Author: Paul Silcock

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Don’t Miss Out On Opportunities

Often it’s those hard to orchestrate opportunities that we miss out on. We just think that they would be too hard to arrange, or too many things would need to be moved to make them happen.

don't miss out

This week I delayed on a meeting opportunity because 1. it was going to be difficult to get myself there, and 2. there were seemingly too many things to rearrange.

It’s not the first time I’ve missed out on something that seemed to be too hard for me make arrangements for … 

In my late teens there was a rock concert I wanted to go to, but lack of money and work schedule seemed insurmountable obstacles to me at the time. The money issue was over approximately $20, which now doesn’t seem to be an obstacle at all.

This week I was invited to a lunch meeting in Toronto, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from where I live. It would be a full day for me with a good 6 hours of it spent driving.

My first thought was that if I could combine the meeting with something else, I would go. However, those other plans never materialized. So in my head I declined the meeting because I thought it was too difficult to arrange and would put too much pressure on me for the rest of the week.

In the past I have figured out ways around road blocks …

I remember taking my youth group on a plane from Edmonton to Toronto for a major youth conference. On our return flight, somehow the airline decided it would be better to have our group of 22 teenage kids with two adults all together in one spot on the plane … so they put us in first class. 

There was only one problem. My students were seated randomly, not necessarily with the friends they wanted to sit next to. 

The easiest thing would have been to say, “You’re in first class; be happy and sit down.” Instead, I listened to their requests (for some this was their second flight ever; the first being our flight to Toronto). 

I stood in the aisle and started playing a human version of that old sliding tile puzzle game. I started moving people around … “You get up; stand here. You move there. Now you trade seats with her” … and so on. 

In a matter of a couple of minutes I had our whole crew sitting where they wanted, and with who they wanted to sit with. 

Everyone was happy. 

Sometimes the obstacles that overwhelm us and cause us to miss out are simply obstacles that we have not given enough thought to working around.

Oh, and my meeting this week in Toronto? I was able to RSVP at the last minute and attend the lunch. I moved an appointment and rearranged my work week to ease the pressure. 

Often those seemingly insurmountable obstacles are not insurmountable if you make a little effort, rather than turning back at first sight.

Here’s the thing: God may have asked you to do something that seems insurmountable. The temptation is to say “no” or turn back. Or maybe the idea of Christ loving you enough to die for you is more than you can get your head around. Resist dropping the opportunity before you and ask God to help you continue. The way forward may be easier than you first thought; just put some energy towards it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What obstacle are you facing that you need to ask God for help with? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Your Brain Never Stops Working

Have you noticed how you brain works even when you’re not thinking? 

Your Brain Never Stops Working

It’s sort of like when you turn your car off but the radio continues to work until you pull the keys out of the ignition. You can turn your car off and just sit there with the music playing away … no down time, no stop and start. It just keeps on playing. 

What’s interesting about that is, if you get in your car and put the keys in the ignition, the radio will not play until you turn the key to the “on” position.

Your car windows work like that too. If you turn your car off and quickly hit the window button, the windows will close or open as if the car was still on. 

It’s like you’ve unplugged it but there’s still some electricity flowing through the wires … or something like that.

The other morning I was going to play hockey at 7 a.m. which means I leave the house at about 6:30 a.m. The arena is close by and it IS 6:30 in the morning, so there’s no sense getting there too early.

The day before I had checked my email with the when and where details. I knew the place well; I had been to that arena already once that week.  

Hauling my gear to the car and drove straight there, avoiding all the traffic lights. I pulled into the parking lot, lifted my hockey bag out of the trunk and started to walk towards the front entrance. 

I had only taken 10 steps when I stopped. This was at the wrong arena. Keep in mind it was 6:30 in the morning.

I had not forgotten what arena I was playing at. There was no sudden reminder on my cell phone.

No, I matter of factly stopped in the middle of the parking lot and turned around. I put my hockey equipment back in the car, started the engine and drove to the rink I was supposed to be at.

I knew all along where I was playing but, as I was thinking of other things, my brain was still working and took me to the ice pad I usually play at on Saturdays … just like when you unplug a battery charger and the “on” light stays lit from some residual power still running through the charger. 

My brain was still working. I was thinking about the song on the radio, about where I needed to be after hockey, about how I got all green lights on the way to the arena. 

So my brain just took me to hockey – well, where I play hockey through the week and almost every Saturday.

I was not surprised when I started thinking again that I was at the wrong place. I just chuckled and thought to myself, “I hope I really did get all green lights on the way to the rink!”

Here’s the thing: What you have learned, what is ingrained in your memory, will come back to you when you need it. If you’ve engrained some sin in your life, when you are not thinking, you can bet your brain is still working and will lead you right back into it. But if you learn deeply the things of God, and stow them away in your brain – God’s Word, His promises, or what He thinks of you – then when you’re not thinking, or not thinking well, your brain will lead you to God’s truth concerning what you need at that time. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question; What do you most need to store away in your brain right now? – Scripture verses or God’s promises to you? Leave your comments and questions below.

