Blog https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org Thu, 28 Mar 2024 07:19:21 -0400 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Mature and Multiply https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/mature-and-multiply https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/mature-and-multiply#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2022 12:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/mature-and-multiply (M)ature and (M)ultiply a training cohort in Atlantic Canada for potential church leaders
  Wednesday, June 8, 8pm MEET AND GREET via ZOOM
We are starting a Church Leadership training for Atlantic Canada. This is designed for those who are hoping to grow as leaders in their local churches but may not know where to start. See more details in the comments then fire me a PM if you are interested or have a potential leader who is. We already have leaders from three provinces interested, and we’d love to have more!
What is the (M)ature and (M)ultiply Training? 
(M)ature & (M)ultiply is a one to two year program aimed at maturing disciples and helping identify ministry leaders in the local church. In helping the local churches in our region we are also hoping to identify potential church planters & revitalizers who may be investigating their call to these ministries. Year one is aimed at the church leader maturing and can be for anyone interested in growing, helping or being a part of church ministry (including planting or revitalizing) in any way. The second year is aimed at helping those with potential
to church plant or revitalize to discern whether they should pursue that calling.
Year one in the program requires that each participant read the assigned book and submit a theological paper each month before the cohort session so that they are ready to discuss (all books and articles are provided for students who are accepted into the program). The theological goal of year one in this training is to build a proper Biblical thinking around such topics as the Character of God, the Bible, a Healthy Church, Evangelism, Church Planting, etc.
Year two is designed to be completed as part of a ministry internship. If a student desires to move into the second year of the program they will be asked to enter into a formal ministry internship that seeks to develop the Character, Competency and Call of the student. This would be completed as part of coaching under a pastor/elder. We are committed to helping provide coaching and resources for local churches and pastors to do this well.
 Interested? Want to sign up or know more? PM bradsomers8@gmail.com 
]]>
(M)ature and (M)ultiply a training cohort in Atlantic Canada for potential church leaders
  Wednesday, June 8, 8pm MEET AND GREET via ZOOM
We are starting a Church Leadership training for Atlantic Canada. This is designed for those who are hoping to grow as leaders in their local churches but may not know where to start. See more details in the comments then fire me a PM if you are interested or have a potential leader who is. We already have leaders from three provinces interested, and we’d love to have more!
What is the (M)ature and (M)ultiply Training? 
(M)ature & (M)ultiply is a one to two year program aimed at maturing disciples and helping identify ministry leaders in the local church. In helping the local churches in our region we are also hoping to identify potential church planters & revitalizers who may be investigating their call to these ministries. Year one is aimed at the church leader maturing and can be for anyone interested in growing, helping or being a part of church ministry (including planting or revitalizing) in any way. The second year is aimed at helping those with potential
to church plant or revitalize to discern whether they should pursue that calling.
Year one in the program requires that each participant read the assigned book and submit a theological paper each month before the cohort session so that they are ready to discuss (all books and articles are provided for students who are accepted into the program). The theological goal of year one in this training is to build a proper Biblical thinking around such topics as the Character of God, the Bible, a Healthy Church, Evangelism, Church Planting, etc.
Year two is designed to be completed as part of a ministry internship. If a student desires to move into the second year of the program they will be asked to enter into a formal ministry internship that seeks to develop the Character, Competency and Call of the student. This would be completed as part of coaching under a pastor/elder. We are committed to helping provide coaching and resources for local churches and pastors to do this well.
 Interested? Want to sign up or know more? PM bradsomers8@gmail.com 
]]>
Ballast Lodge – a place of stability in the midst of life’s storms https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/ballast-lodge---a-place-of-stability-in-the-midst-of-life-s-storms https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/ballast-lodge---a-place-of-stability-in-the-midst-of-life-s-storms#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0500 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/ballast-lodge---a-place-of-stability-in-the-midst-of-life-s-storms Right in the heart of Atlantic Canada, on the shores of Shepody Bay, is a gorgeous little retreat centre designed specifically with you in mind. Pastors have a unique need for spiritual refreshment and peaceful solitude, but their schedules and budgets often prohibit them from travelling to far-away, upscale resorts. The weight of caring for hurting people has been especially heavy for pastors in Atlantic Canada over the past couple of years. Now, more than ever, pastors need to schedule periods of deep rest.

With that need in mind, Pat and Anita Neuman, along with their son Levi, moved to Johnson’s Mills, New Brunswick a year ago to start a retreat centre. Their vision was to create a beautiful retreat location at a price that is affordable (specifically to people in ministry). Their target audience is anyone who is hurting and needs a peaceful place to be still for a few days. That could be pastors facing burnout, missionaries who’ve had a difficult term, exhausted healthcare workers and first responders, families grieving a loss, couples struggling in their marriage, or anyone working on their mental health.

IMG_20210608_123232

Pat and Anita love Jesus, and they are deeply committed to caring for His Church. They are passionate about using their gifts, experiences, and resources to serve others. Their years of working in a variety of ministries and missions, as well as their own parenting journey and trauma, have grown in them a compassion for tired and hurting people. This was the impetus for opening Ballast Lodge and making it the ideal place to relax, enjoy quiet solitude, spend time in nature, read, sleep, grieve, process, rest in God’s Word, and heal.

In addition to being a place that pastors can get away to themselves, Ballast Lodge offers some great resources to support churches in their marriage ministries. Pat and Anita have partnered with FamilyLife Canada to bring two phenomenal programs to Atlantic Canada.

  • The “Together for Good” marriage conferences are a well-known platform for allowing couples to invest in their marriage, regardless of how long they have been together. These conferences are held on specific weekends at large hotels all across Canada. The regular ticket rate is $380 per couple, which doesn’t include accommodations, parking, or meals. Ballast Lodge is able to present the same conference material (via pre-recorded video) in a much more affordable and intimate setting. Couples can book a “Together for Good” marriage retreat on whatever dates work for them, and watch the five one-hour sessions during their stay. Large marriage conferences are great, but if scheduling and finances are prohibitive, Ballast Lodge’s partnership with FamilyLife Canada offers a perfect alternative.
  • Marriage counseling is one area of ministry that many churches would like to do more of, but their pastors are over-scheduled (or this isn’t in their wheelhouse) or they don’t have well-equipped lay persons to manage the task. Another way Ballast Lodge has partnered with FamilyLife Canada is with their Marriage Mentor Training. The workshop curriculum can be used to train several mentor couples within your church or to equip your ministry leaders to build and launch a full marriage mentoring ministry. Pat and Anita will facilitate the sessions, scheduled over the course of a Friday evening and Saturday. The workshop includes one night’s accommodation at Ballast Lodge, but attendees have the option of adding a second night at a discounted rate. The next Marriage Mentor Training Weekend is scheduled for February 4-5, 2022, but other dates can be added if your church would like to send 2-4 couples together.

If you’re interested in learning more about this ministry – either for yourself, someone in your church, or someone else you know who could use a few days of rest – visit https://ballastlodge.ca/ . You can also follow Ballast Lodge on Facebook for regular updates and pictures (https://www.facebook.com/BallastLodge ).

IMG_20210528_211327

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Right in the heart of Atlantic Canada, on the shores of Shepody Bay, is a gorgeous little retreat centre designed specifically with you in mind. Pastors have a unique need for spiritual refreshment and peaceful solitude, but their schedules and budgets often prohibit them from travelling to far-away, upscale resorts. The weight of caring for hurting people has been especially heavy for pastors in Atlantic Canada over the past couple of years. Now, more than ever, pastors need to schedule periods of deep rest.

With that need in mind, Pat and Anita Neuman, along with their son Levi, moved to Johnson’s Mills, New Brunswick a year ago to start a retreat centre. Their vision was to create a beautiful retreat location at a price that is affordable (specifically to people in ministry). Their target audience is anyone who is hurting and needs a peaceful place to be still for a few days. That could be pastors facing burnout, missionaries who’ve had a difficult term, exhausted healthcare workers and first responders, families grieving a loss, couples struggling in their marriage, or anyone working on their mental health.

IMG_20210608_123232

Pat and Anita love Jesus, and they are deeply committed to caring for His Church. They are passionate about using their gifts, experiences, and resources to serve others. Their years of working in a variety of ministries and missions, as well as their own parenting journey and trauma, have grown in them a compassion for tired and hurting people. This was the impetus for opening Ballast Lodge and making it the ideal place to relax, enjoy quiet solitude, spend time in nature, read, sleep, grieve, process, rest in God’s Word, and heal.

In addition to being a place that pastors can get away to themselves, Ballast Lodge offers some great resources to support churches in their marriage ministries. Pat and Anita have partnered with FamilyLife Canada to bring two phenomenal programs to Atlantic Canada.

  • The “Together for Good” marriage conferences are a well-known platform for allowing couples to invest in their marriage, regardless of how long they have been together. These conferences are held on specific weekends at large hotels all across Canada. The regular ticket rate is $380 per couple, which doesn’t include accommodations, parking, or meals. Ballast Lodge is able to present the same conference material (via pre-recorded video) in a much more affordable and intimate setting. Couples can book a “Together for Good” marriage retreat on whatever dates work for them, and watch the five one-hour sessions during their stay. Large marriage conferences are great, but if scheduling and finances are prohibitive, Ballast Lodge’s partnership with FamilyLife Canada offers a perfect alternative.
  • Marriage counseling is one area of ministry that many churches would like to do more of, but their pastors are over-scheduled (or this isn’t in their wheelhouse) or they don’t have well-equipped lay persons to manage the task. Another way Ballast Lodge has partnered with FamilyLife Canada is with their Marriage Mentor Training. The workshop curriculum can be used to train several mentor couples within your church or to equip your ministry leaders to build and launch a full marriage mentoring ministry. Pat and Anita will facilitate the sessions, scheduled over the course of a Friday evening and Saturday. The workshop includes one night’s accommodation at Ballast Lodge, but attendees have the option of adding a second night at a discounted rate. The next Marriage Mentor Training Weekend is scheduled for February 4-5, 2022, but other dates can be added if your church would like to send 2-4 couples together.

If you’re interested in learning more about this ministry – either for yourself, someone in your church, or someone else you know who could use a few days of rest – visit https://ballastlodge.ca/ . You can also follow Ballast Lodge on Facebook for regular updates and pictures (https://www.facebook.com/BallastLodge ).

IMG_20210528_211327

]]>
Cradle of Indoctrination: Radical Proposals in In Education in the Cradle of Confederation https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cradle-of-indoctrination-radical-proposals-in-in-education-in-the-cradle-of-confederation- https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cradle-of-indoctrination-radical-proposals-in-in-education-in-the-cradle-of-confederation-#comments Sun, 18 Jul 2021 13:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/cradle-of-indoctrination-radical-proposals-in-in-education-in-the-cradle-of-confederation-  

Its hard to argue against the fact that the moral landscape has been shifting at a dizzying pace. Neither is it an exaggeration to say that what it is to be human is being reinterpreted before our very eyes. The biblical categories that have been broadly accepted by Christians and non-Christians regarding human sexuality are being challenged and overturned at a rate that scarcely allows us to find our feet.

