After a long time of working on it…it’s here. Sarena has crafted 9 songs that will allow the listener into her world.

Being a classically trained musician has characterized her music in rich sound scapes and pure vocal tone. But being a child of the eighties has produced a love for the electronic influences.

Sarena’s music is an expression of tragic life circumstances mingled with a vibrant walk with Jesus, that has produced a depth of honesty and forthrightness that captures the listener and pulls them into her world.  Her debut album Grace is a snapshot into Sarena’s journey through life and is a testimony to the grace of God in one life that has been changed.

Go to Itunes and look up Sarena Rattray. If you don’t have an Itunes account you can get one for free at http://www.apple.com/ca/itunes/

Thank you to Lindsay Thompson for doing the cover art (AMAZING!!!)

I was sitting in the kitchen drinking tea and getting ready for the Sunday morning services. The sun was not quite up. It was that hopeful moment when you can see the sky but the sun itself has not quite popped over the horizon. It was cool but the sky was cloudless… and this little bird started chirping and singing outside the window.

I walked over to the window to see if I could see the little diva letting loose her song ... but I couldn’t find her anywhere. I tried a number of vantage points but all I could get was the sound of her song.

Then it hit me ... on this beautiful day, that little bird was happy to see the dawn. She was singing her song of praise and thanks to her Creator.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah sees the Lord in his throne room and hears the praises being sung by the angels and seraphs around his throne and I realized that’s the perspective I needed on this beautiful Sunday morning. I was going to sing the praises of my Creator, King, and Savior that day. I needed a new perspective on my day ... like that little bird had.

Just imagine how it would effect your day if every morning you started your day with a vision of God on his throne as Isaiah saw… if every morning God gave you a new insight into his presence and power at work in your life and in the world around you.

I think we’d be a lot more like that little bird, don’t you? ... quick to sing our praises to the God of Creation - our Savior.

So much weighs on my heart right now. I have spent two days witnessing a grief that is not my own, yet a grief so horrific and heartbreaking that you cannot help but cry along. The stories I have heard and the pictures I have seen are just devastating. They say blood runs down the streets of Port Au Prince into the gutters. For me, its just beyond heartwrenching to think that this happened to an already impoverished nation. I remember my ride here, taking in the streets and how little people lived on, and in less than a minute that little became nothing. Everything they had lies flattened and crumbled, even dead beneath the rubble. I can’t wrap my head or my heart around it.

I have been contacted for interviews, and I never know what to say. Often my words are far less articulate then the things weighing on my heart. How can I find the words to describe the gripping fear when the ground moves beneath you and there is absolutely nothing you can do, not a thought that stays in your head for more than a second before giving way to the next frantic thought. How can I describe the anguish on the face of someone who has lost those that they love? How can anything I say possibly make people understand the magnitude of this crisis? Because it can’t. And I wrestle with my answers time and time again because they never do justice to the gravity of the situation.

Today, Canadian and American volunteers had the choice to leave. To evacuate on a plane and go home. I couldn’t even consider the thought of leaving this place behind. I miss home more than words can say. But I am supposed to be here, and I have no doubt in my mind that God put me here, at this time, in this place, to love kids and to be His hands and feet. And its not always easy, with so few nannies and the loss of one volunteer today to the evacuation, we had extra duties. I think I changed twenty diapers today, and I learned fast that touching poo is not in fact the end of the world! I’m exhausted, but I feel like I have held nothing back, and that is satisfying.

To read more ... see Jessica’s blog at 2setsoffootprints.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Shaking things up!
I’m sure by now most of you have heard about the earthquake in Haiti. I figured that would be the topic of interest, even though there is SO MUCH I could say, I will tell you how yesterday went.

