Martin Luther once wrote that anything in which we place our hope and trust becomes our God. We are tempted to replace the God of all creation with the god’s of fame, fortune, comfort, and security.

The temptations that Jesus faced in the wilderness reflect three areas of evil. The bread tempted him to satisfy his physical desire for food and place that above his devotion to God. At the temple peak Jesus was tempted to seek the notoriety of being the only person to jump from that height and survive. On the mountaintop, Satan wanted Jesus to worship him—rather than the true God—a temptation to false belief.

Your daily minute of prayer places a covering over the team and makes a difference that is invaluable.

Do you believe God answers prayer?
Do you believe God answers YOUR prayers?
Are you praying for your pastoral team…daily?
If not, will you start today?

Its a humble request. Its something I am asking for on behalf of our team. Its the profound request of a minute.
We are inviting people to become “minute managers.” If you will manage a minute everyday praying for the team, we believe God will manage miracles. That will make you a Minute Manger.
You ask, “What good would praying for a minute a day do?”
Are you praying a minute a day for the team already?
If not then it could only help.
It would help the staff.
It would help you.
It might even lead you to double your time and pray for two minutes a day.
Will you?
The consistency of intercession is an invaluable gift you can give your pastoral team.
Send us a comment letting us know you will.
Or send us an email at info@northpointechurch.ca  It will only take a minute.
Thank you.

The Death Cafe movement was started in England in 2011 by Jon Underwood, a British web designer and self-described “death entrepreneur” who wanted to encourage people to talk about death in their communities and with each other, rather than ignoring it or being too afraid to talk about it until the very end when we’re often overwhelmed with illness and the legalities that come with the end of life.

As a pastor, I have counseled with countless families and conducted hundreds of funerals. Working with grieving people is a sobering experience. I’ve entered into the emotional roller coaster of people facing their own death or that of a loved one. I’ve dealt with my own father and mother’s deaths. Those experiences have led me to contemplate and prepare for my own death. I hope that doesn’t sound morbid. So far, one out of one people die. I’m going to be included in that statistic some day.

Facing fears or anxiety about death is actually life giving. It’s a subject Christians should be talking about. Of all people, Christians, who have a belief in the risen Jesus, know that death is not a period at the end of life but a comma that punctuates life to an eternal level. I love the frankness with which 1 Corinthians 15:19 is written – “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

There is more to life than meets the eye.

Need someone to talk to about death? We offer a Grief Share group at North Pointe.
We are always glad to have a coffee or tea to talk about what’s most important in life. Even death.

What’s the “THIS” in your llfe?
We all have one…or more. Day by day we are faced with circumstances that demand more from us than we can give. That’s where reliance on God, hope and the prayers of others become our deliverance.

Carolina Sandell was born the daughter of a pastor in Sweden in 1832.At the age of 12, Lina, as she became known, was stricken with paralysis. Her parents were believer’s in God’s ability to heal. They and others prayed for her. One Sunday morning, as Lina too was praying, she felt God heal her and surprised her parents by dressing herself and walking! Lina was gifted poet and began writing songs of gratitude for her healing.

When she was twenty-six, she accompanied her father, by ship, on a journey across a lake in Sweden. They stood at the side of the ship watching the waves roll towards them. Then, tragedy struck. The ship gave a sudden lurch, and Lina’s father fell overboard and drowned before the eyes of his devoted daughter. She called out to God to save him but to no avail.

Out of Lina’s broken heart began to flow many songs that reflected a simple child-like trust in Jesus, despite tragedy. She would go on to become one of Scandinavia’s best-known hymn writers. By age 71 when she passed away, Lina had composed approximately 650 hymns. 10,000 people, touched by her songs and support showed up to dedicate a statue in her memory.

One of her most loved hymns, “Day by Day,” is a favourite of mine. Lina wrote,

“Day by day and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
Gives unto each day what He deems best–
Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.”

What has been “given into your day?”
Who do you know who could use the encouragement of these words? Pass them on or leave a comment.

Pastoring is not leadership. You can be a pastor without being a leader.

It took me about 6 months into ministry to figure that out. Leaders help bring about change. My first change in ministry was to make a change in how youth ministry was being done. (Up until that time the first 6 months had been good. I was pastoring and made no changes. I thought I was doing great.) Then our volunteer youth leader, who did not like the change, called a Board member to complain about me and rallied up the rest of the youth group to resist the change. So I learned about implementing change, how to lead it, buy-in, resistance, perseverance and how complex it can be.

Over the years Jocelyn and I have led many through many changes, none so large as the relocation of Central Tabernacle to North Pointe’s present location. That’s a story in itself.

Change can humble leaders because we see how much we need the grace, patience and wisdom of the Lord to effect change.

I have also come to see that pastoring is most effective when it is combined with leadership. Leadership envisions a god-honouring future and the will and wisdom to create it. Leadership always challenges the status quo and that creates change and no one except a wet baby likes change. Church change can lead people to change churches. It can lead them to quit church altogether. That’s sad.

Leadership and change are synonymous. Leadership and humility are indispensible. Following leadership and change takes trust and humility.

North Pointe has been studying the book of 1 Peter. Chapter 5:1-3 is Peter’s counsel on leadership and relationship to leadership. Godly leaders never call for blind trust. Peter understood that. He knew believers trusted him and their local leaders.

He challenged pastors to be “shepherd” leaders and for the people they led to respond to leadership with humility. Humility is about knowing your role and willingly filling it with grace.

Humility serves leaders and those they lead, very well.