Author: Paul Silcock

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People Are Tougher Than God

In some ways people are tougher than God. The Canadian election campaign has  recently highlighted that fact for me.

people

To a lot of people, God is tough. They view Him as the all-seeing kill joy, just waiting to pounce on someone who does wrong. 

Some people equate God with punishment – a punishment that is swift and harsh.

However, a careful look at the Bible will see a rather different God – one who is patient … so patient that the reader can get a little impatient with God’s patience with people.

As for punishment, rather than being punitive, the Bible shows that most of God’s punishment is for the purpose of correction and restoration. 

I was reading in the news today about all the candidates that have had to pull out of the election campaign, or were asked to step down by their party leaders because of comments they made through social media. 

The interesting thing is that most of these offences happened years ago. In some cases, the comments were made decades ago.

It seems, however, that a comment made – no matter what decade it was made in – still truly represents a person. 

Even when people apologize for comments made in their past, there is still a cloud of mistrust that hangs over them. There remains a question mark in the minds of the voters regarding whether this person can be trusted now, or ever again.

There is not a person alive, or a person who has ever lived, who has not said something in their past that they would regret if it were made known years and years later. 

There is not one person who has ever lived who has not said something, only to find out later through new information that they were wrong, or to be convicted later about some attitude they once held but no longer do. 

But in this political campaign, watch out because you will pay dearly for those comments if they get out. It will not be a quiet matter either; it will be made public for millions to know. You will face shame, and there is a good chance you will lose your ability to serve publicly.

The reason for all this? Two things, or the lack of them: forgiving and forgetting.

Especially because of social media, forgetting won’t happen. 

But people also have a hard time forgetting. Our minds are like high-end computers that can spit out data on demand, no matter how long that data has been stored there.

Then there is the forgiving.

We all want to be forgiven but we don’t like to forgive. We like to hang on to our hurts and hold others accountable for what they say and do. 

People are just like what they think God is like. They are hard, shaming, guilt-producing, angry, condemning, self-righteous and self-appointed gods.

… You only have to watch the commercials that are aired on television from now to the end of the election to see that this is true.

Here’s the thing: It’s awesome that God is not at all like that. Why? Two things: forgiving and forgetting. God is a forgiving God who willingly and lovingly forgives those who want to be forgiven. He is the God of the second chance … and third and fourth, for that matter. And God is forgetting. Rather than remembering what He has forgiven, in case He wanted to use it against us, God chooses to forget. It can never come back to haunt us.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you been guilty of not forgiving and forgetting? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It Was Flat But I needed It To Rise

There are times when you want things flat and times you want things to rise.

flat bread

Certain things are better flat – like paper outside in the wind. You want it to lie flat.

I remember doing a wedding outside when there was a bit of a wind. I just wanted the pages of my wedding notes to stay flat, but the wind kept causing them to rise up and turn on their own.

If you are going to have pancakes for breakfast, you certainly want them to be flat and not to rise like a muffin or a loaf of bread.

One of the things I’ve always liked about my MacBook Pro is that Apple keeps trying to make them flatter and thinner than big, bulky PC’s. 

It’s caught on because I see more and more PC companies selling laptops that are flatter and thinner every year. 

There are just some things we want to be thin and flat.

On the other hand, there are some things we don’t want to be flat at all – like tires for instance. 

I always feel bad for the person on the side of the highway with their trunk open, hauling out their jack to fix a flat rear tire.

I know the feeling. I’ve been on the side of the road fixing a flat tire, with the cars and trucks whistling by, creating a wind that shook my vehicle.

But for some things, the benefit of either flat or risen depends on the situation or the time period. 

I remember in high school having a pair of platform shoes made for me. The heel had about a three inch rise and the sole of the shoe a good inch. 

In the mid 70’s platform shoes were in style big time. Mine were awesome and I wish I still had them kicking around … just to show off; not to wear.

On the other hand, if a junior high boy likes a junior high girl, and if they are going to be seen in public together, it’s best that the girl wears flats … because she’s probably taller than the boy anyway. High heels would only accentuate the height difference.

Having said all this, some things need to rise. 

