|
What a difference we could make in this world if we all became
'inspirited' to act as one in heart and mind to make this world a better
place to live.
Lynda Janzen
That was the message from Lynda Janzen of Kincardine, guest speaker at
the World Day of Prayer service Friday afternoon at St. Anthony's Roman
Catholic Church in Kincardine. This year's service was written by the
World Day of Prayer Committee of Papua New Guinea and adapted by the
Women's Inter-Church Council of Canada.
About 100 people were in attendance, with several local churches taking
part, including St. Anthony's, Kincardine Baptist, Chalmers
Congregational, Knox Presbyterian, Kincardine Pentecostal, Kincardine
United, Christian Reformed, and Anglican Church of the Messiah.
Janzen urged them all to think of the scene from the Bible, following
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, when the disciples and aspostles were
trying to figure out what to do. They were sitting in the Upper Room,
afraid they were going to be arrested and crucified like Jesus was. Then
they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they burst out of the room and
began preaching the Gospel with great power. They converted upwards of
5,000 Jews and all were acting as one in heart and mind.
"Just supposing that Christians on every continent were to act as one in
heart and mind," she said. "Suppose thousands, even hundreds of
thousands of Christians were to sell off excess properties and begin
distributing this wealth among those who are most needy. Not just the
needy in far away places like Papua New Guinea, but right here in Bruce
County."
(next column)
07/03/2009 08:24 PM
|
Janzen said she knows of a former businessman, a multi-millionaire, who
was very unhappy. "He began to study the Bible and eventually invited
Jesus into his heart and was baptized. For months after that, he would
stand on the street corners in downtown Toronto, giving away his money.
His wife and children disowned him and, at some point, he found himself
alone and absolutely penniless. But it was the first time, in a long
time, that he was truly happy. Today, the man and his new wife own and
operate a refuge for street people, right here in Bruce County."
People in the western nations have been given so much,
said Janzen. "Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and
still there are Canadians who don't eat everyday, who cannot afford a
decent winter coat, who live in housing most people in this room
wouldn't let their cat or dog live in. The Bible says, 'From everyone
who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has
been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.' Have we responded to
our God-given abundance in the way Jesus taught?
As a nation, we have squandered our natural resources ... we squander
our money ... we have closets full of clothes and shoes ... we have more
food than we need ... In the midst of all this plenty, what do you think
Jesus is calling us to do? Friends, it's a tough thing to try to think
about salvation of the soul when your body has an immediate need for
water or food.
Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, to indwell us, to
'inspirit' us, the way the apostles and disciples were filled with the
Spirit in that Upper Room of long ago with zeal and boldness and the
faith and certainty that what they were doing was the Lord's work on
earth."
The World Day of Prayer was begun by women in Canada and the United
States in 1922 and is observed in more than 170 countries today. Next
year's service will be written by the women of Cameroon on the theme,
"Let everything that has breath praise God." For more information about
the World Day of Prayer and the Women's Inter-Church Council of Canada,
check the website at
www.wicc.org.
 |
