Daily Rations with a Smile

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Jesus, light of the world.

10,000 people in Canada are homeless on any given night

Homeless hospitalized more often for mental illness: study
10,000 people in Canada are homeless on any given night
Last Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2007 4:29 PM ET
CBC News

Homeless people in Canada have more mental health problems than the rest of the population, leading to higher hospitalization rates, says a new report released Thursday.

Mental disorders accounted for 52 per cent of acute care hospitalizations among the homeless in 2005-2006, said the report, released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

read more from CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/08/30/homeless-illness.html

School and Basment

It is Sarah-Grace's first day of Kindergarten today and Rebecca's first day of grade one. They are both at a new school today. This is exciting. We will, of course, accept any prayers that you have to offer.

We are also hiring someone for our Cafe and TS Ministry.

And we are still working hard to solve the difficulties with our basement. Major Mike Hoeft was here yesterday helping. That was a great blessing. We took out a wall and more of the floor.

Intercultural Hermeneutics

Multiculturalism is like 'tongues'; if one concentrates on the differences it divides like the tower of Babel. If however one concentrates on the positive, it unifies like in Acts II. 

 

Previous to my work with the Salvation Army, many of you know that I was intimately involved with international education on a number of different levels. Through my experiences working with many people from extremely different cultures and nations, I learned quite a bit.

 

A few months ago, I began seeking current sources and trends in multicultural expression to see if the ideal had shifted at all. In reading current Canadian research on the topic, I was not surprised to find out that the ideal of a multicultural expression in society had not shifted at all. I was however surprised to find out by just how much we were missing the ideal.

 

Multiculturalism is supposed to enhance a society by emphasising the positive contributions that each culture brings to that society and applauding the strengths of diverse cultural expressions. Many times it appears in Canada (just like in the former Yugoslavia before it was torn apart by war and ethnic cleansing) people, in the name of multiculturalism, have sought to divide rather than unify this nation. Groups with an agenda (as well as other better intentioned innocents) have emphasized how much bad has been done to ethnic group A, B, or C by group C, D, or E, and by highlighting the real and imagined wrongs of history have sown the seeds of animosity, victimhood, and retribution. This is troublesome.

 

Multiculturalism is like 'tongues'; if one concentrates on the differences it divides like the tower of Babel. If however one concentrates on the positive, it unifies like in Acts II. 

 

An Interesting Multi / Intercultural Article

 

I was reading as article by Professor Louis Jonker the other day entitled, On Becoming a Family: Multiculturality and Interculturality in South Africa. He is writing about some very significant intercultural research that has been going on in South Africa for some time. It is very interesting and adds a lot to my thinking about intercultural ministry. I won't spoil the article for you but I will share with the hypotheses of a research project by the University of Stellenbosch, where Dr. Jonker is a professor with the department of Old and New Testament.

 

' (i) It hypothesizes that a development of hermeneutical skills among Christian communities of reading the Bible together ...could contribute significantly towards the fostering of interculturality in the broader South African society; (ii) related to the first, it is hypothesized that studying the dynamics of intercultural Bible reading could provide us with a better insight into the dynamics of a shift from multiculturality to interculturality in South African society.' (The Expository Times. Vol. 118, No. 10, July 2007, p. 481.)

 

Isn't that neat...okay I should get back to tearing apart my basement or paying bills or something of that nature...

Vacation

So we were at Officers' camp and on vacation this past week and a bit. It was very good - except our car got christened in drummheller. The picture is of me and the car after we removed it - after much effort - from what I can only suppose was a giant T-Rex footstep that had filled with water. The real damage was from when someone hit our parked car (when we weren't there) and then keyed a heart on it )-:

Drumheller

Drumheller was fun nonetheless. We camped, saw lots of dinosaurs and got to get caught up with the Captains Pearce, session mates of ours, who are posted there. Susan and Rebecca even got to go on a fossil hike to look for fossils.

Fossils

So when I was a kid, I found a snake skin that it had shredded and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I kept it for a long time. Rebecca, before we went to drumheller found a fossil of a snail in our garden and brought it to drumheller to show the experts and the museum. It turns out that this snail is actually a 80 million year-old ammonite fossil from a sea that used to cover all of northern Saskatchewan. That's a little more cool than a snake skin.

(this pict is not the real fossil -but it looks like this)

Creation Museum

Speaking of snakes (the fall, etc) we went to the Creation Museum while we were around drumheller (okay, I'm stretching my links a little bit). It was interesting. Any comments though I'll leave to Susan - she has the science degree. It was neat to read about the `young earth` theory and Noah's ark and the fossil record and the scriptures.

Passion Play

In drumheller they run a passion play in July (http://www.canadianpassionplay.com/). They have an amazing set. I want to bring a group of people there next year. I was privileged to see a one man show about the disciple Thomas. It was excellent. He travels with his show. Maybe, we'll bring him here. It was very good. The lady who runs the gift shop (and a whole lot more too) has relatives in Tisdale here, so we'll have to look them up.

Mines

We saw some old mines and an extension bridge. In one of the mines we saw this picture.

Reflecting on the characters that I have seen of George Bush and Sadam Hussein, propaganda hasn't changed much.

Officer Camp

Officer camp was good. It was good to see the Sabourins, Pearces, and everyone from Saskatchewan again and meet many new people from Alberta. Rebecca and Sarah-Grace really loved staying with Bria. They are meeting a lot of new friends here but they miss there old ones from Winnipeg quite a bit. It was good. The Sabourins are great people. Really. (You should check out their blog: http://www.thesabourinfamily.blogspot.com/.) It was a lot of fun for me to keep Captains Jason and Bram up too late discussing theology as well. Now that is fun!