This morning I got up to find that my wife, Lily, had thoughtfully pre-programmed the bread maker so I would have fresh bread ready for my breakfast. 

However, when I checked if it was done, it didn’t look like there was anything in the machine. I mentioned it to Lily and when she looked, she realized that she had forgotten to add in the yeast.

There was a hockey puck shaped lump of bread at the bottom of the bread maker. 

So unless I was leaving Egypt with the rest of the Israelites, or celebrating the Passover, flat bread was not going to cut it this morning! 

Here’s the thing: In the Bible, yeast is mostly associated with sin or evil. The reason for the unleavened bread at Passover is that it is a symbol of the absence of sin. That unleavened bread also points to Jesus who is called the bread of life – that is to say, He had no sin. Because Jesus had no sin, He could save you from your sin so you can rise with Him to heaven one day. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What’s the yeast in your life that you need to be rid of? Leave you comments and questions below.

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You Say Goodbye; I Say Hello

Yesterday I said goodbye to some friends who were moving away – friends I was used to seeing on a weekly basis, and whose home I was in every other week. … Now I won’t see them for at least a few years.

say goodbye, say hello

This morning I was reflecting on that. 

I’ve said goodbye to many people in the past, mostly when they have left my town. But there have been a few times when I’ve left town.

At the time of saying goodbye there’s usually lots of business to attend to, other people trying to say farewell, etc. There really is no time to think and contemplate about leaving, about a goodbye.

The goodbye is also not equally the same for both those leaving and those staying. 

For the ones who are going away, they leave for something new, something different. Their leaving comes with an element of excitement, unknown, even nervousness.  

But there is none of that for those who are staying and are saying goodbye. Everything stays the same for them. There is just the loss of someone leaving.

It’s kind of like eating your favourite ice cream cone. (For me, that would be a scoop of Rocky Road ice cream on a sugar cone.) 

As you take a lick, a good sized piece of ice cream comes loose and falls to the ground. If you’re like me, you hate that because you want to eat every bit. You’ve be anticipating it; you’ve been savouring the taste of that ice cream. And then to lose a piece of it, it’s hard not to be disappointed. 

Ever thought of somehow licking up that ice cream from the ground even though it’s past the 5 second rule? 

The reality is you still have most of that cone to enjoy and to delight your taste buds with. You are only losing out on a small piece. … But still the thought of missing even a morsel of that favourite ice cream borders on a deep feeling of loss. 

The experts say that the world has shrunk with technology and with travel being so accessible, but that is merely conceptual. The reality is distance changes everything. 

I remember when we moved from Edmonton to Kingston. Two weeks after we arrived our son turned five years old. 

When we discussed with him what he would like for his birthday he said he just wanted his friend, Joel, to attend the party. 

Well, Joel lived in Edmonton, but Mike couldn’t understand why his parents wouldn’t just drive him over, or put him on a plane so he could be there for his big day. Mike didn’t make the connection that it took us five days to drive across the country, staying in hotels each night. 

So until someone actually invents the Star Trek transporter, distance will not been circumvented. When you say goodbye, there is an element of missing one’s presence that lingers.

Here’s the thing: Though we will say goodbye to everyone in our life, even if it is only for an hour, we never say goodbye to God. He is always with us, even when we move. No matter where we go, He is there. So don’t act like there is a distance between you and Him. Speak to Him regularly throughout your day. Don’t treat Him like He’s gone away. And certain don’t pretend like He is not there with you. With God you always say “hello” and never “goodbye”.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who would you like to say hello to today? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Want A New Deal With Bell Canada

Bell Canada has a good thing going, but it hasn’t been very good for me.

Bell Canada

Today I turned on my TV and I heard voices talking but the screen was as dark as it was before I turned it on.

I started hitting buttons, but the only buttons I could get to work were the volume and the power controls. 

My first thought was that I needed a new TV. We’ve had this one for many years and maybe it was just its time. But I turned on another device that was plugging into my TV and there was the picture.  

It seemed the problem lay with my Bell Canada Fibe TV box.

Immediately a whole load of thoughts flooded my brain. I remember sitting with a woman as she outlined the great deal that Bell had for us that would save us a ton of money. 