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What Marks The Seasons Of Your Life?

The change in the seasons is marked in various ways. 

What marks the seasons

For some it is a date on the calendar that moves us from one season to another. For others the weather is a popular, telltale sign that we have entered into a new season.

Some people mark the seasonal changes by events. There are so many of them: the start of NHL hockey, baseball playoffs, and you definitely know fall is right around the corner when the NFL football season starts. 

For me, I take my cues regarding the changing of seasons from all the above. The date, the weather and events all play a part in my sensing that the new fall season has just begun. 

But there is another thing that clearly indicates that we have moved into fall, and that is when my wife, Lily, brings home the gourds.  

I’m not talking about a family with three children all with the name “Gord” – like the two Darryls in the Newhart TV show back in the 80’s.

I’m talking about gourds like pumpkin, zucchini and squash.

For some reason these are the symbol of fall in our home. I’m not sure if it’s because they all ripen at this time or they have a more earthy, dull sky, rainy look to them. 

I’m not saying I don’t like having these gourds around the house. I’m perfectly fine having them displayed in the centre of our kitchen table, just as long as one of them doesn’t go missing for a few hours and end up on my dinner plate for me to eat. 

Gourd food is nasty. Squash is nasty tasting, and I don’t care if you put butter and brown sugar on it to mask the flavour. 

You have to remember that this was a food the pilgrims ate when they first settled in North America. Sure they were thankful for it all then … they were starving at the time! 

If I didn’t have any food to eat for a week, I could probably force down a little squash to keep me alive. 

But listen, those days of being thankful for squash are long gone. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for squash – I’m just thankful that when I see it displayed on the table that I don’t have to eat it. 

Well, the other day after Lily came home from the grocery store, I noticed four gourds proudly displayed on our kitchen table.

I know one is a pumpkin – it’s miniature in size, far too small to make a jack-o-lantern out of. Then there is a yellow gourd and two green gourds … certainly not the colours of spring or summer. 

So now it’s definitely fall. Every possible sign known to man has declared it. We just have to face it. 

We’ll be okay.

And you can be sure I’ll be counting those gourds at every meal and checking my potatoes to see if she mixed some squash in there.

Here’s the thing: Here is an exercise for us as we face a new season. What are the signs that Christ is involved in your life? How many signs of Christ’s involvement in your life can you identify? Does Christ show up every morning in your devotions? Is He around when you have decisions to make? Does Christ show up in your conversations? Take some time and list the signs. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What will it take for you to be fully engaged with Christ? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Media Is Driving Me Crazy

I feel that taking a break from all media sources might help calm my mind and my emotions. 

Media Is Driving Me Crazy

In order for me to do that, I need to turn off the radio in my car, my television set at home, and all social media feeds on my computer, tablet and cell phone. 

That would be extreme living for me … and all in a bad way.

I’ve heard of people living off the grid, moving to some remote place where they have to hike in on foot, and setting up a yurt after they cut down a bunch of trees in the middle of a pine forest. 

They live on vegetables that they grow and fish that they catch. Every month or so they treat themselves to a trip to a city to really experience life.

You know I’m just kidding. 

For all my off-the-grid readers, how do you even get this blog? 

At least the off-the-gridders can be selective with the media they are exposed to. In the last couple of days I’ve been so frustrated with what I’ve heard in the media that I’m ready do something, but don’t what to do or whom to do it to. 

All the impeachment talk concerning President Trump has me itching to impeach the media …Could someone actually do that?

I’m not saying for one moment that Trump didn’t do something wrong, but let’s not jump to the conclusion before we have the whole story.

The conclusion is where everyone is. Even the NDP candidate running for the PM of Canada is calling for Donald Trump to be impeached. 

It’s all emotion based on information provided from someone we don’t know … information that still has yet to be verified as all true and accurate.

For all I know, what we are being told is true, but most likely it’s partially true or mostly true. 

Remember the prince in the Princess Bride who was only mostly dead? I think what we are being fed fits somewhere in that category of not being completely true or false, just mostly one or the other. 

But the media is talking about it as if it has all been proven true. They even interpret some of Trump’s words from the phone recording in ways that exaggerate what was said. 

It stirs people’s emotions and builds a hype that creates a unified voice that judges and condemns before any real investigation or trial has done its job. 

What the media is doing is building strong support for something that is based mostly on opinion at this point … their opinion! 

And when that opinion catches wind, they stir the embers and fan their opinion flame into a bonfire, maybe even a wild fire that can’t be stopped. 

Opinion is not truth. It might be true, but it’s not true until it is proven. When opinion becomes truth before it is proven, that’s what you call North American news. 

They hold up their right to inform the people, but they are really only forming the people to their opinion. 

Here’s the thing: Some people’s belief systems are based on opinion. Their opinion of God seems to be truth to them, even though they have never taken the time to prove their opinion one way or the other. All of us should question how we have let our opinion of God rule our relationship with Him, rather than seeking proof of God in our relationship with Him. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What opinion of God do you have that needs to be challenged? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Our Shed Has Become Popular

There must be something special about our shed. People just can’t leave it alone.

shed chair

We have a shed at our church where we keep garbage until pickup day. We didn’t buy a nice, fancy shed, we just turned some space under a set of stairs into one. It’s functional and does what we need it to do. 

