OnFire #199 Fallen Fruit from the Family Tree

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #199 Fallen Fruit from the Family Tree

Hi Folks:

This is a good news and sad news kind of week. Good news - Jan is feeling a little better and thinks the medication for her stomach is helping. Good news - men from our church reshingled our house this weekend.. This was a spiritual experience for me. I couldn’t go on the roof, and as I watched them do for me what I could not do for myself, I became aware of God’s grace for me in a new and very powerful way.

Sad news - we said goodbye to a dear friend this week. Our friend Dwayne passed away quietly with a brain tumour. His funeral was a real celebration of the hope we have in Jesus, but let’s just say that the water level behind the eyes was running high.... Please keep his family in your prayers.

Let’s sandwich the sad news with some more good - my mother has a birthday this week. Happy Birthday, Mom!!! She is a faithful reader, and prints off the letters each week to put in a kind of scrapbook. She is indeed a proud Mom.

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I am constantly amazed by my boys. The two of them are so different, but I can see myself in both of them. Mark’s body type and temperament are like mine, while Ian has picked up my liking for the outdoors and anything that is shiny, sharp, creates fire, makes a loud noise, or does all of the above at the same time.

"The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree." That’s an expression we use to describe children who strongly exhibit the traits of one of their parents. I’ve been told that I remind people of my grandfather on my mother’s side, down to the way I talk and walk. I consider that a high compliment. He was a godly and wise man whom I try to emulate.

I can see myself in both boys, for better, and for worse. Mark has the same type of slow-burn temper that I have. He can be very patient, but he’ll only go so long and then he’ll blow. It has taken me a lot of years to learn to release pressure in smaller, safer amounts.

I wonder sometimes what bad habits I’m passing along to my boys. I’m going to take Ian hunting with me this year and in the process I’ll teach him a few things. I’ll want to get this right since bad habits in the woods can be deadly.

Bad hunting habits are one thing but bad character traits are an even more serious matter. What sorts of bad character traits are they learning through me? I’m not sure I know, since we have a hard time seeing our own shortcomings. I hope and pray I am leading them well and wisely.
"And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers." (Genesis 25:18*) This simple statement about Ishamel’s offspring is all about character traits passed along to children. They reflect the first words we read about the man. Even before he was born, it was said that he would be "a wild donkey of a man" who would live in "hostility toward all his brothers." (Genesis 16:12)

To be sure, Ishmael had his positive traits. In fact, God blessed him to become the "father of twelve rulers," and a "great nation." (Genesis 17:20) Even still, Ishmael is remembered for his hostility and for passing it along to his sons.

This is helpful for us as we examine the sources of conflict. If we live in conflict and hostility, we are at risk of passing it along to our children. "Like father like son" can be good if we are cultivating good character habits, or bad if we allow conflict and hostility constantly to be part of our lives.

Paul reminds us in Romans, "Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." (12:17-18) It takes two to fight, but we don’t have to keep it going. When we do, we not only disturb the peace, but we teach those coming behind us to do the same.

I hope someday that people will point to my boys and say, "Like father, like son," and that will indeed be a good thing. I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Sept 23, 2009. *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 http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/

OnFire #198 Lessons from Painting and Roofing

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #198 Lessons from Painting and Roofing

Hi Folks:

We had an interesting weekend. Jan had some chest pain so we took her to the emergency department. The ekg looked good, but they decided it was better to be cautious and wait for the cardiologist. So she spent the weekend in the hospital. Good news, her stress test was fine, so no heart issues. Now they will begin to track down what the issue may be.

We’re getting ready to put a new roof on the house. If you are in the area and want to help, we’ll start about 7:15 on Saturday morning.

Blessings as you finish the week.
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We’ve been doing a few things to fix up the house. I’ve painted the wooden surfaces outside and we’re getting ready to put on a new roof.