Such is currently the case here on Prince Edward Island, where recently the Department of Education, at the close of the school year, proposed a series of recommendations as to how those struggling with gender issues can feel more integrated within the school system. They write:

To create this environment, an understanding of issues related to diverse gender identities, gender expression and sexual orientation is vital. This understanding will ultimately ensure that staff and students with diverse gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations are afforded equal access and opportunities as their cisgender and heterosexual peers and colleagues in all aspects of student life.”

These proposals are outlines in a document entitled, Guidelines for Respecting, Accommodating and Supporting Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sexual Orientation in our Schools. They have called for input from the public before finalizing these proposals. 

There are many areas of significant concern for those holding to a Christian worldview regarding sexual and gender identity. But here I want to highlight two in particular.

Liberty of Conscience

The first area of concern is the binding of conscience to conform to the preferred gender designation of the child.

They write, “Intentional and constant refusal to acknowledge and respect a student’s gender identity by not using their preferred name(s) and pronouns(s) is be a form of discrimination.”

 

With these statements, government would be compelling people to violate their sacred conscience for something they believe to be untrue. Simply put, they will be in position to brand parents and students who don’t agree as a matter of conscience, bigoted and discriminatory.

 

Overnight, families will be cast in the same light as the racial bigots in the “Jim Crow South” of the United States.  The question is what will this do to schools, families and communities in the days to come when we begin to see one another through those lenses?

 

 The answer is plain to see! Islanders will be pitted against one another by having to chose which side they are on.  And if they do chose to come down on the side of traditional views of human gender and sexuality, they have immediately put their careers on the line, all because of manufactured categories that simply didn’t exist a short time ago.

 

Division of Families

The second major area of concern is what this does to the parent/child relationship.  The proposals removed the parent from the process the child undergoes in coming to these conclusions.  Again the proposals state:

It is important to protect a student’s personal information and privacy, including, where possible, having a student’s explicit permission before disclosing information related to the student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to peers, parents/guardians, or other adults in their lives.

 

What these proposals do is to drive a wedge between the nurture of the parent and the choices of the child. It removes the much-needed influence of a caring and mature adult in the child’s early and most formative stage of development.

 

 But it isn’t just parents who are being marginalized here. If you’re a pastor or church leader who is called upon to proclaim the life-transforming power of the gospel in these very areas, and provide the spiritual and biblical direction that is so fundamental to the child, you too are implicitly told to step-down and leave the development of the child to government.

 

On proposal states, “No student or family should be referred to programs which purport to ‘fix,’ ‘change’ or ‘repair’ a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

 

The Department of Education seeks to equate the biblical view of sexuality and gender with racial bigotry. Federal Justice Minister David Lametti recently explained the reason for the government proceeding with a ban on Conversion Therapy, saying: “Conversion therapy is premised on a lie, that being homosexual, lesbian, bisexual or trans is wrong and in need of fixing. Not only is that false, but it also sends a demeaning and a degrading message that undermines the dignity of individuals.”

 

Let those words sink in! The justice minister say that what the Bible explicitly states as true is “premised on a lie.” Paul says in 1 Cor 6:9-11 that not only are these practices wrong but that those practice do such things can be changed by the power of the Gospel. The School system seeks to prejudice society against the very Word of God!

 

A Hill To Die On?

 

Is this a hill to die on for Christians? I believe it is. 

 

Greg Koukl has recently written, “We are being besieged by a worldview that is completely foreign to Jesus’ view of reality. According to this view, reality is not “out there” in God’s world, but “in here” in the internal world of feelings and personal beliefs.”

 

For those in our care who struggle with these issues, abandoning them to the spirit of the age would violate the most sacred trust we hold with our people.  

 

What’s at stake is God’s truth. It is creation truth that God has declared for the good of mankind and the revelation if His glory. To yield here is to put society in the driver’s seat in defining reality itself, a prerogative, we believe, God reserves for himself.

]]>
 

Its hard to argue against the fact that the moral landscape has been shifting at a dizzying pace. Neither is it an exaggeration to say that what it is to be human is being reinterpreted before our very eyes. The biblical categories that have been broadly accepted by Christians and non-Christians regarding human sexuality are being challenged and overturned at a rate that scarcely allows us to find our feet.

Such is currently the case here on Prince Edward Island, where recently the Department of Education, at the close of the school year, proposed a series of recommendations as to how those struggling with gender issues can feel more integrated within the school system. They write:

To create this environment, an understanding of issues related to diverse gender identities, gender expression and sexual orientation is vital. This understanding will ultimately ensure that staff and students with diverse gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations are afforded equal access and opportunities as their cisgender and heterosexual peers and colleagues in all aspects of student life.”

These proposals are outlines in a document entitled, Guidelines for Respecting, Accommodating and Supporting Gender Identity, Gender Expression and Sexual Orientation in our Schools. They have called for input from the public before finalizing these proposals. 

There are many areas of significant concern for those holding to a Christian worldview regarding sexual and gender identity. But here I want to highlight two in particular.

Liberty of Conscience

The first area of concern is the binding of conscience to conform to the preferred gender designation of the child.

They write, “Intentional and constant refusal to acknowledge and respect a student’s gender identity by not using their preferred name(s) and pronouns(s) is be a form of discrimination.”

 

With these statements, government would be compelling people to violate their sacred conscience for something they believe to be untrue. Simply put, they will be in position to brand parents and students who don’t agree as a matter of conscience, bigoted and discriminatory.

 

Overnight, families will be cast in the same light as the racial bigots in the “Jim Crow South” of the United States.  The question is what will this do to schools, families and communities in the days to come when we begin to see one another through those lenses?

 

 The answer is plain to see! Islanders will be pitted against one another by having to chose which side they are on.  And if they do chose to come down on the side of traditional views of human gender and sexuality, they have immediately put their careers on the line, all because of manufactured categories that simply didn’t exist a short time ago.

 

Division of Families

The second major area of concern is what this does to the parent/child relationship.  The proposals removed the parent from the process the child undergoes in coming to these conclusions.  Again the proposals state:

It is important to protect a student’s personal information and privacy, including, where possible, having a student’s explicit permission before disclosing information related to the student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to peers, parents/guardians, or other adults in their lives.

 

What these proposals do is to drive a wedge between the nurture of the parent and the choices of the child. It removes the much-needed influence of a caring and mature adult in the child’s early and most formative stage of development.

 

 But it isn’t just parents who are being marginalized here. If you’re a pastor or church leader who is called upon to proclaim the life-transforming power of the gospel in these very areas, and provide the spiritual and biblical direction that is so fundamental to the child, you too are implicitly told to step-down and leave the development of the child to government.

 

On proposal states, “No student or family should be referred to programs which purport to ‘fix,’ ‘change’ or ‘repair’ a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

 

The Department of Education seeks to equate the biblical view of sexuality and gender with racial bigotry. Federal Justice Minister David Lametti recently explained the reason for the government proceeding with a ban on Conversion Therapy, saying: “Conversion therapy is premised on a lie, that being homosexual, lesbian, bisexual or trans is wrong and in need of fixing. Not only is that false, but it also sends a demeaning and a degrading message that undermines the dignity of individuals.”

 

Let those words sink in! The justice minister say that what the Bible explicitly states as true is “premised on a lie.” Paul says in 1 Cor 6:9-11 that not only are these practices wrong but that those practice do such things can be changed by the power of the Gospel. The School system seeks to prejudice society against the very Word of God!

 

A Hill To Die On?

 

Is this a hill to die on for Christians? I believe it is. 

 

Greg Koukl has recently written, “We are being besieged by a worldview that is completely foreign to Jesus’ view of reality. According to this view, reality is not “out there” in God’s world, but “in here” in the internal world of feelings and personal beliefs.”

 

For those in our care who struggle with these issues, abandoning them to the spirit of the age would violate the most sacred trust we hold with our people.  

 

What’s at stake is God’s truth. It is creation truth that God has declared for the good of mankind and the revelation if His glory. To yield here is to put society in the driver’s seat in defining reality itself, a prerogative, we believe, God reserves for himself.

]]>
Convictions https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/convictions https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/convictions#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2021 12:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/convictions  

We are living in confusing times and there have been many voices calling us to always trust God and rest in Him (Psalm 62), to maintain unity through Christ in the bond of peace (John 17:20-23, Ephesians 4:1-3), and to keep the proclamation and modelling of the gospel the main thing while avoiding a myriad of distractions, pre, mid, and post-COVID (Matthew 28:16-20). These convictions are based solidly on God’s Word, and these voices ought to be listened to and followed as a clarion call amidst much confusion.

It may seem futile to add another voice to this cacophony of admonitions, especially when the environment into which they are speaking is increasingly filled with tension. This has frequently tended towards misreading motivations, breeding inherent misunderstanding due to hostile, polarizing tribalism, and towards mislabeling nuance as weakness and simplicity as courage.[1] Despite the seeming hopelessness of continuing to edify based on biblical convictions, we must ever trust in the God of hope (Romans 15:13) and lean even harder into Him, trusting that He has a plan and will do what only He can to redeem this current morass of division, and that He will do it in such a way that it will be unmistakable that He alone was responsible.

One particular area of division has been the almost incomprehensible way in which Romans 13:1-7 and Hebrews 10:25 have been used to develop previously unknown convictions. These passages that almost every theologian and pastor would have agreed on prior to the pandemic have suddenly been both infused with meaning previously undiscovered and simultaneously redefined in ways not before widely defended. Theological study thrives under pressure, and it has been generally the case that the church has studied, defined, and defended orthodoxy when it has come under attack. There are two notable differences with the current discussion (debate), however.

First, orthodoxy is not under attack from the health regulations.[2] The way in which the church normally gathers has been restricted in different ways and for different lengths of time, but the reality of the church as a gathered people has not been denied. To further clarify, the type of gathering has been temporarily changed, but there has not been an attack against the church gathering at all,[3] certainly not permanently, nor has there been anything to suggest that the church will not legally gather ever again as it once did, despite the fear mongering of some. Most arguments against the temporary change in gathering sizes have come from areas outside the realm of Scripture and thus betrays the fact that this is not a matter of orthodoxy but something else.

Second, when actual attacks against orthodoxy have come throughout church history, they drove Christians deeper into the Word of God and the God of the Word. Unfortunately, much of the energy of both sides of the seemingly endless debates have been spent combing through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms rather than Scripture, epidemiology charts and graphs instead of the Bible, and articles written from “their side” instead of the Word. So, with some trepidation, I offer the following brief thoughts from the test case of Daniel.[4]

Firm Convictions Long Founded on God’s Word

We are, or ought to be, people of truth. The stability of knowing the Word of God and the God of the Word ought to carry us through any storm and drive us to know Him and His Word ever deeper. Where this crisis has caused us to cling to God, we ought to rejoice as Daniel did on at least two separate occasions, one in his teens and one at around 80 years old. In both - his hesitancy to eat food prepared in an unknown way and his consistency in prayer - he had a clear conviction, based firmly on the Word of God, that pre-existed the crisis that challenged it. When conflict tested his trust, he stayed anchored to God and emerged each time more convinced of His faithfulness. What we should be wary of is the emergence of previously non-existent convictions, new understandings of God and His Word. These have not been anchors for our soul but instead constitute untested ways of thinking and believing, so rather than our perspective of the situation being impacted by longstanding biblical convictions, our “convictions” become molded by the situation which leads to an unbiblical perspective.