We’ve used it for years, but lately other people are using it as well.

In August someone started a fire inside the shed. No one was in the church at the time, but fortunately a neighbour must have noticed and phoned the fire department. 

They were on the scene immediately, mostly because the fire hall is just down the street. 

I’m not sure, but maybe they came extra quickly because, for the last few years, we’ve been delivering Christmas baskets full of goodies to that particular station. Who would not want that to continue?

When it was all said and done, there was no damage to the church – just a hint of a summer campfire in the sanctuary for a couple of Sundays.

The shed wasn’t even destroyed; it merely had some scorching on the inside of one wall. The shed was back to doing its job immediately.

Then a couple of weeks ago someone decided that our garbage shed was closer than going to the dump. So they placed two wooden chairs in the shed.

It was super nice of them to give us their chairs so we could figure out how to dispose of them. 

I’d love to know their thought process in intentionally bringing their chairs over to the church. I wouldn’t think of putting some of my garbage by my curb, and then taking what’s left and putting it by my neighbour’s curb.

This garbage shed apparently begs to be used. 

Then just this past week we found a padlock on the shed. At first I thought maybe our caretaker was fed up with other people using our shed and locked it up.

But that wasn’t the case. One of our groups took the lock off and found someone’s personal belongings in the shed … along with a dog food bowl with some dog food in it. 

Then this morning, just before I arrived at the church for a 7 am prayer meeting, three police vehicles showed up at the shed. 

They talked to a young man who had been living in our shed for several days.

When I arrived on the scene the young man was all packed up, and assured me that he had cleaned everything up and left no garbage.

When I checked later, it was clean … but he hadn’t taken the two wooden chairs. 

We will still have to figure out how to dispose of them on our own. 

Unless … unless someone wants to come over to our garbage shed and pick out some fine pieces of discarded furniture.

Here’s the thing: There are many people who go through life without much thought for God. Unless … unless something major happens in their lives. Then they sometimes leave something with God in the form of a prayer, or dump something on Him in the form of blame. God wants us to be part of His family all the time, and as part of His family, He is quite happy to accept what we leave with Him. Join God’s family today by putting your faith in Jesus, His Son. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Are you actually in a position to be dumping on God, or do you have a right to leave your burdens with Him? Leave your comments and questions below.

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I Don’t Know What I Should Do

I’m sitting here this morning unsure of what to do.

don't know

Last night my car got rear-ended. It wasn’t a big hit; there are no aches and pains resulting from the jolt.  

But the guy who hit me doesn’t want me to report it … he doesn’t want the demerit points.  

There’s a big part of me that wants to be nice and make it easy on the guy. But there is another part of me that wonders if I will be screwed over if I don’t report it and go through the regular channels.

If the accident had have happened on a weekday, I would be getting an estimate right now and calling the guy, asking how he is going to pay for it all. But it’s the weekend and I don’t think I’m going to find a collision shop that’s open.  

Plus, I am going away for a couple of days at the first of the week and that will delay an estimate even longer. 

I’m thinking time is of the essence. I have to know if this guy is going to pay for my car to get fixed or if I need to just report it and have the insurance worry about it.

As it is right now, the latch closes on the trunk but it doesn’t lock. The screen on the dashboard constantly shows a picture of the trunk being open.

I don’t want to be mean, but I don’t want to get left holding the bag, so to speak. 

I think I will try the dealership where I bought the car to see if someone there can give me an estimate of the cost. Then I will visit the guy who cuts my hair – he’s a real car guy. I’ll get him to take a look at it and see if he has any advice.

Other than that, I really feel in limbo right now. I’m a little nervous about waiting too long if I am going to report the accident. And I’m nervous about trusting this guy to come through.

He seemed so matter-of-fact about everything – like he’d done this often and it’s no big deal.

He said he was sorry but it was one of those sorries where you see the lips moving but are not sure there is any genuine feeling behind them.

It was almost like this was an inconvenience to him, and he wanted to wrap things up quickly so he could get to whatever he was going to do.  

In reality, there wasn’t much inconvenience to him at all. I doubt that there was any damage to his vehicle. He was driving a Jeep with big bars protecting his grill.

All the inconvenience is mine. If I don’t report this and he jams on me, this will be way beyond an inconvenience. I really need to make the right decision today.

Here’s the thing: Many times we act like the guy who hit my car. With sin, we are the ones at fault, but we act like it’s no big deal, and that it’s just an inconvenience to us. In reality, it was an inconvenience for Christ to go to the cross to pay for our sin. When I say “inconvenience” for Him, I mean way beyond inconvenience – a million times more. So when we sin and feel like it’s a minor infraction, think again at what it cost Christ to rectify that minor infraction for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How would you assess your attitude to God when seeking His forgiveness? Leave your comments and questions below.

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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.