Father's Day

Derrick Hamre

Lead Pastor

This week we pause to honour dads.

Fatherhood is a God-assigned role that has huge ramifications in our society and with our families. Today I want to applaud, inspire and encourage dads. Your role and responsibility is not an easy one, yet you are so important. The tone you set in your home, the spiritual foundation you lay and the example you deposit into the hearts of those who call you “dad” will be your lasting legacy. Keep up the good work! We love and esteem you!

Linda Shauer sent me this in an email this week and I thought I would pass it along:

I had a chance to hear a message by Josh McDowell regarding Universal Truth and it was staggering how the statistics show that 91% of born again Christians say that there is no absolute truth....and under 4% of born again teenagers say that the Bible is absolute truth. His point was that our beliefs form our values and our values drive our behaviour. He tied this all in to the fact that if a child doesn't see enough love from their father, it is hard for children to believe in truth.  McDowell said, "Fathers, you can be the greatest speaker of truth, but if they don't believe you love them, children reject the truth. Truth without relationship leads to rejection." Then he quoted from a number of scientific studies that support the need of relationships to pass along values (all scientific research shows that a baby's brain is made to connect physically with relationships, and if you want to pass your values on you must:

1. develop loving, connecting relationships
2. model that very truth in their context/life or they'll walk away from it).

The most powerful platform anywhere is as a daddy!

Sabbatical

You may remember that at our AGM we discussed that our board had approved me to take a sabbatical for education, rest and travel. Initially this was to be a 3 month sabbatical (in line with our policy) that would work together with my holidays for a 4 month leave. However, as I began to plan to be away for 4 months, I became anxious. With our church in the midst of building plans, with Koch's being away and with all the normal activities, I chose to receive this gift in another format. For the next 5 years I will take 3 weeks a year for an educational leave. My goal is to complete my master's degree. This format is much better for me, for my family and for the church. Next week I go back to school! I am taking 3 biblical courses (The Judges, Christ's Parables, and The Sermon on the Mount) plus a 6 month course to further improve my French. Perhaps this is too ambitious, maybe I've bit off more than I can chew, but I am looking forward to it.