Good Day, it is almost too late to say Good Morning. It is Saturday and both my host family and I enjoyed the opportunity to snooze a bit longer. The family is off to spend some time at Canada's Wonderland (similar to Disneyland in the USA). Abby is particularly anticipating going with Daddy on the Silver Streak, a very fast ride. I now have my second cup of coffee and sometime to chat with you.
Yesterday morning I had breakfast with Dave. Dave is a refreshing leader to meet because, unlike the majority, he really knows that ministry flows through relationships and not through systems or programs. We had a chance to talk about and illustrate the difference between information and impartation. We spent some time exploring the need for spiritually transforming impartations as distinct from intellectually challenging information.
I moved on from there to lunch with Greg. As I enjoyed a wonderful Vietnamese pho, we explored the struggles involved in being a wonderful Godly young man who has been thrust into a very high level of responsibility while still living with a rather low level of actual hands on experience. Greg is doing a great job and is growing rapidly. But I am reminded of the time I went to apply for a job as a radio disc jockey. The manager told me I sounded good but I did not have enough experience. I asked him, if he would not hire me how could I gain the experience. The Kingdom of God is has the only major army for whom all our training is on the battlefield.
I continued to feast my way through the day with a wonderful dinner at James and Leigh's home. Leigh, who grew up in and practiced law in the Republic of South Africa, shared with me a first hand experience view of the practice of Apartheid in South Africa and stories of her watching first hand as our miracle working God enabled the Bride of Christ to bring about the reconciliations that set the people free. Our God is an amazing person able to do so much more than we typically imagine to be possible.
To finish off my feasting through the day, Randy, a strikingly beautiful young woman who practices law here in the Toronto area, brought an absolutely wonderful fresh Jewish bread with raisins to the home group meeting. As we shared Holy Spirit graciously showed us how finding our identity as the beloved sons of God empowers us to take every thought captive and to let go of our imagined fears and feelings of guilt and failure. As we were chatting among the family, several comments took us back to remembering things God did during my previous visit here.
My friends Dave and Sarah are in the early stages of pregnancy. Sarah was reminding me, when I was here Holy Spirit spoke about their un-born children. I remember seeing the strange look on their faces when He said that. Sarah indicated they felt strange because at that point they were not sure they even wanted to have children and certainly were not in a hurry to do so.
Randy reminded us that last visit Holy Spirit spoke to a young French woman who was working here as an au pair. She heard him talking about what she would do traveling in Central and South America. Since that time she returned to her home in France. Recently she moved to Brazil for a job there.
I suspect most people do not recognize how empowering and encouraging hearing these kinds of affirming reports can be for those who travel serving people.
His, thus Yours,
Stuart
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