Roofing and painting are interesting things. Neither one is very complicated and both have easy but important steps which are repeated over and over again until the job is done. Dip the brush and spread the paint. Dip the brush and spread the paint. Of course, the surfaces must be prepared properly and there are little tips and tricks which make the job easier, but mainly it involves faithfulness to the task. Little things over and over again.

Roofing is the same. Shingle by shingle the roof is nailed into place. Again, there are tips and tricks and essentials to be done properly, like flashing the chimney and capping the roof. But mainly there is a lot of faithfulness to the task.

Another thing about roofing or painting - it soon becomes obvious if we didn’t do the job well. I once painted a pine window ledge but didn’t bother to seal the knots. It looked fine for about a month, and then they began to show through the paint. I thought I could get away with it...

Like water dripping through the ceiling, the truth came out for Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 26. It seems that when Isaac and his wife Rebekah moved into the area, they told people she was his sister so that no one would kill him. Rebekah was very beautiful and they were afraid that someone might murder him in order to take Rebekah. As a result, Isaac finds himself in conflict with Abimilech, king of the Phillistines.

Didn’t we read this somewhere else? Yes, two other times. Abraham and Sarah tried this scheme in Genesis 12 and then they tried it again with this same king Genesis 20. Abimilech must have shaken his head when he discovered that Isaac and Rebekah were married - "Here we go again!"

The source of this conflict was a simple little lie. We all know, of course, that lying is a bad thing. But even still, how many times are we tempted to cover things over with a little paint? The instinct is the same for us as it was for Abraham and Isaac. We want to protect ourselves. The words can slip out very quickly, especially if we are used to using them.

Just as Isaac was the source of his conflict, we can become the source of our own conflict. When we ignore some of the basic fundamentals of character and faithfulness, like honesty and integrity, we should not be surprised to find ourselves in disagreement or conflict. "I thought you said you were going to do that!" I think we’ve all heard that one before. What about this one: "But that’s not what you said."

A businessman lamented to me about how difficult it is to find good people. "How hard can it be," he asked, "to find someone to show up on time and do what they said they would do?" Harder than it should be.

There is good news here. We can reduce our level of conflict by being truthful. Not whitewash or cover it. Not blame someone else. Just like in paint and roofing, the truth is going to come out eventually, anyway. Faithfulness means doing little things, like telling the truth, over and over again.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Sept 17, 2009. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com Blog located at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/
　

OnFire #197 When Any Idea Seems Right

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #197 When Any Idea Seems Right

Hi Folks:
School is back in. Mark went to school Tuesday, and as I write Ian and Taka are getting ready to go back.

We’re finishing some yard and outdoor work. I painted our front door overhang and touched up some areas on our carport. In a few weeks we hope to re-shingle our roof with the help of some men from the church.

I forgot to mention last week that my mother and Ivan brought my grandmother for a visit from PEI. At 91, she is not always able to travel, but she has been feeling well and made the trip. We had a wonderful time together.

Finally, I tried fly fishing for the first time last week. I went salmon fishing with a man from our church on several branches of the world-famous Miramichi River. We only caught a few chub, but we had a great time. Talk about beautiful spots. Not much wonder people love salmon fishing so much. The scenery alone is worth it, and to catch one of those incredible fish would be a real thrill.

Blessings for your week.
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The next conflict we see in scripture happens between Sarai, Abram’s wife, and her maid, Hagar, in Genesis 16.

The story is a little bizarre, really, not something we think might be included in scripture, but that’s one of the things I like about reading the Bible. Bizarre stuff happens in real life, and scripture reflects real life problems and solutions.

Abram and Sarai (who will later become Abraham and Sarah) were getting along in years but could not have children. Earlier God promised children to Abraham, but in Genesis 16 we see that they were getting tired of waiting. Sarai, trying to be helpful I’m sure, suggested that Abram have a child with Hagar. This would preserve his lineage, if not hers. That’s when the trouble began. After Hagar became pregnant, jealousy and anger erupted between the two women. Soon Hagar left because Sarai treated her so poorly.