What she told us sounded so good we decided we would make the switch after 18 years with another TV provider and 22 years with another internet provider. 

We were given tons of promises, and everything worked pretty well. We were happy for the first month and a half. 

Then we noticed a price increase. As the months went on, the increases for varying amounts showed up about every two months. 

Then a year into the contract, we got hit with a huge increase. After less than two years, we are paying more than double what we had agreed upon when we got Bell’s service!

That is a sweet contract for them. We pay a penalty for leaving the contract early but they can raise their rates continuously throughout the contract. 

When I inquired as to why the increases, the answer was, “we are continually improving our service”.

I think that means I’m paying for Bell to dig up other streets so they can install Fibe TV in those neighbourhoods as well. 

I’ve seen no difference to my service. It’s not faster, not more reliable. I don’t even have more of the same stations to watch the same programs on!  

… Did that last sentence hypnotize you a little? Well, that’s just the reality of TV.

Every time I’ve called customer service, they refuse to honour what the original salesperson told us because they can’t verify what she said. Instead they offer to reduce my channels to reduce the impact of the increase to maybe half. They, however, always get an increase.

Just the other week I received a phone call from Bell. They said they had a great deal for me because they’ve upgraded the service in my area. 

I replied that I’m already paying more than twice what I started at a year and a half ago, and I wasn’t interested in paying more. I said I was just waiting for the end of the contract. The salesperson said they would have someone call me.  

No one has called.

I wonder … if I called and told them I’m only hearing voices, would they set me up with a psychiatrist or reduce my bill in half? Probably neither. 

Here’s the thing: In this life, institutions, businesses and people are looking out for their own interests above all else. Even God has His best interest in mind. However, God’s best interest is truly best and, because He loves you, His best interest is really your best interest as well. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you think God’s best interest for you is? Leave your comments and questions below.

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It’s Back-To-School Week

This was back-to-school week, but really what it was back to was the people, not the institution.

back to school

Going back to school would be nothing much if it wasn’t for the people. 

Suppose this week all the kids went back to school after two or four months, but what they went back to was online courses. There wouldn’t be all the excitement and all the nerves. There would also be very little to look forward to.

You see, it’s not really about getting back to school; it’s about getting back to your friends.

Earlier this summer, a friend who lives in Red Deer came back to Ontario for his yearly visit. My old high school friends and I use that occasion to get together over a meal. 

Some of the guys see each other throughout the year, but many of us haven’t seen each other in a long time. One guy who showed up this year I hadn’t seen since high school – that’s 43 years ago! 

But getting together wasn’t about dinner. It was about seeing each other, recalling old times, telling the same old jokes, and ribbing each other about stuff we did back in the day.

It was just like getting back to school, only we didn’t have the annoyance of classrooms and teachers … not that they were all bad.

This week students everywhere got reacquainted. They told stories of their summer months, and picked back up with each other like it was spring time again. 

This week I also had a bit of a back-to-school week, minus the school. I met up with the boys on the Kingston Frontenacs hockey team for the first time since they left the rink back in March.

Some of the boys are new to the team and I’ll get to know them as the year progresses. But a bunch of them are returnees – some for their fourth year. It was great to see the guys again and some of the team staff. 

Though hockey is the centre of all the talk and activity, it is the people that we get back to – the nicknames, the stories, the jokes and the sense of being with family … not your real family, but a kind of family that shares a part of your life and experiences.  

We go through this kind of thing all the time, getting back to … it’s never the institution or the organization or the thing. 

It’s always getting back to the people. 

The only thing that will put a smile on your face when you leave your home to go to school, or a restaurant or the rink, is the people. 

That’s what makes September, the fall, getting back to school, all worth it. 

Here’s the thing:  Religion is an institution and many people who have strayed away from it or have never had anything to do with it, don’t have much motivation to become part of it, or get back to it. But Christianity is not about religion; it’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ. What Jesus is hoping for is that you will want to get back with Him this fall. As you consider all those you are getting back with this fall, consider how to get back to Jesus or get closer to Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you looking forward to getting back to this fall? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Right Now My Urge To Buy Is Great

There are certain times of the year that I’m more inclined to buy things.

buy, change purse

Right around this time of year is one of them. I don’t know what it is … maybe the ads that are stacked on our kitchen table? 

