The Anglican Parish Of Haliburton

The 40-day season of Lent officially begins with Ash Wednesday. With their Catholic friends, Anglicans worldwide traditionally ‘celebrate’ this day. And while few moderns can match their historical counterparts in observing the Lenten fast which traditionally also begins Ash Wednesday, some do try in some form or other.

Therein, believe it or not, lies at least one possible explanation for Easter eggs. Many in the early church, and right up through and beyond medieval times, believed they should abstain from all foods and products derived from animals. This they explained partly in terms of honouring Christ’s own 40-day fast prior to the beginning of his ministry, and also “because it disposes us to celebrate devoutly the mysteries of our redemption” (Thomas Aquinas, c. 1225-74).

Hens (and there likely would have been more of them if none were eaten!) would have of course kept producing eggs during those 40 days, leading to a surplus by Easter. Hence eggs became a natural and convenient way to break the fast Easter Day, and would be an obvious gift to give others who may not have their own supply.

Dyeing and Resurrection

The tradition of colouring eggs can be traced to several stories. Just one is that Mary Magdalene, summoned by Emperor Tiberius, insisted that Christ had been resurrected. The skeptical Caesar pointed to an egg and exclaimed, "Christ has not risen, no more than that egg is red"—after which the egg in question miraculously turned blood-red.

(You can read more about this in an article recently posted on Christianity Today's ChristianHistory.net)

A recent Prayer Breakfast at the Pinestone Resort and Conference Centre proved an amazing coming-together of ‘servants’, both from many area churches and various levels of government.

The horrendous earthquake in Haiti had just happened the day before. Barry Devolin, Member of Parliament for Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock since 2004, fought back tears as he related, and relayed so well, his heart-hurt over the devastation in that already messed-up country. How can a country with no existing infrastructure or effective government even begin to deal with such calamity?

The juxtaposition of our many levels of mostly-effective government with Haiti’s, the ability to deal with disaster on any scale when it happens, was further underlined by Glen Duncan of Peterborough in his keynote address.

Duncan, of the Kawartha Prayer Association, described the work of a Peterborough group called Church in the City. A covenant relationship between people of many different city ministries, the group has managed to serve and help in ways no one church or level of government has ever been able to.

When 20 percent of Peterborough homes were flooded in 2004, City Hall itself was flooded with calls both for help, and with offers to help. But due to liability problems, the municipal authorities weren’t able to effectively match the two – which is where Church in the City stepped in.

Duncan also drew an interesting parallel between how we Canadians name our public servants and the ministry of Jesus. The very name servants … our government ministers, our Prime Minister – the leader of the servants, really.

“So just what is the purpose of power?” Duncan asked. “Jesus, when he ‘got it’, decided the best thing to do would be to serve others.”

He explained how it could not have been that long after Jesus’ disciples got into their argument about ‘who among them was the greatest’ that the famous foot-washing scene happened. At Passover, tradition held that whoever in the group had the least status would become the designated ‘foot-washer’. But since the disciples had only recently been arguing over who among them was the greatest; obviously none would deign to wash the others’ feet. So in stepped humble servant-leader Jesus, Prime Servant, to do the job.

Hosted by the Haliburton Ministerial (comprised of the leaders of Haliburton and area churches), other guests of honour included: Murray Fearrey, Reeve for the Municipality of Dysart et al; Constable Mark McMaster of the Ontario Provincial Police Minden Detachment; Miles Maughan, Chief of the Dysart et al Fire Department; Pat Kennedy, Chief of Emergency Medical Services for Dysart et al.

Each of the church ministers attending then prayed for various aspects of the local and provincial governments and services.

Daniel Smith, pastor of the Haliburton Gospel Lighthouse, closed with a beautiful prayer for the Dysart Emergency Medical Services. He and his wife Carolina had a special connection here: their little daughter Emma had been born in a Haliburton ambulance less than two years ago! He prayed for, among other things, a breaking off of the trauma these many emergency responders must experience and no doubt often hold onto.

Collection baskets passed around gathered close to $1500, all to go to relief efforts in Haiti.





Barry Devolin talks to Pastor Daniel and Carolina Smith

by Rick Warren (lifted from his Purpose Driven site)


Surrender is an unpopular word, disliked almost as much as the word submission. It implies losing, and no one wants to be a loser.

Surrender evokes the unpleasant images of admitting defeat in battle, forfeiting a game, or yielding to a stronger opponent. The word is almost always used in a negative context. Captured criminals surrender to the authorities.

In our competitive world we're taught to never quit trying, never give up, and never give in—so we don't hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable.

Yet, the Bible teaches us that rather than trying to win, succeed, overcome, and conquer, we should instead yield, submit, obey, and surrender.