To me this seems right up there in the "what were they thinking?" category. How could they not see trouble coming? It reminds me of the pictures we find on the internet of people doing things like running power cords through swimming pools or using one forklift to lift another forklift. (I have an album on my Facebook profile called, When You Just Can’t Reach - check it out for some funny pictures)

We’re funny like that, however. If we don’t have the right tool in the box, we’ll use something else even if it doesn’t really fit, just because we don’t want to wait to get the right one. If we run out of something, we’ll substitute another, again, because we don’t want to wait.

As children we wanted to glue strips of paper together, but had no glue. So, we mixed up some flour and water and tried to make glue. We thought we were being clever, but in truth we just made a big mess all over the kitchen which our mother insisted we clean up that night. She wasn’t very happy about it, I recall, and our paste didn’t work, either.

I laugh as I look back on that, but in regular life the consequences are not so funny. In the case of Sarai and Hagar, conflict erupted because Abram and Sarai got tired of waiting. In the absence of what God had promised, they settled for something else.

When we’re desperate and impatient it seems to us that any idea is better than no idea. Never mind that it may compromise what we believe. Never mind that it may cause more problems later. Never mind that it may cost us more in the long term. We want to do something NOW because we’re tired of waiting.

We know patience and wisdom help in relationships but they also keep us from doing something just for the sake of doing something. This is a good thing because, sooner or later, sin and compromise lead to damaged relationships and conflict. When we settle for some idea just because it is the only idea at the moment, how can we not expect trouble?

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Sept 9, 2009. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com Blog located at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/

OnFire #196 Thorns Under the Skin

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #196 Thorns Under the Skin

We continue on our series of people in conflict in the Bible. This week we see how Abram handles a delicate situation with his nephew, Lot, in Genesis 13.
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One of Jan’s projects this week was to prune the rosebush near our back door. When she couldn’t get a few of the woody branches she asked me to help, so I reached down and promptly got pricked. Bleeding, I picked out the thorns and completed the job. After picking out a dozen more tiny darts, I still have some left. I can’t see them, but I can feel them.

Thorns aren’t the only things that can get under our skin. People have been known to irritate us and this is what happened when Abram (later Abraham) and his nephew Lot found themselves too close together to support both of their vast sheep herding enterprises. In Genesis 13:7 we read that Abram’s and Lot’s herdsmen began quarrelling.

We can hear it and understand it. There is only so much good pasture land, and only just so much water, but who will get it? And then what happens when a few sheep go missing? Who gets blamed for that, even if natural causes or wildlife are responsible? Finally, add tempers into the mix, and the situation becomes volatile. We can read all of this into verse 7. There was more at stake than a few words. The situation threatened to blow up by involving the heads of the families.

That’s where Abram and Lot came into things, but there were no explosions. Rather, Abram diffused the situation with calm and grace. In verse 8 we read, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me.” Just because their shepherds were fighting did not mean that they needed to quarrel also. It is tempting to walk into other people’s fights. Someone told a friend when he moved to a close-knit community that if you cut one, they all bleed. Loyalty is good, but it can sometimes lead us blindly. Abram did not let this happen.

And yet something needed to change. The situation couldn’t remain the same because they had too many animals for the land to support. Someone had to move, and again, we see Abram’s grace. In verses 8 and 9, Abram says, essentially, “Hey look, Lot - there’s plenty of land for the two of us. You go one direction - you choose - and I’ll go the other.”

When our boys were younger we taught them how to divide fairly. One would cut, and the other would choose between the two pieces. This is what Abram did on a far grander scale. Lot took the land he could see in front of him which was, according to verse 10, like the garden of Eden. This meant that Abram would have to move, even though he had the right as an elder family member - Lot’s uncle even - to tell Lot to move on. Instead, he left for Hebron.

