Summer Reading

by Linda Cliff

Summer is the time to catch up on that reading you do not find time to do during the rest of the year. Recently, I was fortunate to discover an author that writes well and includes the Christian perspective in her books. I have read two books by Angela Hunt and will be looking for more.
    The Immortal is a story that weaves the myth of the "wandering Jew" through out the plot. As a result you learn about biblical history from the crucifixion to the coming of the antichrist. It is a great read as well as a story of the heroine’s salvation.
   Let Darkness Come is more of a suspense novel and is a real page turner. In this book Hunt does not overtly discuss Christianity and salvation; however there is a tone that has the reader examining their thoughts about faith. Faith in people, the system and God. As an avid reader it has been a blessing to find an author that writes a good book as well as ask me questions about my faith. Ms Hunt is a prolific writer and many of her novels look at the hard challenges that we all face in our lives. Check her out!
     For the reader who wants a more serious read I would recommend Amazing Grace –A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris and The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. Norris has written a book about the language of Christianity. She takes words like "judgment", "faith", "conversion" and looks at them from an historical, theological and personal perspective. I find this a book I like to pick up and read when I have a quiet moment. I can reflect on the word, what its meaning has for me today in my busy life. This is a book that will be relevant for a life time as the reader will find new blessings each time they reflect up on a word.
    The Jesus I Never Knew looks at the Jesus described in the Gospels. Yancy presents the book in three parts: who He was, why He came and what He left behind. The reader is asked to look at this Jesus and explore the images they have formed over the years. The book is readable and relevant. I find it is almost like reading a novel. You don’t want to put it down because you are excited to see what comes next.
Enjoy your summer reading!


A newcomer to our congregation, Linda is a keen member of the Wednesday morning Bible Study group. The Jesus I Never Knew is available in our church library.

Heartbreak Hill

by Peter Waldin

    His father died when he was a child.  His mother struggled to keep him, and her other children as a family, but without success.  The great industrial city of Birmingham offered little in the way of doing so.  His mother was forced to place him in a sort of orphanage.  As a child, and then as a youth, life was a joyless struggle.

    When the Great War broke out, he enlisted in the famous Rifle Brigade.  During the First Battle of Ypres he was severely wounded.  Thirteen pieces of shrapnel tore into his body, one permanently blinded him.
    He became my father and my hero.  I never saw my father despondent or cast down.  He whistled more in one day than a thousand other men throughout their lifetime.
    'And all the world's Greathearts - our heroes and saints,
       took sorrow and shaped it into a shrine;
       took the red blood of suffering,
           the purple bruise of life's hurts,
           the blackness of defeat,
        and made a window for the light of God to shine through.
      They took darkness and adversity and the world's
           brutality and made a roadway to God's heaven.
      They took their own broken hearts to help others,
            to keep kindness and hope alive.'

For it is on 'Heartbreak Hill' we meet with God.  We find 'the peace which passeth understanding.' We find our souls and become 'more than conquerors.'

Church Picnic

A perfect day for a picnic!




Races


We had --




Games



Daredevils

  


Sea and Sun




Families

 


Ice Cream

 


Everyone a winner



    My thanks to Janet Smith for sharing her pictures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

The Wrong Propeller

by Peter Waldin


   My first vessel, that I used for chartering, Puffin III was a Scottish built ketch.  I had occasion to re-engine it from the original Kelvin to a Perkins diesel.  We sailed as far as Westview, (near Powell River), and realized that something was amiss with the propulsion unit.  I was advised to continue on to a little harbour further north, Lund, which was noted for its hotel and Ole the owner of the ways and the machine shop.  Ole, in short order, solved the mystery of my boat's strange performance.
    Nothing was wrong with the new engine or the transmission.  The previous marine mechanic had installed a left-handed prop for a right-handed one.  We were, in a manner of speaking, going "backwards forward."
    Many of us are like Puffin III .  On the surface things appear okay.  If the truth were told, appearances belie the facts.  They give a false impression.  We say of some people, "they have lots of money,"  We should be saying, that the money has them.  Dr. Johnson, the famous English writer of yesteryear, once visited Garrick, the great actor.  Looking at his magnificently appointed dwellings, Johnson said, "Ah Davy, Davy!  How hard it must be for you to die!"

    In trying to possess the earth, a man may lose his freedom.  And when you contemplate all the goods that money can buy, let us be sure we haven't lost the things that money cannot buy.