HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-07-19, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2000.
From the Minister’s Study
fcWater anyone? How’s your outflow,’ asks minister
By Rev. Ernest Dow
Blyth United Church
Ever since the Walkerton epidem
ic. people have been hyper-con
scious of water quality issues.
The July 12 Citizen was full of
examples of concern about water.
We're told the Middle Maitland is
“unsafe for any purpose”; run-off of
pesticides, manure and chemicals
should alarm residents; and E.coli
counts have regularly been above
acceptable levels.
Last year six of 18 county beaches
tested unsuitable for swimming over
half the time. Hundreds of commu
nal wells in our county need to be
assessed, it’s reported; while the
effect of large livestock barns is
weighed against “malfunctioning
municipal water systems that dump
large amounts of raw sewage into
Lake Huron.”
A recent heavy rainfall in the
Zurich-Hensall-Exeter area resulted
in a “boil water” advisory for sever
al communities. Meanwhile, we dis
cover the storage tank for Blyth and
Brussels has been leaking sludge
through cracks!
As a native Ontarion, it is taking
some adjusting for me to get used to
the thought of so much water all
around being polluted instead of
crystal pure. Aren’t we “a land of
lakes and a land of snow”, home of
the largest freshwater body in the
world? What happened? On the
physical plane, such news alerts us to
the need for better stewardship of
water. I agree with Pastor Ben
Wiebe, who wrote in that same issue,
“To pollute the water or the air is to
contaminate the relationships within
which I live and exist.”
Water is a precious gift from our
Creator that we need to stop taking
for granted and conserve and protect.
As we stop and take a second
thought before drinking water from
an unfamiliar faucet, this situation
can also prompt us to consider our
owr> individual output on a spiritual
plane. As persons we each have a
relational “outflow” which can be
either life-giving or deadening. We
test our physical wells; what about
the quality of the “well” of our soul?
“Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.” Our
heart is like a well: it can be good
and healthy, or bad and sickly.
Scripture contrasts these two atti
tudes or outflows. James observes,
“With the tongue we praise our Lord
and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in God’s like
ness. Can both fresh water and salt
water flow from the same spring?”
(2) Some people are so negative
when we meet them, it’s like a swig
of brackish water!
By contrast, Psalm 84 speaks of
others who pass through a valley and
“make it a place of springs”. Their
secret? They find strength in God.
(3) The fundamental problem, as
Scripture sees it, is that we tend to
turn away from God and try to han
dle everything on our own. Failures
and trials then force us to realize our
limitations and can make us become
bitter.
God analyzed it this way to the
prophet Jeremiah: “My people have
committed two sins: They have for
saken me, the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns, bro
ken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Selfishness, the attempt to satisfy our
desires at others’ expense, leads us to
approach people with the attitude,
“What can I get from them?” rather
than “How can I encourage them?”
There is another way - an external
source which cleanses and refreshes
our personal outflow. God urges us
to turn to Him and find the outside
guidance and resources we need to
face life’s troubles. “With joy you
will draw water from the wells of
salvation.” (5) Jesus came specifical
ly so we could find spiritual refresh
ment at the core of our being in
him.
Sitting beside a well in Samaria he
said, “Whoever drinks the water I
give him will never thirst. Indeed,
the water I give him will become in
him a spring of water welling up to
eternal life.” (6) Isn’t that what we
long for?
On another occasion he called out
to the crowd, “If anyone is thirsty, let
him come to me and drink. Whoever
believes in me, as the Scripture has
said, streams of living water will
flow from within him.”
(7) For pure water on a physical
plane we rely on filters, chemicals,
or radiation. On the plane of our spir
its however, God has provided his
Holy Spirit to those who trust Christ.
Then our outflow becomes “infec
tious” not with E. coli but joy, love,
forgiveness, grace, and compassion.
These are things for which our world
is extremely thirsty!
It all begins with testing the well
spring of our heart.
[Endnotes; (l) Proverbs 4:23 (2)
James 3:9, ll (3) Psalm 84:5,6 (4)
Jeremiah 2; 13 (5) Isaiah 12:3 (6)
John 4:14 (7) John 7:37,38]
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
Worshiping with the Brussels United Church
at the United Church for the month of July.
We welcome you to come and worship with us.
Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831
BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE
UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA
Joan Golden - Supply Minister
Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcl.on.ca
July 23
Ethel United Church
9:30 a.m.
Brussels United Church
11:00 a.m.
All are welcome to come and worship with us
HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL
MISSIONARY CHURCH
Auburn - 526-7555
PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-9017
Sunday, July 23 9:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.
7:30 p.m.
Wednesday 7:30 p.m.
Friday 7:30 p.m.
- Family Bible Hour
• Morning Worship Service
Guest Speaker: Rev. Wilbert Schwindt
- No Evening Worship Service
■ Prayer & Bible Study
• Youth
THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA
cue tuelcatne tfiun Sunday
JULY 23 - PENTECOST 6
MORNING PRAYER - BLYTH
BAPTISM - BRUSSELS
Trinity, Blyth St. John's,
9:30 a.m. Brussels
Wheelchair accessible 11:15a.m.
Rev. Nancy Beale - Rector - 887-9273
Communion - 9:45 - 10:30
Family Bible Hour and Sunday School
11:00 - 12.00
Prayer & Bible Study
Tuesday 8 p.m.
Cornerstone
Bible
Fellowship *
Ethel
John 14:6 - Jesus said, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no
one comes to the Father, but through Me."
Everyone Welcome
For more information call 887-6665
- - '
A special welcome to our guests, The Blyth
Church of God, for the month of July
Vacation Bible School
July 24 to 28
9:30 to 11:30
Blyth Christian Reformed Church and
Blyth United Church
Come Worship The Lord With Us
Sundays - 11:00 a.m.
Worship Service
Blyth United Church
Minister ~ Rev. Ernest Dow
ALL ARE WELCOME
523-4224
Oh give
thanks
to the
ty&u, aw inuited to*
at
Brussels Mennonite Fellowship
10:00 a.m. each Sunday
during
July and August
(no Sunday School)
Everyone Welcome
Pastor Ben Wiebe 887-6388
join {m uimbip Sunday,
Morning Worship Service ~ 10 a.m.
Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power, that is at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. ”
Ephesians 3:20
BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
A - Rev. Adrian A. Van Geest
Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233
Wheelchair accessible
The congregations of the
Blyth Community Church *5^
of God and the Blyth United
Church will meet together for
the month of July at the
Blyth United Church
Morning Worship Service
Sunday at 11 a.m.
Please'join us for worship
BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
July 24-28, 2000 9:00 - 11:30 a.m.