Humility, Not Arrogance

Our convictions can be held wrongly if they are more about our glory than God’s. Daniel was not arrogant in the practice of his convictions but displayed great humility and grace in his conversations with lesser and greater magistrates alike. He did not twist his convictions for personal gain or glory and was not defiant in his exercise of them. Even when his convictions brought unwanted consequences, he gently submitted to those consequences while simultaneously standing firm upon his convictions. As Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 4:15, he spoke the truth in love and we ought to do the same.

Conclusion

Our conviction is that God is graciously sovereign over all things and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We are convinced that He has a plan for all things and that all things are by His graciously sovereign hand making us more like Jesus Christ. We stand on the truth that the gospel is of first importance, that it is the power of God for salvation, that we must proclaim it until Jesus returns, that the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and that one day all things will be made new and we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. May the things that united us before this global pandemic continue to do so, and may we stand together declaring that God is a God of redemption, reconciliation, and hope.

  

 

[1] Nuance can certainly be a disguise for cowardice and declaring and standing on simplicity may indeed be brave, but rarely if ever is either of them inherently or irrevocably one or the other.

[2] I understand this is precisely the area of debate for many, but we ought to make a distinction between a restriction aimed exclusively at restricting churches gathering because of the beliefs practiced and a general restriction of large indoor gatherings regardless of its nature due to the reality of the COVID-19 virus. To my knowledge it has not been shown that any government official in Canada has directly challenged the reality of the church gathering as foundationally problematic but simply that indoor meetings of a certain size ought to be temporarily suspended across the board.

[3] There have been numerous stories of creative pastors finding ways, through multiple services, on multiple days of the week, for the church to gather. Even during the heaviest lock downs, with the possible exception of the early days of COVID-19 (which everyone complied with), small gatherings could and were taking place.

[4] For a fuller presentation on this topic please view “A Biblical Theology of Civil Obedience”- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfcveVKP50E&t=3394s.

]]>
 

We are living in confusing times and there have been many voices calling us to always trust God and rest in Him (Psalm 62), to maintain unity through Christ in the bond of peace (John 17:20-23, Ephesians 4:1-3), and to keep the proclamation and modelling of the gospel the main thing while avoiding a myriad of distractions, pre, mid, and post-COVID (Matthew 28:16-20). These convictions are based solidly on God’s Word, and these voices ought to be listened to and followed as a clarion call amidst much confusion.

It may seem futile to add another voice to this cacophony of admonitions, especially when the environment into which they are speaking is increasingly filled with tension. This has frequently tended towards misreading motivations, breeding inherent misunderstanding due to hostile, polarizing tribalism, and towards mislabeling nuance as weakness and simplicity as courage.[1] Despite the seeming hopelessness of continuing to edify based on biblical convictions, we must ever trust in the God of hope (Romans 15:13) and lean even harder into Him, trusting that He has a plan and will do what only He can to redeem this current morass of division, and that He will do it in such a way that it will be unmistakable that He alone was responsible.

One particular area of division has been the almost incomprehensible way in which Romans 13:1-7 and Hebrews 10:25 have been used to develop previously unknown convictions. These passages that almost every theologian and pastor would have agreed on prior to the pandemic have suddenly been both infused with meaning previously undiscovered and simultaneously redefined in ways not before widely defended. Theological study thrives under pressure, and it has been generally the case that the church has studied, defined, and defended orthodoxy when it has come under attack. There are two notable differences with the current discussion (debate), however.

First, orthodoxy is not under attack from the health regulations.[2] The way in which the church normally gathers has been restricted in different ways and for different lengths of time, but the reality of the church as a gathered people has not been denied. To further clarify, the type of gathering has been temporarily changed, but there has not been an attack against the church gathering at all,[3] certainly not permanently, nor has there been anything to suggest that the church will not legally gather ever again as it once did, despite the fear mongering of some. Most arguments against the temporary change in gathering sizes have come from areas outside the realm of Scripture and thus betrays the fact that this is not a matter of orthodoxy but something else.

Second, when actual attacks against orthodoxy have come throughout church history, they drove Christians deeper into the Word of God and the God of the Word. Unfortunately, much of the energy of both sides of the seemingly endless debates have been spent combing through the Charter of Rights and Freedoms rather than Scripture, epidemiology charts and graphs instead of the Bible, and articles written from “their side” instead of the Word. So, with some trepidation, I offer the following brief thoughts from the test case of Daniel.[4]

Firm Convictions Long Founded on God’s Word

We are, or ought to be, people of truth. The stability of knowing the Word of God and the God of the Word ought to carry us through any storm and drive us to know Him and His Word ever deeper. Where this crisis has caused us to cling to God, we ought to rejoice as Daniel did on at least two separate occasions, one in his teens and one at around 80 years old. In both - his hesitancy to eat food prepared in an unknown way and his consistency in prayer - he had a clear conviction, based firmly on the Word of God, that pre-existed the crisis that challenged it. When conflict tested his trust, he stayed anchored to God and emerged each time more convinced of His faithfulness. What we should be wary of is the emergence of previously non-existent convictions, new understandings of God and His Word. These have not been anchors for our soul but instead constitute untested ways of thinking and believing, so rather than our perspective of the situation being impacted by longstanding biblical convictions, our “convictions” become molded by the situation which leads to an unbiblical perspective.

Humility, Not Arrogance

Our convictions can be held wrongly if they are more about our glory than God’s. Daniel was not arrogant in the practice of his convictions but displayed great humility and grace in his conversations with lesser and greater magistrates alike. He did not twist his convictions for personal gain or glory and was not defiant in his exercise of them. Even when his convictions brought unwanted consequences, he gently submitted to those consequences while simultaneously standing firm upon his convictions. As Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 4:15, he spoke the truth in love and we ought to do the same.

Conclusion

Our conviction is that God is graciously sovereign over all things and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We are convinced that He has a plan for all things and that all things are by His graciously sovereign hand making us more like Jesus Christ. We stand on the truth that the gospel is of first importance, that it is the power of God for salvation, that we must proclaim it until Jesus returns, that the gates of hell will not prevail against it, and that one day all things will be made new and we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. May the things that united us before this global pandemic continue to do so, and may we stand together declaring that God is a God of redemption, reconciliation, and hope.

  

 

[1] Nuance can certainly be a disguise for cowardice and declaring and standing on simplicity may indeed be brave, but rarely if ever is either of them inherently or irrevocably one or the other.

[2] I understand this is precisely the area of debate for many, but we ought to make a distinction between a restriction aimed exclusively at restricting churches gathering because of the beliefs practiced and a general restriction of large indoor gatherings regardless of its nature due to the reality of the COVID-19 virus. To my knowledge it has not been shown that any government official in Canada has directly challenged the reality of the church gathering as foundationally problematic but simply that indoor meetings of a certain size ought to be temporarily suspended across the board.

[3] There have been numerous stories of creative pastors finding ways, through multiple services, on multiple days of the week, for the church to gather. Even during the heaviest lock downs, with the possible exception of the early days of COVID-19 (which everyone complied with), small gatherings could and were taking place.

[4] For a fuller presentation on this topic please view “A Biblical Theology of Civil Obedience”- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfcveVKP50E&t=3394s.

]]>
How to Suffer Well https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/how-to-suffer-well https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/how-to-suffer-well#comments Mon, 05 Jul 2021 14:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/how-to-suffer-well Imitation is the highest form of respect. We all have people we look up to, people we want to be like, whom we imitate at least to some degree. We need role models. When we are children, we look up to our parents, an older sibling, or a teacher. I remember looking up to my dad and wanting to be like him, dressing up like him, going to work with him, even trying to walk like him. He was my dad and I admired him and wanted to be like him. The apostle Paul says that having role models and imitating others who have gone before us is the way it is supposed to be. He even says to the believers, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” However, the perfect example for us to follow is Jesus Christ.

At the cross Jesus sets an example of how to suffer well. He demonstrated three qualities that we can learn from and apply to our own experiences of suffering.

Entrust yourself to God

Jesus knew that God the Father was sovereign, in control, and that all things were working out exactly according to his will. He knew the Father and he knew that he could be trusted. No matter what. Even in the midst of incredible suffering. 1 Peter 2:21-23 says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Christ suffered for us, and in doing so he also set the example of how we should suffer as believers. The varieties, types, situations, and circumstances of suffering are many. Jesus never did anything wrong. If anyone was innocent and not deserving of death, especially a brutal criminal's death, it was Jesus; but how did he respond to this horrendous act of injustice? Well, it tells us what he didn’t do - he didn’t fight back, he didn’t revile, he didn’t threaten or curse, he didn’t defend himself. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He committed himself to the Father’s hands and the Father’s plans. God was working his plan out in the cross, his plan of salvation, and Jesus trusted the plan.

When I was 15 I did a wilderness survival course in Utah that lasted 14 days. Near the end of the course we had to slaughter a ram. The instructors taught us that it was important to wait for the animal to be calm before slaughtering it because if it was anxious, stressed, or afraid it would ruin the quality of the meat. When we walk through suffering anxious, worried, stressed, and fearful, it ruins the taste and quality of our witness. 

When Jesus went through the unjust suffering of the cross, he didn’t fight, revile, mock or insult. He entrusted himself into the sovereign, good, loving hands of God the Father, who was working it out for good. We should have this perspective as well. When we are experiencing suffering, we can know that God is working it out for our good. We can trust him, and entrust ourselves to him, even if we are suffering unjustly. We can trust that the power behind our suffering is God and that he is working it out according to his plan. 1 Peter 4:19 says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Focus on the joy that is before you.

Since Jesus knew that the Father was sovereign over his suffering, he chose to focus on the good that his suffering would accomplish. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The verse just preceding this one says, “…since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” - the Old Testament saints who have gone before us are examples to us. Our ultimate example is Jesus. We should look to him because he is both the founder and the perfector of our faith. It says that he endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. What was the joy before him? Three things come to mind: 1.) bringing glory to his Father, 2.) saving those who would believe, and 3.) being exalted to the right hand of God. 

Jesus understood that enduring suffering well meant focusing on future joy. A pregnant woman does this when she is enduring the aches, pains, morning sickness, and ultimately labour and delivery. What is her driving focus? What one thought helps her endure the pain? The joy of holding her newborn baby. That is what makes the pain worth it. We can have the same perspective on all of the pain we experience in life. Even if it is not obvious to us, we can know that God is using this pain in our lives to give birth to something good and beautiful. Jesus set an example for us in suffering well by showing us to endure by focusing on the joy that is set before us.

We don’t always know what good our suffering is accomplishing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t trust that God is doing some good that we can’t see. Your pain is producing the birth of something beautiful in your life. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.”

Look through your pain to care for others.

When we look at the narrative of the cross, we see that Jesus continued to care for and minister to others even in the midst of his greatest suffering and pain.

