Spiderman!

I'm not one of those guys who likes really sappy stories, they usually make me kind of sick.  But this story is too good - window washers at a children's hospital dressing up like Spiderman!  What a great idea, awesome way to make kids smile!  There is still good in this often difficult world.

http://furiousfanboys.com/2012/07/spider-man-window-cleaners-do-it-for-sick-children/


(On a side note, sappy and emotional are two different things, lol...while I may not be sappy, I do have to fight back the waterworks sometimes for an uplifting story, or when passion is involved!)

Freedom

Before he preached his sermon on Sunday, our pastor said that that morning's message would be a tough one.  He repeated that during and after the message too...and he was right.

He gave a powerful reminder on repentance and forgiveness.  He talked about Psalm 51, the psalm David wrote after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband Uriah.

There were two parts that hit me.  The first was verses 16 and 17 - You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

After reading these verses the pastor then referenced more verses in Isaiah, all saying that God does not want our sacrifices if our hearts are not right.  We can do all the right things, say all the right words, act so nicely, and fool everyone - but not God.  All of our greatest efforts - playing on the worship team, serving in Sunday School, helping your neighbour, volunteering at the food bank - it's all great stuff, but if we're not right with God, it's not worth much.  God is more concerned about where our hearts are than about what we're doing.  In fact, what we're doing should come out of where are hearts are.  Doing it the other way around usually means we're trying to earn it.

The other big thing that hit me was the idea of freedom.  How much this applies to you may depend on how honest you want to be with yourself - the fact that we get so caught up in sin sometimes that we don't realize how much it has taken over our lives.  It becomes part of our daily routine, and we either get used to it or we get more and more depressed because we don't know how to get out of it - or, in a frustrating paradox, both of those happen at once.  Either way, it's a horrible state because deep down, we are not truly happy.  We're hurting.

But then the pastor showed the video I've linked to below, and brought it home.  And he quoted Galatians 5:1, and I truly grasped the meaning of that verse like I've never really understood it in the past - "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."

Watch the video:
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/31742/Free

So what do you need freedom from?  God wants to help.

Languages

How many languages do you speak?

I've been able to do some travelling in my years, a bit through the Middle East, Europe, and some of the Caribbean.  It always amazes me when someone speaks to me in english, then that same person turns and speaks to someone else in french, then moves on to a conversation in spanish, and rounds it off with some italian.  So cool!

Personally, I speak english (obviously, lol), some french, and arabic as my parents are Egyptian.  I've always loved languages and think it's really neat to be able to communicate with someone who doesn't speak your native tongue.  There are several advantages of course:

1 - Travel is much easier
2 - Ministry is much easier, both for missionaries and for those who are not - conversations can be had
3 - The number of jobs available to the bilingual is crazy, both locally and abroad
4 - It's great to learn new things!

I didn't realize that I like languages until mid-university.  A little late by that point, but not too late.  I took a sign language course and a few french courses.  That was years ago and if you don't practice, you lose it.  My knowledge of sign language is gone unfortunately except for a few words here and there.  As for french, I actually became quiet proficient, but not having spoken it regularly for a few years, it's definitely not where it once was.  However, I'm pleased that I was able to carry on a conversation in french last week when my wife and I were away on vacation - not as fluent as I would have liked it to have been, but we understood each other!

My goal a few years ago was to perfect french and then move on to spanish.  But since then, life got in the way and it's the age old excuse - I got busy and there was no time (or money) to learn.

Last week's travels have inspired me though.  It's never too late, right?  I'm tackling french first.