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Tim Davis is a pastor at Westside Bible Church in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.? His internet pasttime is the backbone of the Cybersalt Shaker and other sites.
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Written by Pastor Tim
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Saturday, 17 December 2005 16:00 |
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Close to where I live, stands a lighthouse on a group of rocks known as Race Rocks. This lighthouse steers mariners clear of the 8-10 knot (9-12 mph) tide that flows between it and the south coast of Vancouver Island. There are a number of sad tales of ships and lives lost in this treacherous passage of water.
In 1865, lighthouse keeper George Davies and family had for some time been looking forward to a visit from Rosina Davies' brother, sister-in-law, and three friends. On the day of their intended visit, the Davies scanned the nearby shore in anticipation of sighting the boat that would bring family and friends to break the solitude of the lighthouse keeper's family. Sure enough, the visitors did appear as planned, rowing towards their destination, Race Rocks.
When the boat was but 20 feet from its intended landing spot, it came upon a whirlpool and capsized, throwing it's five passengers into the cold, salt water. At the edge of the water, George Davies was helpless. A surveyor was using the keeper's boat and George had been left with neither rope nor life buoy with which to mount a rescue. Quickly, all five were swept away to their deaths. All that was left floating on the surface were some presents that the visitors were bringing with them that tragic day - Christmas Day, 1865.
What a sad story. What a sad picture. We might say, "May nothing like that ever happen again" but the truth is it happens . . .
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Last Updated on Saturday, 17 December 2005 13:05 |
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Written by Pastor Tim Davis
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Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:00 |
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Each night before I go to bed, a part of my evening ritual is to check to see if our dog needs her water bowl topped up. Though routine and mundane in nature, it is a spiritual experience for me because when watering our canine I often think of how blessed I am to live in a country, and a house, where a lowly dog drinks good old H2O that is clear, clean, and disease free. I know that it is not so for many humans in this world.
North American pets, having it so well, have inspired me and my family to sponsor a hungry and underprivileged child through the child sponsorship ministry called Compassion (see the banner of the top of this page). Sponsored children receive nourishment, education, and hope for the future through Jesus. Our participation in this is a question of priorities and trying to hold important in life what God holds important in this life.
The Bible says a bit about the care of animals. My favorite verse on that topic is Proverbs 12:10, ?A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.? However, as much as I like that Scripture verse, the key teaching text for where the energies of believers should be focused in charity is James 1:27, ?Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.? From how I look at it, if one becomes . . .
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Last Updated on Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:09 |
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Written by Pastor Tim
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Wednesday, 09 November 2005 16:00 |
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BIRD FLU! BIRD FLU! BIRD FLU!
There, now I?ve gone on and on and on about it too. The world is all aflutter about the possibly coming bird flu pandemic that threatens to make humanity sicker than many of us already are of hearing about the bird flu. Once it was the sky falling that caused everyone to worry, and now chicken little himself is the one who threatens to do us all in. Experts from every corner of the world are offering up their commentary and advice concerning this threat and so, not be left out, I will too ? prepare to meet your God!
Now, please don?t take my saying so as fear mongering or doomsday panic in the same vein of that which left egg on the faces of many Christian leaders when their obviously uninspired Y2K predictions disappeared at the stroke of midnight. My advice to prepare to meet your God is based on a more pragmatic reality: everyone is going to die. For the fact remains that cancer, car accidents, and carousing will kill lots of people before the bird flu (or whatever the next pandemic is) does. For all you know, this could be the last thing you read before some pilot has a heart attack and lands his plan on your lap. One never knows, so prepare to meet your God!
By the way, while I?m on such a cheery note, I also want to encourage followers of Jesus to . . .
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Written by Pastor Tim
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Saturday, 29 October 2005 16:00 |
In the last 12 months, our television, radios, and newspapers have blazed, beamed and borne story after story of natural disaster. The South Eastern Asia earthquake and tsunami, hurricane Katrina, hurricane Rita, and a massive earthquake in Pakistan and India (to name only four) literally moved land sea and air in what even the most affirmed atheist would describe as Biblical proportions.
The results were no less striking in size ? islands moved, mountains crumbled, cities flooded, governments floundered. Yet, nothing was more gripping and numbing than the mosaic of human suffering that followed as survivors fought for their very survival. The most basic of needs, when multiplied by the masses, became more than anyone could provide for. Good wishes, the logistics of delivery, and government itself were swamped by the reality of what it takes to sustain human life at even the most basic survival level.
It is all the more wonderful, therefore, when we look back and remember the God kept the nation of Israel alive in the wilderness for 40 years. Think of it! An entire nation wandered in the middle of nowhere for 4 decades and they never lacked for food or water. In fact, Deuteronomy 29:5 records that . . .
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Written by Pastor Tim
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Thursday, 01 September 2005 16:00 |
At the walk-in clinic I approached the reception area. With nobody ahead of me, the medical technician at the front desk listened immediately as I explained I was there to have my purple ankle looked at. (It had been injured 5 days earlier in a racing incident at the speedway.) After taking my name and my personal information, the lady looked at me and said, ?As soon as I have a room, I will call you by name.?
As I limped to sit alone in the waiting area, those words echoed in my mind with a reverberation of eternal dimension. ?As soon as I have a room, I will call you by name.? It?s what all of us who are waiting for Jesus to come back have been told. He said to his disciples, ?In my Father?s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.? (John 14:2&3) This is the hope of all who have put their trust in Jesus alone. In the pain of this life and the sorrow of this world we are waiting for Jesus to come back for us. When our place is ready, He will . . .
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