  1. He was concerned for the welfare of his mother. (John 19:25-27)
  2. He told the women not to weep for him but to weep for themselves and their children.
  3. He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying and mocking him.
  4. He ministered comfort and assurance to the thief on the cross. (Luke 23:26-49)

Sometimes our own suffering so dominates our mind and perspective that we stop looking out with compassion towards others. Our suffering can be so pervasive that it is all we can see. Jesus looked through his suffering towards the needs of others. It doesn’t help us or anyone else to pretend that everything is ok when we are suffering. What does help us and others is looking through our suffering, being changed by our suffering, and gaining perspective through our suffering. If we do that it will actually give us insight rather than blind us to others’ pain.

When Jesus was experiencing the height of his pain and suffering on this earth, he looked out towards the needs of others. When we go through suffering we need to keep our eyes open to others' pain. Resist the temptation to only look at self and remember to look up in hope towards God and look out to help those in need.

If Jesus was only our perfect example at the cross, that would be bad news for us because none of us has perfectly lived this out. We have all become defensive when suffering unjustly, we have all grumbled and complained instead of focusing on the joy set before us, and we have all forgotten to look outward towards the needs of others because of all the things consuming our attention. Here is the good news: Jesus wasn’t only our perfect example at the cross. He was also our perfect sacrifice. He died for our sins to set us free and give us new life. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

]]>
Imitation is the highest form of respect. We all have people we look up to, people we want to be like, whom we imitate at least to some degree. We need role models. When we are children, we look up to our parents, an older sibling, or a teacher. I remember looking up to my dad and wanting to be like him, dressing up like him, going to work with him, even trying to walk like him. He was my dad and I admired him and wanted to be like him. The apostle Paul says that having role models and imitating others who have gone before us is the way it is supposed to be. He even says to the believers, “imitate me as I imitate Christ.” However, the perfect example for us to follow is Jesus Christ.

At the cross Jesus sets an example of how to suffer well. He demonstrated three qualities that we can learn from and apply to our own experiences of suffering.

Entrust yourself to God

Jesus knew that God the Father was sovereign, in control, and that all things were working out exactly according to his will. He knew the Father and he knew that he could be trusted. No matter what. Even in the midst of incredible suffering. 1 Peter 2:21-23 says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Christ suffered for us, and in doing so he also set the example of how we should suffer as believers. The varieties, types, situations, and circumstances of suffering are many. Jesus never did anything wrong. If anyone was innocent and not deserving of death, especially a brutal criminal's death, it was Jesus; but how did he respond to this horrendous act of injustice? Well, it tells us what he didn’t do - he didn’t fight back, he didn’t revile, he didn’t threaten or curse, he didn’t defend himself. He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He committed himself to the Father’s hands and the Father’s plans. God was working his plan out in the cross, his plan of salvation, and Jesus trusted the plan.

When I was 15 I did a wilderness survival course in Utah that lasted 14 days. Near the end of the course we had to slaughter a ram. The instructors taught us that it was important to wait for the animal to be calm before slaughtering it because if it was anxious, stressed, or afraid it would ruin the quality of the meat. When we walk through suffering anxious, worried, stressed, and fearful, it ruins the taste and quality of our witness. 

When Jesus went through the unjust suffering of the cross, he didn’t fight, revile, mock or insult. He entrusted himself into the sovereign, good, loving hands of God the Father, who was working it out for good. We should have this perspective as well. When we are experiencing suffering, we can know that God is working it out for our good. We can trust him, and entrust ourselves to him, even if we are suffering unjustly. We can trust that the power behind our suffering is God and that he is working it out according to his plan. 1 Peter 4:19 says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Focus on the joy that is before you.

Since Jesus knew that the Father was sovereign over his suffering, he chose to focus on the good that his suffering would accomplish. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The verse just preceding this one says, “…since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” - the Old Testament saints who have gone before us are examples to us. Our ultimate example is Jesus. We should look to him because he is both the founder and the perfector of our faith. It says that he endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. What was the joy before him? Three things come to mind: 1.) bringing glory to his Father, 2.) saving those who would believe, and 3.) being exalted to the right hand of God. 

Jesus understood that enduring suffering well meant focusing on future joy. A pregnant woman does this when she is enduring the aches, pains, morning sickness, and ultimately labour and delivery. What is her driving focus? What one thought helps her endure the pain? The joy of holding her newborn baby. That is what makes the pain worth it. We can have the same perspective on all of the pain we experience in life. Even if it is not obvious to us, we can know that God is using this pain in our lives to give birth to something good and beautiful. Jesus set an example for us in suffering well by showing us to endure by focusing on the joy that is set before us.

We don’t always know what good our suffering is accomplishing, but that doesn’t mean we can’t trust that God is doing some good that we can’t see. Your pain is producing the birth of something beautiful in your life. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.”

Look through your pain to care for others.

When we look at the narrative of the cross, we see that Jesus continued to care for and minister to others even in the midst of his greatest suffering and pain.

  1. He was concerned for the welfare of his mother. (John 19:25-27)
  2. He told the women not to weep for him but to weep for themselves and their children.
  3. He prayed for the forgiveness of those who were crucifying and mocking him.
  4. He ministered comfort and assurance to the thief on the cross. (Luke 23:26-49)

Sometimes our own suffering so dominates our mind and perspective that we stop looking out with compassion towards others. Our suffering can be so pervasive that it is all we can see. Jesus looked through his suffering towards the needs of others. It doesn’t help us or anyone else to pretend that everything is ok when we are suffering. What does help us and others is looking through our suffering, being changed by our suffering, and gaining perspective through our suffering. If we do that it will actually give us insight rather than blind us to others’ pain.

When Jesus was experiencing the height of his pain and suffering on this earth, he looked out towards the needs of others. When we go through suffering we need to keep our eyes open to others' pain. Resist the temptation to only look at self and remember to look up in hope towards God and look out to help those in need.

If Jesus was only our perfect example at the cross, that would be bad news for us because none of us has perfectly lived this out. We have all become defensive when suffering unjustly, we have all grumbled and complained instead of focusing on the joy set before us, and we have all forgotten to look outward towards the needs of others because of all the things consuming our attention. Here is the good news: Jesus wasn’t only our perfect example at the cross. He was also our perfect sacrifice. He died for our sins to set us free and give us new life. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

]]>
The 1879 Revival in the Margaree Valley Baptist Church (Part 4) https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/revival_4 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/revival_4#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2021 14:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/revival_4 The following is last part of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

 

  1. CONVERSION IN THE BACKLANDS

 

On returning to my home I left my chum at the wagon road and took a short cut across the backlands over a small footpath. It was one of the great nights in that northeastern clime. The milkmaid's path was in full bloom, the sky was ablaze and the myriads of stars seemed like gimlet holes in the sky to let the glory through.

 

Coming along on the path to where a cherry tree lay across the way, I sat thereon, removed my homespun cap, and looking up I worshipped the good Creator for having made such a wonderfully beautiful world for men.

 

I thanked God for His marvelous Universe and for, His goodness, but I had not "come into the light." What is that light of which I had heard so much in the revival? My worship, I fancy, was like that of a devout Jew, or Unitarian, or Mohammedan, or member of some secret society, who with the mind seek to worship the great Creator through His works by the aid of those symbols which may suggest in some way the fact of God. I think I was in about the same attitude of mind and heart toward God as are many of those who in their churches worship by means of symbols or ritualism only.

 

Though I did not feel that I was a great sinner, nevertheless, I had a consciousness of sin, and this was the thing from which I sought freedom. With an intellectual conception of God, I tried to thank Him for His goodness. But to me this was not salvation, for I had no sense of peace, no rest, no consciousness of freedom from sin. Someone has

said that the greatest question that man can ask is: "How can a guilty man be just with God?" This was what I longed for to be right with God and to know this beyond a doubt.

 

While sitting on the tree across the trail, my mind turned to Jesus Christ. I had now ceased praying. I was quietly meditating on Christ, and in this I thought of His Cross. I lay no claim to having had a special vision, but I did visualize Jesus in the long ago dying on the Cross, robed in blood and awful agony as He cried: "Father, forgive them It is finished." Christ was there on the Cross, as real to me as if I was present when He died. And with/this vision of Him I became aware for the first time of my unbelief, of the sin of not believing in Him who died as my Substitute, and instantly I cried aloud: "Lord, I believe!" As quick as the lightning flash there came a flood of peace, joy, full, satisfying, deep down at the bottom of my life, and I became as restful as the surface of a mountain pool. What was it? It was the voice of God in my soul giving me the new consciousness of forgiveness, salvation, free, full, complete, simply because I believed on Jesus Christ, as I was aided by the unseen Spirit to cast myself upon His finished work. Now I knew I was saved, "born from above," by the power of an endless life. I

was completely satisfied. I know I met God, and I found Him, or better He found me at the Cross.

 

  1. JOY IN THE LORD

 

I arose and went on my way singing as loudly as I could in the silent solemn hour of that glorious night:

 

"There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel's veins,

And sinners plunge beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

 

"The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day,

And there have I, as vile as he,

Washed all my sins away.

 

"E'er since by faith, I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die,

 

"Then in a nobler sweeter song

I'll sing Thy power to save,

When this poor lisping stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave."

 

On retiring that night I wondered whether I should awake on the following morning with the former feeling of indifference towards God. I feared that the rest of brain and nerves might effect a change in my spiritual enjoyment. But on the next morn the consciousness of God was as real as the night before, and instantly on rising I dropped

upon my knees to pray. I was as changed in the morning as on the previous night, and this confirmed me in the conviction that my experience in the backlands could not have been a mere gush of emotion, self-hypnotism, or the effects of mind influence resulting from my nightly contact with the services. Formerly prayer was forced, now it is perfectly natural, easy, delightful, glorious a very conscious communion with God.

 

  1. THE HARVEST IS ENDED-ARE YOU SAVED?

 

Next to Jesus Christ whom I met on the footpath, I thought of Frank and wondered whether he would give himself to the Master as I did. When Mr. Foster preached the final sermon in the revival from the text: "The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and ye are not saved," Frank who was present was still rejecting God's call.[1]

 

Time flew on at rapid pace. Frank, like hundreds of other young men, left Cape Breton for the West. The last I had heard of him he was shot dead in the barroom of a small hotel which he was conducting, and his remains were buried just outside the place where the dear fellow met his tragic end. When I heard of the sad death of this most

promising young life, for Frank was one of the popular and beloved of the youth of Margaree, my thoughts went back to that hour of momentous decision in the Baptist Church when I accepted and poor Frank rejected the invitation to become a follower of Christ. Here came the parting in the way. It seemed a very simple thing for a mere lad, only thirteen years of age, to take a stand for Christ in a religious service, nevertheless that act decided my future life and destiny, for it was the beginning of my acquaintance with God.

 

Such a decision on the part of children is often looked upon as of no special value. "Don't excite the children. Don't let them go to these revival services. It is only emotion and dangerous to the normal development of the young life. Revivals create false ideas regarding religion, therefore keep the boys and girls away from them."

 

Perhaps the reader has heard such counsel given, possibly by parents who refuse to permit their children to attend special gospel services. But the little children understand what they are doing; they are usually more normal and true in their desire to know Jesus Christ and follow Him than are full grown folks.

 

"Youth is the time to serve the Lord

The time to insure that great reward."

 

Let the children plunge out into the deep sea of God's love and know those rich soul experiences before their hearts become hardened by unbelief and sin.