And by surrendering to God, we enter into the heart of worship. This is true worship: bringing pleasure to God as we give ourselves completely to Him.

Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience, cooperating with your Creator. You say, "Yes Lord" to whatever He asks of you.

In fact, "No, Lord" is a contradiction. You can't claim Jesus as your Lord when you refuse to obey him. Peter modeled surrender when, after a night of failed fishing, Jesus told him to try again: "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." Surrendered people obey God's word, even when it doesn't make sense.

God is not a cruel slave driver, or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn't try to break our will, but woos us to Himself, so that we might offer it freely to Him. God is a Lover and a Liberator, and surrendering brings freedom, not bondage.

When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.

Caveat to article above!
by Rick Warren (lifted from his Purpose Driven site)

"The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become — because He made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to his personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own."  —C.S. Lewis

It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. [2 Corinthians 3:5 (NLT)]

Life is a struggle, but what most people don't realize is that our struggle, like Jacob's, is really with God! We want to be God, and there's no way we're going to win that struggle, but we try anyway.

A.W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."

We aren't God, and we never will be. We're humans, and the times when we try to be God are the times we end up most like Satan, who tried to be equal with God, too.

We accept our humanity intellectually, but not emotionally. We give mental assent to the idea, but when faced with our own limitations, we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, beautiful, and wealthy.

We want to have it all and do it all, and become upset when it doesn't happen. Then, when we notice God gave others characteristics we don't have, we respond with envy, jealousy, and self-pity.

What it means to surrender

Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not accepting the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life in resistance to evil and injustice, or suffering in order to change what needs to be changed. God often calls surrendered people to do battle on His behalf. It not for cowards or doormats.

Surrendering is not putting your brain in neutral and giving up rational thinking. God would not waste the mind He gave you! God does not want robots to serve Him. Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather than being diminished, surrendering enhances your uniqueness.

(Wisconsin, USA)—Charlie and Scotti Keepman, with 24-year-old daughter Richelle, had just traveled to Ethiopia, Africa, where they'd adopted two orphans and were bringing them back to their home in Wisconsin on Christmas day.

Sitting toward the back of NW Flight 253, the Keepmans had no idea of the drama about to unfold rows ahead of them when terror suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, attempted a suicide bombing in his seat.

"We heard a pop and then smelled the fumes," recalled Charlie about the moment Abdulmatallab tried to ignite his explosives. "It smelled like burning wire actually. And I thought that's what it was."

But when flight attendants came running back for the fire extinguishers, Keepman noticed the horror in their eyes and knew something more was happening on their plane.

Trying to remain calm, the Keepmans joined hands with their daughter and newly-adopted children and began to bring the matter before the Lord in prayer, and to sing Jesus Loves Me.

Abdulmatallab's explosive device failed to do more than start a fire, and thanks to one quick-thinking passenger who jumped over seats, apprehending him and preventing him from doing any further damage, a possibly fatal situation was avoided.

The Nigerian Abdulmatallab (23) was later charged with trying to blow up NW Airlines Flight 253.

(Full story at source: Kristen Schorsch – Chicago Breaking News Center)

Study finds some respondents actually experienced pain while seeing someone else in pain

by Aimee Herd (editor, BCN) 

Aimee's note: While I find this research very interesting, I am not surprised by it. First as a mother—and I know most other moms would agree (perhaps fathers too)—I think we can certainly "feel" the pain our children might be going through at times. Also, as a Believer, sometimes in deep intercession and prayer on someone else's behalf, you can actually experience a degree of that person's pain or heartache. And then, although this research doesn't mention it, I know studies and testimonies have found that twins will often experience their other twin's pain. Clearly, this is confirmation that our brains and our "hearts" or emotions are entwined and not separate; a beautiful design by God that facilitates deep compassion. It's maybe when we try to separate them that we can become numb.

According to a recent Reuters Health report, some people really do vicariously feel another's pain when they see them hurt in some way.

The research was led by Dr. Stuart W. G. Derbyshire of the University of Birmingham, who—first—had 108 college students view images of "painful situations," such as injections or sports injuries. About a third of the students said they not only experienced emotional reactions, but also "fleeting pain" in that same area while viewing at least one of the images.

Next, Derbyshire used a "functional MRI" (which measures the stimuli in certain parts of the brain) to scan 10 students in both the "responders" and "non-responders" groups. The study found that while both experienced emotional reactions to the "painful" images; the "responders" also showed greater stimulus of the "pain-related" areas in their brains.

Derbyshire explained, "We think this confirms that at least some people have an actual physical reaction when observing others being injured or expressing pain."

Using an imaging technique called functional MRI, UK researchers found evidence that people who say they feel vicarious pain do, in fact, have heightened activity in pain-sensing brain regions upon witnessing another person being hurt.