A little bit of grace goes a long way in a dispute, and there are many ways to extend this mercy. “I’m sorry.” “What can I do to make it better?” “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Even refusing to be offended is an act of grace. Last week we talked about how we can see offense where none was intended. Well, sometimes offense IS intended, but we don’t have to take it that way. Fighting words don’t have to be. I’ve done sound several times for musicians who, to put it mildly, acted like spoiled brats. I wanted to walk off, to leave them singing into the air. That’s just one example that comes to my mind, but there are many more. Sometimes I did the right thing by extending grace, sometimes I did not.

But - here’s the point - we are expected to extend more grace than others are often willing to grant.

It doesn’t feel right sometimes. We want the other person to extend grace to us. We want them to move, to give in. Its the principle of the thing, isn’t it?

But Abram shows us that grace can diffuse a tense situation. He would not be goaded by his shepherds or prodded by others who might insist he stand up for his rights. Rather, he offered up a solution even though it meant more inconvenience to him that Lot. That’s grace in action.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published Aug 26, 2009. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com Blog located at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/

Onfire #195 Wrong Turns and Open Doors

OnFire Encouragement Letter
Onfire #195 Wrong Turns and Open Doors

Hi folks:

We’re back from our summer stuff and looking forward to settling back into our somewhat normal routines.

It was an adventure filled vacation. We had a flat tire on our camper the first day of vacation. Then we waited seven hours for a ferry to Grand Manan because the main boat was broken down. Once there, we spent a few days visiting friends. Then we spent two weeks on PEI visiting family.

On PEI we took our Japanese student to Anne of Green Gables house. We also went to the Prince County Exhibition, where we watched the strongman competition and horse-pulls. My father treated us to the tractor pulls at Crapaud for a louder version of the pulling contest.
For an overnight adventure, Mark, Ian and I paddled about two and a half hours to an island and set up camp. We were eaten alive by the mosquitoes and horse flies, and our aging tent half-collapsed in the wind and rain, but we have lots of memories. All in all, it was a memorable vacation. Check www.onfireletter.com for a powerpoint show.

For the next little while we’re going to look at conflict in the Bible. One of the things I like about the Bible is that it doesn’t hide real life. We see the ups and downs of characters’ lives and discover that they weren’t perfect. At times I think it would have been a lot easier to hide these things, to let them be buried in the depths of time, but God did not let this happen. We are the richer for it and learn lessons we can apply in our own experience.
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Last week we visited a friend whose house we had never been to. I got the directions from him, but didn’t write them down because I thought I understood them. Off we went, but as we got closer I began to realize that things didn’t quite look like what I had thought they would. Finally we arrived at an intersection and at this point I was confused. Thankfully we found someone nearby to ask directions and they set us on the right road. Soon we arrived at our friend’s house.

We don’t have to read very far in the Bible before we see the first fight. In Genesis 4 Cain murdered his younger brother because he was angry that God accepted Abel’s offering and not his. We should note, too, that since the fight was about something religious, it was also the first church fight!

Cain was angry when God did not accept his offering. Choose any one of a number of expressions and they fit: Ripping mad. Seething. Boiling over. Ticked off.

God talked with him about this and told him how to make things better. It was nothing personal. It was not that he liked Abel better. Cain just made the wrong sacrfice. To make it right, all he needed to do was bring the proper one. "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?" (Genesis 4:6-7*)

We gain some important insight into conflict. We often aim our anger at someone who is not responsible. Cain pointed the finger at Abel, when he was actually upset at God. This is the proverbial kicking the cat. Something goes wrong at work, and we take it out at home. We’re worried about a situation and blow up with our children or spouse. We have a problem unrelated to the person we’re dealing with, but we take it out on them anyway.

We see offense where none was intended. Cain was offended by Abel, when all Abel did was offer his sacrifice. This happens to us all the time. When we’re hurt, or worried, or being chewed up inside, we hear insults where they don’t exist. This is what was going on when God spoke with Cain, and it happens with us, too.