 

Yes, that was the most momentous act of my life, simple though it seemed to be, when I publicly confessed to a desire to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Would that I had the power to impress upon those who may read these pages the rich rewards that result from helping boys and girls to a definite decision for the Master. Frank was as

worthy, yea I often thought more worthy than I, but he had made a fatal decision, while I chose the better way. Dear good friend Frank, "Shall we e'er meet again?"

 

[1] Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved (ESV)”.

]]>
The following is last part of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

 

  1. CONVERSION IN THE BACKLANDS

 

On returning to my home I left my chum at the wagon road and took a short cut across the backlands over a small footpath. It was one of the great nights in that northeastern clime. The milkmaid's path was in full bloom, the sky was ablaze and the myriads of stars seemed like gimlet holes in the sky to let the glory through.

 

Coming along on the path to where a cherry tree lay across the way, I sat thereon, removed my homespun cap, and looking up I worshipped the good Creator for having made such a wonderfully beautiful world for men.

 

I thanked God for His marvelous Universe and for, His goodness, but I had not "come into the light." What is that light of which I had heard so much in the revival? My worship, I fancy, was like that of a devout Jew, or Unitarian, or Mohammedan, or member of some secret society, who with the mind seek to worship the great Creator through His works by the aid of those symbols which may suggest in some way the fact of God. I think I was in about the same attitude of mind and heart toward God as are many of those who in their churches worship by means of symbols or ritualism only.

 

Though I did not feel that I was a great sinner, nevertheless, I had a consciousness of sin, and this was the thing from which I sought freedom. With an intellectual conception of God, I tried to thank Him for His goodness. But to me this was not salvation, for I had no sense of peace, no rest, no consciousness of freedom from sin. Someone has

said that the greatest question that man can ask is: "How can a guilty man be just with God?" This was what I longed for to be right with God and to know this beyond a doubt.

 

While sitting on the tree across the trail, my mind turned to Jesus Christ. I had now ceased praying. I was quietly meditating on Christ, and in this I thought of His Cross. I lay no claim to having had a special vision, but I did visualize Jesus in the long ago dying on the Cross, robed in blood and awful agony as He cried: "Father, forgive them It is finished." Christ was there on the Cross, as real to me as if I was present when He died. And with/this vision of Him I became aware for the first time of my unbelief, of the sin of not believing in Him who died as my Substitute, and instantly I cried aloud: "Lord, I believe!" As quick as the lightning flash there came a flood of peace, joy, full, satisfying, deep down at the bottom of my life, and I became as restful as the surface of a mountain pool. What was it? It was the voice of God in my soul giving me the new consciousness of forgiveness, salvation, free, full, complete, simply because I believed on Jesus Christ, as I was aided by the unseen Spirit to cast myself upon His finished work. Now I knew I was saved, "born from above," by the power of an endless life. I

was completely satisfied. I know I met God, and I found Him, or better He found me at the Cross.

 

  1. JOY IN THE LORD

 

I arose and went on my way singing as loudly as I could in the silent solemn hour of that glorious night:

 

"There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Emmanuel's veins,

And sinners plunge beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

 

"The dying thief rejoiced to see

That fountain in his day,

And there have I, as vile as he,

Washed all my sins away.

 

"E'er since by faith, I saw the stream

Thy flowing wounds supply,

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die,

 

"Then in a nobler sweeter song

I'll sing Thy power to save,

When this poor lisping stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave."

 

On retiring that night I wondered whether I should awake on the following morning with the former feeling of indifference towards God. I feared that the rest of brain and nerves might effect a change in my spiritual enjoyment. But on the next morn the consciousness of God was as real as the night before, and instantly on rising I dropped

upon my knees to pray. I was as changed in the morning as on the previous night, and this confirmed me in the conviction that my experience in the backlands could not have been a mere gush of emotion, self-hypnotism, or the effects of mind influence resulting from my nightly contact with the services. Formerly prayer was forced, now it is perfectly natural, easy, delightful, glorious a very conscious communion with God.

 

  1. THE HARVEST IS ENDED-ARE YOU SAVED?

 

Next to Jesus Christ whom I met on the footpath, I thought of Frank and wondered whether he would give himself to the Master as I did. When Mr. Foster preached the final sermon in the revival from the text: "The harvest is passed, the summer is ended, and ye are not saved," Frank who was present was still rejecting God's call.[1]

 

Time flew on at rapid pace. Frank, like hundreds of other young men, left Cape Breton for the West. The last I had heard of him he was shot dead in the barroom of a small hotel which he was conducting, and his remains were buried just outside the place where the dear fellow met his tragic end. When I heard of the sad death of this most

promising young life, for Frank was one of the popular and beloved of the youth of Margaree, my thoughts went back to that hour of momentous decision in the Baptist Church when I accepted and poor Frank rejected the invitation to become a follower of Christ. Here came the parting in the way. It seemed a very simple thing for a mere lad, only thirteen years of age, to take a stand for Christ in a religious service, nevertheless that act decided my future life and destiny, for it was the beginning of my acquaintance with God.

 

Such a decision on the part of children is often looked upon as of no special value. "Don't excite the children. Don't let them go to these revival services. It is only emotion and dangerous to the normal development of the young life. Revivals create false ideas regarding religion, therefore keep the boys and girls away from them."

 

Perhaps the reader has heard such counsel given, possibly by parents who refuse to permit their children to attend special gospel services. But the little children understand what they are doing; they are usually more normal and true in their desire to know Jesus Christ and follow Him than are full grown folks.

 

"Youth is the time to serve the Lord

The time to insure that great reward."

 

Let the children plunge out into the deep sea of God's love and know those rich soul experiences before their hearts become hardened by unbelief and sin.

 

Yes, that was the most momentous act of my life, simple though it seemed to be, when I publicly confessed to a desire to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Would that I had the power to impress upon those who may read these pages the rich rewards that result from helping boys and girls to a definite decision for the Master. Frank was as

worthy, yea I often thought more worthy than I, but he had made a fatal decision, while I chose the better way. Dear good friend Frank, "Shall we e'er meet again?"

 

[1] Jeremiah 8:20, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved (ESV)”.

]]>
Why Is Taking on the Role of a Servant for a Christian Leader so Difficult Yet so Necessary? https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/why-is-taking-on-the-role-of-a-servant-for-a-christian-leader-so-difficult-yet-so-ne https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/why-is-taking-on-the-role-of-a-servant-for-a-christian-leader-so-difficult-yet-so-ne#comments Wed, 30 Jun 2021 15:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/why-is-taking-on-the-role-of-a-servant-for-a-christian-leader-so-difficult-yet-so-ne The mindset of servant is counter-intuitive to the role of a leader as inspired by the secular culture and history. The very meaning of the term “leader” suggests certain prominence vis-à-vis the ones that are led. By definition, a leader is “one who leads, or commands a group.” These expressions can convey an authoritarian sentiment to the leader as it has been used and abused in political history by leaders such as Hitler in Germany (the Fuehrer, meaning “leader” or “guide”), Mussolini (the Duce) and Victor Emmanuel III from Italy (Duce Supremo, meaning “Supreme Leader”), Joseph Stalin from the Soviet Union (Vozhd = the leader), and monsignor Jozef Tiso from Slovakia (Vodca = leader). Howell insightfully recognizes that “elevation brings with it heightened opportunities for the vices of greed, arrogance, and vanity to creep in and overtake one’s soul.”[1] With such sustained forces contrary to our spiritual yearning, we cannot afford to leave leadership growth to a natural process, thus underestimating the relentless working power of the flesh.

As with the spiritual disciplines, leaders must develop a lifestyle that places others above oneself. Sin being so close and adaptable to the role of a leader, there must be an intentional approach that responds to the temptations inherent to it. Since these temptations provoke man’s “natural pursuit of comfort, wealth, and recognition,”[2] the biblical leadership approach would be one that sets itself against these: it is the servant leadership. This leadership style is best understood and developed within the context of kingdom work. According to this, God is in command, and we are his servants. His dealings with his people infer that we are but instruments in his hands. God’s exhortation to his people (the leaders first) is rest in him (Isa 41:10; Jam 4:10) and intentional and specific labor (2Tim 2:15; Mat 20:26; Prov 27:23-24; Joh 13:13-17).

Strategy is surely paramount in Christian leadership. It will weigh on the whole person and not just on our intellect or our resources. Losing the servant heart and disposition will cause the natural vice in us to steer God’s enterprise away from his holy purpose into the dangerous road of the self- aggrandisement and self-serving. The change can be so insidious that we do not see it until damage is done among the people of God.

I witnessed an antithesis of the servant-leader mindset in a pastor who pressured his small congregation to pay a full-time salary fitting for the work he was putting in, an amount well above the church’s budget. He demanded greater sacrifice of them based on the scriptural standard that “the laborer is worthy of his wages.” Another church leader displayed an admirable example of servanthood by foregoing a month’s wage to assist a needy widow in his community. These two examples present a stark contrast in their object of consideration: “self” for the first and “other” for the second. Their examples also differ greatly in their depiction of a leader: the first lords it over the flock and the second serves it, even at a personal cost.

It is true that the culture of our day promotes self-advancement. Everything we give (resources, time, energy, information…) seems like a sacrifice which boils down to one self-deception: that these things belong to us. Paul had much to boast about in his day. He lived on the lofty end of religious society and had much to be envied. However, he presents a godly perspective to these advantages: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil 3:7). In essence, it is a matter of intentionally setting our personal and ministry values against the worth of knowing Christ and belonging to Him.

In defense of secular notions of leadership, something resembling servanthood transpires in leading influences such as Stephen Covey (though a religious man himself), an influential author among modern secular leaders who promotes a teamwork philosophy where others are valued for the well-being of the whole group. The same general idea can be sensed from various leaders on TED talks, for example. However, even this improved secular approach to leadership would fail God’s standard of servant leadership. Howell says it well, “The disciples must view themselves as entirely the products of grace and so serve, out of an overwhelming sense of gratitude, a servant-King who does the unthinkable, waits upon them and washes their feet.”  In general, financial success or personal achievement rather than gratitude inspire the leaders of our day. A Christian, leader, however, will consider the privilege of his calling and his complete dependence on God to guide, protect, strengthen, and fructify him and his ministry. Since “the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His,” (2Chr 16:9) it is more so for the Christian leader. 

 

[1] Don N. Howell, Jr., Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003), 189. MBS Direct.

[2] Ibid., 203.

]]>
The mindset of servant is counter-intuitive to the role of a leader as inspired by the secular culture and history. The very meaning of the term “leader” suggests certain prominence vis-à-vis the ones that are led. By definition, a leader is “one who leads, or commands a group.” These expressions can convey an authoritarian sentiment to the leader as it has been used and abused in political history by leaders such as Hitler in Germany (the Fuehrer, meaning “leader” or “guide”), Mussolini (the Duce) and Victor Emmanuel III from Italy (Duce Supremo, meaning “Supreme Leader”), Joseph Stalin from the Soviet Union (Vozhd = the leader), and monsignor Jozef Tiso from Slovakia (Vodca = leader). Howell insightfully recognizes that “elevation brings with it heightened opportunities for the vices of greed, arrogance, and vanity to creep in and overtake one’s soul.”[1] With such sustained forces contrary to our spiritual yearning, we cannot afford to leave leadership growth to a natural process, thus underestimating the relentless working power of the flesh.