Maybe it’s the Labour Day sales, or just something in the air that begs me to get something new, something fresh, something I don’t really need. Whatever it is, it sure hit me this morning. 

At breakfast I was greeted with a stack of ads, specifically from the stores that I might shop at. I think Lily pulled all the right flyers and put them by my place at the table. … Hey, maybe she’s the real reason I’m in a buying mood!

I’m not that much of a shopper – that’s to say that I don’t go shopping all that often. I can’t remember the last time I walked through the local mall in our town. 

But when I get a hankering, sometimes it’s hard to stop me. 

I remember when I was about eight and my brother, John, was six. We had never gone to the neighbourhood strip mall by ourselves but we campaigned our mom to let us go on our own.

The mall was about a ten minute walk away … maybe fifteen for us because our legs were shorter back then.

We didn’t have anything in particular that we wanted to buy. We just wanted to get some candy and be all independent-like.

After much pleading and begging, my mom said we could go. We were thrilled and excited to be able to do it.

We headed for our room and our respective piggy banks. 

We needed to take some money, but how much money did you really need in order to buy cent candy from a variety store back in 1964? 

We were definitely not going to take along our piggy banks made of cheap china, so we got out our change purses. We didn’t have wallets back then because most of the money we had were coins. 

We opened the bottoms of our banks and started to fill our change purses with coins. 

I’m not sure we had a clear concept of what money was worth. Our intent was to cram into those purses as much money from our banks as we possibly could. 

We were making a run for the border on this trip and we needed every cent we had.

About the time that we were attempting to zip up the purses – that were so full of coins we couldn’t actually pull the zippers across to close them – our mom walked in.

It was like we were caught red-handed. 

She immediately realized that we would have no restraint and promptly called off the trip to the mall.

There were some tears and pleading after that. But mom knew we would not restrain ourselves. 

… I guess with no mom around this weekend and the urge to spend, I’m going to have to restrain myself.

Here’s the thing:  There are times when temptation is greater than at other times. Maybe it’s just the season that brings it out in you. The temptation to sin can seem all encompassing. Knowing when those temptations come is one thing; knowing the reason why you are tempted and purposely setting up roadblocks against them is another. But having restraint is also something you need to employ against temptation. Put up some resistance and call on God. He will come alongside and help you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to resist right now? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I’m Not In The Shape I Should Be In

The summer is coming to an end and it’s time to get myself back into shape … and when I say shape, I’m not just talking about my physical shape, though that needs some work.

not in shape

Over the summer I have kind of abandoned several things that I really need to get in line again – things that will improve my physical shape and also help me do my job and generally be more at peace.

… Much like a student in junior high or high school who, over the summer, has slept in every day, has stayed up late, spent more time with friends and basically felt free. Now that school is starting, they have to turn themselves to the routines of life being in school.

I remember those high school days when I would stay up late at night. I’d stop off at Country Style Donuts after my evening job and eat a dozen donuts. I’m not talking about timbits or donut holes – I mean I would buy a dozen jelly-filled donuts and down them in one sitting! 

I remember one summer when it was really hot, I’d walk to the nearest convenience store and buy a dozen popsicles (about 10 cents each). I’d come home with a variety of flavours. I wouldn’t even put them in the freezer; I just ate them all before they melted.

I would also sleep in every morning until 11:30 and still feel groggy. 

That was life until school started again. Then it was time to get back to some routines of life.

Now there are two main areas I must attend to to get myself in shape for this coming fall and winter season. 

Discipline is one of them.

I haven’t been consistent with exercising, which in turn has not helped my physical shape. To add to that, I have not been very disciplined in what I’ve eaten.  

The thing is I’m not really happy with how I feel right now. I know as soon as I hit the ice, I will not be happy about how I feel playing hockey either.

But my discipline has to extend past exercise and food. I also need to be disciplined with my time … especially my bedtime.

Being disciplined with how much sleep I get will pay huge dividends when it comes to my overall mental and emotional shape. I don’t mean that I’m weeping at sappy, romantic movies that Lily tricks me into watching. I mean I can deal with and handle work and home with much more efficiency.

