Harvest Muskoka's Blog - Entries from February 2012

SunSundayFebFebruary12th2012 What Do I Do When All Hope Is Lost?

Posted Sunday, February 12 2012 @ 1 PM byKaj Ballantyne Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

You lose your job. A relationship has been damaged. Another bill comes in that you can't afford. The doctor has brought bad news. A sudden death of a loved one has stopped you in your tracks. Your future seems bleak.

So many times our problems cause us to think that God has forgotten us and it can hard to understand that the Source of our strength and our Provider in all things is with us. When a situation seems hopeless, it is difficult to not grow weary and lose strength.

For those who have been following the journey that Pastor Trevor Peacok from HarvestCalgary and his family have been on with their daughter you might ask, "How do the Peacocks go on?" Their daughter Hope has been battling for her life and they still really have no solid answers. Without any answers, what do they cling to? Where is their foundation? Where is their hope?

Are you or anyone you love in a place today where life is hard and you desperately need perspective? Take the time to watch Trevor's latest sermon entitled, "Hope" where he answers these tough questions from God's Word.

Firmly in the grip of God's grace,
Kaj

SunSundayFebFebruary5th2012 Calling all Super Hero Dads!

Posted Sunday, February 05 2012 @ 2 PM byKaj Ballantyne Tagged No tags 0 comments Add comment

This past Sunday we talked about killing the lion of sin in our hearts. I had said, "when the lion comes into your house you don’t just try to tame it … you put it down." I was thinking more about our hearts and yet this week as I was praying for our church and hearing more stories of the havoc that the lion is wreacking in some of our homes I began to see what statement means for the dads at Harvest.

What do we, as dads, do when the lion comes to the front door? What are we doing to protect our families? This is a huge responsibility that the Word of God places on our shoulders ... to lead, guide, provide and care for our families. What does this look like? So often we can feel as though we aren't up to the task. We don't have the skills, leadership, power, strength or spirituality required for such a task. The truth is that on our own we don't. But the greater truth is that we are not on our own!

So how do we lead and protect with God's leadership, guidance, power and strength?

Here are a couple of great links I came across this week that I hope are helpful.

Praying for your family
Leading your family

My prayer for us as a church is that we have a church full of strong men ... strong in the Lord ... strong in prayer ... strong in the Word. And through that we have strong families. Let's continue to encourage and help each other to be able to stand strong and put down the lions that attack our hearts and our families.

Firmly in the grip of God's grace,
Kaj