As with the spiritual disciplines, leaders must develop a lifestyle that places others above oneself. Sin being so close and adaptable to the role of a leader, there must be an intentional approach that responds to the temptations inherent to it. Since these temptations provoke man’s “natural pursuit of comfort, wealth, and recognition,”[2] the biblical leadership approach would be one that sets itself against these: it is the servant leadership. This leadership style is best understood and developed within the context of kingdom work. According to this, God is in command, and we are his servants. His dealings with his people infer that we are but instruments in his hands. God’s exhortation to his people (the leaders first) is rest in him (Isa 41:10; Jam 4:10) and intentional and specific labor (2Tim 2:15; Mat 20:26; Prov 27:23-24; Joh 13:13-17).

Strategy is surely paramount in Christian leadership. It will weigh on the whole person and not just on our intellect or our resources. Losing the servant heart and disposition will cause the natural vice in us to steer God’s enterprise away from his holy purpose into the dangerous road of the self- aggrandisement and self-serving. The change can be so insidious that we do not see it until damage is done among the people of God.

I witnessed an antithesis of the servant-leader mindset in a pastor who pressured his small congregation to pay a full-time salary fitting for the work he was putting in, an amount well above the church’s budget. He demanded greater sacrifice of them based on the scriptural standard that “the laborer is worthy of his wages.” Another church leader displayed an admirable example of servanthood by foregoing a month’s wage to assist a needy widow in his community. These two examples present a stark contrast in their object of consideration: “self” for the first and “other” for the second. Their examples also differ greatly in their depiction of a leader: the first lords it over the flock and the second serves it, even at a personal cost.

It is true that the culture of our day promotes self-advancement. Everything we give (resources, time, energy, information…) seems like a sacrifice which boils down to one self-deception: that these things belong to us. Paul had much to boast about in his day. He lived on the lofty end of religious society and had much to be envied. However, he presents a godly perspective to these advantages: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Phil 3:7). In essence, it is a matter of intentionally setting our personal and ministry values against the worth of knowing Christ and belonging to Him.

In defense of secular notions of leadership, something resembling servanthood transpires in leading influences such as Stephen Covey (though a religious man himself), an influential author among modern secular leaders who promotes a teamwork philosophy where others are valued for the well-being of the whole group. The same general idea can be sensed from various leaders on TED talks, for example. However, even this improved secular approach to leadership would fail God’s standard of servant leadership. Howell says it well, “The disciples must view themselves as entirely the products of grace and so serve, out of an overwhelming sense of gratitude, a servant-King who does the unthinkable, waits upon them and washes their feet.”  In general, financial success or personal achievement rather than gratitude inspire the leaders of our day. A Christian, leader, however, will consider the privilege of his calling and his complete dependence on God to guide, protect, strengthen, and fructify him and his ministry. Since “the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth, so that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His,” (2Chr 16:9) it is more so for the Christian leader. 

 

[1] Don N. Howell, Jr., Servants of the Servant: A Biblical Theology of Leadership (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2003), 189. MBS Direct.

[2] Ibid., 203.

]]>
The 1879 Revival in the Margaree Valley Baptist Church (Part 3) https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-3- https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-3-#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-3- The following is part 3 of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. THREE SIGNIFICANT IMPRESSIONS UPON G. W. MCPHERSON

 

During the second week of the revival I began to think earnestly on my relation to God. I was not excited or emotional, but began to reason thus: If all this is true and there is a God who sees and understands He must think of me only as a sinner. Several things impressed me powerfully during this revival:

 

(1) The song and prayer services held by the converts on the country roads as they gathered in groups late in the night, after the church service was over. On the four or five principal country highways the singing could be heard for a considerable distance. I attended some of these services and heard young men pray who a few days before were as tough as any in the valley.

 

(2) The prayer meetings that were held in a partly finished house, owned by Dan Carmichael, were most stirring. The converts felt loathe to go home at the close of the service in the church and so they gathered in this house to pray. They had no light except that furnished by a borrowed tallow candle. The two floors were laid and the roof was finished, also the stairway to the second floor. This house was literally packed with earnest souls, including the stairway on which I was sitting, with my feet hanging down over the edge just above the jam below in the hallway. It was while here, sitting in this precarious position, that I offered my first public prayer. The prayer was brief, for someone who was sitting on the same step moved a bit and the pressure pushed me off the stairway, down on those who were kneeling in the hall. But the service went on as if nothing had happened.

 

(3) Another event which made a profound impression on me was the story told by two young men who were school teachers on the coast, down near the Cape North country, about sixty miles from Margaree. These teachers were serving in adjoining school sections. They knew nothing of the mighty revival of religion in Margaree. But strange to say, they had become restless, so much so that they could not continue their work as teachers.  Meeting frequently, they told each other of their strange feelings. They had only begun the fall term a few weeks before, but they declared that they could not teach, and so informed the trustees of their respective schools. The trustees thought the

teachers were homesick in that far away lonely part of the island and refused to grant them permission to abandon their work. However, they said they could not continue longer, so they started for their home in Margaree.

 

It was a long journey by foot across the mountains of Cape Breton, but, finally, on reaching a French settlement on the coast of Margaree Harbour, on the west side of the island, they went into a farmer's house for dinner. On learning of their home in the Northeast valley of Margaree, their host said: "Have you heard of the revival of religion

in Margaree?" "No," they replied. "Well, they have all gone crazy up there over religion,"

said the Frenchman.

 

The boys arrived home and on that same night told their thrilling story to the congregation. They declared that they knew nothing of the revival, but that God had called them home, and there they yielded their lives to Christ. These two teachers

returned to resume their work in their respective schools, but later they entered the Christian ministry.

 

No psychology can explain this moral phenomenon. It was God at work in answer to prayer, and in this, as in many other events that, occurred in this revival, there was found unanswerable proof of the supernatural fact of Christianity and that God does

communicate Himself to men.

 

  1. SEEKING THE LORD & STANDING TO ASK FOR PRAYER FOR SALVATION

 

I attended all the services during the revival, but it was not until the second week that I decided to pray and seek salvation. I had a chum whose name let us say was Frank and nightly we went together to the services. I urged Frank to take a stand and confess Christ, but he always replied: "No, if you will, I will." I would nudge him in the ribs, boylike, with my elbow and say, "Go on, you are older than I. When you get up and confess Christ then I shall." Frank nudged back and said: "No, if you will then I will." Night after night the nudging continued with the same result. Finally I decided that Frank was not in earnest and that I must take my stand alone.

 

I spent much of the time, during the days of this week, digging potatoes in an obscure part of the old farm where I was unseen by the neighbors. It was a narrow wedge-like patch coming to a sharp point at one end and the rows of potatoes ran crosswise. I began to dig at the narrow point and at the completion of each row knelt down in the

ground to pray for light and leading, promising God that if he would give me strength to confess His Son before men I should do so that night. Prayer was answered and that night without speaking a word to my chum I arose in the service and said: "Pray for me. I desire to know Jesus Christ." It was no easy cross to bear, nevertheless, in resuming

my seat I felt much relieved. I believed that a good service was performed, that I had put myself in the way of blessing.

 

Mr. Foster's text that night was: "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, . . . the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy  angels."[1] I knew I had done my duty, my best, so far so good, but I experienced no special change in my life. Converts had told of how they "came into the light," but I could give no such testimony.

 

[1] Mark 8:38.

]]>
The following is part 3 of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. THREE SIGNIFICANT IMPRESSIONS UPON G. W. MCPHERSON

 

During the second week of the revival I began to think earnestly on my relation to God. I was not excited or emotional, but began to reason thus: If all this is true and there is a God who sees and understands He must think of me only as a sinner. Several things impressed me powerfully during this revival:

 

(1) The song and prayer services held by the converts on the country roads as they gathered in groups late in the night, after the church service was over. On the four or five principal country highways the singing could be heard for a considerable distance. I attended some of these services and heard young men pray who a few days before were as tough as any in the valley.

 

(2) The prayer meetings that were held in a partly finished house, owned by Dan Carmichael, were most stirring. The converts felt loathe to go home at the close of the service in the church and so they gathered in this house to pray. They had no light except that furnished by a borrowed tallow candle. The two floors were laid and the roof was finished, also the stairway to the second floor. This house was literally packed with earnest souls, including the stairway on which I was sitting, with my feet hanging down over the edge just above the jam below in the hallway. It was while here, sitting in this precarious position, that I offered my first public prayer. The prayer was brief, for someone who was sitting on the same step moved a bit and the pressure pushed me off the stairway, down on those who were kneeling in the hall. But the service went on as if nothing had happened.

 

(3) Another event which made a profound impression on me was the story told by two young men who were school teachers on the coast, down near the Cape North country, about sixty miles from Margaree. These teachers were serving in adjoining school sections. They knew nothing of the mighty revival of religion in Margaree. But strange to say, they had become restless, so much so that they could not continue their work as teachers.  Meeting frequently, they told each other of their strange feelings. They had only begun the fall term a few weeks before, but they declared that they could not teach, and so informed the trustees of their respective schools. The trustees thought the

teachers were homesick in that far away lonely part of the island and refused to grant them permission to abandon their work. However, they said they could not continue longer, so they started for their home in Margaree.

 

It was a long journey by foot across the mountains of Cape Breton, but, finally, on reaching a French settlement on the coast of Margaree Harbour, on the west side of the island, they went into a farmer's house for dinner. On learning of their home in the Northeast valley of Margaree, their host said: "Have you heard of the revival of religion

in Margaree?" "No," they replied. "Well, they have all gone crazy up there over religion,"

said the Frenchman.

 

The boys arrived home and on that same night told their thrilling story to the congregation. They declared that they knew nothing of the revival, but that God had called them home, and there they yielded their lives to Christ. These two teachers

returned to resume their work in their respective schools, but later they entered the Christian ministry.

 

No psychology can explain this moral phenomenon. It was God at work in answer to prayer, and in this, as in many other events that, occurred in this revival, there was found unanswerable proof of the supernatural fact of Christianity and that God does

communicate Himself to men.

 

  1. SEEKING THE LORD & STANDING TO ASK FOR PRAYER FOR SALVATION

 

I attended all the services during the revival, but it was not until the second week that I decided to pray and seek salvation. I had a chum whose name let us say was Frank and nightly we went together to the services. I urged Frank to take a stand and confess Christ, but he always replied: "No, if you will, I will." I would nudge him in the ribs, boylike, with my elbow and say, "Go on, you are older than I. When you get up and confess Christ then I shall." Frank nudged back and said: "No, if you will then I will." Night after night the nudging continued with the same result. Finally I decided that Frank was not in earnest and that I must take my stand alone.

 

I spent much of the time, during the days of this week, digging potatoes in an obscure part of the old farm where I was unseen by the neighbors. It was a narrow wedge-like patch coming to a sharp point at one end and the rows of potatoes ran crosswise. I began to dig at the narrow point and at the completion of each row knelt down in the

ground to pray for light and leading, promising God that if he would give me strength to confess His Son before men I should do so that night. Prayer was answered and that night without speaking a word to my chum I arose in the service and said: "Pray for me. I desire to know Jesus Christ." It was no easy cross to bear, nevertheless, in resuming

my seat I felt much relieved. I believed that a good service was performed, that I had put myself in the way of blessing.