We were wrapping up for the day, putting our last kids back in the nursery and cleaning up the balcony, which is where I was. I was tidying up when all of a sudden the ground shook…. and shook, and shook. They say it only lasted 40 seconds, but it felt so much longer. The house swayed so precariously that I felt like it was going to topple. Up on the balcony, toys were sliding around, people scrambled to grab the kids and then something solid to hold onto. We saw dust rising from the places on the mountainside where houses were collapsing. When it finally stopped, we were all silent for a minute until the shock settled and we started all talking at once. We went to the nursery at once to calm the kids, who were all of course very frightened and crying. I think we all had three in our arms. When we finally went downstairs, we saw evidence of the destruction. The dish cabinet was open and there was broken glass everywhere. Large appliances had been moved from the wall, and many of the statues littered the floor in pieces. Supper was on the floor.
Miraculously, there was no damage to the building itself, and all of the fulltime workers, volunteers, families, nannies and children came out unscathed, except for being very shaken up.
We took all the kids outside on the driveway, throwing down blankets and towels and congregating. We sat there for probably four hours, while the nannies sang praises in creole. (The only one I recognized was How Great Thou Art) We held the kids until they started falling asleep. I held a few different kids, but ended up with one little girl. It took a while but she eventually fell asleep. I was going to put her down with the other kids but when I tried, she woke up and her face crumpled. She clawed at my arms and tried to get back into my arms, and my heart broke so I picked her up again. When I had to drop her off at the nursery at the end of the night, I left with a heavy heart.

It was a long night to say the least. I am on the top bunk of an already rickety bunker and the aftershocks woke me up frequently. Today we are not working with our kids, rather we are in the nursery as most of the nannies have gone home to be with family.

Keep praying for us and the rest of Haiti… it’s devastating to see how little these people had taken away in less than a minute!

If I learned anything from this experience, it is this: When the earth trembles and building topple, my God remains unshaken. And so my faith remains in the hands of God, unmoved and unwavering because He kept us safe. He was here when the ground shook.

Posted by jess- at 7:13 AM  

You can click on the link below and it will take you to the digital e-book format of “The Pulse” for Winter 2009.

“The Pulse” - in flip book format

What is the purpose of man?

Well, as was mentioned Sunday morning in the “Why am I on this earth” minute, some may be wanting a little more background to be able to discuss the issue. Some may simply respond to the statement that “man’s chief end is to glorify God” with the question, so what’s the problem?

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” Blaise Pascal (Pensees)

The problem is, the way man is right now he cannot glorify God. Yes, God created us for that purpose but we cannot glorify God automatically because we are born separated from Him. That is the whole issue.

We cannot have life to the fullest as John 10:10 talks about because with this separation, (because of sin), we can not do what we were created for and therefore cannot fulfill our purpose until we get right with God. The Bible clearly tells us that God has reached down to us, (incarnation and sacrifice ) to provide what is necessary to bring us back into a relationship with Him that will once again allow us to fulfill our purpose.

There is only one way for that to happen and that is through Jesus Christ. God sent His Son to take the price that our sin deserved, (Romans 6:23). No one else could pay the price, it had to be God Himself, who would take our sins and cover us with His righteousness so that we could glorify Him.

The Bible clearly says that there is no other name by which man can by saved but Jesus Christ. The Bible further declares that all who receive Him (Christ) He gave the right to become children of God, (John 1:12) giving us the empowering of the Holy Spirit so that we can glorify and enjoy Him. 

Links for further study

Short answer; PURPOSE OF MAN

GOD CREATED US FOR HIS GLORY, (Isaiah 43:1-7) John Piper

Excellent little book answering questions on GOD, BIBLE, ACCOUNTABILITY, FORGIVENESS

God Created Man IN HIS IMAGE, and THE FALL

On Sunday (Oct 11th) we looked at Psalm 92 and used it to outline our own Psalm of Praise for Thanksgiving Weekend. You were encouraged to write one and post it on the web as a comment to this blog. So, if you wrote one based on Psalm 92’s outline, why not post it here.

If you didn’t hear the message, just go to the audio message area (top right) and listen to the sermon “What’s your Psalm of Praise?” from Oct 11th. The message notes are available in pdf format for download on that page as well. You can use them to create your own Psalm of Praise.

We look forward to hearing from you.

I have found this a great way to keep current with Greek vocabulary. If someone knows of a freeware program for Hebrew, let me know.

I use Greek every week as I prepare for sermons (except when preaching from the OT, of course). I try to stay away from highlighting what I’ve learned from my study of Greek in my sermons, though. I want people to feel that they can study the Word and hear clearly from God as he the Holy Spirit gives them insight into his revelation. Once in a while, the Greek syntax adds so much to our understanding that it needs to be noted but I always let them know what commentary talks about aspect of the translation.

Anyhow… happy studying. I encourage you to keep it up as you’ll use it for God’s glory.

