The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2004-10-21, Page 24gliik Living. 1 Voter 11117.} Cfiriatictit Telleu4i p Oct. 24 - Luke 7:36ff "Washing Away Barriers to Love" -Christ-centred, Bible-believing, Fellowship-friendly, Growth-geared" •d 10:30 a.m.- Contemporary Worship & Sunday School at Blyth Public School, corner of King & Mill Pastor: Ernest Dow - 523-4848 www.getlivingwater.org t t t t t t t t t t t t t 6,1 A GLOWING CONCERN Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets. Remember to snuff out your candles if you are leaving the room or going going to bed. 5 w•411 SAFEr HURON CHAPEL EVANGELICAL MISSIONARY CHURCH SING A SON OF Auburn - 526-1131 IG"lis-9 PASTOR DAVE WOOD - 523-4941 Sunday 9:30 a.m. 10:30 a.m. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 6:30 p.m. 7:15 - 8:30 p.m. 7:15 p.m. Family Bible Hour Morning Worship Service - Evening Worship Service - Crusaders for grades JK-6 - Youth Adult Bible Study * Fast Paced * Music * Puppets * Drama * Stories * Games Looking for Adventure For the Whole Family? Sunday Mornings 9:45-10:45 at the Blyth Community Church of God We'll have the coffee on! For more information, call Rev. Les Cook 523-4590 oltits Community Church f 4 °Oa _op,AND "The Church is not a 0 Csbtet Building, t It is People Touching People" Sunday 9:15 a.m. - Prayer Meeting 9:45 a.m. - Sunday School 11:00 a.m. - Worship Service Phone 523-4875 308 Blyth Rd. E. - Pastor Les Cook 523-4590 BLYTH UNITED CHURCH Corner of Dinsley & Mill Street Sunday, October 24 Worship Service & Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Anniversary Speaker: Rev. Kenneth Bauman (1983-1987) Presentation of Anniversary Quilt - Luncheon "la Weleasse Minister: Rev. Dr. Eugen Bannerman Office: 523-4224 Blyth United Church is a welcoming community of faith. We celebrate God's presence through worship and study, and through responding to the needs and gifts of each other. Reade 7:64 c - 60084440 Sunday, October 24 Morning Worship Service - 10 a.m. Evening Worship Service - 7:30 p.m. BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH Pastor John Kuperus Hwy. 4, Blyth 523-9233 Wheelchair accessible Trinity, Blyth 9:30 a.m. St. John's, Brussels 11:15 a.m. THE ANGLICAN CHURCH OF CANADA Welcaote4 you to caote awl evaldtift cola ce4 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24 The Rev. Tom Wilson, B.A., MDiv. 887-9273 St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church it 254 Drummond St. E., Blyth Saturday Night Mass at 7:00 pm Father John Johnson, Pastor 357-2435 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS 11:00 a.m. - Sunday Morning Service - Sunday School 9:30 a.m. - Sunday Belgrave Service Wheelchair accessible Nursery care available Rev. Cathrine Campbell - 887-9831 Celebrating 150 years of Christian Witness and Service! BRUSSELS - ETHEL PASTORAL CHARGE UNITED CHURCH OF CANADA Joan Golden - Diaconal Student Minister Church Office 887-6259 E-mail - bepc@wcl.on.ca Sunday, October 24 Ethel United Church 9:30 a.m. Worship Service & Sunday School Brussels United Church 11:00 a.m. Worship Service & Sunday School PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2004. From the Minister's Study Some house cleaning with a difference By Pastor Ernest Dow Living Water Christian Fellowship (EMC), Blyth How clean is your house? My wife and I thought ours was spic-and- span until one day some years back when we succumbed to the offer of a vacuum cleaner sales agency. On the appointed day the sales agents appeared on our doorstep eager to show off their professional-grade, multi-thousand-dollar machine. They suggested we sit in our living room on the couch, while they began vacuuming the carpet right in front of us. Every couple of minutes or so they'd stop and remove a circular filter which was totally covered with the dark gray dust and dirt that had infiltrated the fibers of our home. Each darkened filter was placed beside us on the couch. When they finished the living room carpet, they started in the hallway. Then they vacuumed the stairs. Before they were done, my wife and I were completely surrounded by dozens of filth-laden filters — ample proof of the vacuum cleaner's ability to extract unseen contaminants from the very areas we'd thought before were clean. Although in the end we didn't purchase the expensive equipment, we appreciated the fact that our carpets had had a thorough cleaning! There's a parallel here in the spiritual realm. Our homes may be meticulously kept when it comes to external appearances; but to the Holy Spirit's inspection, things may be absolutely toxic. Evil objects and influences may be allowed to clutter and contaminate our homes unless we're careful, especially in late October. Ouija boards are too often accepted as harmless "fun" by those who are ignorant of the potent underlying spiritual dynamic. Horror movies and ghost stories may perpetrate a form of terror-abuse particularly on the young, scarring them for life. Talk of witches and mock seances treat occult practices as harmless or 'just pretend'. The Bible warns us consistently against engaging in or tolerating evil practices of any kind, especially the occult. Mediums and sorceresses were punished harshly in the Old Testament; God said those who turned to them for advice would be "defiled" by them. (Ex.22:18; Lev.19:31) Sorcery was viewed as a crime against God Himself, rebellion against God's authority, rejection of the first commandment to "have no other gods". Those who participated in divination, sorcery, witchcraft, spells, or mediums made themselves "detestable" to the Lord (Deut.18:10-12): more objectionable than sitting on your couch surrounded by the accumulated dust and grime of the past 20 years! When Jesus came, He did not downplay the significance of evil in the spirit-realm, but confronted it wherever He found it. People observed, "With authority and power He gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!" (Lk.4:36) The apostles. continued the campaign against evil forces of all kinds. At Ephesus, people were so impressed at God's power for healing through Paul that a number of those who'd practised sorcery burned their scrolls in a public bonfire — scrolls that were valued at around a quarter of a million dollars in today's terms'. (Acts 19:190 Some citizens have expressed alarm at the increasing incidents of vandalism and hooliganism that darken our streets and side-roads. Crime has an element of the demonic in that, at its root, crime is basically a rejection of higher authority. The prophet Samuel rebuked Saul for rejecting God's command: "Rebellion is like the sin of divination..." (1Sam.15:23) If we want to clean up our streets, those who are adults can begin by modelling for our children how to submit to the Lord's instructions, even-in matters that are not socially `trendy'. Rather than Ouija boards and tea leaves, turn to prayer and God's written Word in Scripture for guidance. "Examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil" — walk in the light, not the way of witches and warlocks. (1Thess.5:22) Our communities will be better off, and our personal lives free of evil's grime. You may not see it, but as my wife and I had to admit when confronted with the evidence of the gungey filters — it's there!