 

Mr. Foster's text that night was: "For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, . . . the Son of man also shall be ashamed of him when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy  angels."[1] I knew I had done my duty, my best, so far so good, but I experienced no special change in my life. Converts had told of how they "came into the light," but I could give no such testimony.

 

[1] Mark 8:38.

]]>
The 1879 Revival in the Margaree Valley Baptist Church (Part 2) https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-2- https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-2-#comments Sat, 19 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-1879-revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist-church--part-2- The following is part 2 of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. THE GROWING INTEREST IN THE SERVICES

 

On the following day, throughout the entire valley and glens far beyond, flashed the news regarding the wonderful preacher in the Baptist Church. On Tuesday evening many of the farmers left their grain in the fields and the chores undone in order to get to the church by seven o'clock to hear the new strange preacher who came uninvited. The church was crowded and curiosity was on tip toe. Again the impression made was powerful. On Wednesday night many persons were unable to gain admission, and thus it continued for some weeks until the close of the revival.

 

Mr. Foster was not in any sense a sensational preacher. His sermons were plain, Scriptural, evangelical and delivered in a passion for souls. Christ was the substance of every message. No one needed to advise him, as an old saint once counselled the

writer, after hearing him preach when a student, "Brother, preach Jesus." Nothing I received in the seminary was more valuable than that pointed rebuke. It stuck and from that hour I resolved to make Christ the substance of my ministry, and this has been the secret of any success I may have had.

 

On Thursday night, for the first time, an invitation was given to men and women to confess Jesus Christ by simply standing and speaking that which their hearts prompted. There was no mourner's bench nor after service, but there in the audience the people were asked to make their confessions. No such sight had ever before been seen in Margaree. There was, apparently, no excitement; the service was quiet and dignified; but it was evident that the power of God had laid hold on men's minds and hearts most marvelously. Many arose among whom were not a few of the most outstanding sinners in the community, and men of the greatest physical strength. The families were large in

Cape Breton and in not a few cases whole households sons and daughters gave themselves to Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

  1. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONVICTION

 

There was manifest in this and in one or two subsequent services a remarkable phenomenon. It was seen that about a dozen strong men, when they arose to ask for prayer completely lost their motive power and in some cases fell helplessly over the

pews where they were sitting. A number of these at the close of the service had to be carried bodily out of the church and assisted to their homes. Moreover others, who when in the church did not thus manifest a lack of physical control, did lose their motive power when they reached the main road and had to be assisted to their destinations.

In these cases the sense of sin was overmastering and they fell to the earth almost as helpless as dead.

 

And during all this glorious operation of the Spirit of God there was a silence that was profound and glorious. Neither before nor after the service were men and women seen visiting or conversing in the usual manner. Not a few of the "seekers" were so dead in earnest over their salvation that for days they abandoned their work on the farms and, with Bible in hand, betook themselves to the woods or quiet pasture lands to meditate and pray. And nightly in the services some of these would announce the glad tidings, that they had "found Christ," or had "come into the light." The latter was the common phrase used to express conversion, and was quite expressive and true to the facts.

There was heard at every service these words: "I have come into the light."

 

But the "Foster revival," as it was called, was not confined to Margaree. Several male school teachers, natives of the valley, who had been teaching in neighboring settlements, some twelve miles distant, on hearing of the revival came under conviction

of sin and were converted without the aid of any preacher, but as a result of prayer and reading the Bible. These new converts held services in their own communities and thus the glad tidings of salvation spread far and wide.

 

Mr. Foster served in the Baptist Church, then in the Congregational Church, then in several other communities in Big Baddeck, Whycocomagh, some twenty-five and forty miles distant, and everywhere he labored many were led to Jesus Christ.

 

From among the converts in Margaree alone it has been said that seventeen young men went forth to study for the ministry.

 

The Baptist Church gave a unanimous call to Mr. Foster to become their pastor and he accepted and remained with us for four years. That was the happiest and most prosperous period in the history of the Church.

 

  1. THE CONVERSION OF DR. G. W. MCPHERSON

 

It was during these meetings that I made the great discovery of God in Christ as my personal Saviour. I shall attempt to describe it without exaggeration.

 

In my early life, while I did not talk it, yet I was inclined to be skeptical, though at times I had a feeling that I should like to become a preacher. Prompted by this strange desire, I used to "play church" with my sisters and brothers on Sabbath afternoons, standing on a high chair with the family gathered around me for a congregation. I would announce a hymn, read a Scripture and then make a pretence at preaching. The performance

was quite amusing to my audience, yet I did not think of it as funny, nor did I "play church" to make sport. I felt inclined to do this because of a strange desire to preach. Nevertheless I was inclined to be skeptical. What is the significance of this conduct before I was thirteen years old? Did it show that God was shaping my life for future service as a minister in His Kingdom?

 

"There is a Divinity that shapes our lives

Rough hew them as we will."

 

I knew nothing about religion, was not interested in family worship, often played "killing pig" behind the stove when father was praying, for which conduct he frequently administered a well deserved flogging... Swearing was my great sin, and during quarrels with my school chums I used to chase them through the woods cursing all the way. During one of these school wars I literally swore for a mile and thought nothing of it. And passing strange, mingled with all this deviltry I had a secret feeling that perhaps some day I would be a preacher. I was christened in my father's church before I experienced consciousness, and so far as I knew, or any one could see, this solemn service did not effect in any way a change in my young life. I was, however, like most of the boys I knew, irreligious, with my good and bad points always in evidence. And this was my state of mind during the first week of the revival. At one of those services, when unable to gain admission because of the crowd, I looked through the church window and made faces at some of the girls I saw inside, for which I was called before the preacher the next day and severely reprimanded.  No, I was not religious. As father told me, and rightly, that I was "in my natural state," and, withal, was strongly inclined to be skeptical.

]]>
The following is part 2 of our series on the 1879 revival at Margaree Valley Baptist Church and is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. THE GROWING INTEREST IN THE SERVICES

 

On the following day, throughout the entire valley and glens far beyond, flashed the news regarding the wonderful preacher in the Baptist Church. On Tuesday evening many of the farmers left their grain in the fields and the chores undone in order to get to the church by seven o'clock to hear the new strange preacher who came uninvited. The church was crowded and curiosity was on tip toe. Again the impression made was powerful. On Wednesday night many persons were unable to gain admission, and thus it continued for some weeks until the close of the revival.

 

Mr. Foster was not in any sense a sensational preacher. His sermons were plain, Scriptural, evangelical and delivered in a passion for souls. Christ was the substance of every message. No one needed to advise him, as an old saint once counselled the

writer, after hearing him preach when a student, "Brother, preach Jesus." Nothing I received in the seminary was more valuable than that pointed rebuke. It stuck and from that hour I resolved to make Christ the substance of my ministry, and this has been the secret of any success I may have had.

 

On Thursday night, for the first time, an invitation was given to men and women to confess Jesus Christ by simply standing and speaking that which their hearts prompted. There was no mourner's bench nor after service, but there in the audience the people were asked to make their confessions. No such sight had ever before been seen in Margaree. There was, apparently, no excitement; the service was quiet and dignified; but it was evident that the power of God had laid hold on men's minds and hearts most marvelously. Many arose among whom were not a few of the most outstanding sinners in the community, and men of the greatest physical strength. The families were large in

Cape Breton and in not a few cases whole households sons and daughters gave themselves to Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

  1. THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CONVICTION

 

There was manifest in this and in one or two subsequent services a remarkable phenomenon. It was seen that about a dozen strong men, when they arose to ask for prayer completely lost their motive power and in some cases fell helplessly over the

pews where they were sitting. A number of these at the close of the service had to be carried bodily out of the church and assisted to their homes. Moreover others, who when in the church did not thus manifest a lack of physical control, did lose their motive power when they reached the main road and had to be assisted to their destinations.

In these cases the sense of sin was overmastering and they fell to the earth almost as helpless as dead.

 

And during all this glorious operation of the Spirit of God there was a silence that was profound and glorious. Neither before nor after the service were men and women seen visiting or conversing in the usual manner. Not a few of the "seekers" were so dead in earnest over their salvation that for days they abandoned their work on the farms and, with Bible in hand, betook themselves to the woods or quiet pasture lands to meditate and pray. And nightly in the services some of these would announce the glad tidings, that they had "found Christ," or had "come into the light." The latter was the common phrase used to express conversion, and was quite expressive and true to the facts.

There was heard at every service these words: "I have come into the light."

 

But the "Foster revival," as it was called, was not confined to Margaree. Several male school teachers, natives of the valley, who had been teaching in neighboring settlements, some twelve miles distant, on hearing of the revival came under conviction

of sin and were converted without the aid of any preacher, but as a result of prayer and reading the Bible. These new converts held services in their own communities and thus the glad tidings of salvation spread far and wide.

 

Mr. Foster served in the Baptist Church, then in the Congregational Church, then in several other communities in Big Baddeck, Whycocomagh, some twenty-five and forty miles distant, and everywhere he labored many were led to Jesus Christ.

 

From among the converts in Margaree alone it has been said that seventeen young men went forth to study for the ministry.

 

The Baptist Church gave a unanimous call to Mr. Foster to become their pastor and he accepted and remained with us for four years. That was the happiest and most prosperous period in the history of the Church.

 

  1. THE CONVERSION OF DR. G. W. MCPHERSON

 

It was during these meetings that I made the great discovery of God in Christ as my personal Saviour. I shall attempt to describe it without exaggeration.

 

In my early life, while I did not talk it, yet I was inclined to be skeptical, though at times I had a feeling that I should like to become a preacher. Prompted by this strange desire, I used to "play church" with my sisters and brothers on Sabbath afternoons, standing on a high chair with the family gathered around me for a congregation. I would announce a hymn, read a Scripture and then make a pretence at preaching. The performance

was quite amusing to my audience, yet I did not think of it as funny, nor did I "play church" to make sport. I felt inclined to do this because of a strange desire to preach. Nevertheless I was inclined to be skeptical. What is the significance of this conduct before I was thirteen years old? Did it show that God was shaping my life for future service as a minister in His Kingdom?

 

"There is a Divinity that shapes our lives

Rough hew them as we will."

 

I knew nothing about religion, was not interested in family worship, often played "killing pig" behind the stove when father was praying, for which conduct he frequently administered a well deserved flogging... Swearing was my great sin, and during quarrels with my school chums I used to chase them through the woods cursing all the way. During one of these school wars I literally swore for a mile and thought nothing of it. And passing strange, mingled with all this deviltry I had a secret feeling that perhaps some day I would be a preacher. I was christened in my father's church before I experienced consciousness, and so far as I knew, or any one could see, this solemn service did not effect in any way a change in my young life. I was, however, like most of the boys I knew, irreligious, with my good and bad points always in evidence. And this was my state of mind during the first week of the revival. At one of those services, when unable to gain admission because of the crowd, I looked through the church window and made faces at some of the girls I saw inside, for which I was called before the preacher the next day and severely reprimanded.  No, I was not religious. As father told me, and rightly, that I was "in my natural state," and, withal, was strongly inclined to be skeptical.

