 11:00 a.m. - Worship Service Mid-week Bible Studies See you Sunday! Sunday 9:30 a.m. - Family Sunday School 10:30 a.m. - Morning Worship Service 7:30 p.m. - Evening Worship Service Wednesday 6:30 p.m. - Olympians (JK to Grade 6) 7:00 p.m. - Youth and Adult Bible Study HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH Auburn - 519-526-1131 PASTOR DAVE WOOD Please join us for worship SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00am Evening Service 7:30pm BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Pastor John Kuperus Hwy. 4, Blyth Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Blyth United Church Office: 519-523-4224 Sunday, February 3 All Welcome Worship Service and Sunday School - 11 a.m. getlivingwater.org Pastor: Ernest Dow ~ 519-523-4848 Living Water Christian Fellowship 1st & 3rd Wednesdays - Women at the Well Youth: Mondays - Senior 6:30 pm - Fridays - Junior 7:30 pm Sunday, Feb. 3: 2 Peter 1:12ff Evangelical Missionary Church The Bible’s Believability: NOT ‘Cleverly Invented Stories’ 10:30 a.m. ~ Worship & Sunday School at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill Continued on page 16