God gave him some advice we can also use. "But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

What a picture of sin - as a hungry lion waiting to pounce and devour us if we act on our anger. To go through the door of our anger is to go in the wrong direction, like turning onto the wrong road. Only later do we regret that we did not listen to the voice of calm and reason. By then we realize that we have been devoured, and that we have devoured in turn. If only...

But we do not have to take the wrong turn. We do not have to go through the door to where sin is crouching, waiting to devour us. Often we convince ourselves that we don’t have a choice, especially when someone hurts us. We feel we have to make it even. But we do not have to go through the door. This is one of the lessons for us. If we give in to our hurt and anger, we will be devoured and so we must avoid acting on these impulses.

I spent significant moments on this past vacation biting my tongue, keeping my mouth closed to avoid saying something stupid out of anger or frustration. As much as I love my boys, it drives me nuts when they interrupt me, or when they butt into an "adult" conversation. Aargh! There are times it is better not to say or do anything to avoid falling victim to sin.

There is good news. We can overcome these reactions. "It desires to have you, but you must master it." We can master these things. We’ll be talking about these things in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, take heart - sin does not have to master us.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. This letter published Aug 26, 2009. *Bible references taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com Blog located at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/
　

OnFire #194 Feeling a Little Unglued

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #194 Feeling a Little Unglued

Hi Folks:

I’m beginning to realize that the start of summer will mean OnFire will be a little spotty for the next few months. Last week I was in Halifax on Thursday, when I would normally write. This week is abnormal, again, with Canada Day in the middle and two weddings to perform. Next week ought to be relatively normal, except that we’re getting ready for vacation Bible school, and then we’ll be part of our Convention’s youth mission called Tidal Impact ( http://www.baptist-atlantic.ca/tidalimpact) After that we’ll be on vacation for three weeks.

I find that summer is a good time to reconnect with God. In some ways I find I have to be more intentional about things like Bible reading since my routine changes, but in other ways it is a spiritually refreshing time.

For instance, I often wake early and get up to read, pray, or write. While on vacation, I’ll go out in the canoe, taking the time to pray and sit quietly, something which is difficult in my normal routine. It feels good simply to sit in God’s presence, talk to Him, and enjoy His creation.

I always make sure we attend church when we are away. This goes back to a time about 10 years ago when we were travelling in Pennsylvania and I decided we should put some miles behind us rather than attend worship somewhere. At noon we pulled into a parking lot and as we got out of the car I looked up at a truck driver reading in the cab of his rig. This was really odd, since drivers are paid to drive and not to sit. I arranged my path to the restaurant so that I could see what he was reading and was surprised to see it was a Gideon New Testament.

His window was down and so I called up to him, excusing myself by saying that I couldn’t help noticing he was a reading a Bible. “Yes,” he said. “I became a Christian a few years ago, but I’m usually on the road on Sundays, so at 11am, I pull over and read my Bible, and pray and worship.” We chatted for a short time, and then I left feeling completely convicted about being away from worship that day. We could easily have found a church to attend.

Since then we make it a point always to attend worship on vacation. When we must travel on Sundays, we arrange to attend an early worship service or we find a church at which we can stop along the way. I know some pastors and people who consider it “time off” but I enjoy worshipping somewhere else. Sometimes we learn new songs we can bring back. Its neat to hear another preacher, and we meet people. I would encourage you to attend worship even on vacation.

This summer is already different from any other summer I’ve experienced. Ian, our 15-year-old, is working at a Christian camp and has been away for more than a week. This is the longest stretch that he has been away from us and not been with family, and, to be honest, it has made me feel a little unglued. That’s my best description for the feeling I’ve experienced. Kind of like one of the kitchen chairs when it starts to loosen up and needs a little glue. Its still together but it feels a little shaky and uncertain.

The problem is not being at camp. For those who know it, Camp Wildwood ( http://www.campwildwood.ca/ ) is a great spot and I worked there myself as a lifeguard 20 years ago. The director is still the same and I did two bike camps for the assistant director when he worked at another camp. We know the place and people well.