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The 1879 Revival in the Margaree Valley Baptist Church (Part 1) https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-account-of-the-outpouring-of-the-holy-spirit-in-the-1879--revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-account-of-the-outpouring-of-the-holy-spirit-in-the-1879--revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2021 01:00:00 -0400 https://atlanticcanada.thegospelcoalition.org/blog/post/the-account-of-the-outpouring-of-the-holy-spirit-in-the-1879--revival-in-the-margaree-valley-baptist The following is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REVIVAL

 

In this chapter I shall tell the story of my greatest discovery, and also give a sketch of one of the most remarkable revivals of religion of which I know.  You see I am as old-fashioned as Peter and Paul for I believe in conversion and revivals…

 

I was thirteen years of age when this moral revolution swept over North East Margaree and other parts of Cape Breton.  They called it a revival, though the term was new, seldom heard before in that country.

 

There were here and there a few critics, especially among the most irreligious, and also among the most conservative members of the churches.  As one expressed it: “I would sooner go to a madhouse than to a revival.”  My father, deeply religious as he was, while he indulged in no word of unfavorable criticism, nevertheless absented himself from the services during the opening week until he was assured that the preacher was safe and sane.

 

But while my father hesitated to express any opinion, nevertheless, he was broad-minded and did not object to his children going to the services.  He had his own strong convictions, but he never tried unduly to force his views upon his children.  He had family worship, taught us much of the Bible, had us commit to memory the Shorter Catechism, set us a wonderful example, and trusted that God in His own good times would lead us to grace.

 

  1. THE ARRIVAL OF REV. P. R. FOSTER OF NOVA SCOTIA

 

The revival began in the Baptist Church, and the preacher was the Rev. P. R. Foster of Nova Scotia.  Mr. Foster was a total stranger on Cape Breton and he even dared to come to the Church without an invitation—a bold venture indeed.

 

This was how it happened: The preacher’s health had been impaired, and he was obliged to discontinue his ministry and resume his early trade as a carpenter.  One day while reading a religious paper and noticing that the church in Margaree was without a pastor, he said to his wife that he felt the Lord wanted him to go there and preach the gospel; but on account of his nervous condition Mrs. Foster dissuaded him. Months later, however, on noticing in the same paper that the Margaree church was still pastorless, the conviction seized him that this opportunity to serve was his call, so he said to his wife, “I must go.”  All her efforts to detain him were futile.  Away he went, taking the first train.  He sent a telegram requesting that they open the church for him to preach on the following Monday night, for he expected to arrive at noon of that day.

This was the strangest news of a religious nature that had ever come to the people of Margaree.  A meeting of the brethren was held, and after some discussion and hesitation it was decided to open the church.  “We shall hear him once,” they said, “and if he proves to be an unworthy minister we shall lock the church against him.”

 

Seven o’clock was the hour for the service.  It was in the early autumn, the business season with the farmers, for they were harvesting their grain, and no one had any desire to leave work undone and go to hear a stranger preach.

 

  1. THE PRAYER FROM THE HEIGHTS OF SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN

 

Mr. Foster arrived at noon, took dinner with Mr. George Tingley, who had charge of the choir in the church, after which he requested his host to accompany him that afternoon to the top of the Sugar Loaf mountain for, he said that he desired to get a view of the famous Margaree valley.  Sugar Loaf was four miles up the river, and from its lofty summit of 1,000 feet the visitor could see one of the finest sights in eastern Canada.

 

Together they went to the top of the mountain, and here is Mr. Tingley’s recital of that memorable experience: “I shall never forget that day.  ‘I must pray for the valley,’ said Mr. Foster, and instantly he dropped upon his knees.  And such a prayer.  It is too sacred to relate.  For more than an hour he prayed, first for the aged, just on the edge of the grave, then for the middle-aged, then for the children.  He labored like a man seeking to rescue the perishing from some overwhelming disaster.  The perspiration rolled over his face as he pleaded for the people in Margaree.  It was so solemn and sacred I moved away about one hundred feet so as not to disturb the man of God.  Finally he arose and said: ‘Come on Mr. Tingley, God has given me the valley,’ and Mr. Foster led the way down the mountain at a rapid pace, with the tread of a conqueror going forth to further conquest.”

 

  1. THE FIRST SERVICE WITH REV. FOSTER

 

The hour arrived and father consented to my going to the service.  The attendance was small, only about thirty persons, mostly composed of the deacons and their families.  But it proved to be a memorable hour in the history of that church.

 

The preacher entered and immediately went into the old-fashioned pulpit, high up against the wall, with its two winding stairways.  He opened the service on the minute, and conducted it in a most becoming manner.  His text was Isa. 21:11-12, “Watchman, what of the night?  The Watchman said: The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come.”

 

Mr. Foster was a man of striking appearance.  He stood as erect as a British Redcoat and looked like a true prophet of God, though some critics said he would pass for an actor, or a patent medicine man.  His forehead was intellectual, towering high over his twinkling grey eyes.  He wore a light brown beard of foxy tinge which fell in graceful waves down over his chest.  His shoulders were slender but square and hung on his back as if on swivels, and his arms were straight, tapering gracefully to his finger tips.  In every inch, movement and expression Mr. Foster was a man of ease, grace and action.

 

After giving his text its historical setting, he plunged into his discourse, emphasizing every point with eyes, head, hands and beard. Each successive climax was most touching and tender, almost overcoming the preacher himself. From beginning to

end his little audience was spell-bound.

 

The crisis was over for Mr. Foster and the deacons for both were on trial that night and the problem was happily solved for the Baptist Church. The impression made was so unusual that the congregation walked quietly from the building without speaking a word, but they gathered in little knots outside to express to each other their delight over the sermon.

 

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The following is written by G. W. McPherson, A Parson’s Adventures, (Yonkers, New York: Yonkers Book Company, 1925), 37ff.  The headings were created by Pastor Ross Morrison of Alberton Baptist Church.  Ross & his wife Wendy were brought up in Margaree Valley, Cape Breton.

  1. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE REVIVAL

 

In this chapter I shall tell the story of my greatest discovery, and also give a sketch of one of the most remarkable revivals of religion of which I know.  You see I am as old-fashioned as Peter and Paul for I believe in conversion and revivals…

 

I was thirteen years of age when this moral revolution swept over North East Margaree and other parts of Cape Breton.  They called it a revival, though the term was new, seldom heard before in that country.

 

There were here and there a few critics, especially among the most irreligious, and also among the most conservative members of the churches.  As one expressed it: “I would sooner go to a madhouse than to a revival.”  My father, deeply religious as he was, while he indulged in no word of unfavorable criticism, nevertheless absented himself from the services during the opening week until he was assured that the preacher was safe and sane.

 

But while my father hesitated to express any opinion, nevertheless, he was broad-minded and did not object to his children going to the services.  He had his own strong convictions, but he never tried unduly to force his views upon his children.  He had family worship, taught us much of the Bible, had us commit to memory the Shorter Catechism, set us a wonderful example, and trusted that God in His own good times would lead us to grace.

 

  1. THE ARRIVAL OF REV. P. R. FOSTER OF NOVA SCOTIA

 

The revival began in the Baptist Church, and the preacher was the Rev. P. R. Foster of Nova Scotia.  Mr. Foster was a total stranger on Cape Breton and he even dared to come to the Church without an invitation—a bold venture indeed.

 

This was how it happened: The preacher’s health had been impaired, and he was obliged to discontinue his ministry and resume his early trade as a carpenter.  One day while reading a religious paper and noticing that the church in Margaree was without a pastor, he said to his wife that he felt the Lord wanted him to go there and preach the gospel; but on account of his nervous condition Mrs. Foster dissuaded him. Months later, however, on noticing in the same paper that the Margaree church was still pastorless, the conviction seized him that this opportunity to serve was his call, so he said to his wife, “I must go.”  All her efforts to detain him were futile.  Away he went, taking the first train.  He sent a telegram requesting that they open the church for him to preach on the following Monday night, for he expected to arrive at noon of that day.

This was the strangest news of a religious nature that had ever come to the people of Margaree.  A meeting of the brethren was held, and after some discussion and hesitation it was decided to open the church.  “We shall hear him once,” they said, “and if he proves to be an unworthy minister we shall lock the church against him.”

 

Seven o’clock was the hour for the service.  It was in the early autumn, the business season with the farmers, for they were harvesting their grain, and no one had any desire to leave work undone and go to hear a stranger preach.

 

  1. THE PRAYER FROM THE HEIGHTS OF SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN

 

Mr. Foster arrived at noon, took dinner with Mr. George Tingley, who had charge of the choir in the church, after which he requested his host to accompany him that afternoon to the top of the Sugar Loaf mountain for, he said that he desired to get a view of the famous Margaree valley.  Sugar Loaf was four miles up the river, and from its lofty summit of 1,000 feet the visitor could see one of the finest sights in eastern Canada.

 

Together they went to the top of the mountain, and here is Mr. Tingley’s recital of that memorable experience: “I shall never forget that day.  ‘I must pray for the valley,’ said Mr. Foster, and instantly he dropped upon his knees.  And such a prayer.  It is too sacred to relate.  For more than an hour he prayed, first for the aged, just on the edge of the grave, then for the middle-aged, then for the children.  He labored like a man seeking to rescue the perishing from some overwhelming disaster.  The perspiration rolled over his face as he pleaded for the people in Margaree.  It was so solemn and sacred I moved away about one hundred feet so as not to disturb the man of God.  Finally he arose and said: ‘Come on Mr. Tingley, God has given me the valley,’ and Mr. Foster led the way down the mountain at a rapid pace, with the tread of a conqueror going forth to further conquest.”

 

  1. THE FIRST SERVICE WITH REV. FOSTER

 

The hour arrived and father consented to my going to the service.  The attendance was small, only about thirty persons, mostly composed of the deacons and their families.  But it proved to be a memorable hour in the history of that church.

 

The preacher entered and immediately went into the old-fashioned pulpit, high up against the wall, with its two winding stairways.  He opened the service on the minute, and conducted it in a most becoming manner.  His text was Isa. 21:11-12, “Watchman, what of the night?  The Watchman said: The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye: return, come.”

 

Mr. Foster was a man of striking appearance.  He stood as erect as a British Redcoat and looked like a true prophet of God, though some critics said he would pass for an actor, or a patent medicine man.  His forehead was intellectual, towering high over his twinkling grey eyes.  He wore a light brown beard of foxy tinge which fell in graceful waves down over his chest.  His shoulders were slender but square and hung on his back as if on swivels, and his arms were straight, tapering gracefully to his finger tips.  In every inch, movement and expression Mr. Foster was a man of ease, grace and action.

 

After giving his text its historical setting, he plunged into his discourse, emphasizing every point with eyes, head, hands and beard. Each successive climax was most touching and tender, almost overcoming the preacher himself. From beginning to

end his little audience was spell-bound.

 

The crisis was over for Mr. Foster and the deacons for both were on trial that night and the problem was happily solved for the Baptist Church. The impression made was so unusual that the congregation walked quietly from the building without speaking a word, but they gathered in little knots outside to express to each other their delight over the sermon.

 

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