… Which brings me to the second thing I need: focus. 

Getting enough sleep helps my focus, but for a guy with ADD, I also need to employ a few tricks I’ve developed over the years to keep me focussed. 

These tricks involve doing the right things at the right time for the right amount of time and to have a plan of what I expect to accomplish.

That’s what I need to get myself back in shape. And I need to start today!

Here’s the thing: What will you do when you drift from God, or find yourself hit and miss with your time with Him, or if you’ve found that sin has crept into your daily life and lives there, or you have become distracted from the Lord by some other interest? What will bring you back is discipline and focus. Just start today and you will see amazing changes immediately.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to work on: more discipline or focus? Leave your comments and questions below.

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My Peace Was Interrupted

Have you ever gotten away for some peace and quiet, to a place where you can relax and think clearly, only to have your peace interrupted with noise?

My Peace Was Interrupted

That happened to me the other day.

I made my annual trip to our cottage to think, pray and plan for the year ahead. One reason I go there is that I relax well there, and the other reason is that it is quiet.

Albeit the occasional noise of a lawnmower or circular saw breaks the quiet, but for the most part it is very peaceful. All our neighbours are seniors or their kids have grown up. Lily and I are the young ones in our little section.

But last year, near the end of the summer, a family moved in just kiddy-corner to us. This family broke the pattern. They have two young children, somewhere between 3 and 7. 

I remember having kids that age, but what I don’t remember is how loud they were. … either that or this is the loud family! It seems like it’s party central all the time at their place. The kids are up early and the parents are up late.

There is nothing wrong with it most of the time – except when I’m here specifically to be quiet, reflective, to think and plan.

When our kids were young, I never thought of how loud we were as a family – especially the kids. Kids’ high pitched voices without a volume control makes for some serious noise.

Even if an adult is loud, the lower tone in their voice usually only leads to muffled noise. With kids, however, you can hear every word distinctly and clearly.

Kids are busy, too. They are not going to just sit and read. … I’m not even sure one of the neighbour kids is old enough to read. 

These kids want action! They want entertainment! And they want it all the time! 

Right now there is a road hockey game going on at 10:00 in the morning right outside my window.  

It’s summer here in vacation land – who’s playing street hockey right now? 

Growing up I played plenty of road hockey. We played mostly in the spring and then in the fall. In the heat of the summer we were down at the river catching frogs or something. 

I realize that some kids are louder than others. Some instinctively play quietly. They play with each other. 

But these kids need to be yelling and they need their parents involved. All their play is a big production. 

They have two full-sized hockey nets on the road right now. I don’t think the game is going that well for the oldest kid because he’s telling everyone that the game is over. 

No one seems to be paying attention to him, however, so he keeps reminding the adults and his sister over and over again as they play around him. 

It’s noisy, but it’s also Saturday morning. They didn’t arrive until last night … and I’m leaving in an hour or so. 

So glad they were not up for the week.

Here’s the thing: You can do your best at setting up a quiet place to spend time with God. But what you still may have to battle is how loud your thoughts are, and how distracted your mind can get. Sometimes you just have to work through those noisy sessions and find a way to focus. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What distracts you the most when you are spending time with God? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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Listening To A Presentation Is Not That Easy

While I’m away on my study planning week, I am posting a blog article I wrote in August of 2014. I hope you enjoy this one.

As a giver of presentations, I’m not often on the listening end of them. So the other day in church, when I was listening to someone give the message, I found my mind going in lots of directions. 

presentation, listening,

It’s not easy to listen; it’s difficult to stay engaged with the speaker.

I noticed first off that the message was going to be about light. I knew that because, before the pastor got up to preach, they showed a video about Christ being the light of the world. 

The video was good and I wanted to know more about this light show that he was going to talk about. I started looking at the lights on stage and thought it was cool how they could change colour.  

But I also noticed how dark the auditorium was and thought they could throw a little more light on the platform.  

At the beginning of the message, the pastor read the passage and I noticed it was particularly long and filled with a host of possible ideas. I began to wonder how he was going to handle this length of text.  