The problem is missing Ian, feeling like a part of me is missing and being a little unsettled because of it. As my mother reads this, she will see the irony. She cried as she left me at Christian college, while I was happy to be on my own and meeting new people. Ian is having a blast, learning lots, and that’s the way it should be, but even still I was not prepared for how much I would miss him.

Ian’s nickname at camp is “Winchester,” since he loves guns and hunting. We went out for a barbeque on the weekend and I presented him with a key chain I made from a Winchester 30/30 bullet casing and the end of a 12 gauge shotgun shell. It was a way to show him I miss him but support him.

I find myself praying for the boys a lot more often. There are things beyond my control, especially when they are not with us. I am finding it takes a different level of trust to know that their Heavenly Father is watching over them when I am not there to protect them.

I’m not sure how my feeling a little unglued is supposed to help, but my approach with OnFire has always been a kind of “C’mon, we can do this together.” And so I offer up this week’s letter to say that feeling a little unglued hasn’t been a bad thing. Its not always comfortable, but its not been bad, and, in fact, is teaching me a reliance on God I didn’t even know I needed.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published June 29, 2009. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com Archives are located www.onfireletter.com. Blog at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com

OnFire #193 One Shovel at a Time

OnFire Encouragement Letter
OnFire #193 One Shovel at a Time

Hi Folks:

Jan and Taka are away with the international students in Quebec City so I’ve been working and trying to take care of the boys at the same time. Its not always an easy task but we’ve had some good time together barbequing.

Something else we’ve done together is to move a pile of crushed rock. Earlier we moved a 20 foot round flower bed and levelled the ground. Then Wednesday I arranged for 13 tonnes of crushed rock to be delivered to our neighbour’s yard. Its not that we’re generous, but the truck wouldn’t fit under our carport, so our neighbour was gracious and allowed us to dump it in his gravel driveway. The fact that it was the same mix helped.

At about supper the load arrived and at first it didn’t look like much. It didn’t even fill the truck and I secretly wondered if I had underestimated my requirements. But then as we filled the first wheel barrows, I realized what we were in for. We could hardly tell we had removed anything at all.

Last night we moved about 65 loads, which put us a little over half done. The pile we thought was so small had somehow grown and what remained still looked like a lot. I guessed we had moved about 7 tonnes, or a little over 2 tonnes each.

Wanting to be a good neighbour, I pushed the boys tonight (Thursday) so that we could get rid of the pile in our neighbours driveway. He told me it was OK there for a while, but I don’t want to take advantage of his generosity, so we went back at it, finishing at about 9pm. What a relief to finish. The driveway extension is done and the pile is out of our neighbour’s yard.

When we started this project last fall, I knew it would be a big job, but it turned out to be tougher than I thought. In total we moved 7 or 8 yards of top soil and 9 yards of crushed rock. Sometimes I wondered if I was too ambitious in planning and that we might have a muddy hole in our yard forever.

But as I look back on it, it all happened one shovel full at a time. Sometimes the boys helped, and sometimes I was on my own. But one by one, the dirt was scooped into a wheel barrow. We moved 25 tonnes one shovel at a time.

As I filled my wheel barrow last night, it occurred to me that there are a lot of situations in life like that pile of crushed rock. They seem big at the time, maybe even too much to handle. But when we break them down into small bits and steps, we find that we can finish even big things if we just keep at it.

James writes, “We consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (5:11*)

The end of that verse is the key to perseverance. If we try to do it on our own, perseverance is impossible. But with the strength that comes from God’s compassion and mercy, we can keep on. One day at a time. One step at a time. One shovel at a time.

I hope this helps. Be on fire.

Troy

OnFire is a weekly letter on faith and character by Troy Dennis. Troy is the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church, Moncton NB Canada. This letter published June 18, 2009. *Bible references taken from the New International Version. To subscribe or reply, email onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com Blog located at http://onfireletter.blogspot.com/