Don't forget to read Acts.

Susan is preaching next week somewhere in Acts 6-10. Read ahead. The following week is Acts 15. You will need to be caught up on your reading by then. It really does build on the preceding chapters...

Michael

Act II, Scene 1

Sunday's sermon, 'Act II, Scene 1', on Acts 2, is posted now for those who wish to follow-up with more discussion: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_Sermons.htm

Rape - Something New

I learned something new. Did you know that Rape is not just an older name for Canola? (apparently Canola is somekind of a hybrid. You can eat Canola and one can't stomache rape.)Every year they apparently have a season where they change the Canola plants to accomodate rape.

Hypocrisy from DR WAS

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Hippo Crazy

Holidays

We're in holidays so you may wish to check back here in a week or two; I should have today's sermons posted before we leave e-contact in a couple of days.

Michael

White House Burning Day

Yesterday was the anniversary of the butning of the White House by the Canadian Malitia and regular British troops; this was a result of the US invasion of Canada in 1812.

Read more about Canada's foundation on Psalm 72: http://www.sheepspeak.com/Michael_Ramsay_Sermons.htm#building

Read more about the battle of Crysler Farm - a pivotal battle in the War of 1812: http://www.havelock-viha.com/FPNov11AmericanInvasion.html

We're studying the book of Acts

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The stop sign is for all water fowl

Susan preached a great sermon on the doctrine of Assurance as it relates to the final chapters of the book of Luke on this past Sunday. One of her sermon illustrations was a comment on the flooding in England this past season.

Below are pictures that we took of a road here in Saskatchewan, just south of Melfort. The weather has been very wet here indeed.

by the way - this lake (all of it!) was previously a farmer's field.

This week will be giving the corps the axe too.

I mean Acts II...Remember for those reading along with us to have read from chapters 1-5 of Acts by Sunday (-:

Martin Luther regarded the book of Acts as a beautiful mirror in which you behold the truth: Sola fides justificat. "The fathers likewise admired the contents of the book, noting the great variety of subjects and the immense value of each: the great testimony in regard to the apostolic doctrine and the church; the fundamental outline of church government, church discipline, and church organisation; an arsenal full of artillery against the anti-Christ; a laboratory full of remedies against all soul-destroying errors of faith and offences in conduct; a larder stocked with all kinds of food for faith, patience and hope; an inspiration for love and all its works; a very treasury of learning and right doctrine."[1]

        Acts 2, specifically is important as the succession from the now-departed Messiah to the Twelve, with the arrival of God's Spirit, is made complete.It is this receiving of God's Spirit (2:1-4) which enables the community to carry the inspired word of God's risen Messiah to the entire household of Israel.As such no episode narrated in Acts has received more attention than this one[3]  and this Sunday we will give it even more attention, so feel free to read ahead.

---

[1]R.C.H Lenski, The Interpretation of  the Acts of the Apostles. (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 5.

 

[3] Robert W. Wall, Acts. (TNIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002), 53.

Small Miracles

There is no such thing really as small miracles but miracles, I think, pass unnoticed everyday.

The other day when we were meeting to drive some of the kids up to camp, a couple of the kids were not there. (Now ordinarily we would have all of their contact information and have had them registered well in advance but this was a last minute discovery of these openings). These children are not church-goers and have never been camping (at a camp anyway) ever before and as I said we did not have their contact information.

One of the other kids who was waiting to go with us says he thought he saw a lady bring one of the camp forms to his neighbours' house. We then piled the kids in the van and went and knocked on his neighbours' door at 8:15 AM on a holiday Monday. Praise the Lord, it was the right house. They had the forms all filled out and had just slept in. We waited while they packed then all headed off to the first ever camp for all of these kids. Praise the Lord for miracles and I eagerly anticipate seeing the kids when they return from camp and hearing about even more miracles that the Lord has done in their lives this week.

Michael

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It's a bird, It's a plane

It's a bird, It's a pilot, It's a metermaid...

Daring to 'Give Hope to Today' to the poor and the downtrodden. Willing to tell the masses about the love of Jesus. Taking the Gospels seriously and able to stand on a kettle for hours on end, it's....

Salvo-Man!

Dead Body

So we headed up to a Christian camp near Nipawin with some friends for a bit of the day, took in a meeting, and met some new friends. As we were on the beach with a group of kids quite a commotion was kicked up as a dead body was washed up on the shore right in front of us

PTL, it was a fish's body.

Michael

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Camp Ministry

I spent the day driving to and from Saskatoon today to bring some kids home from camp; Monday, Susan or I will head back there to bring another set of kids to camp. It is a great ministry. This camp is free for those in need and neither the kids I picked up today nor the ones we are bringing down Monday are connected with the corps yet. It is a good outreach and a good way to get to know the kids in the long van rides - not that I'm advocating any longer rides! I am now decidely in the 'Keep Beaver Creek Camp' camp.

Sunday School Papers

I was speaking with a friend in Tisdale the other day. When he a child, his parents used to send him to Sunday school. His parents were not believers. His dad, however, was an avid reader: he would read everything he could, including his children's Sunday school papers. His parents are now in the Kingdom of God.

Remember to send home your Sunday school papers...

Sad But True

...The same thing goes on in the wider world. Countries invade other countries and get away with it. The rich use the power of their money to get even richer while the poor, who can't do anything about it, get even poorer. Most of us scratch our heads and wonder why, and then go out and buy another product whose profit goes to the rich company... N.T. Wright (Simply Christian, 5).