Right click and ‘Save Target As…’ It’s a Zip file so you’ll need to unzip it before installing.
I’ve never had any problems with it.
QuickMemGreek.zip

Hello everyone,

Camp Klondike was a great and stretching experience.  Eric and Luke had a very challenging cabin of boys with special problems.  They learned persistence and not giving up.  Kerry, Miranda, and Elizabeth were in the same cabin and loved their little girls.  Miranda and Elizabeth are ‘kid magnets’ - they loved them.  Shelby, Corine, and Ryan Dyck hacked through the forest and made a new trail for the camp that took a hour to take the kids through at the end of the week.  Tanner was Jr. counseller with a German man who works with the Hanthorns. Everyone appreciated his music ministry. Ryan S. and Daniel also had a cabin of energetic young boys.  Dan spoke with enthusiam about the fruits of the Spirit.  Kids skits were a blast. Our team were sheep with issues and Eric was a bear!  The Camp board seemed to be very pleased with what was accomplished.  Had to say good-bye to Ryan Dyck - Dan appreciated your driving!

We are in Fort McPherson getting ready for our first kid’s club in town.  No idea how many kids to expect - it went on the local radio station this morning - “kid’s club at 4:00 fun, games, Bible stories, and crafts.  Need more info - call Lyn”  funny - no phone number - people just know.

This community has two grocery stores, a gas station, and a tent making factory. The Dempster Highway should be called the Dempter Pass - it is not a highway as you might think of a highway!  A very beautiful drive in God’s creation. And it was very cool to cross the Artic circle and to cross on the little ferry at midnight in the bright shining sun!

Everyone is excited with the new church building (the second church in town - the other is Anglican and some folks in town wonder why anyone would build another one - they don’t know the personal and living God)  There are about 50 people coming this week to work on the building.  It is a wonderful sight to see, especially the anticipation and excitement of the Hanthorn family, the NCEM missionaries who have waited a long time for this.  Three of their kids rode with us to McPherson and shieked with joy at the sight of their church that had the walls up.  We all felt very humbled by the fact that we have so much which we take for granted and a church building that is about 10 times the size of the one that is being built here.  They are thrilled!  What a priviledge for us to see a God project coming together.  Many of the workers are from Alberta, the cook is from Calgary.  There are a couple of ladies driving up from Whitehorse this week pulling a trailer to help, age 65 & 72!  There have been semi-trucks of supplies brought up - food, tables, dishes, building materials.  It feels like we are part of a God moment. What an amazing thing to see!

We are all well.  Corine and Shelby have an over abundance of mosquito bites (Shelby has over 100 on one arm!)  Everyone else only have about 50 bites!  They are persistent little creatures.  Daniel Jones has a big cold.  Others have little colds.  We are all a little tired as it is very hard to get to bed when the lights never go off in the sky.  Overall we are all enjoying the experience, feeling fine, and hoping that God will use us in some small way to glorify Himself this week.

Please pray that we will use our time wisely, that we will get along well and keep positive attitudes, do the work we are suppose accomplish, and that God would work in each of the team to teach what He want us to learn.

Thanks so much!

Just clink on the link and it should open in Adobe Reader. Or you can right click and click on ‘Save Target As…’

Read straight thru the bible in one year.

Read thru New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs each day.

Read thru Old Testament and New Testament each day.

Read thru a different type of book each day of week.

Read thru a different topic each day.

Read a different bible story each day.

McCheyne’s Reading Plan (a classic).

You annointed me with oil and laid hands on me in prayer. God delivered be and I thank him every day.

I love my church, the Okotoks Evangelical Free!

Thank you for all your kindness and continual prayers to Jesus on my behalf. Jesus knows my heart. I have surrendered my life to him. So, he is in complete control and I rest in his precious arms.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

    And yes… on Sunday she came to church. After church I met her and asked her name and how long she’d been attending
    She said her name and then that she was looking for Pastor Steve. I pointed him out for her in the foyer.—By the way, I should have taken her over to see Steve because he was talking to someone else at that exact moment. That would have been much more hospitable of me.—Anyhow, when asked by someone else what had drawn her to church that day, she said, ‘I was called.’
    Yes ... she was called ... by God. It was her day and she spent the day with the Regiers and accepted the gift of grace God offers in Jesus Christ.
    May God continue to add to his church.  Amen??  Amen!!