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 DEAR READERS
When praying for Canada I am often guided by what I see on the CBC
news or by what I read in the Globe and Mail, but I do prefer to
see these events in the context of a sovereign God who watches
over the nations and knows the heart motives of all men and women.
I also believe that
Jerusalem is the city of the great King (Matthew 5:35) and that
despite the apparent chaos of the Middle East
it will result in Jesus being glorified both as Lord and Messiah.
Claim the truth of Isaiah 19:24-25 and Romans 11:11-12 ; 25-28
LA DANSE - A VICTORY FOR THE GOSPEL!
This was a remarkable national pilgrimage of about 300 French and
English speaking Canadians that started in Montreal and ended a
week ago in Vancouver and Victoria. We hosted the team here in
Vancouver for two days and tried to express tokens of our love and
affection especially toward the Francophones from Quebec.
We wanted them to know our love, however imperfectly, and that
they were welcome in Western Canada. The profound thought is that the Lord actually wants the French
and English speaking Canadians to love one another - so praise God
that through the Gospel this is possible. May the power of God
continue to break down the dividing walls right across this
country through a Gospel of reconciliation. Pray that God would
continue to do a remarkable thing in this Nation.
HAS THE RESTRAINER MOVED AWAY?
We are living in a time of accelerated change. The power of
national and international networking means that good things and
bad things can happen so much faster. Something happening in one
part of the world or a nation can now cause a cascade effect that
is unexpected in its intensity. A recent natural example was the
black out of the electrical grid in
Ontario and the NE States affecting fifty million people. Another
recent breathtaking moral example is the rapid development of the
acceptance of the homosexual agenda. In Canada
what happened with a group of three judges in Ontario has
influenced the Federal Government to change the law concerning
marriage itself. This in turn could affect other nations’
attitudes. In the States over sixty percent of the Episcopal
Bishops recently voted in an openly gay Bishop. But what about the
scriptures? In biblical terms this is equivalent to apostasy and I
have been studying Thessalonians in depth to consider how apostasy
(the rebellion, the falling away etc) manifests.
In 2 Thess 2:7, Paul uniquely describes the Lord as ‘The
Restrainer’, the one who restrains lawlessness until He removes
Himself from the midst of it, thus giving evil the freedom it
craves. God’s judgment on a people who resist the truth of the
Gospel is to give them what they want, the operation of error or
the strong delusion, and I am chastened to consider that God’s
righteous judgments may be in our midst. If the restraining hand
of God is being lifted away from
Canada, then we could expect other things to happen very quickly
that challenge the Word of God. This is a very serious time, and
the time may be shorter than we think before the Lord’s glorious
return. Romans 13 in the Message says: "The night is about over,
dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! ...
Get out of bed and get dressed!
MERCY SAILS INTO VANCOUVER
At about the same time as the Premier of BC was declaring a
province wide state of emergency due to the terrible forest fires,
the US Navy Hospital Ship 'Mercy' sailed into Vancouver’s harbour.
We thank God that according to James 2:13, mercy triumphs over
judgment. Despite our national rejection of the Living God and the
blood guilt of a million children aborted in the last 10 years,
the mercy of God is still patiently calling us to repentance.
Should we not seek Him with all our hearts before the voice of the
innocents is heeded?
Canada is a nation in the valley of decision. Intercede powerfully
that we will not despise His mercy.
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