OnFire Encouragement Letter
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OnFire #227 Hinges of Hope
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Hi Folks:
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We’re back from PEI where we were visiting my family. We spent a lot of time visiting my two grandmothers, both 92 and doing well. My maternal grandmother makes a sugar cookie her grandmother made that are our boys’ favourite, and it has become tradition for us to make them into cookie sandwiches with icing. It is always hard to leave to return home.
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We built a raft for my mother’s cottage. Five or six years ago we found one washed up at our shore and used it that summer, thinking that any day someone would come along to claim it. No one did, so we tied it up, thanked God for the fun we had, and assumed someone would claim it before the next summer. When we returned it was still there, so we used it each summer. By last year it was getting pretty rotten and when I tied it up, I thanked God once again for the joy of that raft. This spring it broke up and so we built one, which was a lot of fun to do with Mark, and so we continue to thank God.
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Those are some of the highlights from the vacation. Ian is back at Camp Wildwood and now Jan and Mark are visiting her folks in Saint John. I’m doing some painting and repairs at the house in the evening since I’m back into things at the church.
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Blessings for your week.
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We live in a house which is approximately 70 years old and, while it is generally in good shape, there are some things around the place which show their age. For instance, when we moved in many of wooden doors didn’t close well because they had either warped or the hinges had worked lose. As a result, I have had to adjust or fix almost all of them.
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I was able to tighten most of the hinges by using larger screws or by inserting a wooden match into the hole along with the screw. These are traditional methods which I have used in the past, but last night I ran into a stubborn hinge in which these solutions did not work. What to do?
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I remembered a tip a friend gave me. It seemed radical and posed a small amount of risk if it did not work since it involved drilling out the hole in order to glue in a piece of wooden dowel. If it did not work, it would mean an even larger hole and then what would I do?
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I decided to try one hole. I cut a piece of dowel, drilled a small pilot hole in it, and then drilled a hole the same size as the dowel in the doorpost where the screw used to be. Filling the hole with glue, I inserted the dowel and waited about an hour for it to dry. I held my breath as I twisted the screw, feeling carefully for any signs that it might slip. I’m pleased to report that my friend’s advice was good and I no longer have a door hanging by one hinge.
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In Titus 1:1-3, Paul talks about his role in the spread of the message about Jesus Christ. In our last letter we reflected on the fact that he knew his purpose was to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and teach them to grow in godliness. In verse 2 he adds this little bit of insight into the nature of faith and knowledge, that it is “resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.”*
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Why did I listen to my friend’s advice? I trust him because he knows what he’s talking about and I know he would not knowingly lead me astray. It is no different with God, but while we trust our friends we often question God because it is not what we want to hear, or it seems so different from the word we get from other sources. We can take comfort, however, in the fact that “God does not lie.” We can trust him utterly and completely with our future. Sometimes Christians are accused of having blind faith, that we believe (foolishly, it is implied) without any evidence to back up our belief. Not so. Our faith is based on the goodness of God’s character. As we trust in God’s goodness all the more, our faith and godliness will grow.
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Our hope for a better, eternal life hinges on the fact that God has promised it and He does not lie.
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I hope this helps. Be on fire.
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Troy
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OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character written by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published July 20, 2010. *Scripture taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com . Blog located at www.onfireletter.blogspot.com
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