I couldn’t help myself thinking that I would make this passage into a series and preach several sermons from it. 

The preacher was doing pretty good – people laughed when he said something funny – but I started getting concerned that he wasn’t talking about light as much as other things. 

I wanted him to come back to the light in two ways: I wanted him to step into the light – like a spotlight or something – so I could see him better, and I wanted him to tell me more about the impact of Christ being the light of the world.  

I also started to wonder if this message was something that he got on the internet and was re-preaching or if it was something he wrote himself and really believed. I spent a little time trying to tell if he really owned his message.  

My seat was at such an angle that I could see people sitting across the auditorium. I looked at them to see if they were listening, day dreaming, bored, or engaged in what he was saying. 

I saw a few nods of the head and could tell they agreed with what was being said. But there was this one guy whose nodding looked more like a guy on a hot bus is trying to stay awake after a long day at work!  

And while I was thinking about all that, I realized something similar happens to all the people who are listening to me preach every week. . . . It’s a tough job to give a presentation!

Here’s the thing: It’s easy to settle into a presentation and start thinking about all kinds of things related and unrelated to what is being said. It’s easy because you don’t have to apply it to yourself. You don’t have to think deeply and personally about the material. But the idea of a presentation is that it is for your personal benefit. It’s for you, your ministry, your work, or your personal development.  

So, though all kinds of thoughts come to distract you, to keep you from applying the message, your job as a presentation listener is to focus on how it has a bearing on you. Keep three questions running through your mind while you listen: 1. What is true here for me? 2. God, what are you saying to me? 3. What am I now going to do with this?

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How do you stay focussed in a presentation? You can leave your comment below.

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This Old News Had A Profound Impact On Me

From time to time I publish previously published posts. Todays post is from August 2015. Enjoy!

WHEN you hear about something can have a profound effect on how it impacts you. What I mean is, if you hear about something right when it happens, as opposed to six months after the fact, you process that information differently.

profound, impact,

Quite often when we hear about something long after it happened, we blow it off as not important or relevant any more … like if you heard that the government was going to remove all tax at the gas pumps for just one day on July 15 … and you heard the news on August 24th. 

Today’s gas prices without tax would be around 78 cents a litre! It’s a far cry from the 34 cents a gallon I paid when I got my driver’s licence, but wouldn’t 78 cents a litre be nice right now?

Not only is that news irrelevant after the fact, but you’d feel a little annoyed just hearing about it now since you completely missed out on the greatest gas prices since about 1986. 

On the other hand, your reaction would have been hand-rubbing, night-before-Christmas-like, if you had heard this information two days before the sale.

Not all old information is irrelevant, however; sometimes old information makes you think “what if”. 

That’s what happened to me the other day. I was at my usual wing joint, picking up a pound of hot wings with Franks’ Red Hot Sauce (they’re the best), when I bumped into another customer who I knew and had played hockey with a few years back.

He told me that one of the guys we played with had recently died. I was shocked, but it hit me even harder to find out he had committed suicide. 

Now I didn’t do anything outside of hockey with him, but we were buds on the bench. We always chatted while we were playing and in the dressing room. We talked about family, health and my work. 

I probably played hockey with him about two weeks before he died. All I knew was he had to start taking pills for high blood pressure and we had compared medications. 

I didn’t hear this about Leo until six months after he passed away, but it left me deeply saddened. I began to wonder if I could have said something or should have said something that might have made a difference. 

I wondered if I had missed an opportunity to share Christ with him. I checked my calendar to see what I was doing around the time of his death.

This old news bothered me. It bothers me now.

This guy seemed content with life. He had retired just a couple of years before and seemed pretty happy and easy going. 

This was old news that has made an impact, old news that caused me to think, “what if”. But it’s old news and I can’t do anything about it. 

Here’s the thing: At some point the message of the gospel will be old news; it will be irrelevant. That day will be the day someone dies without Christ or Christ returns. Until that time in a person’s life, the gospel message is current and relevant. Who would this news – this good news – make a difference to today, or tomorrow or next week? Get the word out. Jesus is saving lives today!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who do you need to talk to about the good news of Jesus? Leave your comment below.